Starting Over

i'm not sure how many of you can recall the very first time you fell out of the sky onto orientation island. maybe some of you reading this blog have just begun your journey into the virtual world. from account creation to managing the simplest inworld manipulation of your virtual representative (avatar), the decision to enter our world will be fraught with frustration, angst, and embarrassment. as it is with anything you learn, it just might get the better of you, or make you into the woman you have only dreamed that you could be.

all of the seemingly simple processes we oldbies take for granted were, and still are, extremely arduous and vexing for newbies. god love em and keep them from harm. as innocent or as deviant as the world can make its people, their experience in Second Life can be as varied and deep as anything the real world has to offer. maybe more so since this world's magical aspect has a way of transforming one's inner most heart felt sensitivities (should you be so inclined).

after more than two years of constant battle with the vagaries of the platform i think i've done reasonably well in understanding and keeping up with the basics. all of my memories, even the nagging and haunting of my virtual demons, are as vivid as some of my wildest dreams. the tears, the laughter, the joys, the sorrow. they are still as real as yesterday. as damning or uplifting as any human interaction can be.

so, if you could go back in time to do it all over again, do you think the experience would be the same or would the hardened crust of mistrust and pain stay you from seeing the world as it was truly meant to be: wild, exiting, and free.

well, i went back and i can tell you, the world, as vibrant and awe inspiring as it is, really hasn't gotten any better. you don't have to be a genius, there's plenty of resources to call upon scattered throughout the internet portals and inworld. you might have to get over some initial shyness but once you do, there's an abundance of help from the majority of residents you will encounter. i've always loved that aspect of Second Life. let me share my newbie experience with you all. from these old eyes and this newbie body maybe we can make your first steps into this world of fantasy and creativity just a little bit easier. God willing we can keep the smile on that cherubic face of yours.

Go Find It

That Looks Like it Might Hurt

ever wonder what trouble you could get in if you actually threw down a cube somewhere? if you get bored browsing for that idea half formed in your mind or that item matching your snap from a magazine, you might just ease your suffering if you made it yourself! radical idea, i know, but we all gotta start somewhere. heaven knows there's nothing BUT designers in here. you might just find another world to travel and explore if you dare.

the thigh studs spring from "trying" to fit a thigh strap. why i've never been able to fit them is because of the shape of the thigh. most of the straps i've seen base their prims on a cylinder. there is absolutely NO WAY that you can alter the shape of a cylinder to form around any part of the leg. if you sliced through your leg horizontally along the plane of the earth at any point and looked down on it from above it would look like the following:

all the studs are at polygon junction points. takes 10 of them to make a complete section. placing mini prims at those points while viewing the avatar from within Wiremesh mode can get them placed precisely. these studs were designed for my ava012 body shape. if you aren't using that exact shape, you will have to edit the positions of the studs.

these decorative accessories for your thigh consist of 3 rings of 10 tough stainless steel studs. they are on sale for 40L$. guaranteed never to rust. get them now at *BEHOLD*.

Winter Fur*

i seen this coat yeah? over in Sasha Kormann's Wonderland blog window. out of all the milk and honey that spilled out of the feed that day, the display image Anja Oconnell provided to Sasha for her blogpost was just the thing to get my shopping genes cooking.

i looked up Anja Oconnell and TPd to her store Sexy Angel where i was met by one of Anja's store greeters. a few minutes later Anja herself showed up wearing the very same coat i was looking for. i did a quick Inspect on it (no demos or modeling in the store) and found the prim work to be done by Ammy Lisle (owner Galeria Fashion) and Marcthur Goosson.

Anja's sweater and jeans have some expert texture work in them. i especially like the waist ribbing on the shortish sweater. she's got a Sexy Angel label sewed onto the back of that for a nice branding touch. Marcthur's beautifully formed and texturized neck prim integrates into the sweater perfectly. all prims are mod/copy so if you have to size, which i didn't, it should be easy. i added a slight tint to the neckpiece to match the sweater's tone. unfortunately, if you want to wear the sweater as a separate you'll need some fat bangles to hide the unfinished sleeve edges; designed, as they were, to fit under Ammy's rich and luxurious fur coat prims.

as with anything so prim massy i thought the attachment points might not allow for lifelike movement. the only concerns i had were in flying where the prims gravity features cut the prims below the body. all the other pose situations i put the coat through turned out surprisingly nice. so nice in fact that i just had to take more shots.

finding Nils Apfelbaum's wintery scene provided an excellent location to put the coat through its paces. he's got some old Victorian furnishings with poses that i just had to moosh myself into. you will absolutely love this coat's look and feel. burying your cheeks into the high collar's fuzziness will just melt you. the sillouette alone invokes a very very rich countenance. i could hear the scampering of the help upon my arrival to the Mayne Manor. all for the common sum of 399L$.

*[No virtual animals were used in the manufacture or sale of these coats.]

Casualty

i really have to thank Wezday for knowing just how to get to a girl. she gave me this cute little outfit from Dawn Memorial just before the holidays. she placed some nice accessories in the gift box too but i chose to gather up some more edgy stuff meself. something bloody. barbed wire maybe.

went looking for barbed wire and found Kiwi Fargis' place Pierced Soul Piercings. i opted for the skeery razor blade belly piercing. it's modifiable so if you have to adjust the size you can. the texture's excellent and commands a super zoom. unfortunately, the stud's diamond texture isn't made for the flat face of the cylinder she's wrapping. it can suffer the alpha glitch affect if you don't get your "Repeats Per Face" low enough to avoid the transparencies of the texture. i saved mine at: H=.100, V=.800.

how i came to finding Taylor Lubezki, co-owner of Ova Hauled is anyone's guess. getting the belt, bracelets, and necklace altogether seemed like a good deal after searching forever for just the right belt. this one's a double belt. the lower one at the angle to my hips can't be fit to any shape known to humanity. while the whole set's modifiable i wasn't going to move all the individually sculpted chain links to follow what a mess i'd made of the prim so i stuffed it into my body. shows more rivet details to Dawn's leather pants that way.

Taylor's implemented the Scripts R Us' sizing script throughout so they're a snap for rudimentary alterations with the touch menu. just remember to delete the script once yer happy with everything. that option's in the main menu. Taylor's got some nice sexy displays, quite a wide variety of primmy bits and lovely "slutwear". i wouldn't call it that, but hey, she's already had a review in slslutwear so who am i to say.

i wanted to show off Jolita's tatts too. they just don't get shown all that much being underneath all that clothing and really need a good airing every now and then. this set's called hummingbirds & stars. the birds are on the back. and, of course, if i'm getting naked i'm still not gonna take off my Carducci's. never can tell who's lurking under that strange bed.

Top & Pants: Dawn Memorial
Piercings: Kiwi Fargis
Tattoos: Jolita Korobase
Guns: Lil Carducci
Boots: Melanie Zhao
Belt/Bracelets/Necklace: Taylor Lubezki
Hair: Falastear Aeon
Gloves: Amadeus Beattie