James Wagner Au aka Hamlet Au, who I fondly address as "Jamlet" (a portmanteau of his First and Second Life names) graciously sent me a signed (!) copy of The Making of Second Life: Notes from the New World. It's a thrill to see something from virtual spaces "cross over" and materialize physically, even moreso that I'm deeply familiar with the topics covered and know the author personally.

Earlier, I was tickled to learn that machinima auteur Lainy Voom had created a promo for the book, featuring Jamlet's avatar looking off into the distance beside a sculptieprimmed title… and my music as soundtrack!

The Making of Second Life on Vimeo.

Among the parts I enjoyed most have to do with the behind-the-scenes bustle-and-rumble of how Linden Lab, and by extension, Second Life came to be. This includes how Jamlet first got started chronicling the world. In his own words:

… Rheingold was brought in as an early consultant to Linden Lab and perceived its potential to build on themes he'd first identified.

As I later learned, Rheingold's insights indirectly led to my joining Linden Lab as a contractor for the first time. "I think it may have been when Robin first visited me to demonstrate SL," he says. Rheingold mused that they should hire a chronicler as the world began, saying that "it seemed to me to be a great opportunity to document the social life of a community from the very first."

Indeed it has been. (The "Rheingold" is virtual community pioneer Howard Rheingold, and the "Robin" is Linden Lab's Community Team Leader Robin Harper. BOTH OF THEM ARE MY HEROES OK!!!!)

I continue to have great reverence for and am inspired by senior LL employees who shaped my fave online world before I ever heard of it. Those stories of what would transpire, as well as what didn't happen quite the way it was planned are severely inspiring, and I find a lot of treasure in Jamlet's recounting of the early "Linden World" days.

This passage, describing the initial crew Philip Rosedale assembled, makes me smile big:

… it was an institution he'd pursue in building Second Life into a full-fledged online world.

And to do that, he began assembling a staff ideally suited to that task. Among the first hires were a sex educator, a rock star, a medical doctor, a late-night talk show producer, and, of course, a weapons expert trained to work a nuclear submarine.

It sounds like one of those movie ensembles which is at once disparate yet with complementary personalities, and I mean that not so much a la Friends, but more in a Ghostbusters or Sneakers superteam way. I've felt glimmers of that chemistry when being involved in various project teams, where the members play off one another.

Let me rewind a bit here: I read New World Notes before ever entering Second Life. I read back to when it was still printed in Times New Roman and the web layout was near-nonexistent, and still, the stories tantalized me: they seemed extraordinary yet everyday all at once. And I'd certainly say NWN was influential to bringing me inworld. I hope that readers of Notes from the New World also find that same joy and indulge their curiosities, altho the book has no pictures — which is one of the things that impressed most on me when I first saw the cyberpunk skyscrapers of Gibson, the untamed militanza of Jessie, a gallery of amazing avatars, etc. Like Carl "billions and billions" Sagan's Cosmos (which I'm reading), Notes would benefit from a color insert with illuminating imagery.

But I bigress.

Many of the stories within have already been covered online, but here, they're less fragmented by way of arrangement and editing, woven with bridging text into the sort of bigger picture that only a thought-out retrospectacle could afford: you experience events, they go by and become history, and you have some time to think and write about them — what Jamlet's done here. With his individual posts as trees, over time they've grown and become a forest: rich in its diversity, sometimes alarmingly confusing in its cognitive dissonance, all the while presenting new terms like "bebop reality" to identify what's happening.

Speaking of, in the Preface, Jamlet coined 3 terms to describe aspects of his observations: in addition to "bebop reality" to describe the openended and improvisational aspect of Second Life's creation culture, he also uses "impression society" and "mirrored flourishing" to respectively define (1) how deft usage of inworld tools can generate positive reactions and (2) how one's Second Life can improve one's First Life — e.g., someone materially poor can make a virtual living that benefits them with actual BLING BLING DOLLAH YO!

Whether these terms will catch on remains to be seen and raking in money from an online world has yet to become mundane, but as a fan of freshening up verbiage and moving forth, I can relate, altho I think "jazz reality" would be just fine — since what's key here is the improvisatory nature (and anti-nature) that Second Life presents us with, not so much a specific style.

After finishing the book, I felt nostalgic because a number of people, places, things described have moved on, and are no longer in Second Life. Places which I was so excited to dive into and came away changed, each destination a gem on the necklace of my journeys. Simultaneously, I'm glad Jamlet recorded our history so future generations can appreciate what came before. This is why it's so challenging to write, say, a guide to travel in SL, since even the coolest places are subject to disappearance if tier fees aren't paid, or if drama (a human problem, not a SL-specific woe) erupts.

Knowing my 4th rezday (4 years in Second Life) is forthcoming, I'm reminded of how newcomers now see me the same way I saw Steller Sunshine, BuhBuhCuh Fairchild, bUTTONpUSHER Jones, Bel Muse, Roo Jones, etc. — so many other veteran names mentioned within these tales or hearted from my personal experiences. If you go inworld, look them up — some are still around and active. I'm also reminded of the kindness each of them showed me during my "baby steps", and it's in large part that they were so nice which encouraged me to press on and share my own take on things on this blog (which has gone through many changes since I started it in 2004).

In Cosmos, Carl Sagan explains the value of books in libraries and how the invention of writing is among the most significant human achievements. And even amidst all the turbulence and chaos Jamlet writes about, there are many moments of sublime beauty (often chaotic unto themselves) which may be unsettling to those who've never experienced Second Life firsthand. I encourage such "augmented immersion"! If you're not already a Resident, I strongly suggest joining Second Life with a free account to find out what it's about.

Also on a happy note within the Notes, there's a part of my story in there, touching on my earlier relationship with Jade Lily and then — following one day when I was checking out the sandboxes and came across a "beautiful, ornate table" and IMed its creator — this:

"I consider Ravenelle Zugzwang my wife," he adds. "We haven't met in person yet. I hope we will soon, though."

Last year, Ravie + I moved in together and while we definitely have a lot more "offline time" as a couple, the bebop reality of Second Life as an impression society has lead to our mirrored flourishing together. Our lives are wholly better and it wouldn't have been possible if we didn't meet in Second Life. Indirectly yet evidently through a cause-and-effect of connectivity, it's likely I wouldn't be where I am today without Jamlet and his New World Notes.

When you think about how many things have to be right in an existence that decays into entropy, it's a wonder. And you'll find many more wonders within the pages of Notes from the New World.