I had a dry spell since I wrote those five chapters of "The Chronicles of Wolfton" in my gallery.

I've been looking for a more exciting setting than Miami in the near future. I have always been a huge fan of Star Trek because of the true Final Frontier. It wasn't outer space, by the way, it was the human spirit.

So there's this 3D Virtual chat world with all kinds of customization options, custom scripts and applications, etc. Its called Second Life.

Second Life is by far much more than a game, but there is an undeniable game aspect to it in many sims. And as with many online games, there is a good deal of cash to be made by those who either accumulate rare/expensive items, or even those who create them.

I have been toying with making clothing using the GIMP. I have been experimenting with making Sculpteys using Blender. Both are free and each sinlge item cost me only L$10 (Ten Linden Dollars) to import. Once I do htat, I can make an impossible number of copies and even some modifications. Oh, then there's sound files and scripts too. But that's arguably not Art, so I won't say anything here about that.

But the key is that GIMP and Blender are free, and more importantly; they're open source. And L$10 is all of about US$0.00492 right now; so it is less than half a cent. With skill, marketing, and a demand, I can turn a few cents into a few dollars by way of custom clothing.

And even more important to me than the abiity to make a few cents or dollars on clothing is the ability to play with freedom.

I am a member of a community called United Federation Starfleet. It is a simulation in which a large group of loosely like-minded individuals pull together to do a number of things such as build, paint, sell, rent Star Trek related items, hold online Star Trek Themed conventions, play mini games, and we express ourselves in many ways.

Oh, and there can be a great deal of drama as well. Some of us have been known to mediate disputes within the simulation that stem from real world problems.

So to summ up this journal entry, I have been very nearly lost in this online simulation as Commander Wolfton Foulsbane, Head of the Intelligence Division at United Federation Starfleet (A Semi-autonomous Starfleet Headquarters in the Delta Quadrant). I have again found inspiration in adversity and angst. Although I sometimes detest the conduct of certain individuals claiming to have fictional (pixel) rank in a fan-based organization, and although many of us have a certain amount of real work to do to keep this simulation running, I love the inspiration I get to write and to draw.