Some comments in reference to my last post have gotten me thinking. Maybe people have missed the point about this blog. Maybe it's not what they thought it was. I can't imagine what people thought a blog called "Digital Dish IMVU News and Gossip" would be about if not the obvious [or what I thought was the obvious].

On several occasions since I started this blog on June 30th, I have made a lot of very personal references to several developers. I've talked about people like Thovarex, DarkAngel5, Hot4Krissy, Lollirot and some others - some of it good, some bad. I make a point of making sure that if I am going to say something negative, I'm fair about it. I state only the facts of what happened and I always post exact quotes. I made a promise to myself when I started this and I have kept to that promise. I also always make sure that if I am going to say something not especially kind, I'm sure to say something positive as well.

My last post is no exception. I had plenty of kind words to put in the post. But this is also a gossip column about things going on in our community. I was bound to post something that specifically happened to me at some point. It interests me that people were outraged that I'd post something personal to myself. But that's okay. I don't understand it, but I'll accept it.

To quote an Anonymous poster, "I think you should stop bashing people on here. Or people will mistake you for Perez Hilton."

Sorry. I hate to break it to you, but this blog was started with Perez Hilton very much in mind. I'm not gay. I don't have orange hair. I didn't get punched by Will I Am's body guards... but I am a very open minded [and open-mouthed] person. Do I plan to be as ruthless? Goodness no. I'd like to think I'm not that mean. Unlike Perez Hilton, I have a soul. Unlike him, I don't just make jabs at people and things because I can. I make exact references. I post the quoted words spewed forth by the community. I don't just throw stuff up here and call it journalism.

Since all of the negative comments were left anonymously, I have no idea who all is hurt by my last post. So, I can't speak with any of you about it or apologize on a more personal level. So this is all I can offer: I apologize to those of you who were either shocked, outraged, upset or anything else negative because of my last post. I thought I'd made it clear what this blog was about. If I didn't, then that's my own fault.

I'm not sorry for the post itself. I stated the facts. Did I let myself be a little biased? Well, yes. But I thought I'd made it clear that that's what this blog was about. Wait... I know I did. Check out the About section directly to your right and read it [or just read below].

Welcome to my IMVU News Blog. Get up to date and totally biased news on what's happening in our IMVU community from me! I dish it out - from the community wide changes to the small time drama.

One again, I apologize to those I hurt - including Terror. But I stand by my decision to make the post as well as my point of view.

See the Digital Dish Girl in this image? She was made by Terror. She's pretty nice and I'm happy with the piece. The cost was steep - 10,000 credits. But I'm a fairly generous developer and I didn't mind the cost because I wanted the piece done practically immediately. I was anxious and it was a pretty big piece.

The image is also used on the Digital Dish homepage - and again, Terror is credited for the artwork.

And this is the avatar picture I used for a whole month after I got married. The avatar image within the picture was also done by Terror. He did a good job on the enhancements. The hair was... different but hey, it's a heck of a lot better than I can do. Again, cost was steep - another 10,000 credits. But again, I'm generous and I was really excited about the piece.

The piece was used only as an avatar image [as shown] and as a temporary display filler for the icons I am selling. So Terror was never credited anywhere except for my file sale thread Virtual Virtuosities where Terror points out that the image I'm using was created by him.

And then I needed another piece of avatar art - this time to be used on my new product pages and home page. It was pretty important to me and I spent hours playing dress up and digging through my hundreds of poses to pick out just the right one. I made my decision and took the picture. But I needed an artist yet again.

Of course being that I like Terror's enhancements, he would have been the natural choice based on work alone. But his work ethic is pretty flaky. If you scroll down to the bottom of this website, you will see that Terror is clearly noted for his artwork on this website. And I also did a nice Blog Post for him in recognition of his work. This wasn't good enough for him. Okay, no problem! I offered him ad space for FREE and FOREVER and asked that he provide me with the banner needed and I would link it wherever he wanted. Didn't get the banner. But yet he went on to do the wedding artwork for me.

So a friend talked with me about the artwork I needed and I mentioned that I wouldn't pay 10,000 credits again. Let's face it - I really don't have a lot of money and I knew if I shopped around, I could have easily found someone to do it for less. But this friend gave me 5,000 credits so I would use Terror's services again. So I took the money and gave it to Terror in exchange for more artwork on July 31st.

I told him I needed the piece "in about a week" because I wasn't in a huge hurry. I was still working with the lovely Jspunkette on the coding so I didn't need the piece immediately. Being that he already did two pieces of work, I assumed he understood what we were doing, but I explained it anyways. But then the work in progress (WIP) I got from him had the arms completely removed [he told me he "didn't like the arms so he removed them"] and the hair drawn from the edge of the canvas - rather than pasting the image into a new, larger canvas where he's have plenty of room to draw it. I complained of course - it needed to be done correctly and I'd already paid.

On August 5th, he showed me the completed image. I agreed to it and asked it be sent. He offered to send both the PNG and the PSD file to me. On August 6th, I messaged him asking for the transparent image. I knew the piece was done, so I didn't feel bad about reminding him for it. But then days passed. On August 10th, I reminded him that I had paid him and needed to be sent the artwork. Again, I knew the piece was done, so I didn't understand why I was still waiting for it. No biggie - we all forget or have lives. He finally sent it to me.

Now, the agreement was that in exchange for the image, he would get 10,000 credits from me as well as recognition for doing the work on the pages the image appeared (as I specifically stated - my home page and product pages). I specifically wrote to him...

"There is going to be a sort of ad space for the digital-dish ads and I still need an image for you to put there. There will be another thank you section where you will be. Eh it's hard to explain. lol You'll see."

Well I haven't finished the thank you section yet. In fact, I was working on it before I got a nasty message from Terror, complaining yet again. And I already reminded him about the banner for the ad space [which he decided today he doesn't want because apparently he's too good for an ad reel where other people's banners will cycle through]. I promised him he'd get the shout out he deserves.

So here it is Terror. I have linked this blog to your name a total of eleven times in this post. It's seen daily by hundreds of people. Is this good enough for you? Don't worry - I'll make sure you get what I promised you. I don't go back on my word. I'm sorry if I didn't work fast enough for your liking but funny thing - it took many days for me to get my artwork from you and I didn't complain. I wasn't threatening to you nor rude.

Enjoy your moment in the spotlight. And for those who think this post is rude - well, I'm just telling it like it is. This blog is about IMVU news and gossip - and my point of view.

Special thanks to Terror for helping complete the look of this website with his gorgeous avatar art! He's a very talented developer and artist and he did a great job helping me capture the look and feel I was aiming for on this blog.