I should let you know that I am not a writer, I am a talker... so I tend to ramble and get long winded. I currently live in 2 virtual worlds, Inworldz and Second Life. On occasion, I visit the OS grid and have made infrequent visits to Blue Mars and to Meta7. IRL, I live on the East Coast of the US and I also love to travel and take pictures. I've lived in 5 US states, 3 countries.I've also visited many other US states and about a dozen other countries. I enjoy learning about the similarities and differences of folks from all around the globe. I suppose that is why I love virtual worlds.... you never know who you will meet and where they might be from. (IRL I am a SAHM and mixed media artist. I'm currently very interested in fibers. I create up-cycled children's clothing and adult accessories.)
Second Life was my first venture into virtual world. It gave me a chance to meet folks I never would have met. It also gave me a chance to be creative in a whole new way. I would not say that I am a master builder, but I do like playing with prims. It took me a while to figure out how to turn those blocks into something I could be proud of.
In SL, I am Bebelou Naidoo and I live in Steelheart Village in Kirkoswald sim. We recently tiered down and have a tiny version of the vision (1/8th of sim) that it once was. I wanted to create a place where folks could live,create, work and play. With my partner John, we assembled/built a movie theater, sandbox, arcade, community center, plaza for dancing, huge skating/boating pond, fishing ponds, secluded spots, art gallery,residential cottages, stores and a pub. Steelheart even had it's own weather system and its landscaping changed with the seasons. It was a great little community.
But something happened...It didn't work for us anymore, everyone wanted a mall with cheap rent where they could set up a store and forget it.The "gimme, gimme, freebie greed" culture proved too much for us. We tried to resuscitate it for year, but now the village community is dying, it is on life support now, a dark shadow of its former self. Only a few small stores remain and the small fishing pond where poetry is read weekly and the pub. It isn't all gloom and doom though. The Black Kitty is a bright spot of my SL existence.
The Black Kitty Pub plays host to a weekly LIVE music event. The English Folk club, founded by SL musician Brendan Shoreland, and hosted by poet Serene Bechir meets Wednesday at Noon SLT and brings live acoustic folk/roots/people's music to us from all over the globe. Three different musicians play a 1/2 hour set each , free of charge to all who want to listen. They play for the sheer love of playing music- no pressure, no tip jars.....just music. It is for this reason that I continue to own land in SL. This part of my dream still lives.
As Bebe Mahogany, I am beginning to resurrect my dream in InWorldz. I love the feel of InWolrldz. It is fresh, friendly and folks are creative and curious. My visit to InWorldz felt right from the very beginning. In December 2009, I heard passing mention of a different kind of Open Sim grid. When I ventured in, it felt comfortable and welcoming, even though there were only 5 or 6 people on at a time and I spent significant amounts of time bald and doing a cross-legged salute. InWorldz appealed to the pioneer adventure traveller spirit in me. I always vacation off of the beaten track. Good times were had at the coffee shop. Founders El and Legion were so friendly supportive and helpful getting us all settled in. I realized early on that I fit in and I would eventually have a home in InWorldz.
Mooville in the Soda Springs sim is the place where I live, work and play.... Starting fresh opened my eyes to building. I couldn't just run out and buy it. I also began to embrace my Nikon and CS4. I dream of flying to get the perfect shot of old windows and the mighty MacGyver pen tool. There are stores and more to come.... A (Ubiquitous) Garden and Landscaping center, A General store ( with actual thing-a-ma-bobs), Architectural salvage shop (direct to you from my travels), Framelight Textures and the Music Pier. There will be rental houses and gathering/hang out places and live music very soon. I have been inviting my SL friends over to join me while I build my creative home. Want to join me? Come on over, there is plenty of room to spread your creative wings too.
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