My High Heels

I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Jennifer and I am a woman who plays in the Virtual Environment Second Life.

Some of you may know what this is, but for those who don't, its a fantastic virtual world, that looks like a video game, but functions more like a chatroom. There are a lot of articles and such on it, especially recently, and they are helpful to understand what this world is. They are also very misleading in many ways. I have been in Second Life, in this incarnation, Since March of 2005. I was in Second Life before that in another incarnation, but that is a long story, best left alone. I have created this page to continue my virtual explorations of my self in sort of a diary. I want to give a lasting voice to a persona who, over the last three years has become my alter-ego, as well as an outlet for many things; things I would never do in RL. One very interesting thing about adopting an alter ego is the process of separation that takes place when you see your virtual avatar on the screen and you think: "OMG! what is she doing?"

I am old enough to not have to tell how old I am and was born on Halloween. I have a masters in a field typically dominated by men, I am geeky enough to have played D&D and WoW, and I am about as girly as they come. In second life I am a former escort (though I never had any of Mr. Spitzer's money), part time clothes designer, part time house builder, sometime coach to girls who want to be strippers or escorts, full time shopaholic and constant voyuese. I am also a catalyst-I enjoy bringing people together and making things happen.

Beyond this everything is either mutable, negotiable or subject to whim.

My most defining characteristic, however, may be my love of shoes. It started when I was about 11 and has followed me through real and virtual and second life. I think what ultimately kept me in SL were the shoes. Three years ago, no other game or environment was even close. Adn while RL shoes are more compelling, I cannot afford them in the quantities I can in SL, and i certainly cannot wear them for days straight.

In so may ways, shoes define who I am at that moment: the reflect my mood, my personality, my political opinion..really almost anything. I am fond of saying "the heels made me do it!" Really, its true! I slip them on and I change, I become a new me. In SL everything is variable, I change my hair color as often as my outfit, but I always start with the shoes. Be prepared. The title of this blog is meant to be truth in advertising. You are going to hear a lot about high heels and Second Life here. But you will also hear the random musings and explorations of a girl, a woman, a citizen and a human.

Ultimately, the best thing about second life is how human it is.

Now can anybody teach me to put pictures in this blog?