Rant: Word Nerd Strikes Again

I'm a Word Nerd. See the glasses?

So many times in the last week I've been in a mood to don my Word Nerd suit and rant about poor grammar in several items that I've read of late. Chalk it up to Real Life drama spoiling my normally placid demeanor (Ha!) if you want or just increasing ineptness among people paid to write for a living. At least I'm not as bad as my brother, the former teacher, who actively corrects and "grades" news articles then sends them back to the editors. CC also sends interesting Web clippings about grammar my way, like a New York Times FAQ on Style just this morning. For anyone that has ever complained about the way I sometimes start a sentence with And, particularly a new paragraph, scroll down a bit in that piece and find something else to complain about. I am not a perfect writer. Sometimes I write "in character" or strive to be extra colloquial, but I always try my best to write well. I wish that more writers would keep at their grammar education by reading items like that FAQ from the Times because better writing is infectious. Those who read write well. Those who read better writing will themselves write better.

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Blogger Tip: Use an external grammar checker if you don't write in a word processor first. Try spellchecker.net, a free Web-based application that doesn't auto-correct, but instead flags potential issues then suggests options.

SL9B: Memorial Park

When I was finally pushed into applying for an exhibit space at Second Life's 9th Birthday event (SL9B) — I was stuck for ideas of what to build and time was short so I had decided to not apply — it struck me that replicating the Memorial Park at the Isle of Lesbos would be an appropriate build for the theme of Community (as I mentioned here a few days ago). Since then my wife, Angela Seale, and I have been working as Build Partners to complete the project. At first, I wanted to start with a miniature replica as close to the original in proportions as possible, but with a square parcel of 32m² in mind versus the sprawling rectangle of the original. Angela then took my build and started making mods that would make it an evolution (as all builds on Lesbos tend to be evolutions) as seen in the squarish build toward the rear in the picture below.

Angela's evolution build in the background with my roundy version in the foreground.

From the incept, however, I knew that we likely wouldn't win the west-facing sim edge space that I asked for (double-sized, please) so we could duplicate the sunset view and off-sim statue of the original, I thought "the build should be accessible from all sides so maybe make it roundy ..." So tonight I built the version you see in the foreground of the picture above. I hope Angela likes it. I bought some cherry trees similar to the ones at the original memorial, partly by accident since I really wanted the demos instead, and made some planters with nice sculpty grass and dirt. The main gravestone is not in place yet, nor are the remembrance candles and other details, but like I keep boasting in SL9B chat, the build is done.

Until Angela or I get another idea.

Beware the Fire Giant

Available for L$389 on the SL Marketplace here or in a male version here for L$359.

My super talented friend Kaelin Westland has done it again ... another giant avatar. Coming in at six meters tall, the Fire Giant is amazingly detailed. As much as I admire what Kaelin does with the mesh itself, its the skin that really sells this avatar. Her muscles just ripple and it seems that lava is just ready to burst out.

All the armor, also mesh, is included in the package or you can easily resize prim clothes to fit. If you need help with that,  Kaelin offers a L$5 resizing script here that is better than just about anything I've seen.

You may remember her Storm Giant avatar that I wrote about on May 9th. Essentially, this is the same avatar but with theme-specific armor to go with the fire skin. And you can also resize hair or prim clothes for this avatar as with the Storm Giant.

Still scary in the buff, but maybe even more beautiful as you can really appreciate the skin.

Kaelin has also created a truly unique alien avatar (NSFW; see it here), part of an amazing 100+ item collection that includes meticulously detailed clothes, body parts, avatars, and more. As much as I tell her that she's an amazing artist she just shrugs and denies it. I like to think she's secretly smiling and blushing but I know she's really thinking about what she can do next.

Relaxing in the Bath House

A very rough week in Real Life is over now. Our cat is back from the vet with a clean bill of health. As I write this (10:30pm Saturday) he has his head on my leg and is making soft half-meow/half-purr sounds to get my attention. That will stop in a bit when I give him some more medicine, but its oh so nice right now. We've also wrapped up a funeral for a family member. It was an almost all-day event starting with a Catholic Mass in the most beautiful church I've seen outside of New York City and ending at the cemetery where an exquisite blue marble box was set to rest in a seaside grave some six hours later. Eight very handsome men, all with the family's snow white hair, stood solemnly in their matching black suits — a father and his seven boys — with a fair number of the 300 people who were at the mass in attendance in the beautiful sunshine. As good a way to end the week despite the circumstances, I'd say.

The Bath House at the Isle of Lesbos is also a wonderful way to end this week, even if I'm patting myself on the back to say so — I built it. If I had the funds and the facilities this is one of the few things I've built in Second Life that I'd try to translate into Real Life. After doing a number of necessary in-world tasks I plopped my avatar in the pool, propped my RL legs up on a box under the desk, grabbed my Kindle, and just sat to soak and read. Well, I took some pictures, too.

A lovely little table set outside with views of both the sunset and sunrise plus you can rez bumper boats from the dock.

Yes, the roped platform defies proper engineering principles. Interestingly, no one has pointed this out to me.

/me sighs at poseballs, but I guess there is no other way sometimes. If this was just a personal build I could set it so one would sit on an urn and be moved into the proper place. But a lotta folks don't sit if they don't see pose balls.

A simple design. If I could spare the prims I'd include some details from my first build, such as non-alpha textured windows and non-sculpty iron work in the roof. For as hard and as long as I looked and experimented, I still don't have a roof texture that I'm 100% satisfied with. But all-in-all, I love the Bath House. 

If you've seen that I've featured the Bath House on this blog before and you are tired of seeing it, don't worry. I'll end this post right here, soaking in the warm waters.

SL9B: Avatar Ready

Second Life's 9th Birthday prep continues as more people apply to exhibit, perform, and help out. The SL9B Web site received over 3000 hits today. As for me, I went to a meeting and finalized my official avatar ... I'll be a Greeter, Moderator, and Exhibitor Assistant.

A custom hat is a requirement. Pretty snazzy, I'd say.

My Burn2 belt has been adapted with new textures and colors and a new event tag.

I made my own event tag so I could list two jobs. I'll probably have to remake it for all three roles, or four if I get to be an exhibitor. Maybe redo the picture, too. Its worse than the one on my driving learner permit.