Virtual Becomes Reality

File this one under: Just for Fun.

When I entered Second Life this summer, I didn't know how to do much of anything. So what's a girl to do first in a virtual world? Well, shopping, of course! See, they are nice enough to give you some clothes to start, but this is what I looked like. Plain dress and hair that looked like I just woke up. I don't need a second life to look this way - I can do that in real life! :)

I was fortunate enough to get some tips from a Second Life pro and learned how to teleport and search for clothes, hair, etc... I jumped on twitter to announce my first shopping trip and it just so happened that a fellow twitter-er, Kristin Hokanson, was also learning to do the same. We decided to meet up at a shopping mall in Second Life. I had never met Kristin at the time. I began following her on twitter after seeing her co-present a session on Open PD at NECC. Yet, our avatars met and did a little looking around for new duds. Here's how my appearance changed after my shopping trip. My daughters are horrified (I think they are afraid I will really dress this way...which I will if I ever look this cute.)

Anyway, fast forward five months, Kristin and I both get accepted to the Google Teacher Academy in New York City. Very few of the attendees were staying an extra day for shopping or shows, so we connected up through email and twitter. I reminded Kristin that we had been shopping before...and we had a good laugh on our reality shopping trip.