Skating on the pond

RL proved to be particularly demanding in 2011 which is why I did not post frequently on my blog last year. I wasn’t in SL as much as usual, and when I was in I didn’t feel like exploring or clubbing. Instead I spent whatever SL time I had visiting quietly with a small group of friends. Where would we be without our friends. However, I did have one very big SL change in 2011 which was never recorded here, and it was a wonderful one.  I have a new home at Jamaica Inn.

A few years ago I opened a gallery in Victoriana. It was devoted to 19th Century works of art. Victoriana was the perfect place for my gallery, being a 19th Century themed sim, and I was very happy there. Unfortunately the sim closed down and I was left homeless and gallery-less. I moved a few times after that until finally settling at  Jamaica Inn sometime last spring, where I have been ever since.

My gallery.

This is the first time I have had so much space and so many prims (although not nearly enough). As in RL you grow to fit whatever space you have.  I have had the most fantastic time setting up my sim and playing around with the landscaping. I haven’t graduated to being able to build for myself,  instead shopping around for prefabs and getting gifts from my good friend and now neighbour, Janey Bracken, of things that she has created.

The most important part of the sim is my gallery, of course. I have a beautiful, spacious building, bought from Four Winds, that was so simple to erect that even I could do it.  The artworks look stunning in there.

Looking from the gallery towards the dance pavilion

I also wanted to make my sim into a destination for people to come and have fun. Directly opposite my gallery , next to the ocean, is a dance pavilion. I love to dance and my hope is that people will come with their friends, have a dance and enjoy the sounds of the ocean.

Near to the gallery I have a little conservatory, where my cat Spooky lives. Inside there is a truthball, which can be a hilarious game to play with friends.  And Spooky never tells, so whatever you say in front of him will never be revealed.

Probably the most popular spot on the sim is my Greedy Greedy table. This is a game I discovered a couple of years ago, from friends Brie Janick and Seany1235 Blinker. I have become pretty addicted to it and can often be found playing there with Janey, Ed Follet and Drax Ember. Anyone is welcome to join. It even made it into webspelunker Ghostraven’s 24 hour marathon in SL.

Santa paid a visit

Right now the sim is in winter mode. in late November I had the time of my life decorating for both the winter season and for Christmas. Santa Claus paid a visit, sitting patiently in the gallery waiting to hear from all the good little avatars of SL. He has left for a well deserved holiday now, but it is still possible to go ice skating on the pond next to the conservatory (I cannot tell you how many times I have picked up that ice accidentally) or to go sledding down a very steep hill, next to the gallery (that’s my favourite thing).

Sledding

There is also a horse and carriage that will take you on a tour of my sim and Janey’s, which is next door. I have the feeling that spring is coming soon to the sim, and I have no idea what it will bring.

I'm a Snow Angel

My first party was at The HangOut.

photo courtesy of Janis Short

Janis Short had gone all out with decorations, confetti, signs, balloons, the whole nine yards, it was magical.

Janey Bracken strikes a pose

So magical, in fact, that Ed Follet  floated up to the ceiling,  and danced there.

Ed Follet demonstrates how light on his feet he can be

DJ Cute playing everyone's favourite tunes

Next, I stopped in at the New West End Club.

Vinnie keeping an eye on things

Vinnie the Vulture was looking almost as festive as the crowd on the dancefloor,

Guests in their finest attire welcome in the New Year

who were dressed to the nines and enjoying dj  Cutewillow Carlberg’s music.

Seany1235 Blinker and Brie Janick

Then it was on to the Club Underground, where a fancy dress event was taking place. Seany1235 Blinker and Brie Janick were dressed as clowns, but there was also a Hindu monk, a skeleton, mummy,one of Miss Piggy’s relatives and

haha Artful and Poppy Ling

some very exotically dressed couples.It was all very colourful.

DJ Saffi

I happened to be there just as the New Year arrived in England, and so was treated to a wonderful fireworks display.

Beautiful fireworks ended the evening at the Club Underground

My evening (year) ended at Bogart’s Jazz Club, one of my favourite jazz clubs in SL. I saw in the New Year (this time in the central time zone).

Last stop of the evening

Then it was time for bed.

To me the best thing about being in SL is the opportunity it gives us to meet others from all over the world and learn about different cultures, their similarities, differences, beliefs and customs. For instance I was given a bunch of 12 grapes (uvas in Spanish) by Nahiram Vaniva.

holding my 12 grapes and getting ready to make my wishes

She explained that she was doing this because when midnight arrives you eat one grape and make a wish on each strike of the clock. What a good way to start off the year. Happy New Year everyone!

Happy New Year

One of the first places we discovered was Mo-Cap’s Magical Gym. Did we have a workout, too! We warmed up by trying out some kind of martial arts fighting, which went pretty well, especially considering that neither of us has ever tried doing something like this before.

We then decided to have a go at boxing. Boye first tried out the punching bag and then gave me a few pointers on form and technique. This was very fortunate for me because once he got into the ring I landed a good solid hook, knocking him out.

After Boye had recovered we thought it might be better to try things involving less contact so we went upstairs for some gymnastics and ballet. Here Boye proved to be particularly adept, first with rhythmic gymnastics, leaping and spinning all over without once getting entangled in the ribbons he was clutching. Then, I suspect by error, Boye went over to the barre (perhaps thinking it was the bar) and did some ballet exercises.

We left the gym feeling remarkably none the worse for wear  and continued on to a display devoted to the exploits of Harry Houdini. 

Feeling it was about time to exercise our minds we stopped at an exhibit on the history of printing, appropriately called Printers of the Mind. There were a number of beautifully rendered and functioning printing presses, plus a few very nice gifts. I picked up a really cool hat and Boye took home a copy of the Gutenberg Bible.

It was an energetic and enlightening visit.

Our SL8B neighbour, Chaffro Schoonmaker, drops by for a visit. He has lots of interesting machinima on display

Now that SL8B has opened and we have finished all the work of setting up, we have had a chance to explore a little bit, too. Boye and I took one of the little pods around our part of the site to see what others have done.

Riding around SL8B

One of the places we visited had poseballs set out for acrobatics, so Boye and I gave them a try.

Discovering the acrobatic side to SL

I discovered muscles I never knew I had and Boye showed off an amazing amount of flexibility and courage, since I was tossing him about while wearing stilettos. Ouch!

Showing off my strength

While there we met up with another visitor, Noemi Lyvette, who joined us for a little bit of yoga .

A moment of peace and reflection

She later stopped by for a chat at the MNT site.

Noemi Lyvette visits our site

There is lots to see and do at SL8B. I hope some of you who have followed our blogs will visit us at the Metaverse News Team area. Come share your stories of SL and sign our guest book. See you there!

The conference opened last Thursday, March 17^th, with a keynote address by Botgirl Questi and Fourworlds Ra. It was thought provoking and entertaining, so much so that I have been thinking about their observations on avatar identity ever since. (Botgirl Questi is actually the creation of Fourworlds Ra. You can read more about this at http://fourworlds.com/post/165760644/my-secret-love-affair-with-the-avatar-botgirl-questi#)

Entering into Second Life was a shock to me. I really had no idea what it was about, I had just heard something about a virtual world, and one day when I had nothing else to do I decided to go have a look. I remember those early days with mixed feelings – embarrassment because I was so inept and it seemed that everyone I met knew I was a newbie (and I didn’t know how they knew that!), confusion, excitement, a real sense of discovery. It was exhilarating, too, because in a way I felt as if I was being re-born. I was reminded of all this by the presentation. Fourworlds and Botgirl said that what makes the difference between whether people stay in a virtual world or give up because of the steep learning curve, is finding a helpful person who helps you get through the initial rough patches. This was certainly the case for me, I made friends with a very kind avatar who never laughed at me, even when I walked off bridges, or fell off stairs, or couldn’t fly, or one day put on a hideous skin and then panicked because I did not know how to remove it. Fourworlds and Botgirl could have been telling my story. But gradually I did learn, and I have been in Second Life for over 3 years now, and I’m very glad I stayed.

As for identity, my avatar has developed an identity of her own, although it is intertwined with that of her “typist”.  And, as Fourworlds and Botgirl pointed out, while you can reinvent yourself in RL, the people around you know the “before” person and this will always colour their perceptions. When you enter into a virtual world, no one knows you, and this can be an opportunity to develop other abilities or aspects of yourself that you might not otherwise have done, thereby enriching your life.  I have always wanted to be a writer, but for whatever reasons never followed that path in RL. Since coming into SL writing has become a part of me, and I am beginning to try out other creative activities, building and photography.

The immersive aspect of virtual worlds is what really fosters this kind of growth, but it is also something that is hard to explain to those who have never entered into this kind of environment. So I think sometimes convincing people that valuable educational activities can happen in SL can be a hard sell, particularly when some of the more lurid aspects of virtual worlds are how people first learn about them.

Another “hard sell” is the idea of anonymity. This was raised in the talk, too. In this case, people who are educators working in SL make their RL identities known. But many of the citizens of SL prefer not to do this, and I have seen that there is some friction between the two groups; the “known” group can give the impression of looking down on the “anonymous” group, perhaps somehow implying that the activities carried out by the “anonymous” avatars are less serious or less worthy than theirs. I guess the feeling is that if you insist on remaining anonymous, there is something to hide.

Nevertheless, what a wonderful, fertile ground this is for education.  The transformative aspect of being born into a virtual world is very freeing. It provides the chance to explore, create, discover, solve problems and develop relationships.  And the VWBPE conference highlighted this as well as providing signposts along the way to the future.

The next day I went to a party hosted by Simon Seurat at his home. We all danced together in a field of wildflowers while Simon dj’d. The chat was hilarious  as some of the ladies were waiting (I think, unfortunately, in vain) for Mr. Right to come along.

On Feb. 14^th itself I went to the annual Kiss A Linden event, my first time there.

I was very lucky, getting a kiss or hug from four of Linden Lab’s friendly folk.

Thank you, Brooke, Amanda,

Charlar and Pup!

February 14^th ended at Janis Short’s great club, The HangOut, where it was raining hearts and flowers for the special day. At the end of it all I felt really and truly fortunate to have so many friends. I felt exhausted, too. My poor prim feet!

picture taken at Art Box

On Sunday night Brie Janick and Seany1235 Blinker threw a holiday party at their beautiful home. They live in a lovely tropical sim, so instead of bundling up in the usual winter gear we got to party ‘round the pool in shorts, tees, flip flops, bathing suits  etc. It made a great change and truly felt like we all had a little island escape. How bad can that be?

I had a look around their house while I was there (at Brie’s invitation). The decoration was impeccable, as we have come to expect from Brie. Everything was warm and welcoming. I especially enjoyed were the quotes Brie had posted in all the rooms. One in particular caught my eye – “One cannot collect all the beautiful shells on the beach; one can collect only a few, and they are more beautiful if they are few”.  A few years ago I was fortunate enough to visit Australia. While I was there I visited a place called Glenelg Beach and brought back a few shells which are now on display in a shadow box in my living room.  Glenelg is about as far away as you can get from where I live, and when I look at those shells I think back to that wonderful day and how perfect life was at that moment. There are only four shells, out of all the shells that were on the beach, but how much those four little shells mean to me, not just the happiness of a moment now past but also the promise of more to come in the future, even when it is least expected and in the smallest and most ordinary circumstances.

Limbo Dance - note that I do not spill my drink

Later on in the evening Brie played “Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol. This has always been a popular song with the people who were at the party. As the song played one person said that they were singing along in RL. Others added that they were, too. I certainly was. It was a moment when people spread across the globe were sharing friendship, quietly joined together while so far apart,  and it was very touching. This was another “shell” to add to my collection.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Best Wishes for 2011. xxx

Thank goodness moving in SL is not the trial that it is in RL, particularly for me as I don’t have a complex sim to move. I haven’t had a chance to landscape my new place yet, so I have that to look forward to.

Speaking of landscaping and building, I have done a little bit since first becoming a landowner, although not as much as I would like. And of course, whenever trying something new, things don’t always go quite the way one would expect. I had a funny little accident in my conservatory.  I have bought quite a few of my plants at Martie’s Elegant Plants. The owner, Martie Heron, very kindly gave me a hibiscus plant.  I decided it needed to be potted and I happened to have a notecard in my inventory describing how to link a plant and a pot. I have no idea where or when I picked this up, but there it was. So I went about trying to link the plant, but instead of it ending up in the pot I linked it to the conservatory floor. No problem, I thought, just unlink. So I unlinked it and then linked it to the pot.  I was very pleased with myself. (I know, I’m pathetic). Then a few days later I noticed that the grass was coming through the conservatory floor, so I went to move the conservatory a bit, not having a lawn mower, and that was when I discovered that I had unlinked the whole thing. However, I was able to fix it. Live and learn. Torley has his how-to videos, I have my how-not-to blog.  

There have been lots of great times at the New West End Club . Lately they have been staging theme nights, and they have been spectacular.  We have had, amongst others, Angels and Devils night, Bride and Groom night and Western Night, which was also my rez day. To be honest, I had forgotten my rez day, so it was such a big surprise and thrill for me to see “Happy Rez Day Hibs” signs all over the club. Janey Bracken had created the picture, a beautiful collage, Janey is so talented at doing collages for all occasions, Brie Janick made the wanted poster, Brie and Corolla Corobase were the dj’s , and Clive Hissop had decorated the club.  Clive does a wonderful job at creating the decor for the theme nights at the club.  And in case we want to relive them all, Roberto Highfield has been doing videos of many of the different parties held at the NWEC, including my rez. To see Roberto’s videos you can visit his flickr site at http://www.flickr.com/photos/31969140@N06/.

I was so touched by my rez day party, I am indeed blessed to have met such wonderful people in SL. Thanks to all. xxx

On my walk around Whitechapel I also discovered a lovely ginger cat sitting outside the church. His name is Tiger and he was sitting on top of a fence post, keeping an eye on the comings and goings in the area. I mentioned Tiger to Boye, who, like me, is a cat lover, and the next day he gave me another kitten from the same litter.  I was so thrilled! We decided to name him “Spooky”, in honour of Spooks.   My little Spooky is the sweetest thing; he sits by my chair in the conservatory where he has a great view of the bird feeder. Janey came over later and we sat out there chatting, listening to the birds and keeping an eye on Spooky.  How fortunate I feel to have such a beautiful place to spend time with my friends.

If you would like to have your own cat you can find them here, at the shop of seu Ahn.