It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…

Monday Meme rolls around again, on a drizzly and chilly day here in Blighty. Two pairs of socks, a t-shirt under a sweater, a heater on full-blast and still I’m freezing. And it’s only November O.o I’ll be buying old-man long johns next…

Meme Instructions: Copy and paste the questions and answers below, delete my answers and input your own. The twist is, the final question you need to change and make up your own best & worst that you want to share.

• Best thing about Second Life: It gives every single person the ability to be who they truly are inside, instead of who society wants them to be or thinks they should be.
  Worst thing about Second Life: Those avatars who, emboldened by their anonymity, call gay guys ‘paedophiles’, or tell them to ‘die of AIDS’ (or the marginally less-homophobic, “you need to die of cancer”). Or who walk into their houses while they’re snuggling their boyfriend on the couch and inform them they’re “not normal”. Or who get up in their faces in a store and yell, “TELL ME WHERE THE HAIR IS, FAGGOT.” Or who walk up to them in any other location (after profile-reading) and demand they “suck my dick, fag” because it’s apparently hilarious to their friends (Mind you, they’d run a mile if I hit that pose on my gay sex HUD…). Or… *sigh* Yeah. Them.

• Best thing in your inventory: The wedding ring that Daros made for me <3
  Worst thing in your inventory: My very first freenis. I kept it, for old time’s sake ;-)

• Best earliest SL memory: Logging on nervously the day after my (traumatic) first day in SL, to find that – overnight, while I slept – Daros had built for me what we referred to then (and still refer back to as) “The Safehouse” on a bit of land he’d rented. It was a lovely, big skybox with stained glass windows; half of it grassed with a fountain and the other half was a living area.  We still own that land, and a lot more around it, to this day. And the Safehouse was built in response to…
  Worst earliest SL memory: My very first day, when I was griefed three times in three different locations in the space of a couple of hours, and I was thisclose to logging off and never returning. I was orbited (completely bewildered; wtf just happened and where the hell was I now?), shot at with a gun that fired physical metal rods that shoved me all over the place (confused and upset) and finally I made my way to what I thought was a safe place, only to (in my naive noobishness) accept the offer of a handshake animation from a guy who proceeded to jump on me and play the ‘FUCK HIS HEAD’ animation over and over (no thanks, got a boyfriend, GET THE FUCK OFF ME). So yeah. Daros saved my SL for me by building that Safehouse, as a place where I could get to grips with things in my own time and find my feet without worrying about griefers.

• Best thing you learned because of SL: That it’s possible to have a mini-vacation without the hassle of travelling. Just find the perfect SL location, put on the perfect music, and just chill out. The mind is a wonderful thing, and I identify so strongly with my avatar that – when he’s chilled out – I’m chilled-out.
  Worst thing you learned because of SL: That there are some scarily-needy and manipulative people out there, who won’t hesitate to try and inveigle their way into a rock-solid relationship in an attempt to break it up, no matter how old or strong it is. They want one half of that relationship, and by god they’ll do anything to get it. Doesn’t matter if they want that half sexually or just as a friend; they’ll boil your prim bunnies and string up your pet Meeroo until they get.what.they.want. *shudder* Thankfully, I’ve only come across a couple of ’em, but by fuck they scare the shit out of me.

• Best thing about blogging: I get to blather on in more words than Flickr is suitable for :p
  Worst thing about blogging: Ooh, it can be so cliquey, dahling.

And my choice of best and worst:

• Best thing about my RL job: People who would otherwise be dead are alive because of me :-)
  Worst thing about my RL job: My alarm clock (which goes off at 4am)