A lot has happened in the last few days. The gridverse login procedure seems to be speeding back up to normal, so I say "Hallelujah!" to that. Unfortunately, teleports today appear to be very unstable. As I'm blogging right now, I don't quite have the multitasking fortitude to go and check that out yet — but it shall come later. All good things in better time.

If you've been to Umber lately, you may have noticed some big changes, such as, oh, the lack of roads and a missing center square. Well, 'tis not your imagination, nor the badlag. There will be a NEW Midnight City coming soon, under the visions of Mistress Midnight and Aimee Weber, and maybe my dreams of being able to drive around on those newly-minted streets without having my car jerk around so ugfully will come true. Basically, the sim is being stripped down to the bone and rebuilt from — dare I say it — the ground up. Less lag is all-around better since Midnight Club will actually be able to hold bustling events,?for example. Also,?I have a feeling this is gonna mean changes for my dumpster home…

I had a good run around the four-sim city of Nova Albion the other day. Its heritage far precedes my existence in this metaverse, and I was fortunate to not only visit Cafe Jack in Grignano, but also?contact Jack Salazar, proprietor of the building and preserver of the Rodeo forests. There's some background info in this forum thread, and although he doesn't have a family tree yet (I know because I asked him ), I'm counting on hearing him share more tales of his ancestral history here in SL. It adds depth and weight to what can be an all-too-transient virtual world sometimes.

Chris Omega and I are hanging out in Cordova. Notice anything different? That rascal Cubey Terra… ah, well, in the grand ol' spirit of blog toteming, mah next entry's about one of his creations. Stay tuned.

I like travelling a lot on SL, so I'm always looking out for new and exciting places to go. Yesterday, I noticed a new sprinkle of private island sims in the northwest of the overall map. Some of them had been hidden before and whatnot. Some beautiful sights to see as I went islandhopping, although it was relatively quiet. This shipwrecky image comes from Baron Grayson's Sanctum Sanctorum — aka RELIC. I observed Baron and a companion nearby and did not want to interrupt them, so I sat on the wooden frame of this here boat and pondered the future for a moment before porting off.

This is an angular aerial view of Rainbow Island, which is a GLBT-friendly place to be. No gays, lesbians, bisexuals, or transsexuals for that matter were on the island when I came to visit, but this catbot was, and I really liked the lighthouse in the corner. I think this island was hidden before, because it's been around for several months according to the records.

This isn't a private sim but is on the mainland. It's the one-and-only W-Hat city in Baku. I used to?attend a lot of events here?– trivia, gokarting and skydiving, and watch fireworks while indulging in general and special craziness.?Travel around and you just might hear a certain loop of insanity from ye olde Looney Tunes. There's a really surrealist aspect to this place: big signage, Masa's pink anime store, the robot invasion, and oh… a certain road "accident". The sheep crusher — one of my personal faves (I assume this is what they make W-Hataburgers out of?) — is not here at the moment, but I have read it will be back. Oh joy.

Well, it's nice to know that IGE Wheeling has good taste… in colors, anyway! (The things I run into on SL. *sigh*)?Far be it from me to judge, but to borrow a quip from a friend, IGE looks like an av who was originally designed as a male, and merely had the Gender button pushed along with some swappage of the clothes. NOTE THE ABBOTTS AERODROME BRA! I've confirmed with Cubey that he doesn't have official bras, so this is likely a hack-job of some sort involving clothing sliders. The situation here is that in a nutshell, Wolf Rocco — pictured to the right and looking askance — ended up with a LOT of moolah due to an IGE transaction error. Needless to say, a hysteria of sorts occurred, and the Leader Boards went all wonky. I believe the situation has been resolved as per Wolf's own words in this thread:

Well as you may have heard abou the mistake i'm hear to set this straight

IGE did in fact give me 10 million linden by mistake, no i did not keep it or sell it.

It took 4 times to get through their live help. I'm guessing they thought it was a joke. So after much haggling, threats, and personal insults i managed to get ahold of a higher up on the department.

and I'm disappointed to hear how slow IGE was to respond to what was going on,?considering it was?their mistake. I even IMed IGE?directly about half an hour to ask for info before?"what pronoun?do?I use here?"?arrived, and received no response. Ergo et ego, I believe an av-representative of IGE appearing inworld should be more efficient and?communicative?when dealing with problems, especially something of this magnitude.

Comments? Suggestions? Questions? Infestations??As they say in 2005 A.D., send me an email. ^_^

I woke up to something really cool today. (Uncool was the fact I woke up so late in the day — like, what's normally lunchtime… peg me, I stayed up 'til like 6 AM, LOL.) But I found out from the man himself that Tony Walsh aka Zero Grace, who megablogs;?makes dope bags; and who, if memory of the temporal archives serves me correctly, first met Torley Sr. at the NWN Fashion Expo '04, has just written about me in a piece titled The Torley Effect. (What poor usage of semicolons in the preceeding sentence.)

Now, I'm unable to see me outside of being me and it's hard for me to "put myself in someone else's shoes". This may sound strange. If you think about it in the context of what I've written over the last few months, it makes sense, and hearing about me from such a perspective makes me SMILE ("Good Vibrations").

It may be ironic in hindsight that originally I was somewhat reticient about SL: at the time, I could not foresee any longer-term committment to the gridverse and the rich community within. As I am flipping back and forth typing this and reading Zero's entry right now, I find myself examining the choices I've made and seeing images in my mind's eye of what I have experienced within Second Life. This only strengthens my bonds, and it's nice to have these flashbacks.

I have much respect for kindly folken like Zero and Hamlet who have written at length about their experiences in the digital domain of virtual worlds, and having been inspired by them to go forth and share my own stories, I am honored.

~~~

On the Forums today… sad news, 'cuz Trin and Nala are leaving Second Life. :(?They?said they are going for "good" but I hope this will not be permanent, and that they will rejoin us when things offline are worked out. The future is a big place. This really caught me suddenly because I as just at their DJing marathon set a few hours from the close, and to see this posted later… well *sighs* life's life. I'm gonna miss you two!!!

Fans of Backstage + Nowall, unite!?Well, Merwan kicked that thread off, and I too really enjoy what Edgware has coordinated through the art of Starax, Stormy, Jimmy, and others in this BIG place. Literally. I'm surprised by how many haven't visited these interconnected sims, yet. So if you haven't come, COME!?I'm glad that Onei(ronaut?Escher)?may be finding a new home for his big-ass piano here. His eccentric creativity is on the same thoughtline as the artistic expression presented here, and it's the kind of ordered chaos I relate to.

Speaking of chaos, Chaos just happens to be a new sim — the private island of?the eclectic gothtek?(my own word) + more designers,?Ferran Brodsky and Surreal Farber.?Together, they are alternatively "Ferreal" or "Serran". The canvas is still mostly wide open, but I suspect an overwhelming surge of class + crass is?forthcoming.?This ain't gonna be like most island sims, no sirree, it's gonna have?a lotta grime like a phat filthy bassline, played double-time while aleatoric chimes bust a rhyme as ya climb. y0!!

Well, it was really sweet of Toast to dress up my avatar after I had ghosted and left the vicinity. Can you guess which items of clothing are really mine and which aren't? Hint: I'm not an alcoholic.?Toast found it fitting to?say "Torley got ghosted! /grins". I thought that was cute enough as it was, but further in the thread, after my pleas for "stop posting", this came about:

Click on it, it moves! Soooooo cute! Awwws. Thanks Toast! You made mah day. ^_^

It's asked again: Is SL really a game??Sure, all that and a bag of crisps.

~~~

Okay, there's something else I'm going to write soon. I know what it is. I just haven't written it yet.

Until then, nyaa! =^_^=

Ah, the curious thing of what people say when one is not around.?Or, similarly put, when they think one is not around.?Curious indeed. I have some idea what happens, and of course, I am a curious kitty, but what displeases me is when I am so open and jovial on here yet rumors run rampant. (Reverse psychology at play? Maybe I should revert to "angry?'n' angsty"… or not.)

It makes me frown?that some I thought who were sincere are actually running a different act between inworld and elsewhere like #secondlife chat room (or channel, if you prefer). Doublefaced and dishonest — I'm disappointed. I am not a big fan of text-only chat… but ah, like my custom title on the SL forums right now says, "I AM WATCHING YOU ON IRC" I say this semi-jestingly, but really, I have had some transcripts and whatnot forwarded to me containing matters of both technical interest and "ye olde rumor mill", and many things in between on the spectrum. I consider it an opportunity to learn.

Some bizarre other gossip I've heard variously, which is ALL false, includes the following:

• I am a Linden alt or relative - no, not affiliated with them apart from being a happy cat. I'm Officer in several Groups to move towards disproving this, but it doesn't seem to be working as effectively as I'd hoped.
  ?
• I secretly am a griefer?(GREEFER KIN)?under an alt(s) - NO! I roleplay but this doesn't extend to stirring up such an unpleasant ruckus. It's against the Community Standards, which I take damn seriously.
  ?
• I'm really the alt-become-main of a certain?longtime established "player" of SL who disappeared - while this does carry a certain amount of honor with it, I can't say I was inworld in the days?before custom animations and when prim hoarding was common.

Notice how all the above?concerns alts? Isn't that peculiar? I could go into a deeper psychoanalytical argument about the fragmenting and/or compartmentalizing of one's self into several very tasty pieces of key lime/raspberry/pumpkin/maybe apple pie, but I won't.

This is the way the world works, but as many times as I've had it explained to me, I just don't "get it". It makes me?feel frustrated that I likely never will, due to my?neurobiology; ergo, I think it's just a matter of me being me. I enjoy simple pleasures like sunrises and beanbag chairs.?I am sad when someone makes the foolish choice of speculating wildly and possibly harmfully instead of having a good one-to-one conversation about what this catbot's (layers upon layers!!)?existence in this timeline is all about.?As in: "IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO KNOW,?PLEASE ASK!"

Now, I try not to make a big deal about it. The amusing upside is that I get a good laugh out of some of what's said and I am being to understand what is funny about some of this "drama".?Not to mention, there are a number of questions which my present self does not have the answer to but my future self will –?time travel o.O?– so travellin' on!

If you have questions about me, for me, please do ask, leave a comment, drop me an IM, etc. I'm here to answer them (who else could?)! ^_^?Ultimately, in line with my personal philosophy, this life — First and Second combined — has enough problems already. One of my resolutions for 2005 is to be a better person to others and to myself. I hope I can carry this through, but not without your help!

So we've survived, and arrived, and the New Year is upon us. I've been trippin' lately; I had a wonderful day yesterday — it was like eating something that's crunchy yet chewy at the same time. On one hand, for the life of me, I still don't "get" why years are divided as they are (I know the textbook scientific explanation and all that jazz). On the other, I like seeing my fellow lifeforms revel and bask in the holiday spirit. I enjoy joining in the festivities myself.

????

• Members of la familia, the Cartel de Juarez, arrive at the Memorial in Plum. ONE LOVE!!!
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• Jolene Jade and I decided to get skippy on the Field of Dreams!?After meeting her in the Welcome Area and conversing for a bit, I found she had created some anims in Poser. I reckoned that it was about time we get picnic baskets in hand and start flowerdancing. Needless to say, a wish came true, and we made unconcentric spirals through the faunaflora.
  ?
• Lordfly Digeridoo was hard at work on his new build in Grignano, which will be Garth & Pituca's new FairChang store (incidentally, I had bumped into them earlier that day out at Waterhead). Well, he was hard at work until I stopped to ask him to show me more of his past creations. So, he rolled out the slides, and obliged me in tales of SL history, days long gone which I wish to learn about.?Taking a closer look, I remarked, "It looks like a real building!", which, of course, is the whole point.
  ?
• All partied out. ^_^

????

• Here I am at a "taping" of the popular SL game, Mistywood Squares. I reckon this is the 3rd episode. It's like Hollywood Squares, but moister. Hehehe. Center square for the day was Char Linden and cat sis Fleabite Beach, and the contestants were AnneDroid Lily and Jonquille Noir. Really, I wasn't paying that much attention to the questions — I was having too much fun with all the social banter. Props to all those involved for making this such a great event to be at. I originally thought Misty was just kidding when she proposed the idea, but ah, I see how dreams can become reality.
  ?
• At Panthar Orlowski's home. He's the one who coined "NeoN the OneN" for me wayyy back in September. Sitting leftmost is the sage Steller Sunshine in humanform, telling me the story of the slime drones. *sighs* Apparently, they once began their lives as cute little mice (as seen) at a Christmas Exchange party in '03, nonscripted and silent. Andrew Linden added the extra dynamics, but from there on, they took on a life of their own, mutating into something horrific beyond the creator's control. So DON'T blame Steller. It wasn't her! It's a sad story of neg rates gone horribly?wrong, and people who leap before looking. I, to this day, wonder why SL can't show a "chain of editors" for everyone who's ever tinkered with an object (and not just the Creator and Owner). Someday, I hope, someday . . .
  ?
• A wonderful example of architecture in SL. Juro Kothari's work for Annie Butler's residence is now done. I really, really like the stairs going up from the waterfront. You can almost look out towards the ocean and do an evil laugh like a Japanese anime villain while feeling most triumphant… FUHAHAHA! Come explore it for yourself — it's in Stanford, you can't miss it!
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• When I'm not rezzing watermelons or launching tax rockets, I'm prolly exploding lights. Lily Lightcloud made these, and I saw fit to mod 'em by enabling Physics and then Unlinking. Most objects will simply tumble apart, assisted by virtual gravity, and fall to the ground. But not these lights: they'll explode violently in most cases, throwing little bits-'n'-pieces off the edge of the gridverse, ahhh how romantic… in the beautiful moonlight.

In the inimitable words of Strongbad, "The System is down!". Second Life is currently experiencing one of its longest downtime periods since perhaps pre-beta (I don't know, I wasn't there!) and havoc (not Havok 2)?is breaking out on the forums. Redundancy and rude pandemonium are running amok, but to counter that darkness, there is the lightfocused optimism of Happy New Year's messages and support threads for the Lindens — who are still working to fix these problems when they should be at home with offline family and friends. Lots of virtual group hugs are being passed around.

Unfortunately, due to the downtime and other circumstances, I am not able to attend the fundraising events I had mentioned earlier as planned. But as they say, after the storm, you look for survivors. And if the world should break in two, and I should lose you –

Anyhoo, it's a "crisis" like this which really says a lot about the people involved, by how they react. What about the bigger picture here??This is small fries compared to, uh, say, the recent tsunami *sigh*, and there is a certain liberal irony coming from those who are shouting inexcusable personal attacks at the Linden family, yet expect Second Life to be fixed like instant coffee. Really, if not the Lindens, who does one believe will solve "The great?Snow Crash of almost-'05"? Those sort of acerbic?statements might as well be made Phantom, since you can walk through them without any effect or grand Confucian lesson learned.

And similarly, this redundance?will all look puny in hindsight. Maybe even a little laughable.

It's quite the anthropological observation of human beings: our individual views, but also, how we interact together. And isn't that what Second Life is about?