St. John Estate to Close, Owner Gabrielle Riel to "Semi-Retire" From Second Life

On December 28, the residents living in the St. John Estate got an announcement from the owner, Gabrielle Riel. She had made the decision to close the sims and "semi-retire" from Second Life due to pressures in real life demanding her attention.

"I am closing the whole estate because my real life demands my full focus now. I am not going to have time to manage any sims, even a few," she stated in her blog, "for the foreseeable future I will just log in to Second Life to play my gigs, which are Songs from The Nightingale on the first Sunday of the month, The Temple on the first Thursday of the month and The Rosehaven Ball on the second Saturday of the month. I will also play gigs for hire according to my availability.

"I don’t see myself logging in for any other reasons than that for now. Second Life stopped being social for me over 10 years ago and I don't really have the desire to just log in and be social. Plus, 2017 killed the joy I had in certain types of social interactions in SL. I dealt with too much ugly, too much crazy, too much toxic, too much loss, too much abandonment, too much disappointment and too much grief.

"The reality is that I have barely been in Second Life since July and I have come to accept the fact that that is just the way things are now due to my real life. ...Change is hard, but just as The Universe hit me over the head in 2013 to tell me it was time to create St John, it hit me over the head, then dropped a ton of bricks on me in 2017 to tell me it was time to let St John go. It’s time for me to let a lot of things go. It’s time for me to walk a new path. "

The sims will be closing one at a time, from January 5 to January 30

Friday January 5 - Bayou St John
Sunday, January 14 - St John Woods
Tuesday, January 16 - Lake St John
Tuesday, January 23 - St John Parish
Tuesday, January 23 - St John Maurepas
Tuesday, January 23 - St John (Uptown)
Tuesday, January 30 - St John Islands

Some of the sims will be available for sale, but Gabrielle stated, "however keep in mind that I am clearing the sims. I won’t sell any of the sims with the builds or landscaping. The buyers will also need to move and rename the sims."

Gabrielle's Radio Riel will remain up and running. Although the community newsletter the St. John Intelligencer (http://stjohnintelligencer.tumblr.com/) will remain up, it will no longer be updated.

Hat Tip: Inara Pey

Source: Songs From the Nightingale

Bixyl Shuftan

Press Release: Mardi Gras in St. John

The Second Life estate of St John is hosting Mardi Gras from Sunday, February 7 through Wednesday, February 10. All residents of Second Life are invited to participate in the various events over that 4 day period.

St John is an estate based on New Orleans, Louisiana, USA of 100 years ago. It is currently the year 1916 for the residents of the estate. While St John is an historic community, it is not a role play environment. Role play is allowed and encouraged but it is not a requirement for residency or event attendance. Contemporary attire is allowed.

The St John Mardi Gras kicks off with a performance from The Flapperettes, a vintage dance troupe on Sunday, February 7 at 12:00pm Second Life Time. The Mardi Gras parade starts on Monday evening and runs through Wednesday morning. The parade is an interactive event in which visitors can participate by riding the floats.

On Mardi Gras Day itself there is a 12-hour long music event with live DJs, including Gabrielle Riel and Edward Pearse of Radio Riel, in order to provide live entertainment for Second Life residents in varying time zones. The complete schedule is here: http://stjohnintelligencer.tumblr.com/post/138711481556/st-john-mardi-gras-schedule .

All of the Mardi Gras events are taking place in the St John sim, which is based on Canal Street in New Orleans.


If you'd like more information, please contact Gabrielle Riel in Second Life or by email at: gabrielle.riel@gmail.com