Had a great time with my pal Colleen, wandering around New Orleans. I went ahead to scout out a church. Churches in sl offer a bit of respite from the short-skirted, Amsterdam-lovin’ crowds. I’ve found opportunities for decent conversation and quiet at the Friends Meeting House, Mont St. Michel and now the Cathedral of St. Louis on Jackson Square. In the cathedral I came across a woman sitting in a pew, head in hands, “Katrina Relief” hovering as her group tag above her head. Habitat for Humanity/Katrina Relief boxes dot the landscape. Colleen and I hoped that Mardi Gras celebrations here would benefit Katrina victims in the way Second Life Relay for Life does so successfully. The University of New Orleans in rl has stated that, in case of another disruptive hurricane, they intend to host classes in-world http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStory.cfm?ArticleID=7171%20. We spent a bit of time thinking about Katrina and then wandered around the place, wishing we could find the Napolean House or Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop (bar). We rounded the corner and there it was! Lafitte’s! Albeit a prim coated version of the crumpled vision on Bourbon Street but still – a place we recognized and loved. We were so excited we celebrated by drinking rum and cokes and smoking ciggies and cigars at the same time.
We had an interesting chat about the men we’ve met online who, though never purporting to be anything else, surprised us when their rl was revealed. I found out my first mate in-world was a 55 year old math teacher from Georgia, newly divorced. He sent me a link to his myspace page, which showed him shirtless holding weights or grinning with his teenaged sons, the page filled with comments from buxom 55 year old blondes…As nice as he was, not my scene. In fact, just the kind of thing that should send me scampering away from this kind of online interaction altogether, if it weren’t for the possibility of escape to places like Caledon, a sim dedicated to 19th century living, where I spend most of my time.
It’s funny meeting people in-world. Some folks are revealing, like the math teacher, and others clam up the moment you ask anything remotely related to rl. I’ve got a lovely new acquaintance that I enjoy spending time with, and, though she’s shown me her rl blog, she never talks rl when in-world. I suppose a good lesson for me, who reveals all readily, in my Italian way, to whoever makes the mistake of pausing next to me for too long…
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