The World According to Marx Dudek

Ella wrote this in the comments to my earlier post about her. I wanted to put them up here on the front page.

Gabby is right - I am a very fortunate girl. Readers of this blog will know that Marx is intelligent, thoughtful, and articulate - how come she gone all mushy on you?

Right from the start there were subtle signs that knowing Marx was gonna be different : like when she left her calling card, a 10-metre rotating cube emblazoned with the words “Marx Thinx Jewella Roxx”; or the time I impulsively called her “my love” and immediately felt self-compelled to write and explain at length that I didn’t mean the “my” in any possessive sense.

So we fell in love and got partnered, what’s the big deal? Two things really:

It signifies to each other and to everyone else the remarkable sense of togetherness that we feel. It acknowledges the truth of the situation, it is a public declaration of private and personal joy.

And it is significant - I’ve loved and been loved before (the same as most of us) but partnership was something I’d done my best to avoid - it just wasn’t on my list. But that morning, as soon as I realised where her words were going, there was suddenly nothing in the world I wanted more.

I’m exceptionally proud that she asked me, and what is truly wonderful is that we only just beginning - we got a whole future to construct.

Now you know a little bit of why I love her so much. 

I received word today that White Honey will be closing their doors. They will have all of their merchandise on sale for 25% off for a limited time (which I presume includes their “Package” for men and women). Even if you’re not into the kind of play that WH has become well-known for catering to, I advise my female readers to stop in and pick up their free gift bag. It includes the free “Honey Hud”, which makes self-love easy (and expressive!) anytime, anywhere - using your best judgment, of course! And as a satisfied owner, I can attest to the fact that it’s a five-star frisky freebie.  (Oh, and there’s one for the guys, too.)

Your taxi awaits.

I fail at blogging. I’m so sorry for the lack of updates.

If you haven’t guessed by my last post, I’ve done what seemed the unthinkable - I’ve asked someone to partner with me. I was a little surprised as well to find myself asking, but it was certainly the person and not the need to be partnered that inspired me to do so.

I call her Ella, but her full name is Jewella Stine. Not surprisingly, my first contact with her was a question about her land - namely, whether she might be interested in selling it. We had been neighbors in Monti and hadn’t even known it. After selling my original plot, I got a little homesick. I started looking around and, seeing an empty plot where I knew I had previously seen a house, I decided to ask if she was interested in selling. She wasn’t, but we began talking and I quickly discovered that this was no ordinary individual. Before too long, I was smitten - and exceptionally grateful that I had found a kindred spirit in this world of pixels and prims.

Ella understood and appreciated my reasons for remaining unpartnered - the fact that I am polyamorous (in both my first and second lives), and the fact that factors in my personal life would clearly make it impossible for me to establish and maintain the kind of time-commitment that any SL partner would genuinely deserve and expect. As time passed, we clearly made it known to each other that if we were the partnering type, we could definitely see ourselves doing so.

Recently, circumstances in Ella’s first life required her to make a decision - to stay in SL, go on a considerable hiatus, or end her time in world altogether. I was deeply saddened by the thought of not having her around, but my logic circuits took over at that point and I reassured her that FL is always more important than SL. She was to be the most important person in her life, and she had to make sure that she was okay. I told her I would miss her regardless of what her decision would be but that I would be fine, knowing that she was taking care of herself and doing what she needed to restore her sense of balance. Our goodbye was very sad - it began and ended in IM, because neither of us could bear saying goodbye to each other face to face.

Ironically, I had begun working on a project just the day before - a surprise that I couldn’t wait to share with her. Now, with things having suddenly changed, the focus of my project changed from a joyous labor of love to a distraction from sorrow. That day, I donned my most concealing black outfit, tied a black sash firmly about my waist, dyed my hair to match my clothing and my mood, and set to work. I could only hope that she would come back, and if she did, I wanted to have my project ready for her to see. If she didn’t, I would keep it as a remembrance and share it with my friends.

I was hard at work when I saw her log in. She had come in to say goodbye to some of her clients. We had a good talk, and I got the distinct impression that this wasn’t goodbye for us after all. She was planning to be away for anywhere from three to six weeks, and gave me more of an understanding of exactly what was happening in her world behind the monitor. I completely understood.

Then I felt compelled to ask the question. It was not a matter of “if” but of “when” - do I ask now, or when she comes back? Also, there were some important things I needed to talk with her about before that could happen. I let her know this, and asked her if she wanted to talk now or when she returned. She left that decision up to me - so we talked about it. She was very comforting and very understanding, and I suddenly felt myself closer to her than I imagined possible. I decided now was the time to ask. I excused myself for a moment, submitted the proposal, and nearly somersaulted back to IM. I told her I now had a question to ask, and immediately dropped 10 lindens into her account - the amount needed to accept the proposal. She said, “Does this money mean what I think it means?” I smiled and said yes, and popped the question. She screamed and burst into tears and said “Yes!”. We basked in each other’s happiness a bit longer, and said much happier goodbyes this time.

We have exchanged a few emails and IMs-via-email. I stopped into her studio just this weekend and saw that the little harlot had snuck in long enough to add some lovely new artwork to her gallery - something that filled me with unspeakable happiness. I stood in there for a while, taking in her still-present aura and admiring her new pieces.

Why did I ask? Because I didn’t have to. Ella has accepted me as I am - a free spirit who can’t (and won’t let herself) be pinned down. She did so because she knows I accept her as she is - a woman with a past that some people would consider questionable but which is to me a source of unspeakable delight. In addition, Ella has no intentions of being chained to a life dictated by someone else’s approval and permission. She lives her life the way she chooses, and so do I. She loves whom she chooses, and so do I. We are two individual songs, complete and beautiful in ourselves - but when together, we blend together in wondrous harmony. We indulge in each other’s simplicity, and we delight in each other’s depravity.

I couldn’t see it being any other way.

To the woman who made an utter hypocrite out of me, I say … I love you, Jewella Stine.

I will explain later.

*cartwheels*

Recently, Linden Lab made a large number of landowners unhappy by glutting the market with new land (causing land prices to plummet) and lowering the cost of new private sims (causing many rental sims to lose large numbers of renters). It hasn’t been surprising to see land selling for 50% of its previous value.

So I knew I was faced with a challenge when deciding to sell off 4608sqm of my land. Most of the land in the sim had been bought up by a Gorean (sound familiar?) to build dozens and dozens of tiny rental skyboxes. This meant the already rocky terrain below was left barren, largely devoid of even a single tree.

I approached the skybox owner about selling my land. As predicted, I was treated as clueless and potentially gullible. I was told that most mainland was being sold now for two to three lindens per square meter, and that I should drop my asking price.

(Oh, did I neglect to mention that the skybox owner was griefing a nearby club owner because she dared putting ban lines around her own workshop - which apparently interfered with Mr. Skybox’s ability to fly around “his” region?)

So I lowered my asking price. Slightly.

Then I erected a 4608sqm cement skybox.

Honestly? I was sick of the desolation. If I was stuck with the land, at least I was going to have surroundings that were amenable to me. I built it first, planning to come back to retexture the interior later. By the time I finished assembling it, I was actually pleased with it! Since I figured it wasn’t going to sell, I was going to cancel the sale and muck about in the air, visually shielded from the clutter of rentals in my midst.

Ironically, I forgot to cancel.

I’m guessing that my cement behemoth was the incentive the skybox builder needed to buy me out - for L$6.07 per sqm. I was in world, talking with a friend when suddenly I get my skybox handed to me, piece by piece - and a muncha bunny dropped into my account.

The funny thing? The 4608sqm started out as one 512sqm plot that I bought for Three for her plot of tier-free land under her premium membership. When she changed her mind, I noticed the 512 next to it - and the one next to that one. And so on.

Land ownership is insidiously addictive.

Well, I’m homeless!

(Sort of.)

I pulled my skybox down.  I love the design, but making it both functional as an office and cozy as a home has proven a challenge.  Not to mention the fact that the vast majority of Lyralo is now owned by a skybox rental builder, which has cluttered the surrounding skies from just above the cloud layer to the maximum building height.

I’ve been looking at some of the Vista prefabs with the thought of moving back down to ground level, and while I do like their builds, I’m not entirely sold on them.  What I’m looking for is something that I can divide between work and relaxation.  I’ve got a 4608m2 parcel, but it’s somewhat L-shaped.  Any recommendations are greatly appreciated.  My ceiling is about L$2500 for something truly stunning.  About half that or less for something comfortably average.  Prim count is not particularly a concern, and I’d like to stay away from alpha textures as much as possible.

I’m starting my own in-world publishing business, and it looks like I might already have a client.  I’ve been signed on to try my hand at commission-based real estate sales.  Also, I’ve got my fingers crossed for a possible job with a company I’m positively crazy about.  Last but not least, I DJ at the Lounge of Dreams when I’m able.  Hopefully, I can eventually cover my own expenses in world without having to rely on outside sources.  Finally, I’m working on an art installation that I plan to write about very soon - if you dare to bare, please get in touch with me.

The social element of my in-world life has become a bit stressful.  I’ve been spreading myself a little too thinly, and I’ve had to take a few steps back to re-focus.  I’ve reluctantly had to make “Set Busy” my new friend in recent days.  Anyone who tells you that Second Life™ is a utopian existence has never spent any time in it.

That said, I should be in world a fair bit this weekend.  Hopefully with a home.  So I need your recommendations!