Playgrounds of the Mind Made Real - Virtuality Pt. 2

I'm a major proponent of the healing aspect of virtual worlds and even online games.


Yes, yes, I know, the internet is a cesspool and all these horrific scary things are on it waiting to rip you limb from limb and eat you.   But come on... really, is that any different than physical reality?  Like anything else you do you have to be mindful of what you are doing.  You don't let your 7 year old go out into the world unsupervised, do you?  So why would you let your 7 year old go out into the even wider world of the internet unsupervised?  You might let your 9 year old walk to the bus stop or go to the corner market by his or herself, under certain very specific guidelines.  Those guidelines can be translated to the net.  Living in the world is a serious responsibility. 

You wouldn't normally walk into to neighborhood that looks like this:














if you didn't know the area and were by yourself, would you?

Well then don't do it in a virtual world unless you know what you are doing.

On the other hand, this place:

This place seems a bit more developed, friendly, and has academic or corporate overtones, no? This is the NMC campus area. 

The only thing to remember about virtual worlds is that there is a real person behind every avatar and it isn't a game.  Don't do anything you wouldn't do normally, at least until you are well acquainted with the  neighborhood.

I started out hanging around campuses, libraries, museums and upscale shopping neighborhoods when I was new to Second Life® just like I would in regular life if I was traveling. 

Of course you can't tell a book by its cover...   but some things are obvious; such as "me" in one of my more eclectic outfits. 

And yes, there are places with lots of people around.  More on that next time.

Smart Ass Education 101 - Responsibility to One's Self

I'm a smart ass. I married a smart ass. I gave birth to a smart ass. I think it is genetic. When I was young I kept my mouth shut in public, more or less, and only those who really knew me knew that I could have a wicked tongue occasionally backed up by a sharp sense of humor.

I suppose I'm pretty smart. I know those people around me are smart, and they wouldn't tolerate ignorance around them. But smart doesn't mean jack if you are trying to reach an audience. And why would I be writing if I did not have an audience in mind? I've been thinking a lot about persona, as you may be able to tell, but I've also been thinking about responsibility, and ethics... and having a place where I can rant as regular old me and not be stepping out of bounds of the blog, nor my online identity, nor my inner self.  

This blog is not anonymous.  I use a nom d' plume that is also a nom d' tweet.  If I had a name I liked better than the one I have, I might use it, but I don't.  If I had it all to do over... I'd change my name, study computer science or architecture... and....     That "and..." is why I didn't change my name.  If we attempt to edit our identity by actual editing it seems to me that we are attempting to lie.  I use "Nerthus" as a pseudonym because she is the proto-European Swamp Goddess.   I grew up in the boggy muck and clay of what is left of the swamp, fen and kame of the wetlands of Northeastern Indiana.  I also believe that associating oneself, if you are a woman, with a goddess helps bring the concept of the feminine divine and creation into personal understanding of the organization of the universe.  Male gods seem sterile to me.  Patriarchy does not inspire me to seek either within or without.  I'm nearly 100% European per my ancestry from what I can tell without genetic testing.  "Nerthus" encapsulates much that I am and with which I identify.  It isn't a lie. 


I own my actions and I am usually careful about what I say and do, not limited nor constrained, but careful.  This blog, that I am trying to power-boost this month by constant blogging (daily to me means constant,) will contain smart ass irreverence and more statements unsupported by links than my other blogs.  I do not want to have to research and document every single thing I say.  I can back up everything I write as nonfiction.  I have been shoving facts in my brain for close to 45 years and I know a lot.  I have been blessed with a life rich in experience and travel and education.   I'm not saying I won't share links; I'm not saying that I just want to spout bullshit.  I just want to write as though I was just sitting at a table, drinking coffee,  talking to other women who can relate to me in some way and engage in women's humor.  Maybe I remind you of your mother, daughter, sister, or friend.   I'm willing to talk to men, I've actually been VERY close, lol, to some men in my life, but I have a tendency to see guys as not really interested in just talking.  And that is what I'm doing here.  I'm just saying.