Tea house customers

4 or 5 dropped by for tea or sake. All new, not seen before. 3 minarai helpers and Yoneyu. We did dance music and stories. Tomoko chan came near the end, on good form! I put a Komayo sake set in the tea house. See if anyone notices.

More building, yay...

Hooked up with little sister HP chan who has made a table. I put out a teas set and she loved it. Spent the morning making a tea set that is wonderful. I made a sake cup, 2 prims, a sake jar of 3 prims, and a tray of 2 prims. 11 prims for the set. Have tried many textures. Koi looks good. HP let me into the secret of putting different textures on different faces of an object. Easy when you know how. Use Select Texture radio button. Click the face to texturize and choose a texture and colour...

Super show by the Little Yoshiwara girls

Today we did a show at Osho. HP chan performed the snow bride. Yoneyu directed. Some excellent tips. Earlier in the day HP chan made a tea set. I made sake bowls and a sake jar. Need to work out how to put textures on two different faces.

Customers at the tea house

Yay, tea house opening brought some interest today. Some interesting people. Life san is a photographer and would like us to do a show. Will discuss later. Told some haiku, the badger farmer story, then monkey crab and persimmon seed story. Hooked up Toshiha san with Mojito san to make a HUD but turns out it is animations! Sounds like Hosoi has changed...

Back to base

Back from the skin shop...

Heaven Sella sent the skin

Thank you Heaven for sending the skin. And I got the one for today as well. Doumo...

Midnight Mania reached 100

Yay, the skin arrived. [1:04] Midnight Mania Arachne Red owned by Heaven Sella gave you 'Arachne Red01' ( http://slurl.com/secondlife/uemachi/47/79/34 ). BUT IT IS NOT IN MY INVENTORY!!!! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Others have received the skin, not my lucky day. Went to check and the bosrd denied all knowledge of me. [3:03] Midnight Mania Prize Station: Welcome Lezlie Latte, please wait a moment while I check the winner records.
[3:03] Midnight Mania Arachne Red: Sorry, your name was not found in the prize run on 2009-05-29.
[3:03] Midnight Mania Arachne Red whispers: Lezlie Latte is now registered for today's Midnight Mania. If our target of 100 people is met by midnight, the prize will be delivered to all participants! WTF is going on!!!! Sent Heaven Sella a notecard with the problem explained... We'll see what happens.

LAAAGGGGGGG, spit

Monster lag at the moment. Can't TP anywhere, keep crashing. And no groups!! So can't open tea house. Not able to send a notice. A few french guys were outside the tea house so had a few words in french with them. Joshua showed up for a while then disappeared. Jin san joined us for sake. Dojo is going well. Before the lag managed to get on a Midnight mania board for a cute skin. Passed on the tip to those online...

HP chan's gazebo, magical...

Yesterday HP chan added the pond and sand garden, terrific job. Is for sale to folks at 2200$L. Pictures at midday and midnight...

Free Jorden skin by L'oring

1$L Takako skin by L'oring

11th hour, Directed a show

Saw okasaan in the morning, no one down to direct the 2:30 P.M. show so I said I'd do it. Got little sisters HP chan and Geisha Yoneyu to perform. Sent out a group notice. Theme set to animal stories and red kimono. I set up the badger and farmer story as backup. Jael chan responded to the notice so we had 4 for the show. Okasaan had built a new stage, stunning. HP chan played music and performed. Tested out her story while she added a pond and sand garden to her gazebo. Lovely work. Show started spot on the hour, to the second. and ran for one hour 15 seconds, perfect. A good crowd, 16 avatars there including 3 from different okiya (after pointers no doubt) Yoneyu did a brilliant job with the dance hud. Opened the tea house late, 11:59 p.m.! One customer, showed him the shachihokodachi animation and the real life one: http://www.flickr.com/photos/11588476@N08/3497092202/ It's very impressive. Alena chan helped out at the tea house with HP chan. Seems she is into music. Gave me an LM for a free harp, nice music. Went and got the harp at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Marinoco%20Fashion/213/184/24 Also a notice for free skin and 1$L Japanese skin so went and got those as well, here http://slurl.com/secondlife/CDD/210/18/21 Here are the directions: Female Free Skin JORDEN 2B (third row, second from the right); Japanese 1l skin takako - second right top shelf.

Oh, there's some cute boxes as well

Final box, it's all over (Necklace and earrings)

Well done to Miriel for a super tough treasure hunt!

Fourth box and clue #5 (Necklace)

=============================================
Along with the jewelry, the box (which polishes up quite nicely, thank you) includes a page torn from a book. In a neat, old fashioned hand, the following is written:

June 25

He will not tell me his name, but says he comes from the sea, and he tells me about it. It is limitless and ever-changing, he says, and I envy him, for my life is small and chained to routine. I have jewels and books; I have a gilded tower and a walled garden; I have servants and more space than most. It is a golden cage. I curse John daily for imprisoning me like this, but he is not even around to hear: the warden cannot be bothered to stay in his own prison. May he rot. May he suffer as I have, trapped and thought mad.

I believe the nurses suspect something. They seem to watch me more closely now, and I hear them whispering to each other. They are talking about me. I know they are, and I must be more careful in the future.



The last thing you seek is at the manmade shell.
=============================================

Third box and clue #4 (earrings)

=============================================
Along with the jewelry, the box (which polishes up quite nicely, thank you) includes a page torn from a book. In a neat, old fashioned hand, the following is written:

May 20

I am not alone! I saw one of them by the pebbly seashore, just beneath the seafoam. He was wild, with hair that looked like seaweed -- not at all like his forest brethren, back at the estate, in their oak trees and neat fairy rings. I must be honest, dear journal: I had begun to fear that John and his doctors were right about me. But I know what I have seen, and perhaps I can befriend him. I need to be careful not to let the nurses see this page, however.



This is known to few: there are two observatories. Look at the feet of the first.
=============================================

Second box and clue #3 (Bracelets)

=============================================
Along with the jewelry, the box (which polishes up quite nicely, thank you) includes a page torn from a book. In a neat, old fashioned hand, the following is written:

May 1

Oh, how my days are constrained! I am observed at most hours, and ordered to rest and be quiet. The doctor has said that I will only recover if I remain calm. When I am allowed on my own, the nurses encourage me to spend time in the rose garden, but I am finding that walks along the cliffs are more refreshing. The ocean is vast and free, and the breeze rushes around me, and I can forget how tiny my world has become.

I must stop writing now; Helen is coming with my supper.



The object of your search lies near undying flowers.
=============================================

First box and #2 clue (Rings)

=============================================
Along with the jewelry, the box (which polishes up quite nicely, thank you) includes a page torn from a book. In a neat, old fashioned hand, the following is written:

--boat ride, we arrived on the island today. John led me around, and the island is small enough that I did not tire. He showed me the rose garden and the observatory, both of which were built by the previous owner. The ocean views from the observatory are beautiful, but the windows stick and the air is stale. Lastly, he showed me the cottage where I will be living. It is on the southeastern part of the island, near the water. I have been given a cozy room, though the wallpaper is an unappealing yellow.



Search among the names of the lost.
=============================================

Treasure hunt sorted

Spent last night doing the treasure hunt. Some nice jewellery to find. 5 clues. First clue is available in the shop. Get a clue to the next treasure when you find the first. They are small jewellery boxes to find. Some are very well hidden! Pictures I took! So the next few blog entries will be pictures of the hiding places.
Here is the blurb in the notecard:
The Golden Cage is a treasure hunt, with five boxes hidden throughout the Miriel sim. Each box contains a free piece of copyable jewelry (which also can be purchased at the store, if you're so inclined), as well as a clue for the next box. The first clue is at the bottom of this notecard.

If you're having trouble with lag, try turning down your draw distance and object detail (go to Preferences > Graphics). Turning off water reflections and shaders will also help.

Oh, and one last thing: the hunt is ongoing. There's no time limit, and I currently have no plans to take it down.

Good luck!

Miriel Enfield

=============================================
Though the public is free to explore this island, this was not always the case. For centuries, the land was entirely private, held by a series of owners for their personal use. In fact, it has changed hands multiple times, collecting a colorful history in the process. There is the allegedly cursed archaeological dig of Robert Neston, the notorious parties of Rebecca Fairfield, and, perhaps most notably, the disappearance of Charlotte West.

West's time on the island was shrouded in rumor and secrecy. Officially, her husband John West bought the island as a place for her to convalesce while he worked on the mainland. Even before she arrived, though, there were stories: she was mad, or John wished to be rid of her, or both. The nurses and servants who cared for her on the island rarely left and were not permitted to discuss the situation, fueling further speculation.

Three months after West arrived, she vanished. One night, while John was visiting, she rushed out of her cottage and he followed. When the servants caught up with him, he was alone at the cliff's edge. He claimed that Charlotte had run there, yelling at someone to "open it," but by the time he broke through the trees, she was gone. Many whispered that he had pushed her, driven by frustration with her illness and desire for her highly valuable heirloom jewels. However, no trace of a body was ever found, and the official ruling was that she had accidentally fallen to her death.

John West sold the island shortly after the investigation ended, and the case faded from the public mind. Soon after he died, however, the island's then owner discovered journal page in Charlotte's handwriting, dated from the week before her disappearance. It rekindled the rumors about her fate, and continues to generate interest to this day.

July 13

--has sworn that he will not allow my treasures
to fall into John's hands, no matter how many
years pass. I am glad for this; my tormentor deserves
nothing. Let him suffer, let him grow poor, let
him spend his years searching and going mad,
mad, mad...

Look first beneath the sky, and the sky, and the
sky, near the top of the southeastern tower.
- Text of the journal entry
=============================================

#1 http://slurl.com/secondlife/Miriel/96/202/67
#2 http://slurl.com/secondlife/Miriel/136/193/60
#3 http://slurl.com/secondlife/Miriel/64/82/30
#4 http://slurl.com/secondlife/Miriel/24/213/48
#5 http://slurl.com/secondlife/Miriel/143/164/58

Up and running again

No tea house clients. Had a chat with Yoneyu. Missed lots at the weekend. Still furious with BT. IM from Toshiha re multiple avs. Tea house opening saw a flood of guests. My avatar is floating about 6 inches above the ground!! See photo, very weird. Tried a treasure hunt with HP chan, a bit difficult.

BT aarrrrrrggggghhhhhhhhhhh

Over 48 hours with no service from BT. major service outage in the UK. Spitting feathers!!!! Missed the Osho show and a party runs by Geisha Yoneyu. Missed the Horse racing, Yoneyu won on a demo horse, yay for my little sister. Salomee Ugajin came by asking to be a geisha, she's Italian. Gave her the information from the stome post and okaasan's name. She has sent a note... Opened the tea house. Maczutto Zelin came to help out, and Yoneyu came a little while later (the picture today). No takers. Put a blog up with haiku of the day on the Second hanamachi web site but there is a gap, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr to BT.

Meeting with Toshiha san

Fired up Atsui on a viewer to explore the Hosoi sim. Met Toshiha san so brought in Lezlie for a chat...

Tagged my Second Hanamachi blogs

A new joiner to the second hanamachi web site sparked a suggestion to tag my haiku there. All hakiu tagged with haiku plus the 7 of my own have lezlie as a tag. So anyone can now see the haiku of my own very easily. No one came to the tea house opening. HP chan gave me a gazebo she made, stunning bit of work. We talked a bit about 15 minute performances. Age verification notices came out. Will be happening in June. Have verified Lezlie. Horse racing here at the week end. I suggested we could do dragonfly boat racing. I have many colours of dragonfly boats from 7Seas fishing. And they are copy so could have a huge fleet....

Market stage show

Jael chan directed again (will be promoted soon I'm sure...) at Little Yoshiwara market stage. I told the tale called
“Danzayémon, Chief of the Etas”. PH chan was on music. Zsun san was operating dance hud but it could not see me! So I ran my own. Big crowd, hardly any tips. Times must be tough! Opened tea house late, no takers. Saw okaasan this morning. Asked me to take the koto from the stage, it's been there a few months! Had storms in her area so been off for a couple of days. Unpacked a JD koto, very nice but position of avatar way too high. I had a play. Sound and music is good. Double the price of the Rumi koto. Okaasan could not take it! Had to use return to get it off the stage.

We're on a roll

Two more customers today. A regular who is going to Japan in a few weeks time(lucky boy)who is trying to learn some Japanese and a newcomer who lived in Korea for 10 years and has rusty Japanese. HP chan did music for us. Will be doing the Saturday show with Yoneyu directing.

More customers

Tea house opening saw 2 visitors, one a head geisha from another okiya who came to look at our new tea house. A friend of our okaasan. Also a regular dropped by. Had quite a chat. Got a tip, doumo. Yoneyu and HP chan were there. I have told Jael chan I can perform on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. SL time. Picture is us on the waiting balls...

Tea house customer at last

Yay we got a customer. Jael chan served tea, Sorasu chan played music, and I did some haiku performances. Was mega tired due to insect bites the evening before so went to bed early. Missed the sensei meeting.

SL opera house show was terrific...

Started bang on time. No significant lag. Finished with 2 minutes to spare. Yoneyu did a terrific job. Okaasan came to watch. The opera house is really stunning... Sensei meeting moved to tomorrow. No one cam to the tea house opening in the afternoon. Made a few undershirts for the 6 summer yukata pack.

Quite a close to real life kimono collar

This collar is quite close to a real life collar as seen on geisha Yoneyu's photos from a recent trip to Japan. Need to try and create something as nice as this...

Tea house customers at last

Jael chan opened the tea house after a bit of advertising and got a couple of patrons. HP chan played music, I told the 3 proverbs story. No tips... Sensei meeting arranged for same time as opera house performance, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Got black formal kimono on ready for the show. Collar looks quite good and is modify so I'll check it out later... Picture is outside the DrLife skin shop at Little Yoshiwara in kimono ready for the show this evening.

Undershirt fixes small glitch

There was a small white patch of skin showing on the new red yukata at the back. So I made an undershirt to plug the gap. Bingo, can't spot the join... Had a chat with Dante chan who is performing at 7:30 p.m. today at a show. Her story was too long so she's going to bash out a new one...

Login problems at Milarepa

Login stuck me at 10 10 10 location and I could not move! Kept being disconnected at login! Logged in to another island OK, and Sorasu chan TPed me to Milarepa. How strange. Opened tea house, no visitor. Photo shows a sunset approaching..... ahhhhhhh

Story ready for Saturday

LittleYoshiwara are performing at laggsville SL opera house on Saturday. Said I'll perform. Theme is friends so I made a story. The monkey, crab, and persimmon seed. Had to change it quite a bit from the Internet version to tidy it up and add a few more friend references. Black formal kimono. Only 4 performers so should be ok for lag. Fingers crossed. HP chan is doing music so it's a family affair! No one came to the tea house opening. I unboxed 6 yukata and had a go at positioning the prims. The red one is nice. Two were a bit dull.

Here is a sneak preview of the story:

Today I tell a tale from Japan called “the monkey, the crab, and the persimmon seed.”
Long, long ago, one bright autumn day in Japan, it happened that two friends, a pink faced monkey and a yellow crab were playing together along the bank of a river.
As they were running about, the crab found a rice dumpling and the monkey found a persimmon seed.
The crab picked up the rice dumpling and showed it to the monkey, saying:
"Look what a nice thing I have found!"
Then the monkey held up his persimmon seed and said:
"I also have found something good! Look!"
Now although the monkey is very fond of persimmon fruit, he had no use for the seed he had just found.
The persimmon seed is as hard and uneatable as a stone.
He therefore, in his greedy nature, felt very envious of the crab's nice dumpling and he proposed an exchange.
The crab naturally did not see why he should give up his prize for a hard stone like seed, and would not consent to the monkey's proposition.
Then the cunning monkey began to persuade the crab, saying: "How unwise you are, not to think of the future!
Your rice dumpling can be eaten now, and is certainly much bigger than my seed; but if you sow this seed in the ground it will soon grow and become a great tree in a few years, and bear an abundance of fine ripe persimmons year after year.
If only I could show it to you then with the yellow fruit hanging on its branches!
Of course, if you don't believe me I shall sow it myself; though I am sure, later on, you will be very sorry that you did not take my advice."
The simple minded crab could not resist the monkey's clever persuasion.
The crab at last gave in and consented to the monkey's proposal, and the exchange was made.
The greedy monkey soon gobbled up the rice dumpling, and with great reluctance gave up the persimmon seed to the crab.
He would have liked to keep that too, but he was afraid of making the crab angry and of being pinched by his large sharp scissor like claws.
The friends then separated, the monkey going home to his forest trees and the crab to his stones along the riverside.
As soon as the crab reached home he planted the persimmon seed in the ground as the monkey had told him.
In the following spring the crab was delighted to see the shoot of a young tree push its way up through the ground.
Each year the tree grew bigger, till at last it blossomed one spring, and in the following autumn bore some fine large persimmons.
Among the broad smooth green leaves the fruit hung like golden balls, and as they ripened they mellowed to a deep orange.
It was the crab's pleasure to go out day by day and sit in the sun and put out his long eyes in the same way as a snail puts out its horn, and watch the persimmons ripening to perfection.
"How delicious they will be to eat!" he said to himself.
At last, one day, he knew the persimmons must be quite ripe and he wanted very much to taste one.
He made several attempts to climb the tree, in the vain hope of reaching one of the beautiful persimmons hanging above him; but he failed each time, for a crab's legs are not made for climbing trees but only for running along the ground
and over stones, both of which he can do most cleverly.
In his dilemma the crab thought of his friend the monkey, who, he knew, could climb trees better than any one else in the world.
He determined to ask the monkey to help him, and set out to find him.
Running crab fashion up the stony riverbank, over the pathways into the shadowy forest, the crab at last found the monkey taking an afternoon nap in his favorite pine tree,
with his tail curled tight around a branch to prevent him from falling off in his dreams.
The monkey was soon wide awake, however, when he heard himself called, and eagerly listening to what his friend the crab told him.
When he heard that the seed that he had long ago exchanged for a rice dumpling had grown into a tree and was now bearing good fruit, he was delighted, for he at once devised a cunning plan that would give him all the persimmons for himself.
He consented to go with the crab to pick the fruit for him.
When they both reached the spot, the monkey was astonished to see what a fine tree had sprung from the seed,
and with what a huge number of ripe persimmons the branches were loaded.
The monkey quickly climbed the tree and began to pluck and eat, as fast as he could, one persimmon after another.
Each time he chose the best and ripest he could find, and went on eating till he could eat no more.
Not one would he give to the poor hungry crab waiting below, and when he had finished there was little but the hard, unripe fruit left.
You can imagine the feelings of the poor crab after waiting patiently, for so long as he had done, for the tree to grow and the fruit to ripen, when he saw the monkey devouring all the good persimmons.
He was so disappointed that he ran round and round the tree calling to the monkey to remember his promise.
The monkey at first took no notice of the crab's complaints,
but at last he picked out the hardest, greenest persimmon he could find and aimed it at the crab's head.
The persimmon is as hard as stone when it is unripe.
The monkey's missile struck home and the crab was sorely hurt by the blow.
Again and again, as fast as he could pick them, the monkey pulled off the hard persimmons and threw them at the defenseless crab till he dropped dead, covered with wounds all over his body.
There he lay, a pitiful sight at the foot of the tree he had himself planted.
When the wicked monkey saw that he had killed the crab he ran away from the spot as fast as he could, in fear and trembling, like a coward as he was.
Now the crab had a son who had been playing with a friend not far from the spot where this sad event had taken place.
On the way home he came across his dead father, in a most dreadful condition.
His head was smashed and his shell broken in several places, and around his body lay the unripe persimmons that had done their deadly work.
At this dreadful sight the poor young crab sat down and wept.
But when he had wept for some time he told himself that this crying would do no good; it was his duty to avenge his father's murder, and this he was determined to do.
He looked about for some clue, which would lead him to discover the murderer.
Looking up at the tree he noticed that the best fruit had gone, and that all around lay bits of peel and numerous seeds strewn on the ground,
as well as the unripe persimmons that had evidently been thrown at his father.
Then the young crab understood that the monkey was the murderer, for he now remembered that his father had once told him the story of the rice dumpling and the persimmon seed.
The young crab knew that monkeys liked persimmons above all other fruit, and he felt sure that his greed for the coveted fruit had been the cause of the old crab's death.
Alas!
He at first thought of going to attack the monkey at once, for he burned with rage.
Second thoughts, however, told him that this was useless, for the monkey was an old and cunning animal and would be hard to overcome.
He must meet cunning with cunning and ask some of his friends to help him, for he knew it would be quite out of his power to kill the monkey alone.
The young crab set out at once to call on the mortar, his father's old friend, and told him of all that had happened.
He besought the mortar with tears to help him avenge his father's death.
The mortar was very sorry when he heard the woeful tale and promised at once to help the young crab punish the monkey to death.
He warned him that he must be very careful in what he did, for the monkey was a strong and cunning enemy.
The mortar now sent out to fetch the bee and the chestnut (also the crab's old friends) to consult them about the matter.
In a short time the bee and the chestnut arrived.
When they were told all the details of the old crab's death and of the monkey's wickedness and greed, they both gladly consented to help the young crab in his task of revenge.
After talking for a long time as to the ways and means of carrying out their plans they separated, and the mortar went home with the young crab to help him bury his poor father.
While all this was taking place the monkey was congratulating himself (as the wicked often do before their punishment comes upon them) on all he had done so neatly.
He thought it quite a fine thing that he had robbed his friend of all his ripe persimmons and then that he had killed him.
Still, smile as hard as he might, he could not banish altogether the fear of the consequences should his evil deeds be discovered.
IF he were found out (and he told himself that this could not be for he had escaped unseen) the crab's family would be sure to bear him hatred and seek to take revenge on him.
So he decided not go out, and kept himself at home for several days.
The monkey found this kind of life extremely dull, accustomed as he was to the free life of the woods, and at last he said:
"No one knows that it was I who killed the crab!
I am sure that the old thing breathed his last breath before I left him and dead crabs have no mouths!
Who is there to tell that I am the murderer?
Since no one knows, what is the use of shutting myself up and brooding over the matter?
What is done cannot be undone!"
With this he wandered out into the crab settlement and crept about as slyly as possible near the crab's house and tried to hear the neighbors' gossip round about.
The monkey wanted to find out what the crabs were saving about their chief's death, for the old crab had been the chief of the tribe.
But he heard nothing and said to himself:
"They are all such fools that they don't know, and don't care, who murdered their chief!"
Little did he know in his so called "monkey's wisdom" that this seeming unconcern was part of the young crab's plan.
He purposely pretended not to know who killed his father, and also to believe that he had met his death through his own fault.
By this means he could better keep secret the revenge on the monkey, which he was meditating.
So the monkey returned home from his walk quite content.
He told himself he had nothing now to fear.
One fine day, when the monkey was sitting at home, he was surprised by the appearance of a messenger from the young crab.
While he was wondering what this might mean, the messenger bowed before him and said:
"I have been sent by my master to inform you that his father died the other day in falling from a persimmon tree while trying to climb the tree after fruit.
This, being the seventh day, is the first anniversary after his death, and my master has prepared a little festival in his father's honor, and bids you come to participate in it as you were one of his best friends.
My master hopes you will honor his house with your kind visit."
When the monkey heard these words he rejoiced in his innermost heart, for all his fears of being suspected were now at rest.
He could not guess that a plot had just been set in motion against him.
The monkey pretended to be very surprised at the news of the crab's death, and said:
"I am, indeed, very sorry to hear of your chief's death.
We were great friends as you know and I remember that we once exchanged a rice dumpling for a persimmon seed.
It grieves me so much to think that that seed was in the end the cause of his death.
I accept your kind invitation with many thanks, I shall be delighted to do honor to my poor old friend!"
And he screwed some false tears from his eyes.
The messenger laughed inwardly and thought, "The wicked monkey is now dropping false tears, but within a short time he shall shed real ones."
But aloud he thanked the monkey politely and went home.
When he had gone, the wicked monkey laughed aloud at what he thought was the young crab's innocence, and without the least feeling began to look forward to the feast to be held that day in honor of the dead crab, to which he had been invited.
He changed his dress and set out solemnly to visit the young crab.
He found all the members of the crab's family and his relatives waiting to receive and welcome him.
As soon as the bows of meeting were over they led the monkey to a hall.
Here the young chief mourner came to receive him.
Expressions of condolence and thanks were exchanged between them, and then they all sat down to a luxurious feast and entertained the monkey as the guest of honor.
The feast over, the monkey was next invited to the tea ceremony room to drink a cup of tea.
When the young crab had accompanied the monkey to the tearoom he left him and retired.
Time passed and still the young crab did not return.
At last the monkey became impatient and said to himself:
"This tea ceremony is always a very slow affair.
I am tired of waiting so long. I am very thirsty after drinking so much sake at the dinner!"
He then approached the charcoal fireplace and began to pour out some hot water from the kettle boiling there.
Then something burst out from the ashes with a great pop and hit the monkey right in the neck.
It was the chestnut, one of the crab's friends, who had hidden himself in the fireplace.
The monkey, taken by surprise, jumped backward, and then started to run out of the room.
The bee, who was hiding outside the screens, now flew out and stung him on the cheek.
The monkey was in great pain, his neck was burned by the chestnut and his face badly stung by the bee, but he ran on screaming and chattering with rage.
Now the stone mortar had hidden himself with several other stones on the top of the crab's gate, and as the monkey ran underneath, the mortar and all fell down on the top of the monkey's head.
Was it possible for the monkey to bear the weight of the mortar falling on him from the top of the gate?
The monkey lay crushed and in great pain, quite unable to get up.
As he lay there helpless the young crab came up, and, holding his great claw scissors over the monkey, he said:
"Do you now remember that you murdered my father?"
"Then you are my enemy?" gasped the monkey brokenly.
"Of course," said the young crab.
"It was your father's fault not mine!" gasped the unrepentant monkey.
"Can you still lie? I will soon put an end to your breath!" and with that he cut off the monkey's head with his huge sharp claw.
Thus the wicked monkey met his well deserved punishment, and the young crab avenged his father's death.
This is the end of the story of the monkey, the crab, and the persimmon seed, where a friendship went wrong!

Second Life Opera House

Went again to the opera for a second running of the ballet Romeo and Juliette. Lag was just as bad. Dancers were not fully rezzed after 20 minutes!!!! Took 1 photo then crashed taking the next one. Oh well. We perform there on Saturday so I envisage similar lag problems. Fingers crossed. Opened the tea house. No one came. Just before going to bed okaasan materialized outside the tea house but there was no body home! Went for an MM skin 109/250 so fingers crossed again...

No tea house

Got back from teaching and the tea house had just been open for an hour so gave it a miss tonight. Did some inventory tidy up and went to bed... Here's the missing haiku of the day:
Closed window - /
butterfly at the pane gives /
color to my day.

Got age verified today

Reports are that Mature sims will not allow avatars that have not been age verified. Is an easy process. Just need to give name address and in the UK your passport number or driving licence number. The application says the data is not kept once it has been verified by a third party!!!

Lag kills Romeo and Juliet

I was in the front row for the opening night of Romeo and Juliet at the Second Life Opera House. Was in the plaza rather than the main hall. Lag just killed the show that never got going... I left after an hour of folks pleading to remove prims and get the lag down. I took off everything except skirt and shirt and got avatar rendering cost down to just 1. Yet there were still folks with over 2000 points of rendering cost!!! Only 53 people in the sim and it ground to a halt. I took a few photos behind the curtain of the dancers warming up. Dancers kept crashing. Such a shame as the costumes were very nice. I know we had problems of lag when performing there (took me 38 minutes to get a dance invitation!) Got a German lady at tea house opening time and told the 81 brothers story. One lady wanting to joining the okiya so had a chat and she'll send a note to okaasan.

Fishing contest picture

Dante chan doing her first performance

My newest little sister Dante chan told the Lord Bag of Rice story for her first performance. Used copy/paste rather than the Narrator. Slightly over ran. Show was directed by my first little sister, now geisha Yoneyu.

Another busy day

Slow start to the day with the tea house opening not bringing in any takers. A show in the afternoon with 2 of my little sisters on stage. Was Dante chan's first show. We wore purple kimono and I told the Dragon Jewel story. Small crowd and few tips. In the evening the festival weekend kicked of with a fishing contest that I started. Okaasan was generous with the prizes. 600, 400, and 200$L for 1st 2nd and 3rd respectively. HP chan hit the ground running and basted into the lead. No one caught her. HP won with an excellent score of 106. I was pipped off the podium and caught a fish about 1 secind after the timer dropped!!!! Grrrrrrrrrrrr. Results were:[15:30] (7S) 7Seas Fishing Contest Board: The winner is..... HPDAA Avro, with a score of 106 points! 2nd Place: Larry Yumako, 3rd Place: Viriane Villiers! Good work, and thanks to everybody who participated!
[15:30] (7S) 7Seas Fishing Contest Board: Contest Results... #1 HPDAHPDAA Avro, #2 Larry Yumako, #3 Viriane Villiers, #4 Lezlie Latte, #5 Hiroko Yokosuka
Picked up a lucky chair kimono before off to bed...