2012.08.05 13:00 - Avi ID and me

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

Aphrodite Macbain: Is it hard to grow bonsai trees?
Aphrodite Macbain: I imagine it would require a lot of patience and a sensibility for simplicity
Vorder Forder: I think when you enjoy what you are doing it is no longer difficult
Aphrodite Macbain: smiles
Aphrodite Macbain: yes. I suppose like anything. What is your job?
Aphrodite Macbain: I hope you enjoy it too
Vorder Forder: I design industrial kichens
Vorder Forder: kitchens
Vorder Forder: or professional
Vorder Forder: restaurants
Aphrodite Macbain: So I would imagine that would involve a lot of interests; aesthetic, environmental, commercial
TwitchyEars Resident: hello aph and vorder
Aphrodite Macbain: Hiya Twitchy!
Vorder Forder: hello Twitchy
Aphrodite Macbain: Good to see you.
Aphrodite Macbain: Are you both watching the Olympics?
Vorder Forder: not me
Vorder Forder: I don´t have a TV
Aphrodite Macbain: Ah.
Aphrodite Macbain: Hello prim
TwitchyEars Resident: i dont watch it
Vorder Forder: you can watch it of course on the internet
TwitchyEars Resident: have a TV never look at it
Aphrodite Macbain: Is Prim attached to you Twitchy?
TwitchyEars Resident: only by the heart :)
Aphrodite Macbain: aww
TwitchyEars Resident: purrrrs
Aphrodite Macbain: The subject that has been proposed for today is : "Our avatars our selves?"
TwitchyEars Resident: i like that
Aphrodite Macbain: are we our avatars or vice versa?
Zon Kwan: heya
Aphrodite Macbain: Hello Zon, welcome
Vorder Forder: hello Zon
TwitchyEars Resident: my shape is based on my rl body so ya its connected
TwitchyEars Resident: hi zon :)
Aphrodite Macbain: you are connected but are you the same in your style and behaviour?
Zon Kwan: we are part pf our avatars
Aphrodite Macbain: or our avatars are part of us

Zon Kwan: yes aph..thats better
Vorder Forder: mine looks too old, I say vice versa our avatars reflects our ideas about ourselves
Aphrodite Macbain: nods
--BELL--
Vorder Forder: part of our ego
Vorder Forder: digital ego
Aphrodite Macbain: so part of your ego is an older man with white hair and a beard?
Vorder Forder: his thoughts yes....mine, my story’s
TwitchyEars Resident: how i dress sl is how i dress rl mostly. i dont go for sl slutwear for instance. anything in my inventory is stuff id wear rl. im WAY more shy rl tho
Aphrodite Macbain: why do you want to present yourself as older Vorder?
Aphrodite Macbain: Most of us want to look younger than we are!
Vorder Forder: I was a bird for a long time
Zon Kwan: lol
Vorder Forder: everyone is young and beautiful in sl
Vorder Forder: I didn’t fit into that category
TwitchyEars Resident: not everyone is. one of my friends from an old av recreated his rl self right down to his balding hair
Vorder Forder: but my avatar will not get any older..)
Aphrodite Macbain: smiles
Aphrodite Macbain: as an older man, you seem to have more authority - more power, you look like a professor
Vorder Forder: yes I am a professor of course
Aphrodite Macbain: Zon, does your avi look a bit like you or is it idealized?
TwitchyEars Resident: ya you look like you’ve seen a few winters into spring
Aphrodite Macbain: laughs
Zon Kwan: its partly like me
Aphrodite Macbain: which part :-)
Zon Kwan: a bit idealised perhaps
Zon Kwan: but I’m more sexy in rl
Aphrodite Macbain: grins
TwitchyEars Resident: my butt doesn’t get fat from sl choc :D
Vorder Forder: you can buy your reflection in sl copy rl picture Ð
Vorder Forder: ?
TwitchyEars Resident: yes you can do photorealistic skins but they’re sorta weird
Aphrodite Macbain: I don’t understand Vorder. Can you say that in a different way?
TwitchyEars Resident: they never come out quite right
Zon Kwan: i dont think one has to be just like he is in rl
Zon Kwan: too boring
Aphrodite Macbain: sounds like you've tried it a few times Twitchy
TwitchyEars Resident: im a neko a lot. have some other avs  I’ve never done it but saw a skin store that would do it for you.
Vorder Forder: I see
Zon Kwan: but I think we choose avatar that reflects us in some way
Vorder Forder: I been to a skin mall I think..)
Aphrodite Macbain: or perhaps reflects who we cant be in rl
Aphrodite Macbain: can you tell us about yourself Prim?
Archmage Atlantis: Agree Zon, as all my animas chose me
Aphrodite Macbain: Hi Arch!!
Zon Kwan: hi arch
Archmage Atlantis: Namaste, Ms Aph
TwitchyEars Resident: hi arch
Archmage Atlantis: Greetings Zon
TwitchyEars Resident: hi wol
Aphrodite Macbain: Arch, we are asking ourselves the question: Our avatars our selves?
Wol Euler: hello everyone!
Zon Kwan: avatar reflects what we want to identify us with here
Vorder Forder: hello Wol
Archmage Atlantis: Yes, I see the question
Aphrodite Macbain: Wol!! GTSY house buddy
Wol Euler grins.
Aphrodite Macbain: Our avatars our selves?
Wol Euler: hello prim, nice to meet you
Wol Euler: ah, I see :)))))
Aphrodite Macbain: that is the theme. We have agreed that part of ourselves is expressed through our avatar
TwitchyEars Resident: when im in human form im me. when im in neko form im a silly feline
TwitchyEars Resident: is your av you emotionally? ^^
Zon Kwan: quite close
Aphrodite Macbain: the part you don’t express in RL?
Wol Euler nods.
Zon Kwan: also
Wol Euler: hello korel
TwitchyEars Resident: hi korel
Korel Laloix: Heya
Archmage Atlantis: My av is my intellectual self
Vorder Forder: hello Korel
Aphrodite Macbain: smiles and waves at Kori
Aphrodite Macbain: we are talking about identity
Aphrodite Macbain: Our avatars our selves?
Archmage Atlantis: /this one is
Wol Euler: my experience has been that my av uncovered unknown bits of me, which are making their way into RL
Zon Kwan: nods to Wol
Archmage Atlantis: I have many avs
Aphrodite Macbain: In what way Wol? How did they do that? How are you different now as a result of your avi?
Wol Euler: yes, very much so
Wol Euler: simple example: Wol taught the typist how to talk to strangers :)
Aphrodite Macbain: smiles
Wol Euler: that has improved my outside life
Zon Kwan: smiles
TwitchyEars Resident: awwww

Aphrodite Macbain: greater confidence then?
Aphrodite Macbain: I have learned a lot about myself
Aphrodite Macbain: my needs, attitudes, expectations
Aphrodite Macbain: some of these realizations have not been pleasant

Vorder Forder: we put on a costume every day just as we do with our avatars
TwitchyEars Resident: i agree vorder
Wol Euler nods.
--BELL--
Wol Euler: hello san
TwitchyEars Resident: i think we have as many rl masks as we do sl av's
Aphrodite Macbain: If you have lots of avis or alts, what does that say about you
Aphrodite Macbain: how are their typists different from those with a single avi?
Zon Kwan: you have many sides
Archmage Atlantis: i ask for 50 of silence
Aphrodite Macbain: Hi Bruce
Bruce Mowbray: Hello hello!

Aphrodite Macbain: Sorry we spoke through the bell
Agatha Macbeth: As usual...
Bruce Mowbray: my fault - - I should have checked. ..
Archmage Atlantis: ding
TwitchyEars Resident: hi to new ppl here :)
Aphrodite Macbain: no, mine. I am responsible

Agatha Macbeth: Hi to old Twitchy :)
Aphrodite Macbain: Hi Aggers
TwitchyEars Resident: hi aga
Agatha Macbeth: Good day dear Aph, how are we?
TwitchyEars Resident: bruce and san too :)
Aphrodite Macbain: Hi San, good to see you
Santoshima Resident: hello everyone
Aphrodite Macbain: The theme for today is "Our avatars our selves?"
Archmage Atlantis: I have a poem spoken death
Aphrodite Macbain: Most people say they are partially their avi
Bruce Mowbray tells his typist the topic. . .
Aphrodite Macbain: often the part that is hidden
Aphrodite Macbain: or the part that is afraid to come out
Aphrodite Macbain: in RL
Agatha Macbeth looks in the closet
Aphrodite Macbain: what do you see?
Korel Laloix: I feel a bit more restrained and passive here... at least in this sim.
Agatha Macbeth: LOTS of clothes!
Santoshima Resident: lots of ill-fitting clothes
Agatha Macbeth: Ha
Santoshima Resident: (not you Aggers!)
Bruce Mowbray: Maybe if we wanted you to see what's in our respective closets, then we wouldn't have closets in the first place.
Aphrodite Macbain: nods, mine don’t fit at all any more
Agatha Macbeth grins
Zon Kwan: waves
TwitchyEars Resident: i do a lot of role playing in sl. some of it combat/dark role play. ive seen a lot of ppl behave in a way they wouldnt and couldnt rl. from zombies to vampires. nekos demons. i think tho its an aspect of yourself. most ppl wouldnt wanna be a flesh eating zombie but its a way to express yourself. when my father died i did ccs combat to take out my frustrations. it worked pretty well.
Bruce Mowbray has a frail, ugly, old man in his closet, btw.
Aphrodite Macbain: hmmm- interesting comment Bruce. Closets are to hide rather than store things...?
Aphrodite Macbain: (((Bruce)))
Korel Laloix: Depends on the closet.
Bruce Mowbray: ((Aph)) Bruce listens to more from Twitchy.
Agatha Macbeth: Maybe that's the bank manager Brucie
Santoshima Resident: bye zon
Vorder Forder: what do the avis makers have in mind when they start making a new avi? do you they look at what is in fashion and what is not in fashion, to be not very fit etc
Bruce Mowbray: excellent question, Vorder.
Bruce Mowbray looks around at all the fit, young avis sitting here....
Wol Euler: I've had pretty clear ideas of what kind of person I wanted to bring into the world, at least physically
Wol Euler: some of them have surprised me by who they were as people
Aphrodite Macbain: listens
Wol Euler: some I still can't quite place fully
TwitchyEars Resident: i recreated my body shape rl here. i made this shape i use. its very close to me rl
Aphrodite Macbain: :-)
Wol Euler: I usually start with an idea for an appearance, and as I refine that it begins to talk to me
Wol Euler: "no, make me more like this..."
TwitchyEars Resident: our heights are the same for instance. my av's butt is a bit nicer >.<
Wol Euler grins.
Aphrodite Macbain: so your appearance reflects your values Wol?
TwitchyEars Resident: :P
Wol Euler: I will admit now to looking nothing at all like any of my avatars
TwitchyEars Resident: purrs
Bruce Mowbray: same here, Wol, Brucie large made himself. . . and continues to do so ... to evolve. . . His typist is really not sure where this will all end, or even IF it will end.

Wol Euler: oh, vorder asked his question and left :(
Korel Laloix: I am still in a phase of making Korel as close to me as RL as I can... but I have not always done this.

Aphrodite Macbain: Your avatar looks like a real person Wol
Wol Euler: thank you, Aph :) I think they all do
Wol Euler: that is certainly what I intended
Aphrodite Macbain: wonder why
Aphrodite Macbain: I only know the one Wol
Wol Euler: I did make an appearance for one of them that was as close to RM me as I could possibly get
Wol Euler: I found it *very* uncomfortable!
Agatha Macbeth smiles
Wol Euler: impossible to get embodied in that form
Aphrodite Macbain: now that I find interesting! Uncomfortable with your own appearance!
Wol Euler: with seeing it here, in this world
Wol Euler: and being it in RL
Wol Euler: that was the point, I think, that split
Wol Euler: being in two places at once
Aphrodite Macbain: nods. Perhaps it seems somewhat out of place- the real within the unreal
Wol Euler: when Wol is in-world, my essence is entirely in her (apart from making tea and the ache in my bum from sitting too long)
Aphrodite Macbain: :-)
Wol Euler: but the aching bum doesn't distract her
Aphrodite Macbain: Wol feels no aches nor needs any tea

Wol Euler: wb vorder

TwitchyEars Resident: wb
Aphrodite Macbain: So glad you came back to us Vorder
Vorder Forder: thank you :)

Bruce Mowbray begins to get self-conscious about his enormous nose. Makes note to change it right after this session.
Aphrodite Macbain: Looks at Bruce's nose. been telling lies recently Bruce?
TwitchyEars Resident: im just as vain in sl as rl. i want my av to look better than most around no matter what my form

--BELL--
Aphrodite Macbain: oh dear. Now Bruce poofed
Agatha Macbeth: Sunday syndrome perhaps?

Changes
Aphrodite Macbain: Along with Wol, has any one else here changed as a result of having an avi? Changed their habits, behaviour etc
Wol Euler: found love?
Agatha Macbeth: Erk
Santoshima Resident: lost love
Wol Euler: joined a religion?
Wol Euler: awwww :(
TwitchyEars Resident: points to prim
Wol Euler smiles.
Korel Laloix: Changed my RL hair to match this SL hair.
Agatha Macbeth: It's blue?
Van Arashi: yus Points to twitchy!
Korel Laloix: Gun metal black as it is called.
Agatha Macbeth: Oh, right
TwitchyEars Resident: had embarrassing rl moments cos of sl--passing a furniture store rl looked in the windows at the beds and wondered what anis came with them. Then i wanted to crawl under a carpet and die of shame :D
Korel Laloix: And as I have been in Sl for over a quarter of my life, SL has been a huge impact on my life. : I can't really understate it really.
Vorder Forder: as I look like a professor I have to be very wise.....and that is very new thing for me
Wol Euler: I've done that, twitchy :)
Aphrodite Macbain: lol Twitchy!
Aphrodite Macbain: You have not been wise up until now Vorder?! :-)
Wol Euler smiles.
Vorder Forder: I always do my best as for in rl it is a never ending story

Aphrodite Macbain: Twitchy, do you and prim have conversations with each other?
Aphrodite Macbain: :-)
TwitchyEars Resident: we talk all the time
Aphrodite Macbain: what about?
TwitchyEars Resident: everything
Aphrodite Macbain: if I may be so bold as to ask
TwitchyEars Resident: you name it
TwitchyEars Resident: from her sailing to my dad’s death, our hopes dreams passions
Aphrodite Macbain: nods, I suppose it's like talking to yourself
Aphrodite Macbain: oh san has poofed now
TwitchyEars Resident: not really cos your ideas reflect and bounce off  the other person
TwitchyEars Resident: what you say gets processed and then its changed in their response
Aphrodite Macbain: like a sounding board
Wol Euler nods.
TwitchyEars Resident: she accepts my past and i change cos i get accepted
Wol Euler smiles.
Aphrodite Macbain: sounds like a perfect arrangement
Aphrodite Macbain: I have a few alts and I feel different with each one.
Aphrodite Macbain: It's as though function follows form!
Aphrodite Macbain: I become what I look like
Wol Euler: form liberates a new function
Wol Euler: "minority personalities" was the term that Maxine came up with (under heavy prodding from me :)
TwitchyEars Resident: dunno i think it works both ways. i drag her to stuff like this so she isn’t always building :P were working on a new build for a role play sim. she does the sculpting i do the texturing
Wol Euler: a realized alt expresses a bit of you that doesn't get allowed out in your normal life
Aphrodite Macbain: one of my alts is a young black male but nothing much gets “liberated”
Wol Euler: give him time :)
Aphrodite Macbain: I act very awkwardly
Aphrodite Macbain: and shyly
Aphrodite Macbain: you think he will develop Wol?
Wol Euler: if you let him, yes
Wol Euler smiles.
Wol Euler: trust him
Aphrodite Macbain: Hmm
Wol Euler: let him guide you to what he wants to be
Aphrodite Macbain: hmmm
Aphrodite Macbain: perhaps I should spend more time with him
Wol Euler: mmhmm
Wol Euler: alts develop through interaction with other people, just as we do :)
TwitchyEars Resident: avs take on a personality too
Wol Euler: we are social animals
Wol Euler: yes, twitchy, definitely
Korel Laloix: I like the idea of being able to make an alt, but its not anything I have really played with before.
Wol Euler: I have a friend who writes novels, she said that an alt comes into being in the way her characters do
Aphrodite Macbain: we are social animals with very plastic minds
Aphrodite Macbain: you have another alt Korel
Wol Euler: as it starts you know who they are and what they do, but the more she writes the character starts growing on its own
Wol Euler: telling her what to write, sometimes great changes to her plan :)
TwitchyEars Resident: alts, ive had them but i dont like it cos it makes me confused. also my friends list is totally different or was on each. so i think its better to have just this one av and different forms. i named myself cos this was only every gonna be a neko rp av
Korel Laloix: Freud is not an alt, my old AV... so they/we are the same.
Wol Euler nods.
Aphrodite Macbain: that is so interesting Wol. It's as though we have all these stories and people inside us that only come out when the right conditions are there
Aphrodite Macbain: are you and Freud identical then Korel?

Korel Laloix: As much as I can.

Wol Euler: has anyone been to a masquerade party?
Agatha Macbeth: Here or RL?

Aphrodite Macbain: nods, or to a carnival
Vorder Forder: bad connection on my side thank you all hope to see you soon

Wol Euler: bye Vorder, take care
Aphrodite Macbain: Oh sorry Vorder.
Agatha Macbeth: Bye Vord, take care

Aphrodite Macbain: Have a wonderful vacation
Wol Euler: I meant RL
Agatha Macbeth: Nope
Wol Euler: awww :) you should try it
Korel Laloix: When I started showing up here as Korel, people knew it was me immediately.
Wol Euler nods.
Agatha Macbeth: Not my thing I fear
Wol Euler: how do you know it isn't?
--BELL--
Agatha Macbeth: Because i know me!
Wol Euler: (I feel like a mother trying to get a kid to eat broccoli)
Aphrodite Macbain: yes- it's really interesting; people become other people once the mask is worn - they become the character of the mask. Carnival.
Aphrodite Macbain: Happens a lot in South and Central America
Wol Euler nods.
Wol Euler: it's liberating :)
TwitchyEars Resident: i think ppl wear just as many masks rl too
Wol Euler: and it can be minimal, just a band across the eyes is enough
Wol Euler: true, twitchy
Aphrodite Macbain: Something about becoming another is that you are allowed to step between two worlds- like clowns. Between the sacred and profane. Between the worldly and otherworldly, the digital and the analogue! :-)
Wol Euler: the magic circle
Aphrodite Macbain: yes!
Aphrodite Macbain: In Bolivia there is a particular character who does this- the ukuku
TwitchyEars Resident: i think in a way sl is easier cos your fear filter isnt quite there as much
TwitchyEars Resident: awwww :)
Wol Euler: awww <3
Aphrodite Macbain: aww. thanks Prim
Aphrodite Macbain: you are lucky to have each other
Wol Euler: agreed
TwitchyEars Resident: ya i met her on a rp sim. she built it. fell in love with the sim, ended up in management there. met her weeeeeeee :)
Wol Euler smiles.
TwitchyEars Resident: my rp self is VERY silly. uneducated easily distracted and confused. naive
Aphrodite Macbain: which rp sim?
TwitchyEars Resident: its gone now, it was toril
Wol Euler: I can see that being great fun to play
Aphrodite Macbain: yes- like a child- irresponsible and playful
Aphrodite Macbain: or a sex goddess!
Wol Euler: true, prim

TwitchyEars Resident: [10:50] TwitchyEars: walks into the butcher shop and stops dead in her tracks. she sees all the meat just sitting there. looks around for anyone who might work there, drooling as she smells all the wonderful meat. "hirrow ? iz anybody heres ? " says this almost under her breath hoping no one was here. [10:52] TwitchyEars: looks around some more deciding on her choices and starts grabbing the roasts. 2 per paw, and then she has to place them back down again, to take the rat out of her mouth and stuff it into a pocket. picking up the roasts again she moves behind the counter and looks into the display. purrs to herself "mmmmm sausages me wants dems too" said almost as a whisper [10:54] TwitchyEars: she has to place the roasts back on the counter, to stuff sausages into her pockets, as much as she can fit, she had sausage dangling out but that was ok shed be able to sneak the back way home without being seen she was sure of it [10:56] TwitchyEars: taking some steaks she places them into the lining of her coat,
TwitchyEars Resident: then looks over her shoulder "Fishies !!" ears flatten as she realizes shed spoken that a bit too loudly. looks around all guilty to make sure no one was there
TwitchyEars Resident: thats my rp self ^^

TwitchyEars Resident: its partially who id like to be. silly again. naive. believing the world is full of soft pillows warm fires and lots of shiny thing to play with
Agatha Macbeth grins
Wol Euler: :))))
Having  not receive the above wonderful text from Twitchy in chat, the following is said

Agatha Macbeth: That's the post for you
Aphrodite Macbain: lol totally unreliable
Agatha Macbeth: Must have been delivered by Royal Mail
Wol Euler: or programmed by somebody who wasn't expecting a paragraph RP :)
Wol Euler coughs
Aphrodite Macbain: I notice they are painting the post boxes different colours in English towns where a resident has received a medal: gold, silver, bronze)
Agatha Macbeth: Not ours
Agatha Macbeth: Still red
Aphrodite Macbain: If someone from your town gets a gold medal... a post box is painted gold
Wol Euler: oh
Wol Euler: odd idea
Wol Euler: nope
Agatha Macbeth: Hmm
Wol Euler: not even in SL :)
Aphrodite Macbain: even scarier
Wol Euler: fallen off a few skyboxes, does that count?
Aphrodite Macbain: I get dizzy just sitting on a swing
Aphrodite Macbain: Bertram's meditation in 5 mins
Wol Euler: and in WoW I managed to fall out of the Night Elves' world-tree Teldrassil :) that was a beautiful ride, before I died
Wol Euler: oh yes, ty
Aphrodite Macbain: I'm going to the SL Olympics
Aphrodite Macbain: to see what they are going to do
Wol Euler smiles.
Aphrodite Macbain: opening ceremonies!
Aphrodite Macbain: lol
Agatha Macbeth: Better get over to berti's: takes ages to rez
Aphrodite Macbain: Thanks everyone who remains for participating
Wol Euler: yep
Agatha Macbeth: Byee
Wol Euler: goodnight all! take care, be happy
Wol Euler: skydive!
TwitchyEars Resident: take care :)
Aphrodite Macbain: byee
Aphrodite Macbain: noooooooooo
TwitchyEars Resident: lolol
Korel Laloix: ciao
Aphrodite Macbain: Ciao Kori
TwitchyEars Resident: we go back and build im still working on the wall texture gonna take me a couple of hrs to finish it i think
Aphrodite Macbain: Take care
Korel Laloix: Ciao
Aphrodite Macbain: Sounds like fun
Korel Laloix: wow..lag
Aphrodite Macbain: lol
TwitchyEars Resident: i do custom textures for our builds. i like that only we have them :)
TwitchyEars Resident: im going home, see you later :)
--BELL--
Korel Laloix: Wish I was more in the chat... so many IMs today.
Aphrodite Macbain: That's OK
Aphrodite Macbain: What ever you say is valuable
Korel Laloix: What did I miss?
Aphrodite Macbain: hmm. What a question!
Korel Laloix smiles
Aphrodite Macbain: It might be easier if you read the log.
Korel Laloix: Will do... grins
Korel Laloix: Nothing stands out?
Aphrodite Macbain: How's it going?
Korel Laloix: What you been up to?
Aphrodite Macbain: Ah long story that's best not put in chat
Korel Laloix: Take care and enjoy the air.
Aphrodite Macbain: :-) you too
Aphrodite Macbain: hugs
Korel Laloix: ciao bella
Aphrodite Macbain: ciao