Floating in Second Life

Here are two screen shots showing the kind of stuff I like in Second Life and mostly what I do there: stuff you can't do in First Life. Here I am (as an avatar) in a floating world simulation. Part of the fun is the duck boat that you ride down a slide. At the end of the slide the boat disappears and your avatar falls underwater.

My avatar (wearing a freebie fish head gifted to me at the site)
powering a traveling, floating contraption. Everything is easy here (see
the destination address in the slot at the top of the screen shot).
Just "sit" and you'll find your avatar doing all sorts of things.

My avatar floating in the sky. This trick takes advantage of
the building technique where one side of an object has a
texture and the other side is transparent.

Why be normal or ordinary, indeed!

If you have a membership, you can go directly to Rafts.

Sky 268 - returning

Here's a Second Life sunset sky. Not taken today, but who cares? I don't. I returned to SL today after a very long absence indeed! I discovered I had placed a Christmas/Winter Holiday tree in my house at the beginning of December. Which is how my Christmases go: early December Okay, and then whoosh! It's January. And I'm so glad it is.

I'm very grateful/thankful for the warm weather here in first life. It makes the living easier. Sort of like Second Life where you never have to bathe, repair anything, or worry about maintenance. It was a nice break (the SL visit) as is the warm weather.

From a time when I owned property. This is a strange (even for Second Life) sunset.

You can log in but you can never leave

Bumped! A standard occurrence since I got my free Linden home and land.

I still have a paying account in Second Life (SL) due to the weekly bonus being enough to cover my quarterly dues. I also have a free alternate account and thought that having a paid account stopped all the spurious logouts. I was wrong.

Regional density of my home in Second Life. Every grayed square represents a house.

I availed myself of the free home and land deal which comes with any paid account. I chose an Asian theme thinking that I would be online while most of Asia was offline. I was right about that. What I hadn't realized from the enticing images of free homes is that the homes are packed in. Every square inch of available space is crammed with houses. No yards, no gardens, no public areas – in short, no free space at all. How many 512 parcels can you fit into a region? The Linden answer: too many!

Continental density of my home land. Obviously the servers weren't made for this kind of greed.

The set up process was easy, if a little funky. I had to log in from the email notification and not the online landmark to actually log into my home. However, once at home, it's nearly impossible to leave. 90% of the time when I try to teleport elsewhere I end up logged out. In the few experiments I've conducted, I have been able to teleport if I log back in right away and then teleport. Is this how it's supposed to be? I think not.

If I were a Linden, I'd try to make SL enticing, easy, and fun, not a technological, mystical, unexplainable, frustrating horror.

365: Sky 38 - sky house

Sunset from my sky house in Second Life (2009)

Location: Sandana sky, Second LIfe

When I first moved to Second Life, I rented in a multi-use community. There were glaring hot orange flashing signs as well as sedate homes and private condos. Luckily, I found a very inexpensive sky pavilion which I placed above it all so I could watch the sunset unimpeded. The skies are lovely. Especially moonset which I can't remember having ever seen in first life. The sky went through so many colors and the light shimmered through the spectrum. I only watched that once. Moonset is more difficult to see properly. I'll keep trying, though.

365: Sky 11 - unreal SL skies

This might be cheating, but here are some skies from SL that I captured in my wanderings. None of them was captured today. I might still do that. In which case, there will be two postings for today. Gosh.

Sunset in Promissa over 2000 Meters

Moonrise in Promissa over 2000 Meters

Moonrise over Promissa with flip flop banner

Inspire Space Park, Shinda - Planetary Horizon

0115 - Words and Art

i should check out the thrift stores but usually they are as expensive as an after christmas sale so what's the point? ... the breakfast is one [sic] the stove melting spinach and getting a slight tan on its bottom which really imrproves[sic] the flavor. (2008)

living on or near a beach, say within a mile of the beachfront with public access making a living on my own terms and in my own time using my own schedule low maintenance small domicile. (2009)

Trick Dog triptych (1998)

2003

Early days in Second Life with a default avatar (Gaia Rising, 2008)

0109 - Art and Words

i'm looking forward to building in sl. i'm going to make a shrine with candles and bushes and trees and flowers. i wonder if i can get a bird in there. or birds. that would be nice. how does one make and animate a bird? that would be fabulous. also a cat would be nice. (2008)

Elaine Mumfuzz at the Blue Moon Tavern on Gaia Rising

Untitled 2 (2003)

My Blue Heaven Updated

I've randomly updated my underwater home, Alter Native (on Promissa), a couple of times, since my last report. Most recently removing the shark because together with the squid and the turtle it created weird lag. The turtle, modifiable jellyfish, and squid are the cool ones, so they stay. The glowing plants became tiring and blasé so I removed them all.

There are two additions: a pink tree from Nirvana that waves in the "wind" and Serbiter's brooding black angel - beautifully ridiculous and quietly sublime. I plopped in a few more meditation pads, cuz I'm just a meditation freak and it's much easier to do almost anything when my AV is immobilized. Besides, she needs the sit time.

In a casual way I've been making note of the traffic. It went up when I offered free Pumpkin Cookies during Halloween. It also went up when I planted the pink tree which sticks out above the water. Generally, Mondays are low numbers compared to Wednesdays and Thursdays. Those aren't big numbers, mostly between 30 and 60. I have no plans to take advantage of this data. It's just a curiosity.

Current Fads
Listening. Cruel Sister, Pentangle and Healing Sounds (free download from Sounds True); whooshing of space heater
Watching. Truly, Madly, Deeply (1991)
Activity. writing!
Gadget. iMic
News Source. tweeps I follow
Reading. The Secret Papers of Madame Olivetti - Annie Vanderbilt; Show Me Your Way - Howard A. Addison; Type and Image - Philip B. Meggs; Transforming the Mind - His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Writing. The Pathbreaker Agent

Signs of the Season

Trick ice skating in Second Life. Easy cheesy!

1. 14 and half pages of trustee sales in Style Weekly.
2. Ineffable sadness coupled with irrational exuberance. 
3. Mailbox stuffed with special offers and catalogs. 
4. The urge to hop a plane to someplace warm where I can lay on the beach and have drinks brought to me.
5. The urge to escape to a local pub.
6. Friends disappearing into their families.
7. The appearance of holiday novels.
8. Winter Fest in Second Life.
9. The grinding to a halt of all normal activities and events.
10. The absence of neighbors.

impatient: new moon

Happy Moon Dance

Song of the Night: Dancing in the Dark, Diana Krall
App of the Night: Planets

my blue heaven-in-progress

I have discovered underwater (virtual) living. My little plot in Second Life is water property, which means, that in the normal scope of things when left untended and reverted to its default condition, it is normally underwater. Of course this has no effect on my AV which flies at altitudes of 4,000 meters as well as walking under and on water.

Periodically I have a complete property makeover removing all the objects and rebuilding. I've had beach houses, fields of flowers, a huge temple, and a cozy wilderness hideout.

I was happy to find a ton of editable underwater plants and animals in the SL free library. I've rezzed a bunch of seaweed, jellyfish, a shark, a squid, and a manta ray. My build is beginning to develop a theme.

I like glow. I've been into glow for nearly a year now (which is a lifetime in SL). So my stuff is glowing. I'm searching for comfy underwater cushions for more than one person. So far all I can find is mermaid shells and clams. Right.

Anyway, as noted it doesn't really matter that I am underwater. My wind chimes work just fine here as does the fairy acorn light. If worse comes to worst I can always plant a couple of couches or slap down one of my single prim homemades.

Walking Beneath the Water (Second Life)

Second only to cruising above 2000 m in Second Life is underwater touring. In both places you see residents doing the most personal and unusual stuff.

This underwater garden is my neighbor's parcel. As many do (who prefer not to build at ground level), only a token build is in plain view — a shack on a mini-island. While not a destination listed on the in-world guide, this is a lovely place for a stroll. SL is full of such intriguing local unpublicized places. Always something new to discover.

Virtually New Year's

From the comfort of my computer chair, I was able to watch and participate in three New Year's Eve bashes in Second Life with a bonus round in Farmville. Farmville was cute and I had my own dropping ball and I got a free level up for using it. On the other hand, Second Life was amazing! I suppose it's unfair to think that a static presentation can compete with a dynamic virtual world.

The Lindens put together a 24-hour circle of dropping balls and fireworks. There's nothing like dancing atop the pinnacle of a huge tower while others float around you and fireworks go off. It was wild. I joined the party at the half-way mark, just after London came into 2010. Then I watched The Azores and the Sandwich Islands cross over.

To wind down, I had my own fireworks event at the Blue Moon Tavern (on Gaia Rising) to celebrate the Blue Moon New Year.

I had such an expansive experience. Far better than one little local New Year's. Nice to get the total Earth perspective.

Added 1/4/10: Watch my Island Paradise rocket launch.

Initiating and Celebrating

Inducting newbs with the "Dream Dance" while celebrating NaNoWriMo word count.

Current Fads
Listening. Road to My Dream, Tony Gerber; whirring space heater fan
Watching. When Harry Met Sally (1989)
Activity. writing a novel!
Gadget. iPod Shuffle
News Source. Facebook
Reading. Soul Mates - Thomas Moore; The Ballad of Frankie Silver - Sharyn McCrumb; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J. K. Rowling
Writing. a novel!

In the Land of Ordinary Dreams

Most of my Second Life neighbors have ordinary dreams. Like, to have a cat, or a lover, or an office or a four poster bed, or a big screen tv. Or maybe to own a little seaside fishing business. And then there are those that are not quite so ordinary.

Guest Post: Sortia Snoodle

Hello. My name is Sortia Snoodle. In the mornings I hang out on Reggae Beach in my pink fluffy slippers, sipping latte and jivin' to the groove. In the evenings, I dress up in my best formal gowns and jewelry and trip to the light fantastic at a variety of dance halls where I know some handsome gentleman will ask me to dance. Is this a useless existence? I think not. It is highly amusing and lord knows I need amusement.

I'm tall, dark and lovely with a round curvaceous figure the men adore. It's easy to get picked up for a dance. What's difficult is finding a regular beau to take me dancing every night without the pressing need to actually be in a relationship. Oh, sure. All men love the cuddling and the kissing and the romance. Yes, they do. Men are romantics, too. What they expect to happen after that is the issue. Most men expect me to traipse along with them to some private room or other place and help them, er, get off. Okay. The nicer ones will wrap it in romance and gentleness and wait patiently for me to acquiesce naturally. Ain't gonna happen. I'm not interested in all that. Yet. It's the dance and vaporous promises that I like. The happy state of bliss that comes with finding some one who wants to travel along the same road. That initial state of airy union. That's what I'm after. And thank goodness the goddess has let me do that. I get to run around and enjoy myself without having to work for anything. Except maybe my release from overly zealous men ... and a couple of women. Although, I'm not sure those women were actually women. You don't know unless they tell you.

There has been one special man, Emanon Firecaster. He and I have danced away an entire week. He gave me a beautiful sparkling ring which I never take off. We meet and dance together for hours, kissing and cuddling and whispering sweet nothings to each other. It's divine. I have a terrible feeling, though, that Emanon is waiting for the acquiescence. I'm not really ready yet. I doubt I ever will be. But he is a sweet man and who knows? Maybe something will happen for us. I haven't seen him for four days now, so, as things go around here, our time could very well be over.

Well, gotta run. Time for Reggae Beach!

Shopping for a Waterfall

Why buy a fountain when you can own a waterfall? In Second Life (SL), where you can do and own almost anything, shopping happens on a whole new scale. I rent a little plot which I have decorated with trees, shrubs, torches and a big bowl of lava. Floating upright in the lava are four lit candles. The bowl sits in the middle of circle of a megalithic stones, sort of like Stonehenge. Hey, why not? I do have a fountain and decided the plot would be more "natural" if I had a nice stream or waterfall.

I did find a nice selection at reasonable prices, one included a cave with meditation cushions. I kept looking until I discovered a section of waterfall parts. When saw the parts, I remembered the free SL library full of rocks, stones, water, and scripts. While I much prefer others to make things for me, I decided to make a waterfall, just to make sure it's what I really want. My waterfall is more like a fountain, but I made it myself (except for the decorative Spring Woman plaque) without a lot of heavy lifting and I like it. It'll do for now.