Frozen butterflies

OK, since I was doing a lot of first life stuff far into December, and since I then left town for several days, I never did do any proper Christmas shopping in Second Life. Hopefully, a gift is a gift, whenever it's given. I'd been doing searches for shops that sell jewellery and not finding much I liked, and it occurred to me that I should revisit some places I hadn't been to in a while.

I used to shop at Coconut Ice on Butterfly Island all the time, at least when something was on sale. I've belonged to the update group since way back when. I even used to find places to change on Butterfly Island in the early days when I was homeless. So I always feel quite at home there.

I encountered something new as I walked through the door. Maybe it wasn't new, but I hadn't been to the store in quite a while, so it was new to me. It wasn't a greeter bot. It was some kind of fairy that flew around. It didn't say anything, but it was kind of cute. So I did my best to take a photo of it. Fortunately, it wasn't invisible in the picture!

I saw a notice about a winter display on the southeast corner of the island. Or maybe southwest. For some reason, I'm always drawn to winter areas of SL. I'm really not much of a winter person in first life. Many years ago, I moved away from snow and ice, not quite to the tropics but certainly to a less snowy place. Yet I love winter in SL. Maybe it's because it's not really cold, but looks very pretty.

The winter corner of Butterfly Island was quite lovely and charmingly strange. There were penguins skating on a rink that seemed also to be a dance floor. There was a snowman DJ. There were all kinds of weird things sticking up out of the ground.

As you can see, I was dressed very appropriately for the season. Ah, the wonders of SL! I should have got out my ice skates. Instead, I clicked on a couple of dance balls that seemed not to need a partner and boogied around with the penguins. I'll have to find out if there are ever any events on that corner. It's lonely exploring—and dancing—by myself!

Before I close... auld acquaintances shall not be forgot. Best wishes for a happy and prosperous 2008 to all and sundry!

The shortest day

I have been a terrible blogger. If anyone even bothers to check this blog any more, I apologize. I have actually been going in world a bit more often lately, since I escaped from school temporarily, but I haven't taken any photos, and I haven't really had any adventures. I finally caught up with Tatsuko the other day. I went to Umbra Penumbra a few days ago and got my new friend CodeBastard Redgrave to pop by and dance with me. On yet another night, I was dancing with my friend Wendy at a club the name of which I can't remember—some frozen beach club (only in SL, right?). I've IMed with a few people, including Patrice, who sent me a lovely Christmas card.

Fortunately, I have Twitter, which lets me stay in touch with people even when I'm not in world very much, but I'd really love to live my second life more often. I miss my friends.

On an entirely different subject, tomorrow officially has the least amount of daytime of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, which is where I live, and the most daytime in the Southern Hemisphere. At this hour, the official solstice has already happened. In this half of the world, at least in the temperate zone, Winter Solstice has long been a day of celebration, since in the days to come we will have more and more light. I love Winter Solstice and its association with light. I wish I could be in SL to celebrate the day with my dear friend Anwen, who is Wiccan.

May you hold the light of the darkest day in your heart, and maybe the increasing light in the days to come fill you with joy.

The It Girl

Apparently, I've been tagged—twice. Someone I don't know tagged me first. My friend Peter Stindberg tried but was too late.

Tagged—what is? I never know what the latest trends are. Heck, I might not even know what the not-so-latest trends are. I think this tagging thing isn't new. Or maybe it is. I'm the wrong person to ask.

According to Peter, I am now supposed to post eight random facts about myself. Considering I am a Second Life character who doesn't have enough time lately to have much of a second life, that might be difficult. Not to mention that this blog has become rather poopy with only occasional postings. I'm also supposed to find eight other people to tag, and I guess they can't have been tagged already. That is so not going to happen! Very likely, most everyone I know has been tagged by now.

Does this smell a bit like a chain letter? Some people are into chain letters. Some people find them fun and amusing. Or else they are actually superstitious, which is a bit scary. Fortunately, this tag game doesn't seem to have any element of superstition about it. I haven't seen any dire threats of doom if I break the chain. And it's kind of fun to see random facts about other people.

If I come up with eight random facts about myself, I'll let you know. I mean, if I can't even do that, there's not much point in trying to tag anyone, eh?

Oh Peter, I added a link to your blog. I didn't know you had one until recently.