Well, eventually.

As of this morning, I, for the price of an evening out, have effectively assured myself of innumerable evenings in by purchasing my very first plot of land on Second Life. Even though I'm a faceless nobody there, I now feel almost a part of things. My virtual nest is 1536 square meters on a hillside in the new continent. If it were real, one could most definitely smell the breezes off the sea if the wind were blowing in the right direction, and it's not so far from shore that one can't imagine the dull indistinct crash of waves.
Being a thrifty person by nature, I'm aghast at myself for buying such a thing. There are times, however, in a person's life when they ought and must, if they can, spend money on something both unnecessary and unadvised. Unexpected delights have altogether a different character from those one waits and plans for. Compared to what I could be spending on some first-world item in order to get the comparable pleasure I expect to derive from my bit of incorporeal earth, it's not a very great price at all.
Pointless little rationalizations aside, I'm happy with my purchase. Unlike the actual house I considered buying last year, it'll be easy to sell my rectangle if the need arises. I'm hoping it doesn't. I'm hoping that I can make a success of my time on Second Life. But I'm keeping my expectations small. I have nothing with which to distinguish myself, and so finding any place at all, particularly as a member of any well-established group, is going to be awfully difficult. It's not as if I can get along purely on my personality, and wide-eyed n00bishness can't have much appeal for any but the most masochistic of current players.
Ugh. If I can manage to put together a proper costume for International Day at the Steelhead whateveritis, I might be able to make some progress with meeting people. But at my current rate of building, not to mention skill, that's a very big if.
Here's to the hope that my future evenings on Second Life won't be quite so lonely now that I'm actually going to venture out into the wide world.