The light was just right.

I wasn't planning on making a new profile snapshot today.  But as I wandered around at Miko's beach, the winlight settings and a local source just hit a lovely look.  I fired up the camera and model poses, tried on different clothes and snapped like two dozen shots.  One, I liked.  I added the Babylon 5 quote that was in my last profile shot.  It seemed to create a number of comments, and it just appeals to me.  And...Well, here's what I ended up with.

The hat and sandals are both from SF Design.  The off the shoulder cover up is from Grumble.

A mess of mesh meshes.

Okay, I know, I'm harping on it.  But really, there are just some things that mesh does better.  And here is a good example in several knit items I've recently picked up.

The ponchos and sweater dress are all from Grumble.  The boots with the black poncho, Bootgasm, the boots with the dress ADN, the boots with the brown poncho, Grumble.  Pants are ADN in both cases.  I was dancing the other night in these, and the way they followed my avatar's movements was much more realistic than any prim object clothing could ever manage.  And in the cases of the ponchos, you simply can not make something quite like this with the standard clothing layers.  I like mesh.  Not for everything, but sure as heck, I like it for knit mesh items like these.

Why I like mesh.

As soon as I heard about mesh, I knew three things.  It was going to be a pain in the ass.  It was going to seriously change SL, at least how SL looked.  And, once designers started to get the hang of it, I'd like it.

I can make all sorts of comments.  How it's not quite mature yet.  How it seems to be forcing people to standardize shapes because you can't re-size it.  And, that mesh is not better for everything.  I think designers should really stop trying to make mesh everything.  Instead, work toward figuring out how to make really good mesh SOME things.  All that said, here is a visual, of how SL's fashions have evolved along with yours truly.  From left to right.  All mesh, all prim, mostly clothing layer with a few prims.  And to help compare, skins that I wore in the years listed.

 Nuff Said.

Growing some fur.

One of the communities of SL that has always made me both curious and a bit confused were the furries.  Folks who felt that they were most comfy with avatars that consisted of, to some degree, animal parts.  I have learned that there are "hybrids."  Like the "nekos,"  or cat people of SL.  That many of the furries are "anthropomorphic," a look consisting of some elements of the human and some of the animal.  And there are so called, "ferals."  The latter are avatars that are intended to completely represent a specific animal.

I never really managed to find that part of me that was happy with being furry.  Until recently.  A friend of mine showed up wearing the mesh Blue Galaxy cat avatar and I was very taken with the round, cartoony, yet adorable look.  Then I stumbled across the works of an artist known as Miu.

Miu, Bonk and Jay Naylor are artists that create adorable, yet very adult and sexy, "cartoons."  The character Rio, who I've since found out is an girly male anthro lion, was particularly appealing to me.  Given this recent rush of inspiration I could do no less than create a furry avatar for myself.  I went to the SL market place and spent several hours looking at all the the literally hundreds of options.  Eventually, I narrowed it down to two.  One a mouse, the other a rabbit.  The rabbit was free, so I decided to try it.  If I did not like it, I could always purchase the mouse.

I picked up the mesh rabbit avatar, and fell in love.  It was almost the same size as my human avatar, so many clothing items could be traded back and forth.  Also, I've always loved Bugs Bunny, and looking like his femboi nephew is a pretty cool thing in my book!  So, here they are, my new furry look, and Rio, Miu's creation and my inspiration.

Ladyboy Look

I've had various comments over time as I've bounced around SL.  And comparing my avatar to others, I seem short, skinny, flat and dark skinned.  I have received comments saying I looked "black."  I have received many comments saying I seemed boyish.  Well, my only reply is that I tried, within the limits I found imposed by a very tight Linden budget and the other constraints put on me by the way Second Life renders and warps the avatars in it.  I hoped to emulate and honor those lovely creatures of Thailand, but there is only so much I can do with the tools at hand. 

Given that, I feel I have done credibly.  I set out, on deciding not to have a male avatar, to create a look that was as close to the etherealy attractive transgenders often called "Kathoey."  Thai "transvestites."  But, since I am not overly familiar with Thai culture, I wanted to look a bit "mixed."  To that end, over time, I have put together a look that I feel is very much "me."  Below are pictures of my avatar, and some of Thai transgenders that inspired me.  I hope you agree, I have managed a credible job given the constraints.

RLV: Not for me. (And Collar Posing)

This post is mostly for people I am "scening with" in SL.  To follow most of this, you'll need a familiarity with Second Life and the Restrained Love API.  Commonly called RLV because it was originally created by an SL resident (Marine Kelly) as one of the early 3rd party viewers.  And the viewer was called, Restrained Life Viewer.  You can read about it at http://www.erestraint.com/realrestraint/.  I, and all the BDSM community in SL, owe her thanks for giving us such a wonderful addition to our second lives.

And there is a BDSM community in SL, and I guess you could say I'm a member.  In fact, you could almost say that in adult sims, BDSM is ubiquitous.  And I used to have RLV turned on in my viewer.  But over time I learned that this wasn't for me.  Here are the reasons why:

1. I often wander SL alone.  Get stuck in an RLV trap while alone and you are trapped indeed.  Getting out requires relogging.
2. I have a number of playmates, and not all have been skilled using RLV.
3. I have a number of attachments and clothing layers that should not be removed.  Prim feet, naughty bits, tattoos, etc.  Yet these can be accidentally removed easily now that many objects are attached to the same point.  And if "locked on," it seems that items that should come off in those areas, won't.
4. I like to shop, club, explore and change my look.  With RLV turned on cuffs, collars and bondage gear that is "locked" cannot be removed without a relog back into a viewer that is not RLV.  This reduces my "fun" quotient.  SL is about fun and creativity to me.  So that is bad.
5. I think this has been fixed in the newest OC gear, but not in everything.  But once upon a time if you were posed by a collar "owner."  You could not change your pose or get out of it.  If they leave, or crash, without releasing you, you are stuck in that pose unless you relog without RLV.

Notice all of these issues are solved by turning off RLV.  I can still be leashed.  If desired I can be posed.  For those that enjoy the restraints, go for it.  If you have a "permanent" owner, I can understand leaving it on and limiting access only to them.  But for someone like me, RLV is more a pain than a pleasure.

On posing: 

I also don't like other people to pose me.  RLV  and collars are supposed to give us the ability to make SL more like RL.  In RL, unless there is something going on I don't know about, dominants do not have the power to telepathically mind control others into a specific position.  So why do they in SL?

They can say (like in RL), kneel, or whatever and I'd lay odds I can do it faster than they can.  Likewise they can roleplay any action RLV permits and I will take care of the complexity of making it happen.  I can remove a clothing item for example without accidentally removing the naughty bits.  I can typically find and sit on the right pose ball, add items, etc.  All quickly and without the dominant having to wade through menus.

That's just how I roll.  Again, I'm not saying these things can't be fun or useful in certain contexts.

And for your viewing pleasure, me in a collar.

Been a while, so let's talk Mesh

As is common in the fall I've been busy, so no updates for a couple of months.  Then recently, I've finally managed to get back into SL frequently.  So, the first thing I do is go shopping!  I've recently found some places that make really cute mesh gear in the sorts of styles I like.  Grumble my old "go to shop" has quite a few mesh things, some I even like.  But these new places are smaller and more focused.  I'm wearing something from each of them in the shot below taken at Ladyboy Beach.  I'm the one in the middle of course.

The places are:

• Slave Dressing Room:  Basically a silk shop.  Very Gorean.  But she also makes non-Gorean things.  The boots I'm wearing are hers.  Those and another very similar style, 99L for both!  She also has some great mini-dresses.  And frankly, if you are into silks, this shop has some of the better ones I've seen.  The shop group is 10L to join, but the pile of group gifts is way worth it.  Prim feet, mesh feet, silks, dresses and make ups!

• Happy Undead:  She doesn't have a big inventory, but what she has is nice and reasonably priced.  The micro-mini is hers.  150L, comes in many colors and a couple of styles.  She has a other styles to boot, and small inventory of other nice things.  Including a mini-dress and other styles of skirts.

•  Stinky Kitty:  The short hoodie I'm wearing is from there.  Mainly intended for the furry folks in SL, us regular humans are welcome too.  I'm a bit too thin for some of her stuff (Be very Sure to try the demos before you buy.) but this item fits me well, and I think is adorable. 

The corset is good old fashioned clothing layer that I've had forever, the hair, some from Grumble I moded with the colored bangs.

Why mesh?  Many of the things I've seen come out in mesh haven't thrilled me.  But if you have ever gotten any prim over the knee boots, or a micro-mini with the prim panel?  You know how hard it is to get them to fit right.  Then when you bend your knees, the boots usually deform.  The prim panel in the dress can stick out oddly, and in some lights wont look the same shade (Sometimes you look like you have a made a mess on your dress!).  Mesh solves these issues.  The boots are one piece and move with your leg, bending correctly.  The mesh skirt is all of a piece and actually flexes with your avatar's movements.  For longer dresses mesh is okay, it doesn't give you the flowing feeling you get with flexi-prims.  I wonder if any designers will make longer skirts or formals using both mesh and flexis.  The result might be quite remarkable.  You do have to find a style that comes in a size that's right for you, the downside of mesh is that, for now at least, one size no longer fits most.

Face Palms & Palm Trees

First:  *Face Palms*

Oh my, it never occurred to me that "Virtual Sock Puppet" was a term that is used someplace for something.  As Homer Simpson would say, "Doh!"  Luckily, its other meaning is somewhat out of context here, since, so far at least, there are no comments on my blog by anyone.  It seems that it is the term used when a Blogger logs into their own blog under another ID, and then "puts words in their mouth."  So to speak.  Maybe a little like what Plato did to Socrates in the Dialogues?

If you want to know why I chose that name for my blog, look here "Why Virtual Sock Puppets"

Second:  Palm Trees

Had just put together a nice outfit of flowered shirt & grey chinos from SF Design.  I wanted something casual to wear in the foot region, but everything pink I had was just too pink.  Except for a single pair of flip flops.  Problem was they were old style prim flip flops for use with system feet.  What can I say, I'm not a foot fetishist, but I like having toes.  Then I had an idea, I put on my prim feet.  Then I fitted the flip flops to the prim feet.  Worked fairly well I think.  Here's a snapshot of me dancing away in that outfit at Touch of Pleasure during a beach party.

Late Night Sock Hop

Been having a lot of insomnia lately.  Which leaves me often in mental state where SL is about the right speed.  Not too demanding, but not so mind numbing that I get restless.  Some of the things I do in SL when in that sort of mood are explore and go clubbing.  Lately been visiting the Touch of Pleasure club quite a bit.  The decor is considerably more muted than most clubs, and the music has been pretty consistently classic rock.  The strippers...Not why I'm there, but as such go they are a pretty nice bunch.  Another place I still visit is Lar's.  Still pretty risque, still very tongue in cheek, but they consistently have good DJs.

Here's a snap shot at each place.  I'm wearing my Wailing Bunny shirt, old favorite hair, big goofy glasses, freebie shorts from the Hair Fair, socks & sneakers.  What I thought was a casual and not very sexy outfit.  Interestingly enough, I got way more flirty IMs that night than I usually do.

Rocking out at Lar's

 Dancing with DJ Luke and his fan club at T. O. P.

This outfit has a lot of elements in common with my newest profile image.  Which incidentally, also seems to have spurred more IMs to me.  Or at least gotten mentioned in more of them.   Here's the new picture for your consideration.  I played with the lighting a lot.  I was very happy how it worked out, but the play of light and shadow made me think of a quote from one of my old favorite TV shows, so I put that in as well.  There is much about me, especially my virtual self, which is neither black, nor white. So grey seemed doubly apropos.  Sadly, the SIM where it was taken has already gone away...

Some Beaches

It has been gawd awful hot where I live this year.  Temperatures as high as 104F (40C) with high humidity, no dry heat around here.  So hot I can't even stand to put a lot of clothes on my avatar in SL.  So, over the last few weeks I've spent a lot of time at various beaches.  And for me, in SL, if I'm going to a beach, why not go to a clothing optional one?

The first I ever visited was outside the shop Dark Delights, maker of many fine adult avatar bits and...er...Animal friends.  And boy did that open my eyes.  A nice enough beach, one thing that did, and still does, get on my nerves there is the awful music stream.  It sounds like a repeating loop from a not particularly good porn movie.  So, instead I've been visiting some less popular TG friendly clothing optional beaches.

For example, Bare Naked Angels.  Actually, this is a whole sim, and clothing isn't optional, you are to be nude.  Only shoes are permitted.  Fashion is queen in SL!  The music here is also very much to my taste, running to classic rock.

Or Ladyboy Beach.   Friendly people, good chatting and dancing buck naked to the oldies on the deck.  Clothing is optional here, you can wear nothing or whatever you like.  A great place to hang out, whoever or whatever you are in SL.

Miko's, one of the most lovely beaches in SL.  The winlight settings are set for a great golden sunset.  A huge Tori gate stands just off shore and the beach is backed by cascades of waterfalls.  The music varies, but is usually something interesting.  And if you chance to run into Miko, she's as lovely as her beach.

I keep bringing up my stomping grounds, Pair A Dice.  Why?  Because it's such a great place, provided for us by a great person Miss Raychill Firecaster.  Below are my two favorite beaches there.  One is outfitted for chatting and dancing.   Or just hopping on the Jet ski and having some fun.

 The other is what I call Cast Away beach, and since I'm often the only person in the SIM, it tends to suit my mood to hang out on this remote corner of the sim and enjoy the wistful lonely tropical view.