Great Social Experiment, Part the Deux

Karrot in her "military" look for the Humanism discussion. On my monitor at home, by the way, Karrot (and, in fact, everyone) is chunkier. She looks like she needs to eat some cookies in these photos.

Did I ever get over being an adult in a child's avatar? I guess so. I spent a lot of time in my sandbox (it's not really "my" sandbox, but other people hardly ever go there), but I also went to all the functions I normally go to: the Bookstacks Quiz, Bookmooch Social (did I mention I'm a librarian?), the Info International Reference Desk, InfoGroupies parties. I felt more comfortable around people I knew, even though they were not participating in the experiment (unlike Grizzy who felt like she was the only one dressed for Hallowe'en). I could be more myself and people would understand.Lonely little Karrot in her sandbox ... with debris other people have left behind.

I also went out and stalked the Wild Freebie, thanks to FabFree. [And now it all comes back to me how I probably wound up with those bondage pose balls.] I was a little more nervous about hanging out with adults, but nothing untoward happened. I had an nice chat with another Great White Hunter (or perhaps she was blue) about my avatar. I couldn't remember where exactly I'd gotten it, but it was a freebie. Most people are aware of the controversy about child avatars, but I never ran into any negativity about my wearing it (other than my one friend who was creeped out). No one accused me of being a pervert or asked me to leave, but how much abuse could I expect out of only one week? A number of people thought I was cute, some of them were surprising. I really didn't expect a comment from the head of our Humanism group. I had made a special effort to dress for the theme (Humanism and the Military), going so far as to make a little label with my avatar's nomme de guerre on it (see top photo).


Karrot at the BookMooch discussion, in her "I Want to Make Cookies" outfit. Sal, on the right, is going through her week as Intellectual Dude. Hee!


Karrot at a Librarian's Pool Party. I had to watch the dance for a while to make sure it was "child appropriate" - unlike the "caramel" dance I would have no compunctions about performing. I made the "fabulous" inner tube, by the way. I might have had modesty in mind. I didn't have a child's bathing suit and just removed the prim skirt from an outfit. I thought it needed something more to be more "beachy." Karrot loved the waterslide in the background ... but so would Lludmila.



Karrot at the Bookstacks Quiz, watching Chromatophore morph into a Steampunk Chimpanzee.

Karrot at the Science Friday broadcast. Karrot loves Ira Flatow.

Long about Saturday when I realized there would be four more days of the experiment, I nearly melted down. I felt so constricted by what I anticipated would be the scrutiny of others and I wanted to bust out ... um, on several levels. I really like the avatar's look. I think she's cute and sweet, but I think I'd rather be a dwarf. [I like dwarfs. Michael Dunn was a favorite of mine. I was crushed by his untimely death and remember exactly where I was when I heard about it.] I want to be an adult with the option of adult things to do. I enjoy being an adult who has the options to be childish. Where's that waterslide?

In memoriam: Michael Dunn









Three more days ... Two ... My book group met the night of the Last Day, so I missed almost everyone else's experiences. I'll have to read the transcript. What little I heard didn't surprise me. People felt awkward in their different avatars. I don't usually, but I think I went out of my way to choose something that would make me feel awkward, or, at least, that would be the greatest challenge. I can't imagine what avatar I could put on that would be more challenging ... unless perhaps it is the meat puppet. Yeah, definitely the meat puppet. I'd have to go for gross.