Another Second Life Weekend

There is always so much to do in Second Life, as long as RL doesn’t get in the way! This past weekend was an example of the diversity of events available.

On Friday night I went to the official opening of “The Origins of Victoriana” exhibition in Victoriana Pavilion. On display are photographs of the RL buildings that are the inspiration of many of the SL buildings to be found throughout the sims.  It is absolutely fascinating to see how the Mayor, LittleBlackDuck Lindsay has taken buildings from all over the world, from Crawford’s Notch, NH, U.S.A to Sydney, Australia and brought them all together in the Nation of Victoriana in such a cohesive way. As well  there are notecards available giving information on the RL buildings. It is well worth visiting. The picture above is of the Pre-Raphaelite Gallery in SL next to its RL sibling.

The fun didn’t stop there, though.  On Saturday I attended the Nickelback Tribute  Band Concert in Virtual London.  One night in Victoriana, the next night at Nickelback, as I said, “diversity” is the best way to describe Second Life. The concert was incredibly popular with estimates of 70 in the sim.  Everyone had a great time.

Sunday afternoon I was chatting with Ed and Janey (and their pets)  at the Ourvirtualtrilogy office in Kensington when we received a notice saying that Debs Regent was going to be on a Second Life gameshow called “Dating Casino” and of course we could not miss that.  “Dating Casino” is hosted by Lovey Foxtrot. Three women and three men answer penetrating questions designed to bring one happy couple together by the end of the show. It was quite an experience, wacky and fun,  and we certainly learned some interesting things about Debs and the other contestants!

Finally, I ended my SL weekend watching a performance given by Ballet Pixelle of their eighth original ballet created for Second Life “Degas Dances”. The three act ballet brings artworks by Edgar Degas to life. It is beautiful and absorbing, the perfect way to end a busy weekend. I have written a CNN ireport on “Degas Dances” which can be seen at http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-360991. 

Weekends are so exhausting, makes you almost (almost!) appreciate Mondays.

Snapshots of Daily Life

I’m continuing to set up my new home and business. The idea that I actually have a business to run still comes as a great surprise to me, but a pleasant one nonetheless.  I’m still learning a lot about how to do things, in some ways I feel as if I have returned to my newbie days since I have to ask people some very basic questions. I particularly feel for the Mayor, LittleBlackDuck Lindsay, he is on the receiving end of  most of my questions, IM’s and notecards, however he truly is a gentleman and responds with patience and kindness.  At the moment I am trying to decide on wallpaper, SL and RL are the same in that respect, it is very hard to choose.

There has not been much rhyme or reason in my recent SL (is that a surprise) but a bunch of little things stood out in my mind and I wanted to record them because I feel that the little daily pleasures of life are a lot more important than we recognize.

Now that Halloween has passed the next big holiday on the horizon for many is Christmas,  so decorations and other holiday related things are beginning to appear.  Janey and I went on a very pleasant sleigh-ride, complete with jingling bells and commentary, around the Mayfair sim. The sleigh follows a pre-set course so it was safe to let Janey sit in the driver’s seat as we toured the sim and saw the sights.

The Underground Club plays a major role in my social life. It is such a fun and friendly place to go for a laugh and a chat with friends. This week one of the regulars was so inspired that he asked dj Brie Janick to play some Riverdance music and he treated us all to his very own riverdance performance.  How often do you have that experience, RL or SL?

A new café, sensibly named the Underground Club Café, has opened up next to the UGC. It has a pool table, nice little café tables, a coffee machine that refused to serve me but did provide Janey with a delicious looking latte, and a wall for advertising. I was so pleased to see an Ourvirtualtrilogy ad, including a picture of the photogenic Old Bert, up on the wall. I am hoping that Old Bert will decide to pay a visit to Virtual London sometime. Perhaps he will if trivia is brought into the sim, fingers crossed.

 

Moving In and Getting Settled

At the beginning of October I wrote about leaving my apartment in the London sims. As happy as I was there, it was time to move on and I have now started to set up my new home in the Nation of Victoriana at Victoriana Harbour. This is a great change for me in more ways than one, because in addition to making a new home for myself I have opened a gallery and a branch office of Our Virtual Trilogy.

I have rented a beautiful shop at 8 Jubilee Promenade, overlooking the harbour.  From my upstairs window a fort can be seen in the distance,  as well as a beach, complete with bathing machines! The cries of  the seagulls circling around and diving down to the water add to the seaside atmosphere. It is lovely and relaxing, the home by the ocean that I have always dreamed of.

The Nation of Victoriana is a Victorian themed set of sims. Since the furniture from my previous apartment was contemporary in design I have been out doing the rounds shopping for new furniture, which has been a great treat. I am using the third floor of the shop as my apartment, the second is currently set up as an office/gallery, and the ground floor is the main part of the gallery. Right now I am showing the works of James Tissot (1836-1902), a French artist who spent a large proportion of his career in London, painting detailed scenes of everyday life, domestic and on the Thames.  It is a great joy for me to be surrounded by such beautiful artworks. My good friend Boye, who owns the Pre-Raphaelite Gallery in Victoriana Square, has been of inestimable help and support to me, as well as providing an example of the kind of gallery I hope I will be able to create. I am learning all sorts of things as I settle into my new home, so this is going to be an “experience”.

I am getting to know the Nation of Victoriana a little better too. I had visited Boye at his gallery, of course, but now that I am a resident and “shopkeep” I have a new perspective. The mayor, LittleBlackDuck Lindsay, organizes many events in the sims and last Saturday I participated in one of them, the butterfly hunt. A thousand butterflies were released in some of the sims.  In my case I chased them in Victoriana Forest, but they were also in Victoriana Hedgemaze, next door. Some butterflies have prizes, lovely jewellery created by Random Calliope, and I managed to acquire quite a few pieces. There is even an Ode Butterfly Collectors group , which allows members to swap pieces and complete sets.  The hunt was a lot of fun, but quite tricky, too, as the butterflies flutter away when they know you are after them.  They can be quite cheeky, flying up close and then darting away.

Virtual London is still a big part of my life, though. On Saturday I attended two Halloween parties, one at Mayhem Club in Mayfair and the other at the Underground Club in Knightsbridge.  Both clubs were packed with avatars in costume, dancing and chatting to friends.  It was quite a sight. We have decided to start writing up some events for Virtually London (lite), too, so I have written up an article on the weekend parties. It is nice to be back doing that.

Janey introduced me to a builder friend of hers, Johnnytreadlightly Nightfire, who has built an incredible medieval style castle, complete with dungeons, hidden doors and apartments, on six levels. He says it is designed for exploring and is easy to get lost in, to which I can readily attest.  Poor Janey had computer problems and wasn’t able to take the tour, but Ed and I were more fortunate. Johnny even gave us suits of armour, beautifully detailed, real works of art, so now I am all prepared for whatever awaits me as I start off my life as a shopkeeper.

 

Communications Difficulties

Boye and I went dancing at Phat Cats, one of our favourite places.  As we walked into the ballroom the host greeted Boye, but didn’t appear to say hello to me, or so I thought. For some reason I commented on this to Boye and he replied that the host  had.  I looked back at my chat and nothing appeared there. Boye then gave me a copy of his open chat, and sure enough, there it was,  the host had welcomed me. I am posting both copies of the open chat here, I have removed everyone else’s name except Boye’s and mine, but otherwise no changes have been made.

Boye’s open chat

(As we approach Phat Cats we begin to hear the chat coming from inside the club)

[4:26] Host shouts: make it a slow one handsome DJ..smiles
[4:27]  DJ shouts: yep
[4:27]  Host: welcome to phat cats
[4:28]  Mr. Guest1 : korning?
[4:28]  Host: Mr jervil lovely to see u again welocme to phat cats
[4:28] Host: oops morning
[4:28]  Host: lol
[4:28]  Mr. Guest1: lol
[4:28]  isabella29 Ceriano: my apologies
[4:28]  Boye Jervil: Thank you Host, and to see you
[4:28] Host: Miss hibiscus good morning lovely to see u again welcome to phat cats
[4:28]  Host: yvw Sir Boye
[4:29]  Phat Cat’s Couples Dance System: Please wait and jump on the couple poseballs when they reach you.
[4:29]  Phat Cat’s Couples Dance System: Touch again to get menu.
[4:30]  Host shouts: please do wear your romanticats tag…be randomly selecting a winner for the best in red…smiles

My open chat

[4:26] Host shouts: make it a slow one handsome DJ..smiles

[4:27]  DJ shouts: yep

[4:27]  Host: Mr Guest1  good korning

[4:27]  Host: welcome to phat cats

[4:28]  Mr. Guest1 : korning?

[4:28]  Host: Mr jervil lovely to see u again welocme to phat cats

[4:28]  You decline Magic’s Corner :::Shapes::: from A group member named MagicMirror Fayray.

[4:28]  Host: oops morning

[4:28]  Host: lol

[4:29]  xxxx is Offline

[4:29]  Phat Cat’s Couples Dance System: Touch again to get menu.

[4:30]  Host  shouts: please do wear your romanticats tag…be randomly selecting a winner for the best in red…smiles

After commenting to Boye and seeing his copy of the chat I realized the host had indeed welcomed me, so I spoke to her

[4:31]  Hibiscus Hastings: good morning Host, I didn’t see you say hello to me

[4:31]  Host: good morning Ms hastings..i did dear miss..smiles

[4:31]  Host: good morning…waves

[4:32]  yyyy  is Offline

[4:32]  Hibiscus Hastings: waves back

[4:32] Host: lovely to see u and sir boye again..smiles

[4:32]  Hibiscus Hastings: yes, lol, sl acting up again, lovely to be here

[4:33]  Host: wonderful…hope u will have a lovely time dear miss

 

Boye and I were not seeing the same open chat. Mine did not show the host saying hello to me, nor, if you look carefully, does it show the host apologize for making the typo (“good korning”, not “good morning”) or Mr. Guest1 laugh at the error. Boye’s text does not show show the host making the “Good korning” error to Mr. Guest1 (he may possibly have been out of range, I don’t think so, but it is possible), but it does show the host apologizing and Mr. Guest1 laughing with her over the error. I also do not see Boye respond to the host.   I do not think it was because I was out of range when the host said hello, because Boye and I are getting pieces of the conversation between Mr. Guest1 and the host.

Communications in SL can always be challenging, but this puts a whole different light on things as people can be talking and yet we are not getting the message.

Changes and New Opportunities

Many things have occurred since my last post a little over a week ago. Probably the biggest change is that Virtually London (lite) has ceased publication. It was always a great pleasure for me to report on the happenings in Virtual London and I will miss the blog, but the good news is that all of us from Virtually London (lite) will continue on Our Virtual Trilogy, so the occasional London event will turn up on there from time to time.

I have also moved out of my apartment in the Chelsea sim. This was my first home in Second Life and I loved it a great deal. I have many happy memories of my time there and will always think of my apartment with great fondness. I have begun the search for a new home and have a couple of prospects in mind, none of them owned by Mr. Stoneyheart! I will still have a pied-a-terre in the London sims, though, as Our Virtual Trilogy has opened an office in the Kensington sim. We have a corner space at 30 Kensington High Street.   There are comfortable sofas in the outer lobby and Janey’s little cat Max wanders around, flopping down and snoring in the middle of the carpet, so it really feels like home.

It was quite a busy weekend. Last Saturday was my rez day, I turned 2! When I think back to my first days in Second Life as that poor newbie stumbling around and trying to figure things out it is hard to believe. I have a new skin now and look much better, I still occasionally stumble and am still trying to figure things out, but I have a job that I love, blogging about the metaverse, and wonderful friends.

I celebrated my rez day in style. First I went to Phat Cat’s with Boye, Janey and Drax, a great feat when you take into consideration our widely varying time zones, so I appreciate the effort all of them made. Later on I went to the Underground Club, which had been decorated with pictures and posters of me, along with rez day wishes. I was touched and honoured, certainly extremely grateful for all my friends. Life has its ups and downs, but friends make it all so worthwhile.

Over the weekend one of the shops in Victoriana Square had a sale. Sales always set my little pixellated heart fluttering and this one especially did, as the owner of the store, Arundelain  Dumart of Arundel Designs, had decided to give away all his stock. I have so many new and beautiful Victorian outfits now I haven’t had a chance to try them all on.

I was trying one of them on, a Victorian bridesmaid’s dress (always a bridesmaid never a bride!) when Boye IM’d me to tell me about a go-kart sim, KJ Racing, he had discovered (I hope Janey is not reading this). So I tp’d over and went for a spin. Boye did very well, but we looked rather unusual, me in particular, as we sped around the track, my skirts flying out way behind me. 

Then I had an IM from my friend Be Ewing, someone I see at NASA CoLab meetings. She said an impromptu party had started at the Space Destiny sim, so Boye and I tp’d over to have a look at the sim and chat with some of the people there.  What an SL weekend, from Victoriana to Jazz Clubs to go-karts to NASA.

Earlier this week we learned that the Soho sim, recently added to Virtual London, was going to close due to age verification procedure problems. For a while a little space of green land remained where Soho had been, but now even it has gone.  What energy, excitement and planning had gone into that sim and we got to see it all from beginning to end. I once wrote about the ephemeral nature of Second Life and here was a very poignant example of the transient nature of our Virtual World. Now Soho only exists in the blog entries of Virtually London(lite) and in our memories. I think that’s why I enjoy blogging so much, events, both happy and sad, are recorded and live on, the only things that remain of our time in Second Life.

Meanwhile I continue to look for a new home.

Hibiscus Hastings

Food and Second Life

If I asked people (not necessarily those who are in SL)  what one word comes to mind when you say “Second Life”  I imagine it would be “sex”, followed by other things like “art”, “immersive”, “education”, “shopping”, “shoes”, “user created content” (I know, three words)  etc.  But to me food seems to be a constant subtext ready to come to the fore in a lot of the dialogue and interaction that goes on in SL.

First, there is the actual food you see in SL. If you go to a birthday party, for instance, there will be a cake, and usually champagne.  SL seems to be awash in champagne. There are wedding cakes in SL. If I search my inventory I will come up with things like “hot tea”, “hot coffee”, “cake”, “cherry cheesecake” and “fruit plate”. I have no idea how I acquired these but there they are, all ready for me when I feel a bit peckish. I have a huge drink which looks like a washing up basin, according to Janey.  Boye, of course, has that infamous pint of beer, and while Janey makes disparaging remarks about my washing up basin, she has an enormous bottle of whiskey. I don’t know what Ed has, perhaps he will enlighten us, but I am sure he has food of some kind.

One of the most beautiful displays of food in Second Life, in my opinion, is in Victoriana,  in the new Victoriana Pavilion sim and also in the Hedgemaze sim. The cakes and sandwiches look absolutely delectable, so that is where I go for my SL treats.

Food is also a big topic of conversation. I like to drop into the Underground Club at the end of my day, and frequently the talk turns to food. One day recently there was a discussion of Rice Krispie Squares, on another we all chatted about cornbread.  One person at the UGC is known for his love of kebabs and another for his affection for onions. Chocolate is a UGC favourite (someone gave me a Kit Kat one day when I was saying how much I wanted some chocolate), as are chips. And then there are shrimps, but that is a story for another day. My recent blog entry on housekeeping in SL somehow, despite the fact that it was not about food,  created a discussion about such delicacies as toe jam, salt and chips, and perhaps most infamously,  carrots!

So wherever we go, SL or RL, food is apparently never far from our thoughts.

Sunday Night in SL

I haven’t been to SL on a Sunday night for a long time, so I decided to pop in and see what I could find.

First off I went to see Ballet Pixelle’s final performance of “Living Goddess”.  I discovered Ballet Pixelle not too long after coming into SL and I try to see their performances whenever I can. Inarra Saarinen is the founder and director of the company, which performs original ballets  with choreography created by Saarinen. There are no poseballs, the dancers are given the choreography and they perform it live, quite a challenge what with all the technical challenges SL can throw out plus the fact that the dancers are spread across the globe.

“Living Goddess” is based on the real story of the Kumari Devi (Living Goddess) worshipped in Nepal. A young girl is chosen to be the Kumari Devi. In a secret ceremony she becomes the embodiment of the goddess Durga and lives in her own temple, the Kumari Che, except for 13 days, when she attends festivals.  Once the Kumari Devi reaches puberty a new living goddess is chosen and the former one returns to her family.

The ballet is in three acts. In the first act the Kumari Devi rises from a lotus flower. Her devotees dance around her and receive flowers from her that bless them. During the second act the Kumari Devi appears as her mortal self but then transforms into the 12-armed Durga, goddess of creation and destruction. The third act shows the end of the Kumari Devi’s time as the goddess, when she becomes an adult and is transformed back into a normal human. A new Kumari Devi is chosen.  The performance, done to the accompaniment of music created by Solary Clary for the ballet, is beautiful to see, with intricate and colourful costumes and impressive looking sets. This is the seventh ballet to enter Ballet Pixelle’s repertoire, which is quite diverse. The ballets tell stories taken from many different cultures, a great way to get a little insight into what might otherwise remain unknown to many of us.

After that, I went to see “Tonight Live with Paisley Beebe“, an SL television talk show which is recorded live on Sunday nights at 6 pm slt. Paisley’s guests tonight were Chantal Harvey, a machinimatographer who is the producer of the 48 Hour Machinima Project, Blues Heron, a singer/songwriter and publisher Saffia Widdershins.

Chantal Harvey spoke about the 48 Hour Machinima Project, in which  machinimatographers are challenged to create a machinima of 4 to 7 minutes in length in 48 hours.  

Blues Heron then performed for the audience and later was interviewed by Paisley.

Saffia Widdershins was on the program to discuss the “Step Up” campaign, which is planned to be a day of action and education about content theft. Recently a large amount of content was stolen from 3 sims. The work of RH Engel, Rebel Hope and Susan Ramos was taken and passed around the grid for free. Content theft is not a new thing in SL, but this particular case prompted quite an outcry including a very strongly worded post entitled “Enough” by Saffia on her Prim Perfect blog. November 5th is the planned day of action.

So I had quite an evening, full of information and entertainment. But one thing that really struck me, and I know this is nothing new, is how people from everywhere are brought together and share ideas and experiences, despite the distances and differences.

You Never Really Know!

My good friend, Boye Jervil, frequently appears in this blog and Our Virtual Trilogy (http://ourvirtualtrilogy.blogspot.com/) .  He owns the beautiful Pre-Raphaelite Gallery in the Victoriana Square sim, and since we have been friends, well over a year now,  he has always acted in a respectable and upright manner, the very model of a Victorian gentleman. However, he wrote an article for the Victoriana Times a few months ago, entitled “Victorian Morals, or What really goes on behind the lace curtains?“  to which I should have perhaps paid a little more attention.

Boye told me about a little incident that had happened earlier in the day, starting in Kensington, but ending at his gallery. Apparently he had been visiting the Greyhound Pub, and overindulged. (I was not online at the time) He decided it was time to return to the Gallery when he came up with an inspired idea, to photograph himself  in Kensington and enter the picture in the Kensington sim photo contest, which he did. He then returned to his gallery and once there was unable to remove the beer glass attachment (!), stumbling around and  falling on the floor, scaring off a poor lady who was visiting in the area.  In Boye’s own words “I would say she thought I was some sort of terrible newbie who would ask all sorts of unreasonable things of her.” Boye was also not in his proper Victorian clothes, at least not judging from the photo, I don’t think chili (chilli) pepper shirts were popular during that era, and that may have startled the poor woman, too. So this goes to show you just never know, do you?

Thank you to Boye Jervil for very kindly allowing me to use this photo.

Standing Out in the Crowd

As is often said, Second Life is created by its users  and to me nothing exemplifies this more than the avatars we build.  The avatar is the most personal part of our Second Lives, so I find it endlessly fascinating to observe them and see what people have done.

Part of our avatar is the look we create. When we arrive in Second Life we start off with a generic avatar and go from there.  However, for this blog entry I am going to focus on another aspect of avatar creation – our profiles and the titles we choose to put in our nametags.

Nametags are one of the first things we notice about people and frequently some kind of descriptor appears over the avatar name. Very often this is a group title, for example some of mine include “London VIP” (for my London, UK) group (It is very easy to be a VIP in Second Life, too, many groups have this title), “Victoriana Citizen” (the Nation of Victoriana) or “Diva Divine am I” (SL Divine Divas, my Lemania Indigo group). The Lemania group title is fun, but the rest of mine are pretty workmanlike. Sometimes avatars will put something else in that space, and a good proportion will not show group titles or anything beyond their name, which is generally what I do.  Name tag additions I have observed include: “Sexy”, “I’m Cute”, “Empress” and “Daring 2 Bare it” (which the avatar was not doing at the time I saw him, I hasten to add).

Our profiles probably offer us the greatest opportunity to describe ourselves.  Profile surfing is one of my very favourite activities in Second Life. They are so handy; so much can be learned by reading a profile, SL, Picks, Groups and RL. Here are some that have caught my eye. (I have not made any corrections or changes to the following profiles, they are reproduced here the way they appear in the original profile)

Some are pretty straightforward, just a brief introduction –

1.Enjoying my second life so far.  Enjoy good conversation with witty people.  Like to explore the SL world and love music, dancing.

Im artistic in RL and would like to learn more about building, designing in SL.   I’m here for fun and a temporary escape, I have enough drama in rl so do not need that here:).

2. Love dancing, meeting new people and exploring.

IM me I dont bite )

3.  Hello there

Me: Loves dancing so dont be shy to ask me. I hardly ever say no if someone ask me for a dance.  SInce I am been here for a while, I think I am done exploring..but if you know a really cool venue, would love to see it! I consider myself as a  friendly and fun person.

I rent land, if u need one let me know See picks what I have right now.

 

I find these the most touching kind of profiles.  The avatars who wrote these appear, anyway, to want to introduce themselves in a clear way and they seem genuine, using their own words to reach out to whoever is reading. There are also a few things in these three that you will find repeated over and over – a love of dancing, a business opportunity (profiles of course are a great way to advertise a business),  “no drama”  and some variation of “I don’t bite”, a pretty common profile witticism.

 

Quoting a well know writer is another way of writing a profile.

4. But no value has been put on human life; it is given to us free and taken without being paid for. What is it worth? If you look around, at times the value may seem to be little or nothing at all. Often after you have sweated and tried and things are not better for you, there comes a feeling deep down in the soul that you are not worth much. – Carson McCullers – The Ballad of the Sad Cafe

IM me if you actually know who Carson McCullers was.

5. Take this kiss upon the brow!

And, in parting from you now,

Thus much let me avow—

You are not wrong, who deem

That my days have been a dream;

Yet if hope has flown away

In a night, or in a day,

In a vision, or in none,

Is it therefore the less gone?

All that we see or seem

Is but a dream within a dream.

Edgar Allen Poe

Oscar Wilde, not unexpectedly, turns up frequently, in particular “The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it” or “I can resist everything except temptation”.

 

Continuing on from the perils of temptation, profiles can be flirtatious or seductive -

5. … lover of slow dances, intelligent conversations, and unabashed flirtation

… vapid consumer of flexihair and absurdly flouncy ballgowns

… inspired by a well-constructed pick-up line

… disenchanted by txtspk and monosyllabic idiocy

… firm believer in the interconnectivity of our lives here and there

… wildly noncommital

… cute as a button

 

Or they can also spell things out very clearly -

6. In my SL I’m looking to meet a rich sophisticated man who can afford to spoil me in the finer things on SL. In return i will always look good for you, love and respect you, and maybe one day have your SL children

At night i love evening gowns and dancing, during the day i love to prowl like a kitty

 

Humour is another avenue –

7. I make cyber sex once at two days . This is not that day ) .Sorry

The road to success is always under construction. 

Always remember you’re unique, just like everyone else.

 

And then there is LOVE-

8. love start with smile grows with akiss end with tear  

9. Love is not a decision, its a feeling, if it were it would be much simpler.

But less magical.

10. Love is giving someone the ability to hurt you, but trusting then not to

 

Silly, presumptuous, genuine, boring, touching, heartbreaking, profound, business-like, profiles can be all these things and more.

A Curious Request

I was out last night at the Underground Club, having fun dancing with all my friends there. I haven’t had much opportunity to go lately, RL has been busy and somewhat stressful, so I was really enjoying myself, unwinding, listening to the music and chatting, when I received an IM from a woman nearby. I have changed her name to Dancing Girl. Here is what she said to me:

Dancing Girl: hi

Hibiscus Hastings: Hi Dancing Girl

DG: can u do me a favour?

Hibiscus Hastings: what?

DG: tlk wit Mr. X  n see if he flirts plz

DG: i need to no if can trust him

Hibiscus Hastings: DG, I think the best thing to do is talk with him yourself

Hibiscus Hastings: he hasn’t im’d me

DG: plz

Hibiscus Hastings: no, DG, I am sorry, but I don’t think that is the way to handle things

I was quite startled by this request, to say the least, so much so that I mentioned it to Janey, who was also at the UGC. Janey told me that Dancing Girl had once approached her with the same request, but at the beginning of June! Dancing Girl asked me to do the same thing in September, and can’t have been with the same man, as her dancing partner came into Second Life in early September.  Janey had kept a copy of the chat, which I have posted below.

DG: can u help me?

Janey Bracken: you ok DG?

DG: i think my bf cheatin on me can u flirt wit him n see wot he does

DG: ???

Janey Bracken: noooo lol I can’t do things like that sorry!!!

A number of observations can be made:

1. I spend a lot of my time out dancing.  Actually this is not true, I also go shopping.

2. The way we communicate is changing dramatically. I know this is not a brilliant remark on my part, but I was very struck by how much we got across to each other using so few “real” words and without worrying about sentence structure. Words such as “tlk”, “wit”, “plz”, “u”, “no” (know), “bf”, “lol”, “wot”, for example. Interestingly DG says “cheatin”, which always sounds to me as if it comes from a western song (Your Cheatin’ Heart) yet she spells “favourite” with a “u”, not using the American spelling. Capitalization seems to be optional and random, as is the use of punctuation. And yet we understood each other. The flavour of the interaction was also captured. When DG began talking with Janey, she underlined the urgency and pleading nature of her request by using “???” .  Janey responded with a  ”noooo” and multiple exclamation points, denoting surprise and softening the tenor of the denial somewhat. Whereas when DG first contacted me I replied with a cranky sounding “what?”.

3. What was the meaning of all of that? Was DG really concerned about cheating partners? Do people really go around testing other people like that? These two conversations dealt with the issue of trust, a major problem in SL, but in the end who was being tested? DG’s two dance partners? Janey and me? I don’t really know.