Leslie Langtry Hangs With Fab Pal Kim Castillo at
Second Life Xmas Party
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2008
I just went to the best Xmas party! And I didn’t even mind that it was 10 degrees with six inches of snow outside. I flew over the party tents, rode ice horses and got to hang with 600 authors and fans at Brenda Novak’s Virtual Party on Second Life. I got to meet Lani Diane Rich – one of my favorite authors and Brenda Novak told me my books are funny! Woo hoo!
That makes it sound easy, doesn’t it. Here’s what really happened. I spent several hours trying to give myself clothes and hair (it’s bad form – and yet stupifyingly easy – to go to even a virtual party naked) and set everything up. I even went to the party a couple of hours early to practice…everything. Did you know it’s really hard to just walk forward in these things? For some strange reason I kept running away from people who were talking to me. I really didn’t mean to do that.
I have to admit though, I laughed so hard I cried. My ten year old had to help me change my skirt from pink polka dots (which is sooooo me) to sequined red (one thousand times better). My eight year old had to help me drive the sleigh out of the party tent because I couldn’t do it (fortunately, the party hadn’t started yet or I would’ve gotten thrown out). I found myself walking through people driving various vehicles into trees, landing in the ocean – which was weird because it wasn’t anywhere near the party, and standing in the snow in high heels for hours on end.
Kim found me right away – thank god. It was fun to talk to readers and writers with blue hair, dressed like Zena Warrior Princess and this one chick with twenty foot tall wings. that’s right, wings.
The conversation was peppered with stuff like this;
“Dude, a naked woman just ran by in pink shoes!”
“My hair fell off! Help me find my hair!”
“Don’t look now but there’s a topless, bald woman behind you.”
“Did anyone else see that ten foot tall snowman move?”
No, I’m not kidding. I managed to get one of my skirts off (for some reason I was wearing two at one point) only to find it sitting on the ground waiting for me half an hour later. I also managed to take snapshots – unfortunately one was up my skirt – a shot that would be normally impossible to achieve.
Still, it was a great time and I’ll do it again anytime (as long as I have several hours to figure out how to eat the mountain of imaginary chocolate covered strawberries people kept giving me. And no matter how many Flaming Polar Bears (I believe we are talking double digits here) I drank, there will be no hangover in the morning. That’s the one thing I’m sure of.