I pulled an allnighter, and didn't sleep until 8 AM. I think it was the longest stretch of time I've ever been on SL through the wee hours. I couldn't sleep until I saw to it that certain things had to be done; not out of necessitated deliberation, but I just felt a vibe that pushed me onwards, as sleepy as I became. And it was a good tired.

One of my foremost interests in the gridverse is learning about its past — apart from oral-textual accounts from chatting with fellow avatars?and a few but valuable ones like New World Notes's?archives, the history of Second Life is summarized as being patchy at best: there is no absolute repository for the information that has come before, so tales must be repeated over and over. There is a certain archaic charm to this, like the age of humans before the written word, and as this cyber-civilization progresses, I am hopeful that there will be more of a centralized, convenient way for newbies to learn about the rich technocultural history of this world. In the meantime, check out the SL History Wiki…?I HAVEN'T TAKEN MY PROZIUM SO HERE WE GO!

Time has passed. Midnight City of the Umber sim has changed. Far before I existed here, it was known as the Umber Isles, and sometime after that, it gradually?became the incarnation of MC that many are familiar with: a thriving if lagged haven for shopaholics, populated by some of the foremost contributors to the community. And now, as it's being rebuilt, literally from the ground up, it is again an island — a single, unified metatropic.

My dumpster no longer exists — this photo was taken shortly before the morning light, when it was "repossessed" lovingly by Mis. As me, Mistress Midnight, Talila Liu, and Aimee Weber all sat pretty on my "old" house, I recalled good memories of the brief but enduring months that had come before: when Torley Sr. first met Mistress and the now-dubbed "Midnight Mafia" for the first time at the Spook House, aka the "we're not snobs" encounter ; when he freaked out in a good way over Aimee's larger-than-Second-Life (hehe) kitchen; and when Torley Jr. arrived in the city to claim the dumpster as her own home and soon became a model for *PREEN*. From the first trip up to the skybox-turned-skybar-turned-skybox to hanging out under the falling leaves to glaring at Big Loads to the first midnight in the Midnight dumpster to the?invasion of the Yipmen from Mars, I have experienced many dear?times in Midnight City with my friends. I treasure them so much.

?Another trip down down memory lane, not for me but for Christopher Omega and Eggy Lippmann, two of the sage "old ones" who are also my good friends. Chris invented the first viral rezzer in SL, and also holds the distinction for crashing the whole northern continent back in the day. Apparently, making towers like this and then turning them physical — riding them down like some?sick game of Jenga gone horribly wrong –?was how fun was had in '03, and it'd been a whole year-and-a-half since this had been last done by my buddies. Next to this plywood physical tower is what you might call the progeny, a descendant of the first rezzing scripts. Later on in the early morning, Chris went ahead and rezzed a 200-floor one, beating the old record of 25 eightfold. It slowed down the sim. The previous sentence was an understatement.

It is such an honor to hang out on a daily basis with many of?SL's most significant contributors. Here's Spider Mandala and Francis Chung, who are members of Tyrell Corporation — which is the longest-active non-Linden group in SL. Tyrell is a powerful thinktank formed by a veritable pedigree of talent, a stable of thoroughbred pioneers that were among the first to map and expand the gridverse. In other words, they've made a lot of damn cool stuff. Spider educated me with fun factoids and trivia about SL's history, and I had a really enlightening conversation as the offline sun began to rise for me.?Did you know that the vehicle sims (like Fame and Fortuna) are named after sunken ships in the San Francisco vicinity? Did you know that the first non-Linden Resident is Steller Sunshine? Did you know that?the sim Da Boom is named after a street?cross the actual Linden Lab location,?but mispelled from the original "De Boom"??And did you know that the newest member of Tyrell is Francis? Ah, there's so much to learn, and I revel and bask in it. Pictured within is the Mixmaster for loop jams, and it no longer works — but I hear it was cool when it did. Wish I was there, but since I wasn't, I now embrace the present.

As it stands, this is a continuing?tale of loyalty and honor and a lot of crazy fun… or something like that. It has been said that "history repeats itself", and that while there are vicious cycles in this world that wear people down and?rut them in a downward spiral. it can also be said that?while there are certain loops which are benign or even beneficial to one's life. The dynamic of setting up new loops and then breaking them — not unlike the?formulation of an epic trance arrangement?for the dancefloor — is key to living one's lives, all of them. Redundant stagnation tends to be dangerous and progressive growth — loopbreaking! — is a catalyst for the personal growth of one as a living being. Get involved with what's new and exciting that engages you, and unlearn the hurts of years past. Easier said than done, but if it's gotta be done, then it's gonna be done!!!

*smiles enthusedly*

I'm going to close today's entry with?a quote from Equilibrium:

Mary: Let me ask you something.
[Grabs his hand]
Mary: Why are you alive?
John Preston: [Breaks free] I'm alive… I live… to safeguard the continuity of this great society. To serve Libria.
Mary: It's circular. You exist to continue your existence. What's the point?
John Preston: What's the point of your existence?
Mary: To feel. 'Cause you've never done it, you can never know it. But it's as vital as breath. And without it, without love, without anger, without sorrow, breath is just a clock… ticking.

Time to break some more loops.