... his phone, which gives him access to Second Life. There, Jim has created an avatar, a buff and handsome young man named Rolo. As Rolo, Pete has courted a female avatar named Jade, a slip of a girl, a pixie with short, spiky blonde hair. As Rolo, he “married” Jade in an elaborate Second Life ceremony more than a year before, surrounded by their virtual best friends. Jim has never met the woman behind the avatar Jade and does not wish to. (It is possible, of course, that the human being behind Jade is a man. Jim understands this but says, “I don’t want to go there.”) Jim describes Jade as intelligent, passionate, and easy to talk to.
On most days, Jim logs onto Second Life before leaving for work. Jim and Jade talk (by typing) and then erotically engage their avatars, something that Second Life software makes possible with special animations. Boundaries between life and game are not easy to maintain. Online, Jim and Jade talk about sex and Second Life gossip, but they also talk about money, the recession, work, and matters of health. Pete is on cholesterol-lowering medication that is only partially successful.

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