Baby steps...

Last night was lovely.

I found a changing room and practiced trying on a variety of free outfits, thus protecting my virtue from further humiliation. Cheesiness abounds in Second Life and not surprisingly most of the free clothing I picked up was more suited for an MTV Yo Raps video. The majority included fishnet crop tops, platform f*k me boots, gold lame and sequins. When in doubt, go for black. I finally found a black swing skirt called “Rasputina”. Of course it was made of net and ribbon, and therefore see-through, but I found some granny pants – or what looked like spandex cycling shorts which are probably for a man’s wardrobe – and wore those beneath. I made some black shoes, locked on the tresses and off I went. My friend found me pretty quickly and invited me to try dancing again. What the hell. He teleported me to Osborne (133, 117, 62), site of last night’s disaster. I held my breath and there I appeared, in front of the fountain, fully clothed. Hurrah! My friend on the other hand, seemed to have had a problem on the way…

I’d seen avatars appear, or walk by, in a sort of granite state, like an animated stone statue, while their clothes slowly “rezzed” on. They appear like blank canvases until fully realized. But something funky was going on with my friend. In RL I’ve been flashed at before – it’s a rite of passage. I’ve been flashed at in parks, trains, even while canoeing. However, there’s something particularly disturbing about watching an avatar standing before me, body features grayed out, except for a semi-transparent, hairy and rotund little penis pointed in my direction. Did he know he was flashing me? Was this some kind of SL joke? Did my body parts emerge like this to others? I don’t think he flashed me intentionally but what do I know? Obviously not much. And I was too embarrassed to ask. Actually, I was convinced that my friend had only good intentions. Plus I didn’t want to waste my avie’s newly found confidence due to a hint of penis. His clothes finally appeared (very debonair actually) and he escorted me to the dressing room where I could purchase a ball gown for free.

I walked into a huge dressing room, complete with dressing table and images of gowns to choose from posted on the walls. I put on a swirling black Scarlet O’Hara/1950s tiered and eyelet gown, cinched at the waist and strapless, which swung from the waist in animated splendor. I felt lovely. My friend escorted me onto the floor, which was glowing with prisms from the lights above. Romantic, streaming music was provided courtesy of martiniinthemorning.com. Blue and pink spheres, or pose balls, bobbed around the floor reading “Swing 2” “Slowdance 5”, “Tango” and “Swept Away”. My friend guided me carefully towards a pink pose ball reading “Swing 1”. Sitting on top synchronized my avatar with his and suddenly we were twirling round the dance floor like Astaire and Rogers. My hands left the keyboard and we just let ourselves go. It was a bit awkward to be dancing with a virtual stranger (as my husband walked by in the living room poking over my shoulder). In fact, it made me think of those teenage dances I used to go to (anyone remember Mosley’s in Dedham?). Now and then we’d chat and joke about the dance styles. Sometimes we were quiet and watched our avies enjoy themselves. Honestly, I felt exhilarated…My friend sent me a happy attachment and I smiled for the rest of the evening…