I got a chance to take my furry avatar, Manila Harbour, to Laguna Beach, among other places after my orientation on Avatar Island. First of all, let me state that Avatar Island was a nice space to get used to walking on my new virtual feet, as well as growing comfortable in my new, furry skin, my long flowing tail. There were a lot of new second life users there on the island. I found that, just like in real life, free giveaways (such as my free chainmail) made me happy. And I found that, just like in real life, I appreciated the politeness other users greeted me with. Often, other characters would just shout “Hi!” or ask me “How are you?” And I found myself really feeling that, “Wow. I wish more strangers in real life would genuinely say ‘How are you?’ when I’m walking down the street.” Is our increasingly virtual environment, our ability to “wink at”, “smile at”, or give “gifts” to people on facebook, for example, glorifying those sentiments in our real life dealings with people? Why, I wondered, was I so gratified that some avatar randomly said, “Hi. How are you?”…the same reason that I celebrated my recent collection of new online comments, perhaps. I went to the Orange County fairgrounds for the Marketplace a few weeks back and simply asked a vendor “How are you today?” and she told me that I had made her day. “No one really asks you how you’re doing nowadays,” she said, “Thanks. Really, thanks a lot.” Simple gestures can be so much more powerful in real life now. You call someone or visit someone instead of texting or commenting them “happy birthday!” and genuinely ask them how his/her life is doing. The gesture holds more weight; it is more of a commodity. But then again, the thoughtful act of remembering someone’s birthday is taken care of for you by social networking sites. That “thoughtfulness” of remembering to check today’s birthday listings is not so much of a special or highly personal act. I digress a bit…
In considering this notion of assuming a second life, I got to thinking that you really can make a brand new life on spaces like this. Second life is dictated primarily by its members. If I want to build a building, or move to a secluded island, or create a new community, I can in second life in just a few clicks. In real life, I can’t always teleport quickly away from people that are bothering me (like a strange man on campus that creepily hugged me on ring road randomly yesterday). In second life, while I was listening to some pretty sweet flute music “playing live” somewhere on Avatar Island, I witnessed two avatars shamelessly flirting and making plans to “hook up” in some virtual hotel room somewhere. Not only did this scenario confirm for me that people in second life do engage in online sexual relations, it also succeeded at making me feel uncomfortable, like hearing the conversation in real life would have made me. I just teleported away. Second life is great. You want to go somewhere, or you feel like “flying away”, and you can. Don’t like the way you look in the mirror today? Perhaps I realized I wasn’t happy with my tail or furry face (they suddenly made me look too fat or something): I could just click to get virtual plastic surgery and instantly become a svelte “city chic” or a funky, spunky-looking “harajuku girl”. To get places, I walk by pressing arrow keys (and not exerting real physical energy beyond clicking my keyboard), I fly instead of worrying about my lack of car and the prices of gasoline, and I travel a vast world without worrying about airline ticket costs. Second life is great.

I explored the world of Sedig, and virtual hallucinations, but did not, for whatever reason, feel like I had that forewarned “disturbing” experience. However, I did stumble upon some rental properties that I wanted to scope the interiors of, but was saddened with the realization that I really can’t go just everywhere that I want to in this virtual space…if only I had enough Linden dollars to get in those rooms! So I did what lots of people who are broke in the real world do when finances get in the way. I went to the beach. I went to Laguna Beach. This made me laugh because in the show “Laguna Beach” is also a representation of wealth and privilege. Luckily, there were no primped teens, and their romantic troubles to be found there on Laguna Beach, the Second Life Edition.

Anyway, my interactions on Laguna Beach were interesting because they were guided by the curious and unexpected sound of Danny Glover’s voice, in political support of John Edwards’ campaign. Now this was far from what I was expecting when I initially thought of hitting the beach. I found myself without the desired virtual beach towel and umbrella, and met my relaxing shore of…political propaganda, pictures and posters, and celebrity endorsements. Wow. Second Life was starting to look a lot more like real life. In short, all my experiences amounted to quite the interesting experience overall, and one that, for me, shed light on how virtual spaces are a lot more interlaced with real life than we immediately think.