I dressed up in my summer wear as it is finally past 50 degrees in Seattle which is amazing (it was around 80 today)- and I thought I’d fit the mood virtually as well!

Skin: .::Mother Goose’s::. Ellen Skin LB (from lucky board)
Hair: >TRUTH< Lourdes – swedish (250L for Light Blonde pack)
Shorts: [SC] Surf Couture – Shack Shorts – Light 1
Shirt: *BOOM* Bodacious Tank – Hot Pink (200L)
Shoes: ::Duh!:: Espadrille in Lime (lucky chair)
Necklace: *ICED* FTW Necklace (Geekgasm Hunt gift)
Tattoo: Personal tatt I made

Enjoy the sun, babyloves!

Squeaky swings and tall grass
The longest shadows ever cast
The water’s warm and children swim
And we frolicked about in our summer skin

I don’t recall a single care
Just greenery and humid air
Then Labor day came and went
And we shed what was left of our summer skin

On the night you left I came over
And we peeled the freckles from our shoulders
Our brand new coats so flushed and pink
And I knew your heart I couldn’t win
Cause the season’s change was a conduit
And we’d left our love in our summer skin

I will be the first to admit I am somewhat of a bitch in the sense that I don’t sugar coat anything, or believe in sucking up to people so things slip through my teeth that I perhaps should not have said. However some cruelty I witness in Second Life, Plurk, Twitter, any other exponents, just makes me so depressed. Who knew people would be gossiping about an individuals virtual reality, or insulting(not reviewing, not even a strongly opinionated write-up, but an actual THIS DESIGNER CAN SUCK MY COCK type of thing). HELLLLLOOO?! This is not Ok! magazine, People, etc. All your insults are being thrown onto a grid of pixels, on your computer. You are not clever, wise, witty or funny. Your arguement is VOID. I find this behavior extremely humiliating, actually. It’s just as bad as prim babies- some things should never be crossed over into Second Life. Have fun! Do what you want! Create, build, learn, and even love if you choose! But for gods sake if it gets to the point where you are talking trash about someone you don’t know- and that’s all you find yourself doing? It’s time for CTRL+Q.

Anyways, apologies for this mediocre, amature rant. It needed to happen. In other news?

I LOVE YOU GUYS. Someone clean my inventory for me.

Ona  further note- I decided I am doing another write-up on Ahern. Second Life’s (or one of) most controversial Sims. The Lindens themselves have thought about taking it off the grid due to its constant trolls and feuds. To be fair, I still hang out there. Less than I have (I pop in to see if there are good people there, or good conversation every once in a while- low and behold, there isn’t) in the past. I was drawn to the drama, just like most of us are and hate to admit. It’s a reminder of why I hated highschool. There is the main “circle” of trolls/griefers or just general assholes, who sit and wait until someone teleports in and by the off-chance, says the wrong thing.

Now I have spent a fair share of my time in Korea and Waterhead as well. Never, in any other sim, have I seen such general cruelty to one another.  It’s slightly mesmerizing, dazzling as one person has said- like watching a train wreck over and over again. Nothing changes in Ahern, the constant bullshit is spit out daily and has been for as long as I have gone there- and from what I hear from an anonymous source, as long as three years back. That includes the same people. Another reason why I am so attracted to this ordeal, is that people generally interest me. What are their motives? Thoughts? And what are they trying to achieve? Usually nothing but mere entertainment.

I refuse to go to the level of the WAtards blog and personally call each “troll” out one by one- because I belive that is straight up hypocrisy. Though I will admit, the last 4-5 months on SL have been wasted if not fully, then partially, listening to the banter.

Don’t get me wrong- I have had a pleasant conversation with more than a few of several Ahern frequents. One-on-one, they are just dandy. But, like I stated earlier- similar to high school, they swarm in numbers like flies on shit on a hot summer day.

In the end, I have seen the same behavior on the Plurk community, Waterhead, etc. People are people. It is OUR NATURE to judge, and be hypocrites. If you say you are different, you are lying. Because after all, we log on mostly anonymously, and log off mostly anonymously.  We can portray our personality, likes and dislikes to a certain point- then comes in the online persona we all wear to better ourselves.

Conclusion? I don’t really have one. This was mainly a rant, review, whatever you personally want to categorize it as. All in all, there is no good guy; especially when you seek drama.

Anyways, a recent store discovery:

!SyDS!

HAIR: Truth and Shag, it’s an absolute tie. Both know how to make photorealistic hair without the annoying prim-strands you see on a lot of SL-strippers (*cough*) Truth Hawks is one of my personal favorites in overall design, whether it be clothing or hair.
Truth Fashion
[Shag] Hair

SKIN: L.Fauna. After about 6 months of being very fickle about skins, I finally found one I am satisfied with.

SHAPE: ~Hourglass~

EYES: Ask my SL partner, I am picky about eyes, for sure. Poetic Colors has basically every color you can imagine, and the style is very careful and precise with detail. With eyes, DETAIL IS KEY.

TATS & BODY JEWELRY: At first I wanted to throw a shoe at my computer when I tried to struggle through the lag at Aitui. Thankfully, once rezzed, I was amazed at what was there. I often change up my tattoos and piercings since it’s not so easily done in RL. The major pot of gold here, however, is their prim ears, with gauges. I have gauges myself, so I thought it’d be nice to give my Av some! They have detail to a perfection and the ease of customizing them is nice as well. Not to mention they additionally have a large selection of clothing! AITUI

BASIC SHIRTS: This is a Fawn

DRESSES: My favorite piece of clothing, in SL and RL, will always be dresses. You can dress them up, or down, and look girly or edgy. Personally, I am a big fan of flannel and plaid materials, so this sent me swooning after {Lark} Though a small-sized shop, they have nice, basic dresses without loads of prims. Nice for everyday wear.

DOODADS AND FUNNY AVS: Weirdalicious!

SIM OF THE YEAR: Cupcake

Enjoy your 2009, and I’m excited to see what al of SL’s wonderful designers come up with next!

xoxo
Z

So after a month or so dinking around in Welcome Areas- as stated in my past post, I’ve decided to create my list of observations. not to be taken personally, seriously or official. Welcome Areas, such as Ahern, Korea, Hanja, Waterhead, etc- are Rezz areas for newbies, and gathering areas for those who have nothing better to do, aka, me lately. Also the home for many of Second Life’s griefers and trolls. This can be the laughable level of “haha noob”, to taking it too far and getting personal with said person. Example, last week, I was in Korea while this woman played rap music over her mic. Being the somewhat-bitterbitch, rap-disliking person I am, emoted ”shoots self.” The woman then went on to a rant on how no one would come to my Second Life funeral, and nobody liked me. This was a 5-ish minute rant, one-sided. Apparently she’s really attached to her rap music. Now I was split, somewhat hurt because I have always remained fairly nice to people in Second Life despite perhaps over-opinionated or witty remarks; so this “burn” came as a shock to me, the first time someone had gone out of their way to try to hurt me, well, they succeeded a little. The other half of me was cracking up- wait, people hold Second Life funerals?! Why have I never been to one?! Easily shaking it off within the next hour, I actually paid attention to what people say to each other in Welcome Areas. Some of the people, or “av’s” (as they can easily hide behind a pixel and say whatever they want) are hilarious. Their comments are personal, but just witty or informal enough to get a laugh out of me. But there is a strict crossing line when your real life is mentioned, and you are not inviting them into that part of your life. Now, if you go around blabbing about your life, what and who you are, that’s your fault- that’s giving ammo to the anonymous. But I have seen people get single-handedly harassed when they didn’t deserve it at all, and it makes me feel indifferent. I’m not going to lie and say I’m all cupcakes and sunshine, I enjoy drama- and that’s usually why I go to Welcome Areas. It’s like Second Life’s bad sitcom. You DONT want to watch or listen, but you CANT look away. Either way, when you snap out of your virtual world, you realize these are people, saying these things to people they don’t know, and usually have never met. That’s the reality of it. However you take this, I know I will still visit these areas from time to time, the same reason you might. Better than a sex sim. Anyways, here you are- the top 5 things you might want to think about (written with humor, nothing more) before bravely stepping into the battle ground of some of the lowest.

1. Dont speak unless spoken too
Apparently, Lindens gave avatars free speech. In contrast, griefers and trolls took it away by telling people to “stfu” when they give their opinion on a said subject.

2. Keep an anchor on/Make yourself phantom
Keep WILL bump, push, thrust, whatever. One time I was thrusted across the sim. Funny, though annoying.

3. Only get on voice if you know you have a good mic.
This includes if you are foreign.

4. Dont private IM people you havent talked to
The IM, timestamp included, will be copied and pasted into group/main chat, where others can ridicule you untill they get bored. If they find it lame enough, they will read it out loud on voice. Shamefully, I have done this.

5. Dont expect to get the spotlight, unless you are an OG.
The only people I have heard on voice that I can understand are in empty sims, or have “earned other griefers respect”; otherwise, others will rudely talk over you. Amazingly enough, most Europeans actually have tact and take turns.

In closing- I am still at a newfound love/hate relationship with Welcome Areas. Some, I believe were losers all their lives and finally got some sort of popularity via the interwebs, and maintain that status with cruel remarks. Others are kind, helpful, creative, friendly, sexy-voiced, etc. I now expect if this is ever read by one of my unfavorable’s, I will be griefed. SLife goes on.

XOXO

I’ll post a regular update soon, assuming I dont get distracted with other things again.

Sad fact I found, is the noob skins are now far better looking than they once were. I recall one-shade skin tones with no depth or shadow, where as now, it looks more touched up. Good and bad, but that could be my jealousy and shame of having to walk around looking like a crayon person my first month or so in SL.

I have to admit I was very tempted to go to a sex sim and walk around asking for “free sex plz”, but refrained, due to being in a relationship and having more dignity than I did as a noob. Anyhow, in summary, I advise doing this; if not for experience, do it for fun.

Now that I have shared a brief entry with you(will write more once I have time, perhaps tomorrow night), I have a favor. Know any industrial clubs hiring DJ’s? Let me know!

XOXO
Zara

First off, it’s nice to see I’m finally getting views on this blog, makes something worth typing about! Though mainly I blabber about nothing…Secondly, thoughts on the new version of Emerald Life Viewer. Fuck, yes. Move-able tits? I think so. I can shamelessly say I spent a good hour perv-camming everyones ta-tas watching the glory of them bouncing up and down. Additionally, you can now attach more than one prim to a spot on your av; pretty handy, especially when you’re wearing a tail. This version is also better, faster, stronger and I highly recommend on downloading it if you haven’t already. ELV for the win, the SL viewer is so last year. As older versions of Emerald have as well, you get a built in radar, a sit-anywhere action, and some other cool things which I don’t think are as important as jiggly boobs.

Ugh. I have bronchitis but I am still smoking. AND I am out of cigarettes and always need one when I dont have one, and put them out early when I do. *Sigh* And my right eye is hurting badly; not sure if it’s from staring at a screen or the intense amount of caffeine. Ouch. I’ll stop rambling now.

Last review for today: a small store called Kyoot. They are quite small and I’m not sure if that’s because they are new or not…but they have some amazing quality clothing that I am quite fond of. Though a bit pricey, it’s a nice place to drop some extra Linden when available. They have some hair, accessories and clothing; This place stands out to me due to its uniqueness, which I am always looking for in Second Life- because sadly, as we all know- a lot of stores have becoming unbearably alike.

Give it a visit!

Out for now, are you inworld?
Zara Mistwallow
I’m always looking for a new av to harass

Ray and I are back together, we worked out our differences; no more broken heart Zara for you guys. Yay! For now though, school is taking priority in my RL and so I will be on SL less. I guess it’s good for a break, I just feel a little sad leaving SL in the backseat I guess. Oh well. I need my English Major degree so I must work for it!

For future blogging, I plan on writing a longgg blog about where I Roleplay, Toxian City, and a full review on it’s pros and cons. As a member/user of that Sim since September 2008 I believe I am way overdue for giving this review (I rhymed!) Here’s a preview, a snapshot of me on some downtown in the “Prowlers Den” (A feline roleplay group in Toxia; other groups are such as demon, angel, werewolf, vampire, etc.)

I'm the blonde... my 'superior'/GM is the one in the back.

Last two thoughts of the night before I turn lights out. 1- WHY are eyelashes so fucking hard to adjust? 2-Earlier state, why do we move to become more unsocial as we grow ‘older’ on SL? All my Socio classes got me thinking in Freudian…

-Zara

1. DELETEthem from your friend’s list. I Dont care if they get mad, dont understand, throw a hissy fit or you can’t click the button. You know deep down its easiest to not see their name pop up whenever they log in, and you wont have to check their profile every minute to make sure they havn’t already picked up a new partner. Maybe this is just me and my OCD acting up, but I know a few others who have suffered the SL-Profile-stalk syndrome and it’s not too fun.

2. DISTANCE yourself. Whether this means the simple task of checking your radar to keep 100m from them at all times, or the nice vacation for SL all together. If you run into them, simply walk away or log out. Any conversation, especially in public, is going to be hurtful to both sides.

3. REALIZE over and over again, thought sometimes hard, that this is the internet, and for all you know they could be a 300-lb man who happens to be very good at lying. In my situation, I know this is not true; though the thought at least gives me some giggles and puts me into a better mood.

4. LIFE GOES ON. Especially for those who became very close with their SL lover to the point of it entering your RL, it’s tough, I know. I believe strongly that everyone has a true love out there and though it’s hard to convince yourself that when your recent ex was thought to be yours, time moves on to the next pixel. No one dies without one great love…well, unless you dont want it or your a-sexual. Even serial killers fall in love.

5. SAY GOODBYE. If, overall, this is too tough to handle, maybe this is your chance to write a notecard explaining to your SL buddies why you need a break, or maybe even need to cancel your account all together. I have done this before. I took a 5-month break and though eventually came back, I was able to experience a lot of my real life I was missing. Don’t hold on to SL if it’s too much for you…it’s unhealthy and will make the pain worse.

I hope these pieces of advice will help you, as I try to help myself. As the classic quote goes, this too shall pass. And everything is okay in the end, if it’s not okay- then it’s not the end.

XOXO
Zara