Second Life places: Matanzas Island, home of Skate Foss

Had a lovely time tonight visiting my new friend Skate Foss (who I met through Twitter) on her beautiful sim: Matanzas Island. Skate has several  lovely places for rent there for anyone who wants a tropical island refuge for their second life home. She kindly gave me a tour of the public areas for residents, as well as her own beautiful home.

We began the tour in the greenhouse, a place for residents to gather and enjoy quiet conversation, perhaps over a cup of herbal tea grown from the herbs right there.


Just outside the greenhouse is a lovely waterfall, and while the climb up the waterfall is a bit treacherous and slippery, it is well worth the surprise at the top!

Right at the top of the hill is a sheltered nook that holds a tropical rain forest complete with brightly colored birds and even the occasional rain shower.

Skate's own lovely home built of glass and stone is on the beach below.  It has a marvelous view of the ocean.

If you stop by to visit Skate, you will likely land in the public dock area for residents. There are boats for sailing and a nice beach area for swimming and for beach parties. Ask Skate to show you the homes she has for rent; each is different and all are surrounded by sand dunes offering privacy from neighbors. A peaceful and tranquil place to live. No griefers or rudeness allowed!

Matanzas is a beautiful place to see as well as a great place to live. I am delighted to be able to call Skate Foss a friend, and was honored to be invited to visit her there!

Dancing with Spiff

Dancing with Spiff , originally uploaded by Tsai Jie.

Spiff Whitfield, a friend I haven't seen in ages, took a moment to come see my new digs, and we danced in the sunset there.

Marry him, Sophira!

I was cleaning out my computer folders this morning and found this screenshot I took of the map in SL exactly one month ago. It feels so far away now. You see I was in-world moving my stuff out of Valis. It was the end of my home there. The end of everything Draven and I built together. The end of his love. The end of my world.

You can see my blue "home" location in the top left of the picture. You can see the yellow dot that is me standing there. That was the day I went in to take all my things out and leave the place to Draven. He had told me to "delete" his stuff and keep the place. Told me he was leaving Valis, maybe leaving SL, leaving me. I am still not entirely clear in my head where it all went wrong. We both had real lives that had to come first. But, oh, it was good--for 2 years it was so good. This last year, I don't know. It just all went wrong.

Valis was the first place in SL I could call home. I bought the land for Draven, for his birthday in 2007. Added to it so we could build on it. He used to yell at me for buying more and more land. I wanted more for more prims for him to build with. I so loved watching him build, seeing the gorgeous things he could create. He made me an Italian villa, and a gazebo full of stars, we had waterfalls and airships, boats and beautiful gardens on the land and in the sky.  We talked about someday owning a whole sim . . . I would have given him a continent if I could have.  But he was never comfortable with my gifts, I don't know why. I don't think he every understood that those were just things. The had no real value, the only value in the gifts is just to show someone how much you care about them. And I cared. Loved him. I still do, god help me.

So it was ironic to me that as I was dismantling my life in Valis with Draven--perhaps the most painful thing I have ever had to do--there on the map was this sim, Minacci, just to the south, covered in a marriage proposal. I think that might well be the sweetest thing I have ever seen.

Someone--someone very much in love with Sophira--wants to build a life with her. And he took a whole sim to spell out his love for her in letters of a dozen prims each. On a multi-prim platform in the sky.

I say marry him Sophira. Tell him you love him every single day. If you can't live with him in RL then live with him and love him in SL. Love every moment with him as if it is the last.

Hold onto him, Sophira, and don't ever let go.

The Good / The Not So Good

It has been an odd week and a half for me. Some good, some not so good.

Not good: I lost my best friend. We'd had fights before. But I guess I always had faith that the friendship would survive. We'd blow up, then we'd talk. This time? Not so much. He's gone.

Good: I discovered some things about myself. I am an incurable optimist. I still believe that love and friendship can survive anything if both sides are willing to try. I still hope that someday we can be friends again.

Not good: I lost the only place I ever called home in SL. I should have known it was coming. I did know. But it still felt like getting a rug pulled out from under me.

Good: I found new land in Zindra, in McGavet. I was only half-heartedly looking, but I found a parcel that the previous owner had named "Serendipity Cove." I figured that was too serendipitous to pass up. And the price was right. The tier was, too. So I bought it.

Not so good: I have no one to share it with.

Kind of good: Another thing I discovered about myself this week is that I am at heart a nest-builder. That will be no surprise to anyone who knows me in RL. I am forever making over, rearranging, remodeling, and shopping for my RL home. When stressed I tend to head for Pier 1, Bed Bath & Beyond, or Home Depot. Even changing the colors of the bathroom towels and soaps can make my day. So it should be no surprise that rebuilding in a new space in SL was fairly theraputic as well. And I needed that therapy.

Neither good nor bad: There is some irony in the fact that I (once again) made a romantic spot to hang out in SL. Dancing, cuddles, and even sex animations. Waterfalls, pools, and gardens. I did mention that I am an incurable optimist, didn't I? And even if the man I would most like to share it with is no longer interested in me, well, at least perhaps I can make a nice place for other lovers to visit, to play.

So keep watching, I'll post pictures as I change the seasons at Serendipity Cove and redecorate regularly. Feel free to come by with your loved one and enjoy the facilities, make yourself at home.

Song for a silent Sunday: The Engine Driver by the Decemberists

And I am a writer, writer of fictions
I am the heart that you call home
And I've written pages upon pages
Trying to rid you from my bones

I am a writer, I am all that you have hoped on
And I've written pages upon pages
Trying to rid you from my bones
My bones
My bones

Song du Jour: "Won't Go Home Without You" by Maroon 5

Dancing in the Airship

Dancing in the Airship

Originally uploaded by Tsai Dancing in the Airship--a rez-day present to Draven that makes a great hideaway above Valis. (Ship was created by Cara Rossini)