Getting My Pixels Wet

I was scanning through my side bar yesterday and caught a post on Ziki’s blog about a new water and rain sim that opened up called H22O. I love water sims, their empty spaces leave so much to the imagination, perhaps more so than the items placed in them do. In touring you are left to wonder if the separate areas with trees, or wreckage, or ruins are part of a one continuous build concept, or vignettes onto themselves.  Chapters perhaps, parts of the same story. With very little to cast shadows, it challenges you to get creative with lighting and composition. This is the first thing at H22O that caught my eye. It’s haunting isn’t it? And yet, if you step outside the initial and obvious reaction, there is a sense of tranquility to it. Stillness.

A Little Rain Must Fall

Rain is an usual thing, all weather is actually. We sometimes attribute feelings, moods, to weather. Sunny days are happy, rainy days are sad, storms are frightening or chaotic. I suppose in truth they are, or can be, but who hasn’t experienced the exceptions, with rain in particular. I don’t know what spring is like in your part of the world, but here it’s dusty and dirty and brown. Dead. All the residue of snow piles, salt, sand, last year’s garbage, old leaves, stark branches, and things best not discussed in polite company are revealed when the snow melts. For all it’s damp and chill, it’s only the rain that can clean all that away, to bring color, and new life. Rain isn’t sad, it’s a promise.  It’s hope.

A Promise of Hope

Rain can be special in another unique way though, not just the cleansing of the old and encouraging the growth of the new, but it can be cozy, comforting even. It’s rainy days that encourage us to curl up with a book, a cup of tea, and let nature’s rhythm slow us down, pause, spend some time with ourselves in an honest way. If I were at home I’d slip into an old shirt, you know the kind. That one you borrowed one night from an old flame and forgot to return? The one your husband wore yesterday and left on the edge of the bed when he went to work?

I chose this shirt dress called Timm from coldLogic’s latest release for that very reason. I suppose it was probably meant to be a dress, but in my mind it was a shirt, not just any shirt, but that shirt. I don’t have anything like that in Second Life, I don’t mean shirts, I have those, I mean items belonging to others that can serve as mementos. The technicalities of permissions eh? Who knew they’d rob of us that so very human experience of holding something that belonged to someone else, to lift it to our faces and catch the scent memories, to run our fingers along the buttons and travel back to another time.

Talking To Angels

That doesn’t mean I don’t have fond memories of people I’ve been close to in Second Life, they are just triggered by different things. Instead of something I can hold, or touch, or own, they are often things I can visit. Places where memories were made. I didn’t realize when I started my visit to H22O that I’d encounter two of the most special to me, a lighthouse, and a piano, but there they were. No pictures I’m afraid, I just couldn’t. Oh I tried, believe me I tried, I wanted to with only the obsessiveness I can put into things, but I just couldn’t capture the right angles, the right lighting, the right mood. As I sat there feeling my frustrations growing, tense because I couldn’t get the perfect shot, I realized it’s because it’s not the right time. The rain is meant to wash those things away, blur them into the comfy haze of yesterday and clear the air for the new growth that is coming tomorrow. It doesn’t mean I don’t remember, I do, and can visit those memories on a moments notice any time I wish. It’s just that… maybe I don’t need to anymore?

It’s a good thing. It is. A new season, a new beginning, a time to look forward. I dug around in my inventory remembering an umbrella I got when Baffle closed, so no matter how much it rains, I’m ready.

I Came Prepared

Dress and Belt: Timm from coldLogic
Umbrella with poses from Baffle.
Hair: Genesis from TRUTH
Skin, appliers and Mesh Lashes: Ewa kinder former TDR item from Al Vulo
Eyes: Ellis-Lavender from [LeLutka]
Slink Avatar Enhancement Hands – Casual
Slink AvaEnhance Mid-Height Feet
H220 http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/KSA%20Atlantis/196/159/502

A Drop of Vanity

Have you ever had a bad haircut?  I mean really bad?  Nothing that will work itself out in a week or with some styling tricks, but something that will require either an even more drastic haircut to fix, or 6 months until it’s back to where you started?  I just did.  Sucksalot.  I never thought I was this vain. I’m a pretty low maintenance kind of gal, my avatar actually owns way more shoes and makeup than I do. However, I gotta admit, staring at my hair, running my fingers through and having them come up short of where they should, I realized that I just may be.  Comfort food would have been my first go to, but I can’t really eat my way through the next six months, so retail therapy is required.

The fastest, most convenient, and cheapest form of retail therapy for me is Second Life, and this weekend did not disappoint.  Sales and Specials and Events oh my!  I’m drowning in happy, until I reach up to play with my hair that is… but, hands on the keyboard and I’ll make it through this just fine.

I was browsing The Dressing Room’s 4^th Birthday event and then a notice came in, Spring Sn@tch Sale.  If you are reading this, and if it’s still Monday, stop now and head over to the Sn@tch Mainstore for 50% to 75% off everything except new releases through until Monday April 28^th.  I’ll wait for you.

Back?  Ok good.  Sn@tch has an interesting way to price things doesn’t it?  Sales aside, unlike other stores where you pick a color, and get all sizes when you buy, at Sn@tch you pick a size and get all colors.  See those pants up there, nice aren’t they?  Checkered or plaid aren’t usually my thing, but once I saw how my ass looked in the demo, I had to have them.  I got 8 colors in the pack for 135L.  Expect to be seeing me in them, a lot.

I’ve written about Sn@tch before, not just because of the deals, but it’s actually a fun place to hang out.  Shopping aside, if you are the kind of person who prefers to shop in world than the marketplace, this will hit all the high notes, from the VIP lounge to lucky boards, riot vendors to fishing.  That’s right, you can fish for an outfit, takes maybe a couple hours and you can catch all the pieces.  If you don’t, no problem, the Sn@tch group is a great resource to find people to trade with, or to call everyone down to flash mob the riot vendors.  Even just sitting in the store, there is always people around, you are bound to start up a conversation and help each other out by trading missing pieces.

There are other fun details, like a dressing room, a catwalk, even a photostudio, and if you wander the outside, the rest of the mall, you’ll see the theme carries on.  That’s where I took that picture above actually, out front of the store.  I can spend an entire online session at Sn@tch, no need to go anywhere else, chatting, music, prizes, what else could I need?  It’s also great place to tackle my embarrassingly out of control inventory, I can lounge on one of the couches while I wait for my letter to come up or keep an eye out on the riots.  That’s actually what I was doing, rummaging around my inventory picking out items to put together for this look, and what better inspiration than these messages behind me?

See the necklace I’m wearing, I got that today at Sn@tch too, when my letter came up on the lucky board.  Guess what it’s called?  Drops of Vanity.  Welcome back Serendipity, I’ve missed you.

Credits:

Shirt:  Bad News Crop Top :::Sn@tch::: Spring Sale
Pants:  Lulu Leggings :::Sn@tch::: Spring Sale
Neck Lace:  Drop of Vanity :::Sn@tch::: Lucky Board
Sn@tch Main Store  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Snatch%20City/136/101/29
Skin:  Celestial glow milk -al vulo- available at The Dressing Room 4^th Birthday
Poses Label Motion Love Set at The Dressing Room 4^th Birthday
The Dressing Room 4^th Birthday until May 9th http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Imogen/200/153/27
Hair:  Lory Mesh Hair Aquatic /Wasabi Pills/ former Arcade Gatcha Prize
Makeup:  Bleeding Eyes – Goth Black  ::Para Desings:: free gift
Face Piercings:  Fire In The Water Midnight – .HoD. – former hunt prize
Lashes:  Mesh Eye Lashes – Maitreya V.I.P. Group Gift (old gift)
Eyes:  Ellis-Lavender [LeLutka]
Slink Casual Hands and Mid-Height Bare Feet

Boudoir Bunny

Sometimes people ask me why I don’t take pictures or blog anymore, ok, three times, but still I’ve been asked and it makes for a good lead in. I don’t really have an answer, it’s certainly something I love to do, so it wasn’t lost interest, I think it was at least partially lack of time. The original intent of this blog was to rediscover Second Life, to find new things to do, new places to see, meet new people, and work on my photography skills while I was at it. Now that I only manage to get into SL once every two to three weeks, I don’t get as many chances to explore anymore so I felt like I didn’t have much to share. If I wasn’t sticking to my original purpose, or could only update once a month, should I bother? After great deliberation, I’ve decided that I should bother. Who cares if I only take pictures once every two weeks? Or blog three days in a row then not again for a month? I don’t have sponsors or ads, no commitments, and it’s something I find relaxing so I’ll post now and again when the mood strikes me.

Being a four day weekend here I did have a bit of time to get online, mostly because I was inspired to pick up this Daffodil Bunny outfit that is currently a group gift at Boudoir. As has happened in the past, I was happy with the look I put together, but didn’t have a new place in mind that I wanted to take pictures. Normally I would have searched Easter, or bunnies, or checked out the new art installations to find the perfect location to suit it, but I realized that’s been part of my problem. You see, I had this strange rule in my head that every post has to feature a new item, in a new place, with a written post that somehow ties together both. Sometimes I’d visit a place, but have no new look to show or none that suited the location theme. Other times, like today, I’d have a new outfit but couldn’t think of a new place to showcase it in. In both of those cases, if I didn’t have something to write, I didn’t feel like there was a reason to take pictures. Whoever made that rule that all three boxes had to be checked in order to blog really should reconsider… oh wait, it was me, which means I can break the rule right? I hope so, because I did.

I took the picture right outside the store at Boudoir. And why not? It’s a really fun place to visit, not only themed outfits for just about any event or holiday you can think of, pieces that really work well in photography, but furniture, landscaping and buildings too. There is the most adorable Alice in Wonderland furniture and pose set there I have my eye on, but I really don’t have anywhere to put it,  that doesn’t stop me from visiting it in the store though.

I like stores with an inworld presence, not just because I much prefer shopping in world to the marketplace, but I feel like they add something to Second Life. They are part of the community. I do realize that land prices makes going marketplace only attractive to some merchants, but I miss them, and it makes me sad that it seems to be a growing trend. Visiting a store you get an idea about the creator, their vision, the way they use and enjoy Second Life. It adds to my own immersion in a way too I suppose, going shopping, walking about a store, far more than marketplace ever will.

There will always be people like me who enjoy the shopping experience in Second Life for it’s own sake, but it’s not just the experience, it’s that the marketplace is incredibly frustrating to me. I hate it, I really do. I don’t know if it’s because I don’t use it enough and so I’m not good at it, but things are never where I expect them to be, I have all kinds of problems entering key words, and then changing categories only to have my keywords cleared out. There appears to be no policing on the key words either, and that annoys me,  I don’t like being conned into wasting my time.  I also wish I could mute or ignore a creator. If I’ve decided I never want to shop at store A, I don’t want store A’s listings showing up every time I search. If they ever make changes to the marketplace, I really hope that’s one of them. Another, which is not only frustrating to shoppers, but creators too, is the multiple listings for the same item if there are many colors. That’s a cute dress, but I don’t want to see 9 ads for the demo, the 7 colors you have, and the fat pack, just show me one and let me pick the color. Right now I can scroll three pages of listing and only really see 3 items, what a waste.

Anyway, shopping in world has it’s benefits, not only did I pick up this Bunny outfit as an in store group gift, but I discovered that Boudoir has gatchas. I did not know this. I decided to try my hand, once, to see what I would get. Score! Check out this adorable swing set, it comes with the trees and arch and everything.

It’s really cute on my land, which has sat empty since I got a new neighbour who is fond of banlines and circa 2007 iron fences. I know, I know, I’ve heard all the arguments, but I’m a big believer in mainland and I do love living there, although I’ll be the first to admit the neighbours make all the difference. I’ve waited out others in the past, I may wait this one out, or try to sell, but until then I’m just going to reduce my draw distance and enjoy my swing.

Outfit: Corset, chest flowers, headpiece with ears – “Daffodil Bunny” – In Store Group gift from Boudoir
“Spring Swing” Gatcha Prize from Boudoir
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Boudoir/123/215/22
Hair: “Genesis” – Truth Hair
Skin: “Celestial china red fairy” – Al Vulo – available at The Dressing Room
Shoes: “Flirt Cross Strap Mules” – Sax Shepherd Designs
Lips: “Hypershine Lipcolor Raspberry Wine” – Previous group gift from Mock Cosmetics
Manicure and Pedicure: (.vix) – Bright Solids
Eyes: Ellis-Lavender [LeLutka]
Lashes: Previous Group Gift from Maitreya
Slink Casual Hands and Slink Mid height Feet

The Edge of Hazardous in ColdLogic

The notecard and blog post for the latest ColdLogic release was titled “Bad Girls in Great Cardigans”.    I had to smile, that sounded like a perfect inspiration for a blog post.  I love the combination of the pink cardigan with the black and grey dress but even better news is that there is a cardigan only version included so you can wear it with other separates. That’s like getting two outfits in one!

We all know how dangerous bad girls can be, so a trip to the Hazardous sim that I read about on Ziki’s blog seemed in order.  As you can see from her pictures it’s a lovely build with wild grasses and abandoned buildings but I was inspired to do this whole set with night time lighting to keep with my bad girl concept.

As I jumped (ok, I fell) off the edge of the build I found several little scenes set up in the water.  You know where I’m going with this right?  Edge was the prompt for this week’s Single Frame Story.  I keep telling you guys, these posts create themselves.  I’m just the typist.

Lana del Rey’s Out of Luck, one of my favorite bad girl songs, played no small part in this set as I had it on repeat while doing the pictures.

Credits:
Dress and Cardigan Combo:  “lutz.bubblegum” NEW from coldLogic
Hair:  “Shine -Colour 08” from [e]likatira
Skin:  “Amberly -Artic Valentine 01” by Glam Affair  (available at The Dressing Room Fusion)
Eye Makeup:  “Thalassa purple – Blue” from PMD (Pin Me Down)
“Hypershine Lipcolor Raspberry Wine” group gift from [mock]
Bracelet:  “One Moment Black Onyx” Bracelet gift from RookHold (RH Designs)
Earrings:  “{Cherry} Mia Nugget Earrings noir dots” available at L’accessoires
Shoes:   “Baby T’s Plain Black” from [PM] Pixel Mode
Mesh Lashes by Al Vulo
Eyes:  Ellis-Lavender from [LeLutka]
Poses:  Del May
Location:  Hazardous
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Misali/165/163/195

DollCoco’s Dorothy and the Magic of Oz

Remember the feeling of opening a new notebook, journal or daytimer at the start of a new year?  All the clean crisp pages, those little promises you make to yourself about having neater handwriting and most importantly using it more often?  Blogs are a lot like that, to me anyway, and I wanted to make all kinds of these promises to myself about the year to come but so far I haven’t done a single one!  Oh well, it made me smile to think of those traditions and know I’ve transferred them to my virtual life, so I guess it was worth it.  Maybe it’s the process of setting goals or resolutions that is more important than actually accomplishing them? I think I’ll just keep telling myself that.

The other night I saw an offline in my email that Coco/DollCoco had a new gift in store.  A mesh full avatar of Dorothy and a set of display decorations of the other characters from Wizard of Oz.  You can see the whole set on the blog here.

I absolutely love the DollCoco mesh avatars,  do you remember when I blogged them before?    They remind me of the work of my favorite artist, Angelina Wrona; doll like, awkwardly beautiful and just that wee bit creepy.  I mean that in the nicest possible way, trust me, this notice not only got my butt logged into SL, but out exploring, taking pictures, and even blogging.  How’s that for inspiration.

Are you tired of me talking about the hand serendipity plays in my life?  I feel like I mention it in every post, in fact one of my promises was to cut back on that, but… as I said, I haven’t kept one of those promises yet.  As I’m hanging out at my place in my Dorothy avatar I read about the Magic of Oz sim on SLU.  I’d seen a few blog posts about it before, Inara Pey’s comes to mind now, but somehow I’d forgotten until that moment.  Dorothy gift?  Oz Sim?  I’d probably get struck by lightning if I didn’t go over and take pictures.

I could have skipped along the yellow brick road, licked lollipops in Munchkinland, or explored the Emerald city and learned more about the breedable Strangelings  which are for sale at the Magic of Oz but I was drawn to something a bit darker, the Witches house.

I’m honestly not a dark or creepy person in real life, no really, I’m not despite multiple posts of headless dolls and skeletons and zombies.  I just seem to get inspired by doing the darker type of pictures.  Maybe it’s for contrast.  Surreal lighting with a slightly awkward looking Dorothy lost in an eerie land of Oz, or overly chatty soccer mom?  The choice seems easy there.  It’s my second life so why not enjoy being every possible thing I can be, even occasionally dark.

Full “Dorothy” Mesh Avatar including Toto a remarkably generous gift from Coco/DollCoco
Poses Advent Calendar Gifts from Exposeur
Location Magic of Oz
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Magic%20of%20Oz/182/68/22

Visiting the Warbugs with Skulprit Vehicles from Unhinged

We recently got word that Unhinged raised enough for Eku to schedule and receive her surgery. I’m so moved by everyone who participated; from DJ’s to creators, all the SL residents who stopped by to shop or donate, to the countless hours put in by the organizers. Sometimes I’m so proud of my fellow SL residents, of the connections we make, of the way we support each other. Unhinged is just one of the many ways that continuously proves that Second Life is so much more than just a game or virtual world. I don’t know what it is, and the debate has been had countless times by people far better than me, but whatever we call it the news of what we’ve accomplished here this past few weeks brought tears to my eyes.

Our work isn’t over though, far from it. While Eku recovers in hospital and we wait to see how everything turns out, we can keep on fundraising. Although what we accomplished seems miraculous, it in no way paid for the entire surgery, it only got her to the point that she could have it and the balance is still owing. Unhinged is running until December 15^thand we’re in the final week here folks so I wanted to toss in one more incentive for you to come down.

I’m adorable right? I’m wearing one of a set of four mesh avatars by Skulprit that you can get at Unhinged for only 200L each. You can see the whole set on Bouncer’s Blog here.

The hot air balloon I’m standing in above is just one of the Skulprit vehicles in the gatchas for only 50L a play. There are hoverbikes, hot air balloons, hovercars and biplanes. Probably the most fun you’ll have for 50L in SL. Collect the whole set, or buy some for friends as they are transfer and would make great holiday gifts.  These vehicles aren’t just fun, they are easy to use because they are wearable so the controls are just like walking.

I decided to test out my flying machines at the Warbugs headquarters.  Now, not to confuse anyone, these Skulprit mesh vehicles are not scripted to interact with the Warbug crafts but it’s one of the funnest places I know to fly and I always meet great people when I’m there so it was a natural leap for me.

If you aren’t familiar with the Warbugs I really recommend a visit.  There are a variety of vehicles to purchase, to win in the lucky chair, as well as demos if you click the windsock.  You can also purchase the Warbug kit so that you can build your own out of anything that you have mod rights too.  There were a couple fellows there when I stopped in and they showed me all the silly things they turned into Warbugs, including a turtle.  I asked if any of them had tried make a flying bathtub, and though they hadn’t I suspect I may see one on the next visit.

I’m terrible at flying Warbugs, somehow within seconds I’m flying upside down and I’ve yet to shoot a single person.  I suspect a big part of the reason is I’m usually laughing too hard.  That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!  However, the group keeps a website with the weekly leader boards that you can see your score if you want to.  http://warbug.net/  I ranked as a sitting duck from an earlier visit this week, which was actually a pretty accurate description.  I don’t know if it’s my eye hand coordination, or the fact that I’m not comfortable using my WASD to move, but I had the same issues when I tried to use a bow as a panther girl.

There was a dogfight in progress when I arrived so I stayed out of the way up above in my Skulprit police hovercraft watching the show and I realized that Warbugs are as much fun to watch as they are to fly.  This gave me the idea that other groups could maybe use the Warbugs as community events.  I looked into it, and sure enough, if you buy a Warbug windsock and place it on your sim you can have the same dogfights and track rankings within your group.  How fun would that be?  If you buy the kits, you could even make your own sim specific Warbugs and it would be a great activity for any community or group looking to do something together.  I could even see this as an OOC event on a roleplay sim.  They call these secondary locations Combat Zones and there is a list of them here http://warbug.net/combatzones.html.

You have one week left to visit Unhinged to pick up these Skulprit avatars and vehicles, don’t forget to stop by the other vendors and gatchas while you are there, and it’s looking like we’re going to have a wrap up party on December 15^th with DJ’s again.

Warbugs is open all the time so be sure to check them out if you are looking for a new activity.  I’ve found everyone I’ve run into there to be really friendly with just the right dose of silly thrown in.

Credits:

Skulprit Mesh Avatar Pinkipoo (one of 4 available for 200L at Unhinged)

Skulprit HotBalloon Totoro (one of 10 available for 50L per play in the Gatchas at Unhinged)

Skulprit BiPlane Rising Sun (one of 7 available for 50L per play in the Gatchas at Unhinged)

Skulprit Hovercar PoPo (one of 10 available for 50L per play in the Gatchas at Unhinged)

Unhinged Until December 15th

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Port%20Seraphine/205/124/28

Warbugs Headquarters

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Black%20Forest/174/61/21