Hump Day! Overdue Post of Randomness

I got an email this a.m. that went something like this...

Did Crightonitis catch? You..you haven't posted since Sunday. Do you have a fever? Are you sick? Omg! /me calls a doctor!

The pressure worked :) I was forced to reply with a "Help - I can barely keep my head above RL water this week with to do's and work craziness!" but I worked really hard all morning - actually until now - to get things caught up at the office so I could have a few minutes to indulge in blogging. Bet you didn't know blogging could be seen as an indulgence, eh? Well, lunch at my desk :P and no chocolate in sight - a little bit of time to myself and my blog is a luxury.

So Happy Hump Day everyone! I added a new link to my blogsidebar I hope some of you will explore. I have decided if I ever come into unlimited supplies of cash I will begin a foundation similar to this one - The Foundation for a Better Life. They simply exist to inspire and promote good things. How cool is that? In my own imagination, I like to think that they are out there just handing out dollars to people who really need it too.



A homeless man was on the sidewalk outside the conference where I was at the past several days working, in a wheelchair, in the scant shade of a very slim tree, at 112 degrees in the Phoenix afternoon asphalt jungle. He asked if we could spare anything because he hadn't eaten. All we could give him was the chocolate candy from our booth that day - but we gave it to him. I wish I could have also given him a bottle of water - but I have to hope that came along next.

What have you done recently to help someone in need out? There is a spirit of abundance and sharing in SL - but I often wonder if that translates into RL very easily. I have noticed that we immediately begin to dig through our inventory to see what we can share with newcomers who are sporting newb hair or prim-free clothing. We pass out pixelated goodies endlessly. Most are also equally generous with Lindens - filling tip jars. But do we take the time to do the same in RL? Even if you don't have a wallet full of cash, see what you might be able to dig up next time you pass someone less fortunate than you and obviously in need.

Giving is part of that ever-present big karmic wheel. The more you give, the more it really does come back to you.

I'm off to finish off my Wednesday afternoon hump day work activities. I hear that it is still hot out so it was good I stayed at my desk for lunch. What's the point of erupting into flames getting in and out of a hot car at 114 outside and who knows what inside! Doesn't seem worth the effort for a quick salad or subway run. Cheers to your Wednesday and making the world - SL and/or RL a little better for those around you. Share with me in a reply to this post how you gave a little this week :)

Rambling Reflections...

I wondered the last couple of days what my horoscope has said. I haven't taken the time to look, and don't always believe what they say, but they can be an interesting reflection of what life is at times.

I reconnected yesterday with an organization that first brought me to Second Life. An educational technology organization I had once been immersed in. It was nice yesterday to be involved from the sidelines - not one of the conference organizers but rather just an exhibitor and a presenter. With all the changes at work that have happened this past year, it was great to flex our muscles again and show people we are still around and headed in even better directions than before. Some of those who wished we would have slinked away are also represented in this organization - so it was surprisingly nice to see a little squirming on their parts.

AzTEA, an ISTE affiliate

I was affirmed to see that free things still make people happier than anything. Free chocolate, free Sesame Street characters, even free magnetic clips. Free pen anyone? Free doesn't always have to mean something of no value :)

At my session, I had a friend and colleague from a school district who has recently found me on Second Life - or I have found her - ask why I didn't have Second Life on my del.icio.us account. (I was showing educators how to create del.icio.us accounts and then collect resources for their classrooms from PBS.) But anyway, up until now really, Second Life was something I discussed as fun, and entertaining, and even full of educational resources, but I never really publicly in RL shared my interest in it with those who weren't close to me. Probably because those who are close to me think I'm NUTS! And still refer to all my SL friends as imaginary :) (Thank you SL friends for sticking with me anyway - heehee!)

Some of the conversation turned to SL. A leading educator consultant has purchased 4 SIMs and will begin construction on underwater classrooms and other things for working with educators in this you-can-be-and-do-anything online world. We joked about how I had gotten her going on updating her hair. I KNOW I have created a shopping monster with sending her off for new hair. She bought some do called Carol. I thought I might have that hair. I only have about 20 in my toppling 15K inventory.

I spoke with another colleague who had come on to SL only briefly to check out the Relay for Life events Blissie and I hosted last week. She had been horrified she didn't have anything to wear and worse yet didn't have anything other than newb hair and skin. Blissie came to the rescue with prim hair that was transferrable (Yea!!) and I shared my skin and shape with her. She ended up looking like a combination of Blissie and I. Someone at the time commented that she was officially our "love child." LOL! I shared that with her yesterday when I saw her. She thought it was hilarious but still admitted she couldn't bring herself to log in until she knew she could update her avitar. She is like that in RL too. She is a classy dresser and takes great pride in her hair too - with a do that takes a team of experts to make it just so. (I think she would laugh and agree).

I invited them to come to my first ever hostess event last night at Savoy but they continued to affirm they were going to be drinking in RL, not hanging out on SL. Ok. I would enjoy that too, but logically, my RL doesn't allow for that much these days. So, for now, I'll stick to my Saturday nights on SL as the norm when babysitters are still required and bank accounts need to be left untapped. Plus - I got to wear a fancy formal gown and an amazing diamond neckless? Would I have done that last night in RL? Doubtful :) No proms to chaperone or weddings to crash.

Manifest Destiny - I want it ALL

or... Keeping up with the Jones'


What is it about human beings that makes us what what we don't have? What makes us want more when we already have enough? What makes us desire what is just beyond our reach?

SL plays on the innermost desires humans have to want more, More, MORE. I, myself, am not above such desires. I remember seeing as a newb how I could tan at T-Mobile island to earn Lindens. I was so excited to just have $15 for my 10 minutes of tanning time, or whatever it was. I was fine with my newb clothes and scant inventory freebies, until I met a clothing designer and others who weren't so new and I thought to myself, I needed more. I spent an evening at a friend's island beachside home, a tiny bungalow with great artwork and the sound of ocean waves. And, you guessed it, I wanted MORE.

Now, the idea of paying RL dollars for SL things is one which you cannot think too long and hard about. If you stop to think about how you are paying RL dollars for things that only exist in pixels on a server somewhere far far away, it will drive you nuts. It is kinda like saying the same word over and over and over again until it doesn't even sound like a word any more.

I remember shopping for clothes months ago - years ago SL time - and $300 seemed like a HUGE amount of $$. Good lord. $300L. But, when you stop to think - just for a brief second that the SL-RL exchange rate is like $250 L to $1 US - you think... huh, I can buy that for just a little over $1 - COOL! So off I go... sucking myself into the SL trap. I am off and running in the Linden world with a semi-full wallet of Lindens and find love and happiness in none other than THE MALL. And... store after store after store after store. What could be better than shopping for the body you always wanted?

Then, that little beach home that was a fun locale for an evening with friends led to a tour of land that was available to rent. It couldn't have been more classic peer pressure. No real estate agent was needed. This friend of ours figured out how to get to us. Oh come on - how much do you spend on take out or movies or Starbucks in a month? How much would you spend for a babysitter? With that kind of logic, I once again dipped in my Linden purse and signed on the dotted line. Bigd was equally excited and ready for the fun as well.

That was back in July. Months later we were working on the 3rd type of landscaping/home theme and thousands of Lindens invested in SL. My inventory topples 13,000 (mostly objects from re-rezzing my home--- ok and several hundred clothing and shoe items :) ). What does this all have to do with manifest destiny? Well... in January... our neighbors moved away. I eyed the mountaintop and thought hmmmm maybe we could own THAT too! Would you be surprised at this point for me to tell you that yes, we now own that? So... an island and a mountain.

Then, Bigd decided that the tallest mountaintop right next door, because it was vacant should also join our land acquisition collection. It is important to note - purchasing estate land like this is WAY easier than purchasing RL land. Click accept to the covenant rules, pay your lindens and wa-la.

I would worry about D and I if we weren't alone in this phenomenon. Oh - and did I fail to mention - that you not only create on the ground, but you create in the sky? Yes, the sky is yours too. All the way up. Build another something or other in the sky. This was something someone new to SL never even thinks about.

So... back to what comforts me in the darkest hours of the more more more overwhelming feelings in SL? My friends. My friends who own 1, 2, 3, 4, and now 5 plots of land; my friends who have homes, skyboxes, and stores; my friends who's inventory topples 12 or 13,000 as well; my friends who look damn good in SL because they have paid top Linden dollar for skins and shapes for not just 1 but 2 or more avitars. ROFL I tell ya. Can you possibly HAVE too much of a good thing? NO.

Eat and drink to your hearts content in SL and never worry about a designated driver. Load up that inventory to your desire because you travel with it - you never have to worry where you left such and such - you just have to remember WHAT THE HECK it is called! What was that I just bought this morning anyway? I remember it was cute. Hmmmmm. What? The land next door is for sale? SOLD. Hooo!