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.