My Second Life

A few years ago, my daughter became interested in SecondLife, a virtual world where more than 50,000 avatars enjoy music, arts, role play, and a wide variety of other activities. I was skeptical and listened as she described the experience. Finally, she sold me and I signed up. At a time when I was particularly unhappy with the real world, and having difficulty managing stress at work, I found SecondLife was a release from the crush of real life. Over the last 3.5 years, I've collected an array of avatars, based on my mood or interest at the time. I consider them my human crayons.

 Through these avatars, I create a mood and interact with others in different ways. By doing so, I orchestrate a world with people of diverse cultures as friends, with far more diversity than is available to me in the real world. I've met people from France, Portugal, Brazil and Germany through my avatar and initiate conversations. Unfortunately, I don't really know any other languages, so I depended heavily on a translator. In any case, where else can you get a direct line to people of other cultures?

It's NOT a game! Too many people join virtual worlds thinking it's a platform for gaming. They quickly become disappointed. As a virtual world, you build things, buy or sell creations, do things you might never do in real life like swim with whales, take a ride in a rocket into outer space, go skiing on Mount Everest, etc. There is no limit to your imagination. There are plenty of opportunities for role play as well, which is "sort of" gaming, but you must be skilled in acting and it's a good idea to learn the tricks of animations. But there are so many ways to enjoy a virtual world, I simply cannot do it justice. Extend your imagination into the virtual world. 

Therefore, through this blog, I hope to help others find ways to interact and learn from a vast array of people. If you are interested in joining a virtual world and would like a mentor, please let me know. I'd be happy to show you around SecondLife. You'll be amazed and amused at the variety of people you'll find in these virtual worlds. Your kids certainly know about it (or they will), shouldn't you?

Fog Warning

While the Federal government repeals the DADT policy, the Iowa Supreme Court remains under fire. In the last election, 3 judges were voted out due to their participation in a unanimous decision about gay marriage in Iowa. An organization led by an former candidate for governor, claimed that the judges needed to be ousted to protect their view of marriage. They have further stated that the remaining judges will be their next target. In effect, that group created a fog of confusion in the media in the final days before the election, and the public responded thinking it was better to get new blood in the justice system. After all, its rare in Iowa for judges to conduct a campaign to remain on the bench. It was the first time in more than forty years, that Iowa had ever voted to oust a Supreme Court Judge, let alone three of them. Fortunately, a lawsuit has been filed claiming that the retention vote was illegal since it was not on a separate ballot. Happily, if the lawsuit holds, then the three judges will be allowed to retain their seats until a new election can be held. If there is to be another vote, lets hope that both sides have a chance to clear the fog and that voters are more informed.

On Tolerance

Today, I received a disturbing email informing me that a Tea Party evangelist wanted to follow one of my Twitter accounts. I investigated only to discover that this person promotes intolerance in many forms. The Baptist Church web site even touted hatred toward the gay population and plans to picket at Elizabeth Edward's funeral tomorrow. First, I don't believe that God hates anyone on this earth. Second, it's entirely disrespectful to picket at a funeral. Period. This blog is dedicated to being proud of being you, no matter what color, creed, gender, sexuality, or anything else. It takes all colors to create a beautiful masterpiece.

I feel like I've been asleep politically, but when 3 judges were ousted this past election in Iowa, because one group of people decided the judges handed down a poor decision about gay marriage. And yesterday, the leader of the group said he'd have ousted them all if they were all up for re-election and vows to work toward removing the remaining justices. This country was built on a justice system that doesn't blatantly cow-tow to political groups. This is nothing less than bullying. And the Governor-Elect has supported the effort. Am I being too naive here?

We are in for a rough ride in Iowa this year. A new governor who supports hate for a group of people that just want to love differently, is coming into power. Fill yourselves with love and brace for the impact. You cannot call yourselves Christians unless you fill your heart with love.

Love is Louder!!!  (see also http://www.loveislouder.com)