Artistic Fimicoloud

Our dear dear friend Fimi has passed ...

While we fight away our tears, let's remember that Fimi was an inspiration, a true fighter, who touched everyone with her ability to enjoy life and have fun during these last precious years, and her work and her ideas will live on.

The following words are from her poem Arms Open Wide, which she read at the ACS dedication ceremony last year.

"For I walk hand in hand with that which life
Has dealt me, thanking the universe for every step I take.
Where once I stood in fear and terror
Of not knowing what life would bring,
Now I stand arms open wide."

Hugs
Poppy

The Sojourner is off line

I have just been to light a candle for The Sojourner, who sadly passed away at the weekend.

The dictionary definition of a sojourner is "a temporary resident". Well, "Soj", as we knew her, certainly made a difference during her sojourn in Second Life. We are already making history in SL. And Soj's name deserves to be writ large in that history. Soj, who was a multiple stroke survivor, was the founder of Dreams, and organized the Dreams Community Fairs ... SL cancer survivors held a panel discussion about support groups in SL at the third Dreams Fair in April this year.

The many tributes to "Soj"

My thoughts go out to her husband and son.

Here are a few of the growing number of tributes on the web:

In memory of The Sojourner (Amalthea Blanc)http://www.flickr.com/photos/tealthea/2523597470/

The Sojourner's Last Voyage (Gwynneth Llewellyn)
http://gwynethllewelyn.net/2008/05/26/the-sojourners-last-voyage/

The Sojourner Has Died (Polysilox)
http://www.koinup.com/Polysilox/work/37328/

Tribute to Fimi

I had some sad news this weekend. Artistic (Fimi) Fimicoloud - the feisty little pink fox in Second Life and the artist Stephanie Koslow in real life - is facing her last journey. Friends of Fimi have been gathering all weekend to wish her strength, to celebrate her life, and to leave tributes at her gallery in Second Life.



Readers of this blog will remember that Fimi --- a metastatic breast cancer survivor --- was one of the first speakers in our survivor-led 'Fighting Spirit" sessions on ACS island and her talk was an inspiration to us all. See: Art from the Heart . And she has also been an active member of SL's Cancer Survivors and of the Relay For Life of Second Life team Passionate Redheads.

A mutual friend, Rob Chandrayaan, has made a moving tribute to Fimi on his blog. See: Rob's Blog.

Poppy goes into a flat spin and comes last ...

On Sunday May 17 I took part in my very first Great Snail Race --- proceeds to benefit Relay For Life of Second Life. The race was organized by Racerx (Bunny) Gullwing, and it was the third race this year to benefit RFL.

I was up against the 'big brass' of RFL of SL --- our Event Chair, Fayandria Foley, our Teams Chair, Tayzia Abattoir, and May Rosebud, who is heading up the new Meeters and Greeters team on ACS island. And another survivor friend, LadyKay Gable. In all, 42 snails took to the road, which crosses 42 sims!

Snails lining up for the start

Despite practicing hard and terrorizing the inhabitants of Azure, my skills are still very rudimentary. When the start gun went off I found myself going off the road and it took forever to get back on, by which time the other snails had an impressive lead.

Poppy meets King Kong

The road is full of treacherous "potholes" and at one time I fell right through a bridge, but with a little help from Fay who tp'd me back onto to the road and to Racer for redirecting me when I lost my way I managed to keep in the race.

Where did that bridge go to?

Not far from the finish line my snail went into a flat spin, and while I was sorting myself out Fay and LadyKay both finished. I walked right through the finish line without touching it, and promptly fell into another hole. While I was straightening myself out May Rosebud came up and finished, so I finally finished last! I don't have any pictures unfortunately, I was too busy trying to straighten up! But you can see the whole race, including my flat spin, on http://slcn.tv/relay-life-giant-snail-race-may.