Today i’m sending out an email to everyone who has ever been on the podcast to tell them how so they can vote on the 30 best. Its an impressive list of people (below). Don’t worry if you’re not on this list you will still get to vote- only 20 of the 30 best are being picked by the podcast participants- the other 10 will be chosen by open voting on this blog in a manner TBD (really soon).

the ones with question marks next to their name are people who;s emails addys i either never had or misplaced if anyone knows their email addresses please send them to me jay@early-adopter.com (don’t post them - i’m trying to respect people’s privacy.

The results of this week’s voting will give us the 30 best show– which will then be looked at by the 5 judges to determine the FINAL FIVE.

Jeff Aldrich ?

Bianca Ahmadi

Alpha Auer

Damon Baker

Anneliis Beadnell

Penumbra Carter

Bryan Campen

Tanith Catteneo

Don Carroll

Arahan Claveau

Tyler Coburn

Maureen Conner

Jeff Crouse

Evonne Davis

Robert Derr

Rebekah Drysdale

Valerie Eakes-Kann

Stacey Fox

Kristin Francoz

Catherine Garnier

Alizarin Goldflake

Beth Harris

Joost Halbertsma

Strawberry Holiday

Shane Hope

Scott Kildall

Boris Kizelshteyn

Martin Kruck

Lori Landay

Elena Lauren Levi

Norene Leddy

Patrick Lichty

Barbara London

Pavig Lok

Lenore Malen

Shirley Marquez

Michael K Mills

Sarah Milstein

James Morgan

Ichibot Nishi

Oberon Onmura

James Kalm

Jeremy Pierce

Jason Pine

Michael Rees

Tom Ritchford

Stephanie Rothenberg

Juan Rubio

Russia ?

Nicole Sansone

Mira Schor

Nebulosis Severine ?

Matt Shaproff

Gregory Sholette

Azdel Slade ?

Liz Slagus

070 Sperber

DC Spensly

Karl Stiefvater

Sabine Stonebender ?

Mary Ann Strandell
Tim Sullivan

Misprint Thursday

Bettina Tizzy

Ernest Truly

Jay Van Buren

Emma Wilcox

Amy Wilson

Dan Winkler

Adrianne Wortzel

Four Yip ?

Lila Yomtoob

Juria Yoshikawa

Ashley Young ?

Steven Zucker

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Hey everyone, Brooklyn Is Watching is moving out! We’re packing up the van and heading to the Impermanence island (Our neighbor is the University of Kansas sim). Check out our new digs here:

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Impermanence/100/200/20

SPACIOUS! YOU CAN SEE THE OCEAN!

Packing is always a hassle, but we’re going to be moving in by Monday if all goes well

Looking forward to seeing our new place cluttered with new B.I.W works. Redecorating!!!!

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This week there are two large works on display: Big Brick Blocks by Oberon Onmura and Don’t Touch by Dancoyote Antonelli (DC Spensley). There is a THIRD large work surrounding the sim that I’m not looking at in this post. The two are fighting for visual domination of the area, leaving little room for recognition of anything else (and very little else was present when I visited, though a work by Selavy Oh can be appreciated during the times when the blocks aren’t visible). Notecards for both are available near the landing point.

The presence of these two dominating works at the same time is interesting because of they way they compete for space and attention. Oberon’s work comes and goes; when all the blocks are visible the space among them feels claustrophobic. (The blocks are all phantom; you can freely move around the space but your ability to SEE around it with the camera is limited.) DC’s piece is airier and partially transparent but it stays all the time. Both are explorations of the nature of virtual space and the difference between appearance and solidity.

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(the LJ version starts with the lyrics of I’m Coming Out; copyright violation omitted here)

Yes, that Means Something. I’ve been living a Second Lie for the past three and a half years, and I can’t do it any more. Shirley is a woman, and always has been. But her typist isn’t.

The strange thing is that, aside from the one big thing, everything that I say about myself is true. The big shared house, returning to school at a major Boston area university, the jobs, the hobbies, the spouse. But she’s a wife, not a husband. I don’t hide my interests or my knowledge.

So, the big question… why? I’ve been a woman in various forms of online community for over ten years now; my original name was Shirley You Jest, from the joke in Airplane! When I first started being female online it was an experiment, but I quickly discovered that I enjoyed being a part of women’s conversations much more than the male ones - all the things I have written in this LJ about the differences in how men and women are treated in Second Life are true, and were true in pre-SL electronic community as well. I also enjoy being an equal opportunity flirt

When I came to Second Life it was natural for me to want to live as a woman and I kept the name Shirley. I have never regretted the decision to live my Second Life as I do, only the need that I felt to not be honest about it. But I have found acceptance of my RL gender here; I owe eternal gratitude to the Bisexuals in Second Life group, the community of artists at Brooklyn is Watching, and most recently the wonderful people at FABGlitter.

Do I want to be a woman in RL? In a perfect world (say, one where switching is as simple as in a John Varley story and works as competely - see the short story “Options” or the novel Steel Beach), yes. In our imperfect world, where one can transition only at great expense to achieve an imperfect and irreversible result, I’m more hesitant, especially since it would mean leaving my wonderful wife behind. And my REAL dream is to be a beautiful and sexy woman like Shirley, whereas the reality is that I would be 50-something and probably not especially attractive. So given the real world choices available, no, although I want to (and already have) become a bit more like her - being Shirley has taught me to be more outgoing and to take better care of my body. Yes, the Proteus Effect works even when it’s physically impossible!

So… how is this relevant to Brooklyn is Watching? I was active here on the blog for quite a while and then I disappeared. Partly it was RL getting in the way, I had a job with the Census Bureau for a while. But it was also a result of my increasing jaded feelings about Second Life; that interfered with my ability to write about the wonderful art at BIW because I would have just come here and dissed all of it, which would not have served anybody well.

My presence here at BIW was my first major step on the road to coming out; once I started doing the podcasts I did them in my own voice without any attempts at disguise such as a voice morpher, and gave my real first name. As time went by, here at BIW and elsewhere, I came to realize that my increasing disconnection with SL came in part from the disconnect between my SL personality and my RL self.

The final step on the road was discovering a community of wonderful women at FABGlitter. Many of the FAB girls, like me, have real-world selves that are otherwise, but we come together as a true sisterhood in the world of Second Life. And with that final step, and coming out to the world, I have rediscovered my joy in SL, and I hope to pass along that joy by renewing my mission of photographing and reviewing the art here at BIW.

Hugs to everyone here at BIW, I love you all!!

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