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Thursday, November 24, 2011

"urgh" (she said, with love)

I cannot get my inventory to load past 5,143.

I wish I knew what that mysterious, pain-in-the-ass 5,144th item is.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you who celebrate it!

I'm thankful for the fact that if I need help or a kind word or a shoulder to cry on or simply a friend, that technology has made this lifeline possible, through Second Life, Facebook, Skype and a gazillion other platforms. We have pretty much abolished loneliness through our technological advancements. We are awesome like that. Throw up all kinds of barriers and we mere mortals will always find a way to help each other over them.

To hell with any drama that may be sucking you into its vortex right now, because beyond that, there is always love. Don't ever let anyone convince you that humans are inherently evil or, at the very least, apathetic. Not even close. At our core we are caring, we are brave, we are strong, we are unified and we are fearless in the face of loneliness. Give us your blackest blackness and we will inevitably find a way to kick it to the curb. Together. I think Second Life is proof of that solidarity.

Even though some of us can say, "I can't stand [this person] [this blogger] [this creator] [this fashionista] [this former friend] [this neighbor] [this resident] [this subculture] [this Linden][this AV]" and even though some of us have made a list, in semi-permanent marker, of our enemies and frenemies, I can still guarantee you that if we really did have some kind of horrific zombie apocalypse we would all suddenly look at each other and say, "Wait, remind me, what were we pissed off about again? Why was I mad at you?" and then shrug and start bashing zombie brains together. Yes we would! All this time we've been thinking zombies are trendy, but maybe they're really here to bring world peace. THINK ABOUT IT!

Anyway.

There's so much smack-talk about the damage Second Life can do to relationships, but I wonder how many lives it has saved. You don't hear so much about that angle. I'll be testament to it though. In my darkest moments I've reached out here and someone has always grabbed my hand.

So thank you, friends. On this Thanksgiving Day, I'm grateful for all of you. I'm thankful for everyone who has reached out and grabbed my hand. I'm thankful for everyone on my Friends list and for those who someday will be. I'm thankful for all the people who read this blog. Whether you hate it or love it, the fact that you read it is a tiny acknowledgement of my existence, and God how I occasionally need that acknowledgement.

I'm thankful that one day several years ago, somebody said, "Hey, let's make a virtual world" and tens of thousands of people replied, "Yes, let's!" And thanks to that chorus of enthusiasm, my broke, middle-American, middle-aged self can now experience art and exotic lands and fashion and music and ideas and extraordinary visions and friendships the likes of which I'd never be able to experience in real life.

And because of all that, I get to write sentences with phrases like "the likes of which" in them.

If I were drinking Budweiser, I'd end this post with "I love you, man," but I'm drinking merlot that was purchased with an unemployment check, so I guess I'll end with this sentiment instead:

Whether you're friend or foe, tonight I'm thankful for you. And whether you're friend or foe, I've got your back if the zombies get out of control.

Love and mountains of blessings to you,
Em

Thursday, November 10, 2011

"I don't like your blog."


It's been a while since I've expressed an opinion. I've sort of lost my words and my personality and my sense of humor these days, but I'll give it a shot.

There's been some recent heated discussion over on The Rumor regarding bloggers who sometimes say not-so-flattering things about creators' works.

I have mixed feelings about this topic and there's no point in me rehashing things that have already been said. (You can read my two cents over there in Comments if you have absolutely nothing better to do with your life.) I often read The Rumor. I laugh at some of the commentary and I wince at some of it and I take it for what it is — one person's opinion, not the Holy Second Life Bible of Sh*t You Need to Buy. Ultimately I appreciate the work over there — the previews of sale and hunt items are a godsend in these days of crashing with every third TP.

I can certainly understand feelings of hurt and anger if any blogger flat-out says something insulting like, "MY GOD THIS IS UGLY PASS ME THE EYE BLEACH THIS CREATOR SUCKS WANG." My problem is when creators get rabid over a balanced review that just happens to include some negative feedback, or even something that's not necessarily inflammatory, like "This outfit isn't for me" or "I'm not a fan of this look because [insert reason]." Hell, once I wrote a post where I happened to lament, "Damn, [this store] is having a sale today and I just dropped a thousand lindens there last week," and the owner basically started a Plurk war over it and transformed me into an ungrateful commoner who didn't appreciate sales. It was fun.

Anyway, the debate is kind of old news by now, but I started thinking about the flip side of it this week when I started seeing allllll the posts all over the feeds about tomorrow's Vintage Fair.

Unfortunately, I'm not one of those people who usually comes to mind when someone's having an event and making a list of bloggers to put on the early access/review copy/etc. list. There's no bitterness in that statement. I don't do a lot of self-promotion and my blogging frequency has really dropped off and my photos sometimes leave something to be desired and I'm not your typical fashion blogger (although I do always try to credit everything in my posts and, better yet, include prices when I can so readers don't show up at a store and keel over from sticker shock). And I write really long rambling sentences like that one right there.

If I happen to catch the buzz on an event that sounds like something I'd like to blog and I can find a blogger application for it, I'll sometimes apply. And speaking of the Vintage Fair, in the past I've occasionally requested to be on the bloggers lists for Chic Management events and have been accepted, so even if this post was meant to be a beef-slinger, it wouldn't be pointed in that direction.

But in light of the discussion over at The Rumor and the frequency of "Hey everybody! I'm a [insert event name here!] Blogger" posts, the thing that amuses me a little is this:

There have been times when I've admired a creator or heard of an upcoming event that sounded kind of cool and have put in a request to be a blogger in that capacity. And there have been times when the creator or event manager has responded, "Sorry. I'm not a fan of your blog" or the very popular "Sorry, we don't think your blog is a good fit for us" or even "I really don't care if my work is featured in your blog," or even a slightly tamer version of "Please take your ellipses and your ALL CAPS and shove them up your ass."

My response to that kind of feedback is usually an internal "ouch" (actually, make it an all-caps internal "OUCH") and maybe even, depending on the time of the month, a couple of tears, and then I get on with my SLife and try to accept the fact that this blog isn't for everyone. I don't write ranting posts or broadcast the creator's name. Hell, I usually don't even boycott the event or creator. It hurts, but when you put yourself out there publicly, you have to accept the fact that not everyone's going to be a fan, and sometimes they're going to bluntly say so. I will admit that at this point I'm starkly terrified to ask someone if I can blog their stuff/event, but that's about the only lasting consequence of the "I don't like your blog" dialogue.

So I guess that's the one thing I'd like to say to creators who get publicly outraged and start a flame war against bloggers who are outspoken enough to express a negative opinion. It goes both ways. Some of us get it from your side too. It just comes with the territory of creative self-expression, I guess.

. . . Hey, look at my mouse sleigh up there!

The Sleigh Hunt (runs through 11/30) is a small hunt sponsored by Carriage Trade and featuring equestrian-themed prizes. I saw this prize from United InshCon on another blog and had to have it. I'll take mouse droppings on my roof over reindeer patties any day. The link to the Web site, including participants, SLURLs and some pictures of the prizes, is below.

HERE'S MY LIST OF LINKS, YO
The Rumor
Chic Management
The Sleigh Hunt

Sunday, November 6, 2011

I have substance, I swear


My yard is sexy looking.

I like to tell people that if you're feeling depressed about your photography skills, just come on over to this blog, and if you're feeling depressed about your terraforming skills, just come on over to my yard.

You'll feel much better.

My God, and when you put them BOTH in one picture, it's sort of like the universe implodes while your eyeballs fry!

Hey, have you ever done a search for "facelight" in your inventory? I haven't worn a facelight in years, but I thought maybe if I slapped one on in this photo, it would add some dimension to the lighting or something. (Fail.) Holy cow. I think I have about 3,000 facelights. I contemplated deleting all of them, but damn, that would take hours. My inventory is at 165K and counting right now. So I guess if you're feeling depressed about your inventory, you can come on over to my place and laugh at my 3,000 facelights and probably feel much better about that too.

Anyway, all day long, people have been saying to me, "Awww, you're just a white, glowy blob today!" That's mystifying because I'm not even wearing mesh. I hate it when I take the time to carefully dress my AV in a spiffy fall outfit, only to have people say, "I can't seeeeeeee youuuuuuu!"

Um, so here's some proof that I did in fact get dressed this weekend. Frankly, I wrote this post just to get rid of that gawd-awful Halloween picture at the top of the page. It was fun, but it becomes an eyesore if you look at it for longer than two minutes. Soon I'll write another post to bump down this newest gawd-awful picture. It's like the circle of bad-picture life over here.


Yay, we finally get to break out some crispy fall colors. Speaking of crispy, grrrrr, my photos look pixelly as hell. And when I turn on shadows, those glasses disappear. Trippy.

I'm loving this skin that's the Very Important Hunters Hunt (ends 11/30) prize at The Plastik. It includes several makeup options, a ton of tattoo layers and a couple of pairs of eyes. You're looking for a bow. Or a bow tie. Whatever it is, it's very important. Hints and SLURLs of participating creators are HERE.


Thank you, Aikea Rieko! That's lovely!

So, does anyone else get excited about "Dexter" on Sunday nights? I used to be pretty fanatical about that show, but this season seems to be dragging for me for some reason. I got really, really gleeful when I saw this Dexter AV at Death Row Designs though:


(Includes killshirt!) OH MY GOD, YEAH! Now I need to find a guy who'll put this thing on and SLex with me. (Complete Dexter AV, 700L)

I bought the laminated badges for 20L. It's not the same as the complete package (pardon the pun, *WINK*) but I can still wear it and pretend I'm Dexter's girlfriend:


(Um, Debra Morgan? Hell no. She's soooo damn annoying.) Hey, yesterday was the sixth anniversary of Dexter's first day at work!

OK. I'm done. Have a lovely week.

STYLE CREDITS AND STUFF
Hair - LeLutka - Rykiel in Marilyn
Skin - The Plastik - Aleria Nightbringer's Breath in Flush - *FREE* Very Important Hunters Hunt gift #3
Eyes - The Plastik - Senn (Vae Collection) - *FREE* Very Important Hunters Hunt gift #3
Glasses - Le Petits Details - Lady Lord Glasses - *FREE* group gift, free to join
Necklace - Kunglers - OGlam First Birthday/Crisis in the Horn of Africa fundraiser item, 200L, at OGlam Shopping
Scarf - Miel - Fringe Scarf in Leafy, 245L
Top - Rezipsa Loc - Brick Red T-shirt, 75L
Skirt - Les Petit Details - Mina Skirt in Red, 75L for Project Themeory this weekend
Boots - Les Petit Details - Lady boots in Coconut, 250L
And . . .
Dexter AV, Laminate Badges - Death Row Designs
Very Important Hunters Hunt Website (Ends 11/30)