and I can't tell you where lust ends and where your love begins

Lo these many months later, I still loathe Nany Kayo.

And on the heels of that, the Lindens keep screwing up. All right, let me see if I can break this down, because the whole thing makes my head hurt:

* The typical scarecrow of evil adult predators going after puir wee kiddies is trotted out: people lose their minds (as expected).

* Ursula is proposed; "input" is sought.

* Over the months of conversation, most of us (who are contributing to the forum discussions in the first place, unlike most of SL, who seem blithely unaware there are forums) realize the Lindens seeking this "input" aren't listening, don't care, and further, have already made up their minds.

* Several bloggers note that the Adult continent's name of Ursula seems a deliberate ploy, or outright slap in the face, to Ursula von der Leyen, a noted child safety advocate. Some few weeks past, the name Zindra is announced, having no such spurious connotations, as something that was 'always' in the works.

* Zindra as a continent pops. Caledonian sims that have to abruptly restart dump people onto the Arapaima "safe hub" just off the Zindra continent. This confuses some Caledonians, amuses others, and horrifies still more. Mass complaints begin to pour into the Labs. The Labs don't notice. (Over a year later, Caledonians still get dumped to the "safe hub", or, even worse, to Oritz.)

* In the words of Lalo Telling: "After Zindra's appearance, several unscrupulous naughty places remain[ed] operating 'Adult' activities in 'Mature' regions because--as their owners have accurately concluded--the Lab is as inconsistent and slipshod about enforcement in this matter as they are about everything else." I'd add also that many merchants of naughty things went to Zindra, had their sales tank, then moved back to the mainland to re-set up their Adult-rated stores--and the Lindens haven't said a thing on those businesses, either.

* Months after Zindra's surfacing (so all the wee chilluns will be protected from the evil nasty adults with their perverted ideas about pixel sex, remember), word is sent out in an arcane and sidewise fashion that the forums will be condensed, since nobody uses them anyway, and the Lindens are helpfully leaving off classifieds, because people who use the classified section don't pay the Lindens anything, and that has to stop.

* Now, without warning, input requested, or consent, the teen forums are merged with the adult forums so all the so-called "protection" efforts to keep teen users of SL from interacting with adult users of SL can go up in pretty colored smoke.

Do I have this right? Surface accountability (if that much) over deep substantive reconfiguration; reckless Linden ignorance and indifference (with proof provided on a silver Linden platter that the Labs could care less about their own rules) shown again; followed by the establishment of condensed, unmoderated forums (now with 100% fewer ways to find work or advertise for avatar workers in SL) that now have registered users from 13 to 93, for all I know, and feature the ability to send private messages back and forth (for the all of seven people who've figured out how to do that).

Is this what we have now? Now it's going to be Prokovy Neva, Nany Kayo, griefing teens and slavering show-me-ur-tits forty-somethings? My gods, why do any of us bother...

In other news, an article about Bryn Oh's artistry captured my attention; I slapped the SLUrl into a folder to deal with when I had time.



Today, I have a bit of time, and have entered Immersiva. Your first bit of advice: come with some time on your hands. Not only because it's a sim-wide vision of one artist, but because when you land, there is a small scrap of patterned paper on the sand that gives you very fine settings to adjust for the sky. I went ahead and saved the settings to their own style, in case I want to come back.



I'm thinking I'll want to come back.

"I will curl up in your remaining parts/And turn myself off tomorrow..."



Some of the installations have films to accompany them, subdued, evocative pieces that are a blend of imagery, music, and distant speech. Much of Immersiva feels very passive, very still, and even the settings for sky and clouds render a grey pallor to the plated landscape.



I am the observer and the observed; there is a narrative, and I can piece piece to piece together, should I choose. Or I can simply wander, as I did today, and look, and feel, and marvel at the creation of such a place.



Touching random things here results in reaching random places. Some of them advance the story. Some don't. Follow the Rabbicorn's story, to the Daughter of Gears and beyond; or simply explore, across, up or down, as you will. It's a gallery without walls, the exhibits are not placed room to room to room; sometimes, you have to hunt them down and seek them out.



Trust me, it's well worth the trip. And there is a melancholy peace there, of a sort. The Rabbicorn's tale is both hopeful and tragic, and I did enjoy following it along, place by place, but to be wholly honest, I was more fascinated by the occasional falling or following objects that weren't explained, or the look of the ground itself, as if, for a moment, digital and flesh both had been replaced by metal and gears. Very, very unique vision.

[17:45] Pinkie Fellini: fyi...Grid Status: Network Maintenance Wednesday at 6 a.m. Pacific
[17:44] Grid Status: We'll be performing required network maintenance tomorrow, 17 Feb, beginning at 6 a.m. Pacific and taking three hours at most.
Logins will remain open and there should be no significant disruption of inworld services. However, Residents may experience isolated instances of TP and transaction failures.

Translation: Tomorrow, expect delays, financial and rezzing failures, inability to login, port, change clothes, or chat, locally or in groups. It will likely last all day and might require a sim by sim restart of the whole grid. Don't make any plans.