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If Super Mario were a French sportswriter, Donkey Kong would look somewhat like this.... |
• Monday, September 20, 2010 |
... but that doesn't mean that I'll let go of summer that easily..
Now that the kids are back in school, I have the free time needed to go to a water park. Here's one I found on SL, at The Cove Beach Live Music Venue.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Althena%20Cove/185/174/23
CBLMV is actually a rock music club, but they have a sizable area set aside for water sports. I was wearing a dress, but no one was there when I visited, so I didn't bother putting on a swimsuit.
They have a nice beach to lounge on. This is important, because a great part of the head trip at a virtual water park involves getting to the Bahamas in your mind. I laid out for a while, and had a fat smoke. After that, i was ready to gamble my life on some of their rides.
"Mine Lift" sounds harmless enough, maybe German for something. I was thinking this as I sat in the cart. Little did I know, this was a ride somewhat akin to the Twilight Zone Tower Of Terror where you are slowly brought up 30 stories in the air before the lift ceass and you take a terrifying plunge to the ground.
Once I got off that ride, I looked for something a little more horizontal. I was much more pleased with the River Raft, which is one of those circular rafts that heads down the river. You can spin it around, and it goes no higher than water level.
This was good news, because I'm afraid of heights. The bad news was that the next thing I tried was a water slide.
I've been afraid of heihts since September 11th, 2001. A lot of people probably share this sentiment, and the starting date for this sentiment. However, I'm unique because my fear was born that day...before the murders.
I was a teacher at the time, and was sitting out with the kids in the courtyard of the school. It was a nice day, and we were laying in the grass, watching the clouds. A plane flew overhead, and I immediately got an intense feeling of dread. "Like a foot of aluminum is all that stands between those people and a 30,000 foot drop." I immediately decided that I would never fly again.
I can afford this conviction, because all of my relatives in France have passed away, I'm not that nostalgic for my childhood on the outskirts of Rouen, and any vacation I wish to take is in driving range. I can even go to Quebec if I feel some compulsion to be among Francophones.
Several friends have mentioned that, as I was teaching in Boston at the time, the plane that sparked my dread may indeed have been one of the planes hijacked by the murderers. I may have even had a sort of psychic flash, with my irrational sense of dread being the manifestation of my ESP telling me that the plane was doomed. However, as the one who had the dread, I should tell you that I don't believe the psychic theory. I'd do a better job of sports betting if I were psychic.
Right or wrong, I don't like heights. It's an irrational fear, especially so on Second Life. My avatar has shown an incredible ability to withstand punishment. I frequently fall off sims, I've been struck by a stock car, and I've lost about 100 wrestling matches where I was pile-driven into the mat. Whatever SL can do, Stacey Cardalines can handle it.
After I told myself this enough times, I climbed 30 stories up on a ladder and threw myself down the water slide. I was able to control my descent with the arrow keys. This helped somewhat.
Don't let my 'fraidy-cat attitude scare you away from this club. There are enough water parks in America to convince me that I'm very much in the minority regarding fear of heights. Even with said fear, I can see the Cool in a day spent dancing, tanning, swimming, and sliding.
I like the The Cove Beach Live Music Venue, and I give it the big Bow Wow.
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