FOR NOW (I am leaving the future open because it is such a big place):
Final Torley blog entry.
This.Final SL Forums post.
http://forums.secondlife.com/showthread.php?p=534394Final SLBlogger entry.
http://www1.slblogger.com/?q=node/80Final Snapzilla picture.
http://www.sluniverse.com/pics/pic.aspx?id=14698
Thank you graciously to Nephilaine Protagonist for the lovely art.
A good thing to call myself would be "graceful stumbler", that's because it's what happens to me. I'm not even fully conscious or aware of what I'm doing, most (some) of the time, and I fall into one situation after another and somehow manage to handle with with aplomb — something that didn't come (as) easily in my earlier years. I have a lot of crazy dreams, things I really enjoy seeing manifested on the stage of futurehumanity that is Second Life, and when the dreams come true, they rock hard. I mean, I've reached out for years in my sleep to AIRPORTS & HOTELS. Such a magical combination. You know what? The airport thing is sure coming true — while not full-scale, as you may already know, Abbotts Aerodrome @ Abbotts (120, 161) is having one made by Cubey Terra and Chage McCoy.
Speaking of Chage, he has a flight log which I read. He's a lot more wordy on there than he is inworld, generally, and that for me is a veryvery good thing. He also has a habit of coming and going suddenly like the wind, something I've come to adopt too because for me, I have so many stops to go from and to. He wrote his most recent entry on me, which is to say the least, interesting, and which is to say the most, fascinating. Always weird reading about myself and how others see me, but insightful. I myself am oblivious… to many constructs, social and otherwise, but at least I know I exist. So, thankyou graciously Chage — for the memories, here's a pic taken 3 months ago.
It occurred to me that on the Snapzilla page for that first pic,?I mispelled "Abbotts", instead taking a single-T spelling which would be more akin to Rza's position in the Wu-Tang Clan. No grave matter. Onwards ho to the next dream of mine I shall describe, the 2nd 1/2 of AIRPORTS & HOTELS. Lost Thereian and Ambyance2 Anubis are the overseers of Naughty, a sim-in-progress (and hence, dream-in-progress) which was showing yesterday on the map but is now hidden again, presumably for more construction. My last real visit had been some months ago, but now, I came and sat on this couch. I didn't recognize the open-air surroundings at first, but IT SOON DAWNED ON ME. The atmosphere is one like a tropical paradise, booked as "the perfect escape". Which, when you really think about it, is cool… an escape within an escape. So what are we escaping from here? Lag? Hee hee.
The beaches hold a lot of promise. There's been extra attention paid to rivulets of froth beating upon the shore, some stray seaweed, and the textures themselves are choice and a lot more waved-in than the Linden mainland. Travel a wayz and you will find there is a romantic getaway, a house with more exquisite furniture on an island-within-an-island. See?
AHHHHHHHHHHHH!
The house is very cozy and best experienced in 3D; this flatglimpse is tantalizing but ultimately unfulfilling. (There is a piano in the corner which connects to something later.) I was so overwhelmed by this point that I TPed over my good friend Francis Chung. You know, the one who made this jetski for the very purpose riding it around places like this. Altview.
There also happens to be a wonderful, wonderful coffee shop in the works which has some odd futurist overtones to me despite its decadent modern design. (I am reminded of Pequod's and Queequeg's from DX: Invisible War.)?Altview.?I'm just really impressed by all of this, and it seems to me it's being built at more-or-less a relaxed pace, so no rush.
There are other pictures I recall taking, including an aerial overview. It's funny I can't seem to find them, I wonder if they got… Lost? LOL. If they did, purrhaps it was for the best of reasons, that my memories be locked safely away in my tete where I can treasure them for times to come. Other memories, then: the hotel front desk (without walls to surround it), missing a bell but very sturdy; the magazines, coffee, and bags strewn around what looks like a makeshift lobby; and my favorite, the BAGGAGE TROLLEYS. Which makes me recall, I already have a suitcase I've customized and dropped off at the Aerodrome. Surely, wouldn't it make for a nice community project to customize more 'cases? Idea.
And so it found me, logging in the next time and going islandhopping to nearby?Shaea, where I did this, and which has splonderous beauty of its own. I look at the calligraphy and am quickly reminded of a story my biological father told me before he died, about getting things done — and not only that, but doing them right too. Timeless art of penmanship… amidst all this luxurious furniture by Eva Virgo.
And then it led to another study in sandboxes. Meet MadameThespian Underhill, venerable Resident of SL and maker of the piano I mentioned earlier, which is a famed part of SL history. She's sold lots of them, and with a strange reason: it was originally a commission way back in beta, and it turns out the guy who was supposed to have paid for it went *poof*, so she decided to start selling them. Now they even include modular music.
Hrmmm.
I have found something unusual about the JPEG compression that SL uses when sending photos outbound — it really deteriorates, kills areas of samey color but leaves the details alone. So, detailed pictures are crisp, simple ones a literal wash. A very ugly wash, one I can't appreciate. I hope this will be improved in the future.
I am now openly Roaming with Wet Ikon's new invention. If you'd like to, just IM me inworld. More to follow as rippleshock guides me along. I know that the rules have always been there for me; they've just been a different set.
There's something I really enjoy about going to sleep and waking up in SL (logging off/on to some, but I don't think of it that way) and finding myself caught in what is just a superappropriate bubble of the universe. This usually takes the form of some of my good friends or a pleasant acquaintance just happening to be near my "spawnpoint", and greeting me before I can get ahold of my digitized senses. The other day, I went to sleep in the Free Bazaar in Stillman, which is just what it sounds like — Stillman (148, 83)?and I was greeted by Gleeb Gupte upon awakening! We were both very happy to chat! Note the appropriate sign I'm sitting on. It's true, it's true.
Things pour out, like a fountain. While that could be a metaphor, in this case it was very literal. Shortly after awakening and having liquid breakfast (watermelon juice nummy), I found myself with Local Lighting ON, which lagged me but ohsogood… and I went to the sandboxes. It was there in Cordova I found a faucet dangling from the sky and giving "cold showers" which defied the physical. By an avatar I will simply refer to as "GREAT ARTIST", due to an interesting quirk in SL, local lighting made the water particles bend to my will. I was overjoyed when this and this happened. But not this.
Oh BTW I almost didn't mention that earlier in the day, I did some snowboarding along new trails. If you want a free snowboard just IM me (Torley Torgeson)?inworld, okeydokey? And remember, when the moon comes out, it can be a great opportunity emulate your fave live-action anime flick.
So where was I now? Ohyes. Visiting with Hikaru Yamamoto, who was inspired by the Cube movies (only the first one I saw) to come up with a giant construct of blank white and rusty metal textures, with a piece of cheese hidden within. Prize: L$1000.?I dunno if anyone ever found it, but sadly the whole works took up more than a few thousand prims and she had to evacuate it from the sandbox. It is a cool idea, though, and I'm hoping this will carry on into something bigger (but not as primmy!). I've already referred to Hika the name of another one who is likeminded, the dapper Oz Spade… maybe they will collaborate. Why must I think out loud. Interna ocula.
I've been settling back in to my oldnew digs, my home is at Midnight City (233, 177) and I have nice neighbors — Midnight City Escort Services, of which Lady Barnesworth seems to be either a madam, an escort, a client (or all three?). After a short nap I awoke to find condoms and a used syringe on my pillow, which I suppose is better than a mint. Well, if it was a minty condom, that might be doubly better.
Plywood boxes are a mainstay of SL like fire is a mainstay of fireplaces. I've joined a group; well they're not really a group, they're — we're a ragtag band of explorers testing out new Wet Ikon technology.?We're called PLYWOOD BOX CREW. *breathes* See, Francis Chung put the code to all that, very esoteric and highly-advanced I'm sure — PROTECT THE CUBE AT ALL COSTS!!!123 — 'cuz Roam (like I described here)?may not just be an attachment, but for vehicles too, and for those you will have to sit on/in them. Problems are established once you hit a few sim crossings and think you're going to die because your av suddenly gets scuttled off and headed towards a watery death below, but then you reemerge a few momentos (like Mentos) later to find yourself seated again and zipping along. If you've ever ridden a vehicle in SL, then you know what that's like!
Fundamentally, Fran & Rathe want to create a basis for vehicles in SL to travel velociously. Without you falling off.
ANYHOO… in extended testing, we headed to a loquacious # of locos around the gridverse, and found ourselves heading to the Welcome Area to pick up a few more. Crew complement was healthy, crazy fun, but there was a lot of relogging and debugging to be done. Hopefully future SLs will allow for nicer simcrossings, as it stands it's really disconcerting and being jolted by the seat of your finely-textured (I hope!) pants… eeeeeE.
Lucah Solvang is having a really tuff time right now in life 'cuz of her father. *huggerz Lucah* I can relate because my Dad was in a similar state before he passed.?I hope Lucah will be well, as her art has never failed to bring a smile to my face. When I see these pigeons she made, I think of the Evil Nine song, "Crooked",?that has the lyrics about pigeons.?And that unto itself is really, really wonderful. These pigeons will actually be part of a game for the GameDev comp called "The Board" and you can see a wider shottie here and more of Lucah's art here. Follow the Snapzilla links, they're so handy. Thankyouthankyou Ano!
I'd like to give a big, gleeful shoutout to Alexis Ingersoll — my adventures of the previous day concluded with us checking out the pony. Something was brokers so the chevatar was not only bipedal, but failed to be ridden. But that's hey-okay, because lil' Pony Linden is rideable again. On the right is my waking shot from today, so you can see what I am on about starting from the beginning… going to the end… and towards a nu beginning.
Kinda like bouncing from one dream to another.
