Sunday Squee: Lassitude & Ennui

The Sunday Squee is about things that make me happy and excited. From books to movies to television shows to podcasts, I'll highlight less commonly known things as a way to share what I love. If you want to join in the Sunday Squee, please link back to me, magnifying both of our joy.

I have been wearing Lassitude & Ennui for six years, and they have been glorious. With their delicate and creative shapes and gorgeous textures, Lassitude & Ennui turn out new and interesting accessories, shoes, and sometimes even clothing. Above you can see an example of jewelry, the theme consistent across a bunch of different pieces - crown, earrings, and a dual layered necklace. Below, you can see an example of one of their dresses with crisp textures and interesting silhouette. I love the asymmetrical skirt with a flounce paired with a halter top, all of it trimmed with slightly shiny ribbon. The entire effect is light and springy, especially with the soft texture over the rest of the dress. Below that is a pairing of outfit and boots - a gorgeous Gothic ensemble with dress and jacket separates that I paired with calf-height boots. This was one of their first outfits and it has some fantastic curves built in, with ribbon and bow accents.

How NOT to Buy a Skin

[Coddle Me]: hey do you got the yellow skin for female tmp body/heads?
[Coddle Me]: or is it male only

[Skin Store 1 Owner]: The female was sold out

[Coddle Me]: :(

[Skin Store 1 Owner]: it's a limited edition color

[Coddle Me]: please can i have one

[Skin Store 1 Owner]: No, I'm sorry. I may do a new version of it for the Gen2 skins, but that won't be for a while now

[Coddle Me]: ill pay extra

[Skin Store 1 Owner]: no, Sorry

Genre: Polynesia - In the Wilds

I'm all decked out for Polynesia, this month's Genre theme. The US has two named territories here - one is the state of Hawai'i, known for it's laid back nature and rich heritage, and the other is American Samoa, an unincorporated protectorate that is largely unknown to most USAns. Both are island chains grouped in with the rest of Polynesia, enjoying tropical weather. American Samoa, along with a lot of Polynesia, was annexed by other countries during the continuing colonization of the late eighteen hundreds, finally ending up under US. The President of the US remains the Head of State, though American Samoa also has it's own Constitution and elected government separate from that of the US, and they send a non-voting delegate to the US House of Representatives. Culturally, American Samoa and Hawai'i have many similarities through their mutual connection with the US despite having different original cultures. Also, most residents of American Samoa are Samoan, while a lot of Hawai'i is Asian immigrants with the native population greatly diminished and their cultural heritage interrupted by laws denying them their language and practices until very recently. I can't imagine what it would be like to be denied your past only to have people transform it into something for sale - part of me wonders at putting on the colors and dress of a place that is still here but so separate from me, but I can't deny the beauty of the islands and an attraction to cultures of respect and mutuality.

Tutorial: Graphics Settings in Second Life

Clever use of graphics settings in Second Life can make taking pictures in world much easier and more effective, as well as letting lower end computers still produce high quality images. Knowing which to use when speeds up photography, especially in circumstances outside of the photo-studio, where lag and other people can be much more of an issue. Above is the final image we're working towards, using shadows and windlight settings to draw a strong diagonal across the image straight to her face, while simultaneously anchoring the image with the clock toward in the deep background.I'm also working to minimize a couple of issues at play which I'll point out as we move our way up through the levels of systemic complexity. I would find moving around with the above settings a real challenge, and framing an image almost impossible; the lag on my system is simply too intense for detailed movement.

Sunday Squee: Pokémon Go

The Sunday Squee is about things that make me happy and excited. From books to movies to television shows to podcasts, I'll highlight less commonly known things as a way to share what I love. If you want to join in the Sunday Squee, please link back to me, magnifying both of our joy.

Pokémon Go is the first pokémon (pocket monster) game I've ever played, though I've bumped elbows with it's knock-offs a few times, and I came to play it circuitously, through Niantic's previous (and still running) game Ingress. However, where Ingress encouraged territory taking and keeping, Pokémon Go has a fun solo play component to it which reinforces the exploration aspects of its cousin. First - the basics; you can sign up either through a gmail account or the Pokémon website - in either case I strongly suggest using a pseudonym or a throw-away email account as this is a GPS game which has different privacy concerns than a purely online game. The same goes for your official name in game, which will show up on gyms and on the pictures you take of your pokémon in the wild (I cropped my images to remove my pseydonym). Also, the names are unique, so having a pre-selected list of options makes a lot of sense.

It's Been a Sad July

Things seemed to get worse after Orlando.

Content Note: I keep flash off, so I don't know how many of these pages have autoplaying video of people being killed,and the hashtags often have images of bodies. Follow links carefully.

July 1st was the worst terrorist attack in the history of Bangladesh, when members of the Jamaeytul Mujahdeen took hostages for twelve hours; twenty-nine people were killed, including five of the six Bangladeshi men who took them hostage.

July 3rd, over three hundred people were killed in a Baghdad bombing targeting a Shi'ite area of the city; it was the deadliest bombing in Iraq this year. Some information about the slain was released, and Iraquis poured out their grief on the #NotJustANumber hashtag.

July 4th, Delrawn Small was shot after approaching an off duty police officer after an interaction on the road (surprisingly, the officer was stripped of his gun and badge after video evidence contradicted his statement).

July 5th, Anton Sterling was shot after being pinned down by police; Chris DeLay, the man who posted the video, was detained by police the next day.

Sn@tch - For the Love of Vice

Sn@tch is one of the 7Seas Fishing holes left on the grid that offers bonus clothing if you have some patience. All of the pieces are available for fishing without bait, and it can be a really fun activity, a way to pick up some floating fish, and an easy way to pick up some awesome outfits.

Right now, the Sn@tch outfit Sainmhiniu is wearing up front is available for catching. Right behind me, in the teal, is someone wearing the last outfit that was catchable there - Then Paloma Danced. For Love of Vice includes five different colors of this outfit, the tights and boots, the hairbow and glasses, and omega appliers for all of the textures included. The skirt comes in standard sizes, and I've had very little problem fitting it. It's extremely newbie friendly - the basic fishing rod costs 100$L and you can catch everything with it - and the quality is very high. Also, what can be fished for changes at least twice a month, and several times a year Sn@tch does "grab bag" releases, where entire items of sets of accessories are boxed up and made catcheable.

I'm an absent fisher - the 7Seas Rods allow one to catch endlessly - and I used the Oceanography Database to limit my catches to novel fish, it automatically checks them off as I go. Sainmhiniu is often fishing in the background on a Radegast browser while I do other things, so I have a small collection of extras which end up given to friends or handed off to newbies I run into. The fish themselves are a delight; I have a full set on my main as well as almost a full set on Sainmhiniu,and love to watch them swim around me. 7Seas Fish also include some secondary games - the blueprints, for example, let you collect a few items of different levels and combine them to create a bunch of different prizes, like the Oceanography Database I mentioned above or a rezzable boat which lets one fish within it's vicinity. There is a breeding game as well, where you can combine Flame Angel fish to make children. There are rezzable items, like fish tanks, and decorations, and fish competition games and fishing contests as well. The nicest thing is how fishing holes can be customized - many of them offer custom eggs and treasures and you can find them through the 7Seas Public Fishing Hole List, which updates automatically.

Sunday Squee: Second Life's 13th Birthday

The Sunday Squee is about things that make me happy and excited. From books to movies to television shows to podcasts, I'll highlight less commonly known things as a way to share what I love. If you want to join in the Sunday Squee, please link back to me, magnifying both of our joy.

I've been spending much of the day wandering around Second Life's 13th Birthday celebration, which is open through the weekend. The stages are all organized works of art spanning one to four sims at once while the display sims are broken up into about twenty-five individual squares, each in the hands of a different builder. The effect is cacophonous, highly eclectic, and often a challenge to photograph! I love it as a measure of the sheer breadth of people and talent in Second Life - by and large this is a world made up of enthusiastic amateurs, and the birthday celebration is always a striking place to see that set side by side. It's also a good place to pick up some freebies and landmarks of things to explore in the wider Second Life universe - I already have a few landmarks and notecards for when the Birthday sims close. The cake stage has already been exploded into tiny bits, but the rest will remain in place for another couple of days before they're returned. Whether you want to try to catch it all, or just seek out the highlights, I highly recommend heading over before it all vanishes into the mists.

Month of the Blog: June

This month I tried to get back into art in a small way and it happened, but not as much as I could have wished. I also experimented with using alts to show off hunt prizes, and that went rather well. This was also the month when I finally began treatment for ADD, and the month my cat looked very sick but may have just become much pickier about his food. It's been a lot of ups, a lot of downs, and not much in between - not conducive for being in Second Life, much less blogging about it! For next month, I hope to get back into my more regular posts - the Colour Challenge, the Art Analysis, my Sunday Squees. We'll see if it comes to pass!

Top Ten Posts in May:

1. Poppin' Penguin Hunt!: Summer Lovin'
2. Genre: New Republic
3. Hamlet - In a Nutshell
4. Say Their Names
5. Suspended
6. Midnight Madness: You See Right Through Me
7. LEA 26, 27, 28, and 29 - Pop-Up Art
8. Sunday Squee: Bare@Rose's Raffle
9. SL13B: Something Sweet
10. Cosmetics Faire: Six Colors, Six Looks