On the wierdness that can be Second Life.

[dolari]

Sitting at the Brearly Family's bonfire.

Second Life is funny when it coincides with your first.

I spend a lot of time on SL, for one major reason - I'm there to see Emily. It's a great way for us to get together with her being 2420 miles, three time zones, and an international border away. Together we get to visit other friends on SL, explore the countryside together, and enjoy each other's company.

Emily is here now. Our days are filled with fun (and phlegm, but that's an entry for later), and she's fixed about anything and everything that's been broken around the house. We have each other, and we have our love.

And yet at 7:30 each night, we head to Second Life. She's three feet in front of me, but we end up there anyways. I have a thing about communication that I share with erinlefey: Let's not use the internet to talk to each other when we're three feet away from each other.

She first mentioned going online the second day she was here. The first time I was a bit unnerved about going - I went to SL to see HER...and here she was finally here...but wanting to go back into SL. It was wierd for a time...but I can see why she went. We were together, yes...but there were friends we knew only on SL, also timezones and borders away, and it gave us a chance to visit them while we were BOTH here.

It's an odd feeling, but you know - if she wants to be there, I will be there. As it is, I do miss my friends on SL, if I don't see them for a while and as long as there's communication between us that isn't typed when we're on, I'm okay with that.!


Although it is very nice to be able to spoon in the real world.

More detailed real-world post coming soon. The days are just packed...but mostly with tissue paper as we blow our noses every ten minutes. :D

Comments

[laura-seabrook.livejournal.com]

After being on SL for merely a week, I can well appreciate the irony and pathos of this. The fact that it doesn't get in the way of being together is what counts.

[jessie-c.livejournal.com]

That reminds me of an inside joke I share with a group of fans. We meet every month or so to discuss all things Pratchettian in coffee shops that catch our fancy. It amuses us to watch the other patrons typing away on their laptops and imagine that they're all actually involved in a group chat, talking away to each other, geeking out on their computers when they're actually in the same room.

[emilydm.livejournal.com]

I've been thinking about this too, why I want to go online when you're right there beside me. There's absolutely no comparison between Real Life and SL, I can communicate nuances with you in person in mere seconds what it would take an hour to get across through straight text. However, I'm concerned about losing communication with everyone else. The last time I was here back in March, I think it felt to the other people we talk to in SL that we both fell off the face of the earth (or at least the grid) for four weeks. And the nature of Second Life being what it is, those four weeks might as well be years. I went back in when the month was up and so much had changed.

We certainly don't have to be in-world every night, maybe twice a week would be better. We could be visiting flesh-and-blood friends instead, or watching a movie or roadgeeking. But I want to get myself into the habit of touching base with all types of friends on a more regular basis.

(Also, the coughing and headachey / blowing the nose every fifteen seconds / not wanting to go outside is a contributing factor. I want to do something personal and low-key in the evenings, while at the same time I don't want to reinfect you or anyone else in the real world with this bug.)

[audaciousd.livejournal.com]

You're so full of life... and disease! (much like myself, and did I get that quote right?!)

As for SL...well, I've had the experience of IMing with someone in the same room. :) I think it's kind of like other semi-passive activites (such as watching TV): it is possible to do stuff like that in moderation such that no harm is done to whatever other aspects of life, and it's also possible to be semi-interactive (IRL) even when watching TV, being on the innerwabs, etc.

Or maybe it's the antibiotics talkin'. :D

[audaciousd.livejournal.com]

Oh, and don't deny the curative powers of Shredded Weet.

Or THE POWER OF CHEESE.

srsly, i'm only on antibiotics, srsly

[amw.livejournal.com]

I find the Second Life thing fascinating. Still haven't given it a try, but i doubt i'd have the time :-) I just find it so interesting how you can forge friendships in a virtual world, to the point where you want to log in and say hi even when you're on vacation. I get the same feelings about LiveJournal and message boards i post on, i just want to log in "just to see how everyone's going" when i'm away on vacation... Especially the first few days, when i really notice my safety net is gone. But then i realize i'm not frantically messaging all my real-life friends when i'm on vacation - in fact it's a nice break to kinda get away from all of that for a couple weeks - so now i try let my internet friends fall into the same bucket as my real life friends. We don't have to message every day, and when we're on vacation even less so, and it doesn't matter because of course it'll be cool when you get back because they are your friends.

Right now you and Emily barely get to see each other in real life so if i were you i'd be making the most of every second :-)

With regard to chatting to far-away friends online, i've found Skype video calling to be ridiculously awesome. The resolution isn't great, but it's miles better than text messaging or instant messaging - and it's free too. I feel like someone out of Star Trek when i can talk to someone on the other side of the world, see them, and i'm not in a special videoconferencing room or anything, i'm just hanging out at home. Rocks.