I’m going to buy a sim.
I’m going to fill it with flowers, trees, bushes, grass.
All the textures are going to be 1024 x 1024.
Every plant will be made of flexi prims.
The colors will be warm. Not a gray wall in sight.
There will be beaches.
There will be meditative gardens with sculptures.
It will be crammed with things pleasing to my eye.
Bamboo and I will sit amid the flowers and be happy.
I don’t care if you lag.
I don’t care if you can’t move.
It’s my sim.
And we’re doing it my way.

/me blushes. It’s true. I swore I wouldn’t do this but it has happened. I scoffed at all the people who fell in love in SL, partnered. Even when I had more of an understanding, I still swore I would not be one. Sigh. As in so many things, I was wrong. I am in love. I have found my forever love. His name is Bamboo. He’s a furry. Yes, even that. A furry. But my heart belongs to Bamboo.

It came on me suddenly. A total surprise. I’d been thinking that yes, maybe I was ready to take this step. But curiously enough, I thought I’d want it in Opensim, or behind the firewall. I was not prepared to fall so hard here, in SL. But when the announcement came through about an MM board, I thought I should give it a try, see what it would be like to have a shoulder pet of my own. I’ve been eying Faust’s dragon with growing envy. I’d been thinking that for my upcoming work conference, I’d like to stroll about with a fire-breathing dragon or a peregrine falcon on my shoulder. So I took the taxi to the MM board, even though it was neither a dragon nor a falcon.

Bamboo is a panda. OMG. I LOVE Bamboo. I don’t want to be separated from him. I may never wear my hair down again. The ducks, Frenis, Bad Horse…. they are nothing next to Bamboo. He’s cute, cuddly, precious, sweet, darling. OMG. I am a total embarrassment to myself. I want him in my RL. I may have to renounce all my other virtual worlds and stay here always.

Ahuva <3 Bamboo.

This weekend is another fashion show: Transformation. We are modeling the work of Fashion Research Institute Marketplace designer Yoona Mayo, whose brand is Cocoon. One of the fun parts of modeling is the free stuff we get. But I love Yoona’s jewelry so much that I already own several pieces that I BOUGHT. Yep, not freebies. I wish I could bring them into RL, they are so completely to my satisfaction and style. You can read all the details about Yoona’s work on Michele’s blog.

I will be wearing a gorgeous pearl necklace with matching earrings, Incense. Unfortunately, with my usual hair styles, you can’t really see my earrings. So that meant I needed to find new hair. Except I hate shopping. I hate making decisions. I LIKE my hair. I decided that perhaps a haircut would suffice. I put on my hair, took out my editing scissors and began snipping. I removed the tendrils of hair in front of my ears and also trimmed my bangs. It’s harder to see in the pictures, but I also trimmed the huge tangle of hair that is pulled back in a pony-tail. When I was finished, I thought it wasn’t half bad, but I thought the earrings still weren’t standing out. I tinted my hair a bit darker (you KNOW I like to be blonde). That didn’t seem to do justice to Yoona’s earrings, so I went darker still. What do you think? LOL – do you recognize me without my hair????

Come and see us all Saturday, November 7, at 7am SLT in Shengri La. Yoona’s jewelry is interesting, intricate and wearable. I know you will find at least one thing, if not more, that you like! And the models like conversation too!!

I chose to do this.
I could have stayed in support.
No, I had to BUILD.

Sometimes life is simply too funny in how it all comes together in one perfect moment. Yesterday was the opening of Prandi Capalini’s photography exhibit at The Small Gallery in Shengri La. I know am boring but I was working at landscaping and building. I didn’t really feel like I had time to take off to play. But I have learned that play (and SLEEP) are actually VERY necessary if I am to keep functioning. Or semi-functioning. So I headed off to the opening party.

Several good friends were there as well. We were chatting and discussing the photos (which were great, by the way). Suddenly I saw my name in chat. Dale was saying “I believe that is Ahuva’s bus.” My bus???? I strolled down the gallery to look. OH MY GOODNESS!!!!! MY BUS!!! IT WAS MY BUS!!!!! The bus under which I originally threw myself a year ago. The bus that changed my life. *grin* The bus under which I am currently pinned around the clock. LOL. Yes, I love it. Well, despite Adricantfarm’s comments on Dale’s blog, I do not find that bus scary at all anymore. (Okay, maybe a little at times.) The general consensus was that Night Bus had to come home with me. *grin* And it did.

Prandi has many lovely pictures that are NOT buses set to run you down. I think my favorite was Druzy, a wonderful soft and touching portrait. Had I not seen “Night Bus”, “Run for the Roses” would be hanging on my wall now. But I am severely limited these days by lack of wall space and lack of prims!!!!

Be sure to head on down to the gallery. Prandi was delightful (LOL – we were all burying him under a flood of IMs) and the photos are very enjoyable and intriguing. And check out “Night Bus” – although my view always seems to be from underneath, Prandi got a much better angle on it!

You know that I am a live music aficionado. My last several posts have really highlighted that part of my SL life. But I like the visual arts too. I have always loved Callipygian Christensen’s photography. I’ve learned so much by discussing Calli’s art with her, talking about technique and vision and structure. So if Calli tells me that she has found a great new photographer that I will like, I know I am in for a treat. I have been remarkably inept lately at telling you about things BEFORE they happen (remind me to tell you about the fashion show NEXT weekend). Today, however, I am actually on schedule and can post the notice about the OPENING!!!

Let me rely on Calli to tell you about Prandi Capalini’s photography:

From his first postcard posted to Snapzilla 6 months ago, Prandi has provided a unique view of Second Life through the eyes of an old wandering sailor. Saturated monotones and exceptional use of light give his images the feel of a different time and place. Each one gives just a glimpse of a moment that leaves us wanting to know more of that story. With over 900 images now shown on Snapzilla, Prandi has selected his favorites to be shown inworld for the first time.

I tried to wangle a sneak preview but it has not yet happened. So come join me at the preview this Sunday, Nov 1st at 11am SLT and we will enjoy it together!

The Photography of Prandi Capalini
at The Small Gallery, Shengri La
Sunday, November 1, 2009 through Sunday, December 13, 200

The Fashion Research Institute invites you to the opening reception of this exhibit on Sunday, Nov. 1st, 2009 from 11:00am SLT to 12:30pm SLT. Drop by, meet the artist and enjoy his work in the tranquil tropical setting of Shengri La. If you cannot attend the opening, please drop by the gallery anytime and enjoy the exhibit.

Total Frustration.
Open clenched fists, let it drop……
Children were simpler.

I really do not observe very well. There is nothing wrong with my vision (well, maybe that’s debatable) but basically I can see what’s there. I don’t observe, however. At least, I don’t observe in SL. Right from the beginning I decided that there was no point in knowing what people looked like, because they change all the time. I don’t, but I think I’m in a minority. I focus on the text: avatar names, labels, local chat, IM. I almost never cam about. I tend to pull my camera to one general over-all view and then socialize. People are always asking me “do you see that?” or they all comment in local chat about someone’s appearance/arrival and I have not seen it. People always say to me “watch this” and I still struggle with my camera to find where the “this” is that I am supposed to watch. In a sense, this is very odd, since I think that I typically learn visually – by SEEING pictures or actions. When my husband and I learned to ballroom dance (and oh my, we are HOT, trust me) he would stand there with his teacher discussing in great deal WHAT he was to do. My teacher would grab me and lead me through my paces. I could watch in the mirrors, feel my body learn what it was to do, watch when my teacher demo’d with another teacher or student. Visual learning. But for some reason, I’m really bad at this in SL. LOL. Ask poor Honour, who has been trying for months to teach me to use my camera, to build, to OBSERVE. Still, my typical approach is really NOT visual.

I was in a fashion show the other day. We were all requested to be brunettes with short hair (we were modelling jewelry, need to display those earrings!). So I found some hair, modified it a bit (it was in my face and another lock stuck out too much) and there I was – brunette. I was chatting with a friend and said that NO ONE would recognize me, since people always seem to comment on my blonde hair and to find me by my hair. I amended that statement by saying Calli and Dale would recognize me. The two of them definitely OBSERVE. Calli saw a picture of me and recognized the skin I was wearing. I was totally blown away, as I’d not worn that skin in months in SL. But she was right. Dale is usually the first to notice if I’ve goofed and worn an entire folder, thereby blowing away my usual shape/features. *grin* Dale notices before *I* do. I just do NOT see. But I figure most people see my hair and nothing more.

Either I am totally wrong and in the minority about how most people view SL avatars, or add my husband to the group with discernment. There I was, all brunette, on my pose ball for the show. My name was not showing in the particular view I had up. My husband walked over, looked at the screen. He said “Who’s that? Oh, it’s you.” I looked at him and said “how do you know it’s ME?” He said “I recognize you – that’s your face.” I was totally blown away. He recognizes my avatar’s FACE????? I’m not sure that *I* would recognize my face. Maybe, but probably not. Actually – he has also noticed when I’ve blown away my shape. So, either I’m totally out of things, or my husband KNOWS me.

What about you? What do YOU see? (LOL – I know – if I was running Emerald- I would at least know WHERE you were looking) Do you know me without my hair? Do you recognize YOURSELF in the viewer?

I finally made it to Burning Life 2009. I was so envious reading about Dale and Honour having such fun times there. So Sunday morning when Oura tp’d me to meet her there, I grabbed the taxi eagerly. Except…. RL interfered. We weren’t there 5 minutes before I had to logoff. I never even got to grab the notecard that explained the build. I THINK that it was an interpretation of the creative process. I do KNOW that Oura is pretty in fire.

I had resolved to spend all day Sunday building. I didn’t actually make “all day”. I got started somewhere in the afternoon. It wasn’t going well. Actually, it didnt go well at all. It was one of those nights were I ended up crying at 2am and swearing I would see this project through but that I would NEVER build again. I still felt that way when I finally finished at 4am and went to…. well, not sleep and certainly not rest. What is it when you are not exactly conscious but you aren’t really asleep either? Anyway. /me shoves thoughts of Sunday’s work and not-work and erroneously deleted builds out of mind.

Honour explained to me that I did not have an accurate understanding of the RL Burning Man ceremony. We talked about it a bit. I discovered that I’d already missed the Burning Man part of the SL week of celebration and the Burning Woman as well. But I was still in time for the Burning Temple. Okay. I have to confess. I am not at all comfortable or interested in the concept of a temple burning. While I don’t think about it a lot, I suppose I do hold a bit of a grudge against Vespasian and Titus. Be that as it may, I decided that maybe I should try to experience an event that is apparently an SL tradition. So I met Honour over at the temple, well before the ceremony was to begin.

Honour warned me that it gets very laggy. So I switch to low ARC hair, turned off my mysti and other scripts. There was incessant drumming, necessary I would think at such a ritual. So we both turned on dance animations and moved to the drums. I continued working on the other machine, watching the crowd grow over here. There really were a huge number of people arriving, in all sorts of outfits. It did begin to get laggy. I set up my camera in advance, anticipating major lag once the burning began.

Many people had left messages in the temple. Just before the fire began, the messages were read out in local chat. Some were funny, many were quite touching. Then the fire itself began. (LOL – good thing too – I’d gotten a message that Komuso was going to be playing and you KNOW how I feel about hearing Ko!!!) The fire was quite impressive. It started small and grew. The wind whipped it up at one point. I was relieved that it did NOT trigger any RL memories, recent or historical of burning buildings. But the building did indeed burn to oblivion. I found that satisfying. It’s the realistic type of touch that make SL so much fun. That comment sounds weird to me as I read it back (maybe because I havent had more than 12 hours sleep in the last 3 days). But somehow it makes SL more “cool” when it can pull off RL touches (yes, J, like shadows under the trees).

So I stayed and watched the temple burn to the ground. It occurred to me later that evening (morning) that I should have immolated myself as well, but all I can say now is – things got better, the way they do, once I had some sleep. Thanks Dale, Oura and Honour, for ensuring that I finally got to experience a truly historic part of SL!

So. I’ve been building. Wow. There’s a lot more to this building stuff than just rezzing a box. As I mentioned a few posts ago, I have joined the Impossible Missions Force. *grin* The Incredible Metaverse Force? The Intrepid Magicians Force? Actually, our mission is not impossible at all – there are some absolutely amazing builders/scripters on this team (present company excluded) It’s just that I keep hearing the IMF theme song playing in my head as I login to face that day’s “mission”. I rather doubt I need to worry about being captured or killed in the line of duty, but I do wonder why they were never warned of death by exhaustion and lack of sleep. *grin* I wonder if this post will self-destruct in 5 seconds?

I whined to you about the textures. I can’t do that anymore. I have been supplied with some magnificent textures. It’s up to me to do them justice. I started with the landscaping assignment. (Technically my first challenge was the scrum song but, sigh, no one actually wanted those results. Bigger sigh. You and I – we did SUCH a great job on those songs.) Anyway, landscaping that island went well. I was asked to make trees. Sculpty trees. I have never worked with sculpty anythings before. So, back to my good friend and unofficial mentor, Honour. HELP! Crash course in tree building. Here is something that I suspect many of you will not believe or understand. I have GREAT difficulty in visualizing 3D. I know SL gives us arrows, etc. Sometimes I understand and the object moves as I suspect it will. But mostly – it is totally hit or miss. If I am not in the groove – I can over shoot my target repeatedly for 10 minutes or more. I just can’t SEE it. I can only see one dimension at a time. So sometimes building is incredibly frustrating. Editing is frustrating. Believe me when I say that building a 3D object is a major challenge to me visually, not just creatively and technically. So I built a tree, a weeping Japanese cherry, under Honour’s eye. Because SOMEONE needed to be able to see. *Grin*. It was not bad (you can see it front and center in the first picture above). I showed my tree. It passed El Exigente’s approval. *grin* So – the verdict was delivered: build more trees. Gulp. I foolishly promised 3 trees within 2 days. Tree 2, a small chestnut, was okay. Went relatively smoothly. Then, as several of you know, I was building like crazy and getting nowhere. I put up a very snarly “busy”message. Kudos to Oura here. She broke through the snarl and offered to help. She served as my eyes because I was in one of my blind to multiple dimensions states. I managed to build the frames for a weeping willow and for an oak. I got the oak done by the deadline. I had a weeping willow done. But it was “eh”. It looked good head-on, but if you camm’ed up, and looked down, oh my oh my. Anyway, I managed to get that done the DAY I said it would be done (rebuilt that foliage 4 times) but I didn’t make it by the daily team meet. So what was my reward? “Ahuva – keep building sculpty trees. And if you could do some mega-sized ones as well, that would be awesome”. Awesome. How can you resist a challenge like that???? I can’t. Sigh. So, I returned to churning out trees. As you may have noticed by a prior post, *grin*, it had its ups and downs. But – I learned to build trees. I did get better. Yes – I see things that need to be fixed on the weeping willow. Yes – of course J found the one bare branch in my beautiful oak. But… I am learning, I am getting there. My mega-chestnut is, imho, beautiful. The rowan is quite spectacular, but I did have people critique it along the way. So I don’t consider it 100% “mine”. Only the mega-chestnut. That is “mine”. *grin*

I’ve learned other things as well. That trying to build what you see in RL is not as easy as you might think, no matter how simple the form appears. I took a picture of a chair that I thought would be perfect for the first island, a social gathering space. I did indeed build something very close. Thanks to PatriciaAnne for advice about the arms. I actually stumbled on one answer as she was responding, but she saved me much time by explaining the other issue. *grin* Love you, PatriciaAnne!!! I also learned that it really makes a difference where you put the root prim.

Badges. LOL. I am making handouts and freebies for the people, too. I am not just a gardener anymore. I worked on a conference badge. It’s not that easy to make a shape that fits about a neck. Just think on that a bit. It must curve and bend and shape. It must be a tortured prim or a sculpti. Yes – I got help learning how to do that too. *grin* But I was extremely pleased with it. I figured out the textures all myself – got the logo on the lanyard, oriented correctly. Then I wore the badge. Edited it to position it properly. Looked fine. Came out of edit and…. oh wow. I must not have SAVED my changes??? The badge went flying through my shoulder, instead of staying positioned in front. Repeat the edit, looked fine, come out. Repeat the badge through my shoulder. I sat and stared. And watch as the badge MOVED. ROFLMAO. I was trying to be clever. MANY items get attached to the chest of the avatar. I wanted to put the badge someplace it wouldn’t interfere, in case the people were wearing an attachment. So I attached it to …….. my nose. *giggle* Which was fine til my AO moved my avatar’s nose. The badge followed the nose. LOL. Okay, that just wasn’t going to work. At the moment – the badge is attached to the chest. *grin* I’m hoping that will be okay for most folks. It’s those little things that get you. The kind of thing that once you “know”, you never do again. But if you don’t know, it can be quite baffling.

Just for good measure, while I was still struggling with “more sculpty trees”, I was told to add shadows for realism. I had never seen/done a shadow. I got that it was a texture, but, confession: I have been really bad at making my own textures. I spent hours figuring out how to do an alpha texture of just TEXT!!!! It can’t get any simpler than that. Sometimes I really wonder if I should have stuck to scripting. Anyway, I was up til 12:30 am the other night struggling with 2 sculpty trees (hence my Apology to Joyce Kilmer. That post has a subtitle but I suspect my life is forfeit if I print that.) I woke at 4:30am to continue working. I made 2 shadows. Look – they might not be the best shadows. But they are mine. I made them. By myself. By the meeting deadline. In the picture that shows trees with shadows – the shadow on the right foreground is not mine – was given to me by a teammate. The shadow on the left distance is one of mine, layered and copied. You can see that my shadows have a way to go. But, I AM doing this. I may not be the best and there might be flaws, but I am making my deadlines and meeting my commitments. I am doing the best I can. It seems to be okay.

So, for your viewing pleasure, I have included here my chairs, tables, badge, shadows and some trees. Happy Trees to you, until we meet again!