New Toys

As some of you may know (I believe I've likely talked about it enough), I'll be going on a cottage trip towards the end of July (19th, to be exact). This is an annual affair that I haven't been able to attend in four years. Now comes lucky number 5 (?). This year's turnout promises to be pretty large. As such, TheWife™ and I went out today and bought a new tent. Tents have come a long way since the last one I had (when I was somewhere in and around 13). It so was super easy to assemble, and it also came with two sleeping bags, a light, a beverage cooler, and a convenient carry-all bag for all this camping goodness.
The wife has never owned a tent, and is very excited about the prospect of sleeping outside. So much, in fact, that she wanted to sleep outside tonight. I convinced her otherwise. We'll have our chance soon enough.

What's been keeping me even busier, and I hate to say this, is Second Life. For those of you who are blissfully unaware, I'll provide a brief explanation.. courtesy of Wikipedia.

Second Life (abbreviated as SL) is an Internet-based virtual world which came to international attention via mainstream news media in late 2006 and early 2007. Developed by Linden Research, Inc (commonly referred to as Linden Lab), a downloadable client program enables its users, called "Residents", to interact with each other through motional avatars, providing an advanced level of a social network service combined with general aspects of a metaverse. Residents can explore, meet other Residents, socialize, participate in individual and group activities, create and trade items (virtual property) and services from one another.

This is actually the first time I read the wiki-blurb.. and strangely enough I drew a similar comparison, which is the strikingly similarities to the virtual world Linden Labs provides, and that which was written by Neil Stephenson in Snow Crash. It really is a virtual world with no real winners or losers. It's what it's name implies.
What's blowing my mirrored nature of it all. An exchangeable currency to the US Dollar, real estate, "live" entertainment and clubs, red-light districts. It's really an amazing effort and rather bedazzling. Move over facebook, I'm somebody else's bitch now.