I’ve been running a webcam in some form or another since around ‘99. I’ve done it all and I’ve heard it all, so none of what people have asked or said has really phased me in the least. Hell, I once took $50 because some guy wanted to see me oiled up; unfortunately the only oil that I had was vegetable oil, and after the mess it made on me and my shower, I dare say he got a bargain for that show.

I could understand the requests for me to get naked if I were still billing myself as a camgirl, running a webcam-oriented homepage, and linking myself on all the webcam Top Sites. In those days, I had cams in nearly every room of the house, at least 2 in the bedroom at any given time, and nudity on camera was a pretty common occurance, even if it wasn’t intended as a show. Now, my writing, artwork, and photography is the focal point of my homepage, and there’s hardly a mention of the single camera that’s perched upon my monitor.

This doesn’t stop the guys who equate “webcam” with “free porn” however. I get daily requests from guys who want me to strip for them or engage in a little cam to cam action. Generally I’m polite with them at first, unless it’s a repeat offender like the girl who messages me at least once a month to ask if I’m interested in hooking up with her and her husband yet, in which case I will not hesitate to let forth a torrent of filth that’s fit to make even the most sea-worthy sailor blush. However, for the most part that’s a rare occasion, and I settle for some biting wit and sarcasm to poke fun of their predicament - namely, the fact that they are lonely, desperate and most likely living in their parents’ basement.

I get this on Yahoo (cam doesn’t run there) and AIM. They get all annoyed when I tell them that I don’t run my cam through instant messenger programs, and then start complaining about how they don’t want to pay to view the cam when I tell them they can access it on my homepage (I don’t charge for viewing it in the first place).

Of course, once I manage to get it through their thick skulls that there’s no charge to watch my cam - seriously, who would pay to watch me sit at my desk and geek out to video games and listen to punk CDs - they immediately launch into the “So what do you do here?” The answer to that is quite simple. I do nothing. When I got my first cam all those years ago you weren’t exected to do anything on cam. Webcams were such a novelty at that point that it was interesting just to watch people’s everyday life or a coffee pot or an aquarium. Now, everyone has an agenda and nothing is for free. 15 year old girls will be more than happy to show off their new bikini for just the cost of a DVD bought off their Amazon wishlist. For the low price of just $1.99/minute you can watch one of 3500 girls on Ifriends do whatever you ask her to do - the stories I could tell about working there could make some interesting posts in themselves.

Me? I’m happy to occasionally chat with a few nice folks. I don’t watch other cams unless I see something that catches my eye. Some of the best cams I’ve seen didn’t involve people at all. Almost daily I watch the sun rise over Mt. St. Helens, and I used to watch it rise over a Scottish castle as well. I’ve watched litters of puppies, kittens, and ferrets. I’ve watched several marijuana plants grow in Amsterdam and I’ve seen someone take the last cup of coffee from a pot. I watched the patrons at an Irish pub celebrate ringing in 2000 from my cube at the bank’s answer center and took calls from people who needed us to confirm that there was no need for them to bury their savings in the backyard.

There’s more to webcams, and the internet as a whole, than just porn.

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