2014.11.03 13:00 - Playing

2014.11.03 13:00 - Playing

The Guardian for this meeting was Aphrodite Macbain. The comments are by Aphrodite Macbain.

Aphrodite Macbain: Hey Cat
Catrinamonblue Resident: hi Aph :)
Aphrodite Macbain: Feeling playful today?
Catrinamonblue Resident: a bit :) more tired, Mondays and month ends are busy :)
Aphrodite Macbain: ah- Mondays are quiet for me
Aphrodite Macbain: except for this time
Catrinamonblue Resident: sometimes they are for me too but not today :)
Aphrodite Macbain: What's happening today?
Catrinamonblue Resident: but it's all done for now and I can relax a bit
Catrinamonblue Resident: oh just busy at work doing month end, balancing bank recs and such
Aphrodite Macbain: ah yes :-)
Aphrodite Macbain: for others or for yourself?
Catrinamonblue Resident: my clients :)
Aphrodite Macbain: I hope this means you have a lot of clients
Catrinamonblue Resident: just the right number :) enough to be busy but not so many as to be overwhelmed :)
Aphrodite Macbain: perfect!
Catrinamonblue Resident: yes, I have been very lucky that way :)
Aphrodite Macbain: I'm preparing for the course I teach next year - I think I'm done now too.
Catrinamonblue Resident: :)
Catrinamonblue Resident: teaching sounds like interesting work :)
Aphrodite Macbain: Amazing how many errors I can find in my course study notes every year, and I've been teaching it for over 10 years!
Aphrodite Macbain: I teach on line which makes it flexible
Catrinamonblue Resident: ah that's cool :)
Aphrodite Macbain: :-) I can mark papers in my pajamas
Aphrodite Macbain: and talk to people all over the world
Catrinamonblue Resident: lol :) I have had a few work from home clients over the years so can relate to that :)
Catrinamonblue Resident: working in pj's that is :)
Aphrodite Macbain: really? Cool. Where are your clients from- regional towns?
Aphrodite Macbain: Hi Bruce
Catrinamonblue Resident: Hi Bruce :)
Bruce Mowbray: Hellllloooooooo!
Aphrodite Macbain: How's it going?
Bruce Mowbray: It is going well.
Aphrodite Macbain: excellent
Catrinamonblue Resident: :)
Bruce Mowbray: Dur a walk that I finished, out in the Ohio sun,
Bruce Mowbray: I finally figured how to make a Java program work... one that I've been working on for over a week.
Bruce Mowbray: How's it going with the two of you?
Catrinamonblue Resident: good :)
Aphrodite Macbain: I'm getting ready for next year-
Aphrodite Macbain: It must be complicated bruce
Aphrodite Macbain: How will you use it?
Bruce Mowbray listens about next year... Getting ready?
Aphrodite Macbain: To teach and to learn
Bruce Mowbray: No use for it just PLAY-ing.
Aphrodite Macbain: :-)
Bruce Mowbray: :)
Aphrodite Macbain: I'll wait a few more minutes before we begin to discuss playing
Bruce Mowbray: You are still teaching, then?
Bruce Mowbray: Heya, Kori.
Aphrodite Macbain: Yes-Winter and Fall
Korel Laloix: Heya
Wol Euler: evening all
Bruce Mowbray: Heya, Wol!
Aphrodite Macbain: Hi Korel. GTSY
Catrinamonblue Resident: Hi Wol, Korel :)
Wol Euler: happy November
Aphrodite Macbain: Hiya Wol
Bruce Mowbray: brrrrrr!
Aphrodite Macbain: Thanks!
Aphrodite Macbain wraps a shawl around her shoulders
Bruce Mowbray: I hope someone who knows how to do it will change the month in our wiki.
Aphrodite Macbain: looks at Wol

Wol Euler: oh I'll do that
Wol Euler: thanks for the reminder
Bruce Mowbray: so I can post Saturday's session (;-)
Wol Euler: talk amongst yourselves for a moment
Bruce Mowbray: kk.
Aphrodite Macbain: lol
Bruce Mowbray: yakkety yakkety yakkety....

Aphrodite Macbain: How will you use your new skills Bruce? (Java)
Bruce Mowbray: It is only for play.
Bruce Mowbray: (and for keeping part of my brain from rotting).
Aphrodite Macbain: can you play in Java?
Bruce Mowbray: the programming is total play for moi.
Bruce Mowbray: like others do crossword puzzles, I suppose.

Aphrodite Macbain: Hiya Bleu
Bruce Mowbray: Heya, Bleu!
Aphrodite Macbain: Great to see you
Catrinamonblue Resident: Hi Bleu
Wol Euler: hello bleu
Bleu Oleander: hiya all!

Bruce Mowbray worries about Bleu's red-cell count.
Aphrodite Macbain: You are probably the only one here who is warm in November
Aphrodite Macbain: despite your low red blood cell count
Bruce Mowbray nods.
Bleu Oleander: just got off the phone with my insurance co ... so probably right Bruce LOL
Bruce Mowbray: Oh dear.
Aphrodite Macbain: Health insurance?
Bruce Mowbray: Insurance companies are accepting blood donations now?
Bleu Oleander: yes, really bad those companies!
Aphrodite Macbain: greedy?
Bleu Oleander: absolutely
Aphrodite Macbain: :/
Bruce Mowbray: I'm getting really SICK of my health insurance company: Anthem Blue Cross.
Bleu Oleander: doubled our premiums!
Bruce Mowbray: YES!
Bruce Mowbray: ouch.
Bleu Oleander: not nice
Aphrodite Macbain: I use Blue Cross too but fortunately the City pays half the premiums
Bleu Oleander: ur lucky
Bruce Mowbray: You live in a civilized nation, Aph.
Aphrodite Macbain: I am
 

Playing

Aphrodite Macbain: So....
Aphrodite Macbain: playing.....
Bleu Oleander: sorry, ranting
Bruce Mowbray: YES!!!!
Aphrodite Macbain: and playfulness
Bruce Mowbray: PLAYing.
Bleu Oleander: ok playing now
Aphrodite Macbain: I wonder how you would define playing in our context
Aphrodite Macbain: playing as being
Aphrodite Macbain: How do we do this?

Pretending

Bruce Mowbray: As long as I have been part of PaB, I have thought that the "Playing" part meant PRETEND that you are Being....
Bleu Oleander: can mean different things perhaps depending
Bruce Mowbray: but I don't need to pretend.
Bruce Mowbray: because I am Being.
Aphrodite Macbain: oh? trying it on Bruce?
Bruce Mowbray: no, not trying it on.
Bleu Oleander: could mean have "fun" as being?
Aphrodite Macbain: ah
Bruce Mowbray: The definition of my existence is that I BE.
Aphrodite Macbain: having fun by playing
Aphrodite Macbain: What things Bleu?
Bruce Mowbray: to be me, is to Be Being, so not to need to play or to pretend that I am that.
Bruce Mowbray listens.
Bleu Oleander: having fun?
Aphrodite Macbain wonders what fun is
Bleu Oleander: playing with different mind sets maybe?
Bruce Mowbray: Yikes!
Bruce Mowbray: You don't know what FUN is!!!?
Aphrodite Macbain: can u say more Bleu?
Bruce Mowbray listens.
Bleu Oleander: imagining different thought patterns?
Bleu Oleander: ways of thinking?
Bleu Oleander: trying for different perspectives?
Aphrodite Macbain: can we change our thought patterns deliberately?
Bleu Oleander: sure
Bruce Mowbray: I would surely hope so!
Aphrodite Macbain: my brain always seems to want to go back to the tried and true- subconsciously of course
Bleu Oleander: is that a "free will" question Aph?
Bruce Mowbray: In those parts be dragons, Aph. (The tried and true, I mean.) Isn't that an excellent "reason" for dropping....It's a good reason Bruce, but I am wondering how to.
Aphrodite Macbain: I guess it is...sort of, Bleu. Free will forms a part of changing the way we think. But we need a means of accomplishing such a difficult task. (Meditation? Hypnotism? Re-conditioning?)
Catrinamonblue Resident: cat dances with fairies ;) play is openness to possibilities unknown..... thoughts are only transitions... movements in shadow and light. :-)

Wol Euler: ((wiki is up-to-date, bruce))
Aphrodite Macbain: Thanks Wol:-)
Bruce Mowbray: THANK YOU, dear Wol!
Wol Euler smiles modestly.
Bruce Mowbray: You are my all-time favorite gal!
Wol Euler laughs.

Aphrodite Macbain: play is openness to possibilities unknown - I like that Cat!
Catrinamonblue Resident: ty :)
Bruce Mowbray stirring up jealousy can't be all bad, huh?
Aphrodite Macbain: Wol- what does playing as being mean to you?
Bleu Oleander: experience with the world changes thought patterns
Wol Euler: hmmmmmm
Wol Euler: I'm tempted to reply as the parliamentarians do --that I require notice of that question :)
Aphrodite Macbain: so putting yourself in new experiences can change the way we think Bleu?
Catrinamonblue Resident: yes I think so :)
Bleu Oleander: I works for me :)
Aphrodite Macbain: smiles at Wol.
Bruce Mowbray sits on hands and listens for a change.
Wol Euler: yes, definitely so aph
Aphrodite Macbain: I hereby give you notice...
Bleu Oleander: :)
Aphrodite Macbain: For me, being playful here is not being tooo serious and pedantic
Aphrodite Macbain: letting go of held beliefs
Catrinamonblue Resident: dropping layers
Aphrodite Macbain: and, of course, being goofy
Aphrodite Macbain: keeping things light
Bleu Oleander: I think its ok to hold on to some beliefs though
Aphrodite Macbain: I imagine those beliefs like balls in the air; throwing them up and catching them again, throwing them to others
Bleu Oleander: we can pretend to drop them, but I think we don't really
Aphrodite Macbain: nods
Bruce Mowbray: Momentum?
Bruce Mowbray: Inertia?
Bruce Mowbray: Clinging?
Aphrodite Macbain: It helps-or detracts
Wol Euler: "fake it until you make it". One might say that pretending to drop is practicing for the moment when we can
Catrinamonblue Resident: nods
Bleu Oleander: yes
Aphrodite Macbain: self hypnosis
Catrinamonblue Resident: and smiles... that is really very true
Wol Euler nods.
Aphrodite Macbain: Have you all experienced something like that here?
 

Catrinamonblue Resident: got to go sorry, RL
Wol Euler: bye cat, take care
Aphrodite Macbain: bye cat

Bruce Mowbray: Bye for now, Cat.
Catrinamonblue Resident: bye all
Aphrodite Macbain: happy numbers!
Bleu Oleander: bye Cat take care
 

Pretending, dropping and play

Bleu Oleander: perhaps if we pretend to drop often enough it might have some effect in the future?
Wol Euler: I'm somewhat uneasy with the way you insist on calling it "pretending", Bleu
Wol Euler: that seems very value-loaded to me
Aphrodite Macbain: I become conscious, when I truly drop, of the attitudes I hold
Bruce Mowbray listens carefully for more about pretending.
Aphrodite Macbain: listens too
Bleu Oleander: well I'm talking from my perspective ... it feels like pretend to me
Bleu Oleander: YMMV
Wol Euler: why? not to disagree, but could you expand on the reason for that?:
Aphrodite Macbain: perhaps it's like "trying something on", wearing an attitude
Bleu Oleander: well because I don't actually drop the sense of "self" but I can pretend I do
Bruce Mowbray: [Perhaps there is some semantic challenge with the word "play." -- which would be an excellent reason to talk more about it. TY, Aph!]
Aphrodite Macbain: I guess we all have our own definitions
Bleu Oleander: depends on what I'm dropping
Bruce Mowbray: Hmmm.
Bleu Oleander: that's what play means to me regarding dropping
Aphrodite Macbain: nods- we all have our own experiences
Bruce Mowbray: "Play" also feels like "pretend" to me...
Wol Euler: sure, I'm not about to tell you that your experience is wrong :)
Bruce Mowbray: but more and more everything feels like that, actually.
Bleu Oleander: just how it feels to me
Aphrodite Macbain: listens to Wol
Bruce Mowbray: I am currently pretending so many things that I couldn't even list them all.
Aphrodite Macbain: :-)
Aphrodite Macbain: but are you pretending playfully?!
Wol Euler: I learned to be competent at my job by pretending that I was, and making careful note of what worked and what didn't
Bruce Mowbray: OHHH YEAHHHHH! I am I am I am!
Wol Euler: and by not being afraid to ask for help :)
Aphrodite Macbain: Interesting Wol.
Bruce Mowbray: recalls "fake it till you make it."
Aphrodite Macbain: I suppose we are nervous about being fakes..
Aphrodite Macbain: Fake is a very pejorative term no?
Wol Euler: indeed
Aphrodite Macbain: So being a fake may mean going against one's own principles
Bruce Mowbray ponders "fake" and "pretend" -- the second is not nearly as pejorative as the first, apparently.
Bleu Oleander: I'm talking about within our context here, dropping seems an exercise that we "play" with that points to how we are (to me)
Aphrodite Macbain: Kori- what do you think?
Korel Laloix: I think fake is the wrong word. We work into things. I started a new job today. I have the title. But do I know all the aspects of the job? Of course not. But I still have the responsibilities. So scary lack of the total picture, but not faking it.
Bruce Mowbray: nods, good point, Kori.
Bruce Mowbray: Good luck with your new job, btw.
Aphrodite Macbain: Nods. But you don't do the job playfully, do you?
Wol Euler nods.
Aphrodite Macbain: What is the opposite of playful?
Korel Laloix: I am very serious at my job as someone could literally die if we do things wrong.
Korel Laloix: But is there a place for humor and fun? Of course.
Bruce Mowbray ponders opposite of 'playful'
Bruce Mowbray: drudgery ?
Aphrodite Macbain: Identifying its opposite may help us think about or define playful more clearly
Bruce Mowbray: nods.
Aphrodite Macbain: Serious?
Bleu Oleander: I think there are different kinds or meanings of play so not really one opposite perhaps?
Aphrodite Macbain: Persistent?
Bruce Mowbray: A whole lot of how I think (or feel) of something as being "playful" seems to involve "release" of burdens, emotional ones, and freedom.
Aphrodite Macbain: nods. That makes sense to me
Aphrodite Macbain: letting go of holding on...
Bleu Oleander: when I paint I feel like I'm playing
Bruce Mowbray: There do seem to be many levels of meaning with the word, Bleu.
Aphrodite Macbain: why Bleu?
Bleu Oleander: so an element of creativity in play for me
Wol Euler nods.
Aphrodite Macbain: :-)
Wol Euler: Hockney said much the same
Wol Euler: play doesn't need to mean un-serious
Bleu Oleander: Hockney is one of my fav artists
Aphrodite Macbain: So we could say being creatively = playing as being?
Wol Euler: there's little more serious than kids intently playing
Wol Euler: concentration like no adult can manage
Korel Laloix looks up Hockney
Aphrodite Macbain: David
Bleu Oleander: playing tennis feels like playing
Bruce Mowbray doubts that many classical painters were "playing" -- also suspects that most modern artists ARE playing.
Wol Euler: I wonder if it feels that way to Martina Hingis (a Swiss professional tennis player) though? :)
Wol Euler: I imagine that hers is very serious play

Bleu Oleander: probably not during a tournament lol

Aphrodite Macbain: but artists were playing in a sense that they were experimenting, trying new ways of expressing themselves
Bruce Mowbray: May I say something about kids' playing?
Wol Euler: please
Bruce Mowbray: kk, ty.
Bruce Mowbray: Kids seem to "play" in two modes:
Bruce Mowbray: one is playing "big" -- they BECOME the thing (persons) they are playing.
Bruce Mowbray: The other mode is playing "Little"-
Wol Euler listens.
Bruce Mowbray: There is a difference.
Bruce Mowbray: this involves representations, like little soldiers.
Aphrodite Macbain: but what is at the heart of their playing? The heart of kids' playing.

Bruce Mowbray: Well, playing "BIG" means becoming that character while playing "LITTLE" means manipulating that character.

Bleu Oleander: there is also a "trying out" aspect of play for me
Aphrodite Macbain: yes! For me that is the most important aspect of playing Bleu
Aphrodite Macbain: trying things out
Korel Laloix: I know that is.. smiles
Bleu Oleander: see how it feels before committing to it
Aphrodite Macbain: yes
Aphrodite Macbain: don't we do that when we explore new ideas or ways of being?
Bleu Oleander: so that involves creativity
Aphrodite Macbain: yes
Bleu Oleander: yes exactly
Wol Euler: like the difference between immersing and augmenting identity in SL
Aphrodite Macbain: nods at Wol
Bruce Mowbray: Excellent parallel, Wol.
Bleu Oleander: yes, different levels of playing
Bleu Oleander: building sand castle vs moving into sand castle

Playing as performance

Aphrodite Macbain: This makes me want to raise something with you all
Wol Euler raises an eyebrow.
Bruce Mowbray listens carefully for more from Aph.
Aphrodite Macbain: what do you think of the idea of putting on a performance (a play!) for our anniversary?
Aphrodite Macbain: Storm said he would help and advise us
Bruce Mowbray: (next April!?)
Aphrodite Macbain: yes
Bruce Mowbray: hmmmm.
Aphrodite Macbain: gives us 5 months to work on something
Aphrodite Macbain: and it may bring Pabbers together again
Bruce Mowbray: Hmmm. A PLAY!
Bleu Oleander: together to do or together to watch?
Aphrodite Macbain: you got it Bruce!
Aphrodite Macbain: to do and watch
Bruce Mowbray: I love the idea.
Bruce Mowbray: Do I get to ride a red Vespa again?!!!
Wol Euler: go for it
Aphrodite Macbain: It could simply be a series of short presentations or be part of a larger single performance
Aphrodite Macbain: dance, poetry, Vespa riding...
Aphrodite Macbain: We could call it: The Play as Being!
Aphrodite Macbain: Would anyone else here be interested in participating?
Bruce Mowbray: sorry about all that exhaust, Woly, dear.
Aphrodite Macbain: It has to be a group effort
Korel Laloix: Sure
Bruce Mowbray: me! me! me! me!
Korel Laloix: Just one of me though.. smiles
Aphrodite Macbain: I know, you Bruce!
Bruce Mowbray: :)
Aphrodite Macbain: :-)

Bruce rezzes and rides his Vespa; Korel, after failing to ride Bruce's Vespa sits on a torch.
Bruce Mowbray: (Curious: the red line won't move the Vespa....)
Korel Laloix: I'm cold
Bleu Oleander: not sure I have the time Aph

Wol Euler: I'll help with scripting and building, but I don't wish to perform
Aphrodite Macbain: Ah- maybe u could advise on the set design Bleu!
Aphrodite Macbain: Great Wol- that's huge
Bleu Oleander: sure
Aphrodite Macbain: esp the scripting
Aphrodite Macbain: Thank you
Aphrodite Macbain: I hope we can be playful in the performance
Aphrodite Macbain: Maybe some silly dancing
Aphrodite Macbain: etc
Bruce Mowbray: WOW, scripting and building are HUGE, indeed.
Aphrodite Macbain: riding unicycles
Korel Laloix: All dancing is silly, that is why it is fun.
Aphrodite Macbain: lol
Aphrodite Macbain: playful Bruce :-)
Bruce Mowbray: YES!
Bruce Mowbray: Hmmm, pondering all dancing is silly,I don't feel that the tango is silly, actually.
Aphrodite Macbain: onigokko is silly
Bruce Mowbray: In fact, it is downright deadly serious -- and VERY sexual.
Korel Laloix smiles.. some dances are more sensual than silly, but the concept is silly.
Aphrodite Macbain: I'll raise this in the emails since we can't talk about it at the next Guardian's meeting as we will be wearing new alts

Being new alts

Wol Euler: oh, is that still on?
Wol Euler: what's the plan?
Bleu Oleander: Nov 15th?
Bruce Mowbray listens for the plan.
Aphrodite Macbain: We all turn up on the 15th with a new alt
Bruce Mowbray: YES!
Bruce Mowbray: Nov 15th is still on!
Bruce Mowbray: YAYYY!
Bleu Oleander: 2pm?
Wol Euler: mmmkay
Aphrodite Macbain: yes and try and see what it's like to be someone else
Korel Laloix: What is the purpose for the alt thing?
Aphrodite Macbain: -very playful, no?
Wol Euler: I know that two people are already working on that, as I've had requests from would-be guardians.
Aphrodite Macbain: To try on a new character
Bleu Oleander: ah nice
Aphrodite Macbain: and "be" someone else
Bruce Mowbray: :)
Bruce Mowbray: PLAY PLAY PLAY PLAY.
Aphrodite Macbain: just what we were talking about
Bleu Oleander: I have my new name and now working on my "look"
Wol Euler: and to approach PaB with fresh eyes and ears, as though it were new to us
Korel Laloix: I think I still have some screen shots from my fist AV... could be fun to dig up.
Aphrodite Macbain: yes wol
Aphrodite Macbain: I have been fighting with the mesh phenomenon
Aphrodite Macbain: finding mesh clothes to fit my new mesh avi

Bruce transforms into another alt
Bleu Oleander: Bruce :)
Aphrodite Macbain: I think "the world" of you Bruce
Bleu Oleander: ha!
Wol Euler: so use an old-style avatar, aph :)
Wol Euler: just take off the mesh bits, there's a body like these under them
Bruce Mowbray: ha ha!
Bruce Mowbray: If SL is not "the world" what is?
Korel Laloix: There is no actually chocolate in SL, so it does not count.
Aphrodite Macbain: another world Bruce
Aphrodite Macbain: what Kori? Chocolate or SL?
Aphrodite Macbain: Anything you would like to add to Playing at Being?
Aphrodite Macbain: Any ideas on how we can be more playful?
Korel Laloix: SL does not count as a "the world" as it does not have actual chocolate.
Bruce Mowbray: I don't think there is "more playful." With Yoda, I say, either do it or not, don't "try" to play.
Bleu Oleander: have fun
Aphrodite Macbain: dress up in silly clothes?
Bleu Oleander: play doesn't have to be silly
Bruce Mowbray: Sl does not seem to have actual litter, either, but that doesn't hold me back from coming in-world.
Bleu Oleander: being creative with a new avatar seems like play to me
Bruce Mowbray: (SL DOES apparently have actual levitation though, Kori.)
Aphrodite Macbain: yes I like it - I can really become engaged with the playing
Bruce Mowbray: YES, Bleu!
Bruce Mowbray: I entirely agree.
Korel Laloix: Levitation?
Aphrodite Macbain wonders what everyone will look like
Bruce Mowbray: You are still up in the air, for me.
Aphrodite Macbain: Better than Halloween
Bruce Mowbray: Still trying to ride the Vespa.
Aphrodite Macbain: Korel is sitting on a torch for me
Korel Laloix: Oh.. sitting on the torch to warm up.
Aphrodite Macbain: Hot butt
Bruce Mowbray: ha ha ha!
Aphrodite Macbain dies from laughing....
Bruce Mowbray dies from laughing....
Wol Euler chuckles.
Korel Laloix: My backside is hot I have to admit.. smiles
Korel Laloix: But I wish grandma was one of those older folks that was cold all the time like me.
Aphrodite Macbain: why?
Korel Laloix: Because she continually has the temp in the house in the upper 60s.... and it can be miserable.
Korel Laloix: I have tried several things, so I just clog up the vents in my room. But when I have to go in the rest of the house I put a coat on.. lol
Aphrodite Macbain: Give her a fan

Aphrodite Macbain: Hello Elan :-)
Bleu Oleander: hi EV

Wol Euler: hello elan, nice av
ElanVitalo Resident: TY!

Korel Laloix: Osiyo

Aphrodite Macbain: Thanks everyone
Aphrodite Macbain: It has been fun and playful
ElanVitalo Resident: Time to go already!?
Aphrodite Macbain: for me Elan.
Bruce Mowbray: kk.
Bleu Oleander: for me too
Aphrodite Macbain: Miles to go... etc
Wol Euler: our sessions usually run an hour, though there is some flexibility
Bruce Mowbray: Be thee well and playful, dear Aph.
Wol Euler: bye aph, bye bleu
Aphrodite Macbain: This was very fruitful
Bleu Oleander: bye playful beings
ElanVitalo Resident: Bye Bleu, Bye Aph.
Bleu Oleander: play well
Aphrodite Macbain: byeee
Bruce Mowbray: Oh dear, I still seem to be dying from laughing.
Wol Euler: hmmm
Bruce Mowbray: Well, if that's not PLAY, I don't know what is.
Korel Laloix: OK.. back to RL.. thanks for the chat.
Wol Euler: bye korel, take care
Korel Laloix: ciao all
Wol Euler: I've seen that robot av in a variety of finishes, that mother-of-pearl effect is very nice
ElanVitalo Resident: Thanks. I can change any of the colors, reflections, shades, etc.
Wol Euler: bye elan, take care
ElanVitalo Resident: TY!