Blowing off steam

I think I was just kicked out of the New Citizen's Institute. I met a bunch of fiesty English gals (or so I suspect) and we began a show and tell, in front of the educational panels posted for newbies, that involved a dancing cow and a pig that sent out jets of pink particles. I wore my steampunk crash helmet and my mate wore a cow on her head. We jumped into a motorized rescue boat with a few Heineken's and next thing I knew I was informed that the sim were in was shutting down...might have been the giant schooner that we rezzed onto the lecture hall. Oops.

Making friends

I'm in a sort of steampunk, suit-wearing, speak-easy phase ... more on that later.

I logged on the other day and was instantly greeted by a friend, Catalina, who invited me to an indie club streaming old favorites like Sonic Youth's Schizophrenia - so welcome after the frantic house or screeching metal you find in most sims. She berated me for not contacting her when I have questions in-world, and I felt like a shy nine year old. When I burbled something about wanting to set up an art gallery Catalina was all action. She said she'd help me find an exhibition space...minutes later she brought me to meet the owner of the sim who showed me the exhibition spaces she had designed, which were New York Chelsea styled spaces. My spastic self waddled after her as she strode confidently in her leather chaps and knee high motorcross boots, leading me towards a potential work space. Somewhere along the way, our lines of communication got tangled. She plonked me down on a tilting hillside so I could get to work on my art (even though I haven't made any in over five years). She misunderstood that I, in fact, wanted to curate, but she was so energized/forceful that I just went with it. I got the feeling there was no room for co-curation here, and that my idea for community-based art wouldn't go down well with her scene. She gave me a hug, told me to "impress her" and left me in this crabby grassed industrial space, much like Heath Street in J.P., so I could "get to work". I felt a little depressed and more annoyed - who says "impress me" to an artist?! A bit later, however, something about her dominance inspired me and I actually thought through a few ideas for drawings...the first rumblings of art making ages...! I'm always drawn to women who act like they're gonna kick my ass.

Particles and hair-dos

Joined the ethnographers of second life and partied in Caledon with a bunch of dark victorians.



Figured out how to shrink the size of my head so I can wear a variety of wigs...any votes? Have to say that I'm not really a shape-shifter. I tried out silver and spikes and thigh highs and chaps, but I'm afraid what you see is what you get. I'm definitely in sl as myself and stick with my traditional Siri look which is hippy rocker chick - check out my motorhead t-shirt!

Spent some time in the particle lab and built a campfire and magic glowing cube. Even made snow but my cloud looked like a transparent blue olive, so got to work on that.


Went to Joseph Cornell exhibition in rl and was so inspired I raced home and pasted together a collage involving a puffin, a supernova and an illustration of the sky above the southern hemisphere. Interested in carrying the idea of Cornell boxes that can be walked through in sl...



Stanford University is working on the "Presence Project" in sl http://presence.stanford.edu:3455/LynnHershman/261. The project attempts to re-animate the existing archive of filmmaker, installation and performance artist Lynn Hershman Leeson. Her records are now housed in the Special Collections Library at Stanford University. "Converting the archive into a digital format of hybrid genre will allow users of the content to dynamically revisit the past while simultaneously expanding the audience for this material". I spent a bit of time in NeWare - the sim dedicated to the project. The collaborators had taken one of Lynn's photographs and rendered it into a 3-dimensional space that you can walk through, changing the perception of the original document...manipulating and reworking the past. I've sent a note to one of the project managers, who happens to be an archaeologist, to see if he'll spend some time with me. This seems to be a reintepretation of the past that traditional archivists work hard to preserve...how is the science of archaeology applied to what is experienced by the viewer as an art installation. http://humanitieslab.stanford.edu/metamedia/463

Day in the Life...

Funhouse ride with my pal Colleen.

Virtual Starry Night (Night Cafe)
Impeach Bush Ball

Crashing the hot air balloon on the way to the Particle Laboratory

Kissing Your Hand...

Visited the Lost Gardens of Apollo, reputed to be one of the most beautiful sites in sl. A number of shops surrounded the teleport pad, selling period costume, masks, short flouncy dresses, giant green Mohawks. Immediately a very large man approached me and complimented my avie. I looked about 14 compared to this guy. I was up for chat so he when he suggested we go explore the gardens I readily followed. I followed him through the air as we passed over a rosy landscape illuminated by perpetual twilight. Glowing white and orange orbs, a bit like fireworks, floated through the air, water glistened below. We lit on a round landing pad, atop an enormous tower, a bit like the Seattle space needle, where we made ourselves comfortable on a velvet pillowed couch overlooking the sunset. I clicked the pose ball and sat with my legs crossed (making my shoe hang casually from my toes, a nice touch) and my mate did the same. The wind blew gently, the sun glowed in front of us. Avies quietly conversed on nearby towers. The fellow IM’d me (“I don’t like talking in front of other people. It’s annoying. No one needs to know what I’m saying to you”). I found out he was from Canada and then in the chat bar he wrote “Kissing your hand”. Nothing happened so I asked him, “Did you just kiss my hand?”
“Yes. And I LOVED it.” Huh? I just sat there while he made love to my inanimate hand.

I’ve learned that the path of seduction in sl, for many, includes a few minutes of romance in a park, on a beach, overlooking ongoing sunsets, some flirtatious chit chat, then a romantic slow dance at one of the many ball rooms and then wham bam to a sex bed equipped with pose balls. So I knew I had to split the scene before this dude locked a sex collar on me. We flew up in the air towards the dance floor, and, though it could have been completely easy to just teleport away and leave the guy in the dust I made a polite escape. You wouldn’t want to leave someone hoping for “romance” all alone on a lonely spikey tower in the metaverse. Or maybe you would?