HI! challenge, day 11

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 11. This fyi will appear at the top of each post. All photos and names of strangers are used with permission. Names of established friends are used willy nilly!!! :-D

 

It is late. I have been offline most of the day, and I didn't think I would be able to complete the challenge for day 11. I was kind of moping about this to PT, and he said something along the lines of noooooooooooooooo let's go meet someone right now! LOL. I was tired and unwilling, but he was encouraging.

[22:33]  PT Beardmore: can you try?
[22:33]  Owly Indigo: someone is on the sim
[22:33]  Owly Indigo: we could try that person?
[22:34]  PT Beardmore: ok!
[22:34]  PT Beardmore: you gotta say hi first for it to count

He meant he couldn't say hi first, I had to be the initiator. I agreed! We found there was someone floating over by Sweet Antidote. She was either a shopper or a hunter, but either way, I was going to attempt contact. She appeared to be some sort of dark fairy, with all sorts of things strapped to her legs and arms. Her AO was adorable; she was floating and cycling through cute poses. Anyway, I said hello to her, and PT did too. I commented on her AO. PT said some stuff. I said more stuff. And uhhhhhh ... she didn't say anything.

lol

Ok, so I didn't get permission for this photo, but her face is not really visible, and I wanted to show you the heart attached to her arm. She is wearing her heart on her sleeve! Or arm. Or something. Awwwwww ... creepy!

Here's what I learned: Sometimes people are just afk. Also, good friends are good motivators when you are ready to just go to bed instead of staying committed to a challenge. :-)

HI! challenge, day 10

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 10. This fyi will appear at the top of each post. All photos and names of strangers are used with permission. Names of established friends are used willy nilly!!! :-D

 

So who did Owly meet today!? PT and I were standing around the Home Sim market, just cracking each other up, when Spock Jupiter tp'd in. He had rented an office on our sim a while back, and we hadn't seen him in a while. It was nice to catch up! He mentioned he had a new girlfriend whom he had brought to the sim earlier, and lo, she came online and he tp'd her over.

We were having a lovely conversation when PT reminded me ...

[10:55]  PT Beardmore: Natalie counts as a new person!

HA! Of course! I nearly forgot! So I asked her if she would be my stranger of the day, and she agreed. We friended each other, we chit chatted some more, I found out she works in a club, and hopefully she and Spock will be regulars around the Home Sim as well. ;-)

Here's what I learned: Friends of friends are a great way to meet new people.

HI! challenge, day 09

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 09. This fyi will appear at the top of each post. All photos and names of strangers are used with permission. Names of established friends are used willy nilly!!! :-D

 

I am coming to terms with the idea that not all of these interactions are going to be winners, no matter how well-meaning my approach. I was at the Project Donate sim, methodically flying through every single aisle. I am organized that way. There was a guy in a suit standing at the end of one of the aisle. When I got to where he was, I noticed he was editing appearance. I said, "hi there ;-)." He stopped editing and tp'd away. I looked at his profile. It was empty except for his name and rez date, which was 9/9/2010. 

Some newbs just aren't ready to talk, I guess? Maybe he just wanted to work on adjusting his avatar in peace. Maybe he was an already-jaded alt who didn't feel the need to respond to a random stranger. I'm trying to remember what being a newb was like, those first few chats and IMs. I must've been nervous, scared, unsure of what to say. I didn't want to be clingy, and I didn't want to be standoffish. I had no idea how to be graceful in my interactions ... not that I think I've mastered it now! But I suppose one's comfort level grows with each conversation. Also ... I need to bear in mind, some people just aren't here to make friends. That's ok too.

In RL, I'm one of those people "not here to make friends." I actively avoid people I know, and I discourage new people from getting too close. Yet, here I am in SL, doing my best to be friendly and welcoming, actively seeking out new people. Pardon my language, but what the fuck is up with that? I sometimes joke that I RP a friendly person in SL, but that isn't so far from the truth. Ok, that's all the introspection I feel like for now. I wonder if I need to replay some form of this challenge in RL.

Once again I don't have any pictures sooo ... you get to see this one of me in the 99L OMG Mynerva skin. I like it, but it makes me look too sad! I wonder if I goofed around with my eyebrows it would help ...

HI! challenge, day 08

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 08. This fyi will appear at the top of each post. All photos and names of strangers are used with permission. Names of established friends are used indiscriminately!!! :-D

Awwww, I met a newb today! And no, ChatBrat, I wasn't preying on newbs in a welcome area. ;-P I was at Designers United 4, of all places. How does a 1-day newb find DU4? This wasn't a fake newb on an alt, this person really seemed new.

Let me just say up front there are no names or pictures this time because the person got freaked out and logged before I could ask. LOL!

So there I am at DU4. I am waiting for the lovely dresses and whatnot of loveliness to rez, because I cannot buy you, lovely pixel thing, if I cannot see you. I am totally not looking at people, I am waiting for the rez. Then I see this in local:

[02:17 PM]  ..::STOP CLICKIN ME SYSTEM::..V3.0: Why u tryna b me!!, Owly Indigo.

omggggggggggg I did ctrl alt t and sure enough there is somebody with a big red ball around them. Erm ... yeah, I'm tryna b u. God, I wish I had thought to take a picture of that person, because she had an av as ugly as her g-dropping stop clickin me system. I was sooooooooooo tempted to click this person repeatedly. So tempted. It was a huge struggle not to. Sigh.

Anyway ... I also see in local that there is a person (I never did discover if it was male, female, other) trying to say hi and chat with people in local. And someone says to this person ...

 im lagging, not a good place to chit chat, sorry.

Seriously? That's how you brush someone off, "I'm laggy"? Though I have to admit, finding a one-day newb at DU4 was weird, and people at sales events like DU4 are focused. The poor newb said:

[02:23 PM]  newb: sorry but i'm new here
[02:23 PM]  newb: and i didn't know
[02:24 PM]  newb: ok bye

/me cries. I'll talk to you lil newbie friend!

[02:24 PM]  Owly Indigo: hi [name removed] welcome to second life ;-)
[02:25 PM]  newb: hi
[02:25 PM]  newb: thnx
[02:26 PM]  newb: this is my first day here
[02:26 PM]  newb: how are you?
[02:26 PM]  Owly Indigo: I saw that in yoru profile!
[02:26 PM]  Owly Indigo: your*
[02:27 PM]  Owly Indigo: what made you sign up?
[02:27 PM]  newb: i didn't know anything here
[02:27 PM]  newb: imvu is so easy
[02:28 PM]  newb: oh yes, there is a HUGE learning curve with SL
[02:28 PM]  Owly Indigo: and I have to say ... people at this event are pretty focused and probably not so into chatting right now lol
[02:28 PM]  Owly Indigo: but ... if you have any questions, I'd be glad to help if I can ;-)
[02:28 PM]  Owly Indigo: and I have a LM to a newb-friendly sim you could explore
[02:28 PM]  newb: thnx you are so nice
[02:29 PM]  Inventory item offered
[02:29 PM]  Owly Indigo: that is a landmark to my sim ... there is a coffee shop there, and some stores, and parks
[02:29 PM]  newb: ok but i must leave now
[02:30 PM]  Owly Indigo: ok! hope you enjoy playing in SL! ;-D
[02:30 PM]  Owly Indigo: see you later ...
[02:30 PM]  newb: i will  talk later

Yay! Ok, sure, I came on a little strong and made the person go ohokIgottagonowbye (which of course I totally did myself when people talked to me when I was a newb), but at least now this person knows not everyone in SL is a stuck up heartless too-busy-to-talk-to-you jerk. I may never see him/her/it again, but I do hope he/she/it has fun exploring SL.

And then I shopped some more! (dance)

HI! challenge, day 07

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 07. This fyi will appear at the top of each post. All photos and chat are used with permission.

 

Holy moly, I'm really slipping now. Yesterday I didn't come inworld at all, and today ... well. I was inworld. I wanted to meet two new people today, to make up for yesterday's failure. Ummmmm. I was at the Albatross, people were there, two of whom I wasn't that familiar with. I might have met one before, but neither of us were sure. I was distracted by several different issues, there was lots going on, and I failed to get clearance to post chat and photos. So. Yeah. One of them, the one I'm pretty sure I had not met before, I friended on plurk, so that will certainly be an opportunity for us to learn more about each other later. ;-) Hopefully I will suck less tomorow. But ... uh ... don't hold your breath.

Here's what I learned: Sometimes you might meet someone you met before, so just go with it. Also, well, this I didn't learn so much as know - plurk is a great way to get to know, I mean REALLY get to know, people that you know (or don't know) inworld.

wow, I suck today

HI! challenge, day 06

I has RATHER A SAD. I have not been inworld at all today, and won't make it in before midnight. Therefore, I will be unable to talk with a stranger in SL and blog it. Hopefully I can meet TWO new people tomorrow! We'll see how it goes.

What can one do? RL comes first.

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!