At the recent Atlanta Code Camp (awesome, blog more about it later) I met David Silverlight who was talking about a Microsoft User Group that meets in Second Life, the massively multi-user thing-a-ma-bob.

That sounded pretty cool to me, but I had only tried Second Life (SL) once and it was NOT a positive experience.

For those who haven't ventured outside their first life, let me paint you a picture: you start on what amounts to Reject Island with all the other people who just signed up and have no idea what's going on. During my first foray (I'm guessing this was around 2006), the lag was so bad it was like The Island Of The Reject Narcoleptics. I tried for about thirty minutes before uninstalling the client in disgust.

Now, however, David had piqued my interest and I decided to give it another go.

That spawned the epic motion picture-like-experience I call: Return To Reject Island. Or maybe The Accidental Tramsssexual... (note I spelled that wrong to try to avoid Google Adsense hilarity).

Whilst trying the various tutorials I managed to dismiss my tutorial box and failed to find it again. That meant no more instructions. I had made it just to the point of figuring out how to change my little avatar's appearance. Well, HALF WAY through learning that.

You can spend your Linden Dollars (the local currency) on all manner of fancy schmancy clothing, jewelry, etc., but I WILL NOT PAY A LOT FOR A MUFFLER! Oh, no, not I! I decided to get creative with the default clothing options. I started with a fire-fighter. Woudln't it be funny if I mixed in some of the Little Red Riding Hood clothes? What a laugh riot! Right up until my big, strapping firefighter sprouted boobs and became a petite woman!

Evidently changing clothes in Second Life can be a life (and sex) altering experience!

So I tried to switch back, but Second Life was having none of my second guessing. It would, however, allow me to be a female firefighter with no hair and a stark, black beard. Not being committed to this game, I decided to give up the effort and wander around the island, talk to the other rejects and see if they would make me their king or queen based on the fact that I was in fact the biggest reject of them all.

I met a female avatar who said "Hi" in Spanish, and I thought that it would be cool to try to have a conversation in a language I studied briefly long, long ago.

We muddled along and I found that she was in Mexico and very interested in drinking. Everything was fine until a fellow from Venezuela happened along. He seemed to have a thing for bald headed, black bearded female firefighters.

Hmm. First year Spanish did NOT include the sentence, "Hey, I'm a guy who accidently changed himself into a girl by trying on some clothing to try and be funny." Go figure. Much more useful than nattering on about the color of my pencil, but NO, they just don't teach it.

As Don Juan got friendlier and friendlier, I decided to go for the approach of FIGURING OUT THE DAMNED SYSTEM and changing back into a guy.

Eventually I morphed back into a tall, masculine firefighter right before their astonished (and in his case horrified) eyes.

Fortunately between three people and two languages, we got across the fact that I was in fact King of the Rejects and not the Queen.

I'm still hoping to make it to one of the user group meetings. If you're there, look me up. I'll be the big firefighter who NEVER, EVER changes his clothes...