Saturday, January 19, 2013

One of the Most Interesting Second Life Residents I’ve Met (II): Perryn Peterson


Reality provides us with facts so romantic that imagination itself could add nothing to them.

Jules Verne


          From time to time, I sit back and think (Significant Other (SO) has other words for it but it’s true, I’m not napping.)  about the people whom I meet inworld.  Every twelve months or so, I write a story about one of the most interesting of these people.  There are many possibilities.  However, as I spend more time in Second Life (SL), the person I write about is becoming more someone I’ve spent a lot of time with then not. 
          Previously, I’d written about Morsmordre Furman.  She is a true Renaissance person who can be found with increasing frequency inworld these days.  Morsmordre exemplified to me the creative spontaneity of SL.  Her creations are original and show SL’s true potential.
          This year (Yes, I know it’s over a year since I wrote my last story in this series.  But as I’ve said before, it’s my blog and I get editorial privilege. Contrary to what SO says this is not the reason I write this blog.) I’ve selected one of my oldest friends in SL, Perryn Peterson.  I was introduced to Perryn (not “Perry”) by a mutual friend, Eleanor Banx, in 2011 when I began blogging and was visiting inworld to meet different communities, in this case, steampunks. 

          Perryn is currently the mayor of Mieville, a prominent steampunk community in SL.  He is also the producer of Historical Hunts Ltd. hunts and events.  Perryn had been formerly the Vizier of the late City of Piedmont, a Gorean community.  “A series of unfortunate events” in Real Life (RL) took people away from Piedmont and led to its closure. 
          What brought Perryn to SL originally was a referral by someone in an AOL chat “looong” ago.  (Do I need to tell my younger readers what AOL was?)  He can remember first arriving inworld and not knowing what a sim was or how it differed from a sim. 

          During an interview, I ask Perryn why he stayed in SL and do what he does here.  Perryn says he stayed because he’s found plenty to hold his interest.  He can’t understand people who claim they are bored inworld.  (Neither can I.)  Perryn does what he does here because he loves to assemble.  Perryn doesn’t say he can build inworld but he has learned to mod stuff.  He displays his characteristic modesty here because Perryn assembles more than prims.  He assembles residents and builds communities and that is why he’s the subject of this story. 
          His proudest achievement to date is the Dickens Christmas Village.  But he’s also equally proud of STEAM, the Renaissance Faire, and his other hunts.   Although, he’s quick to point out that he’s not responsible for the concept of hunts in SL.  He continues by saying the hunts and events, while fun, are secondary to building up Mieville.  Perryn would like to see more residents and Mieville.  Now that he doesn’t have Piedmont to worry about, he should be able to devote more time to these goals. 

          I next ask Perryn about what he enjoys most about SL.  He enjoys meeting people getting them set up in residences and shops, and producing the hunts.  He also enjoys the sort of building which he calls “assembling”.  He’s thrilled by all that there is to learn in SL. 
          I inquire about Perryn’s SL interest in steampunk and he claims he didn’t really know about it until he arrived inworld.  But Perryn is eclectic.  A future project is the Chinese Lunar New Year.  Recently, the Frost Fair has been introduced to list of annual events.  The latter will be a recreation of an ice festival that used to take place when the Thames froze over.  (In case you’re not current on English weather, this last happened in 1814.)  The idea for this event when he was reading about Elizabeth I who is the person from history he’d like to have to dinner if he could.  And, of course, there will be Mardi Gras in Mieville Poe which is the French Quarter. 

          My final question is about his thoughts about the future of SL.  Perryn’s view of its future is guarded.  He keeps hoping that more people will discover it and will stay.  However, frustration with the way Linden Lab runs things is rampant, himself included.  Perryn has been critical since I’ve known him about the policy of eliminating surnames for noobies which he believes creates second class citizens as long as there are residents with surnames. 
          This brings us to the conclusion of our interview and I thank him before we return to RL. 

          Perryn is an exemplary example of that entrepreneurial spirit which characterizes SL.  He has created communities and events.  Building on scripts and prims, Perryn has brought together many people who live together inworld and enjoy themselves.  (BTW, Perryn throws great parties.) 
          I want to thank Perryn not only for this interview and his frank and candid answers but also for his friendship.  Much of what I’ve been able to do in SL has been with Perryn’s help and for this I’m grateful. 

          I’ve included pictures of Perryn and some of his events.  But please go and see them for yourself because my work does not do them justice and some of these places have to be experienced to be truly enjoyed.  There’re also the people who have to be met.  
           As always, I’m grateful to all for their kindness and time in stopping to talk with a stranger who was passing through their lives.

I welcome feedback from readers, please either comment on my blog or e-mail me at webspelunker@gmail.com . 

          If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life
please click here.

Photo No. 1 Perryn Peterson



Photo No. 4 STEAM 7 – Trophy





 
Photo No. 10 Refurbished Main Room at Laughing Gryphon House

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