So real life has kept me out of Second Life for a bit and when I finally went back I appeared right where I had last exited...in the pews of the ALM Cyberchurch.
Since it was Saturday night, the sanctuary was empty and I took advantage of the solitude to try to organize my inventory and to edit my appearance a bit more. I had never done the editing of my avatar while viewing side angles and when I figured out how to rotate the camera, I found that Voces' face was way too flat for her other features when viewed from the side and her City Chic torso was a bit too well-endowed.
And my inventory was quite cluttered. When you pick up boxes of free things, there's a lot of stuff that won't appeal to you, so you can ditch it. For me that meant the male avatars and clothes, things like Vampire skin and, ironically, the pile of Jesus-related T-shirts I got at the Dokimos Cafe. Not that I have anything against Jesus, mind you, but the messages just weren't my style. There wasn't one that asked "Who would Jesus bomb?" (which is one of my favorite bumper stickers), so out they went.
As I was purging my inventory of purple hair and spiked collars, someone walked into the sanctuary. The group name above his head was SL Body of Christ and the name was Pastor Reifsnider. Not the guy who preached a couple of weeks ago. He came up and said hello and gave me a teleport to a prayer and praise service that was about to start in another location. It seems that the 7-7-07 date was not just appealing to those getting married but also to the numerological branch of Christianity. Seven is, of course, the number of perfection in the Bible, so I guess it seemed like a "perfect" time for such a service. Not wanting to seem rude, I teleported there to the area called "Bodhisena."
I ended up in an outdoor amphitheater (okay, it's virtual outdoors, but you get the drift) with some others standing around. They had names like "JH Senior Pastor Rick Liveoak" "Apostle to the Goths Ulfilas Graves" "EC Owner Sonic Rang" and the group-less "Faith Enoch." Just like in church, no one spoke to me. That has been an interesting phenomenon. In non-religious areas, when I walk in people say hello and we often start a conversation. Not in these Christian groups. Maybe because I ditched my T-shirts. Perhaps I should change my group name from "Friend of Tolkien" to "Sinner in Need of Saving" to get some attention. Or re-endow my torso.
Anyway, the guy at the front several times said things would be getting underway shortly and invited people to take a seat on one of the benches. I did, and Faith looked like she might, but others disregarded the injunction. After a bit, so did I. And, heathen that I am, I wandered off to a series of Native American posters I saw in the adjoining lot.
I clicked on one of the posters. They were for sale and one gave me a notecard. The card encouraged purchase of the posters so that the Native American group could pay someone to create the animated gestures that would let an avatar do the Ghost Dance. I read with a touch of sadness as it said, "So that we can pray, too, and not just the Christians." Other cards told of White Buffalo Calf Woman, a legend I have a sort of odd connection to, and which tipped me off that those who owned the area were connected at least loosely to the Lakota Sioux.
Thinking maybe I had stumbled on an area with other religions I wandered further and did find a little Christian chapel. But there was no information inside, no praying poses or anything. But mostly it was shops and I noticed I had left Bodhisena and was now in Batchelor. Just beyond that there was some land for sale near some water, so I made a note of that.
I flew around some more and saw another church--more a New England style--white with traditional steeple. I went in. It was a country store. I found a dance hall in Asanga. Nobody was there, but if I clicked on a particular dance style, my avatar would get her groove on and do whatever it was. After a bit of Salsa I noticed a couple of swords on the floor and, being a Robertson, I clicked and Voces leapt into an award-winning sword dance. It was a bit less satisfying since there was rock music playing and not bagpipes, but still--she was good and not the slightest bit winded at the end!
I flew down to some homes and looked around. One was empty and for sale. Not on that land, but you could buy a copy of the house and its contents to put on your own land. It was a possible beginning dwelling for the MBS and cheap, so I got a copy. I saw another home in a different style and opened the door. There was a man inside, lying down on some pillows, and an animation ball above the pillows said "lie with him." Ummm...I don't think so. I closed the door and flew away.
Then I remembered that a place called Svarga was supposed to be very cool, so I searched for it and teleported there. The reports were correct. I found myself initially next to a single-person transportation pod that offered a guided tour of Svarga. I got on and it took over, flying me over the area and describing the places of interest.
Unfortunately I missed part of the tour because my real life dog, who was outside ostensibly to do his business, began to chase after someone on the street. "Ruckus!" I shouted, "I'm on a guided tour of Svarga and can't pause it!" But Ruckus was unimpressed with my plight and continued his wayward behavior. So I had to go tend to my neighborly duties and corral the dog. I got back in for the very end of the tour and shortly thereafter ended my session.
