Who are you?

My friend Achariya posted an entry about how she tends to maintain an association with her real life appearance…With so many creative possibilities and original intentions to explore the world as a furry or dragon, I’m surprised that I’ve tended to stick with a conventional self. I have a folder full of furry avatars but have I pulled them out yet? What you see is what you get – sans wrinkles and a few gray hairs, eyebrows nicely plucked, blue eyes instead of brown depending on mood...hmm...

There are a plethora of phd candidates out there working on theses related to avatar preferences. Who would you choose to be?

Ultimate Frontier

For a tethered-in-real-life adventurer like myself, sl provides ample escape. Privateer Island is vast and fascinating and will ensure carpal tunnel syndrome in my typist. Created by Aley Arai, it’s an environment that includes, in a nutshell, a future earth that has been scorched into a desert, as well as space stations and surprising mysterious portals.

Teleporting there, with my pal Yireh, I found myself on a space station and was asked almost immediately to don a space suit. We hopped into a shuttle and toppled off immediately into an asteroid belt. Though compelled to travel up I navigated down towards a distant outpost and landed gently on one of four docks. The dark starry surroundings and hulking metal structure overhead would have made me feel bleak and lonely if it weren’t for Yireh, who conjures up a sort of Pig Pen swirl of energy wherever he goes. The outpost floats delicately on one leg that serves as the elevator into a series of round pods that balance, erector-set-like.

Our boots echoed along the bracing of the first passage. We opened a heavy door to reveal a most unexpected and beautiful art deco interior. We had reached the “Hotell New California”, a point of respite for the traveler, complete with sleeping nooks and a bathroom. I felt energized and giddy, eager to open every door and to spend time taking in the narrative of the place. Unfortunately, my adventure stopped right there. Yireh, being a bit of a rambunctious fellow, managed to accidentally-on-purpose drop a bomb and got himself banned from the island. Fair enough - Privateer Island deserves utmost respect.

Privateer Island: (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Privateer%20Space/141/127/639)

Next time: chess in Versailles

Fine Craftsmanship

I LOVE the quality of these vintage headphones designed by AM Radio. You can pick up a free pair at The Far Away…they remind me of the enormous pair I used to wear as a teen – listening to Roxy Music and Prefab Sprout while laying on the scratchy burlap-y couch I used to sleep on. Can’t you just feel the soft poofy ear pads? Here I am wearing them as I work on a prim…

Hug it Out

As the snow fell over Caledon my typist found herself shivering in front of her computer screen and hurriedly wrapped me up in a scarf and gloves. It’s odd, those real life feelings that occur when hunched over the keyboard. What a moment it must have been, for those earliest residents of sl, in mid-2004, when the first hug was invented by Francis Chang.

When an avatar is “born” they’re given default clothes, shapes and gestures. This means you end up trotting across the landscape with your fingers splayed like you’re running over hot sand – ‘ouch, ouch, ouch’. Eager to rid myself of the “awkward newbie walk” I made my own animation override (how to here: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-add-animations-to-your-Animation-Override-i/). Now I walk tall, shaking my tail feather elegantly and, when standing, I cross my arms, or puts my hand on a hip, and look intently and coolly at whatever’s in front of me.

My first hug came from my neighbor. He introduced himself – doing a few cat back flips (he’s a neko) and we had a lovely chat. Before he left a dialogue box popped up - “Permission to hug Siri” it asked. I timidly typed “yes” and suddenly I moved gently into the arms of my neighbor who gave me a kindly, head in the armpit hug. I, and my typist, felt warmly welcomed into Second Life.

Course, with all things technological hugs can go wrong…here’s me and Polo trying to hug goodbye…I can only imagine the other guffaws that occur during a more intimate act…for those who engage in virtual love making, as in rl, you’ve got to have a sense of humor…

Read more Au here: http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2004/08/permission_to_h.html

Aural Delights

After spending some time in rl, at work, listening to turn of the century recordings of Nellie Melba and La Nina de los Peines (the Girl of the Combs) I’ve acquired a hankering for my very own table-top Victor-Victrola.

At the same time, in sl I’d been trying to figure out a way to stream music on my land. I fiddled with a transistor radio that I could plug internet radio stations into but the streams hiccupped and the stations I gathered tended to go defunct in a matter of days.

I finally found the most fantastic internet radio service – and it’s in Victrola form! I must plug the Internet Radio V6 by Alvargi Daniels. Not only does it come in this gorgeous Victrola form (the album charmingly spins 'round), its ability to track current streaming radio stations, worldwide and mainly commercial free, is amazing. Type in a subject term like “flamenco” and 50 radio stations that feature flamenco music will pop up for you to choose from. I now tinker at home with fine music to keep me sedate, enervated or entertained. Hurrah!

See: http://www.alvargi.com/ to read more.