Freda's Place

 Each Monday in SL, I lead a 45-minute workshop on creating short-form poetry.  We Play with our words, individually and as a group.  In the process, we learn the simplicity and complexity of short poetic forms.  In the past, we've looked, limerick, epitaph, tanka, haiku. and couplet, to name a few.  This past Monday, we created Sijo.  Below is one  sijo I wrote during that lesson.   Join us any Monday at 10 AM SLT at Freda's in Second Life.  Click on this link to get the SLURL for the writers' studio. Don't Ask Me If I Love You (Sijo) By Stephanie Mesler Don't ask me if I love you; If you pay attention, you already know.   Would someone who does not love stay, even when your eyes do not focus and your thoughts stray?   The thing to ask, will I stay forever-- will I love forever?   Don't Ask Me If I lLove You (Sijo) is © Stephanie Mesler 2023

  RECURRING EVENTS Mondays-Thursdays at 9 AM SLT:  Open Write-Ins at The Bellesmere Inn.   An hour or more for getting the work done in the supportive but silent company of other writers.   http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Relax/127/102/24 Mondays at 11 AM SLT:  Guided Meditation With Music at The Harmony Zendo above Bellesmere Spend 15-30 minutes getting calm, realxing your body and mind.  The meditation will be in local voice with music on the region stream.   http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Relax/20/99/1505 Tuesdays at 11 AM SLT: Chit-Chat at The Rendezvous Cafe, Bellesmere In Character RP.  Visitors always welcome. (In local text.) http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Relax/65/107/24 Tuesdays & Thursdays 2:30 PM SLT:  Belles Dancers Rehearsals @ The Belles Theater.   The Belles Dancers are beginning work on their Valentines Weekend show,  Ballet Romance.   They are seeking new dancer...

Click sections of this sign board at the landing to get landmarks and event information.  Visit Belle Terre. grid.reves.kitely.org:8002:Belle Terre

  DECEMBER 2019 Through December 31  A Christmas Carol  at The Babble Box Theater Sunday, December 29, 2:30 PM   Best Poems Of The Decade 2000-2019 Open Mic,  Poetry Room IN The Estate Tuesday, December 31, 5:00 PM  Welcome to The Roarin' Twenties New Year's Eve Party , La Joie   JANUARY 2020 Through January 31  Mame  at The Babble Box Theater Sunday, January 5 and Wednesday, January 8, 2:00 PM  The Belles Dancers In Ladies' Night , The Belles' Barn Sunday, January 19, 2:30 PM  Babble Box: Mame Watch Party,  The Babble Box Theater Mondays (starting January 20), 2:00 PM  Hypergrid Arts Talk,  The Tiki House Tuesdays (resuming January 21), 2:00 PM  Poem Building,  Lecture Hall In The Estate Thursdays (starting January 23), 2:00 PM  Fast Fiction,   Freda's Office in The Estate Sunday, January 26, 2:30 PM  Badass Women Of Classical Music,  The Esta...

Description: Best Poems Of The Decade 2000-2019 Open Mic December 29 at 2:30 PM Grid Time Join Freda for a look back at this decade's best poems.  Bring your favorites written between 2000 and today, written by you or someone else.  All poems will be shared in local voice.  If you are unable to speak in local voice, bring your poems on a notecard, pass 'em to Freda and she will read them for you.   In Kitely:  hop:// grid.kitely.com:8002/Belle%20Terre/24/45/30 HG:  grid.kitely.com:8002:Belle Terre  V3HG:  secondlife://http|!! grid.kitely.com |8002+Belle Terre/24/45/30

The landing pad at Belle Terre.  Walk through the blam gates or click the events board to get to our many destinations.   grid.kitely.com:8002:Belle Terre   My readers may or may not have noticed I recently took a long break from this blog and from virtual worlds.  I needed the time off to deal with some very real first life health issues and to realize how very much I miss creating beauty, art, and community in virtual worlds when I am not in them.  A couple months ago, I quietly made my return and started building Belle Terre, Hex and my new home in Kitely.  Recently,  I've begun hosting and performing events in the metaverse, almost all in Opensim. What's the same as it always was?  Well, for starters, my husband in all worlds, Heximer Thane, is with me in this new venture.  He's building a bit in Kitely, too, and he is often onhand to help me host events and to cheer me on when I perform.  Of course, I'm still a virtual clot...

Hello everyone!  In first life, Hex and I had a quiet Christmas with my daughter and her dad.  We didn't even put the tree up til Christmas Eve, which suited me just fine.  It'll come down by New Years, which also suits me.  Christmas Day, we went out to dinner at a diner about 30 miles from home.  It was really pretty impressive, so I suspect we'll be headed there for future holiday dinners.  (In case anyone wonders-- yes, we cook.  We even cook well.  But why bother when someone else can do the clean-up at a restaurant?) In less wonderful news, Hex is temporarily unemployed because of the US government shutdown.  For a while at least, that won't affect our inworld expenditures and activities.  If it reaches a point where it does, we'll still be around but doing things differently. Now for inworld news!  Before December ends, I will be giving two more performances of my concert, A Winter Celebration, and there will be a New Ye...

Time For A New Poem By Stephanie Mesler (aka Freda Frostbite) This is me, writing a new poem because it's time to commit poesy.  I know it is, because it's marked in my day planner.  2 PM on Monday afternoon--- "write a new poem."  It's not even in pencil.  I've inked it in between an appointment with the oncologist and tea with my great Aunt, who will, no doubt arrive on time with a bottle of something sharp to add to the tea, so I'd better get started.  She tells me the poem will be payment for her company.  So I am writing...a poem?...sort of.  Or maybe it's just an essay, a plain old boring essay about how poems do not submit to scheduling, no matter how determined the poet.  But no, this has to be a poem... doesn't it?  Because poems are about fleeting things, thoughts and feelings, colors, and odors...aren't they? Of course, sometimes they are about deep things, like water and philosophy, but in a poem, even broad subjects are to b...

I am broken-hearted to learn of the loss of one of the metaverse's poetical stars, Serene Bechir.  It was Serene who inspired me and encouraged me to start writing again after years away from the craft and  it was Serene who showed me how a virtual girl can make a real life from her poems.  I am so glad that her voice can be heard still on YouTube and elsewhere.  She was well-known for her improve poems. The video above is from 2011.  I did not make the video and was not present for the performance.  I am so glad it can be seen now, after she is lost. 

Please join Freda's Place inworld and follow Freda's Place on Facebook or Google+ to receive regular notifications of events at Babble Arts Center and Frostbite Thane.  Sundays:  2:30 PM Freda In Progress The author reads from works in progress and recently completed works.  Usually at Babble Cafe and Books.  grid.kitely.com:8002:Babble Arts Center Tuesdays: 12 noon Writers' Chat grid.kitely.com:8002:Babble Arts Center Wednesdays: 12 noon Kitely Community Chat grid.kitely.com:8002:Frostbite Thane Wednesdays: 6:00 PM Hump Day Happy Hour grid.kitely.com:8002:Babble Arts Center Thursdays:  1:00 PM Almost Friday Happy Dance In August, these dances will be held at The History Month Island. Details TBA Fridays: 1:00 PM Ceci Dover Live at BabbleOn! Nights Ballroom and Cabaret Formal. grid.kitely.com:8002:Babble Arts Center Saturdays: 11:00 AM BabbleOn! Nights Ballroom and Cabaret Formal.  Details TBA grid.kitely.com:8002:Babble Arts C...

Sunday, May 1, 11am PST Beltane Open Mic Great Canadian Grid, Pixel Hollow login.greatcanadiangrid.ca:8002:Pixel Hollow Come to share your favorite poetry or very short fiction (no more than 3 minutes per reading, please). This is your chance to share work you have written or work you love to borrow. Material should be related to the Beltane theme in some way. Think of the turning wheel of life, Spring, Summer, Renaissance or Pagan or Wiccan writers and topics.  Your host for this one-hour literary open mic will be Freda Frostbite. Please feel free to IM Freda if you want more information about this event. Mondays, 2pm PST Spoken Word Open Mic Second Life, Freda's Place at Aurea Spoken Word open mic.  Come to read or come to listen.  All welcome!  Keep readings to under five minutes, please, but there may be time to read more than once.  If you are unable or don't want to read for yourself, Freda will happily read your selected work for you....

Words With Freda Under The Sheets:  Stories From The Lighter Side of the Dark Side January 22, 2PM PST Book Island, Second Life Freda continues readings from Under The Sheets with the short story, "A Diva Scorned," about a Broadway and movie dynamo gone to seed and 'round the bend.  Time permitting, there will also be a pair of poems to make your spine tingle.  Please have local voice enabled so that you can hear the stories. 

Please visit  Stephanie Mesler's Soundcloud pages to hear "Time Management" read by the author.

Live Lit happens Tuesdays at 2 pm and Thursdays at 5pm in SL

There are people who don't get virtual worlds.  That's okay.  I used to be one of them.  There are folks who think virtual worlds are just computer games with no real value.  That may be true for them, but for me and countless others, the metaverse is a place where creativity comes alive.  It is obvious in the creation of avatars and virtual settings.  Even people who are deprived of avatars can see and appreciate that by looking at pics taken in virtual worlds.  What they probably don't get is how much real art and literature and drama and music is made inworld.  For that reason, I share a poem I created while attending an open write-in in Second Life yesterday.  Sure I maybe could have written this poem without logging into my virtual office first, but would I? True Platitudes by Stephanie Mesler (AKA Freda Frostbite) I’m that dot on the map calling your name when you’re bored and lonely and need a fresh game.  When you need a...