SECOND LIFE Is Much Cheaper Than Heroin

I'm hooked. Having joined up last week to the virtual playground that is Second Life, I'm having a hard time staying out. This will happen to me with immersive games from time to time (I call it "software fever") but for the first time ever I lost track so completely that I played literally overnight. It was 9:00am and I still couldn't leave this odd little virtual world.

I spend most of my time in Second Life chatting up girls. This is probably what I would do in real life if I was single and looked as good as my avatar. My avatar is truly good-looking too. I bought a great skin for $L200, although I just found out this morning that it's probably hot. Somebody recognized my face as belonging to a skin which normally goes for $L4000. I kinda look like Rick Springfield.

When I'm not wearing the sexy me, I'm wearing the real me. I have an ongoing project in which I map my real face to an avatar. I've gotten compliments on my work so far, though getting my own skin tone to match the stock avatar's has proven problematic. I'll probably have to do an entire body.

I'm better socially in Second Life than I am in real life, because I don't fear the consequences of interaction there. It's a ridiculous fear, and maybe this will help me snap out of it. Or maybe I'll completely lose confidence in my real world ability, because I'm so good virtually. Either way, therapy is called for.

My wife asked me if I've had a lapdance in 2nd Life, because strip clubs are everywhere. But you know what? In the real world a lapdance is virtual sex, so a virtual lapdance would be so far removed that I might as well write blog entries while it's going on.

No, I'm not. I'm at work.

This won't go on forever. I got tired of Jedi Academy, I got tired of Doom, and sooner or later I'll miss sensation and taste. Just a matter of time. Just a matter of time.