SL Wedding

Asphyxia Lemieux and Furlop Duport were married last night on theFurry Vermin Island.  Agent Strangelove presided.

I arrived at the wedding site early, but not too early.  Dressing for weddings can be such a problem, and I wanted to look my best.  I wore a black dress with blue polka dots.  You have to understand being a rat and dressing for a formal occasion can be a real problem in SL because of attachments.  Only one thing can attach at any one spot.  Most flex skirts attach where my tail attaches and I can’t look like a rat without my tail. My next problem is the hair.  My hair inventory far surpasses my clothing inventory.  I settled for a short “do” with blue tips.  Since this was an outside wedding and it is winter I wore my emerald cape.  I did look smashing if I can say so myself.

 

I looked around at the other guests.  I didn’t know what music was playing because all that came to my mind is “Froggie went a courting’ and he did ride.”  Second Life seemed to be imitating Mother Goose.  The furries, cats, rats, rabbits, and what ever, were dressed in their best.  There were even people looking like, strangely enough, humans.  The setting was just perfect.  The ceremony, solemn. 

I will take the liberty to share sections of the transcript of the wedding which in itself describes the wedding.  I will delete the repetition of the speaker’s name. 

  

Agent Strangelove coughs softly.  “We are gathered here tonight to witness the extraordinary coming together of two furs, Asphyxia Lemieux and Furlop Duport, whose hearts and spirits are entwined as one. Like the passing lunar eclipse which took place a near hour ago. This lapine, who like the earth will merge with this skunkette as his moon, will become one as they join together on this special and joyous occasion.  To these young furs, this marriage signifies the birth of a new spirit, a spirit which is a part of each of us, yet not of any one of us alone. This “birth of spirit” reminds us of winter, the season when all life is cold and lifeless. It is appropriate, therefore, that this wedding of Asphyxia Lemieux and Furlop Duport be in the winter, and that it be under the open sky, on this beach near this broken Lighthouse, the symbol of their relationship.  We leap forward at the flow of the tide and resist in terror of its ebb, for we are afraid it will never return. We insist on permanence, on duration, on continuity. But the only possible in life, as in love, is in growth, in fluidity and in freedom, as dancers are free, barely touching as they pass, but partners in creating the same pattern.”

 Agent Strangelove: The beliefs and thoughts about love which motivate these two furs are perhaps best expressed in the words of Kahlil Gibran:  “Love is the most awful weapon known to the human and furry races. It can twist a male, wring him up into a tight wad until his blood spills out upon the stone reality, until he shrivels, and is a dry husk. If you ever search for evil, begin with love…”Agent Strangelove frowns and shakes his head apologetically and says: “Erf, hmm. Wrong quote. Sorry folks.” Clearing his throat the fox continues with the propor quote. 

I will shorten this to get to the ring ceremony and the vows. 

Furlop Duport: “I, Furlop Duport, take you, Asphyxia Lemiuex, as my friend and love, to fetch me pie and have dinner on the table, in laughter and in tears, in conflict and tranquility, to nag me never and not question my judgement, asking that you be no other than yourself, loving what I know of you, trusting what I do not know of yet, in all the ways that life may find us.  I give you this ring as a symbol of my vow, because this ring has no end or beginning, it symbolizes your unending devotion to me as my *faithful* wife.”

Asphyxia Lemieux: “I Asphyxia Lemieux, promise to allow you, Furlop Duport, to love, honor, cherish and *obey* me for the rest of your days, as my friend and love, beside me, and apart from me, on your knees as you worship me, from now until you draw your last breath, asking that you be no other than yourself, loving what I know of you, trusting what I do not know yet, in all the ways that life may find us. I give you this ring as a symbol of my vow to you. Let it be a reminder that you are forever bound by my side and that you will always be a faithful partner to me.”

 

The reception was held in The Dragon’s Roost where the guests danced away the night to a live DJ.  I stayed until my head was falling too close to the keyboard. 

 

I started with being more human than furry, now I am more furry than human.  In fact when I got into SL, I didn’t understand the furry.  The more I got to know them, the more I liked them.  Then I got my rat av.  I have learned so much from the fur. 

 

Last night I saw that the bonds of Asphyxia and Furlop were not the bonds of sex and luv but a true and deep friendship based on the respect of each other and seasoned with laughter.  Their ceremony reflected them, respectful, and flavorful. 

 

Thank you, Asphyxia, for including me in your friends list and inviting me to your wedding.  I am deeply touched.  I propose a toast:  “May the partnership you share with Furlop last all your days in SL and your friendship with him grow and continue to be well seasoned.”

Road Trip

 

I got a new car this week.  It is totally unnecessary in SL, but I got it anyway.  It all started when Dorie announced that she was hired to teach a SL class on customizing the Toyota Scion.  Prior to the time she gave the actual class, she did a lot of changing and customizing the look of the car. 

 

I attended one of the first classes and got my car.  I have one other car in my inventory, but it is too big for rat.  After sitting in this car the first time, I determined that it fit the rat perfectly.  The HUD made it easy to change colors.  I could hardly wait for class to be over.  I don’t care about customizing, I wanted to drive.  I knew who was behind the development of this car and I figured it would be fun to drive.

 

After class I teleported to the Hobo place which is situated along the old brick road.  The trip went from bad to worse.  I had a hard time staying on the road.  I sunk in the road.  I crashed into a building.  I disappeared. My computer crashed.  After logging back in, the car was in lost and found.

 

The next morning I took the car for a spin at a place that sold houses.  The land was flat.  I crashed a few times but nothing serious.  But, since it was Wednesday, and the
Linden monkeys needed time to bang around, I returned to the real world.  I drove the mini van and, in spite of the snow and ice, didn’t crash.

 

That brings me to today.  I have so many projects going, that I decided to go for a road trip instead of working.  That is a basic ratatude, you know, part of rat ADD.  Dorie wanted me to let her know how things went so she could give her students hints on driving.  That gave me a cover up for my laziness.

 

So here are some of my tips for taking a Road Trip in Second Life.  Before I continue, those who know me in real life know that I worked for AAA in domestic travel.  I plotted out trips on maps, made hotel reservations and made suggestions for sight seeing.  My favorite vacation is packing up the mini van and heading south west.  Travel is different in SL.  You don’t have many roads.  Gas stations aren’t needed.  But, using a form of transportation in SL that is common in RL is a fun but different experience.

 

The first problem is getting onto the road.  Governor Linden, who owns the public roads, does not permit you to rez prims on them.  I flew above the properties next to the road until I found a place that did not ban building.  I rezzed the Scion, sat in it, edited it and placed it on the road with me in it.  Sometimes when I did this the car wouldn’t run.  I found that if I stood up and then sat back in it, it worked.  It seems strange that once a car is on the road, it will stay there, even if you aren’t attached.  Once I crashed, and before relogging, cleared my cache.  The car was still there when I returned. 

 

Crossing sim lines can be exciting.   I would move slowly across the borders but would often find myself and the car beneath ground level.  I learned if I didn’t move and just waited I would soon be back on the top of the road and ready to move on.  I kept my mini map showing.  I had to move the HUD so I could read both.

 

I learned it is easier to drive the car while in mouse look.  Relogging will help with car performance.  You can’t talk and drive at the same time.  And, watch out for hitchhikers, they don’t wait for an invitation to ride, they just jump in. 

 

I enjoyed today’s road trip.  But now I would like to modify my car just a bit.  It needs to look more like Rat’s car.  I hadn’t listened during Dorie’s class, so I started to ask her about things and she told me to join the class again.  I have until February 8^th.  I guess I’ll just have to go back.  I’ll try sneaking in the back door; maybe she won’t see me.