The Elephant in the Room.

Before I can use this blog for anything else, I suppose there is an issue that needs addressing.

On January 29th, 2012 We made the very difficult decision to close the Seven Isles. It wasn't something we wanted to do, especially not the way it was done.  But we felt as if there was no other choice.  It is a long story, if asked in world I will give it to you, but I don't feel like going in to it here.

It's been just over two months since, why haven't I talked about it yet?  I wasn't ready to, I guess.  I spent some time and energy trying to maintain some form of it, but that didn't work out.  It might have done, but Real Life has been harsh to my family. We are barely getting by, and if it were not for in world services, and favours (such as Eaken's DJing) We'd have no in-world income at all. We don't have much, certainly not one to start a new sim.

Though for now I am able to afford a cute little parcel on the mainland, 300 prims for 300 lindens a week is a hell of a deal,  Just enough prims for building, and since it is on "forgotten" mainland there is no lag!

Besides, Where else can you find automated tanks and ice cream trucks in a neighbourhood, if not on the mainland?

This is by no means what I consider home in the Role-play sense, though.  I don't really know what to do. A huge part of me is relieved to be free of the financial stress that came from running the sim. There is a part of me that just wants to find somewhere else suitable to live out our RP days in peace.  Eaken and I have alts that can find RP, but my little fake family means a lot to me, more than I ever realized until the place we could be was gone.

So, I am on the search for somewhere to rest our branches and hooves. So far I can only search groups, since out internet connection here at our new RL home (which is temporary, thank gods) is *terrible* but I am so discouraged at the amount of innocuous sims that do not allow youth avatars, or furries.

What should stop me from resettling in a place where furries are not allowed?  Call me a snob if you wish, but I have always judged the quality of a sim based on Furry discrimination. A lot of people say theme has something to do with it, but I don't see how a Furry dressed in theme is any different from a Centaur dressed in theme. In fact, there isn't much of a difference between the appearance of mythological creatures from furries. I don't understand why one is acceptable, and one is not. It's fantasy, we're supposed to use our imaginations.

But I digress, my point is, the perfect place for me to call home, *was* the Seven Isles.

Both in Second Life and Real life finding a new home is tough.  I don't really have a place to fit in and settle in world, and our current home, well, we don't fit in much here either.  That doesn't stop us for looking for the right place in both worlds, though.

People ask us a lot if we ever plan to open another sim.  There is such a huge part of me that wants to, to let the stories, the atmosphere and the community to live on.  But I have to be honest, there is a part of me that never wants to stress again about those issues again. I did it because I loved it, but I must certainly did not thrive on it.

So my answer is, I don't know.  I would like to think of that world just being on pause. The things that went on there are still going on in spirit, just as they were.  It's just like that tree in the forest, no one  is "there" to hear it, but it is still making noise, with the sounds of life carrying on as usual.

The Eternal Dance of the Weeping Cherry

In my house my mother stands,  skin of bark, muscles of wood, hair of weeping cherry branch.

But she was not always this way.

It is often said that the Dryad or Epimeliad is bound to her tree.  This is true, but never as extreme as the bond a Hamadryad has with her tree.  Some Hamadryads are part of their tree, rooted and unable to move.  Others are made of flesh as warm and soft as any woman's, and they dwell inside their tree.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="414" caption=""A Hamadryad" by John William Waterhouse"][/caption]

My mother, was the latter. In the hollow of an abnormally large weeping cherry that was her own.  The hollow itself was not very big, but she had enough room to sit, sleep, and take her meals. Over the course of her young life she had polished the walls smooth with little bits of stone that birds would drop.  She had bathed her walls in the oil extracted from cherry pits until they shone and gleamed. A carpenter could not have done better even with superior tools.

She baited fire flies with cherry juice for light in the night. My mother, she had a lot of time on her hands.

To you and yours we wish you...

Happy Holidays!
Love,
Eaken, Korinna, Kraneia, and Alekos Taurus

Don't update this much, do I?

Ya know...  if you want some awesome blog posts... you need to check out Anthemei's blog.  Not only is she quicker than us,  she writes a pretty awesome tale!

 

And she is much more reliable than I am!

I think maybe it is because, while WordPress is a great place to host The Official Blog for the Seven Isles I don't think it is so great for my own personal expression.  Then again,  I sort of ignore the DeviantArt account I made.  And the In-character Tumblr that I made has sort of evolved into a mish mash of me, more than Korinna.

But it is odd, because in my Real Life before Second Life.  I used to blog the shit out of things.

Anyway, I am considering a Dreamwidth Journal, as I am comfortable and familiar with the format.  I am as likely to be followed there as I am on Tumblr (one friend there) but, who knows maybe I will blog more. Or not.

We just finished another Arc, and I am quite pleased with the process.  There are a few untied ends, but left over string always helps with future stories to be woven.  I am pleased with the way people pulled together and dug us out of a financial slump (thank you, so, so much!) and I am pleased to see people throwing their characters and their own stories into the mix, building other stories.

I like it. I like it so much, I want MORE. So don't give up okay?

October is a busy, busy month for all of us in real and on the grid. but it is always worth the fun at the end of the month! It is Autumn again in our lovely home, and soon it will be my favourite time of year, winter.

Motivations For Child Avatars Do Not Need To Be Creepy.

I am sort of depressed about my SL lately, I admit.  I find there is always so much to do, and yet there is nothing to do that really inspires me.  Maybe I am having one of those bored-of-Korinna phases, but actually, not really.  I feel sort of limited by Korinna.  I have (what I think) is a cool back story idea, but I would need the help of one of my children (the ones of TOS age.) and they're just not into it.

Lately,  and perhaps oddly, I have been more into playing my Character's daughter, who is only 11 months old.  I am sure plenty of people think I am a freak for that,  but I think I have a very valid (and sane) motivation behind it.

It's really not that I want to be eleven months old again, but there is a certain giddy remembrance of my children when they were that age. Sometimes, we are *inside* of our avatars, but sometimes, we are watching from Camera view, and when it comes to a smaller avatar, the default camera settings always look down,  giving me the feeling as if I am looking down upon a child.

My kids are far from infants now, one is 20 in two days. One is nearly 18, another is a short 13 months younger than he. And my baby is a 13 year old young women. Don't get me wrong I adore my children now that they are older,  we have stimulating conversations, and can share in adult humour.  I love that about us.

But those years when a child is young and innocent truly do not stand the test of time, and memories are precious.  Even though I can not have any more children,  I am one of those crazy ladies who is always a little baby hungry.

So, when I am playing twig,  I find inspiration for her emotes and actions in what I remember my children doing. She is an avatar and a character, and yet she is based on all of my children. When I am playing that avatar, I am having fun, and remembering.  My strange overbearing mothering instinct is fed. I love to dress her up in pseudo classical clothing. and make her toys, and decorate her little room.

My only problem is,  no one is around to baby sit me. And the mother in me who believes in supervised children can not fathom an 11 month old running around without someone to keep an eye on her.  Even if I don't really need it.  Even in the safest place for kids in the world.

I realize now, it was the same when I had my Centaur kid when it started out.  When he was young. I had him at my other favourite age.  I should have kept him there, but at least there I have some closure as I came up for a suitable storyline to write everyone out neatly, and without disrespect to anyone involved. The one benefit of having the older child, though, is I would have had a baby sitter. hehe.  Now I have to find creative excuses when my baby is not around...
When I was SL pregnant,  I didn't do it out of a yearning to be pregnant again.  I did it, really, to prove a point.  That it lasts longer than six days, or six weeks, that pregnant bellies do not talk, that no one puts your pregnancy at risk for standing in your whispering range. That your body tells people when your baby is kicking,  something you can do with your own mouth.  *and* that you could do it for free without loads of scripts that lag everyone else into 2006

Honestly, the limitations and costs of prim babies was a pain in the ass.  This is why I got a Tiny toddler avatar for her instead. Far cheaper, and customizable. When my computer feels like double logging, a mommy follower is all I need, and a gesture that allows me to chat (emote) for her if need be.

But, I digress. I am thinking maybe a smarter-than-the-average- goat and herding sheepdog might make decent baby sitters, in the land of make-beleive.

When Anti-theft Measures Discourage Sales.

/me drags out soap box.

I love my hair,  but I have been wearing it every day for over a year.  I thought maybe,  Just maybe a little variety is in order.  My character is supposed to have Curly hair, and try as I have most Curly hair on SL looks as terrible as dread locks. But, on the lookout I remain.

I came across this on SLex  Xstreet the Marketplace  last night, and thought it was worth a shot, I picked up another while I was at it.

I wait for my delivery (an awful long time these days) .  I unpack my delivery like a good girl should, and I try on the hair,  lo and behold, this is what happened.

 



The hair attempts to Rez on my head, but then quickly disappears, and I am told  not once but twice "[02:19]  [DEMO] Action Womens Hair Debbie - Candy: This DEMO can only be worn/viewed on the Action sim, you can get their by clicking the SLURL--> http://slurl.com/secondlife/Action%20Surf%20Sk8te/39/180/24"

Hmph.  Now, I am not normally one to complain on something that cost me nothing,  but since this touches on a bigger issues, I left this one star review:

So, I admit upfront I didn't read the description all that carefully, because for a freebie demo, I didn't think it would be so complicated.

But, since my connection is super slow of late, I opted not to go to their sim in person just to try on the hair.  As it is very difficult to teleport much less go to a sim with a lot to download.  So I didn't even get to *try* the hair which means lost sales. (at least two)  Downloading this Demo, and searching for it on the Market place actually wasted my time.

Theft paranoia is getting in the way of customer service. I can't support that.

Looks nice from the pictures though!

Protection from theft is a good thing,  and I find it especially admirable to take a proactive step to do this. I once downloaded a hair demo that was "No modify" in my inventory, but very modifyable on my head.  I could have said and done nothing,  I could be wearing it right now! But I did what was right and contacted the seller.  (didn't buy the hair, though.  It was everything I hate about curls in SL) so no one can tell me I am okay with stolen hair.

But it's getting out of control when measures to deture theft make it so inconvenient for your potential customers that they don't buy the hair.  As it turns out, I got lucky with the second Demo, and it let me try it on.



I like it, a lot.  But alas, I can not support such disrespect for customers with my buisness.

Especially since, trying on the hair in the store wouldn't stop a copy bot.  A copy bot steals the *whole* item, with full permissions, so it ends up being worn off the sim anyway,  the big ugly demo box is removed.

It used to be, that the big demo box was a great big source of shame that you were too cheap to buy the hair.  That was deturant enough (even if it is a sort of walking advertisement)  Apparently, "Demo" Images on strands of the hair are not enough now, either.

/me puts soap box away

 

What The Seven Isles Means To me...

Can be summed up in the lyrics to this song.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NV_VWTp1qE]

 

"Utopia"

we'd gather around all in a room fasten our belts engage in dialogue
we'd all slow down rest without guilt not lie without fear disagree sans judgement

we would stay and respond and expand and include and allow and forgive and
enjoy and evolve and discern and inquire and accept and admit and divulge and
open and reach out and speak up

This is utopia this is my utopia
This is my ideal my end in sight
Utopia this is my utopia
This is my nirvana
My ultimate

we'd open our arms we'd all jump in we'd all coast down into safety nets

we would share and listen and support and welcome be propelled by passion not
invest in outcomes we would breathe and be charmed and amused by difference
be gentle and make room for every emotion

we'd provide forums we'd all speak out we'd all be heard we'd all feel seen

we'd rise post-obstacle more defined more grateful we would heal be humbled
and be unstoppable we'd hold close and let go and know when to do which we'd
release and disarm and stand up and feel safe

this is utopia this is my utopia
this is my ideal my end in sight
utopia this is my utopia
this is my nirvana
my ultimate

(The singing and the arangement are so beautiful too. Alanis is one of my very favourite artists,  I don't understand why she is slagged off by so many who have never really listened to her entire catalog of music.)