The Returning - Markus Inkpen at LEA17

At first The Returning looks to be a beautiful and slightly mysterious forest. There are birds chirping and the occasional frog calling to its friends.  The sim is absolutely made for photography and I spent a lot of time flipping through windlight settings.  

 I am sure a good photographer and someone with Photoshop could do wonders with what they find here.  I am a bit rusty and still do not have any photo editing software installed on this computer so my images are straight from SL.  Please, please click through for a larger view.  Do it. please.

More after the break

Time for an Avatar Update! Help?

I have had the same basic shape since I joined Second Life in 2007.  I have tweaked it here and there a few times over the years, to be sure. Still?  My avatar has not changed much at all.  The image below is from November 2007 so you can see I am not making up this sad tale..

Most of my wardrobe is not current either.  I stopped buying clothes at least a year ago.  I have purchased a few mesh items and I never really stopped buying shoes because...well shoes are essential!  But the sad fact is my avatar is dated, my skin is dated and my clothes need a good updating as well.

I started to look at the fashionfeedof sl.com and iheartsl.com to look for fashion guidance and got overwhelmed pretty quickly.  It seems to me crazy couture, huge ballgowns, tiny slutty dresses, and weird bowlegged, frowny face street gremlins dominate the fashion blogs.  There are a ton of "events" which seem to be groups of designers marketing their creations around a theme which is a great idea but it is difficult for me to know where to begin.

I am tempted to go through my inventory and delete anything that is pre 2011, which probably is a bad idea because there are a lot of things that are sentimental.  But seriously, I am not going to wear or use a lot of that stuff ever again and I do not want to carry around an inventory of useless stuff.  I have managed to stay under 20K items for all this time and while I do want to update my avatar, I do not want to explode my inventory.

I can handle the inventory reduction part of this project.  But I honestly do not even know where to start to freshen up my avatar.  Can you please point me in the right direction?   Anyone?

Seeing Second Life for the first time. Again.

Yesterday at about 6:30pm a tall, dark, smiling, handsome man in dorky brown shorts knocked on my kitchen door.  I refrained from hugging him but I am pretty sure I squealed.  You see, he was delivering my new laptop and it is something I have been dreaming about for some time.

I tore into the box and set about adding virus protection and updating software.  I am blessed because I work for a large University and we get lots of software for personal use at no cost.  Normally the process of downloading and installing packages like Microsoft Office takes some time.  I was happy to note on my screaming fast Asus I was able to install Office in less than 15 minutes. That's right. Download and install the entire Microsoft Office Suite in less than 15 minutes.  I am no techy but at this point in my evening I was itching to get to Second Life to see how the laptop would perform.

When I logged in I was still at SL9B, which just the other day was grey and laggy as hell. Last evening everything instantly rezzed and I was able to walk around and explore easily.  I was able to listen to the music on each parcel and the sound was clear and sharp and suddenly I found myself smiling.  I was admiring the creativity of others, listening to amazing music and smiling from ear to ear.

I ran into a person who was wearing an avatar that looked like a hand. He walked the way you would if you walked your pointer and middle finger down your lovers back, except he was running so it looked more comic than sensual.  I watched him go from time capsule to time capsule taking in each one in rapid fire motion.  Since I was so amused by his antics I messaged him and told him his avatar was great.  He responded right away, apologized for his poor English and the dropped a copy of the hand avatar on me.

I actually got a little choked up.  I was so happy to be able to see and experience SL9B.  On top of that here was this silly hand with whom I could barely communicate who in the span of 30 seconds reminded me why there is nothing else like Second Life right now.  Creative people coming together, sharing a laugh and a moment of generosity is the embodiment of what keeps many of us coming back.

~~~~~
These images are completely random.  I took them all last night. The top image is Betty Tureaud's exhibit at SL9B. The two in the middle are Claudia's work at Spirit and the last one was taken on my SL land on East Harbour.  I have not even installed Photoshop yet so these are completely untouched, not even cropped. I am SO happy to be able to take pictures again.

So.very.happy.

See you all on the grid!

Giving in to temptation is sweet, especially when it gives you a new lease on SLife!

(photo taken in San Juan Puerto Rico last summer)

Last week I was supposed to be on a SL9B Panel discussion facilitated by the lovely Rowan Derryth.  She asked Dividni Shostakovich, Quan Lavender, my partner in Art Screamer Zachh Cale and me to talk with her about art in Second Life.  I was quite flattered to be asked to participate in a public discussion with people I respect so very much.  Honestly, I was not sure I had much of value to add but that has never stopped me before! Opinions?  I have them.

A day before the panel I logged on with Firestorm to make sure voice was working. It was fine, or so I thought.   I have been having a difficult time running SL on my computer but I figured I would not have to move during the event and it would not matter if the world looked liked grey goo for me. I just needed to be able to TP to the venue, sit and talk.  I needed to run Skype because Rowan planned to record our talk and create a podcast.  I figured I could make this work for an hour.

Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha.  <==================the sound of the universe laughing at me.

I will not bore you with long descriptions of the two hours I spent trying various and sundry configurations, the crying and pleading with the technology gods, yelling at my son who claims tech superiority daily to show me what he can *really* do, and the cursing that would put a drunk football coach to shame.  In the end, after bowing out of participating in the panel I could not stay logged in to Second Life long enough to sit in the audience.  I was mad. Very.very.mad.

The very next day I chatted with Zha over gtalk as I browsed my laptop options on Newegg. Zha disappeared to deal with something and before she or anyone else could talk me out of it I bought this beauty.   If the universe is no longer laughing at me my new laptop and assorted other toys like a fancy pants cooling pad will arrive via UPS today.  When I get home I get to set up, back up, and update software and download new programs, including the Second Life viewer.

I will have a new lease on my SLife!  I am happy.  Very.very.happy.

~~~

I have been feeling lonely and isolated lately.  I wasn't really able to put my finger on why, particularly since my house is almost always full of people.  Granted, the people are mostly the teens who run with my children but still.

Interestingly, being surrounded by loud talkative people can make introverts like me feel more lonely and isolated than being on our own.  I am not sure if this feeling of "being alone in the crowd" is universal but I sure feel it.

Then it hit me - I have always used Second Life as a way to be social on my terms - my very introverted terms.  Since I have been unable to log in to SL I have not been as social as usual.  I thought what I was missing was SL art and music, photography and writing. Could it be what I miss most is hanging out and watching my avatar dance while I chat with friends?

Yeah. That.

SL9B - Some words, a few pictures, a SLURL and a 5th rez day too

Birthdays are a time of reflection. What happened this year? Am I proud of what I have accomplished?   Am I happy? What are my plans for the coming year?   Or, if you are me, birthdays are a time for cake and champagne and not much thinking at all.  I am not someone who has plans or goals. I get up every day, follow my interests and see where the adventure of life takes me. So far my lack of planning and general "follow the shiny" path has served me well.

Following the shiny is exactly what I did at the "Press Preview" for the Second Live 9th Birthday or SL9B celebration today.  I will talk about the sims in a moment but first let me give you the Chestnut version of the SL9B drama, because there would not be a party in SL without some drama now would there?

Less than 2 months ago Linden Lab announced they would not provide sims for the annual Second Life birthday party and instead asked the Community to develop events on their own land. These independent events would be linked together via the Destination Guide. In true Linden Lab style, this announcement was late and made in the vaguest possible way leaving people feeling confused, upset and angry. Next, a group of smart, talented, hard working, and incredible SL residents said "forget that" and worked together under ridiculous time constraints to create one of the most fun, vibrant and alive celebrations I have seen in SL for a very long time.  Without Linden Lab's help.  The.end.

I did not have a lot of time to explore today what with the serving my husband's every need as it is Father's Day and because I am the most amazing wife/mother/cook in the whole entire universe, if my son is to be believed, which he is not because he is 13 and lies to get in my good graces so I will bake him cookies.  Which you could read about if I started the baking blog I keep contemplating but have not actually done because my kitchen is never spotless enough to photograph.  Ok, I am a bit off track here, aren't I?  Sorry.

I was able to wander the SL9B sims for a bit and plan to come back and spend a LOT more time exploring. There are art installations which FreeWee Ling blogged and graciously provided SLurls to a large number of must see exhibits.  There are educational opportunities, movies to see, games to play, friends new and old to enjoy and a surfing gorilla. There will be lots and lots and lots of live music from all genres on multiple stages across timezones. The schedule of performances will likely be a bit fluid and evolve some as these things tend to do so check for your favorites.

The SL9B sims are absolutely packed and there won't be enough time to see everything but I promise you there is plenty to keep you energized and engaged.  Teleport to SL9B via this SLurl.   You should pick up the teleport HUD and give it a try!

~~~

A word to the organizers of this event - what you have done to make this celebration happen is amazing. The logistics of coordinating the planning, sims, builds, marketing, performers, stage managers, greeters, volunteers of quite literally all shapes, sizes and species in the limited time you had available...well it is mind boggling.  I salute you and I thank you. SL9B is the best of what our virtual world is all about.

Oh and one more thing...yesterday was my 5th rez day.  I totally forgot too.  So if none of you mind I plan to pretend SL9B is all for me, ok?

Nah.  Its for you. SL9B is for you - the people of Second Life.  The party starts tomorrow so please GO and have a blast.

Pondering my future

It has been close to a month since I last posted.  I seem to have nothing to say. Or rather, I have lots to say but just not here and not about Second Life.

There was a time when I could not imagine a day without logging in to SL. I used to think I always would.  Lately I seem to have lost interest. I can't explain it.

On top of that my computer suddenly does not want to run Second Life at all.  I have tried any number of browsers, cleared cache, said the magic words and fiddled with everything I know to fiddle with but the non stop crashing and hours standing around waiting for things to rez makes being inworld less than pleasant.  I suppose I need a new computer but the rig I have is not old and it runs perfectly well for everything I want to do -- except Second Life.

You see the dilemma?  I can buy a new computer and my time in SL becomes fun again.  Or I ride the "meh" train right out of Second Life.  I just don't know which way I will turn.

Pardon the silence while I ponder my future.