What Others Think About My Life

It's always fascinating to hear what others think about our lives, isn't it? Some may endorse your approach, while others might think you could use your time more wisely. Some support your interests and activities, while others could care less. Yet, when someone cares enough to offer his observations and opinions, it seems a bit flattering. I'm just Fizzy; I do what I do because it seems right and fitting. I'm not looking for justification. Nor is DR (trust me; I know him personally). He writes what he writes because it seems right and fitting. Still, when somebody pays attention and is intrigued enough to offer an opinion, it makes it all worthwhile. So, below I have posted a recent review of The virtual Life of Fizzy Oceans (Hey! That's me!) written by author Donald O'Donovan.


"The Virtual Life of Fizzy Oceans is a strange and wonderful book. Fizzy Oceans, the heroine, thinks outside the box. But she doesn’t stop there. Fizzy lives outside the box.

Fizzy lives, as the title indicates, in a virtual world, where many of the limitations of our so-called real life are absent. In Virtual Life, as opposed to Physical Life, there’s no gravity, no disease, no aging, and you can travel through space and time, sans passport, with just a click — whoosh! — of a button. You can be who you want to be, go where you want to go, and yet The Virtual Life of Fizzy Oceans is not a science fiction novel for the simple reason that the technology that Fizzy and her virtual friends enjoy exists on the Internet now.

Fizzy Oceans herself is our narrator. Her style is breezy and conversational — Author David A. Ross has a great ear for dialogue — and the result is a light and frolicsome narrative freighted with serious content that is easily ingested, thanks to Fizzy’s unfailing good humor, playfulness and wisdom.

Those of us who grew up with video games drove go-karts, leaped tall buildings and battled Koopa Troopas in the person of Mario. But why let somebody else get your kicks for you? In Fizzy’s virtual world you get to custom sculpt your own personal avatar (called an emulation), a digital alter ego that has the characteristics you choose.

What about sex, you may wonder (I know I did)? Not a problem. At a virtual venue appropriately called the Sex Dungeon a delightfully uninhibited Fizzy gets it on with the hunky emulation of a Polish baker whose Physical Life body is in Krakow, while her Physical Life body, a bookish 37-year-old medical clerk named Amy Birkenstock, is tucked away in a stuffy office in Seattle.

The literature of escape abounds with tales of lost civilizations populated by beings who were able to communicate telepathically, teleport their bodies, and move freely about on the astral plane. Fizzy Oceans, as a representative of the new virtual culture, does it all, with ease and aplomb. In a world without boundaries she gets up close and personal with some of history’s finest (and some of the sickest) minds, including Mark Twain, Mahatma Gandhi and Saddam Hussein, as she takes the pulse of our tottering civilization and strives for a peek at what the future may hold. According to Fizzy, there is hope: “Perhaps we can kill ourselves with negligence and stupidity, and maybe we can render our beloved and fragile planet inhospitable, but we can’t extinguish the current of love, no matter how hard we try.”

So, that about says it all! Thanks, Donald. Now, off to VL I go. Come on, Amy, log me in!

Who is Fizzy Oceans?

Hi! My name is Fizzy Oceans. I am the main character in the novel The Virtual Life of Fizzy Oceans by David A. Ross. As my creator, Mr. R. says that I’m supposed to write this blog about my Virtual Life. Honestly, I don’t know where I’m going to find the time to document my many adventures in VL, but Mr. R. is hard to argue with, so I guess I’d better just get on with it.

Actually, I am a split personality. Primary is the afore-mentioned novelist who created my physical life counterpart Amy Birkenstock. Amy lives in Seattle and used to work at a Medical Billing office (now she works part time in Mr. Chang’s fish market). Finally, there is Yours Truly, Fizzy Oceans, archivist, researcher, adventurer, VL Greeter and all around nice person!

Confused? Don’t worry; you’ll learn to tell us apart. I’m the chirpy one with big ideas, Amy is the realist and always, it seems, down on her luck, and Ross is the typist, a bit grouchy at times but, all in all, a pretty special guy.

So, what exactly is VL, you ask? Well, VL is first and foremost a simulated, digital world in which we can create whatever reality we wish. But it is even more than that. Some say it is a whole other dimension, and I would agree. Others say it is just a computer game, and for those who see it that way, that is true too. I fell into VL quite by accident, as do most who end up there. Was it an errant keystroke, a wayward click of my mouse, or was it just fate? Who knows? At first it seemed pretty strange in VL – something like walking around inside a Roadrunner cartoon, or a Tim Burton movie. Then I met Crystal Marbella, who showed me around and got me acclimated. Crystal is my best friend in VL, and I’m sure she’ll drop by for a cameo appearance here on the blog from time to time. Kizmet Aurora is another good buddy; we go to the beach together, go gaming in virtual Las Vegas and we shop for clothes on the Côte d’Azur. Some of my other VL friends are actually quite famous: Mark Twain, Jacques Cousteau, the Dalai Lama and others.

Here in VL, the so-called rules of engagement are rather different: for instance, we can fly without effort from place to place – even to civilizations long ago consigned to history. It is also possible for personalities to return from the dead, and for formerly unknown species to manifest and interact with whomever they might encounter.

VL is a Brave New World. And you are invited!

Now, back to Amy for a moment. To be sure, life is not going well for her in PL (Physical Life). Her job sucks and she’s usually pretty broke. She used to work for a doctor but she couldn’t even get health insurance. Finally, she lost that job and had to find work at Chang’s Fish Market cleaning up fish guts just to get enough money for a burger and fries. Sound like somebody you might know? Well, I hope not. Circumstances like Amy’s are not all that uncommon these days, but that certainly does not make them any easier to bear. You’ve got to feel for the girl – I know I do. But I also have to hand it to her because she just won’t give up on her dreams. And that’s where I come in. Amy is my fictional representation in PL (everybody’s got to have one, I guess), and since she’s not working much anymore, she retreats into her computer, into VL, and she lives vicariously through me, Fizzy Oceans.

At least that’s how Mr. R. planned the whole thing. To be sure, it works for all of us: the writer, the medical billing clerk/fish market janitor, and for me. I’ve got the best part of the deal, I guess. I go all over and meet interesting people and cook up wild activities and generally have a blast. Which is why Mr. R. wants me to write this blog, I guess. And who am I to refuse? One keystroke from the author and I am history. He’s got me there, so write I will, fast and furiously.

And I hope you’ll come along for the ride. You never know who we might meet, or what new and interesting idea we might uncover. We’ll be talking about everything here – not just VL reality, but Your World, too.

So come sign up! Don’t be shy; you are welcome here in our world(s)!