The Drax Files: World Makers [ Episode 10: Robin Sojourner]

If you've ever tried to create a T-shirt for Second Life, enjoyed Marianne McCann's weekly fireworks show each summer at Livingtree, or tried those famous texture tutorials almost everyone finds in Our world (also at Livingtree), then you know Robin (Wood) Sojourner, at least peripherally. She's the creator of those T-shirt templates that have become the de facto standard (see here). It is her sim that Marianne sets ablaze with great regularity (SLurl). And any creator worth their salt starts in a little temple that is loaded with texture tutorial note cards (SLurl). Her influences in-world and in Real Life go much further as seen in the current episode of The Drax Files: World Makers from Draxtor Despres.

Watch it here if you'd like, but visit the YouTube page to leave your comments. Hopefully you are like me and you'd like to see an expanded episode with Robin so let Drax know. She has so much to teach us.

Slutwear & Reading

Honest to goodness, I started writing this post about an hour ago, weaving themes and examples in a deep discourse of an obsession with reading and the preponderance of slutty clothes for busty women in Second Life. After a few readings, considerable editing, and even some research across the vast Interwebs, I deleted it all out of frustration and said "I'll just post this picture of me with The Girls barely covered while I read an iPad in a chair filled with books." Enjoy.

I guess one point I wanted to make was that while I enjoy SlutWear in SL,
I'd never be caught dead wearing this outfit in Real Life.

Exploring Second Life Meme

Alright, it's Wednesday and the ever talented Strawberry Singh was far more punctual with her Monday meme challenge this week: Exploring Second Life (original post here). Sue me. Regular readers of this blog know that  I often write about places to visit (heck, explore and exploration are among the mess of post tags I mishandle). After a hectic start to the week I've finally found some time to dig into my Landmarks so here goes ...

Meme Instructions: Share 1 to 5 of your favorite places on the grid. I feel like exploring and discovering new places. Share places you think everyone should visit and also tell us why they are your favorites.

Cripes! How to choose? My Cool Builds, Recreation, and Really Scenic Places landmarks folders have so many great locations. Here is a more or less random list because some I'd like to recommend are down for maintenance (The Calas Galadhon regions, for example), private access only, or no longer exist (I miss the Isle of Lesbos).

The Lydia Rose Memorial Park - SLurl

One place I often write about (like here) is the wonderful space my brother built in Nangrim, The Lydia Rose Memorial Park, one of my homes in Second Life. With just a few gaps, The Park has been here since before I came to the Main Grid, my brother (CC Columbo in SL) having set aside a space to remember the passing of his Real Life daughter. Today, a simple flowered cross is the only indication of the land's purpose. As I mentioned, it is our family home. CC lives in the cabin, my pixy characters live in the gardner's barn, and there's a family apartment not-so-cleverly hidden well up in the sky for all of us to use.

The "Las" Islands - SLurl

This simple archipelago of five regions represents what I believe to be the best tropical islands in all Second Life so I visit often and have frequently featured them in this blog (like here). Goodness knows that Our World is rampantly populated with tropical spaces, but these are executed so well and feel so natural, I'm drawn here with great regularity. Well worth a visit if you haven't been here and if you have, it's time to go back. Today.

Mhindepinde Rez Zone - SLurl

This location outside Bay City is a surrogate for all those wonderful Linden Department of Public Works "Mole" builds that fill Our World. Search my blog for LDPW and you'll see post after post of such places. Whether you want to launch a boat, fly an airplane, have a thrilling adventure, relax on a beach, explore a seaside village, or most anything you can think of doing, our Mole friends have built something for you.

And with that all-inclusive entry, I'm going to end this post so you can stop reading and get out exploring! I'd love to read your recommendation in the Comments sometime.

Rolling Eyesores

Here is a post (and the pic above) from Shigeko Tachikawa on My Second Life (here) that I think everyone should read. Shig started ...

The bus got stuck there several days ago. Contrary to AnnMarie's claims, it did not auto-destroy itself either after becoming stuck. [x] AR filed (SLurl)

shigeko.tachikawa By the way... I wonder why there's no response from the lab yet about her (self-replicating in order to circumvent the auto-return) bus stop signs which she dropped at all rez zones all over the mainland.

vick.forcella Since those zombie vehicles run just about everywhere, since she rezzes them from her own land (she must own quite a lot of land), since she attends quite a lot of Linden Lab meetings, I suspect she is Uber FIC and above the TOS.

vick.forcella I guess Noobs will like them, residents that like to explore and drive don't.

shigeko.tachikawa She does not rez them from her own land most of the time. There are her "Bus Stop" signs now all over the mainland and they are self-replicating to make sure there will be a new one in place as soon as the old one is about to be auto-returned. Worthy an AR for abuse of region resources and littering, if you ask me.

vick.forcella Oh. I haven't noticed she uses/ abuses the rezz zones. Worthy of an AR, next time I see one.

uccello.poultry May I publish this thread on my blog, Vick and Shig?

shigeko.tachikawa @uccie: Sure, but it's probably even better to point to the ongoing discussion at SLU, where AnnMarie is even commenting on a few things: http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/general-sl-discussion/86077-guess-whos-again-exploiting-mainland.html

vick.forcella I'm ok if you publish Uccie.

vick.forcella She makes monies from those zombie vehicles: http://community.secondlife.com/t5/General-Discussion-Forum/Beware-of-others-spoofing-your-SL-account-in-messages-to-Lindens/m-p/2157101/highlight/true#M124061

uccello.poultry Thanks, y'all!

Miss Bay City - Angela Seale

A year has cycled by in Bay City and the reign of our first Miss Bay City, Angela Seale-Poultry, is coming to an end. Later today, a new MBC will be chosen during Hot Bay City Nights at the Bay City Fairgrounds (SLurl). The contest starts at 1pm SLT but drop in early if you'd like to enter so various guidelines can be explained and so you can check out the free car the winner gets.

The Poultry Report: Congratulations, Angela, on a full year as Miss Bay City! How does it feel to be a beauty queen?

Angela Seale-Poultry: Thank you, well, it's not something that I ever expected to be, so I guess this leads to the excitement of Second Life. Here you can experience things that you never would have thought in Real Life.

TPR: What was the highlight of your reign?

APS: I would have say Mole day, and meeting so many Bay City residents, and being able to spread the community of Bay City, I never thought I'd meet so many wonderful people.

TPR: I'd have thought it might have been riding in a custom convertible during the 5th anniversary parade. What was that like, all those people waving at you and such?

APS: That was fun and everything was amazing, but it felt a bit... strange to me being the center of attention. I'm not a very "look at me" person in Real Life, so the fifth anniversary to me is really a blur of parade, party, meeting people, designing, shopping, and it was just a blur to be honest I sort of wish I had a video of it all so I could remember everything.


TPR: You are the first Miss Bay City ever? Pretty daunting task to set the precedents, right?

APS: Yes, and I wish I had been able honestly to have had more time available to set a much higher bar, and I hope that my successors will set a much higher bar than I did. I tried initially to set a very high bar, but I didn't set it quite high enough for myself to be candid and I hope that Bay City gets a much better representative in it's future Miss Bay City.

TPR: Any advice for the incoming Miss Bay City?

APS: Relax, absorb everything, meet everyone you can, go to every event you can, and enjoy the whirlwind year you are about to have. Take LOTS of pictures, make lots of memories, and have as much fun as you can.

TPR:  Thank you, Angela, for your time today and for a great year as Miss Bay City!

APS: Thank you, and everyone remember that Bay City isn't a person, it isn't a place, Bay City is all of us, and we are in Second Life to have fun!

Sneak Peek: Hot Bay City Nights

It is Hot Bay City Nights time again ... sort of like. The event starts August 24th (tomorrow as I publish this) though you could sneak in now (SLurl) and look at the vintage cars for sale, the wonderful build by Marianne McCann, Ever Dreamscape's Car Wash at the Mole Gas pumps, and more. If you don't want the surprise completely ruined, just gander at these sneak peek shots I took today.

The event has the quintessential flavor of Bay City, one of Second Life's most vibrant communities.

There's more than just cars, beer, girls in bikinis, and dancing. You can actually role play here!

Quite a few vendors are on display, many with freebies, so there's lots of autos and trucks to drool over.

The runway here will be busy from 1-2pm SLT on the 24th for the Miss Bay City contest with Emcee Pygar Bu and last year's Miss Bay City, Angela Seale-Poultry, as one of the judges. The winner gets a car and (more importantly) all the prestige that goes with the title.

Did I mention there would be cars? Check out the Bay City Post here for a list of automakers.

Yes, I mentioned beer. But there will be more entertainment than just drinking. There's a charity car wash to raise funds for Child's Play, a group that provides toys to children in hospitals. There will be DJs, too, and probably some wacky spontaneity (Ever is involved, after all, you know).

August 23 midnight SLT: Hot Bay City Nights opens.

August 24 1-2 PM SLT: “Miss Bay City” Bikini Contest with Master of Ceremonies, Pygar Bu. Contest judges are ADudeNamed Anthony, Evola Courtois, and Angela Seale- Poultry

August 24 1-3 PM SLT:  Dancing with DJ GoSpeed Racer

August 25 10 AM – Noon SLT: Car wash, with host Benjamin Wahl.

August 28 6-8PM SLT Car Wash: Hostess Nadia Soldya.

August 31 2-4PM SLT Car Wash: Hostess Ever Dreamscape.

September 1 5-7PM SLT Closing party with DJ!

The Normality of Breasts

Starting off Dan Brown style, the following are facts:

• Women may appear topless (without a shirt or other covering over their breasts) in at least some part of the majority of American states (GoTopless.org).
• Bare-chested women are not uncommon outside the United States (Topfreedom).
• Going topless may be legal, but it can be socially unacceptable nonetheless (Huffington Post).
• Flickr recently restricted my account as fully-adult with limited access due to images of topless women in Second Life but after marking such pictures as Moderate the account was re-marked as Safe (Flickr).

One of the reasons I became interested in Topless Tuesdays in Second Life (and started a Flickr group for it) was to combat what I perceive as prudish social mores about women's breasts. Having a pair myself I know that breasts are often sexualized. After all, as a reasonably good lesbian, I'm not beyond becoming aroused by a beautiful pair on a woman but I am mature enough to know when to turn off that aspect of who I am. We need to generate that ability in society, as well.

I know many men and women that find men's bare chests as erotically stimulating, but men don't have to wear shirts in public. For what little cloth there was, some girls at the mall I visited the other day were practically bottomless (not that I minded, but I cringed when my mother was the first to point it out ... "They have four cheeks to powder today!). Only being topless could have averted many pairs of eyes from that sight. Should there be a law against booty shorts?

Maybe I'm fighting the wrong battle or doing it the wrong way. I'm sure belonging to a Second Life fashion group dedicated to making a woman's breasts stand out in a sexy or erotic fashion (pun intended) isn't necessarily productive. Part of me wants to keep the mystique and the eroticism of these wonderful treasures, but I know that leads down the path of treating women as objects and that it not a good thing.

My feelings are strong on this issue, but I'm not articulate enough or experienced enough to take the lead. If I really did start the Topless Tuesday trend on MySecondLife.com (as some credit me so) then that's probably the extent of my capabilities. My phobias often keep me out of public entirely so its not likely that I'd be out running amuck with the girls unharnessed for all to see. So much for living up to my own ideals, huh?

Second Life is a start, though. Thanks to my presence in Our World, it is easier for me to go outside the house and be near people without medication (Tranq free for some time now!). Maybe I'll work up to letting my own inhibitions go even farther afield. I hope that society works up to that, too.

This is funny and sad at the same time.
An example of how women can be objectified
because of breasts yet it is clever humor.

What do you say, Linden Lab? Can we start the revolution by allowing female avatars to be topless in all regions, not just the Mature and Adult ones?

Topless Tuesday is Wild!

Happy Topless Tuesday! Don't forget to check the Topless Tuesday in SL Flickr group here throughout the day to see how other residents are celebrating!

42 is the answer to the Monday Meme!

This week's meme challenge from Strawberry Singh is about Second Life groups, particularly the limit that keeps us from joining more than 42 at any one time. She also features a picture of her alt, ManBerry Resident. Check out the original challenge post here.

This isn't my "ManBerry," rather is it my brother CC Poultry's alt. Maybe it is his "main" since he spends more time as this dapper gentleman than he does as CC in-world. Really, though, what is an an alt that we must identify it as such? That's a topic for a future post, but for now, remember I've taken to calling them characters and they are each a part of me.

Meme Instructions: Answer the following questions about groups and share some of your favs with us. Don’t forget to leave your link in the comments!

Have you reached the 42 group limit?

I have about 30 groups visible to the general public, but I do believe that my Uccie Poultry-Seale account has either 40 or 42 group slots filled if I weren't too lazy to count. Then there are my other characters such as my pixies, Zyx Flux and Zyx Resident. Each has some groups specific to what they do in-world. "Wee Zyx" is a gardner so she belongs to groups for shops that sell gardening supplies. "Big Zyx" is something of a mystery and will add/drop groups on a whim, but she's one of the officers of my Ministry of Silly Titles group. Founded back when we were allowed only 25 groups, I no longer had room for the Ministry so I appointed Zyx as an admin along with my brother and another character of mine.

Do you do a lot of group hopping to keep up with all the groups you want to stay a part of?

When I was associated with the most recent Second Life Birthday I had to drop a few groups to join all the necessary ones, but when I was banned from the event I found that I had quite a few group spots available. I don't normally group hop, but as you can see, I don't mind doing so if needed.

What makes you want to join a group?

Like everybody, sometimes I need to join a group for access to land: Sandboxes, my home, a friend's ban-lined land, etc. Other times I join for announcements, shopping discounts, or for group gifts (ex., Big Boobie Babes Freebies). Some groups like the Macintosh User Group are good for support. Many groups are just for fun, like the Ministry or the LDPW Mole Fan Club I created, but I don't get to belong to many of those.

A lot of store VIP groups have a group fee which you have to pay to join. How do you feel about paying group fees?

I don't mind a group fee, though the economy of this could be misleading. One of my characters spent several hundred $Linden to join a group for a shop that gave out some nice gifts. She didn't grab them all as they weren't all appropriate for her, but I'd say she got her money's worth over all. Lately, though, the group gifts are simply huge discounts on limited edition items and the style of the store has changed dramatically. I don't give that character much money and the store is no longer someplace she visits much, but that could change in time.

Another example of a group fee so I could access a really scenic recreation area. It was popular and I even paid for others to have access so they could join me. Mind you, L$500 isn't a lot of money, but it is nothing to sneeze at when you often don't have even L$5 or you are gifting memberships. So when the resort opened a new area and started charging another L$500 for a special group to access that land, I was a bit miffed. More so when it seems that most of the members in the first group transferred over. I see no discernible difference between the two groups other than the newer one has nearly a full region to use while the older group has a bit less than a half region. Naturally, I'm often the only person in the older area while the newer area is filled with people doing the same thing they formerly did when they were on my side because new and shiny is always better.

Name a few groups that you are a part of that you feel everyone should look into joining and share your reasons behind that.

Everyone needs to join the Human Race, even if you are a furry or a demon or a whatever. Stop trolling (I'm sorry your life sucks so bad you have to try dragging down mine, but give it up), stop hating (Look, the really big breasts I have IRL weren't my idea and you can buy some if you are really jealous enough to say terrible things behind my back), and you shouldn't judge others (So many Christians forget that their book tells them "do not judge lest ye be judged" yet I still get a lot of crap for preferring women). Live and let live, people. I'm a human, you're a human, we are all humans. We're all on the same bus waiting to get to a better place or at least just enjoying the ride.

Logs, Clouds, And Alts

Slowly I'm learning to work with the Communications Hub Interface (CHuI) in the most current official viewer. Anyone who has spoken to me in-world, followed my posts on this blog, or on MySL might have caught a few angry words (or quite a few) about the CHuI. The same people would know that until this feature debuted in October 2012 (Web) I was an unofficial apologist for the official viewer. Better, stronger, faster – it was the Six Million Dollar Viewer to me. Then The Lab innovated and introduced the CHuI.

Tell me if I'm wrong, but didn't the Third Party Viewer (TPV) Phoenix introduce the all-your-chat-and-IMs-in-one-window feature? I think that I remember digging through menus to turn that off in Phoenix and did that in the current Firestorm so I don't know how innovative The Lab got that day. The real new thing in The Lab's CHuI, though, is fast access to one's chat logs (Web):

One new feature is the Conversation Log, which provides a list of all the conversations you’ve had in the last 30 days. This includes IMs received from both friends and non-friends while you were offline. From the Conversation Log you can open the entire history of your communication with another person, so you no longer need to search for it on your computer’s hard drive. (You just need to choose the option of saving chat logs on your computer for this feature to work.)

I finally tried that today and I have to admit, I was surprised. Basically, it simply opens an IM window with whomever is in the list and shows part of the contents of a file stored on your computer's hard drive. Same for Main Chat History. Surprise!! That capability has always be there, really, or at least for a very long time. One simply had to start an IM with someone to view the same information. Again, same with Main Chat History. A real wonder would have been to make the conversation pop up in an external text editor. But, no.

From my experience tonight of using my brother's usual computer to log in an alt to check her IM history (totally forgetting her logs were on our other computer) I can know now that an even bigger innovation would be to keep the logs in The Cloud. Then I could access them anywhere from any computer. Such an ability could even tie in with the abandoned My Second Life feeds to make it a robust communications platform for residents to use when they can't visit in-world to keep in touch. Like a grown up social network.

Sadly, development at The Lab seems to be based on a variation of String Theory: Develop something, promote it meekly, then leave it to waste away while the staff starts to chase a new, more interesting piece of string. Some old strings include My Second Life, the Second Life Marketplace, Avatars United, and more. Mostly Web products, mind you, but Windlight hasn't seen any innovations by The Lab (Firestorm users have new clouds to play with) since introduction and the proper use of Materials was poorly explained thus I expect that to founder sometime, too. And Mesh. Introduced then development stopped (and blocked? Qarl?).

So while I get used to the mandatory CHuI – Firestorm, Dolphin, and other TPVs will implement it soon so I kinda have to use it – I have to think about how it could be improved but likely won't be looked at ever again by the developers.

Happy Caturday!

Kittens love to play in sunbeams & Caturday is a great time to do that!

I stoped by Robin (Sojourner) Wood's AV Store in Livingtree (SLurl) later in the day to pick up this fabulous vintage patio set. Two chairs, table, drinks, and candle weighing in at just 6LI when all are rezzed, a "Materials" layer for extra detail, and the cocktails (extra nice looking) give copies for you to wear. Just L$200 for the special teal set or L$450 for your choice of red, white, blue, green, or yellow.

The Drax Files: World Makers [ Episode 9: Elie Spot]

You can watch the new episode of World Makers here if you'd like, but if you watch it on YouTube you can more easily let Drax know what you think by leaving a comment. Regardless of where you watch it, make note of Drax's interview technique. I'm sure he's asking lots of questions, but rarely do we hear them. Instead, he edits the interviewee's responses into a cohesive narrative and pairs them with appropriate imagery. As always, the Drax Files: World Makers series is a joy to watch.

For you ...

My wife enjoyed yesterday's photo set so much I thought I'd shoot another one for her today, so here goes ... For you, My Love.

These will be posted to my Flickr page/groups/sets shortly.

Just Because ...

You can also find these pictures in my Portraits set on Flickr with other pictures of mostly me.

Fairy Topless Tuesday

Normally I favor pixies, but this morning found me in a sort of fairy-mood so that's the theme of my Topless Tuesday photo set for this week. You can see the pix and many from other meme-fans in the Topless Tuesday in SL Flickr group here.

The Inventory Meme

Another Monday, another Meme. I saw Strawberry Singh publish her "Inventory Meme" blog post just before I went to bed last night and, oddly enough, I didn't dream about Second Life at all so eloquent words and pretty pictures for me to post didn't pop into my head. Here's what I came up with on the fly while eating a hamwich and some yogurt at lunch ...

Meme Instructions: Copy and paste the questions and answers below, delete my answers and input your own. Don’t forget to leave a comment with your link so I can come by and read it!

What is your current inventory number?
61,731 items, after emptying the trash. This is a sort of misleading number when you consider how I organize my Inventory. The pic above is an example.

Small, color-coded cubes become the home for stored items such as whole outfits, avatars, furniture sets, and all purchases where I can't save the copiable item in it's original container. These are then put into a larger "trunk" in lots of 100 (The Lab recommends putting no more than 100 items into a prim or risk loss of all though nesting 100-lot-cubes in another doesn't seem to be a problem). These are then stored in an Objects (Stored) folder so I can get them later. I'm in the process of sorting clothes to store, give away, or just delete and then I'm going to do that with all my building materials since I doubt I'll do any serious building soon. Right now I have eight "trunks" marked Clothes and one each for footwear, jewelry, tattoos, etc. All totaled, I have about 100+ of these so you can imagine how much larger my Inventory would be should I release all the contents back to the wild.

Another factor that skews the 61K is that I use alts for storage. Way back in the day when Hamlet Au wrote a book about Second Life he recommended creating an alt character to dump all un-used transferable inventory to so if your main account loses it's Inventory, you have at least some fall-back. I do that when I can and back then is when I started this boxing strategy, too. But I also have an alt that I use just for landscaping. At some point I decided it would be in her personality to be a gardener and it would ease my Inventory to have her buy and keep all things outdoor. A quick guess without actually taking the trouble to look, I'd say that she has about 35,000 items boxed and unboxed in her Inventory. My "back up" storage alt has fewer items, but I do have other alts so I have a lot of stuff scattered about.

If you had to delete your whole inventory and could only keep one thing, what would it be?
Aside from my shape and other things that the system wouldn't let me delete? Pictures that I don't have backed up to Flickr or to my hard drive. Everything else can be replaced, but pictures can't be.

What is the last thing you purchased?
An outfit from Plastik (SLurl). Actually, it was their July gift so I guess I didn't actually pay for it. Just before that I grabbed a 2009 Winterfest Linden Bear, also free, and that needs to go into my Linden Bear storage box.

Which item do you wear most often?
My shape. In my Saved Outifts folder I have a couple versions of a "Dressable Uccie" each with a shape ("mesh standard shape" boobs, busty boobs, Furry, Neko, Male, etc.), hair, AO, and other items that I need minimum before getting dressed. A shape is the core. If we are talking prim attachment, then it would be my wedding ring. I change pet collars, hair, eyes, etc. faster than most people change their underwear, but the wedding ring is always there.

When you search for the word penis, how many items pop up? Six. Three of those are in a Freenis kit I give out to poor male Noobs in need of a confidence boost. So many have really sketchy bits I found a decent-looking freeb that I give them then tell them to leave me alone. Two are pictures with the word "Penis" in the title and I'm afraid to look at them since I also know who sent them. No, I didn't search for euphemisms but I'm sure the count would go up a bit.

If you aren't bored enough after reading this, check out this post from when I had about 50,000 items in my Inventory in April 2012. With more time on your hands, I have quite a few posts tagged with Inventory you could look through as well. Probably a better use of your time, though, is sorting your own Inventory. Good luck and happy packing!

Press Release: Hot Bay City Nights

Yeppers, gotta wash up the Pouloco truck so she's all shiny for Hot Bay City Nights, the annual event with automakers, dancing, car washes, and all kinds of hi-jinks, all to have fun and raise money for Childs Play, an organization benefiting kids in hospitals. Read more in the following press release.

-----------------

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Marianne McCann
Bay City Alliance
marianne.mccann@gmail.com

HOT BAY CITY NIGHTS 2013

Event focuses on top Second Life™ vintage automakers.

BAY CITY, SL (7th August, 2013) – Celebrating Bay City’s mid-century theme as well as its large network of roads, “Hot Bay City Nights” will showcase vehicle makers who create automobiles from the Bay City “era,” stretching from 1940 to 1965. This will be the second year for Hot Bay City Nights, which quickly became one of the City’s favorite events on its initial outing last August 

Established vintage automobile designers will be found in the Bay City Fairgrounds (SLurl), in the North Channel region, from August 24-31 to present the best in vintage and retro vehicles for all Second Life™ avatars.

Additional events will provide plenty for all to do, including the crowning of 2013′s Miss Bay City and a charity car wash. The event will raise funds for Child’s Play, a charity that provides toys and games for children in hospitals around the world.

Bay City is a mainland community, developed by Linden Lab™ and home to the Bay City Alliance. The Bay City Alliance was founded in 2008 to promote the Bay City regions of Second Life™ and provide a venue for Bay City Residents and other interested parties to socialize and network. It is now the largest Bay city group, and home to most Residents of Bay City.

For more information, contact: Marianne McCann

# # #

Strawberry's Zodiac Meme

By now you should have noticed that every week the inestimable Strawberry Singh posts a meme challenge on her blog and this week was no different, though I did find it extra challenging: Zodiac.

What is your birthday and/or Zodiac sign?
My birthday is June 18th, therefore I am a Gemini. According to What is My Sign:

Gemini sign is intellectual sign. People of Gemini sign are graceful and clever. For Gemini sign money and love are always not enough. Gemini sign love is illusory. Gemini sign may suffer from nervous breakdowns. Gemini woman is not interested in terrestrial passions. Gemini man is in permanent change.

Nervous breakdowns ... um ...  yah. This could be me. Not sure about the rest. Among my terrestrial passions are cheeseburgers, other women, and kitties – not necessarily in that order.

Since I'm a Gemini, that means I have a twin, right? So here she is. Really. We are twins. Can't you tell? We are celebrating Topless Tuesday by jumping on the bed in the family apartment.
Really, she's an Alt. A convenient "X" initial name handy for Lucky Chairs.

Do you believe in or follow astrology?
No, not really, which is what makes this meme so challenging.

Do you feel your sign’s attributes reflect who you are?
Since the answer to the last question was "No" then I'd have to repeat it here. However, one must keep in mind that we often become who others see us to be. Perhaps we should take Robert Burns to heart, then, and seek the gift to see ourselves as others see us. There are many that take astrology more seriously than I do and that colors their view of me.

Have you ever been to a psychic or astrologer either in RL or in SL (are there any in SL?)
No, but one is in the same building as a sandwich shop my family frequents. Maybe just parking there is an influence? More than one person in Second Life has offered to read Tarot cards for me but I've never had it done.

Do you read your horoscope daily and try to follow any advice, recommendations or warnings it may have for you that day?
No. I haven't read my horoscope in a very long time. I'm not sure they are even published in the newspapers I look at so infrequently.

Do you have very strong feelings about astrology, either negative or positive?
Again, no. I'm really being negative in this post, aren't I now? I hadn't thought about astrology in years, really. Not until this topic came up. Sorry to be so boring. Nothing to see here. Move along.

What's In My Closet: Kiwiberriness

The convenience of having a clothes closet in Second Life is not to be under-rated. I took well over half an hour putting together this outfit and being able to save it means that I can easily whip it back out when I want it. In the past, I'd have one "Quick Me" folder at the top of my Inventory that I could simply drag onto my name tag at a moment's notice and be fully kitted without a fuss. But that meant putting a copy of every item worn from the shape on outward into the folder then changing the contents every few weeks so my appearance wouldn't be too stale.

Eventually, I also made a "Quick Dressable Me" folder with all the necessary body parts and HUDs so that I could quickly add any outfit and then some shoes and be on my way.

When The Lab came out with Saved Outfits I was  apprehensive. My blog entry from June 7, 2010 showed that I had a right to be wary: "Recently, I and two of my alts experienced massive inventory losses: skins, prim attachments such as hair and shoes, eyes, mesh-based clothes, and more. Interestingly, items that survived the loss were ones that I had 'linked' to create Saved Outfits in the My Appearance pane in the Second Life v2.0 viewer." The problem was eventually solved and hasn't re-occurred and I've enjoyed my clothes closet ever since.

Body Parts: unBra Indigo C62/M5 skin (this has a bit of violet in the eye shadow); Lola's Tangos "Implants"; Ibanez Fantasy Glow Eyes (Ostara); Slink mesh hands; Wasabi Pills Amelie Mesh Hair in Crystal Violet.

I don't want to automatically run to the "fun hair" part of my Inventory when I have a colorful outfit and this looks good with a short blonde bob, but the hair drape forms a nice frame with the dress bottom.

Clothes: KnocKeRs Lady Luck dress in Kiwi Berry; HOC platform pumps (not shown as they sunk into the backdrop when I posed but were colored to fit the dress); PrimOptics freebie Plume eyeglasses; GanK Violet Voltaire collar and cuffs (adding OpenCollar and LockMeister scripts is what took up most of the time then choosing the right hair took almost as much time); R.Icielli Neon 02 Lipstick; Wedding ring and Magellan's Secret Decoder Ring.

If anyone can't search for these items in-world or on the Marketplace, let me know. I'm too lazy to look up the stuff for this post but I could probably be persuaded to help if asked.