Trinity Dechou

Of course when it comes to your own home and your own creations you can't help but to be biased. Aimee and I live on Kernow, and in case anyone has missed this I'm amazingly proud of what we've created here.


It's with this sense of pride I have just suggested Kernow for the Second Life showcase. The official showcase is in place as addition to search functionality in Second Life, it is in place to highlight some of the key areas to visit in-world. From my personal experience I must admit to liking the Showcase, when at a loss as to what to do that evening I often find myself flicking through it and teleporting to those places which look interesting. Sometimes I have made some wonderful discoveries and of course on occasion been disappointed by the findings on arrival.
I'm sure we quickly learn in this world, virtual and real, that generally no one else will blow your trumpet, so it's up to you to blow it, and that I've done with the application.

A relatively simple process awaits you when you suggest a place for the showcase. Of course applications do not guarantee inclusion but they do increase your chances of being there in the first place!

So why do I love Kernow? Well apart from the obvious I do believe that Aimee and I created what we wanted too, things along the way changed of course but we originally set out to make a sort of horseshoe shaped island and one that wasn't flat! An ascending driveway will lead you from the arrival point to our offices and gallery housed in a renaissance style building, built by Aimee which is based on a mausoleum in North East England. With wonderful cliff top views across the sim you can sit up here and enjoy the distant waves.


The Rez Magazine office is located at the other end of the driveway in an old disused boathouse. Spread across 2 floors this building has some of the best views on the sim. It of course looks over to our mini island. The original location for Aimee and I's wedding, the original wedding layout went but the island stayed, a nice memory of such a happy day without it becoming a shrine. This island complete with tent and campfire is packed with poseballs for dancing and cuddling, nestled into the trees it's a wonderful place to rest. I often find myself here swinging my feet from the tree and contemplating this virtual world.

Across a second bridge and you can see our secluded area, little private beach and of course our house. What sort of house do we live in? Well a tree of course! When originally suggested by Aimee I was a little shocked, but hey, this IS Second Life and the treehouse works in well here with the other foliage.


There are a couple of hidden areas here too of course, and I'm not going to tell you, cause they're hidden! Go explore!

Why do I think Kernow works? Well I think it's simple really. Aimee and I have a good mix of abilities. She can tweak the prims and work on layouts which I'll fill, and hopefully compliment, with some greenery.

With all this said the application for showcase is sent. We set out to achieve a home, we have done this and of course we want our friends and fellow residents to hopefully enjoy Kernow as much as we do.

Visit Kernow Now!

Cliched isn't it, RL relationships born from an internet/ virtual relationship. However, I know quite a few people in serious RL relationships because of the interwebs and in-fact Second Life. Yes that's right dear readers, Second Life the world apparently filled with pedophiles and sex crazed furries does actually have some depth and real life love.

My partner, my sl and rl partner, Aimee Trescothick and I have just returned to our respective homes following a holiday up here, near my home in Scotland. Of course as many of you know this is not our first meeting, however it's a holiday we want to share. So here comes a picture of us both and unlike the one above this is a RL picture.

Look a normal couple, doing normal things (including a visit to Edinburgh, see below). A couple from this crazy Second Life world. A couple, like many others which SHOULD be the subject of rl press, not these couples they appear to drag up.


Enjoy!

May, in the midst of Spring with Summer marching towards us, a month prominent in my life for a few reasons. A month filled with some exceptionally sad moments, and also happy ones to help me focus on the future. This May brings its own chance to achieve some desperately needed perspective on something I couldn’t focus on last year.

Just over 3 years ago, I found myself entering into a long distance relationship in RL fraught with difficulties and reasons to back away. Of course as many of us know, the head rarely wins in matters over it’s often nemesis, the heart. This relationship, which would prove to significantly change me and would stretch my partner, and I to our limits.

Second Life entered into my world from a suggestion of a real life friend, becoming quickly drawn to this virtual world and its advantages, I spoke highly of this world to my partner. On the strength of my comments she too created an account. Quickly we joined in Second Life and used the platform to be “care free” together. Well, when I say care free, I mean all except one crucial part, another RL friend, an old school friend whom I’d also converted to be a Second Lifer, not thinking that my partner would also join. One of the difficulties our RL relationship had to face was the fact that this friend did not know about us for various reasons and since I wanted Second Life to be an escape for our relationship, I did not tell my friend who Stick Bellman was.


A beautifully crafted escape from the strains of real life, Second Life provided us a platform to be together, even to live together. With much delight I enjoyed Stick and my friend getting along well, enjoy each other’s company even, something they would not have done in RL. During this time I grew close to some other residents, these very real friends all remain good friends until this day. A select few were told exactly what was happening and that Stick and I were together in RL. We married in SL, we enjoyed our own company, and our friends company. This was an exceptionally happy time for us, a tension breaker from a RL filled with obstacles. This was until May the 12th 2007, a day I will never forget as long as I live, a day where my phone rang with a conversation that left me feeling as if I’d been shot. A conversation where I would be told Stick Bellman’s RL controller had died suddenly that morning.

The week following would see me at the age of 24 register her death, organise her funeral and give a eulogy as her ‘friend’. The only support available to me in this time was the support of the few who knew in Second Life. A support network I leaned on heavily, and who never once let me down. A support network who spread the news of Stick Bellman’s RL death. Of course with this news, came the news that Stick Bellman and I were together in RL. Before a 3rd party told my old school friend, I did. As you can imagine the news was not well received, understandably, and ended an 18 year friendship.

It is two years since this happened, a sobering memory, however a memory that must have closure with, one of the reasons for this blogpost. I could replay the whole thing again in my mind, I could change things, I could have walked away when my head told me too, I could have told my rl friend and dealt with the consequences sooner. As someone who believes everything happens for a reason, even if it takes us a while to find this reason, I don’t want to reply it anymore. I wouldn’t change a thing. I would love to say I’d like to have stopped some of the hurt that was caused to people, but in order to stop hurt of one person I’d need to hurt someone else.

The quote above is from a song called “Another Suitcase in Another Hall” from the musical/ movie Evita. It’s important song for me, and one which signifies moving on. Which brings me to the next significant date for me in May. The 15th of May 2008; the date Aimee and I got Kernow, our home sim. Kernow, the Cornish word for Cornwall, signifies a progression. A relationship that is open and visible to all.

Kernow, with its very Cornish name, is filled with parts of Aimee and Is virtual existence. A gallery with our artwork, situated on a Scottish-esque mound. Beautifully crafted prims by Aimee and manicured walkways, and natural forest areas by myself and even a fantasy hidden cave for the Cornish pixie in Aimee. A place to login, and a place to cuddle up for the night and log off from. Home.

Second Life, through its lag, and downtime has brought me many exceptional things over the past 2 & ½ years. A place to have a relationship when a RL one was almost impossible, a support network who helped me deal with the events that fate brought, and when I least expected it, a partner who I join hands with, SL & RL, and look towards a very real future, with our own non virtual home.

For many people the community aspect of Second Life is second to none. We all meet, get to know each other and try our best to help each other out. We tell our friends about good places to visit, experience and even shop.

This aspect of Second Life is the reason I write articles for Rez. Helping people discovering things they might not have found otherwise. I take great pride in my writing for Rez Magazine. Rez was born from a passion Voodoo and I had for writing but not being restricted by deadlines or advertisers. True honest opinions are the main drive for Rez, when I write to say I like a place, or a product I mean it, I’ve not been paid to say it. For me that is the drive I need to write these articles.

Recently I wrote a piece which reviewed some places in SL to purchase products in the theme. As it was an essential list for something the places I wrote about I love, I own products from and I have had the experience of using. One particular establishment was cast in only good light as I have in the past loved their products and been a fairly regular shopper there. Having posted the piece we received a ‘potential spam’ comment suggesting that a theft of textures had taken place. Out of courtesy I IM’ed the creator involved. I had an exceptionally rude reply with no thanks for the original article or even taking the time to give them a heads-up.

I have to say this is a disheartening thing to happen on many levels. It shakes my belief in the community feel of Second Life. It makes me question writing articles about creators, and it’s also rocked the purse I used to use to purchase their products with. The majority of people I speak to regarding interviews and articles are wonderful, realising this is a mechanism to present their business to a growing audience. We all know news and blogs have avid followings and the can be used to rule the markets. Being downright rude to a writer, and customer, as a business owner isn’t the most sensible thing to do.

Osiris Pflaz just produced a video of Aimee and I's home sim on Kernow, and I just had to share it with you all because we both love it! Hope you do too.

Kernow from Osiris Pfalz on Vimeo.

More information can be found on Osiris Productions website http://osirisproductions.net/
Visit Kernow