2 posts tagged “adventure”

A Visit to Babbage Square

The past week has been rough.  Heads-down run at launching the new SL Ubuntu project and SIM, and a ton of work in the background to do it.  Too many late nights and absolutely no downtime made me so cranky I didn't even want to be around myself.  I'm an incorrigible recluse, and like it that way, but two nights ago I decided to break stride and follow a link to The Willow Tea Room in the Babbage Square SIM, thinking it sounded like a nice little place to drag Baron away to for a bit of downtime that had nothing to do with work.  Moments after landing, I had to port out, because the SIM was being reset, but I was there long enough to run into the SIM owner, Shaunathan Sprocket, who I recognized as a kindred soul from Relay for Life last year.  After looking around for just a few moments, and then chatting with Shaun afterwards, I knew this was a place I had to come back to.

A Room with a View

The next evening I did.  Instead of working, Baron and I set aside the evening to simply go and explore.  The past month we've been brainstorming around reinventing our own SIMs with a Victorian Steampunk theme, each with a slightly different flavour.  We were delighted to find that Shaun's SIM was not only a page straight out of this genre, but a truly interactive, immersive city and people.  Steam rising from manholes in the cobblestone pavement, airships against dark smoke rising from stacks on the horizon, incredible machines and the rhythmic sounds of pistons and gears pumping all around.  The thing that we both loved about this sim was the attention to detail: papers strewn on the floors, intricate steam-powered machines brought back to life, every building different and meticulously crafted.

Reverence

We connected with things we'd been looking at ourselves this past while, in particular some of the machines, and moreover a genuine connection with "toys".  We plan on opening a series of shops on the new SIM that's about to arrive on our own continent soon, including one called "Remarkable Toys", a name Baron conjured up after a brainstorming session some weeks ago.  We found the same delightful fascination with these things in Babbage Square, and found ourselves saying "Wow!" over and over again.

Peering from the Rooftops of Babbage Square

Grand kudos to Shaun and the team that's been collaborating on this remarkable SIM.  He said that he's been working on it since January, which is astonishing given how thoughtfully it's been cultivated and in such a large way.  While steampunk embraces an alternative time, one that really doesn't exist anywhere but in the fantasy world, it's roots in Victorian renaissance are familiar and engaging.  In Babbage Square you can't help feeling transported back in time.  If you've not been for a visit yet, take a trip soon, and be sure to set aside a few hours to investigate every last nook and cranny.  There's a lot of really innovative and just plain entertaining things to see and do.

Adventures with the Estrogen Army!

Note to self: get off your arse and do it.

Some things are a calling. They tickle your brain and drive you completely mad until you are no longer able to just sit there and ignore them.

A few years back I had one of those divine little moments of serendipity. You know the ones: kind of feels like waking up after a long sleep and seeing the world for the first time?

I don't have the time to do it now, because I'm on a deadline, but I keep saying to Baron how what I value most about having this blog is that in simply saying something out loud I am able to hold myself accountable.

So, this is another mental bookmark, because there are women -- amazing women -- that I want to celebrate, and in a significant way. They're women who know The Secret: life doesn't end at 21. It's just getting started, baby! Some of us are wildly happy to be in the back half of the game, because that's where the really good stuff starts to happen.

The one thing I know for sure: when you gather a group of kindred souls around the kitchen table and just start telling stories, amazing things happen.

The impulse to say their names out loud right here is overwhelming, because I want to celebrate some of the extraordinary things that ordinary women like myself have been able to accomplish later in life, but I know the moment I do that, I won't be able to help myself, because I'll have to tell you why each of them is amazing, and I cannot do that now ... ~grins~

Hate deadlines. Love Vox. It gives me a chance to get things out of my noggin' and back into the light of day, so I'll not be tempted to leave them languishing any longer in a mental closet.

Consider yourself warned. There's an army in town, and we're a handful ~winks~ There are strong women who reinvented themselves after 40 and are having an unconventional adventures.

I want to ask each of them to tell meaningful stories about each other, rather than about themselves. I want it to challenge other women who suspect this is the part where it starts to get good, but aren't quite sure how to grab hold. I want us to ask each other:

• What is your dream?
• What was your sin?
• What gave you the courage to do this?
• What would you most want to know about other women?
• What role did your mum play in shaping your path?
• What is your favourite word? Your favourite book? Your favourite mantra?
• How did your calling/adventure find you?
• Were you doubted, criticized, ridiculed for your choice?
• Did it cost you friendships and other important relationships in your life?
• How did you deal with other obligations in your life that may have been pulling you in the opposite direction from where you were feeling called? (kids, spouse, job, values)
• What one question do you think woman should ask of themselves? Of the world?
• What are the three best pieces of advice you could give to other women thinking about reinventing themselves too?

I don't want to read another magazine about fashion. I want something with meat. I want a mirror that shows me myself in the context of other women who are ordinary like me, but who have created extraordinary adventures for themselves later in life. I want a workbook that maps out a simple plan to help me "just do it!" and a posse of allies with their elbows on the table beside me, laughing and swapping tales. I want to know that's it's not selfish, and that through it I can be a good example for my daughter, because this is Really Important Stuff.

In getting sick this past year, I put a lot of things on hold, but this isn't one of the ones that I want to wait on anymore. Time to dust off it's web site, and the forum, and gather my kindred sisters together again. It's a purely selfish journey, but one I cannot seem to shake. It keeps on finding me again, so I know it must be time ...