The BBB Anniversary Concludes

 
By Gemma Cleanslate

The last days of the BBB event were full and busy. The staff hung around the fairgrounds greeting those who were still gathering stamps for their visas. Some gatherings were planned and on the events calendar. Some were impromtu, so I did miss a few. But everyone who visited the fairgrounds had a marvelous time just exploring , riding the train and meeting the staff who were there.

A pop party where DJ FAR (fwdfwd Farslider) provided the entertaining tunes. Great attendance as usual!

Ambassador Yukiko Yeshto led another of her fun tours on Saturday to other regions of the Bellisseria continent. One amazing part of the tour was by bus. We entered a tunnel under the waterway on a region . Everyone was shocked to see the tunnel and then more surprised to enter another tunnel for the next stop. Then we transferred to the train to get us to the next stops. At each stop we picked up another visa stamp that was especially for event. Yuki advised us there would be another tour Sunday and we could hardly wait!

The start of the tour Sunday was by minicopter! That was an experience . I started flying my mini and following the course that was charted for us. Everything was fine until I wandered off the coast line and too close to a security orb I think. Next thing I know I was in the water with no copter. Thank goodness I was able to get into a passing copter and continue as a passenger.

After collecting the stamp at Fishtail Point we continued over to Molehenge that was the site of the next stamp and also a magical stone. Touching the stone was enough to take each one of us off to the next stop, Fantasseria. This is where Kalia and Riot were married a while back. We tried out the beautiful flying luna moths around the lovely community center. I missed the end of the tour but know it ended at Rigamarole pier.

Later the final planned event party took place at the fairgrounds again. DJ Stephanie spun some lovely tunes as staff and many members of the group and friends enjoyed the fireworks overhead. What a week! It was a jam packed week and it will take a while for attendees, and I am sure the staff , to recover and slow down. Thanks to Boo and all the staff for the great event! The beautiful venue at the Fairgrounds will be gone but will be replaced ty another for the next event. We will see what will come.

In the middle of all this I went over to Burn2 Winter event to do Ranger work. I took some photos of the cute gingerbread houses and the parties going on . Here is a look at some of the builds and party if you did not make it. 

Gemma Cleanslate
 

A Look At The Sci-Fi Expo

 
By Bixyl Shuftan

From Friday October 8 to Sunday October 17, 2021, the Sci-Fi Expo took place in Second Life. Subtitled "A Journey to New Eden," it was a celebration of science-fiction (and to some extent fantasy), it also had the purpose of raising money for Making Strides for Breast Cancer. 

The event took place in six temporary sims near the permanent American Cancer Society and American Cancer Society 2 sims. They were Aperture, New Eden, Arecibo II, The Remnant, Genisis Spire, and The Old Dam. For those not familiar with the "Portal" game, "Aperture" was the name of the corporation. The "IPink ICan" sim was host to the "I Pink I Can" event that took place at the same time. 

One minor complaint I've heard from a few Relayers is that some of the Sci-Fi Cons and Expos seemed a little plain in how they were made, compared to events like the Relay Weekend. 

This wasn't so much the case this time. The sims appeared to me to be much better done.

Lately, my schedule can be occasionally unpredictable. While I wasn't at the opening day of the Expo, I was able to be at several events the following day on Saturday the 9th. From 10 AM to Noon SL time at the main stage in Aperture, "DJ Kayla and the Roos," members of the Roos team of the Relay for Life, were playing onstage to a crowd.

 

 "Who you gonna call?" The Roos in this case.

From 1 to 4PM, there were the "Combat Bumper Boats ... Grab your friends and your water wings for some fun on the high seas!  Rez a bumper boat and challenge your friends to see who will remain dry, and who will be all wet behind the ears.  This is definitely a fun time you don't want to miss!"

The rules were fairly straightforward. Click on the boat rezzer, sit on the boat, select a color, then go at it in a free-for-all with no score. 

The boats when rezzed all started with 100 points of health. When they hit the shore, they lost a little health. When hitting another boat, they would lose more health. If there was a method to make another boat lose more health than you, I never did find it. Occasionally, there was a cartoon "smash," "zoing," "boing," or some other animated effect floating in the air.

There was also a water gun one could squirt at other players. I wasn't sure if it did a tiny amount of damage, or none at all. But we were using them anyway.

From 6 to 9PM that night was the superhero-themed "Bat Dance." As the narrator put it, "Don your super suit and enter the depths of the Batcave for a party that will even put a smile on the face of the Dark Knight!  It's a super night of dancing that will be absolutely heroic!" 

We ended up having a, super, time.

 On Tuesday at 8PM, it was DJ Mattie's turn on stage.

 "It's time for another event at the Sci-Fi Expo Main Stage. Performing at 8PM is the talented DJ Mattie. 'Shi was raised on country music, blues, bluegrass and classic rock. Shi still has a great passion for these genres, country being hir favorite. Music has always gotten hir though some of the worst times in hir life, and now shi love to share some of these wonderful tunes with folks here on SL' Come on over as we kick cancer's behind and have a fun time doing it."

 Someone passed around a few hula hoops. 

And there was quite a diverse audience.

I also decided to give the Sci-fi Expo quest a try. 

The plot of the quest involves Earth trying to broker a peace between the various factions of the colony world of New Eden. But the global communication network is down, and one of the research assistants from Earth has gone missing with a data crystal with information the delegation needs to get things going.

But as anyone whom has done these kinds of quests before, it wasn't that easy. Even when you find the research assistant, your quest has only just begun. She plugged an ancient computer into the communication network. 

In trying to find out what's going on, you discover a powerful artificial intelligence in the alien computer, which doesn't necessarily put Humanity's interests as priority.

You also run into the Greslok, the planet's native race.

 Much of their home area is littered with starship debris, which the human government has promise to clean up, eventually.

As it turns out, the Greslok live simply now, but long ago were more advanced and created a powerful artificial intelligence they ended up going to war with one another resulting in the destruction of technology, including the AI.

With the AI now seemingly reactivated, you go to turn off the main source of it's power.

You don't succeed in turning off the power. But you do get the artificial superinteligence to think about it's situation. In the end, a truce is agreed to, and it agrees to share some teraforming technology.

That's pretty much what I saw at the Sci-fi Expo. I did hear on Discord that on the day before it's close, it had raised more than 1,750,000 Lindens, or $7000 US dollars.

 There was more of course. Wildstar Beaumont would take a number of pictures and post them on his Flickr. And one can check out more on the blog (here). 

Bixyl Shuftan
 

Pastor Dan's Talent Show

By Bixyl Shuftan

On Sunday May 3, I got to see something I hadn't seen for a while in Second Life. I dropped in on a talent show. PastorDanT Resident told me about it, and invited me over to check it out.

The SURL took me to "Party Time Dancers," high above the Deep Woods sim. To my surprise, when the lag started to clear I found I was on stage. I promptly stepped down. Just in front of the stage were four seats with red unlit "X"s in front of them. Three of them were occupied by a man and two women: Bigtex Cuddihy, KaliiNoire, and Pastor Lynne (Lynne Applewhyte). I went ahead and got into the seating area. PastorDanT soon appeared on stage, and in voice welcomed everyone to the show.

One at a time, five women appeared on stage to sing a song: Aliana Rallier, Fawn (FawnSilver), Selena Alexandre, Mrs. TommyC (NancyleeWillis), and Faith Fromund. Some had some technical difficulties with the sound, and I had to reboot the stream with most of them. But all five got cheers from the audience. Alina, Fawn, and Selena all got overal approval from the judges. With Mrs. TommyC, not so much, Bigtex saying, "I think your voice is great, but the song was not a good match. No for me, sorry." Faith got quite a number of cheers from the audience. Then someone from the judges rang the "golden buzzer." Tex and I were fighhting for the buzzer," Pastor Lynne would say. The contesents would all get applause from the audience, though one expressed disapointment of her favorite singer not making it to the next event.

After most everyone else had cleared out, I had a few words with PastorDanT, to which he responded to my questions in voice. When asked where did he get the idea for the talent show, he answered that it was from "Out of boredom," and with all the things happening in real life lately. He had been spending time in his "mancave, a house outside of my house. Anyway, I did this because this would be a good pressure relief" for the public, and fun and exciting.

When he announced the tryouts for his talent show, twelve people answered. "Six bailed," he told me, two thinking they were "too good" for the competition. Pastor Dan would say the show was inspired in part by "America's Got Talent," adding, "I'm a live singer in Second Life as well, I love to perform." He felt the show was "a nice tension breaker, seems to be working." He was getting no money from this, "This is just for fun. ... this hectic world we're living in. Everyone had fun."

As for how much time it took to organize everything, Pastor Dan felt compared to everything else that was the easy part. Someone he knew made the stage and got it to do everything he wanted from the special effects to the curtain, "In return, we sponsor her on the wall. Anyone else who sponsored also got their picture on the wall."

The winner of the competition would be determined by a process of elimination, with the judges voting after each performance. Lighting an "X" up was a strike against the person, "one person get two Xs, she won't be back next week." The winner at the end would be getting a trophy. While there was no cash prize, "they get the recognition, get a chance to sing at one of the places for money."

Of the six women, three "have never done a live event, so that's good. Usually they DJ, so they don't use their singing voice. I think they were pretty good. One got the golden buzzer." He commented she was surprised when it went off, "she didn't know what it was." With this event, there were five with one going out, and four staying to next time.

Pastor Dan told me the next event would be held at the same place, but "we're going to try to go to different venues. meet more people." He told me over time, he'd been with a lot of venues in Second Life, clubs and lounges and places selling musical instruments, "I've been to a lot, too many. I've heard from some back, a few nasty, oh well, that's SL. Working on getting out more."

He had wanted four judges for the event, but only three were able to make it today. Still, he felt they were "a great group of judges." Each runs a venue inworld. Bigtex Cuddihy ran "Party Time Dancers" where the event took place. KaliiNoire, Pastor Dan told me she ran "one of the biggest restaraunts with a club inside." Pastor Lynn was a pastor here in Second Life.

Of the next round of the competition, "Probably on Friday the 8th, 3PM SL time." It would still be in Party Time Dancers, "Later events at the Elixr, hopefully."

And yes, Pastor Dan is a pastor in Second Life, doing church services on Sunday at Noon SL time, with live broadcasts on Zoom, "people can join in. ... Other than that, I chase my chickens and feed the rabbits."

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Deep%20Woods/188/220/2504

Bixyl Shuftan

Dorie Bernstein And The Dreams Sims

By Marcel Mosswood

Good and evil do exist everywhere including Second Life, there are good avatars and evil ones. Dorie Bernstein is one of the many good-hearted avatars I know in Second Life. She manages Dreams sims along with several of her teams to present a safe and comfortable sim for the visitors in community and practice building in Second Life.

“Golda Stein is the rat behind the scenes," Dorie explained, "making sure the finances are in order as well as being the head boss for everything. Kely is a co-manager and ably manages the weekly Texture Contest and Speed Build, as well as many other duties behind the scenes. We have many who contribute time, support and L$ to keep our group thriving. Everyone makes this happen.

Dorie went on, “We have support groups that meet regularly for ShockProof, Brigadoon Explorers, and ADHD. ShockProof is the group for stroke and TBI survivors and their loved ones. Those meetings happen once or twice a month. Brigadoon Explorers is our group for those on the autism spectrum as well as their loved ones. They meet once a week. The ADHD group meets once a week as well.

"Building and texturing contests happen on a weekly, monthly and semi-weekly basis. Speed Build and Texturing Contests happen once a week on the same days and times used since the beginning. A monthly contest for building centers around a theme, often tied to the time of year. Until fairly recently, that contest was a pure building contest. Now, the rules allow for folks to create their vision using objects made by anyone at any time. This change was necessary to maintain engagement in events as mesh hit the grid and changed the relationship between builders and content creation. A semi-weekly building challenge (WBC) maintains a pure build focus, for those who want the challenge of creating something entirely new to meet the theme and particular challenge. Each week, we have our own version of 'Primtionary' for those liking to do quick-draw builds for others to guess the given word.

"Art has always been celebrated at Dreams, with various events through the years focused on different forms of artwork possible in Second Life. Huntress Catteneo rents our third sim, and has created a haven for artists of all sorts. She runs an art festival each year to raise money for charities. One of our members, FionaFei, created a marvelous art installation and gallery 2,000 meters high in Dreams. It has become the site of Friday night concerts with live music each week.

"The Dream Creations store offers a spot for group members to sell their creations. It also is where we have a yard sale and gacha resale area to help bring funds into the sims for paying the tier.”

Dreams are made to help people with disability to explore Second Life. But Dreams also is a safe place for normal people. Have you ever had a problem when protecting the interests of people with disability when they are in the midst of normal people in Second Life?

“While we do have a focus on helping those with disabilities find a safe place to be in Second Life, we don't make that the most visible part of our programming," Dorie answered, "We never require folks to identify if they have any particular disability, or what it is if they have one. Our rules and culture is designed to create the safe place and allow people to choose whether to share what they're dealing with behind the keyboard. Sometimes it helps to let that all go and have a sense of escaping the normal realities. We do expect all of our visitors and members to behave in a respectful and kind manner, regardless of what disability they may or may not have. The health of the whole group is important, and won't be sacrificed to 'save' someone who is causing massive disruptions. When handling difficult situations, I do try to be aware of where someone is coming from in order to figure out the best path forward. I'm only human, of course, and will fall down on that from time to time.” 

You have maintain the Dreams tradition and programs for many years, this is not easy. Do you have tips to stay consistent with these programs?

Dorie answered, “The main thing is to know just what is important about the traditions and programming. Find the essence, and work to maintain that. Embrace the changes that come to the grid and see how they can be worked into the old. I know that our group's founder would have embraced the new and found ways to use it. Trying to stop time doesn't honor the past. We do have nods to tradition sprinkled around the sims. A set of 'drama frogs' made by the founder sit by a pond. A stray micro prim from jewelry a past member is enshrined in the wall of the store. There is always a wall of some sort in the sandbox, as a reminder of our early wall-sitting sessions. We'd gather in the sandbox to chat, play with prims, work on projects, and bond over crazy fun.”

I had two questions about Dorie as a person:

With your very limited time in Second Life and real-life, how can you manage Dreams?

“We have a good team at Dreams," Dorie explained, "Each member runs their part, and that makes life so much easier for all of us. On my own side of it, I am learning how to use the word 'no' better. I do try to determine where I can save time without sacrificing quality. Engagement and participation are more valued in our events than attempting to maintain traditions simply for the sake of tradition.”

You have a unique way of thinking, including when building with basic prims. And I admire your ability to arrange SL's basic prims into new, very symmetrical shapes. What is the basis of your creative thinking?

“I like to challenge myself and see if I can do something different with prims," spoke Dorie, "I've played with them enough to know that there are a lot of shapes hiding with sufficient prim torture. With the new mesh Land Impact accounting system that can be applied to the 'traditional' prims, I'm having fun adding in the details that once were just cost-prohibitive in terms of prim counts. Some builds, I am trying to mimic something from real life. Other times, I am looking for ways to add an off-beat touch to things. This is Second Life, after all. Why stick to 'normal' all the time?”

I’m so in agreement with the last sentence.

Visit Dreams: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Dreams/108/150/25

Marcel

Christmas Giving Tree and Sponsor an SL Child for the Holidays

By Alura Denver (Alura Messing)

The Holiday Season is all about spending time with family and friends regardless of what religion you follow.  No matter what community we spend our time in here in Second Life, we all find some way to celebrate with the people we spend our time with.  The "Family/Kid" role playing community feels the holidays even more than some others since "family" and "community" are at the very heart of the holidays.  But not every kid has a family and some families are not here for the SL holidays, because they are off in real life celebrating, or on vacation.  So, many who role play little kids are left alone with no one to spend time with.  This year however, a small dent is being put into that loneliness.  Sweet Tots store reached out to their customers and the kid community to host the first ever "Giving Tree and Sponsor an SL Child" for the Holidays.

Sweetiepie Riggles the owner of Sweet Tots was approached by her SL sister Cryssie ｱєνєηѕєу Tiepolo яιℓєу (Crystalle Qork)  with the idea for this because she herself was a kid with no family for the holidays.  As the two talked over the details and opportunities they could see with the event,  they got so excited that they started it two weeks early to give the kids even more time to make plans and interact with sponsors if they chose to.

What they soon found, was that they had more response from people wanting to help and sponsor kids, than they did have kids.  "At first pepols was scared to sign up. Sometimes pepols judge kids for being needy. but but the role of RPing a kids is being able to provide for us selves." said Cryssie "Lots of times kids are afraids to ask for help. Thems not wanna seem too needy."  But they found a way around this fear by asking the community to refer kids to them as well as sponsor, in a notecard that the sent to their whole customer base.

After the deadline for applications passed, Cryssie set up an "Angel Wall" that people could go to to pick kids to help.  This was set up as an activity for families so they could role play doing this together.  Depending on what the kid wanted to do (just get a present or spend time with a family) the sponsor was then able to contact the kid and share the gift or arrange an activity for them to join.  Some kids might just RP a nice dinner or maybe time with Christmas Jammies, hot coco and stories.  At that point it was all up to them.

The outcome of the event was a smashing success.  Some of the families fell in love with the kids they sponsored and asked them to join their families and adopted them.  Others just got the joy of opening not just the one thing they hoped for, but a whole slew of presents.  "Every kids that signed up gotta present whether they asked for it or not!  I had 3 stores donate toys and stuff and 5 stores donate clothing but but Sweet Tots donated huge gift cards to all the kids that signed up. So each box has about 25-30 presents" said Cryssie.

Cutiepie (0ojazzyd0o) was one of the participants this year.  She and her sponsor spoke a few times about things she liked and what they were going to do to celebrate.  When I spoke with Cutiepie she was looking forward to having dinner with her family, playing some games and exchanging some presents.  When I asked her if she would do it again she absolutely lit up with excitement and said " i enjoyed doing it yes and if i chould do it a gan tomarow .... i got lots of gitf all readyy from some of the sponcers of the giving tree in cluding  bubblegum and sweet tots and raynas closet.  i saport sweet tots and thought it was a realy cool i dea to have a giving event."

With such a successful event and so many wonderful experiences coming out of it I asked Cryssie if she would consider doing it again next year.  Her immediate response was, "yes! I hope to do it for many many many many many years to come.   I like knowing the lil bit effort helps sooooo many kids."  So be sure to look into it next year if you would like to donate or participate and share in some holiday love.

Alura Messing

Memorial Service For Riven Homewood

By Bixyl Shuftan

On Saturday April 8, dozens of avatars gathered to remember the life of Riven Homewood. Noted for her work on libraries, particularly those in the steamlands, and in the Relay, she died suddenly on Monday April 3, 2017. As 10:30 AM approached, dozens of avatars gathered at Calimari Island Park at Caledon South End, which had been owned by Riven, to honor her and share stories in remembrance.. The area was a island park with a number of seats. Gabrielle Riel announced that they were unable to play music on the parcel, so she was playing some on her own stream which could be accessed on the Internet via a music playing program. Among those there were Honour McMillan, Crap Mariner, Baron Wulfenbach, and many others.

"It does not seem real that she is gone," Nyree Rain commented. JJ Drinkwater, who helped organize the vent, spoke of one song, "I have no idea why this song makes me cry for Riven, but it does." He then continued, "There are a hundred things I want to say about Riven, that I’ve thought of this week. But I’m going to save most of them for the celebration or her life later this month. Because if anyone's worth celebrating, Riven is. I don’t even know how to say what Riven was to me. A good friend, a valuable, thoughtful, provoking colleague - provoking in the very best way. She was also an inspiration - the kind of student who teaches the teacher. Because she was a lifelong learner, a lifelong explorer. One thing I loved about Riven is that she'd always tell you what she appreciated about you. It’s not that she never found fault - she could grouse with the best of them.  We had some great 'Yeah, and another thing...' sessions. But she always returned to enthusiasm, to appreciation, to excitement. She saw people kindly. Something that, given how fragile life is, we could all stand to do more of. I've been thinking about that a lot this week. This is what she had as a tagline on one of her accounts: 'Life is short - Be swift to love, make haste to be kind.' I’ve put it on her Pick in my profile, the remind me to be as little more like her."

JJ then excused himself, "I think that's all." Several people gave praise for his words. Kghia Gherardi then spoke, "And next, Miso. Miso Susanowa is representing not only herself but many of Riven's friends on Twitter who could not make it." Miso then spoke, "Hi folks. As mentioned, I knew Riven best through Twitter. She had many friends and conversation partners there. I have chatted for YEARS with her there. As (lapsed) Catholics, we had many long-ranging discussions about faith, spirituality and the Church. I counted on her tweets for interesting, critical or otherwise valuable information. Riven NEVER tweeted a link that was boring! She was also a good ReTweeter,  fascinating, personal and care-full presence. She leaves a big hole in all our lives. She leaves a big hole in many lives."

After Miso concluded her speech, which was followed by some applause, Kghia told the group, "Valibrarian Gregg is able to join us today via his phone, which is limiting his experience a bit. He has asked me to paste his thought into chat on his behalf." She then corrected herself, "I mean, She. *sigh* I was doing so well. ... OK, Val shares the following....virtual path shared / memories more real than dreams / cherished friend, Riven. Valibrarian would also like to say that Riven was a foreword thinking librarian and big supporter of the ALA ACRL virtual world interest group - will be greatly missed. 'ty for sharing Kghia - I am blind on my phone!  but couldn't miss this.' "

Following more applause, next was Madga Kamenev, "It's funny, that after knowing Riven in the largely text-based environments of SL and Twitter - the thing I will remember most about Riven is her voice. She was one of the first avatars I heard on voice - and I think her voice epitomized her. She had such a warm, earthy, infectious laugh. She was welcoming to all, kind and generous and patient, but she had a fierce streak, as well as a taste for mischief and adventure. She was endlessly curious, always inventive, ALWAYS building bridges. She could have made her home anywhere. I'm so glad she made her home here in SL, and in the Steamlands. She made our world, our multiple words, virtual and physical, better places for having her in them. Thank you, Riven. Thank you, Jean. Rest in peace."

Kghia passed on a message from noted blogger Inara Pey, "Please pass on condolences to Riven's family. This is sad news and a loss to so many." She passed on another from anothe rnoted blogger, Daniel Voyager, "Very sad news and huge loss for Second Life." From Lludmarfie, "Riven was one of my earliest friends."

Kghia told everyone, "Will leave early to make room for others. 'Be well, all.' " Linn Darkwatch, stated, "I will go to make room also. I cannot say I knew Riven well; she was just one of those people I saw at events sometimes, always one of the ones that people are happy to see there." Miso was the third to speak along those lines, "Ah, I think I also will leave so as to let others in.Thank you all for your memories of Riven." Otenth Håkon Paderborn (Otenth Paderborn) reminded the group, "The sim is set to 100 maximum avatars, so no one needs to feel that they should leave to make room for other in the sim."

Beth Ghostraven gave her words, "The last time I talked with Riven, I mentioned how I wished I had a horse I could ride--and she gave me one! A wonderfully generous spirit, she was a librarian to the core, as well as a good friend. I'm going to miss her. ... I am curious about what she used this setting for--it's so perfect for this occasion!" JJ told her, "The parcel description is 'Dedicated to the people and places we miss.' "

RockAndRoll Michigan was next, "First off, I think my first thought I want to share about Riven will sound particularly unflattering at first, but I would like to ask that you bear with me and I think it'll make sense, is that fair? When I think of Riven, the first thing that comes to mind for me is old shoe leather. Unflattering comparison, right? But I don't intend it that way. When I think of old shoe leather, I think comfortable. You slip on that pair of shoes and it's already broken in, soft and pliable, and it just feels good to wear that kind of old shoes, you know?" A few of the people nodded in agreement, "Yes, you did just slip into an easy conversation with her."

Rock continued, "Sometimes I'm afraid I've taken Riven's presence too much for granted for that reason, too, but I've always felt deep respect for her outlook on life and how she treats other people. She was a real gem and I feel blessed to be somebody who can say that I was able to call her 'friend' here in Second Life. Riven and I have really been out of touch for a long while, as I've been out of touch with a lot of you. And when I heard the news, it left a real void that really took me by surprise. I didn't expect it to hit me that hard. I've had a lot to process over the last two weeks, really the last year for that matter. And losing Riven on top of everything else was shocking. One thing it's prompted me to do is to start writing about my experiences in the last almost 11 years here in Second Life, and how the things I've done, people I've met, and general all-around life here has impacted who I am in the real world. Riven just seems to have that kind of effect on people.

"Going to miss you, Riven, my friend. Thank you for being old shoe leather!"

After some applause, Princess Selena (SelenaAnansi Resident) spoke next, "I didn't know Riven very well personally, but she was someone I saw through out the steamlands as a force of good will, intelligence, and generosity.  And while I did not know her very well personally, she was held in the highest of regard by the people who I hold in the highest of regard, so by extension she was always someone I admired. I am feeling the loss of her shining warmth through my friends and I regret not getting the chance to get to know her better. Thank you for letting me be here and share in this beautiful memorial for a lost friend." She ended with a curtsy.

OldeSoul Eldemar (OldeSoul Resident) followed, "I have had many of my very special moments in SL spent with Ms. Homewood.   As others have said, she always kindly retweeted my tweets. Our friendship actually was sharing our ABC horses.  We both had sale barns at Brune's. She and I bought each other's horses. She was very involved in showing horses and at times, she would want to ride one of my horses in a show.  She was much cuter than me. Ms. Beth," she glanced to Beth, "there is a lot to the horse story.  So I would hand her a horse to ride - her horse of choice. She would show the horse and of course, win! Then we would meet in IM or later. She would return the horse and we would divide the winnings - we would laugh uproarious and wink. I know some of the horse folks here know what I speak of. We tossed our winnings in an RFL kiosk.  She was with Steelhead Salmons and with Team ACTS. So she would contribute to Steelhead Salmons and I would contribute to Team ACTS. Our relaying spirits were very kindred - we relayed for those we had lost and we did it our way!

"On a more personal note, I have located all of her horses - in four different places. Her family is definitely in the hearts and minds of the ABC Community. She was very well known and loved by all. I contacted all the VSRs and folks who have her horses. Once I find out what the family desires to do - I will let you know. They  are very busy at the moment and her horses are all taken care of. Thank you for these moments to share." As Olde was on one side of the island, and out of chat range of part of the group, Kghia repeated his speech for them.

Cale (Caledonia Skytower) was next, she making sure everyone around heard, "I am not a paragraph post-er, so please be patient with me.  And pardon the shout posting so that all can read (hopefully). It is incredible for me, to think that Riven has joined the phenomena of ultimate virtuality ... a singular place where mass may be insubstantial, but the sense of loss and grief we share is not.

She joins Circe, Eppie, Stosh, Clark, Serene, and others. I see their names, there as I scroll,  (so much more than just names on a list) and I know that their names will never show in bold again. But their memories will: pungent, poignant, and treasured. Some people are in your life for a long walk, some just for a moment. All of them shape our journey. Never to be forgotten. Never to be deleted. Thank you, Riven, for all and all, and thank you, all."

Podruly Peccable was the next to speak, "I didn't know Riven that well, but we shared some sessions for a number of months outside of Second Life, in Lord of the Rings Online. We would talk on Skype as we negotiated that online world. Of course, she was a mage with spirit animals... she had a high regard for animals. She had such a sharp mind, a great sense of humour, and, as JJ says, a great kindness and ease. And all I can say is that she was a great companiion on an adventure, and I'll miss that. " Princess Selena nodded,  "Oh yes, I played LoTRs with her too, I had forgotten that!  She did have a great sense of humor and I was impressed how fast she caught on to the gaming." Podruly added, "She love to see what was next, over the horizon." Rock commented, "I'm sure she faced this new horizon to cross with the same sense of adventure that she faced the rest of her life."

Bain Finch stated, "My path with Riven never crossed into friendship, but we did crossed paths at many events around these lands of ours, over the years, and from the very start, I could see, Riven was one of these beautiful peoples, I like to call nexus peoples. Nexus people are like a magical key part to any community, that radiated love, life, friends, and making the best of times, happen."

Samantha Poindexter would be the last to give a statement, "I met Riven through Caledon events, and she became a parishioner at my ha-ha-only-serious First Church of Rosedale. She once suggested that we set up a library, for outreach and general edification, and I wish I'd had the time and energy to take her up on that. I'll miss her. Those wanting another look at her animating spirit might like to know that video footage from SLCC 2011 is still online." She then put up two links to videos:  http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/16618420 (What Being in SL Has Taught Me About My RL Profession) and http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/16645678 (Victoriana and Steampunk in Communties in SL).

"Before we all depart, I would like to recommend a book I read recently. (Librarian here) I think it is the best thing I've ever read about having a virtual life - and it never mentions Second Life or virtual worlds. It's 'My Real Children' by Jo Walton.  feel like I should end with some sort of parodic scripture, 'Data thou art, and to the asset server thou shalt return,' but I don't really have the heart. Thank you all."

Kghia Gherardi told everyone, "Thank you all for coming and sharing your stories and your energy." RockandRoll added, " Amen, and I think all of us have some portion of Riven's spirit that we will always have with us, whatever she meant to us, there will always be something that she has given to each of us that we will always have as our own personal part of what we can take away from our time with Riven." JJ Drinkwater reminded everyone, "There will be another memorial - a celebration of Rivens life, on April 23rd, at Noon SLT. This happened so fast we know a lot of her friends couldn't come, so I hope the 23rd’s long enough ahead for people to plan for. JJ Drinkwater: There will be another memorial - a celebration of Rivens life, on April 23rd, at noon SLT. For that, I’ll be sending out the usual request for pictures of Riven, books she’s made etc." Someone asked, "Someone make sure her name gets on the Pyramid at the Linden Remembrance sim."

People would continue to hang around and chat for a while longer after the event had pretty much ended, talking about how much they would miss their friend and inspiration.

Bixyl Shuftan