May 21, 2014 | Images, Monday Memes
The challenge from Strawberry Singh this week… Photobombing! Our instructions for the day:
Meme Instructions: Go out exploring the grid and find someone to photobomb, or share a picture or anecdote of a time that you were photobombed in Second Life…
I contemplated this, but the idea of intentionally photobombing somebody I don’t know fills me with waaay too much anxiety. I rarely have photobombers in my own shots, whenever I’m taking pics somewhere I will either wait until the sim is empty, or I’ll focus on the areas where nobody is wandering around. Still, random people turn up now and then, so I browsed my pics a bit to see if any of them had extra subjects I hadn’t planned on.
I really didn’t find much, except for this newbie explorer who was hanging around the landing point at Bogon Flux last fall. That does tend to be an issue when you’re trying to capture shots of any sim that is or has been in the Destination Guide, people drop in at random just as you have something set up. I don’t think I had noticed Miss City Girl Newbie had rezzed in until after I was logged off and looking over my shots.
Well, at least she was out exploring!
Although I couldn’t find any good examples (because I’ve probably fixed all of them already), I’m certain the worst photobomber in any SL photos I have taken is myself. When I’m trying to take pics I often hover well above tree level so I’ll be out of the way of the scenery I’m trying to capture, then I begin to cam around for good angles and more nice shots, and eventually I completely forget where I left myself. I usually never realize where I was until I look back at a pic and see that I’m hovering nonchalantly off to one side. 😀
May 16, 2014 | Chatter, Images
Linden Lab released new mesh starter avatars yesterday, giving new accounts a variety of choices of human or supernatural avatars, all using fitted mesh bodies over the basic avatar shape. They’ve also been added to the library, so I thought I’d try them on to see what new accounts will have to choose from, and to see just how much they could be tweaked.
This is the Sara av in her natural state. It seems that they are entirely no mod when you put them on, but you can swap out the shape for one of your own and then tweak the body a bit. You can’t modify the face, unfortunately, and they’re incapable of changing expression. I think she looks okay but she’s a bit thin, (although probably not when compared to most of the standard small and extra small avvies running around SL.)
I swapped her base shape for a standard medium shape, then outfitted her in a nice new Magika hairstyle and a mesh dress from Cracked Mirror, also in medium. Some of the mesh dresses I tried fit okay, others required a large size because it’s not possible to wear an alpha layer for the dress. Since I had her standing still in a pose I’m not sure how well she’d move with the dress, I suspect she’d have a bit of clipping here and there. Shoes are a lost cause, since nearly everything is designed for Slink feet these days I think our starter will have to stick with her boots or roam the grid barefoot.
She doesn’t look bad, although the skin on all of the avatars looks sort of splotchy up close. I can’t guess at what people entirely new to SL will think about these. I remember my first few minutes in SL, I wanted to start playing with avatar customization immediately, and didn’t even start exploring orientation island until I’d tweaked my shape and fiddled with my clothes. If I’d found it impossible to customize my look and thought my only option was to swap to another starter avatar I’d have been really disappointed. On the other hand I came into SL having already gotten used to highly customizable Sims characters, so I may have had a higher expectation for how much I could change my appearance than other new users.
I don’t know how much information LL will have available for brand new users to explain the difference between a basic avatar and a fitted mesh avatar, or if they even feel it’s necessary. If they don’t offer anything I suspect it will fall to merchants to explain why clothes don’t fit, or in the case of system layer clothes or new skins, why they don’t appear on the mesh avatars at all and require switching to the “classic” avatars. I would imagine most people will eventually want to change their appearance. especially after they see how nice an avatar can look with a good skin and nice clothes, so there will probably be some moments of frustration. I rather wish I could think of someone I know offline who might be persuaded to give SL a try so I could hear what they think of everything. I’m curious to see how this works out.
As for me, I was just really happy to put my own shape and skin back on.
May 11, 2014 | Images
I shall relax and catch up on my reading.
May 6, 2014 | Chatter, Images, Monday Memes
The blog challenge this week over at Strawberry Singh’s blog is all about color! She asks us to blog a pic of our favorite color or colors, and we learn that if anyone is considering giving her a gift it probably shouldn’t be teal. 😀 I wasn’t sure if I’d try the challenge this week because I felt like it should have a fashion component, and I usually avoid fashion challenges because I’ve no idea how to style my avvies and talk about clothes like a fashion blogger. Eventually I realized that it’s useless to resist a meme so I began sifting through my inventories to see if I could find something colorful.
I always say my favorite color is blue, (and I’m pretty delighted by the skies in the pic above too) but I also am fond of pinks and earth tones, and I really like some shades of fuchsia and (sorry, Berry) teal, especially when paired as an accessory with black. In RL I’ve always tended towards wearing dark colors, in fact I have far too many dark colors. I definitely took to heart that old advice that dark is supposed to be slimming for a big girl and as a result I now have to stop myself when shopping because I instinctively reach for the black shirt first. I seem to be doing this in SL as well, although as standard mediums I don’t think either of my girls need to worry about looking thinner. I’m amused that I dress Ravensong like me rather often… sometimes just in the sort of clothes I’d love to wear if I were a bit slimmer or could afford the RL versions, but other times, as below, she’s totally me. Or I’m her… I haven’t quite determined which yet it is yet. 😀
Raven and her slightly flashier altsister do have the benefit of a better wardrobe selection than I, and there were some brighter colors lurking in inventory. I love the little pink jacket from Emery, and the pink Nairobi shirt from Cracked Mirror at the latest Fameshed needs to be in my RL closet.
At the end of the day, I realized I was more obsessed with finding pretty skies than finding colorful outfits. I may not wear a lot of vivid colors, but I love to have them surrounding me, whether it’s windlit SL skies, or colorful accessories in SL or RL, or the various bits of cobalt blue glass stuff i have a fondness for in RL. Color is wonderful, I could never last for long in a subdued, monochromatic home.
I think the next time I take Ravensong out shopping I’ll inject some brighter hues into her wardrobe. Since she’s pretty much mini-me perhaps she’ll inspire me to liven up my RL wardrobe too.
🙂
May 6, 2014 | Images, Random Thoughts, Sightseeing
Have you walked on the stones of years?
When you speak, is it you that hears?
Are your ears full?
Music keeps me afloat. Music has held my hand for the past six months and reassured me that life really will get brighter one day. A common love of two bands in particular has introduced me to some of my closet and most treasured friends. Sometimes I wish I could thank my favorite musicians, and let them know how much the music they’ve created has meant to me, but I’m sure they’ve heard people tell them these things many times. I’ll just leave my little bits of gratitude here and there for a while.
Thank you, guys. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
My song of the day is in honor of my prog sisters. They don’t read this blog or have much interest in SL, but I had to share the above pic of me and my armored pal at the Prog Museum with them earlier today, which they did find pretty cool. 😀
Apr 29, 2014 | Images, Monday Memes
A year ago Strawberry Singh asked us why we blog. This year she’s following up on us with a few more questions about our blogging journey. As usual I’m always extra thrilled with q&a memes, so I’m excited to tackle this one.
In preparation I wandered into my archives to see my answers to the meme last year, and found that I’d probably answer them a bit differently if I were tackling the first meme again. Last year I was just starting to pay attention to this blog, but I was still mostly focused on Tumblr. This year I still have all of my previous blogs, although all but one of them are rather quiet these days. Others have sprung up to take their place, though, so I can still manage to neglect several blogs at a time. Yay, right? Oh well, even if I don’t post as regularly as I’d like each one of these blogs is very important to me and I’m glad I have them.
Here are Strawberry’s meme instructions:
Copy and paste the following questions and answers to your post, delete my answers and input your own. Don’t forget to leave a link to your post in the comments (on the original post) so others can come by and read your answers as well!
- Which electronic devices do you use to blog with? – I only blog on the computer. I have WordPress apps on my phone and tablet, but I doubt I’d write a post with those, I’d rather have all the features of the regular website. I mostly use the apps as readers, or to keep up with comment notices.
- Do you have a mission statement for your blog, if so, what is it? – Not really. My mission seems to be to share whatever pics I enjoyed, and sometimes to add in some rambly commentary. I’ve decided that since this blog was created entirely for my own personal enjoyment I’m never going to worry about how many people read, I’ll just keep posting happily and if somebody else takes notice once in a while and thinks something was interesting then it’s an extra bonus. 🙂
- How do you feel about blogs that use their platforms to spread negativity? – I don’t think I’ve ever stumbled across any blogs that do that, but I wouldn’t want to read it if I did.
- Are you a grammar junkie? Do you thoroughly check your blog for errors before posting and/or do you judge other people’s posts if they contain errors? – I rely on the spell checker to warn me about typos, but I usually just hope for the best with grammar. I’m sure sometimes I’m terrible but I try to catch my own errors, and I judge myself pretty harshly when I find something glaring. I try to avoid judging other bloggers for little spelling and grammar errors. It’s easy to miss something even if you’ve read a post fifteen times before you publish.
- If you could switch blogs with another blogger who would it be? – Ooo I don’t know, there are so many! I’d love to have the ability to write eloquent travelogues and art reviews, and take great pics like Ziki Questi.
- Has your blog/blogging style evolved over the year(s)? How? – I don’t know if my style has changed much from the start of this blog to now. I’ve noticed my blogging habits have evolved, I’ve found myself moving away from the short form image focused Tumblr blog I started out with and finding more interest in longer posts.
- What is the most extraordinary thing that has happened to you because of blogging? – With non-SL blogging I have met some really lovely people who’ve become friends that I keep up with outside the blogging community we were in. With SL blogging I’m not sure I’ve had any extraordinary things happen, but I have been able to find quite a few really interesting bloggers that I read regularly, so that’s enjoyable.
- When it comes to Second Life blogs, there are different styles: Fashion bloggers, Lifestyle & Travel bloggers, Informative bloggers, and more. Which style do you prefer and where do you feel your blog fits in? – I read and enjoy all SL blog types, fashion blogs for shopping advice, and travel and art blogs for tips on where to visit. I do enjoy information bloggers a lot, I love reading peoples ideas about SL and keeping up with what’s going on with the platform and related technologies.
I don’t think my blog really fits into any of the categories. I think it just exists as my little happy spot to talk to myself and share what I think is fun or looks neat.
- What has blogging taught you? – I hope it’s teaching me to organize my thoughts, though I’m not too sure how I’m doing with that. It is teaching me about myself. I often use blogging as therapy, at least lately, so it’s actually helped me get through the day and carry on.
- Share your top 3 tips for new bloggers. – 1) Blog about things you enjoy. 2) If you are blogging for personal enjoyment don’t worry about following rules, just have fun. 3) Do blog challenges! They’re a great way to get yourself started if you’re not sure what to post.
😀
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