Second Life Articles
For some time I have been a resident of the Second Life virtual world. My income there has come from being Budka Groshomme, a wandering reporter and occasional columnist for the Second Life Herald The Herald is an on-line gazette featuring stories about the virtual world and its denizens. It is often scandalous, frequently innane, and sometimes downright riveting in its coverage. It is definately R-rated both for language and the frequent nude images of naked avatars.
The links below will take you to my articles stored in the Herald's vast ( or half-vast, as some would say) repository. Enjoy.
The Cupboard Door was my first article. The editor had asked me to write a series providing my impressions as a newcomer of Second Life's world, people, and places. He also asked me to think about what I was seeing and not just to put down impressions of what I saw and did.
Through the Summer Door is slightly more thoughtful and was written after I'd had another six hours of experience in-world, as we say.
What Lies Beneath: A Meditation on the Digisoul At this point my SF mind took flight as well as my sense of humor. Surprisingly, few saw the humor and many wrote to "correct" my mistaken impressions [sigh]
Ad Astra, and even further, maybe is where the SF aspect definately took over in my series as I waxed philosophical on the virtual world concept and railed against the inanity of what I saw.
But is it Art? is an article I wrote about a fascinating person I met while bumbling around. Early in Second Life a number of skilled people realized that they could use the creation tools not only to build personal artifacts, but to create works of art - virtual sculpture at this point, that had aesthetic value. Tayzia had become Second Life's curator and was busily collecting art from throughout the world. Since then, she has enlarged the scope enormously.
Sparhawk Interview appeared on April first and was a private joke suggested by my editor. It was a challenge interviewing myself, but I threw only softballs to lessen the pain. Since then I have not been able to get another SF writer to agree to tour the place and let me interview them.
What Came First is another article where I wax philosophical about the enormous amount of creativity that I saw everywhere I looked. I wondered, at that time, if creativity could be released only if the tools were available or it the world only attracted those creative, imaginative types. Sadly, I now have my answer.
Ego Builder was written when I, naiive as I was, discovered the burgeoning sex trade within the virtual world and the ease with which one could become involved.
The Geeks are Coming! was an article written when I discovered that there were an enormous number of SF fans in the virtual world and, not only that, but they had built the most fantastic spaceships on their property. This article was so popular that it has a place of honor at several in-world SF locations.
Is Beauty only Pixel Deep? was written when I realized that what one saw was not reality, but a carefully contrived image. The implications of this runs deep within the community and probably makes people more guarded than they otherwise would be.
Miraculous Lifting of the Lag is another of those stories that will mystify the uniniated. Sorry about that.
Elvis Sighted in Hawaii is another remarkably silly pieces inspired by tabloid headlines. You need not be familiar with Second Life to enjoy this one.