New Steelhead Sim

Steelhead's latest sim, St Helen's landed. Lunar and Tensai are hard at work on it, but it is already shaping up to be a really pretty rustic sim. I'd say that it is the most rugged looking of the six so far...Lots are still open in it, so if you are interested, please contact TotalLunar Eclipse...And of course I explored it as a ferret and chased after the deer...

Writing in Both Lives

I am particpating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) in RL, so I thought it'd be fun to have a writing desk at my home inworld.

For those of you who are not familiar with NaNoWriMo, you essentially have to knock out a 175-page, 50K words manuscript in one month. I've fallen a bit behind, but I think I'll at least come close this year compared to back in '05, when I only got to 161 words. I've become much more efficient as a writer since then.

I think there's something nice about SL me writing while RL me is too...

Raglan Tinies Fashion Show Video

The tinies of Raglan work the runway in the recent Raglan Fashion Show! Thanks to Daveypup Nirvpaw for creating this video showing off the talented designers! Work the runway!

Find more videos like this on Puppy of Raglan

Steelhead Shanghai featured on Treet TV "Designing Worlds" show

Steelhead Shanghai was featured on the "Designing Worlds" show. Hosts Saffia Widdershins and Elrik Merlin joined Lunar, Tensai and resident Elegia Underwood on a tour of the sim. For those who might have a problem viewing the video below, you can view it HERE...

World of Goo

I got 2DBoy's "World of Goo" game through their recent promotion, thinking it looked fun and cute and boy, was I right. One of the most quirky and original games I've ever played. For those of you who have played it, you will totally get this video...

Elle in Farmville: Chickens and Peppers and Squash...Oh My!

Screw it. I'll admit it...I play Farmville. You've already read about why I think people really get into games like YoVille (which I've found that I'm disinterested in), and I like this one even more. Essentially, you are a farmer (obviously) and plant crops with a certain harvest time, like 2-day squash or 4-hour blueberries. When planting or harvesting you get currency coins and XP. You can also harvest trees and collect from your livestock. Like other Facebook-based Flash games, your friends can send you gifts for your farm and vice versa. You can help out on their farms for XP. It's simple as hell and really easy to use and fun...I've found that I don't care very much about levelling up quickly. I just like having the plants grow? I had created this little heart out of hay bales even before I knew there was a whole forum devoted to FarmVille art out there!Recently, its parent company Zynga has been called out on lead-gen scams. What's that? In FarmVille, you can buy coins or FV bucks outright. For those of us used to MMOs like SL, no big deal. It's like buying Lindens. Seems FB cracked down on it and Zynga removed the option, but there used to be things like "Get 15 coins if you sign up for a subscription with so-and-so", which I thought was a ripoff since you could just go ahead and buy the currency.

Despite those issues, I still think Flash-based games like this are worth a watch...especially if they become more interactive. And you have better believe I'm keeping my eye on City of Eternals, which is still in its testing phase.

Watching the Clouds

There are times when I am happy just to sit with Phin at our place in Caledon Mayfair and just watch the clouds go by...

Just Another Night in Steelhead

There's nothing quite like logging in to presents, and this time a really pretty necklace was awaiting me...Lunar had just put down the new train station in Steelhead, based upon this one, so I went over to check it out...While inside, he asked me "Did you just see a big robot go by?" I said "This is SL. Anything is possible." But sure enough, the large robot peered into the Steelbucks coffee shop in Harborside and continued to explore the town...
Lunar asked me to join him on a quick errand. We both looked down at a deer sprawled out on the ground in Port Harbor. We figured it strayed from someone's property and he returned it to its owner to graze some more. I joked that the evil tiny kitty next door would've been eating venison for days if she found it first...

C'mere Fishie Fishie

What's a tiny bunny do to relax? Sit on her dock and fish, that's what...

Transformation & Transcending

Bettina Tizzy decided to cease posting on her NPIRL blog yesterday. It was always one of my faves because being an explorer like I am, I enjoyed visiting a lot of the places she discussed. It was also a great showcase of the imaginations of SL's content creators. She also gave me the opportunity to participate in the Rezzable Garden of NPIRL Delights last year. I know I was thrilled to be among some of the most creative folks on the Grid. She has said that she will continue to tweet what she finds and the inworld groups themselves are not disbanding. She has been busy in RL and I also get the feeling that she is working on something else great.

I can absolutely understand the feeling of wishing to move on to something else in a way. Blogging and keeping up with the social media of SL in addition to your RL can be demanding. I know that my friend and virtual sis-in-law Zoe Connolly recently did the same, deTwittering and dePlurking and unblogging. I do believe there is a point that one has to make a choice as to how much they wish to manage their time on SL-related activities, even if it means leaving SL altogether like Eshi did recently.

SL--and virtual worlds in general--are meant to be a complement to one's RL. We change. Our needs and wants, both inworld and out, do too. We transform and sometimes transcend them. And there is nothing wrong with that. I wish much luck for all three of them in their future endeavors, and I'm sure it's not the last any of us will hear from them.