Color Challenge: Week Twenty-Seven: Olive

Olive week!

I actually quite loathe olives offline. The taste, the texture - ick ick! The color is fantastic, though; earthy and warm and green. Olives make me think of secret agents and my cousins, who love them and devour them raw.

The outfit I ended up in was complete happenstance. I'd been fluttering about in the Angelwing full outfit the day before, then switched to olive with the intention of taking off the Angelwing pieces after putting on my G Field olive dress and shoes. Then I realized the leaves matched perfectly, and an outfit was born! 


The stockings balance out the red in the wings and hairpiece perfectly, and the green on the new Plastik skin I just got highlights the contrast of green and red beautifully without being too overstated. I think it manages the red/green line without becoming garish or Christmasy, which doesn't fit the mood of olive in my opinion. And, of course, I had to use Olive Juice Poses. I mean... DUH!

The place I went to I found through Honour's Post Menopausal View, which is a lovely blog for finding new areas to explore. I lit it using Torley's Gelatto lighting scheme, which I've used before. I really need to spend more time experimenting, though; I'd hoped to be able to mimic the red and green in the sky, but it didn't work out well.


Since my last big post, I've been doing thinking about getting review items (none of which are in this post) and covering events in Second Life. I'm friends with a number of store owners, and have begun talking to a few more in the wake of reviewing their items, and one issue which comes up is that of "false friends", that is, people who try to be friendly and ingratiate themselves simply in order to get free things.

One aspect of current US culture which I've been uncomfortable with for ages is that of "networking" - that is, using your social interactions with others as a means of getting ahead in business. I ran into it via my mother, whom I love dearly but who also kept chatting up my hopes and dreams and trying to hook me up with people to further those ends. It feels false to me, though; showing interest and sharing information not for the reason of wanting to become closer to someone, but rather out of a desire to further one's own ends. Like so many things, I had the discomfort long before I had the language for it - and even now I struggle with the language, since on the one hand this seems to often be a mutual thing, on the other hand it makes me profoundly uncomfortable.


I'll admit to the very human desire to have everything I want without paying for it. If I could have the entire G Field inventory, I'd do so cheerfully; I only don't due to financial considerations and a desire to own things form more than one store! The same with many other stores I'm fond of, including Angelwing, Falln Angel Creations, Blue Blood, katat0nik, Hal Hina, Silent Sparrow, etc...

Sometimes I feel guilty about not covering stores I love, too. During the challenge, I seem to keep coming back to the same stores even though I love items from other stores as well. I struggle with time, with focus, with a want to promote the stores of my friends and a want to subsume myself in pure style, ignoring all external and social considerations. It leaves me in a tangle in the end, unsure exactly how to act, what to chose, how to spend my time. It can be overwhelming, and sometimes dispiriting, this drive to connect combined with the greed I find within myself which I'm truly not so proud of.


I want attention. I want things. I want love. I also want them for my own sake, and not due to an exchange of skills or influences. I want to feel as if people would like me even if I were (more) annoying, (more) demanding, (more) entitled, (more) of a bitch.

And I want to be perfect - the best friend ever, that everyone would want to be near. I want recognition, only for my own talents, and yet to be recognized as somehow unique and fantastic when I don't believe - lets be honest here! - that I am.

I want to be judged worthy and wonderful without being judged.

I want to not be a commodity.

I'm not sure I have that choice in this world.

( All of the pictures here. )

Credits:

Eyes: Tacky Star, Pride
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy
Skin: Plastik, Amber - Sacrilege
Wings and Flowers: Angelwing, The Spring Fairy in Blue
Hair: Exile, Liv - sand
Dress: G Field, Classic Dress "Clea" - olive
Stockings: G Field, Ruffle Socks - red
Shoes: G Field, Bow Strap Shoes "Kate" - olive

Location: Heart of Dragons
Light Settings: [TOR], Gelatto

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Newbie Resources: Freebies and Dollarbies

Many stores offer "freebies" and "dollarbies" which are items available for 0$L or 1$L as a sample of their products. Whether you're starting as a new player, and are not sure if you want to spend money in world yet, or if you're an established player and have found a new store, these are a valuable way to try out the quality level of the store and see if you want to spend money there.

You can also look on the marketplace for items between 0-10$L, which will show you a selection of what people have available. Look out for the word "demo" in the title, though. That means a modified sample of an item. I tried to exclude demos from search, but the Markeplace search dynamics aren't very advanced. Another source for free and cheap clothing is through the links on my main page - I have an entire Freebies section that links to blogs which list current items.

Below is my working list of freebie and dollarbie area, alphabetically by the first letter/number in a store name, so non-letter/number characters won't be taken into account for the purposes of this list. Keep in mind when using this list that stores fail and are moved regularly, and some store owners take out or change their store gifts, so finding one or finding the one I listed isn't guaranteed. Where multiple gifts are in the same general area (within view of each other) I've included one link; in stores where the gifts are spread out I have included multiple links. Also keep in mind that some stores have set arrival points, so you may arrive some distance from the store gift and have to walk there. Coming from the website, there should be a red arrow pointing the way. You can also look at the coordinates to tell you where the item is.

Last Updated: 2011 December 19
Last Completely Reviewed: 2011 September 29

Items in Stores: 

1920's Berlin: Information, clothing, and hair 
BC322: Hair (must be in group, free to join)
Birmingham Library: Full avatars (free)

Calico Ingmann Creations: Hair (must be in group, but joining group is free)
Creative Chaos (must be in group, joining free; women's clothing)
Du Papillon: Female clothing (1$L)
Duh: shoes (0$L)
Fallen Gods
Gizza Creations: Male and female clothing as group gifts (must be in group, but joining group is free)
Glow Studio: Earrings (1$L)
Gothica: Clothing, Full Avatar (0$L)
Grim Bros: Rainbow Skins
Gurl 6: Ponytail hair, jewelry (0$L)
Honey Kitty:Free Group Gifts
[KUE!]: Mini-wings (also has a daily freebie inside) (1$L)
Niigata: Clothing (0$L)
Pink Fuel: Shoulder Panda (1$L)
Phoenix Design & Firefall: Little Fun Toy (0$L form blue menu when you land)
* REALE * Main Store: Tights and nail polish (glove layer) (0$L)
Skye Qi Vintage Apparel: Landmarks to helpful places, hair, and a bookcase
Sn@tch: Jewelry, gesture, tights
TuTy's Creations: Female hair and clothing (0$L)
W&Y: Hair (0$L)
Vignette: Hair and Shoes (0$L)

Entire Stores:  
B.A.Ks Freebie Store ~Newbie Center
Free*Style
FabFree
Savoir Hair
The Free Dove

Newbie Resources: Lucky Chairs

Lucky Chairs and Lucky Boards are longstanding means for store owners of luring people to come to and stay at their stores. They refer to an item you can find which shows a number or letter of the alphabet. When the first letter/number of your name shows up, you click it or sit on it and you win the item. Some chairs don't offer numbers, others have "other" categories or offer numbers as one whole category, 0-9. Whether people can "call" or state the letters of lucky chairs in the group chats for a store varies widely, with some stores allowing or encouraging it and others outright forbidding it. Check the group charter or ask in group if you're not sure of the rules around "calling" letters in group chat. There are also groups dedicated to lucky chairs, or groups around a theme (goth, gor, faerys, etc...) which allow for the calling of lucky chairs in addition to other things like midnight manias and advertising of  stores. There is some overlap between different deals - often a store with a lucky chairs will have midnight manias, group gifts, and probably a mobvend nearby.

Chairs vary widely in style, from recognizable chairs to birds to Santa Clause laps, and you have to sit on them. Some chairs are called "unlucky" chairs and include killing animations before giving you the item you won - you don't actually die, by the way, it's just a contrast to lucky chairs. The boards tend to be on walls and don't require you to move in order to win the prize - you just click the board and get it.

Below is my working list of lucky chair spots, divided by type of item. In parenthesis beside them is the number of minutes the lucky chair takes, if I had the time/presence of mind to record it. Keep in mind when using this list that stores fail and are moved regularly, and some store owners take out their lucky chairs semi-regularly, so finding one there isn't guaranteed. Where multiple lucky chairs are in the same general area (within view of each other) I've included one link; in stores where the lucky chairs are spread out I have included multiple links. Also keep in mind that some stores have set arrival points, so you may arrive some distance from the lucky chair and have to walk there. Coming from the website, there should be a red arrow pointing the way. You can also look at the coordinates to tell you where the item is.

Last Updated: 2011 November 20
Last Completely Reviewed: 2011 May 2

Accessories:
*BOOM* ()
Illusion (25 min)
Geisha Dreams (4 min)
Material Squirrel () - wings
Sanu (10 min)

Animations:
Reel Expression ()

Body Parts (hair, eyes, skin, etc...):
Absentia (5 min)
Apple May Designs ()
A&Y ()
*BC322 Skull&Bones* (6 min)
Calico Ingmann Creations ()
D!va (5 min)
Falln Angel Creations ()
MOCK Cosmetics (10 min)
Fallen Gods (5 min) - temporarily down for remodel
Ivalde and L'Abel (15 min)
Styles By Kira (10 min)

Clothing: 
Analise: Men & Women (10 min)
Angelwing (5 & 10 min)
Blue Blood (5 & 10 min)
Dare Designs (30 min)
Deviance (5 min)
DG Innovations (10 min)
Du Papillon (5 min)
+DV8+ (10 min)
Elymode (10 min)
Falln Angel Creations: Main, Dresses, Silks, Kimono, Suits (30 min)
.+* Flapper *+. ()
Frop ()
Icing (5 min)
Indigo Oddities (10 min)
katat0nik (group gift)
Latex Fetish Fashion ()
Likka House (10 min)
MiaSnow (2 min)
Mischief Fashion (group only - 8 min)
Munism Main Store (15 min)
Niigata (5 min)
Nostr@s  ()
Pas de deux (5 min)
Pinkmares ()
Pleasure Girl ()
Reasonable Desires: Lingerie Outside 1 & 2;Chairs Inside 1, 2 & 3
Rebel Hope
Ribbon (5 min)
Shadow Temple ()
Silent Sparrow (group only - 20 min)
Sn@tch (5 min)
Umi Usagi 1 and 2 ()
Venus Fashions ()
Violent Seduction (10 min)
Wishbox (20 min)
Wretched Dollies ()

Furniture:
Pink Fuel ()
Falln Angel Creations (30 min)
Happy Mood (1 min)
Off Brand Furniture (5-7 min)
Zen Garden and Homes: 1, 2, and 3 ()

Jewelry:
AZE Designs (10 min)
* CCD * (20 min)
Earthstones 1 & 2 (10 min)
Primalot (5 min)
Temenos Place (30 min)

Multiple Categories:
Dark Eden (5 min)
De La Soul (5-10 min) 
Dogtooth Violet (5 min)
Envy Designs ()
Hectic Moon (5 min)
Phoenix Design & Firefall ()
::*L'Emporio di Bru*:: (10 min)
Little Girl ()
Love Soul (5 min)
Nomine (10 min)
Petit Pas Mall (all over the mall; group only - 10 min)
*Rouge Forest* 1, 2 (group only), 3 (group only),  (5-10 min)
Shoe Fly Shoes ()
Tesla Place (5 & 10 min)

Shoes:
Baby Monkey ()

Newbie Resources: Midnight Manias

Midnight Manias are a sales and traffic driver for retail stores, whereby if the customers can get a number of people to click a board in a day, then everyone gets something for free (a newer items is a mini mania, I link to those, too). The number of people to click varies; the lowest tends to be around 25 with the upper range in some stores with rare midnight manias going as high as 400. Whether people can "call" or state the status of the midnight manias in the group chats for a store also varies widely, with some stores allowing encouragement with no numbers and others allowing for explicit calling and encouragement. Check the group charter or ask in group if you're not sure of the rules around "calling" things in group chat. There are also groups dedicated to midnight manias, or groups around a theme (goth, gor, faerys, etc...) which allow for the calling of midnight manias in addition to other things like lucky chairs and advertising of  stores. There is some overlap between different deals - often a store with a midnight mania will have lucky chairs nearby, group gifts, and probably a mobvend.

Below is my working list of midnight mania spots, divided by type of item. Keep in mind when using this list that stores fail and are moved regularly, and some store owners take out their midnight manias semi-regularly, so finding one there isn't guaranteed. Where multiple midnight manias are in the same general area (within view of each other) I've included one link; in stores where the midnight manias are spread out I have included multiple links. Also keep in mind that some stores have set arrival points, so you may arrive some distance from the midnight mania board and have to walk there. Coming from the website, there should be a red arrow pointing the way. You can also look at the coordinates to tell you where the item is.

Last Updated: 2011 November 20
Last Completely Reviewed: 2011 May 1

Accessories:
Falln Angel Creations

Animations:
Reel Expressions

Body Parts (hair, eyes, skin, etc...):
CL Designs
Dulce Secrets
Falln Angel Creations
MiaSnow Mini-mania

Building Resources:
[E.B] Prims & Poses

Clothing: 
Angelwing 1 (group only) and 2

::  Cilian'gel Boutique :: 
Bressig5 
Creative Chaos
Dare Designs 
Dilly Dolls 
Du Papillon
Ely Special 5 
Envy Design
Falln Angel Creations: Dresses, Silks, Kimono, Suits
Frop
Indigo Oddities
Jenna's Whimsy  
Latex Fetish Fashion
Nomine
Pinkmare's Collection 
Pleasure Girl
Thalia's Fashion Collection 1 and 2
Sa-eela
Venus Fashions

Furniture:
Alexis Creations
Falln Angel Creations
House of Conan
Zen Garden and Home

Jewelry:
* CCD * 1, 2 & 3

Multiple Types of Items:
+DV8+ (custom colors only available in Midnight Mania and other free promotionals)
::*L'Emporio di Bru*::
Phoenix Design & Firefall
Shadow Temple

Shoes:
Baby Monkey (there's a second MM on the other side of the pillar)

How NOT to pick up a chick in Second Life

You're in Second Life, your avatar is - you think - the height of attractiveness. You've heard on this second life you can have the virtual sex. There is someone wearing a female avatar near you - clearly she is here for the virtual sex.

This is how to NOT pick up a chick in second life when that chick is me.

[17:36]  16 Day Old Resident: hi
[17:37]  Deoridhe Quandry: Hello.
[17:37]  16 Day Old Resident: will you have fun?
[17:38]  Deoridhe Quandry: Excuse me?
[17:38]  16 Day Old Resident: fun on bed?
[17:38]  Deoridhe Quandry: Excuse me?
[17:38] 16 Day Old Resident: sex on bed?
[17:38]  Deoridhe Quandry: With you?
[17:39]  16 Day Old Resident: hmm...?
[17:39]  Deoridhe Quandry: Gods no. Your profile is crap, I fear your avatar looks like crap, and your English Language Skills are first grade. I don't fuck people who can't present themselves well.


In his defense, I was looking particularly hussy-like today, and he did take his refusal as something permanent. No more IMs!

Edited to add (and no name-change to protect the guilty this time!!)

[18:02]  Azriel Demain: will u 4 teh hot secks wit meh?
[18:02]  Azriel Demain: would you like to go back to my place? Bouncy Bouncy!
[18:03]  Deoridhe Quandry falls over laughing.
[18:03]  Azriel Demain: nice shoes, wanna fuck?
[18:03]  Deoridhe Quandry: I would, but I have to paint my nails. ;)
[18:03]  Azriel Demain laughs
[18:05]  Deoridhe Quandry: If you're not careful, I'll edit my blogpost to add this, though!
[18:05]  Azriel Demain: lol
[18:06]  Azriel Demain: you cannot resist my manly wiles, and you know it!
[18:06]  Azriel Demain flexes
[18:06]  Deoridhe Quandry goes all weak in the knees.
[18:06]  Azriel Demain: see? I knew I could make you swoon!
[18:06]  Deoridhe Quandry: No, we cannot! Our love is one which can never be named!
[18:06]  Deoridhe Quandry: The hussy and the ho!
[18:06]  Azriel Demain laughs

Credits:

Eyes: Tacky Star, Pride
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy
Skin: MiaSnow, Rainbow tan 4
Wings:  Terho, Elda Wings - Rainbow
Hair: Magika, Porcelain
Outfit: Schadenfreude, Rainbow Qinxin Bandeau
Shoes: A Vlodovic, SAH Rainbow

Pose: PHRESH, <3

Location: Random Landmark Hopping of Doom
Sky Settings: [TOR] MIDDAY - Precision

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Color Challenge: Week Twenty-Six: Tangerine

Woo! Tangerine Week! We're halfway through the challenge (can you believe it?) and still firmly in the middle of food. Yum.



I'm eating my fingers here, I'm so hungry.

I've been to Photon's Castle before - for yellow week - and if you saw those colors you might have noticed how I'd used windlight to oversaturate and make the yellow really bright, muting out most of the other colors. This time I really wanted to highlight the colors of the Castle's grounds themselves, in addition to the florid orange of my Avantmelon dress and Honey Hair. They were both found in the depths of my inventory; I don't even remember how I got the hair, for example, and looking at the profile of the creator - which just said "deleted" didn't help either. Avantmelon is similarly gone as a store, except for the store group which lingers. It was a fun, brightly colors store that I had been buying a lot of the contents of; I think I even have a tree from them, and some watermelon chairs.

Store seem to pass quickly sometimes, for one reason or another, and the creators deserve their privacy about the passing in truth. That doesn't stop me from wanting to know, but it does give me enough self-control to not ask. This got me thinking about how ephemeral Second Life - and really all life - is, though, and prompted me to go through my old landmarks folder, winnowing through old places once more. I was startled by the ones that had stayed the same, amused by the ones which had changed into something different but still lovely, and made deeply happy by one which left me falling in midair because I landed on, of all things, a giant whale that was "falling" next to a potted plant.


A quick note on the rest of my outfit before I wax lyrical on ephemera - both the hairpiece from Split Pea and the wings from TERHO are available at the I'm Only Happy When it Rains event (I also got a rainbow umbrella there, and some rainbow rain - I highly recommend a flit through). The wings in particular make me intensely happy, being rainbow, in the proper order, and glowy. I particularly like the fade to paler colors as the wings grow larger!

The stockings are from G Field, and I confess to owning them all. They come in a wide variety of shades, from over the knee to anklet in length, and all with a ruffle around the top - truly a must-have for any Lolita. The shoes are from another favorite store, Eclectica, and are the tangerine version of her Garden Party shoes (yes I bought them all - shush). The poses are all from Olive Juice, such a thorough mixing of free, inexpensive, and must-have-it paying at full price that I can't untangle them. Olive Juice is particularly good at poses which put forth a mood, though in a few cases I've used angle to circumvent mood, and I highly recommend them for people who want less "model"ly pictures.


I am a very late to the party avatar. Although I made an account in 2006, Deoridhe Starr, I tried to find things to do for a couple of days before utterly giving up, unable to do anything beyond fly around. I never actually met any people. I saw a couple, once. Landed near them. Spoke... and nothing.

So reading Lalo Tellings History of Second Life (and now starting to explore those "first sims" myself) was a real eye opener about what it must have been like in those early, claustrophobic days, when space was at a premium. I simply can't imagine it.

Instead, I know a Second Life where other people are at a premium, but many of the large crowds are intimidating or even hostile. Most of the time when I'm on Second Life, my avatar is "alone" in the sense that I don't hang out, in pixels, with other people very much. I usually have one or more group chats open (Falln's Angels chat, in particular, has long been a home), but I can spend hours exploring, taking pictures, stalking lucky chairs, etc... while only seeing other avatars in passing and rarely speaking to them.


Events in Second Life, as well, often have a rushed, hurried quality to them. Recent sale developments include one-day-only sales, or in several cases, sales of only fifty or a hundred items. I'm dealing with a hunt right now that I want to participate in, but the Second Life delivery of notecards is bugging so I'm not getting what I should be getting to progress, however the hunt will only go on for four days.

When I tried to photograph all of the Fashion for Life and Fantasy Faire sims, it often involved a lot of rushing around, and a lot of not dealing with things offline that needed to be done. Each had nine sims; each was only open a week - and other money raising things have similar expiration dates, sometimes several at once, which makes covering events something of a crapshoot and a life killer.

I am, increasingly, finding the pressure not only irritating but also feeling like it is directly impeding my enjoyment. Returning to a sim, like Photon's Castle, can be part of the joy of exploring. Often on a second look we see things we didn't see the first time around. Being able to return, being able to not look back but see again with older eyes, has an intrinsic value which the rushed pace people sometimes bring to Second Life seriously undermines and renders impossible.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Eyes: Tacky Star, Pride
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy
Skin: MiaSnow, Rainbow tan 4
Wings: Terho, Elda Wings - Rainbow
Hair: Honey Hair, Bowtie Bella - Atomic Tangerine
Hairpiece: Split Pea, and with bees in her breath
Dress: Avantmelon, Kirei Dress
Socks: G Field, Ruffle Socks - cream
Shoes: Eclectica, Garden Pary shoes - tangerine

Pose: Olive Juice, Capslock Yell

Location: Photon's Castle
Light Settings: Default, Midday

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Puppets and Presents

I'm beginning to feel like a grown up blogger!

I could say professional, but as someone who is professional in an entirely different field, I find the application of the term to a hobby in a virtual world both odd and uncomfortable. "Grown up" somehow seems a lot more accurate to me; a grown up blogger, and a decent photographer, but for both of them the term professional seems off-kilter and inaccurate.

It is, after all, a matter of paying for a group so you can stick the title Professional [Whatever] next to your name. I've seen people who are sixteen days old who are CEOs and CFOs; I've seen vast empires of self-reinforcing "Professional" model classes which turn out people who praise the "Professional" company and then seek to serve "Professional" stores. The general sense I've gotten in my two and a half years in world, is that calling yourself professional is a lot easier than behaving as if you are.


I'm not even sure what would make a professional Second Life photographer; perhaps being able to charge for it? And yet it seems to me if I charged, instead of photographing for friends and largely photographing myself, it would remove something from my enjoyment. If photography became a job, if I had to meet up with someone else and try to meet deadlines, it would remove some of the spontaneity and joy from my Second Life. I like snapping impulsive pictures, and "blackmailing" (not really) people with my snaps. I like exploring around a sim and gasping in wonder, then spending five minutes getting the pose and angle right so I can both show of me and the wonderment that cause me such pleasure.

I am, however, starting to receive things for me to review, which makes me feel grown up and self-important as a blogger! I'm getting quite the swelled head, so it's lucky what I received this week is primarily a tattoo layer - so it could easily swell with my head, instead of disappearing within it.



Wasabi Pills isn't actually a stranger to my inventory though I'm not sure I've blogged any of the pictures with me wearing what I already own. I got this awesome hair as a gift this week, though, and after trying it on and giggling a bit, I wandered off to Ode to go *clickclickclick* in an entirely unprofessional manner. It's very crown-like and cybernetic, which is of course why I paired it with katat0nik's teal Le Milkshake dress, available only at Help Japan. Cyber, cupcake... it all goes together.

Oh! And I have to say! The pink color is called Jellyfish - not the pink on the dress, the pink on the hair - and it took me ages to find it because... I had no idea jellyfish were pink. I have to admit I find the idea of pink jellyfish now curiously charming, and if I ever actually make any, I'm afraid I'd have to tint them... pink!

I think they must be made of strawberry jelly.

The necklace and bracelets (which I got no closeup pictures of - see? totally unprofessional) are from Eclectica, and were a 60$L weekend purchase, though they're well worth the full price! I'm just cheap. The skin is an old favorite from De La Soul; I adore the cherry blossoms on the side of the eyes, and the lips are my favorite shade of hers, bar none. The boots are also from katat0nik, and were a gatcha prize I think. Or some like them were a gatcha prize! I love the hearts in the heels; they always make me smile. The poses are from HelaMiyo, a mixture of ones I've had for a while and a new "puppet" set which comes with a puppet frame to move me about. You get both the prop with the poses included, and the poses alone, which means you could make your own prop if you wanted too.

The eyes, which for once you can see up close, are the Pride eyes by Tacky Star that I wear nearly all the time, unless I'm in character as a human or something foolish like that. They are RAINBOW! I forgot to mention them in my last "what I almost always wear" paragraph, so now they get a paragraph all of their own!


Receiving review copies of things definitely makes me feel wriggly and important in a way which blogging my own purchases doesn't; it makes me feel recognized in a way which is what I suspect most people want to indicate when they say "professional." It's also felt very good to get the positive feedback from store owners, and even get a chance to chat with a few about random things. I do send out a notice to the owner of every store I mention in paragraph form, though I'd say my reasons thereof are rather confused. One, no doubt, is to get recognition, but another is because I have some friends who were friends before I knew them as store owners, and hearing from them how gratifying it was to read a blog post about themselves made me think sharing might be a good idea - even if it's on the self-aggrandizing side.

I think it's important for people to hear positive feedback, though, and I fancy myself someone with halfway decent taste - so I'd hope my option is worth something; at least the electrons used to produce it. That raises a question of who authenticates professionals in Second Life, though; is it via group consensus, whereby a number of people recognize someone as a "professional" machinamist, artist, or model? Does it require recognition from the company Second Life? Should there be standards for it, a level of quality, or does the question of quality itself open us to a squashing of individuality; a demand for people to conform in some elemental way?


I know I've sometimes felt very uncomfortable about people who set themselves up as authorities and determiners of quality and value. Some of it is due to the clear superiority of my aesthetic sense (that is meant both seriously, as I do fancy myself having good taste, and ironically, as I'm not quite sure what good taste really is beyond 'I like that.'), but if I was so clearly superior than one would thing the world would reorganize itself around me, paying homage to Deoridhe the Wise, and judging by my stats that is clearly not the case.

And honestly, I'm not sure I'd like a world full of miniature Deoridhes, dressed in Lolita style clothing with big boobs. One of the things I like about second life is the sheer variety, even if that variety strays far into the realm of the fugly and the blush-inducing. That being said, I'm seriously not a fan of t-rex arms and giant, lycra covered secondary sexual characteristics (and even sometimes the occasional primary sexual characteristic hanging out in the wind).I find the over-sexualization on Second Life disturbing, both personally as people have tried to enforce that standard in my style, and philosophically as I object to women being primarily viewed as important based on their attractiveness to men.

Which isn't to say I don't want to be seen as attractive to men I want to attract, but I object to being told that is my primary function and desire.


I'm not a professional stylist, though; or a professional philosopher, professional photographer, or professional social scientist. My background is in the murky and often counter-intuitive disciplinary art of psychology, practical and professional psychology practiced every day in an imperfect world. Part of what I've learned from my clients is the importance of my always being open to being wrong, always questioning my assumptions, always being willing to let go of my preconceptions and follow my client to their internal logic... except when I can't do so and must enforce social norms and societal demands.

It is my job to empathize and illuminate my clients, then figure out how to tell them they're wrong. That is what my being professional means; it is a dirty, often depressing tasks which keeps me awake at night at times, fretting over whether I made the right choices, knowing that the person who will suffer from my errors is decidedly not me.

I never want to be a professional in Second Life.

( All pictures can be seen here. )

Credits:

Eyes: Tacky Star, Pride
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy
Skin: De La Soul, Charlie - Cream, Sakura Makeup
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Antiope Hair - Jellyfish
Dress: katatonik, Le Milkshake - teal (Help Japan Item)
Jewelry: Eclectica, China Beads (Japonais)
Shoes: katat0nik, Ice/Berry Sweetheart Boot - Light Blue

Location: Ode
Light Settings: [TOR] DUSK - Siennarel
Water Settings: [TOR] Freak-A-dermia

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Color Challenge: Week Twenty-five - Periwinkle

I love the color periwinkle - and the periwinkles that grew under my childhood window - but I didn't have much in my inventory for Periwinkle Week! The hair was the basis of the outfit, and everything else radiated out from there. Well, that and the desire to wear the shoes from Eclectica!



The hair is from DV8, Dreadful Steam in Periwinkle, and I love the combination of textured hair and ropy twists of hair into a striking updo. I love the cyber style of it - not my usual appearance, but enjoyable none the less. The updo is festooned with a couple of rings, making it appear as if the hair was almost metallic rather than... hairific.

I matched the hair with a dress from my eternal favorite, G Field, one of her Cocktail Dresses - Helen! I love the lacing down the back, and the flowers decorating the front at the waist and chest. The skirt is thigh length; long enough to be classy, but short enough to be flirty.


The shoes are new Garden Party shoes from Eclectica. I love these shoes so amazingly much! I've been waiting for an outfit to slide them into, and this one seemed to fit the bill.They come in both a pattern dominated style, shown here, and where the pattern is in the trim and the main shoe is black. They come in a bunch of different colors, all of them vibrant without being oversaturated.

The necklace is from Deco, a store I don't often wear but which worked perfectly for this outfit. It's a double strand of pearls, hanging low enough to brush behind the roses of my dress. It fit perfectly, looking natural with the outfit. The bracelets are from Ticky Tacky, a fantastic jewelry store with whimsical designs. I love the mixing of small and medium beads which set the usual stack of rings apart from the rest. The stockings are from a new-to-me store Has Been, as part of the Demure lingerie set.


I found the sim through the Destination Guide, which frankly I've been enjoying quite a bit in terms of finding new sims! Between that and Second Life of my Dreams, I don't think I'll ever run out of places to explore! Honestly, I'm amazed anew every day at the sheer creativity and amazing design in second life. One of the fun things about this sim was you could sit on all kinds of things! You could tightrope walk, or sit on a bed and take a tour, or even settled down in a tree and enjoy the sunset! Probably my favorite part was going about and trying to sit on things, to see all the things I could do! I rode the bed ship twice!

The other fun thing was these prim avatars floating around all over the place. At first, it was very disturbing to see a figure out in the distance and yet no green dot to correspond with it, but it wasn't long until I not only got used to it, but even rather enjoyed being around people who weren't actually people.



( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Eyes: Tacky Star, Pride
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy
Skin: De La Soul, Charlie - Nude
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Hair: DV8, Dreadful Steam - Periwinkle
Dress: G Field, "Helen" Cocktail Dress - Lavender
Necklace: Deco, Black Pearl Double Strand
Bracelets: Ticky Tacky, Worship the Black Pearl bracelet
Stockings: Has Been, Demure Stockings
Shoes: Eclectica, Garden Party shoes, lilac

Location: Mysterious Wave
Light Settings: [TOR] Awwyeah
Water Settings: [TOR] Chivandria clair

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Fantasy Faire: Revisiting Nemo

I never saw Nemo in its original incarnation, so this is less revisiting for me, and more a glorious exploration of something which is clearly made with love and care. The textures are both lush and precise, and I'll admit now I thought several things were full prim when they turned out to be textures.




Like Dark Mirage, Nemo is rendered brighter and more colorful with beautiful stained glass - though Nemo's is much more colorful and loosely patterned than the stark fire colors in Dark Mirage. There is a repeating of patterns, here, too - like bright jeweled windows in the tower. One fun thing is that the glass is actually "reversed" on the inside - a detailed aspect which filled me with glee.




Warm and cool alike circle the tower, supported and surrounded by silvery and coppery metal with textured patterns on it which are a delight to the eyes. I love the texture on the ground, too - swaths of grass where now and then the machinery shows up underneath; the effect is both startling and delightful. I love the bubbles holding up the bridge, too! In the courtyard behind the tower is the clock, a lovely telescope, and a gorgeous globe, all of which I photographed closer here and there.




Here is a close-up of the clock, open. It's completely mechanized, opening and closing, and the clock works! I want it, like a wanting thing that wants. I have no idea how much it would cost, or how many prims it's made of, but the style and beauty is such that I might remove a few things from my home to make space for it. I stood there a while just opening and closing it...




This is a view coming up on the tower, this shows the plaza around the telescope. I love the tree there - how it looks a bit too much like a wrench.




Near the end I found the cutest mushroom napping place - combining my favorite things, something attractive and a way my avatar can go plopping right in the middle of it.




I love the detail of having the plans for the animals by the animals.




And a mechanical manta ray! Sadly, I couldn't sit inside of this.




( All of the pictures found here. Over 200! )

Credits:

Eyes: Tacky Soul, Pride
Skin: Adam n Eve, Astrelle Fae (light brows) with Full Face Tattoo - Dark Fae
Hair: Ploom, Dot - Angelfood
Wings: Illusions, Chibi Angel Wings
Dress: Caverna Obscura, Serenade Gown - Pearl
Shoes: G Field, Flower Pumps "Eve" - white

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Nemo Revisited
Light Settings: Nam's Optimal Skin 2
Water Settings: [TOR] Meridian verde

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only 

*flails*

I got!!!

Stuff!!

Cool stuff!!!

Awesome stuff!!!

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG.

Just 'cause.

People are SO freaking nice!

I just... um...

*flails*

OMG!!!!!!!!!!

Ezura and Favole available at the Dead Dolls Charity Event!

Credits:

Eyes: Tacky Star, Pride
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy
Skin: MiaSnow, Rainbow tan 4
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Hair: Tukinowaguma, Ariana - gold
Hat, Scepter: Ezura, The Crown
Collar: Favole, Opulent
Dress: Ezura, Lolita Crown - Red
Shoes: Ezura, Lace Ankle Boots - Black

Pose: My AO

Location: My Home
Light Settings: Torie Senne WL settings

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only