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.

I've been to paradise, but ...

This confession may be a shock to some and not to others, depending how you met me and how well you know me. *grins*

Last month, I created a new alt. Purely for sex. Very isolated. Some friends know she exists, but nobody knows her name -- none of my friends (SL or RL) and none of my siblings. And I'm finding out that having a sex alt is not so rare anyway. Whew!

Anyway, Anna sends me this link to an article about sex addiction with a disclaimer that she's not saying I have the affliction but she's not saying I don't either. A quote: "'Female sex addicts crave intimacy,' [Don Serratt of Life Works] says. 'They’ll use sex and seduction to create that closeness with a guy — but, once they get it, they freak out and move on to the next one.'" (I'm not going to say how close to home that one hit.)

Then, I hear a song I haven't heard for a long time, and it sticks in my head. I loved this song when I first heard it on the radio in my early teens, but obviously it didn't apply to me then. This time, with this alt, the song feels like a warning.



"Took the hand of a preacher man and we made love in the sun... But I ran out of places and friendly faces because I had to be free... I've been to paradise, but ...."

"Sometimes I've been to crying for unborn children that might have made me complete... But I took the sweet life, I never knew I'd be bitter from the sweet... I've spent my life exploring the subtle whoring that costs too much to be free... Hey, lady, I've been to paradise, but ...."

Ironically, that same sex alt, who's supposed to only have one-night stands, has just fallen into a husband-and-wife RP. It started out as a joke, but it expanded from there. It *is* a warm and sweet RP, but that's exactly where the danger lies -- it melts my heart. And hearts melting turn into bonding, which is very risky in terms of emotions and anonymity.

/me frantically rebuilds emotional walls as they crumble around her.

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 .

"Describe your personality"... Which one?

I just completed my application for a position as a model with the MODA Spotlight team.

One of the questions is "List 5 words that describe your personality" and, in my opinion, it is the most difficult question in the list. So I have the usual stuff in it, but the last one is one that I think my friends who know me well would be vigorously nodding their heads to:

"e. Multiple (often followed by the word 'disorder') - supposedly as evidenced by my growing number of alts"

:D

It may be a virtual world, but common sense still applies

When it comes to merchandise, there are differences between SL and RL. Some are good (system clothing is one-size-fits-all) and some are bad (you cannot always return the merchandise).

People who have been in SL for some time realize these things; it's all just common sense. But, for people who are not as knowledgeable about the platform, here are some facts that we, oldbies, take for granted:

- If it's copyable, it's not likely refundable. In real life, you can't go back to a store and say, "I bought an outfit here a week ago and threw them in the garbage because I don't like them. Can you give me a refund?" If the product has both Copy and Transfer permissions, sure, you can transfer it back to the merchant, but you still have copies in your inventory. Asking for a refund for copyable items is asking for a free product.

- System clothes may be one-size-fits-all, but attachments are not. You *have* to learn basic editing skills. It's a fact of SL. In real life, it's like knowing how to hem pants that are almost your size but just a tad too long. If you're the type who would rather have someone do it for you, be prepared to pay additional costs. And in SL, sometimes it's not possible for someone else to edit clothing for you. So head on over to the Ivory Tower of Prims and learn basic prim editing.

- If the product looks good on hundreds of avatars, but not on yours, it's not the designer's fault.

- If the designer recommends AOs and accessories that go well with their designs and you decide to go with other AOs and accessories, please don't blame the designer if it doesn't look right.

I honestly try my best to make my customers happy with their tails. Not everybody needs extra help, and I greatly appreciate customers who read the notecard and do their best before contacting me.

But if a customer takes hours of your time, refuses to do anything you suggest, refuses to learn how to do the most basic editing tasks, and then demands a refund of a Copy-only product, it makes you wonder why you bother to do all this. All for the price of a latte at Starbucks.

*sigh*

2yrs 2day

Yup, folks! I'm two today!

Don't worry. I've been terrible the past two years, so I can't get any more terrible than that. :D

August seems to be a significant month for me in Second Life. I joined SL in August 31, 2006. I set up shop at the old Sirens Mall with my first four Mer Betta tails on August 10, 2007. And yesterday (August 30), I walked my first official fashion show as a graduate of the MODA Modelling School.

The first two events proved to be significant milestones in my life. Discovering SL changed my RL, and launching Mer Betta changed my SL. Only time will tell how significant my MODA graduation will be in the coming year.