Today, I had the fortunate opportunity to meet up with?Second Life journalist?Hamlet Linden in person — virtual person, but live and direct, nevertheless.?We chatted at his office — which I was pleasantly surprised to hear thrashing drum 'n' bass coming out of — and I caught him just as he was going to go. Hamlet was very gracious in obliging me, and then I explored the island around where his workplace was. There are an increasing number of blogs dedicated to people's Second Lives and seeing as how mine is now counted among them, I am feeling more and more like a part of the community. Do primcows dream of virtual blogs too?

Speaking of cows, funny incidental moment. I had just happened to ask Lisse Livingston about where her cow exhibit was, and apparently it was part of the Burning Life festival and required quite a bit of land, so ahhh it was taken down. I do hope to see it someday, still, if it is re-rezed — or in the lingo of The Matrix, "reloaded".

Well, I didn't really play Mae Best's Knot A Quiz but I did come in time for the last BONUS question. I remembered the answer from years ago. I won a nice bed from Kim Anubis. MY VERY FIRST DIGITAL DORMITORY DEVICE! Now, this is a special bed, 'cuz if you type in a command, the sheets will change!?(Take a look at this photo and then look at the daylight one coming up.)?Here I am… Kim?is towards the bottom-right, and GullwingX Racer is the creative snail. Aria Abbatoir and Micheal Veil are also in attendance following the quiz (not) game.

Back in the Welcome Area some time later, I met a couple of Moogles. I mistook them for earthworms at first, but as soon as one of them said "Kupo!" I recalled the Final Fantasy series of games and was delighted to greet them friendlyly (!)?as well. They are leaning for aerodynamic reasons, although I must admit they look stouter than the Moogles I am used to.

Something was up with the game's internal clock. I'm not sure what it was, but in the space of a few minutes, it turned from night to day to night again. This was, of course, after a prolonged daylight stretching far past a couple of real-world days, so perhaps it was overcompensating. Climate controls for rain and snow and such are not part of the "natural" environment of Second Life, but they can be programmed in. The Luskwood furries, for example, have created a SnoMaker.

There are other bugs I've experienced — ghosting seems all-too familiar, and for the first time today during a botched teleport, I was suddenly turned into a female version of myself with a shag-and-bob brunette cut. Disturbing, to say the least. Sorry, I don't have a picture, because I relogged in almost immediately.

Now, here I am on the inscrutable and venerable FairChang Island, checking out the sights. It's quite a grand view. Note the detail paid to the boats.?And see how the bed spread has changed. I'm not terribly good at making my bed in real life so it's nice how this keeps things prim and proper… LOL!

After posting a bit on the Second Life Forums with her (I'd provide a link but it's only available to people who sign up anyway), I finally met up in simspace with none other than the purty Madiera Westerburg. She joked on the forums about giving me a taste of her punching glove — which is the very bright red object which stands out against her dress below — and sure enough, I was able to experience it several times. We're posing for the camera here:

Of course, the wallop of the one-way melee soon sent me flying uncontrollably into the adventures of another day… ahhhhhh…