Surreal Seconds

I dropped from nothingness into a crowd. On my left someone looking like Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands. On my right, a biped with fur, pointy ears and a flowing tail.

Hesitantly I took a few steps and information screens began to appear, and upon experimentation I discovered I had control over them just not control in the way I was familiar.

I moved a little further, past more strange people into a spot where several pavilions were set up with artwork and games and other displays.

I began to stroll through the pavilions and suddenly my pace accelerated and I was not in the pavilions any longer but somehow over a vast blue sea. I was walking on water.

I'd been meaning to get around to Second Life for a while, but since I knew there'd be some assembly required in the form of an account and computer tweaks I kept putting it off.

Then I got an e-mail that Dean Koontz would be putting in an appearance and thought what the heck.

I couldn't create an account that night, some system malfunction but I decided to try a second time.

I had to get new drivers for my graphics card and upgrade to a .net platform with new numbers in it, but wow once I finally got it working ...

This avatar living is kind of wild. I've been meaning to read Snowcrash for ages and even had an idea for a thriller using avatars that my agent didn't sell, but the cyberpunk world is here.

It's kind of fabulous just walking around the Second Life environments where blue men hover in meditation and kids with flaming hair swish past with winged shoes. It's like being inside a science fiction novel.

I dropped by the book shop where Koontz did his reading and the currently empty space where Book Mooch has gatherings, visited some clubs and Festival Island. So far loads of fun.

Word has it there's going to be a lot of marketing done in Second Life, so I figured I better get a handle on that for my first life job.

Ironically, I have had trouble getting my hair to look decent in Second Life also. Some things you can't change even in Quicktime.