2008.11.12 01:00 - Like an Egg on the Edge of a Plate

This night at 1 am SLT I, Pema, arrived at the new pavilion. As soon as I had sat down, both Fael and Lia arrived. It was Lia's first visit.

Pema Pera: Hi Lia!
Lia Rikugun: Hi Pema
Pema Pera: This is the place where we meet for Play as Being
Pema Pera: http://playasbeing.wik.is/
Pema Pera: Hi Fael!
Fael Illyar: Hi Pema, Lia :)
Lia Rikugun: hello
Pema Pera: Lia, I mentioned PaB, Play as Being
Pema Pera: but I think you haven't been here before, is that right?
Lia Rikugun: no i havent
Lia Rikugun: what do you usually talk about?
Lia Rikugun: everything
Lia Rikugun: :)
Fael Illyar: yes, the topics tend to range about a lot.
Lia Rikugun: so tell me a little bit
Pema Pera: did you get a chance to look at the web site http://playasbeing.wik.is/ at some point, earlier?
Lia Rikugun: yes i did
Lia Rikugun: but weeks ago
Lia Rikugun: :(
Pema Pera: so you've seen the basic idea . . . stop 9 seconds every 15 minutes, to drop what you have in order to see more of what you are?
Lia Rikugun: yes i know and its terrible i did this for a week
Lia Rikugun: but somehow i didnt continue
Lia Rikugun: and i want to
Pema Pera: ah, a week is quite a while already!
Lia Rikugun: but i always think: oh no, this is more important right now
Pema Pera: sure, you can pick it up today, only takes a minute, every few hours :-)
Lia Rikugun: but i realized that i had a lot of thoughts
Lia Rikugun: during that time
Lia Rikugun: new ideas
Lia Rikugun: about life
Lia Rikugun: i need to continue
Lia Rikugun: :)
Pema Pera: it may be interesting to make a few notes, like a few words each time you stop for 9 seconds; as in a laboratory journal
Lia Rikugun: after this meeting :) directly
Pema Pera: sure, looking forward to see what will happen :)
Lia Rikugun: actually i must say that i liked it more speding a longer time
Pema Pera: that's possible too, of course!
Pema Pera: Hi Wol!
Lia Rikugun: because i had the possibilty to continue a thought in more depth
Fael Illyar: Hi Wol :)
Lia Rikugun: hello

Wol joined us.

Wol Euler: morning everyone!
Pema Pera: Wol, meet Lia, who is here for the first time
Play As Being Bell will ring next in 7 minutes 9 seconds.
Lia Rikugun: or evening
Wol Euler: hello lia, first time here?
Wol Euler: ah :)
Lia Rikugun: exactly
Lia Rikugun: nice to meet you
Pema Pera: Lia is in Tokyo
Wol Euler: likewise :) welcome
Pema Pera: Aber Lia is Deutsch, von Aachen
Wol Euler: ach was!
Wol Euler: wie kommt das denn?
Lia Rikugun: tatsaechlich
Lia Rikugun: :P
Wol Euler: (sorry Fael)
Lia Rikugun: we cntinue in english
Lia Rikugun: and if i dont know the english word
Lia Rikugun: i know you can translate
Lia Rikugun: wnderful
Wol Euler: sure :)
Pema Pera: oh, Lia, did I tell you about the German evening tomorrow morning at 6:30 am for you -- may be too early? -- in the Kira Cafe?
Lia Rikugun: no
Fael Illyar: ah, Lia is Japanese?
Lia Rikugun: who is meeting there?
Lia Rikugun: nono german
Pema Pera: anyone who likes to talk German
Wol Euler: well, possibly just you, me and Pema :)
Wol Euler: but it is open
Lia Rikugun: hehe
Pema Pera: real Germans like you, Lia
Pema Pera: and Germanesque people like Wol and me
Wol Euler chuckles
Fael Illyar: Ah...
Fael Illyar needs to concentrate on what is being said :)
Pema Pera: Fael here is from Finland
Pema Pera: but is quite fluent in Japanese!
Lia Rikugun: nice, i visited finland with my father
Lia Rikugun: and my brther
Lia Rikugun: it was wonderful
Pema Pera: so we have pretty good language covering between the four of us
Lia Rikugun: all these beautiful lakes

Back to the 9-sec explorations.

Lia Rikugun: well i am curious
Lia Rikugun: how easy is it for you to take time every 15 minutes
Fael Illyar: well, for me the idea is roughly that pretty much nothing should be so important that you can't take a 9 second break from it :)
Lia Rikugun: for me its fine
Lia Rikugun: yes fael you are right
Lia Rikugun: basically it should be more important to take time and tink
Lia Rikugun: think
Fael Illyar added the PaB bell here by the way
Fael Illyar: it should ring in one minute
Pema Pera: looking forward to it!
Lia Rikugun: what is happening then?
Fael Illyar: a bell sound :)
Wol Euler: :)
Wol Euler: just in time!
Wol Euler: that is the 15 minute reminder to do a 9-second meditation
Lia Rikugun: :)
Lia Rikugun: AHH
Lia Rikugun: very good
Wol Euler: .... and it sounds nice too.
Pema Pera: and the lingering of the lingering sounds lingers for around 9 seconds . . .:)
Wol Euler: I sometimes just sit here when working and listen to hte birds and the chime
Lia Rikugun: it is very relaxing
Fael Illyar: yes, the background sounds are nice here :)
Lia Rikugun: (but the fan of my computer is a little loud... :))
Wol Euler: heheheh
Wol Euler: (like traffic sounds in RL, just tune it out)

Back to a popular topic: auto-logging.

Pema Pera: btw, Wol and Fael, now that you're both here, what is the story about autologging, are we almost there yet?
Pema Pera remembering hearing in mid summer that it would take a few days :-)
Wol Euler: we are at the last stage, posting automatically to hte wiki.
Pema Pera: ah, great!
Fael Illyar started slacking off after hitting another wall with calling Deki API.
Wol Euler looks at Fael for confirmation.
Fael Illyar: the few days was for what we already have... less than that actually.
Pema Pera: yes, of course, I realize that it turned out to be more complex than anticipated
Pema Pera: so the only remaining thing is the actual copying onto the wiki?
Pema Pera: and you need to get the Deki folks to respond now?
Wol Euler: yes, that is the last step.
Fael Illyar: pretty much, it looks as if the recorder works now.
Fael Illyar: well, might be nice to remove the numbers from above our heads :)
Fael Illyar: they're no longer needed I hope :)
Wol Euler: sure, and the debugging messages out of the script too. But those are one-liners.
Pema Pera: so what is still needed?
Pema Pera: what's the missing step?
Fael Illyar: moving the data to wiki. I know how to do all the rest but still missing how to send the actual page contents when creating a page in there.
Wol Euler: have you asked in the Deki user forum?
Pema Pera: and for that you need to contact the wiki folks?
Fael Illyar: that seems to be nonstandard ... PHP doesn't seem to do it by default
Pema Pera: ah!
Fael Illyar: well, I could look at this Visual Basic script that someone made public in hopes it might have something that could be applied.
Pema Pera: that would be great!
Pema Pera: any way we could get it to work would be very welcome
Wol Euler: agreed
Fael Illyar: I really need to start keeping a tasklist... too many things on queue to remember them al.
Wol Euler: heh, yes. me too.
Pema Pera: as you know, I spent a lot of time last week on getting logs that were two or three weeks old and not yet on the wiki . . . .
Pema Pera knows the feeling . . . . .
Pema Pera: . . . . of a long to-do list
Lia Rikugun: :)
Pema Pera: Thanks, Fael!
Pema Pera: And sorry for the shop talk, Lia
Wol Euler: oh, you should have said. We have all logs since about a month in the database, if you tell me which ones are missing I can recreate them.
Lia Rikugun: no problem

And back again to the 9-sec.

Pema Pera: btw, Lia
Pema Pera: you talked about "thinking" during the 9 seconds
Pema Pera: but in fact, the most important thing is to stop
Pema Pera: and drop
Pema Pera: as much as you can
Pema Pera: (without forcing)
Lia Rikugun: i understand
Lia Rikugun: i want to do both
Wol Euler: :)
Lia Rikugun: not at the same time
Lia Rikugun: of course
Lia Rikugun: :)
Lia Rikugun: but maybe go into both extremes
Fael Illyar: dropping things allows thoughts, other than what were going on in your head some room too.
Lia Rikugun: ok
Lia Rikugun: thats true
Fael Illyar: but that's just fine afterwards too
Pema Pera: yes, it's a gentle balance
Pema Pera: which will come with time, naturally
Lia Rikugun: i think for me it will be difficult to drop off everything right now
Lia Rikugun: but with a little pratcice
Lia Rikugun: maybe
Wol Euler nods.
Wol Euler: don't be too attached to the idea that it _must_ happen exactly every 15 minutes and that it _must_ be 9 seconds long
Wol Euler: let it happen as is natural.
Fael Illyar: well, at least for me, it took many missteps on how to do those but even with doing them a bit wrong, they were helpful for me
Pema Pera: yes, it's like research, really
Lia Rikugun: how long are you doing it fael?
Fael Illyar: since end of May
Lia Rikugun: ok
Lia Rikugun: i am wondering what changed
Lia Rikugun: for you
Fael Illyar: who knows, maybe I'll still find I'm doing them wrong somehow :)
Fael Illyar: a lot ... where to begin :)
Wol Euler remembers the story of the priest, the rowboat and the old man...

But the story didn't come out . . . now I'm very curious! Next time?

Fael Illyar: I used to be rather anxious when I was around people in RL.
Fael Illyar: That's now gone, completely.
Lia Rikugun: wow
Fael Illyar: unknown people that is
Wol Euler smiles
Lia Rikugun: :)
Lia Rikugun: there it was
Fael Illyar: not anxious enough to make me avoid it completely but still...
Lia Rikugun: this is great
Fael Illyar: Hello Key :)
Pema Pera: Hi Key!
Lia Rikugun: hello key
Pema Pera: come join us if you like
Wol Euler nods. It is a good practice and a nice group too. The discussions are very warm and also fascinating
Fael Illyar: oh, sinking in the ground effect again
Lia Rikugun: oh key si sinking
Wol Euler: ah, you found the quicksand spot.
Wol Euler: it's not a trick, don't worry, we can't figure out why it happens.
Lia Rikugun: flying?
Wol Euler: sit on a cushion
Key Tisch: whats happning
Pema Pera: if you sit on a cushion, it should be okay
Wol Euler: right-click on a cushion and select "sit", key
Wol Euler: there
Key Tisch: hi

Key had entered, and had found a seat to sit down.

Wol Euler: there is a problem with the floor here, for some reason. some -- not all -- avs fall through it.
Pema Pera: welcome!
Lia Rikugun: hello
Fael Illyar: I started being able to be noticeably less anxious after just one week.
Lia Rikugun: what a dramatic +auftritt+
Lia Rikugun: how do you say
Pema Pera: We get together here a few times a day, whoever likes to come
Wol Euler: (appearance or arrival)
Wol Euler: entry!
Pema Pera: we're with a group of about fifty or so people, chatting about the nature of reality and whatever else we like to talk about, Key
Lia Rikugun: this is really wonderful
Key Tisch: is this a group?
Lia Rikugun: my brother has problems like this
Pema Pera: http://playasbeing.wik.is/ is our wiki
Pema Pera: yes, but a very loose group
Lia Rikugun: maybe i should tell him to do the same thing
Pema Pera: anyone is welcome to join in
Fael Illyar: Just make sure to not try to force him.
Lia Rikugun: yes i know
Wol Euler: perhaps suggest it to him, Lia. Is he in SL?
Lia Rikugun: nono
Wol Euler: (well, he could do the 9 seconds without joining SL...)
Lia Rikugun: i will definitely tell him
Wol Euler: key, we record these meetings for our website. May we include your name and comments in the log?
Key Tisch: ok sure
Wol Euler: ty
Pema Pera: Key, Lia is from Germany but now in Tokyo, I'm from Holland, but now in New York, Fael's in Helsinki and is Finnish, Wol is Canadian but now in Germany :-)
Pema Pera: a motley crew
Lia Rikugun: nice croud
Fael Illyar: however if you hold a goal while doing these, it's unlikely to work too well.
Wol Euler: typical SL really ...
Pema Pera: :)
Lia Rikugun: key where do you come from
Key Tisch: ok i am from Alaska
Wol Euler: wow.
Pema Pera: ah, still evening there?
Lia Rikugun: how is the weather there now?
Key Tisch: yes 1;00 am
Wol Euler: I would have thought that it would be pitch-black at 4pm by now there?
Key Tisch: got our first smow

The talk turned to sunshine and sleep, and lack of either one.

Wol Euler: don't you have periods of almost no sun at all in midwinter?
Key Tisch: yes and in the summer 24 hours of sun too
Lia Rikugun: wow
Lia Rikugun: this must be great
Pema Pera: like Finland, I guess!
Key Tisch: never sleep then
Lia Rikugun: i want to visit
Lia Rikugun: sleeping in winter
Key Tisch: yes
Wol Euler sighs. If only one could "stockpile" sleep like that...
Key Tisch: winter is rest
Pema Pera: (^_^)
Key Tisch: aw i do
Key Tisch: nnever sleep in the summer
Key Tisch: 5 hours a day
Lia Rikugun: puh, couldnt
Key Tisch: winter 9
Wol Euler: aaah
Pema Pera: interesting to lead different lives that way!
Fael Illyar: umm... it's sleeping even if it's just 5 hours :)
Lia Rikugun: maybe your body can adapt depending on the environment
Key Tisch: you can sleep the sun is so strong at times
Key Tisch: you fill it
Fael Illyar: haven't heard of anyone like that in Finland though and I certainly don't do it myself that way.
Fael Illyar: not even when I still lived in northern parts where there is midnight sun
Wol Euler: I was in St.Petersburg in mid-June a few years ago, it was quite astonishing to see that the sky really didn't get dark at night. And how people continued their "day" all nigt
Wol Euler: the shops stayed open, the streets were full of people walking about at 3 am
Pema Pera: (here in New York too :-)
Lia Rikugun: without teh sunlight
Wol Euler: I was about to say that! heheheh
Lia Rikugun: :P
Pema Pera: (but then we do tend to sleep in the morning!)
Wol Euler: I really noticed that the sun doesnt "rise" in the far north, it rolls _around_ you like an egg on the edge of a plate
Wol Euler: staying low in the sky
Key Tisch: yep
Pema Pera: nice image!
Pema Pera sees a poem coming up . . . Wol?
Key Tisch: try driving
Wol Euler: hehehehe
Key Tisch: its allways in your eyes
Pema Pera: !
Wol Euler: mmhmm
Key Tisch: what do you do for fun here?

A question with many possible answers . . .

Wol Euler: what is this "fun" of which you speak?
Wol Euler chuckles.
Key Tisch: hehehe
Fael Illyar: In SL, your imagination is your limit.
Fael Illyar: well, almost :)
Wol Euler: building, scripting, dancing (!), but mostly just talking...
Fael Illyar: but around here it's a bit more tame than that :)
Pema Pera: and in our group our "fun" is to drop what we have to see more of what we are
Pema Pera: (if that makes any sense)
Fael Illyar: ... well, not sure if calling it tame is the right expression :)
Pema Pera: we like to take 9 seconds every fifteen minutes to stop what we're doing
Wol Euler gave you onigokko.
Wol Euler: wear them :)
Fael Illyar: it can do interesting things sometimes :)
Key Tisch: what was that
Wol Euler: like when somebody says the magic word...
Wol Euler: onigokko
Lia Rikugun: HAHA
Fael Illyar: ah, I was too slow :)
Key Tisch: wow
Key Tisch: hehehe
Fael Illyar: stop
Wol Euler: aaaah, fael, always wear your onigokko!
Fael Illyar: onigokko
Lia Rikugun: A
Lia Rikugun: HAHAHA
Key Tisch: i am a bit dizy hehehe
Wol Euler: stop
Lia Rikugun: yes me too
Wol Euler giggles
Pema Pera: hehehe
Pema Pera: well, you asked for it, Key!
Pema Pera: asking what we do here

The good old onigokko dance . . . hard to convey, dear reader, unless you've seen and felt it . . .

Key Tisch: wow let me catch my head
Key Tisch: you look so tame
Wol Euler: lol
Key Tisch: hehehe
Pema Pera: looks decieve . . .
Wol Euler: looks in SL are particularly ... peculiart.
Pema Pera: wait till you see our pillow fight!
Key Tisch: ok
Wol Euler: we have two lions and a werewolf who come regularly to sessions
Wol Euler: and a yellow teddybear.
Wol Euler: people find a visual identity here, perhaps it's a different part of them that they don't access in RL?
Wol Euler: (phone)
Pema Pera: but coming back to what we do it -- we like to stop what we do a few times an hour in RL, to look around and see more of reality, for just a few seconds each, like a kind of micro-meditation -- and then we talk about our experiences here in SL, very informally; we come together here four times a day, starting at 1 am 7 am 1 pm 7 pm SLT
Pema Pera: you're welcome to drop by, any time you like
Key Tisch gave you Spanker.
Pema Pera: so how do we spank, Key?
Key Tisch: well it did work one sec
Pema Pera: !
Wol spanked Key's ass
Wol Euler: there! I think you need to be standing
Wol spanked Wol's ass
Wol spanked Pema's ass
Wol spanked Lia's ass
Wol Euler: works jus' fine!
Pema Pera: spank Key
Pema Pera: /spank Key
Lia Rikugun: how?
Wol Euler: left click on the butt :)
Pema Pera: ?
Pema Pera: !
Fael spanked Wol's ass
Wol spanked Fael's ass
Fael Illyar: oh, it works :)
Key Tisch: how do you get it i lost mine
Wol Euler: oh you're sinking again..,
Fael spanked Fael's ass
Wol Euler: it should be in your inventory folder still, key.
Pema Pera: :)
Pema Pera: well, folks, I'll go get a bit more sleep, I think
Key Tisch: i sse it but now it doesnt come on my screen
Pema Pera: nice meeting you Key
Fael Illyar: good night Pema :)
Pema Pera: and Lia
Wol Euler: mmm, good idea ... good night pema, take dare
Wol Euler: *care
Pema Pera: and Wol and Fael again!
Lia Rikugun: good night
Wol Euler: but maybe "dare" too ...
Pema Pera: see y'all soon
Pema Pera: take dare I'll do in dream!
Pema Pera the dare devil dreamer
Wol Euler: indeed
Wol Euler: "dream big or stay awake"+
Pema Pera: (if someone can send me a chat log, or append on wiki, I'd appreciate it, for the rest of the conversation!)

Wol would later send me the following snippet.

Lia Rikugun: so 3 minutes for the next gong
Wol Euler: key, the spanker shouldn't be onscreen, it should attach invisibly to your right hip
Key Tisch: ok
Key Tisch: how do i make it work
Wol Euler: right-cick and select "wear"
Fael Illyar: for windows users, this program will work for playing a bell sound every 15 minutes http://www.mindfulnessdc.org/mindfulclock.html
Key Tisch: i did
Wol Euler: stand again, please?
Wol spanked Key's ass
Wol Euler: there
Key Tisch: were is it on me
Wol Euler: invisible :)
Key spanked Key's ass
Key spanked Key's ass
Lia Rikugun: hehe
Wol Euler: it attaches to the right hip, and appears to cover the arse generally
Key spanked Wol's ass
Key spanked Wol's ass
Wol Euler: :)
Key Tisch: oh
Wol Euler sighs. We really must get this floor solved.
Key Tisch: thats not how it use to work
Wol Euler: hmmmm. that's how I know them ... anyway.
Wol Euler: I too shall have to return to RL, work is calling.
Lia Rikugun: me too
Wol Euler: it was nice to meet you Lia and Key, hope to see you again
Wol Euler: Fael, take care, be productive :)
Fael Illyar whispers: perhaps suggest to storm to make the floor thicker?
Lia Rikugun: yes likewise
Fael Illyar whispers: see you later Wol :)
Wol Euler: (or not of candyfloss?)
Key Tisch: ok you too bye bye i neet to go tooo
Wol Euler: bye for now
Lia Rikugun: bye bye