My First Life

I recently started playing Second Life (though I’m told, emphatically that it is not a game.)  I designed an avatar and started shaping my new personality.  Apparently I like to wear plaid and do a lot of outdoor activities (like kayaking and skydiving.)  In RL I’ve never “skydove” and it’s been more than ten years since I was in a kayak but I would like to do those things.  So what makes the “matrix” of SecondLife any less real than the physical world?  So, in the belief that SecondLife is not a game, I shall not refer to my existence in this space as “Real Life” but rather, my “FirstLife.”

My name is Tye Simondsen, my friends call me Simon.  This is the first of many blogs that will track my experiences as a noob in SL and a regular guy in FL.

My First SL Party

Well, I was a bit late (is more than an hour still “a bit”?)  So I missed a good chunk of the party at the Chindogu Cinema last night.  Unfortunately Bunny had come and gone (I’ve only flirted with her on plurk but trust me, fellas, she’s hot.)  But there were still a few people there.  They were watching a b sci-fi movie, trying to make up a title and throwing pop corn at the screen.  The theater is kinda neat, there’s a concession stand so you really can get pop corn and soda.  Of course it looked like I was pouring soda all over my own lap.  And I was holding the soda in my right hand and starring at my left like I was on some kind of acid trip.

More interestingly I met a girl who owns a slave.  The slave sat at her feet.  The girl ordered her slave to get someone else a drink and “released” the length of her leash (this is all new to me- but apparently the slave must enjoy it or she wouldn’t be in this position -unless she lost a bet I guess but that is not so in this case.)

At one point someone suggested we go bowling and I said I liked bowling on the Wii, it could be fun in SL.

The slave girl said, “On the Wii?”

and I wanted to say, “You’d like it, they have wireless but they also have cords to tether you to the machine like a leash.”  But I didn’t because I wanted to make a good first impression and I don’t know how sensitive people are about their slave/master relationships.

As it is she might have thought it was funny (I found her to be very funny in the short while we watched the end of the film together) and now, in stead of a “good” or “bad” impression, I’ve made no impression at all.

Speak up, Damn it!

Quaintly’s Hump Day Party

Yesterday I attended my first Hump Day Party.  We danced (in synch, like line dancers.)  We talked.  We put rings around people who were AFK.  This is all new to me but I did find it amusing.  I took some photos but you’ll have to forgive me for not writing down people’s names.  If you recognize yourself or someone, leave a comment!  This was my favorite shot…

I showed up in the clothes I was already wearing but the theme was winter wonderland and people were wearing reindeer antleers, winter coats and Christmas lights.  Did I photograph them?  No.  But I did get photograph our host, Quaintly dancing with me.  Alright, she was dancing near me, but I was definitely dancing with her!

I was also busy taking some gratuitous butt shots.  I apologize.

We had a good time.  I think next time I’ll put less effort into talking to people who were not at the party and more time mingling and taking pictures.

I hope your humpday was as nice as mine.  Imagine how we could party when we’re celebrating more than just Wednesday?

“I started the car…”

So (in RL) Elliot is still “seeing” the girl with a boyfriend.  He took Vanessa out for ice cream and a walk on the beach.  She was hesitant about him kissing her on the lips but apparently it’s ok to kiss on the neck.  So they strolled and cuddled and licked (the ice cream I presume.)  When she got home the boyfriend was hugging her and said “you smell like cologne.”

This is an exciting developement for Elliot.  He wants to get caught so they break up.  This makes me wonder if he was wearing cologne on purpose, but when I asked he said no.  He said he wasn’t wearing any cologne at all but there might have been a scent on his jacket which he wrapped around her shoulders.

Then he said, “I guess I turned her on.”  I don’t always follow Elliot’s logic.

“Why else was he hugging and kissing her?  I guess it could’ve been a coincidence, like she came home and he came on to her.  I think it’s more likely that I turned her on so she went home and took it out on her boyfriend.  It’s not fair.  I started the car but he gets the ride.”

He says he really likes this girl but I can’t see why he bothers.

RL- Malleable Morality

Elliot and I have been friends since community college but the boy is crazy.  Occasionally I have to vent about his crazy ideas and I thought this would be the best forum to vent.  You don’t know him, he doesn’t know this blog, I can say whatever I want (but you can also totally trust that I’m telling you the entire truth.)

Elliot has his own form of morality.  If a behavior benefits him, then it is morally honorable.  When the tables are turned, the same behavior is morally objectionable.

Elliot is sorta dating this girl, Vanessa.  I say “sorta” because Vanessa lives with her boyfriend, Mathew.  Elliot met this gorgeous girl at community theater.  He started hitting on her and she always brushed him off, telling him she had a boyfriend.  Elliot started liking her more and more so he devised a plan.  He waited till they were out with a group (sans Mathew) celebrating something and she had consumed a little alcohol.  He waited till they were alone and then kissed her.

He said he didn’t feel any guilt about kissing a girl who has a boyfriend because he feels so strongly about her that he had to kiss her.  It might be the only move that could convince her to leave her boyfriend.  Of course he hopes to win her over and become her boyfriend, at which point he would not want her to kiss anyone else.

“Even if she needed to see if there were any sparks there?”

Ok, ok, “maybe” he concedes, “maybe” he shouldn’t have kissed her that night (or any of the subsequent nights, after rehearsals) but it’s still ok because they only kiss, they don’t sleep together.  And they are cheating on Mathew because they have real feelings for each other.  It’s not as though Vanessa is just looking for any guy to make out with.  It’s not as though she’s only with Mathew for his money.  It’s not as though they planned on hurting Mathew.

I understand his intention is not to hurt Mathew, so maybe he’s not a total jerk, but when Mathew finds out, he’s not going to care what Elliot’s or Vanessa’s intentions were!

Here’s my other issue with the entire situation; it is Elliot who is pursuing Vanessa, encouraging her to cheat on her boyfriend.  However if they do end up together I know he will hold it against her and never trust her.  If he could steal her away, some other guy could too.  I’ve seen it happen to other couples.  When I mentioned this to Elliot, he said he thought he was special, that’s why she cheats with him (not special enough to break it off with the boyfriend, or -get this- to not sign a new one-year-lease with her boyfriend.)  He says Mathew is so busy all the time that Vanessa is chatting online, during the day, with Elliot, and they’re doing plays together.  Elliot says he’ll continue to do plays with her, she won’t even have the opportunity to develope feelings for someone else.

It sounds a little smothering to me.  He thinks it would be romantic.  He’s crazy.

There’s virtually a party tonight

I’m going to my first SL party, at the Chindogu theater at 7 SLT.  Of course, I don’t get off work in RL till 8 SLT so I’ll be fasionably late (and for those of you who haven’t heard this joke yet- that’s the only fashionable thing about me.)  I won’t have time to change my clothes so I’ll be there in my ultra-cool plaid shoes, khakis and t-shirt.

I’ve joined about a dozen “groups”, matchmakers, street performers, I even joined something that looked like AA for avatars.  I thought they could be interesting but I haven’t heard much from the groups and I haven’t met anyone yet.

I’ve had more luck meeting people through plurk (hello plurkies!)  I think I need to invest a little more time into SL.  As it is, I go in world, look around, get bored and log off.  I’m a photographer in RL so I think I’m going to try to take some photographs and meet people who might be interested in modeling for me.

I’ll let you know how the party goes, check it out for yourself if you don’t trust my taste!  And tomorrow I’ll dive into some RL drama!  How did you get started in SL?  What are your fall-backs for having a good time?

Flattery Vs. Desperation

So a friend of mine from highschool, Greg, had a date with a chick he met online.  They had a fine time and made a second date.  Again they had a fine time.  Greg thought he would take the initiative and immediately tell her what a good time he had.  She had given him her personal email but also told him that she couldn’t check it during the day while she was working.  He knew where she worked so he tried to guess at her work email.  Unfortunately he sent an email to the other woman there with the same name- and the heading of the email read “I had a great time last night.” 

Of course the girl was embarrassed and said he was unprofessional and that there was “a reason she had not given him her work email.”  Granted, my friend is an idiot, he sent a very apologetic email to her WORK address!  Even I told him he had not learned his lesson and he probably would not get a third date with this girl.

But it got me to thinking, if she had liked Greg more, would she have found this flattering?  All professional ettiquet aside, he couldn’t wait to tell her how much he enjoyed spending time with her.  He wasn’t afraid to go out on a limb- he  might think twice next time.  I like a girl who is upfront about how she feels (so long as we like each other!)  And I don’t like to play games.  I don’t wait three days before I call, I don’t even wait three rings before picking up the phone.

Do you play these games?  Does desperation turn you off?  do you also think Greg should have kept it to himself that he “goggled” his date?