So I've been unblogging for a few days, busy working on preparations to jump gates and do some more time-travelling. As you may recall, I have the gift of chronohop, but cannot carry out my plans without sufficiently advanced technology (aka magic). I was stuck in this particular slice of Second Life for a number of months, unable to go between universes as freely as I wished. Apart from a wonderful reunion some weeks ago with my father, Torley Sr., I have essentially been grounded. This event was a rare phenomena involving the instability of a cosmological entity known as the "asset server" and many broken TPs… it was unstable but?I've managed to replicate the conditions which caused it, and with this knowledge in mind –?

I continue to prepare myself, to be ready for bolder leaps yet. I hear rumors of the malevolent (?)?orange-and-blue Torley in the Preview Grid, and an assortment of other enchanting things which may await me on my new journeys. It's difficult to map infinity, but hey, someone's gotta do it. Pictured inset will be my vehicle of choice. Favored by other stars of time travel like the incomparable Marty McFly, it is a heavily-modded,?'proxed 500-prim?De Lorean DMC-12?as recreated in SL by the also incomparable ahkenatan Grommet. Also pictured happens to be ahk's town, filled with more automotive goodness and some detailed buildings to boot. Puts things in context like a fantastic Matchbox set. This is a masterful build with a lot of detail… your computer may weep due to the massive prim condensation (I wouldn't be surprised if a gravitational?singularity opens up in the middle), but let me tell ya, all that pain is worth it for the pleasure to come. Check it out at The Good Old Days - Dosojin (123, 22)

Next, we have a certain themed sim which may remind you of a certain Kevin Costner movie. It's one of several inspirations for Kris Ritter's new Krittannia. If you're missing Heaven & Hell already — 'twas a project synonymous with SL quality and one of the very first places?I visited inworld — then take solace in the depths of these seas. The textures are suitably gritty, arrr, and heck, what do I care, there's even a harpoon! Woohoo! I don't know the proper names of some of these supernautical structures, but as you can see, jetskis already get put to great use. Kris has told me there'll be quite an undersea section for exploration. So like H&H, expect an expansive landscape — er, seascape — being put to good use. I'm looking forward to sitting in the bar and watching brawls unfold outside, sipping my hot grog as the sun sets warmly. And then maybe a yacht regatta and giant turtle-riding or somesuch thing.

I was previously familiar with Versu Richelieu's craftswomanship at places like Rue d'Alliez, and now she's crafted a majestic castle on her own sim. Called Kastel Verloren, this is actually her personal residence! (Wow.) I dropped by one day after?previously visiting and she, being ever-so-classy, gave me a tour of places I had obviously overlooked earlier. She cites Neuschwanstein Castle – aka "that castle in the Walt Disney logo that doesn't have mouse ears" — as a primary inspiration, with the exterior being constructed approximately to spec, and the insides having many vivid spaces of her own imagining. Two of my personal faves are pictured: the kitchen, where YOU CAN LOOK AT A SLICE OF CARROT THAT'S DROPPED OFF THE TABLE, and the library, where she's upgraded one of Brian Mifflin's chairs to suit her desk and equipped the desk itself with elegant poses. Poses she created herself. It goes on and on… and 2D is lame compared to the exquisite environments you'll find yourself in, so get your avatass?on in and?get lost in the maze. Literally. Yes, there's a hedge maze too! And a caretaker's house thingie, and servants's quarters that look lived in, and on and on and on… did I mention the bell? It's fun to ring, like a real bell, and it also needs to be manually reset after a couple of days 'cuz it goes wonky. Like a real bell. And on we go…

I'd like to emphasize that all the aforementioned content was created by Residents of Second Life — peeps who got interested in this online world in various ways, and got immersed and started creating. Unique perspectives, but a shared connection of self-expression and the opportunity to show their labor (if it can be called that) to others, positively inspiring newer generations. Last up for today, we have an official Linden build as created by the multinational?megacorp (muhaha ) behind SL.?And more. THE NEW CONTINENT (name = —) opened yesterday.?I came across?many familiar faces?as?I headed north from Purple, up to the lagthargic ANWR region where the amazing prim rig?towered, and kept on going. Shown here are a "moth temple" which I believe was primarily constructed by Eric Linden, and the lush greens of the outer uncharted realms that I felt it was my civic duty to glide through. Already debate has been sparked on the forums about what might happen here in da near future. I just have to say, if you go out to the docks where the shacks are, will you wonder like me who used to live in them? And if they're already dead, will their spirits rise to avenge dishonor when their huts are paved over to make room for X, Y, or even Z? For that matter, I haven't seen Magellan in the flesh yet and am relatively disappointed, but am hoping for an encounter with him and his comrades…

When I put pictures on here, it's really a mere appetizer of what is inworld. Perhaps it's struck you this way, and if this is so, then I do hope that it compels you to hunger for adventure, explore further into the everexpanding gridverse?that is Second Life, and find your own journeys to be true. Having fun along the way, while making enriching self-discoveries and acquiring?knowledge of others no matter what climes you trek through. Sometimes it'll be harsh (i.e.?you'll be harassed by greefer kin, but Abuse Report the savages when appropriate), and climb higher to lower fathoms . . .?to go where no avatar has gone before.