Monday, May 12, 2014

StrawberrySingh.com Second Life Friends List Meme

Meme instructions: Grab a friend from your second life friends list (optional) pose with them and/or answer the following questions. 

Well what better friend than my wife, Shaylin!






Here I go!
  1. What is the number of contacts on your Second Life Friends List? (visible in firestorm viewer) 819
  2. Are you picky about who you add to your list or do you usually add most people? Generally I am pretty picky about adding new friends, however, I haven't cleaned house regarding people I have met and have either lost or grown out of contact with.
  3. Who is your oldest contact? (check your calling cards) Anita1977 Moonites
  4. Who is your newest contact? (check your calling cards) Kelianya Resident
  5. Do you know every single person on your list? umm no
  6. How many do you speak to on a daily (weekly) basis? 1 daily, 5-7 (rough guess) weekly
  7. How many do you see/get together with in-world on a daily (weekly) basis? I see my wife daily, and weekly I meet with some musician friends.
  8. Who on your list do you have the closest relationship with? Shaylin Yordstorm, of course.
  9. Who do you wish you knew better? Because I spend so much time in my personal relationship with my wife, my other relationships do falter slightly, so I could do better at knowing EVERYONE else better.
  10. Who on your list is the funniest/most entertaining? Keeba Tammas, by far, is the funniest and most entertaining.
  11. How did you meet most of the people on your list? (work, parties, etc…) Most of the current friend requests I've sent or accepted have to do with work (producing music at our venues, meeting with those who come to my own performances) or exploring, or meeting neighbors near our homes.
  12. Do you ever clean out your list? Not yet.  Though I have removed people that have impacted me negatively.
  13. Do you have a crush on someone in your list? I am deeply in love with my partner, Shaylin.
  14. Is there anyone on your list that you would trust with your password? See #13
Shaylin's Answers:
  1. What is the number of contacts on your Second Life Friends List? (visible in firestorm viewer) 693
  2. Are you picky about who you add to your list or do you usually add most people? I am not really picky.  I spend a lot of time helping out newbies, and as such, friendships are made that way with who would be considered strangers.
  3. Who is your oldest contact? (check your calling cards) Syndee Carver
  4. Who is your newest contact? (check your calling cards) Mystie Ghost
  5. Do you know every single person on your list? uh no
  6. How many do you speak to on a daily (weekly) basis? 8-10 daily in the Whispering Winds LIVE group, and 5-6 independent of that group.
  7. How many do you see/get together with in-world on a daily (weekly) basis? 3-4
  8. Who on your list do you have the closest relationship with? Cranston Yordstorm
  9. Who do you wish you knew better? Same as Cranston.  I could learn to get to know them ALL better than I do at the moment.
  10. Who on your list is the funniest/most entertaining?I'm biased, but Cran is pretty funny.  Keeba Tammas also keeps me in stitches.  She and her tiny maniacs are hilarious.
  11. How did you meet most of the people on your list? (work, parties, etc…)Mostly through work with our venues, and my helping in Newbie spots.
  12. Do you ever clean out your list? No ... once a friend always a friend in my eyes .... UNLESS you do me wrong, then bye bye.
  13. Do you have a crush on someone in your list? My husband, madly deeply forever in love.
  14. Is there anyone on your list that you would trust with your password? See #13

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Everytime it rains, it rains Lindens from Heaven.

Everytime it rains, it rains Lindens from Heaven.  In the Spirit of Strawberry Singh's latest Monday Meme, Flat Ebbe Linden, Shay and I showed SL's new CEO our elements venue, which showcases four areas of dance and romance based on the four elements.

The thought was also to pose three questions to the new CEO:


Sim Crossings:
Ebbe, both Shaylin and I live in the United Sailing Sims, and love the sailing and flying experiences there.  Especially due to the fact that the Lindens have created the Community Land Partnership Program, which would be perceived as an attempt to take the idea of the United Sailing Sims (and others like it) seriously, it would be a great thing if the act of crossing from one sim to another could be GREATLY improved.  I'm sure this is on the list, but it's something that Shaylin and I take rather seriously.

Group chat drop-offs:
It is pretty disheartening when the group I created doesn't allow me to take advantage of the group chat.  More often than not, when I try to start a conversation in my group, through the group chat, it drops, or lags.  Any attention to fixing this issue, which has been going on for YEARS!, would be GREATLY appreciated.

Event entry errors:
Recently, when putting in events for our numerous venues, we've been getting multiple errors, such as that our posting includes subject matter of an adult nature, which cannot be used when creating events for sims or parcels of a moderate or general nature.  Our postings have used no such matter.  Also there are notices that we have posted too many events in a certain time period, when according to TOS, we have not.

Thanks for listening, ... and ... um ... get an umbrella, dude!  It's RAINING! 

Friday, April 11, 2014

Vanessa Blaylock's 26 Day Inventory Photo Challenge. D is for dog.

Both Shay and I are big fans of the animals available from Zooby.  And when I chanced upon this Yellow Lab mesh avatar, I couldn't resist.  Though, truthfully, this is the first time I've worn it in ages.

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Advice to Second Life Newbies Challenge

In the interest in keeping social and interactive in our Second Life experiences, once in a while (more often recently) Shay and I have begun challenging ourselves with some of Strawberry Singh's Blog Meme Challenges, and today is no different.   Her most recent Monday meme was this:

List 5 pieces of advice you would give to a newcomer that has just joined Second Life. 

1.  Don't treat Second Life as a game!
Though we both feel strongly about this first one, Shaylin is adamant about it.  Second Life is more than a mere game.  It is an immersive social-networking platform (not unlike facebook) where real people interact with each other, and if you think of it in those terms, you'll find your SL experience a much richer one.

2.  Treat people with the same respect that you would like to receive in return.
This brings more detail to item #1.  In this facebook-like platform, you are bound to meet others, some of whom might rub you the wrong way.  It's important to remember that that person on the other side of that avatar has feelings as well.  There's no point in adding drama to your Second Life.  Isn't there enough of that in the real world?

3.  Find a mentor as quickly as you can.
Shay and I both found more experienced avatars who took us under their wing, and it helped us dramatically in our evolution.  Shay routinely goes to Newbie sites and offers her help to those who are just starting out.  This is also an important note for those of us who ARE more experienced, and that is to BE A MENTOR!  

4.  Research Second Life as much as you can (via blogs, articles, etc.)
You will find lots of information on Second Life in blogs (such as the one Shay and I use for our blog challenges, StrawberrySingh.com.)  Take a moment and do a little research.  Just recently Mark Zuckerberg, of Facebook, acquired an innovative virtual reality hardware project called Oculus Rift, which shows much promise in the future development of Second Life.

5.  Go for it!
Don't be afraid to try new things.  You'll find that most of the time you'll do no harm to yourself at all, just pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and get back on that horse.  And if you DO run into trouble, you'll probably find help to get yourself back on the right track from the most unlikely of sources.  Meet people.  Engage.

Vanessa Blaylock's 26 Day Inventory Photo Challenge. C is for Cheeky Pea.

Isla Gealach is one of Shay's and my favorite designers in Second Life, always putting a degree of whimsy into each of her pieces.  This is a lounger that is part of her S'mores Camp set.  We keep it as part of our outdoor deck at home in Second Norway.

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Tuesdays With Chester 4/08/2014

Shaylin and I take a sail with Chester in our home of Second Norway in Second Life.

Vanessa Blaylock's 26 Day Inventory Photo Challenge: B is for Bandit 50R

This is a top-quality mesh sailboat built by the folks at Bandit. Shaylin and I keep it docked in our home in Second Norway, and enjoy taking sails around the United Sailing Sims

Monday, April 7, 2014

Vanessa Blaylock's 26 Day Inventory Photo Challenge. A is for Alouette

Got a whole set of these Alouette Candy Jars to use as decoration, including this one, prominently displayed in our home in Second Norway.

Macro Monday on Flickr: Today's Theme: The Office

Macro Monday Engaging in Correspondence. Every monday I attempt to take a pic based on the theme from the Macro Monday flickr group, using exclusively Second Life pics. Today's theme: The Office.

Monday, March 31, 2014

StrawberrySingh.com Dance In Second Life Challenge

This is actually an older vid (only a few weeks) that I had compiled in an attempt to show of the latest addition to Whispering Windz and The Woods Of Marathon Caye.  It seemed appropriate for a submission to Berry's challenge from last week.  Shay and I particularly like the dances from 3FX, and I believe the one in the video is called With Me, or Follow Me.  The contraption is modded from a new object by Guided Tours, Inc. and is called a sky dancer.  So you can come to Whispering Windz or Marathon Caye (and please do) and take a tour of the sim while dancing with that someone special.  COME VISIT US HERE!

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Sunday, March 2, 2014

I've arrived!!! 3-1-2014 SL pic of the day!

After months of admiring pics from fantastic flickr photographer friends of mine, it looks like I've arrived. The Lindens have chosen this candid pic of Shay's and my cat, Tuppence for March 1st, 2014 SL Pic Of The Day!

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Strawberrysingh.com Book Meme


In the interest of providing something of a readable nature, I have once again found inspiration from Strawberry Singh and her daily or weekly blog memes.  Todays was an interesting one, having to do with books.  The pic is taken from our home in Second Norway.  Both Shaylin and I are taking part in this one.

1. Are you a bookworm?  Shaylin yes, Me not so much.  She can find herself burrowing into a novel, while I rarely open the cover unless the powers out.

2. Which do you prefer: hardcover, paperback or electronic?  Shaylin likes the ease of Ebooks, as well as the capacility to store vast amounts of literature in a small space.  If I had to choose between the three, I would probably choose hardcover, but there is a fourth (though it could be considered electronic) that I have been a fan of, particularly when I used to travel and that is the audiobook.

3.  Which book is your favorite? My favorites usually include a mix of tech and fantasy, usually involving some super-secret corporate evil empire and some lone wolf's attempt to break it, while Shaylin favors subjects of a metaphysical or parapsychological nature.

4.  Which children's book is your favorite?  Green Eggs and Ham for Shaylin, and I guess my children's book of choice would be the pop-up book, which is more of a style of book than an actual story, but nevertheless I was taken by them.

5.  What's the last book you've read?  A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving for me, and Shaylin is currently reading To Heaven And Back by Mary C. Neal,. M.D.

6.  Name your top five writers?  For Shaylin; Danielle Steele, Harold Robbins, George Anderson, Laura Lippman and Scott Spencer, while I favor John Irving, Douglas Adams, Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and Paul Auster.

7.  Name a book that had a strong impact on you.  When I turned 39, I had a breakup of a relationship and was floundering a little, and my older sister gave me a book on my 40th birthday called The Four Agreements by Don Miquel Ruiz.  It changed my life, and is the basis for my current relationship with Shaylin.  It also had a strong impact on Shay, as well as The Holy Bible.

8.  Favorite & least favorite book genres?  Shay favors metaphysical, and dislikes horror.  I find technothrillers enjoyable, and I guess if I had to choose my least favorite, it would be owners manuals.

9.  Favorite & least favorite book-to-movie adaptations?  I think Peter Jackson took a great deal of care in directing the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, so right now that would be my current favorite adaptation, Shaylin (and I did too) enjoyed Moneyball.  Shay thought that the movie of Carrie was disappointing, while I found the big screen version of Douglas Adams Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy fell quite a bit short.

10. Have you ever bought a book based on the cover alone?  Shay says she has, but for me, I need to leaf through it a bit, or get a review of some kind before laying my money down.

11. Where do you usually buy your books?  Brick and mortar store:  Borders Books and online ebooks through the iTunes store.

12.  Do you go to the library?  We both do on occasion, me especially when I'm looking for material for research for my RL career as a performing artist.  Shay searches for romance and, once again, the metaphysical.

13.  How many books do you own?  Shay lists 30 to 40, and that's pretty close to what I have.

14. If you were to write a book about Second Life, which topic would you focus on? Relationships and communication, and music promotion for both of us.

Monday, February 3, 2014

Black & White Portrait Challenge

I've been quite a bit silent on this blog for many reasons, but mostly I believed that I had little to say or to present.  But Strawberry Singh, blogger extraordinaire, has created a series of meme challenges to keep bloggers (and herself, perhaps) on their toes.  I've been quite active on my Flickr account, and had been thinking of taking the plunge one of these times, and today I figured, No time like the present.

So here it is, my answer to Strawberry's Black and White Portrait challenge.  Simple enough, either dress yourself up in black and white and create the pic that way or fiddle around in post-edit to create the B&W pic that way.  I decided to flex some photo-editing muscles (plus I didn't have black and white garb or scenery to create it inworld.

 Here is the image before I took all the color away.  I know, some of you must be sick and tired of me taking images of Shaylin and I together.  I say you're just JEALOUS!!! ;)

I added a white prim behind the sofa, which is by a company called Convair and is part of the February FaMeshed collection, just to add some contrasting background.
Here is the completed black and white image.  I have to say, it took me a little time to figure out how to lose color in the image, but I'm quite pleased with the results.

Keep your eye out for some more entries to this blog, as I get impired by Ms. Singh and her SL-blogging cohorts.