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31 January 2005

 
Finally had my hair cut by my beloved haircutters. They had to change my last appointment then I cancelled the changed-to date because I was sick. It has taken me weeks to reschedule. Had jin shin. Went groceritisationing AGAIN. Damned food.



30 January 2005

 
Went and had dinner at BCP with D + E. I missed her last time she was out here, so I was glad to avoid all the bad "might be the last time I could see her but I missed it" kind of thing. A friend called me about web updates and asked me how she could change her store password. I went to the site and said, "Go here, click this, etc." but when she asked me if I'd do it I responded, "No." After all, it's simple and something she should know. She asked her son to do it and he made the store access by password only, which defeats the purpose of its very existence. I found out and emailed her about it, and she responded that no wonder she had had no new orders. This was yesterday and today.

9 Attachment(s) The Old Gas Station is a project of ahkenatan Grommet.



29 January 2005

 
Went to Project Entropia to see the new continent. Had a hell of a time downloading the new patch - but it finally worked. There are a lot of new UI features that confuse me since I first have to remember how I did things before this patch. It was business as usual with people standing around selling things like sweat, lyst, and Pixie shins. What a boring waste of time. The world is pretty, though, and I reckon I'll just run around trying to avoid being killed and looking at the landscape. And avoiding 30-foot-tall spiders. Other monsters I don't mind too much.


An island off the coast of this continent sold recently to a 22-year-old Aussie for $26,500USD. I have to go back -- I mistakenly thought he'd bought the entire continent.




28 January 2005

 

Got a spur-of-the-moment urge and went to Montmartre (artist colony sim) and raced as a giant snail. I got stuck for ages then came from behind and won the race and fireworks went off and I won money and a cool RacerX airship. Bunny took this snap and sent it to me. Crossing the finish line!




 

Made a 7-question quiz and put it in the virtual world by a clickable sign. It's just the first test. Saw the kids, too, and Alan couldn't enter WHL again like yesterday. Alina was there (at Cornell) yesterday but offered no fix. I'll probably get in trouble for this, but I reckoned that account must've been removed from an access list, so I found the access/build lists and added him. And now it's fine but I'm sure Rich will come down on my head like a ton of bricks next week.

Used an Aussie program for the quiz - maybe there's a similar one here... maybe that thing the Bureau was involved in does this... can't remember, actually... I made things for it but I don't think I could use them, or there was no way to use them. Hmmm...

Had an email telling me the online indicator of mine from SimCast had been returned, so I went there to see what the deal was. Sim testing. Talked to Grim, who is v. nice. Talked to PT later when I sent him a folder with a many-part clothing set for the Kao'ans. I asked him to give it to them, as the Kao'ans are being helpful alpha testers and all-around-useful-and-loyal-helpers. Besides, I like the Kao'ans.



27 January 2005

 
Figured out how to run tiny animation movies on the picture boards inside Wa He Lut's virtual world. Made two for Taters, as he's the one who was bugging me about it. It's cool - he calls me Osprey and assumes I can figure anything out. One is a WHL sports filmstrip and the other is a stick man waving and holding up a sign. There's a lot we can do - I don't know why most of the worlds are so tediously boring. I am looking into the idea of an online quiz for visitors to the world.


 


 
The AT&T building always pops into my head when I hear something about Philip Johnson. He never seemed, to me, as old as he was -- and now he's dead at age 98. Architects don't age, to me -- I have no clue why that is. The buildings age.

Got home, made coffee and ate smoked salmon. Worked on part 2 of a freelance thing. Meeting the children at 2:10 inside our world, as usual. I always say "See you tomorrow," and now the children don't say, "Are you coming tomorrow?" They know I am talking about in the virtual world. I should go and take a nap. Or something.

I told tater how to change colors of rocks using hex codes -- he picks up on things quickly. I think maybe I want Josiah to go around putting rocks in appropriate spots, so maybe I'll have to have tater re-color the rocks since J isn't my student and I will have difficulty getting hold of him let alone explaining. Right now we have four boys and one girl - I think slug will drop it though, which is unfortunate.



26 January 2005

 

Pretty sunset just now. Went to school - no, no change in the storage closet because the person who has to move the things hasn't done it yet. Hooked up the scanner and camera cradle (had Tiff crawling about on the floor). Worked with Vincent who is drawing something to be scanned/colored then who knows. Made him go inworld to Wa He Lut so I could assign him work for tomorrow. He and Alan (his protege) are to put water in the riverbed. I got Shavela straightened out and assigned her a job planting trees. I made Hal login and change the name/pass so Alan can have that account. Then she finished coloring her drawing that will be put on a T shirt among various uses. No Gabe, unfortunately. Spoke briefly with Michael. Bought some smoked salmon. Came home and drank a lot of water, and now I have to finish a freelance job. Oh - and the CD from the school photographer that contains 79 pictures isn't a mistake. I will have to take pictures on everyone :(((((



25 January 2005

 
Through the miracle of Con's cell phone I spoke with Deborah yesterday and learned: she had arrived Sunday night and slept on E's floor, and she's here for two weeks.

I've been tired and easily annoyed, and my jin shin man tells me it's Anger Time for the next 7 weeks.

A package was just delivered and I thought it would be Photoshop 8 and a stack of DVD-Rs for me but it wasn't.

Have a few freelance things, plus my CTUNI Wa He Lut world time with students today. I need to think about my next outfit, too.

Either Blogger is acting strangely or Firefox is acting strangely or maybe my computer is acting strangely... publishing is hit or miss. Among a few minor things.

I sent out an email from Hotmail asking people to stop using that address and use the gmail one since I hardly ever check the Hotmail one now. It's been a long time that I've had both, but I am trying to wean people from the old one. Everyone responded to Hotmail. sigh... Plus Ken has some incredibly complex and strange anti-spam thing that probably means I'll never hear from him again. Well, everyone EXCEPT my uncle, who had told me several years ago that he was no longer going to keep his address so I'd never sent anything to him after that. It was a miracle that I sent this ... "It is nice to hear from you after all this time."





24 January 2005

 

Made this Sunday-Monday. Very tired for some reason, so it took me longer than I expected.



23 January 2005

 
Got my mail which included a packet of carrot seeds that the insurance company sent me. The world is a very strange place. A packet of carrot seeds. From a health insurance company. I feel vaguely sorry for all the seeds that will be chucked in the wastepaper basket. Seeds are amazing things that contain the ability to spring to life in the correct conditions. We should respect seeds. I wonder if I could grow carrots in my wastepaper basket. First I'll have to get one. They must've chosen carrot seeds as those are incredibly tiny. Sowers bulk up the seed mass by adding sand. Otherwise the seeds would be gone in a second, all into about 2 square inches. Have I hit it yet? I mean the reason why I was sent carrot seeds? Organic wastepaper basket-grown carrots for juicing?

Alan, I saw Parrot Island was listed so I went and had a look last night. Incredible. It reminded me of Green Island and Magnetic Island (in Queensland).


 
Email from Anj detailing their December. Caitlin has graduated from first grade and gone up to second grade. Anj also said this:

"Middle of the night...date unknown: Ryan was having a shocker of a night with a cold so I gave him some medicine and went to bed with him in the spare room. I put him down and thought I saw a movement on the wall, but I wasn't sure so I turned off the light and lay down. My mind got ticking and I decided I'd better get up and check. I discovered a massive huntsman sitting just behind the head board on Ryan's side. Thank goodness I got up to check...and who knows how long it had been there to start with. I am reluctant to say this, but, there I was at 3 in the morning murdering this spider with a fly swat. And I'd do it again!!!"

Deborah is due to fly from Phila to Seattle, but the flight was canceled due to snow. RacerDave just rang me to find out how to get hold of D+R. I gave their home number which may or may not be where they are since their plan was to spend the night near the airport. R just got laid off after working for a company since the 1960s. He had been sent to various places to set up plants for the company, and was a knowledgeable and experienced employee. I can't write more without swearing.



22 January 2005

 
Made more clothes. Went to Bedford sim, which is now very appealingly built up with hobbit holes and light-colored buildings. Had our Saturday meeting, which was sparsely attended it seems. After I said I didn't want to make an entire line of clothing and decide later I should've made then "no mod" I was annoyed by one fellow who said "You already did." Perhaps I should've specifically said, "I don't want to make an entire line of clothes for SimCast and decide later I should've made them no mod." He was referring to my DarkLife clothes, which are mod - however more experienced designers than I say that making things mod leaves them open to texture theft. I don't know - I learn new things every day, but there's only one chance to protect things and that's before the "mod" clothes are released. They can be changed later. Permissions are a troublesome SL thing. I preferred to make them mod for DarkLife, so it's hard for me to argue strongly for no mod, however sometimes one needs to listen to people who have had a lot of experience. I was going to look at clothes inworld, which I never do, but haven't had a chance.

I heard yesterday morning that Gravity is closing tomorrow. I IMed Dreams and learned where she'll be DJing. I later went to Gravity and hung out with some regulars for Dreams' last night. She had found out not long before I read it on the forums. Sad, and not an honorable way to be treated. I liked to go there and hang while working in Photoshop. Music and company, which I sometimes like.

Saw my first chainmail design from DarkLife on the Bedazzled website.



21 January 2005

 
I made this today:

It's made out of feathers. I found pictures of crow feathers and made various size/angle/proportion brushes from them.


 

Ordered a Photoshop upgrade to v.8, received info and updated Bevy website,* no Marilee as they are out of truck fuel, but she said Portland Art Museum has invited them to exhibit. Received a postcard in the mail of a commission I did many moons ago for a gallery. They didn't like it at the time and didn't pay me until, six months later, I told them to deduct 40 per cent. It was all of, like, 200 to begin with, but anyway, I am happy because now they like it and it's been used a couple of times as color gallery mailings. It was super nice to receive the happy wishes from the gallery owner on the hot-off-the-press card! Commissions were always hard for me. I did one that I thought wasn't good, then when I saw it again ten years later it had miraculously become very, very nice. There's no live-in period to commissions as they go out the door before the paint hardens.
*that I made for them


 
Another pretty day in front of me.


I'm waiting for Marilee who is coming at 1-ish so we can beat on some aspect of something I'm doing for her. My jin shin man just rang - keeping track of me. E has been calling me almost every day, and she tells me about her cooking experiments. She's the only DS person I've ever heard of who invents recipes and uses them to cook dinner. She told me that a woman at her work is moving to Utah because of divorce. I told her Samantha was from Utah, and it took her a minute before she remembered Samantha at all. I had also explained earlier in the week about Dr. Martin Luther King and why there is a holiday. Looper is headed into her last-ever chemo for ms, as she's reached the point at which they decide further treatments will cause heart damage. I haven't heard back yet from the freelance job.



20 January 2005

 



19 January 2005

 
I got home from work ten minutes ago. My room is now the old clay room, and I'm actually quite happy. Jon came in and told me the sacred things in the storage room are to be moved tomorrow, which is a bonus. I was disconcerted today that droves of people were flitting into and out of my room because of that storage place -- so if the things are moved and I have that space available I am 100% pleased. Rosanne had stayed late yesterday and worked on arranging the things that had been brought over - the bulk of what we possess. I came in and said I'd thought about it and 1) I needed everything of mine out of that room and into the clay room today, 2) I wasn't giving up any keys until all my things were transferred, 3) it is good if things are a big, crowded mess at first because that's the truth -- I am moving into a smaller room and there's no point having everything look great because half my things were thrown out. Someone coming in should be able to see that, instead of thinking, "Looks great! She must not've needed all that room." At least for this week. I worked with Jos, Vincent, Gabe, Hal, Maureen, and undertook a petition to support Alan's entry into the CTUNI world. Erika came in to ask me if I was angry that she quit the group - no, no. She's madly overextended anyway. Halisa quit, too, which is fine. I'd spent last week explaining it all to her, but she'd rather draw and I can't fault that. Vincent worked on his car in class, and Gabe has been assigned the sports yearbook page. I want him to come up with a heading that will incorporate some of the ideas used in his chocolate bar advertisement (he photographed his hand then erased everything else and "held" a drawing he'd made of a chocolate bar, adding text and a filtered background).
Tiff was there and helped after school by finding garbage recetacles, moving thins around.
It's far too long to go without eating or drinking, however, as I realised driving home.



18 January 2005

 
Made 2 dresses.

Yesterday I ran into Trimda of Spitoonie Island - I'd IMed him a while ago as Enjah said the bungee jump was broken. It's still broken. He might fix it now. I went there and the lag was horrific, but I rode around on the roller coaster.


 
So far I've made 21 outfits - well, 17 outfits and 4 robes I suppose. I've reached the stage now with SimCast where I spend all night asleep designing outfits. I wake up with almost fully-formed ideas.

So much for Week One.

I also had a custom job to do which was hideously time-consuming, so I must have the extreme speed right now. (A custom job and the support-porno issue, which used time but was never resolved since no one ever got back to me.) I started doing a few custom jobs because it cranked my superpowers up another notch since I was forced to do things I never would've chosen to do -- things that are extremely hard within the Second Life templates. However, I think I'm beyond it now -- hard to believe I started making things in about August. My typical DL sale goes like this: someone buys one outfit. They put it on and see what it looks like and immediately buy four or five more. It's gratifying but I think it will stop once SC starts selling.



17 January 2005

 
In a mind-bending juxtaposition I'd like to offer these two screenshots. The first was taken about Day 2 in July 04. Os can be seen hovering above the green belly.

The other shot is from this weekend. That same giant - same size - can be seen in the box under the little table towards the desk.


 
Hey Alan, where is Parrot Island now? I went to Luo but no dice - and you'd said Kim was building a new house... Her builds are awesome.

I made two robes for SimCast yesterday. One is an experimental fur coat -- had to reduce the highlighting by removing the white, putting a layer beneath that layer, and adding white to my satisfaction. Looks a bit like a walnut robe. But was funnish to make. Today I just made vendor pictures that I hope will be all right. I couldn't re-use the cut-out pictures because I make my textures square (re-proportion them on the prim). Textures work better at 512, 256, 128, etc. but these needed to be in proportion as the vendor uses the unchanged picture, and Ifelt like 512 was too big and 256 was too small.

On a related note the logo for the rl job was sent to me - 73K and aslant on a fuzzy sign. I asked if there was a bigger file-size picture and was sent one that's 37K. And the same picture just higher saturation if I'm not mistaken. It will probably be 17K if they send me another.

Raining like billy-o when I went to jin shin. As I approached the Otis its doors sprang open unbidden. When Frank asked me how I was I therefore told him I was in command of the universe. Went groceritisating for a few minutes after jin-shin.

Rosanne called me yesterday and said my room has been changed -- good, I reckon. Change is akin to life, and acceptance of it is spiritually ... uh... spiritually good. Besides, the other room almost killed me. B<3 style="font-style: italic;">save everything myself. We are up against a rule of physics here, but perhaps a little winnowing will lessen the problem.

My press is in there. I was worried about that (well - concerned, not exactly worried).

Damn, too late to call Montrose about tomorrow in CTCUNI. I should go in there and cogitate. Damn, damn, damn.



16 January 2005

 
Made two robes for SimCast.

The shapes of things is so weird -- the front is ok, but the back is smaller and I have to counter the distortion by distorting it a lot in a concave way. The arms have to have the texture squashed as they stretch it - the top more than the bottom half. Getting the top to match up with the skirt layer is hard - plus I never want to upload things just to "see." I'm being reimbursed for my texture uploads (about 100 to date) but that doesn't mean I should get sloppy.
Went to the weekly meeting which was very interesting as the things people are doing are very cool. Started setting up my shop a bit, with small cutout figures to show the clothes. I put up 13 figures but I still have four at least that I haven't put there yet. At least five - a wizard, one chainmail, Celtic woman, Viking woman, and the last robe I made today. We met in Midgard as SimCast sim had just crashed, logging us all out. We were cast into Fuschia upon relogging.

I am sitting next to Mystic who's wearing a DarkLife outfit, across from PT who's wearing one I made for SimCast.

My shop is the green one.
I went to look at Bedford with Yadni but just as I was saying something to him he disappeared so I went back to my shop to work. Bedford is now a very dreamy, watery landscape with a walled city. The city isn't there yet but the walls are. Midgard is also very different.

I watched Run, Lola, Run just now. It was fairly good.

Yesterday I joined screenshots of Wa He Lut world together and sent it to Montrose. It's 20x20 squares - just big enough I reckon. I built a mountain, and we need the entire watershed for our display.



14 January 2005

 
Um.

Worked on another chainmail warrior. I want to do the evil version today. I had seen several days ago a nasty eye-drawing slot machine that'd been placed near my Gallery in Bodega and looked at the owner's and land owner's profiles. Different people or who knows, as the new player might be an alt. I gnashed my teeth, but today I saw in the forums that a new player has been littering the world with slot machines, so I IMed the owner of the property. She had no idea the slot machine was there and is using the ground merely to aggregate more prims in Bolinas - so she's not going to build. This is very nice.

I'm doing a large laundry. There's always been a bag near the dryer for lint, but I've never used it as I stick lint in my pocket and carry it away. The traditions and beliefs of humans are time-based, apparently, as people move in and out and never touch the bag (to which they've been adding lint) as they think it's a bag that is used by both floors, and not their responsibility. This has become a hobby now. Hobbies: Watching the lint bag. I wonder if there's old, old lint in there from the last millenium. If carbon under pressure becomes a diamond, what would happen if lint built up for years until it compressed under its own weight? Lint + pressure = what? chipboard? I'm bypassing felt since it's not compressed enough. Fluff + pressure = lint. Lint + pressure = papermoney? I was going to say paper but there's a frisson to "papermoney" that mere "paper" lacks.



13 January 2005

 
Jin Shin this morning. Then had to do some freelance file switching and posted the new format to the web so the customer could get it. Worked 89 million hours making clothes for SimCast. I have to spend some time cleaning up my files on my computer and inside SL as it's getting clogged with things I've made. I made I kinky warrior with a chain of skulls across his chest, some wizards... I explained to PT that I see the job as a pyramid -- at the bottom being things that might be worn by 100 players, while the further up one goes the more exclusive the designs get. I want to take care of the broad base first and worry about the custom jobs last. Transferred 5 files to PT. I want to make a different chainmail set. I should make some robe-sorts of things... I'm less interested in making dresses at this point as they seem closer up the pyramid, but I did see a rather pretty design with an underskirt that I might like to make.



12 January 2005

 
Went to Wa He Lut. No room change yet. Got out of hand by borrowing Josiah without permission but at least I got the boys working in the "action" part of the edit window and they made their spaceships (ha!) move around and experimented with the commands, which is about all I could want, at this point. Have Maureen starting the Eighth Grade yearbook page, strangely enough since she's not my student. Hal is working on scanning/layering/coloring drawings. Came home, had a nap :) went in Photoshop to make clothes and SL to upload the files. Transferred 10 outfits to PT.



11 January 2005

 
Second Life instituted some changes today that seem good to me. They are trying to curb the virtual inflation, give less rewards to empty-headed events (best male and female red outfit wins $250 Lindens!), and address the stupid rating system that has always seemed annoying to me. Now they are only supporting educational events (providing money for them), rates cost $25 L so rating to increase your ratings-based weekly bonus won't exist anymore, and dropping bonuses by 50 %. It's good -- the Linden had been declining slowly since the amount of "free money" pumped into the system was great. In the time since the news the Linden has risen by around .20 per k -- I have been letting money pile up so my 60k is now worth around $ 250 USD.
Hamlet Linden wrote a funny piece about gender in SL - people are quite free-wheeling about it all, some openly and others clandestinely. It turned into a funny conversation I heard as I was working in SimCast, with one fellow bringing up names and saying, "... is a man..." and the other saying, "I didn't know that!" to each one.
I haven't heard back from Support about the porno-picture issue, even though I was told to contact them as only they could handle the problem.

Freelance job came over which was nice.


 
The part was replaced and the system started up at about 9:10. It's still too freaking cold in this part of the house to make anthing more that a tiny blog-entry, but things should warm up within the next hour or so.



10 January 2005

 
Cold.

Very cold.

However, on the bright side, I did something that absolutely blew my mind just now. I was making a sign and I need a side texture that was part transparency. I figured I'd need to fiddle with it, and I made a little part-alpha white texture without thinking much, no measuring, not even a quick eyeball. Just did what I thought looked right in about .006 seconds. I plonked it on the end of the sign and it was an exact fit. I spent far more time staring at it than I did making it.


 

A light dusting of snow on the hills in ftont of me. No hot water, which I discovered when I took a shower. Have to leave in 12 minutes.

Back. No heat and no hot water.



09 January 2005

 
I made good and evil chainmail today. I spent hours yesterday and today trying to get the right shape - the back distortion is extreme, and to get a rectangle the thing is shaped like an hourglass. I got into it and suddenly realised it'd been 8 or 9 hours. I think I'll work on a dress tomorrow.



08 January 2005

 
I got a reply from Nova, who told me to contact support, which I did a little while ago. I've started having strange inventory troubles, apparently, since I went to the island to pull things out and check them, and a "party hat" turned out to be a car (I think it was my Fairchang Futura) with Bunny's texture on it and the hoverpad script inside it :((((((( Enj laughed and then said, "You're in trouble, girl." I've asked Enj to be the informed by-stander to this horrid prank ordeal, so I can have someone intelligent to discuss it with. I requested that they attempt to get the picture so they can compare it with the Red Wing picture, that someone official tell her it was not me, and that they tell me what to look for in any suspect objects. I'd like to know if the Red Wing prankster was banned. In that exploit a pair of red wings would be sent to a person. If s/he put them on a script sent pictures to every avatar within a certain area. If it is indeed the same kind of prank then it's in a different object now.

Finished Moose's shirt this morning and sent it to him with a tide-you-over pair of gauntlets.

Worked at SimCast and we had a meeting 300 metres in the air on our hoverpads. I'm getting a better feeling. Got a ferocious nosebleed, though. Crashed TWICE due to ventrilo -- losing a great deal of work in the process.


 
I sent the notecard to Char Linden as Nova wasn't around. She got back to me and said it sounded like the infamous Red Wing object, which was what I was reminded of even though my knowledge of that is sketchy. She said she could come by if I was wearing everything I was wearing last night, to which I replied, "I don't think she got it last night - I had a previous IM that made no sense to me until last night." I asked her to try to find out WHEN the picture was sent so I can try to figure out what I might've had attached to me. I so rarely wear anything that I haven't made myself that I should be able to find it -- and it's got to be in a new object and not the red wings, now.

Although the woman said in her IM that she is new, she joined Sept. 8th - that's not very new. The only contact I had with her was at Gravity - telling her she needed a patch for Photoshop 7 to make alpha channels, as she'd been unable to do it and hadn't realised it was a software issue and not her. I asked Char to tell her it was a malicious prank and not me -- since Char has an official status.

I'd hate to think there're dozens of rude pictures attached to my name in people's inventories :(


 
I've always got some big cogitation going -- in some ways the things that happen that are considered the main events by most people are just clues to think about, to me. I've been thinking about this:
I usually try to approach life with a kind of zen-like trust. It's not easy to just live in the moment without worrying if one is very ill, but I think I manage to transcend my physical state most of the time, and keep on learning and growing and enjoying whatever I get involved in. I get involved in very different things as a screwed-up person than I would if I'd remained all right. I can exist in part because people run interference for me without ever saying anything. I just accept it and move along.

I got involved in SimCast because YadNi recommended me, then I immediately quit. The man who started the whole thing, Prong, was incredibly nice to me as I was quitting.
YadNi hunted me down and started out saying, "Hello, Osprey Dear," then got angry and alternated between telling me I was wonderful and berating me for being afraid. I decided he had a point, and I wondered why I should be afraid.
I reluctantly resumed working for the SimCast, and I got a huge black weight on my brain again and I spent about 3 hours trying to line up one lousy seam because I couldn't concentrate or even think. Everyone was not only incredibly nice to me, but they went out of their way to assure me that I could have complete artistic control and they weren't asking for anything more than that I try my best. It's obvious to me that this black weight is not something they are creating; it's coming from me. My health has immediately taken a speed-of-sound nosedive and I woke up this morning with a terrible headache and swollen glands -- among other things. My conclusion is that this must be an opportunity to figure out what's going on. I might have swept all my anxieties into a neat pile and hidden them, but they are still here. Something has triggered them. It might kill me, but I think it's a great opportunity to figure out a piece of the puzzle.

I got a strange IM from someone last night who said I had sent her X-rated pictures. I said I hadn't, and immediately copied the chat into a notecard and sent it to Nova Linden, who, I hope, can figure this out.

Tay IMed me and showed me pictures of his rl paintball gear he'd just bought for $500. He said he likes two sports: paintball and lacrosse. I was flabbergasted and told him he was weird and I was proud to call him friend. Paintball would be fun -- more fun on horseback, but I always hated lacrosse.

Moose, who is the nicest person in the world, IMed me, and Enj IMed me and said she thought I'm in a different place than she is -- may be true. If this is a job and it matters, and I'm dealing with real people who have a stake in what happens - it is more alternate, than virtual, reality.



07 January 2005

 
Emailed Dave, finally:
It's raining here - I hear we are supposed to have snow tonight but they are frequently wrong. It was icy driving in to Olympia yesterday morning, and people around here drive like idiots as soon as any precipitation hits the pavement.
I've been making clothes for a role-playing-game inside Second Life. Another game that opens in two months courted me and I turned them down - which gave them pause as everyone is trying to get on the team and only I have been trying to get away. I was surprised at how gracious and nice the main man was when I bailed. The man who got me involved in the first place came round and pushed me up the gangplank again last night, so now I'm on the SimCast Developers' Team. I'm not happy, but perhaps I'll learn to like it. There are definite good points to playing hard to get, except that I was wanting to be impossible to get. I'm susceptible to being to being told, "We need YOU, damn it" and then being called yellow, apparently. I have a weakness for blue men and the man who was so insistant is blue. Life is strange, no? Everyone was very nice to me last night - I even asked them if they felt it was all right for me to be there.
In the picture I was talking to them at about 2am yesterday. YadNi's French, Prong is in Chicago -- I have no clue when people get to sleep but I was up until almost 4am trying to work without being able to concentrate at all and then couldn't sleep. I was up at 8 to get ready for a haircut appointment, but they rang me and changed it (good).



05 January 2005

 
Frosty morning -- the road was slick driving to and from work. Was in my same room although I'm somewhat happy to move as the heat in that crappy room has just about killed me. Saw Tiff, which was groovy. Hammer and Montrose came in at the end of school so we all got to socialise a bit. Unfortunately Montrose couldn't get in the CTUNI world to look at our project as the internet connection went out (by design probably) as school ended. We were able to see what was in the cache though, which was trippy. Vincent worked on his car, slug built inworld, timothylove75 built and got anazing fast at doing some tasks. Started hassling teachers about the yearbook (asking for things).

The WBM has indeed moved out, and I requested that the next renter be a non-smoking adult who goes to work. Of any sex. Or even both sexes together. A non-smoking hermaphrodite would be fine. As long as s/he goes to work since one person hanging around here most of the time (me) is sufficient.

Received a Mysterious IM in SL from someone who said "he" knew me. I do believe I know who it is. Honestly, I think people create alts at the rate of about one every six months.

Made the flyer for the rl person, and emailed it to her so she can decide if it's all right. She'd sent me the info with the instructions, "Work your magic." Haha.

Awaiting the mailed logo from the friend of the rl person, who was excited that I would do her business card. Can't do anything until I get it.

Received IM from Champie saying that Art had IMed him to say he no longer was selling his land -- good news as I like having Art as a neighbor. His build is attractive and serene. I stand in front of it to take screenshots when I need a white backdrop. For black I use the car dealer across the road. Above: getting a wet bottom sitting in the snow near some ruins in the Forest of Kahruvel. There were snowflakes falling in a pretty manner. The other little ruins had no snow on them.



04 January 2005

 
Hard time kb-ing so excuse me if I shorten
Logged in and Mark was there and asked me to give the clothes cool names. Went home and wracked my brain.
Asked Enj and she ported Sel so my tiny house was full to the gills.
Went down and Enj bought artwork.
We all went to Navora and Enj crashed. I got caught up in a crowd and a moose was asking me for a custom job, which is cool I reckon. Enj came back and bought a dress, named some things for me.
Sel left. Enj left. I went home to slog away. Taylor IMed me and I asked him about the new names. He disliked two, so I changed them.
Noticed my door out of alignment AGAIN. Everytime someone terraforms it goes out of alignment. Checked the other side of my rocky outcropping to find that it'd been bought for the Phyneas Jack Memorial trust. w00t! They'd restored it to its former shape. I IMed to say Art's selling his land, as that piece runs from Sal's tower to my 512, and they have land on the far side of me. They might not want it but at least they will know about it.
Went to fly my orn. and there was a crash. When I went to log in later there was an update.

In rl got an email from the woman whose business card I designed - she wants a flyer.

Met tater tot inworld. No one else there.

Was going to watch movie eXistenZ but had seen it already. I was loaned DVDs by Amanda, but some I've seen. I don't rewatch - can remember it all - the teeth gun, the garage, etc. Was quite good but that was a long freakin' time ago when that puppy came out.




03 January 2005

 

Yesterday I went in There with Enj, which was really funny as I could hardly remember how to do things (comes back after a little while). We drove around and I showed her some new things, and we visited the former site on Motu of her PAZ. I took out my dog, Bosco, and let him run around. Enj had been back just before and had been subjected to snotty-girl behavior by someone who said, about her, "Where'd you get the noob?" Hehe - glad I have my same old account. Today Shan wanted me to go in with her and Enj but I demurred as I was doing something. Going to There is like having a vacation in Hawaii -- fun, however my real work is in Second Life.
Today when I logged on I immediately saw Cubey Terra, the maker of my ornithopter, among a bazillion flying creations. I went up and greeted him and said I'd bought the ornithopter, which I adore. A pleasant exchange.
At Gravity hanging out a bit, I asked someone about my idea to have a warrior/wizard/medieval garb store, and he thought it would work well in Briarcliff. I went there and talked to Feniks about renting a store (could at least give it a shot if it seems do-able). Might happen. Ack has a store there. I know Ack through Sprite.

Here we are in my house, and I'm hitting Ack with my bam club while Sprite watches.

For the Loopers


 
Off to jin shin this morning (well, my appointment was at 1), and the Loopers put nice things in my car while I was being shinned-upon. Very nice sunny day like yesterday -- up here everything is white with hoar frost, but if one descends the few feet to Olympia (or in fact just goes to a non-tree-shaded spot) things are As Usual.
The WBM who is moving a bit, still, told me that she's had no heat "since October." She's been space-heating her place, which is too bad since we share electricity. She said the (gas hot-water baseboard) heat works but doesn't regulate itself very well. That man who came out to work on her heat said the thermostat worked, but she says it's in the wrong place. My own, totally uninformed and worthless opinion is that it's probably the way she uses the heating system, and not the system itself, since I've lived here a number of years and no one living below has ever complained before. I'm not a heat person anyway - half the time I forget to turn it on. My opinion is therefore suspect (for many other reasons, too). I don't think it gets cold here anyway - another reason I'm not to be trusted.
There are float planes on the lake, which I love to see, but the people east of me drive me nuts the way they use their plane. They're always zipping back and forth across the lake presumably visiting friends or something, which seems abusive since it must make the engine dirty. (This made me think about oil-circulation, too -- why don't we have electrically-powered oil pumps in cars so that the oil can lubricate before the engine starts?) I respect (dinned into me by my pater) machines in a similar way that I was taught to respect animals. My father wouldn't allow us to bother the horses while they were eating, which is something I grew to appreciate. Similarly, we were taught about machinery. He told us never to force anything - true wisdom which works for all things - and surprisingly, most people make a habit of forcing things. Indicates a lack of subtlety and finesse. I used to live with a man who would shift from reverse to first while the car was moving backwards - made me extremely annoyed when it was my car. Anyway, my father, with the prejudice of an aeronautical engineer, always said small planes are deathtraps. I wonder if he meant the plane exclusively, or the plane, the uses to which it's put, the vagaries of the pilot and/or hirer, and the lack of professional regard in which it might be held. Certainly I never heard him say anything about helicopters (although their vulnerabilities are evident and in fact don't need to be pointed out) but of course if a private person has a helicopter that person is probably a fine pilot. Not that being a fine pilot ever saved anyone. The touristy chopper flight biz can be a ticket to deathtrapland, but it's usually a rather a spectacular way to go. We all have to die, so maybe it's all right. I love to ride in helicopters and small planes but then I don't care much if I live or die. The pilot who flew the helicopter I took on a long tour of Hawaii was a fantastic pilot, but you have to figure there's a degree of unpredictability about volcanoes that makes zooming about above them somewhat risky. My father was a fight-test engineer, so it wasn't odd to have test pilots around. I'm rambling on - be assured I actually know nothing about anything, so feel free to ignore me.



 
Ornithopter



02 January 2005

 
I was busy smiting monsters when someone I don't know IMed me, and tried to get me come over because she was bored and in need of company. I say "don't knoe" - I've met her, as I have her calling card, but have no clue who she is. I said I was busy smiting monsters and she huffily replied, "Men." Ha! I've been trying to figure out if I don't really want to have a Boss -- I hate authority and do best when left to my own devices. Hmmm. Things I enjoy have come to feel like work. ...
I did a little job for someone in Real Life, and apparently she liked the results, as a friend of hers has emailed me and requested the same sort of thing.

I watched "Northfork" and enjoyed it.

The Woman Beneath Me appeared in the driveway with a U-Haul truck, and after I questioned her revealed that she is Leaving. I'd never know anything that goes on here if I didn't see people in the driveway.

Have a real desire to consult with Pirate and Sprite. They are both very level-headed. My head hangs off at an angle, I think. Tay called me and asked me to do another texturing job. We were in Goguen Sandbox, 600 m in the air, and we all crashed. I relogged and couldn't move at all, so I went out to the kitchen and ate some smoked salmon. Came back and logged on fine but no Tay, so I went off to smite some scorpions. I bought a Cubey Terra ornithopter, since I've been looking at it with longing for quite some time. It just looks very cool. Maybe I'll run in and take a screenshot.

Here's the photo Taylor sent me with the words, "I love the things noobs build."



01 January 2005

 
Showed things to SimCast man and a woman. The woman put my back up by saying, 'Who cares about history?" I do, actually. It was evident to me that they aren't familiar with drawings from that period. I suppose game players might not like to look in a way they don't see as cool -- but I was told they wanted farmers, peasants, blacksmiths, weavers, etc., as well as warriors. Anyway, my evil warrior blew them away and they liked most of the others - just not the peasant. I was disgruntled by the fact that when they let me in specifically to get a feel for the game, they didn't tell me that the entire Bedford sim would be wiped. That means the Viking village I used as a starting point for some clothing designs is just gone, now. I'd made a website of pictures for them since Second Life was having hardware problems and we couldn't get in. I took more screenshots today and added them to the page.

The poor Linden Laborers had to slave away for days to fix the problems. It was bad enough that Philip Linden posted a message on the forum. We were all hanging out on the forum with everyone pissing and moaning, then Yadni started a forum soopa club party and put people in a better mood. I had just heard about, and started, the update download, and logged in, when Foxy wrote "more people here than in SL..." I replied, "Not anymore, Foxy." A few minutes later I saw her at Gravity. Then I went to Voss and hung out with Enjah at the skating party. Tay IMed me and said, "I love it when noobs build stuff," and a picture he'd taken popped onto my screen. A sheep. A veeery basic sheep. I laughed, tried to send it to Enj but actually sent it back to Taylor. I said I was going to start a website of noobie builds. I have to look and see what I have -- I know I have the first thing I made (a leopard-print beanbag chair). I was telling Lindens "thank you" when Andrew told me he reads my blog a bit every couple of weeks. I sort of... forget that sometimes people read my blog -- I know I'm read by Looper, Karan, Anan, Becky, Jim, David, Rayne, maybe Alan P., mmmm... well I don't want to presume... I'm not sure if I have anyone else who stops by regularly. I lost some readers who are friends as they
found it too depressing.

Deb and Richard rang me at their New Year's time. All their cats have died of old age but Deborah doesn't want another even though Richard does. Extreme old age -- jeez their cats were OLD. They are edging towards getting a computer (also a Deb-no).



Evil warrior dude. Props - my axe and war fork from Darklife.

Yes, I know they didn't have horned helms. I succommed.

Groovy peasant.

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