Monday, January 08, 2007

Second Life/Remote chatter/Polish Trees

Practically the whole time I wandered around on SL yesterday I was communicating via instant messenger (IM) with Niypi, who was also wandering.

Interestingly, I never met up with Niypi but we stayed in constant contact thanks to IM. This is the reality of the SL landscape--one doesn't necessarily have to be in the presence of the other person while having an 'adventure.' I was able to describe all my adventures to Niypi on IM as they were happening, just as Nipyi was able to describe her adventures to me the same way.

At some point, I attended an Event.

(Events are happenings that anyone can attend. You simply find them using the Search feature. )

It was billed as a metaphysical event, so naturally I was interested, and it was held in a region that was called 'Poland,' so this doubly fascinated me. I teleported to that area and would say it looked like a typical Polish village: very-standard Eastern European-looking houses and buildings. The only problem was, nobody was around. I shouted as loudly as I could. "Hellooooooo!" No response.
I went to the rooftop of one of the buildings and shouted some more. "Hellooooooooooooooooooooo!" Nothing. Then I did it again. "Yooooohooooo! Anyone here???" Finally, there was a faint "hello." Someone was downstairs.
He was a 30ish-looking guy wearing a drab gray jacket and tie. His name was Peter. The cuffs of his jacket looked like they had gold chevrons so I asked if he was an airline pilot. He didn't answer.
Finally, he spoke in perfect, broken English and said his name was Peter and asked where I was from. I told him I was from Watarrka Park. Then we made small talk. After a few minutes he announced he had to go repair some lighting in a nearby building and said I was welcome to join him.
He was apparently the village custodian.
I would have joined him but the whole thing sounded like a trap: A grim looking Polish airline pilot suddenly invites you to a building with no lights. And no one else is around. I told Niypi there was no way I was going to enter a dark building with that guy.

So I stayed and continued chatting with Niypi. After about 10 minutes I decided to go outside.
Was that Peter in the distance? Was he entering some trees?
What bizarre trees they were! Very spooky trees. I took a couple of pictures after Peter walked inside them. Here is one of them:




I never did follow Peter into those trees.

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