Dutchess Button - A Eulogy

 

Enrik told Fancy you were gone.  I am so mad at you Dutch, I'm mad that you got so angry about me "breaking the rules" and letting Kahina put a dance in last minute for our September show.  I'm mad at you because I had to reschedule a meeting at the last minute due to a rl issue and you bitched about it to our teammates.  I'm mad at you because the one time.....the ONE TIME I played favorites on my team was something I did for YOU, and you used it against me.  I'm mad at you because when it came to Second Life you were my sister, my Licha Ninetails:

And I'm mad at me because I lost you again.  Its one thing to lose you and know you're still out there, it's another to know you are no longer here.  Not Licha, not Dutchess, but Alicia..... YOU.

Even though we lost our way three times now, you were an important part of my life.  We shared so much, hours and hours in TeamSpeak before SL Voice was integrated, you knew my life story and I was fascinated and emotional by yours.  Your stories about El Salvador made me realize that although I despise him, my sons father must have had a hard life coming from that country.  You were so gracious to me, sending me pupusas across the country in a dry ice cooler because you knew I liked them, surprising me on my birthday with an edible flower arrangement, and helping me understand that it's ok for men to read porn.  😂

Today, I reflect on a friendship that was once like a sisterhood.  Instead of thinking of those times that led to our separation, I'm going to reflect on the good times that we shared, the funny moments that made Second Life fun - like when you fucked up your house......

I will never forget you Alicia, thank you for being a part of my life, despite it all you meant a lot to me.  I'm happy knowing that you are now with your mom and your dad and all of the years of pain you had to endure are finally behind you.  Rest in Peace.

The Dance Xcetera Alumni

 

Most of you were a pleasure to work with, a lot of you were a handful, and some of you I'm glad you're no longer part of this team; you know who you are.

No matter how they left the team, each person named above is a building block of what we are today.  Some created dances, others performed in them, but without each and every one of them, we would not be who we are or where we are today.

For that, I thank you. 🩷

Another Barracuda Birthday!

 

This was Dj, sometime in 2006 shortly after I signed in to Second Life for the first time.  October 31, 2006.  My kids were in their early teens and weren't interested in mom tagging along for trick or treating so I decided to stay home.  A friend of mine "Cowboy Yallock" talked about Second Life via his Myspace page and the rest is history.  I had no idea what Second Life even was, registered as "Dj Barracuda" because Dj is my real life nickname without realizing how bombarded with offers to dj at clubs every time I logged in was going to be.  😂😂😂😂😂😂

After 19 years of playing Second Life and begging the Lindens to make an exception in my case over ten years ago to change my first name, we are finally at a point where we can do that.....for a ridiculous fee.  Sooooo for Dejaye's 19th Rezday, I officially and legally changed her name to "Dejaye Barracuda!" 

HAPPY REZDAY TO DEJAYE BARRACUDA!!!!  🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳

A Peek Into My World

 

For the past 20 years, I've been researching my family history as I've been told stories of some really shady things my family was doing from both of my parents sides.  Some really cool things I found out:

- I am the 8th cousin of Daniel Boone.  

- My family line connects with Loretta Lynn's through the Boone line, although we are not genetically related.

- My 5th Great Grandfather was a murderer and was run out of town.

- My 4th Great Grandfather, his son was a preacher and was one of the founders of the Marme Baptist Church, still in existence today.  He was also one of the first settlers of his colony.

- My grandmother and great aunt were kidnapped by Georgia Tann and were missing for three years.

- I come from a mob family on both sides of my lineage.  

- I come from a family of bootleggers

- I have an uncle who was hung for stealing a horse.

- Two secret adoptions.

- 73% of my DNA is Italian/Polish. (it takes ONE Polish person to screw in a lightbulb.) 😂

Other weird and interesting facts.....

- I can recall my very first memory, it was very bright and blurry.  

- I started walking at 9 months. 

- At 16 months old I was out of diapers and using the toilet.  

- I put a 500 piece puzzle together when I was four.

- I started reading before age 6.  My favorite thing to read was "Readers Digest".

- I took tap and ballet for ten years.

- I won a multi-million dollar lawsuit for my son.

- I am a case study for a teaching hospital.

- In 1995 I had a uterine rupture during the labor of my second child.  We both almost died and I needed multiple blood transfusions.  

- I wrote a few novels.

- I sing karaoke and have been compared to Stevie Nicks when I have a head cold.  😂

- I bred Miniature Dachshunds.

- I collect Dolphins

- My CB handle was "Rose Red" - Snow Whites sister. 🌹🌹 

- I have PTSD.

- I suffer from Osmophobia,  👃👃

- Current fibro status - ‼️ACTIVE‼️  😭😭😭😭😭.  God have mercy on my soul! 🙏🙏🙏

- Submechanophobia - 🌳💧🌳💧trees are my enemy. 🌳💧🌳💧

If I think of anything else, I'll add them.  👋

Encroachment

Oh it wasn't this, no this wasn't the issue.  The issue was tree limbs and maybe the cliffs I had up.  Counted as my prim not theirs.  I was trying to make it look pretty from both sides.  My bad.

What they see..

 

What the others see..

My side.....

My quarter of happiness, still worth it.  I am home. 💓😊😊

JUDGE ME!!

 

I'm in the mood to piss people off so here are my opinions on some hot topics:

1. Political Party Affiliation:  😂😂 Here's to hoping you'll still be my friend.  😂😂  I have been an Independent voter since I was old enough to vote.  I am registered with the Republican Party because I can't vote in the Primary elections.  Why did I chose Republican?  The spelling of it looked prettier than Democrat to me - hand to God.  ✋✋♰♰  I will be more than happy to change my registered political party for you, but if you're going to be that petty about it, go find another friend, I vote on a nominees platform, not the mudslinging, cat-fighting bullshit that has gone on since George Washington became the first president.  I mean for fucks sake, they used Abraham Lincoln's looks against him to try to win the election and he turned out to become one of the most historical and much loved Presidents of the United States.  In the past I have voted for Presidential nominees from both political parties.

2. Religious Preference:  Christian, I just love 💓♰Jesus♰💓.  I don't go to church, it's like going to a funeral for me and that's an uncomfortable feeling.  A church and a funeral home smell the same to me.  Jesus never went to church, the church was whomever followed him and listened for his teachings, his church was wherever he rested his feet.  I should be doing more - online church, reading and studying since the book is there for that reason.  

3.  Immigration:  Come to this country the right way, seek asylum.  If you're sneaking through a fence you do not deserve to be here.  The process in which an immigrant can become a US citizen needs to change, too many immigrants are fleeing their countries with their families to get away from the violence, make the path to citizenship a little easier for them without making them pay through the nose for it.  The screening process should be rigid though to weed out ones who are criminals, those people can stay on their own land.  If you've been here all along, making a living for your family with no criminal history, you should have automatic citizenship.  If you are currently rioting in the United States holding or waving your native flag get the fuck out of our country, you're not here for freedom, you are a terrorist raging war against a country who can wipe out your entire family line in seconds.  

4. Gender:  Male, female.  Every living thing comes with either a male part or a female part.  Some come with both known as hermaphrodites, or "intersexual."  Asexual means you don't have either in which case you have to look at the genetics.  Gender is and should have always remained biological.  This generation of people have no interest in evolution, all they want to do is go backwards and destroy everything that's been built up to who we are today.  

5. Abortion:  Pro-Life AND Pro-Choice.  It takes five days for a fertilized egg to evolve into an embryo.  A heartbeat starts pumping for an embryo about a month later (five weeks).  Once that heartbeat kicks in it's like turning the lights on and that little clump of cells graduates to a tiny human.  If there is no heartbeat, then there is no reason not to terminate.  Unfortunately for a lot of women, by the time they realize their monthly visitor as not yet made their appearance the heartbeat is already in play.  Since conception is an EXACT science in which everything needs to be in perfect alignment to conceive I believe ultimately God planted that seed.  So when you are aborting that seed you are taking something precious that God has given to you and throwing it back in his face.  Shame on you.  Disregard that last sentence if you don't believe in God.  Somehow, no matter what you believe about what happens after death, you are going to be judged by something - there is good karma and bad karma and it follows us during our life's journey so I'm sure it's going to be there on the day that we take our last breath.  Only you can choose your own fate.  We are the embryos of our souls.  😂  As far as pro-choice, read my last paragraph again.  I don't expect everyone to agree with me, and that is your choice - let me say that again - YOUR CHOICE.  I don't expect anyone to change their whole way of thinking because of my opinion but it would be great if just one person did.  Won't cry if it never happens.  The point is that you have choice, and the government decided to take away our choices because of their opinions.  That is wrong.  And because of their opinions and the overturning of "Roe vs. Wade," women are dying, being forced to incubate a child when they are already dead.  Children being born in pain and suffering because some yahoos in politics thinks it's ok for a child to be born this way because it's a life, no matter what.  A woman in a critical state due to a pregnancy is a life too, since when did our lives not matter?  Shouldn't it be our CHOICE?  This is why I also support the pro-choice movement.  

6. Gender Identity: LGBTQ.  Identifying as anything else makes you an embarrassment to your parents.  Next!

7. Cannabis:  YES!  My ex-husband once said, "If it's growing from the ground God put it there, he wanted us to have it.  It is TOTALLY medicinal."  I am not a pot head, I am not a drug addict - as Emmy Resident from Second Life claimed - I am a woman with chronic fibromyalgia who can manage her life without narcotics because of cannabis.  Her ignorance about cannabis consumption was clear, makes her look stupid.  

8. 2025 Government Shutdown:  The shutdown should only happen to the people in Congress.

9. President Donald Trump:  A businessman in politics.  A big no no, although I am happy with some of the things he has done.  I think he's going to throw us into war though.

10.  Erika Kirk:  "STOP.  Just STOP."  I see a woman who has thrown herself into the work of her husband as a way to deal with the loss of her husband.  What better way to feel close to him then to be extremely active in a cause that he believed in, that he gave his life to.  They tried to shut Charlie up, Erika is going to make sure they don't.  People want to judge her for that.  FUCK YOU people.  Her eyes have always been intense, the way she makes them go just a little bit larger - that's not a demon you fools, I do the same thing, it's just an eye thing, quit reading shit into it.  ♰ RIP Charlie Kirk. ♰

11.  ICE:  Let's be VERY clear.  The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement are Law Enforcement.  Taken directly from Wiki - note the similarities:

   ICE - Federal Law Enforcement

   Law Enforcement of the United States - Police officers governed primarily through government agencies.

____________________________

   ICE - Conduct criminal investigations.

   Law Enforcement of the United States - Investigation of criminal activities.  

____________________________

   ICE - Protect public safety.

   Law Enforcement of the United States - Responds to threats of public safety.  

Any questions?

12.  Renee Good & the ICE Agent:  When stupidity meets with PTSD.  COMPLY.  Its the difference between life and death.  What audio and video show:

    - Car was blocking the road (doesn't matter how much of the road)

    - Agents ordered her to exit her vehicle.  (doesn't matter why)

    - Vehicle attempts to escape. (partner encouraging her)

    - Agent around the front of the vehicle shoots (should have learned his lesson the first time)

COMPLY.  

Pop Danthology 2.0

Original Pop Danthology Post:  Pop Danthology 2013

This was the very first dance I had ever done on my own for the Dance Xcetera team and we performed it at the Empire Room.  That was in 2014.  I built 11 set changes, my brain was far ahead my ability to understand just how things needed to operate for it to run in SL like it does in my head.  So it was a disaster.  I ended up cutting it down to four sets.  I actually ran the sets and Wild put the dance routines together.  It was amazing how in sync we were back then.

Fast forward to the present and I'm busting ass with everything going on in my real life to get this set done for our 11th year anniversary show.  It's a 5 1/2 minute song so this set is right up there with my "Wizard of Ahhs" set.  It's 620 prims packed with so much shit going on, you won't even know the song is actually as long as it is.  

Unfortunately, the dance did not make it into our 11th Anniversary show, so its scheduled for our show in July.  Now that I have a decades worth of directing experience behind me, the set has been restored to it's original 11 set changes.  Some sets had to be built new because over the years the entire raw build disappeared from my inventory.  I also had to reduce it down since the size of the Dance Xcetera stage is significantly smaller than it's original.  My teammate Pinky helped me find some really good animations and there are multiple costume changes for each dancer in the set.  I am so excited to show it!!!

Once again I'd like to plug Bandicam, without it I probably would have given up on this dance.  😂

Seven Thousand Linden Meeting Minute Contest

 NOTE:  Written on April 18, 2025 but not published to my blog until May 20, 2025.  

This post was published after the contest for the DX Team ran, I just wanted to get my thoughts down while I had the time and I don't want to give the secret out in the event one of them happened onto my blog!! 😂

One day I decided to see how many people actually read and keep the meeting minutes.  I try to make the flow of the team go as smoothly as possible - always sending out notices, putting links in the notices - any way to make it easier for the team so they don't have to rely on the meeting minutes but still, they are important, especially if you don't make the meeting.  

Anyhoo, I decided to have a contest and I called it the "Seven Thousand Linden Meeting Minute Contest."  The contest required you to create a folder with your name then do a search for "Dance Xcetera - Meeting Minutes."  Put a copy of every meeting you have into this folder and hand it back to me.  The contest closes on May 17th @ 6p SLT.  Since most of the team did not show up for the next meeting I used it as a perfect opportunity to launch my contest.  Those that were at the meeting were encouraged to get the minutes and read them anyway since I told them I was only touching base on some of the things I wanted to talk about but didn't due to lack of attendance.

If you can read the above, you will see that the contest wasn't going to be judged on how many cards you actually have, but how many you have vs. how many you should have.  The one that comes closest to 100% gets the prize.  This contest isn't advertised so no notices will go out about it and no reminders of the deadline, they won't even know what hit them until our May 20th meeting.  

UPDATE:  May 20, 2025 - I love my team, every last one of them.  Not everyone submitted folders but there were far more than I had thought!

So I'll break it down like this:

    - 1/4 of the team submitted entries.  One of them still asks me "who, what, where, when" and my favorite, "do you have the link?"  No friend, you do.  

    - For those who didn't, I've rarely or never have had to chase them down for anything.  They know the "who, what, where when" and always are on point. 

Every year on my birthday Mr. Chad Shoreman - my real life husband - gives me $100 to upload to Second Life.  This is in addition to the monthly expenses I normally upload linden for.  This year I decided to earmark the entire $100 to the team because there was never going to be only one winner.  Every person who submitted a folder, every person who messaged me to tell me they only had the meeting minutes from that night won $7000 Linden Dollars each.  Why?  Because they paid attention.

I am a very proud and happy 🐝 Queen Bee. 🐝