The guardian for this evening was Pema Pera and the comments are his.
That evening I saw that Carlos had entered Second Life. Carlos had joined our Qwaq group, a few months earlier, and this was his first time to visit me in Second Life.
Pema Pera: Hi Carlos!
Pema Pera: welcome here
Carlos Cornelius: Hi, thank you for teleporting me, I was kind of lost
Carlos Cornelius: I got a free t-shirt, which looks much better than my original one
Pema Pera: yeah, you’ll grow into it!
Pema Pera: please sit down!
Pema Pera: right click on a seat and choose sit
Pema Pera: just a minute let me go over to the others
I saw Types standing outside, talking with someone I hadn’t met before, so I stood up, walked out the door, and greeted them.
Pema Pera: Orian, Types!
Types Sideways: hi
Orian Roelofs: hello
Pema Pera: Don’t want to interrupt, but if you’d like to join us for tea, by all means feel free!
Types Sideways: ok
Types Sideways: thanks
Orian Roelofs: tyvm
Pema Pera: Orian you are most welcome too!
Orian Roelofs: Great!
Pema Pera: Types is an old friend of the tea house by now ;>)
Pema Pera: and Carlos here a new friend (^_^)
Types Sideways: hi carlos
Orian Roelofs: ciao
We all took a seat in the tea house. Types commented on my newly acquired mohawk.
Types Sideways: nice hair
Types Sideways: this is Orian
Types Sideways: my friend
Orian Roelofs: hello
Orian Roelofs: where shall i sit
Pema Pera: hi Orian
Pema Pera: anywhere!
Pema Pera: Just a sec
Pema Pera: Carlos is totally new in SL
Pema Pera: I will have to fetch him I’m afraid
Pema Pera: you two make yourself comfortable
Carlos had wondered out, in the mean time.
Orian Roelofs: want me to grab him
Pema Pera: Thanks Orian!
Pema Pera: Very kind of you
Orian Roelofs: carlos
Types Sideways: shes trying to get him
Pema Pera: yes, how nice!
Orian Roelofs: come
Pema Pera: People in SL are often really kind to newbies
Types Sideways: a new look?
Pema Pera: hahaha
Pema Pera: you’re the first one talking about it
Pema Pera: wonder whether anyone noticed ;>)
Pema Pera: got if from a neighbor
Types Sideways: cool
Pema Pera: asked her whether she would sell her land
Pema Pera: (I’m still prospecting)
Pema Pera: no, she said, but I sell hair
Types Sideways: LOL
Pema Pera: so I settled for that ;>)
Pema Pera: colors went well with T shirt
Types Sideways: so you sort of have to wear it
Pema Pera: ah, many colors in one pack!
Pema Pera: one for almost any shirt ;>)
Types Sideways: :))
Pema Pera: took a looooong time to get from the box opened on the ground into my inventory . . . . .
Pema Pera: thought SL had crashed . . . .
Orian returned and sat down.
Types Sideways: sticky door
Orian Roelofs: he is not coming
Pema Pera: well, you tried — thank you!
Orian Roelofs: your welcome
Pema Pera: Do you know that your last name is Dutch?
Orian Roelofs: he is still getting his footing
Pema Pera: yeah, got that impression
Orian Roelofs: no i didnt
Pema Pera: well, now you do ;>)
Pema Pera: my mothers maiden name was a double name:
Pema Pera: Broek Roelofs
Pema Pera: both of them are Dutch names
Pema Pera: so we are sort-of family in a funny hybrid of RL/SL a few times removed ;>)
Orian Roelofs: family is good no matter what
Types Sideways: :)
Orian Roelofs: do you know what it means
Pema Pera: Roelof is a man’s first name
Pema Pera: so Roelofs means “son of Roelof” or “daughter of Roelof”
Orian Roelofs: ahhh
Pema Pera: (I am from Holland, by the way)
Pema Pera: And if I may ask
Pema Pera: Is Orian a variant on Orion, the constellation?
Orian Roelofs: one may think
Types Sideways: Orian isnt familiar with what you do here
Orian Roelofs: but no it is not
Orian Roelofs: well not when i created it
Orian Roelofs: but most think that it is so i roll with it
Pema Pera: has a nice ring to it!
Orian Roelofs: ty
Pema Pera: rolling with the stars . . . .
Pema Pera: . . . I am also an astronomer.
Orian Roelofs: lovely
Pema Pera: so for me it is professional deformation to think about Orion :>)
Types Sideways: LOL
Orian talked about her background.
Orian Roelofs: i am a teacher
Pema Pera: what do you teach?
Orian Roelofs: first grade
Pema Pera: wonderful
Pema Pera: open minds!
Orian Roelofs: its alot of fun
Orian Roelofs: indeed
Pema Pera: yeah must be
Pema Pera: I’d love to teach some science to very young kids
Pema Pera: never have done so — don’t have children myself either
Orian Roelofs: i was thinking of switching majors a while back but then i saw a kid walking backwards ..just cuz
Pema Pera: what a neat image!!
Orian Roelofs: and said ..that is who i want to spend my day with
Pema Pera: Did you know that the Greeks took that as an image for life?
Pema Pera: Walking backwards?
Orian Roelofs: something else i did not know
Pema Pera: we can also see the past, where we are coming from, but not the future
Types Sideways: :)
Pema Pera: we think we walk with open eyes to the future
Pema Pera: yes with open eyes
Pema Pera: but no toward the past
Pema Pera: that’s why we tend to fall into addiction
Pema Pera: repitition of the past . . . .
Pema Pera: but your kid must have done it in a playful manner
Pema Pera: that is different
Orian Roelofs: i was picking up my son from school and he just left the building turned around and walked down the street
Orian Roelofs: not my son..this other boy
Pema Pera: how nice
Orian Roelofs: was enlightening to say the least
Pema Pera: I can imagine!
Types Sideways: how long have you been teaching now?
Orian Roelofs: this was my first year
Types Sideways: first grade?
The door opened, and Carlos wandered in again.
Pema Pera: Hi Carlos!
Orian Roelofs: poof
Pema Pera: teleporting worked better ;>)
Pema Pera: brute force! haha
Types Sideways: oh
Pema Pera: please sit down, Carlos, make yourself comfortable!
Carlos Cornelius: Hi! I decided to stay for a little while
Pema Pera: great!
Pema Pera: Glad to have you here
Pema Pera: it’s all very informal
Orian Roelofs: just right click on a pillow and choose sit
Pema Pera: and many here are new to SL, so don’t worry!
Orian Roelofs: perfect
Types Sideways: Im new
Orian Roelofs: in retrospect i am to
Types Sideways: 1 and a half months now
Pema Pera: always new, Types!
Pema Pera: no time ;>)
Types Sideways: :)
Pema Pera: haha, Orian, yes
Pema Pera: I love the retro
Orian Roelofs: lol
Pema Pera: btw Orian, we gather here every day a few times, believe it or not
Pema Pera: we have a blog http://playasbeing.wordpress.com/
Pema Pera: and there we keep a playful account of what is happening here
Pema Pera: all very informal
Carlos, though newly born in Second Life, was quicker than most in noticing a key point about SL:
Carlos Cornelius: I feel bad with my cheap clothes. It is very weird that virtual reality is more fashion-impossing than RL
Types Sideways: :)
Pema Pera: yes, Carlos, nothing to worry about that!
Pema Pera: Carlos, it actually helps
Pema Pera: until you are familiar with SL it is better to look like a newbie
Pema Pera: so that people help you ;>)
Pema Pera: more likely to be kind ;>)
Pema Pera: I mean patient
Pema Pera: if you give the impression that you know what you are doing they are less likely to help
Carlos Cornelius: OK. That’s good to know. It’s just funny, I guess.
Pema Pera: we all went through that stage
Pema Pera: babies are funny too — we have all been babies ;>)
Types Sideways: true
I asked Orian whether she had visited this part of Rieul at earlier occasions.
Pema Pera: have you been here before, Orian?
Orian Roelofs: well
Orian Roelofs: i was earlier and i liked it som much that part of me stayed
Types Sideways: yeah
Types Sideways: she was in two places at once
Pema Pera: wonderful — and yes, full of wonder!
Types Sideways: here and the mall
Orian Roelofs: lol
Types Sideways: I saw you here and IMd her
Orian Roelofs: actually a zen shop
Types Sideways: she was at the mall
Orian Roelofs: hahah
Pema Pera: zen mall?
Orian Roelofs: lmao
Pema Pera: sounds rather miminal ;>)
Orian Roelofs: just a store
Types Sideways: so she came back to meet herself
Orian Roelofs: hahaha
Pema Pera: w/o an alt?
Orian Roelofs: there were two of me
Types Sideways: it was strange
Pema Pera: same name?
Types Sideways: a full avatar here and there
Types Sideways: yes
Pema Pera: wow
Pema Pera: never seen that before
Orian Roelofs: so i came back to meet myself
Types Sideways: I was able to IM her from here
Pema Pera: perhaps that’s what happens if you walk backward?
Types Sideways: LOL
Carlos Cornelius: virtual schizophrenia
Orian Roelofs: indeed
Types Sideways: yeah
Types Sideways: as soon as she got here that other disapeared
Pema Pera: wow
Pema Pera: fascinating!
Types Sideways: just out of reach
Pema Pera: a virtual sim?
Orian Roelofs: it was 9 seconds
Pema Pera: hahaha
This was the perfect segueway into our main theme.
Pema Pera: Orian, did Types tell you about our 9-sec gig?
Orian Roelofs: no
Pema Pera: What we do here is talk about a type of exploration
Pema Pera: that we do in RL
Pema Pera: every day we spend one hour or a few hours during which we pay a 1% tax:
Pema Pera: every fifteen minutes (=900 seconds) we spend 9 seconds stopping what we are doing
Pema Pera: taking a breath
Pema Pera: and looking at the world in a fresh way
Pema Pera: like a baby
Pema Pera: then we continue what we are doing
Types Sideways: this is new to me as well Pema
Pema Pera: perhaps writing a few words in a note book during the 9 seconds like in a laboratory journal
Pema Pera: in total perhaps 1 or 2 minutes a day
Pema Pera: like brushing your teeth
Pema Pera: instead of traditional meditation, we trade in duration for integration — into daily life
Pema Pera: seems to work
Pema Pera: have heard many enthusiastic and surprised comments
Pema Pera: also see blog http://playasbeing.wordpress.com/
Pema Pera: that’s all there is to it!
Pema Pera: The rest is play
Pema Pera: and having fun
Pema Pera: are forming a wonderful community of fun people
Following an IM I teleported Resting Thor into the tea house. As before, he materialized in the attic. Types may not have seen that spectacle here before, of someone being assembled above our heads, and then dropping into our laps like a ripe fruit.
Types Sideways: someone in the roof
Pema Pera: hi Thor!
Resting Thor: hi all
Types Sideways: hi
Orian Roelofs: i think i will live and learn the concept
Carlos Cornelius: hi
Orian Roelofs: Ciao
Pema Pera: it may be fun to try for a while, Orian, but it is also fine to just drop in and chat
Orian Roelofs: i believe I understand
Orian Roelofs: that i can do
Types Sideways: I do 900 seconds of fun every 900 seconds myself
Orian Roelofs: lol
Types Sideways: so how long have you been trying that Pema?
Orian Roelofs: sorry im having a little tado with my cat
Types Sideways: :)
Orian Roelofs: excuse me for a sec
Pema Pera: I started a couple weeks before I let the virus loose on everyone else, let’s see, by mid March
Pema Pera: On April 1 I started here
Pema Pera: seemed natural
Pema Pera: and it was ;>)
Types Sideways: :)
Pema Pera: Good seeing you again here Thor!
Pema Pera: How have you been?
Resting Thor: nice to be here :)
Resting Thor: i’ve been going to AZ to study on the weekends hectic
Pema Pera: please do relax here!
I brought up the forestry subject, which we had been talking about so much the last couple days.
Pema Pera: Carlos and Thor, and perhaps everyone here — you may not have heard about our forest plans . . .
Resting Thor: i have not
Types Sideways: no
Pema Pera: Over the last week I have bought at least a sims worth of plots of lands, spread out over four or five sims
Pema Pera: with Storm and others we are going to make a huge forest
Resting Thor: great!
Pema Pera: streams hills paths caves retreat huts
Pema Pera: a play as Being play ground
Pema Pera: in natural setting
Carlos Cornelius: that is awsome
Pema Pera: it is . . .
Pema Pera: and it all happened naturally
Resting Thor: i’ve been working on some initial retreat hut designs
Pema Pera: great, Thor, we’ll pick your brains!
Pema Pera: so from this tea house you will be able to walk for at least four to five hundred meters . . . with many side branches in the path
Pema Pera: in NW direction
Pema Pera: all contiguous
Pema Pera: I keep asking people who own neighboring parcels and in that way I keep meeting the most wonderful folks, half of whom I quickly befriend
Pema Pera: and they, too, are excited about the plans
Resting Thor: we’re beginning the designs of approx 50 retreat cottages in AZ for the 3 year retreat, so i thought perhaps we could model a few of them in your woods :)
Pema Pera: great, Thor!
Pema Pera: looking forward to you trying that out.
Pema Pera: Already the western half of Magoja is ours
Pema Pera: half a sim
Resting Thor: exciting
Pema Pera: we can give you permission to start building there
Pema Pera: just IM Storm and me and we’ll figure out the settings
Carlos Cornelius: How big do you think SL will get? If it gets as big as RL then it would be like the map that is as big as the earth!
Types Sideways: yeah
Types Sideways: and a billion servers I guess
Orian Roelofs: hahaha
Pema Pera: sure, if we make an OpenSim so that the aliens can come in too
Types Sideways: :)
Pema Pera: we may invite the whole Andromeda galaxy
I recounted Storm’s enthusiastic first steps toward the forest vision.
Resting Thor: we’d love a tour of your forest some time :)
Pema Pera: sure!
Pema Pera: Storm will make a proto-forest soon
Pema Pera: and then the real work will start, the details
Pema Pera: he’s great at that
Pema Pera: have you seen his waterfalls and stuff?
Types Sideways: The Kwan Yin Gardens are great
Pema Pera: yesterday he bulid a hot air balloon for forest surveillance hahaha — honestly!
Pema Pera: I had a maiden voyage with him
Pema Pera: seats six
Types Sideways: LOL
Types Sideways: was there rain?
Pema Pera: nope
Pema Pera: as the weather god he knew what he was doing ;>)
Pema Pera: he likes to rain on you, it seems!
Types Sideways: I like his rain storms
Carlos Cornelius: Im sorry but I have to leave. It was great meeting you(r avatars)
I had to smile about the way Carlos expressed the distinction between typists and avatars more consciously than most of us do, after longer immersion in SL. I then got up and out of the house for a bit, since I saw someone walking by who had been born today — never sure whether dealing with a total newbie or an alt, although a very brief conversation generally reveals quickly which is which. He turned out to be too busy creating various objects to be interested in a cup of tea. Meanwhile, Dakini had entered through the other door.
Types Sideways: nice meeting you
Orian Roelofs: have a great evening Carlos
Types Sideways: Pema is out trying to help a new SL person get oriented Dakini
Dakini Rhode: cool!
Dakini Rhode: Hi Pema!
Pema Pera: Hi Dakini!
Dakini Rhode: I sent an email to your Guardians - I would like them to join the Zen Retreat group
Pema Pera: great!
Pema Pera: two birds with one stone
Dakini Rhode: I’ve created a Guardian role
Pema Pera: great!!!
Pema Pera: does it say “angel” ?
Types Sideways: :)
Dakini Rhode: So that when they facilitate they will have the ability to eject, ban, and
Dakini Rhode: materialize more cushions
Pema Pera: Great!
Types Sideways: Im lost
Most of our regular visitors had not yet heard about our new guardian tradition, that we were about to start off. I had to smile, given that Types, with his translucent gossamer wings, really did look like a kind of guardian angel.
Pema Pera: Actually Types looks like a guardian angel here . . . the proto-type(s) really
Dakini Rhode: yes, you do, Types
Types Sideways: ty
Types Sideways: who are the Guardians?
Pema Pera: Types, we have a new system of 7 guardians
Pema Pera: for seven days
Pema Pera: each one will be here to make sure the group continues
Pema Pera: while I am asleep in Japan in the afternoons here
Pema Pera: instead I will be here at 1 am
Dakini Rhode: Pema, you sleep?
Pema Pera: which is 5 pm in Japan
Types Sideways: LOL
Pema Pera: every once in a while, Dakini
Dakini Rhode: lol
Types Sideways: Japan hey?
Pema Pera: all of four hours (almost) last night . . . .
Pema Pera: not good
Pema Pera: but what can I do?
Orian Roelofs: oy
Pema Pera: in due time this will be a groups thing
Pema Pera: and then we can all spread the load
Pema Pera: I just got the ball rolling
Dakini Rhode: hey wait that’s my line
Pema Pera: the seven guardians is the first step away from me being here all the time
Types Sideways: where is the ball rolling?
Pema Pera: yes, Dakini made the fertile ground on which the ball could get rolling
Pema Pera: she built the tea house
Pema Pera: and set up the zen group
Pema Pera: I just followed ;>)
Orian Roelofs: its beautiful
Pema Pera: conjured up out of thin air
Types Sideways: its called SL
Orian Roelofs: haha
Pema Pera: SL + Dakini = awe
Dakini Rhode: lol
Dakini quickly changed the subject :-).
Dakini Rhode: Thor how is your retreat cabin coming along?
Resting Thor: i have a prototype
Resting Thor: more a building experiment right now
Resting Thor: i’ll have the actual floor plans from AZ this weekend
Dakini Rhode: Isn’t it a coincidence that Thor is building a retreat cabin?
Dakini Rhode: wow
Types Sideways: this is a very cool tea house
Dakini Rhode: ty Types
Resting Thor: it is a beautiful tea house
Dakini Rhode: very cool things have happend in this tea hut
Types Sideways: Like what?
Dakini Rhode: Play as being
Dakini Rhode: and before I fixed the roof, so many people got stuck in it
Types Sideways: :)
Dakini Rhode: Like a spider’s net
Pema Pera: hahaha yes
Types Sideways: Its wonderful, Im just messing with you
Dakini Rhode: I caught the Bhikku in my roof, the one who’s building the Potala Palace
Dakini Rhode: hahaha
Types Sideways: I havent seen Bhikkhu in a while
Dakini Rhode: he had computer probs
Dakini Rhode: he’s back online now
Types Sideways: oh good
Types Sideways: I see him at Spirit Mountain sometimes
Types Sideways: he has a store there promoting the project
Dakini Rhode: ah
Orian Roelofs: im am sorry but i must depart
Orian Roelofs: it was a pleasure
Types Sideways: Im glad I found the two of you tonight
Dakini Rhode: Orian it was good to see you here
Resting Thor: sleep well :)
Orian Roelofs: you brought us back together
Types Sideways: it was great
Types Sideways: see you soon I hope
Pema Pera: bye Orian
Pema Pera: great having you heere!
Orian Roelofs: good night and ty for having me
Types Sideways: bye
Just when Orian was about to leave, a new visitor dropped in, Thorberg.
Pema Pera: hi Thorberg!
Orian Roelofs: ciao a tutti
Pema Pera: thanks for joining us Orian!
Pema Pera: Please do come back soon!
Orian Roelofs: for sure
Types Sideways: she took the light with her
Thorberg Nordlicht: my first time here
Pema Pera: welcome!
Resting Thor: welcome thorberg :)
Pema Pera: did you just walk by, or heard about us?
Types Sideways: hi Thor
Resting Thor: HI
Thorberg Nordlicht: I’m exploring places I found in “search”
Thorberg Nordlicht: I searched on the keyword Zen
Pema Pera: ah! so search works!!
Thorberg Nordlicht: did you folks all just meet each other here by chance or are you connected in some other way?
Types Sideways: good question
Pema Pera: haha
Pema Pera: never an easy answer from Types
Resting Thor: perhaps karma
Thorberg Nordlicht: ((karma)) I see
Thorberg Nordlicht: i’m not crashing the party am I?
Pema Pera: oh no!
Pema Pera: all are welcome
Types Sideways: nope
Dakini Rhode: do you mean did we meet in SL?
Thorberg Nordlicht: anybody here have a “zen” connection in RL?
Types Sideways: another tough one
Dakini Rhode: we have a few RL zen monks who practice with us here
Dakini Rhode: My connection is to Tibetan Buddhism
Pema Pera: and many of us have gone to zen retreats at some time in our lives, including me
Resting Thor: same here
Thorberg Nordlicht: oh, good
Types Sideways: more chan than zen here
Thorberg Nordlicht: in RL popular culture the word “zen” is mis-used so you never know
Thorberg Nordlicht: I practice zazen at San Francisco Zen Center
Types Sideways: cool
Thorberg Nordlicht: soto Zen tradition; Suzuki roshi lineage
Types Sideways: did you know Suzuki?
Resting Thor: sure
Thorberg Nordlicht: do you folks practice formal zazen here?
Thorberg Nordlicht: i’ve wondered if there’s anywhere in SL where folks practice formal zazen
Dakini Rhode: every day at 6PM SLT
Dakini Rhode: we meet in the Zendo for 20 minutes practice
At this moment, RL intervened briefly for both Thorberg and Resting.
Dakini Rhode: hah i need to checkout myself
Pema Pera: Types, you used to shapeshift very drastically
Pema Pera: but now you seem to converge
Pema Pera: in a very fitting shape I must say
Types Sideways: it comes and goes
Types Sideways: this was my first avatar
Resting Thor: bye Dakini… thanks for the texture recommendations
Types Sideways: nice meeting you Resting
Dakini Rhode: yw Thor - can’t wait to see that retreat cabin materialize
Resting Thor: we’ll talk more in the future :)
Pema Pera: thanks for dropping by Thor
Pema Pera: great seeing you
Pema Pera: how are your two friends doing
Pema Pera: whom you brought here earlier?
Resting Thor: they’re doing great… not on right now
Resting Thor: show me a spot of ground and I’ll show you my first effort
Dakini Rhode: now?
Thorberg Nordlicht: i’m back; sorry about the interruption
Resting Thor: no problem
Dakini Rhode: wb
Pema Pera: we’re going to get a retreat hut demo!!!
Pema Pera: just outside here?
Pema Pera: why not
Resting Thor: very crude still
Dakini Rhode: sure! just outside
Resting Thor: but you’re welcome to see my first attempt
Types Sideways: me too
Resting Thor: i was planning two huts…. one for sleeping… one for cooking
Dakini Rhode: we’ll be needing retreat huts
We all walked out, and Resting Thor rezzed a copy of his retreat hut, to the side of the tea house, in the direction of the zazen spot. I saw that a new visitor had just walked up to the tea house. He must have been puzzled by the rezzing and hustle and bustle in the otherwise rather quiet en serene landscape here. His name was Given.
Pema Pera: Hi Given!
Pema Pera: come join the party
Dakini Rhode: will this be based on a RL retreat hut?
Resting Thor: very simple sleeping room with alter and bed… need a smaller bed in it
Resting Thor: it will be…crude right now
Dakini Rhode: do you want a futon?
Resting Thor: would be great
Resting Thor: a single size only
Pema Pera: Hi Given!
Pema Pera: Welcome
Types Sideways: hi Given
Given Vita: Hello
Resting Thor: then i’ll have a separate cabin for a kitchen
Resting Thor: and bathroom
Pema Pera: Given we are trying out a new hut ;>)
Pema Pera: Thor just made one
Resting Thor: so the mediation not affected :)
Resting Thor: no electricity in this cabin
Dakini Rhode: yikes i’m not trying to sell it
Given Vita: I see. Thank you for explaining. You are considerate
Resting Thor: kitchen would have electricity from solar
Resting Thor: no problem
Pema Pera: thank you, always fun to have new faces here
Pema Pera: have you been here before?
Given Vita: No.
Given Vita: A nice discovery
ThePrincess Parisi: hi
Given Vita: Thanks
Right there ThePrincess dropped out of the sky, after I had teleported
her here. Early that day we had met for the first time. The occasion
was the sale of a small lot of land by her in Chokki, which I had bought
from her in the afternoon. At that time we got into some interesting
and fun conversations, and I had invited her to stop by at our tea house
later in the evening.
Pema Pera: Hi Princess!
Pema Pera: Welcome
Pema Pera: Everyone, meet Princess, a new friend of mine
ThePrincess Parisi: thank u
ThePrincess Parisi: hello
Pema Pera: just tp-ed her over
Resting Thor: so this is for a desert environment
ThePrincess Parisi: desert?
ThePrincess Parisi: no cherries in the desert hun
Resting Thor: rammed earth or straw bale construction
Pema Pera: we are in the middle of Thor showing a new retreat hut he built, Princess and Given
Resting Thor: haha
ThePrincess Parisi: oh i know that straw bale
Dakini Rhode: Hi Princess, Hi Given
ThePrincess Parisi: hi
Types Sideways: hi Pricess
Given Vita: Hi dakini Rhode
Resting Thor: temperature range is -20 to 100 F
Types Sideways: Princess
ThePrincess Parisi: what
Resting Thor: so anyway… my first attempt… i’ll have scale plans this weekend to build from :)
Pema Pera: Given, we gather here every day
ThePrincess Parisi: i have a lot of cactus
Dakini Rhode: It’s coming along great, Thor!
Pema Pera: a few times a day
ThePrincess Parisi: the saguraos are in bloom now
ThePrincess Parisi: you need a night blooming sirrus
ThePrincess Parisi: something like that
Pema Pera: we have a blog, if you are interested to get an idea
Pema Pera: on http://playasbeing.wordpress.com/
Given Vita: I would like to understand. Yes
Resting Thor: thanks
Pema Pera: that sounds great!
Pema Pera: a sirrus
Given Vita: What is the blog?
ThePrincess Parisi: do you know it?
Pema Pera: do they glow, Princess?
ThePrincess Parisi: no they bloom one night a year
After the group had swollen to seven people, some of us began to leave.
Dakini Rhode: I need to fly off, folks
Dakini Rhode: Namaste
Resting Thor: same here… nice seeeing everyone :)
Pema Pera: bye Dakini!
Resting Thor: bye all
Pema Pera: do not forget to inspect the shrinking land holes ;>)
I was refering to the little 16 sq m plots of land that I had surrounded earlier, of which I had bought yet a few more.
ThePrincess Parisi: only one insect will
ThePrincess Parisi: um pollenate it
Pema Pera: really?
Pema Pera: bye Thor!
ThePrincess Parisi: ill find a link
Pema Pera: Given, the blog is about our activities here
ThePrincess Parisi: cereus
ThePrincess Parisi: http://www.desertusa.com/mag99/july/.../nbcereus.html
ThePrincess Parisi: no i dont blog
ThePrincess Parisi: pretty here
ThePrincess Parisi: http://www.tohonochulpark.org/Art/NBC.html
ThePrincess Parisi: better link
Types Sideways: Well it was nice being with you all tonight
Types Sideways: bye
Pema Pera: bye Types!
Pema Pera: busy evening!
Pema Pera: we had about eight people
Pema Pera: how about sitting down in the tea house for a few minutes?
Pema Pera: then I’ll have to leave after that
ThePrincess Parisi: i want tempura
Pema Pera: hahaha
Pema Pera: we only have soba
Pema Pera: this was built by Dakini, Princess
ThePrincess Parisi: dakini
Pema Pera: she was here a moment ago
Pema Pera: Dakini Rhode
ThePrincess Parisi: i dont know that person
Pema Pera: if you would like some tea, you can click on the tea pot on the tray
Pema Pera: and wear the cup
Pema Pera: Dakini was one of the people outside
Pema Pera: when you arrived
Pema Pera: but we had been here already for quite a while
Pema Pera: so she left quickly
Pema Pera: a side effect of the green tea is that you may start floating . . . .
ThePrincess Parisi: wow
Pema Pera: powerful tea ;>)
ThePrincess Parisi: hallucinagenic green tea
Pema Pera: elevating
ThePrincess Parisi: i might go get some tea rl
I refered to the pretty white dress that Princess was wearing, old fashioned and quite detailed in a nice way.
Pema Pera: great fashion, Princess! Did you buy that or made part of it?
ThePrincess Parisi: bought
ThePrincess Parisi: i only make togas
Pema Pera: very classy
ThePrincess Parisi: and a few dresses
ThePrincess Parisi: ty
Pema Pera: togas?!
Pema Pera: what kind?
ThePrincess Parisi: im the largest toga vendor in sl
Pema Pera: I love togas
ThePrincess Parisi: fashion togas
Pema Pera: really!!!
Pema Pera: lm please
ThePrincess Parisi: yes
Pema Pera: I’ll check it out
ThePrincess Parisi gave you TOGAS CN.
Pema Pera: thnx!
We continued to talk about some of the adventures that Princess has
had in SL. I began to realize again that I am still missing whole
chunks of SL culture and background. Thorberg mentioned that his is
starting to learn scripting, and that he likes skyboxes.
Soon Princess called her partern, MT, in and he also joined our group.
MT Lundquist: hi love
MT Lundquist: hi pema
MT Lundquist: hi thorberg
Thorberg Nordlicht: hello
Pema Pera: Thanks, MT, for the plot!
ThePrincess Parisi: and this is thor
MT Lundquist: hi again
MT Lundquist: i got your nessage pema
MT Lundquist: but i know prin came to sort the land for you
Pema Pera: yes, I’m glad she did
Pema Pera: we are going to build a rather large forest
Pema Pera: covering bits of at least four sims
MT Lundquist: ok
MT Lundquist: whats the theme for the forest
ThePrincess Parisi: trees
MT Lundquist: lol
Pema Pera: hills, streams, paths,
Pema Pera: haha
ThePrincess Parisi: is the forest service active in sl
Pema Pera: theme is related to what we are doing here,
ThePrincess Parisi: mokey
Pema Pera: a very playful investigation of the nature of reality . . . .
Pema Pera: sounds more serious than it is ;>)
MT Lundquist: ok
ThePrincess Parisi: have u been to the rainforest
Pema Pera: no
Pema Pera: would love to see
MT Lundquist: i’ve heard of some areas that have growing programs
Pema Pera: have been in India
Pema Pera: but not in the South of India
MT Lundquist: to simulate growth and competition
Pema Pera: yes, very interesting ecology and evolution
MT Lundquist: yes you should meet bj
Pema Pera: who is bj?
I gave some more background of our various acivities.
ThePrincess Parisi: thats quite a hair do
Pema Pera: haha
Pema Pera: as of yesterday
Pema Pera: a neighbor gave me
Pema Pera: I asked her, too, to sell some of her land
MT Lundquist: i have one of those
MT Lundquist: :)
Pema Pera: she said “no, but I do sell hair”
MT Lundquist: never did rl though
Pema Pera: and when I saw this, I was hooked
Pema Pera: by the way, what we do here is described on http://playasbeing.wordpress.com/.
Pema Pera: lots of stuff there, far too much to read
Pema Pera: but you can browse a bit if you are interested
MT Lundquist: right ty
Pema Pera: My other activity in SL is
Pema Pera: http://www.physics.drexel.edu/mica
Pema Pera: astronomy
Pema Pera: the first all-virtual science institute
Pema Pera: other science activities have all been branches from RL
Pema Pera: NASA, Harvard, Princeton, MIT, etc
Pema Pera: but as far as I know we are the first department that is fully SL home grown
Pema Pera: I keep challenging others to prove me wrong
Pema Pera: haha
Pema Pera: but it seems that we are really the first one
MT Lundquist: best way
Pema Pera: surprised at that . . .
Pema Pera: yes
Pema Pera: I like new things
We talked more about our various backgrounds both in RL and SL. After a while, Princess and MT left, and Thorberg and I also called it a day.
Pema Pera: Was good to meet yo
Thorberg Nordlicht: nice to meet you, too
Pema Pera: would like to hear more about your background some day soon!
Thorberg Nordlicht: sure
Pema Pera: tonight was unusual
Pema Pera: far more people coming and going that normal
Thorberg Nordlicht: i’ll be back here soon; sure I’ll see you again
Pema Pera: fun but less focused
Pema Pera: great!
Thorberg Nordlicht: i see
Thorberg Nordlicht: think i’ll hang out for a while and see who else shows up
Pema Pera: fine!
Pema Pera: normally from 7 pm to at least 7:30
Thorberg Nordlicht: i like this place
Pema Pera: often till 8
Pema Pera: sometimes longer
Thorberg Nordlicht: time zone?
Pema Pera: this is rather unusual
Pema Pera: SLT
Pema Pera: SL time
Pema Pera: PDT
Thorberg Nordlicht: got it; thx
Pema Pera: every day 7 am 1 m 7 pm
Pema Pera: and starting next week 1 am as well
Pema Pera: every six hours around the clock
Pema Pera: http://playasbeing.wordpress.com/
Pema Pera: gives the background
Thorberg Nordlicht: i’ll check it out
Pema Pera: by for now!
Thorberg Nordlicht: bye bye for now
