I flew a kite and ended up bawling

Sometimes I write blog posts late at night and wake up the next morning filled with blogger's remorse.

Take yesterday's post, for instance. 

I should have asked my friend first if I could post that pic of a product she was working on. But I got caught up in the joy of funny friends in my photo album and didn't. So I, um, adjusted that pic today. And if she wants me to, I'll remove it completely. For the record, I feel really bad about doing that. Sometimes I don't think.

I also reread that blog post this morning with a bit of disgust at the "Hey, look how purty I am!" tone. 

I don't know what's happened to this blog. It used to be funny and fun and full of . . . escapades. Now it's turning into a "Look what I got and look what I bought and lookit my hair and lookie, I got a new skin and, hey, check out my fish tank" kind of thing.

Hell, it's even boring ME to tears these days.

OK. Let's move on from that navel-gazing, self-flagellating moment.

The good news is, I got asked to write for a new SL blog that I think has the potential to be big and exciting and includes a panel of really talented writers. I'm honored. And I think you'll like it. Or at least I hope you will. I'm looking forward to getting rolling on it. So stay tuned.

And in other news, I wanted to alert you to an interesting and -- although I know it wasn't intended to be -- somewhat morbid place I found during the gridwide Go Fly a Kite Hunt (runs through April 19).

Kite No. 247 is located at Remembering Our Friends, which includes shops, apartments (including apartments for people with physical disabilities) and the Remembering Our Friends Memorial.

The Remembering Our Friends Memorial stopped me in my tracks. It has walls and walls of plaques that look like this:



Close-up shot:

You can donate oil to light the candles by these plaques. Some of them give notecards with further information about the person. Some of these plaques simply remember people who canceled their Second Life accounts. But many of these plaques are for people who were active in Second Life and passed away in real life. I got caught up in reading them, and before I knew it I was crying.

If anyone has any doubt about the impact we make on others' lives in Second Life (even though we all happen to be in mere pixel form), a visit to the Remembering Our Friends Memorial is a poignant reminder of the fact that love knows no boundaries, virtual or geographic. 

I looked around for a notecard or something that explained why the memorial was started, how often plaques are added, how to add a plaque, etc., but found nothing.

Here's the description on the landmark though:

"[A] Memorial to remember SL players that have passed away in real life or in SL. IM Mike Burleigh for a plaque to remember those that have passed. Thank you for remembering our friends. We also have storefront and handicapped apts for rent."

Another landmark to the shops said the same thing, except the word "free" was in front of the word "plaque," so I'm not sure if these memorial plaques really are free or now cost something.

A motivated blogger would have IMed Mike Burleigh for the answers to all these questions, but I'm crunched for time. As some of you know, in RL I'm temporarily living with my parents while I look for a job, and if I spend too much time in my room my mom pounds on the door with, "WHAT'RE YOU DOING IN THERE??? ARE YOU PLAYING VIDEO GAMES?"

Good times. I guess they still think I'm 14.

(OH NO, HERE SHE COMES!!!! HURRY!)

If you're wondering, here's Remembering Our Friends' gift in the Go Fly a Kite Hunt:



(Good blogger! *pats myself on head*)

This giant marble fireplace has 12 prims and, as you can see, takes up my whole house. Maybe I'll put it in my front yard.

If you're having a hard time finding the kite, it's in the memorial chapel, alllllll the way up at the top of the high glass ceiling in the center.

OOOOOOH! I just gave you the EXACT location of a hunt prize for the SECOND DAY IN A ROW! (See previous post for two Malt hunt item locations.)

I guess I'll wrap up this post now feeling like the rebel bad-ass I secretly aspire to be.

Make some noise, have some fun and stir up a little trouble yourself today.
E