While I have shared this with friends on Facebook, and while visitors to What's My Label (hey.. there could be more than the 6 who are subscribed! You know, the silent lurker types lol) can find a link to it in the sidebar here, I feel this particular blog entry on Random deserves special attention.
Without further adieu, I give you:
Small Gestures continued
~
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
Tribute to Pretend Friends
In this day and age, we all have them.
"Pretend" friends.
Virtual pals.
Cyber buddies... (and get your mind out of the gutter. I don't mean that kind of cyber!).
These are the people we've met and connected with on social networking sites, gaming sites, message boards, online games like the ever popular WoW (and the much underrated EQ2), etc.
Back in 2002, I moved to Washington D.C. I knew no one. After living there 6 months, I still knew no one. It was then I began playing Star Wars Galaxies, an online mmorpg. I met some people. I felt less lonely. It was just what the doctor would have ordered... at least, if that doctor was hip and accepting of newer, growing forms of social outlets.
While living in DC, I'd connected with a few women from the Stay at Home Parents message board on About.com. One afternoon, we met at a central location, all our kids in tow, and had a wonderful time. I didn't keep in touch with any of them, but it was the first time I'd met anyone from online.
I was still playing Star Wars Galaxies when, 11 months after arriving in DC, I moved to Arizona. I was able to take my pretend friends with me. Because of that, it was probably one of the easiest moves I'd ever made.
Once in Arizona, I began speaking on the phone with several of my Star Wars Galaxies people, from England, Georgia, and Arizona, one of whom I met in 2004 and attended a Cirque de Soleil with. Was such an interesting experience because we'd really only known each other through our in-game personae.
In 2008, I met another SWG cyber buddy. He came out from Georgia to spend a week with me and my family. We'd kept in close contact since 2004, talking on the phone once a week. Meeting him was like meeting a long lost family member.
Then came EverQuest II. I still keep in touch with many of the people I played with there. Last year, in fact, one couple from EQ2 sent me a book, with a note addressed to "Luna", my in-game nickname. The book will forever remind me of the always-ready-to laugh barbarian Berserker and short but fierce dwarf Templar from Norrath.
It was in the last several years that ventrilo voice chat became a popular choice for gamers. Hearing someone's voice for the first time is a bit of a shock, but you get used to it. My friends and I had some hilarious times on vent. There's nothing quite like playing a game with virtual pals, adventuring together, protecting one another from ferocious beasts, whilst joking and talking and laughing on vent. It's a unique kind of bonding in my opinion, one that burns its moments vividly in memory.
After EQ2, I started frequenting a little site known as Yahoo!Answers. It's rather difficult wading through the hordes of people there who are only interested in causing mayhem; after a time, however, one begins to separate the trolls from the real people. It is from there that connections and friendships can form. I have one in particular that is very special to me. Awesome guy who's friendship has been extremely valuable to me, as I have learned much from him and his willingness to move forward in life, always on the hunt for truth and down-to-earth solutions.
Now, two of those people from EQ2 have recently convinced me to come play World of Warcrack.. craft! Warcraft! Sorry... Anyway, it took me a while, but one morning two weeks ago, I woke up and thought, "I miss those people! I miss spending a chunk of my day with them. I don't want the friendship to fade away, disused and forgotten (as so often happens during life's inexorable journey onward). That morning, I jumped out of bed with a single purpose: to reconnect with old friends. WoW is just the vehicle making this possible, the means to an end. It's the people in it which matter the most.
Today, those friends did the sweetest thing for me. While it dealt with the game, on the surface at least, it carried into real life in a very... well... real way. They didn't have to do what they did, but they did it anyway, and it brightened my whole day. Their generosity was not that of "pretend" friends, but of a real ones.
Well, I already knew the truth... that "pretend" is just a code word for imba.
And so, I just want to pay tribute to all you pretend virtual cyber peeps out there.
/hug
/dance
"Pretend" friends.
Virtual pals.
Cyber buddies... (and get your mind out of the gutter. I don't mean that kind of cyber!).
These are the people we've met and connected with on social networking sites, gaming sites, message boards, online games like the ever popular WoW (and the much underrated EQ2), etc.
Back in 2002, I moved to Washington D.C. I knew no one. After living there 6 months, I still knew no one. It was then I began playing Star Wars Galaxies, an online mmorpg. I met some people. I felt less lonely. It was just what the doctor would have ordered... at least, if that doctor was hip and accepting of newer, growing forms of social outlets.
While living in DC, I'd connected with a few women from the Stay at Home Parents message board on About.com. One afternoon, we met at a central location, all our kids in tow, and had a wonderful time. I didn't keep in touch with any of them, but it was the first time I'd met anyone from online.
I was still playing Star Wars Galaxies when, 11 months after arriving in DC, I moved to Arizona. I was able to take my pretend friends with me. Because of that, it was probably one of the easiest moves I'd ever made.
Once in Arizona, I began speaking on the phone with several of my Star Wars Galaxies people, from England, Georgia, and Arizona, one of whom I met in 2004 and attended a Cirque de Soleil with. Was such an interesting experience because we'd really only known each other through our in-game personae.
In 2008, I met another SWG cyber buddy. He came out from Georgia to spend a week with me and my family. We'd kept in close contact since 2004, talking on the phone once a week. Meeting him was like meeting a long lost family member.
Then came EverQuest II. I still keep in touch with many of the people I played with there. Last year, in fact, one couple from EQ2 sent me a book, with a note addressed to "Luna", my in-game nickname. The book will forever remind me of the always-ready-to laugh barbarian Berserker and short but fierce dwarf Templar from Norrath.
It was in the last several years that ventrilo voice chat became a popular choice for gamers. Hearing someone's voice for the first time is a bit of a shock, but you get used to it. My friends and I had some hilarious times on vent. There's nothing quite like playing a game with virtual pals, adventuring together, protecting one another from ferocious beasts, whilst joking and talking and laughing on vent. It's a unique kind of bonding in my opinion, one that burns its moments vividly in memory.
After EQ2, I started frequenting a little site known as Yahoo!Answers. It's rather difficult wading through the hordes of people there who are only interested in causing mayhem; after a time, however, one begins to separate the trolls from the real people. It is from there that connections and friendships can form. I have one in particular that is very special to me. Awesome guy who's friendship has been extremely valuable to me, as I have learned much from him and his willingness to move forward in life, always on the hunt for truth and down-to-earth solutions.
Now, two of those people from EQ2 have recently convinced me to come play World of Warcrack.. craft! Warcraft! Sorry... Anyway, it took me a while, but one morning two weeks ago, I woke up and thought, "I miss those people! I miss spending a chunk of my day with them. I don't want the friendship to fade away, disused and forgotten (as so often happens during life's inexorable journey onward). That morning, I jumped out of bed with a single purpose: to reconnect with old friends. WoW is just the vehicle making this possible, the means to an end. It's the people in it which matter the most.
Today, those friends did the sweetest thing for me. While it dealt with the game, on the surface at least, it carried into real life in a very... well... real way. They didn't have to do what they did, but they did it anyway, and it brightened my whole day. Their generosity was not that of "pretend" friends, but of a real ones.
Well, I already knew the truth... that "pretend" is just a code word for imba.
And so, I just want to pay tribute to all you pretend virtual cyber peeps out there.
/hug
/dance
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Darwin's "Origin of Species," with a new 50 page introduction by Ray Comfort
Ray Comfort. You know.. The Way of the Master and The Atheist's Nightmare Banana Man...
He's a Nightmare alright. I read on Pharyngula tonight, in a blog entitled Foil the Depraved Designs of a Dastardly Duo that Mr. Comfort has altered The Origin of Species by adding a 50-page introduction, full of half-truths and pseudo-science.
Here's a video of his little helper, Kirk Cameron, explaining their brilliant plan to once and for all spread the ugly "truth" about evolution. They will deploy their stink bombs on November 19th, 2009, to 50 college campuses.
Over on Dawkins.net, they suggest a way to fight against the spread of misinformation. Dawkins.net suggests:
We can amass as many of these books as possible, remove the 50 page intro, and then donate perfectly good copies of 'Origin of Species' to schools, libraries, and Goodwill. We can actually make this into something positive.
If you engage in this activity, just do the Earth a favor and recycle the torn out pages. :)
Ok... in all honesty, though, I don't truly recommend the destruction of books (although a few weeded out copies here and there won't hurt too much?). Comfort and Cameron have a right to be heard no matter how ridiculous the message they are trying to spread.
Knowing that this stuff is out there is part of the battle. The rest is up to you.
He's a Nightmare alright. I read on Pharyngula tonight, in a blog entitled Foil the Depraved Designs of a Dastardly Duo that Mr. Comfort has altered The Origin of Species by adding a 50-page introduction, full of half-truths and pseudo-science.
Here's a video of his little helper, Kirk Cameron, explaining their brilliant plan to once and for all spread the ugly "truth" about evolution. They will deploy their stink bombs on November 19th, 2009, to 50 college campuses.
Over on Dawkins.net, they suggest a way to fight against the spread of misinformation. Dawkins.net suggests:
We can amass as many of these books as possible, remove the 50 page intro, and then donate perfectly good copies of 'Origin of Species' to schools, libraries, and Goodwill. We can actually make this into something positive.
If you engage in this activity, just do the Earth a favor and recycle the torn out pages. :)
Ok... in all honesty, though, I don't truly recommend the destruction of books (although a few weeded out copies here and there won't hurt too much?). Comfort and Cameron have a right to be heard no matter how ridiculous the message they are trying to spread.
Knowing that this stuff is out there is part of the battle. The rest is up to you.
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