Monthly Archives: May 2012

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Our Sea Cruise On SS Galaxy

Sea Cruise 2012 @ SS Galaxy
In case you’ve never seen SS Galaxy there it is!
It occupies three entire sims
and has everything the finest cruise liners have.

A couple weeks ago, friends joined me for something I was calling Sea Cruise 2012. In essence, Leanna and I checked into a suite aboard SS Galaxy cruise ship early in the week, then started inviting friends to drop by and hang out.

I made an attempt to send out a formal invite but before I finished I realized I’d be buried in questions (which I was anyway), so I just started looking to see who was online. You might be thinking that’s not very smart but I found that the spontaneous responses were great.

There were events on the ships calendar but mostly we planned our own activities which included our little flotilla from SL New England. The highlight of the cruise was our Scuba diving expedition but also that weekend many of the same friends joined us for the Parade over at Bay City. There were other people on the ship but based on past experience, I felt it would be fun to invite as many friends as you can.

That’s Becky, Antares and me at the pool
checking out all the amusements,
of which there are many.
On Saturday morning a few of us had a pajama brunch.
That’s me, Tippy, Sommer & Gracee.
Yeah, we all seem to like pink *smiles*
A popular place turned out to be the gym!
That’s me and Leanna working out after lunch.
I love banging that heavy bag.
Here’s a bunch of friends visiting.
Yeah, many suites have two story living rooms!

I wanted the sea cruise to be casual, no expectations, no obligations. I felt that SS Galaxy was ideal if I rented a suite and just use that as a base for activities. The whole feel aboard SS Galaxy is sea cruise and I tried to be aboard as much as possible during the week. I wanted friends would know there to hangout, but there was no pressure to do anything at a specific time.

I have this idea. I’ve been playing around with it for years. I’ve mentioned it here several times, but the idea is taking shape. The idea is to find ways to bring life to regions that are beautiful and interesting. Many of the most fascinating places in Second Life may or may not have people when you visit. Second Life is full of these types of regions.

I’ll be writing about my idea again soon.

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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.

Gracee's 5th Rez Day Party
Here’s the private wonderland created
for Miss Gracee by Miss Ellie.
Gracee's 5th Rez Day Party
And there’s the Red Queen herself, Miss Gracee
surrounded by Tippy, Leanna, Yordie, Sommer and Ellie.
Gracee's 5th Rez Day Party
The queen danced with a mad hatter looking dude.
I can tell by that left eye is has to be Dest.
Gracee's 5th Rez Day Party
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.

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Four Aces

On Sunday there was a big party planned for girlfriend Gracee. It was a theme party and all we knew was Alice in Wonderland. So, girlfriend Sommer had a mighty fine idea I must say. She thought four of us girls should dress up as cards. When I arrived inworld Sommer and Tippy had already gotten their outfits, so I scrambled to get mine. Then when Leanna logged in we jumped her and dragged her over to *DOLLCOCO* where she got hers. Here’s what I’m talking about in photos:

Gracee's 5th Rez Day Party

That’s me posing in my new Ace of Diamonds outfit.

Gracee's 5th Rez Day Party

And from left to right: Sommer, Tippy, Leanna & Yordie

Ok, this is just some showing off. It’s a tip of the hat to *DOLLCOCO*. Oh, and this is some cool Mesh, no? You should see what we looked like to non-Mesh viewers. And it’s off to the party.

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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.

Bay City Parade 2012
Here we are at the Bay City Trolley stand
about mid-way along the parade route.
Bay City Parade 2012
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
Bay City Parade 2012
Leaing the parade is a steam powered tractor.
Bay City Parade 2012
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.

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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.

Scuba Expedition @ Sirens Isle
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.
Scuba Expedition @ Sirens Isle
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.
Scuba Expedition @ Sirens Isle
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.
Scuba Expedition @ Sirens Isle
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.