land – Ahuva’s Blog

Snippets

Krissy Muggleston fell in love with Bryn Oh’s The Rabbicorn also. Actually, everyone did/does. But Krissy has an excellent eye and is catching all of the subtleties and nuances that Bryn has embedded in the build. You should click through these links to see the fine detailed photos Krissy has captured. Obviously I need to go back and view it with a microscopic lens instead of my macroscopic emotions. 🙂 In the meantime, I have posted my pictures up to my Flickr account.

Drama Dolls are still going strong. 🙂 I gave one as a gift yesterday because I needed to apologize profusely to some dear friends. 😦 I missed their wedding this weekend. It was on my calendar and everything. I feel terrible for letting them down, not being there to help them celebrate their joy. Unfortunately, sometimes RL is like that. I could not be in both places at once. So I gave them a Drama Doll, told them to name it Ahuva, and let me apologize abjectly and self-destruct. *grin* I gave them the link to the tutorial video as well.
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I know an author!! Shenlei Winkler (aka Shenlei Flasheart) has written a book. Actually, Shen has written MORE than one book and is working on others. This in addition to all the fashion work, mentoring new designers, teaching college courses, running a business, pushing the boundaries of opensim, running a real life and being a good friend. 🙂 This latest book is a text that focuses on the business of design for aspiring professional avatar apparel (virtual) designers. Very exciting. The book is Designing Dreams, available through Amazon.

For those of you who like to keep up on ME (isn’t that EVERYONE?), you’ll be happy to know that I had a Blue Saturday. *grin* That’s GOOD news for me in SL. It means Blue and I were logged in at the same time and we both had time to dance and chat a while. I slipped into my new dancing dress (thanks to Oura, who found it and knew it was just what I needed) and joined Blue at Phat Cat’s for a wonderful time. Thanks Blue! *smile*
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I feel a little silly. Remember many posts ago I talked about how my neighbor put up an unappealing object, right in the sight-line of my pool? I was so proud because I put up a fence and blocked it. Well, last night I got an IM from someone who pointed out that the object was on MY land. /me blushes profusely Yes, I DO own that little 16×16 parcel. It was an ad farm and apparently I never joined it to the rest of my land, so none of my group rules were in effect. So someone could and did leave garbage on my property. Thanks to the kind intervention of a stranger, that object has been removed. I will try to remember how to join the parcels, but in the meantime my group rules are in effect.

Goodbye to Angelwood

Another piece of my “childhood” is vanishing. First, it was Dale’s shack on Pier, my first home. Now, it’s Angelwood. I’m not even a year old and I’m losing my past. 😦 Okay, that IS a tad melodramatic. Pier was the first house I ever saw. Pier, in essence, was my Orientation Island. Once I ventured out on my own, I ended up in NCI, where I met Gideon and Aaronson and Suki and Christine and so many others. Aa was my first friend. He tp’d me and Suki to his home in Angel to show me what possibilities existed in SL. I was so clueless. I went back and looked at my first post about it all. *grin* Wondering why Aa wasn’t hitting on me after I’d been warned that SL was all about sex. Trying to figure out why no one was talking – because Suki and Aa kept switching back and forth between IM and local chat and I hadn’t figured it out yet. Marveling at Aa’s beautiful mountain pool w/ sunbathing towels, waterfall, inner tubes, flowers, birds, sounds. I thought I was in heaven. I WAS in heaven. Angelwood. Angelwood was my first group. Heaven, indeed.

Jordana and Aa own (sigh, owned) Angelwood. Jordana took me under her (literal) wings (Jordana almost ALWAYS has wings!) and taught me soooooo many important things about SL. She made sure I knew how to function, what tools I needed. I owe my 7 Seas fishing and my MystiTool to her guidance. *smile* Thank you Jordana.

So many wonderful wonderful times and parties at Angelwood. Rez day parties. Halloween parties (ah, the Peanuts gang!!!). Dancing. Fishing. Hanging out being friends. But landlords have other ideas for their properties and even wonderful heavenly spots can come to an end. Last night was our farewell party. After May 26 – the dance pad is packed away. We will always have our memories, we will always have our friendships. Aa and Jordana are alive and well and we will find other places to rez their dance pad and kick up our heels!! Thank you Aa and Jordana! You made my entry and my stay in SL wonderful! And last night was a wonderful way to say goodbye to the dance pad! Love you both!
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Saturday Relaxation

I logged in Saturday afternoon to check for messages. I’d sent off a notecard offering to swap some land. There is a 16m2 parcel of land in the middle of MY property that is owned by someone else. Their profile states that they never ever never sell land but do swap. So that is what I offered. Otherwise I foresee some intense shrubbery going in that area.

But as it always seems to happen, once in I found it hard to leave. 🙂 Odd that, isn’t it? I began chatting with various friends. HellspawneD and I began discussing scripting and inventions and other intriguing concepts. So I invited him to come by and enjoy the view while we chatted. I’m quite grateful to Hell. He, along with other friends, is teaching me all sorts of nuances that I never understood. How to see invisible objects, land “rules”, how scripts work. 🙂 As I’ve mentioned here before, I love the shore, the sights, the smells, the sounds. I don’t foresee having the wonderful beach smell in SL anytime soon, but thanks to Hell, I now have the sound of seagulls to accompany the sound of the waves on the shore. It is these simple pleasures that make SL such a joy to me. We sat and chatted and relaxed. I decided we needed some butterflies for company as well so I rezzed my butterfly rock, also a gift from a generous friend. I’m not sure that butterflies belong at the shore, but they were fun to watch.

So as we sat there and I looked at my empty house and basically empty land (gee, I should have taken a picture of the trees I planted…) it occurred to me that I am very lazy. I would say that I have spartan tastes, but I’m not sure that a house with balcony and swimming pool and spiral stair and 2 fireplaces quite fits the definition of “simple, frugal, or austere”. 🙂 I have comfy chairs for sitting, I can rez trees when I need some shade by the beach, I have my 3 big trees in the back blocking unappealing sights and, of couse, I have my ducks. I definitely need a cat, however. More on that below. I also am toying with the idea of a cow. I thought a cow or two in the “upper 40” might be a nice touch. They would have to “moo” of course. 🙂 I’d need to plant some clover (pretty sure I have that) and some meadow flowers for them. Speaking of planting – I should at least fill my planters with flowers. Although I’m still so exhausted from all that work landscaping, I’m not sure my heart is in it. That is…. I don’t THINK that anyone can come here and tell me that my flowers use too many prims. But what if I’m wrong????? 🙂 Maybe I’ll simply take one of the pictures of my now-vanished gardens and put THAT in the planter.

After Hell went on his merry way I tp’d over to watch the Saturday afternoon trivia contest. I apologize- I didn’t take notes so I can’t tell you where it took place. Maybe someone reading this can post and tell you. Issa was competing and she brought me over. Chad was asking the questions and yes – there were prizes for correct answers! Woot! as people in SL are wont to say. 🙂 (Did I use that correctly????? Been looking at that word for months!) I, of course, was sidetracked by the white kitty in the chair. I was zooming in for a shot when, to my great surprise, it jumped down and wandered about the floor a bit, before returning to the chair! Now THAT’S the kind of kitty I need! One that walks about and keeps me company! Maybe a couple of kitties. I’ll get a fishbowl to amuse them. Anyway, silly me, I did keep taking pics of the competitors, but forgot to save them!!!!! Oops. So there is only one, but I think most everyone is there plus a little of the beautiful landscape.

All in all, it was a wonderful way to spend a RL rainy afternoon. Oh yes, I DID manage to get RL tasks done as well. So my conscience can simply be quiet and go away…..

Election Night ’08

So last night I was hanging about inworld, listening to RL news about the election results. I was by myself, thinking about landscaping, planting some big trees. Darcey logged on and I invited her to join me. She tp’d in and we planted another tree. Then we decided we’d worked hard enough so we changed into our suits, stretched out in relaxation chairs, poured ourselves some iced lemonade and listened to the waves and the sea gulls. Oh- maybe I should tell you where we were? 🙂 We were hanging out at MY house. 🙂 That’s right – I now own land. With a house. With 3 trees. LOL. With WATER!!! But no ducks yet. That stupid work sim is holding my ducks hostage. 😦 I’m going to have to login there today and WEAR a duck and hope that I can smuggle it out that way!

But in the meantime – here are Darcey and I enjoying my new Home Sweet Home! Notice that I’ve not really figured out how to landscape. Although after we’d sat there awhile I realized the shore line was a little too stark for my comfort and I didn’t want to burn. 🙂 So I rezzed some palm trees and banana plants.

Monday Morning Musing

It’s Monday. It’s gray. The inter/intranet connection in the office is c….r…..a…..w….l….i….n……g. My feet are cold. 🙂 So I’ve gotten a cup of hot tea and I am thinking about all the things I don’t understand.

I still don’t understand land in SL. I’m getting better, but I still don’t understand all the big corporations and owning islands and if you pay tier to a corporation do you actually own that land or do they own that land and what does it all mean anyway?

I don’t understand why we don’t teach our children properly about love, being in love, loving people. So many of us make the mistake of thinking that love somehow equates to perfect understanding. Complete unison. Wholeness. It doesn’t really work that way. And so we get confused, and then hurt and then angry. As a wise friend always says to me: The agenda of anger is pain. Took me YEARS to have even a clue what that meant.

I do understand hate and fear, unfortunately. What I don’t understand is why, after all these thousands of years, we aren’t any better at dealing with them.

I don’t understand why all the lights in my house can’t work at the same time. 🙂 I have 3 burned out bulbs in the dining room but it’s the sockets, not the bulbs. And a broken socket in the front hall. I just got the kitchen ceiling fan light fixed a few weeks ago. And the washing machine is making “noises”. Is there some unwritten law of which I am unaware that says at least one electrical appliance in my house must be in non-working condition???

I promise you this: When *I* rule the world, things will be different. 🙂

Why I NEED Land

So yesterday at lunch I was hanging out in my favorite beach chair, having a long, serious, emotional conversation with a friend. Now “my” beach chair is out there in public, which usually presents no problems. But yesterday while I am chatting with my friend, C comes by, also on lunch break. Normally I enjoy chatting with C, finding out what’s happening. But the conversation was deep and heavy, distractions not really welcome. C is skateboarding all around me, doing tricks. (Well done, C!!). So it was somewhat like having a pesky kid brother hanging about while I’m trying to talk on the telephone. /me whines “Mo-om!!! Make C leave me a-loooohhnnnnn!!!” See? I need a room of my own, NO kid brothers!!!! Okay – send me those listings: beach property, small, with sand, water view!!

Fragments

Some stray thoughts that didn’t fit in other blogs….

I’ve been promising a picture of one of my favorite friends. And I’m finally keeping my promise! I think she is one of the most beautiful people I’ve met in SL – inside and out!!

And I’ve made some other, more unusual friends as well. 🙂 I was a little concerned for this friend’s well-being on the beach, but he assured me that he would be just fine. You do meet the most interesting people in SL.

Two of my SL friends got married yesterday – in SL. So I need to go back to my blog on July 3 (Scratching the Virtual Itch) and eat my words, so to speak. I was taken aback at the notion that anyone would ever formalize a partnership in SL. I’ve come so far since then that now I wonder how I could have ever written those words. LOL. My friends are SO happy! They are simply radiating joy to everyone around them. Obviously getting married in SL can be every bit as important as it is in RL. Of course every party has a pooper and that role was played by another acquaintance who remarked: “In general my impression is that monogamy usually works spectacularly badly in SL, for whatever complex reasons.” Let’s hope that for my two friends, that’s not the case. Everyone can use some happiness, wherever they find it.

But that does raise an interesting question. Do SL relationships flame out more than RL relationships? I suspect that may be true. I think the reasons probably aren’t all that complex. In RL, relationships are mostly pre-defined. By that I mean society has trained us all to think that “marriage” entails conditions a, b & c and responsibilities 1 to n, and so on. Everyone we know in RL has learned the same rules about marriage. So even if the couple wanted to change the rules, society is pressing in on them, enforcing the relationship. I haven’t seen that kind of societal pressure at work in SL. It may be that I am still too new. But I think that people form relationships in SL without clarifying the terms beforehand. If they are operating from different assumptions and there are no external forces keeping them together, the relationship flames.

Here’s my last fragment: I want to buy land. I needed some time alone to think and stare at the water and chill out. I tried to do that from “my” beach chair, but someone kept hitting on me. Sigh. So I fled to a friend’s house and sat on their beach. I want my own beach with my own view of the water. So where should I be looking? What should I know?