Christmas in SL-Town

It took some fancy, last-minute coordinating, but my nearest and dearest in Mindio were all able to get together on Christmas Eve to get festiv--SL Style.
If you've every been to Abranimations (and if you haven't, for shame) you may have seen their giant keyboard. My good friends Fuene and Rio played a wonderful rendition of Silent Night as a surprise Christmas gift for the neighborhood. Although this my sound like a small task, it most certainly wasn't. Both Fuene and Rio played together which posed a couple of technical issues such as lag between not only with the servers, but between themselves as well. They overcame such obstacles and provided great entertainment for all in attendance.
Afterwards, we moved to Moriz and Liz's place for some campfire, and ballroom dancing. Although engaging in a few dances, I also had some time off the floor (it's a lot easier when you don't have an SL "partner") which allowed me to focus on some photography. To assemble a good portfolio isn't as easy at it sounds on the grid. To get the best shots relies on a combination of good animations coupled with patience and the clichéd "good eye". Further complicating the activity is avatar movement. You can't simply tell an animation to hold it's position--making time also very important. Although I was able to capture some good moments, I still have a long way to go to really have it mastered. Despite being an amateur, the snaps made for great gifts to pass out to my friends.
As the first SL Christmas for all involved, I think it's safe to say it went well and that we all had a good time. What's left now is the lingering question... what to do about New Year's.

Much to do about nothing.

What's a resident to do when he can't get home?
As soon as my RL Avi gets returns from his day job, he checks the weather, his RSS feeds, and then logs onto the grid to bring me life. Sure, there might be a couple of other tasks he does before hand, but he inevitably arrives in Mindio. That's not to say he doesn't have a life outside of SL because he does, but he certainly enjoys being in a digital realm with our digital friends who in turn also have lives outside of a screen. Really, we all just like to congregate. As many of us have seen, digital bonds can be just strong as those in the fleshie-realm. This is, of course, when the grid is actually running.
On this day, December 11, the grid has been done for many an hour. My RL Avi came home, did some household tasks, checked the weather, read his RSS feeds, and tried to help bring me home. We were both denied at the login due to some tech stuff. This barrier to life has left me as a mere piece of consciousness that resides in a small corner his grey-matter. It's from this home that I conjure up these words here. What else is an avatar to do when trapped? Might as well force my way out somewhere, right? This at least makes a convenient channel.
Thinking about it does make me wonder where our RL Avi's end and where our SL ones begin? I'm sure it's different for everyone on the grid. Some of us arrive simply to become a play thing; an interesting place to build, create, network, and spend time. For others, it's an avenue that helps fill voids present in their real lives. Some us come here to escape or explore.
Regardless of reasons, there must be a certain element that mirrors in both sides of the screen. In some cases I'm certain there are those who mirror almost identically. If this is true, then it could be true to say that Second Life is part of their complete whole. Does this mean that when someone's second life becomes part of the whole, that the division between SL and RL is non-existant? To me this idea sounds somewhat disturbing, yet comforting at the same time.
Downtime is a dangerous thing my fellow ones and zeros. I hope the grid comes back soon lest I think too much more about this. It hurts.

Woah.. hey blog. When did you get here?

Ah, negligence. You are certainly a part of my being. Negligence or priorities? It's your call. One of the good things about blogger is that I know you're never going away. Thank you Google™.

If you haven't stepped outside of your own sim lately, then you might not have noticed that Christmas is around the corner-- even on the grid. In RL, due to the cross-culture nature of our office, we've downgraded the term to Festivus. You say Potato..
I love Christmas. But that's not what the point or the theme of today's foray is about. We'll save that for another time..maybe. If you've visited Mindio at all lately, you'll have noticed that Old Man Winter has visited and blessed two parcels with digital snow. Something that became just a simple, yet co-produced project between two groups of people who wanted to get festive. I know in the past I've commented on the joy that is having neighbours in SL, but recently it has been raised to a new level.
Before my snow/Christmas project with Fuene Nishi and Rio Bunavad, Moriz Penell began work on a bridge and elevator system between our two homes, just above the cloud ceiling and higher. It was during this small little initiative that I first discovered the joy of group projects in my digital life. Many of us have group projects consistently on the go in our jobs, but I've known few who have carried that sort of concept back to their families or friends (save for the odd reno-project). Again, something that seems to have become lost in the generation AFTER the X's. Perhaps I may be on the cusp of Generation Me (I just made that up.. clever, no?).
The next project I'm looking forward to is after Christmas, where my immediate neighbours in Mindio and I will develop and bridge together new tree homes. I've yet to introduce this idea to anyone else close to me, but perhaps we might be able to create a whole community of tree houses.
Communicating ideas, working together and achieving a common goal is a tasty dish in SL, and I look forward to feasting on it in the near future.

BTW-- did I mention I'm an emperor now? Just thought I'd put that out there.

Community

I met someone new today. So new in fact, that she had been born in SL just a mere two hours prior. As with any newborn, she was in a state of confusion and awe about the world around her. The grid is an exasperatingly huge series of ones and zeros, while a resident is but a small percentage of the tiniest fraction in comparison. To be introduced to the world so suddenly, it can be a bit daunting and overwhelming. But it's also something so exciting and new, and I know it kept me coming back for more.
I remember back to when I was first born. To say I was amazed would be an understatement. A completely open-ended new world to be discovered. I've come a long way since then, but I had help along the way. There were a couple who not only helped me, but befriended me and made the initial weeks and adjustment period that much easier. And although this help and friendship is special to me, I found out later that this treatment isn't all that uncommon. I think I would be bold enough to say that the grid is ripe with it--and I feel honoured to share the branches with so many others.

Living with that community feeling.

In my RL home, I have very little contact with my neighbours. Some I wish would move, others I wouldn't mind getting to no better. Either way, we don't talk much. I can't speak for anyone else in this case, but for my household, the whole community feeling doesn't exist. When I was younger I remember exchanging Christmas gifts and cards with nearly everyone around us. There would be occasions of coffee and cards, and other miscellaneous friendly neighbour like activities. I try to figure out why this kind relationship no longer exists and I can only point to two things: media fear-mongering and the suppressed recession that has allowed us to own everything we need for a fraction of what it would cost if it were produced locally. There's no actual need to cross that property line anymore.
In Mindio, I digitally live at the literal end of the block. On one side is another region, and the other is a line of at least partially developed properties. I've actually gotten to know a good number of my neighbours, one of whom I talk to pretty much every time I'm home. Like me, he's a fairly new resident, and thus is still learning (although he's amassing a lot more knowledge than I am). We have both passed on tips, tricks, and scripts to each other but this isn't the reason we've become friends. We simply share the same area and actually enjoy having a friend next door. An element of SL that I wish could mirror into RL.

Mirror, mirror.

I've always tried to avoid bringing out a false front. I try to wear my mind on my T-Shirt for everyone to see. The only thing that may change, is the colour of the T-Shirt. Let's be honest, there are some days or occasions we may choose to wear our best T-Shirt over all the others, to impress or to woo other residents, but generally they are likely worn in complete and utter randomness.
Last night I was talking with my neighbours (who are great, I might add) and for some reason or another I ended up putting on a little avatar show. During my initial weeks in SL, I had collected all sorts of useful (or useless) free goods for my entertainment. I showed off my mini-mech, my Darth Vader, cartoon characters etc., but I felt really odd when I ended the show with my alternate avatar--my best T-Shirt, so to speak.
When you log onto this blog, it's the best T-Shirt that you normally get to see. Young, dashing, über-masculine looking, white male model. I generally use him for when I'm going out to a club or some other event where I feel that I need to bring my "A-Game."
I'd like to think that Daxiong Ling and his RL host are one in the same person. So it's not a wonder I started asking myself why I was actually doing this. This avatar isn't me at all; not even a T-Shirt. It's more like a completely different outfit that I bought at Hugo Boss which goes COMPLETELY against my natural grain (ouch.. mixing metaphors). Why in Lindon's name would I feel the need to go past my "A-Game" into something that doesn't represent me? The ultimate answer would be, I suppose, to fit in. All your average regions are filled with digitally generated supermodels, and the normal, casual, Daxiong Ling kind of stands out. Thin, scrawny, plain, Asian.
I'm not saying that an avatar should be an accurate representation of it's RL host. That's not it at all. If I were trying to imply that, the whole Asian look I have going for me would be most inaccurate. I simply propose that an avatar should represent the essence of your inner workings. A depiction of who you are. Having more than one avatar is more than acceptable, because your average being wears more than one hat (ohh.. another cliché). Opposite sides to a single coin (I could go on forever).
With this revelation, I will be upfront and say that I will be keeping the "A-Game." The point of it's continued existence will be what changes--it makes a great prop for best-in-show events.

The difference between us.

Being an avatar in Second Life has, thus far, been quite fulfilling. In my RL wife's eyes, I probably spend too much time in Mindio with my neighbours and other friends. I've more than referred to Second Life as "crack for the masses." If SL is crack, then I'm continually puzzled as to what it's laced with that makes it so addictive. Of course, what good would I be if I didn't at least have a couple of theories that apply to my being.

Okay, I have one theory.

Aside from my wife, I'm having a difficult time finding my real life fulfilling. At some point in the game of LIFE™, I landed on the square where you become increasingly differentiated from all your friends, and gain a new feeling of isolation. Wait.. I don't think that's a square in that game. Regardless, despite good efforts, time has taken it's toll.
Coupling this is the feeling that I should be chasing something, although I don't understand what my prey is supposed to be. Is it my wandering spirit that is continuously calling to me?
Marco!
Polo!
Within the digital confines of Second Life, I believe I may have found that something. Being a former traveling Wilbury, feeling stuck in my native homeland is a common occurrence. Some fear being tied down by love, I feel tied down by playing the role of mature adult. While in the servers, I get the chance to ignore those chains, if not feel liberated from them, although it's for a short time only. Instead of feeling disconnected with so many people in the real world, I can connect with like-minded people on a virtual basis (no pun intended).
If my personal theory holds true, modern life has not only disconnected, but also reconnected me other people. We are, by nature, a social species. It's how we're connected that really helps define who are. Second Life provides me with that fine white line--a digital pimp hard at work.

If this were a TV show, it would be on in the afternoon.

And so it has come to pass, that I have experienced my first drama. At least, I think it's my first drama. The story is long, drawn out, and outright confusing--and I really don't want to repeat it again. I brought story to the written word once, and I don't wish to do it again.
I've often made comparisons to this thing called Second Life with IRC. At a time when I was called Neflite (sadly, a Sailor Moon reference--a time I'm trying to forget about) I spent a lot of time in the IRC circles, as I had a lot of free time. The kind of free time that only college life can truly afford. For those of you not familiar, IRC = Internet Relay Chat, or in layman's terms, an internet chat room. A form of avatarless communication that was created in the early years of the internet.
I digress.
One of Second Life's many applications is what IRC used to accomplish, and that is to have group or individual conversations with complete strangers via the safety anonymity of a computer screen. Strangely, certain faucets of real life could be find in these chat rooms including, but not limited to, friendship, love, and DRAMA! Oh, the DRAMA! What would generally take long periods of time to occur in the real world, could happen within a months time in a chat room. Backstabbing, arguing, relationship triangles, bad breath and no mouthwash.
A certain intimacy is developed with those behind your computer screen, as well as anger and hatred, and I find it completely bizarre. At the time IRC, and now it seems Second Life has become the new reality for a lot of people.
There are many parts of Daxiong Ling that are also the same as his real life persona. So many that fingers and toes can't add them all up. However, Daxiong Ling is Daxiong Ling, and no one else. And both Daxiong Ling and his real life host can differentiate the two worlds, and knows that in SL, you should be there to learn and have fun. The recent drama in my second life almost made me forget that.

Welcome back, Kotter.

You don't know me. Well, you may. It's quite possible that you've passed me on the street and didn't even know it. That's not what this is about.
Over two months ago, my real life persona took an exit from the blogosphere. He felt that he had done all he could with the medium, and that he really had nothing more to offer those in the real world.
Shortly after I, 另大熊 (Daxiong Ling) was born from Linden Labs in mid June, I saw a new conduit for my blogging. Even though I knew I could start my blogging career anew (if you could call it a career), I still maintained reservations about getting involved in the blog community again. After all, I had been involved for about nine years! I wasn't sure I was ready to take the plunge back into it all over again.
It wasn't until I began talking to Cinderella Kesey that I actually to began to seriously consider it. Her writing inspired me to continue on with my own , and that's what you will be seeing here; a narrative of my thoughts, ideas, experiences and analysis DaXiong Ling's Second Life.