Twelve years

When I was twelve years old in real life, my body started that biological monthly "ritual" that differentiated a child from a young woman. I had already started wearing a bra several months before that.

Opal is twelve years old today.


There are no physical or virtual manifestations of changes due to her age, besides the continual updates in technology (her avatar is almost entirely in mesh now) and a meaningful shift in her coloring (which has nothing to do with her age).

In 2006, I started with fair skin and red hair. On my first day, I shaped her face into the one that I had been drawing since I learned to draw as a child. And I gave her fiery hair because I used to imagine that I was a feisty Irish woman in a previous life.

I tried different skin and hair colors through the years, especially during my virtual fashion model phase. I had tan skin and black hair at one point, then I realized too many models had that look, and I wanted to look different, so I kept the red hair.

Soon after the Charlottesville incident in August 2017, I went back to tan skin and black hair, which is my real-life coloring. It was a quiet political statement. I am a Filipina-American.

However, I kept the same eyes with blue and green colors, like Australian opals, because, after all, she is Opal.

Opal in first land 2006 and 2018

Maybe the most significant change in my virtual life is my relationship with Wolfgang.

I met him in March 2012. I was finishing up my book which I published in May the same year. I thought he would be just another "dim sum." We broke up in January 2015. By then, he was the longest relationship I've had — almost three times longer than the second longest. The next year, we were back together. I don't even know precisely when that happened. We were supposed to be just friends the second time around.

We're still together.

Neither of us planned for a long-term relationship. Neither of us specifically wished for one. We are both polyamorous.

During our first three years, we argued a lot and, each time we did, splitting up was always an option on the table. Nowadays, the option is still on the table, but neither of us seriously consider it anymore.

Some days when I feel very insecure about our relationship, I still wish to give up and end it. Then Wolfgang would send me a funny email, and I'd realize that we're okay.

The odd thing is that the longer the relationship goes, the more insecure I become. My old abandonment fears, I know. So, we consider everything we do to make sure that we don't trigger my abandonment issues and my insecurities.

We're more patient with each other. He understands why I distrust him about certain things. So I'm more open about how I come to my own conclusions, which usually make me insecure, and he's more open to explaining why my assumptions are wrong.

Virtual-world relationships are no easier than real-world relationships.


Twelve years. I'm still here. Cheers.

Unconscious biases in SL

I just watched this. Highly recommended. Howard Ross talks about how our unconscious biases affect our interactions and our world.

This discussion is very important in a very diverse community like Second Life. And I would love to have this conversation extended and applied to virtual communities, especially because our unconscious biases are working on artificial stimuli, like fabricated avatars that differ from our real selves in varying degrees.

Are we perpetuating those biases by the avatars we choose and design? By how we interact with avatars that make us feel uncomfortable either by what they represent or by their quality? Do we judge people by the avatars they choose? In what ways?

I am Filipina in real life. Short, brown-skinned, dark hair, dark eyes, overweight, disproportionate.

I chose Opal to be tall, fair-skinned, redheaded, blue or green or teal eyes (depending on my mood), hourglass-shaped.

Knowing that, how do you perceive me now? (Honesty would be much appreciated.)

On all fours

Wolfgang is on a holiday with no access to SL. We've been communicating by email mostly. Very short ones from him, because he could only use his phone, and he hates to type long emails on it.

In the past, I've sent him seductive photos (after converting them to very small jpgs). This time, I am working on a seductive machinima, instead. He knows it's for him. I had been working on it for a long while now, and before he left for vacation, I said it was better for him to see it when he comes back so he would have something to look forward to.

So I wasn't thinking of sending him any photos so I could work on the machinima. But today, he explicitly asked for one.

"Send me [a] nice sexy pic if you wish and can... pick who. And [tell] me why the choice." He meant I could pick which of my alts to take a picture of. We had talked about folding in a fourth alt into the family, one who had once belonged briefly to a lover. But Wolfgang is actually chasing after Opal lately.

I told him I'll let it simmer in my head and send it to him when I get a good idea for one. He said it was simple. "Just to pick [an] avy and sexy pose with a meaning." And he added, "Like... student on [all] fours waiting [for] her roommate..." He was referring to a roleplay we were doing.

I replied that I had to finish the machinima. After a few emails back and forth with pretend tantrums on both sides, I complied. :D

Pick an avy... Done.
Sexy pose... Done. (I suppose boy cats find it sexy.)
On all fours... Done.
Waiting for her roommate.... Oh, yes, hurry home, darling.  :D

Dove: Good question

I was searching YouTube for something when I found an ad at the top of the search list for Dove's newest ad. Here it is, then I'll talk about it:





Did you see the question at 0:43? ... Yeah, ... that simple question ... it brought tears to my eyes. ... When, indeed.

I am reluctant to post my RL picture anywhere; I am reluctant to have my RL picture taken. When I travel and someone offers to take my picture with the scenery, I decline and say, "It would just ruin the picture." When I look back at old pictures, I think that, in the ones where I looked great, I didn't look like me.

I justify my avatar's beauty by saying that I compensate for my RL with my SL avatar. How many of us compensate for our RL with our SL avatars? Maybe it's easier to count how many do NOT.

Of course, I realize that having a pretty avatar makes it even harder for us to accept ourselves. I doubt lovers who say that they think I am attractive irl, because it was my avatar that attracted them and my avatar looks nothing like my RL. I worry what a lover would think of me when I use the webcam on Skype with him. Would he lose interest? Is he looking at the RL me in Skype, or is he looking at my avatar in SL?

If a lover asks to see me in Skype for the first time, I am incredibly nervous. If he asks again after he had previously seen me in all my un-glory, I am ecstatic.

Do I think that people should make their SL avatars look like their real selves? I still think it's a personal choice. It's more than just a matter of confidence. It's more than just a matter of beauty. It's also a matter of experiencing something we cannot irl. What does it feel like to be beautiful? To be fought for? To be flattered? To have more confidence? To be desired like that?

Now, I know.

Would I want to be as beautiful as my avatar irl? Not really. I've seen the shadow side of beauty too.

La Belle et la Bête

A couple of years ago, Yes Man bought a minotaur avie to wear for me, because I had seen a minotaur copulating with a human slave and the scene was surprisingly very erotic.

Wolfgang knew about that minotaur.

We had been talking on and off about what to do with Alt#27 and Wolfgang#6. He felt that we were stagnating there, because we were walking a fine line. We weren't entirely into BDSM and we weren't entirely out of it either. There wasn't much room to move. I would have been fine keeping them as they were, even if they were stagnant, but he figured that, unless they grew, they would eventually disappear.

One day, I mentioned that I missed Wolfgang#2, who was the first of his alts that I met. I missed the connection we had and I wanted to go back to the old roleplay to relive it again. He refused because parts of BDSM hurt me, even if I assured him we would be fine, because we've developed more amiable and more tender connections with each other through our other alt pairs. He still refused.

He didn't want to go back to the past. He preferred to move forward. And, among other ideas, we revisited the beast, which would be a very erotic roleplay. I wasn't sure it was the right idea though. He once refused to wear a hamster avie even if it was just for fun. He reasoned he's not a hamster, and I argued he wasn't female either but he has female avies. I didn't want him to do it reluctantly, so I didn't mention it again, although we explored the Marketplace to see our options. Although he later insisted he already agreed to it, I wasn't so sure.

Deciding what to do next with those alts was a very frustrating argument that took several days, and we both got very frustrated and irritated and angry whenever we talked about it. Even when we were in our other more tender alts. And that's when we finally admitted to ourselves that how we felt in one alt pair would affect other alt pairs.

One evening, he mentioned that he  transferred some L$ to Wolfgang#6 for the beast avie. He wanted me to choose, even the color. And I was surprised. To him, his avies were representations of the real-life him. And yet, here he was, allowing me to define who he would be. He wanted to please me. He wanted me to be happy. And I was overwhelmed.

Maybe he's reciprocating, because he saw how I allowed Alt#6 to split into four characters for him: a cat, a furry, a neko, and the original human and he saw how those alternative avies added very interesting complexities to our interactions. Whatever his reasons, the beast was a wonderful gift.

Then he came up with a wonderful premise for a background story. A curse that turned him into a beast. A love that was torn apart because of it. Souls reincarnating through time and lovers finding each other again in their new incarnations and the curse being invoked again. The story is very promising but still has holes that we'll resolve as we go along. And it was still a form of D/s, but more "excusable" because of the wild nature of the beast.

The other day, we made love with him as the beast for the first time. It was very potent. He could simply take me. And being taken like that (of course, with implicit permission and our safe word) was very arousing.

As we were reflecting on it, I realized that this wasn't like the minotaur at all. The minotaur was a sex object that Yes Man wore, only when we decided to do that sexual scenario. On the other hand, the beast is an ongoing roleplay, and it already has a background story, so it has the beginnings of a "soul."  Wolfgang thinks that makes a big difference, and I agree.

It seems so "natural." After all, he has been calling me his "beauty" for a long while now.

"... Barely even friends,... then somebody bends... unexpectedly...."

Isn't it roman... Please turn off your hair...

Imagine you're on a romantic date in a beautiful sim. You and your lover have your settings on midnight. Other couples have found their own little nooks all over the sim. Then suddenly, someone teleports nearby with glowing hair.

What on earth?!?

:D No, that didn't happen to me. What really happened was that I set to midnight and realized that *I* was the glowingest creature around. Yes, glowing hair is nice. But only if the sun is up! When set to midnight, I look like a clown sans the red nose!

I mean I *love* the hair styles made by this particular merchant, but it's a pain to turn off full bright, especially since SL tends to miss a number of prims in an object that has about a hundred prims. And I'm sure you know how big a pain it is to edit a specific prim hidden behind several alpha prims. Click,... ooops, no, not that one... click,... ooops, no, not that one... click,.... And if you turn on transparencies, you can't see which one is glowing.

Anyway, I'm just griping. I really do love these styles, even though I have to do a bit more work on them. Thankfully, they're Mod.

Avatar lookalikes

Almost two years ago, I had this conversation with Lora (I was wearing one of my mermaid tails.):

[2007/08/29 20:44] Lora Chadbourne: I saw a woman at the store today who looks like your avie :)
[2007/08/29 20:44] Lora Chadbourne: with legs
[2007/08/29 20:45] Opal Lei: What's the name.
[2007/08/29 20:45] Lora Chadbourne: RL honey
[2007/08/29 20:45] Opal Lei: Oh. :D
[2007/08/29 20:45] Opal Lei: lol
[2007/08/29 20:45] Lora Chadbourne: I did a double take
[2007/08/29 20:45] Opal Lei: You mean she didn't have a tag over her head? lol
[2007/08/29 20:45] Lora Chadbourne: it was like, there's Opal! :)
[2007/08/29 20:45] Lora Chadbourne: lol
[2007/08/29 20:45] Opal Lei: lol

Yesterday, the Captain said he saw a young woman (probably in her mid-twenties) who looked just like my RP alt, with the same face, the same hair, and the same "hippy skirt" as he calls it. He didn't get a very good look because he saw her for only about a minute. He said she must have felt uncomfortable and so turned away from him.

What's with these real life people imitating my avatars?!? ;)

The Captain said he would let me know if he sees a RL woman who looks like my sex alt. :D I said he wouldn't. Because his heart is bound to my RP alt, not to my sex alt.

He had been away for the whole week, popping in briefly once on Thursday. He was so busy, he didn't even have time to RP via email with me. And when I talked to him via Skype yesterday, he was sniffling; he has a cold. Poor baby.

And to top all that, I had to give him some news -- that I met someone.

The Captain took the news calmly as I knew he would. He wanted me to promise him I would be happy. I said I couldn't promise that, but I promised I would try. His generosity of spirit still overwhelms me.

I don't know how serious this new affair would be and it wouldn't change things much yet, except that I may not be as available to the Captain. Right now, the only reason I'm entertaining this new affair is that this new guy is unattached irl -- a widower. So I won't have to deal with the cricket there.

Look into my eyes...

You are getting veeeeeeerrrryyyy sleeeeeeeppppyyyy ....

I got tired of ordinary eyes. I think I'll wear this for a while and see how many people I can hypnotize.

(There's a processed version of this photo on Flickr.)

Pretty prim prosthetics

Today, I bought feet. The sculpty kind.

The first time I saw prim toes, Lora was wearing peep-toe pumps. It looked cool and it was very well done.

Then I saw the strappy sandals with the whole foot as a sculpty on one of the MODA models. It looked like she was wearing prosthetics. Someone else said it was because of my viewer, and she sent me a picture showing that the prim shade matched the skin shade. I didn't think it was my viewer but I wasn't going to argue with a photo. Since I started creating mermaid tails, I knew that SL rendered the shading on prims differently than on system clothing. Well, in the recording of the show, her prim feet looked just like I saw them, like prosthetics.

Well, a few weeks ago, I found the same strappy sandals with prim feet on SLX on sale for 99L for a megapack. Who's gonna say no to a price like that? :D Well, I never wore them. LOL

Today, I was styling an outfit for Monday's show and was chatting with Lovis about having a hard time deciding what shoes to wear with one of the outfits. I joked that I'd just go barefoot, and Lovis suggested Slink, which had prim bare feet. So, 500L later and some tweaking of colors and options, it still looks like prosthetics. And it would have looked worse if I followed the instructions that came with it.

So, here's what it looks like in the Windlight settings that the feet creator recommended when adjusting the skin tone.

See how flat the Windlight settings makes everything look?

Now, here's what it looks like with the "Midday 1" setting.

You see that my right foot is already showing a discrepancy in skin tone, but the left foot is still okay.

And finally, here's what it looks like with the "Fine Day" setting and scene gamma set to 10.

See the difference between the lighted side of the foot and the same side of the leg?

Even when you cover up the seam between the leg and the foot (as I did on the left foot), it will still look odd. So I'm thinking these prim feet only look good on one side. Whichever side you match the color on, that's where it'll look good.

I guess it's a matter of choosing which ugliness you can live with -- prosthetics or fused toes.

But for tomorrow's show, I'm wearing prosthetics. :D

Beauty is in the eye of ...

HiHo did a MODA Spotlight show this past Monday featuring RFyre. After the show, Mak commanded him (in the public voice channel) to meet her in the backroom later. LOL

Anyway, the models got gift cards from RFyre, with instructions to send transaction records to Harper Beresford. Well, HiHo handed his gift card over to Opal, since, well, he doesn't need any clothes. And Opal went shopping last night then sent the transaction records and the gift card back to Harper.

This morning, Harper sent HiHo the refund and an offline IM with a rhetorical question: "... and how come women make better male avatars?!?!?" LOL

Well, I have a theory. Or two. Or three.

Theory #1

When Alt #9 was taking the then-newly-born BF #2 around to look for hair, I commented, "You notice that when you see men shopping, there's usually a woman with them?" His response was "that's to keep the men from running out and blowing clothes money on a rod and reel ... or a shot gun ... or a pair of yosemite sam mud flaps for the truck ...." So, you can ask a guy where you can buy the best HUD for anything (especially sex HUDs) or the best TV screen and he'll give you a long list of vendors with pros and cons. But if you ask him where you can buy the best skin or shoes, he'll give you the one or two places where he got his, if you're lucky.

That's also why most male avatars look alike. They all went to the same store. (I'm kidding! I'm kidding! I know there are so few good male skins out there. LOL)

Theory #2

There's this book about self-identity (but unfortunately, I can't remember the title and it's hidden somewhere in this pile of boxes in my living room) and it says that women generally think they're fatter than they really are and men think they're in better shape than they really are. So, men generally don't have issues about how they look. And they come into SL thinking they're pretty good-looking and so try to make their avatars look like their real selves. And, ummm, let's just say that it doesn't translate well to the medium.

Either that or they get some satisfaction in the fact that a drop-dead gorgeous woman (virtual though she may be) would be so willing to hop into the sack with someone who looks like him.

Meanwhile, women who make male avatars are trying to recreate their dream boat, so, yeah, he'll look better than your average guy.

Theory #3

I think men tend to drink a few beers before they tackle the unpleasant task of modifying their avatar. Capos Calderwood (aka Alex Whitmore irl) has a song that goes, "Beauty... it's in the eye of the beerholder... Tonight we'll drink until we look okay..." So they just keep drinking until their avatar looks okay.

*grins*


Now, keep in mind that this doesn't apply to ALL men; I'm just generalizing. Besides, tbh, I've actually seen quite a few really good ones out there, created by men without any help from a woman. Unfortunately, as Kit and I were lamenting just last night, most of them are gay.

*sighs*

On the other hand, some men know enough to ask a woman for help and so end up looking like a young Robert Redford.

*swoons*

HiHo gets proposed

It was at yesterday's MODA Spotlight show. While HiHo was on the runway. Out of the blue. Mak, my model coach, suddenly throws out a surprise in the communicator channel, "WILL U MARRY ME HIHO?"

LOL

She was kidding, of course. She knows it's me.

But if that were a real runway, I would have tripped and fallen on my face. Thank goodness all I had to do was click-click then up-arrow. I was laughing so hard on the way backstage.

Then she sends Calveen to her dungeon when he made a mistake, and he says, "promises, promises".

That was the most fun show I've been on yet.

Oh, hey! It's my 100th post!

MAD

I think I've talked in the past about how we bring so much of ourselves into SL, how our avatars represent more of our real psyches than we care to admit. Each of my alts are different aspects of my real self. They each have their own domain, their own purpose for existing.

But, a few days ago, I (as Opal) felt a faint sense of jealousy over Alt #9's skin, which prompted me to get the same skin for Opal, even though I already said I won't be buying new skin for Opal for a while. So that was a vague hint of separating. Of aspects of me pulling apart.

Then last night, I witnessed the same separation on someone else.

You see, Alt #9's bf (BF #1) created a new alt (BF #2). BF #2 is supposed to belong to my Alt #9 exclusively, so he wouldn't be disturbed by IMs and such, while he's with me. So, we were running around yesterday, shopping for skin and hair and other important parts. *grins* Anyway, (with my prodding, of course), he used the same shape and the same skin, except with a different beard and different hair, so they looked like twins, but not quite. The goatee on BF #2 made him look more like the "bad boy" type; that beard was his choice.

He had both alts logged in almost the whole time. And towards the end of the evening, I asked, "So, whom do I cuddle with tonight?" And BF #1 replied that he would, then he proceeded to shoo away BF #2, like a jealous boyfriend.

It was a funny and charming roleplay, but I was surprised that he seemed very decided that he chose BF #1 to stay, even though he created BF #2 specifically to be with me. I told him I was glad anyway, because I've grown attached to BF #1, even though I know they're both him. I said that it feels like there was more of him in BF #1; he agreed that there was.

You know, I'm surprised that the mental health professionals aren't coming down on SL in droves. SL isn't helping people integrate their personalities; it's allowing people to split up their personalities even more. :D

Hmmm, I wonder if I could sell a book titled, "Multiple Alt Disorder (MAD) - Split Personalities in Virtual Worlds"....

And, yes, Alt #10 will be named Sybil, and she'll definitely be a member of the "SLoony Bin Residents" group.

Alt envy

Well, I was dressing my new alt today (yes, the mystery alt with the love affair). And I was taking her pictures, and I realized,... Geez, she looks so much better than Opal! Of course, Opal got jealous, so I had to buy her a new skin today. :D

It's the same skin as the mystery alt. And since the shape is very similar and just tweaked slightly, they look almost like twins now.

It used to be that I'd use a different skin manufacturer for each alt, but certain looks just feel right, and this feels right for Opal right now.

I think it might also be psychological. I'm in that alt a lot nowadays so I associate with that alt more. Plus I'm having a lot of feel-good emotions there, so, in a sense, I'm pulling some of those good vibes into this side.

So, the triptych is gone from my profile now and replaced with this one:


I'll be changing my picture in all other web applications soon.

Meanwhile, the mystery alt is having quite a torrid love affair. Gamel said that "torrid" is an ugly word and suggested other adjectives like "passionate", "ardent", or "beautiful". I replied that "torrid" was the perfect adjective with the "rrrrrr" sound, because of all the sex going on. And he wished me a verrrrrrrrrrrry torrrrrrrrrrrrid affair. LOL

The Three Faces of Opal

Okay, I wasn't quite happy with my new skin so I bought the other one in my list, and I kept going back and forth between the two, tweaking and molding my face. But I still keep going back to the familiar.

Usually, when I change my look, I stare at my avie's face for a long time. I think it's a way of associating with it, of putting my consciousness into it. Yeah, kinda like that Genesis thing of "breathing life" into your own creation. Or like staring at your own face in the mirror and accepting that that's who you are.

So, as of this point, I have these three faces, and this triptych will be my profile picture for a while. That should trigger some interesting conversation when it comes up in one of those gadgets that display profile pictures of guests.



Anyway, I may continue to keep tweaking. I'm not likely to buy a new skin anytime soon, since I spent a fortune on these two already. But neither of the two new looks feel like *me*. I think it has to do with the difficulty of defining "me" in the first place.

*sigh*

Who knew creating an avatar would be an adventure in self-discovery in itself? And we're talking about just one of my nine lives....



When will my reflection show who I am inside....

Ethnicity in SL

One of the questions in the MODA Spotlight application form was "SL ethnicity". I wrote down "Pacific Islander mix".

A month ago, Mak sent out a group notice, looking for models who were Asian irl. I replied that I'm Southeast Asian. She wanted ethnic models for Spotlight. I said I'd work on the shape, since all my skins were already tan. Well, Opal already looked ethnic with her tan skin and full lips, but it's a non-specific ethnicity. And with the straight black hair, she *does* look like a Pacific Islander.



Then life got way too busy and I never got the chance to work on the shape.

Anyway, my skin has that lovely face but the skin on the arms is flat and the lower body is blurry, so I didn't look so good in revealing clothes. Once, while chatting with Headman, I complained about the navel being out of focus so I had to always wear a belly jewel when my midriff is bare. And he goes, "I think that's called a fuzzy navel." LOL

This week, I was asked to model some lingerie for marketing photos for a clothes designer and the fuzzy navel won't do. So I had to go searching for a new skin.

Long story short, after a few demos and a lot of face tweaking, I ended up with this:





If I go with dark eyes, I really look Southeast Asian. But dark eyes look flat from a distance. Besides, I absolutely love these pale blue eyes. They're very unusual and certainly unexpected with dark skin, so they add a punch to my look. So, I guess, it's an Amerasian/Eurasian look.

It doesn't have the regal bearing and classic elegance of this look though, so I'll probably keep going back and forth for a while.



And now that you know my RL ethnicity, you're probably wondering if that woman in my Morphing Portraits logo is me. The answer is no. But we're related.

HiHo : from mare to male

Well, it was bound to happen. Mak sent out a call for models, including male models. I volunteered and said that I could use HiHo if she needed a male model, since I already used HiHo for the MODA Halloween show.

Mak said okay but wanted to see HiHo anyway, even after I sent some pictures. Well, long story short, Mak checked my (HiHo's) height and animations, and then took me to Redgrave to get some skin demos, then we went back to her beach house to try them out. I asked if she wanted me to strip to see the body part of the skin. She asked if I had "parts". I replied, "Freebie ones. :D" After laughing, she told me to just remove the top of the suit I was wearing, because if she saw male parts, she might jump me. lol



We eventually decided on the skin. She had me adjust the muscular tone of the arms just a teensy bit and told me to update my profile to take out the bit about being a cowgirl. lol

Well, in order to decide how much I should invest on HiHo as a model, I asked if she would need HiHo in more MODA shows. And she replied, yes, because Calveen (who's the only other male model in MODA) has different hours. After the "omg!" and "you are soo hot" and "dont change that body", I said goodnight and went to buy the skin we decided on.



And then, I worked on my profile. Go check it out. I had to say that HiHo is "Alt of and assistant to Opal Lei." And emphasized in the 1st Life tab that I'm a heterosexual female behind the avie. But, boy!, I still got hit on by people who don't read profiles. lol And even in the show, Juju said something about "admiring the man and the shorts".

I only got to model two outfits in this show -- a pair of boxers (Mia had to find the "wifebeater" for me, since they weren't happy with the t-shirt I found) and a pajama set. You can view the show here: http://slcn.tv/moda-fashion-spotlight-ievl

Looks like HiHo's life is gonna be interesting from now on.

Meanwhile, Opal... *sigh*....

A tale of two costumes

Well, I didn't have time to make a witty costume this year, but I found this freebie "webby" costume through the "Hey, girlfriends!" network. It gets my vote for "Best use of sculpties". :D

Gamel pinged me while I was taking pictures of it, so he got to see it. And he approved of it. Lora said, "Of course, he would." :D But when I asked Lora if I could wear it to her Halloween party, she had to think about it. (Click on the pic to go to Flickr and look for the half-body shot to get a better view of the sculpty.)


Well, she gave me the go-ahead the next day, but I had already decided on an alternate costume that's very PG-rated. Actually, I got this costume a few weeks ago from Bare Rose. And it's what I ended up wearing at the party anyway, since I wasn't sure who was going to be there.


*sigh* In a place like SL, it's kinda hard to make a costume stand out, you know.

Runway horsie (and Opal's second show)

Well, now, two of me are fashion models. *grin*


More pics in Flickr.

HiHo (my little horsie alt) had its/her/his debut this past Friday at the MODA Halloween Showcase. Zeek said she needed male models for the Halloween show, and I've been using HiHo as a male model for my own designs and as a male extra for one of DarkZone's productions. So, HiHo was a better choice.

Meanwhile, Opal had her second MODA Spotlight show: http://www.slcn.tv/moda-fashion-spotlight-orage-creations .

Fashion debut: taller and flatter

In late September, I was so excited to find out that I was accepted into the MODA Spotlight team. I'll be a fill-in though, since I can't commit that much time to it. Modelling doesn't pay much, so it's really more for the fun of it and the experience.

And yesterday was my debut into the professional virtual fashion world with my first MODA Fashion Spotlight show. Lovis and I arrived early and Mak got to work with our shapes. The first thing that Mak said to me was "reduce breast to 45". *sigh* There goes my trademark boobs. I was originally at 70.

The next thing we had to change was our height. Lovis and I are about the same height, and we're both short, except I have a more (ahem) "voluptous" body. Mak explained that MODA Spotlight models are 6'10" to 6'11" with shoes. *another sigh* So I went from a 63 height to a 92 (give or take, depending on the shoes). Thankfully, my "voluptous" body translated well with a taller height. Poor Lovis, who was petite in width as well as in height, had to make adjustments as best as she could so she wouldn't look so stick-thin in the taller version.

Well, soon after the show, I switched back to my familiar shorties-and-boobies shape, and I'm happy again. :D

You can view my fashion debut (and my taller and flatter version) at http://slcn.tv/moda-fashion-spotlight-bolero-collection .

Hair!

Hello. My name is Opal. I am a hair-aholic.

For almost two years now, I've been battling this addiction. Well, maybe "battling" is not the right word. "Indulging" is probably a better word.

There was a time when I'd buy a new hairstyle once a week. With all the colors.

And over time, it has gotten worse. Now, I buy *several* hairstyles each trip.... It's getting out of control.

And then, one of my MODA friends mentioned the Hair Fair 2008. Well, I was travelling the past week, so I didn't have a chance to go until last night.

So, after five hours of roaming four sims, I ended up with four thousand fewer Lindens and two thousand more inventory items. Oh, alright, maybe not quite *two* thousand. But my transaction history shows 117 transactions (both freebies and purchases) at the Rezzable sims last night.

When I woke up this morning and saw the big mess in my inventory, I realized that I needed help.

My name is Opal. And I'm a hair-aholic.

PS: The winners of the Hair Fair photo contest are listed here. Check out the honorable mentions.