Well…we’re only days away from putting 2013 to bed, and looking forward to 2014.

And as usual we’ve seen changes in SL’s naturist community, with the arrival and departure of some sims, and the slow evolution of others. And when I say ‘slow’, that’s not meant to be criticism, but praise. I like the fact that some sims -and I’m thinking specifically about Eden Naturopolis here- undertake change in a slow, measured way. So they’ve added Shameless Beach, the Blue Lagoon and, in the run up to Christmas, a (temporary) ice rink. Just the right pace of change! It’s how it would more or less happen in RL, with the development of areas and the expansion of facilities. Shameless and Blue Lagoon do just that, and the ice rink would be something that some locations in RL, New York for example, and probably many Alpine towns, would set up as a focal point for their winter markets. So bravo, yet again, to Brenda and Elbag for their well thought out, and considered, approach to naturism.

If we were running an SL ‘Naturist People of the Year’ Award, I’m guessing they’d win it (again!).

The exciting thing about Eden is that there’s a sense of semi-autonomy in some of the locations dotted around the estate. Blue Lagoon and Teresa’s Naked Dreams are both examples, wonderful examples, of people being able to create something which stamps their own personalities on a build, while remaining true to Eden’s overall ethos.

Su Casa, where the SLN ‘office’ (yes…it’s a laptop at a table outside the lighthouse cafe) is located, remains a favourite for obvious reasons. It’s ‘home’, for a start, and it also has a superb, gentle feel to it, busy but not crowded. I spend ludicrous amounts of time doing SLN out of world, more than being in world, but when I do get some proper SL time, a wander around Su Casa is generally the first action of the day.

Lupe’s is another popular naturist location, and it’s easy to see why thanks to its beautiful, wooded build, and a sense that it’s a labour of love. There’s no sense of it having any commercial intent. It just exists for the enjoyment of others. When I first started in SL there were many sims like that, built just for the sheer hell of it, but the recession killed many of those kinds of builds off, with people belt-tightening in relation to where their disposable income went, so it’s beautiful to see Lupe’s just exist because it can in a glorious woodland setting.

In essence, it has been another vibrant year where SL naturism is involved, a slow evolution rather than revolution. Quietly changing sims, developing sims, people understanding what they’re doing with their sims and doing it brilliantly. There is a ‘hardcore’ of naturist sims now, achieving the sort of level we, SL’s naturists, demand and admire. We wish them all continuing success in 2014.

We hope you’ve enjoyed 2013’s naturism in SL. We hope you’re, like us, looking forward to more of the same in 2014.

Ella

I’m going to be ‘overhauling the decks’ during this time of decking the halls, tra-la-la-la-la….which means the entire year’s photoshoots will be archived. We have literally hundreds of unused photos gathered over the course of 2013, and it’s time that we made some hard-drive space in anticipation of 2014.

It seems a shame to not use some of them, which look fab! So in advance of a clearout, and because many can’t be used except at this time of year, I’ve opted to gather a bunch together, for no other reason than we can. 🙂 No story, nothing holding them together in a theme. Just photos Harry & Diane have taken, sometimes even in their raw state.

For each one published there still remains 99% ‘unpublished’ photos. I’ve sifted through many of them and popped up my own personal favourites. And, note, it demonstrates -not always apparent on the blog- that Harry & Diane don’t just confine themselves to nude photography.

Pookes

A familiar cry from naturists is that it’s a ‘great leveller’, and stripped of the ‘uniform’ of textile life, it’s impossible to differentiate between the judge and the garbage man, the doctor and the unemployed person. You leave those badges of status at the door when you enter into naturism.

SL is no different. Wherever you are in the world, whatever your belief system, whatever nationality, colour, creed, gender, sexual orientation or politics, remember you park all of that at the door when you log into SL.

And to each and every one of you, naturist, textile, SL naturist, RL naturist, the curious and the click-through reader, we’d like to wish each and every one of you a peaceful Christmas, and a prosperous and more importantly healthy New Year.

We’ll try and continue to deliver SLN throughout 2014. We know it’s reasonably popular for a niche blog/mag we’ve never particularly promoted elsewhere, and we’ll hopefully continue to build on the strong support base you’ve provided us with.

It has been my privilege to watch a wonderful staff provide you with entertainment throughout the year on all manner of naturist related activity in SL. They’ve been marvellous, and I would like to thank Diane, Harry, Babs, Pookes and -in particular- Ella for the work they’ve undertaken.

I know that, if you’re like me, SL time is limited. But it’s a wonderful game that allows one to escape the ritual of the working week. I know that my drive home is sometimes lightened by the knowledge that I can escape into a fantasy world and all-year round, all-over tanned virtual naturism. So you cannot begin to comprehend the value I place in the staff’s work on the mag, the different approaches they bring to naturist coverage, and the fact that they’re utilising real life skills, writing, photography and so on, in our virtual world.

May I wish you, and yours, every best wish for the season.

Peace and love,

Howie Lamilton (Publisher)

‘I found this ‘weird laws’ poster online’ says reader Charlotte, ‘and decided I should test the resolve of the pilots out at Eden Naturopolis airport 🙂 ‘.

Thanks Charlotte. It surely looks as though anyone landing out by Eden’s airstrip are going to be distracted.

And woe betide some of the gentlemen of SL if Haddon, New Jersey’s law passes into SL law! 🙂

Oh dear. Femen, who we’ve been critical of before, continue to stage events with the law of diminishing returns much in evidence. The barely even register on the media’s interest scale any longer, and the intent for each becomes more rambling each time.

Under the banner ‘Christmas is Cancelled’, their website carries a faintly comic explanation of what they’re doing.

While I admire, up to a point, the goals they’re trying to achieve, the women in Femen palpably aren’t the ones to achieve this, and are more of a liability to the dream of female emancipation around the world than they are to be the ones achieving liberty for their sisters.

Barbara

I dropped into Shameless Beach last Saturday, during a whistle stop tour of as many SL naturist sims as I have in landmarks, as elsewhere in this issue you’ll find a roundup of current SL naturist locations. And I happened on Kel, still in her ‘noob’ skin and clothes and not much more than 10 minutes old, in SL, by the time I chanced on her.

Kel (left) and Ella (right) at Shameless.

Because it’s Christmas, a time of giving, and because I remember my own first steps in SL all those years ago, when a total stranger gifted me L$250 ‘to get me started’, a gesture I’ve never forgotten, I decided I’d gift Kel my time for a couple of hours, and get her started in the wonderful trip that is SL!

We started at Hush skins, got her to join the group, and fixed up with a lovely looking group gift ‘holiday skin’. And the newb walk? It had to go! In fact, I remember the same words being said to me on one of my first days in SL. It’s probably a fantastic time to join SL, as the numerous hunts and gifts make it possible to sexify (is there such a word?) a new avatar.

And, of course, I pointed Kel in the direction of the Fab Free blog, which covers quite a bit of ‘Under 30 days’ avatar gifts she can check out in her own time. Not to be sniffed at, either, is the SL Daily Wire site, an aggregator of SL blog pages, and links to numerous free, dollarbie and paid items. It’s one I check often. We talked as we sim-hopped, and it turned out Kel’s presence in Shameless wasn’t accidental. A lifelong naturist from a French, naturist family, Kel had just discovered the search facility on her avatar’s dashboard(s) and had done a search for naturist locations in SL. We tried to pick up some hair for Kel at Emo:tions, but the lag was awful, on account of what was their ongoing advent calendar giveaway, so we tp’ed out and headed in the direction of Amacci, where Kel picked up a free hair style, their ‘Adena’ style, free physics, hair bases and a face light, all for L$0. Excellent.

By now, she was also beginning to look less of a newb. After that, it was off to Anne’s Hangout, where we picked up an AO for her at L$0. All beginning to look good now! 🙂 A ‘2014’ cropped tank (L$1) on the marketplace added a bit of style to proceedings, matched up with the inventory ‘girl next door’ jeans, which I still think look terrific, and Kel was now really looking the part.

Of course, one bit of bad luck -Emotions lag- meant that the crowd (and lag) at Truth Hair was less than it usually is, so we picked up some hair Kel liked, and let her try that out. L$245 lighter, and after some tweaking with the shape of her avi, Kel looked great, so we headed back to Shameless for the ‘after’ photo in a ‘before and after’ shoot.

What do you think, Kel?

Kel, happily, was delighted with a look she’d achieved for next to nothing and just a little bit of ‘old hand’ help. I launched a couple of dozen landmarks at her inventory box and bid her farewell, for the time being, knowing that wherever she goes in SL, she’s going to look terrific.

At this time each year I think about ‘changes’, both in RL & SL. Should I go for a radical new RL hairstyle? Should we knock down that old outhouse, full of character, but impossible to heat, and build a new fit for purpose study den? (We’ve been contemplating this change to our real life for about four years now, incidentally).

And I also think about changes to the blog.

The lay out is fine…and you can see a range of recent posts immediately you click your link to us. But should we alter the layout a little? I’d like your thoughts, as I often get irritated when others change their layouts and suddenly it all seems unfamiliar. So I’ll await your thinking on that before I dive in and alter the look and feel of the mag’s layout.

I will, however, be altering the pages as they currently exist. Some things work, some things don’t. So the likelihood is that I’ll be weeding out some things that don’t really have any relevance, streamlining, maybe re-titling pages and so on. Not immediately, these changes are likely to occur towards the end of January, when I have a block of time when I can get stuck into some ‘housekeeping’. But, again, let me know your ideas. We’re always open to your ideas, as it’s your magazine, remember. I don’t get inworld every day, or even every week. Often I can find myself spending the free time I do have working on the blog, as opposed to flitting around SL, but I do get on for a while every couple of weeks, minimum. And then, sometimes, I am inworld every day, even if only for a short time, to check out new locations, events, and so on.

You can leave a message here on the blog, or alternatively IM me.