Virtual Life Lessons

My friends Apple MacKay and Nasus Dumart will be talking about their book "The Unofficial Guide to Building your Business in the Second Life Virtual World" at the New York Public Library tonight. You can find out more about how to attend the presentation "Virtual Life Lessons" in RL or in SL here.

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The title of this event "Virtual Life Lessons" got me thinking. What are some virtual life lessons I have learned?

~ Taking the time to acquire a new skill makes your SL better.

~ Few people achieve great things in SL without working very hard.

~ Real recognition and respect are earned for things you do, not who you know or what you wear.

~ People deserve a second chance, but probably not a third.

~ When in doubt about what to do with your time in-world explore a new sim or listen to live music.

~ Relationships are built on trust and time spent together.

~ Things are not always as they appear on the surface.

~ Your expectations will guide the outcome you experience.

~ Ranking as the 3,222,502nd most popular blog in the whole world makes me laugh.

The main virtual life lesson I have learned is to do what I enjoy and blog what I think because happiness is not measured in how you rank against the pack.

Cheers y'all.

Artathon Artworks Opening and Special Presentation TODAY SUNDAY at 2PM

You are invited to attend the official opening of the Artathon Artworks today Sunday August 30 at 2 pm SLT, hosted by Filthy Fluno, Winter Nightfire and Virtual Ability.

During the event Filthy and Winter will present a check for over $1000 US Dollars to Virtual Ability, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that helps make SL more accessible to people with disabilities and chronic illnesses. The funds were raised by Filthy and Winter at the SLCC Artathon and auction August 13-16 in San Francisco.

Today's event will celebrate the collaboration of artists and non-profits in Second Life, illustrating the potential of art to raise awareness and funds for organizations in the virtual world.

Go here to attend the Opening and while you are there have a look around the sim. There is a lot of interesting artwork to enjoy.

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ETA: After the Artathon Opening you have an opportunity. I know you have heard me talk about Musimmerson, my friend Grace McDunnough's amazing musical journey. Today she is performing one of the last shows of this version of Musimmersion. If you have not gone yet, please do not miss it today at 3PM. Here is my write up from NWN.

Musimmersion is a musical journey, a performance art experience and a peek into Grace's McDunnough's vision for the future of experiencing music in virtual worlds. The show is made up of all original music performed for an intimate crowd of 20. The audience is moved between fantastically detailed sets designed to enhance and illustrate each song. Musimmersion is truly one of the most beautiful and enjoyable events in SL and is not to be missed. In Blank Canvas. [SLurl teleport at this link]

AM Radio's "Towards the Sky" and a Limited Time Only Freebie You MUST Have

I am not usually enamored with vehicles in SL. After all, I can fly so why bother with cars? Having said that sometimes I really do love to play with cars, boats, motorcycles or my hot air balloon.

When I got a TP to look at AM Radio's build "Towards the Sky" last night there was an added incentive. AM was giving away copies of his Roadster. I got there as fast as I possibly could and braved the jello-like lag the massive crowed had created. If it is possible to love a pixel vehicle, I fell in love with AM's car last night. Yes, it was love at first sight. You can almost feel the warm leather of the seats. Its easy to imagine checking your look in the rear view mirror at a stop light, as the wind tousles your hair. Oh yes. Sweet, car love.

People said the car was only available for free last evening but when I went back to enjoy the calming solitude of the build this morning you could still "steal" the Roadster. Get over there now if you want it for your very own.

The Lazy Blogger's Approach to Posting or "An Update in Bullet Form"

* Please read Chestnut's Choices on New World Notes. I think I have a great mix of events for this week. I actually managed to update my google calendar as well.

* I am frustrated with the new Second Life Web Page. The Events Calendar is much easier to read, I will give the Lindens that much. However, all my links were broken during the migration.

* The Events Calendar is harder to navigate than it was before the update. Now it takes 2 clicks to get to the full description of an event where it used to take one. It takes 3 clicks to get to a SLurl where it used to take two. This change is going in the wrong direction people.

* None of the search categories have changed. FFS, Pageants still exists as a category Seriously, does anyone do pageants in Second Life? Oh yes, now that I think of it there have been a few. I recall the drama, the runny mascara and the hissy fits. I don't think Pageants really need a whole category in search while, say, DJ events don't have a category? OK I need to stop here before I go off on a tirade.

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* I was in a runway fashion show the other day. The show presented designs by Fashion Research Inc. Student Interns. The students were actually congratulated by Women's Wear Daily for their work, which is a really big deal.

* FRI is accepting applications for Fall internships now. If you are a budding virtual fashion designer you will not find a better way to learn. You can apply for the internship here.

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* You will note I did not blog about the show I was in prior to the event. Why, you ask? Well the dress I had to wear was not to my taste. It made me pretty uncomfortable to be strutting my stuff on a runway in something I would never, ever wear. Which is very silly, but it is how I felt at the time.

* As it turned out, when I got to the end of the runway and struck my poses there were actual cheers from the crowd. So, probably I was wrong about the dress. We all had a great deal of fun and got swag too. What is not to love about swag?

* Next time I am asked to wear something I am not fond of I promise not be such a baby. Like my friend Harper said "models are just the hangers." I am pretty sure she said something about the show being about the student designers and not about me too.

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* Finally, if you are looking for a fashion blog by someone who really knows virtual couture and who is a brilliant intelligent writer, check out Harper's blog A Passion for Virtual Fashion. I warn you, reading that blog it is an imminent danger to your linden balances. At least it is for mine.

New Sky Box Build

The other day I accidentally deleted my sky box. It was one of those stupid, not paying attention moments that happen all too often to me. I have a copy and I could easily have rezed it but I got the idea that I wanted something different. I do this often. I guess I am easily bored.

I started looking in my inventory at the approximately 37 houses and sky boxes I have in there. Somewhere. Even if I could find anything, which I can't, using a build I already have would not address the boredom factor now would it?. So, I started to shop.

Now, I am not a builder as I have said often. By this I mean I am not the kind of builder that creates my own textures and bakes them (whatever that means) and I don't know how to make shadows or anything. But I can flip prims around and sometimes I like the things I build well enough. What this means is sometimes when I shop I look at what people are selling and I think "I can do that." Which is exactly what happened when I was looking at skyboxes.

So I decided to dig in my inventory and look at some textures to see what ideas would spring forth. Pictures of my new build are below. I made the structure and the fountain. For the most part everything else came from my inventory.

I still have tweaking to do but overall I like it. What do you think?

I think it is time to clear some things up

This is my personal blog. The ideas expressed here are my own. I do not speak for my employer, my partner, IBM, Linden Lab, Hamlet Au, New World Notes, the Democratic Party, the State of New York, Barack Obama, the health care lobby, or my dog.

I go to work every day where I process paper. I come home and cook dinner for my husband and kids. I clean up a little, do some laundry and walk my doggie. (I am pointedly not speaking for my puppy but I think she likes the walks.) Once my responsibilities are taken care of I sit down at my laptop for a while and talk to friends, listen to music or look at virtual art in Second Life.

Please don't make the mistake of thinking that writing words on the internet under a pseudonym gives me power. As my friend Crap Mariner told me a long time ago, "I am just like you, as%$^(*."

For now, I have decided to go back to moderating comments. I will publish all comments except those that are mean spirited and attack me or anyone else.

There are angels in Second Life

Today was a strange day. There is someone who used to be a friend who is icy towards me now and I can't figure out what I did to create this situation. I was sort of sad and cranky and out of sorts.

To take my mind off things I was looking at the fashion feed and came across a necklace I love. I logged in, TPed over and when I clicked Buy I saw that the set cost $1,499L. For me $1,499 for one necklace, no matter how lovely, is a lot to spend.

I wondered if everyone is as cheap as me what with the popularity of Stiletto Moody's and all so I asked my friends on Plurk. Would you spend this much on something you love? Most people said sure they would, with a few "hell nos" thrown in for good measure. I decided to wait a few days and if I still had necklace lust in my heart I would go back and buy the set.

A few minutes later a lovely, amazing friend dropped a gift card on me saying "you deserve something nice" and then she immediately logged. Now, please understand that this person is a friend but not a person I spend a ton of time with. We have known each other for a long time and I admire her a great deal. She is a fabulous blogger and she does a lot for new residents of SL. She is someone who gives a lot to the blogging community and is an all around wonderful person. But I would not say we are close friends. And yet, knowing I wanted this necklace and was hesitant to spend that much on myself she did it for me.

Sometimes the pure generosity of someone is enough to take my breath away and restore my sagging spirit.

Please forgive the poor quality of these photos. I did this quickly because i really wanted to post this tonight. It is dang hard to take great fashion photos so kudos to all you fashion bloggers who do such a great job. Trust me, this necklace is to die for and I am going to have to wear gowns with no back for a good long time because I do not want to take this lovely jewelry off.




I am not going to name my generous friend here as she did not do what she did for attention or gratitude. She did it because she has a heart of gold. Thank you so very much my friend. You warmed my heart and brought tears to my eyes.

Tunes inSL -- Do you use it?

Have you been using Tunes inSL? If not, why not? My friend Crap Mariner has pulled together a great website and inworld location that makes it super easy to find out about SL musicians and provides links to places where you can buy their music including itunes and CDbaby. I use the Tunes inSL page a lot when I am writing Chestnut's Choices. There simply isn't a better web based resource for information about live music in SL I have found.

Last night Crap sent me a link to the new location of Tunes inSL. The store is decorated in classic Crap-style with rotating gears overhead as you enter.



The walls are covered with information about SL musicians. Album covers play as a slide show under each individual's name, which is a nice touch.



When you click on the artist's name you are offered a link to the Tunes inSL page about that person.



When you click through you will find links to the musician's web page, myspace, group, itunes or wherever you can buy their music. As an aside when I was at the Fierce Tibetan Gods show they other day they mentioned that you can buy their music on xstreet.com, which I did not know. Cool, right?



Note: The Express Hud is still on my screen and for now has officially replaced my Mysti Tool. I also strongly recommend the Emerald Viewer . It is fast, stable and has a lot of great features.

The One Where Chestnut Fusses about Flouncing

This post is not going to make me any friends. I apologize in advance if what I am about to say hurts your feelings.

Lately I have seen a louder than normal level of bitching about Linden Lab and SL. Lots of people have "left" SL only to return within a matter of weeks or even days. Others threaten to leave and then stay only to bitch about SL ad nausem. Honestly, my tolerance for people who flounce is at an all time low.

If your Second Life is fucking with your mental health then please do figure out what will make you happy and then pursue it. "Leaving" and coming back over and over makes you look kind of silly. Talking about how bad SL is for you and saying you should leave but sticking around makes you seem sort of sad.

The thing is, Second Life offers you a set of tools you can use any way you like. If what you do is boring you or leaving you frustrated or angry perhaps it is time to do something different. If the people you associate with are making you unhappy or sad perhaps it is time to spend your time with different folks. If you keep making the same choices expecting a different outcome it is no wonder you are disappointed, right?

I hope you can find a way to deal with the frustrations (and gawd knows there are plenty of them) so you can continue to be a part of what is great about our virtual world. "The community" is the sum of its parts and every time we lose someone the world is diminished a bit. Second Life is better when you are here, happily participating.

Friday 7th August 2009

6 PM - The Pocket Jamms for Genes
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Freestar%20Bay%20Isle/218/34/22

6:00 pm - Von Johin
6:30 pm Gary Jonstone
7:00 PM Billy Thunders
8:00 PM Artel Brando
9:00 PM Pato and the Re-Tenders
10:00 PM OhMy Kidd
11:00 PM Pmann Sands

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Saturday 8th August 2009

12 AM - The Pocket Jamms for Genes (continued)
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Freestar%20Bay%20Isle/218/34/22

12:00 AM - Phoe Nix
1:00 AM - Angelica Svenska

2AM Laceys Place Jamms for Genes
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Sasha/60/202/23

2:00 AM OhMY and the Kids
3:00 AM Auzzie and The Lohners
4:00 AM Jackdog Snook
5:00 AM CelticMaidenWarrior Lancaster

6AM The Waterfall
http://slurl.com/secondlife/THE%20NEKO%20land/140/18/23

6:00 AM Dann Numbers
7:00 AM Wildstar Writer
8:00 AM HölliVals

9AM The Old Barn
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Metropolis%20Unknown/17/44/21

9:00 AM Bara Jonson
10:00 AM Don Cabassoun
11:00 AM Kaklick Martin

12 PM Sailors Cove
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Sailors%20Cove/245/145/22

12:00 PM Pmann Sands
1:00 PM Jonas Lunasea
2:00 PM This Device

3 PM Endeavour Cove
http://slurl.com/secondlife//174/179/24

3:00 PM Jaggpro Mccann
4:00 PM OhMy Kidd
5:00 PM Maximillion Kleene

6 PM THE POCKET JAMMS AGAIN
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Freestar%20Bay%20Isle/218/34/22

6:00 PM Paisley Beebe & Freddy Halderman
7:00 PM Cellandra Zon

7:45 PM Freestar Bay Jamms for Genes
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Freestar%20Bay%20Isle/71/131/501

7:45 - 8:00 - Freestar Tammas Warmup Show
8:00 - 8:30 - Dale Katscher
8:30 - 9:00 - Matthew Perreault
9:00 - 10:00 - KelvinBlue Oh
10:00 - 11:00 - Noma Falta
11:00 - 11:30 - Randyb Magic
11:30 -12:00 - Freestar Tammas

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Sunday 9th August 2009

12 AM Woodstock Jamms for Genes
http://slurl.com/secondlife//34/157/22

12 AM Rosedrop Rust
1 AM Tpenta Vanalten
2 AM OhMy Kidd
3 AM SOAR


4 AM onward - Mariposa Upsahw's Art Auction Spectacular

Screen Real Estate in SL or The Essential HUD

If you are like me your screen is crowded with all kinds of tools that make your Second Life more fun or more manageable. I got a great new tool that I LOVE today so I thought I would take you all on a tour of my UI display. I am saving the best for last to bear with me for a moment, won't you?

I am a visual person so I don't like a cluttered screen but I do like my tools. Very small HUDs are a priority for me. I stole this idea from Emerald Wyn and used my mad Photoshop skills to annotate my screen for this post. I know. Don't be jealous. You too can use the pencil tool like a kindergartner if you only try. Believe in yourself. You can do it.



At the top left is my indispensable hugger tool. It is called Hug & Kiss Animator 1.22 and I got it on Slexchange back in the day before LL bought the farm -- I mean store. You can buy it here. It is not inexpensive but I like it because it automatically adjusts for your avatar height. Both Zha and I are on the small side and I got tired of impaling her with various body parts. This hugger avoids doing bodily damage to the object of your affections and you can minimize it when you are not feeling huggy. Sold!

I have about 15 different AOs. Some I have built myself, others I have bought from a wide variety of creators on the grid. The one AO I always come back to is the Vista Girl3 2008. For some reason it feels like "me." I do like all the AOs at Vista and if you are in the market you may want to check them out here.

As I said the other day I am a huge fan of the Mysti Tool. It is a great device that has more tools that I know what to do with. I love the radar, the ability to rez anything from a pose stand to a sky platform, the built in flight assist, the ability to track LMs and on and on. If you have been in SL any length of time you probably already own a Mysti tool. If you don't have one you really should. Go here and pick it up.

Are you still with me? Good. Do you remember my adorable friend Chase?



Do not let the bubble gum, 80s outfit and the pony tail fool you. Chase is a brilliant scripter who has come up with a fabulous tool that you want. Trust me on this. Chase's HUD is called Express and it is a great addition to my array of tools. Express allows me to animate my avatar with the goofy facial expressions that SL allows. So I can stick my tongue out at Linden Labs for not allowing better facial expressions! Ha!

I have dumped a bunch of poses in Express so I can with a click cycle through them for easy blog photos. I can also use this little darling to animate another avatar. So if I am in a no build area and I want to take your picture I can pose you without rezing anything. Handy, no?

My absolute favorite feature of Express is called "Disable Jump." What is that, you ask? Let me tell you this feature is well worth the measly $30 lindens Chase asks for her HUD. You know when you accidentally type and the chat bar is not open and your avatar does this oh so graceful jump into the air? You know how when you are in a group of people and you make this mistake you are embarrassed and feel like a dolt? Well there is a little button on your Express HUD that will prevent you from doing the dolt jump and you need never be embarrassed like that again. What? Sold you say? I agree. Go and buy it here. Chase is working on other tools for Express so there will be upgrades at some point.

While you are there check out Chase's clothes. She also makes a resizer HUD called Charisma which you may have seen in clothes from major designers like Katatonic. Yep, talented and adorable. That is my Chase!

Happy Saturday y'all.