Enter the Bibliomancer: A new career for the CodePoet

ZenMondo Wormser of the Library Militant
Photograph by Lady Lavendar Beumont

I try to make it known that I am willing to serve my nation in whatever means possible. Usually this involves me employing my trade as a CodePoet, providing codepoetry for various things around Caledon. If it benefits Caledon, my services have been gratis. It was in this spirit, that JJ Drinkwater approached me with work for the library.

He seemed to be pleased with my work, and offered me a continuing relationship with the Caledon Library by inducting me into the Library Militant. In so doing I have taken my vows of Literacy, Obstinance and Bibliomancy, and received the livery (see photo, above). I will receive my Orders at a later time. My responsibilities will primarily being supporting my current work, taking on more work as needed or consulting on any scripting work that needs to be done. I am happy to do it and my heart soars to serve my community this way.

At the urgings of Mr. Drinkwater, my work for the Caledon Library will all be released open source under a Creative Commons license. I needed a little urging in this direction, as my work is valuable for the most part, and this will prevent me from reselling it to other libraries and interested parties. But Mr. Drinkwater convinced me that it was for the greater good to put GOOD code out there for others to learn from and use. Once the scripts are deployed in the library, I will be posting them to various wikis and the scripting library forum. For doing this, JJ as styled me as an Information Hero, but really I am just doing what I feel is the right thing.

Steam Links!

I am not one for often posting links but this is just too cool to turn up. Its a Steam-Powered Bionic Arm

I know you are saying big deal, I have seen these on Edward Pearse and Qlippothic Projects, but wait, this is in that big blue sim called REAL LIFE.

Quote:
Goldfarb’s power source is about the size of a pencil and contains a special catalyst that causes hydrogen peroxide to burn. When this compound burns, it produces pure steam. The steam is used to open and close a series of valves. The valves are connected to the spring-loaded joints of the prosthesis by belts made of a special monofilament used in appliance handles and aircraft parts. A small sealed canister of hydrogen peroxide that easily fits in the upper arm can provide enough energy to power the device for 18 hours of normal activity.

A 21st century application of the most Caledonian Power sources, Steam.

And since I am linking today, the inspiration for the new bartender I have in Steam Sonnet, (behind ZenMondo's CodePoetry & Steamworks in SteamSkyCity) a steam powered Astromech droid.

I present R2-S2 by Crabfu.





And speaking of Steam Engines...

Did you know Jay Leno is a SteamPunk?

Jay Leno's 1870 Staitionary Engine (part 2 where its built and working and turned on )

Jay Leno's Stanley Steamer (Automobile as god & queen intended, powered by steam!)

Thats not all the steam-powered things at Jay Leno's garage but those are my favorites. I am not what could be described as mechanically inclined, but for some reason I love that site.

An island of Caledon in a Hyperformalist Sea

Long ago, before I even heard of Caledon, I lived with a small community of artists in a small Irish village named Grainne O'Malley. It was rent free, the only condition was to create art. I soon settled in as the resident CodePoet, providing scripts for the other artists in residence. This was the first time I started having a steady income from scripting in Second Life, and I started learning a lot. Then I met Dancoyote Antonelli, who had a small gallery in Granny, and needed some scripting to be done. A simple teleport system for his Museum in uvvy, (the first of many I think), and something to hand out a landmark and notecard. Simple stuff, I didn't charge him much, but he insisted on writing up a contract and naming our partnership ZenCoyote Ltd. At the time I had done everything by handshake deal, and this felt kind of weird to me, but I did it. Little did I know that these small jobs (which lead to my first build, a scripted 2 prim pop up invitation) was really an audition to see if we would work well together. Best I can reconstruct that was May of 2006. Here we are a year and a quarter later, and our partnership is still going strong. I don't even know how many scripts I have provided for Dancoyote's artwork, and I don't feel like counting. But they have been numerous and varied.

DC has just opened an exhibit called “Full Immersion Hyperformalism” in the sim of Arts and Letters, filling the entire sim with his artwork. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Arts%20and%20Letters/45/133/707/

A brief word about Hyperformalism. I have been living with it, helping DC realize it in my own small way (I am not the artist, just a tool like a brush, or as DC has called me his "sixth finger") I have my own understanding of it, and I probably get it more than most, but if I try to explain I am sure to get something wrong, so I will quote the artist himself on the topic:

"Hyperformalism is formalist abstraction in hyper medium. By turning off rendering of facsimiles of real life, an eerie surreal space for viewing art is created where things no longer conform to the field of view of your avatar and where scale and context are no longer measured against the arbitrary figurative standard. "

In short, the Art that DC exists for the most part could not exist in the real world. Coming to Arts and Letters, you will see nothing that is not hyperformalist -- nothing familiar to the real world -- except, off to one side, a small Victorian cottage.

Dancoyote has decided to honor me and my contribution with a small space that represents me.
It was his idea to populate a small Victorian Cottage with little things and doo-dads to represent Zen, the CodePoet. He knows I strongly identify as Caledonian, so a small Caledonian island in a sea of hyperformalism is the Zen Exhibit. Which can be found at:

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Arts%20and%20Letters/203/224/295/

It is a small space that says "me" So its a house by Coyote Momiji, Furniture by Desmond Shang, and little trinkets of mine scattered about of my creations. Such as a Quizaphone (Build by Alfonso Avalanche), A portrait of Ada Lovelace that says a poem when you touch it, A clockwork heart, an Omnilocator Device and an Apple II (all built by Drystan Knight), My Cheshire Cat (built by RyanRabbat Bunyin), and my Music Box (built by ME(!)).

But do come and see the rest of the show as well, there are little pieces of my soul throughout the sim. DC says there are about 4000 scripts running and I figure about 99% of them are mine in his artwork.

All of the stuff I must stress is DC's vision and work. I just write the scripts, I have no say in how he uses them. :) In fact I am often suprised to see my little creations used the way he does. Its a true synergistic relationship, I could not do what he does with my scripts and he could not not do them without my scripts in them. One of the things there though is an item I worked very hard on. The ZenCoyote Pixel Board.



This was actually built mostly by me. Its 200 prims, and 100 scripts are needed to make it work. I hope you will come play and draw on it. I did a lot of work on it, but the vision was DC's. With the pixel board I was realizing the artist's vision. DC has named it a social expression appliance. Basicaly you can draw little pixelated drawings on the small control board which are then seen on the large Display board.

There are many wonders to behold here, I am happy to have done my small part, and that DC has seen fit to honor me so with a small space in his exhibit.

In Honor of Dame Lapin

Tonight, I was present at the ceremony where our Vicereine Knighted Lapin Paris to honor all her hard hard work for Relay for life. An accolade well earned. I did not know what a proper present for a new Knight is, well I expect she got lots of swords, so I gave her what I could, a poem.

~
The Star walks amoung us
and our lives are brighter
just beacuse she is here.

Her footsteps are a dance
her voice a song
every movement a poem

She is a treasure of the realm
though she does not know her worth
she makes us all richer, just knowing her.


To Dame Lapin Paris on the occasion of her Knighting
From ZenMondo Wormser August 6, 2007

A muse revealed

These are all for my Lady Love, Lavendar Beaumont.

A Bold Move
A Bold Move
From a timid one
lead to an adventure
a new path set upon
may the journey inspire me.

~~~

Dances on Beaches
and conversations by moonlight
The Tune we dance to
is the beating of our hearts.

~~~~

Sitting on the carousel
I feel dizzy
The spinning I feel in my head
tis not the turning of ride
but the company I keep.

~~~

Her Eyes Capture me
with her gaze
my heart is in a cage
of her visual embrace.

~~~

I have a hunger
not for food
but
for her touch

~~~

I carry her smile with me
It is a treasure
held in no box
but in my heart.

~~~

Her Voice Calls to Me
Across the distance
yet she is right here
in my arms.

~~~~

Poetry Dump (Not Code)

The CodePoet takes a departure from regular blogging to share with you some poetry.

A Poem for and Unnamed Lady
Long stood I, outside the gates
Until I found the Key to win my entrance.

A key built of patience, wisdom, charm, and cunning,
to open a lock of beauty, intelligence, talent, and grace.

The lands beyond the gates, I have yet to explore,
finding treasures beyond measure at the threshold.

I am sure more quests lay ahead of this knight errant
and I look forward to the challenges -- and the rewards.


Her Beauty Sings To Me
Her Beauty sings to me,
not beauty of form, which she has,
but the beauty of her soul.

The Melody of her heartbeat
calls to me, like a waking dream,
I can't help but dance to the music.


A Prayer to Lady Ada
Lady Ada,
Look down upon this humble coder,
Guide me with your unerring logic.

Lady Ada,
Inspire me with your genius,
may I code a thing of beauty.

Lady Ada,
You set the path before me,
may I follow it for the rest of my days.


Her Strength
She would hide her strength,
if she only knew she had it.

Instead she wears it,
oblivious to how strong she is.

Not just strength,
but the grace to carry it.

She stands, not above us
but with us, inspiring all those around her.

She sustains us with her example,
and we hold her up, allowing her to lean on us.

Her strength is her friends,
she draws from them as they give willingly,
as she gives back so much in return.


Under the Cat's Paw
I find myself
under the cat's paw
is she playing with me?
or will I feel the claw?

What is this game I play?
why do I dare?
Surely its attention,
but is it care?

So I find myself
a plaything for a time
I can't help but notice
her licking her lips at the dinner chime.

Potential II
The key is turned
the spring is wound
energies held in potential
a simple clasp waiting to be released
will you open the lid
and hear the music play?



Dark's Veil
She clothes herself in darkness
trying to hide the brilliance of her soul.
A veil she presents to the world
she only pulls it back
for those that have already guessed her nature.


Fictional Hearts
Damn our fictional hearts
and the feelings they pretend to produce
our minds of fantasy driving us
to play out our story
in a land that does not exist
yet is all too real.

Miles Travled
Miles Traveled,
Wonders seen,
an experience shared,

The distance between two hearts,
you are beauty in my eyes
your friendship, the greatest wonder of all.

A Friend
I hold a tune in my head
I hold a song in my heart
A verse plays across my hands
I have a poem for a friend.

A Feather from an Angel's Wing
A feather from an angel's wing
is not easy to come by, so they say.
Either it is willfully given
or it is forcibly taken
both events are one of rarity.
I am not saying how I got mine
but there is a third way,
for how do the angels grow them?

My Muses are many, and if they want to out themselves, they may, but the poet for now will keep it to himself, but don't let that stop you from guessing.