And Then I Want a Chalet

It started when my grandmother took me and a cousin to France for my graduation.

The survivors on Mom's side hid out during the war and remained in Alsace. I remember seeing Grandma's birth certificate when we went through her things 11 years ago; her birthplace belonged to Germany that year.

I ogled the architecture. Anything we had in America was a paled copy. No no not those! THOSE! Yeah! The framed houses reminiscent of every fairy tale I was ever read as a kid: thatched roof, window panels with little shapes cut into them, flowerboxes...


When the cousins took us to Obernai that was it. Anything before or after would be framed chopped liver. Even the river ride through Strasbourg lost view points after Obernai. Back then I thought to myself: "If I win the lottery or the French invite me like they did R Crumb, I will live in Obernai."


Nowadays the thought is more along the lines of "If only the French as a whole weren't anti-Semitic..."

Then again in Second life I don't have to deal with that, would I?

Wow only one other person bid on the thing. I assume all land gets automatically bid by some reseller. Well, something else to dabble with :) 1024 for less than 3500 and bordering with a Pathfinder project. I ain't complaining.

It's starting to look like something

I'm really psyched. Cartoon World is starting to look like something. I found a nice deco wood tile pattern from Harbinger for the floor and it seems to have transformed the shop.

At the same time, the moles and Michael Linden are working on various elements to construct an airport in Hau Koda for another infohub. They work out of the way in a remote location of the region. Being a theme with planes there's no surprise that Michael L is contributing. There are some awesome deco aviation wings of various sizes and building applications all around the work area, and photo references on a makeshift wall (some provided by Marianne McCann with the poll results from the Bay City Alliance. It was nice Linden Lab took input for a theme; but it makes sense since it was their idea to create Bay City). It's neat to see the process. Besides we probably won't have access once the region officially gets its "i" designation if Moosehead Beach to the east is any indication.


Speaking of which, I miraculously got into Moosehead Beach the other day. I flew by the border and miscalculated but didn't hit an invisible wall. Marianne joined me for the rare occurrence while we watched avatars yell "penis!" and "hey baby" a lot. I swear it reminded me of Cybertown's main plaza on a bad night.

If only SL had a competent age verification process at the front door. They would restrict new residents if they did not enter payment information or were new and their IP address detected another unverified ID created within 24 hours. Anyone who entered verifiable proof and payment info from the start - or a resident sponsor and payment info - would be allowed anywhere immediately while the others would have to wait for verification. Or maybe restrict to infohub-only regions like Hellfell and Hau Koda?

What would verification be? Hm good question. When I first joined eBay I didn't have a credit card, and verification meant their sending me an envelope by mail and my returning a postcard. If SL was that serious it might pose an inconvenience to some but a blessing to others.

You may ask why not include any PG land in the restrictions? Well, because inworld residents have a right to be protected just as much as minors have a right to be protected. PG has never meant anything more than "this is the content threshold I have set for myself in SL," regardless of children watching with their parents (my friend showed her kids the 7Days Bakery, so yes it does happen). All of SL must respect the cultures of the world or their claim for diversity is a sham.

Cartoon World Opening This Saturday

After a defunct computer and pneumonia, I think the setbacks are over and done with.

Even the planned entertainment had its share: first a folk performer whom I knew (and who wanted to get involved in Second Life) couldn't make Saturdays, then my backup fractured his wrist. Now I have an awesome DJ (awesome = nice + has a great music collection) scheduled.

The building's been in place in Bay City for about two weeks now, and with a staggering pace is almost ready to open. The comic art is already installed. The illustrations I displayed previously will get lower prices; some of them will be featured on shirts, which will be available on the ground level. I need to set up a subscribe-o-matic as well; I'm glad I found out about that.

Healthwise it fluctuates with the pollen count; I don't anticipate this preventing me from seeing it finally through.