Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Mesh, the Fae Kitty, and her digits.

I'm in a posty mood tonight so your getting another post. :P

There's been a lot of talk about mesh since it's release a while back. Some good, but mostly what I've seen is a down.

Why?

Because you can't mod mesh and it doesn't conform to your body measurements. Like everyone had thought would happen when talk of Mesh first started up. This means when you buy mesh clothing you have to find the size that comes closest to your measurements and then either change yourself to fit, or wear alpha layers to hide the body bits sticking out. Heck you can't even move where it sits on you if say a necklace is to high up on your neck. Or to low.

This means I will not be buying mesh clothing till this is fixed, Which I hope will be. As a LOT of people do.

Like many others my avatar is very personal to me. And that includes the shape I wear. This includes the fact that I am well aware I have larger then average breasts. I made them that way on purpose. For one I like them better that size, and two, my SL avatar is my "dream me", which, since I am small breasted in RL, means bigger boobs. :P I am also thin in RL, which I like, so I made myself thin in SL as well. And tried to get as close to my RL height as possible. Which is tallish for a human at 5 10.

I also have a few issues related to the fact that I'm a fur. Like the alpha layer thing, I already wear alpha layers on my lower legs. Have since I switched base avatars and went Digitrade legs. If I don't it looks REALLY weird. I'd have to make a separate alpha layer to wear that includes my legs for each and every mesh outfit. And while I would love, love, LOVE to wear some mesh hair, the no mod part makes it impossible. I absolutely HAVE To mod hair to make it fit! There is no way I can change myself to make it work.


Now anything NONE wearable is a go for me buying mesh. But so far I've only seen clothing in mesh. Not even sure if anyone has made mesh plants or buildings yet.

I'm not even currently using a mesh enabled client. But not due to not wanting to see mesh. I simply am still waiting for Firestorm with spell check :P It's a weee bit more important to me then Mesh is. So I'm still using Phoenix till that happens. And even if Phoenix gets mesh before Firestorm gets spell check I'll be switching once it does. Since Phoenix will really not be a viable viewer for all that longer. Mesh Firestorm is installed if I really need it, but I don't currently use it.

But this whole, you have to fit into the dress not the other way around thing got me remembering stuff. Namely a blogger challenge that went around a few months back. Where you posted the digits of your shape. So, because I feel like it, I wrote mine down and fixed up an image with them.

It was started here http://strawberrysingh.com/2011/04/12/whats-your-digits/

The idea behind this was to get a better idea of what was average, see the wide variety of shapes, and to help get your shape a bit more in proportion if something was vastly off.

And while Strawberry only listed a few, I felt like giving them all. Cause I can do that. Well all except the face stuff.



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Now again as a fur I have a few things to point out. I have a prim head. It sounds funny to say that but hey its true. So unlike a human, my shape's head size doesn't matter proportionally wise. So I listed it as N/A. My leg length and Foot size also get affected by being a fur. As I said already I wear alpha layers on them. so I could have my foot sized to the biggest size and no one could tell.

My neck numbers are a bit long, this is to offset the feline head which sits lower down on my neck then the shape head does. Otherwise I'd have no neck. I also tried to make my shoulders and neck thickness work with the head, as its obviously larger then your average human head.

You'll see I have two heights listed. One is the one I get on appearance window, the taller one. The other is given to me by various "get your height" objects. Which I had gone by long before they started listing your height in feet on the client. It's my RL height. I have NO idea why the two are so different. And it's also not counting the extra height of the cat head. But when I fix it so my height is 5 10 in the appearance window, longer gowns no longer fit. They are TO long. So I kept it at 6` 3`` in the settings.

And, I think that's about it. Putting my digits behind a cut as well instead of just on the image

52 weeks of color - Week 47


Week Forty-six:

Khaki


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- Viv Trafalgar Outfitters - Victorian Ladies' Safari Suite SLURL
Hair -!Calico Creations!! Elka II - SLURL
Belt - A&U Creations - Neko Explorer Belt SLURL
Pose - GLITTERATI POSES - Sparkle - garnet SLURL
Sim - Da Vinci Gardens SLURL



So..I wanted to finish my exploration of Da Vinci Gardens gardens for this weeks Color. I knew just the outfit, as it was what I wore the first time I tried to explore this sim, Viv Trafalger's Safari outfit. Which is a wonderful bit of clothing, you can wear it for Victorian or modern times! So versatile.

And how much more Khaki can you get then the fabric the color was named after!

However, as this past weekend was also The Rose O’Neill fairy gathering, which I was attending as an official presenter and unofficial entertainer, I was a bit busy. Both over the weekend and last week getting ready for it.

And Da Vinci Garden has turned out to be WAY more to explore then I had expected. So many area's to go to and several levels to explore.

So I am posting just the one shot here, and plan to attempt to finish this place the rest of this week. After doing a few other things I need to do. I promise to do my best to get it all done this week and post the full sim write up next week.

It's just..WOW, so much to see and do. I am overwhelmed.

This month I'll also be busy every weekend Haunting a corn maze near Verona, MO. If you live near that come get scared!! I will of course be exploring the various haunted places that come up during October. Hopefully there will be more variety and not a lot of the same ol same old like last year.

Friday, September 23, 2011

Happy Fall!



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To celebrate the start of fall I found a sim set in Autumn and explored it. The sim I chose was Garden of Dreams.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Garden%20of%20dreams/126/37/92

The creator of this sim is clearly the same creator as one of my favorite builds at Relay for life this year. It has the same windlight settings, floating lanterns and trees as the build did.

It did take me forever to find a really nice autumn build that wasn't also halloweeny. I just wanted fall trees not pumpkins!

I don't know if this place stays fall all the time or if it changes seasonally. But its full of spectacular things, many of which you can buy to take home to your place.



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Credits for this little excursion are as follows

Dress Harvest Faerie Outfit by Caverna Obscura SLURL
Hair - >TRUTH< Trixie SLURL

Leaf tossing poses - Olive Juice- Autumn Leaves Me Happy (poses w/props) SLURL

There are many pose prop items scattered about the sim as well. Which is still being constructed in a few places. But it doesn't deter from ones enjoyment of the place.

There are also globes you can click on to go up to skyboxes, but I didn't go into any of those this time. Hey something to discover next time!



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You can see all the photos I took at Garden of Dreams here http://softpaw.org/LJimages/SL/Garden/


Saturday, September 17, 2011

52 weeks of color - Week 46


Week Forty-six:
Brick Red


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Outfit - [K~*~S] Calliope - Gown - Blush SLURL
Hair ->TRUTH< Ricci- SLURL
Jewelry and hair flower - *~*Illusions*~*"Varda" Rose Jewelry SLURL
Pose - ABS Poses My Blue Butterflies TTB Exclusive SLURL
Sim - Ruinsfall, the home of the Dryads SLURL


This weeks color. Brick red. Which is more pink then the firebrick red of two weeks ago. took some digging and asking Turlock for his opinion of a few choice but I found a dress that I think matches the swatch quite well.

I learned about Ruinsfall from Slifefantastic. I love Carrie's blog, she finds such amazing places to go visit! For a SL exploration blogger like myself it's a must read for places to go. And one day I will take photos as fantastic as hers.

I wish I could find more blogs like hers and Honour's Post Menopausal View blogs. Ones about places to explore and not just fashion. While I do enjoy the fashion feeds and learning of new pretty things to buy, I am an explorer not a fashionista. I want more fun and interesting places to go visit!

Anyways....

Ruinsfall, the home of the Dryads, is a lovely, lovely spot. One day I hope it becomes its own full sim, as right now it's in the middle of a lot of modernish buildings. But you can loose yourself in the trees and forget all about the outside world. Huge, lovely, amazing trees. And yes, even if your the sole person there, you have dryads about you. In the form of fabulous tree people.



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It took me forever to settle on a good pose for this weeks color. But found it at last. Then onto explore more. The place has many levels and twists and turns and hidden spots. A cavern where you can join the land RP group and obtain a free dryad avatar. Which is, very ferny. I decided to stay in the group to learn when the place is done. As there are areas that are clearly still being worked on.



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When I switched out of the dryad avatar I put on two outfits by Caverna Obscura instead of getting back into the Kouse gown. It fit the scenery better. Then back to exploring!

I went up levels, down levels, and found a teleport in a fountain that took me up to a big, white, box, that is filled with sunbeams. I am highly curious as to what that will turn into eventually.



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There is a store in the build that you get to via a teleport crystal, where you can buy most of what you see. Including the stunning Dryad trees and various other Dryad avatars.

Ruinsfall has so much potential. I can't wait to see what it becomes.

You can see all of my photos here http://softpaw.org/LJimages/SL/Ruinsfall/

Next week's color is Kaki and I already know EXACTLY what I am wearing. And where I am going. It will be such fun!

Thursday, September 15, 2011

great

Blogger and LJ both just lost a post I made, I am SOOO not in the mood to try to redo it in full. Meh So here is the basics with out all the pretties and extras :P

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Bare%20Rose/150/4/30 Click the sign for the Mother Dragon Birthday hunt


http://softpaw.org/LJimages/SL/BRTMD For all my Photos




Bare Rose Birthday Hunt. I did it. Go do it yourself soon as it goes away this weekend.




I MADE A DRAMATIC ENTRANCE AND AMBROSE MISSED IT!!


You get the armor and the dragon. Male and female armor. Do the extra bit to get pink bits for the girls and blue for the guys, with out it you just have red.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

52 weeks of color - Week 45

Took me a bit of digging to find this color.

Week Forty-Five:

Bronze


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Outfit - Lady of the Woods Gown by Caverna Obscura SLURL
Hair - ^;^CaTwA^;^ Tara - SLURL
Pose - [S.LOVES] FAERIE POSES FATPACK SLURL
The Marionette by Tatiana Niven SLURL
Sim - Forgotten Toys By Romy Nayar SLURL


I wanted to go someplace different for this shoot and I found it. Forgotten Toys By Romy Nayar is an art build, that is both simple but complex. I forget where I first heart of it, I believe Honour's Post Menopausal View went to it, or it might have been Prim Dolls, I heard of it first from one of them. It's also a destination guide pick . It's a follow up to an earlier work I missed. So I can't tell you anything about that.



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I'm not sure what I was expecting from this build. I can tell you I was NOT expecting the doll scene in the guide image to be so HUGE. It's sim sized. The premise is your under a bed with some old forgotten toys. That may or may not be alive. I had some fun with some marbles that fall down onto you. They are physical so you can knock them about by walking into them.

There is a doll house that makes you feel really tiny. Has some odd poses in it to discover as well. I’m not really sure what some of the items you found are. gizmos and blocks and weird toys. There is a poor rag doll that you have to look high to find.



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The weird bendy thing is a viewer that shows you a little scene with the giant doll. There is also a huge and TERRIFYING jack in the box. that if you click,, comes AFTER YOU. Thankfully its stuck in place but still...ARGH!

There’s several other neat things I'll let you figure out how to trigger them on your own. mwhahah




RUN AWAY RUN AWAY
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For the outfit shot I wanted to take the toy concept a bit farther and tracked down some marionette props. The set consists of small invis prims you attach to your feet hands and head and the cross beam, which you can either rez or wear. As I wanted to get them in the shot all together I had to pull back a bit more then usual. So I took a second shot closer up which you can now see.




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You can see all my photos at http://softpaw.org/LJimages/SL/forgottentoys/

Next color is Brick red...which is apparently a lighter red then firebrick. Kaay


Oh and I DID go through and count neutrals vs colors. Going by what I count as neutrals its 37 colors vs 12 neutrals. So while it seems like a ton of neutrals to me, its not really. I counted the yellow shades in colors though and they give me just as much problems as neutrals so that may be why I felt it was so neutral heavy.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Friend Pimping

One of my Best friends both in world and out world is Ambrose Steampunk. Owner of The Eat Me Bakery & Cupcakery.

He's got an entry in the current round of the Steam Hunt that is to die for amazing. But as he's not as well known a lot of folk may skip his offering by. And missing this gift and his other amazing items he has for sale.

So I'm pimping it for him. With out him asking. Just..cause I can :P I don't often pimp stores.




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Here is his offering! It's a steam powered chocolate fondue fountain! You get everything seen here. The fountain, the table, the flowers and the tray. It gives you foods for your avatar to nibble on when you click the tray.

You can get this marvel for free by finding the Gear hidden at his Steelhead Nevermore Location. SLURL



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More shots of it can be seen by clicking this

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Do do do doo do do....do...

For the record, the entry title is supposed to be the start of the Super Mario Brothers Theme. It'll make sense when you read about this sim I found in the destination guide.



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Outfit - -+-Rabbit*Kiss-+- "Magical candy" SLURL
Hair - *SS* Lexi -  SLURL
Pose - Petit Glad - Lazerbeam Pose set SLURL
Sim - Electrobit City: 8-bit and Retro Pixel SLURL


I have to many poses too not do a single show off post for the top of my posts...so...doing that now.

Anyway this sim was a fun destination guide find, as I already said. Called Electrobit City the sim's focus is on old school Nintendo games, with an emphases on Super Mario brothers.



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You'll arrive at a landing point on a platform in the sky. It's quite a build, but just the tip of the iceberg for this place. Right in front of you will be a large chess pawn shaped thing with some text saying mini game and gift. Click that, a being that is kind of a combo of Pac-man and a Zelda fairy will pop up and guide you through how to do some of the stuff about the sim. Do that, you'll get a free 8 bit avatar of a random critter from SMB. I got one of the mushroom badguy things.

During the course of the tutorial you'll be taken to an underground area, you can get back to it later so don't worry. This area looks like a Mario Brothers game. Complete with platforms, coins, smashy boxes and chomp chains. I think eventually the plan is to have a hud to be able to actually play it. Some of the information your given lets me think this.



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Now as flying is turned off, I didn't get up to far on this area. I SUCK at side scrolling platform games and I equally suck at jumping from platform to platform in Secondlife. After falling so many times I just gave up as all the coins I collected counted towards nothing anyway. And if you try to cheat by using a flight assist or having always fly clicked, like I accidentally did it sends you to the "death area" and you have to start over.

Leaving this area I went back to the top and poked about and found a place in the back that took you to other areas. And THESE areas are just a bit mind blowing. Again, its set up like a platform game, But its got a difference.

All the stuff is in 8 bit. Yes you read that right. The landscape, buildings, everything, Eight...pixel...bits graphics. Seeing a fully 3d character among 8-bit graphics was quite trippy.



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And it was all really old old school Super Mario brothers. There where three areas but two are kind of connected. And one had "death" turned on which took you to the dead area and you had to start over. But only if you messed up. Like, getting smashed by a stomper thing.

And no I have NO idea what a lot of these things are really called, I know Ba-bombs and goombas for the minor bad guys and that’s about it.

One of the two safe areas had a really neat 9-bit fountain in it.



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There is also an area for "dodo racing" which apparently has to deal with a Dodo Breedable. No idea how often its used. And inside the giant game console is a dance club. You get to both by clicking teleports in front.

If there are other levels or other games I didn't find them. I may go back one day to see if the scoring system is set up. I found this area fascinating, The 8bit place especially. It makes for some really fun photos. The sim is just so full of potential and fun!

I just need to work on my platform jumping. And find a proper Mario outfit, or maybe princess Peach..hrmm..

http://softpaw.org/LJimages/SL/8bit/ For all my photos and once again the SLURL is http://slurl.com/secondlife/Electrobit%20City/64/32/3229

and I leave you with this oldie but goodie vid



I need to reupload my version of this, I have one on my YouTube channel and it somehow got corrupted ON YOUTUBE.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJtFMtLcrA4 if your curious about what I mean.

And..that was my 8 bit fun! Off to go find something else to do!

Saturday, September 3, 2011

52 weeks of color - Week 44

Yes another post not to far behind another. I am caught up again woot!

Week Forty-Four:

Firebrick


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Outfit - *EC* Limited Edition - Ophelia Passion SLURL
Hair - **Pocket Mirrors** Nastassja - SLURL
Pose - Olive Juice- Blooms FatPack of Flowers with Poses SLURL
Sim - The Far Away SLURL


Finding this dress was easy, and in order to catch myself up quickly I chose a small build I have been meaning to photograph and just haven’t yet. Well now I have!

The Far Away is one of AM radio's simplistic but stunning builds. It's not a full sim so it can be taken in rather quickly. But its still fun. There are many little things to notice. I started out with just using the midday sun setting, then I remembered I have AM radio's Nostalgia setting and switched to that.

Upon tping in I happened on one of those random scenes that only happen in SL. A group of people all flying about on Giant Canadian geese. And after standing there a while giggling I got given one of my own by a nice person named Kermit.



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Kermit was sadly, not dressed as their namesake. Then I had to close my viewer for a moment to do some window shuffling in my task bar and by the time I got back all the goose flyers where gone.

In fact the crowd that had been there when I first showed up was gone. Only one left was one lone wolf standing guard atop the rusty Train engine. But doing it in style, as they had on a fabulous mask and collar. I should have asked them who made it. Then some other chick tped in but all they did was add another person in the background of some shots.



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Apart from the wheat and train you have two sets of tables, a windmill, fence, and silo. And also these randomly appearing chairs.

I'm not sure if you trigger the chairs appearance by crossing over something or if they just..appear. I never figured it out.

Oh and on the far wall is a donation board where you can buy your own wheatfield, or train in a wheatfield. And all monies paid are then sent over to Heifer.org. Which helps buy animals for third world countries.




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I DID however find out, that if you click in just the right spot on the back of the train. You get abducted by aliens! Ok that may not be what the intent is..but it sure is what it looks like!



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As there isn't a lot to the place, I covered it all quickly, unless I missed some small detail which hey is possible.

You can see all my photos of The Far Away at http://softpaw.org/LJimages/SL/the%20far%20away/index.html

Next weeks color is Bronze. I THINK I have something in that. Hey Luna..how about tossing a few more pinks and purples into the mix instead of so many neutrals?

One day I should go over all the colors and tally up neutrals vs not neutrals. I know to me it seems like a lot of neutrals, due to them being so hard for me. But it may not be.

52 weeks of color - Week 43

This color gave me fits..FITS!

Week Forty-Three:

Liver


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Outfit - *la* Lapine Tintable Bunny Print Dress SLURL
Hair - !Calico Creations!! Luna - SLURL
Pose - GLITTERATI - Model pack 1 SLURL
Sim - Paris 1900 SLURL


Both this color and this SIM gave me fits in fact.

The color gave me fits as it took FOREVER to find anything. I went through what few browns I have, as that's what I first think of when I think of Liver. Then I looked at the swatch and at what others wore as I'm a week behind. And went through my grey's, which I have even fewer of then browns. And settled on this dress. It's rather a lovely dress, supposedly tintable but the skirt was no mod, the bodice wasn't but you couldn't see the bunnies if I tinted it to the swatch. So I left it, I'm sure the right shade is in it someplace.

The dress is rather classy and stylish, so when pondering where to go I settled on the Paris 1900 sims. HEY what’s more stylish then Paris?



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It's a four sim grouping all in a line. Not laid out to match Paris but each sim has a different one or two famous landmarks on them. I got a good giggle with Notre dame and The Moulin Rouge being near one another. I got only slightly annoyed at all the mini stores they have ON the Eiffel tower. With all the store buildings around the sim you think they could have avoided that, but no.

Did have some fun puttering about the tower. Tried to get a good shot for my 52 weeks shot on the tower but never managed it. And not due to the stores..



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No what happened to me on this sim, was lag. Lag like I've not ever seen even at a totally full up sim where over half the people where dragons! And this was in a nearly empty sim!! I kept crashing! I kept getting stuck and not being able to walk anyplace. Or I did the walking forever into no where till you have to shut down thing.

And that's what gave me fits. At first I thought maybe it was just the sim with the tower. It had the most people in it. So I found the Moulin Rouge and went there. HAPPENED THERE, both next to the Rouge and in Notre dame

The cathedral for the record, is stunning, but has some CREEPY AS ALL GET OUT monks hanging around.



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Oh and that's one thing I really liked about the sim. Scattered about them are prim people in period dress. Doing various things. It made you feel less all alone. There was also several things to click on for poses and to do, cars to rez and such. I wish the whatever the heck was going on with the lag hadn't gone on.



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I may go back at a later point to see if the lag issues I was having still, happen. Likely after Firestorm releases its next upgrade and I switch to it. I'm still using Phoenix as I need the spell check.

I didn't manage to get many photos but you can see what I did mange here http://softpaw.org/LJimages/SL/paris1900/index.html


Now to go start on Firebrick. And then YAY caught back up!