"I would say that in SL I find it easier to show my personality, a little more combative than it looks in RL". So it starts our conversation with Kerubina McMillan, one of the most interesting and famous of the Italian community of Second Life, created in SL May 5, 2007 and of which you can easily find some videos on Youtube and whom here we show in all her glory (including an RL-SL picture created by Waydelich Leigh, whom we thank).

“At first like all newbies Kerubina also went around camping, dancing, I made many friends, many of whom lost their way - explains the person behind the avatar of Kerubina - to begin to want have an identity that was not similar or imitated than that of some other”.

Kerubina McMillan: At the time there was the fashion of nekos, which I have always looked down on until I decided to quit for a while and then to return to SL. When I got back nekos were not out of fashion still, indeed it was in full house, and I saw so many avies with tail and ears, two feet high (standard on the SL), so I started doing research on these nekos and discovered that my personality is very close to these figures we find in Japanese "anime" and here begins the transformation. During this period I often met "normal" people, or at least that called themselves, who let themselves go in making a lot of "nice" comments about what I wanted to convey with my avatar but more they had to say more my ego was strengthened, you know phrases like "I hate cats" or "if you want to work here you have to be human" or even "what's the dress up cat", so much that I dedicated to these "cute moments" a very long post in my blog (http://kerubinamcmillan.blogspot.com). In the end I do not understand what sense has not to respect the identity of a person: Yes, I am not a cat in RL, but if I bring in SL what is the worst of me in RL then you might as well not go in, not?

Lukemary Slade: I Absolutely agree, but the question that naturally arises is: who is Kerubina in RL? And what of the person behind the avatar is a reflection of your character?

K.M.: Kerubina in RL is a girl who has almost 25 years, with human experiences and work already pretty full but not yet complete, which still has long way to go. Kerubina in RL is a simple person, dynamic, who loves the pleasures of life like good food and what we may feel about love... What has been going on forever with her motto: “I stagger but don't give up”. A girl who confronts his times with the difficulties of life and try to improve it. My avatar, what few know, is made in my image and likeness. Of course, I do not wear pink tail and ears in RL, but what has reflected is my personality, sometimes a bit childish and playful, sometimes aggressive and touchy... and just as it does with the cats, RL Kerubina must be won. The aesthetic side instead I gave up: I do not care that my avatar is the same as I am in RL, I prefer to treat the details depending on my mood ... so anything is studied.

L.S.: What do you think SL and in particular the Italian community that lives in it? Do you think it's just a game, is an environment in which to experience art or skill that in RL have no way to express themselves? Or is it just a collective illusion?

K.M.: The Italian community in SL has its flaws, like the rest of the community no matter if American, Japanese or French. There is a strong desire to belong, wanting to be a lot better than the others, the tendency to invest and invest and then find yourself with absolutely nothing in his hand. One thing I notice is often the desire to get the shoes to each other: in short, a community of "smarts" from newbies to veterans. I risk to use commonplace on this topic, but I will not do the whole apples and oranges: there are several people who I respect and appreciate and at the end I am convinced that if we are in a mass group of goats, individually we have all the good to give, whether we are in Italian community or in those of the other nationalities. SL is not just a game, SL allows you to explore your creativity, to establish some great relationships with many people as difficult to do in RL; yes, it can also be a collective illusion, but to a certain point: the end that we do, we delude ourselves of our own actions? I do not seem very logical. I find that Second Life is an excellent means of communication and dissemination, particularly for emerging artists who are musicians, photographers, poets. It still has the ability to have already a nice boost, there are fewer barriers than the RL, less bureaucratic loopholes, and then it is easier for an artist to do a show with the least expenditure of energy and money.

L.S.: you did not say just a few... Look, tell us about a typical day in five rows of Kerubina in SL: work, leisure, friendships or reference group...?

K.M.: She login, you see who is online, find someone willing to do some damage with her and if it is starting to damage itself! Not, no work in SL, and a few select friends. A reference group? Well, the “aMICIdiKeru” (cats/friends of Keru), of course!

L.S.: What do you regret what has been and what you hope for the future will be in SL?

K.M.: Regrets? Naaah, no regrets, since are already sufficient those of RL ... I hope that Second Life ceases to be underestimated as a means of communication and that its use beginning to be more balanced. I hear many who come into this world to vent their frustrations of real life and sometimes, perhaps, I also falling in this but I can not find it very fair for ourselves and for others. Even because behind a monitor there can often be fragile people and you can do really bad.