atomic-raygun

 
             

   
 
 
----------->vivian-oblivion<--------

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30 June 2006

 

Bwuhahahaha

00ps! S1nc3 1 b02ght l4nd w1th th4t s4m3 c0v3n4nt, 1 sh02ld 4mm3nd th4t t0 r34d, "Bw2h4h4h4h4." *b0ws t0 D4n*


 

AN EYEDROPPER TOOL
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

/me dances like a maenad


 
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

/ME FAINTS.


 
I've had the domain name atomic-raygun for ages, and I neglected to change the contact info and so the registration expired. OK, no prob. The blog was never down - it's actually at http://www.tiger-swallowtail.com/space/atomic-raygun.html but I have the domain name to cover up all that (enables me to move it around if I want to while keeping the same URL). Two days ago (when Alan told me the name was not resolving to this site) I went over to the domain place and renewed. It took a bit of time as, I found out through emails with support, there had been some kind of server problem. Finally it was renewed, everything was happy, rainbows and kittens filled the world, etc., etc. I waited. Today I looked at the domainiacal website to see it WASN'T renewed, now, although the money was shown as a credit. I sent a reasonable email outlining my problem to support, and a pithy and annoyed answer on their "Tell us how we can improve our service to you!" form (I mentioned NO body parts). I left the room and came back and the site was up and I'd received several emails, including this:

"Sorry about the inconvenience, we were experiencing some technical problems
and it unfortunately affected the payment process. Your domain now is up to
date. Thank you and have a great day."

Cue the rainbows and kittens.



29 June 2006

 
I've collected shopping lists for about... hmmm... 20 years. Not my own, of course, but the crumpled, scrawled-upon bit of notepad or envelope someone discarded in a shopping cart or dropped in the grocery store parking lot. The highlight of my shopping list collecting was once, about 10 years ago, sitting around a bonfire with an artist friend, her husband, and the dood with whom I was co-habiting then. I read my shopping lists as though they were poetry, and had that crowd rolling on the ground shrieking with laughter.

Fast forward to now, when I can't really deal with objects anymore. I have stopped actively collecting lists, aside from a few here and there that mostly arive in the post. Instead, I think I'll start collecting horrible grocery bag juxtapositions. I fling things in the car, then fling them into the house (quite literally), so it can be annoying when I open a bag and find it contains, as one from Slaveways did last week, in its entirety:
1 6-pack, club soda
1 bag Doritos

Today I had this mighty combo, the entire contents of a Slaveways bag:
2.5 lbs Bing cherries
Half gallon organic milk

I have a very short mental collection of screamingly funny radio news lines:
"The trial continued in the absence of his presence."
and
"The house was gutted on the inside."

I heard another one the other day, but forgot it, for some reason. However, two is plenty. I don't want to be greedy.


 
Enjah got a new balloon.

Flying over the anniversary art display area

Peaceful Life



28 June 2006

 
Oooh, I just invented a MMOPRG for the Republicans:
World of Wargraft


 
"Noob Talk" sent by a friend

howdy

hi
how do u get a job?
get a job? you dont really get jobs in SL :P
what is sl?
you can create things and sell what you made to other people though
secondlife, what you are playing right now my friend
well i know what im playing but im new to this game
i gotta get some money to do.....w/e u do with money [HaHaHa!!! - interjection by the blogger]
i see, they have made it harder to earn money, you can do to events and win money too what do u do with money?
buy land, buy things other people made, whatever you want
dont u have to be premium account for lanD?
yes you have to pay monthly to own land
so i should just leave SL right now...and never come back unless im willing to pay the $10 / mo
well sure if you want :)
but there is a lot you can do without owning land..
i really dont see the point to this game
owning land is just a bonus
well i dont have a lot of time right now sorry, but goodluck with whatever you do


 
Spin's blog entry about COMBAT CARDS



27 June 2006

 


 
Waiting for the Forums...

Some gutless idiot with too much time on his childish hands hacked into the SL forums the other day. The forums closed. The SL website was down briefly. I suspect that, because the forums are SUCH a bizarre place, with a lot of really good, helpful information lost in a blizzard of... uh... other posts, LL will just take this opportunity to slice'n'dice. I wouldn't blame them.

On the one hand, people (usually but not always new people) post in a panic when something happens and they need help: "HELP!! I can't select my friend's objects even though I have been given rights!" Me*: Sounds like you have "Select only my objects" enabled. "TY!" Post all your specs with a query about tech concerns and a whole lot of knowledgeable people jump in to help. Those posts are fascinating to read - well, to me at least.

On the other hand, there are wagonloads of off-topic posts, which include jokes, time-based things, rants, political arguments. Personally I think most off-topic posts should have a shelf-life. Is a week too long?

On the OTHER other hand (I never said I was using a human being as my model) there are a million trillion posts that are negative/attacks/inflamatory. These include "OMG SELL SELL SELL" posts, "XYZ is a big liar" posts, "LL banned me for no reason even though I explained I shot those people 86 times by mistake" posts, "This update SUX" posts, "Go back to version 1.5" posts, "ABC is telling everyone I'm a big liar, signed XYZ" posts, etc. ad infinitum. There are some posts motivated by a spirit of genuine protest, and posts about bad things that a particular resident was subjected to by mistake (Who was it who was accidentally charged 69 times?). These have a place, unlike the posts that exist because someone wants to influence the currency price, or just be mean (although XYZ might be a big liar, there's no way for me to know if he is or is just a victim of a smear campaign). Falling in a grey area (to me) are those posts that say, "I bought product X from avatar Y and it doesn't work! Don't buy from him!" Some of those are likely to be true, while others are cases of the buyer not understanding the product, the creator being on vacation when the buyer IMs, or sometimes a buyer IMing a creator when that person is offline. There's a finite number of IMs sent to email, so I would bet that at least once the creator's first inkling of a problem has been a smear post on the forum saying s/he is not delivering as promised.

Are the forums up yet? /me surfs over to check...

*Every once in a while I am useful.



26 June 2006

 
I just got home. It's hot. I'm affected by the heat. Any neurological ailment is made (temporarily or permanently) worse by heat. Anyway, I'm home now, so that's good.



25 June 2006

 

Angrybeth's double-decker bus.



24 June 2006

 

Finally!
Jensel conceived of a prank weeks and weeks ago - to burst into the Shelter and claim there had been reports of toxins in the water. She enlisted me. I said we had to tell Travis, so she did. Enjah was going to be in on it too. The time arrived but there was a mix-up - the time I'd been told was EDT not SL time, so Enj and I were all dressed up with noplace to go. The following week I had RL visitors and couldn't make it. Finally last night Jensel and I executed the hazmat prank. She made me be in charge as she said she looks more like a minion. Sheesh. Anyway, I made a notecard to copy/paste from, with things like, "Don't panic." and "We are trained professionals." It was quite fun even though way out of my normal doings.

I was at the Kill Club and got Enjah to come and fight me. She got Selador to come and fight, too. A couple of people showed up, one a new person on Linux, who is very interesting and used to work in robotics. I liked him a great deal - and later gave him some landmarks to help him get started seeing good things. The world is so huge that without landmarks, and with no knowledge of the map or where to go, new people wander aimlessly and may never see anything.

I spent some time with Tedd, who has totally revamped his game. Amazing! I spent some time slashing beetles and various things, and a new player came while I was there. He started slashing beetles, too. There are a great many new people because the barriers to entry have come down. Many, as Philip said, are non-American.

I was in Ambat, which lately has had traffic in the range of about 2-5000. That's a lot. People were dropping in the entire time I was there. I think the Infohubs are getting increased traffic (maybe) since anyone can set their home there (home=a place to be logged into). At the Nova Albion Infohub, Caroline said someone held a freebies and cheap guns selling event, which resulted in (I think) people running around the city shooting (which isn't allowed in non-damage areas). I would guess that the event holder just needs to be tipped off to take his events elsewhere. Does Jessie have a place to hold events? There must be a damage-enabled area somewhere that can be used for this - not a sandbox, as selling is prohibited in sandboxes.



23 June 2006

 


Because I copied Enjah:
What Your Soul Really Looks Like



You are a wanderer. You constantly long for a new adventure, challenge, or even a completely different life.

You are not a very grounded person. You prefer dreams to reality. For you, it's all about possibilities.

You believe that people see you for how you are, not how you look. But deep down, you know that's not exactly true.

Your near future is calm, relaxing, and pretty much what you want. And it's something you've been anticipating for a while now.

For you, falling in love is all about flirting and feeling playful. You couldn't fall in love with someone who took life too seriously.



 
This is what we were swimming with in Utila

Tiff sent me some pictures she'd taken in Central America, including several of these odd fish, whale sharks.
From a website: "The Whale shark (Rhincodon Typus) is the largest fish in the world, growing up to 12m (40 feet) in length. Despite their size, they are harmless, feeding on plankton and small fish which are filtered from the water as they cruise the world's oceans. Whale sharks are found in warm waters worldwide including Australia, Mexico, Honduras, Hawaii and Thailand. In these countries, these giant sharks are regarded with the respect they deserve and many a diver has been awed by their silent presence.
Unfortunately, in other countries such as India and the Philippines, the whale shark is often hunted for meat which is sold to feed the rich mouths of Taiwan, where whale shark meat is an expensive delicacy. Numbers have certainly been reduced, but with the migratory habits of the sharks, it is very difficult to track and count them. This year, there was finally some progress when the CITES conference of 2002 placed the whale shark and the basking shark on a list of species to be considered under threat. This does not yet mean a ban on fishing but is an important first step."



 
Philip's blog entry on the events today.


 
Rip Off the Band-aid

It's probably hard to believe...
But I spent ALL DAY attempting to be there for the Third Anniversary speech by Philip, which was slated for 2pm. I was there with a lot of others, including Salazar, at something like 10:30. Hermia and Ethan came. The database server crashed and log-ins were halted by that; the talk was postponed as Philip couldn't log in. We waited anyway.

Hermia Linden and Ethan Linden

Jeska and Torley came, then Philip showed up and was hit by a million comments and queries. A griefer deliberately crashed the sims multiple times by rezzing a huge scripted object. We clawed our way back once, twice, three times, four times... maybe five times. Finally scripts/build were turned off and although the large object was rezzed again as an attachment (someone said), it had no power as scripts were disabled.

But - for me at least - it was worth it to struggle to be there. Second Life is like the wild west as far as virtual worlds go. It's unique. It's got huge growing pains as it is pushing resolutely against the ragged edge of home computer technology. Right now the people who own systems that will run SL are those interested in technology, tech professionals, and gamers. The gamer group in particular seems to have a percentage of the grieferwannabe immature types who are able to have a greater negative affect that is warranted by their numbers. LL opened the floodgates on 6-6-06 by allowing unverified account sign-ups, and many people are upset by that (since I haven't come into contact with this reportedly huge griefer influx I can't really say anything about it). I understand why people are against the immediate sign-ups, but... I just think it's a good thing. It's crazy now. We are in the wild west. But - I see the griefer spike dying down, and as home computers get better, more ordinary people will be drawn to try SL. It will be a normal thing - yes, an easy target for a griefer to hit - but he grew up with it, his mother has an account, he disdains the adult world as "boring" and goes off to play a FPS.

So, things are growing in inconvenient ways - the trousers are too short, the sleeve is too tight. I think we will grow out of this difficult time eventually. Second Life is three years old. That is, three years post-beta. That's not very old. To create a hugely complex and enormous growing-like-a-weed never-attempted-before on-the-bleeding-edge resident-built virtual world - surely - is not an easy, smooth, simple thing.

I find it incredibly exciting.

Philip Linden: A digital version of the world -- real and malleable and compelling enough for us all to do things in it that we can only dream of in RL. To move people forward by letting them learn and teach and live to the greatest degree they desire. Look at all the stuff people are learning here! It is inspiring... plenty inspiring enough to get me through troubles like today!
NOTE: I had to turn all detail way, way down, so nothing looks any good - be advised that right now a jammed area full of hoochie hair, floopy prims, scripts, etc., etc. is just a lagfest even with settings turned down.


 

0 to 90 in 15 seconds



22 June 2006

 
Tiff came over and brought panino vegetale sandwiches from Brewery City, so we had a meal together (not sure what meal it was... it was 4pm and I hadn't had lunch, so maybe it was that). She also brought loads of leftover pow wow food ( sun chips, o.j., a pineapple and other fresh fruits). She forgot her photos from her Central America trip. Drat. She was telling me about how Brad wants to go to Brazil, next, and I had a book inspiration that she and I are going to work on (however the trip is quite a long way in the future).

I had jin shin, which was good. I had tripped on a carpet and bitten the dust last night, so it boosted me back to where I was (which was a good place - it's amazing how much easier life is when I don't have to climb a mountain, i.e. go to work, once a week).

Enjah's son had his third open heart surgery yesterday (is that right? it was just yesterday?) and she told me that today he looks great. Pink lips, she said. Sounds good.

The third anniversary celebration in Second Life has begun, with tomorrow being the actual day. I road around on the monorail yesterday with Armath. Today I talked witjh Magik, who had asked me to put some poetry on a wooden plaque - it was original poetry and quite evocative.

The night before last I was in SL going to clap eyes on the new sims on the lower continental edge, when Tedd T tracked me down. That was surprising as, although I met him long ago, I've hardly seem him for more than... more than a year and a half, I'd reckon. He'd map-tracked me and we went back to see his newly reinstalled firebeetles. I helped him* check the workings of his stats code, and had a wee bit of slashing at the firebeetles, which were no match for my mighty os powers.
The first time I met him was in 2004 when I was flying about exploring, and crossed his land. I asked him how one changed the title above one's nametag, and he told me, adding that I could opt for no title, as he did. I did - I never wear a title, and that makes me think of him every once in a while. I was a week or so old at that point.
*By doing nothing - by far the best way to give assistance.


 
S.C.R.A.P. News* for May
Caitlin had her cross country race day. All year levels are involved and the distance varies according to age. Caitlin’s year 3 had to run 1 km (last year it was 500mt.) They had all been training for the past month and most kids could run the whole way without stopping (much). Caitlin did pretty good, coming mid field. Ryan cheered her on dressed as Spiderman (which is quite normal). He wears it to all sorts of cape crusading places. Like the supermarket and gym and to the park. However, he still enjoys wearing Caitlin’s fairy dress, which keeps the neighbours amused. My newly acquainted neighbour, Paula Porter, or PP for short came over for an afternoon yarn. I wish we had of met a year ago. I really get on well with her and I think she might think I am stalking her. She is a Kiwi who has been her for 10 years. It’s good to finally have someone (who isn’t a relation) who can understand my lingo...ie hardcase and chilly bin.

Caitlin’s talk for this week was to make up an acrostic poem. It might get the Miles Franklin award yet....
P Possums
O outside
S scratching
S something
U under
M my house.

*Anji's newsletter: Anji, Steve, Caitlin, Ryan, and Prem news



21 June 2006

 
Fidget at Red's in Honawan

Fidget gets around. I need to start taking pictures every time I see him.



20 June 2006

 
People keep rating me - I think they are new people who don't know that the rating system is dead. I feel sorry for any new person who spends 25L to rate me - the new-new people don't get a stipend, so it seems sad that they blow money on something silly when they could be buying something interesting. On the other hand, when it's an oldbie it's just a nice pat on the back. For a while after the rating changed and went up to 25L I rated builds fairly often. Gradually I stopped thinking about it at all until now, getting a rating is akin to looking up from the screen and seeing a pterodactyl flying over the lake.


 
Someone left an unwelcome comment on Enjah's blog.

E: comment on Tower of Babes post:
What u fuka-AKA Da Pimp Steve-O to me
wow! no i seen alot of gay as hell thing in my life but u know what that has to be on of the gayest thing i ever seen (:
Posted by What u fuka-AKA Da Pimp Steve-O stevenwalters360@gmail.com to ElleCoyote at 6/18/2006 03:11:31 PM
me: hang on
interesting not
I should email him
E: LOL
I went to his blog
me: and?
E: he is an adolescent idiot
me: well that's obvious
does his mother have a blog?
E: lotta war games .... BUT .... he also loves Stephen Colbert, who is a political satirist
LOL HIS MOTHER
he may not understand that Colbert Report is all tongue-in-cheek
me: I will email Stephen Colbert's mother forthwith
E: ah not sure he has one
me: Dear Mrs. Colbert,
E: your son has inspired a pimply boy to insult maidens with little or no provocation
me: Your son has been encouraging ne'erdowell louts to post obnoxious comments on my friend's blog.
me: Please ask him to tell his "friends" that "gay" is not a pejorative.
E: LOL
me: Sincerely,
me: Major O. Therian (retired)


Oh? Bots? Spam? I have NO IDEA what you are talking about.


 
My Cousin Janet says:

"Mum was very pleased to read your letter too and sends her love. She says that wishes she was nearer to you and how much she admires your spirit. She herself has a lot of ‘spirit’ – and is – as she puts it- struggling on. She walks painstakingly with two sticks and still lives on her own. She still does church activities and washes up for fund raising coffee mornings, goes to meetings etc. She is just beginning to have problem with her short term memory which is extremely frustrating for her. She will put things down and then not remember where they are and spend an age looking for things. However – although she was hard hit when Auntie Betty died – feeling that she is the last of all her immediate family and brothers and sisters in law - she has recovered her equilibrium and is looking forward to visits from various family members this summer.

At the moment we have Christopher’s* son staying. He has been backpacking with a tour group in Russia and will be joined here by Uncle Tony on Thursday. On Sunday they are off to Poland where Uncle T. had paid for Andrew to do a Polish course for three weeks. A Polish niece of Uncle T.s is not far from us studying English at an English university. They are going to meet up on Friday and visit Auntie Betty’s grave. Her ashes are interred with Jeremy in Wallington. Yesterday Andrew nipped off to Dublin for a couple of days. He got a cheap flight and I think wants to feel independent! I am doing his washing (!) He got ripped off with money in Russia and got his pocket picked in London – but is still holding tight onto his passport, tickets and credit cards. To my amusement he is daily in contact with his parents. Times change with present day communication."

*
cousin


 
Apparently the governor of Washington, where I live, is uneasy about the North Korean missile, as it might have enough range to reach Seattle.



19 June 2006

 
Are you a user? This pulled me up short - I suddenly started thinking "Snowcrash."

Johnny C: hi
You: hi
You: I'm looking at the paintings
Johnny C: nice, any good ones?
You: I like them a lot - most of them
You: Do you know the artist?
Johnny C: no
Johnny C: are you a user?
You: A user of what?
Johnny C: i just started and i can't tell otherwise
You: I'm not sure what you mean.
Johnny C: are you a person?
You: Of course.
You: Oh, you are wondering if there are characters like in games with NPCs?
Johnny C: yes
You: I see - no, it's all people here.
Johnny C: interesting
You: There aren't any NPCs - some ppl make statues, but it's obvious
You: that's what they are.
Johnny C: ok
Johnny C: well, it was nice talking to you
You: you, too - have a nice time! Need any recommendations of places to see?
Johnny C: not really
Johnny C: thanx though
You: ok


 
Larking about with Enjah:
I tricked her into falling in this dumpster in Suffulgium.

A wreck on a closed street by the Bijou

On another day...
At the Laka 5&10 the other day we examined Thundercloud's prim sex dolls:

Incognito

A disapproving glare has no noticeable affect on this brazen pair.

I sit and muse on issues important to all mankind while the LuvDolls go at it quite actively in the background (they move around and change position).

Oh, that Thundercloud! Endlessly inventive!


 
Happy Juneteenth!



18 June 2006

 
Rosanne Speaks!

"My life has been a whirlwind.....I went to Italy the end of march to model for a figurative sculpture workshop in Pietra Santa, in tuscany----after a month I saw a friend in geneva for a week, and then took a train to southern france for a few days.........the overnight train back to Rome was one of the strangest and near disaster......it was filled with 35 elderly, confused, catholic americans....and when I approached my sleeper cabin there were six men staring at me blankly, and then insisting I was in the wrong place.....so I waited for the chaos of all these people to settle down...all I knew was that I wasn't getting off that train and miss my flight.....the men thought it "inappropriate" that I sit with them, so I exchanged seats to a cabin with all their wives and spent the night mostly awake.....the women grated me with questions..was I catholic? no, well you should be......at that I would just smile and offer them some dried figs....I believe they looked upon me most favourably by morning as during the night I would assist them with their luggage and lights and walk them to the bathrooms.....

So now I am apprenticing on an organic farm for 5 months in Ct. until nov 1st......after that, we shall see....."



17 June 2006

 
SJ and Michael came over today at 5:30 - I was hanging out in Second Life waiting for Lumiere N to demolish the Ivory Tower of Primitives in Noyo, so after they'd been here half an hour we watched it together then I logged off so we could discuss other things. They left at 8:30 and I realised I had missed the prank again (last week I missed it because I was told it was at 11:30... when it was at 11:30 EDT). That's too bad but I was busy.

We talked about the shows, which had a joint opening last night. I didn't go (I refused as I hate crap like that) and neither did SJ and Michael (SJ said I wasn't going to be there so why would she?). Last week Lucia told me Tom and John bought four, and as Jim was driving back from Seattle (he works at the 5th Ave Theatre) he told Lucia they were selling like hotcakes and they'd better get there fast. Alas, a painting he had his eye on was sold. I don't know how many have sold so far - maybe 12 or so. I was thinking this moring, trying to decide how I would feel at the end when I realised that I'd never see some of my work ever again. I know I'll have a tough time, although I'm very happy that they are going out and finding homes as I can't deal with objects anymore. I've had a number of emails and phone calls from people saying how much they enjoyed seeing my work, which is nice. The galleries were packed, last night, I hear.

Glimpses of the Ivory Tower

The new Ivory Tower will have all the building tutorials, and is a lovely build in its own right, but I will always remember the old Ivory Tower.


 
Which Picture is the Best?
Vote today.
A.

B.

L3@v3 m3 a massage KTHNXBYE


 

I won a T-shirt - w00t - honorable mention for my Instructables step-by-step instructions for making a cut-out in Second Life. I didn't actually know there was some kind of ongoing competition, so it was a surprise.



16 June 2006

 
Blecch... still have a headache... anyway, I was thinking about Myst and how it looks like Cruikshank melted into Charles Rennie Macintosh with hints of something else on top - Max Ernst? On one hand it's appealing but on the other I have trouble with things that are ultra-tasteful - although I think the moldering, Ernst-like quality saves it from being quite that. Mostly it has limited appeal for me because you can't make anything, and I am just not someone who likes scenery. I get overloaded really quickly - it's almost painful to me to be touring in an area of great natural or manmade beauty as my eyes and brain get full right away and everything after that is trying to squeeze into the same space. That's true in virtual reality as much as in reality. The difference is that with v.r. one can nibble half an hour here then not go back for a week. As well as overload - or perhaps a component of it - is that my thoughts are forcibly dragged outside of me, when I'm by far happier dreaming up things internally.

And if you say, "Not like scenery? But you have a lovely view!" Yes, but it's the same view, more or less, every day. If I had a moving house (like Delta*) I would have a tough time.

*I go back and look at that every year or so - I wish there were new installments.



15 June 2006

 
Woke up with a pounding headache... wish it would go away...



14 June 2006

 
Uru

Yesterday I finally installed the Uru Chronicles and started playing it. I quickly got 8 linking books, a relto, and a pair of goggles. I have no clue what the goggles are for. Then I jumped into some lava on purpose and died. Today I decided to begin the books in the order they appear in the bookcase. I don't have 1 so I went to 2 and kicked a thing into some other things which started up a loud din.

I got a thing that looks like a compass but it takes pictures, jumped into a hole and saw a scrap of paper.

Then I went back to the relto and jumped off the edge and died. After that I went to 3, which is a mushroom world. I started up some huge machinery and jumped into a moving bucket that chucked me out, in a kind of travesty of birth, in the main control tower. I fiddled with the control thing a bit, but felt a bit bored so exited and came here to write this.


 
More Will Be Revealed

A little while ago Linden Lab created a new program that they hope will bring the needs and concerns of residents closer - literally. They are choosing 7 candidates with 1 random resident thrown in - and will continue to choose 8 periodically, adding them to the program. The funny thing is that it's a real-world thing, not a Second Life thing, for whatever reason - that has made me confused. I'm watching to see how it all works out - it's certainly not a usual thing for a company to care so much what its customers think that it brings representatives to its offices! There has been a bit of whinging on the forums with the main concerns being (I think): that it has started out with some of the usual suspects who are already considered to have a greater voice than most (I don't know 7 of those chosen so don't ask me), and that this "real world" thing shouldn't trump virtual reality in this area. There's the fear, too, that it's an in-world version of the forum ResMod program, which is not exactly popular. From the very beginning of my time in SL I've heard people bring up the idea of resident government or authority, countered by many angry voices which said, "No player should have power over another."

The Second Life Views program isn't about power (although it's a human characteristic that goodness flows in proportion to how well one is known and regarded by those at the top), but is about information delivered face-to-face. The voiced concerns should be mitigated by the growth of the resident pool over time - I'm not quite sure exactly how that growth is structured (maybe it has been decided but it could be up in the air).

So - I have no idea how this will work out, but what I see from Linden Lab is constant experimentation - which is good, I think. There are some experiments, like the city sims, which are gaining in popularity after two years. I think results aren't necessarily immediate - something that seems to be a failure at first might just need time to hatch. Therefore, to me, the important thing is that LL keeps on experimenting, and that it allows projects time to fail or succeed on their own timeline.

I think that choosing Salazar was a very good idea. He's someone who has quietly worked on beautifying SL and revealing "history and mystery." It's easy to find people whose concerns are mainly in the realm of money and the translation of virtual world expertise to real life jobs, but I feel that their input, while valid, doesn't cover my main reason for loving Second Life. For me, Second Life is primarily a portal of creation: it allows me to access the creative tools of the computer from inside the computer itself, and allows me to interact with my own creations in a way hitherto unthinkable by me except in dreams. I think what Salazar will take to the LL offices are the concerns of an imaginative creator - and that is very pleasing to me.



13 June 2006

 
Rising from the Dead


I've been fascinated by the Uru story since I first encountered the Uru diaspora back in There, shortly after the Uru Live beta was halted. A tight-knit group of mysterious people landed in There and began making, as best they could, a partial replica of their lost world. I don't remember how I first came across them, but they had a vocabulary of strange words and an air about them that made it obvious they had shared an important experience. I had to sleuth to figure out who they were - when I did I was impressed by how much they loved Uru and how connected they felt to Uru and to each other. My interest has always been as an observer - a Margaret Mead in cyberspace.

And now... the force of that love has caused the world to rise anew - I'm heartened. I'd like to go there as I've heard so much about it and because SL is sometrimes down and ATITD, There, Entropia Universe, etc. are not all that interesting (in the case of ATITD not at all interesting to me). Uru seems to combine the visual interest of Entropia without the sociopaths (works for me). I've signed up for the beta and will be excited if I am accepted. I well remember the lament of one of those ejected from Uru: "It was SO beautiful -- I wish you could've seen it."


 
The Last Day of School

Today was the last day of school, with a big ceremony for the promotion of the children to the next grade and awards for attendance. This year the speaker was Billy Mills, the Olympic gold medalist, and he was a wonderful speaker. First we were shown a little bit of film of the 1964 Olympics so we all understood who Billy Mills is - winner of the 10,000 m race at the '64 Olympics in Japan, who won in an incredible upset. After being shoved and losing stride he put on the juice and got into third place, where he was boxed in. An opening was created when a German runner moved, and Billy fairly flew out in front of the other racers and won. No other American has ever won the 10,000 m. race. He is Oglala Lakota from Pine Ridge, and was orphaned fairly young.

It's important for our students to have successful role models from their community. There's a ton of negative stuff that they are exposed to and absorb, and although some people might be too jaded to understand, the simple messages directed to our young people goes a certain way to balancing things out. Basically he said they would come up against people's preconceptions and stereotypes but couldn't let those determine how they lived their lives.

At the end of the year, when the 8th graders realise they are leaving forever, they become attentive and hard-working and full of emotion. Sometimes they are like that for weeks. One year a group of students did odd-jobs like sweeping and who-knows-what in order to earn money to buy a card and a gift certificate to give to me on the last day. Tears are usual. Each student asks two adults, as a recognition of support, to assist on that day. The two stand on either side of the student and place a button robe across his or her shoulders. The young person then speaks into the microphone, giving thanks. This year the boys were overcome with emotion, and it was odd to see these rascals who usually seem confident break down.

I sat next to Tobin's mother, which was nice. I'd left home a bit late and arrived at school past the time it was supposed to've started. After 16 years I must've become trained in Indian time, as I got there at exactly the right time. There was a parking spot directly in front of the door and I had to wait about 5 minutes before the event began. I saw Halisa's mother, who told me that H got into the summer art program I'd written her a recommendation for, but that since it began before her school got out she'd had to decline. That bites. I talked to Alex, who has been jerked around in about 30 different roles this year, which is not good at all. He was having to be the A/V person, and at one point Billy asked him to turn up the volume on the DVD, which caused a screech of feedback. Alex said, "And THEN I find out he's deaf..." The bad thing is that the more one is dragged from task to task the worse one can perform, as one gets further and further from what one does best and tranquil concentration. THEN it really is easy for those who are doing the jerking to criticise. I feel that's an unfair situation to be placed in.

One 8th grader is a girl I first met at her naming ceremony, when she was two years old. I'd never seen such poise and grace in such a tiny child. She had a lot to do - and she did it all perfectly. Another was a boy I had in my art program until he hit a certain teacher's class and she wouldn't let him go. I advocated until I was blue in the face. It's like speech therapy or something for those students who are very creative: you wouldn't say "Johnnie didn't bring in his homework so he can't go to speech therapy."



12 June 2006

 
Tiff: Panama City

"I Love Panama City also. The people are wonderful and
extremely helpful and boy are they proud of their
country and its canal. We went to the old colonial
part of the city today. It is so beautiful and the
way they are working on it, it will be even more
beautiful as the years go by. It doesn´t hurt that it
is on the Pacific Ocean and there is a very long and
beautiful boardwalk to the colonial part. I won´t
bore you with all the churches, etc., but I must tell
you that Noreiga´s old hangout is for sale (a fixer
upperfor sure- but it is on the water). We went up to
the presidential palace housed in an old colonial
building. The president of Panama lives on the top
floor of the building. The palace is surrounded by
quite serious looking guards--Well they are just a
great bunch of guys. They chased a bunch of birds
(herons) around so I could get a good picture of
them-even posing with the birds. They opened the
security gate so I woulñdn´t have bars in my picture.
They posed for pictures of both myself and Brad and
had a great time talking to us. Everyone here want´s
to know if it is your first visit and when you are
coming back. We have felt very welcome and valued as
tourists. Panama really is rocking and rolling. Lots
of foreign business envestment, etc. They are
planning on building a second canal. Its funny--for
all the coups, rebellion, and horrible civil
wars--Central American Presidents are sure a lot more
accessible to the people--especially in Honduras where
the president rode down the street horseback with no
visible security at all--of course it was carnaval.
Everyone was quite sure including the local tourist
support group that we could never find our way to the
Miraflores Locks of the canal on the local buses. The
tours there are $49 dollars a person. HA!!!We got to
the locks for 35 cents each way. We also got from the
airport to our hotel the first day we landed--a real
feat I have to assure you. If you have never been to
a Latin American City you can´t possibly envision the
total lack of order and total lack of street signs and
addresses. You can´t talk to anyone because the bus
music is always blaring at about a million
decibles--and the horns are always blaring. Basically
you can drive a bus if you have loud enough speakers
and love rushing across double center lines--cutting
off every other vehicle on the road (mostly other
buses who are your competition) with your hand
constantly pressed on the horn.
Anyway, we made it to the canal and had a thoroughly
enlightening time. The museum was very interesting
and we had a great lunch while watching the ships go
through.
The dumb thing we have been doing for two days is
looking for a Harley Shop which everyone seems to know
where one was but then it moved. We are on our 3rd
location tomorrow while we visit "Old Panama", a ruin
that goes back to the 1500s."


 
Jim Woodring has a blog.

"Now children, you must learn that the limits of your ignorance are not the limits of the world, and now you shall see how many awful secrets we have been hiding from you."



11 June 2006

 

Keats and John and Susan and Connie came over - here is Keats with a grape hurtling towards him. It was great to see them - I hadn't seen Keats since he was about 5. The Montroses brought me a newspaper, Connie brought me two of the nice color postcards that Richenda had printed up for the shows. Keats showed me a dvd of his baseball team, and gave me a nice drawing of an oriole and a robin. Despite the fact that they brought everything including food, did everything including replace burnt-out lightbulbs, and cleaned up before leaving after just a few hours, I was exhausted and staggered off to have a nap.



10 June 2006

 
Karan said:
"Look at you! A local celebrity!!!"

I'd like to thank all the little people...


 
I H8 ATITD (again)

I thought I'd have a look at A Tale in the Desert again, after two years. The first time I lasted about 5 minutes, hated it from the get-go, and was horrified at how poor Osprey looked. I uninstalled it immediately. This time, my old account had been deleted so I made another. The avatars are vastly improved, so I spend about 15 minutes running to the Art temple thingy, then I logged off as... I hate it. I think it's inevitable that an antisocial person is not going to like a social game. You are supposed to run TO people, but of course, I ran AWAY from them. It's even less interesting to me than Entropia Universe, which has nice landscapes, good monsters, but the population is about 90% sociopaths-in-training. [about EU: I like shooting at things but I am disinclined to keep on dumping money into it because of the decay. I don't mind buying ammunition - but I hate paying to restore something that has decayed (things decay quickly and constantly).]


Nice shadows. Here I am newly-spawned, gathering mud.

Run away! Run away!

The art temple thingummybob.

Only paid accounts may vote for camel privacy (or against it).

June 4, 2004 - A Tale in the Desert way back when:


 
Tiff: Bocas Del Toro Panama

"Well, yesterday we decided to go to a beach on the

other side of the island with our newlywed friends
from Panama City. We found it was $15 by boat and
$1.50 by bus. The bus ride was great. Anyway we got
two beaches for the money. One beach had a reef for
snorkeling and the other was an amazing white sand,
palm tree lined beach full of starfish whose bodies
were bigger than a basketball. The young girl with us
decided some had washed up too far on the sand or
perhaps some tourist guide had put them dangerously
close to the edge of the water. Anyway we put them
back with their buddies safe from a hot, sandy death.
I was snorkeling on the reef side with my most hated
thing/swimming in one foot of water through sea
grass//when suddenly my path was crossed by a huge
ray. It is one thing to swim with them in clear water
with a sandy bottom and quite another to have one
slither through the sea grass right across your
path//spooky.
I love our hotel. We are kind of back in a
neighborhood rather than in the tourist beach/front.
There is a fundamentalist church next to us and they
sing everyday. It is quite beautiful. The people
come all dressed up and carrying their bibles. I love
the sound of their music so much I wish that church
was in Port Orchard so I could go to that church.
This is the Caribbean in so many ways but without the
dire poverty we've seen elsewhere and the different
races here function together equally and beautifully.
There is no begging or children in garbage
cans//although there is garbage off the main streets.
The people including us because we are in that part of
town//live outdoors. The kitchens are all outside as
are the places to sit and watch the world go by. We
like it here a lot."


 
The newspaper article came out today - it's sweet; CLICK HERE.




09 June 2006

 
EZ-Wider

I was worried my monitor was going to crap out on me in the near future (it's an lcd that's 3+ years old) so every once in a while I'd look around to see what there was. The old one is a 17" conventionally proportioned monitor with an adjustable base - it was the el cheapo of its category when I got it, which was still 6 or 7 hundred bucks. I just didn't want to die without ever having had an lcd. I wanted a widescreen but everything I saw was either beyond me in price or not adjustable. I saw this at about $215 and ordered it immediately - it came as I was arriving home from work. I like it - one thing I've always hated about TV is the proportions - I can't watch those proportions, they are horrible. Ugh, near-square. Then computer monitors had the same proportions. Ugh. This is much better. And the sheer cube-like bulk of the old monitors and TVs is repulsive.


 
Just home from work...

Unbeknownst to me it was Field Day, so I couldn't park as close as usual but it was all right. As I pulled up in my little Sha (my car was named by Samantha LW - sha being Dakota for red) and Frances C (parent of former student of mine) took my photo. I said "Hey, don't do that, you'll break yer camera!" She said, "We have one of you in your car that Kota took ten years ago - it's in an album!" She came inside with me and told me the latest news about her family. She's a single mother with many children, one of whom is severly handicapped and used to have hundreds of seizures a week (I think the seizures are in the past now as she had some kind of surgery that stopped it, but I could be wrong).

Then I worked on my files, and so forth, and talked about things with Alex. I said that I had printed transfers for 38 shirts, and with the bazillion here at my house (that I'm giving to the school), I saw no reason to get our knickers in a twist. How many could we actually sell, anyway? I said that to the vice principal and she agreed. There is supposed to be a repairman coming (he was due after 1pm today) who may fix the printer; he also has two same-type printers and said he could give us a loaner. If it turns out to be easy to get the transfers printed, so be it. If not, I personally would say, "Who cares?"

I got a yearbook - yay! It turns out there were 160+ bound (as I thought) not 130 (as I was told).

Children came in and said, "Look!" to me - Josie WS is visiting from Oklahoma. I talked to her a bit - her family is insanely talented and I was close to them. I said, "Tell your family I love them all very much." She left but came back a few minutes later and then stayed for an hour or so putting together the binder-type yearbooks for me. I hadn't seen her for two years; she's about hmmm... 9. That family is my "toxic mold" family, as they lived in an apartment complex in Olympia that had toxic mold and lots of other problems and was condemned.

I asked Mothra to come and pick up the T shirts and change my lightbulbs, thereby excusing Alex, who was my choice if he could plug in my ram. He was happy to be released.


 

I need to stop playing around and get ready to go to work.



08 June 2006

 
Tiff: Bocas Del Toro Panama-We Are In Love

"The public transportation in Panama is the best ever.
Little mini-buses scuttle and scurry all over the
place at all times for almost no money. Little taxi
boats race everywhere all the time. Panamanians are a
scurrying bunch at least here in the north. Our drive
over from David to Bocas was outrageously beautiful.
There are mountains all the way across the country up
to about 10,000 feet. There are waterfalls, green
jungles, grassy valleys, and rivers everywhere. All
through the mountains the native peoples live in
raised little cabanas of a couple hundred square feet
with thatch roofs and outdoor living areas. Of course
there is no electricity or plumbing. Every village
has a little school and the children pour out of the
cabanas on their way to school with ironed white
shirts and navy skirts and pants. They are spotlessly
clean and obviously highly valued. The villages are
spotlessly clean--NO GARBAGE.
The people are wonderful. The food is great and you
can drink the water everywhere except on these
islands. We snorkeled at 4 different places today and
saw the most beautiful coral ever. It was like
someone opened up with flourescent spray paint all
over the ocean floor and the fish and the plants. It
was like landing on another planet of cartoon colors.
Panama has all the beautiful mountains, waterways, and
greenery of Washington plus an ocean that is about 80
degrees that you can stay in all day. Well, at least
till you see a jelly fish or two. They aren´t very
dangerous but they do sting. The waters are full of
dolphines. They actually eat the jelly fish. There
is also a little critter called a pica-pica that is
itchy and we got into a city of them so we got out but
really they aren´t bad-neither are they everywhere.
We actually snorkeled for 2 hours off the islands that
were the location for the filming of --Survivor
Panama. They are beautiful white sand islands with
suprerior access to the reefs for snorkeling.
We snorkeled with a couple from Panama City that are
here for their honeymoon. We are going to another
beach with them tomorrow as they pretty much invited
us on their honeymoon. We will take a water taxi to
an isolated beach to spend the day on another island.
I´m telling you this is the spot to love most in the
whole world. Oh, did I mention the island is half
Carribean Folk--YYYUUUMMM, the food is A_O.K.
I love Panama a lot more than Costa Rica. Here it is
just people living their life and you are a part of
it. It is assumed you speak Spanish. Costa Rica is
about tourism so you don´t feel the people are
welcoming you in an equal way.
The rain is an event. Its just another exciting
activity-Suddenly you are just in a raging waterfall
that goes on for hours. I promise you never saw such
rain anywhere in the USA."


 
I ran into Amanda in Slaveways after jin shin. I was buying a gallon of plain yoghurt. She looks mature, now - she seemed grown-up and better than before, which is good. She said she'd photograph the art installations for me. I drove past C.E. Gallery and peered in the window - holy crapoly it looked pretty damn nice. Ironically, and to Lucia's annoyance, the museum paintings are hung on the staircase, so are not accessible. I said they should provide opera glasses. Also - the docents are mistakenly telling people that the work is not for sale - that's happened at least three times to my knowledge when someone expresses interest in buying.

I rang Ann and asked her to be my contact for the ZOMG SS forms I have to fill out that make me exhausted before I begin. She was just in Japan then came back and got really sick but went to work anyway, then went to New York. Larry was really sick on the Japan trip, but he came back and went straight to work, too - they couldn't have any time off. Ann HATES commas. I always find that odd - however, I really don't like nickels at all, so who am I to laugh? My old design teacher, Ray Nichols*, said he carried nickels in his pockets as a child as his name was Nichols. Ray seems to be the only art dood left from when I was there. Let's see... Charles Rowe, Joe Giordano, Julio d'Acunha, Joe Moss, uh... there were more but I can't spit out the names at this second.

Frank's father, in Illinois, fell, so Frank will be gone next week. Consequently he was light on me today - if it had been like last week I would have a really awful time trying to go in to work. His father is hmmm, something like 90. Berdie invited me to her house for a bowl ceremony on Saturday, which was sweet of her (I can't imagine I'll go but it's nice to be asked).

Now every day there is a backhoe in the driveway but the man has been nice about getting it the f*ck out of my way.

I have 4 boxes of T shirts to give school.
Phil had surgery on Wednesday and I asked Alex to put in my ram but he said he'd never done it, which was too bad.
I can just see me in the next few days... let's see, I'm sure I can do this with one hand - np!

* He said that to us once in about 1977 but I never forgot it.


 


 


 
Blogger seems to have risen from the grave, but is somewhat decomposed and has a pronounced limp. I've been jonesing -- blogger's constipation, I reckon. I am not exactly sure this one will publish so I'll keep it short.

I have to go in to school tomorrow - the BIA has decided to come on Monday to audit my program, so I'm going to make sure it's all hunky-dory.



07 June 2006

 
I just rang school to find out how they were dealing with the problems caused by the printer malfunction. Brenda said they'd sent Denice to Kinko's to get the programs finished, and Alex hadn't tackled the transfers yet as he is working on something else. She said not to worry, and I'm not - there's nothing I can do but give instructions anyway. I left the files in 2 formats in 2 places, with detailed instructions, so it's covered more or less.

There's an art exhibit with a Second Life aspect in the real life framework - I'm going to enter three things, one of which I need to set up and photograph. I haven't absolutely decided on the other two - it's hard to make this kind of choice. In the olden days when I always had paintings out at shows - it was rare to NOT have things in exhibit - I was well aware that choosing A, B, C for a 3-entry show could end with total rejection, while D, E, F could be accepted. There's no way to know which ones are which, though, so it's best to not take it personally. Of course, that hardly stops one from attempting to pick the things that have the best chance - which might actually be A, B, C. You can say, "Just choose the things that you like best," but I have a bazillion things I'd show if I could, so choosing it not quite that easy.


 

Enjah and I were way up on the top of Salazar's tower in Bodega, and the man himself dropped by to see what we were up to. He gave us a ride in his new Lumiere N vehicle - Enjah poised on the nose like a ship's figurehead, and me lost in the interior somewhere - all I could see in there was black.



06 June 2006

 
Tiff: Corcovado Costa Rica

"Well, finally I found a bit of public transportation
that I hate. Its the collectivo pick up truck from
Puerto Jimenez to Corcovado Park. 25 gut splitting
wrenching miles on the worst dirt road in the world at
break neck speed. We had to pull ourselves up by the
roll bar over the truck bed where we were sitting to
keep from being beat to death and just kind of hang by
our arms for 3 hours. Our driver was a bad attitude
guy. He stopped at a friends while we all sat there
and he had lunch and a beer. He had been out the
night before and just couldn´t stop the party--but he
sure is some driver. I don´t think any mud bogger
could take him. Of course the truck was full of
workers and they had gasoline, propane, and sharp
tools which wasn´t enough. Everyone had to have a
smoke EEEEKKKKK!!!. Anyway it was the truck ride from
hell but wait it gets worse, but more on that in a
minute.
We stayed at the entrance to the park in a sort of
cabin tent thing with no electricity as there is none
for 20 something miles. The owner was a great guy
though and so we had a nice evening in the dark
lathering on mosquito repelent.
The next day we entered the park after walking 3 miles
down the beach. It is the most unspoiled and
untouristed part of Costa Rica (it is next to
impossible to get there). For one thing you have to
cross a fairly serious river at almost high tide so
that you can conme back at lower tide (the river you
ford is still about three miles from the park entrance
and its all along a wild and raging coastline. Brad
got ready to cross but I got scared as the river ran
you right into an impossible boil of river and
pounding waves. I kept shouting I didn´t want to
cross but he didn´t hear me and kept going. Meanwhile
a huge wave came up the river and knocked me down and
I got my passport wet. Brad stood up to the surf but
I don´t know how. I crossed finally as Brad was on
the other side but I wanted to cross back and give up
the park trek. We crossed back with a little less
flurry as we picked when to run for it. Once we
crossed back, a guide for someone else showed up and
explained that in 4 hours the tide would be down so we
crossed back again and journyed on knowing we could
get back out. Most trekkers through that park have
guides--well we saved a few bucks there. That whole
area is supremely beautiful and wild and rugged.
Picture pitch black sand, raging surf, primary rain
forest,flowers, mountains, coconut, mango, and banana
trees--now add monkeys, butterflys, parrots, and much
more all to yourself--well you get the picture.
The truck ride back crossed 30 rivers without bridges.
We only crossed 5 on the way there. IT RAINED THE
GRANDADDY OF ALL RAINS. The water came up over the
wheel wells of the truck and swimming it would have
been a bit tricky as the current was whipping but I
was glad to be in the back for a quick escape.
Anyway we got across the border and are in David
Panama. We hope to go to Bocas del Torro tomorrow to
snorkel.
Some funny dramas along the way:
A lady at one bus stop where we had to wait about an
hour took a liking to me and showed me all about
dreaming of things that represent numbers to win the
lottery.
I started a big fight between rivel guides in Isla
Omtepe because one gude told me not to take a picture
while I was with the other guide. The whole town got
in on that one.
Our guy that arranged our cabin in Corcovado told us
he owned almost everything in Puerto Jimenez and had
been a proffessor at Harvard, an oilman in Oklahoma,
and a priest. Actually he turned out to be pretty
much the town drunk (sad as he was really so lonely
for anyone to talk to).
Hope we see lots of fish at Bocas del Toro."


 
I wouldn't be home except I had a printer emergency and couldn't keep going - well, then I had to leave detailed instructions and put files in two locations so various people can access them What happened was this:
I started printing Tshirt transfers (always dicey), leaving the inside of the program to be printed last so I could go home and leave it printing.
A transfer wrapped around a roller. Last time that happened I was a fraction more able, and tore through the transfer, removed it with pliers, burned myself a lot, and kept on printing.
This time I called the office to see if the building manager was there - no - I said I needed a man with pliers and Denice said she'd find Skunk. I said, "What about Randy (transportation supervisor)?" He came, and it turns out he was a printer repairman for years. He got the transfer out and I started it up with the idea that if it printed I'd do the programs. I got "50.6 Fuser Error," and wondered if changing the drumkit would fix that - I couldn't get hold of Randy as there was some kind of meeting. After renaming files and making sure everything was in more than one location, I wrote notes and emails to Alex (out today due to dental things) and Brenda telling them what to do, put everything in piles on the table, etc. It's complicated to explain and they won't be happy they have to do it - but oh, well. Usually it all appears magically with no effort on anyone's part but mine. Enjah IMed while I was in Gmail, and I had to say I couldn't talk.


I actually felt cheerful and happy as I left, despite the rotten problems. I stopped and talked to Roxanna on the way out, then, as I was stopped before turning out onto the Nisqually Cut-Off I looked over at a truck that was stopped behind someone going into Conine - the driver recognised me and grinned and did a head-bob-of-recognition, and I smiled widely. A former student, without doubt. Children change a lot as they grow up and I'm not sure who it was -- however, it seemed to be a nice ending to my work-life at Wa He Lut. I've been there long enough to have children of former students. I wanted to put some old photos in the yearbook this year - alas I couldn't find them and it didn't happen, but that's life. I'm not totally finished as I need to wrap it all up for the end of year ceremony on Tuesday, then the pow wow is Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Last year was the first year I couldn't go - I love pow wows, and got lots of great photos by getting children to take pictures, taking them myself, getting a grandpa to take some, etc. The year before last was the last year I manned a booth - that was always fun.

I had a nice email from Becky L, who bought a painting - yay! She said, "With respect to the question that Lucia poses about "how does that light also suggest so much about the humans who pass through?", I have one answer. I think there is a starkness in light on your buildings that reminds me of how I have felt, back in my hiking days, when I came upon a small lake above the timberline. Those lakes- like the walls in your paintings - make me admit that they would be here whether or not I was here to behold them.
This is the classic "you're-a-speck-in-the-universe" moment, or in the case of your paintings, "you're an illumined dust mote", and it is both disquieting and comforting at the same time."

I got a nice email from Judy, in New Mexico, with whom I worked at the Lut years ago. She said, "I know, from experience, how much it means to enjoy seeing what's outside your window. It has made a real difference in my life to "have a nice view!" Right now everything in the desert is blooming; red yucca, cholla and even the pinon have sprouted tiny brown cones. We have baby squirrels running around like crazy, as well as tiny rabbits, roadrunners and tons of quail. Sometimes I just stop and think how lucky I am to be able to live amongst all of this. Mostly I'm working to keep it all going, but it's worth the effort."

Phil emailed me back -- he's in surgery tomorrow so the fact that the graphics card got delayed two weeks then cancelled meant I missed that window of opportunity. I didn't order the 7800 as I have time to poke around a bit, now, and I'm back to that "I know myself too well" thing, which is that if it's sitting here I'll put it in myself, which I shouldn't do.



05 June 2006

 

I made 3 free textures for Tina to use on her Swedish midsummer poles (tiling rose garland, cascading roses, non-tiling roses for the cross-piece) so she could give them away and today she sent me Swedish national costume to wear when dancing around the... not May Pole, but Midsummer Pole. Needless to say, Tina is Swedish. She accesses Second Life through a monster Mac, she says. Behind me in this shot is Art's duck - which I found while rooting around with no surface patch (removes the ground) looking for my spider, which I never did find. I think the duck, an old piece of SL, I'm sure, was made by Eggy. I was surprised to find it - it sat out at the same-ish spot for ages - don't know what happened or if there were two and this one burrowed underground.


 
Socking in For the Long Haul = Spending money so I'm good to go for a long time.
I'm annoyed as I ordered a graphics card nearly two weeks ago and it took me prodding the service department to find out that they didn't have it, couldn't get it, and wouldn't be able to send it. In their defense they only got word today. That was a 6800 AGP - I might order the 7800 AGP, which is a bit more than I wanted to invest in outmoded technology, however at this point I am just in a GIMME mood. My RAM is due today, as is my little organics order from Organics to Go. I am feeling better than I did yesterday - thank heavens. When I got home from jin shin a reporter from the Olympian rang me to ask a few questions (I'm horrible at that kind of thing). Lord knows what I said. I have to (horrors! extreme fright!) get photographed - I tried to get of the hook by explaining what a recluse I am, but it didn't wash. Marty, my host man, emailed me back about the database thingy related to Combat Cards, and said he would set it up for me if necessary, which was nice. I emailed Doc and relayed the news. I still have no clue and just would rather not have to be involved at all, since I don't even know what it is, but there we have it.



04 June 2006

 
Tiff: Volcan Poas/ La Paz Waterfall/Corcovado Costa Rica

"Well, we found Orquideas Lodge and what a lovely oasis

it was. A bit pricey for us but a treat.
While we were in that area, we went to the top of a
volcanic crater and looked down in. The fumerols were
going great guns and spitting sulphur everywhere.
There was a cauldren of hot acid muck in the bottom.
The crater was huge. I looked and took pictures until
the sulphur gave me a headache.
Then we went to a series of 4 waterfalls that were
gorgeous. The waterfalls were a part of the most
insanely beautiful lodge you ever saw. To stay there
is over $350 a night and probably worth it if you had
the money. Every cabin had a jacuzzi on the balcony
overlooking gorgeous gardens and the bathroom was a
garden with a waterfall.
There was a conservatory on the grounds with thousands
of butterflies, tree frogs, snakes, and birds up
close.
We met a couple that was at the Orquideas Lodge from
New Jersey. They couldn´t believe we were riding the
buses-quite different then their vacation. The guy
finally said he would give us $10 not to ride the bus
but take a cab as it so worried him.
Actually yesterday was a horrid bus day. We found
every --Not A Postcard Place--in Costa Rica. San Jose
bus terminal was in the slums--REALLY BIG UUUGGGHHH.
It took us 11 hours from San Jose to go 200 miles to
Parque Corcovado. The last 23 miles was 4 wheeling in
a forty foot bus. The potholes in the dirt road
almost could swallow a normal car. Today we are
catching a pick-up collectivo to the wild side of the
park and staying beyond civilization for a night to
hike in primary rainforest tomorrow. The place is
called Carate and it is where rainforest and the
Pacific meet. Hope its wonderful as it has been quite
the bone-crushing adventure to get this far. The
collectivo ride will be 4 hours-probably in the back
of a truck in the rain-but tomorrow morning should be
glorious.
In a couple of days we face the Panama border
crossing-always a full day of not having a clue what
is going on and terror that one piece of paper will
get misplaced."


 
Enjah's Global Tarot

Enjah mounted an exhibit of her global tarot cards - she has so far finished the major arcana and is in the process of finishing the rest. Her cards are interpreted in an earthy, gorgeously-colored style that is solid and familiar, yet surprising and intuitive. Each card contains words of wisdom - click a card, and a statement randomly drawn from several apt statements is the card's response. The opening was on Saturday, and there were lots of people there - I wish I'd got a photo. I'll add one later of the exhibit.



At the opening people were talking about metaphysical things, of course. I said something about how it is better to think there is something more, since if you are wrong and there isn't, you are dead by the time it matters anyway. Well, something like that. The trouble is what I say is not exactly what I think, which prompted Sel to say, "I understand what you mean but I'm not sure I agree." - when the whole problem to me is that I can't say what I mean, not that someone else can't understand what I am saying. Even I don't agree with what I say most of the time - I am crap at moving my thoughts into the realm of words. Words in my hands are very blunt and inexpressive - I feel like an untutored child banging on a piano. I'm clumsy - words come out in great ringing tones of equal weight when there should be nuances and subtleties to match my thoughts. Oh well, I don't think in words, so I suppose it's like translating something into a language I'm not fluent in.


 
Don't read this.

OK, I'm feeling better, now.



03 June 2006

 

My Fidget


 
The Fifties

From the Wikipedia entry about Ginsberg:

In 1965 Ginsberg was deported from Cuba for publicly protesting against Cuba's anti-marijuana stance and its penchant for throwing homosexuals in jail, but also for an alleged remark referring to revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara as "cute."

From HOWL:

I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by
madness, starving hysterical naked,
dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn
looking for an angry fix,
angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly
connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night,
who poverty and tatters and hollow-eyed and high sat
up smoking in the supernatural darkness of
cold-water flats floating across the tops of cities
contemplating jazz,
who bared their brains to Heaven under the El and
saw Mohammedan angels staggering on tenement roofs illuminated,
who passed through universities with radiant cool eyes
hallucinating Arkansas and Blake-light tragedy
among the scholars of war,
who were expelled from the academies for crazy &
publishing obscene odes on the windows of the skull,
who cowered in unshaven rooms in underwear,
burning their money in wastebaskets and listening
to the Terror through the wall,

(and you can read the rest by clicking the link)


 

The other day Enjah and I were wandering around in Castle Verloren, when Enj spotted my cat in the kitchen. I had seen him a day or too before, as well (but where was that...). Although I didn't make him to be Fidget, just a ginger cat for my 2004 Winter Festival build, he has morphed into Fidget. I said Fidget would've had the chicken down on the floor in two tics, but she said he was full, having eaten several chickens already.
Ah, Fidget! It's fun to run into him out of the blue, either in this form or as my painting of him, which are both in many places.
Thanks, Enjah, for spotting him!

And the green light was radiating off someone - in SL light goes through walls, so this ill-advised fashion accoutrement affects people far from the lightsource.


 
Link from Enjah:




02 June 2006

 

A strange box sat in the road near my shop in Bodega. I approached. Settext said "Touch me!" I could see an avatar nametag above the box, so I said, "Hi, Dierdre," and got this reply, "!" In a mild kind of way I wanted to click it, and I seriously doubt there would've been anything untoward about doing so, however I didn't.

A Day in the (Second) Life
At the opening of ElvenMyst sim I went to sit down at the same time as another person and we did that 2-objects-occupying-the-same-space thing, then both leapt to our feet. He went to another seat but got caught in that boing-boing thing, so I offered him a tp. He teleported to me, which put him right, and I said, "Sit next to me," which he did. Then I noticed he had named himself Snotwong. I IMed Way: "Griefer?" He said, "Nah-" and added something pithy I misremember. I was trying to find something in my inventory and accidentally pulled out a lot of unlinked objects that I'd selected and taken into inventory at some point, under the name "snotling on a stick." Then I hard-crashed - something I don't think I've ever done before. When I got back someone said, "Osprey, what's with all the litter?" I wrote this and THEN realised anyone who hadn't been in Second Life would have no clue at all what I was nattering about.



01 June 2006

 
"In alarming proportions the following words have disappeared from architectural publications: beauty, inspiration, magic, sorcery, enchantment, and also serenity, mystery, silence, privacy, astonishment. All of these have found a loving home in my soul." Luis Barragan


 
Tiff: La Fortuna Costa Rica =I got pissed on by a mean monkey

"This morning Brad found a banana bunch that fell off a
tree in our back yard and we had bananas for
breakfast. The bananas as all fruit is totally
different here. One banana is a meal.
We went on a great late afternoon nature hike thru the
rain forest as =of course=it was raining. The
adaptations of all the plants and animals in the rain
forest are amazing. We saw tons of spider
monkeys=some with babies, flying thru the trees. I
can,t believe they don,t fall with their sweet little
babies clinging to their bellies.
A little further down the trail, we got attacked by a
band of howler monkeys. Our guide kept enticing them
to howl by howling back=what a racket. Then I guess
they decided enough fun was being had by all and they
grouped themselves in the branches above the trail and
let go=pissing all over us. CUTE++
It was cloudy with some lightening on one side and the
landslides of lava rumbling down the mountain on the
other. We were afraid we wouldn,t see the lava
because it was cloudy but we saw it thundering
down=with huge boulders breaking into sprays of red
hot lava. The volcano doesn,t erupt it just
constantly pours out lava.
After the volcano excitement, we went to a thermal hot
springs resort, where there were 16 different
beautiful pools at all different temperatures. The
hot water is pumped from underground and there is not
one single bacteria or germ in any of it. There are
swim up bars where you can sit at the bar in the hot
tub and be served all kinds of exotic fruit
concoctions. There was one jacuzzi pool where the
jets were so strong they just pushed you around in
circles as you floted on your back. My favorite was a
huge hot pool with a cold pool built into the middle.
I had my legs hanging in the hot pool, with my chest
and arms in the cold pool. That way I stayed the
perfect temperature. It was pouring the whole time,
but the rain just felt wonderful on your head and some
pools had roofs so you could stay out of the rain if
you wanted, but I don,t know why you would do that.
The ceramic tile down here is gorgeous. I have fallen
in love with a ceramic tile with a bamboo design. Its
gorgeous. The buildings in Costa Rica are so
beautiful with so much beautiful wood or wood designs
in the interiors.
Today we are going to try to find a hotel that Joe
recomended on the way to San Jose called orquideas as
we head further south."

 

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