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A Second Life
By Lena Hedayat, Staff Writer
If you thought
your life was a lot of work, imagine having two! Second Life, an
interactive computer program, casts its spell. For in this so-called
“game” there aren’t any winners or losers--gains or losses. It’s
just as stated: A Second Life. You must be pretty pathetic to be
running two lives right? 4,544,616 people don’t think so.
Are you
wondering what goes on in this game? For starters, create yourself.
An avatar that looks like you, or rather one that looks like
something you want to look like is created, and then you can
begin your journey on what I’m going to refer to as Second Earth.
You are also allowed to perfect your appearance later on, so if you
mess up on the skin or hair color, no worries, help’s just a click
away. So, you’ve got your looks, now what? It’s time to start
exploring! You can do several things, but meeting people sounds like
the most fun, so let’s begin there. You can look at the map and find
out where people are currently socializing. Before you go rushing
over though, you should at least find out where you’re going. So now
lets pull down our search menu and look up the place. The Disco! It
sounds cool so lets head over. We get to teleport! Wow! It’s like
the future! Now when you arrive at your destination, you can start
socializing. If you see someone who looks cool, or like a person you
want to meet, you can just right click on their avatar and go to
“view profile” and read about them. Sort of like invading their
personal life without asking, but that’s okay.
Many Second Earth beings are eager to meet somebody new, so it’s not
very hard to make friends. Staying in touch isn’t very complicated
either once you get to know somebody. You can attend many parties
and go to lots of movies. Being popular is easy too. No wonder we
like this so much. It’s living a dream, something half of the
participants never got to experience in their real life.
Going to parties and being popular is what’s important in life
right? We sure have our priorities straight. Let’s keep going. Many
clubs and neighborhood associations are hanging around to join.
Let’s hope there’s no gangs too. This is Second Earth right? Nothing
bad happens here because we have control. The keyboard is
God. Second Earth deserves a better name, such as Perfect Earth,
P.E. for short.
Know
what else? We can own an island. Oh my, who would have ever
thought that could happen in my life? Then it’s possible to
have an amusement park built on it. I forgot to mention, land is
available for anyone who pays $9.95 a month. Remember, land is
for everyone. So, got a lame minimum wage job? Or living off
your mother’s savings? Well Second Life is the place to go.
Can there possibly be anything more cool left? So far we have
physical perfection, instant popularity, teleporting, land,
but that’s not all! Have you ever wanted a pair of leather wings? Go
make a pair and try them on. How about a pet dragon? That sounds
even better. No more bullies at school. That’s right, you can create
creatures, such as butterflies to follow you home, like the ones in
movies. It’s Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings come to life. This
is just a brief overview. So much more can happen in this newly
created world. Don’t you think? Now your real body can be an
emaciated lump in front of the computer screen because, I mean, it
was so ugly compared to the new sexy invention in front of your
blurry eyeballs. (The Matrix anyone?) So get started! Some
occupations available at the top of the list are: wedding planner,
tattoo artist, and casino operator. After you loose all your money
gambling, why not join the cheating scum, or better yet, send your
newly created dragon after them! Second Life, here we come!
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