SLE Staff Interview- Meet Shon Charisma

You have read their stories on the SL Enquirer. Now it's time to meet the writers behind them.

Please meet Shon Charisma:

Shon Charisma

How would you describe yourself in 5 words?
Shon: Funny. Talented. Sincere. Creative. Intriguing.


What brought you to Second Life and how has it impacted you as a person?
Shon: I came to SL for a RL college class a few years ago, and actually, I hated it. LOL I came from the class and left. A few months later, I returned and began to move around the grid and check some things out and decided to stay. The biggest impact, and it's not a really positive one, lol, is that it's made me doubly busy in my overall life. Just like in RL, I have a whole set of friends that require attention and too much work to do. Ha! A positive, however, is that I have had the opportunity to be a part of experiences that I have yet to do in the real world, such as help put together Broadway style plays and performances.

How often do you visit Second Life and what kinds of activities to you engage in?
Shon: Lately, I haven't been on often as my RL needs quite a bit of attention. Usually, I'm on every day, in the evening. I occasionally write for SLE and help out in any capacity I can for the paper. I also work with Unity Productions, a faith-based group in-world that puts on musicals and plays. I'm also a machinimatographer, so I work on small films for myself while I help others shoot their movies.

What are some of the topics you like to write about?
I like writing features on people and places. They are what make the grid go round. If I go to a place and feel it's gonna be a pretty awesome place, I start taking pictures and writing down my thoughts so that I can write a piece and suggest people go. Sometimes, I buy something in-world that I love (usually clothes and shoes) and find the creator and write a feature on the person. Other times, I find people who are doing things that benefit both SL and RL, such as when I talked to Serena Numanox, founder of the SL-version of the organization To Write Love on Her Arms [TWLOHA].

How many friends do you currently have on your friends list? Do you participate in any of their events?

I couldn't tell you a precise number because I'm SO not the person that checks or cares about how many friends I have. Just like in RL, I hang with a very small, necessary crew. Because I do things in-world, however, I have gathered a friends list full of people who participate in the things I do, work in the organizations I do, or who are interested in seeing the things I participate in. I do, at times, participate in events that my friends have. Because I have seemed to fill up my SL life with so much work, it's hard for me to have "free" time on the grid to do everything.

What type of music do you listen to? Any favorite Sl musicians you'd recommend checking out?

I don't have any SL musicians to recommend, unfortunately. I listen to all music, however--from country to hip hop, classical to rock. I don't, too often, get to concerts like I used to. They often go on when I have rehearsal in-world.


Are you partnered or have ever been partnered in Second Life?

Yep. Partnered and engaged. Just recently popped the question to my sweetheart.

Shon and her fiancee, Earth

Where do you shop for your avatar?
Loaded question. I LOVE clothes and accessories, but I usually do a lot of my shopping on Marketplace unless a friend drags me to a store. LOL Not being in-world while I answer these questions makes it hard to say what places exactly. For hair, I do like booN, Magika, Damselfly, Iconic, Maitreya, Truth, and Vanity though I wear many other designers. For jewelry, I love Earth's Bangles and Other Creations, Gems & Kisses, and Finesmith. For clothing, I love GizzA, Cae.B Designs, Hucci, and Sn@tch. In shoes, I heart me some N-core and Draake.

How does a virtual friendship/relationship differ from a real one, besides the long distance and physical restraints a virtual world has.

Friendships don't differ much at all. All of my friendships deal with open communication and being there for the other as moral support, sounding board, and court jester, LOL. I get that in-world, too.


Any advice about online dating you want to share?
Know what you want and be open about it so no one gets hurt. Some people want to develop something in-world that grows outside the grid into the real world. Some people want a relationship in-world that's strictly in-world to make their online life as well-developed as possible. You have to know what you want so that you find someone that wants those exact things.

Have you ever met someone from Second Life, in the real world? If so, how was that experience? Would you recommend it to others?
Nope. Haven't.


What are your most memorable moments in Second Life?

Productions done with Unity Productions, especially the ones that are just spot-on and perfect because we know that God was definitely in the midst of things. Spending time with my girlfriend when neither of us is bombarded with the work we do in-world.

Who has inspired you the most? This could be a rl/sl family member, friend, or celebrity.
Celebrities never inspire me. LOL That probably sounds mean, LOL. I don't meant it to be. Just that they get enough shine on them. Would prefer to get my inspiration (and thus to shine on) from someone not famous, like my RL mother and maternal grandparents. They are the ones that always told me I could do whatever I wanted if I put my mind to it. And I believed them.

What is your favorite quote?
Psalm 27:1-3

The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life;

Of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh, my enemies and foes, they stumbled and fell. Though an army may encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war may rise against me, in this I will be confident.


Second Life has many different creative outlets to explore, what are the kinds of things you have been involved in or created yourself?

Already talked about these above: I work for a faith-based production group in-world where I help put together shoes, do choreography. I've worked for SLE for the last 2+ years, writing articles. I write (or sometimes go improv) on short works that I have filmed. I've worked with others to film, produce projects.

If you could change some things about Second Life, what would they be?
Funny question because I was lamenting on this one thing recently: make it so that we can go invisible in-world. I hate that I log in and before I even SEE the world, everyone knows I'm on so that when I am actually in, I have 50-11 IMs. Sometimes, I like to come on SL just to cruise to different places, to chill on a mountain and listen to beautiful music, to relax, just like how I like to relax and have me time in the real world. It would be great instead of putting up busy mode or autorespond that I could, before I clicked the button to come in-world, if I could click an invisible button. And hey, if I ran into friends in-world while in invisible mode, I'd find a way for them not to be pissed at me. LOL

With your experience in virtual world media and the Second Life community, what do you see for the future of this type of platform? What other media sources have you been involved in?
I can't give names of other online worlds I've been to because my time in those spaces was very short-lived. They didn't have for me what SL did, and quite honestly, with my real life, I barely have time for SL, so adding a whole other life would have resulted in a crash-and-burn experience for me. I'm not sure what I see for the future either. It seems that just in SL's short time, so many things have been tried. There are those who have been in-world for a long time, since SL's inception and wonder when something new, big is going to happen to put virtual worlds on the mark. To them, virtual worlds are old. There are those that have been on a few years, like myself, and see possibilities (though some of these possibilities have already come and gone virtually). And there are the new people, wide-eyed and looking to milk any new experience they can from the space. This isn't to represent ALL people on the grid, but many I have come in contact with. Just like in real life, when people say there are no original stories because they all can be tied back to some other story, sometimes I feel the same way about SL--all cool things you come up with have been tried (and either succeeded or failed). What the future might hold is, and this is what writers IRL try to accomplish, finding new ways to tweak old ideas to make them better.

What is your ultimate goals in both your real life and Second Life friendships and relationships. Does one help the other? If so, in what way(s)?

I don't have any ultimate goals about either. I strive to be a good, caring, giving person, and whatever comes my way or whomever comes my way as a result to that I'll connect with and experience.

Where can readers contact you if they wanted you to cover their stories in The SL Enquirer?
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/shoncharisma

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/shoncharisma
URL: http://shoncharisma.wordpress.com
email: shon.charisma@gmail.com