What's in a name?

I have been asked a lot over the years, in many different media, what the name "Amodtha" means, and where it comes from. 

I have long been interested in Germanic and Norse Mythology and a few years ago I came across this name while trying to find a name for a new puppy I had gotten. I thought it was beautiful and meaningful, and so she was called Moda. 

I found the name on the Viking Answer Lady page, as she has excellent etymological break downs of names.

Here's the break down of "Amodtha".

Ámóða - The etymology of the first element Á- is uncertain, as it may come from several possible origins: < *ana-, the intensive first element, "all"; < *anu- "ancestor, forefather"; or from < *az- "point, edge" or "anxiety, fear". The second element is a weak side-form of -móð, from Germanic *-móðó, which becomes OW.Norse -móðr, "temprament; wrath; courage". A runic example occurs in the nominative case as omuþa. A short form of feminine names in -móð is Moda.

I liked this name so much that I couldn't just keep it as my dog's name - I began to use it for online gaming, as well, as I wanted the names of my avatars to be meaningful and express something that I admire. I wanted them to have strong, powerful names.

Needless to say, that is why in Second Life, my avatar is "Amodtha Barineaux" or "Moda" for short.

I obviously tweaked the spelling a bit, but the sound is the same. I did this because most English speakers won't recognize the symbol "ð" and the consonant string "dth" is a good representation of the sound that symbol signifies. It's a hard "th" like in "bathe" or "scathe".

I hope you all enjoyed the explanation! 

See you in-world :)

Moda!

Purple Moon Gown

I finally got this gown from Purple Moon that I have been dying to have ^_^

BEHOLD!

It's gorgeous ^^

Free Dresses from Dashwood

Hello everyone ^^

 I just wanted to show you a couple of dresses I got for free at Dashwood :)

I got them from the Lucky Chairs they have in-store.

Dashwood also has free group gifts ^^ And a beautiful selection of both casual and formal dresses.

Visit Dashwood in-world:
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Coconut%20Beach/52/49/21

December Update

Alright! So like I said, a lot has been happening.

Moda got a not haircut, short, and I feel like it suits both me and her a lot better, personality-wise.

It has been really interesting to follow her progression and find exactly what feels right to me, being the person behind the avatar. I feel like she is beginning to be a great virtual representation of me.

Obviously I am still trying to figure out what my RL/SL boundaries are - what do I want to bring from my RL into my SL and vice versa?

This boundary is constantly evolving for me at the moment.

What else?

I made a really good friend ^^ We hang out all the time and I have a room in her house. Her name is Cherri and I guess we have sort of become SL sisters :P

Here's a picture of us :))

I have also been doing a lot of shopping, as you can tell. Well - freebie shopping ^^ haha. I have recently discovered the magical universe of group gifts and promos in-world and on the marketplace.

Got any places you love to get freebies from? Any good group gifts? Let me know! :D I'll try to share information as well ^^

To update or not to update

Okay...

So I have not been updating my blog lately, this is obvious. Why?

So much has happened so fast and I feel like I should update you guys on everything! But more and more keeps piling up and it just doesn't seem to be happening. I am buried in should-be updates.

So here's what I've decided. I'm just going to begin doing updates again from now on, and possibly back track for some other updates in the future.

I am still working on a response to another blog post wrote, Second Life: An Ethnography on Freedom in a Virtual World, and hopefully I will finish it soon - if I can find the motivation :P

So here we go!

You should be hearing more from me ^^

New Look

Okay...

So a lot of stuff has happened lately that I really need to catch you guys up on.

One thing that has changed about my SL is Moda's appearance.

A more detailed post will be coming about recent developments in Moda's life. However, I wanted to throw a few pics out there and ask for some opinions :)

So. First, Moda went from this:

 To this:

 Then, I edited her face yesterday and changed her eye color and this is the result:

What do you guys think?

2nd or 3rd option? ^^