I got many emails and messages from people wondering why I have disappeared, if everything is all right – some people even wonder if I am well (awww… you are such sweethearts).   Nothing dramatic, folks!

White Lebed – my virtual identity, the avatar I am using for activities in Second Life, Blue Mars etc – is on long overdue hiatus from virtual worlds.   Those who met me in-worlds know that as White, I was VERY busy for almost 3 years – it is time for a break.

Sadly,  I had to decline invitations for participating in a few very exciting projects, miss many cool art openings and discussions.  Also it made some people assume that I am “ignoring” Burn2 – which I don’t!  In fact I am very happy that at least something had happened there – it is more than I expected.   I got a few emails from my old friends who want to show what they have made there.  Plus, Kev – the new successful addition to the team, who probably should get the credit for pulling this off – invited me on a personal tour around the playa.  That would be great!  I believe it is on for two more weeks?  I will come, promise!

I admit, the timing for my hiatus is not great  - but is it EVER???  To be honest I didn’t plan it at all – just happened.

Back in September, I spent significant tons of time doing my judge duties for the University of Western Australia –  watching MachinimUWAs for the film contest and visiting buildings and the gallery floors for the Challenge contest.   As an artist, myself, I know how much time it takes to create art, so I take judging super seriously.  I had watched each of 45 movies at least twice, some many more times to make sure I make the right choice.  Judging the buildings and the art installations was even more challenging since the best of the best virtual artists participated in this contest over a year.  I wish I could pick ten winners – it was that good!

The final results can be seen on the UWA in SL blog  http://uwainsl.blogspot.com/2010/10/grand-challenge-ends-nish-patch-sharni.html

After I submitted my picks to JayJay Zifanwe, I could finally allow myself to focus on what already started “swallowing” me since July.   Oh, how great it feels to jump into something new and different!

Looks like I will never learn to do things “in moderation”.  I either don’t do something or put everything I got into it.  This time this “thing” happened to be far away from computers and virtual worlds – a remodeling project.

It started as it always starts – an innocent attempt to replace the old outdated dog-scratched floors in the kitchen.  Then we realized that the cabinets looked rather old too.  It lead to some funny encounters – I posted about one of them here http://www.appliedgameology.com/blog/2010/07/19/how-not-to-play-a-sales-game/.  It made me do something I never thought I would – read books and websites about floors.  And I had discovered a whole new world!

Very soon it wasn’t enough to just put something newer on the floor and forget about it.  I have learned that I wanted the floor to be porcelain and heated.  Things started evolving….  From the kitchen it spread to the hall, where a perfectly fine white-pink marble floor had to be removed and replaced (to match the Italian porcelain), to the laundry and vanity rooms (where everything wanted to be replaced).  Then the second floor – two bathrooms remodeling (with heated tiles), a new Karastan carpet, new light fixtures,  sets of recessed lights, windows and shadows replacements, repainting, etc.

For the first time in years White Lebed found herself been totally neglected.  No more in-world chatting with dozen of people at the same time, no more managing three events simultaneously,  no more pressuring artists, no more negotiating with media, no more blogging.   Instead, my friends and family see again a forgotten image – a covered in paint Elena with a brush in one hand and phone in another.  Instead of White  teleporting from one gallery to another you could see Elena running around interviewing contractors, searching for special materials, testing paint samples, sketching murals, researching, comparing, fishing for ideas….

I realize now how much I have missed this Elena.  Also I realize how much I have learned as White.  While doing things that were exactly opposite to what I am doing right now, somehow I prepared myself for this project.   Before my virtual experience I knew how to paint, sculpt, make murals, but I never cared about a whole design.  After visiting hundreds of amazing virtual builds, making quite a few, curating dozens of customized galleryshows, etc I think I trained my eye, figured my taste, sharpened my intuition.  Now I can enter a huge showroom and almost instantly identify what will work there for me, what colors will match what I already have and what can be used.  It used to take time and physical comparison for me  to make those decisions – now I can do it mentally.  This is new and very exciting.  And I own it to White.

That is all I can write about today, just wanted to update those who worry or curious about me  - no time even to post the pictures or proof read (kindly ignore the typos).  I will add some pics later, trying to shot every step of the project.   My paint is drying and the sun is out – must get back to it.

Oh, and I have some deadlines – I try to finish everything before the Thanksgiving dinner and at least the most critical steps till my mom returns from her trip to Russia in three weeks.  My mom is one of the most creative and inventive people I know (which is great) and she will have millions of suggestions (some would be wonderful), but our tastes are too different – hers is more traditional mine is contemporary-modern.  So it will be a war!  No way, I must finish as much as I can!