Procrastination and Escapism

Sometimes I wonder whether one of the attractions of SL (for me) is the fact that the banal and mundane becomes increasingly surreal and ridiculous. Since getting our hands on 2 swanky apartments in Manchester-UK, we’re now faced with two realms of domesticity; our homes in RL and our homes in SL.

Last weekend I had mortgage issues and general upkeep to contend with in RL. It was all rather dull, and time-consuming, so after a while I decided to go in-world and channel my energies into furnishing my newly-acquired virtual apartment instead. One bubble chair, a 60s dining set, a chaise longue and a Picasso later, I realised that this was utter procrastination, logged out and dealt with the matters at hand in RL. (Having set out to buy a cow, a huge coffee machine and a pizza oven, my new acquisitions were not what I had set out to purchase - obviously Ikea syndrome strikes in-world too…)

Anyway, it’s been a hellishly busy week so I haven’t had a chance to go back into SL until tonight, when I had to go in to make sure our apartments would be safe in our absence as we’re going on a RL holiday tomorrow and won’t have any internet access (gasp!). I checked on Misty’s coots and flamingos (yes, we ARE allowed pets we’ve already checked) and made sure my ‘beware of the dog’ sign looked suitably threatening, oh, and had a slice of pizza (1L$) from the machine in the corner (oops, another purchase – forgot to mention that one) and came back into RL to pack my case and escape to a remote Greek island.

Of course I know that when I get home, after throwing down the bags I’ll immediately check emails, Flickr, facebook before entering SL and going to my apartment - and then no doubt go and buy a virtual boat and go and relax on a virtual island in the virtual Mediterranean…