Second Coming

Recently at work, an email went around encouraging us employees to explore "Second Life" - a gi-normous virtual community in which people play and work (and apparently can earn real money, too).

The object seems to be the same underlying many people get involved in online communities: to be themselves as much as they can be without the burden of preconceived notions or prejudices. People can and do reinvent themselves or (in my opinion) tend to become more themselves when they are understood as people in terms of their own creativity and their power to express themselves largely through the written word (or at least a doctored version of it...lol. ;) TTFN!).

I'm all for it, of course. I'm a little confused as to why my boss is essentially encouraging me to play on company time, but hey, whatever!

The big problem for me is not reconciling the "why" of this with the apparent fun of it. No, it's a much more "me" problem: hair.

I've created a self in Second World. But I don't understand me. Or at least, the appearance-building side of me. You see, my virtual self (who I can dress and make up and create a body shape for)(not at all unlike the Sims, a game I enjoy purely for the way it speaks to the 11-year-old-girl-need of mine to be a fashion designer and interior decorator) looks okay. But she doesn't have all of her hair. I have no hair on top at all. Some minor digging into the subject has told me that hair "comes" in two pieces in Second Life - you have to get some Second Life money and then buy more hair if you want it.

This, in my humble estimation, is nuts. Or maybe it's a way to recognize newbies - we all have half a head of hair until we find some way to get some money (and you can't prostitute your e-self on this, unfortunately. That would be the easiest way, I'm thinking).

I'm not convinced my boss wanted me on this to have me sit around playing with hairstyles all day, but it's a great diversion....