Cyrena Zamboni

Captions

2005-03-05T09:36:00.000-05:00

Quiet times for me in SL. I haven't been able to be inworld much.

But there is one event I try to reach each week... Captions. Wednesdays at 7pm LST, that's 10pm here on the east coast. Host Trimming Hedges holds Captions at his lair in Stillman... very amusing photos are made hysterically funny by the creativity of the participants. I laugh out loud for an hour and it's a great midweek pick-me-up. Stop by if you're around.

Pre-New Year's Resolution

2004-12-21T21:25:00.000-05:00

Blog More.

Most recent SL enjoyments.... primtionary... chatting with old friends... impromptu gathering of the dead and dead-wannabes at the grotto... trying in vain to find suitable winter attire (help me out if you know somewhere I should visit for this)... the halberd

Loving Minna

2004-10-27T08:25:00.000-04:00

I'm having fun building stuff and looking at inventory items that have never seen the light of day! It's amazing what accummulates after a few months, or over the course of just the past week.

Some interesting finds have included: jewelry in the shape of bones (maybe from the prehistoric builds in June?); cavewoman avatar complete with bamming gourdin; at least 30 outfits I bought and forgot to wear; landscaping and household items galore (things I've never had the prims to rez); a lovely lantern, perfect for lighting a dank grotto; gorgeous flower chair purchased from an Edifice Rex building contest sometime last summer... the list is endless... as is the inventory management activity...

I'm building a grotto! A moody, rocky, planty, who-knows-if-it'll-ever-be-done grotto... Stop by!

And for now, the cakeplate remains over Atlas.

Cakeplate Nostalgia

2004-10-20T15:10:00.000-04:00

The cakeplate is still there, but perhaps not for long. I just bought new land in Minna and I really should sell the Atlas lakeside lot... but as soon as I bought land, cakeplate nostalgia set in... and I have neither made the land available for sale nor taken down the structure...

The cakeplate came into being one less-than-fine day in Atlas, when visual conditions on the ground were especially disturbing... rotating for sale signs dotted the waterfront, other distracting rotating things abounded, a sign with flames had just sprouted 50m in the sky and someone left me a mess of Yip-yips as a "surprise".

So I built the cakeplate, a sanctuary in the sky, and it has seen me through at least three more months of trials, tribulations, and relative calm on the ground.

It may not be in Atlas much longer however, so if you've been considering stopping by, now is the time. And possibly it will fly high above Minna in a few weeks, when I move in and see how I feel in the new space...

Morning Eye-Opener

2004-09-27T08:10:00.000-04:00

Popped into Atlas for a moment this morning, just to check in for the day, when I received an unmarked invitation to jump over to Abbott's. Since I rarely turn down an invite, I went there directly...

I arrived to find a motley crew, Viola, Siggy and Jauani sitting on some kind of vehicle. Now I'm thinking - special plane? hot air balloon, maybe?. It's early - that would be a nice way to start the day, peaceful, tranquil...

"Get ready for the ride of your life" said Jauani. "Someone give Cyrena a parachute" said Viola. Parachute??! Uh oh... This may be more excitement than I had anticipated...

Luckily I carry a parachute around with me so I strapped it on directly. There was no time to change out of my miniskirt and heels... or to think of upcoming danger... Within 30 seconds I was plunging wildly to the ground.... "I'm fallllliiiiinnnnngggggg...." I shouted.... "Woooo...." I heard back.

The parachute deployed! And I was hung in midair from some part of Abbott's architecture... Plus I was now WIDE AWAKE! Slipped out of my parachute to find my crazy crewmates safely landed and prepping for another run...

A second skydive and I was ready to start my day... I love this place...

Fun in the Afternoon

2004-09-24T10:24:00.000-04:00

One of the most intriguing and very best parts of my second life is the diversity I encounter and the quality of people I know. At any given time, I have friends who will philosophize, postulate, wax poetic, offer tech and other support, travel the world, chat, adventure and generally rabblerouse. I could not ask for a more interesting, exciting, entertaining, humorous collection of people, and all in this one very special playground.

Yesterday afternoon, in typical SL fashion, an impromptu gathering amassed... one by one, people arrived, until the ensemble included an axe wielding ballerina (me), a slightly pickled dead body, and a number of assorted friends and neighbors, watching afternoon sunrise in Atlas...

Crazy Patchwork

2004-09-11T13:28:00.000-04:00

(To spend time blogging means I may be missing an inworld experience. This is an attempt to excuse my lack of diligence to this blog... it will probably continue in this haphazard manner... thanks to anyone who actually looks in on occasion...)

Second Life is such a crazy patchwork for me at times... It's almost indescribable. The past few days have been especially full of the wild, whacky and surreal. Spending time at my usual bench in the Welcome Area has led to some crazy chat/IM combos that have left me energized and exhausted. I find that the overall level of chat speed I encounter seems to be increasing... or perhaps I'm spending more time in populated areas?

The other night I was introduced to a whole bunch of friends of a friend who typed the fastest and whackiest of any group I've met inworld to date. After a lengthy gab session we transported to James Nash's schizophrenia build where I experienced voices in my head for what seemed like a very long time. I left with a different, more complete, perspective on this area of mental illness. Troubled too - at least the IM voices in my Cyrena head aren't generally saying such destructive things, but they exist in a similar fashion nonetheless, constant unseen communications I carry with me around the world.

I have a friend, Sulendro (who has his own blog), who suggests that I consider limiting my multi-tasking. I think that's a wise suggestion although it may require more self-discipline than I currently possess.

Anyway, accomplishments and activities this past week include but are not limited to: participating in a reiki healing session, buying a plane, crashing it twice, buying a sailboat, going sailing without crashing(!), meeting many, many new (intelligent, funny, creative) people, having a four-threaded conversation in the Welcome Area with 4 sets of IMs going while eating RL pizza dinner and not spilling it on keyboard, Mahjong (of course), pillaging and swordfighting (oops, different game), Friday night dancing on the beach... and more.

Plane Meets Cakeplate...

2004-08-29T13:49:00.000-04:00

...and the cakeplate proves surprisingly sturdy.

(No, that's not me piloting the plane - I could never accomplish anything so graceful. Thomas Z invited me on his vehicle test run and he is the skilled pilot - great fun!)

Mah-jong!

2004-08-24T17:58:00.000-04:00

Thank you, Loki, for my newest obsession... I'm hanging out in Fuschia.

Recipe for Fun

2004-08-22T08:22:00.000-04:00

1 cakeplate in the sky
2 Watermelon Launchers
1 Fun-loving buddy (in my case Thomas Z)
Yourself
Courage and conviction
Willingness to be suddenly thrown a sim away via watermelon

Vehicular World Tours I Have Known

2004-08-16T10:38:00.000-04:00

I have attempted to view Second Life by vehicle, practically since the day I arrived in this place and with VERY limited success, until recently...

I am the first to admit that I seem to be a bit dangerous in or around an SL vehicle... I've crashed motorcycles into walls, driven hoverboards off the end of the world, fallen out of planes, ridden off roads, gotten a plane stuck in someone's living room TWICE and had to abandon it or certainly its ghost (sorry to the homeowner who came home to that one - if you're reading this I would love to make reparations... :-) ), and seem to exhibit a general lack of control that is clearly unskilled and quite embarrassing...

Certain people know this fact: don't even let me near the helm of a yacht!

But the last couple weeks I have been in a few vehicles, piloted by others, that have given me rare and wonderful glimpses into the regions that make up the world of Second Life...

A half-world sea voyage with Trimming and Myradyl a couple weeks ago, starting in Stillman and ending in Ganymede, revealed waterways completely new to me and stunning waterfront builds... The company was sublime as well... while Trimming (expertly!) captained, and occasionally portaged, the yacht, Mermaid Myradyl regaled us with bawdy deep sea poetry... we inspected pirate lairs and majestic mansions and had a generally boisterous good water romp... Everyone should experience SL by water, at least once!

A bit more dangerous and yet, oddly exciting was a late evening Blimp ride... With Aeg Ritter at the controls we lurched our way through several sims... After a number of close calls and occasional collisions with buildings and sundry unexpected objects, we were suddenly followed and targetted by a giant psychedlic orb, that forced an abrupt blimp landing. The orb engulfed first TinaStar Dawn and then me in flame and attempted to immolate us before we were heroically rescued through tp moments before our certain doom...

And the very same evening, the frazzled Blimp-riders changed plans... a peaceful, though somewhat technically-challenging (for me) hot air balloon ride commenced at the Ahern Welcome Area. Trimming picked up all interested parties, and drifted through many, many lands before reaching our charted destination - the snow sims... I had a bit of a visual problem during this voyage, but I could sense (and often hear) the world below... Snippets of music and conversation, often one or two words, reached us - an odd and rather amusing patchwork of the ongoing activity in the world below... Although I didn't see the volcano as we drifted by, I felt its ominous presence and a shiver ran down my spine as I recalled my own personal sacrifice a few weeks ago... but that's another story.

Snow sims from air are an icy sight to behold! And this air expedition ended at the top of the ski lift in Kanin where vehicles were exchanged for snowboards and some spirited downhill fun...

I highly recommend an SL World Tour, By Air, Sea or both - it offers unique insights into and unparalleled views of our everchanging world plus the chance to get to know fellow adventurers... If you're planning a trip and are willing to drive, I'd love to join you...

Day of the Dead aka Gun Day

2004-08-03T08:15:00.000-04:00

Popping over to Ahern yesterday I was startled to discover two *gasp* corpses. How could this be, I wondered? Mayhem in SL? Blood pooled on the walkway. The hilt of a knife clearly protruded from one fallen body.

I sat down and began a vigil, hoping to gain greater insight into the carnage and the events that may have preceded it. Shortly I discovered that the Dead(ites) occasionally make pithy statements. I attempted to gain knowledge of life after death, to no avail. The dead remain strangely silent on that topic.

A few more bodies fell suddenly in ever-growing pools of blood. Bloody corpses at Ahern seem to attract the well-armed. Several gun-toting individuals came by at intervals, some more threatening than others.

A corpse slithered behind my bench and attempted to gnaw my ankle. Unfortunately for him, the bench leg proved to be uncircumnavigable.

A young girl with a binky came out and accosted one of the corpses with a pillow. Suddenly he rose from the dead and a wild chase ensued around the WA benches. The corpse sat down, saying he didn't want to attack a little girl. She claimed a triumphant victory and ran off. The corpse returned to his previously dead position.

Masses gathered. A lawyer came by and offered a corpse legal advice. Some mention was made of Mr. Green in the Library with the knife.

I didn't see what happened but suddenly I, too, had joined the legions of the voluntary dead. The living continued to mill about. My blood seeped into the earth to the side of the walkway. A couple times my corpse was desecrated. But the dead don't care about such things.

You may wonder about the after-death experience, as I did. But on that topic I will remain strangely silent.

Snow Crash

2004-07-31T23:17:00.000-04:00

Today a dramatic, streamed audio reading of the first three chapters of Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash kept me spellbound for over an hour.

Aside from the fact that I am reading this book in RL, so the event had exquisite timeliness, the reading was great and the parallels between Snow Crash and Second Life, which many sources say was originally based on the book, are quite astounding.

CrowCatcher Valen read the chapters while we all sat in Jai Nomad's stunning, ultra-modern auditorium, an unusually silent, riveted crowd. On the huge display at the front were a quad of ever-changing slides created by Jai, very techno Metaverse-y, the perfect visual accompaniment.

Philip Linden even put in an appearance. I felt like a celebrity gawker, eyeing him. But he appeared normal and down-to-earth, listened to the end, chatted for a minute, then took off to solve some in-world problems.

Crow will be repeating this one and continuing further readings of the book for the next few weeks. He'll have to hurry - I'm already up to Chapter 37, reading the old-fashioned way...

I love New York

2004-07-23T10:23:00.000-04:00

It's exciting to experience a bit of the Big Apple right here in SL. I had popped over to the Empire State Building for a gander and was thrilled to discover that the city streets were wet! A bit of a rainstorm was brewing and the city felt dank. I could smell the wet pavement. Sent a quick note to Chase, crowing about the unexpected sprinkle, then ducked into the ESB lobby, hoping to save my divine curls from the rain.

The ESB is quite magnificent. A sumptuous lobby... a virtually instantaneous elevator trip to the top floor yields dizzying skyscraper height view of Manhattan and beyond. The photography studio penthouse suite was an unexpectedly risque photographic extravaganza. Artists studios and luxurious apartments are contained on other floors of the ESB.

A quick peek at the Cortland subway stop revealed a somewhat neater-than-expected platform, lacking only a wino or some musicians. I waited for the train a bit, but it must have been off-schedule, so I popped back up to the ground level.

A plethora of art, often dark and moody, permeates all of Manhattan, as though the inhabitants of The Village and Soho have escaped their regular boundaries and oozed throughout. I was admiring a gallery when Chase came by and gave me a personal tour.

We pulled up barstools at a seedy, yet endearing neighborhood bar (the Bellevue) and chatted for a bit about city life, life in general, in SL and beyond. Chases's friend Maxx arrived and occupied his personal barstool for the duration. The bar stands next to some currently available loft-style apartments, with airy, brick-lined apartments, city and water views.

We meandered over to Club Limelight, a nightclub, complete with roving, color-changing spotlights, contained in a gorgeous, stained-glass embellished church. Clearly this is the place to see and be seen.

I loved my taste of city life SL style and will be back to sample the wares of some very talented SL designers. Evil though she may (or may not) be, Chase has certainly assembled a glorious, art-filled city in Hawthorne.

Snow!

2004-07-20T09:32:00.000-04:00

I happened to be in the area when the news came in - there were new snowy sims to explore!

Like a kid listening to the radio on a Thursday morning in winter, I felt that Snow Day surge of joy! A quick check of my wardrobe showed virtually nothing adequate to protect me from wintery elements. I donned a long black jacket, jeans and some red high-tops and was good-to-go.

Checked the map and saw crowds forming in various regions to my south. Atlas isn't too far from the snowline, as it turns out. My friend L agreed to join me for a minute and we popped over to a remote, snowclad mountaintop - just mountains, trees and snow. Serene, beautiful and completely unprecedents here in Second Life. I was awestruck. And chilly.

L had to leave but I continued to explore. Another map-check showed crowds forming in a couple locations so I flew off to join the excitement. Followed a highway for a while but realized I was getting into a more temperate zone so I pursued a course due south to a very craggy mountainous region.

A chalet appeared in the distance - the perfect place to toast your chilly toes in front of the fireplace and drink hot chocolate. I vowed to return but pressed on. Snow Day Fever was in full force!

I discovered some lift lines and followed them up a very steep mountain slope. At the summit was the impromptu SL party of the day. About 30 people were clustered at this summit, chatting and glorying in the beautifully flaky snow currently falling. Giant flakes materialized and drifted to the ground. A supreme winter wonderland.

Snowballs flew. A snowman was constructed. Someone created a huge snowball and offered rides down the mountain on it. How could I refuse? We plummeted down the mountain in a furious flurry of rolling snow, arms and legs. Exhilerating!

At the bottom, by the operational ski lift, people were assembling and trying out snowboards. Crop-top clad snowboarders are not something you see every day. Again I felt the chill.

Finally I had to head out with a vow to return as soon as I had sewed up some suitable winter gear.

So happy to finally be enjoying some seasonal (off-seasonal?) weather in SL!

Munchkins Followed By Live Jazz

2004-07-15T09:52:00.000-04:00

Suitably attired in munchkin regalia, I returned to Oz with my trusty companion, Spumoni. (I had visited a couple days ago but had to leave prematurely.)

Oz is an astounding wonder. Leaving Kansas and the tornado, a meander down the yellow brick road reveals the homes of the various characters, lions/tigers/bears, candyland, the witch's castle, culminating in the majestic Emerald City.

Greeted cheerily by the Good Witch and the Wonderful Wizard, Spumoni (let's call him Toto for now) and I proceeded almost directly to Emerald City for a rendez-vous with my munchkin goddess friends. We munchkins explored the city, tasted the cake and watched the powerful Wizard melt the witch. This general hilarity was capped off by an Oz trivia contest, not my strongpoint, but Toto did clue me into one answer "hot dog", the thing he steals at the start of the film.

Just as the quiz ended, I was invited to a live jazz concert, and it was a wonderful, soothing and magical finish to my evening. Live music in SL is amazing in itself - and Astrin Few was outstanding. Friends gathered at Faerie Muse's. Dancing, singing, hushed conversation. It was an amazing evening and a dramatic contrast to the almost-frenetic munchkin activity which preceded it.

Yesterday I Made a Bra

2004-07-12T05:51:00.000-04:00

and it fit!

A Tour of Jessie Incognito

2004-07-07T09:38:00.000-04:00

A rather motley crew paid an impromptu visit to Jessie on Monday.

We had been wondering what the fuss was all about and with time on our hands, Helen, Ellen and I decided to see the potential warzone for ourselves.

We realized we would be flirting with death, so we prepared for the worst. Helen donned her chicken suit, Ellen her astronaut uniform and I my cavewoman gear, complete with club.

Rather amused at our appearances, but feeling suitably camouflaged, if a bit apprehensive, we teleported to the nearest hub and eagerly took off for the perilous flight into Jessie. We landed on what appeared to be a high-tech turret, with assorted tank-like machinery perched high in the air. We explored the turret cautiously and felt elated at our continuing existence.

After about one minute in Jessie: "We're not dead yet!" exclaimed Ellen. "This is so cool," said Helen. We continued to look around.

"We have company," Helen announced, as our arrival had apparently been noticed and a soldier arrived to welcome us. We exchanged friendly greetings and the kind soldier allowed us to continue to look around his fortress. It appeared that we were relatively safe at this juncture although we proceeded with caution and ubiquitous escort from here on in.

As is my wont, I somehow fell from the turret and plunged into some icy waters nearby. Forbidden from flying I was forced to hike by some fearsome Jeep relics and others discards as I made my way back to my fellow explorers.

Emerging from the oceanic depths, I could neither see nor hear Helen and Ellen. A quick IM established that they were adjacent to the drug cartel, a sight I never did witness for myself.

Our kindly escort continued to pave the way for me and I examined a "ministry" building and some other fascinating structures. Several other heavily armed soldiers flew around us at various points but our fair guide reassured them of our welcome and we remained unscathed.

Having toured for a bit, we fell into conversation, hovering in the skies over Jessie.

"Have you ever died?" Helen wanted to know. "Many times... when you live in Jessie you expect death..." was the reply.

"Would you kill us?" queried Ellen - virtually begging for a shot in the head... but death was not in our cards that day.

A weapon was brandished and a few jokes were exchanged about being hungry and wanting chicken for dinner or possibly killing the astronaut, but as it turned out these were gentlemen soldiers who obviously stop at killing innocent female civilians in costume.
We thank them for such hospitality in their obviously troubled realm...

Of Americana and Other Vacation Excitement

2004-07-04T19:40:00.000-04:00

In vacation mode yesterday, I set out for a day of fun and adventure.

First I toured the Americana exhibit in Lime. What a fascinating display! I especially enjoy it when they resurrect buildings and displays that I may have missed in the past due to my tender SL age. I met up with Helen and Ellen there and we took a brief fly around. I especially loved the Chrysler building.

Then Helen left and Ellen and I went looking through Plum for more exhibits. We happened upon the Beta Wall of Fame (my name, I think - not sure what it's called officially). There we met Artemis who took me on a surreally wild Go-Cart ride and then we crashed a motorcycle into the middle of a wall somewhere in the Lime Americana exhibit!

I played 5 rounds of Bingo which was fantastic, high-speed fun. Didn't win anything though. And as a bonus, I took myself mini-golfing - fun! Can't wait to do that with friends. Thank goodness an onlooker took pity on me and gave me some pointers about how to actually get the golf ball somewhere near the hole!

I ended my fun on Helen and Ellen's cobblestone parque central in Atlas, with sparklers in both hands, celebrating with friends.

Devils in the Sandbox

2004-06-30T22:15:00.000-04:00

I had barely gotten in when James N. called and said he needed help in the sandbox. I hurried there and was immediately embroiled in a fierce round of cross-fire, bullets flying, and general mayhem. "James, what's the matter?" I asked. His answer was brief and garbled. I looked at the machine-gun toting woman hovering a few feet in front of me - she laughed (an evil mwah ha ha) and asked facetiously "are we disturbing you?".

"This place seems pretty chaotic", I said.

Suddenly a bomb was offered to me, an apparent attempt to blow me out of existence. I may be a newbie but I'm not dumb enough to accept an unsolicited bomb - I declined the offer to violently dematerialize.

Another James, this one bright blue, swooped in and asked what brought me to the sandbox. Apparently there were some hoodlums rabblerousing in the neighborhood and he was attempting to restore order. I said I was just here on the request of a friend. A cube materialized and he sat. I whipped up a cube and did likewise. "Programmers rule this place!" he shouted to the world in general. A faint "He's the devil..." came back in response. I looked around but no one was there.

"I'm a pacifist" I said to no one in particular. No one responded, but no one attempted to blow me up again.

Apparently my friend James and Blue James were in some kind of struggle for dominance of the underworld and it appeared my James was losing. Perhaps the struggle was all in his head, since Blue James did indeed seem to rule the sandbox this fine morning.

We chatted while he held the denizens of hell at bay. I was in New England. He was in NYC. "Gotta get back to work" he said. And disappeared. Another soldier, Cyrus, took his cube and we chatted cheerily for a bit. The underworld seemed to have been calmed, soothed by the mighty programmer's pitchfork apparently. Over the course of a few minutes, Cyrus's titles ranged chaotically from Peace Keeper, to Soldier to Bounty Hunter.

James N., although chastened, appeared to be unscathed, so I bid all adieu and returned to my cozy pied a terre where I got dressed for the day. Then I too went to work.