It had to be commemorated.

I GOT TWENTY-SIX MILLION ON CHAIN REACTION!!!

Well that just seems unlikely!

Sometimes I'm just overwhelmed by how often my life is hilariously similar to a sitcom. More frequently than I'd like to admit, I'm comically unlucky, or find myself in situations that just aren't probable. It follows, then, that I probably should have expected to be molested on Second Life. I probably should've expected getting lost in Second Life-- not finding my way even in a virtual world, mapped out for my convenience. I probably should've expected the fact that Second Life would not be even the least bit like regular life. I probably should not have expected to like it. 

I entered the world somewhat cautiously, and by cautiously I mean I had no choice to be cautious since I had no idea what I was doing. I quickly discovered that Second Life is one of the least user-friendly programs I have ever used. It could be just that I'm not too apt at virtual worlds, but I found it difficult to do even the simplest things. I couldn't find my way around, I couldn't maneuver my field of vision correctly, and most embarrassingly, I couldn't figure out how to sit. I hovered awkwardly around a chair for about five minutes before giving up and choosing a new endeavor. I decided that since sitting was apparently too challenging, I should try and converse with others. It occurred to me that this, rather than scoring points, was the point of Second Life, and that I should at least give it a chance. Even though I innately find chat scenarios to be creepy, since I know I'm never going to meet the mystery-chatter in person (I'd like to keep my kidneys, thanks), I gave the chat experience a chance. I wandered around a little platform area that seemed inescapable, and spoke to the few people that were loitering ominously around. I talked to one, who spoke back to me in Spanish. Ooo! A language challenge! I talked to him for a while until he naturally began to make me uncomfortable, and then moved on to the next person, who... talked to me in Spanish? Well, well that's odd! Apparently I had landed myself in Spanish Life. I became slightly frustrated, (because even though I speak Spanish and enjoy practicing, I'm not as fluent as I'd like to be) then more so when I had so much difficulty controlling my character. It may seem like I'm being a bit harsh on this virtual world, but to be perfectly honest, I'm an achiever, and to be on the computer without serving anything that can be construed as a purpose seems silly to me. 

Perhaps in the future when I sign on, I'll have one of my friends guide me to places where I might find decent, and perhaps even English-speaking company. Then again, (though I hate to be negative) I really just don't feel like Second Life is for me. 

And...there goes my soul

I've always been surrounded by stereotypes about WoW players. I've been taught to imagine them as gnarly caped basement-dwellers who live with their mothers, eat intravenously and eschew sleep entirely. To a certain extent, I'm sure this is true for an extreme minority, but when I started to play WoW, I realized that many people who play aren't nearly as conventionally nerdy and socially inept as I had imagined. In fact, when I told my friends that I'd be playing WoW as a trial, several of them admitting to being hopelessly addicted WoW players, revealing their secret identities as undead priests or gnome mages. 

Under their watchful eyes, I signed in to WoW and began to play. Immediately, WoW was not at all what I expected. Well, God knows what I expected, but certainly something more difficult. It was organized and beautifully designed. People were friendly and not out to attack me. In fact, I was saved on several occasions by a mysterious knight who undoubtedly found my saucy human mage to be dazzlingly beautiful. When I accepted my first quest, I was pleased to discover that it seemed deliciously easy: I was to kill nine wolves and take their meat. Sweet. I was also pleasantly surprised to discover that casting spells took very little gaming ability. For some reason I expected some sort of complicated keyboard algorithm, rather than nicely timed "1" pressing. Of course, my first encounter with a wolf was somewhat less than impressive. I recall shooting it with frost, being stunned when it actually responded and chased me (who could have imagined that a wolf would  fight back after being shot arbitrarily with a frost bolt?!) and running my character quickly away while making frightened noises in real life. Once I calmed down and realized that the wolf was not in fact real and going to crawl out of my screen (I've clearly watched Videodrome one too many times), I shot back and killed it. A little part of me was sad that I had killed an animal, albeit a digital one, but soon I was grotesquely fascinated. This rabid killing spree lasted until I, in a fit of excitement, accidentally killed a bunny and began to mourn. It turned out though, that once I got the hang of it, I absolutely loved WoW. I'm finding myself opening new e-mail accounts solely for the purpose of getting more and more free trials. So even though I had previously imagined WoW players as social pariahs, it seems like I've become one of them. And by God, I'm proud.