Matt: I think the best way to learn is by doing. See if there are any Deaf groups which share some of your favourite interests. Let folks know when you first meet them that you’re just learning SL. And to make things easier vis a vis notetaking, I direct your attention again to the site I mentioned above. There are two email lists you can join, one of which is for receiving attached files, these files being typed in SignWriting. Big discussion on both lists of late is writing the expressions to use so as not to give the wrong meaning.
Gxis!
-Cxip