My first real sale!

On Sunday evening we were dancing in Faeria, as we are wont to do, while the red cardinal —Faeria's latest addition — flew around us in endless circles, attached to an invisible ball by an invisible leash. Mykyl's animator had to sleep, so she poofed away, and I took her place on the pink dance ball. Cuznit was a fine dancer, and we talked a bit as he twirled me around.

Suddenly, I heard soft music, and a gentle voice — my own voice — saying:

"Dear customer...

"Oh, who touched my card?" I said, aloud.

"This is a musical greeting card brought to you
by Catherine Moody, Faeria Village, and
the Brotherhood of the Twisted Prim.
You can customize this message to your liking and..." continued the card.

"I did," said a stranger's voice.

I quickly cast my gaze towards the bookshop. There was a lady there with a somewhat striking appearance. The card continued talking. "Oh hello there! Yay, thank you for checking out our stuff in The Booksmythe!" I said. "I hope you managed to hear the music and see the particles."

"Actually I didn't have my sound on, but I will put it on and listen - thanks," she said.

"May I help you at all?" I asked. "Mykyl Nordwind, the owner of the village and the author of these books, is away right now."

We talked more. She had found Faeria through a search for "books". She was the entertainment organizer for a social club and was looking for live musicians to perform for it. She noticed the picture of the keyboard on my signboard, and asked me if I played. I said, yes, I play classical mainly, but I do other stuff too, I enjoy doing light background music as well as serious recitals, yada yada. She seemed to be quite interested, and said she might hire me to play for her club.

And, after trying one of my cards again — with her ears unplugged — she bought it! I was so excited. This was the first time a stranger had bought anything from me! I felt so good, as if I was worth something after all. This was a milestone for me! Long live Faeria! Maybe one day I will be able to get a steady income from sales so I can repay all my wonderful friends for letting me live, work, and play on their land.

It's kinda sad that we measure our worth in terms of earning power or linden dollar balance. If we treat life as a game where the objective is to make more linden dollars than everybody else, we will be missing out on so much... on things like art and music and poetry and PHC. The most important things are ones that money can't buy. Friendship and love and life. I am very sad for our friend who is going through a difficult time now. Aianna we love you very much and we will sit by your side if you need us. I will keep you in my prayers.

In Celebration of Faeria

Almighty Lindens! Blessed was the day
and holy place, as we ourselves were blessed,
Where Mykyl Nordwind, fairest of the fae
and mermaid clan, into this world did rez.
O noble Queene, we welcome you today
to grace us with your simple loveliness.

You spent much time to make your dream come true;
Your work bore fruit as Faeria slowly grew.
You labored long and hard on every prim,
You built a pathway right across the sim.
You met adversity at every stage,
Adversity that caused you tears of rage;
Dark days of anguish have you left behind
That I, your humble bard, do call to mind—
Try as you did, you could not get us in:
Casinos, wild with greed, were strangling Huin.
Where others had despaired, you stood your ground,
Gathering an army from around,
To file a stern report of grave abuse,
To call upon the power of the Word.
Your fervent pleas at last the Lindens heard—
The camping chairs in number were reduced!
The battle over, traffic trickled in,
And gradual signs of life returned to Huin.
Not only we, but all your neighbors too,
Professed their heartfelt gratitude to you.
Humble Catherine shall sing your praise,
And all the region echo with hoorays.

A new day dawns. The flowers spread their love,
The sun smiles bright upon the village green;
While butterflies dance breezily above,
Do grateful voices hail their Faerie Queene.
A curious squirr'l observes us from a tree,
A chirping bluejay fills the air with cheer.
A wishing well gives wishes (for a fee!);
A sign proclaims that all are welcome here.
A palace looks on proud, its marble floors
and curtained stage inviting us to dance.
As lovers occupy the cuddle balls
Good Faeria hath her visitors entranced
with scenes of rustic peace upon the walls.
Gentle melodies drift o'er the land,
Born of some unknown composer's smile,
Played by some unseen musician's hand,
Infusing open hearts and open doors;
A penguin, touched, recites a poem, while
from open pages a wingèd spirit soars.

.............................................O pretty Faeria!
The souls that circumstances kept apart,
You bring together. How your mission shines—
A haven for expression of the heart,
A celebration of diversity,
A sanctuary for all creative minds,
A conflux of divine activity.

My friends, let us with one united voice
Renounce the dross of shallow vanity;
In friendship, truth, and love let us rejoice,
The golden warmth of true humanity.

Almighty Lindens! Aid us as we strive
To realize our dreams in Second Life.

Catherine Moody, 2007-5-23.

Poetry, beauty, and friendship

I'm glad I managed to make it to the poetry session today. It was at the Culture Vulture Gallery in Tupi, courtesy of artists Ada Radius and Coke Bernstein.

It is always nice to be with Hensonian. She has that caring aura about her. Today she wrote a poem especially for me, about me---"The Girl At The Door"!

Mykyl shared some dark and powerful poems with us. I found it almost incredible that in her writing she could put herself into the shoes of someone else. She has the power of empathy that is ever rarer these days.

I made a lovely new friend too, Jennifer. It wasn't so long ago that I was a silly little newbie on Orientation Island; my mind cannot cope well with abstractions or references to classical literary works; but Jennifer's poems were real, human, easy to grasp and appreciate. It was so comforting to find another person so human in a world where many behave like bots. And ooh, she knows Pat!

Last week Sundai got in touch with me, out of the blue. She had come to some of my recitals before and supported me enthusiastically, but I hadn't known too much about her. She took me to her home by the sea, which was really, really, really beautifully furnished. I was in awe the whole time. Later on I played a bit of music for her. There were horrible problems with setting up the stream, and we nearly gave up, but we got it working in the end in the Brotherhood stagehouse. She is many classes above me but she is really sweet and seems to be willing to be a friend.

My dear friends, I love you very much... (That's three ellipses, without a space before.)

Catherine Moody: the story so far

I was born a confused little newbie on Orientation Island. After some pleasant and unpleasant encounters, I found my way to the Shelter in Isabel, and spent many happy days there. But eventually I realized I didn't fit in, that it was not the place for me. The cat that Midel had given me attracted a lot of attention, and maybe that made people jealous, too.

I wandered the vast, empty world in my little red car and my black-and-gold hovercraft, looking for inhabited places, and eventually I came across the B-Dazzled shop --- then in Daikoku --- where I met Loren Fitzgerald, alphatest03 Yohkoh, and FD Spark, camping at the Scramble center.

Scramble was fun. But it felt like an empty pursuit. I signed up as a member of the poetry guild and attended some meetings, where I met mindserfer, Phorkyad Acropolis, and J1mmy Weiland, who were giving out food for the soul.

The classical music group seemed to be dead; but one day someone posted an invitation to the Classical Music Aficionados group and a landmark to her new garden, the "Truth and Beauty Assembly". I decided to visit the garden, and soon I came across its owner, Tyrol Rimbaud. She helped me start a musical career, and with her poetic friend Pat she was thinking of adopting me. But no longer. I must have said or done something wrong. Now, it seems, I'm left out in the world to fend for myself. A little gypsy girl come full circle. It hurts.

I'm lucky that my kind friend FD Spark invited me into the secret Brotherhood of Twisted Prim. Our summer headquarters are a hidden spot for artists to seek refuge in. Yesterday I met a writer, Mykyl Nordwind, who built a cozy little village with a few houses and shops. Maybe it will be another source of warmth and comfort in this journey through life, on the way to that final resting place.

Clay lies still, but blood's a rover;
Breath's a ware that will not keep.
Up, [lass]: when the journey's over
There'll be time enough to sleep.
- from "Reveille" from "A Shropshire Lad", A. E. Housman

With grateful acknowledgments also to my loyal friend Cricket Crabe, whom I met at the Shelter; to my dear eccentric Zin and her hangers-on; to Slim Warrior, Anoron Hanson, Celeste Stardust, Tony Bouchard, and Muli Basiat for organizing concerts, and to Ged Larsen, Seeron DeVinna, Desire Jacques, Alphonsus Peck, and Princess Ivory for enthusiastically supporting me; and to all the other people who helped make my life more livable.

C. Moody, 2007-2-20.

Kindred Spirits

Ping sent. Awaiting response.

“hey, i like your blog”
“...! You've been reading my blog? Oh wow. Um. Thank you.”
“yes, am interested in thye psychology of SL and your av aroused my curiosity”

Next.

“you know.. I was really impressed with your poetry on your blog as well”
“I mean it was kind of silly verse, but it was nice, tight, and well thought out”
... “your poetry is very fun to read”

Next.

“hey... you can actually write verse
thats not common :)” ... “your lines actually scan. :)”
What's 'scan'?
“come out properly in meter”
Oh, thanks for teaching me that. :)

Next.

"You are a talented blogger! Wow!” ... “So you are a writer?”
No, I'm not.
“well, you have talent to be one!” ... “You seem to me to be interesting.”

Next.

“Catherine, I'm reading your blog; it's beautiful and sad. Your poetry is amazing.” ...
“It [the blog] touched me.”

'Sad'? 'Touched'? At last.
Here's someone else:

“you know.........i was severely depressed for 3 months i bet
until just a week ago or so
and im not one to admit these things, which makes it worse” ...
“..........one reason i started talking to you you had some depression related issue on blog
see...........unless you have it.........cant understand it
its a real very real thing
you cant have a character w depression unless you know depression”

Did no one else notice?

Catherine's Tea Party

Today I rezzed my house in the sandbox at the New Citizens' Plaza, Kuula, to show it to my friend Cricket. Anyway, I rezzed a couch and a table so we could sit down while discussing the decoration of the house. The New Citizens' Plaza was full of newbies, as usual, and soon some inquisitive newbies stepped in through the doorway (I had yet to put in a door) and started jumping on my bed. Well, I thought, let's be hospitable and serve them some drinks.

The crowd gradually grew. I rezzed more and more chairs around the glass coffee table. I invited some of my friends to join us --- FD, Noelle, Zin; it was nice to see Hooper again; and we got to meet a clothing designer, Blu. As some people left, others popped in to take their place. We had a lively discussion going.

I decided to move my house up about fifty meters, to avoid the noise and also to avoid disturbing the people on the ground. Even then, there were still some curious newbies who flew up to join us. For some reason, many of my guests had decided to come in what looked like underwear. “Welcome to Catherine's Mile-High Lingerie Tea Party!” I joked. “When you leave, use a parachute.”

I was quite carried away. And then ... the inevitable happened. The furniture and tea set vanished. The house disappeared into thin air. We all came tumbling down one after another, falling flat on our faces. I looked up, wincing, and saw a large signboard at the corner of the sandbox: TWO HOUR AUTORETURN.

An NCI Land Officer came over and began telling me off, politely, for holding a tea party in a sandbox. She explained that the NCI sandbox was for newbies to practise their building skills, and that living in sandboxes was not permitted. And neither was holding tea parties. I appreciated the necessity of such a rule, although I was sad that our party was over. It was nice getting to know new newbies, and I think they enjoyed experiencing some of the things our world has to offer, a civilized teatime discussion in a cozy little house ...

The land officer also said later that “SL is not the place for religion or politics”. Perhaps if I notice people discussing those topics, I'll report them to her.

* I can't remember exactly what happened, and when it happened --- some details may be incorrect.

Rez Me

Rez me a sofa, a table and chair,
Rez me a package of long flexi-hair.
Rez me a ball gown of silver and gold
To make Princess Moody a sight to behold.

Rez me a castle high up on a cloud,
Rez me a garden with magic endowed.
Rez me a chamber with pose balls galore
And ban lines and scripted things guarding the door.

Rez me a stallion to carry me quick,
A butler that serves me when on him I click.
Rez me a close friend who's willing to chat,
who loves and consoles me. Or can you not do that?

Catherine Moody, 2007-1-1. Edited 2007-5-11.

For Lizzie

Sometimes you're a princess
Astride a handsome steed,
Sometimes you're a leggy cop
Helping those in need.

Sometimes you're on a frozen lake
On shining silver skates,
Gliding around the silent swans
In graceful figure-eights.

You surprise me with your ever-changing
Clothes, and skin, and hair,
But one thing always stays the same---
For all your friends you care.

Lizzie, I fear my second life
Is drawing to an end.
Before I die, please let me say
Thank you for being my friend!

Catherine Moody, 2006-12-30

Midel's Gift

I know a funny little elf.
His first name is Midel.
He helps out little newbies
at the Shelter, Isabel.

I told him I was lonely.
He said, “Well, here's for you
A tiny little pussy cat
That'll cheer you with its mew.”

The kitten hung suspended in mid-air.
I wondered how
To make her feel at home with me.
At last I got it. Now

She sits upon my shoulder
And meows all night and day.
But still I love her very much---
My kitty's here to stay!