Destination unknown

The power of fantasy, imagination, and creativity takes us far beyond the ordinary, and gifts us with experiences, relationships, and connections we might otherwise never know.
-Zola Zsun 


Like a lot of people, one of my favorite things to do in Second Life is explore. I think part of why this is such a beloved pastime is because this virtual world is user-generated and  therefor we'll never know what all is out there unless we wander the grid and seek to discover it. I've seen everything from breathtaking lifelike landscapes to laughably outdated monstrosities of indeterminable purpose and I've only scratched the surface. So far I've managed to gather a small collection of sims which were clearly created with photography in mind and because I can't create, I share. So here's the first in what I hope to be a monthly series of destination posts aimed to inform others who like to explore and take pictures and to help the wonderful designers and builders in Second Life keep their creations alive.


From the Destinations album, one of the more eclectic sims I've found recently is Fort Stygian - the Keeper's located here.

Behold...

I am not a fashion blogger. There are enough of those already, not to mention the fact that I know nothing about fashion. In real life I tend to go for simple, understated and cheap and I hate shopping. I don't like sales people or the ridiculous amount charged for decent clothes or crowds or lines at the register or finding parking yada yada yada.

Second Life however, is a whole other story. It would be hard to keep a blog of my experiences in world without mentioning my obsession for shopping! I love it almost as much as I love exploring or dancing or taking pictures or hanging out or photobombing random strangers. I especially love new releases, so it goes without saying that I'll be posting some of them here.

Behold, my first "fashion" post:

Credits
Hair: Truth - Zoya (March VIP group gift)
Top: Blueberry - Loli (March C88)
Pants: Blueberry - Gracie
Shoes: Reign - Monetti
Body: Maitreya Lara
Head: LAQ - Maxine
Skin: W.O.W - Jayma
Accessories: .:E:A:Studio: Piercing Kessemer Belly, .:E:A:Studio: Earring Horn Lucky Charm Black

Gacha, sucker!

My first experience with gachas in world was paying a machine 25L thinking I was going to get everything in the picture (mostly household items). Instead I found in my inventory one useless little thing which could only be described as terrifying. It had beady eyes and what I assume was supposed to be fur and a tail. Already smarting from the frustration of trying to figure out how to get the little demon out of the multiple layers of packaging some clearly warped toy maker no doubt found hilarious, I deleted it. Then I told a person standing nearby what a ripoff it was and that the owner of the store had tricked me into paying good money for garbage with no discernible purpose. She explained that I'd just unwittingly participated in something called a gacha, and said how they were super fun and addictive. I couldn't understand why anyone would want to funnel money into a machine that was likely rigged to only spit out the gift with the least amount of value and likability. 

Ok, so I'm not even going to try and explain how I had forgotten those quarter prize machines that used to draw me in like little metal pied pipers for the first twelve years of my life, siphoning my meager allowance coin by coin and the sheer joy it brought when I finally completed a set. All I could think of gachas then was what a stupid waste of money they were and how they were designed to prey on those with weak impulse control. From that moment forward I avoided them. I even questioned the judgement of those who admitted to spending ungodly amounts of lindens on them, insisting that I'm all grown up now and too practical to fall for that nonsense.

Fast forward just a few months and the anticipation of the latest round of the Arcade was killing me. I already had a list of machines I was going to play and how much I was going to put into them. I had even devised my own rules for 'fool proof success'. I spent 45 minutes on the first morning, trying to do homework while listening to the whoosh-DING! of failed TP attempts via my TP Hammer. I felt a little rush of childlike glee when the sounds finally stopped, indicating that I had arrived at the event. I then joyfully clicked and clicked for a good hour, carefully scanning the room several times to make sure I didn't miss any of the machines on my list. And why this sudden turn around, you ask? Because Blueberry.

I now meekly concede that gachas are in fact super fun and addicting and that once again, Second Life has humbled me by revealing elements of my character I had previously refused to believe existed. 

Again, I blame Blueberry. Giggity.

Credits:
Blueberry - Iconic Doll Set (@ the Arcade)
Hair - Truth - Delaney
Body - Maitreya
Head - LAQ - Maxine
@ Louane's World

I'm not a photographer but I play one in Second Life.

I know nothing about shadow and light or composition or any of the other technical aspects of photography. I don't even know how to use Photoshop. I bought it and looked at the menus and whatnots and for all its alien words and options it might as well have been an academic journal on nuclear physics. One of the reasons I love Second Life is that none of that matters. I can entertain my seemingly constant need to snap what I see and it doesn't matter what people think because this isn't real life. There's also the fact that I can control the weather...

Amandia

Noob follies - the first two months

(rez day: Aug 15, 2016) I was lucky to have a very patient friend bring me into Second Life and show me the basics. Before I even logged on, she had me download Firestorm (one of the things I'm most grateful to her for). After I rezzed and took a few minutes to figure out how to move around, I promptly fell through a gap in the floor and landed in a small room with no doors or stairs. I would have given up right then and there (or Googled how to get out of the basement) but my friend teleported me to a freebie mall. She showed me how to "buy" freebie clothes and shoes and how to open boxes, maneuver my inventory, put on clothing and use alphas. She taught me about sandboxes and explained how I couldn't open boxes just anywhere. She explained how to set my graphics for minimum lag and how to search for places and teleport there. She warned me not to accept any invites or gifts from anyone I didn't know (which was everyone), especially vampires. And of course, she took me to a nude beach.

A few days later, her computer got fried and I didn't see her in world for two months. I kept bugging her through facebook to help me each time I got stuck with something but after a while I felt like it was all we ever talked about and I didn't want to bother her so much. Being new in Second Life is a constant shit show. So within a couple weeks, I began the stumbling joy of discovering the fundamental elements of the virtual world, which are so numerous and unforeseen that they continue cropping up six months later.

I was about a week in, wandering around Freebie Galaxy (shudder) when I got a message from a nice lady who commented on my "duck walk" and bought me my first AO - that 1L basic girl AO you see a lot of newbs using - and yeah, I let her. And she was a vampire too. I almost expected a computer virus when she sent it to me but instead, she instructed me on how to use it. I was surprisingly very excited to see my avi walking like a real woman with a sexy swing in her hips. Before I knew it, she was taking me to the Maitreya store. She walked me to the display, dumped 2700 lindens on me and told me to buy the body (and how to buy it). She also told me I should wear and use nothing but mesh. I had no idea what that meant and she was in a rush so I thanked her kindly and we went our separate ways. The body sat in my inventory for the next several weeks because I was afraid to mess with it. I was afraid to mess with anything for fear of breaking it.

I continued grabbing up freebies for a couple more weeks, attempting to build a decent wardrobe and started to notice the vast range of quality in the clothes. I didn't realize it at the time but I was already only keeping the mesh stuff and deleting everything else. I only wanted things that looked "real". Someone showed me the marketplace and I spent a good hour one day buying all the most beautiful clothes and shoes and accessories I could find, only to discover they weren't in fact free, but DEMOS! One of the demos I had put on was the Amalia dress from Blueberry and I loved it so much I couldn't bear to delete it.

Meanwhile, I had already found plenty of places to listen to great music and dance and made several new friends. I added "I'm just here to dance" to my profile but couldn't figure out how to take or add a picture yet. One of my new friends introduced me to Linden Realms and gem hunting and before I knew it, I was making lindens. After a while I was able to afford the Blueberry dress. I spent most of my time exploring and dancing and chatting with people from all over the world. I found out I liked to help other newbs figure out the things that had been shown to me and so I would message people I could tell were new and offer to explain things to them. I made even more friends that way. One of them showed me Strawberry Singh's blog, which had prompted her to join Second Life in the first place and I was blown away by how beautiful Strawberry's avi was and how much she knew about fashion and how to maneuver Second Life. I didn't understand much of what she was talking about but I loved watching her unboxing vids and I would sometimes teleport to the stores she talked about to find cool stuff. Unfortunately, that's when I realized that chasing gems was not going to suffice for my level  of impatience and it was cutting into my dancing time.....enter, the credit card!

early memorable moments include:
-finding myself hairless, running in place on a stage in the middle of a live show, thinking I had to wait it out instead of relogging
-getting stuck in walls and thinking I broke the world
-while exploring a sim, flying into someone's private home and walking around to find them having sex in the hot tub...then that frozen running in place thing again
-accidentally clicking the "sit anywhere" option on my AO HUD and thinking my avi was permanently broken
-thinking my avi stayed around after I logged out and worrying about her being messed with or worse, killed by trolls
-not understanding that everyone could read local chat and having a very private conversation with a friend in a crowded club.
-forgetting to stop a dance hud before teleporting out and thinking I had to relog in order to fix it
-walking around with 3 outfits on
-doing a sexy leg-kicking, floor-rolling dance for several minutes facing a line of dancing guys, only to discover my new mesh body had a vagina and it was now necessary for me to wear underwear (or an alpha!)

More later.

Yay for freebies!

More freebies - with flexi hair

I'm not a shopaholic but I play one in Second Life.

And even though no one asked, here are some of my favorite in world products so far. They aren't just my favorites because I found them, liked them and then stopped looking. In the short time I've been in Second Life, I've spent an ungodly number of hours shopping around and trying on demos. I've also bought and used a lot of things from different creators/designers, lived in and around the products, joined the groups and chatted with the mods and other members. I've also dealt with many of the creators/CSRs whenever something goes wrong with a product or purchase.

The best by far has got the be Truth Hawks. I started wearing his hair early on because it had the shade I wanted (still haven't found this shade anywhere else but haven't stopped looking). Then I found out he had a wide variety of styles, which I loved because I like to change a lot. Then I quickly grew to appreciate how the textures and details seemed to surpass most others I tried. I joined the VIP group and discovered that he consistently gives us exclusive monthly gifts that are equal to his hairs sold to the general public in every way. That's important because often times designers give gifts that they clearly didn't put as much time and effort into as their products for sale and sometimes are just modified versions of what they already have in the store. Truth comes up with new designs for all his gifts and uses feedback from his customers to create them.

Which brings me to the remarkable way he runs his business. He's accessible and very receptive to customer needs/wants. At one point, he made a folder with a bunch of different bangs and sent it out to all of us as a gift so we can tweak our hairstyles to our specific liking. The monthly group gifts contain every color HUD he offers and usually more than one hair style. He's hired a couple of terrific women to moderate the VIP group and provide almost constant and always efficient customer service and they're very good at what they do. VIPs rarely want for anything, despite the fact that a lot of us can be quite demanding! Group chat is active and usually populated by totally awesome people. Over the holidays he threw some exclusive parties just for the VIPs. You can see a pic of the Christmas party here. The place was so packed with lovelies that my brand new computer had difficulty rezzing everything. He's created an amazing community and remains humble after so many years in business, which allows for him to continue evolving. 

Hair by Truth Hawks:
Marketplace
In World

Truth - Miriam

Another designer who matches Truth in terms of quality, consistency, accessibility and responsiveness is Blueberry. People go crazy for her clothes and its not just due to hype. The only word I can think to describe her fit and textures is delicious. She's also been in business for several years and has continued evolving with her customers. Like Truth, she seems to have a real passion for what she does and a deep appreciation for the success she's been blessed with. Her VIP group is full of more totally awesome people and then there's things like this. During the Winter Crawl, she created a follower HUD and gave it out to VIP members thru group notices and let us all follow her thru the sims. Oh dear, the lag!

Blueberry:
Marketplace
In World

Blueberry - Melanie Jeans & Elisa Top

Another designer who creates stunningly realistic details and textures is What Next. They also provide awesome customer service - I spoke with the co-owner directly who got back to me quickly and was very kind, generous and helpful. The VIP group gifts are also on par with everything else in the store. I especially love their little knickknacks and gachas. I became hooked when I found this adorable rideable scooter and then again when I needed some beach chairs, and again when I was looking for patio furniture and so on....

What Next Home & Garden:
Marketplace
In World

L to R: {What Next} - Spring Garden Arbor, Spring Garden Watering Can, Marlow Planter 1, Marlow Bench, Marlow Planter 2, Marlow Planter 3,  Penryn Arbour Seat (with deck),  Spring Garden Bird Bath

Trompe is another creator who makes flawless designs with the most amazing textures and detail. I've also been very pleased with the experience I had when I needed help with the products. Trompe's style is very different from that of What Next, and I love them both.


Trompe Loeil Furniture & Homes:
Marketplace
In World

Trompe Loeil - Afton Raft Travel Set

That's it for now - I'll talk about my obsession for shoes, accessories AOs and teleport HUDs next time. Thanks for indulging me!

First post!

I joined Second Life August 15, 2016 when a friend suggested it while I was on vacation and I've been learning and discovering something new every day that I log in. In Second Life I'm heavily into shopping, something which eludes me in real life. I've discovered several designers which have become my favorites so far. I've also found an outlet for my love of amateur photography. I have yet to learn anything technical about it but I hope to soon. Here is my attempt to join the two (Credits here). I don't know yet how much I'll get into this blogging thing but I love to write and share my Second Life experience with others, so it seems like a good idea to at least give it a try. Thanks for reading!

Officially all meshed out!