“Time doth flit; oh shit.”~  Dorothy Parker

I hate the blogs that start out “Sorry I have been so busy so I missed posting.” So I won’t say that. What I will say is that I have taken a new job in RL, my kid started school, the dog ate some grapes (who knew they were dangerous?), etc etc. Time doth flit!

The SOS Festival is almost over, and I wanted to make a personal remark on their charity of choice. I agreed to be the blogger liaison for the Festival because Doctors Without Borders/Medicines Sans Frontieres is such an important organization in many ways. They bring medical aid to areas where it’s most needed—places like Syria and Afghanistan, yes, but also places like Cote d’Ivoire, Italy, Haiti, and North Korea. The concept of “without borders” is the idea that the organization and medical workers make no decisions about politics, religion, gender, ethnicity—their service is neutral and impartial and not supported financially by any state actors.

A friend of mine in SL was a nurse who had done missions for Medicines Sans Frontieres several times. His latest assignment was in Mauritania, a country he described as almost middle ages in its technology and society. He was there simply to provide vaccines to children and adults—a pretty benign task. However, he had to have guards with him at all times to ensure his safety. In order to volunteer, he needed to obtain time off from his employer—a large European medical hospital—and since he was head of his department—a very large ICU–he needed to make sure things were in place during his absence. Therefore, his volunteered time involved a complicated set of negotiations as well as his own safety—all to make sure children and adults got shots we routinely get at checkup in the West.

I think it’s important to consider the people being helped, of course. But also imagine the many medical workers who volunteer for these positions and they time they donate. When you donate, you are giving money to help organize and provide supplies for these doctors, nurses, and other medical personnel. They are giving their very valuable time. It’s so little for us to purchase a pretty dress to supply them with the medications, supplies and logistics they need to help people.

When I became liaison, I asked the SOS organizers quite pointedly how they were managing the donations they received for this fund raiser. I get a little nervous about donations going through grid citizens as they can potentially be misappropriated in so many ways and I want to know my full donation is going directly to the organization. I was assured that monies were going directly to Doctors without Borders, and indeed, I spoke to the liaison they have at the New York office of Doctors Without Borders. (On Skype—the real person!) He was enthusiastic about the fund raiser and pretty stoked to have his avatar dressed up by the ladies organizing the event. Know this: the money is going DIRECTLY to Doctors Without Borders without any intervention except the cost to cash out via Lindex. No one is claiming a tax deduction, skimming an amount for their services or otherwise touching the donations. The designers’ vendors flip donations immediately over to the MSF avatar, which is solely controlled by the liaison in New York. You can’t get much cleaner than that.

When I saw the dress Alaska Metropolitan had made for the SOS Festival, I was pretty impressed. All monies collected for the sale of this dress (in several color ways including a special one-off auction dress) are being given directly to Doctors Without Borders. That’s a mighty big sacrifice on Alaska’s part because this dress is a sexy-classic mesh piece and great fitting on many body types. It’s the kind of dress that every girl should have in her inventory as it’s sexy, fashionable, and practical all at once. Wear it around the grid, wear it dancing, wear it to a date—it makes the grade. Thanks, Alaska, for this awesome donation!

I was able to match it up with sexy shoes by Celena Galli for Shiny Shabby that include a versatile HUD that let me color portions of the shoe to my liking so I could match them perfectly to the dress. AvaGardner Kungler is offering another of her exquisite jewelry pieces at Shiny Shabby this month, a necklace with dangling gems.

My applier is one of Inka Mexicola’s looks for her gacha at Kustom 9. I love the brows, which are fuller, and the expressive eye makeup. I admit I tinted up the pink lipstick a little more using the HUD for the Catwa Destiny head, and I used the hairbase as well so I had a nice line with my ponytail from Liza Broono for this month’s Hairology.

Hair: #Foxy – Fyre by Liza Broono for #Foxy, available at Hairology *

Skin applier: #10 Essences [ImaniM02] by Inka Mexicola for Essences, available at Kustom9 *

Mesh head:CATWA HEAD Destiny V4.9 by Catwa Clip for CATWA *

Eyes: [theSkinnery] Palermo Eyes 8 by Umazuma Metaluna for [theSkinnery], available at the Ultra Event *

Mesh Body: Maitreya Mesh Body – Lara V3.5 by Onyx LeShelle for Maitreya

Dress: alaskametro<3 “Grace” leather dress – blush/cream Maitreya by Alaska Metropolitan for AlaskaMetro, available at the SOS Festival*

Necklace: (Kunglers) Lakshmi necklace – Quartz by AvaGardner Kungler for Kunglers Extra, available at Shiny Shabby *

Nails: Hello Dave – Nail Appliers – Lavender Ice by Maia Gasparini for Hello Dave!

Shoes: PHEDORA / Abby heels / Maitreya by Celena Galli for PHEDORA, available at Shiny Shabby *

Poses by Valencia Southard for Marukin