A Day Well Spent...

I've spent much of today reading blog posts...Twitter feeds...and logging in and out of Secondlife. I have IM s set to email so that whether or not I'm logged in I can see what people might want to say to me. Good thing that today... Flor sent an IM about 9:45 that our estate was being weird, I logged in and everything looked OK... script times were under 17ms, I figured that she likely tried to log in during the rolling server restart scheduled for today. Fast forward about 5 hours and I see and email that she's gotten a notice that she's estate banned! I log on and sure enough her name is in ban list....and now comes my only guess as to how. There is another avatar with the same last name...still makes no sense...with only two of us authorized to add names...very odd. While I am one for not being pleased at how the Labbies are doing a lot of things... we must give Satan his due. The Secondlife platform today is so much more stable than it was three years ago... remember just a couple months ago when we were down for three quarters of a day? I do understand exactly how Flor felt though... Secondlife is just that for me...a Secondlife. This place and these people are important to me. ****** The only thing absolute in any world or life is change. After about fifteen months on the West shore of Benares, Amber and Couchman have decided to move on. Amber and I never got close and that's not what we planned on...it just turned out that way. I wish both of them much happiness in both real life and Secondlife and I have told Amber that if she ever wants to visit and reminisce please feel welcome...I still return to my first home site three years later...even though the estate name has changed. ****** Part of my web surfing this morning...I went looking for the musicians that worked soros tier free party and had a great time digging through The Born Again Pagans blog as well as finding the sound I heard last Saturday...give this link a listen! http://www.youtube.com/user/RastafairyBeach#p/a/f/2/wcmyiUN9LAw There are a couple of free cuts available for download as well...go for it! I'm going to go around and see if I can get a few of us together for a show at Benares..heck I'll cover the cost just to hear more of the incredible sounds. ****** Looking around the estate this morning...I had asked Twinkle to do me some size specific jpegs and I think in these next couple of days I'm going to contact Paisley Beebe of Treet TV to run and ad campaign for me. We have about 4 or 5 empty parcels and have what is likely the best residential community going in Secondlife...(IM me..I'll turn you onto references) =^..^= ******************* A few Images below of parcels available******************** West shore...twin 2048 meter parcels.. 468 prims... zeroL$ sale, tier only... estate rights...5000L$ month. Can be joined as a larger 4096/937 prim/9000L$ month Private Isle 2048 meter...468 prim...zeroL$ sale tier only ...5000L$ month North shore 2048 parcels... same zeroL$ sale.... tier only 468 prim...5000L$ month ****** And so it goes I love you all, brinda Namaste नमस्ते

This is a loss to all of us...

***********************soros no more tier party******************************** Without a doubt the best music I've heard at any venue in any life***** *****************************The Born Again Pagans****************** ***********This was the last day this creativity existed in Secondlife*********** ********************************Today********************************* This will be a short post... I'm trying to decide why I feel as I do. I was invited to soro Nishis party Sunday. soro has had enough...she's not leaving Secondlife but she decided that continuing to pay tier to a company that won't meet her needs or even admit there might be a problem with how they treat her isn't a route she chooses to travel. I wanted to post a couple of pictures of the party as well as an image I took this evening of the abandoned land. As for the story of where we as a culture might be headed, I'll leave that to Lalo Telling. His piece posted just thirty minutes ago says all that needs to be said today. I'm saddened... I'm in fear... Saddened that some one with soros ability has made the decision she felt she had to make. I'm in fear that we are seeing the possible end to this grand experiment we call Secondlife. And so it goes My love to you all, brinda Namaste नमस्ते

Rude People...

This comes under the heading of stuff I just don't understand. I've spoken before about how I see Secondlife as a place for entertainment, for creativity, for a platform to perhaps better understand other cultures throughout the earth we all have to live on. You know, while I say I don't understand griefers and griefing...actually at one level I do rather understand.... I suppose it's a way to demonstrate a feeling of power for those who feel powerless. Then come people like the guy that dropped in on me last evening. Picture this... I'm standing in my yard on a pose stand editing the flexi prims of a sari I was wearing...camera overhead, when all I see is a pair of shoes next to me and a "Yo" in chat. Now "Yo" reminds me of the Rocky films and while I guess there is a place in the United States culture where "Yo" works, I've always found it odd . OK...first take a look at the profile. Smell my finger?.... OK, while I find that line something he likely wouldn't say in front of his mother... I suppose his mom isn't here and I didn't have to read his profile. Our profiles do say so much about us though...positive and negative.

Now as I come out of edit and see him... he's straight out of 1978, giant afro hair...clap doctor white pimp suit, platform shoes. Take a look at the conversation...and this is the part I don't get.

Now egowise, what makes my opinion important is that I pay nearly $300USD every month for the sim he's visiting... he wasn't invited...and he chose to teleport in. The button he asked about? There are viewers where as a manager or estate owner you have access to a menu with a GTFO button... one clic and pooof the problem child is gone from your sim.

Could have I been more polite..hmm...maybe. On the other hand I believe in being proactive and holding people to their advertised beliefs. You publish a crude profile statement? You could be totally shocked at what can come out of my mouth.

Followers of this blog or me in person see I don't say words I couldn't use in front of a child, unless....... unless you just think you can treat me disrespectfuly.

Yes I do realise it's not a spiritual point of view...

Maybe in my next life.

And so it goes

I do love you all {well at the moment...most of you}, brinda

Namaste

नमस्ते

Finally At Rest...

******************** The roses we brought in our hearts *******************

Fifteen residents and friends came to pay their respects and to show their love.

It makes me believe that what we have here is something very special.

Thank you all.

*********************************************************************

Twinkles dad is now at rest..... There are really only two very important times in any life...birth and death. We celebrate birth in most present day cultures and decry death. We don't remember our birth just as we don't remember our last death. That doesn't mean they didn't happen. Speaking for Twinkle, I want to thank all of you that laid a rose at the Benares telehub in memorial to her father. I realize many of you have never met Twin...and may never meet her, that doesn't change what you have done for her and actually all of us. I see your participation at this impromtu memorial as a sign of the community spirit I have wanted for Benares from the day I started this journey. Thank you again And so it goes As always my love to you Twinkle

And my love to you all, brinda Namaste नमस्ते

In Memoriam

In Memoriam. Twinkle Villotas father passed away yesterday in Dhaka Bangladesh. I have spoken before of how the estate I own would not exist if it weren't for Twin. Many in Secondlife have told me that if it weren't for me, they wouldn't have stayed. I don't know, certainly my ego loves that. I can tell you that it was only by the greatest fortune that I was introduced to Twin a few days after I came to Secondlife and I do know that the reason I'm still here is because of her. I feel the loss as if it were a member of my blood family. A measure of the kind of person Twinkle is comes from a line from the brief Email I received yesterday.

Twinkle Villota xxxxxxxxxxxxx > hun, > my dad is no more. please pray for his soul. I just wish I could have done > more for him. > take care > *kisses*

I will do that.

"The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each others life.

Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof."

*********From the book "Illusions" by Richard Bach copyright 1977****

*****

And so it goes

While my heart is so very heavy I will try to love you all, brinda

Namaste

नमस्ते

Abilities and Possiblities...

Watching the real life news today.... I suspect most of you in the United States saw the story about the woman that was asked to resign from her job in the U.S. government after a guy posted an edited video clip from 25 years ago that appeared to show her racialy biased. A day later it turns out that any racial bias involved wasn't on her part but possibly on the part of the idiot that edited the video. That brings me to just another wonderful thing about Secondlife. Racism, or in most cases the lack thereof. Recently there have been a couple of incidents in Secondlife that have shown me that while this virtual world doesn't remove all of our individual prejudices, {witness the Palestinian/Jewish confrontation of a couple weeks ago} for the most part Secondlife is free of many of those situations. My experience here has shown me that visible color or the lack there of seems to make it very easy for the vast majority to simply accept another person for who they are rather than what they are. In my case about the only avatars that I shy away from by sight are the children. Never mind all the arguements for or against...in most cases I find child avies creepy. As a friend of mine has said...unless I'm in a roleplaying sim, actively participating... role playing around me is likely to get you laughed at. Now there are a few avatars that seem to carry a lot of real life baggage with them here. I'm thinking of wanna be bikers for one ....maybe they are real bikers...but I doubt it. I've known a fair number of real bikers and they just never struck me as those that would come to Secondlife. We have others as well...inner city acting "gangstas", male and female. {some have posted rl pictures... nah, they ain't ganstas!} Heck,I've been invited to a wedding by in world "mafia" types {big Pauley etc}. {couple of them posted rl pictures as well...don't look like any I ever saw!}

It's obvious that in Secondlife one often never knows the true persona we see. One of the most erudite avatars I've met here was a furry when we first met. A very close friend is blonde haired and blue eyed in Secondlife...trust me, I've visited the part of the world she lives in... but, after two weeks in Northeast India I never saw anyone with blonde hair.

Secondlife has the great potencial to expand acceptance in all worlds. For instance, there are a lot of men who really don't like women... I don't mean those men have chosen an alternative lifestyle necessarily, they just don't see women as their equal. In secondlife everyone is equal according to their ability. These abilities are color, gender, and ethnicaly blind. The possiblities are both endless and boundless and it really would be a sad thing to screw this chance up. And so it goes My love to you all, brinda Namaste नमस्ते

Immersion vs. Augmentation

I have spent some of the last couple of days thinking about something I first read about at least two years ago. Actually, I spent quite a bit of time in the small hours of this morning playing with the thoughts of how I wanted to start this post. Just begin I guess, otherwise it's like watching my neighbor screwing around with his yard full of junk. (My neighbor is a burned out, early 60ish, old meth addict)...{some of us just stopped a few weeks too late!} Question..... Are you an Immersionist or an Augmentationist here in Secondlife? To better help one determine which you might be, take a look at this link by Henrik Bennetsen from 2006. http://www.secondlifeinsider.com/2006/09/25/immersionist-or-augmentationist/ Personally I fall under the immersionist category and, of course, have those biases. From reading that article though, it's clear that many people including "The Benevolent Monarchy" believe that much of the future growth of Secondlife will come from the augmentationist crowd, I'm not sure of that.... or I might say I fear that . My perception is that those that are Facebook/Farmville type people, if they are someday allowed to easily access Secondlife via a webpage (no software download needed), would so drastically change Secondlife that it's survival as we know it is doubtful. Think that's not where "TBM" is headed? Look at viewer 2.ought oh, it would appear that "TBM" cares more about eventually giving web access than our security. The security issues shown in that jira were brought to the attention of "TBM" a month before that viewer release. Would Secondlife grow if access and platform were easier, absolutely! Facebook has what, 450 million users? But at what cost to the Secondlife we know now. Secondlife isn't easy...that's both a boon and a bane. The figures have been tossed around that it can take 20 hours to figure out Secondlife, where stuff is, how to dress yourself, move around, send IMs, change the time of day...{and three years later I've just about got that part down} =^..^= People want easy, look at Staples "Easy Button" commercials. Those very things that make Secondlife a content creators dream are exactly what makes it "not easy". I often see an expression of incredulity with nooblets after they ask, "What's there to do here?" and I tell them pretty much anything they want...look around, everything you're looking at has been created by people here in Secondlife. It's a rare day that I can just drop in to Secondlife and log out in say 5 minutes...now I have, but not usually. I've learned that if I've somewhere to be and I need to leave in under an hour...don't log in. The other social media sites are a lot easier to just pop in pop out. In a word..they're easy. The very challenges that make Secondlife not easy are what, in the end, makes it what it is today. It's taken me nearly three years to get to where I am today in Secondlife and I don't mean financialy. While I understand the purpose of any corporation is to make a profit I really do feel and hope that Secondlife can be a little different. The experiment we call Secondlife has never been brought to this level ever...gosh, let's don't screw this up. And so it goes my love to you all, brinda Namaste नमस्ते

Friendships & Relationships

Relationships in secondlife can be so very fulfilling. The upside... there is a bond we have that comes with shared experiences. I suspect that even experienced gamers come to Secondlife without much idea of just what is possible here. We make mistakes, we wear boxes (used to be default worn on our heads), we end up naked at a welcome area because we "replace" our hair instead of wear, we end up dancing and have no idea of how to stop, or in landing we splat down in front of a lot of people. Our shared experiences also include the things we learn with others. I personally have been very fortunate in having people in my Secondlife that first, were those oldbies, {Prissielou} that allowed me to feel comfortable and didn't laugh at me. Then along came Twinkle who rezzed just after me, while she taught me much of the basics here, we learned and experienced much of this world together and remain close to this day. She still teachs me...{think about teaching someone how to use HTML hyperlinks from 12,000 miles away!} When it became time to learn more along came Poly... while I got to Secondlife over a year before Poly, she was the one that showed me really how to run an estate, how to do things with a computer, how to feel some confidence in my abilities. Learning and teaching here are a big part of my Secondlife experience... I have relationships that are based on those experiences. Just today I was able to show a young woman how to do simple things like putting objects into a prim for storage... or Cntrl/Alt/T to find transparent. That's basic stuff... after some one shows you how! My new relationship with Gramps who's nearly six months here... how to make a one prim picture frame... how to select texture. There is a downside as well. Secondlife is very intense... I see it as creating a level of attraction that isn't as complete as we think it is. In our real life, as children we aren't considered responsible for our decisions and actions. The degree of that responsibility is normally related to our emotional age and that age isn't tied exactly to chronological age. As we "grow up" emotionally we learn to read subtle signals given off by people. We learn about the shifting gaze (shifty eyed ), or the stutter when suddenly confronted with a discrepancy in a story, the little clues that ring loud alarm bells for those of us that one of my aunts called people watchers,there or here. Of course those signals are hidden here in Secondlife... that long pause in answering could be lag... or multitasking. I'm reminded of a dear friend who fell so in love with an avatar. He seemed to be absolutely everything she dreamed of ...the love affair went on for months. Now this wasn't one of those things that happen all too often where the love affair came to and end when one of them found out that all those dragons in Cathedral really aren't dragons. My friend had spent hours and hours on the phone in real life with this guy, they had swapped pictures, he was just perfect.....until the day his real life wife called and suggested my friend forget the wedding. One can imagine the feelings of infidelity, emotional theft, and heartbreak. I worked with my friend for nearly a year to help her through those feelings. If I were to give any advice in the area of intimate relationships {as opposed to intimate friendships} in virtual worlds it would be just this......wait, give it a year, learn how this world works. Likely you won't. In that case please feel I'm still here... Come to me and we will talk... I will never tell you ,"I told you so!" ********* **** The end of another wonderful day here at Benares...come and join us.****

And so it goes I love you all, brinda Namaste

नमस्ते

Secondlife Art.....& brief news from Benares

On Monday my friend Lori called me to let me know there was to be an art show here in Secondlife and while I rarely attend these I wanted to support my friend. Lori had been asked by Shadow McConach to hostess the event and supporting events here in Secondlife is something that can have great benefit for our Secondlife community. I went. I want to say right now... I made the right decision, at least for me. I was privileged to meet one of the artists, Elferson Thespian, a few of his works will be found below along with the works of several others. While so called classical art has never been a big draw with me, the "tech art" {for lack of a better name} I found absolutely stunning. It's just another of those "not possible in real life" situations that keeps Secondlife always new for me. *****************************************************************

**************** Above is Castle Benrath site of the show ************* Below some of the many works displayed on three floors and several hallways

***************************************************************** This image is by Tischvier Writer. The original shows the rose texture moving across the work.

**********{from a screen snip that does't show the true beauty}***********

********************************************************************

The three images below were created by Kyra Roxan and these screen snips don't do them justice. ****************************************************************

Elferson Thespian is the kind of man I really appreciate here in Secondlife. He is tremendously talented but seemed to have his ego in check... a rare commodity from my experience here.

We had a brief chat and he proved himself a total gentleman with casual small talk.

*****My images below are a poor sustitute for the quality of this mans art.*****

All in all I had a wonderful experience... Just another time I didn't follow my first thought!

*******

As far as Benares this past few days... all is well. I have moved the guest house up on the mesa

so that there will be another parcel available on the North shore.

***

Caro has decided for now to remain on the parcel that Andor named Bliss... (Andy if you read this, Bliss is still safe =^..^= }.

***

Breye has returned from the drama that turns up in role play.... this morning I saw a new house on her place. She's introduced me to Gramps... secretly I'm hoping that's just a Secondlife name and that I'm still the oldest!

***

I haven't seen Lala for a few days... guessing I need to Email that child and see what's up in Bucharest... I know, it's summer vacation.

***

Bubbles is likely in the UK now for a part of summer... I guess if you live in Sweden you learn to really enjoy your summers!

***

That's enough for now.

And so it goes

My love to you all, brinda

Namaste

नमस्ते

Beauty... Whimsy... & Just Fun!

Benares... Some of what we are in pictures. I started taking images and realized that there was just so much here. I have left out much more than these images can say. In almost {see declaration below :-)} no order... I hope you enjoy.

With the exception of the hammock image these were all taken from the main island.

There just came a point where this post became long enough... perhaps more at another time.

And in the interest of truth. I did set the image below last on purpose. =^..^=

My gratitude to all those whos creative skills I've captured.

And so it goes

My love to you all, brinda

Namaste

नमस्ते

Intensity...Changes...Equals...

I have spoken often about what I call "time compression" in Secondlife. I'm guessing the phenomena occurs in many/all virtual worlds but Secondlife is the only one that I've ever engaged in for more than a brief time. Time compression for me is the feeling that my three plus years here feels more like... I don't know, ten real life years? Perhaps pick a number that resonates for you... my guess is that you too will feel that we sit down for a few quick minutes and an hour or two has suddenly passed. I believe much of that is because of the intensity of the Secondlife experience. I suspect that many of us have felt a definite close emotional attachment to another avatar here... maybe an attachment that bordered on a feeling of real intimate love. It can happen. It happened to me... and the feeling of loss when one or the other goes on to other pursuits in Secondlife or leaves Secondlife is palpable... it really feels as though we can touch that feeling. Now I'm self described as a tough old bird... those that have followed this blog in the past, or chatted with me for a period of time in world know some of my story and that I can truly say, "Been there and done that", at a level few that come here would want. Not horn blowing, or that I'm a genuine bad person, just a fact...and the best thing is that I survived and have managed to grow up. Having said all that... this past week has been very hard for me on so many levels. My friend and almost daily companion has gone on to other things here in Secondlife... we were never an "item" just close friends and that friend was someone that taught me much about Secondlife and computers in general. I think that same intensity I spoke of above had a lot to do with my friends "burn out". When one manages an estate or owns one it's common on log in to be flooded with note cards, IMs, and people wanting a piece of you... stuff breaks, gets lost, or they just want to say hello. It's intense, and if you have other interests in Secondlife it can be difficult. I will continue to miss my friend, and yet I know it has come time to move on. ***** Moving on... Sabre has sent me a message that it has come time for her to make changes as well, take a look at what she had to say. I never had many chats with Sabre but those I did have impressed me with her directness... I will miss her as well. Mucaro is going to branch out to further explore Secondlife and will downsize her parcel here at Benares...but like my friend Breye, she intends to maintain a home here. One sad moment yesterday was when I was re landscaping the mesa area. I needed to move a memorial there... (see below}...

********************Gin Bolissima had a dream here********************* There is always a fine line between allowing your residents the freedom to do whatever it is they have chosen for their Secondlife experience {provided it fits the covenant agreed to upon taking possession of that parcel} and allowing behavior to go on that is morally wrong. Yes, all here are ostensibly adults, and all of us are equal... and you know darn good and well some of us are more "equal" than others. By default, I allowed someone to take emotional advantage of another... one that really didn't have the strength to emotionally defend herself. I still miss my sweet island girl... I should have done better, she deserved better. A thank you to Andor for the beautiful roses and vase. I still have the tier box. ********* Other news... I got an IM this morning from Kate, the manager from The Kasbah music venue, asking about a place for a home. I sent her a notecard with landmarks to these parcels... **************************Northwest West************************

************************East Sim-Northwest corner********************* ************************Northshore Mainside*************************** I hope Kate joins us... she was recommened by Porter and all the staff at leogans Kasbah club are great hardworking people. **************** I had a long chat with Twinkle yesterday. She is going to do some jpegs for me to send to Paisley Beebe. Perhaps we can expand... while I have a very small presence in Inworldz I'm not ready to abandon Secondlife just yet. Tomorrow I want to post some of the pictures I took today around Benares. Nothing serious, I just noticed again today how much whimsy we have...it's a good thing! **** And so it goes I love you all, brinda Namaste नमस्ते