A brand new day
Anyway, this person sent me a new blog template. See the lovely banner? The friend who made my old template saw that blogger had broken it when they updated and he made me a new template. For every ounce of random hate on the internet there are also people who are so giving and loving and kind that it brings me to tears. Thank you dear friend. You mean more to me that words can ever express.
Saturday afternoon at Chez Chestnut
So, I forced my kids to go down to the pool. We splashed each other and made Gavin's hair stand straight up. Sophie and I tried to convince him to let us dye it bright blue and spike it but the boy was having NONE of that. The sun felt good. The laughter felt good. The RL moments with my children are what matter to me, make no mistake about that. There is nothing like a wet hug from a 12 year old who would rather *die* than be seen hugging his mom anywhere but in the privacy of our garden to remind me how little virtual worlds matter in the grand scheme of my life.
~~~
My dear friend Lanna wrote an interesting post which I suggest you read, if you have not done so already. She talks about how she lost interest in logging in to SL when it became a 3d chat room rather than an immersive experience. I am quite guilty of this standing around talking in IM rather than immersing in the experience myself. Just last night I was at a concert and had three IM boxes open and was engaged in lengthy conversations with people while I listened to the music. I had so many boxes open I could barely see the world around me. As much as I loved the conversations I was having it was not the same as sitting avatar to avatar with someone and talking.
Many of my closest friends from SL are people I rarely, if ever, see in world. I talk to them all the time via other mechanisms and feel as close to them (if not closer in a few cases) to my RL friends. Second Life has become secondary to our friendships rather than the primary means of being together. However, unlike Lanna, I still log in to Second Life most days.
Why?
Habit? Blog fodder? Photographs? Music? Art? Meeting new people or expanding causal friendships into deeper friendships? The opportunity to collaborate on exciting new projects?
I still love virtual worlds. I still love Second Life, even when I purposefully walk away to enjoy other things.
Thoughts about a fight I never intended to have
Occasionally, I post something that is controversial. Most often I inadvertently step in a bees nest without knowing that what I say is going to get people all riled up. If you notice, I rarely take on controversial issues intentionally. I figure there are lots of people who are more analytical than I am and smarter who will offer opinions and since I always see things in multiple shades of grey, I prefer not to take strong stands on things here on my blog. I have definite opinions and my close friends will assure you this is true. I just don't put everything out here for the world to chew up and spit out. I lack the thick skin necessary to be that kind of writer.
When I write about my personal experiences and it turns into a "war" with people and I never knew I was fighting, I get confused and for the most part I want to crawl in a hole and hide until the last bomb is blown up. I am someone who generally wants to promote the great things that happen in virtual worlds and the last thing I want to be is a critic. If you look back at this blog to its beginning in 2007 and if you look at two years of writing on New World Notes, you will see that my intent is positive and my outlook about our virtual lives generally hopeful.
I look forward to the day when there are hundreds of thriving virtual worlds where we all can do business, make art and find companionship with like minded people. I hope that each of us finds the virtual space that feels like home and we can all invite our friends from other places to visit. I do want to be able to have good shoes and hair when I get to your world, but that is a controversy I am just not going to touch.
I apologize to anyone who was offended, hurt or royally pissed off by my post about Inworldz. My intent was to describe my own personal experience and I posted in a moment of frustration. Note to self: don't do that again.
Peace.
Ches
One place I strongly recommend you visit, another I cannot recommend
Last night I enjoyed the company of some friends who spend a lot of time in InWorldz. Now, my rez day over there is soon but I have hardly spent any time visiting InWorldz. Why? Because my user experience over there stinks. Nothing rezes even when I wait a long time. I find it impossible to TP without hanging up or crashing. Textures, when they load at all, flicker in an epileptic fit inducing manner. I can barely walk without rubber banding or getting stuck totally. Seriously? SL in 2007 worked better for me.
Me (the small person) next to another avatar. The store around us may not rez but some things are exactly like SL. Tall amazons rule!
This is what I saw *after* waiting for the store to rez for a while. Things actually got worse, instead of better.
I just wanted to buy shoes! If I can't customize my avatar and feel comfortable I just can't see how I will want to spend time in a world. Not that I could actually see what this shop was selling, but what I did see was not compelling me to stick around until next week when the vendors would finally rez. I know people love InWorldz. I just can't recommend it based on my experience. It makes me sad.
After the break: "Our Place in the Cosmos" which is a fanfreakingtastic art exhibit by Pixel Sideways.
After the break: "Our Place in the Cosmos" which is a fanfreakingtastic art exhibit by Pixel Sideways.
Strange days near the end of the world
First I slept until almost noon. Those of you who are paying attention know I have a terrible time with insomnia so sleeping a lot is a rare treat or a sign of the impending Apocalypse.
Then my cat killed a mouse and dropped it at my feet. A little while later she killed a baby bird. This too is a sign of something, probably not the Apocalypse though. It likely means the killing instinct is strong in cats and in spring the baby critters have not yet learned how to avoid predators. It was sad and more than a little gross. Thank god for husbands because I am not in the business of corpse disposal.
Eventually, I made an amazing dinner which everyone in my family ate. This is surely a sign of the impending Apocalypse. I mean it.
After that I logged in to SL and someone I admire asked if they could add me as a friend. It made my day.
Now I am sitting with the killer cat on my lap, drinking a big glass of wine wondering if I will indeed be up all night as payback for sleeping a lot yesterday. I am listening to Marx Dudek spin crazy tunes and doing her best to conjure up the impending Apocalypse. It isn't working.
Risk City, a fabulous art sim owned by SuzeLaRousse Milo
Today I visited a sim I found in the Second Life Destination Guide called Risk City. I find the "destinations" in the LL guide to the highlights of SL is hit or miss. Sometimes the locations are shops or hunts or things that are all about commerce, which is uninteresting to me. Some of that art locations are galleries of 2d pictures, which even when they are done well are not what I am after when I am searching for a virtual world experience. I crave places that are, to use a tired old phrase, immersive. I want to be inside the art, I want to fall through a crack in my every day experience and feel the experience.
Why yes I did do a lot of drugs at one time. Why do you ask?
Risk City scratched my itch. I arrived at the landing point and immediately knew this would be a fun place to explore. I saw oversized sculptures in the ocean, odd textures on the ground and spider webs big enough to swallow an airplane. This is the kind of sim where I feel at home.
There are places to explore high in the sky like the structure above. I loved how it was interesting to look at from the outside and once you got inside, there were surprises to discover as well as cool places to hang out for a chat or a dance.
Risk City has a teleport system which allows you to pick your destination or, if you are like me, you can click and teleport randomly to see what you can find. I love the unexpected so I let the teleporter drop me from place to place. At each destination I found interesting art, places to sit and take in the world around me and animations that were odd, funny and romantic if you are looking for that sort of thing.
I strongly recommend a visit to Risk City, owned by SuzeLaRousse Milo, if you have not already had the pleasure. TP at this link to start your adventure
Why yes I did do a lot of drugs at one time. Why do you ask?
My blog broke!
Anyone want to volunteer to make me a new blog format? I didn't think so.
sighs.
The Power of Words and the Brave Writing of Carrie Lexington
Words have the power to make us cheer or move us to tears. How many times just today has an email or an IM made you feel something? Perhaps it was a text that said "what is it sweety?" or perhaps a news article or a blog post made you laugh or shake your fist in frustration.
As someone who writes and has the audacity to put my words out in the world for people to see, I have experienced the power of my own words. There have been times when people feel like they know me or they are my friend because they have read something I wrote and it resonated with them. I have at least one "enemy" because of my words. Words are powerful, make no mistake about it.
Recently the use of a single word moved my friend Carrie Lexington to write a poem. It is a powerful and strong poem and she is brave to share it with the world. I hope you will read Carrie's words and think about her message.
The beat that my heart skipped
"We want to be loved for who we appear to be instead of who we are
So our real selves take a backseat behind the pomp and the facade"
Another day in my garden
My family and I worked out in the garden today, cleaning up the mess left over from a long winter. We raked and picked up dead bits of things and we took the cover off the pool. The kids fought and complained about being made to work. My daughter really thinks that people should do things for her while she watches make up videos on Youtube. My son, quite correctly, points out that he has a Minecraft server to run and his clan is lost without him. Nevertheless, we evil parents insisted they had to help and help they did.
My husband barked orders as if we were one of his work crews and we made faces at him behind his back. The dog ran around like a lunatic getting underfoot at every opportunity. I totally screwed up my manicure, which kind of pissed me off but what with all the whining about Youtube and Minecraft I just made a mental note to take a trip to Sephora and buy that new OPI color I wanted after we finished working.
The pool cover came off revealing a dead mouse and pea green water. I made Mr. Barking orders remove the corpse and I swept down the pool deck so we can power wash the mud off tomorrow. By the time it started to rain I was well on my way to the mall to worship at the church of Sephora.
I had to take this shot to show you the wisteria blooms that hang down under the massively overgrown (and soon to be trimmed considerably) structure we built next to the pool. We don't really know what to call it - it is not really an arbor nor is it a trellis so we call it a "structure" but right now all it does is hold up the most amazing smelling wisteria. It really is a shame the flowers appear when the rest of the pool area is mucky and the water is green and smells a little like the bottom of a fish tank. Still, the wisteria is glorious.
Tipsy stream of consiousness
The poem is about friendship and love. It is about the slow fade into emptiness and it is about not knowing how to stop being angry. It is about never feeling worthy of being loved and the acid etched pain of self loathing and the loop running that will.not.stop. The words are not carefully chosen, they are the freezing water running down the side of a mountain, finding their way through the cracks until they land in a dirty puddle. The poem is fast and angry and childlike and sullen. It flails and screams and builds to a full on tantrum and it ends in a sobbing heap. Unfulfilled.
Cerridwen's Cauldron
Visit the Floating Isles: RL & virtual art gallery, fantasy temples , sculptures, landscaping, fantasy avatars & the popular line of fantasy plants & trees. Relaxing, exotic & beautiful.
A spring evening in my garden
All of these pictures were taken with my phone and uploaded here with no editing whatsoever. Please do click to get a larger view -- these pictures are worth it!
Mother's Day and other emotional hot spots
On the other hand, my mother lost her own mom to brain cancer while she was pregnant with me. I think she must have felt such a mix of emotions on that day. If she is lucky a new mom has her own mother by her side and she learns how to care for her infant from the person who nurtured her as a baby. My mother didn't have that luxury. Sadly, I did not either. I learned I was pregnant with my daughter just two weeks after my own mother died from complications of lung cancer.
It is impossible for me to experience the happiness of Mother's Day without thinking about my mom and the odd parallels that surround my birth and the birth of my daughter. The years where my actual birthday falls on Mother's Day, like this year, make it really difficult for me to be joyful. The circle of life is beautiful and wonderful, it just isn't always easy.
(I am sure I have written about all of this before, probably even here on this blog. If I repeat myself I do apologize.)
Nordan Art Opening May 7th at 2pm
University of Western Australia Machimina Contest
The University of Western Australia and Jayjay Zifanwe have emerged as leading supporters of art and machinima in Second Life. Their current project is a machinima contest which you can read about here. Please do click through to that blog because there are links to fabulous films by leading machinma makers from across the world which have been entered in the contest.
Also please check out the list of contest judges which include SL leaders such as Chantal Harvey, Paisley Beebe, Mal Burns, Nazz Lane and many others. Notably, acclaimed British film Director Peter Greenaway is also one of the judges.
Jay just told me the contest prize pool for machinima creators has increased to $600,000L and the prize pool for members of the audience has increased to $60,000L. Great art, wonderful people and chances to win! What could be better?
Attend the Ceremony where the winners will be announced on Sunday May 22nd at 6am SL time. The entrance to the Amphitheater can be reached via this SLurl or this SLurl.
LEA – Linden Endowment of the Arts, and the official opening of MoM – Month of Machinima
You are invited to the kick off of LEA – Linden Endowment of the Arts, and the official opening of MoM – Month of Machinima.
When: May 4, 2011 at 10 am SL time
Where: LEA theater in Second Life – see SLurls below
Theater 1
Theater 2
Theater 3
Theater 4
MoM has it s own YouTube account: http://www.youtube.com/user/MonthofMachinima
After the openingsceremony the machinima’s will be included on the MoM YouTube playlist.
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