2008.05.06 19:00 - A flying sampan

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    The guardian at this meeting was Pema Pera and the comments are his.  

     

    A little before our evening meeting I was inspecting some of the land in Rieul that had just come up for an auction. While doing so, I ran into Shufei.

    Shufei Zenith: Good day!
    Shufei Zenith: Sorry, I was beach bumming. :>
    Pema Pera: good day to you too!
    Pema Pera: we were just at the beach
    Pema Pera: over to the west ;>)
    Shufei Zenith: Oh, on the continent?
    Shufei Zenith: I was off with a giant squid and a pirateship.
    Shufei Zenith: Quite fun.
    Shufei Zenith: Wow, he did alot with this area.
    Pema Pera: sounds like fun indeed!
    Pema Pera: did you hear about our forest plans?
    Shufei Zenith: 2176 all together?

    She refered to the size in sq.m. of an area I had bought recently, on which we were standing.

    Pema Pera: yes!
    Pema Pera: just bought it yesterday
    Pema Pera: but it is a joint project with Storm and Dakini
    Pema Pera: I was just about to deed it to our group
    Shufei Zenith: You going to develop it more?
    Pema Pera: our grand plan — are you ready ;>) — is to make a forest
    Pema Pera: from here to the Western sea
    Shufei Zenith: :D
    Shufei Zenith giggles softly.
    Pema Pera: we have bought already half the parcels needed
    Pema Pera: to stitch it all together
    Pema Pera: we want to create a Rieul-Mieum like atmosphere
    Pema Pera: along a large forest
    Pema Pera: with many retreat huts for those interested
    Pema Pera: to join us
    Shufei Zenith: Your group is…?
    Pema Pera: http://playasbeing.wordpress.com/ is the web site
    Pema Pera: has all the introductory information
    Pema Pera: in SL we have only the three-person group for the land deed right now: Storm, Dakini and me — I presume you know them?
    Shufei Zenith: Hehe, yesh, know them well, sir. :>
    Pema Pera: thought so ;>)
    Shufei Zenith: Storm’s my immediate neighbor.
    Pema Pera: I’m the new one here
    Shufei Zenith: And quite welcome you are!

    I was reading Shufei’s profile and saw that she had listed Chinese as one of her languages. Falling back on my Japanese, I wondered to what extent we could communicate using the Chinese characters shared by both languages.

    Pema Pera: so you read and write 中国語?
    Shufei Zenith: Yesh, I do, but fantizi…
    Shufei Zenith: And it’s dicey in sl.
    Pema Pera: 私:日本語
    Shufei Zenith: OH, xixi.
    Pema Pera: yw
    Shufei Zenith: I ken the hanzi.
    Shufei Zenith: xixi - laughing, but xiexie, too.
    Shufei Zenith: giggles
    Pema Pera: love languages
    Shufei Zenith: 您看得懂呢?
    Pema Pera: ah, let me see whether I can read that
    Pema Pera: that’s a bit beyond my knowledge, and a bit different from Japanese too . . . what does it say?
    Shufei Zenith: Oh, just says “Can you read this?”
    Shufei Zenith giggles softly.
    Pema Pera: In Japanese, what you just wrote, is:
    Pema Pera: 読めますか?
    Shufei Zenith: wakarimasu
    Pema Pera: 分かります
    Shufei Zenith: Interesting. :>
    Pema Pera: the last one is “wakarimasu”
    Shufei Zenith: I can only read one of those kanji.
    Shufei Zenith giggles softly.
    Pema Pera: the first one “yomemasu”
    Shufei Zenith nods.
    Shufei Zenith: Thanks, I’ll try to recall.
    Pema Pera: nice meeting you!
    Pema Pera: See you around

    Shufei then told me how she uses her Chinese to communicate with Japanese.

    Shufei Zenith: When in JP sims, I use old literary chinese.
    Pema Pera: does that work?
    Shufei Zenith: Well, it can. Especially with more educated folks.
    Pema Pera: haha, yes, a nice age test perhaps
    Shufei Zenith: The grammar is familiar to most buddhists.
    Shufei Zenith: Yesh, maybe so.
    Pema Pera: let me try: 唯識
    Shufei Zenith: 夫古文者,其日語可讀。
    Pema Pera: yuishiki, or in sanskirt yogacara, mind-only
    Shufei Zenith giggles softly.
    Pema Pera: old writing yes
    Shufei Zenith: Wei something…
    Pema Pera: ancient scholar
    Pema Pera: to be more precise
    Shufei Zenith: The forms of writing differ… And my fanwen isn’t up to snuff. :D
    Shufei Zenith: Ancient scholar?
    Shufei Zenith: Oh, hehe
    Pema Pera: 古文者
    Pema Pera: I could recognize that bit
    Shufei Zenith: Can be, but in this instant, just grammatically emphisizes guwen.
    Pema Pera: old — literature — person
    Pema Pera: well, gotta run!
    Pema Pera: c u !
    Pema Pera: thanks
    Shufei Zenith: Ok, toodles, sir!
    Shufei Zenith: :>

    What a fun encounter that was, so very SL! Talking about playful, with all those languages. After this encounter I went into various negotiatons with others interested in selling land nearby. Finally I met our neighbor Karmic, with whom I had exchanged IMs, but never yet met in reality. He arrived in nothing less than a flying sampan, an east Asian boat. We talked for while, since he was interested in buying more property in Rieul as well, and we wanted to avoid bidding up against each other in the ongoing auction. When it became time for another PaB session, I invited him to come with us to the tea house, together with Dakini who had spoted us talking and who had also climbed aboard the flying sampan.

    Pema Pera: do you want to join us in the tea house?
    Dakini Rhode: i can use some tea, yes!
    Pema Pera: we have one of our four daily sessions
    Pema Pera: there right now.
    Karmic Forager: Sure, what do you do?
    Pema Pera: talk, have fun,
    Pema Pera: talk about reality
    Pema Pera: and about a crazy kind of meditation
    Pema Pera: 9 seconds every 15 minutes in RL
    Karmic Forager: like this, only over there! perfect!
    Pema Pera: then discuss in SL
    Pema Pera: see you there
    Karmic Forager: ok!
    Dakini Rhode: ok c u :-)
    Pema Pera: you can bring your boat
    Pema Pera: if you park it outside ;>)
    Karmic Forager: ha ok

    Thorberg was already waiting when we came flying in.

    Pema Pera: Hi Thorberg!
    Karmic Forager: stop
    Dakini Rhode: a celestial sampan! wonderful!
    Pema Pera: wonderful, yes!
    Karmic Forager: yes, I need pose balls for sitting guests though, a work in progress….
    Pema Pera: our pond is not big enough, I’m afraid
    Pema Pera: but you can have all the air you need!
    Thorberg Nordlicht: hello
    Karmic Forager: Hello and greetings all…
    Dakini Rhode: well i feel like i arrived in style :-)
    Karmic Forager: :)
    Dakini Rhode: ty Karmic :-)
    Karmic Forager: I could start a cheufer service….
    Dakini Rhode: haha yes!
    Pema Pera: we may need one, Karmic!
    Pema Pera: our forest will spread over at least half a dozen sims
    Pema Pera: probably more, perhaps a dozen . . . .
    Karmic Forager: That sounds like a beautiful goal, I would be glad to hear more about it.
    Dakini Rhode: shall we discuss it over tea?
    Karmic Forager: lets
    Pema Pera: sure!

    We entered the tea house.

    Dakini Rhode: welcome, konnichiwa!
    Pema Pera: Dakini, your turn or mine, to tell about the forest?
    Pema Pera: I’m losing track now ;>)
    Dakini Rhode: yours, Pema
    Pema Pera: o o
    Pema Pera: well
    Dakini Rhode: :-P
    Pema Pera: or perhaps Thorberg can tell?
    Pema Pera: by now I guess you know the story, Thor?
    Dakini Rhode: Please do have some tea - i made it strong :-)
    Pema Pera: I will fill in if you are missing something
    Thorberg Nordlicht: ah, I’m not up on the forest plans myself
    Pema Pera: okay
    Pema Pera: I’ll tell ;>)
    Pema Pera: Karmic,
    Thorberg Nordlicht: I have been wondering about the nearby lot up for auction
    Pema Pera: we started out with the Play as Being idea
    Thorberg Nordlicht: has anyone bid on it?
    Pema Pera: That is why we here
    Pema Pera: both Karmic and I did
    Pema Pera: lol
    Pema Pera: and we are now joining force ;>)
    Pema Pera: So http://playasbeing.wordpress.com/ summarizes our Play as Being meetings here
    Pema Pera: I can tell more
    Pema Pera: but just for now
    Pema Pera: we meet four times a day
    Pema Pera: and practice four times an hour
    Pema Pera: rather intense in frequency
    Pema Pera: but mild in total time
    Pema Pera: anyway
    Pema Pera: at some point half of Magoja become available
    Pema Pera: and I had already bought quite a bit to the West of here in Rieul
    Pema Pera: so I bought it
    Pema Pera: and when Storm asked what I wanted to do with it
    Pema Pera: I said don’t know
    Pema Pera: thought a bit
    Pema Pera: and said: how about a forest?
    Pema Pera: knowing that Storm is a good landscaper
    Pema Pera: and then the idea grew
    Pema Pera: and grew
    Pema Pera: and grew

    Zara walked in, meeting us for the first time.

    Dakini Rhode: Hello Zara
    Pema Pera: and earlier this week we bought land near the shore
    Pema Pera: Hi Zara!
    Zara Tolsen: hello
    Pema Pera: and many plots in between there and here
    Thorberg Nordlicht: hello
    Pema Pera: That’s the short of it :>)
    Zara Tolsen: sorry if i’m interupting, i was just taking a look around
    Pema Pera: please join us!
    Karmic Forager: It seems very Tier intensive, how will you pay for it all?
    Pema Pera: I have a research budget for my work
    Karmic Forager: I have a hard time with the $40.00 monthly now! ha!
    Pema Pera: btw I have to finish my breakfast here in Kyoto, I can keep listening, but if you don’t mind, I’ll stop typing for a couple minutes ;>)
    Thorberg Nordlicht: a research budget!
    Dakini Rhode wants a research budget
    Pema Pera: haha!
    Pema Pera: Zara please sit down and join us!
    Pema Pera: this is open to everyone
    Karmic Forager: I would be glad to help with labor for terraforming, gardening and building if it helps.
    Pema Pera: sure!
    Karmic Forager: The building and gardening is what I love SL for, I have no Green Thumb in RL.

    Even though I had decided to finally finish my breakfast, I kept being tempted to jump into the conversation.

    Thorberg Nordlicht: Dakini, I know you said “your roots are here” but I still can’t help but think that at some point it just becomes cheaper to just buy an Island; is that totally out of the question? ((in which case I’ll drop the subject and stop asking about it :-))
    Dakini Rhode: I think it was Pema who said that :-)
    Thorberg Nordlicht: oh, sorry, didn’t mean to put words in your mouth :-)
    Dakini Rhode: As for the Zen Retreat, I intend that it will stay here in Rieul
    Dakini Rhode: I like the location because it’s near the welcome center
    Karmic Forager: Yes that is true
    Thorberg Nordlicht: ok, that’s the last i’ll ask about an Island :-)
    Dakini Rhode: I like the thought of welcoming newcomers with something other than lapdances and casinos :-)
    Pema Pera: Thorberg, good question, but I just love the idea of combining the old and the new, the incredible energy that many have put in Rieul over the years
    Thorberg Nordlicht: yes, i agree; that’s a good idea ((being near welcome center))
    Thorberg Nordlicht: hmmm, “over the years” I didn’t know this area had been around that long
    Dakini Rhode: the retreat here is obviously not for profit, it’s my contribution to help make SL nice
    Karmic Forager: A virtual forest is a beautiful place to visit I am sure, but is it going to benefit anyone without builds of some sort. The Zen center drew me here, as did the other builds…
    Pema Pera: anyone can stroll
    Dakini Rhode: it will be for people to use :-)
    Pema Pera: and for many there will be retreat huts
    Karmic Forager: will it be a place peole will want to visit I wonder…
    Pema Pera: we won’t put red tape ;>)

    Dakini brought up a great idea.

    Dakini Rhode: Pema I see a place in Magoja for larger gatherings, too
    Pema Pera: yes!!!!
    Pema Pera: definitely
    Dakini Rhode: a clearing in the woods
    Pema Pera: great idea!!
    Pema Pera: love it
    Pema Pera: that could be the center
    Pema Pera: and branches off in every which way
    Pema Pera: with Rieul nearest by
    Dakini Rhode: it could even straddle Rieul and Magoja - so people could be in both sims
    Pema Pera: we can ask the Lindens to give us some of the unused highways
    Dakini Rhode: in case the need arose to get more than 40 avs together
    Karmic Forager: That sounds nice, places for people to gather, surounded by nature or peaceful beauty…
    Pema Pera: yes indeed
    Pema Pera: yes
    Pema Pera: good point
    Pema Pera: ah! We could use four sims!
    Pema Pera: how’s that
    Dakini Rhode: something like what they did on SL Nantucket & Mystic
    Pema Pera: like the welcome center
    Pema Pera: lemma think
    Dakini Rhode: or like the welcome center, yes!
    Dakini Rhode: although less …. architecture
    Dakini Rhode: less is more :-)
    Pema Pera: I don’t have any four-corner area
    Pema Pera: but might acquire one
    Karmic Forager: And no billboards, it is a shame what happens to the sky lines….
    Pema Pera: great idea, Dakini, will keep it in mind
    Dakini Rhode: yes, Karmic

    We came back to the notion of a forest.

    Zara Tolsen: i’m somewhat new to SL, but do you really find that a virtual forest or garden can be as serene as one in RL?
    Dakini Rhode: it will be interesting to see :-) we’re not sure
    Dakini Rhode: I’d like to see the influence of the virtual space on our inner space
    Thorberg Nordlicht: different than RL, but can be very nice in SL with its own special SL character
    Dakini Rhode: In SL is more like a picture
    Thorberg Nordlicht: there ARE open space preserves in SL
    Dakini Rhode: yes!
    Dakini Rhode: and some virtual ecosystems
    Pema Pera: like with cartoons, in some way less is more and more expressive!
    Thorberg Nordlicht: also, SL graphics are definitely improving over time
    Dakini Rhode: the missing element is… life!
    Dakini Rhode: the real natural world is alive, growing, and communicating
    Dakini Rhode: this is a simulation
    Dakini Rhode: but it can still affect us
    Zara Tolsen: i guess thats a good way of thinking of it, dakini
    Thorberg Nordlicht: hmmm, virtual animals wandering around?
    Karmic Forager: I find the art, the sound, and the imagery can be very influencial on me personally, its why I keep building, visiting and exploring.
    Dakini Rhode: so do I, Karmic!
    Zara Tolsen: i was forced to join SL as part of a class, and my professor kept waiting to tell us that SL was as good if not better than RL…. but i don’t think you can compare the two
    Pema Pera: Zara, that is such an interesting point you brought up, and it goes to the hard of what we are discussing here in our Play as Being sessions (of which this is one); if you have a chance to browse at http://playasbeing.wordpress.com/ I’d love to hear your feedback
    Zara Tolsen: sure, i could check that out
    Pema Pera: I find that in some ways I have an almost deeper contact with people in SL than in RL — in some respects, obviously not in others
    Pema Pera: Can’t share my Japanese breakfast with you here ;>)
    Dakini Rhode: you can describe it…
    Zara Tolsen: very true haha

    Karmic put his finger on the way we all grow up, in our own way, after being `born’ in Second Life.

    Karmic Forager: I am also enjoying the learning curve of the experience, we all start out as newbies and some become merchants, others performers, and some philosophers….
    Pema Pera: For example, Dakini and I have never met in RL, yet are now involved with Storm, whom I have never met either in RL, in a giant project . . . . .
    Pema Pera: amazing when you stop to think about it
    Zara Tolsen: i have had some meaningful experiences on SL, some good conversations. but i was just wondering if nature could actually be enjoyed in a virtual realm
    Zara Tolsen: that is amazing, pema

    Caledonia stopped by.

    Pema Pera: Hi Caledonia!
    Thorberg Nordlicht: hello
    Caledonia Heron: hi ther
    Pema Pera: great to see you again!
    Caledonia Heron: e
    Dakini Rhode: good to see you, Cal!
    Karmic Forager: Hello Caledonia
    Caledonia Heron: yes likewise
    Caledonia Heron: hi everyone
    Zara Tolsen: hello
    Karmic Forager: Zara, I think you will find your own take on SL. I see as many opinions as residents!
    Pema Pera: Cal, Karmic is a neighbor right to the SW of this tea house, at a 100 meters or so
    Zara Tolsen: thank you, point taken.
    Caledonia Heron: ah, so nice to meet you :)
    Pema Pera: I just met him today
    Karmic Forager: :)
    Caledonia Heron: lovely to know one’s neighbors
    Pema Pera: he has a flying sampan boat — if you are kind to him, he may take you for a ride!
    Karmic Forager: Yes, this is a most wonderful neighborhood.
    Zara Tolsen: caledonia - any chance the name has anything to do with the state park in RL>
    Caledonia Heron: we can fly together, I have flying stuff too :)
    Dakini Rhode: Zara, take a look at Commonwealth - several sims - very nice
    Dakini Rhode: I just gave you a LM
    Caledonia Heron: no it’s part of a song lyric Dakini :)
    Zara Tolsen: thank you, i will do that
    Pema Pera: Zara, if you come her for your studies, you might be interested in the paper I wrote on http://arxiv.org/abs/0712.1655
    Dakini Rhode: here
    Caledonia Heron: although it may also be a park and a country and probably something else :)
    Dakini Rhode: Here’s another one - Botanical at Straylight
    Zara Tolsen: ah, it is the name of a state park i’ve done some hiking and backpacking in, so i was just curious
    Zara Tolsen: thank you pema, i’ll take a look at that too!
    Caledonia Heron: oh ok, Zara, thought Dakini asked, my mistake

    By now, the meeting was winding down.

    Pema Pera: Cal, you haven’t been in any balloon ride, have you?
    Dakini Rhode: Friends, I must take my leave
    Pema Pera: We’ve had a lot of fun over the last few days
    Zara Tolsen: thanks for that second landmark, dakini
    Pema Pera: Storm made them
    Thorberg Nordlicht: bye bye for now Dakini; it’s been a plearsure as always
    Caledonia Heron: I went in the one by the beach
    Karmic Forager: Good night Dakini
    Pema Pera: bye Dakini!
    Pema Pera: see you
    Caledonia Heron: bye :)
    Zara Tolsen: bye
    Thorberg Nordlicht: bye bye for now
    Dakini Rhode: bye
    Karmic Forager: my 3 yr old is misbehaving lOL
    Pema Pera: haha
    Pema Pera: well, now you know where to find us, Karmic
    Pema Pera: this neighborhood will no longer be quiet with us tromping around here four times a day ;>)
    Karmic Forager: Yep!
    Pema Pera: Zara, what is your field of study?
    Zara Tolsen: psychology major with minors in sociology and philosophy
    Pema Pera: well, SL is an idea lab for you then!!
    Karmic Forager: I was a psych major too!
    Zara Tolsen: neat!
    Caledonia Heron: uh-oh, I am needed by kidling also…..adios
    Pema Pera: see you Cal!
    Thorberg Nordlicht: bye bye for now
    Karmic Forager: bye
    Zara Tolsen: it was a society and technology course that we had to join SL for, but it does relate to everything i am studying…
    Pema Pera: yes, I can see that
    Pema Pera: well, I’m afraid I have to go now too, RL starting up here for me.
    Thorberg Nordlicht: bye bye for now Pema
    Karmic Forager: Bye Pema, thanks for inviting me!

    Thor was very good in waving everybody goodbye, but then found he got into too much of a good thing.

    Thorberg Nordlicht: ((SL bug: my hands get stuck repeating my last action))
    Zara Tolsen: it was nice meeting you, thanks for all your help
    Pema Pera: bye Karmic, nice to have met you; same to you Zara! And always good seeing you here, Thor!

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