This Week's Realities

As you may have noticed, I took the last few days off of this reality and into delved another one. Actually, make that two realities, sometimes interacting with one another, but each also self contained with its own rules and wonders.

The first was World of Warcraft. As I mentioned before, I immersed myself in this fantasy driven world, getting totally hooked in the process while also trying, now desperately, to pause and think about the experience. It occurred to me there are a few basic principles underlying it:

1. It's a lot easier and much more fun to play and work as a group. It's also very much possible to retain your sense of individuality while working in consort.
2. There are no "Save" or "Load" buttons; since you can be brought back to life, there is no actual and permanent death - except, in a way, when you log out. That is the only way you stop existing in the world (or you just sit in some deserted corner AFK).
3. People come in all shapes and sizes, manners and behaviors. The variety can astound you at first, but after a few minutes you may wonder how it could be any different. You may try to categorize them by vocation, trait or skill, but each person is unique and will not come again. It may be a characteristic, but ultimately each persons defies categorization, unless to create his or her own genre.
4. It's always possible someone will surprise you and help you when you least expect it, for no reason other than to help and perform that random act of kindness.
5. The world is beautiful, stunning in every resolution and perspective, from mountain tops, forests and deserts to the fauna, flora and sentients that inhabit it.

I wonder if any of these can be carried over to my other realities.

The second reality was deep within the smoky blue atmosphere of Leonard Cohen's Live Concert in London CD I mentioned earlier. I may try to seek wisdom all my life and it would still not be so eloquently expressed in a single Cohen song.

A third reality is this, the blogosphere. I've come to perceive it as its own bubble of hype, feeding itself and the people writing and reading it, marked by its own rules of conduct, its own genres and personalities. So now I come back to it, ready to continue my work.

This post's featured artist is Eric Sarmiento, an indie pop singer-songwriter from New Jersey. Aside from his must-read bio on MySpace, Sarmiento creates curious tracks with a very distinct presence of their own, that has a sense of promise of much more to come. After a musical career spanning several groups, he has released his debut solo album, The Declaration of Independence, a few months ago.

Check out Eric Sarmiento on MySpace for more tracks and info and get his intriguing debut album on his home label, Alchemist Records.

Eric Sarmiento - Reptiles {MP3} (from The Declaration of Independence)
Eric Sarmiento - Alejandra Told Me {MP3} (from The Declaration of Independance)