Society Hill Storefront!

Yes, just down the street from the South Carolina State Library is the SecondLife Society Hill Library! What a cozy little place with both a Bible and a cover on display from the Dawkins book The God Delusion. Talk about fair and balanced! On-line reference materials line the walls behind me. There's a small conference room and Yohan's office. Visit and leave him a message! Note the flags at half staff; they don't miss a thing! And they have some nice Canadians for neighbors across the street!
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cybrary%20City/46/187/24

"Why Aren't We in SecondLife?" I Hear You Ask

Okay, maybe I'm the only one who wondered about that. Other libraries are putting up shingles and have storefront presences. And I was not necessarily thinking about our own library. We are in enough places, perhaps, on Flickr and MySpace, and we have a blog. There's no reason for our library to be as scattered on 2.0 as I am. But, shouldn't someone from South Carolina be there?
Well, they are. I met an avatar today who made some off-hand remark about South Carolina and I perked up. "Who's from SC? I'm from SC!" - except I don't have italics in SL chat. We chatted a bit. He invited me to join a Palmetto Librarians group (!!!). After lunch I ran into him again and he asked if I'd seen their library in Cybrary City. As soon as I agreed, he vanished in a puff of stardust (as one does here). I waited a little bit and then he sent me a tp to join him. And this is what he showed me:

The South Carolina State Library in SecondLife, Cybrary City.
Interior of the State Library. Lludmila thinks, "Today SC, tomorrow, The World!"

They are looking for input in this area. Why didn't I know about this? Are they waiting until SCLA to make a big announcement? I must plumb the depths of this conundrum. In the meantime, he has something else to show me! Lead on, Macduff!
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cybrary%20City/41/37/23

I'm Off the Opiates Now

I was having hallucinations in Real Life, so I've stopped the prescription painkillers and gone over-the-counter. Phew! There's nothing wrong with these opiates when you are in pain, but the minute it starts letting up, throw them away! I had trouble differentiating between dream and reality, chat and IM (which could lead to embarrassing moments - Sorry, Kasia!), and was having tactile hallucinations - feeling things that weren't there.
And now that it's out of my system, I go back and look at my blog and ... oh, my. I'll leave it in. It's not the content, it's the execution. I was repetitive and obtuse. I apologise. Perhaps I should go back to cartoons. From now on, all misuses of the English language are the results of carelessness rather than drugs. My bad!
Anyway, Kasia and I staggered around Book Island and above we are trying to figure out what in the name of Yehudi Menuhin (whose quote hangs over my desk at home, just below one from Protagoras) is "Mind Space"?! Book Island looks to be a very nice place for a group conversation and I think the owners said they had Voice available in some parts. I crashed twice, at least, while I was there.
Of course, I crashed seconds after arriving in Thothica this morning. Nice touch, waterfall ending in flames!

These Are Totally Out of Order Anyway

There is a Virtual Starry Night exhibit in SecondLife (Slurl? Shmurl! Don't be such a baby - look it up in Search!) with an exhibit of Dutch Masters, beginning with Vincent van Gogh. Some paintings are set up so you can enter them! Here Lludmila waits patiently in Vinnie's bedroom for him to return. I got terribly lost in the museum last week (drugs!) and at some point was automatically expelled, which was a mercy, as I was able to get my bearings and reenter. Anyone who would like to go with me sometime, IM me inworld. I'd like to see more. More Masters will be added. Perhaps I will get to yank on that darn pearl earring!

SecondLife is just getting better and better!

Even Moron Sploland

Lludmila explores the sunken ship. The sharks on the other side made her nervous, so she had to leave.
A Penn and Teller moment: are avatars really shot from the cannon? The truth is captured here in this exclusive photo! Ninia, our Schroedinger's Cat, appears to be both in the cannon and being launched from it! That is her head peeking out of the end of the cannon, still aiming straight for Boythorn's chest, which he was willing to sacrifice in the interests of science. That is also her body upright seemingly lodged in the middle of the cannon. Are there two Ninias? Is this some quantum dilemma? Or is this just some godless humanist trick?

I loooooove this place!

Moron, ummm, More On Sploland

Here the exhibit designers lash back at museum goers.

You might have to click on this to make it bigger so you can read the teeny print. What it says, for those who don't have the patience, is that most folks don't follow the instructions on exhibits and instead use the mirror to look at themselves instead of a blend of the people on either side of the glass. So why pretend otherwise? Have at it. Just sit and admire yourself. After all, it's all about you, innit?

Lludmila bellydances on the molecular dancefloor,

whilst our guide, Boythorn, turns aside in mortification.

So embarrassing. I didn't know how to stop it. Heck, I didn't want to stop it! Woo-hoo!

I Just Love Being a Humanist!

Lludmila contemplates the somewhat scary entrance to Sploland

I cannot begin to tell you about this week's Humanism Field Trip. We've had some winners in the past (the Star Trek Science Museum for one), but the fun never stopped at Sploland. A herniation from the actual museum, Exploratorium, into the SecondLife dimension by way of Oppositeland, the exhibits parody known puzzles, exhibits, and ... erm, other things non-scientific. The chat box was not big enough to hold all my laughter. Outside the museum there is even more: explore a sunken ship and sealife, bellydance on the molecular dancefloor, and get yourself blown out of a cannon! Too soon the call came from our Fearless Leader to return to the Roma gardens to discuss ... I dunno, I forget. I'm still laughing.

Use the telescope to view the "black hole" (yes, that's the black disc in front of it - no, it's not the big ball of twine), bounce sideways off the trampoline on the wall, and see a face in the toast popping out of the toaster in the background (in the background ... is it Jesus? Mary? No! It's Albert Einstein! Funny what people see in things).

What Happens at BookMooch ... Happens at BookMooch

Lludmila, Hollyjean, Shiva, Sidney, Mossflower, and Wizard (with cat and duck)

It started out fine. I thought this week's BookMooch social was going to be another calm, decorous soiree it always is and then Hollyjean shows up. I met Hollyjean at the Info Island reference desk, where there is usually a trained librarian fending off some masher dressed like something from "A Clockwork Orange" and speaking sweet nothings in Spanish at her while pretending to ask serious questions about Sloodle*. Okay, that was a really unusual occurance, but it had happened the night before. We had such fun sitting around schmoozing and kibbetzing that when she contacted me today I invited her to the social that had just started. Little did I know what a catalyst she was.
It all started out fine as she steered us towards actually discussing books. Titles and pronouncements ("P. G. Wodehouse Is God!!!") flew fast and furious ("I love Dune. Anyone else love Dune?" "The movie was great." "No, it wasn't." "Yes, it was." "No, it wasn't." "Yes - it - was!"), golly, it was just like the Algonquin Round Table. Only rectangular. And then someone, who-shall-remain-nameless-Sidney, pulled out a bottle of Jack Daniels with an animation that involved drinking straight from the bottle, weaving, waving arms, and then falling down dead drunk. Wizard Widdershins was so embarrassed by our behavior that he left, while we begged for him to leave his cat behind. Or was it the duck? Maybe the cow. He's an animal lover.
Anyway, I'm blaming Hollyjean because something like that would never happen normally. Ahem.
* Sloodle is a mash-up of SecondLife and Moodle, a teaching tool. It comes with awesome classroom gestures such as "raise hand" and "drop off [to sleep]" and a blog entry screen (tiny) that will post the information to the Sloodle website.

There were three drunken maidens came from the Isle of Wight

... Lludmila, Sidney, and Hollyjean.

Wherrrrrre's Marfita?

Things have been pretty busy, what with summer reading programs coming up and me having to put up my feet for two to three weeks. I apologise for not adding to this. Now that I have all the time in the world, my mind is all clouded with painkillers and my mind tends to wander and ... where was I? I am doing great. Wish I could take a nice shower, of course. Above are some flowers brought, apparently for Collage. I had to put them up on the mantel.

Fun Quiz

How's your slang quotient? I was surprised that my Aussie slang was as good as it was. Hmmmm. And my New England is Wicked Awesome, fer sher. But I live in the South, fer cryin' out loud! I guess it's time to move either down east or dahnundah!

Your Slanguage Profile

New England Slang: 100% Aussie Slang: 75% Canadian Slang: 75% British Slang: 50% Southern Slang: 50% Victorian Slang: 50%

What Slanguage Do You Speak?

What Happens at Mossflower's ...

... stays at Mossflower's. That is until I start forcing the sun to noon and taking pictures. The guilty are, left to right starting at the top: Lludmila (what's with the white shoes?), Sidney (AKA: oh, never mind) in the emerald green, Mossflower in the royal blue. Front of the bed: Kghia (almost asleep), Unborn (just visiting us before heading for her meditation), and Shiva (almost fully clothed!). If you want to see more pictures, I've posted them on photobucket (look in the sub-folder for BookMooch): http://s201.photobucket.com/albums/aa14/marfeena/ because I only have a free account on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/24258714@N00/ and don't really have the time to put notes on everything. Not when I've just received an enormous collection of gowns to try on. Oh, it's Barbie all over again! Only the legs really bend and Ken can talk. Which is a good thing, depending on the Ken.

Okay, I had to add this one because even the ceiling, even the ceiling in this place is gorgeous! Also note Kghia's real wings. She changed them for the previous picture so as to not obscure Lludmila. Sweet! Oops! Hide the alcohol!

shelfmonkeys - The Form

Write your own ending.

Every Night A Party!

Yes, there's something happening every night. I went on this evening to rescue my avatar from last night's crash (having left part of my skirt - the flexi part - at The Ball) and got an invite to a birthday party celebrating Info Island's anniversary. Yes, people, these creatures are all librarians. It's a just a good thing there is nowhere for us to hang out in RL or godknows what would happen! (That's good old Lludmila downing a brewski.)

ISTE Social

Just a typical Thursday night. ISTE had a social and I had been trying on a new outfit when the call came out. The lag was so bad that I took off the big skirt. The red pads are seating. Pretty cool! There's no gravity in SL if you don't want any!

Just One Tango and Look What Happens

I was behaving myself Thursday night at an ISTE social (group that meets and discusses using technology in education) when I got an IM from Shiva's evil twin to visit her in Hades. It was someone's birthday. I asked what the dress was (you never know) and she said Goth/BDSM/black. So, I whipped a little black outfit out of my inventory and requested a tp. Shiva's ET has a job at the Hades Club ... I will spare you the pictures on this blog, but you can bet it will make it to my Flickr account unless she pays up. Mossflower joined us later in her kimono, but then found something a little more comfortable to slip into. I was having a delightful time until someone from the Poetry Guild started importuning me with notices about an imminent poetry reading. I had to make a decision ... and I'm afraid it was for blackmail. Pay up Shiva!

Okay, Now a Funny One

Okay, so I'm wandering around Caledon sim one day. I visited their branch library and was noodling around town when I saw this little museum. I sauntered in and looked at the archeological ephemera and there was a thing to click to go upstairs, but when I got there, there wasn't much, just some old crates in a corner. Curious (that is to say, bored), I went over to see if there were anything worth looking at. Quick, somebody call Indiana Jones!

Virtual Relief

As a reminder that all is not finished cleaning up after Hurricane Katrina, the Big Easy sim reproduces a ghost town New Orleans as a fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity. Some of the Humanists visit the Cathedral prior to their weekly meeting. Big Easy is a huge and beautiful sim, if eerily quiet. Visit Bourbon Street and view some Mardi Gras floats - then donate some Linden dollars at the HfH kiosk.

shelfmonkeys: The Nightmare

A total rip-off of Jayson's cartoon. I mean, inspired by Jayson's cartoon. Great hoppin' horney toads! It's like being back in school!
Actually, the woman who helps us is very nice and would never laugh at us. We hope.

Curse You, MicroSquash Outlook!

I've just spent ten minutes on an internal e-mail that should have taken 30 seconds. I haven't used Outlook much and so I really don't understand it. And we all know how well I take to things that are new. Okay, not as badly as some ...
Anyway, it's almost imposs. to send an e-mail until you have your recipients straight and they have to be separated by semi-colons rather than the commas used by just about every other e-mail format I have ever used since I started messing around with the internet in 1995, and I started out with Pine-mail in ascii!
All I was trying to do was point out the handy article on creative dramatics in the latest issue of Book Links to my co-workers (who are scattered to the winds today: one out, one at circulation, and one busy putting together a storytime) and I had to re-send this e-mail over and over until I figured out I need to
1. use the semi-colons
2. delete the set of addressees with the commas
before it would actually send it.
I think.
Perhaps my co-workers have received six versions of this not-so-critical e-mail.
This is even worse than the confusion I have over tags (such as in the block below on my posting screen, which you can't see, but I assure you is there). Here in Blogger tags are separated by commas. Some places they are separated by spaces so you can't have two-word tags unless you run them together as one word or, in the case of some sites, put a "+" between them. We all know that my persona is alllllll over the web at this point (just click on the tiny claimID button way at the bottom of this blog to see some of the bits I know about), so I'm taggin' like a third grade class at recess here. Consequently, my tags might fall short of ideal. "You're It!" "Am not!" "I tagged you!" "You missed!" "Did not!" "Did too!" ad fisticuffs.
If I learn anything more about Outlook, I'll let y'all know when I stop bleeding.

Lludmila Goes Wild

After a typical BookMooch social this Sunday, Mossflower invited us to her apartment. She has two floors of this Victorian folly which she has decorated beautifully. Such an interesting space, with a virtual dog named Squit. Here on the second floor, she had some tango animation balls. Lludmila is being swept off her feet here by Weil. Mossflower suggested that Lludmila get a long skirt to appreciate the full effect, but I think she's wearing the perfect thing for a tango, a Spanish stole wrap-around skirt.

Quite out of breath, Lludmila had to hurry on to a field trip with her Humanist group to see what freebies were on offer. At the location, some gamers surrounded the Humanist visitors and others in bubble traps, totally against the regulations that govern that area. Complaints were lodged. A quick teleport to another sim and back again to a slightly different spot released everyone from the bubbles, but it was very annoying.

The Humanists are planning a dance, which will have Lludmila's heart skipping a beat.

If you want to know how much Mossflower pays in rent, you'll have to ask her, but I can tell you that you would never believe it. Also, don't let her change the speed of the dance on you! Grab that nipple and away we go!