Looking Back on 2013 in Second Life

For last year's words belong to last year's language
And next year's words await another voice.

T. S. Eliot

 

          Sitting at my keyboard in Real Life (RL), the realization is dawning on me that another year is passing away.  As is my want, I take this time of the year to become a little nostalgic and reminisce a bit about my misadventures in Second Life (SL).  (Be warned, many of already know what I’m like when I get like this!)

          I like to think back about where I’ve been, who I’ve met, and the experiences I’ve had.  How did I do against where I wanted to go this year?  (Not great, but I have my excuses ready.) 

          Most importantly of all, was it a good year?

          Looking back, I did go to new places and met new people.  I visited several art galleries inworld and met the artists and curators behind them.  I’ve learned that there is a thriving art world in SL and many creative people are at work here rivalling their RL counterparts. 

          I participated in various RL holidays and festivals like the Chinese Lunar New Year, St. Patrick’s Day and Cinco de Mayo inworld both thanks to my good friend Perryn Peterson.  (Who by the way was also my subject for this year’s One of the Most Interesting Second Life Residents I’ve Met story.) 

          I got serious too.  I looked into social issues like bullying inworld.  Being always fascinated by where RL ends and SL begins, I blogged about identity, trust and loss in SL.  (Speaking of which, Significant Other always worries I’m going to invite everyone I’ve met over for dinner someday unannounced.)  Bitcoin was addressed and I’m still waiting to see how digital currencies such as this work with virtual worlds.  I also touched on the dirty, little secret of SL.

          New worlds beckoned and I spent time among the Goreans, an interesting community whom I need to return to.  Very different, but nonetheless interesting, was the Regency Era sim that I dropped into and which I recommend to all Jane Austen fans. 

          My travels among the nude continued with first time visits to Naked and Utopia Naked Isle Resort.  Friendly people and great facilities make these must visits for the aspiring nudist inworld.  I’ve made several good friends at both sims. 

          2013 was a year of new experiences for me in SL too.  With my good friend, Lisah Lorefield, I attended her Tarot card reading.  Thanks to Starla Farella, I had a makeover inworld and feel more like a real avi now.  Starla is a genius when it comes to creating a more lifelike avatar and I refer all to her who are looking to look more like a real person inworld.  Of course, I had another laptop crash this year which caused me to ponder how we can exist with SL when we can’t access it directly.  (OK, maybe Significant Other is right, and I do have too much time on my hands.) 

          But, let me honest and talk a bit about things that I didn’t get around to.  Like my two series, Sex and the Single Avatar in Second Life and The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World in Second Life, I’ve been remiss there and I will return to them in the New Year.  I also never started the series entitled Shoemaker’s Children where I’d blog about Linden Lab and its disappointments.  Or, failing to follow up on other promising stories I’d written.

          I’ll spare you my excuses (Significant Other has already heard them and is unimpressed.) but I’ll return to all these (the stories not the excuses) in the New Year. 

          What are my observations about SL overall this year? 

          I still find the sense of community to be very strong.  Creativity in builds and artwork is as high as ever if not higher than before.  Yet, I worry about the loss of people and once popular sims.  Some that I’ve visited in prior years are no longer with us.  Some friends are no longer around and they are missed.  I can only hope that they are happy in their RL’s and responsibilities there have kept them away.  (And, not as Significant Other has suggested, they’re trying to avoid me.) 

          My readership is up and I thank all of you!  Please keep reading and feel free to continue to distribute links to my blog and stories! 

          What do we have to look forward to in 2014?

          I will continue the series I’ve already started and mentioned above.  I’ll go back for more stories on Gor and erotic art inworld.   

          RL activities on my part will help me in overhauling my blog layout and increase the use of social media. 

          There will be more involvement in community activities like the 1920’s Berlin Book Club.  I’ll also go deeper in my stories and try to be less superficial as I sometimes am. 

          Finally, I’ll work to be a better friend inworld.  As a wanderer in SL, I realize I’m very bad at staying in touch and following up.  I can blame the call of the open road inworld and RL responsibilities but those are only excuses. Expect to see and hear more from me in the New Year.  (Including that long overdue game of Greedy, Greedy that I owe to two friends!) 

          So, let’s go back to my earlier question, was it a good year?

          Without any qualifications on my part, yes, it was.  I stayed in touch with some old friends, met new ones, and had new experiences.   I found all the reasons why I came inworld in the first place to be still valid.  I think I discovered a few new reasons to boot.  I continue to enjoy being inworld and blogging about it.

          Yes, it was a good year inworld, a very good year!

          Before I go any further, I’d like to thank Significant Other who continues to support my inworld activities and blogging while still marveling that I haven’t been thrown out yet.

          To my many SL friends, it would be hard to thank all of you individually but I would like to thank Perryn Peterson for all his magnificent events and always allowing me the scoop on them.  I’d like to thank my Research Assistant, Tera Trenchcoat, for volunteering to help me in my travels despite the hardships of putting up with me and some of my well-intentioned but misguided brilliant ideas.  Thanks to both of you and everyone else! 

Happy New Year!

I’ll see all of you in 2014! 

My Twitter handle is @webspelunker.  Please feel free to follow me and I’d be happy to follow you.

As always, I’m grateful to all inworld for their kindness and time in stopping to talk with a stranger who was passing through their lives.   

I welcome feedback from readers, please either comment on my blog or e-mail me at webspelunker@gmail.com . 

          If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life please click here.

I Finally Get a Makeover in Second Life

 The idea of the extreme makeover is disturbing.

Janice Dickinson

  

          Well, it’s finally happened.

          I did it.

          I finally had a makeover of my avatar in Second Life.  Don’t worry, I had some serious professional help and I look a lot better than I did.  (Further reason not to worry, I’ve had several friends in addition to my makeover specialist/genius and me validate this.)

          Let me tell you the story. 

           A short while ago, I met May O. Mingzi from Beau Belle Village inworld for a story.  As I try to do, sometimes more successfully than others, I stay in touch with the subjects of my stories.  (Significant Other says this makes them sound like lab rats.)  Once, our chatting turned from future stories to my rather cartoonish appearance and my failed efforts to effect a makeover. 

          For those of you who are joining us late, my avatar was created from the primordial soup of the various freebie shops that were around back at my Beginning.  I turned out alright or so I thought.  Some SL fashionistas may have sniffed at my appearance but my true friends, both of you, and those who are more principled always made me feel welcome and kept their snickering for private chat.  (These are the same types of people who take stray, starving animals in during bleak winters in Real Life (RL).) 

          However, over time, like most folks, I grew up.  I realized that improving the appearance of my avatar would show my commitment to the community, support designers and merchants, and prove once and for all that I could do something semi-technical right for a change. 

          Despite a valiant effort on the part of dedicated friends (who may have also been interested in cleaning up the looks of SL) I really didn’t get too far.  I want to be clear.  This was all my fault.  (Significant Other feels this may have something to do with my commitment issues.  Whatever.)

          So, I was all ears when May mentioned a talented makeover artist whom I should meet.  Her name is Starla Farella and she has been active inworld since September 2007. 

          Starla had her start in SL like many of us, exploring and taking pictures of the interesting places and people she met.  By March 2008, she had a photography business and realized that many of her clients really weren’t “foto-ready” so Starla added makeovers as a service. 

          Since then, Starla has added to her skills, including Photoshop, and has started designing eyes.  She has also collected landmarks of SL locations that offer top quality skins, hair, eyes, etc.. The list is called “Starla’s Choice” and is given to her clients. 

          In RL, Starla is a portrait artist and understands proportions and faces.  She loves what she does.  (How many of us can say that about RL?)  For some of her clients, she has made avatars that look like the SL version of their RL self. For this, she has done avatars for people like the vice chancellor of Perth, Australia University, the vice president of San Diego University, and the vice president of accounting at a Pennsylvania university.

Starla offers her services to noobies and performers for free, as funds and time will allow. She has made some of her best friends in SL this way.  She believes SL can be a healing place for people. It can be a place that liberates a person from their RL limitations. SL is a great place for a person to get to know their true self better in her opinion. Starla has found it can be an amazing learning place.  As I must admit so have I.

The creative energy in SL is amazing to Starla. In spite of the occasional griefers and the usual percentage of “ass holes” (I quote here!) , most people in SL seem to her to be kind and will help if just asked. Some of the stories she have heard from her clients will amaze you she adds. 

          So, with this woman I have hung my fate.  (Actually, Starla has hung her reputation on me.  I hate this kind of pressure.)  We are ready for my makeover.

          My needs are simple.  (At least I think so.)  I need hair, skin, and some basic moves.  I want to keep my distinctive, trade mark red eyes.  (Long story.) Most importantly, I’d like to have a semblance of resemblance to how I look now.  I don’t want to throw my friends for too much of a loop. 

          Starla is a professional and does some pre-work before we meet.  She captures my eyes and I know I have finally found the makeover artist for me. 

          The actual makeover itself occurs when I TP to meet her.  I expect a woman but instead I meet a man rather stylishly dressed who looks vaguely like me. I say vaguely only because he looks a helluva of a lot better than I do.  (Even in RL, but I won’t go there.) 

          The man speaks and it’s Starla fitted out as I will look when this transformation is complete. 

          We set to work and I will spare my readers the tiresome details of how I try the patience of poor Starla as we make decisions, I try on things, go from shop to shop, and I learn how not to make purchases inworld. 

          Somehow, we survive.  Starla is still with me and we are still friends.  This woman is not just an artist, she is counselor, instructor, and confidante.

          When all is done, I’m stunned.  I can hardly recognize the new me.  (Significant Other is shoulder surfing at the moment of the big reveal and is shocked by the improvement.  I am now considered hot.)

          Starla helps me with my wardrobe and proceeds to take pictures to contrast with my before shots.  I’m over the moon with how I look.

          I can’t say enough good things about Starla and her work on my behalf.  She prepared in advance, listened to what I wanted to do, protected me from myself (Never an easy thing as Significant Other will attest.) 

          Starla is a true artist and professional.  She has married the artistic with the practical inworld.  I strongly recommend Starla to anyone who is looking for an avatar makeover inworld.  She is very good and a pleasure to work with. For additional samples of her work check out this YouTube video.  Tell her I sent you! 

          For full disclosure, I must include that Starla did not charge me which she does with many clients and purchased several objects on my behalf to complete the effect.  If anyone should think I have a conflict of interest here, I suggest that they look at my before and after photos to understand the high regard in which I hold Starla.

          What’s ahead for me?

          I’m going to work on my male plumbing, I do wander around nudist sims a lot for my stories so I think all my parts should be of the same quality.  I’m also going to upgrade my wardrobe while I’m at it.

          What do you think of my new look?

          Please look me up and let me know!  Also, have you had a makeover recently inworld?  If so, I’d love to hear from you about how it turned out. 

          I want to thank Starla for all her efforts on my behalf.  (Who BTW, appeared as herself as a woman and all I’ll say is that she takes care of herself as well as she does her clients.)  I want to thank May too for referring me to her.

          I’ve included a few pictures documenting my transformation.  I think I look pretty good even if I do say so myself!     

As always, I’m grateful to all inworld for their kindness and time in stopping to talk with a stranger who was passing through their lives.    

I welcome feedback from readers, please either comment on my blog or e-mail me at webspelunker@gmail.com . 

          If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life please click here.

  

Photo No. 1  Starla Farella

Photo No. 2  webspelunker – Before

Photo No. 3  webspelunker – After

Photo No. 4  Prototype of Red Eyes

Photo No. 5  webspelunker - Shirtless

Photo No. 6  webspleunker – Full Body