Hi there!

Barbara here with one of my occasional posts.

I see that Ella has remarked on the need for toleration and mutual respect in recent posts, so it’s worth reminding ourselves that press freedom (including blog freedom?) is important to democracy.

Lapointe & Bastchild currently have a free necklace out (no need to even join the group), which coincides with the four month anniversary of those horrible shootings at the offices of the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris, back in January.

Incorporating a fleur-de-lys, an Eiffel Tower tag and a tricolour (not very visible in the photo) as well as a ‘liberty’ pencil tag in support of Charlie Hebdo, there’s a lot of nice detail to it encapsulating symbols of France as well as the symbolism of one of the central planks of French values: liberte – liberty.

Whoever made this (I think it’s Bastchild Louis, according to the necklace’s details) needs congratulating. It hasn’t simply been thrown together and some thought has gone into its production. I absolutely adore the fact that, as well as the obvious building skill of the designer, who I think is Bastchild Louis, co-owner of Lapointe & Bastchild, there’s a terrific sense of thoughtfulness that has gone into it. Not just in terms of it commemorating the awful events of January, but in how the elements of the necklace essentially symbolise France and its three-headed ‘liberte, egalite, fraternity’ tenets.

Are we here, in SL, to simply shove our avatars around, like pieces in some kind of computer generated chess board? Some people undoubtedly are. Others clearly have a brain at work, and pour their soul, their intelligence, into their creations. This is one example, a particularly good example, of just how human, how engaged and how brilliant some SL users are at what they do. To come across something like this is a joy to behold, as well as reminding us of the important elements of life, of freedom, of humanity.

Barbara