12th Rez Day and I am Green with Envy

I am now 12 years old, 12 years in Second Life. What can I say about 12 years of my life being spent in a place that does not exist?

The first thing that comes to mind is, “I wish I had joined Second Life earlier than 2007.” I wish I had known about Second Life in 2003, when it was first released to the public. Everything was constantly changing during those early years, because no one knew where Second Life would go or what it would become. Linden Lab experimented. Residents experimented.

Residents became other-type beings — furries, fairies, mermaids, animals, robotic creations — yes, these beings are still in Second Life, but they are not as visible now. They have formed their own communities and moved into areas separate from the general population. When was the last time you saw a furry out and about? Any robots moved into your neighborhood lately? I saw a mermaid swim past me not long ago, but she was the first I had seen in ages.

Now, many people are fashionistas, perfectly preserved beautiful dolls, standing around looking good and taking pictures of self looking good. And I guess I fall somewhere in this category myself. But I once was a mermaid. Then, I was a robot. I was even Dr. Who for a while. Now, I am a human avatar. My current avatar is the result of 12 years of my imagination, and I doubt I will ever change again.

Yes, I have been around Second Life for a while, and I have seen a lot. My Second Life years have proven more exciting than I expected. But when I meet someone with a rez date of 2002, I still feel envy. However, when I meet someone who was around in 2001, when the first Primitar crawled out of the virtual primordial soup and stood up on two prim legs, then I turn deep green with envy.

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Crash and Burn! Going Down in Defeat….

A few years back, at the end of December, I posted a listing of blogs which had impressed me during that year, blogs which, in my opinion, were worthy of special notation and/or praise. I called this post a “Gold Star” listing. This Gold Star listing became an annual December post, a way of closing down the old year and preparing for the new year.

Throughout the year, I would read blogs and follow blogrolls to other blogs, and then follow those blogrolls, working my way through the maze of bloggers, searching for the different and unusual, making notes along the way. The number of bloggers seemed to increase exponentially each year, and my self-appointed task began to consume my every waking hour, and often eating away at my sleep time.

The month of September of each year would find me starting to organize my massive piles of notes, to cull the very best from the rest of the good blogs. At first, this sorting process would seem insurmountable but, by November, a workable blog format would begin to emerge from the chaos.

During the month of December, this blog would be tweaked, added to, deleted from, proofed for punctuation and grammar, and rearranged for flow and readability. Finally, by the end of December, I would have a whole year’s work condensed into one blog.

This year, however, I must admit defeat, albeit reluctantly. The task is now greater than I am.

So, here ends my journey, my odyssey, my quest for the best. I have run my race. I now willingly pass the baton to anyone interested in picking it up. But I must caution you, the search for blogging treasure, those unique nuggets of golden thoughts, will become addictive and all-consuming, but well worth the effort for as long as you can carry the load.
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Rez Days and Bucket Lists

Today is the anniversary of my Rez Day in Second Life. In previous years, I have chosen to do one item from my Second Life Bucket List as a celebration of my special day. On my ninth anniversary, I chose the “Poppins Challenge,” commonly called the Naked Rez Day Jump, and proudly jumped off a cliff wearing only my birthday suit and carrying an umbrella.

For my tenth anniversary, I chose “Travel Through Time” from my Bucket List. This goal was accomplished by a retrospective blog, a journey through the first ten years of my SLife, from first stumbling steps to High Flight.

This year, my eleventh Rez Day anniversary, I have chosen “Be a child again” from my Bucket List. I contacted Tin Little and Nik Ninetails, owners of Junior Avi, and asked their assistance. Tin and Nik both believe that it is never too late to have a happy childhood, so they literally jumped at the chance to introduce me to my second childhood. Nik gave me an adorable little shape named Squeak and a Style Card and took me shopping for the things I needed to become a child again.

Nik then took me over to Escapades, the sim owned by legendary SL child, Loki Eliot. Loki has created a number of adventures/quests and fun-to-do things for kids in and around his sim. Nik turned me loose in Rickety Town. As instructed, I grabbed a stick and set off to explore the island of Escapades

I spent the next couple of hours bashing logs, bushes, crates and barrels, sometimes finding gifts and sometimes uncovering monsters, which I then had to bash and bash or they followed me around and harassed me.

Being a kid is tough, and tiring. So I visited Halfling Jie, who lives in a large barrel home on Escapades, and borrowed his hammock for a quick nap.

Ready to go again, I used the SL search, typed in “playground,” and found a world of things for kids to do.

Finally, the greatest test of a child’s courage, a sky-to-water slide, from nearly 500 feet up. Dare I?

Double-Dog Dare! Yeah!

It is never too late to be a child again, for all time in Second Life, or even just for one special day.

2017 Gold Star Lineup

The 2017 Gold Star Judging Panel has now convened. All three judges [Me, Myself and I] have spent endless hours sifting and sorting through blogs over the past year. Reader suggestions for additional sources of blogs and feed lists have aided our efforts, and we appreciate the input.

Without further ado, the following are the Judging Panel choices for outstanding blog-related work in 2017:

** DEARRA SILBERSZTEIN [Dea] – a Gold Star for LITTLE VIRTUAL KEYHOLE, a great name for a Blog Site. Thank you for feeding the flames of our curiosity by allowing us to peep through the little keyhole.

** BRODERICK LOGAN – a Gold Star for A GENTLEMAN’S GAME. From the moment a reader opens the blog, he/she is caught up in this gentleman’s game: expressive photos, unique, often powerful, and original short stories leave the reader craving more from this storyteller.

** NADJA BAXTER – a Gold Star for Blogger-Model, NADJA BAXTER, a force in the modeling world since the early days of SL. Previously, when not blogging and modeling, Nadja designed and sold great shapes. Her shape shop is now closed but her blog posts list her current shape as still being “my own.”

** HIKARU ENIMO – a Gold Star for Photography in Blogging [for the third year in a row]. Every photo so carefully crafted, we wonder if he spends hours upon hours working out every minute detail, or if he knows instantly that it will be perfect and shoots at will. Hikaru Enimo, Male Fashionista

** NEKOTTO RESIDENT – a Gold Star for Photography in Blogging. It is virtually impossible to find a bad photo by Nekotto, and just as nearly impossible to pick a favorite, because they are all so very good. NEKOTTO

** KAI WIRSING – a Gold Star for Photograph in Blogging, for the second year in a row. Kai’s photos continue to fascinate and intrigue. BLUE. Favorite of The Judges: Atreus-02 Eye.

** KAZICLE – a Gold Star for Judges Pick for Best Photo of 2017: DAYDREAM [Did She Run Away, I Don’t Know]. This photo has been featured in IT’S ONLY FASHION, in the column of resident art expert, Cajsa Lilliehook. Kazicle’s photos were also the subject of an article in Hamlet Au’s NEW WORLD NOTES.

** JARLA CAPALINI – a Gold Star for EVEN JARLA GETS THE BLUES, a classy blog, a mixture of art and fashion, with beautifully well-lit photos. Jarla states that she likes “playing with colors, lights and shadows.” Jarla Capalini is, without reservation, the Judges’ top new find for 2017.

** DEVIN VAUGHN – a Gold Star for BISHIE STYLE SL, the second year in a row, for the original STORYLINE sections which accompany his posts. “My blog has a focus on characters and storytelling. I call my format ‘Phototelling’.”

** GIDGE URIZA – a you-go-girl Gold Star for IT’S ONLY FASHION, specifically for “You’ve Lost Your Damn Mind” – a post about “absurd requirements for bloggers.” Quote: “Veteran bloggers, we’re salty. We’ve been there done that. We got the tee shirt. We got the tee shirt when it was a system layer. It had a pants option. Never take for granted a woman who knows what glitch pants are, and how to use them.” Unquote.

** MERICAT IRELAND [ReadMeri] – a Gold Star for a thoroughly enjoyable blog site, as she bids good morning to “picture perusers and word readers alike, morning browsers, lazy day readers, lunch-time lookers….”

** DREAMER – a Gold Star for A DIARY OF MY SECOND LIFE, specifically for reminding readers that May 25th is TOWEL DAY, a celebration of Douglas Adams, creator of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series, who stated, “Never go anywhere without your towel.”

** MATILDA SOON – a dare-to-be-different Gold Star for her decision to blog as a mature avatar-blogger. While others strive for the pixel barbie doll look, Matilda strolls down her own path, proudly displaying every wrinkle on her avatar skin. MATILDA SOON.

** VOLUPTURAPTOR PERL – a Chameleon Gold Star, for the second year in a row, to the one who blogs as IGOTDRESSED. The subject, style and composition of this blog are ever-changing and never stale. One never knows what to expect from IGotDressed, but always knows to expect something different.

** NANIKA SDEVAS – a Gold Star in the Red-is-Beautiful category [and everyone knows we need this category], for Carousel #483, an excellent Second Life portrait. CAROUSEL

** GUINEVERE KIRSHNER – a Gold Star for HUMP MUFFIN, for her coverage of kawaii fashion in second life, and for being oh-so-cute and adorable.

** PEEPSIDESHOW DARKWARD – a Gold Star for PICSBYPEEP. Interesting text, good photos, a blog site after our own hearts, with not only a general search, but also a search by category and a search by month. Three searches in one blog – way to go, Peep.

** TINLIZ WINTERSTORM (Liz) – a Gold Star for WHAT A BEAUTIFUL MESS. In these days of Style Card blogging, it is refreshing to meet a blogger who takes the time to let the reader know the person behind the blog. Sometimes All I Want To Do…Is Stand Here Looking Pretty.

** VIRTUAL EVANGELICAL [Evangelical Resident] – a Gold Star for SOMEONE LIKE YOU. The blog style is romantic and nostalgic, with unique photos and excellent post titles. A perfect example is TIME STEP.

** BAMBI FOXDALE – a Gold Star for telling it like it is: I Don’t Have A Title, because sometimes it is better to just state the obvious. And also because we love your Steaming Punk portrait. FASHION FADES

** EMBER ADORED [Ember Randt] – a Gold Star for PAPER DOLLS, specifically for, “Wish You Were Here.” This photo gives the appearance of an artist’s rendering of the Baja SIMS, with every detail painstakingly applied by brush, from the lighthouse on the left to the small human figure in the lower right corner.

And also for a Second Life portrait which not only captured her Real Life husband’s attention [and we all know just how hard it is to get the attention of a spouse]. but also elicited a response from him, “Humm, that’s really good, almost looks real.”

** COQUETA GEORGIA – a Gold Star for EL ÁTICO DE SL, specifically for this eloquent action photo: “I Cry, When Angels Deserve To Die.”

** CARMILLA MIRABEAU – a Gold Star for Beach Babe. The reader can almost feel the heat. Add a big floppy hat and a pair of sunglasses to keep out the sun’s glare and one might begin to question whether this is real. CARMILLA’S CORNER

** WHISPER MIZIN – a Gold Star for OH HEY ITS WHISP, an unique blog style best described as innocent sexuality, a style often reflected in the titles of her posts: A soft heart in a cruel world.

** KINNAIRD FIACHRA (Kinn) – a Gold Star for MAINLAND MATTERS, explorations of the Mainland Continents in Second Life, with excellent photos of and information about the locations. Kinn has stated that she “… spends an awful lot of time exploring the grid, including the wild frontier that is the Mainland.”

** HONOUR McMILLAN – a Gold Star for POST MENOPAUSAL VIEW (of Second Life). One of the best informative blogs about Second Life, with incredible pictures of incredible places to visit. Honour is now taking her blogging talents to real life with a new blog, THIS FUNDY MIGRANT’S TALE.

** SL BLOGGER SUPPORT – a Gold Star is awarded posthumously to a Second Life Group that specialized in support for those who blog about Second Life. SL Blogger Support has now closed its doors. It will be missed.

** TAO TAKASHI – a Gold Star is awarded posthumously to WORLD OF SL, a blog feed which is no longer active. But during the early days of SL, it was a window to the world of Second Life. In time, it became a window to the whole virtual world community.

** GORGEOUS YONGHO [GoGo] – a Gold Star to the owner of IHEARTSL, a Second Life Fashion and Community Feed, for stepping in and filling the void left after WORLD OF SL closed its doors. Established in 2008, IHEARTSL is now the longest running Second Life Fashion and Community feed.

** CAJSA LILLIEHOOK – a GIANT GOLD STAR for the “What I Like” reviews of Second Life-based photographs in IT’S ONLY FASHION, and also for her profiles of great virtual photographers in CAJSA’S CHOICES, her column on Hamlet Au’s NEW WORLD NOTES. Cajsa calls upon her background knowledge of art to explain exactly what makes a particular Second Life photo an extraordinary photo.

AND, FINALLY:

** GILLIAN GALICIA – a Gold Star for GILLIAN’S ISLAND, specifically for the post titled, “Creating Yourself” because that is an inevitable result of blogging. She quotes George Bernard Shaw: “Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.”

Further, READMERI states: “Know your own mind, be comfortable in your own skin and don’t be swayed by anybody else when you feel in your bones you’re right. You probably are.”

** The 2017 Gold Star lineup now comes to an end. Time to say goodby to 2017, a year of good deeds, bad vibes, and things which defied logic. Best wishes for the new year to Bloggers, Blog Readers, and Lovers of Virtual Worlds.

Happy New Year, 2018.

I Wish … a Note to Skin Designers

If I can have one wish — if the SL Genie drops in and says, “I will grant you one wish in SL” — I will ask to be taken back in time to the years when some really great skins were available. One of the best things about the skins listed below is that they did not have dirty nostrils — you know what I mean, when the shadows inside the nostrils are so dark that they look dirty. Regardless of how good a skin is, and some of the skins today are absolutely beautiful, I will not wear a skin if it makes me feel like I constantly need to wipe my nose.

Am I knocking current skin designers? No, not at all. They are doing something I cannot begin to accomplish. Even with a template, I can not make a skin. So, I applaud their creative endeavors. But I wish they would check for clean looking nostrils before releasing the skin for sale.

These are the skins of yesterday which are on my wishlist today:

Gala Phoenix [CURIO]: The Earth skin series. I loved the shading around the eyes, and the nose shape was better than any nose on Curio skins since that time.

Tuli Asturis [TULI]: The Hope skin series. Every time I got a bit of extra money, I would stop by Tuli and pick up another Hope skin; but, one day, Hope was gone.

Tricky Boucher [BELLEZA]: The Jesse skin series.  I have always been a fan of Belleza skins.  But the Jesse skin had the best mouth and the prettiest face of all the Belleza skins.  Every time I visited I would look for Jesse; but one day, Jesse was gone

AtomicSparkle Skytower [VERVE]: The Sara skin series, especially the siren-vamp tone.  This skin was created when VERVE was known as ATOMIC BAMBI.  The Sara siren-vamp skin had the most amazing lip color, and the Sara skin photographed beautifully.

Minnu Palen [LELUTKA]: The Moscow skin series. Minnu Palen created this skin for MINNU MODEL SKINS, a previous incarnation of Lelutka.  The Moscow skin had an unique look, totally unlike any other skin before or since that time, and I still miss the days when I had that look.

So, since the SL Genie does not seem to come inworld much anymore, I can only appeal directly to these skin designers. I wish you could bring back these skins — revise them, update them, keep their nostrils clean, and give us [me] a second chance with these unique skin designs.

It is time, again – well, almost.

The 2017 holiday season is upon us – Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Eve. And right in the middle of the season is the annual Peace on Earth Hunt [POE], beginning December 1st and ending December 31st. POE is the longest running grid-wide hunt in Second Life, now in its 10th year. With 298 designers participating this year, it may also be the largest hunt.

Ample Avi is #073 in the hunt and has created a new curvy shape for POE hunters, Round Robyn.

Stop by Ample Avi and pick up a new shape for the holidays.

And for up-to-date information on the hunt, and a list of the other 297 designers, visit the Peace on Earth website.

New KidBoy Shape at Junior Avi

Junior Avi has just released a new child avatar shape – maSon.  Standing 4’11” tall, maSon is a classic avatar shape and is mod-copy.

This KidBoy shape is available at Junior Avi’s  multi-color clubhouse store in Pryeri, and also on SL Marketplace

Join the child avatar community in Second Life, and reShape your Youth with a Junior Avi shape.