Do You Wander in Second Life?

To wander is to be alive.

Roman Payne   

As my three loyal readers know, I’m an explorer and wanderer in Second Life (SL).

In other words, I’m a wanderer.

To quote one of my favorite writers, J. R. R. Tolkien, “Not all those who wander are lost.” 

(Significant Other looks doubtful.)

I wander inworld because my meanderings in Real Life (RL) were curtailed a while back. 

(Significant Other smiles appreciatively.  Occasionally, I come through!)

But, what about you?

Do you wander in SL?

(I’m talking about meaningful wandering not simply getting lost inworld.)

Or, do you tend to stay in one place?

Not that there’s anything wrong with that!  (Another future story here!)

If you do wander then why?

Are you like me looking for new places, new friends, and new experiences inworld? 

Where do you wander?

Anyplace that happens to come along or is there a method to your journey?

How do you wander?

Alone, with friends, engaging with the locals, or just lurking in the shadows?

Is there a purpose to your journey, or are you like Jack Kerouac in On the Road, just answering the call of the open road? 

Will your journey ever end?

Are you looking for something, someplace, or someone?

Will you simply leave SL never to be seen again?

Will you leave a trail of friends with memories of you behind?

Me, I enjoy wandering across the Grid!

I enjoy blogging about my journeys there. 

Yet, while still a wanderer at heart, I find myself with friends and places that I return to from time to time. 

I’m not too predictable and RL adds its own dynamic.  

So, what about you?

Please send me your thoughts and I’ll either write about them or maybe join you on part of your journey! 

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. 

My Twitter handle is @webspelunker.  Please feel free to follow me and I’d be happy to follow you.

I can be found on Google+ as webspelunker Ghostraven.

My flickr Photostream is located here.

On Skype I’m webspelunker Ghostraven.

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.

            Open roads and kind fires!

Back from the Wilderness (Part VII) - Back and Forth in Second Life

Much unhappiness has come into the world because of bewilderment and things left unsaid.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky   

I’ve been away from Second Life (SL) for a bit.

Well, more like in and out, a lot.

Folks have noticed.

My three loyal readers who seem to catch everything about me have been making inquiries.

And, many others, friends and readers, have noticed my absence.

Here’s my tale.

Significant Other and I are still dealing with the aftereffects of someone close to us who passed away last year.

These matters are never easy and we’ve had to spend time away from our usual activities.  (Significant Other is next to me nodding in silent agreement.)

So, not to worry!

We’re both fine, I haven’t left SL, and I’m still blogging!

Unfortunately, as many have me often say inworld, Real Life (RL) always takes priority and right now there are others who need us.  (Significant Other adds that I do come in handy at times like this.)

The good news is that this period is hopefully drawing to an end and we should be finished by late spring.  (Significant Other is nodding furiously in the affirmative right now.) 

Thanks to all of you who have inquired about my status, I greatly appreciate the concerns, thoughts, and prayers that you’ve expressed! 

You have no idea how much this touches me and reaffirms for me the true value of my relationships inworld!  (Significant Other also expresses gratitude to all!)

I’m trying to reply to everyone and this may take a little time.

My messages are being capped regularly so please if you’re trying to contact me use a note card inworld or my email address below. 

Also, to those whom I’ve had commitments on stories please bear with me as I try to sort out the effects of all this on my writing calendar.  (It’s been ugly.)

I’ll be back as soon as I’m able!  (Significant Other promises to send me back once I’m no longer needed.  It’s wonderful to be wanted isn’t it?)

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. 

My Twitter handle is @webspelunker.  Please feel free to follow me and I’d be happy to follow you.

I can be found on Google+ as webspelunker Ghostraven.

My flickr Photostream is located here.

On Skype I’m webspelunker Ghostraven.

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.

            Open roads and kind fires!

Back from the Wilderness (Part VI) – I Return to Second Life

Death ends a life, not a relationship.

Mitch Albom, Tuesdays with Morrie 

             As many of you have noticed by now, I’ve been away from Second Life (SL) for a while and haven’t been blogging. 

            Once again, Real Life (RL) called me away from SL.  

            The death of someone very close to Significant Other and me, especially for

Significant Other, necessitated our being out-of-state for a while. 

            To add to the confusion, the night before we were to leave, my laptop fried.  (Literally, smoke and everything, most impressive.) 

            Let’s just say that for a whole variety of reasons, it’s taken me a while to get back to some degree of normalcy.  (I’ll ignore the pundits who question whether I had any in the first place.) 

            But, I’m back!

            As before, I’m humbled by the messages I’ve received from my inworld friends.

            From those who knew what happened and offered their prayers, kept us in their thoughts, and offered to help me stay in touch inworld, I’m grateful.  (Significant Other is especially grateful.) 

            To those who only knew that I hadn’t been around for a while and wondered why I had gone over the wall, I appreciate your reaching out to express your concerns and to check in on me. 

            Specifically, I’d like to thank L’il Sis and the members of First UCC who offered assistance, prayers, and their condolences. 

            RL events have made me realize once again how much the SL community is like an extended family in RL than being a mere game or virtual world.  People show their feelings,

concerns, and fears as readily inworld as they do in RL.  Sadly, loss appears to be a universal feeling across both SL and RL.  

            Significant Other and I are both touched and grateful to all of you for responding to our grief as you did!  We thank all of you from the bottom of our hearts! 

            I’m getting back up to speed and hope to reconnect with all of you and to thank you personally! 

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. 

My Twitter handle is @webspelunker.  Please feel free to follow me and I’d be happy to follow you.

I can be found on Google+ as webspelunker Ghostraven.

My flickr Photostream is located here.

On Skype I’m webspelunker Ghostraven.

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.

            Open roads and kind fires!

Back from the Wilderness (Part VI) – I Return to Second Life

Death ends a life, not a relationship.

Mitch Albom, Tuesdays with Morrie 

             As many of you have noticed by now, I’ve been away from Second Life (SL) for a while and haven’t been blogging. 

            Once again, Real Life (RL) called me away from SL.  

            The death of someone very close to Significant Other and me, especially for

Significant Other, necessitated our being out-of-state for a while. 

            To add to the confusion, the night before we were to leave, my laptop fried.  (Literally, smoke and everything, most impressive.) 

            Let’s just say that for a whole variety of reasons, it’s taken me a while to get back to some degree of normalcy.  (I’ll ignore the pundits who question whether I had any in the first place.) 

            But, I’m back!

            As before, I’m humbled by the messages I’ve received from my inworld friends.

            From those who knew what happened and offered their prayers, kept us in their thoughts, and offered to help me stay in touch inworld, I’m grateful.  (Significant Other is especially grateful.) 

            To those who only knew that I hadn’t been around for a while and wondered why I had gone over the wall, I appreciate your reaching out to express your concerns and to check in on me. 

            Specifically, I’d like to thank L’il Sis and the members of First UCC who offered assistance, prayers, and their condolences. 

            RL events have made me realize once again how much the SL community is like an extended family in RL than being a mere game or virtual world.  People show their feelings,

concerns, and fears as readily inworld as they do in RL.  Sadly, loss appears to be a universal feeling across both SL and RL.  

            Significant Other and I are both touched and grateful to all of you for responding to our grief as you did!  We thank all of you from the bottom of our hearts! 

            I’m getting back up to speed and hope to reconnect with all of you and to thank you personally! 

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. 

My Twitter handle is @webspelunker.  Please feel free to follow me and I’d be happy to follow you.

I can be found on Google+ as webspelunker Ghostraven.

My flickr Photostream is located here.

On Skype I’m webspelunker Ghostraven.

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.

            Open roads and kind fires!

Taking Stock in Second Life

 

When life gives you a hundred reasons to cry, show life that you have a thousand reasons to smile.

Anonymous

                                                                

 

          The recent events in my Real Life (RL) have caused me to pause for a moment and think.  (Normally, this is where Significant Other’s eyes roll or an excuse is found to beat a hasty retreat somewhere, anywhere.  Today, because Significant Other has been a major part of what’s been happening, not to mention a source of strength and comfort for me, I see support and affirmation.)

          I thought about my loss.

          I thought about all who have helped me in both RL and Second Life (SL).  (All of you who reached out via various media when I missed a blog post and stopped tweeting for a while, you’ll never know how much that meant to me.)         

          Previously, I’ve blogged about how quiet SL was.  How there seemed to be less going on. 

          But, but after writing that, I began to notice that while maybe at the galactic level, SL wasn’t as bombastic as it once was that at the personal level (i.e., avatar to avatar) there was always a lot going on. 

          Whenever, I logged on friends were around.  They reached out.

          If they weren’t around then they left messages.

          Sometimes, friends just disappeared with no warning.  Their loss is felt and I can only hope that RL offered them new challenges and opportunities and they’ve just moved on with their lives.

         

Combined with the outpouring of prayers, condolences, and well wishes that I’ve recently received made me realize just how noisy in the very best sense of the word that SL really is.

          All the other things that have been happening around and about SL are really pretty irrelevant. 

          Should we care about SL 2.0? 

          Does Ebbe Altberg really matter in the grand scheme of things? 

          Is it important if RL media is suddenly surprised that SL still exists at all?            For me the answer is a resounding “No!”

          SL is a very complicated place and it’s complicated because it’s about people.

          SL happens at a very personal and intimate (That’s not what I mean!) level.  Individuals communicating with one another and with their communities.

          People share thoughts, feelings, and fears inworld. 

          Yes, there is the veil of anonymity for many of us but that doesn’t make it any less personal.

          Are our SL friends any less real to us than our RL ones?

          Once again, the answer is a resounding “No!”

          After all these years of being inworld and blogging about it, I’m just now realizing that the community there is SL is more than just scripts, prims, and sims. 

          It’s all about the wonderful people who make it up and log in every so often to make it the wonderful place that it is!

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.         

My Twitter handle is @webspelunker.  Please feel free to follow me and I’d be happy to follow you.

I can be found on Google+ as webspelunker Ghostraven.

My flickr Photostream is located here.

On Skype I’m webspelunker Ghostraven.

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.

          Open roads and kind fires!

Back from the Wilderness! (Part V) – I Return to Second Life

 

Overheard at a gravesite: "And they all said ’I’m sorry for your loss,’ as if you were someone who could ever be taken from me."

Robert Brault

                                                                

 

          I’ve been way from Second Life (SL) for a while.

          There are reasons.  Yes, reasons and not excuses.

          First, Significant Other and I went away for a few days (Yes, this was in Real Life (RL) and not some cybertrip, I have some standards.) and the usual available WiFi wasn’t available.

          OK, things happen and as I’ve posted before in the Back from the Wilderness stories I invariably bounce back and somehow manage to post a story.

Then, as Significant Other and I were preparing to return home, I received word that a very close loved one had passed away unexpectedly.

As I guess as many of you know, a time like this can be a stressful and confusing one in a family. Hence, I left SL and the Metaverse for some time.

I did reach out to several friends at various times to let them know why I wasn’t inworld.

I received messages from other friends wondering why I wasn’t about or posting.

From all I received their prayers, thoughts, and condolences.

I’m slowly coming back now.  Beginning with my blog and following with social media.

Significant Other and I thank all for their prayers, thoughts, and condolences.

I’d also like to thank everyone for their patience as I put RL and SL back together again.  And, to those who kept reading my stories and retweeting my tweets!

I’ve blogged about loss before but when it comes at us in RL it’s hard to accept but I know that I must and go on.

Those in SL were as supportive and sympathetic as my RL family and friends.  I guess this shows that we’re not really all that different regardless of the mediums we use.

I look forward to reconnecting with all my friends in both worlds over the next several weeks.

Thanks again!

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.         

My Twitter handle is @webspelunker.  Please feel free to follow me and I’d be happy to follow you.

I can be found on Google+ as webspelunker Ghostraven.

My flickr Photostream is located here.

On Skype I’m webspelunker Ghostraven.

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.

          Open roads and kind fires!

Back from the Wilderness! (Part IV) - I Return to Second Life

Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.

Henry David Thoreau  

          Those of you who have been following my blog for a while probably remember last year when my hard drive crashed and I went into the Wilderness for a few weeks.  I wrote about Second Life from the perspective of being on the outside among its Diaspora.  (Think of an Edward Snowden who’s not being looked for by the FBI and US drones.)  Eventually, I replaced my machine and came back in from the Wilderness. 

          Well, you know how it is, last week I was sitting there happy about recovering from my loss of Internet access (Significant Other says I was being smug.) and wham-o, my replacement machine goes on the blink. 

          Once again, I’m back to where I was eighteen months ago with the only machine available to me with a SL viewer was down for the count and sitting in a repair shop.  What to do?

          Fortunately, I had already done my inworld research for my latest story about attending a Tarot reading inworld.  But, how to stay in touch inworld with friends and distribute my story’s link was my problem. 

          mysecondlife.com was not a satisfactory solution because it’s not interactive enough for me.  I needed something better.

          Just before my latest incident, I’d made a new friend inworld.  Her name is Lilly Marie.  We met in Utopia Naked Isle Resort after I’d written my story about the sim.  I went back to follow-up on the sim’s progress and meet some friends.  I’d noticed this gray avatar with a female form hanging around the dance floor.  Someone told me that she was unable to use a PC and was using a phone to access SL. 

          Always one for a potential story, I introduced myself to Lilly and learned her story.   Her PC had broken and she wouldn’t be able to replace it for a while but had wanted to stay in touch with her SL friends.  She had come across an app for her smartphone and used it.  The solution wasn’t perfect.  (She was just a gray avatar surrounded by nudists after all.)  She could only use text, couldn’t interact with anything or anyone, and using the phone’s keyboard slowed things down a lot.  But, Lilly was with her friends and they tried to compensate for her difficulties by including her in conversations.  (Another example of how SL communities try to help their members.) 

          I filed this piece of information away in my mind (Yes, I do have one.) and didn’t much of it.  That is until I found myself in similar straits. 

          Since I use an iPhone 5 in Real Life (RL), I checked the App Store and came across an app called Pocket Metaverse Pro.  The price was only $4.99US, so I figured let’s go for it. 

          I purchased the app and downloaded the app.  I then proceeded to try to log in.  This is when I learned about the vagaries of SL names.  Unfortunately, the app didn’t come with directions.  (Or, if it did, I haven’t discovered them yet.)  After about half a dozen tries, I was back in SL. 

          I was able to communicate with friends more easily than with mysecondlife.com.  Multiple chats are hard as with my large fingers I struggle with the keyboard.  Movement is awkward.  This may be a poor analogy but I couldn’t help but think this is what it is like to be blind in RL. 

          According to the user feedback on the product’s website, it’s not being kept current and some functionality that had existed in previous editions no longer works.  I suspect the falling off of the developers’ interest parallels the plateauing of SL interest in RL.  But I was back in albeit with limitations. 

          Meanwhile, my machine was repaired and returned to me yesterday.  I got back inworld the old fashioned way.  This has me thinking.  Accessing SL is difficult.  Since its inception over ten years ago technology (e.g., smart phones, tablets, etc.) has moved forward but SL is pretty much where it started from a technical perspective.  This isn’t sustainable. 

          The smart app I purchased has its uses but it’s not a panacea.  Anyone looking for a mobile solution and is willing to live with its limitations should take a look. 

          But, I’m back!  (I’m sure that’s going to send everyone scurrying away.)  I have to sort out my schedule and catch up on a few things I fell behind on.  See you around the Grid! 

          I’d like to thank Lilly Marie for her recommendation and wish her the best in coming back soon to SL. 

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.