At the start of October 2025 I noted that I would be taking something of a break from SL and blogging in order to address a health issue which had been developing since earlier that year. At the time I did not go into specifics – nor do I intend to here. Rather, I wanted to let people know that circumstances were such that a break was required, and its exact length might well be indeterminate.
As it turned out, things initially appeared to go better than planned: the surgery proved to be less complicated than had originally described, and the immediate cause for concern fully excised. As a result, my immediate recovery proved to be faster than anticipated, notably in terms of the time I was actually in hospital, such that by the latter third of October I was hoping I’d be returning to SL and blogging pretty much “full time” as it were.
Unfortunately, by mid-November it became apparent that despite these positives, the underlying cause of my problem had not been completely eliminated, and I would therefore require a more sustained period of treatment in order for it to hopefully be dealt with. As a result, my focus on SL and blogging has continued to be reduced and noticeably haphazard throughout the end of 2025 and into 2026 – and will most likely continue to be the case for at least the immediate future.
I mention all of this not to elicit thoughts and messages of sympathy and / or support, but because I’m aware that during the latter part of November and through December I received a lot of personal requests to attend a range of events (art, charity, music, etc.) and / or to ask for my help in promoting specific activities, the openings of public regions, etc., the majority of which went unanswered. As such I genuinely believe an apology for such a lack of response is warranted; the fact that my ramblings and this blog are viewed with regard by many is something I never wish to take for granted – it has and remains something for which I am ever grateful. Thus, I hope readers will take this post in the manner it which it is offered, and continue to bear with the unpredictable nature of my blogging until things again start to settle down for me.
In the meantime, my thanks to everyone for continuing to read this blog, and especially to those who have asked after my health through IMs, DMs, and the like; it really has helped lift my spirits.
Just a brief note to express a heartfelt Thank You to everyone who responded to my post concerning the need to take a hiatus, be it via a comment left with that post or via a reply / DM on social media and / or in-world IM / messages passed through mutual SL friends. I’m sorry I could not respond to everyone in a more timely or direct manner, but I do want you all to know that your comments have meant and continue to mean a lot to me, both in terms of the love and encouragement offered, and in the way I’ve felt strengthened by them since getting home and being able to read them all ♥.
I’m happy to say the surgical work went really well – thanks entirely to the dedicated surgical and recovery team who are handling my case. Post-op care was equally superb, allowing my stay in hospital to be at the shorter end of the anticipated time-frame. There’s still a way to go for me over the next few weeks (including any adjuvant therapy which may be required), but I am today starting into my second week of Enhanced Recovery at home (my first full week back at home overall), and I’m hoping it will allow me to start spending a little time each day at my computer & maybe in-world.
Thank you again to everyone for your continued support and love – hope to see at least some of you in-world very soon!
A short note to let readers know I will be taking a hiatus from blogging about Second Life, etc., from October 8th, 2025 in order to address a health issue. During this time I’ll also be absent from Second Life.
I cannot say for sure when I’ll be resuming writing, but I do plan on doing so and getting back in-world as soon as is feasible. Until then, all the best to friends and readers.
Isla Myvatn, my Second Norway home, now completely converted to represent the remnants of a former fortification, and now forming a series of semi-wild courtyard gardens, with the exception of the pool house and boat moorings (bottom of picture) and the little cliff-edge summer house. The ruins are elevated above the pool house so it does not interfere with their sense of age.
Two of the things I love doing in Second Life are landscaping and building / kitbashing; I have in the past droned on about the commercially available houses I’ve purchased and then adapted for personal use (as well as some of my personal prim-based builds modelled after real and film structures). The former have been written in the hope of encouraging others to give kitbashing ago (with a couple of additional articles being written to help with this; however, regulars have probably noticed that over the last year-ish, I’ve not said much on the home front.
Well, buckle-up (or run away!), because here I go again 😀 .
As it used to be: A copy of Marcthur Goosson’s NO Cottage Bizar converted into a comfortable house opening onto the main courtyard of the original “castle ruins” which utilised some of Marcthur’s Ruined Wall kits
The major reason for not writing is because in Marcthur Goosson’s NO Cottage Bizar, I found what – for me – has been the perfect design from which to create an ideal home. I did provide a articles about a couple of my projects to adapt it for use as both a house and also to contain a swimming pool; but since those first went out, I’ve continued to refine and improve upon ideas, creating What I like to think of as a cosy home – I’ve just not wanted to bore people by banging on about all the updates and changes!
Some of this work has included a move to a larger island within Second Norway, which has allowed me to play with ideas for extended gardens and yet more ruins, making further use of Marcthur’s ruined Wall kits (all five of which can be purchased as a single full perm pack as well as individual Copy / Mod items – see his Marketplace store for more). Whilst this hasn’t been written about, some of the on-going work has appeared in my Primfeed gallery.
With the removal of one set of internal walls and a re-panelling of others (and using the structure’s tower stairs to reach the upper floor rather than the metal stairways), the NO Cottage Bizar lends itself to providing a large living room area with the remaining lower floor room making an excellent kitchen + dining space.
With the latter, I’ll freely admit to being inspired to play around with designs using Marcthur’s kits thanks to Lilly Blackwood and her SL and RL partner William Winchester, who have used seveal of the wall kits to great effect within their Winchester Harbor region design which I visited in August 2024, and their work did more than a little to prompt me to look at my own use a little more creatively – so thank you, Lily and William for the inspiration!
The thing I like about the NO Cottage is the fact it so easily lends itself to so much in the way of kitbashing: internal walls and stairways can easily be removed to open-out interior spaces; new internal walls can be linked into the design; the external courtyard is easily converted into an additional room, if required – it is just and absolute joy to work with and tweak. However, throughout all the recent work, an itch I’ve suffered on-and-off for a fair number of years now decided to make itself felt again.
I re-worked the swimming pool in the pool house version of the NO Copy Bizar Cottage earlier in the year, and more recently added a mirror to the far wall, together with a stairway to reach the upper gardens and summer house.
As a Premium account holder, I’ve often availed myself of the Linden Homes perk provided to such account by LL. I’ve both reviewed themes as they’ve been released and I’ve shared ideas on how to customise them to offer more unique and personal interiors (notably with the Houseboat theme, which has long been my favourite). However, I’ve never really lived in any of the modern Linden Homes for any real length of time; rather, I’ve simply furnished them and then used them as a bolt-hole into which I could dive in order to avoid the Ravenous Restart Beast of Agni. Yet I’ve often wondered how I might somehow more comfortably link island home and Linden Home in a way that lets me make more use of both.
Although it took a while to register (because I’m not exactly the fastest train on the tracks), the answer has been staring me in a face for about as long as I’ve been going through my on / off phases in thinking about the issue. In short: why not simply extend the local experience I have on the home island for various purposes (such as maintaining privacy from folk randomly teleporting in), and use it to include the Linden Home in a manner that makes passing between the two feel as natural as possible?
One of the summer houses on the island – this one is used with the re-vamped “castle ruins” and utilises one section of Cory Edo’s Yara Treehouse. Cory is another go-to building designer for me, because many of her designs are extremely flexible in terms of modding or kitbashing them
One of the key benefits in finding a means of linking the Linden Home with the island home as seamlessly as possible meant I could potentially remove the (much loved) No Cottage Bizar conversion and extend the ruins and gardens to present a place of quiet retreat, with my Linden Home becoming the “house” for this setting. Admittedly, this did mean moving out of my Linden Houseboat (as it just didn’t sit well with the rst of my ideas), but this was offset by that fact that the Linden Home theme best suited to matching the rest of my design ideas was that of the Log Homes – and these happen to be a style I’ve always liked but never actually held; this therefore seemed to be the perfect opportunity to try them on for size.
So, for the last couple of weeks, and using the aforementioned kits from Marcthur, plus plants and landscaping kits from some of my preferred creators – such as Cube Republic, Alex Bader, Sasaya Kayo, and Krystali Rabeni – I’ve been once more re-doing the grounds of the island home to extend the ruins and gardens to occupy the space previously taken by the NO Cottage house; I left the pool house and boat moorings in place because I still want to make use of the waters in Second Norway (and beyond) for sailing / boating / flying, and because – well, where else am I going to “own” property with a large private swimming that come maintenance free?
One of the “garden courtyards” that replaced the NO Cottage Bizar house. Maybe at one time it was a hall or something. Now it is occupied by some of the statues from CioTToLiNa Xue and ArtemisGreece I’ve collected or have been gifted over the years
Not that the House has gone forever; I’m a great believer in rezzing systems, keeping a number available in my inventory toolbox. One of these, Seedro Lowey’s Magic Rezzer, is ideal for swapping between scenes quickly (well, once you’re sorted through want is to go where and as a part of which scene!). This has allowed me to take the No Cottage house and its immediate surroundings – lawns, summer house, plants, trees – and create a scene, and then do the same with ne expanded ruins and their flora and immediate surroundings. Thus, with a click on the rezzer and then on the dialogue box, I can happily switch between the two, and without affecting the rest of the build.
In doing so, I’ve also been able to maintain additional individually between the two settings through the simply use of different summer houses, etc. For these I turned to Cory Edo, one of my go-to building designers, because her structures are generally very kitbashable / moddable. In particular, her Moosehead Lake Log Cabin formed the basis for a summer house to go with the No Cottage house layout, whilst one of the two structures from her Yara Treehouse became the basis for a small “hideaway” outside of the ruins, complete with a little “balcony” from where passing boats can be observed.
One of the garden paths winding around the island to connect the ruins
As to the “integration” of the Linden Home, that was simply a case of installing a doorway in one of the archways within the ruins. Behind it, I placed a TP-on-collision-scripted prim using the local Experience to direct Group members to the Linden Home location. A photo of my Log Home taken at the appropriate angle and in the right ratio means that when the door is opened, it seems to give you a view through the arch to the Linden Home on the “other side” of the wall; then when you “step through” the arch, you arrive in the Linden Home parcel on the “other side” of the doorway.
Using an identical door set into an identical wall on the Linden Home parcel does the same in reverse – the door opens to reveal the island gardens beyond, and “stepping through” the archway teleport you to them. This is not a particularly new trick with portals, but it has achieved what I want, and to further assist in the sensation that both island and Linden Home are connected, I’ve used the same EEP 24-hour Day Cycle in both (obviously set to UK time!), thus maintaining the same overall ambience between the two.
The teleport portal leading to my Linden Home, allowing me to “connect” it with the island, making them sort-of extensions to one another
All that’s needed now is for me to add a further script to the TP prims so that the images they show switch between daylight and night-time to (roughly) match the EEP settings, and I’ll be done 🙂 . However, that’s an “if / maybe” project for another day!
Whether or not this approach to help “conjoin” or “integrate” a Linden Home was other property you may hold is of any use to you is obviously up to you; all I can say is, it keeps my little mind happy 🙂 . If it does appeal, and it’s something you hadn’t considered / would like to try – feel free to run with it; as noted, the basic idea isn’t in any way original to me and has been used in various forms for years – so just take it and run with it as you please!
And with that, I’ll shut up and leave you in peace!
My Linden Log home showing the door of the portal to the island off to the left of the house, within the old walls (it’s closed in the picture because I felt it looked odd seeing it open to show the gardens of the home island through it, whilst over the wall above it, my neighbour’s house is clearly visible!) Each end of the teleport is oriented so people arrive as if they’ve simply opened either door and walked through
This is going to be an oddity for me; at the weekend I received a number of tags from bloggers asking me to participate in a blogger challenge created by Sassy Scarborough and Gorgeous Aurelia.
I actually wasn’t sure about participating, mainly because, as the introduction to the challenge states it is primarily aimed towards fashion and décor bloggers – of which I’m neither – and some of the questions are certainly tilted in this direction. However, as a couple of those tagging me outright mentioned me as a source of influence to their own blogging and the organisers of the challenge also state it is open to other bloggers,, I decided to give it a go and answer some of the questions that more directly apply to my style of blogging.
When did you start your Second Life Blog?
Originally, in early 2007 and not long after my return to SL. At that time I was using the Blogspot platform. At the start of 2009, I switched to using WordPress, where for a short time, I ran two blogs.
Why did you start Blogging in Second Life?
Frankly? A combination of ego and brashness.
Ego, because I’d previously written (and been published) on the nature and psychology of D/s relationships, and after being somewhat surprised at how the subject tended to be handled in SL, I believed I could offer better insight into it through articles drawn from my previous writing. Brashness, because I also started offering thoughts and opinions about Second Life when I actually didn’t understand all of the complexities involved in running and maintaining a platform like SL as well as I perhaps should, making some of my own critiques either questionable or hypocritical. So I opted to educate myself and try to right about the platform from a position of knowledge or understanding, and thus my blogging journey really began.
Do you feel the Blogging community in Second Life has changed since you started Blogging, and if so, in what ways?
Certainly the tools available to bloggers have massively improved, as has their ease of use. This has helped bloggers produce far more informative and professional sites. At the same time, may people blogging SL today are far more aware of the platform and its capabilities – and its sheer bloody complexity – than might have been the case a decade or so ago. Thus, there are far more blogs that can deal knowledgably about the specifics of the platform and provide a lasting and valuable service.
Do you think that Bloggers have a positive impact on Second Life culture and community, and if so, do you have any stories about that?
For the most part, yes, and for the reasons noted above. Users with a passion for a specific aspect of SL, who delve into the intricacies of this or that, really are very well placed to communicate and reach an audience. Those who take the time to develop information, present useable tutorials, blogs and summaries, who see their work as a means to help and support their fellow platform users provide an invaluable service which massively benefits the platform in ways that – in all honesty – LL on their own and can have a very valuable impact on SL culture and communities (emphasis on plural intentional).
Are you approachable as a Blogger by content creators that may have interest in you as a Blogger for their Brand/Store?
As noted above, I’m not actually a content blogger per se; the reviews I provide are large on items I’ve purchased and have especially appreciated having. My forte leans more into blogging region and parcel designs (and occasionally video them!), and review art exhibitions and galleries. Those with ideas for this type of coverage are welcome to contact me.
Have you yourself ever benefited from another Blogger’s post, such as learning a new skill for Blogging, or Second Life functions that you may not have known about?
If I’m honest, I genuinely don’t have the time the peruse many blogs; I have too much going on in-world and elsewhere. That said, I do try to dip into the blogs on my blogroll whenever possible, and there are three past bloggers of SL I would mention, because without them, this blog would never have grown. They are: Tateru Nino – whose encouragement / mentorship did so much to increase my understanding of SL as a platform and as diverse set of communities and technologies; Honour McMillan – through whom I discovered the joys of exploring Second Life and who, along with Ziki Questi, led me to discovering the world of art in SL.
Do you have any advice that you can give other Bloggers that may be new to the experience, or even advice/wisdom that you want to share with the Blogging community as a whole, new or old?
Blog about what you enjoy. Don’t feel a need to do things a specific way – as with all things Second Life, the choice is yours in what you write about, how you opt to write, how frequently you write, etc. Don’t feel you must conform to this or that world-view or subject matter; be yourself – and be opening to learning as you go.
Do you have suggestions for which Blogging Platform to use, and why you chose it over others? – WordPress, Blogspot, Wix, Tumblr, etc.
To be honest, no; the platforms we use is very much a matter of choice, as is the approach taken. I simply don’t know enough about what is out there to say whether X is better than Y or if A gives more options than B. The important thing is for people to poke around, investigate, find what might benefit them within the platforms out there, and which fit things like their pocket in terms of any costs involved, and basics like ease-of-use, data exportability (in case a move elsewhere is required), etc.
Do you use Social Media, and/or other platforms outside of your Blog/Website to promote the content you have shared?
What do you enjoy and are most passionate about when it comes to Blogging?
Discovery. I love discovering regions and parcels people have poured themselves into in order to create environments and settings for others to enjoy. Their generosity in time, effort and love never ceases to amaze, together with their sheer passion for the platform. Big hat tip here as well to all the landscaping and building creators like Cube Republic, Alex Bader, Kristali Rabeni, Cory Edo, Marcthur Gossoon and so many more) who do so much to facilitate this kind of creativity and who too often get overlooked by bloggers (myself included!).
Art. The levels of artistic expression in SL and the platform’s ability to platform so much art is simply amazing – and again, special recognition to all those who work so hard to bring us art and who promote it and provide the venues in which it can be presented.
It’s been a while since I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing a product by Ape Piaggio, so it was with a sense of expectation and curiosity – Ape’s products have never disappointed – I received the WALT (Water, Air, Land Technologies) Jet Board a few weeks back for a sort-of final evaluation (others had done a lot more work than I in helping Ape bring it to market). And the expectation proved justified.
A jet board is essentially a short surfboard with a water jet propulsion module and hydrofoil suspended beneath it. It is ridden in much the same manner as a surfboard, standing atop it and using bodyweight transfer to steer it. The key difference is the propulsor powers it along rather than it being used to ride waves, with the thrust of the propulsion unit controlled via a hand-held remote operating either wirelessly or via a tether to the board.
Modern, electrically-powered jet boards entered popular use in the 2010’s when board races started to become a common water sporting event. However, their history goes back as far as the 1960s, while precursor to the whole idea, the powered surfboard (the motor in this case allowing the surfer to ride the board our into the surf rather than having to paddle it) goes back even further. However, it is the modern electrically-powered version of the Jet Board that Ape has produced.
The WALT Jet Board packaging
Priced at L$800, the WALT Jet Board is delivered in Ape’s familiar “toy box” packaging (which is attractive in and of itself), and comprises the Jet Board, the WALT Adjust Tool Box (a HUD and script which allow any personal animations added to the Jet Board to be properly adjusted), and an instruction manual. The board itself is a nicely detailed, clean design, weighing-in at 6 LI. Unlike other products by Ape, it doesn’t use a dialogue-driven menu system to access controls and options; everything is managed through clicking on the board itself, with information displayed via a hovertext HUD.
Jet Board Controls and Operation
Using the Jet Board is as simple as rezzing it out on Linden Water and and then right-clicking to sit. This will trigger a nice little animation, positioning your avatar in the water at the back of the board before making a “kick jump” to raise out of the water and straddle-sit the board. Doing so will trigger a local chat display of the board’s key controls, as outlined below.
Seated, board stationary
Seated / standing, board in motion
General:
Click the board = page through animations
SHIFT + ← = adjust sit position down
SHIFT + → = adjust it position up
(adjustments auto-saved)
Hold-click options (toggle on / off):
2 seconds: battery usage
4 second: battery recharge
6 seconds: board hover text
8 seconds: simulation mode
10 seconds: race mode code
12 seconds: driving tips
Throttle:
PgUp = increase throttle – double tap for throttle to 100%
PgDn = decrease throttle – double take to reduce to 0%
Driving controls:
↑ = raise the front of the board (“rider weight to the rear”) and ride on the foil
↓ = drop the front of the board (“rider weight forward”) to drop the front of the board & ride with the board in the water
← = turn left (“rider lean to left”)
→ = turn right (“rider lean to right”)
Once seated on the board, the easiest way to get used to it is to give a double-tap on PgUp. This will set the throttle to 100% and your avatar will stand on the board and ride it as it jets off. You can then use the Left / Right Arrow keys for steering, and the Up Arrow key to push the nose of the board up. This is the equivalent of shifting your centre of mass more towards the back of the board, encouraging the tip to rise. When this happens, the hydrofoil under the board starts to generate lift, pushing the board out of the water, reducing drag.
Once up on the foil, it is not necessary to maintain full throttle. The art is maintaining your centre of gravity over the sweet spot: if you have the full hover text display enabled, you want to keep the nose of the board up around 410mm. at lower speeds this may require occasional taps on the Up Arrow to maintain – but be careful not to over-do it; get the nose too high and the motor will be unable to pull sufficient water through the propulsor, killing forward momentum and dropping the board back down onto the water.
Foil-borne on the WALT Jet Board
When the speed is too low for standing, or if the throttle is cut, you’ll drop down into the straddle-sit position. If you want to move around on the board while seated, just give the PgUp key two or three individual taps to get the throttle up to 10-15%, and you’ll make headway and be able to steer.
Motion on the board is accompanied by some nice animations. When standing, your avatar will constantly bend and flex its legs is response to whatever buffeting / rising and falling the board is experiencing. When you turn, your avatar will naturally lean into the turn as if using bodyweight to influence direction. Similarly, when seated and in motion, turning will see your avatar use one or other leg as a rudder.
Permissions, Animations, Battery Charging and Texturing
Driving Permissions
There are no driving permissions associated with the Jet Board; if you rez it, anyone can hop on and use it. This means it can be easily combined with a rezzing system if desired, or copies of the board can be used with family and friends. However, if you do want to lock a board you’ve rezzed out – then, when you are not seated on it, left-click on it for about 2 seconds and the engine lock will engage, preventing any use of the board. You must repeat this step to unlock the board when you want to use it yourself.
Sit Animations
The WALT Jet Board comes with four default sit animations beside the straddle sit. These can only be activated when the board is stationary – which make sense. They can be cycled through by left-clicking the board when it is at a complete stop.
You can add your own animations to the board as well. Instructions on how to do this and in using the WALT Adjust Tool Box to fine-tune such additional animations are provided with the Jet Board. However, when using the Tool Box, note that while it supports couples animations, the Jet Board is a single person / single seat craft.
Battery Charging
Jet Board recharging
A battery charging system is included, and the need to recharge can be toggled on / off via a hold-click option, as noted in the table above.
To initiate charging simply left-cleck the board when not seated on it. The battery cover will open and a little solar charger on its own floatation device will be revealed, with cables connected to the battery.
A hover text charge status is displayed over the board as charging takes place.
Once charging is complete, the charger will de-rez and the battery cover replace itself. If you do not require a full recharge of the battery, left-click the board at any time to stop the recharge operation.
Texturing
For those who like to custom texture their vehicles (I generally do so with mine, but have yet to settled on a personalised texture scheme), Ape provides a dropbox containing the required .PSD files.
A Personal View
The Jet Board is a fun ride; it takes a little practice to master, but once you’re used to it, you’ll find yourself zipping over the water with ease. The lack of driving permissions makes it easy to share with friends, as noted, while the charging sequence is a nice touch.
While my tests were not exhaustive, I found it handled multiple regions crossings pretty well, even when repeatedly circling back and forth between regions, and I experienced little in the way of total loss of control. The hold-click menu perhaps takes the longest to get used to, and can cause frustration as it is easy to step past the option you want. However, given you’re only likely to want to use these options occasionally, it’s not a mark against the board.
Certainly, at L$800 for a unit that is Copy / Mod, the WALT Jet Board represents really good value and offers something very different to the run-of-the-mill surfboards, windsurfers and single-sit jet skis.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 