For a change, I was online a few minutes early. By now I have my timing well worked out, and I tend to get in just at the hour, but somehow I was a full four minutes early. So I decided to walk over, from my own small hut in the more western part of Rieul, over to the tea room. The easiest access I had was to cross through the Hall of Appearance, the large building that Storm had given me. The rooms there are still largely empty, simply because I haven’t had the time to put in furniture or make other modifications. I noticed, however, a nice photograph on the wall, with the feeling of a painting, of the two cranes that circle the waterfall on Storm’s property. When I clicked I noticed that indeed Storm was the owner, and that he had hung it there, to cheer up the largest room in the Hall. Grateful for his gift, I walk on. It is only a couple hundred meters, at most, but more leisurely than flying. And I’m glad that I did, since halfway my walk I met Pilah, near the Peace Pagoda.
Pema Pera: Hi Pilah
Pilah DeCuir: Hi Pema
Pema Pera: Nice morning, hey?
Pilah DeCuir: Yes
Pema Pera: Just strolling around?
Pilah DeCuir: Yep
Pema Pera: I’m going to have a cup of tea here, probably with some friends. Do you want to join us?
Pilah DeCuir: OK
Pema Pera: it’s just around the corner
Pilah DeCuir: where?
Pilah DeCuir: sure
Pilah DeCuir: Sorry
Pilah DeCuir: Getting a bit laggy at my end
Pema Pera: np
I went ahead, and showed Pilah into the tea house.
Pema Pera: make yourself comfortable!
Pilah DeCuir: thanks
Pilah DeCuir: nice spot
Pema Pera: yes, it is a nice place
Pema Pera: if you like some tea, you can click on the teapot on the wooden tray immediately to the left of you; you’ll get a cup (chawan in Japanese) that you can then “wear” to drink the tea
Pilah DeCuir: did you build this?
Pema Pera: no, Dakini Rhode built it
Pema Pera: she lives nearby
Pema Pera: I live nearby as well
Pilah DeCuir: this is so much nicer than some other spots that I’ve seen in SL
Pema Pera: Thank you, Pilah
Pema Pera: Dakini will be happy to hear that!
Maxine walked in the door.
Pema Pera: Hi Maxine, welcome back!
Pema Pera: Pilah, this is Maxine
Pema Pera: She comes here often
Maxine Walden: hi, Pema, good to see you. Hello Pilah, nice to meet you.
Pilah DeCuir: hi Maxine
Pema Pera: Maxine, I just met Pilah who walked around outside
Pema Pera: Have you been in this area before?
Pilah DeCuir: yes I think so
Pilah DeCuir: I usually go to the Zen temple before I check out
Pema Pera: Have you sat with the group there?
Pilah DeCuir: No, it’s always deserted when I go
Pema Pera: they have a little gathering every evening at 6 pm SLT
Pema Pera: for twenty minutes
Pema Pera: and then for those who want, there is some extra time to chat
Next Storm walked in.
Pema Pera: Hi Storm!
Pema Pera: Meet Pillah
Storm Nordwind: Hello everyone
Maxine Walden: hi. Storm
Pilah DeCuir: hi
Pema Pera: Storm is another neighbor of mine, Pilah
Storm Nordwind: Pleased to meet you
Pema Pera: He has done a lot of building and landscaping here
Pilah DeCuir: Nice to be here
Pema Pera: glad to hear that!
Pema Pera: Thanks for the cranes picture, Storm!
Storm Nordwind: You are welcome. Did you see the urns as well?
Pema Pera: not yet, sorry
Pema Pera: This morning, it was funny, I was a few minutes early, so I decided to walk from my house to hear — I normally fly
Pema Pera: So since there is this barrier in between my house and here, I had to take a detour
Pema Pera: Hence I walked through the Hall — saw your picture quickly and then met Pilah
Pema Pera: two birds with one stone ;>)
Storm Nordwind: I see!
Pilah DeCuir: Some of the building in SL seems very random
Storm Nordwind: That is because some people take no thought of where they will buy land
Storm Nordwind: They arrive and try and establish their individuality
Pilah DeCuir: discovered a few places suspended too
Storm Nordwind: There are many skyboxes
Pilah DeCuir: yes
Storm Nordwind: It is a way to use real estate efficiently for some people
Pilah DeCuir: OK
Pilah DeCuir: how does that work?
Storm Nordwind: And it keeps more private things away from prying eyes
Storm Nordwind: How does what work Pilah?
Pilah DeCuir: building skyboxes
Storm Nordwind: Unless you set an item to have physical characteristics, it will stay where you put it - on the ground or 200m in the air! :)
Storm Nordwind: I will show you
Storm then produced a wooden cube out of thin air, and put that floating in the middle of the room.
Pilah DeCuir: nice
Storm Nordwind: The box stays where I put it
Pilah DeCuir: yes, I’ve seen plenty of that type of thing
Storm Nordwind: Now i will make it physical and you can see what happens
Pilah DeCuir: OK
Storm Nordwind: Now it is physical it won’t stay aloft
Indeed, the block came tumbling down to the ground. After that Storm showed how to make it float again.
Storm Nordwind: Now I have removed the physical setting
Pilah DeCuir: cool
Maxine Walden: the power to go beyond Nature
Storm Nordwind: the power to define Nature! :)
Pilah DeCuir: i was strolling through one spot and the place was littered with random stuff
Storm Nordwind: Litter is a problem yes
Storm Nordwind: That happens when people do not maintain their land
Storm Nordwind: Some people buy land and disappear
Storm Nordwind: And they set their land to allow anyone to build
Pilah DeCuir: what happes then?
Storm Nordwind: so it fills with litter
Pilah DeCuir: Oh
Our group kept growing: Sky entered the door.
Pema Pera: Hi Sky!
Storm Nordwind: after a year, if they do not pay their dues, Linden labs takes over the land
Maxine Walden: hi, Sky
Pema Pera: Meet Pilah
Pilah DeCuir: hi Sky
Storm Nordwind: Hi Sky
Sky Szimmer: hi Everybody!!
Pema Pera: Pilah, Sky is one of our regulars here
Sky Szimmer: Good morning
Storm Nordwind: Good afternoon! :)
Sky Szimmer: ha ha!
Maxine Walden: guess Storm is in Europe
Pilah DeCuir: yep, evening for me
Sky Szimmer: letting my assumptions getting in the way
Storm Nordwind: haha!
Pema Pera: early morning in California
Pilah DeCuir: nearly midnight in Oz
Storm Nordwind: We are all sheltering from the spring weather outside it seems
Pilah DeCuir: could do with some rain in RL in Oz
Pema Pera: btw Storm, haven’t heard a peep from LL yet about the land
Pema Pera: Has been almost a week
Storm Nordwind: That surprises me
Pema Pera: I did get confirmations
Storm Nordwind: But you got a ticket number, right?
Pema Pera: when I initially put in the tickets
Pema Pera: yes
Storm Nordwind: So perhaps you can chase it
Pema Pera: how?
Storm Nordwind: I’ve never had to do so myself, so I am not an authority on that!
Pema Pera: I’ll figure it out
Pema Pera: Wait a couple days more
Pema Pera: This is about land near mine that I asked Linden Labs about, whether they wanted to either sell it to me or put it up for auction
Pilah DeCuir: so does land here vary in price or is it a flat rate?
Storm Nordwind: It varies according to what people will pay
Storm Nordwind: It depends on the area
Pilah DeCuir: OK
Storm Nordwind: There are some veru unrealistic vendors sometimes!
Pilah DeCuir: And not so nice places?
Storm Nordwind: A plot near here is for sale over priced by a factor 12 in my view!
Pilah DeCuir: like the current price for fuel :-)
Storm Nordwind: I tell people in the US not to complain about that!
Pilah DeCuir: yep
Storm Nordwind: They are paying $3+ for a gallon, while we pay $8+!
Sky Szimmer: now that’s perspective!
Storm Nordwind smiles
Pilah DeCuir: for sure!
We started talking about our blogs.
Pema Pera: By the way, Pilah, when we gather here to chat, one of our topics is the question of how to look at the world in different ways; I have a blog up at http://playasbeing.wordpress.com/ and some of us here have a similar blog as well — if you’re interested you may want to have a look
Pilah DeCuir: OK thanks
Sky Szimmer: i checked out your blog Storm and enjoyed it much. Maxine, did you start yours?
Maxine Walden: oh, yes I did, just a couple of entries so far.
Pilah DeCuir: can you pass me the link?
Pema Pera: The other ones are all linked from mine, above
Pema Pera: at the bottom right
Pilah DeCuir: OK
Pema Pera: http://widerperspectives.wordpress.com/ is the one for Maxine
Pema Pera: http://stormerne.blogspot.com/ for Storm
Maxine Walden: Interesting that I got cold feet in the blog while speaking/typing here seems no problem at all
Maxine Walden: different venues and perceived audiences perhaps
Storm Nordwind: Maxine, I really look forward to yours developing. I just KNOW it will be good! :)
Sky Szimmer: i can understand, maxine
Maxine Walden: oh, thank you Storm. Encouragement helps. That issue of self doubt likely
Pema Pera: Here we are in a tea house; in a blog you feel out in the world at large!
Maxine Walden: and not seeing your audience imagination fills it with all sorts of fantasied witnesses
Pilah DeCuir: the light is changing
Storm Nordwind: perhaps you can simply imagine us and write it personally to us?
Pilah DeCuir: its quite beautiful here
Maxine Walden: oh, yes, that would be nice…to keep this nice group as the audience, nice thought
Pema Pera: Yes, Pilah, the changing light is one of the charming aspects of being here
Maxine Walden: yes, Pilah, I agree that the light is quite an important part of the ambience
Pilah DeCuir: i saw an exhibition of the Impressionists recently
Pilah DeCuir: some of the paintings were almost luminous
Pilah DeCuir: there are aspects of Sl that i think are quite an artform
Maxine Walden: that is quite an experience, the luminosity in painting…I find that as well in some Rembrandts and others; we each probably have our favorite art that way
Maxine Walden: the capacity to represent light and evoke the experience of light through another medium is quite fascinating to me…
Maxine Walden: I suppose that is part of what art is all about…and we each have our own experience of it
Pilah DeCuir: yes, but there also the common thread of an expirience of the art
Storm Nordwind: The experience may be common by convention, but who can say we each experience it in a common way?
Sky was temporarily distracted by the need to look after her two-year old child.
Maxine Walden: I just need to check that Sky is not feeling left out of our conversation
Pilah DeCuir: OK
Sky Szimmer: sorry, i often have double duty when i am here.
Sky Szimmer: sometimes i have to check out temporary
Sky Szimmer: pardon me.
Maxine Walden: ok, thanks, just needed to check. Sorry to have interrupted the thread re art and its experience
Sky Szimmer: thanks for checking though : )
Maxine Walden: very welcome
Maxine Walden: that balance here in SL between carrying on the thread of conversation and feeling concern whether everyone feels included…it may be something I bring in from RL experience, sorry if it interrupts others’ train of thought
Storm Nordwind: It is a laudable thing Maxine. Never worry about that. You preempted my doing the same thing!
Pilah DeCuir: RL conversations are quite similar ;-)
Maxine Walden: OK, thanks, yes…so many things can tug at the sleeve of attention at the same time…
Pilah DeCuir: like kids?
Maxine Walden: of course, or inner voices of various sorts which feel like kids
Pilah DeCuir: childish thoughts perhaps
Maxine Walden: oh, yes, and thoughts that insist on being noticed ‘right now’ and ‘me first’ just like kids
Pilah DeCuir: lol
Storm Nordwind: Child-like thoughts might be a kinder description! :)
Maxine Walden: pun intended, Storm? Child-like thoughts, ‘kinder’?
Maxine Walden: Kinder being German I think for child?
Storm Nordwind smiles
Pilah DeCuir: i meant childish but not in a perjorative way
Storm Nordwind: you are correct! :)
Maxine Walden: yes, I was playing, it is so interesting how various overlaps of meaning can just tumble out
Pilah DeCuir: makes us uniquely human
Storm Nordwind: And that is Pema’s directive here on this project - that we play
Maxine Walden: isn’t that so!
Maxine Walden: playing seems to invite these tumbling meanings, ’slips’ puns etc, quite wonderful in my experience
Pilah DeCuir: yes!
Pilah DeCuir: from it comes fun and it brings things back to their centre
By now it was abundantly clear to us that Pilah was very much in tune with what was going on in our growing circle here. I was even more glad that I had chosen to walk this morning!
Maxine Walden: their center, could you say more (notice I used the US spelling of the word)?
Pilah DeCuir: well i suppose i mean that we are trying to see beneath the RL in to the interior of things
Pilah DeCuir: meaning is what we make it
Maxine Walden: yes, and perhaps meaning evolves as the center of our attention/experience moves
Storm Nordwind: or as we clear away things obstructing our view
Pilah DeCuir: having the experience changes the experience
Maxine Walden: yes to both from my experience
Pilah DeCuir: it enables us to view the world in RL and SL
Sky Szimmer: i enjoy the reminder that fun brings things back to the center
Maxine Walden: binocular vision, as it were?
Pilah DeCuir: yes, i like that ;-)
Storm Nordwind: Binocular vision gives you depth perception. Play sets things in perspective.
Sky Szimmer: I must go.. nice sharing this moment with everyone. bye
Pilah DeCuir: c u
Storm Nordwind: Goodbye for now Sky
Maxine Walden: bye, Sky
Pema Pera: actually, I have to go too
Pema Pera: I have an astrophysics tour in ten minutes
Pilah DeCuir: i have to work in the morning and it’s gettin late here in Oz
Storm Nordwind: Be careful when you go, not to get wet. It is still raining cats and dogs out there!
Pema Pera: Thanks for stopping by, Pilah
Maxine Walden: we all will go poof together, except perhaps Storm
Pema Pera: collective poof
Pilah DeCuir: nice being here
Pema Pera: Pilah, we meet here every day, for those who like to
Maxine Walden: collective poof, is that anything close to….a black hole or something?
Pema Pera: at 7 am, 1 pm, and 7 pm SLT
Pema Pera: perhaps . . . .
Pilah DeCuir: it’s been a bit difficult to find like minded/spirited people
Pema Pera: well, you seem to have found them ;>)
Pilah DeCuir: yes thank you
Pema Pera: . . . there are white holes too, Maxine
Pema Pera: it’s the opposite of a black hole: things can go out but not in
Maxine Walden: …oh, what is a white hole, I have heard about it but don’t recall
Maxine Walden: oh, out but not in…right now I am trying to imagine that…
Pema Pera: so a collective poof means we all go out, away from here, like a white hole ;>)
Maxine Walden: chuckles
Pilah DeCuir: lol
Pilah DeCuir: nice analogy
Pema Pera: Maxine, the way to write that is to write “/me chuckles” do you want to try?
Pema Pera: “/me” gets expanded to your name
Pema Pera: without the “:”
Maxine Walden: ….thanks, Pema, I will try that
Pema Pera: didn’t mean to stop you in your tracks, Maxine :-)
Maxine Walden: yes, time to go.
Pema Pera: Bye, Pilah
Pema Pera: yes, Maxine, indeed!
Pilah DeCuir: cu
Storm Nordwind: Namaste
Maxine Walden: ok, bye
Pema Pera: bye Storm
Pema Pera: namaste!
