When I was writing this up, I found not just one quote to use, but two. I’ll title this with Joe Jackson’s song and include the video at the bottom. But following is another sonnet from Harper’s beloved Poetry Magazine archive (which really is a nifty source of material!)
How can I offer you the dull, frayed song Of love I know? Each word would stumble on A memory; and I should see a long Blurred line of faces grimacing upon A musty curtain of the past …. Ah, no …. Let me be silent …. Words would only sound A monotone: a toxic, cloying flow Of echoes would sift through, and eddy round My voice, and all the rapture that I feel Would turn into a harlequin and steal Away beneath the vivid, measured hum Of mockery. Ah, dearest, may there come An ecstasy of stillness in each day, That you may sense the thoughts I dare not say!
I love this song, and this video illustrates what we do in Second Life (as I did in my photos above) quite nicely, transforming ourselves for a time into whatever life we want to live, to change away from the humdrum and pains of daily Real Life.
It’s as good a time as any for a holiday trip, as the Europeans would call it, down to the Mediterranean coast.
I was thinking of calling this article “Harper’s Morning Macchiato,” ripping off Morgan’s piece from a week or two back. But it doesn’t alliterate as well (sigh).
Never start a morning without caffeine of some kind. (That is, if you can handle the buzz.) Fortunately, this mobile coffee shop was handy.
Thank God for Second Life right now! A safe place to meet, and mostly a place of calm, where you can get your head together for an hour or two outside of the fears and panic of the times.
And a woman spoke, saying, “Tell us of Pain.” And he said: Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding. Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain. And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy; And you would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields. And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief. Much of your pain is self-chosen. It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self. Therefore trust the physician, and drink his remedy in silence and tranquillity: For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided by the tender hand of the Unseen, And the cup he brings, though it burn your lips, has been fashioned of the clay which the Potter has moistened with His own sacred tears.
Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet, “On Pain”
Skin: Raonhausen Gweneth (BOM; Milk Brows)
Head: LAQ Skye 3.07 Bento
Body: Maitreya Lara 5.0.2
Eyes: Ikon Triumph (Chocolate)
Hair: no.match no.sir.
Outfit: Ricielli Vivian blouse (14) and skort (4) (purchase as separates; available at Cosmopolitan through April 4)
Shoes: Ohemo Daisy block-heel boots (available at Cosmopolitan through April 4)
Teleport to Tokyo-Windhill City (SSOC region).You will not land in the park, as this is a sim with a dedicated landing point! Exit the arcade you land in, then open the Map and change the Location numbers to 133 / 209 / 33, so you will get a beacon to walk toward (no flying allowed in the sim). The park will lie northeast of your landing point, 1-2 minutes’ walk.)
I decided to catch up on some of the classic old locations again, and so made a visit to Port Babbage. I’ve never been much for steampunk; but I have to say that the Babbage regions are fascinating … if smoggy (lol).
I wasn’t quite in costume. Then again, as I said, I’m not that into steampunk; and anyway, as I understand, Port Babbage and Caledon aren’t that fussy on outtatime visitors.
Skin: Raonhausen Gweneth Milk Brows
Body: Maitreya Lara 4.1
Head: LAQ Skye 3.07 Bento
Eyes: Ikon Triumph (Chocolate)
Hair: rezology Sky 218
Outfit: A&M green moss turtleneck (system); Vextra Messing opaque pantyhose (Blue); Maddict Starlet leather pants; The Annex Belle coat (Gray)
Many of us, especially the newer Residents, are told that the old Mainland continents are little more than a wasteland now, full of depopulated regions and old, out-of-date megaprim ad boards. But, if you’re willing to take the time and do the exploring … that was one of the things that Second Life was all about, a decade or so ago … you can find some pretty regions still in existence, such as Bay City on Sansara. Or like this yacht club area up on the north coast of Gaeta V, situated along SL Route 7. The club itself is across the road, inland; but you have a beach here, and several houses.
Here I am on the dock, near the chaises and a few Jet Skis. You only have a few days left on this before Uber closes, so get over there as soon as doable, and snag it. (I’m wearing this without the shoulder option, it should be noted.)
Zana Sherman was fortunate that this weekend wasn’t as academically busy as it would become closer to the end of term. It seemed that her social calendar was compensating, by sending her invitations to meet with people she loved or enjoyed. Aside from Alon Cohen on Friday night, though, she was holding things to only an hour or so, and joining up with them on the way to other venues, such as the laundry or the Psych House … the graduate students’ name for the departmental offices. Even for a college student … at least one as diligent as Zana … socializing wasn’t everything ….
But she stretched the limits at Saturday lunch, because the meal was with Dara Furtano-Fa. The relationship with “Big Sis” ran back to when Dara had saved the lives of both Zana and her mother on the construction stage of The Land of Fantasy, her mother’s famous theatre. Not only had Zana met Dara that day, but the accident had set events in motion that led to Dara’s getting the cyborg conversion she had desired … and all that had arisen in the ‘borg community since.
Both women had a fondness for a restaurant in Vidran’s Arosen sector that offered what the owner called “Mongolian grill,” but served up al fresco. They were deep in discussion at a shady table outside the restaurant, situated on a food court in one corner of the district’s park. “And so the term’s going well so far?” Dara asked as their tea arrived. The sun of Videra’s primary glinted off her sunglasses, worn mostly for fashion’s sake, as ‘borgs’ eyes were quite capable of handling bright sunshine. (The sun also gleamed off the integuments of both women, golden on Zana and silver on Dara; they had chosen the shady table to spare the eyes of other diners and passersby as much as possible from the reflection.)
She had forgotten how the August night Was level as a lake beneath the moon, In which she swam a little, losing sight Of shore; and how the boy, who was at noon Simple enough, not different from the rest, Wore now a pleasant mystery as he went, Which seemed to her an honest enough test Whether she loved him, and she was content.
Second Life® with Harper, Conan, Jem, Diana and Morgan
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