Walk a Mile in My Shoes - EB Benefit a Huge Success

I am making this post a bit late, but it's very important to me ...


The last week of October is National Epidermolysis Bullosa Awareness week. In order to help raise awareness for this relatively rare skin disease, a series of events were held the weekend of October 27-28. On Saturday night Trinity and Nala brought their wildly popular Trinala show to the Musical Alchemy event pavilion. On Sunday, three live performers - all dear friends of mine - delighted us with hours wonderful music. Grace and Lyndon opened, followed by hours of DJ music, with gifts and prizes generously donated by friends. And finally, Kyle Beltran took us into the wee hours of the night with his eclectic mix of jazz piano and vocals.

The events were a huge success. An estimated 500 people came out and received information on EB, and its devastating effects on children and families. We raised more than $1100 which was donated to two EB charities!

I would like to encourage you to find out more about EB by visiting the following web pages. I can't imagine a more difficult genetic disorder to have, and these kids could really use some help. Please consider visiting these web sites:

• EB Medical Research Foundation (EBMRF)
• The Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa Research Association of America (DebRA)

I would like to thank everybody who contributed to making the Walk a Mile in My Shoes - EB Benefit a huge success. Thank you to the performers and the DJs, thank you to the sponsors, and thank you to every one that came, donated, and learned a little bit about how devasting EB can be. I would like to extend a special thank-you to Grace McDunnough, Lyndon Heart and Kyle Beltran for their wonderful musical performances and heart to help the cause, and to Joslyn Bonetto and Miriam Antonelli for Djing the main event. Thank you to Trinity Serpentine and Nala Galatea for bringing Trinala to my place and helping us raise awareness and money. Thank you also to Fizzy, Mash Mandala, Rebel Hope and Cocoanut Ice for so generously donating prizes. And finally, thank you to my dear and sweet friend Caeleigh Lamington - for first teaching me about EB, and then for giving me an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of some hurting children and families.

Thank you everybody ... I love you from the bottom of my heart!

Now As Seen on TV :)

I got a message yesterday from my dear friend Baccara. She wanted to tell me that my piano had been featured on TV, in a CBS story about Second Life! She said I was a "star" now :) Well, Baccara is very sweet, but sometimes she is incredibly silly. This is an absolutely amazing piece about her, and about how SL can help those with disabilities. Baccara is an incredible woman, and has been an inspiration to me, and to so many others in Second Life. Her passion for SL, and her creativity and generous spirit, can teach us all a few things. I encourage you to watch this piece. I believe this may be the best media coverage SL has ever had, and it's all that much more exciting to see a friend featured. Oh and yes, if you watch until the very end you will see Baccara playing a custom piano I made for her and Mash. :)

Congratulations Baccara!

Watch it here!

3rd Book Mention :)

My grand piano has been featured in a third book about Second Life! I was standing in Barnes and Nobel a few days ago, and saw a new book on SL. Flipping though the pages, I was delighted to see my piano. What a string of luck for me :)

Musical Alchemy Piano on Book Cover!

My brother called me from Barnes and Nobel yesterday. He was looking at the new books section and found a book on SL called the Unofficial Tourists' Guide to Second Life. He offered to buy it for me, but I didn't really want it ....

Then he said, "Hey, there is somebody playing your piano on the back cover!" Needless to say, I had him buy me the book. What an honor and a thrill to be included on the back cover of this book ... I just wanted to share my excitement with you :)

Musical Alchemy Featured in a Japanese Book!

Occasionally I search Google for my own name, or for the name of my stores, to see what, if anything, is being written about me and my products. Whether this is personal vanity, paranoia, or a genuine desire to get feedback on my products, I will let you decide. :)

I am always delighted when I find my creations mentioned, blogged, reviewed, photographed or podcasted. But I am always surprised to find myself on non-English pages. I really shouldn't be: at least one third of the people that visit my store do not speak English yet I have done a very poor job making my products accessible to those that speak other languages.

For example, on this page, Hanepin - to the best of my ability to translate the page, seems to have lost her piano due to a server glitch, and because she does not speak English, she never contacted me. She seems to be very sad that she has lost her piano. I will send her a new piano tonight.

A couple of months ago, I walked into my store and found two people speaking Japanese. One of them was able to speak English and she explained that she had found my piano because it is featured in a book, in Japan, about Second Life. Knowing that I would not be able to find this book here in the United States, she was kind enough to scan the page featuring my piano and sent it to me, in-world.



I had never imagined that my name, or one of my products might appear in any book, and least of all a book in Japan. This was a big thrill for me. In fact, I think I have a yen to order this book :)

I have finally launched my own blog :)

After years of procrastinating, I have finally decided to launch my own blog. The newest version of my Musical Alchemy Concert Grand Piano (to be released shortly) now has a menu selection that will automatically launch this blog in an external browser window. It is my intention to use my blog to talk mostly about my stores and my products. But I will occasionally find reasons to pose my thoughts about things in Second Life, or in real life, that I find interesting.

Thank you so much for visiting. Please feel free to comment, or send me an email.