?

I've already been inspired by meeting several people in Second Life who told me that they really?were unable to walk, and thus found the whole virtual ambulatory experience interesting, even exhilarating. Add to this the fact that no human can fly unaided without mechanical means, and the possibilities become even more textured and colorful. I've also met some who say they are extremely shy IRL, but I wouldn't know it from their partypeople SL personas — no doubt a very core part of their real selves which wishes to be expressed more. I've even met a couple of folks who have piercings and other such adornments for their avatars –?but do not on their flesh-and-electricity bodies — who are curious about body art and techno-shamanism and other not-necessarily-but-quite-possibly?"kinky" options, and Second Life has proven to be a great "experimental" ground for partaking in the free exchange of such ideas.

I am not an awfully empathic person. I generally have an aversion to text-based chat and instant messaging programs, because save for emoticons and other clues which take me awhile to deduce over time through some method of behavioral heuristics (ha! There's that word again), I'm really at a loss. I?have a tendency to descend into?unpleasant?miscommunication all too often. Historically speaking, of course. I've strived to improve and one reason I particularly fancy SL, as I've touched on before, is because of the "body language" that is not only extensible, but easily customizable as one wishes. Even beyond realistic physical constraints, one can become an insta-contortionist and defy gravity, not to mention invert one's self inside-out like some horror movie victim. So I think there's both a lot of education and entertainment combined into a neat little package.

The word "sim" makes more sense to me now. It's a simulation. As in, Simulation and Simulacra, that book whose sales rose a lot because of The Matrix. You can try a lot of stuff out in?SL you wouldn't necessarily in your First Life, but are curious about nonetheless.?A testing ground used to perhaps make dreams come true in some way. I know that when I sleep, I have started to dream more about SL. And maybe turning fantasy into reality, a fantastic reality,?both integrated?into some unified field theory of WE SO HAPPY!!!?Already, several love stories have blossomed out of SL.?Awwwwww, Damien and Washu! Awwwwww, Fallingwater and Eddie!

Speaking of love, I consider one of the essential elements of technology to be how much further it can help us in our quest to live the human experience, as?oxymoronic as that may sound. Like contradictions? You've come to the right place.?As Brian Wayne Transeau once sung, "Simply being loved is more than enough, yeah yeahhh!"?Second Life, not unlike Othello (coming soon to SL?), is one of those experiences that can take a minute to learn but a lifetime to master. Okay, for me, more like an hour to get a comfy hang of things, and it hasn't even been around a two whole revolutions of the sun yet, but it's getting there. There are plenty of things to be excited about.

Speaking of excitement, today I saw a picnic basket on Nick Rhodes's land. It is magical — you click on the basket, and it expands and lays out the blanket with all the foodstuffs on it, not to mention surrounding trees to make you feel at one with nature, or at two if you're with a loved one. On the other hand, two are supposed to become one if you're in love, so let's just stick to one. Unified in diversity. I saw sandwiches, fresh fruit, and a yummy pink gateau. I've never had a real picnic experience… I am enchanted by the idea and it is one of my dreams, alongside hugging a penguin, having a kitten named after Avril Lavigne, and going to a cheesecake tasting event.

And speaking of Second Life, here are some other things I would like to do in Second Life, but have not yet:

• get into a snowball fight and using use?an igloo as shelter
• battle the Goa'uld — I've seen cool Stargates, but not the villainous, intergalactic snakey-things
• wear watermelon shoes (Cyrena Zamboni is working on it ) and drive a watermelonmobile
• jump into water that really splashes and makes me feel like I'm going glunk-clunk-sploosh!
• see avatars representing the following human beings: Stephen King and?Donald Trump
• on a related note, visit a sim with a YUGE Trump theme, or even an everytown creeping with Kingesque horrors
• try bingo, archery, and some other games
• actually see some violence in Jessie (it's always quiet when I go there, for whatever reason)
• get into a spaceship that takes us into true simspace at FTL velocities
• (maybe) get my keyboard scripted to play more ch00nage
• take a ride down a steep hill in a shopping cart with a watermelon helmet
• build more stuff — it may be inevitable, just not yet
• FLASHTUB more past the initial one (hey Eggy)
• be at Coyote Ugly when Madiera Westigan Westerburg is actually there at the same time <— FULFILLED ^_^
• dance
• watch an influx of 1,001 visitors to the Welcome Area due to press push
• see a fashion show (UPCOMING!!!)
• hear the following songs inworld, all great Second Life anthems:
  • Thomas Dolby - "She Blinded Me With Science"
  • The Beatles - "Across the Universe"
  • The Doors - "Break On Through (Carmen Rizzo & BT?Remix)"
  • The Wizard of Oz - "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"
• get killed

Peek-a-boo! Whose wuvely eyes are these?

On a slidey sidey loopy note, a little while ago, I was in Midnight City trying to show Xyni?Platini (aka "the sight to my sound") around. Unfortunately, there was a slowdown which reduced by FPS to 5-6 and rendered explorations frustratingly impossible following the jaunt in the Spook House. (Will there be a sequel this Halloween, Sinatra Cartier?)

I hope to return soon.