SL DisneyBound – Week Four: Snow White

Once upon a time in a misty-gray world, a Raven and a Butterfly fell out of love and battled to the death. The Raven's sharp beak left golden dust and blue tears filtering down from a butterfly wing, and the Butterfly's sharp words drew blood and feathers from the Raven, and their wounds littered the snowing ice below as they both expired from their wounds. It wasn't until Spring when the ground began to bloom again, dust and tears, blood and feathers, snow and death rising from the ground and named by the birds Snow White. She emerged from the cage left of their dying wishes to see the world and find it made of equal parts light and dark, day and night, joy and grief, love and hate - each so mingled they can't be separated. The whispers of the bees and the whimpers of the swallows led her inexorably to the Apple of Desire, which tempted the palm of her hand, the shadows of her form, the icy bite of her teeth. She followed it's trail of passion to find it at last, caged and cold and shrouded in mists. Her fingers brushed the cold bars and they gave way before her, the apple transforming at her touch to fledgling and chrysalis, each having waited in crimson silence for their pain to return to them reborn. 'Eat Me' the Apple whispered, and she did. 'Eat me,' the world whispered, and she went to consume it all with a smile and a cut of canines.

Coming up with a look for Snow White almost undid me; it took me longer than any look to date, and unlike almost all of the older ones, everything I used except the corset came from already sorted clothing which I've owned for quite a while. The corset was my starting point; representing my science, Pisces, it's the only corset of Perception that I've indulged in, though I've been tempted by a bunch of the other Zodiac Releases she's had and I've picked up some of her jewelry. For the rest of the outfit I struggled, though. Although the colors vary widely, the roses and clothing attached to them are parts taken from G Field's indomitable Fairy dress with it's wide variety of skirts and it's beautiful texturing. I actually started with the skirt and then filled in the rest once I realized how well the corset and skirt fit together; thank everything that the dress was prim instead of rigged mesh, or I could have never pulled this off.

After a whole lot of trial and error, I finally settled on this very old dress release from Blue Blood - one of my favorites of her whitegoth releases, and a dress I actually have pulled out a few times for different looks because I like it so much. Again, since it was prim instead of mesh I was able to do a lot more nudging, including leaving off one of the sleeves so that my arm flowers would work out. The love of the Raven and Butterfly lived on in Eclectica's gorgeous heart jewelry, which like a lot of her releases was color changing so that I could make it match with the rest of my look. I also echoed the red in my gorgeous Adore & Abhor lipstick, pairing it with this dark, short style from Wasabi Pills to match up with Snow White's fabled lips as Red and Blood and Hair as dark as a Raven's Wing. The Fabled Apple of Desire is actually a free purchase in World's End Garden, the gorgeous sim where I took these pictures and the setting for my Fairy Tale.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Ears: Illusions, Seelie
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Lipstick: Adore & Abhor, Shreveport Lips - Blood
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Claire Mesh (promotional item)
Flowers: G Field, Rose Fairy
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Jewelry: Eclectica, Antique Hearts
Hands: SLink, Mesh Hands
Apple: World's End Garden, Apple of Desire
Shirt: Blue Blood, Fluture
Corset: Perception, Underbust Corset - Pisces
Skirt: G Field, Rose Fairy
Shoes: G Field, Flower Pumps "Eve"

Poses: Glitterati

Location: World's End Garden
Light Settings: Places Kumming
Water Settings: Mirror Glass

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

How NOT to Pick up a Chick in Second Life - Episode 10

Oh my gods, it's been so long since this happened last, I was almost bouncing when I got the initial IM, expecting where it would end up. He was almost a classic case; his profile was completely empty except for some dating sim groups, he was only a little over a month old, he was over a hundred meters away from me, he clearly hadn't looked at my profile much less read it, and he was completely incapable of anything resembling a conversation, up to and including spelling three letter words.

[I Luv Bling]: hey baby
Deoridhe Quandry: Hello.
[I Luv Bling]: how r u?
Deoridhe Quandry: I'm doing pretty well. How are you?
[I Luv Bling]: im cool ty
Deoridhe Quandry: That's nice.
[I Luv Bling]: how is the day going on
Deoridhe Quandry: It's going well.
[I Luv Bling]: hmm nice to see u
Deoridhe Quandry: Your ability to see from 100 meters away is impressive.
[I Luv Bling]: sry nice to hear
[I Luv Bling]: can i see u
Deoridhe Quandry: If you're using a graphical browser, you definitely can.
[I Luv Bling]: can u teleport me to ur place
Deoridhe Quandry: What do you mean "my place"? And why?
[I Luv Bling]: to see u
Deoridhe Quandry: We're on the same sim. If you know your way around, you can find me. I'm in public.
[I Luv Bling] tries to teleport you
Deoridhe Quandry: I don't want to teleport to you, thank you.

He stopped contacting me, and indeed left the sim we were in, as soon as I flat out refused to do what he wanted. I suppose, if his eventual goal was a minute on poseballs with my naked avatar like I expect, this sort of sorting through people makes sense; he wants someone compliant and obedient, not someone who has an identity and opinions. Like usual, like always it seems, the kind of men prone to sending these IMs aren't interested in meeting other people, they're interested in whatever they can get and drop you as soon as you don't conform to their will. It's sad, really.

I want to contrast this with another conversation, at the same place, this one in open chat. This person was also male, also about a month old, and approached me while I was posing on one of the entry levels of the sim I was in. In contrast to [I Luv Bling], he spoke to me in open chat and was in the same general area as I was when he approached me. Similarly, though, his profile was nearly empty.

[Newbie]: Greetings Deoridhe
Deoridhe Quandry: Hello.
[Newbie]: What year is it here?
Deoridhe Quandry: Year? Huh?
[Newbie]: Is this place futuristic?
Deoridhe Quandry: It looks it to me, I'm not sure.
[Newbie]: I see so you are wandering around as well
Deoridhe Quandry: Yes, I'm taking pictures.
[Newbie]: cool
[Newbie]: sorry to bother you
Deoridhe Quandry: It's all right. I'm not sure this is an rping sim, though. It seems to be more of a decorative store.
Deoridhe Quandry: There were no RP rules at the landing point that I saw.
[Newbie]: RP rules?
[Newbie]: role playing rules?
Deoridhe Quandry: For a roleplaying sim. Most of them have roleplaying rules and a brief notecard on history.
[Newbie]: I see
Deoridhe Quandry: At least all the rps I've been in.
[Newbie]: not sure what a roleplaying sim is but thanks
Deoridhe Quandry: This one had a notecard welcoming machinima makers and photographers.
[Newbie]: Please forgive my ignorance
[Newbie]: : )
Deoridhe Quandry: It's a sim where you roleplay - where you have a character and act out it's story with other people.
[Newbie]: oh cool ty
Deoridhe Quandry: As opposed to all of Second Life, which is usually not roleplay though it can be.
[Newbie]: Well, I am off to further explore. btw, we can buy L$?
Deoridhe Quandry: Yes, you can with money.
Deoridhe Quandry: You have to sign up with paypal or a credit card.
[Newbie]: i see thank you
Deoridhe Quandry: You're welcome.
[Newbie]: bye
Deoridhe Quandry: Here, have my new resident kit. It can help. ^.^
[Newbie]: thanks
Deoridhe Quandry: You're welcome. Have fun

Notice the difference. Notice the comments about where we were, direct questions in response to what I said, the interest in our surroundings and in learning more, and the complete lack of reliance on me being obedient or doing what he wanted. This is called a conversation. This is how to approach someone in public. He still didn't pick me up, but I'm - like - made of lead and you need a lot of strength to actually pick me up.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Ears: Illusions, Seelie
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Eyeliner: cheLLe, Cleo Called Teal
Lipstick: Mock, Glasside Lip - Flame Pea x2
Hair: Secrets Hair, Hollow - Nordic (promotional item)
Hat: Lode, BitterSweet
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Dress: The White Armory, Lasting Impressions
Hands: SLink, Mesh Hands
Gloves: Adam n Eve, Opera Gloves
Glove Ends: Eclectica, Swoon - ebony
Shoes: G Field, Square-toe Shoes

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Natural mignon Colore
Light Settings: Places Greed
Water Settings: Mirror Glass

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

Monday Meme: My Ten Second Life Firsts

Strawberry has another meme, this time a very nosy one about all kinds of firsts! Naughty, nosy Strawberry! What can I do but to acquiesce to your curiosity and talk about one of my favorite subjects, myself?

1. First SL Friend: My darling Ro-chan. Rowan also introduced me to Second Life, though she wasn't the inspiration for me staying - that I hand to the philosophy discussions I now barely attend. My first real friend made in Second Life was Xeneri, who I have met offline and who has now mostly left Second Life.


2. First SL Kiss: It would have had to be in character, and I think it was the first relationship Deoridhe got involved in which quickly segued to a V style threesome and from there to Deoridhe being indirectly dumped by someone now not interested in her at all. This was actually a really gut-twisting experience out of character as well, for a variety of reasons.


3. First SLex time/place/partner: Same person as above, in character. It was on a sim called Karamoon, the second place I ever roleplayed, and started a trend of Deoridhe only being involved in threesomes, almost always as the extra person, and always with two guys.


4. First SL Partner/Girlfriend/Boyfriend/Wife/Husband: Never really had one. I briefly partnered a male friend to try to torment his stalker, but it ended up being boring and so I divorced him with much taunting. The funniest moment was when another friend noticed he was my partner and freaked out because I hadn't mentioned anything.


5. First SL Job: Closest I have is being a blogger; I am paid in STUFF! I have been invited to work at a couple of store sims, but it always involved remembering when I needed to be there and that seemed kind of a pain in the ass.


6. First SL Creation: Difficult to say, probably a fountain, but the first I ever lived in was my beloved globe home with the spiral staircase down the middle. I designed and made those fountains myself, all out of basic prims because I had no access to sculpties. I made it so that you could walk up the fountains from level to level all the way to the top, which was a dance ball. The fountain continues all the way down, flowing down a tube in the middle of the house to a pond in the basement, which I always wanted to add fish to. Now and then I consider getting into sculpties to try to remake those fountains; I was so proud of them!




7. First Encounter with a SLebrity: I'm honestly not sure what a SLebrity is. The first time I ever spoke to someone I knew through other means first was Azriel Demain of Falln Angel Creations. We ended up being quite good friends in the end.


8. First Encounter with a Linden: I have never met a Linden. I was once within speaking distance of a Linden bot which apparent measured lag or something? I've been to Torley's sim a few times, but never met him.


9. First SL Sim you fell in love with: Ooooh, it's an even fight between Immersiva and World's End Garden. For both of them, I gasps out loud when I teleported in. 


10. First SL Blog Post: A Beginning was my first blogpost, which heavily referenced things I'd created through Gaia Online, my previous time wasting hobby. I still consider myself kinda new, though - usually only fifty views per post is kinda teensy, even if it's a whole lot more than I had when I started!

( More favorite pictures here. )

Twisted Color Challenge: Week 15 - Boysenberry Field

Boysenberry Fields is a warm, snuggly set of colors - a brownish gray and a warm purplish pink - and I was feeling particularly warm and snuggly, and so ended up snuggling into this gorgeous beary hoodie from Violent Seduction in a rich shade of purple. It has these wonderful, but pockets - maybe on a future time I'll attempt to fill them with something appropriate, like candy or frogs. I crowned it in Wild Things style with this adorable new crown from Dilly Dolls - who also supplied my cute short skirt and a pair of heels I tinted to match the overall look. I loved the style when similar crowns in gray and white were released for FreeStyle, and these are just darling and come in white and black with dark and light versions of the colors. My Dilly Dolls fuscia was match with this awesome fuscia lipstick from Adore & Abhor, while I echoed the paler pink in my beary Violent Seduction ears is echoed in a simple eyeshadow from Elymode. I like pulling individual shades out of a look to reflect in cosmetics; I think it's a subtle way to pull together a look without getting too "matchy." My hair was by far the hardest part of this look - I went through two stores before finally settling on this short hairstyle from Wasabi Pills, and am considering making a new section of my hair organization "fits under hood".

Around my neck, I tucked this really awesome scarf from Miel which was thankfully editable enough to make it fit; much as I love mesh, several of the looks I've done over the past few months would have been a lot harder if all of my inventory was mesh. That being said, my SLink hands fit perfectly under the Violent Seduction hoodie arms, and I even got to have the little thumbs through the holes which always makes me giggle when I see them. Wriggle and be free, little thumbs! Wriggle and be free! The mesh skirt from Dilly Dolls is also rigged mesh and yet, using a couple sizes smaller than my usual, I was able to fit it and make a really polished, yet adorable look. The stockings are from G Field, and I actually tinted them slightly antiqued to match the brownish-gray of my Miel scarf. Those slightly tinted toes got tucked into majorly tinted shoes, also from Dilly Dolls, so that I was co-ordinated from crown to toes.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Ears: Illusions, Seelie
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Eyeshadow: Elymode, Brown & Pink
Lipsticks: Adore & Abhor, Shreveport Lips Fuscia
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Princess Mesh (promotional item)
Crown: Dilly Dolls, Hearty Crown
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Hoodie: Violent Seduction, Ferale Hoodie
Scarf: Miel, Fringe Scarf - leafy
Skirt: Dilly Dolls, Kasset Black
Hands: SLink, Mesh Hands
Tights: G Field, Print Tights
Shoes: Dilly Dolls, Saula Dark Heels

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Split Screen: The Scribbled Cliffs
Light Settings: Phototools - Dream Book 02
Water Settings: Mirror Glass

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

Weakness for the Past: Medici, Borgia, Michelangelo, and Machiavelli

I have a distinct weakness for the past - though it's not the glamorous (and largely fictitious) past of the early nineteenth century in Hollywood, but rather Florence in a time of violence, beauty, chaos, creativity, horror, and passion.It was a time of my favorite sculptor, Michelangelo; my favorite patriarch, Lorenzo de Medici, the father of modern political thought and a strand of ethics, Machiavelli, and my favorite family, the Borgias. So much was crammed in such a little period of time, and in such a small place as Florence - a place I have never been and yet that I love in absentia. The resurrection of this love in my mind was inspired by a series of posts by Ex Urbe about Machiavelli (Parts I, Ia, II, III, IV, Extra) which re-awoke in me all of the love inspired by my initial exploration of Michelangelo and his art in High School. Love for the Medici family is part and parcel of love of Michelangelo, but I came at the Borgias from another angle - a Japanese angle oddly enough - and fell in love with them, for all of their horror and cruelty, before I realized they were part of the same time I had studied before as a peaceful time of plenty. Machiavelli was a late love, and mostly read because everyone spoke about The Prince as if it was the handbook of horror.

Coming off of Aristotle, Machiavelli was a respite; Aristotle is a philosopher who loathes the period so much that he can't stand using it more than two or three times a page, while Machiavelli's style was simple and concise and with the semi-colon returned to it's place as occasional, rather than continual, punctuation mark (seriously, if you're reading philosophy outside of a class, forget Socrates and Aristotle - Machiavelli is your friend). I fell into his style so easily that it took a while to figure out that much of what he was saying was ethically monstrous to me, if practical and with some solidity of reason. I didn't realize until reading through Ex Urbe's entertaining history of Florence and Machiavelli how tightly all of my favorites fit together, and how deeply tumultuous that period of time was. Even for people who don't like history, I really recommend checking this out; maybe you will join me in the "I love Florence" corner with Machiavelli, drunkenly arguing about whether the Ends justify the Means.

My second ode to Hollywood took me to World's End Garden despite the threat of clash with my deliciously over-the-top feathered accessories from Eclectica. Somehow managing to take showgirl style and turn it into fantastic formal-wear, the second I saw these in a notecard I knew I had to have them. Anyone who has worn clothing with feathers knows that Alpha Occlusion is a real and present danger, but somehow Eclectica has managed to form everything so that issues are relatively minimal and the effect is usually attractive, not awful. I'm honestly not quite sure how she did it; the biggest issues were between my hair and the feathers, where the transparent layers really didn't get along. All of the effects in my pictures are form Second Life, by the way; I know all my pictures say that in the credits, but I want to reiterate - there has been absolutely no photoshopping to clean up the alpha in these pictures. The second Hollywood purchase is this amazing sparkly dress which is available in just about every color imaginable, of which I splurged on three, from Epic. The store name fits the dress. The mesh dress itself is a template, but the texture simply blew me away. I love how the sparkles were achieved, somehow looking authentic without becoming either blotchy or overwhelming. Whether up close or at a distance, the effect remains Epic. I wanted a really simply hairstyle to go with my otherwise extravagant look, so I ended up seeking out Truth and making use of the streaks effects he's added to some of his hairs; I think the two simply purple stripes just finish the look perfectly. The final touch was a somewhat simple but sufficiently Hollywood cosmetics set, and I chose a turquoise color to contrast with the purple stripes in my hair made by my eternal favorite cosmetics store, Mock, complete with a star over one eye.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Ears: Illusions, Seelie
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Cosmetics: Mock, Aos Si Stars Turquoise
Hair: Truth, Maggie w/Roots
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Feathers: Eclectica, Flaunt Feathers & Gloves
Dress: Epic, Mesh Princess Glitter

Poses: Glitterati

Location: World's End Garden
Light Settings: AnaLutetia - AvatarOp
Water Settings: Mirror Glass

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

Twisted Color Challenge: Week 14 - Sangria’s Shadow

It has been a long, long, long time since I made an almost-entirely-freebie outfit, and somehow it's even cooler that it fits for Sangria's Shadow, but the Hollywood Event, with the nearly universal freebies, inspired me to give it a try. It's a bit of a pain to navigate, having several structures instead of a single path, but oh man is it worth it. Almost everything I'm wearing above - except for the shoes and the silver and black jewelry set, and my usual skin and such - are freebies. I ended up wearing things I might not have otherwise, but I think in the end I mimic a jetsetter really well, and classed my butt up over at Bladerunner City for some awesome, modern pictures of the 3030 Faerie on the go. Starting from the top is this awesome tattoo-plus-braids hairstyle from EMO-tions, which actually came with a whole outfit. I liked the hair best, though; I love the braid coils, though halfway through the silver went kind of blond, but it still looks awesome so I can't exactly complain. Both of my jewelry sets - two sets of earrings, two necklaces, and a set of bracelets - are also from EMO-tions, and I ended up really liking the combination, layered effect. The red jewelry comes with bling, but it's a simple open chat command to turn it off, and it appears to stay off once turned of. Yay!

The awesome sunglasses - free, mind you - are from a new-to-me store called ZED, and I really love the texturing on them to bits. They don't match the city, but I simply don't care; they look completely awesome. These are totally not my usual style, but they will now firmly remain ensconced in my inventory waiting for a similarly over the top look in the future. I layered my lipstick again, with glorious result I think. Adore & Abhor makes fantastic brightly colored and thick lipstick which is a perfect base for Mock's more glossy, polished style on top. These are two of my favorite cosmetics companies, and I think you can see why at a glance. I really wanted a saturated, but glossy red, and I think I managed that beautifully.

The dress is another freebie - I know, isn't it gorgeous? Allure gave away this gorgeous halter top dress which is short enough to make people blush, but cleverly with a filled in underskirt with black shadows so I didn't once have to worry about flashing my panties to the world. This manages to combine my desire for jaw-droppingly sexy and yet not explicit all at once, and made me extremely happy. Check out that sideboob, y'all!I also liked how thick the dress was, which means at no angle did I have to worry about the dreaded transparent inside ruining a shot; Allure is for keeps! The bag - also free - is from another new-to-me store called Svart, and is beautifully designed and textured. My one complaint is that it included a static post which totally didn't fit my shape (my arms are way too long) and I couldn't figure out how to remove it, so I can't see wearing this outside of static poses where I'm sure the animation will be over-ridden. That's a real shame, though, because the purse is gorgeous - and I don't normally like purses. It is a full-perm mesh purse, though, so it might be findable at some other stores with different texturing and animation.

My gorgeous ring is not a Hollywood purchase, but it does come from Little Boy Blue, which specializes in Diva Rings; it's a new release and very slick and simple, while still being gorgeous. Finally, one of the other things I splurged on were these amazing shoes from Redgrave. I bought the fatpack because I loved the style. The feet are included up to the ankle, though, and blending it was a real challenge. I found myself missing rigged mesh, which becomes a lot more seamless, but I don't think I did too badly in the end. I have to be careful with the angles on a close up shot, but otherwise I don't think you can tell the feet aren't part of my legs. I discovered I could turn off the seamed end of the ankles after this shoot too, so ...yeah. Opps. The shoe and heel are separately tintable, though, and so are the toes, so I anticipate these coming back through rotation a lot of times.

I am enormously happy with the Hollywood Event, and encourage all of you to go and check it out before it closes on April 14th.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Ears: Illusions, Seelie
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Sunglasses: ZED, Mesh Sunglasses (Hollywood freebie)
Lipstick 1: Adore & Abhor, Shreveport Red
Lipstick 2: Mock, Mizu Venetian Red
Hair: EMO-tions, Hollywood Gift (Hollywood freebie)
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Jewelry 1: EMO-tions, Vari Jewelry (Hollywood purchase)
Jewelry 2: EMO-tions, Paparazzi III (Hollywood freebie)
Dress: Allure, Marilyn Mini Dress (Hollywood freebie)
Hands: SLink, Mesh Hands
Bag: Svart, Jennifer Bag - Red Leather (Hollywood freebie)
Ring: Little Boy Blue, Addison ring - moonstone
Heels: Redgrave, Donna (Hollywood purchase)

Poses: Grafica (Pose Faire)

Location: Bladerunner City
Light Settings: Phototools - Jessica Light
Water Settings: Mirror Glass

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

How NOT to Communicate in Second Life

So, I think I mentioned this before, but whenever I blog someone's creations, I sent them a notecard with a link to the blog post. It's a pretty simple notecard, which says:

I just wanted to let you know that I featured your store on my blog in the post address below.

[link to blog]

Thanks so much for your beautiful creations! Please keep up the wonderful work.

Sincerely,

Deoridhe Quandry

I honestly never thought of this as difficult to comprehend until yesterday, when... well, the following showed up in my Offline IM record. [Edited to clarify: The creator's first language is clearly English since all of the releases and communications come solely in fluent English.]

[2013/04/03 19:34] [Illiterate Creator]: (Saved Wed Apr 03 04:36:03 2013)Hi there :) I am terribly sorry but I don't work with bloggers. Thank you kindly for the interest however. I wish you the best of luck and have a wonderful day!

I thought there must have been some kind of communication error, so I clarified, also in IM.

[2013/04/03 19:36] Deoridhe Quandry: Um, I was just letting you know I blogged your work, not expecting anything, but I shall try to remember to not send you a notice the next time I feature your products if you would prefer.

[2013/04/03 19:36] Second Life: User not online - message will be stored and delivered later.

 Imagine my surprise when I log on today to the following:

[21:31] [Illiterate Creator]: (Saved Thu Apr 04 06:15:02 2013)Hi there :) I am terribly sorry but I don't work with bloggers. Thank you kindly for the interest however. I wish you the best of luck and have a wonderful day!

Clearly, I'm not dealing with a person... I'm dealing with an avatar answering machine. Equally clearly, someone doesn't want to be blogged ever! Lesson learned!

ICHP (Dilly Dolls): Faerie in a Story

The world is full of wonderful and terrible things. I'm a Pisces, a symbol of the divergent fish - one always seeking the surface, the other always seeking the depths, tied together with an indelible and unbreakable cord. More and more, I have grown to think that it is by facing these wonderful and terrible things - by embracing the rising joy and the fall of despair - that so many of us truly embrace and live our lives. Just as important as the facing, though, is the knowledge that we are not alone, that someone cares about us, that someone knows us and recognizes us. There are so many people out there living lives of quiet desperation, hiding from their fears while they hide their fears from all the world. I am literally paid to be with the suffering of these groups, to have enough integrity and compassion to rightfully earn their trust, to have enough discernment and disinterest to see them truly through and through, and to still love them. I keep expecting it to get harder, to hit the moment where I realize I'm breaking on some fundamental level, but more and more I feel like I am feeling things more deeply and truly, seeing things more clearly and accurately, riding the highs and lows of more than two hands of lives while somehow maintaining my own, flawed as I am.

On a more prosaic note... I really need to pay my rent and check the mail.

My gorgeous, classic shoes (close up here) are a new release from Dilly Dolls, and I paired them with one of her older releases - this cute, scanty dress. Dilly Dolls' standard is to release color sets instead of individual colors, so any version you pick up will give you a ton of options. She tends to pair things in light and dark, which is painful for someone like me who likes them all, but the prices are low enough I'll usually just pick up all the sets and be done with it! I added these new mask releases from Souzou Eien, which are SO AWESOME. There are a couple which seem more skin-covering, but I imply fell in love with this lace mask which shows the skin through - and since it's mesh, it's easy to refit it to fit my fat head (no, really, my head is rounder than the standard). I had just picked up this recent release from Majika, too, in the triple color version - which is an innovation I wish more hair stores would copy; fades are the best (see, also, amazing dress). To continue my theme of "lets wear things actually released recently", I actually picke dup this jewelry brand new at some sort of Ostara or Easter Faire from LanTN (I think you have to say the end REALLY LOUDLY). I'm neither Wiccan nor Christian, but I love five petaled flowers and amethyst is one of my favorite stones.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Ears: Illusions, Seelie
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Mask: Souzou Eien, Lace Masque Purple
Lipstick: Mock, Lucir Dandy Lion
Hair: Magika, Rewind
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Jewelry: LanTN, Ostara Pentacle
Dress: Dilly Dolls, Nykki Yellow
Hands: SLink, Mesh Hands
Stockings: G Field, Basic Color Tights - Lilac
Heels: Dilly Dolls, Saula Dark Heels - brown (Promotional Item)

Poses: !bang

Location: The Noble Storybook
Light Settings: Phototools - Jessica Light
Water Settings: Mirror Glass

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

Twisted Color Challenge: Week 13 - Wearing Denim at the Spa

I'm a bit behind on memes, so this is going to be a twofer! I'm catching up on Strawberry's memes of the week, and since the first one is going to be very short, the second one should make up for it!

What was the first social network you joined using your SL Avatar?
Flickr, in January 2009.

Which social networks are you currently on using your SL Avatar?
Flickr
Plurk
SL Profile

Which network is your favorite?
Probably Flickr. I never feel quite like I fit on Plurk, though I have a few very kind friends! I'm not a brief chatter, and I tend to mostly post blogpost links on there in the hopes of luring more people here.

Which network is your least favorite?
I'm not as fond of my SL Profile, mostly because it feels very awkward to use. I wish I could follow groups and get group info there, and stuff like that.

Which network do you have the most amount of connections?
Definitely Flickr; I follow people with hopeless abandon.

How/Where do you usually read/use most of your networks?
I go to each of the pages to look at them on my laptop, often while I have Second Life open as well.

What are your favorite social networking apps? (if applicable)
I'm not hooked up to any social networks through my phone.

What do you like most about social networking sites?
I love reading people's thoughts and seeing the images they produce. It can be entrancing and inspiring.

What do you like least about social networking sites?
Sometimes I feel very pressured to keep up and follow along. Things move so quickly, especially on Plurk, and everyone has their own pace, and so I often feel overwhelmed and left behind.
 
Do you feel social networks are a good way to promote you/your brand/your work?
Sometimes. I get some looks through Plurk and Flickr, but most of them are from Google search.

What is your main reason for using Social Networks?
For each one I have a different motivation; Flickr was to show off my pictures, Plurk is more to connect with people, and the SL Profile was a default I had no choice on.

My Five Second Life Pet Peeves

1. Talking objects set to open chat. Be they bellies, feet, fashionista bubbles, twisted titlers, even fishing poles (I keep mine set to me only), I hate the mechanical spam of chat. I also dislike the chat sent along with group messages as well, mostly because it's so separated out from the item or notecard I prefer to receive. The scroll of text when I log on is always overwhelming.

2. Ironically, SL losing notecards, items, and group messages. Despite disliking the scroll when I log on, I dislike even more missing messages. This is particularly difficult when I'm in a blogger's group and I keep missing releases! I try to remember to check them regularly, but recently I realized I missed a release and I felt simply horrible.

3. People IMing me, then expecting me to supply all of the conversation. I cover this semi-regularly on my How NOT to... page, but it's a persistent problem across the board. I won't say I'm always a font of scintillating conversation, but a basic set of topics to talk about or questions to ask when someone contacts me seems a bare minimum.

4. Ugly builds. This will seem hypocritical, given my pet peeve #5, but I hate teleporting into a place with a wonderful idea, where the textures are all flat and dull in really bright colors and the whole build just looks ugly. Alpha occlusion issues I can work around, but a simply ugly build is death to any picture. I suppose it's another example of the Dunning–Kruger effect, but I'm always baffled that people can't simply see the flaws and make their creations better.

5. People who like to piss on other people's parades. This is a really subjective thing, but for example I sometimes play with people in group chats, like setting out piles of truffles, and I'm continually shocked at the people who emote stomping on the truffles, or stealing them all, or other actions which do nothing but try to rob the people around them of something pleasant. I always find it more than a little shocking that in a world of imagination where we can literally make anything, so many people seem to focus on destroying what others create.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Ears: Illusions, Seelie
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Eyeshadow: Mock, Corner of Olive and Vine
Lipstick: Adore & Abhor, 13 Lips Denim
Hair: Magika, Early
Crown: Boom, Nature's Crown (mint)
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Jewelry: Earthstones, Chandraki Set
Dress: +NK+, Denim Corset 03
Hands: SLink, Mesh Hands
Doll: Adore & Abhor, Sheepie - mint
Heels: Wishbox, Rocking Horse Shoes - mint

Poses: Glitterati

Location: RMK Gothic
Light Settings: AnaLutetia, Studio Light
Water Settings: Mirror Glass

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

April Fools!

Here are some of my favorites.

Crowdfunding has hit a new high - President Obama asks us all to pitch in to pay off the National Debt.

Firestorm Mobile, complete with nano-machines which will infect and take over your cell phone. Any cell phone. Even cell phones without graphics.

GMail Blue, which is like GMail, only bluer.

Google Maps has found treasure maps, a new special mode on Google Maps. 

YouTube announces that the multi-year contest is finally over, and it's time to pick the winners, so no one can upload things anymore (check out the address for a second joke).

Minecraft is releasing it's 2.0 version, finally! Survival Mode is a particularly entertaining new mode that you can't avoid no matter what setting you use! Die! Die little cube people!!!

Thinkgeek offers some new products, including Pay-Doh 3D Printer, Adventure Time BMO Interactive Buddy, Batman Family Car Decal Set, Death Star Trench Toss, and the Eye of Sauron Desk Lamp.

Netflix is getting very specific. 

Kodak presents the wrist kiosk (employee standing inside not included).

Mickey Mouse was found on the moon, supplanting both The Man, and The Rabbit.

Virgin is releasing Glass Bottomed Planes! Best view in the skies. 

Samsung wants you to enjoy their newest innovation, eco trees!

Roundups: CBS, The Guardian, TechCrunch,