If Spanish is the language of Romance.. Then Latin Music is what you want to hear with your Special someone on Valentines Day in Second Life.

Wilson Voight The creator of Spanish language experience at Instituto Español in SL will host this wonderful event featuring Latin artists from all over the world from 2PM to Midnight SLT Feb 14th.

The Spanish language experience at Instituto Español consists of 5 areas of focus: Spanish classes, study groups, practice partners, cultural immersion, and language tourism. Through the magic of Second Life, Instutito Español SL has been created to emulate the intensive immersion experience to what ever extent we can.

It is a mission about cultural exploration. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caribbean%20Sunrise/129/117/24
Submitted by Delinda Dryssen

Love is in the Air - As St. Valentine’s Day approaches, you can feel the love in Second Life.

As I was visiting the Portuguese island of Lisbon in SL, I met a lovely couple, Alvari Decosta and Suky Lemmon who were married just last Friday.

It doesn’t come as a shock to me that romance flourishes in SL, but what interested me most about this fine couple was the fact they married not once, but twice. Once with nothing more than two witnesses, and the second time for a host of friends and the usual party just a few days later.

Alvari being from the Azores off the western coast of Portugal and Suky, a Portuguese native in France, will make it difficult for them to meet in person but that distance doesn’t stop the romance. The couple have a SL family consisting of Alvari’s two daughters and Suky’s one, (V4N Dagger, Clara Latynina, and Kiera respectively) as well as a nice house of their own replete with MIB dogs, Carousel, gifts of love, patio and so much more.

“They are so happy that Alvari made the decor for Valentine’s here at the commerce square to offer to everybody”, says an excited Violeta Yakan, sim manager of Liboa, Portugal. With festivities planned all over SL, Lisboa, Portugal will be having their own St. Valentine parties today and on the 14th. Alvari and Suky and the family will be attending and hoping to see you there. To visit: Lisbon Portugal, Portugal Lisboa (114, 6, 27) - mature
Submitted by Rocket Flasheart

I own a swimming pool design business in Arizona. I design the entire homeowners backyard in 3-D CAD design and can burn a movie of their new yard including swimming pool, spa, gazebos, outdoor kitchens, fireplaces/firepits and patios in a video that shows how their new backyard will look and feel. The key to my success is to always listen to the customer, never think about the money because by doing your best the money will come. Bonnie Langlitz President Lantana Designs, LLC Arizona
Submitted by Bonnie Langlitz

Maria Liberati, former super-model, now celebrity chef, stopped by Athena Isle today, as guest speaker for the Writers Club weekly meeting. She has just launched her second book, The Basic Art of Italian Cooking, available in stores and online at Amazon.

Maria joined members of the Club around its magical table to discuss how the book came about and its format. “it is a recipe novel, not just recipes but stories that are connected with them, stories of my life in Italy and stories that relate to the recipes. Food has a lot of meaning and is connected to so many thing. I could not just write a book with recipes, food has so much more meaning than that.”

Maria talked about learning the traditional way of making cheese and wine on her family’s farm and about her philosophy about learning how to cook without a recipe, to follow your instincts. The recipes and stories take the reader across Italy and its rich culinary history.

Maria talked about the importance of choosing good olive oil and the Slow Food movement in her home country.

These weekly meetings are “a rare chance to talk 1 on 1 with authors”, says Cybergrrl Oh, host and moderator. She adds that she brings “authors and experts into SL on a weekly basis to create these interactive round-table events.”

Maria Liberati learned about the SL Writers Club from her publicity assistant. It also turns out SL is very popular in Europe and Maria was aware that many parts of Rome had been re-created in-world. For a first-timer, Maria got the hang quickly of the chat app and the art and science of moving and sitting.
The full transcript of the chat will be available later this week on the SL Writers Club website at: http://slwritersclub.blogspot.com/ More information about Maria Liberati, her books and cooking products can be found on her website at: http://www.marialiberati.com
Submitted by Maxie Mostel

When E started in SL in July of 2006, her first inkling that she may get involved in a relationship in SL came when she came across a Sim that catered to couples.

Since then, she had two serious relationships before meeting A. He started in SL in March of 2007. He had one relationship prior to E. Both A and E are married to other people in RL and have been for 12 and a half years.

Neither of them are happy in their real life marriage, however, neither of them say they are looking to replace their Real Life Marriage. Having all these things in common maybe what has kept them together so long. Their first year anniversary comes up in May, 2008.

When asked how she would describe her feeling for him she says, “I love him. Even though we keep this in SL, I still feel connected to him and I can say that I do love him. He tells me he loves me too.”

She says they don’t have plans for February 14th as he will be out of town, but they will celebrate by dancing and some alone time at the home they share in SL, after he returns.

Does he she feel she is cheating on her husband?

“That is something that I struggle with at times. Sometimes I do feel that way but then, I haven’t done anything in RL, so its hard to say if it is cheating or not. It is one of those inner struggles that anyone married and in a relationship in RL has to deal with.”

Update: A returned from out of town February 13th and surprised E. The later return date was a rouse to aid in the surprise. He decorated the house for Valentines and they celebrated the day before.

Some say you can’t love someone you can’t touch. This couple touches each other, just not physically.

Pic taken outside the Valentine’s Store.
Submitted by Jim Sella

Invited guests were treated to a fashion show and launch party today for Glam sl magazine, the newest fashion publication to hit the grid.

Created by Minnu Palen, Thora Charron, Onyx LeShelle, and Beauvoir Rousselot, Glam sl aims to “introduce high quality and high end fashion to Second Life”.

The magazine will be available in three formats: PDF, in world, and via the website: http://www.glamworldsl.com/. Visually stunning is a description that comes to mind while viewing the pages.

Much in the style of the recently launched Homme Magazine (http://www.thehommemag.com/), one of Glam sl’s most striking attributes is the sleek, amazing photography.

Images that just pop out at you and make you want to blindly toss in your lindens to have just a smidge of that glossy style… *that* look. After a brief and somewhat uniformative press conference regarding the magazine launch, festivities kicked off with live performance of the beautifully-voiced Eliz Watanabe, followed by a fabulous and extremely well-executed fashion show -featuring 11 designers in all- and wrapping with a party.

Kiosks for the magazine should be available Monday. Minnu Palen and Thora Charron are creators behind MM skins and Glam World. Onyx LeShelle and Beauvoir Rousselot design for Maitreya.
Submitted by Rosie Shark

Ironhide(219,29,23) held its grand opening Friday, February 8 with a live performance by singer Mia Maxsted, pictured center.

It ran smoothly and was well organized. There were many activities and $9000L were slated to give out.
The sim is running on the as yet little used Havoc 4 server.

I asked myself what made this club different than others. My answer came upon meeting and observing the owners in the two hours prior to the opening as well as during the event. Both young entrepreneur owners Criss Bellman (aged 19 pictured right) and DulceRebeca Masala (aged 24- pictured left) managed to stay friendly as well as focused on business prior to and during the event.

Criss’s abilities as DJ and leader combined with Dulce’s vibrant Latina personality and business sense make for a dynamic team. In spite of the immense effort and knowledge necessary to open a club, they made it look easy. Both Criss and Dulce feel that they represent a growing number of younger people in SL.

They want their club to have all types of music and performers. Their focus will be on live performances. New performers and bands are welcome. If you are interested just contact either Criss or Dulce.

Future events include a Valentine’s Day party and there are plans for a carnival in the very near future. Criss and Dulce’s ability to throw a good event, along with their agenda to have varied types of live performances, make this a club to keep an eye on in the events calendar.
Submitted by Deirdre Faulds

Well, will you fall in love in Second Life? From the avatars I have met it is a distinct possibility.

If you profile every one you meet you will be amazed at the amount people that have partners or very, very close friends mentioned in their picks bit of their profiles.

The time differences with such a diverse community poses problems in itself, I recently met a couple who are totally out of each other’s times zones, with one being in Britain and the other being in Australia, yet somehow they have managed to meet and care for each other enough to work out their times together.
Not an easy romance, but it hasn’t put them off.

I spoke to one couple who told me that as soon as they met, they instantly knew that they would be very special to each other. The lady said that her first conversation with her boyfriend had been very polite, as it is when strangers meet, but something in his manner and the way she felt comfortable with him made her feel as if they were already good friends, he agreed saying that he just knew that she was special from day one, he could tell right away that he would enjoy talking to her.

He also realized that they shared the same sense of humor. She went on to say it was not just the fact that they were friendly with each other, it was an instant attraction of personalities, and they both felt this deep emotion overwhelming them.

I asked them if they had been seeking a relationship in Second Life, and they both said they had not intended for it to happen, as they are both married to other people in real life. Both agreed that they had tapped feelings they never knew they were capable of, especially as they had never met in real life.

I met another avatar who had a partner in Second Life and I asked him what he thought about virtual love and why it happens, he said that sometimes people need a relationship in Second Life because it makes them feel part of something meaningful, especially if the person has no real life relationship because of physical, mental or emotional issues.

He had only been with his new partner for a short while, but had been with the previous one for 5 months. It would seem that avatars love lives are exactly the same as real life lovers.

Some fall hopelessly in love, albeit a strange phenomenon in Second Life, with only a linking of minds and pixels, some couples don’t have such deep feelings only a good friendship and the others are in lust rather than in love.

It will be interesting to see, as the virtual world gets older, how many couples have stayed with the same Second Life partner, perhaps some will even reach their virtual golden wedding anniversaries one day.
Submitted by Janey Bracken

There are black women in Second Life, but many don’t reveal it. This makes Lindsay Druart even more unique being a woman, and black, and partner in owning and running several Second Life businesses. These include a bank, a credit union, a brokerage, a credit reporting agency and real estate company.

She originally heard about SL on a RL plane flight, [I] “got into a convo with a guy and he said that some woman was a self-made millionaire in a video game. Ansche Chung….I couldn’t believe it so I had to come in myself to see what the hubbub was about.”

Asked if she suffered any prejudice in SL, she says, “No one realizes I am black until they see my first life pic. I have only experienced one situation of prejudice in SL and I just found the guy to be ignorant.”

Lindsay met her business partner at a club when she attended Trivia Tuesday. “He hired me to host for him and we have been inseparable since.” Lindsay also Role Plays in Dark City and Obsidian City.

Asked how she balances work and play she reports, “Well I do them simultaneously. I run the business in IMs and RP in chat so I would say I spend a great deal on both.”

The L & L Website says that L&L Bank and Trust was founded with the notion to return funds lost in the bankruptcy of Second Life Investment Bank in May 2007. Lindsay says, “We were able to refund about 80% of what was on deposit and most of those people are still customers today because of that.”

What is her vision of Second Life’s future? “I see SL being a bit of a ghost town in a year. Nothing like it is now. Open source and Linden Labs unthoughtful rules will be its demise. It will be a corner stone, yes, but nothing like now. I expect to be running my own grid one day.”

Some non-Linden Lab grids inlcude DeepGrid, OSGrid, OpenlifeGrid and CentralGrid with over 750 regions and more that 10,000 users. LindsayGrid may not be far behind them.
Submitted by Jim Sella

Corey Mitchell first came to Second Life in September, 2005. Like many he was aware of Second Life’s great potential, but he had no clearer goals at first except to make friends and socialize. Then in November, 2006 while wandering around and thinking of the problems faced by some of his friends, Corey entered an empty church and found his calling, which, in his own words was “to reach out to people and use my (journalistic) talents to show the entire world God’s awesome love”. Shortly after this he began working at a magazine where he met Maggie Barkley, the magazine’s webmaster. Maggie and Corey discovered that they had the same beliefs and goals and they began “Wings of Hope”, an SL magazine, with Corey as the CEO and editor, and Maggie as the CEO and webmaster/designer. The first issue came out in February, 2007. Maggie and Corey have big plans for “Wings of Hope”. According to Maggie “Wings of Hope” “has been an SL magazine, but we’ve always dreamed of making it RL. And we published our last SL issue this past month, to finish out (the) year. “Wings of Hope” is an RL company now and we reside in SL. The first RL issue will be published May 1, 2008. The magazine will be a good blend of RL and SL topics and interviews.” The magazine has grown quickly, from an initial staff of 5 or 6 people to 25 currently, with more being hired. Maggie has also given land, and another member of the group, Senior Pastor Sixgin Ayres, has built a home for “Women of Hope” on the Wings of Hope sim. “Women of Hope” is a place for women who in RL are living in or have experienced difficult and abusive situations. Shining Nightfire, the lady who runs the ministry, will be putting excerpts from a book she has written about abuse in “Wings of Hope” magazine. “Wings of Hope” magazine will be available worldwide by subscription. Subscriptions are available either through www.wingsofhope.com ,payment through paypal or in world through dispensers, payment made with lindens. According to Sixgin Ayers the magazine is “full of hope and inspiration for anyone who reads it”. It will also be an interesting example of a business, possibly one of the first, making the leap from SL to RL. For more information contact either Corey Mitchell or Maggie Barkley. Visit the Wings of Hope sim at Wings of Hope 122,139,24
Submitted by Hibiscus Hastings