Have you ever had so many ideas and things you want to do that you get overwhelmed and run around in circles? I keep having to knock myself out of those kinds of moments lately. It’s great to have so much going on in my brain, but I really need to figure out better ways to manage it all. This week I tried to just pull back from looking at everything at once and focus on little chunks, and that seemed to help a lot. I somehow made a little bit of progress on pretty much all my projects rather than stalling out on everything.
Before I even had Winterfell Sonnet, I knew that if I were to have a sim, there would be some story connected to it. It’s just the way my head works. I’ve had a vague idea in my mind since the beginning, but I hadn’t really stopped to think it out completely. This week, I actually wrote down some notes and listened to what the land and water were telling me, and suddenly, it was much easier to get started on the underwater landscaping. Little vignettes are being built that will eventually tie together.
It’s no surprise that merfolk will figure heavily in my influences for Winterfell Sonnet. There’s a certain merfolk fever being shared among some of my friends, and I find that there’s something very relaxing in being a mermaid in SL. It clears my head and serves as a visual that helps me tap into a calmer me.
I mentioned a week or so ago that I’d surprised myself by writing a script for a project Kavar was working on. It worked like he wanted, but when he added it to his item, we saw that it was going to need some tweaking to work efficiently in so many linked prims. I did some digging around in the SL Forums and the LSL Wiki, and it became obvious that creating a sender script and receiver script that talked via llMessageLinked was going to be the way to go. For some reason, however, I couldn’t get things to work quite as I’d expected them to work. Everything compiled successfully, but I was missing something. Finally I just started completely from scratch again, and this time I didn’t miss whatever I’d been overlooking in the original scripts because it all just suddenly worked.
Kavar was at his rl job as I was working on the scripts, and after several IMs where I had been going on about how frustrating it was to not see the problem that was obviously there, I got to send this very excited “OMG I think it’s actually working” message. Around then it was time for me to go to bed, but Kavar promised he’d check out the scripts I’d sent him to see if they worked for him like we’d discussed. When I woke up a few hours later, my first message to him was something like “Hi! So is it working?” Of course he couldn’t just tell me. He told me I had to sign in to SL to see for myself, so I did, and it all worked! Interestingly, during all that time playing with the script, I came up with a neat lighting script that might end up being fun for some future photo ideas I have, and I still have no idea how I just happened on that.
All of this has reminded me that I have a lot more fun learning something when I have a goal already in mind. The scripting classes were a nice introduction, but it was all kind of academic until I had a problem I wanted to solve with a script. I learned more getting these scripts ready for Kavar than I learned in any of the classes because I was much more engaged when it had a purpose beyond just being information I wanted in case I ever tried scripting. Luckily, Kavar has several other things in mind, so I think I’ll continue dabbling in scripting for a while to see if I can figure out anything else useful for him. And when his project using the scripts goes live, then you’ll definitely hear more about that here because I’m so excited!
I want to write about this past weekend before it gets too far away because it was such an incredible one. Saturday started with my first Winston Ackland concert at the Ivy Falls Cafe. Anybody who covers both Blue Oyster Cult and Carl Perkins well gets a gold star from me, and he had some lovely original songs as well. The best part is that along with his great voice, he has a sense of humor that keeps the entire set fun. While there, I started chatting with two people in the audience about various things and found out that one of them was actually Winston’s RL and SL wife. I’ve joined Winston’s group now, and I’m looking forward both to hearing him and to hanging out more with these new friends.
Of course the big event of the entire weekend was the party for Phoenix Ellsberg’s 2nd rezday. Finally, I got to meet the rezday girl in person after quite some time counting her as a friend after commenting on each other’s blogs and Flickr streams. Wolf was the DJ and party planner, and he did great getting us all together to celebrate a wonderful person. New friendships were formed, and old friends got to reconnect. You really couldn’t have asked for a better time. By the end of the night, we were all christened as party animals, and there was so much positive energy that’s still flowing all around us and connecting us. Beautiful evening with beautiful people, and we’re definitely going to be getting together again soon.
Then Sunday continued the theme of excellence as I got to see the Changhigh Trinity Sisters yet again at the Ivy Falls Amphitheatre. I always love watching them as they dance with various props and gorgeous particle effects. Later in the day there was a Keiko concert to make sure that the weekend ended on a high note. A weekend with music and friends is really hard to beat in any life, and it has really recharged me.
I have this habit of starting off down some particular path full of promise only to hit a bump in the road that really only exists in my own mind yet still throws me completely off track. Being turned around and about isn’t so bad a thing really if it takes you on to bigger and better things than you’d even imagined, but usually I get lost in my own head with negative thoughts and fears and worries. Most, if not all, of us probably go through the same kinds of things, and if you’re like me, when you start finding your way out of the dark again, you notice the world leaving you little bread crumbs back to where you left off. Maybe you just see quotes and songs that suddenly hit you right in the heart or your friends decide you’ve been lost a little too long and bonk you on the head until you find the path again.
Being alive in any life for me is all about the process, the learning. It’s accepting and even finding joy in the fact that we will never know it all but we can certainly do our best to try anyway. That’s what the following quote means to me.
“It is important to do what you don’t know how to do. It is important to see your skills as keeping you from learning what is deepest and most mysterious. If you know how to focus, unfocus. If your tendency is to make sense out of chaos, start chaos.” - Carlos Castaneda
Find the things you’re good at. Find the things you might not be so good at. Just keep doing the things that bring you joy because when you’re happy, the people who care about you are happy. Step out into the unknown and see what it feels like, and then when it starts feeling comfortable, step farther out. That’s what I’m working on, tearing down the barriers that I keep building for myself.
Remember when I wrote about taking a look at scripting in SL? I took a few classes and played with some freebie scripts. It all seemed to be making sense, but then I kind of forgot about it. I had this block in my head about how I’d ever do anything useful with it, and I got a little stuck. Then Kavar mentioned a project where he wanted a specific kind of script, and I thought to myself that maybe I could help. I wrote my first script from scratch, and even though it was simple and I wasn’t sure it was even what he wanted exactly, I was proud of myself for taking the time to figure it out rather than assuming I couldn’t do it.
Then it turned out that it was actually a good fit for what Kavar wanted, so I got some scripting practice and helped out a friend at the same time. Such an amazing happy feeling, and all it took was me changing my mind and moving forward. So simple in theory but not always the easiest thing to actually do.
“If you’ve had enough of all your trying,
Just give up the state of mind you’re in.
If you want to be somebody else,
If you’re tired of fighting battles with yourself,
If you want to be somebody else
Change your mind.
Have you ever danced in the rain
Or thanked the sun just for shining?
Just for shining.
Or the sea?
Oh no. Take it all in.
The world’s a show,
And yeah, you look much better,
Look much better when you glow.
What ya say we both go and seize the day?
‘Cause what’s your hurry? What’s your hurry anyway?”
- From the song “Change Your Mind” by Sister Hazel
I felt like it was time for another audio post, so here is 20 minutes of me rambling about my inventory and a bit about Winterfell Sonnet. If you’ve heard my other audio posts, you know that I don’t edit these at all, so that’s your warning that you will definitely hear a lot of ums and ahs.
A quick summary for those not interested in listening to everything is that I’ve found that as I try my hand at making various things, my inventory is rapidly expanding. I held my inventory down around 6000 items for quite some time, but recently, sculpty maps, textures, and things I need for selling my eyes pushed me over 7000 items. It’s been a bit of an adjustment. Also, I’m having a lot of fun with Winterfell Sonnet, and I’m really looking forward to developing the sim’s story and especially exploring its connection to merfolk.
It’s just like me to finally get a sim and then find that I have less time than expected in Second Life. I was feeling a little bitter, but thankfully, that mood has passed. As a friend pointed out, it really just gives me more time to plan things out in my head, and that’s not such a bad thing.
The biggest news in Winterfell Sonnet is that there is now land along with a really beautiful castle. The castle is a Kere Delcon original, and he took my ideas and ran with them in an amazing way. I also learned a lot just by watching and asking questions here and there, and I truly appreciate all the time he spent with me as I figured out things. Below is a shot of the finished castle with a pirate ship temporarily placed in front of it.
The next step is probably going to be placing all my furniture and photos in the castle and then coming up with a shopping list because I have a feeling I’m missing a few things that the castle needs. Then I’ll move to landscaping and try to figure out where all my trees will go because just between me and you, I have lots of trees. After that, it will be time to focus on the ocean because I’m really dreaming of a merfolk paradise now that I have a whole sim in which to play. The final piece will be heading to the sky as I have some thoughts on bringing my sky island back out in addition to perhaps adding an airship. Now I just need to find the time to try bringing the ideas out of my head and into Winterfell Sonnet.
My real life niece is being homeschooled this year because of some health issues that make it dangerous for her to be around the usual germs that probably wouldn’t bother other kids. This hasn’t been easy on her as she is most definitely pictured under the definition of “social butterfly” much to the amusement of the introverts surrounding her. To try to make things more fun for her, many of the adults who love her have been enlisted as “subject matter experts” in various disciplines to either answer questions she might have or just to share in her projects. I’ve been talking with her about some of her writing activities, and last night, she shared some templates she’s been using to write poems about who she is and where she’s from.
Using the template shared with me by my niece, this is my look at where I’m from in SL. I’m also including this link that shares the original poem on which the template is based as well as the blank template in case anyone else wants to play along.
I am from overhanging trees with reading poses, from Straylight Botanical flora and fairy gardens.
I am from the mountains.
(Tall, protective, wrapping their arms around me.)
I am from the tall green grass and red maple trees.
I am from long talks with my feet up on the couch pillows and days spent hidden away on sky islands with hair floating around,
From friends who bonk me on the head and kick my butt as needed.
I am from the ones who tell it like it is and the ones who make it like it should be.
From merfolk and fishers, steampunk and rockabilly, dolls and twirling dresses.
From yayayayay and wowowowow.
I am from days spent looking at Windlight skies and sharing their beauty with friends while sitting in trees.
I’m from Apparition Woods, Winterfell Ebonshire, Ivy Falls, Winterfell Sonnet,
Sushi platters and champagne dropping hearts and stars.
From the tire swing shared with my best friend and the banana teeter-totter, and the million clothing changes for photos with an amazing and silly friend who almost wasn’t but is now one of my main reasons for sticking around.
I am from frames scattered around my homes showing proof that we are all more than pixels because my heart has been touched by each person in them.
I am from joy and creativity and *hugs* and smoochies.
I finally added my latest set of eyes to OnRez, SL Exchange, and my display at Exile in Ivy Falls. As I mentioned before, all 21 pairs of Shine eyes are available at OnRez and SLX, and the latest 10 pairs of eyes, including 4 pairs of cat eyes, are available at Exile. It feels really good to be able to mark all of that off my list.
Below is a little preview of some of the eyes in this batch. The colors are a little lighter and brighter overall this time, and I did some combinations like purple/green and pink/grey that you probably won’t see naturally occurring in real life.
Remember that I mentioned some big fun news was brewing in yesterday’s post? Well, it came together a little faster than I thought it would. Last night my own openspace sim came into life. I immediately placed a boat on the empty water, and Kavar and I chatted about all the possibilities. I’m still a bit in shock, I think.
My new home is Winterfell Sonnet and is located at the southern end of Winterfell. Winterfell Sonnet actually owes its name to Kavar. He, Kere, and I had been talking about names for the sim, and I was keeping a list of contenders. I wanted something meaningful but short, and at one point, Kavar asked about using Winterfell Sonnet because of my blog title here and the quote from which the title comes. I wrote it down and just kept coming back to it. I liked the way it sounded and looked, the reasoning for it, and just the general literary slant to it, so it climbed to the top of the list and became my pick.
I’m sure I’ll be telling you lots more about Winterfell Sonnet soon, but right now I just wanted to introduce my new baby. There are so many dreams waiting to come to life there. As Kavar and I looked out over the water, I pictured my closest friends there as we all worked on various projects, and I’m just amazingly excited and happy to have this space to share with them now. We are going to have so much fun.
I’ve been running around a bit lately, and I want to take a moment to stop and take a breath just to help me remember all the stuff I’ve been doing. Photoshop has sucked up a fair amount of time with me playing around more with eyes. I’m going to rotate my selection in Exile this week to bring my newer eyes in world, and then I’ll have all the eyes, including the older ones, available still on OnRez and SL Exchange. Kavar said I should just add the new eyes and leave them all in Exile, but I just feel like it’s taking up too much of his space to do that, so I think putting up the newest ones there and then having everything online is a good solution for me right now.
I’ve also spent some time recently trying to figure out animations. I’m seeing progress there, but nothing that’s quite ready to share with anyone yet. Soon I hope to get back to experimenting with those, but I keep finding other fun things to suck up my time like running around sims with my friends and dressing up for photos. My Flickr stream has been a really happy place lately.
Other than that, I’ve been spending quite a bit of time fishing in various spots like Ivy Falls, and I even won my first fishing contest. I have my gold trophy proudly displayed on my bookshelf, and a certain neighbor of mine wishes he had one of his own. *grin* My other home sim Winterfell keeps me busy too. I’m still loving my job as Serra’s assistant, and I find that I attend a lot more of the events these days. In particular, I go to our Monday gathering for some dancing and conversation in the palace every Monday 4-5:30am, and then every Saturday at 2pm, I get to hear Aianna Oh reading from her novel as she reads a chapter a week in the Winterfell library.
So for everyone obsessively loading the blog to see what I’m up to, there you go, and you’ll be hearing more from me later in the week. There’s some stuff brewing that’s going to be very fun to share when it’s all done, and I can hardly wait!
