The Guardian for this meeting was Bruce Mowbray. The photos and comments are by Bruce Mowbray.

It was just Zon and I for half of the hour . . .   Then Zon moved on to The Royal Opera Company of Second Life, and I moved out with the woodpeckers.

Bruce Mowbray: Hello, Zon.
Zon Kwan: trying to get to opera but it is full
Bruce Mowbray: Hmmm.
Bruce Mowbray: Which opera are you trying to get to?
Zon Kwan: royal opera of sl
Bruce Mowbray: Ohhh!
Bruce Mowbray: I've never attended any of their productions.
Zon Kwan: its great
Bruce Mowbray: What opera are they doing today?
Zon Kwan: really great
Bruce Mowbray: I will definitely make a note of that.
Zon Kwan: darn
Zon Kwan: too popular
Zon Kwan: don't tell anyone
Bruce Mowbray: Shall I not post this in the wiki, then?
Zon Kwan: don't
Zon Kwan: lol
Bruce Mowbray: kk. No problem.
Zon Kwan: sure you can
Zon Kwan: just joking
Bruce Mowbray: Ha ha!
Zon Kwan: perhaps they will arrange it more often
Zon Kwan: no hopeless
Bruce Mowbray: Yes, that would be good -- or maybe, they could provide several venues for their productions -- so at least there is somewhere for the overflow to go.
Zon Kwan: they really do much work for it
Bruce Mowbray: I can imagine.
Bruce Mowbray: This is a bit off the subject, but a few minutes ago I shot this photo of a woodpecker right outside the window behind my computer.

 
Zon Kwan: smiles
Zon Kwan: very attentive look in his eyes

Bruce Mowbray: Yes!
Bruce Mowbray: I've been trying all week to get a photo of him -- He is SOOOOO shy and skittish.
Bruce Mowbray: I have another one of him looking straight at me -- just before he flew away.
Zon Kwan: lol
Bruce Mowbray: I'm uploading it right now -- will give it to you as soon as it arrives.

Zon Kwan: btw, i got the book you mentioned
Bruce Mowbray: Which book was that, Zon?
Zon Kwan: nighttrain
Bruce Mowbray: Oh yes!
Bruce Mowbray: Night Train to Lisbon . . .
Zon Kwan: but its thick
Zon Kwan: lol
Bruce Mowbray: Yes, it is quite thick reading, actually.
Bruce Mowbray: Written by a RL philosopher, so to be expected, perhaps.
Zon Kwan: i will give it a try
Bruce Mowbray: I find it a really excellent portrayal of phenomenology in fiction, though.
Bruce Mowbray: Have you started reading it yet?
Zon Kwan: although not all philosophers are ..
Zon Kwan: hm
Bruce Mowbray: His descriptive passages are really excellent (especially the descriptive passages about the protagonist's introspection)...
Bruce Mowbray: I bought his second novel...
Zon Kwan: digestible

--BELL--

Bruce Mowbray: "Perlmann's Silence" -- and I'm having trouble getting through it.
Zon Kwan: why
Bruce Mowbray: I'm having trouble getting through it because the author seems to be as 'stuck' as his central character....
Bruce Mowbray: going through endless considerations of his own suicide....
Bruce Mowbray: and it is taking him scores of pages to process his anxiety...
Zon Kwan: oh
Bruce Mowbray: and I'm, wellllll, sort of bored with it, actually.
Zon Kwan: doesn't sound good
Bruce Mowbray: Nope.
Bruce Mowbray: He is a very anxious character....
Bruce Mowbray: but he has committed plagiarism at the highest academic levels,
Bruce Mowbray: and so he's trying to cover up the evidence of his plagiarism
Zon Kwan: ah
Bruce Mowbray: by murdering the guy he plagiarized from (before he finds out) -- along with himself.
Bruce Mowbray: Hope I haven't given away too much of the plot.
Zon Kwan: hm
Zon Kwan: lol
Bruce Mowbray: but I am only halfway through the novel,
Bruce Mowbray: so I have no idea where it all comes out.
Zon Kwan: let's see if i can get through the first book
Bruce Mowbray: Yes, for the first couple of chapters into the second book,
Bruce Mowbray: I thought the second novel was better than the first.
Bruce Mowbray: but now I'm not too clear on that.

(At this point, Zon IM'd me that he'd finally been able to get into the opera . . .)

Bruce Mowbray: So glad you were able to get into the opera, Zon..

--BELL--

Bruce Mowbray: (to himself)  It's looking more and more like everyone (except Zon, of course) is out enjoying this incredibly beautiful spring day. . . so I shall do the same.