- Dancing at the Shelter, July 2009
Beach and I met in SL at the noobie-friendly Shelter, in the Isabel sim. Wow! That was more than 2 years ago! I remember those days very well though. Like anyone new to SL, I was overwhelmed by SL. I was astounded by some of the sights; amazed that I was actually meeting and talking to people from all over the world! I had met people from: my home state, other states that encompass all of North America, Japan, Italy, France, Belgium, Turkey, Canada, Switzerland, Germany, Spain…and the list goes on and on! And the music! OMG the music!!
The first time I walked my AV into the Shelter I heard KISS music, then Aerosmith….and I was like, “OMG! OMG!” I was blown away when I first realized that Real Life music (what other kind is there?) could be streamed into Second Life!! Listening to some of my favorite music while I danced and laughed with others who were listening to the same music very quickly became a favorite pasttime for me. It ranked much higher in personal enjoyment than watching TV at nights. Like countless others, I became totally addicted to Second Life. 
Beach and I still visit the Shelter every once in a while. We made a lot of friends there – many of whom we still chat with from time to time. The Shelter is the place that we have warm feelings towards because of sentimental reasons. Because Beach & I by chance happened to meet at the Shelter, our Real Lives were totally changed – we decided to meet in Real Life. The result of that meeting was my moving from my home state and the City I had lived in all of my adult life, and moving 2 states away to be with Beach. 14 months after that first RL meeting, we got married in RL! AWWWW. lol. And we have sentimental regards also because the Shelter impacted our Second Lives as well. We “grew up” at the Shelter. We experienced joy, awe, drama, pain and disappointment there. We found our feet and our place in SL. It was during those old days, that we struggled with what exactly SL meant to us, and how to answer questions like, “Can I separate SL from RL?” “How much do I share with others about my personal life?” “Do I want this to be a place of fantasy? To be something/someone I am not in RL?” “Just how exactly, am I supposed to interact in here, and what is everyone else’s points of view concerning all of these questions?” Oh how I remember those questions I had, and my struggle, yes struggle, figuring out exactly what Second Life was, and how I was supposed to/wanted to interact in it!
Ah, the life of a noobie - (smiling) - such fascination with all of SL! Some of that fascination has turned to cynicism…another topic for another day…but overall, I LOVE SL and I am still totally addicted to it.
