Let me take you all by the hand for a little stroll down memory lane. I want to tell you all a bit about the beginning of my sl. I rezzed in December 2006 and I had one goal. I was going to make a million real life dollars, just like Anshe Chung. I learned very quickly that I was not to be one of the second life millionaires, as I found it very challenging just trying to get off Orientation Island. I didn’t even know what an instant message was. I had never been in a chat room, so I found myself answering filthy IM’s in public chat.

I wasn’t what you would call lonely or bored in real life or in need of hugs but I had a need to laugh and be amused when others around me slept or were busy doing other things, so getting a second life was perfect for me.

I discovered quite quickly that the way to make money was to build beautiful things and while I am not stupid in my real life, I had to accept that here in my second life, when it came to building things, I was terrible and was a total airhead.
I was ok with this because I crack myself up on a regular basis both in sl and in rl. I really am one of those people who laughs at themselves and while I was on my own at the start of my sl, I found myself in hysterics every time I logged in. This turned out to be a good thing because to laugh at others, you first need to be able to laugh at yourself.

I wasn’t a writer in real life, but because I had told my sl friends about my daily dramaramas on the grid and had them in hysterics, they told me I should write them down and do a little column in one of the second life publications and so was born this column, What Natalie Did Next.......

At around the same time as I was having the thoughts of needing to be stimulated comically, someone on the other side of the world was also having those thoughts. Rawly and I rezzed a day apart with the same thought and ideas. Unlike me, he was to be very good at the making and building and It wasn’t long until fate slammed the two of us together. The first time we met I thought he was hilarious and told him he was very cute. He told me to quit trying to bust a move on him because he was gay, that I had fabulous shoes and that I was an airhead
......... And so began the beginning of a beautiful second life relationship.

In our early days we would sit and chat about what we were going to do in our second lives. Rawly was already a fabulous builder and knew just about everything there was to know. He was building custom homes all over second life, while I was usually standing beside him annoying the hell out of him with my tales of my desperate dates or showing him my latest pair of second life shoes. While Rawly was destined to be fabulous in the building and landscaping field, I told him of my own goals and ideas for my second life.
Back then sl society was just beginning to evolve. I knew it would happen because I love to study people and when you have people creating a civilisation, no matter where it is they will create a society-it’s just basic human behaviour. I told Rawly that my goal was to see if I could become famous in second life. I wasnt doing this because I had a need for fame, but I thought it would be a great laugh. Rawly Lol’d at me and called me an airhead as usual and when I told him that he was going to be famous with me he lol’d even harder and called me an airhead again.

The reason I am writing this column is that I had a conversation with a lady this week. I thought at first that it might turn into a slanging match, but it didn’t. I think I surprised her with my thoughts and ideas on second life and its SLebrities. She seemed to think that we all thought this was real and that we would be upset if someone told us different.

What shocked me was that the lady I was speaking to, also had a blog. I asked her why she chose to write about her second life and she said that she did so to be creative, which I completely understand. When I asked her why she had taken the time to make a blog,place it in the public domain and put the url in her sl profile, she was stumped.

Writing and placing your work in the public eye is an act which clearly states that you want people to read your work. If lots of people came and read your work wouldn’t you become well known and just maybe gain SLebrity status. If you really are against this idea then why would you place yourself in the public eye at all?
I know she knew exactly what I was getting at because she didn’t appear to be a stupid woman. I knew she had chosen the intelligent woman's choice of action which was just to smile to herself and say she didn’t know what I was talking about. I knew she knew exactly what I was talking about because I had already premeditated what her answer would be

I have chosen not to mention her name because I wouldn’t want her getting famous-that was a joke btw.

Anyway, Rawly made up the word ‘SLebritiy’ ages ago when we started to write about the parties and events, so Rawly can be famous for that. We love living the second life Slebrity lifestyle because it is hilarious. We write about it because we think it’s funny and we enjoy looking through our pictures on a Sunday morning after a Saturday night party. We laugh our heads of while we think of some funny things to write to go with the snaps. I would like to think that there is not one person logging in to this publication who thinks that we do this because we are serious. We do it for the laughs and to amuse others. If we don’t make you smile then we haven’t done what we set out to do.
If anyone wants to put us down for being well known or ‘famous’ in second life for amusing others then so be it, but try to remember that we really do just do it for the giggles, so enjoy the ride.

I continue to be an airhead who laughs a lot and has about 800 pairs of sl shoes and I still can’t hang a picture straight. I will not become a millionaire anytime soon.
Rawly is still being brilliant at the building and making. He is currently responsible for making SL Costa Rica Beautiful.

Lots of Love
Natalie xx