Belated update: this post got “stuck”in draft form until our return to a more civilized level of bandwidth. We returned Sunday and I have only just begun to recover from the trauma of traveling from Tropical Paradise to Midwestern Purgatory.
However, the Outworld Cat, Lord of All Housemonkeys is glad to be home from the Kitty Spa. See below for a bit of my Outworld adventures.
I’ve been in the chosen land of my birth for some 10 days; although unable to get inworld on the asthmatic wheeze laughably known as my laptop, I have been enjoying a time of creative and spiritual recharge.
Who are we kidding here?!? I’ve been gorging on exotic foods, swimming with colorful fishes (no mermaids) and going on voyages to observe cetaceans.
Although I did not get as many landscaping and other images to turn into textures and things, I have taken many photographs and built up a trove of memories.
We (my partner Rock Fall and I) are currently waiting at what must be the only Outworld airship terminal to boast views of rollicking cetaceans. It is a very relaxed little place, boasting very short to non-existent Terrible Security Annoyance lines. The TSA gentleman was quite courtly and soft-spoken just now, it was quite refreshing.
As we wait (we are quite early, having learnt its better to have time to deal with returning hired carriages) we watch the ocean channel far below, and watch a rain squall move across toward the southernmost islands in the chain.
It is almost as convenient as teleportation.
However, soon we will “fly” (in the Outworld sense) to Oahu, the Gathering Place. We spend as little time as possible in the frenetic tourist-infested urban environs, but head to the North Shore to a place we have never been. Adventure! Romance! Decisions about where to have lunch and dinner await!
While unable to do much online other than rescue my virtual cat, Dash, I have been following various Second Life stories and blogs.
Having had some time to think about the “unpaid blogging for Linden Labs” issue, I’ve decided that I am in favor of it. However, it should really be an opportunity for less-known Second Life residents to be showcased. And not just for commercial reasons, but to highlight the possibilities for creativity and social outlets that Second Life offers. Sometimes I think Linden Labs does a terrible job marketing SL, and that they should leave some of the “wow” factoring to Residents, who are really their most underused assets as far as getting the word out that Second Life is not dead, in spite of LL’s worst efforts.
It appears they may have us go through the TSA place now.
And through we are, although owing to excessive attachments, tech, and metallics, it took ONE OF US longer than the other (naming no names, but it was not I).
Soon we shall bounce into the air and leave dear Mowee behind us once again.
LATER: Well, 4 days in Paradise were almost a complete bust; the out-of-the-way “resort” was really more of a… eclectic collection of faux-elegant beach shacks on a muddy backwater, but it had some nice touches.
It did turn out to be hard to figure out meals, but the area had interesting history, we did find one really wonderful restaurant, and we determined that Oahu is not our favorite, but perhaps worth a return visit (just not to the Windward side, except for Kailua, which seemed fun).
Our return journey was fairly routine. We did enjoy the Bishop Museum, whose Victorian esthetic was quite soothing.
Then only last night we were watching the aetheric entertainment box recording of the Hawaii Five-Oh Show, and saw it was recorded at the Bishop Museum (!), featuring mysterious Hawaiian artifacts that we had just seen a few days ago. The hilarity! The déjà vu all over again!
Not only that, but while venturing to the museum that day, we stumbled upon what may have been a filming crew in the neighborhood, which wasn’t glamorous at all.
Note to HBA: the colors and filters used on #H50 are quite garish and the city of Honolulu is a bit more drab and more congested than depicted. However, there IS a “Rock-a-Hula” show, with Elvii.