Creativity Awake

Last night, I attended my second VJ set at HeadRoom.  The newest addition to Poperation Alley and Gallery, Headroom is a “completely unique and original immersive audio/visual experience. Featuring videos selected weekly by some of Second Life’s most experimental dj’s” (qtd. from the owner and creator Kasabian Beck’s profile picks).

If the last Applecross felt a bit like dancing in an impressionist painting, Colleen Lilliehook’s set at HeadRoom last night made me feel like I was “immersed” in pop art.  The black and white moments of the set were amazing– almost like becoming a character in a graphic novel too.  I love the visual arts, but am doomed to have a passion for them without any talent for producing them.  However, to find yourself surrounded by them, a part of the visually stunning creativity of others is an amazingly inspiring experience.  It woke up my creative spirit (even though it was technically past my “bed time”).

SL has given me my voice back to a degree, caused me to pick up my pen (or more accurately driven my fingers across the keys) again after a long sabbatical from writing.  It is an awkward, stumbling return, however.  Maturity dampens that wonderfully naive passion of youth; the fire that burns you up until you must put words on the page too often smothered by self-consciousness (I feel a bit like Prufrock–“do I dare disturb the universe?”).  This blog is in and of itself a way to ease back into the world of words, to unbind my heart and mind, to find myself in words again.  It isn’t easy.  I’ve spent too much of the last decade running away from the words that once spilled out of me like an uncontrollable natural force.  Too much time with the noise of living drowning out the passionate cries of words seeking release.

Damn, that seems a bit overly dramatic.  Its simple really.  I stopped writing b/c the writing had become too deeply immersed in a darkness that was overwhelming my life.  I had to stop writing and learn to live my life in ways that nourished my soul rather than starving it, but to use a cliche’ I threw the baby out with the dirty bathwater.  But, SL has woken up much that was lost in that time–my love of music, the importance of words in my life, and now the need to create, to spend time every day relearning how to speak in creative terms.  Colleen’s set last night was like an alarm clock waking me from my artistic slumber.  Like so much I have experienced in recent weeks, I found myself surrounded by the kind of conversation, music, and visual stimulation that nourishes my soul and awakens my need to create.

More than that– it was fun as hell!  Videos can be enjoyed at HeadRoom at anytime; just turn off your music and turn on your streaming media as you enter.  The set begins when you enter,  so you will see it from the start (which can be a little confusing for newcomers attending a set if people are talking about videos further into the set than those you are seeing at the moment). Its more than worth checking out; it is something you really need to experience.   Additional photos of the event can be seen at our Flickr site.  HeadRoom is located inworld at:

http://slurl.com/secondlife/FairChang%20Sirena/217/183/22

3 am Silliness

what happens at Stella's Cove stays at Stella's Cove

In RL, this week is Spring Break for me, and I seem to keep getting in these conversations with new friends that keep me up way past my normal bed time. Guess its good its break b/c I will always stay up chatting when the company is good even if I need to get up early the next morning.

However, when 3 am rolls around, there is nothing quite as fun as hanging on the island w/my best buddies. Astarte was smart enough to be in bed (she isn’t on break yet), and Wolf was just getting up (although I am pretty sure she hadn’t slept much b/c she prefers fun to sleep too) but Stella and I were up past our bed time (again)!

The silly shit we do at 3 am

This is what happens in the wee hours of the morning on Starry Sky Island, when the wonderful Wolfie wakes and Stella and I have yet to head to bed (and, no, you pervs, not together– hahaha). Here we are trying out Stella’s very cool new cuddle bed, umm I mean cuddle spot (right Stella?).

After Wolf headed off to work we did a little mid air twirling– this is what happens when you pole dance w/out a pole apparently. Word of warning; make sure you are wearing your knickers. Hahaha.  Note the tissue in Stella’s hand.  She is still sick, but as was the case last week she managed to keep me laughing.

The people who know me well know I often think “too much” (hell, even the people who are just getting to know me have probably noticed this too b/c I suck at hiding anything about myself or what I do), and 3 am is a prime time for my head to spin w/things I really am in no state to fix or sort out (that strange state of being that happens when you stay up too late and are too tired to keep your defenses up but too sleepy to do anything about all the crap that pops into your head and screams for your immediate attention).  But, hanging w/Stella and Wolf turns 3 am into a time of giggling and playing.  There is nothing better than sitting peacefully w/your friends (okay that is a kiss pose, but it is 3 am and we get very silly at 3 am) or twirling in the air w/a friend too sick to still be awake but making you laugh your ass off anyway to remind you that life is good, that you have everything you need already, and that you just have to get the fuck out of your own way, stop thinking and start living, doing, being, etc. and the wonder and magic of living in the moment is waiting for you. So, thanks to my girls, its a new day– sunny and full of possibility.  I’m off to rl but I wear a smile and I may do a little dance when no one is watching– that is the power of a little 3 am silliness w/your friends.

Junkyard Dawgs & Stella the Dream Girl

In what is quickly becoming one of my favorite Wednesday night activities, I joined Junkyard regular (and certified JKB Dreamgirl) Stella to listen to the always-worth-staying-up late-for Thundergas Mengas spin some kick-ass blues. Yesterday was one of those overly frustrating days as my technology reminded me that it is both fallible and far too important in my daily routines. But, no matter what kind of day I have had, there is nothing like hanging out w/Stella to turn it around for the better.

Under the influence of cold medicine, Stella was in rare form.  Those of you who know Stel may say she is always in rare form, but that girl is the only person I know who makes being sick look fun; no matter how poorly she feels, if she is awake she will make you laugh and see the world through its most wonderful and lovely filters (is there such a thing as seeing the world through laughter-colored glasses? If so, that is what you get to do when you hang w/Stel).

Our Junkyard conversations lately have reminded me of how amazing it is to find people who feel like our long lost twins.  I hope I never stop marveling at just how cool it is that over a shared love of tunes and laughter we can begin to build friendships, only to realize as they blossom that the connections we feel are built on uncanny similarities.  I must admit that as a far too typical American, I never thought much about Canada before meeting Stella, but as is the case w/so many of the people I have met in SL, Stella has expanded my world, filling it with laughter and the-got-your-back-when-life-kicks-your-ass friendship that makes her who she is.  Once again SL reminds me that the links of our souls and hearts and minds are only limited by our ability to get out of our own way and to embrace what life has to offer us.  Nothing like dancing and chatting with a girl who even when sick manages to see life in its most joyous form to remind me that even the “Blues” are better when we share them w/our friends.

Larkin Galaxy

Applecross@ Forest Feast

After a long and less than joyous day in rl, I had the pleasure of dancing in a field of flowers at the most recent Applecross event (the last one, my first, had me dancing on the high seas with a cast of creatures and pirates on a sim so amazingly beautiful I felt the urge to write epic poetry– an urge I allowed to pass, thank goodness).

Applecross@Forest Feast

The picture doesn’t do the scenery justice; it was like dancing in a wonderful painting.  As usual the event was dj’d by some of SL’s finest indie DJs (Katherine Ivory, Teo Ghost, and Astrud Sands).More photos of the event (and of past events like the amazing Retropolis) can be found at the Applecross blog.

Not a bad way to spend a Monday night

Larkin Galaxy

Hello world! (didn’t change the default title b/c it fits).

Welcome to the Starry Sky Girls’ Blog.  Starry Sky Island is a homestead sim in the virtual world of Second Life (SL) and the home of Astarte Haalan, Stella Quandry, and myself (Larkin Galaxy).  We’ve been threatening to make a blog since our big island warming party in January (a 12-hour long shindig w/great tunes and even better company), and I finally decided to shut up and just do it.

At this point, this blog is more an idea than a fully conceived project, but I hope it will be a place to share the cool things that we do on SL.   Along with our friend and honorary Starry Sky Girl Wolfheart Urriah (she has a standing invitation to move to the island but she has thus far been smart enough to refuse), we will share some of our random thoughts and experiences on living life in a virtual world.  Here’s hoping we live lives well worth reading about.