Quillstress

I’ve been trying most of the day to get things collected here…and get my digital life organized beyond what I’m normally capable of before school begins yet again.  It’s had me thinking of all that I “value” of all the “stuff” out here on the web.  I ran into particular difficulty trying to get my various “favorites” lists from video hosting sites linked to this blog…and then a friend called me over SkypeCam from Holland.  I’ve been wanting to share this YouTube video with him for a while so I sent it to him.  He loves Vincent…and loves music…and he and I know each other from SecondLife (where the producer of this video built his creation).  For a time he watched and I could hear the music over the camera as he experienced what I had.  That, after all, is what communication is about, the wish that someone else see what I have seen and experience what I have experienced and vice versa.
That is perhaps the reason why I see things like Second Life with a different lens than some and why I laugh or grit my teeth about some of the comments you hear made in the press and the larger culture about virtualworlds in general.  What they don’t seem to understand is the marvel of a technology that allows me to share experiences with people from all over the world and the new cultures that such interaction are creating.  Having a “digital life” in whatever form is mind boggling…but it’s not instantaneous enough..not visceral enough for some of us.  Waiting for a comment back on a blog post is a monumental waste of time compared to going into SL..sitting my avatar down next to my friend from Holland and eating my lunch while he has his dinner and shows me six or seven videos of musicians he loved in his youth, a time before I was born.  Time and Geography lose their importance as anything but bookmarks in this place and that’s why I love it.  It’s a tremendous tool, yes.  It’s amazingly creative, absolutely.  But what has kept me here is the stunning humanity of it…as screwed up as humanity is and as wondrous.

So, I link this video here to share an experience with YOU and I hope it gets you thinking….about what else needs to be said and how it might be.