Looking for Love in All the Wrong Sims

After my failed attempt at finding Heaven in SL, sitting at home alone on a Friday night, and with temps in the single digits in RL, I thought Perfect needed to go looking for love. And here I learned that Love, when typed into the SL search screen, doesn't exactly mean the hearts all aflutter, but maybe some other body parts are. Oh yes, and the wallet - as in "I just LOVE these 6 inch heels!" Rather than hit the top of the list provided to me by SL's helpful love search, I dropped to the bottom and started there. Heart Reef Resort, 218,76,21, promised love in its ad, and sure enough I landed on a man named Hotrod! Stop the fantasy right there. He never responded to anything I said, and communication is pretty high in my "To Love" list. So I left him looking at his watch, and headed to the Smooth Jazz Club, 209,76,21. Lots of love there, but they were all couples. Next stop was Hot Island Sex Club on Nirvana 68,68,21. A woman pole dancing, a couple of guys camping, and two different music streams at the same time. Clutching my pixel addled forehead, I left as soon as I could. Next stop: Le Flam Club, where the first person I saw had the first name of Ebola. Fleeing from that enchanted spot, I went to a Huge Garage Sale at 168,196,36, that had Love on its list of items for sale. Hmmm. Did not see one avatar there, so perhaps that item had already been purchased. Next it was LoveHo, which is very appropriately named, at 117,122,23. There was a man there. He is a Eunuch. No kidding. It says so in his profile. He said someone needed to watch the cattle. I left before someone got out the ropes. At Salamander's Island 235,23,96, where love is on the ad, I had the opportunity to join the Salamander Torture Group....is that like a Book Club? At the Land of Seven Sins, the ad lists fun-kill-torture-love-wrath.....I did not even tp there. Too confusing! A bit weary now, and waaayyyyy off my original path, I hopped around to some more "love"ly sims and found the guy you see me pictured with above. Nice guy, but we still have a problem with that communication thing. No love for Perfect North this time! Damn.

Searching for Heaven, Part I

Wearing my good girl white wings (commercial break: wings designed by Pardoes of Absolutely Different Wings), I decided to look for heaven on SL. Have not found it yet, just several places with "heaven" in their name. Thisphoto shows me at Closer to Heaven, 189,166,552 - beautiful and peaceful, but hmmm nobody there. Is no one else searching for heaven in SL?

Just Heaven, 222,162,230 claims to be a sanctuary from the craziness of SL. I was there approximately 3 minutes and was thrown out. Not a good sign.

Promise of Heaven, located curiously enough in a land called "Cursed", is actually the site of an immersive role playing game set in a (get this) correctional facility. I could NOT hit that teleport me outta here button quick enough.

Next stop: Nude Heaven Beach 171, 61, 23 - need I say more? I tp'd to Antiques Heaven thinking it would either be a furniture store or a 60+ dating site, but it was just rental property. At Site of Heaven, 47,85,61, I could buy Charm Knickers, whatever those are (charming underwear????). At Halloween Heaven - 51, 13, 1500 there were enough carved pumpkins, scary witches and spooky fog to go around, but no one to sneak up and BOO to, so I did not wait for anyone.

Heaven weary, I glanced at the long list of more heavens and decided to go visit my friend Parrot at his gallery and that was a Bit of Heaven catching up with my old friend and his creative art. *sigh* - friends are the best. Romances tend to turn into pixel dust and blow away as soon as the transporter turns on, but my friendships in SL have endured. Packed the wings away for the night and signed off. Damn.

Exploring for September 1st

Headed out to explore SL, no particular destination, just opening the map and tp'g to wherever there was more than one green dot. First landing was Freebie Dungeon, 17, 27, 54 - almost left immediately (gentle readers know how PN feels about dungeons, slaves, etc.) but this freebie place is not exclusively for dungeon denizens. There are a LOT of boxes there for L$Zero, which is my favorite price to pay for anything. My inventory is full of very interesting items I have found along my travels - find me inworld sometime and I am glad to share - have a flametail, a batmobile, and even a couple of rockets. I did pass by a couple of items at Deva Loka, though: Pee Puddle and Evil Floors. ????

Next teleport drop in was Kusanagi, 85, 157, 61, where the landlords sell dance club supplies. I am standing here in the middle of a lightning floor and more lightning coming from the sky - with all of the dancefloors lined up next to each other, the music, the jukeboxes and vending machines and the wild lightning, I frankly got a little dizzy! I remember the first dance floor I ever saw on SL that moved like these did - it was at Heaven Above -

Landed at Cassowarry, 34, 136, 58, an unusual underground art gallery where Sabrinaa Nightfire seems to be the main artist. Great stuff! Before I realized this was an art sculpture, I thought the residents in the house above had some SERIOUS plumbing problems. See below.

Ended the evening early at Tempura, dancing in the meadow to their beautiful music. I was supposed to meet my dear friend Jurian a couple of hours later for dancing and talking, but fell asleep watching Robot Chicken. Damn.

Back in the saddle again

So where were you when USA landed on the moon? July 11, 1969 - I was working at my first job - I was a telephone operator for Southwestern Bell, Houston TX. We got to take a break that evening in time to crowd into the break room and watch Cronkite. Now I can go to SL and suit up (but obviously I chose not to mess up my hair with a confining space helmet). Check it out at 183,213,22 Apollo Landing.

From the moon to underwater (again, no sensible helmet) at Heart Reef Resort 223,27,2 - this is the mermaid tour. Now and then an Orca drifts by, and a clueless harbor seal (Orcas eat harbor seals), but all is peaceful and pretty and you can curl up with your SOOD (Signficiant Other Of the Day) in an oyster shell and watch the fish drift by.

From the moon to underwater to the future, where apparently, you can still get pizza delivered. This was Bladerunner City, 126,130,433 - great concept, but needs some work. There is a big scary robot that I could not sit on, interesting art but not enough of it, and of course, nobody was there. Not even Harrison Ford. Damn.

This is the way to go to a movie!

The Reel Corn Cinema Rhone 31,163,22

The movie house is in the popcorn box!

On the road again.....

So good to be back on the walkabout. Checked out Showcase and found this cool dance place called The Atlas Club 62,36,38 - it is located in a huge airship. Steampunk is fun.

Then I just opened up the map, closed my eyes and chose a place to land - it was Lebn's Garden, 84,238,29 - found myself in the middle of a trivia game that happens on every Sunday at noon. When that was over, most of the group moved over to Monochrome 137,33,751, where not only were we dirty dancing, we were still playing trivia! I met Thornton Writer (fellow 57 years old person!) who told me about some other cool trivia events on SL. Playing a trivia game 1) knocks out the cobwebs in these old brains, 2) staves off alzheimer's, 3) keeps you off the streets, and most importantly, 4) lets you meet new people who are just as goofy as you are.

Later, dudes.....

Real Life Kidnapped Me - send Lawyers, Guns & Money

Okay, here's what happened. One day I was cruising along, exploring SL, spreading my wings and a very scary creature named "Work" swooped down, grabbed me and would not let me go! Oh he was a smooth talker, this Work.....promised me money for food, taught me how to use my truck again, and just made Real LIfe so much more interesting (and used his magic to make those other bad people "Bill Collectors" go away for a while too)....but I am more clever than Work! I negotiated a work release program so I can release myself from Work sometimes and come back to Second Life (the true reality) on a limited basis...starting today! I missed you guys!

What Makes Perfect North Happy

What a rocking good time I have had on SL since I returned from my sabbatical! I decided to go visit some of the longtime personal favorite places (mostly to see if they were still there) and went to Ethereal Teal. This is the home of Cloud Chateau, the first pixel lab I ever saw on SL. I cannot tell you how many photos I have in my inventory of me and some exploring friend as we watched the ever changing explosion of color at this place - ask Amythest Sands, Deft Lessard, anyone who knows me - I have dragged them all there at one time or another! So I am at Ethereal Teal and there is someone close by - I check out his profile and lo and behold it is JOPSY the creator of Cloud Chateau. It was like meeting Mick Jagger in the produce section of my grocery store. You have got to check out the entire sim, so I am not giving a specific address - just search for it and explore the caves and the whole place - Jopsy has been busy. What a nice guy - he gave me a little creature that follows me around when I rezz it. *sigh* I think i am in love....again! (with the little creature - grins)

Here I am at one of the most creative dancing places in SL - Top Hat - all of the dancing platforms change colors randomly - beautiful! Great relaxing and romantic music. This is a class 5 server which means no lag. PN has terribly old computer that cannot handle lag, so Top Hat is a favorite place. Check it out!

My friend Pardoes (wingmaker) (vampire gun maker) (Superstar Second Life Mentor) is the creator and owner of this place.


Slumdog SL - Deft Lassard and I met back in 06 when we were both newbies, and recently connected again - the other night he tp'd me to his place - he is proud (and rightly so!) of his trailer house on the Industry sim, complete with dirty dishes in the sink, a tv bigger than one wall of the room, and a big ass motorcycle sitting outside. I contributed a velvet candle, a bong , and a pink flamingo as a housewarming present. Deft is one cool guy and I am so glad we are back in communication.


Met some more nteresting people along the way lately: Hawkeyes, Drachonus and of course my rock star Jopsy! But after a while my little barefeet get tired, so I must relax, like this, at the Garden on State of Mind - I am lying on my side, trailing my hand in the water, listening to soothing music - I know some of you think I look like i am passed out, pixel drunk - but you are wrong!!!!! mostly.... anyway! More later!

Some of My Favorite Places

There is a song....these are a few of my favorite things....well, here are a few of my favorite spots on SL. I expect as my travels continue, this list will grow, so here are the ones I started with before the adventure began.

Tempura - 125,132,33 - here is a pic of me dancing in the meadow just a few steps away from the landing zone. I don't care where you go and landmark on Tempura, you will land in the same spot when you return, so my advice is....move as soon as you get there! And turn on your music stream - the sounds are lovely. This is one of the most creative and beautiful sims on SL - at least that I have found so far. There is a ballroom, meadows, lovely red trees, and yes, some little huts where you can do your heavy breathing... or so I have been told.

Africa is at 50,27,21 and you can ride a zebra around the sim. Watch out for the termite ants (army ants?). You can dance, take a balloon ride, tiptoe past the pride of lions or go into the huts for heavy breathing...or so I have been told. Jurian and I found this sim back in November and there was no one there but the critters. Now the place is very busy. African music, waterfall, raging river, monkeys, a beach, mountains, fun spot for exploring.

Catcher in the Pie, 185,142,26, is a gathering place for writers and readers, and you can post your writing on the wall (one of mine is currently there) for all to read. They have special events there as well - cute name, yes?I am in there somewhere floating among the planets, at Ethereal Sensations Space Park - chose a poseball that said Sky Float. This sim is amazing, the music changes often - sometimes Arabic, sometimes Native American, sometimes Nickelback (yea!), and there are some pose balls I have never seen before. This is a good place to take a date if you want to do something besides dance, or heavy breathing.

While wandering around tonight, I caught up with several of my friends: Cyan, Deft, Melonpipps, Straton Tigerpaw, Parrot (who is to blame for all of this), Knilly.....and earlier in the day, danced with my darling Pardoes at Top Hat, 54,222,41. Missed all of my friends!

Ended up the evening at Garden of DaVinci, 37,105,26, where I met Dreams Magic, from Quebec, and had a nice relaxing conversation around the fire.

I started this adventure with the hope that I would learn more about myself along the way - but did not expect a revelation would come so quickly! While searching for new places on SL, I have, in RL, been searching for direction. This blog has helped me refine one of my dreams into a goal: to support my Real Life as a writer. This means a lot more Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches, Top Ramen and no HBO in my future....but, there you go.

Or should I say, here I go.........

Rest Stop

As wtih all journeys, in real life or Second Life, there must be a period of rest so the journey may continue. PN will be offline for several days, returning the week of the 26th of May to begin again.

So far, it has been great fun, and I have found, between the dungeons, some wondrous places along the way. All the while I have been chatting with my longtime friends, and sharing the finds with them, and enhancing our friendship along the way.

I will be back! (didn't MacArthur say that?) For my American friends, Happy Memorial Day, and thanks to those who were in service to our country. For my foreign friends, hope all is well.

How Very Odd......

Don't really know where to start tonight. Should I talk about the chicken I met named Cocky, at place where you can do a lapdance on a stack of old used car tires, or get romantic on a rusted out old car? (Red Gold Green 209,194,23)

Or talk about Equilibrium Cove, 113,142,21, where it was under construction but I became quite enamored with the profile of the builder and sent him an IM? A pirate prince, have not met one of those yet!

Don't want to think about Mystix Cove, 87,58,21, with its cages and torture equipment, getting rather bored at finding those. At Hochburg, 161,154,23, I met a doberman named Sparta.

Sapphire Lagoon, 136,218,24, is the re-creation or sim of Galveston Island - been to the real one, this is much nicer.

But the best sim of the day was Dandolo, and I can't find the address but WILL - beautiful surroundings, and instead of music you can listen to someone having sex. The girl involved sounded like she was having a grand time!

To end a day full of animals and animal sounds, I shall talk about the well-armed rabbit (pictured above) who I met at Aussie d Alliez, 233,236,27. He was very nice, gave me a list of all the army bases on sl, and asked if I knew where he could find a job as a male dancer where emotion would not be required.

I think that says it all for today!

Racking up the Meters

Lots of sim-hopping today! Lotawata 88,41,26 was a place with bamboo huts that are shops, lots of fountains and a dance floor but no music? Seafarer Isle, met a cat named Pootie, and of course no avi's around. The sim land info showed a group with everyone named Slave or Slave Driver - not my sort of place. Ocean Isle was nice - model homes - big beautiful ones - all for sale. Being homeless, I have always wondered why people bought homes on SL, and furnished them, but when I did an article for SL Business Mag a few years ago - about furniture in SL - I realized that it is just like RL, you want a place to bring your friends and talk. Still don't understand why those homes need toilets or trash cans in them.......

Lost Eden, 174,9,22, built on the order of Ancient Greece or Rome, and I was really enjoying the scenery until I saw a sign that said "This Way to the Dungeon" - *sigh*.

Next stop Dove County, 162,149,23 - home of Shooter's Bar and dedicated to WWII Pilots. The music was Aussie, and it was a pretty place. Saw a church, and for the first time ever for me in SL: a graveyard.

Kitti's Lair, 84, 128, 28 was fun, with cool cars, a hot dog stand, and good music. Picked up a No Drama sign and posed in front of a bright pink car. See photo above.

In 16th century Brazil, I drove a pink scooter car underwater (see photo above), then wandered around the sim. On Sanctuary, 149,196,20, found chickens, old cars and trucks in the yard of a house, and a 55 gal drum with trash burning in it. Reminded me of Texas. Yuck.

Met a nice guy named Detlef Hausmann, from Vienna, at the next stop, a Carribean Reggae Music joint called Vibes, at 84,159,27. While wandering about tonight, chatted with good friends Jeph Renfold, Marcus Inkpen, Cyan Magic, and a few others. Life is good!

Barking Dogs and Galleons

Started tonight's trip at Nameless Isle, with spooky music and lots of fog. Shivers!

Isola Gavia at 160,116,26, was next, mostly a rental island, but with beautiful red cliffs I have yet to see in SL. Reminded me of the Red Rocks of Jemez, New Mexico, but nobody was selling frybread. There is an unusual house there, looks like someone made an Easter Island Statue out of wood.

Amanda Isle, 168,130,25 - snow on the ground and me barefoot! Nobody there but three dogs: Butch, Spot and Son of Spot (wonder what they will name Son of Spot's progeny?) This was a lovely little town, of course totally empty of people, with some cool galleons in the harbor. One ship was decorated with stained glass. Tried to use the teleporter next to the ship, but the message i got was "sorry, you must rez at least two pads" WTF does that mean? Left with the dogs barking good naturedly at me, and went off to dance with an old friend, Jurian, at Cafe Casablanca, 25,65,22 - it is a nice club decorated with photos from the movie.

In real life, I had a root canal this morning and am still feeling the effects of all the chemical entertainment they gave me. Will visit more sims tomorrow when am back to normal and not drifting several inches off the ground!

Don't know much about art, but know weird when i see it.....

My title for this statue: Permanent Impotence

Gravity's Rainbow 193,85,33, very nice gallery. Also went to a beautiful place called New Earthstar Ascenders, 179,129,32, with some gorgeous shapes and colors and quartz crystals, a genie's bottle and beautiful music. Landmarked this one for peaceful moments during walkabout. Doum Doum Island is the home of Percussus Mall, and when I checked out the owner's profile, he is letting the world know he is getting married at the end of May. Partnering is a strange concept to PN - she has never partnered and probably never will. It's that freedom thing. But I am so pleased for those who find love, in whatever form, in whatever life.

Twisted Thorn is an elegant building that sells antiques (pixels put together in 2003?) - building is very well made, with stained glass windows and dark wood floors. Easy on the avi eyes.

My longtime friend Sunn Thunders (we met in 06) recommended I add twitter to this blog, and I am thinking about it. Sunn is a fantastic artist - his sculptures are like virtual dreams.

When I was on Harlequin 70,101,26, there was a haunted house and a phone was ringing - could not find the phone to answer it - was probably Satan - LOL - oh well, maybe he'll text me instead.

Time to Be Careful

I started on ths walkabout with an open mind, ready to listen to the views of others, ready to encounter strange and wonderful things.

A series of tp's last night took me into lands where people seem to relish the pain and degredation of others. At Kajira Falls, I saw posters selling wounds and injuries for your avi. At Talender Estates the notecard advised that this was "generally a safe place". The City of Tor warned me not to step off the paths. On Harlequin, there was a big dark castle and the group members all had "blood-something" in their names. A series of islands named "Hsinjui Fantasy" were blocked from entry, and frankly, I don't want to know why.

Freedom is very important to me, so I am not saying avatars should not be free to chop away at each other, or find their thrills in torture and bondage and fangs. SL is, after all, an escape.

Yet I have found, in my long life, that when you ask darkness into your life, it has a tendency to stay well past its welcome. I will tread softly in these lands, and stay only as long as necessary. And when my walkabout is over, I will never touch those shores again.

Finally! After exploring over 20 sims I finally found another avatar! Met Zack Coberts sitting by a lovely fire on a peaceful sim called Reydiant, at 150,147,301. Zack is a SL helper, and is working with me to take better pix (this one was before his training began). Reydiant is a pretty place, and the creator obviously likes the color teal. I landmarked this one for future visits, when my travels are done. And I was lucky enough to add Zack as a friend, too!

And now...a commercial break

My wings were created by Pardoes Merlin, of Absolutely Different Wings - 0ver 250 styles.

My photo was done by Danielz Ghost.

My avi was created out of trial and error through three years of picking up things at freebie shops - lol.

My heart belongs to me.

Mixed Bag

Next hop was to Bermuda Cove, 151,130,29, a stone castle built on a rocky island, flying the American flag. There were even cannons, but I could not make them fire (damn! PN loves explosions) - this formidible place is for sale at $24,500 a week (maybe the keys to the castle come with firing instructions). Hopped from there to the next island, White Shores, at 130,159,24 - mainly a men's clothing store with unsettling music. Was thrown out of a boat and two jeeps - pouting now -

Tried to go to aptly named Nevernever land - was thrown off. Next was a cute place called Moochie Moochie, with a country western bar, mudwrestling (PN does not like to get dirty) and bullriding. I really wanted to try the bullride, a fearsome beast, but the figure does not stay still long enough to get a good right click on him. So I wandered around the place some more: there is a garden with a swing built for two - and a gadget called a prim finder?

TP'd to the next island, Pulse Point, a corporate island I guess, but nothing to tell a wandering soul what they were selling. This is the problem with most marketing on SL - no direction, no information. Left quickly.

Palmae Keys, 48,64,21, is lovely! Treehouses in a jungle, with lots of water and birds. On Enchanted Isles, i found a little solarium in a valley, where someone had their private stash of marijuana growing in a hydroponic setup! Too cool!

And then, I went to an island where the owners obviously do not want visitors.....I rezzed in a toilet bowl and when I looked up, there was a huge man peeing into the toilet! Yipes! Before I could remove myself I was flushed back to my home base - very creative, but ewwwwwww!

Where is everyone?

So far I have visited 14 sims. Once leaving my starting point, I have not seen another avi anywhere. Tartarus at 153,292,251, would not allow me to land there. AP Lands, 165,135,250 offers Pixie Villas, where you can live in peace and in your leisure, engage in the Dark Forest Slave Hunt.......ewwwwww. Narju 186,77,162 has a little house on an island and from the notes in the creator's profile, I shudder to think what happens there.

Athens II, 149,150,162, - looks like someone is building a corporate island here? But it is not finished. Softland, 84, 183, 57, calls itself a french sanctuary but the heavy metal music did not seem serene to me, and what do you know... more torture machines.

I was ready for some peace and quiet when I landed at Sanctus Domus, Salaam Shores, at 128,128,0 - beautiful simple little place with gardens, beach, rock diving, and even a record player between two lawn chairs, playing music from the 40's.

I stayed there at Salaam Shores a while, planning my next tp - I am enjoying this sim-hopping, but sure would be nice to find someone to talk to in these lands (except at the dungeons and torture places) . Am I lonely? No, I have lots of friends to talk to through IM chatting as I make my way through SL - but I have to wonder, when I log on and see that there are 74,000 others online with me right now - where are they?

Here we go!

Decided to begin this journey from Wild Spirt, home of Hearthrobs and SL Roundabout, the new SL magazine I will be doing some writing for - have to keep busy! Wandered around this sim, and really impressed with the marketing here. Unlike many places, Pari is not just trying to sell things, she has created a nice place to hang out. Lots of green dots here, so people must like it. There are several places to just sit and listen to the music if you are alone, or sit with a lover. You can even get married here, although that is something PN will NEVER do. All in all, a very pleasant sim, located at 49,96,22 and found by searching "Hearthrobs" or "SL Roundabout".

Trying to be methodical with this walkabout, so next stop was the next island over to the west: Syms Island, 123,142,34. Rezzed into a dark dungeon. PN does not like dark dungeons. Left.

Next stop almost hurt my little avi eyes as I rezzed on Fiera SL, 109,128,251 - so bright! Even on the map of the world it stands out! It is the home to some corporation, but since PN is an American and we are famous for our inability to speak any language other than our own, I have no idea what Fiera makes. Perhaps the owners might consider one of those signs to be in English? There are sure plenty of signs, and then a dance floor right in the middle of them. LOL - "honey, remember the night you proposed to me, with the light of the billboard shining in your eyes?" Loved the bright use of primary colors in the design of this sim, but nothing to keep me there unless my translator works on the written word as well.

Reason for the Journey

Today, contemplating the beginning of my fourth year on Second Life, and chatting with my eclectic artist friend, Parrot, I made the decision to begin this journey, a walkabout of Second Life. I have always ben an explorer here; Parrot suggested I make my way across the continents, and it appealed to me. I am not a shopper, and I do not go to the clubs. I have always been enchanted by the creativity of SL residents, and often spend my hours on SL by sim-hopping.

I almost left SL this week for good. It is not an easy place for someone who is single in RL and holds out the foolish hope that someday the right avatar, who is hooked to the right man, might show up....I need something to occupy my imagination. So, PN is putting the bullet proof armor on her heart again, taking a deep breath, and starting out on a new adventure. Look out world, here she comes.