Work takes many forms for people; for some people it takes a singular form and for others it takes a myriad of forms. People have different tools for each type of work; for me the main tool is the Internet. For others it is a hammer, a saw, a needle or a pen.

Over the course of the last few months, circumstances have dictated that I pick up new tools. A receipt book. A surveyor. A '3 canal' (cutlass), an axe, a spray can and weedicides. A shovel, a hoe. And still, the Internet remains a tool - though one which I am barely connected to despite my best efforts (not to mention a lot of help from friends). One told me to be patient last night, another is probably boggled at my frustration. But then, what is the Internet to most? Simple email, simple internet access so that one can search for information on products to buy and sell.

Even in my closer circle of friends, how I make money remains a mystery. Even Second Life remains a mystery to most. How is it that access is so important? It is work. It is the taxi to the taxi driver, it is the knife to the butcher, it is the scalpel to the surgeon.

Work is not just using tools - it is maintaining them. And in my mind, there are small fits of despair as I have not been able to maintain one of my tools. Such things would ache any professional, and while my tools are diversifying there is no need for these things to atrophy.

The reason, though, falls to unpreparedness and bureaucracy. Tired eyes watch the words fleet across the screen before they are posted over a neurotic and nomadic internet connection, leeched from an unsecure neighbor.

My mother almost always brags that I beat her at Chess when I was 9. My father never spoke about when I beat him at chess that same month. In fact, he and I never played after that. But what I remember most about chess at that age is learning it and its effects.

My friends and I used to play checkers all the time. When my parents decided I should learn chess (poor them), I became very focused on chess and no longer wanted to play checkers - checkers was not a challenge. Chess was. I spent many hours alone, playing against myself, switching between perspectives of black and white and sincerely trying to beat myself. Whenever a chess set was available, I played - there was no Atari 2600 yet, no Nintendo... and while chess required 2 people to play, I pretended to be 2 different people. And this, to me, was all 'play'. It came naturally. No books to study.

Over the years, people asked me which piece was the most powerful. I used to say that it was the Queen, which of course has broad and sweeping powers. Later, I said the Knight, since it was capable of wreaking havoc at a distance when strategically placed. Ultimately, I ended up saying that the King was the most powerful piece on the board - something most people don't agree with. Still, the entire game hinges on the King. Protecting the King is how you keep from losing, trapping the King is how you win. Sure, its a slow moving piece with little offensive ability, but without the King there can be no game. { Read more }