For
last year's words belong to last year's language
And next year's words await another voice.
And next year's words await another voice.
T.
S. Eliot
Sitting at
my keyboard in Real Life (RL), the realization is dawning on me that another
year is passing away. As is my want, I
take this time of the year to become a little nostalgic and reminisce a bit
about my misadventures in Second Life (SL).
(Be warned, many of already know what I’m like when I get like this!)
I like to
think back about where I’ve been, who I’ve met, and the experiences I’ve
had. How did I do against where
I wanted to go this year?
(Not great, but I have my excuses ready.)
Most
importantly of all, was it a good year?
Looking
back, I did go to new places and met new people. I visited several art galleries inworld and
met the artists and
curators
behind them. I’ve learned that there is
a thriving art world in SL and many creative people are at work here rivalling their
RL counterparts.
I
participated in various RL holidays and festivals like the Chinese
Lunar New Year, St.
Patrick’s Day and Cinco
de Mayo inworld both thanks to my good friend Perryn
Peterson. (Who by the way was also my
subject for this year’s One of the Most Interesting Second Life
Residents I’ve Met story.)
I got
serious too. I looked into social issues
like bullying
inworld. Being always fascinated by
where RL ends and SL begins, I blogged about identity, trust and
loss in
SL. (Speaking of which, Significant
Other always worries I’m going to invite everyone I’ve met over for dinner
someday unannounced.) Bitcoin was
addressed and I’m still waiting to see how digital currencies such as this work
with virtual worlds. I also touched on
the dirty,
little secret of SL.
New worlds
beckoned and I spent time among the Goreans, an
interesting community whom I need to return to.
Very different, but nonetheless interesting, was the Regency
Era
sim that I dropped into and which I recommend to all Jane Austen fans.
My travels
among the nude continued with first time visits to Naked and
Utopia
Naked Isle Resort.
Friendly people and great facilities make these must visits for the
aspiring nudist inworld. I’ve made
several good friends at both sims.
2013 was a
year of new experiences for me in SL too.
With my good friend, Lisah Lorefield, I
attended her Tarot
card reading. Thanks to Starla Farella, I
had a makeover
inworld and feel more like a real avi now.
Starla is a genius when it comes to creating a more lifelike avatar and
I refer all to her who are looking to look more like a real person
inworld. Of course, I had another laptop
crash this year which caused me to ponder how we can exist with SL when we
can’t access it directly. (OK, maybe
Significant Other is right, and I do have too much time on my hands.)
But, let
me honest and talk a bit about things that I didn’t get around to. Like my two series, Sex and the Single Avatar in Second Life and The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World in Second Life, I’ve been
remiss there and I will return to them in the New Year. I also never started the series entitled Shoemaker’s Children where I’d blog
about Linden Lab and its disappointments.
Or, failing to follow up on other promising stories I’d written.
I’ll spare
you my excuses (Significant Other has already heard them and is unimpressed.) but
I’ll return to all these (the stories not the excuses) in the New Year.
What are
my observations about SL overall this year?
I still
find the sense of community to be very strong.
Creativity in builds and artwork is as high as ever if not higher than
before. Yet, I worry about the loss of
people and once popular sims. Some that
I’ve visited in prior years are no longer with us. Some friends are no longer around and they
are missed. I can only hope that they
are happy in their RL’s and responsibilities there have kept them away. (And, not as Significant Other has suggested,
they’re trying to avoid me.)
My
readership is up and I thank all of you!
Please keep reading and feel free to continue to distribute links to my
blog and stories!
What do we
have to look forward to in 2014?
I will
continue the series I’ve already started and mentioned above. I’ll go back for more stories on Gor and erotic
art inworld.
RL
activities on my part will help me in overhauling my blog layout and increase
the use of social
media.
There will
be more involvement in community activities like the 1920’s
Berlin Book Club. I’ll
also go deeper in my stories and try to be less superficial as I sometimes
am.
Finally,
I’ll work to be a better friend inworld.
As a wanderer in SL, I realize I’m very bad at staying in touch and
following up. I can blame the call of
the open road inworld and RL responsibilities but those are only excuses.
Expect to see and hear more from me in the New Year. (Including that long overdue game of Greedy,
Greedy that I owe to two friends!)
So, let’s
go back to my earlier question, was it a good year?
Without
any qualifications on my part, yes, it was.
I stayed in touch with some old friends, met new ones, and had new
experiences. I found all the reasons
why I came inworld in the first place to be still valid. I think I discovered a few new reasons to
boot. I continue to enjoy being inworld
and blogging about it.
Yes, it
was a good year inworld, a very good year!
Before I
go any further, I’d like to thank Significant Other who continues to support my
inworld activities and blogging while still marveling that I haven’t been
thrown out yet.
To my many
SL friends, it would be hard to thank all of you individually but I would like
to thank Perryn Peterson for all his magnificent events and always allowing me
the scoop on them. I’d like to thank my
Research Assistant, Tera
Trenchcoat, for volunteering to help me in my travels despite the
hardships of putting up with me and some of my well-intentioned but misguided
brilliant ideas. Thanks to both of you
and everyone else!
Happy New Year!
I’ll see all of you in
2014!
As always, I’m grateful to
all inworld for their kindness and time in stopping to talk with a stranger who
was passing through their lives.
I welcome feedback from
readers, please either comment on my blog or
e-mail me at webspelunker@gmail.com
.
If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life please click here.
If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life please click here.
No comments:
Post a Comment