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No more of those pesky colours

As you can see, I’m trying out a new look. This happens from time to time — I get bored and look around for something that I can rip apart and redo needlessly. Take Abbotts Aerodrome, for example. I’ve torn it down and rebuilt it about twice a year, on average. Sometimes I just feel the need for change, to freshen things up.

I had the same look for this website since I started it in 2004. The art deco font was interesting at first, and was at the time well-matched to the kinds of products that I made — the ornithopter, the rocket backpack, the airship. Now it’s time to develop a new look. Cleaner.

The new logo is part of my redesign. Why a black-and-white square? Well, you could say that it represents the sky and the earth within the four corners of the Second Life grid. You could say that, or you could notice that it’s almost the same logo that I’ve used for my modular building products, Noir SkyLife, which I make under the SL name of Blanc Noir. (Francophones will notice that “blanc noir” means “white black”.) So basically, the logo is mostly meaningless and I’m using it only because I thought it looked nifty.

Expect to see more monochrome squares popping up wherever Terra products are sold.

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Three years in the metaverse

Three years ago this week, I logged into Second Life for the first time. Ordinarily, I’d write something humorous yet poignant, and of a reasonable length, but today I don’t feel equal to the task. So this is a placeholder for whatever occurs to me later on.

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What I do during SL downtimes

It’s Wednesday, folks, which means that Second Life is down for the latest update. SL addicts the world over, shaking from withdrawal symptoms, turn to other activies, like sparring in the forums, or trading silly links in IRC. You might ask, What does Cubey do during SL downtimes? Well… I’ll tell you…

I start my day having completely forgotten about the planned downtime. I go to my kitchen, brew a pot of coffee, and plan my morning’s work in my head. The beans are hand-roasted by a guy in Steveston BC, and are quite delicious. Much better than that Terrabucks swill. Steaming mug in hand, I sit down at my computer and log in.

After my seventh or eighth login attempt, the reality sinks in. SL is down. And that’s when I start knocking my head against the monitor. Not hard — just enough to make a good “bong” sound that kind of resonates a little. I think the precise note this produces is G sharp.

So after a good fifteen minutes of G sharp, there’s considerable blood on the monitor, since that’s the nature of head wounds. Though gory, it gives me a medium in which I can work. I’ll spend a while finger-painting red airplanes on red runways, with little red workers in red jumpsuits driving red fuel trucks. This blessed reprieve from withdrawal is shortlived, however, since the blood clots and dries within minutes.

It’s important, when deprived of Second Life, to distract yourself. Clicking Belaya’s horrifying links in IRC works for only a short time, and pushing coins up your nose yields few positive results beyond a surprising ability to pick up radio broadcasts.

The best distraction that I’ve found is to strip naked, sit on the window sill, and scream the theme song to “Farscape” There are lots of good screamy bits in that one.

As an aside, if your neighbours object to the presence of a bloodied, screaming, naked person, you may wish to try the backup distraction, which requires a bottle of Vietnamese vodka, a toilet plunger, and two live ducks. Contact me for details.

By the time the police are done with me, it’s around noon and Second Life is back online.

What do you do during SL downtimes?

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Mmm… mashed blogs

A sharp-eye reader will notice the sudden appearance at the side of this blog of several new archive links, which date back to 2002. That’s because today I took my CubeyTerra.com blog and mashed it together with my larger, but defunct blog, “Cubicle Dweller”.

Cubicle Dweller was a blog that I wrote from the perspective of an office cubicle. While it’s not necessarily about office life — in fact, it’s most often about anything but the office — it reflects how I viewed the world as a drone writing user manuals for a software company. I wrote Cubicle Dweller obsessively for years, but eventually lost steam when Second Life took hold of my imagination… and all of my free time.

If you’re in a reading mood, please feel free to browse the archived Cubicle Dweller entries. Links are at the side. Or, if you prefer hard copy, please do order Cubicle Dweller in softcover book form: “Raised by Penguins“.

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Shutting down

It’s been so long since I wrote here regularly, that I think it’s time for me to shut it down. I’ve cancelled my account with my hosting service, so it’s only a matter of time until you’ll see not this page, but a default domain parking page.

I still have my Second Life blog at www.CubeyTerra.com, but it’s only relevant to those who have Second Life accounts.

Many thanks to everyone who dropped by to read my drivel and to leave comments. It was great fun. Happy new year!