HI! challenge, day 05

FYI: Ariel challenged me to say hi and attempt conversation with one stranger a day in SL for 30 days and blog about it. Today is day 05. This fyi will appear at the top of each post. And starting from this point, all photos and chat are used with permission.

So how did I meet a stranger today? I was hanging around my yard this afternoon, looking at the bunnies and thinking I needed to buy more food, when I noticed a couple of avs rez into FireGOOD!!! and start fishing off the back dock. I thought about saying hello to them, but then I thought, well, bunnies have been neglected and need to eat now. LOL. I got my bunny food off xstreet (omg, so much easier than fighting the lag on the Ozimals sim), and when I returned to SL, the fishers were gone (already!?). But there was someone walking toward the aviary ...

This is Atticus Fang. I said hello and apologized for the unfinished state of the aviary. (When am I going to finish it, anyway!?) He said he thought the owl was watching him, and he asked if this was my build. From there we talked about birds and birding and aviaries and peoplewatching. He found our sim by searching for coffee shops. We also talked about living in a deconsecrated church building, the earthquake in Assisi, the well-deserved popularity of Florence, and Italy in general. I gave him the bookclub notecard, we talked about books and reading, and then ...

[18:16]  Atticus Fang: i am finding that many of the books i dreaded reading as a kid
[18:16]  Atticus Fang: are turning out to be my favorites as an adult
[18:17]  Owly Indigo: oh! like which ones ... ?
[18:18]  Atticus Fang: this conversation just got personal. revealing your favourite books is sort of like baring your soul
[18:18]  Atticus Fang: lol
[18:18]  Owly Indigo: eep, I'm sorry ;-)
[18:18]  Owly Indigo: I got a little enthusiastic
[18:18]  Atticus Fang: no no no its great
[18:19]  Atticus Fang: its not often that i get to have these conversations here

Well, that's gonna change, because he joined book club! Hooray! We had such a nice, though brief, conversation, I felt emboldened to tell him about my challenge and ask ...


[18:20]  Owly Indigo: would you be ok with being my stranger for the day? ;-D
[18:20]  Atticus Fang: heck yeah!

I also felt emboldened to add him to my friends list. !!!! This is the first time during this challenge that I've felt comfortable enough with someone to ask.

[18:24]  Atticus Fang: See ya soon bird lady!

Awwwwwww. :-D


Here's what I've learned: It is amazing how you find common ground when you just start talking! I mean, he had been to my most favorite city in the world (Assisi), how cool is that? That is not something you learn from a profile, it's something you learn through conversing. Atticus, I look forward to talking with you more!

HI! challenge, day 04

FYI: Ariel challenged me to say hi and attempt conversation with one stranger a day in SL for 30 days and blog about it. Today is day 04. This fyi will appear at the top of each post. 

 

This has not been a very SLful day for me ... nonetheless I remain committed to the challenge. I did talk to a stranger today: I got an offline IM that a shop on the sim had been rented, so I sent a welcoming IM and a group invite to the renter. She was offline at the time, and later when I was offline, she sent me an IM that said thank you, and that she had gotten the group invite. That was all. Hopefully we'll get a chance to have a real conversation soon - I'm excited she's joined us! Obviously I did not mention the challenge or the blog, so no chat log or photo.

Here's what I learned: Sometimes it's just all business ...

HI! challenge, day 03

FYI: Ariel challenged me to say hi and attempt conversation with one stranger a day in SL for 30 days and blog about it. Today is day 03. This fyi will appear at the top of each post.

Yesterday, something Sam said (dang, what was it?) gave me the idea to try saying hello to someone based purely on what their avatar looked like, without any profile perving to give me a conversation opener. I planned to do this after I did Fifty Linden Friday, since I figured anyone doing FLF would be FOCUSED and unwilling to converse.

But surprise!!!

[10:12]  Beth Innovia: tag you're it
[10:12]  Beth Innovia: :]
[10:13]  Owly Indigo: I'm it?
[10:13]  Beth Innovia: yup
[10:14]  Owly Indigo: oh! erm ... what's the game? lol
[10:14]  Beth Innovia: tag!

durrr ... I was being very silly. I really didn't realize she was talking to me at first. But it was true, we were kind of chasing each other from one FLF location to the next.

[10:14]  Owly Indigo: OH! I saw you at the other store! haha I remember the cute dress ;-D
[10:14]  Beth Innovia: hehe yeah i think i'm following you :]
[10:14]  Beth Innovia: and thank you
[10:14]  Owly Indigo: but now I'm it! hehe

I can't help but wonder if this is "fair" for the challenge - because I did not initiate the conversation. Nonetheless, it was a conversation with a stranger. I will wait for Ariel to rule on that, and just go with it this time!

So what happened? We talked about FLF and shopping ... she sent me the notecard for "omg that's adorable." It was really pleasant to have someone to talk to while FLFing, rather than just the rapid tp in, rez, buy (or not), tp to the next that I'm used to.

Last time, I felt a little uncomfortable not mentioning the blog, so this time, I decided nothing but full disclosure would do, if I was going to post here about it.*

[10:34]  Owly Indigo: beth, thanks again for the omg adorable notecard ... and may I ask you a question?
[10:35]  Owly Indigo: I am working on a blogging project where I talk to one stranger a day in SL - would it be ok if you were my stranger for today? lol ...
[10:35]  Owly Indigo: I'm basically asking to use your name and a photo of you ... it's totally ok if not
[10:35]  Owly Indigo: it's nice to meet someone friendly in SL ;-)







Ten minutes go by, and I think, "OH GOD WHAT HAVE I DONE!?" but then ...

[10:46]  Beth Innovia: oh yeah definitely :D
[10:46]  Beth Innovia: sorry, had to run afk hehe
[10:46]  Owly Indigo: yay thanks! haha ... it's np, I took a photo before I tp'd away, just in case you said yes!
[10:46]  Beth Innovia: woot!
[10:46]  Beth Innovia: :]
[10:47]  Owly Indigo: my challenge was to say hi to a stranger actually ... but you contacted me first! yay
[10:47]  Beth Innovia: hehe
[10:47]  Beth Innovia: its bad enough we go by our daily real lives without a word to other people, in SL there are no excuses :]

In SL there are no excuses. How amazing a viewpoint is that!? We talked a little more about where we are from, and then I crashed. Hopefully we'll play FLF tag again sometime. Here's the photo I took of her really quickly, she's wearing that cute leafy dress from Miel:

See? CUTE!

Here's what I learned: Sometimes, you don't have to be the first one to say hello. Also, if you are on a hunt or doing something that involves tp'ing from place to place, and you keep seeing the same person over and over ... well, you have at least one thing in common - the hunt or FLF or whatever - so why not acknowledge each other and work on it together? "In SL there are no excuses!"

*OH BY THE WAY I had already decided to do full disclosure with the subsequent people I would talk to before some self-righteous, self-satisfied, shit-stirring and self-appointed interwebs police decided to call me unprofessional, uncredible, rude, and uncool (did I ever set myself up as someone who is professional, credible, polite, or cool? NO) for doing this challenge, without even reading my posts. Aw, see what I did there? I went and judged some people based on very little information. That's no good is it? Think of the children!

HI! challenge, day 02

FYI: Ariel challenged me to say hi and attempt conversation with one stranger a day in SL for 30 days and blog about it. Today is day 02. This fyi will appear at the top of each post. 

When I logged in, I found myself on Tableau, in Wrigglesworth, where the old people av stuff is at. (Yeah, I just said "is at.") And what ... WHAT did I immediately find on my radar but someone with an AWSUM NAME! Moldy Tangerine! I thought, here is the person I don't know that I want to talk to today! Because how great is that name!?

I felt a little shifty though ... she was walking away, and I didn't want to chase her down. That would be creepy. She went into Paper Couture. Oh hey, I had a reason to go there, I needed a slurl. And look, there's a bird ring, I don't have that, I should buy it. Dang, it's cute. And also ... OH HI there is that person with the great name, in the same shop, imagine that, I'm gonna say HI!!!!

[09:05 AM]  Owly Indigo: LOL ... you probably get this a lot but ... I love your name! ;-D

[09:06 AM]  Moldy Tangerine: ha, thanks, was about to say the same to you !

Wheeeeee! And it was a lovely conversation ... she doesn't like dirt, I don't like dirt, etc. She looked at my profile and asked me about the Home Sim and book club ... I gave her a LM and the book club notecard.

So we're talking about this and that, and I get an IM from ChatBrat:

[09:17 AM]  ChatBrat Pippita: Hi Stranger! I wonder if you would like to chat with me and form a community? (PEBD)

[09:17 AM]  Owly Indigo: cb! heheheheheheh

[09:17 AM]  Owly Indigo: I am talking with someone noooooowwwwww

[09:17 AM]  ChatBrat Pippita: w00t

[09:17 AM]  ChatBrat Pippita: preying on n00bs is cheating

[09:17 AM]  Owly Indigo: tsk

[09:18 AM]  Owly Indigo: her rez date is 2006

[09:18 AM]  Owly Indigo: neener!

So CB tp's over and says hi too, we talk about book club, and it sounds like Moldy will come if she can and might bring her sister along. This is like, the fantasy encounter of the project, and it's only day 2. I should also mention that the following was said:

[09:19 AM]  Moldy Tangerine: ah thanks you have restored my faith in people today....it was fading a little today

[09:19 AM]  Owly Indigo: aw! I'm so glad to hear that!

Which made me feel a little guilty. I felt the need to disclose the challenge.

[09:21 AM]  Owly Indigo: well ... I need to be honest with you in that case ... I am on a mission to talk to one stranger a day in SL ...

[09:21 AM]  Owly Indigo: and your name encouraged me to say hi ... and I'm so glad I did!

But I did not go so far as to disclose the blog. And I feel a little bad about that, because I don't want anyone to feel like this challenge is the ONLY reason I am saying hi. I really do want to meet more people, that was the impetus of the challenge. Also, the blog aspect of the project brings up some ethical issues: should I be copy/pasting conversations? Should I be using real names? Should I post pictures?

This time, I decided to go with no pictures. I just don't feel comfortable using a photo without someone's permission. I've used her real name, because the name is what made me think, "she seems cool, I want to say hi." Also, it was a positive interaction. If I have a negative one during this project, maybe I won't use names. I don't know - we'll just have to see how it goes.

Here, have a not-so-great photo of the ring I found:

Here's what I learned: Having a clever name is a great conversation-starter, as there is a good chance the person might be as interesting and clever as the name. Also, it's good to put interesting details in your profile if you want to meet people, as that helps break the ice. I mean, I read hers and commented on it, but she also read and commented on mine. Two-way street, my friends! Furthermore, I learned that I need to be sensitive to how the people I say hello to might feel about appearing in these posts. I suppose I will take that on a case-by-case basis.

HI! challenge, day 01

FYI: Ariel challenged me to say hi and attempt conversation with one stranger a day in SL for 30 days and blog about it. Today is day 01. This fyi will appear at the top of each post.

For the first day of the challenge, I thought I would try accosting one of the many hunters who visit our sim. There are two mainstores on the Home Sim that participate in a lot of hunts, FireGOOD!!! and Sweet Antidote. I decided to position myself in a clump of poppies between the sim landing point and the two stores - I triangulated! Then I lay in wait, like a groundsquirrel waiting in her hole for an acorn to fall from a tree!

I think I triangulated awsumly! I waited and waited ... but nobody came.Which was weird, because we've had a steady stream of hunters over the last few days. Did the hunts all end!? What gives? Bah. Clearly, I was going to have to work harder to find a stranger to talk to.

While I was deciding what to do next ... someone tp'd in! 26m away! He landed at Ariel's shop, I rushed over ...

[12:38 PM]  Owly Indigo: hello sylver ;-)
[12:40 PM]  Owly Indigo Hoots!

I said hi, I hooted ... and got nothing in return. I wasn't quite prepared to IM, I wanted to see how saying hello in local would work first. Suddenly, he walked into the main part of the store. Sooo ... I am not a FireGOOD!!! CSR ... officially. Nonetheless ...

[12:42 PM]  Owly Indigo: sylver, please let me know if I can help you with anything ;-)
[12:43 PM]  sylver Shelman smiles "Thank you"

YAY! Response! And a polite one! I sat on the railing, not quite willing to push it. I mean ... he was clearly here with a purpose, and that was to find a hunt object, not to talk with the crazy eager bird lady on a mission to talk to a stranger. So I had a look through his profile while he had a look through the shop. And look what I found there ...

i talk to everybody almost i enjoy conversations and thought provocation. It is a really pleasure to sit and converse with others and enjoy a laugh. i joke and try to make people smile

Well, he did talk to me, briefly. And at 12:52 PM he disappeared, apparently having found the hunt gift.

I wonder, if I weren't feeling so shy and sensitive to the fact that he was on a hunt, what more might I have said to him? Would we have found common ground? He smiled at me ... could he have made me smile too, as his profile suggests?

Here's what I learned: people who are doing a hunt might not be interested in conversing, and they might not want to talk with unofficial CSRs. Also, politeness is very important - I was so happy he smiled and said "thanks" instead of ignoring me.

CHALLENGE

I have kind of a long story to tell you, but it ends with a CHALLENGE from Miss Ariel to me. I hope you'll bear with me and follow along with my challenge for the month of September.

So this summer/winter (north/south hemispheres), it's been a little quiet on the Home Sim. We've not been quite as active as we usually are, since many people were away or on vacation or just BUSY. Nonetheless, there has been a lot of activity related to various hunts and gatherings and new store openings, but ... yeah, since the end of OpSquee, it's been a bit honk shu.

Sometimes I like to just hang around by the aviary and watch the green dots pop in and out of various stores in the market for hunt gifts. I like to read the profiles of the people popping in and out - especially those ones that are all "nosy bitch get your ass outta mah supa private special snowflake profile!" or whatever. haha - those ones I look at VERY CAREFULLY and FOR A LONG TIME.

Where was I going with this. Oh yeah! So I see an av wandering around, and I look at her profile. Her name is Carrie Lexington, she has a blog, and she has a pick in her profile that says "How to Build Community in Second Life," IM me if you'd like to have a poster of this. And I think ... HELL YEAH! I want to get back to building community on the Home Sim! I IM her, she's supernice, and I get what is written at the end of this post on a prim. These are things I want to do and to encourage. I put the poster up in the coho. I am happy.

Then I IM Ariel (this is edited a lot):

[05:08 PM]  Owly Indigo: yay, I got something cool today, a "poster" on how to build community in SL, I put it up in the coho
[05:08 PM]  Owly Indigo: it is inspiring me
[05:08 PM]  Inventory item offered
[05:10 PM]  Ariel Wingtips: reading...
[05:11 PM]  Ariel Wingtips: step 1: leave skybox
[05:11 PM]  Ariel Wingtips: hahaha
[05:11 PM]  Owly Indigo: I am being like super friendly today, what's up with that
[05:13 PM]  Owly Indigo: I have a thingy I want to do ... I want to say hi to at least ONE new person in SL each day
[05:13 PM]  Owly Indigo: I'm sure it will wear off
[05:13 PM]  Ariel Wingtips: i dare you o do it for 30 days and blog the experience
[05:13 PM]  Owly Indigo: wah!
[05:13 PM]  Ariel Wingtips: doooooo it
[05:13 PM]  Ariel Wingtips: dooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo it
[05:13 PM]  Owly Indigo: that is QUITE a dare!!!!!
[05:13 PM]  Owly Indigo: girl
[05:14 PM]  Ariel Wingtips: yeah!
[05:14 PM]  Owly Indigo: I gonna do it
[05:14 PM]  Owly Indigo: I will start it Sept 1
[05:14 PM]  Owly Indigo: blog challenge!
[05:14 PM]  Ariel Wingtips: and then the rest is history
[05:14 PM]  Owly Indigo: good things happen!
[05:14 PM]  Ariel Wingtips: yes THEY DO
[05:15 PM]  Owly Indigo: if I didn't know you are so busy ... I would challenge you too!
[05:16 PM]  Ariel Wingtips: we can do it like a relay
[05:16 PM]  Ariel Wingtips: tag me at the end of september
[05:16 PM]  Ariel Wingtips: and i'll be next
[05:16 PM]  Owly Indigo: ok! yayayayay!
[05:16 PM]  Ariel Wingtips: relay for community
[05:16 PM]  Owly Indigo: and then YOU tag someone!
[05:16 PM]  Ariel Wingtips: then i will tag someone else

So there's my challenge - attempt to engage in conversation with a stranger each day for 30 days and blog about it. Starts tomorrow. Friendship starts with one person saying hi, and the other responding more or less positively; community begins when we start to take little steps toward being more friendly and open, just like in Carrie's list.

You know, in RL, I am not like this. I am not fond of talking to strangers. I'm not even that excited to talk with people that I know. But in SL I RP a friendly person! haha. This is definitely stretching for me, it is kinda risky, because I might tangle with some nasty people. But I might also meet some really really nice people. I am kind of excited to see how this goes.

If you're interested in building community in SL, read that post and follow along daily with this blog. Let's see how many friends and/or enemies I make in 30 days! ;-D HOOT!

Inventory Challenge and BUTT Talk

After almost three years of mad experiments, hunts, and shopping, I have created a mess of my inventory.  From what I hear, I am not alone.  I hear a lot of folks talk about needing to sort inventory, and they do it alone, most of the time, and then they also talk about wishing that that they were hanging out with friends.  So, last week, I was thinking "why not combine these activities?"  One of the reasons I sort inventory alone is to avoid the "accidental nekkies" that happen if you replace an outfit without taking care to keep certain bits covered up.   Also, I just need some silly motivation to stay on task.

Last week I created some ugly skins, the "HOMEsimLY" skin pack and set it out for free at the Albatross Coffee House on our sim.  This is the first skin I have attempted, it is just a tinted the free skin that I found on a tutorial site a long time ago so I take no credit for the cute shading and such, that was done by someone who actually knows what they are doing.  I only take credit for the HOMEsimLY features. 

You can use this skin in groups or individual inventory sessions:

STEP 1:  set your inventory sorting goal for the session – like “I will sort my stocking folder”  
STEP 2: wear this skin and whip off your clothes, and get busy sorting.  No need to worry about accidental exposure, with this skin, your bits are always covered.
STEP 3: don’t take the skin off until you have finished.

TIP: set realistic goals – chunk your inventory sorting project into bite size tasks.  Set goals like, “I will sort my socks folder” rather than “I will sort through and delete 10,000 items” (EEEEEK!!! Unless you want to wear this skin for a really long time, we don’t recommend that)


LOOK...we have COLORS!  (the colors are from the home sim logo - in case you were wondering)

Inventory Sorting Action
Friday night, we had a spontaneous inventory sorting party on the home sim.  The challenge was to set a simple inventory sorting goal, have fun socializing, but get R done.  OR just goof off.  There was a lot of goofing off.. launching, and some inventory was sorted.  I am thrilled to report that my own inventory, also known as "the Abyss of Madness,"  is finally under 40,000 items.  YAY!

Here's how it happened - I plurked an open invitation for an inventory sorting gathering and a lot of plurkies showed up.  Here are the action shots of the event.   (hint: click on the pictures to zoom in on all the awesome detail)

Everyone shows up and wonders what to do...Ariel and Cat model the home sim inventory challenge ugly skin.  ChatBrat Pippita announces that she is not going to sort anything.  Then folks start goofing off, sorting inventory, launching stuff, and talking about what they are discovering in their inventory, but mainly the theme of conversation centered around...you guessed it...BUTTS!

I am not surprised about this...cat made this prediction on plurk earlier in the week:

Here are the action shots:

and on and on...

[22:01]  Ariel Wingtips: hahaha

[22:01]  Ariel Wingtips: had to re-inflate my butt

[22:01]  Ariel Wingtips: i'm feeling SMURFY

[22:01]  Polly Paperclip: Yay for butt reinflation!

[23:00]  Grefan Miklos: That's what I thought, CB.

[23:00]  Grefan Miklos: CB stands for Chicken Butt.

[23:08]  Ariel Wingtips: P T !!

[23:08]  PT Beardmore: WORD!

[23:08]  catalina Mistwallow: hi PT!

[23:08]  ChatBrat Pippita: howdy PT

[23:08]  Further Monday: howdy PT

[23:09]  PT Beardmore: hello hello!

[23:09]  PT Beardmore: All the butt talk got me to log in

hehehe

Join us next time....