Author: J.M. Hardin

My favorite #PhotoOfTheDay sites

August 24, 2019

I haven’t written much on this site because I’ve been concentrating mostly on the site I created for Nanci’s Naughties, my Second Life store. If you follow me on Twitter you know there has been some good news lately that I need to post here.

Something else you may know from Twitter is that I have some websites that I hit every day for a Photo of the Day rotation, and I wanted to share them with everyone here so you can have a place to find my list if you find you want to join me in checking out some pretty pictures every day.

I originally found these sites thanks to the Photo of the Day widget created for KDE 4 on Linux. The widget doesn’t work anymore since I upgraded my laptop to KDE 5 on SolydK Linux but I have a page of links I created for my start page so I can continue checking them out every day.

The first site is the Astronomy Photo of the Day. If you love looking up at the stars you need to visit this site often, and they even make it easy for folks who follow them on Twitter.

Next comes Steve’s Digicams with their Photo of the Day contest. Every day you get a picture from around the world. I use a slideshow of photos I find online as my desktop wallpaper (I generally have my laptop busy too often to set up a screensaver) and there are a lot of photos from Steve’s contest in the mix. I could also include them in a screensaver but my laptop is in use so often that I don’t use a screensaver.

Another great compilation comes from National Geographic, but that shouldn’t surprise anyone. NatGeo is known for their gorgeous photography, and their Your Shot program is the source for another folder of amazing photos in my wallpaper rotation. They also have the pictures in their NatGeo Photography Twitter stream, giving you another reason to follow them.

A site that used to be in the app is Wikimedia Commons, but a change to their site broke their part of the KDE app a couple of years ago. They make it easy to check a month worth of pictures, and one of these days I need to get in the habit of checking their site often again.

A non-photo site to hit daily

There’s another site I hit every day, but not to see pretty pictures. FreeKibble.com was created by a then 11-yeard old Mimi Ausland as a way to provide food to animals in shelters. Simply answering fun, one-question quizzes about dogs and cats provides ten pieces of kibble to our furry friends, and there’s even a way to provide litter for the kitties. My bookmark starts with the kitty quiz, and after feeding the felines I provide them with some litter I give the doggos some food, too. Plus you get to learn a little something about our furry friends. It doesn’t cost me a dime, just a little time, and they regularly have double days where you can double the amount of food you provide without doing anything extra.

Mimi recently launched a new site, Free The Ocean, to help clear our oceans of plastic. Every day answering the quiz helps remove one piece of plastic from the ocean. Yeah, it’s not much, but as I write this, people on the site have helped remove over 77,000 pieces of plastic from our oceans. And I’ve learned a little more about the planet I live on, which is always a good thing.

Do you have a Photo of the Day site that you check often? Let me know in the comments and help us all find more beauty to add to our lives.

Comfort food from my days at summer camp

March 16, 2019
Camp Windywood at the Fontainebleau State Park in Mandeville, LA.

Updated 22 April to finally add a picture of the egg placed into your ring of bread. I’m sorry it took so long to get added.

When I was a kid my mom was a single mother, and my brother sister and I lived with our grandparents. Since my grandmother was a Girl Scout leader known as Cappy that meant every summer until I was old enough to be left behind I got packed off to Camp Windywood. Being a tween-aged boy I wasn’t thrilled with having to go to Girl Scout camp every summer, although now I wish I had been able to enjoy more of it. Back then I was a city kid who hadn’t fallen in love with being able to get out in the woods from time to time like I do now.

One thing I always enjoyed about going to camp was cooking on buddy burners, and the way we cooked fried eggs was so tasty that I still cook eggs that way 40 years later and refer to them as camp-style eggs.

more “Comfort food from my days at summer camp” …

My SL neighborhood’s getting crowded

February 26, 2019

I’ve been off SL a bit since getting teeth pulled on Friday but I logged on today to get caught up on some things and found something interesting when I looked across the street from my house.

So much for being in a nice, quiet neighborhood

I don’t mind getting more neighbors, but with four new homes across the street, there will definitely be more demand on my local server. I hope that doesn’t cause a problem for my store, which is right next door to my house.

My house and store in the Oppeano region of Second Life

Luckily I use vendors for my store rather than putting each individual tee on the wall so it keeps the server load down.

Speaking of my store, there’s now a site exclusively for my store, and it’s a great place to see what I’m doing with the store. If you haven’t checked out my Nanci’s Naughties site yet you should definitely pay it a visit.

Success! Again!

January 9, 2019

Back in April, I wrote that my hormone therapy was doing a good job of changing my body, but when I took my weekly measurements yesterday I got some pleasant surprises, including one I wasn’t sure I’d see.

more “Success! Again!” …

This site has a new identity

January 2, 2019

As you probably noticed the site is no longer called Words from an Author. This is because I haven’t been doing much writing in a while and it felt wrong to have a site about my writing that isn’t getting written.

The site is now a more general site as I look at both my real life and my adventures in the virtual world Second Life (SL). You’ll still see my updates about life as a trans woman, but I’ll probably be posting more about SL. You can still find my ebooks in the menu at the top of the page, and who knows, there may be an addition to my books at some point.

I’ve also changed the theme for the site, and I may change it again if I find a theme I like better. What won’t change? The URL for the site. It’ll still be jmhardinwrites.wordpress.com. I hope you stick around.

New Year, New SL Digs

January 2, 2019

In addition to buying a new motorcycle, I decided I’d start the new year by getting new land in Second Life so I have the room to use the Novatech Smith II Console Room. I’d prefer to use either the Capaldi version of the room or Jody Whitaker’s new TARDIS, but neither are available for Novatech’s Type 100 TARDIS as of yet. I could use it on my land in Gilum, but I don’t have the prim allotment to use it and a house. (My land in Gilum is for sale, and at what I feel are pretty reasonable prices. I’ll add SLURLs below in case you’re interested.)

The new land is a pair of parcels in Oppeano so I have almost 900 prims available, and it’s right on SL Route 12 so I can ride my motorcycle easily. I tried flattening the land, but my new Key West house from InVerse would either have land poking up in the back or I’d have to rotate the house, which I really didn’t want to have to do. The property faces south, so I’ll get the morning sun in the windows. Between buying the land and buying my new house someone bought the parcel directly to the east of mine, but once I finished setting up my house and finished dinner they realized someone was actually going to use the two parcels west of them and abandoned the property. (Sorry!)

I was going to put a driveway between my house and Temple North, the property to the west of mine, but I couldn’t get it to work very well. Luckily I discovered I have access to the highway on the east side of my property.

The inside of my new house is even nicer than my previous house. Unfortunately, my felines won’t be able to climb the stairs so access to the bedroom and bathroom are all mine. I ended up parking the TARDIS in my entryway, but I may move it to the living room if adding a room to the TARDIS needs more space on my parcel. Directly opposite the TARDIS is a cute fireplace with some plants beside it. There’s no chimney, which I think is an interesting design decision, but I can turn it off if I don’t want to use it.

The sofa’s not much to look at, but I have a free TV to watch once I find something to program into the set. I’m guessing the columns on either side of the TV are cabinets, but I can’t see how to open them so they’re just decoration. It’s ok because they’re pretty just like they are.

At the top of the stairs is my bedroom, complete with a tub behind a screen. I may have to either darken the windows completely when I get in the tub or either put another screen between the tub and window or put up some curtains. I’m not sure how often folks use Temple North but I’d hate to give them a free peep show. The pictures so far have the windows on the Mid Opacity setting, but I realized I needed to turn off opacity completely for the next pictures.

This is the view form my headboard, and you can see how nice the view can be through that big window on the front of the house.

If I move to the railing you can see there’s water not far from my house, and you can see it even better from my front door.

It turns out the beach is just a short flight to abandoned beachfront property in Quilassito, the next region to the south of Oppeano. I may keep my eyes peeled for when it goes on sale or up for auction, but I may just install my pool on the current property.

As I said earlier, I’m selling my two parcels in Gilum since I no longer need them. The smaller parcel on the left is 512 ㎡ and I’m asking L$1500. The parcel on the right is 1024 ㎡ and is L$3000. The property to the left and right is owned by other people so they may want to buy my land when they realize it’s for sale. (When I get notified that either or both parcels have been bought I’ll edit this post to reflect the change.)

If you’re in Second Life feel free to give me a shout. My avatar’s name is Nanci Barthelmess and I’d love to hear from you.

Purry Catmas!

December 24, 2018

I don’t have a picture of Eliza and me for a Catmas card picture but I was able to take a picture of my Second Life avatar and my in-world kitteh for a card so I wanted to share it with everyone.

Purry Catmas from Nanci and Eliza!

For those curious, here are the credits on what everything is. Where possible I provide a link to the item in the SL Marketplace. Otherwise, I’ll provide a link to the in-world store the first time I mention the developer.

I hope everyone has a safe, happy, and love-filled Catmas/Christmas or whatever it is that you celebrate at the end of a year. Just remember, even if you celebrate the holiday all by your lonesome, whether by choice or because your circumstances require it, you are one hell of a creature, and you’re important because nobody else in the world is YOU!

Exploring in Second Life

July 15, 2018

Nanci with Eliza in the Firestorm Dew ForestToday there was a party for users of the Firestorm Second Life viewer and afterward, I did some exploring of Firestorm’s sims. Joining me was Eliza, my new feline from We Love Pets. This Eliza is a tuxedo kitteh just like the Eliza stuffed animal I have in my RL home. I’d originally named this kitteh Sarah Jane, but I realized that my RL Eliza is a tuxedo cat, not a black cat, so I swapped their names.

The picture doesn't do these waterfalls justiceWe started off in the Firestorm Dow Forest, where we found these beautiful waterfalls. The picture doesn’t do the view justice, and a little farther down the path, we found a nice place to just sit, chillax, and enjoy the view for a bit.

Chillaxing by the waterfallsI know I should probably make Eliza a little bigger, but it seems her size changes between being on my shoulder and being on the ground. Yes, where the landowners allow it I can set Eliza down and she’ll explore the area. I can even set a distance so she never gets too far away. I can also change the color of her collar, and I can change her sunglasses to coordinate with my wardrobe. I can even take them off her completely, but I love having my cool kitteh. Her future’s so bright, and all that.

Firestorm Dow Forest - A kickin' padI shared this picture on Twitter because it’s such a great shot. I don’t see the old woman who lives here with her gaggle of little ones, but of course, she’s a grown-up flower child. But can we get a cobbler out here? Her home could use some TLC.

Firestorm Dow Forest - Firestorm Remembers 1I found a great memorial to some of Firestorm’s support team members. I had to ask in the Firestorm Support channel in SL but I love that there’s this area for people to find. I’ll post more pictures in the slideshow below.

Firestorm Dow Forest - Is it real or is it SLAs I walked around the sim I saw this island, and if you didn’t know it’s all code you might think it’s a real place somewhere. I love how the clouds reflect off the water. I considered changing the atmosphere settings, but it looks so good why mess with it, right?

The abandoned carnival at Firestorm Ghost Town. Wheeeeee!I also came across the ghost town with its abandoned carnival. Unlike most ghost towns, though. all the games still work, including the swing. I’m really glad Eliza doesn’t get motion sickness. That would have gotten messy in a hurry.

Firestorm Ghost Town Outer Limits - You Will Eat BurgersI have one more picture from our excursion because I saw this sign and had to take a picture. How well it knows me, right? This girl loves her burgers, although she usually just cooks one a week. There are so many other things to cook each week, you know?

I wandered around a bit but I know there is still a lot more to explore. One of these days Eliza and I will pop back over again some time now that I know some of what’s here. You can use a teleport board to move around, but I really like walking around. It reminds me of the days I’ve spent walking around the Franklin Park Wilderness.

Am I a crazy cat lady yet?

July 11, 2018

In addition to my stuffed kitteh at home, I had gotten a feline for my home in Second Life (mine is black, but I can’t find it on the marketplace now), but I was recently told about the kittens over at Jian and I love the little darlings! Not only can I rez more than one, but I have one that will follow me wherever I go. The one thing I don’t have just yet is a shoulder kitteh, but I’m looking for one.

At the suggestion of a friend in SL, I took a picture of me and my babies to hang in my SL home. Of course, I had to post it online so I can share it with folks not on SL.

Am I a crazy cat lady yet?

In the front are Coco, Clara, and a shark cat bed with two kittehs who aren’t named (they are part of the bed, alas). In the back are Eliza (who looks like a bear in this picture), my SL avatar Nanci, and my companion kitteh. Clara is usually upstairs on my second floor but I brought her downstairs for the picture. The companion kitteh doesn’t have a name yet, but I’ll have to name her soon so I can introduce her as she explores Second Life with me. The companion kitteh has a name! She is now Sarah Jane, as in Sarah Jane Smith, the journalist who traveled with our favorite Gallifreyan. She makes the second kitteh named after one of the Doctor’s companion because Clara is named for Clara Oswin Oswald.

For the record, and for those who don’t remember, Eliza is named for Eliza Schuyler Hamilton as played in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton by Phillipa Soo (and several others). Coco isn’t so much named for anyone, but one of my friends on Dodgers Twitter is Coco, and she recently lost her longtime canine companion so her name was available in my mind, as was the name of the Oscar-winning Disney/Pixar movie.

Updated 10:25 pm: I’ve changed my companion kitteh. I like the kitteh following me around, but I want a cat I can carry in my arms, or better yet wear as a shoulder cat. I found the Kitty AIO UnLeashed cat on the Second Life Marketplace. I now present the new Sarah Jane.

Nanci with Sarah Jane

She has several poses she uses, including one upside down (silly cat), and she can also dance and do flips! If she’s on my arm I can pet her, but she purrs quite a bit on my shoulder, in fact, I’ve had to turn down her volume because she’s been so loud in my ear.

I may have to replace my Jian cats with other cats like Sarah Jane, but I need to think about that. One annoying thing about the Jian cats is that they walk through the walls of my house and I keep getting errors that I can’t rez objects there.

Updated 13 July: Silly me realized the Eliza in my RL flat is a tuxedo cat, not a solid black cat, so I’ve swapped the names for Eliza and Sarah Jane. In the picture of my kitties above, the cat at my knees is now Sarah Jane and the companion cat to the right of me is now Eliza. Sorry, girls!