Gracee's Not-Birthday Party

Alice: If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary-wise; what it is it wouldn't be, and what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?

It was time for a non-birthday party. It was time for Ellie to stage one of her parties. And what better person to have a party for than her best friend, Gracee!

It was time for a mad tea party and the moment it began everyone was late, of course. That's just the way things are when Ellie's throws a party. And with Jacan putting on his DJ hat for the evening, it was out of sight. hehe.

Here's the private wonderland created
for Miss Gracee by Miss Ellie.

And there's the Red Queen herself, Miss Gracee
surrounded by Tippy, Leanna, Yordie, Sommer and Ellie.

The queen danced with a mad hatter looking dude.
I can tell by that left eye is has to be Dest.

It was a "Not-Birthday" and in Second Life
in a world of madness that can only mean,
Happy 5th Rez Day Gracee!

There were a couple dozen guests including Kizzy, Marley, Susan, Miss Luci, Gala, Strat, Blu, Magi, Claudia and many more. And there was so much to see, so I've uploaded a bunch of photos on my Flickr page. There's even some photos of Sommer, Tippy, Leanna and me trying on our amazing *DOLLCOCO*  Mesh outfits.

I haven't written about many parties lately but this one was a great way to get back in the habit again.

My Own Little SL9B Notification

I'm always the last in line, the last to get the word, the last to learn, the last to care and whatever else is last, I'm that too. It takes a lot to get my attention these days, not that the messaging isn't coming at me but I just have a very long processing cycle. Anyway, I'm writing the post at the suggestion of the Angel of Death...

Second Life's 9th Birthday is coming very soon, June 22nd. For me, this will be a big birthday because I haven't participated in awhile. I performed at the Little Yoshiwara Okiya's geisha shows during SL6B, but haven't done anything since. I'm already late in applying but I'm going to try to create an exhibit this year before June 3rd deadline.

I plan to be at SL9B regardless of exhibiting in my role as Second Life socialite, blogger, adventurer. I hope you will too.

Bay City 4th Anniversary Parade

Last weekend was Bay City's 4th Anniversary and they celebrated it all weekend but the parade on Sunday was the event I'd been looking forward to for a month. I've been a fan of Bay City for a long time.

The first time I discovered it was on a trip to Miramare which is at the center of a sim group that formed what I believe was the first real attempt at a Second Life city. In fact, I began my adventuring in that city back in the days when I formed up a wild and crazy explorers group (I'm the blonde Andorian, btw). The first time I discovered Bay City was 2009. I didn't know it had a name, just that it was this sprawling group of sims. In my mind it was an extension of the Miramare development.

Anyway, I started exploring Bay City on foot and eventually began calling it Bay City because of areas like Bay City Port Authority. Earlier this year I started writing about Bay City by name and had it in mind when I dreaming up an adventure group. I believe Linden Lab has created some amazing SL attractions and especially appreciate what they've done with Bay City.

So on Sunday I left SS Galaxy and headed over to Bay City to find a spot to watch the parade. I got there early and started sending IM's to friends and by the time the parade started nine friends gathered at a trolly stand. Following are some photos of the parade.

Here we are at the Bay City Trolley stand
about mid-way along the parade route.

First in line came the Second Life Coast Guard
clearing the way in their Zodiacs.
Pretty cool, SL has it's own Coast Guard.
/me smiles

Leaing the parade is a steam powered tractor.

Then came the amazing floats!
I'm sorry I can't tell you who built and
sponsored these floats, but they were great.

There were three bloggers in our group including Mera, Dahlia and me, plus friends including Sue, Sommer, Marley & Pierre (newly partnered), Gwenny and Venus. Thanks for coming everyone.

Hey, how many weekends do you get to go to a parade in Second Life? Well, hey, how many multi-sim cities can you name in Second Life? There are some more photos on my Flickr Photostream and on my Facebook page.

Scuba Diving Off Sirens Isle

I'd peeked below the surface at Siren's Isle in the past and I thought it might be fun to explore. So, one of the things I wanted to try was get some friends together and head over for some scuba diving.

On Saturday afternoon, I contacted friends and invited them to join me at SS Galaxy for a boating trip to Sirens Isle. It took a lot of time to get organized because most of the group hadn't been scuba diving yet. I had what I thought were some freebie outfits which turned out to be a real problem, so we scrounged around looking for scuba gear. Finally, Tippy found some scuba gear for only L$50 on Marketplace and quickly our group suited up for the journey.


That's Tippy and Antares on the bow with me at the helm
and Gwenny and Becky in the stern.
The boat was full and the first time I'd piloted
a boat with five people aboard.

Here's a photo by Canary Beck
of our crew speeding toward Sirens Isle.
You may notice that Antares moved off the bow
and Gwenny is missing (she's in the netherworld)
More on our journey in my Notebook.

We landed on Sirens Isle and setup camp.
That's Antares who immediately created his man cave
with Becky, me and Gwenny (l to r).
Tippy was in tp, and Leanna and Sommer
joined us later.

Shortly after we all arrived, we descended
and as we descended we discovered
the waters around Sirens Isle are very deep
and there are many things to discover down there.

This is a photo by Canary Beck, Becky,
which captured us floating deep below the surface.
It was scenes like this that caused the girlfriends
to become immersed in those special feelings
you can only get while scuba diving.

This is a photo I really like.
The girls headed off with a couple guys who came by
and took them to see the Cracken on another sim.
I was waiting for Sommer to arrive
and just enjoying the beauty and peacefulness.

I remember my first time going scuba diving at JDC Dive World and I could re-experience that amazement through my friends. I know there are four converts to scuba diving. Here's one other thing. I had a brief chat with the owner of a scuba magazine a few days ago. I told him I had only done Second Life scuba and I was surprised that while he was totally into real life scuba, he had been in SL as well. Scuba is a unique experience in any world I think.

NOTICE: Friends have contacted me when they heard about the scuba adventure and they want to go. So I'd like to set these little expeditions up about once a month. I know of several places to scuba on the Blake Sea but also another dozen spots on private estates. Just let me know if you want to go with my group.

Second Life New England Flotilla

I think we'd have needed a lot more boats to call ourselves a flotilla, but it was a fun name to tag on our last minute group. I'd talked to Sudane Erato, owner of Second Life New England (SLNE), about a flotilla a few months ago and she thought it would be cool, so did other friends and SLNE acquaintances.

Unfortunately, I have been kinda off my stride when it comes to planning in the past week. Plus there are known issues with some SLNE sims, so I cautiously assembled a group of boaters to make the trip from Atlantic Crossing to SS Galaxy. And we gathered at the SLNE Sailing Club.


That's Sudane's tugboat spewing smoke
as she maneuver her ship up to the docks.
In the end there were three boats,
Sudane, Leanna and Yordie's.

Here's our expedition group gathering on the dock.
We had originally planned to gather
at Marblehead but with the documented problems
related to SLNE sim crossings we chose the lower sim.

We began our journey with me in the lead boat
because I know the way to SS Galaxy
practically by instinct.
I'm sorry to say that this is the only photo
I shot while we were travelling. 

Here we are arriving at SS Galaxy
after a journey of 16 sims.
Btw, Sudane's tugboat has some amazing speed!

The members of our adventure group were Sudane, Sommer, Leanna, Tippy, Kizzy and me.

Maybe this little flotilla can be viewed as a proof of concept or some such thing. To have a really picturesque flotilla, I think some grand sailing yachts would be needed, not to mention some grand yachts. And there are many possible destinations, like those ports on the Nautilus Island. I like these get togethers but for something like this we need some planning.

More on this in the future...

Japan Project Garden II

I've begun following up on leads given to me by readers and exploring Japanese gardens in Second Life. The first lead I got pointed me to the Japan Project Garden II. So I dusted off my prettiest kimono, grabbed my camera and teleported across the pixelated universe into the beautiful region. Here is a photo study of what I found.

This is the scene near the entrance.
One thoughtful feature of this garden is
there is a couples strolling system.
What could be better than enjoying chatting
while strolling such a lovely garden.

This is me in my favorite Sweetaholic kimono.
/me bows with respect and says...
konnichiwa visitor san.

In addition to the garden, there is a view
into a wonderful mountain landscape.

This is my favorite photo from the set I shot.
I just love the field of lowers with
the mountains looming high in the distance.

I believe the Japan Project garden is a lovely place to visit and shoot photos. I'm going to add this to my Zen garden tab because there are two rock gardens for you to discover behind the large pavilion.

You can find more photos from my visit on Flickr.

More gardens to come...

Sea Cruise 2012 Aboard SS Galaxy

Ok, I've talked about this for some time. I believe that in Second Life the best way to enjoy new places and new adventures is to bring your friends. So many amazing places are wonderful to discover, but after you've shot a few photos then there's not much fun without your friends. We shall see how this goes, but Sea Cruise 2012 is on. I'll contact friends inworld, but if you'd like to just hangout, come on over to SS Galaxy!

That's me & Lele exploring the pool area.
We got a suite and we'll be
hanging around greeting friends.

There is so much to do aboard SS Galaxy. I've stayed here twice in the past and the only regret I had was that for a ship this huge there weren't enough people. There is dancing, jet skiing, skeet shooting, shopping, art galleries, bars, and everything you'd expect to find on a real cruise ship. Well, ok, no room service but that's about it. MORE to come!!