Tiyuk's Second Life Adventures

Ever since May 2007, I have been a "regular" at a little-known place called Abraca's Dance Hall (ADH). We have an extended family there of no more than 50 or so people, but the core group that shows up often is only about 9 or 10 people. ADH started out as a project by one Abraca Cardiff to make a small-time, non-commercial club for the type of casual dancing, socializing and music-listening that is a cornerstone of SL. But when she created ADH in 2007, Abraca did not know that her Hall would later become the meeting place of what is now a tight-knit virtual family, spanning a wide age spectrum, and a very large geographical area.

To the few people who regularly visit ADH, the ritualistic one-to-three hour session (usually every night between 9pm SLT and midnight SLT) is a special part of their daily routine, where these people (my virtual family!) go to unwind after a day of toil, play, or whatever it is they do during the daytime. Since we all know, respect, love and trust one another so much from years of bonding, it's almost a matter of habit for everyone to pop into the Dance Hall and spend some time with our family members -- if not every night, then at least several times a week.

Everyone except me, that is.

It seems that, as time has progressed, I have begun to let other things fill the time that I normally would spend with my virtual family. If this were my real family, such an act would be a serious problem. But I really feel guilty sometimes, because this virtual family is so close to being like a real family, when I don't show up as often as I'd like to.

So, this blog post is going to serve mainly as a reminder to me of just how special these few people are in my life, and how integral they've been to my social development and understanding of the world. It's totally worth spending the time to visit them every night.

So, all the things I use as excuses are going to need to take a back seat for a while: things like sleep, homework, hobby programming, Wikipedia reading, PC games, and especially Youtube watching need to take a back seat for just a few hours a day. Besides, I shouldn't be doing homework that late anyway; I should get it done days in advance, and during the daytime.

My core virtual family is very diverse in a number of ways, but it's our differences that bring us together. Just as I miss my family members when they don't show up on a night I am there, I also suspect that they miss me when I am not there. I hope that they will be missing me less often from now on.

This post is dedicated to:
Abraca Cardiff
Maria Mouroutsos
Shipton Sands
Freckles McMillan
Skyking Heron
Boda Wise
Jenny Dench
Jaan Dubrovna
Monty Talbot
Shuri Streeter
J0 Michigan
Jayde Hax
LilMatty Althouse

...and to the much broader extended family who visits less frequently. We miss you!!!