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Time is Fleeting
Everyone is feeling that things are just whizzing past right? it isn’t just me. That being said, I still do the oddest things, like instead of watching a show or movie, I open up Youtube Shorts and 2 hours will go past at what seems like a blink, but mathematically it means that I have just watched on average at least 300 shorts, based on the concept of not watching every single one to completion, and just skipping past some within seconds. That is way too much intake in two hours, and it is just horrible, but it is definitely addictive. A lot can be said for the less is more factor though, taking in a lot more information, in shorter bursts, there are times that some of these videos teach me something, I feel lucky to have seen it etc. Sometimes they are reminders of things you forget, especially when it comes to shorts on software, quick blender tips, short photoshop tutorials, things like that. Snippets that make you wonder why you pay 190+ dollars a year for a product that you barely use, and only use about 10% of it even when you do…sorry my subscription is due next month, I am a bit ragey at myself.
There are many discussions about waste, fast fashion is often thrown about, how stores waste perfectly good food and so on. There are definitely other huge wastes that we participate in, wasting time is just the one that seems to hit home more often, especially with Social Media…I spent years never really going near it, other than to post my blog posts and run, I enjoyed my time with my friends in world, in skype calls and I liked it like that, it also meant you could stay away from drama, as was often a daily thing in some of them. That has faded away in a huge way though in the past few years, so it hasn’t been so eeek, argh, run, and more oh I like what this person has to say, oh look at that, and the peppering of RL content in there, reels and the like, mean that I can also lose time and unfortunately focus by going to do something for a moment and realising I just spent an hour scrolling stuff. I feel that the constant scrolling, the constant short form content and the bits and pieces of way too much going on has broken my brain. That is why this graphic cami top by The Kiwi Co. resonated with me so much…that and the fact that it was one of the few that was not being naughty. I can just imagine how hilarious it was compiling the options, and making the HUD, absolutely tickled is my guess. So if you are in the mood for this kind of statement piece, you best get to hopping over to The Kiwi Co. because it is currently a weekend deal, so you want to get the goodies for a great price.
Also from The Kiwi Co. these boots are made for all sorts of things, not just walking…So many colour options and the special inlaid two tone option in black and beige had me very pleased. I had mentioned a few weeks ago, buying the Yui set by Orphic and how the shorts were a tad ‘oh my’ at the back, well I decided that if I was going all graphic, I may as well really be graphic, even if it was just on my own studio platform. They look so innocent from the front, and they really are not that bad, I am over exaggerating, but they did surprise me that first demo, they also have a great assortment of colours in the pack. Trying to keep my thoughts in check, I went with the Artist Tablet by Stoic, another thing in RL that I have spent way too much on over the years, I think my current tablet is my third, and the only time I ever use it is when fixing hair if there is some kind of alpha situation from lashes or something, honestly it is not easy being a banana – that is what Mel says to me when I say some of the things I say or do ‘ well it is not easy being a banana’ he is not wrong. Adding a bit of colour to the very black and white look of it all, this awesome ombre black to pastel pink texture option in the Truth hair Pillow was perfect, I love the lose waves of this style, and of course the behind the shoulders option, which allows me to show off the great country themed style of this necklace by Sigma.
VR Studio and HUD/Library – VR Foundry Marketplace
Important: Hearts & Moles featured on face or body unless otherwise stated are created by me, for me personally. If wearing moles or freckles etc layers by other creators they will always be credited. As my face moles are the same always, it will be clear to know it is mine not part of the skin.
Poses & Props
Body Parts
Body :
Reborn – EBody
Head:
Milena Head – Akeruka
Appliers:
Nail appliers – Flair
Skin Worn:
Liliany Skin (Gacha) – Guapa
Ipanema Body Skin – Velour
Head and Body BOM Layers:
Peaceful eyes – Insol Mainstore
Lip Scar Elena – She Said Destroy
Evelyn Eyebrows, Strapless Bra & Panties – Nuve
Sinner liners – Tutti Belli
Hair Worn:
Pillow – TRUTH
Wearing:
Graphic Cropped Cami – The Kiwi Co.
Yui Shorts – Orphic
Footwear :
Jaime Set Boots – The Kiwi Co.
Accessories:
Thorn Ribbon Necklace – Sigma
Artist Tablet – Stoic
Hoops Forever Reboot – Dark Mouse
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Unique New You
One of my favourite things about Bakes on Mesh, and I have possibly said this in the past, is the ability to add a bit of uniquely you to your look, with some very easy steps. There are of course ways to do this with purchased items of course…chances are not everyone is going to stack 14 tattoos the exact same way you might do, You may wear brows that are not sold separately from one skin, with another, and the freckles of yet another to create your combination. It may be a mesh item that is kind of your trademark, even if everyone else at some point has worn it, you never leave home without it etc. I pick up bits and pieces of myself that way…I have the belly button area heart shaped if you look very very close, freckle I added a few years ago. Then I have my face freckles I made, also years old now. I found a scar in a skin pack by She Said Destroy in the past 6 months or so, and as soon as I put it on I found it not only seriously cool, but I was wearing my year long Bobby Trio pins that I rarely detach, so now I just tell people that the scar is from one of them slipping and cutting my lip. I find it hilarious that I have a hair related injury. Then the other day I made these face hearts, because why not. I am not sure they will be a forever thing, but at this time in SL history, I am the only person that has them…these ones I mean, because of course others may have face hearts, but these are mine, I made them, they are placed where I put them, and my freckles are mine and my belly button freckle is mine and while the bobby pins were a gift I had out at Hair Fair last year, I am probably the only one wearing them as much as I do. That is all it takes, in a world, where we buy the same skins, the same clothing and footwear, accessories and body types etc, we can be as unique as we want to be, with some very minor effort.
There are so many programs out there now that allow for free editing, Gimp being one very popular option, and getting the SL Uv’s and even the different body and head UVs has never been easier. Creativity is encouraged as much as possible, and if you are Premium Plus for instance, all your uploads are free, and if you are not Premium Plus, there is the Beta Grid to test on before you know that that is the final texture you want to work with, and you can upload it for one cost instead of all the FINAL, FINALFINAL, FINAL3, NEWFINAL, NEWNEWFINAL, version you may have tried first. Start off small, if this interests you to do, even if it is just a simple freckle on your back, adding some colour to your ears, or whatever floats your boat, now more than ever that itch to be a bit more your own creation is about and who knows, it could be that small step that leads to bigger creations.
Another thing about Second Life is that we have serious ‘Hive Mind’. While, I mention that no one is going to stack 14 tattoos the way you do, funnily enough it could actually happen. I also think that going in under the hood so to speak for all Residents of Second Life, is a good thing, at least once, at least one time, find the UV’s, find the software, and make something, even if it is to type a word and see how it lands on your skin, and so on, see what it takes to create something from scratch and not only do you get your unique twist, but you may have a better sense of how much effort went into the thing you bought recently. I did a post on making Alphas etc in the past HERE maybe that can help you along with making something of your own.
While it is fairly evident, in not only my blog posts but also my videos that I am not enjoying Summer right now, because in the whole other half of the world it is Winter right now, and it is cold. So today’s look is a bit of a weather change look, it might be sunny out, but a bit of a chill could hit, and so this works effortlessly. The Lofi hair by Lamb is fantastic, it has many texture options for the beanie, and an off option for a logo that I am not showing, but does appear on the beanie by default – love when you can turn that stuff off. Then you have the ability to turn the whole beanie off and just wear the hair, which is definitely more bang for your buck. I moved away from my usual black hair for this post, which is funny seeing as it is one of my often identifier parts that make up Sasy, often it comes up as Sasy and her black hair. This ombre look suited the beanie vibe well though, and the braided style. I also loved that it looked like I dyed my hair using the run off from a new pair of jeans – I cannot explain how I think, I just do. The top is also from Lamb, and it is so pretty and has that perfect stretched closed look that gives it a bit more something something, than just sitting there being pretty.
I needed that warm, even though even in the cold I wear short sleeves often, the armwarmers by Cynful were just perfect, they come from the Bisou Sweater dress set, I do enjoy when you get extras like that with an item of clothing, that you can then wear with many other things. There are so many different colour options available also, and PBR or regular Blinn Phong versions. Now moving down we have a somewhat recentish release by Fashionably Dead. These are the Sour Cherry Jeans, and they are torn and worn to perfection, with lace mesh panties that come with. Now full disclosure here, depending on your AO and how you stand or move about, these will clip at the front, as in the panties will push through the jeans, this is the way Second Life is sometimes as we know, so if you plan on spending the day/night dancing around, perhaps a set of Bakes on Mesh underwear under them may be preferable, but the lace ones are so cute and again you end up with a set of panties that you can use with other things. There is a matching corset that they go with, so it is a Lingerie set with an outerwear outfit combination. Going a bit street with my look, I wanted to add my very much loved oversized fishnets by Miwas, I love these, as you have seen them many times by now, but they just give something to the look that I want, and there is no denying it, even if not your taste, it is just how I like them, I also love fishnets under torn jeans.
Moving down further, this is where I get on my blah blah about shoes and feet and pants and stuff. So I love my Slink Feet, and I love the shoes I had when I wore them and them only, body etc…so when it comes to wearing footwear with more recent reborn purchases, I do not always have the footwear that will go with. So because these are pants, and because Reborn allows for hiding feet and toenails via the HUD not by a bom layer alpha – Thank you for that – I am able to wear my Slink feet instead and then wear whatever shoes I feel like wearing. So do not limit yourself if you have an abundance of inventory that is still usable in this way. Also I checked the shoes are still for purchase, so I am still crediting a product that is buyable, by those wearing the items they were made to fit. They are the TEEKS shoes by Reign and they are just a lovely slip on and come in a great colour range,l actually they come in their own colours as well as previous Blueberry colours, so that is just a whole lot of great colours to choose from. The rings by Sigma, also MOD also fantastic, allowed me to tint to match the yellow and I was feeling very warm, but also bring and full of sunshine at the same time.
Equipment Used
VR Studio and HUD/Library – VR Foundry Marketplace
Important: Moles featured on face or body unless otherwise stated are created by me, for me personally. If wearing moles or freckles etc layers by other creators they will always be credited. As my face moles are the same always, it will be clear to know it is mine not part of the skin.
Poses & Props
Body Parts
Feet:
Deluxe Feet – Slink (only available through purchase of the Hourglass Body on Marketplace)
Body :
Reborn – EBody
Head:
Milena Head – Akeruka
Appliers:
Nail appliers – Flair
Skin Worn:
Dara – PumeC
Ipanema Body Skin – Velour
Head and Body BOM Layers:
Peaceful eyes – Insol Mainstore
Lip Scar Elena – She Said Destroy
Evelyn Eyebrows, Strapless Bra – Nuve
Sinner liners – Tutti Belli
High Waist Fishnets – Miwas
Hair Worn:
Lofi – Lamb
Wearing:
Peony Cardigan (Summers end set) – Lamb
Sour Cherry Jeans & Panties – Fashionably Dead
Bisou Sweater Dress Arm-warmers – Cynful
Footwear :
Teeks – Reign
Accessories:
Stone Inlay Rings – Sigma
Hoops Forever Reboot – Dark Mouse
Balmain Gemstone Headband – Flair
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Thonging and Marketplace Keyword Importance
There are a fair few things that Australians have a sense of pride over, and one of the biggest is our thongs ( I am making this up for dramatic effect, I have no idea what level of importance it rates for the average Aussie) ….well into the 90’s the things you wear as underwear were still called G-Strings down here, because the very idea of calling them a thong, even though it does make sense design wise, was just ridiculous, Thongs are for your feet! Now while I myself was not a thong wearer on my feet for decades – my Mum having a very strong opinion on good footwear growing up – so I never did form that hardened skin between my big toe and second toe that is needed to really lean into thonging…it was later in life that I went all rebelion and got a pair, also because they got pretty, and I am way too girly for the base thong’s that we had in the 70’s and 80’s. Then the internet comes about and suddenly people are calling them Flip Flops, you hear it in TV shows and Movies randomly, and I am not the only Australian that feels this way, but you get all indignant about it.
One day Siddean of Slink sent me a folder, and the folder was named that horrible FF name, see I cannot even type it now, I am all ranty. I saw red, oh em gee did I see red, there was smoke coming from my keyboard as I bashed and pounded on the keys…if I had had Siddeans phone number in RL her landline would have started melting before the first ring finished. Now, this sounds extreme, I mean it is footwear, it is Second Life, but – pauses for dramatic effect – SHE IS AUSTRALIAN! I was so fiery, again if I could have teleported to her wherever she was, I would have started kicking her in the shins or something insane – I mean obviously this was a thing, because I am still feeling the fire 10 years on, ok 8 years on, I checked my inventory. She spluttered and rolled her eyes at me, I know this because she probably typed it out that she was doing it, because she loved doing that to me, that and sighing dramatically, and she defended this abomination of a naming thing as being because everyone else calls them Flip Flops. I huffed, and I puffed, and I blew her IM down – I really am a lovely person I swear. I of course won this fight, and so much so that they ended up not just being called Thongs, but they got called Aussie Thongs…yes, I was happy, I calmed down, and I wore them often and proudly.
Sometimes you do have to adapt, you do have to say, this is how everyone else knows of this item, like I have seen people call something a kitten heel, but it was 6 inches high. I have seen someone call a dress with a full skirt and bows and puffy sleeves a bandage dress. The whole reason for this ramble-a-thon, is that we see something in a store, we like the something, we buy the something…possibly we pay 32% attention to the name of the something, maybe just enough to find it in our inventory, even though it should be at the top of the recent items etc – gosh that tab is just awesome. When it comes to Marketplace though, while sure, we may go there and see something while looking for something else, or you open it and notice the most recent item sold is something that you like, or you use that best selling items button on the bottom left and see what everyone got excited about the week before etc. More often than not though, Marketplace is used like a proper resource, you have a name, you look up said name, and you find said item…this name could be the exact name of an item, because you saw someone else wearing it, you heard about it, or you got a notice about it and cannot be bothered to click to teleport and do all that walking, so decide to jump to marketplace – funny how it is just as much button clicking either way.
Then there are the times you are actively seeking something out…so you need to finish off an outfit, fix out a room, landscape your pool area etc. You go to marketplace, because again it is an incredible resource and you type in THONG – avert your eyes kids, this search is going to shock you. I get that, I understand that, it is going to happen, and that is why Keywords are great, because while your item may be called Aussie Thong and be for your feet, if you are Australian and you are searching for footwear to wear with your bikini, the natural way to look for it would be to type in Thong, if FF has not been beaten into you, you will and still should type in Thong, and because of keywords, it is possible that you will find your footwear you want, because some stores consider this when listing, they consider that their Flip Flops (PAINNNNNNNNN) or Geta or Sandals, may be looked for by someone from Australia ( or even New Zealand, but at some point they called them Jandals and I just don’t know what to say or even think about that ) that just cannot change their ways, it took 20+ years for me to give up Gaol for Jail – again internet things, you can life your whole life spelling things correctly in your RL bubble, but then get online and pfft broken – so I do not see FF ever being ok.
I just checked Marketplace, I typed in Thong and to my absolute delight, on the first page, of newest first there was indeed a set of footwear, and they are not your rubbery thong variety, they are actually more traditional Japanese footwear, and the name of them is actually sandal, but if you do as I do and right click the page and choose page source you can see under the keyword hood…Full perm,full perms,full permission,full permissions,fp,fullperm,fullperms,mesh,meshes,creators,designers,kit,asian,chinese,japanese,zen,geta,zori,japan,traditional,footwear,shoes,thong,geisha,yukata. Now there are a lot of options going on there, but this person knows, that three from the end THONG was going to hit for someone, and I am very happy at this, because I only just saw this now, and I feel validated in my rambling. So next time you are stuck for keywords when listing an item, consider asking the internet if there are other words an item is commonly known by, we have such diversity in Second Life, that that kind of thing may increase sales with little to no effort really made.
The footwear in question is really cute and by The Kiwi Co. I love the extra effort and attention given to such a basic style, you get flat regular thongs, or high heel versions, without the heels of course, this is Second Life sometimes you just get to break the rules and decide that you can walk around in such footwear on your tiptoes. It was however the HUD letting me two tone them that had me extremely pleased, as you may have noticed I am all about colour coordination, it makes me super happy. So being able to do this with the footwear and the shorts from the same set, was bouncing in place delightful. The shorts are sporty fun and they also have options, the option being long and short shorts, and believe me when I put these one I thought that they had been mislabeled, then I put the short short ones on and they seemed the same, and I was very confused, and then I turned around and let me just say Peaches set is aptly named, so go and get your fruit on.
I am wearing the spaghetti strap top by Lamb with this outfit, because it was just the perfect match up, the Peaches set does have a top, but I am saving it for another time. I like to mix and match a lot. I am also wearing hair by Lamb and as soon as I saw it it was love. There are also optional heavy wisp ended bangs that come with the hair, but I just adore the centre parting slicked down under the long straight hair, with great long layers it is definitely a must have hair. I was feeling so much love for all the things, I even made myself new face hearts, I love bakes on mesh so much.
Equipment Used
VR Studio and HUD/Library – VR Foundry Marketplace
Important: Moles featured on face or body unless otherwise stated are created by me, for me personally. If wearing moles or freckles etc layers by other creators they will always be credited. As my face moles are the same always, it will be clear to know it is mine not part of the skin.
Poses & Props
OMY Poses
Body Parts
Body :
Reborn – EBody
Head:
Milena Head – Akeruka
Appliers:
Nail appliers – Flair
Skin Worn:
Dara – PumeC
Ipanema Body Skin – Velour
Head and Body BOM Layers:
Peaceful eyes – Insol Mainstore
Lip Scar Elena – She Said Destroy
Evelyn Eyebrows, Strapless Bra and Panties (always worn underwear)– Nuve
Sinner liners – Tutti Belli
Hair Worn:
Wisp Hair – Lamb
Wearing:
Spaghetti Strap Top – Y2K set – Lamb
Peaches Set – Shorts – The Kiwi Co.
Footwear :
Flip Flops (typing that hurt my soul) – The Kiwi Co.
Accessories:
Hoops Forever Reboot – Dark Mouse
Balmain Gemstone Headband – Flair