The Voice Spotlight: THUMDAR

by Softly Dreaming

  

This week I had the privilege of interviewing Thumdar. There has many members young and old, it was great hearing from someone active the community......

 

Softlydreaming:How long have you enjoyed There.com?

Thumdar: I’ve been a member since February, 2004 (just missed beta, ‘doh). I can’t believe it’s coming up on 6 years! Where does the time go?

 

Softlydreaming:How did you hear about it/find it?

Thumdar: I was watching television while living in Hollywood, California. They had some kind of local tech show that I was watching. I’ve always been fascinated with new ways to communicate and when they began doing a story on There, I was hooked. About ½ way through the show I went over to my computer and signed up. Forgettaboutit.., I was hooked!

There.com 2004 

Softlydreaming:What do you love about There?

Thumdar: I like having long conversations with There Test avies - they’re such good listeners! Yeah.., it’s all about the people for me. When we first discover There, we tend to buy everything we can. The clothes, paz items, vehicles. Then, after we’ve been in There a few years, it becomes more about the people. It’s great to know that at any time I can log in and go spark up a conversation with a friend or a stranger. It’s comforting. I’ve met some very cool people in There and am confident I will meet more!

Softlydreaming:What are some of the things you like to do in There?

Thumdar: Well.., once again, it’s mostly all about the people. I don’t remember the last time I went hoverboarding or exploring (I used to do a lot of that). For me, it’s log in, check out the popular places and talk with people and just socialize. Sometimes I will open the list of neighborhoods and randomly visit them. The sad thing about that is.., there’s almost never anyone in them! If I see more than 5 people in a hood at any one time, I feel like I’ve stumbled onto something. It would be cool if There made their website so that it indicated how many people were currently within a neighborhood. Anyway, I digress. Other things I like to do in There is take screen captures, buggy race, create groovy rumors about Geea and suck-face in Cosmo with newbies (I’m kidding, Sahaya!!!).

 

Softlydreaming:Tell us about your clubs.

Thumdar: My best known club is of course Thumdar.com. It’s a fan club for those who like my site. Sometimes I’ll send group emails about something big that has changed on the site, but not very often. If there’s any kind of meeting in world, members will be the first to know.

My other groups are “Floridians”, “Old Avies”, “Patriots in Pursuit of Freedom”, “Spoken Word”, “There Musicians”, “Thumdar Amphitheater”, “Thumdar Designs”, “Thumdar Tbux” and “Thumdars BFF”.

I love the Old Avies group and concept. It’s for those who create an avatar lookset that looks like an older person. Whenever I get together with someone from that group and we change into the old avie lookset and start talking in a typically old persons voice, it’s just toooooo funny. We tend to gather a crowd and everyone is bustin’ up laughing. “When I was a kid we didn’t have no fancy schmancy computers! We had to walk 20 miles to school and when I was in World War 2 I would.., uh…, wait, huh?? What was I talking about?” Then I emote ‘sleep and everyone is laughing. It’s a hoot

Thumdar: I would just like to add one thing. The internet has changed the world. It has opened up consciousness and allowed people to communicate in many powerful ways. It has given each of us the opportunity to learn about our physical  world and everything within it. Some of us have seized the opportunity to soak up as much knowledge as we can, and what we’ve learned about how the world actually operates is amazing, and often times scary. We’ve learned that there are many people who have let selfishness run amuck and that they’ve been systematically altering our world in ways that are NOT good and, frankly, malicious. It’s my humble opinion that people need to stop being complacent and take world activities and politics more seriously. It’s all about COMMUNITY. Nurture communities and share your uniqueness within. Learn who your real friends are. Learn who is making trouble and try to figure out why, then try and do something about it.

 Softlydreaming: Feel free to include what you would like.

Our world changes every day and almost nothing lasts forever. One thing I LOVE about There is that the landscape does not change. Sure, new hoods spring up and people redesign their zones, but the actual landscape remains intact. I love this. It’s a constant in an ever-changing world. To me, this is calming and reassuring. 

Thanks for asking and for listening.