Its been a long long time

Wow. It has been a long time since I have updated this blog.  My real life has been extremely hectic leaving me very little time for second life. I have been out in the world trying to find a job so I can support my linden buying habit.   Well enough about my first life, you came here to read about my second life right.

First of all, I have to mention a project my girlfriend Arora has been hard at work on now for a few weeks.  It is called Operation Squeegee, and it is to benefit the National Wildlife Fund's gulf coast initiatives. Several SL designers have gotten together and are offering items to sell with the proceeds going to charity.  It runs from today through the fifteenth of July.  More information can be found on the official blog.

Personally now that I have plugged the charity event, I have moved out of the linden projects and into a nice beach front home with Rors.  We spend our time there building.  I have started to learn to build, and some 

day I hope to release my own products.  She has taught me about working with sculpties and how to properly texture my designs. I am getting pretty um, decent if I say so myself.  

That's about all that is going on in my "slife" for now, sorry for neglecting you all for so long.  Please do check out operation squeegee, and do some good for the little critters suffering from all that oil.  

Day 6 a little late

Technically it is actually like day 14 but my connection has been so unstable I haven't been able to log in.  So Day 6. Deal with it. My blog, my rules and all of that noise.

Today we will be discussing relationships.  Yes I know I am new to second life, but well when you take the time to look good and have a little respect for people it goes along way.  Anyway, back to the relationship thing, today I am going to brag a little.  Through my joining of social networks, a key step in becoming a successful virtual resident, I met some really awesome people.  One of them was even more awesome than rest.  We would spend hours and hours and hours on Skype just chatting away when my second life viewer didn't want to play nice.  When I finally got SL to connect, well we spent pretty much every second together.  When you click with someone you really click.

Now my dear readers the reason I mention this is I want to know how you feel about virtual relationships?  Is it "just a game" or is it a part of your real life.  Is Second Life just a diversion or a way for you and your significant other to transcend distances and time zones.  I would love to know if you have or would take a relationship made in world and take it into the physical world.  Please leave your comments here.

Its a short one because I have got to get back to the snuggle couch now and spend some more time with that special someone, but I will be checking back for replies my little second lifers, so get on it!

Day 5 Pulling it all together

In life you only have one chance to make a first impression.  This occurs long before you open your mouth, or in Second Life, long before you open up local chat and say What up yall.  To make the best first impression possible you have got to take the time to look good, and when it comes to looking good, the details matter.  Today was spent hunting for the finishing touches on good old Bill Broadmoor.

The first stop was *Fir* to pick up the bowling shirt you see in the photo.  I had been there a couple of days ago and picked up the free tee that was set out for shoppers.  The quality of the gift really impressed me so I knew I had to go back and spend some money once I got my weekly stipend.  The shirt is long enough that it comes down over the belt line and does not leave the belly button exposed, and it goes well with my messenger bag.

The next step was the Tattoo's.  A well done tat can really stand out.  I spent a couple of hours this morning traveling around to different tattoo shops looking for a full sleeve in color.  I was beginning to get a little frustrated as I hunted, finding a lot of great tats, but nothing like I really wanted.  I changed my search terms a little bit and I found the ink pictured above.  It is called Lucky you from Wicked Tattoos.  I like it because it is not too overwhelming or not the standard tribal band arm tattoo that is so common.

 The final step is to put it all together.  What you see here is the look I am going with today, and probably for the next week.  I am a well dressed guy, but let's face it, I am still a guy and everything I own can fit in my shoulder bag!

SLurls and stuff:

Hair:  UncleWeb- Tony  http://slurl.com/secondlife/Yamashita/60/86/21
Skin: Belleza - Thomas v2 group gift http://slurl.com/secondlife/Belleza/128/128/27
Shades:  HOC Aviators http://slurl.com/secondlife/Upper%20Fenland/48/39/67
Shirt: *Fir* Blue Bowling Shirt http://slurl.com/secondlife/Wadsworth/26/30/31
Jeans: WOE Kole Jeans (steel) http://slurl.com/secondlife/Zion/96/115/758
Shoes: HOC Bolts sneakers http://slurl.com/secondlife/Upper%20Fenland/48/39/67
Tattoo:  Wicked Tattoos Lucky You http://slurl.com/secondlife/Angels%20Bay/172/76/23
Bag:  AITUI  Bag  Rustic Messenger - Plain  http://slurl.com/secondlife/AITUI/128/128/41

Day 3 and 4

Well thanks to my awesome cable company, I have to combine day 3 and 4 because while I was hard at work doing my research and hitting the freebie places yesterday my internet went out.  It was out for at least 3 hours so I called it a night and decided to pick up with yesterday's mission this morning.

Well yesterday I did a quick search for "free" and "freebie" and I wound up in a few places that should probably be avoided if you want to fit in with the older avatars that you know.  I went to a joint called the freebie dungeon and well there was some scary bad stuff there.  I mean just look at this picture:  
See not pretty.  Yes its free and you shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth and all of that, but with a little effort you can find some very nice gifts as well.  

I made a return trip to the Gnubie Store to give further inspection as I was rushed my first time there, while there is not a huge selection for us men, what is there is very nice quality.  If you are strapped for cash and just starting out, that is where I recommend you head young Avatar.

Now into day 4.  As I have mentioned before, I joined the social network Plurk at the insistence of my friend Sarra, and with the help of the people I have met there, I have managed to advance myself far beyond my age.  New residents, I highly suggest finding a social network and signing up.  Well I decided to ask my plurk people where I had to shop and one member gave me a huge folder of landmarks with shops that cater to the male in second life.

I started to go around looking for places to hit when my "paycheck" comes in for my premium account and I discovered that a lot of the stores tend to leave a little sample at the front of the store for the customers to grab.  I picked up a few shapes and a tshirt that way, and I plan on going back to both of those shops to spend some money once I have a little bit more.  I then noticed a couple of the stores had a discount or outlet area, and if you shop in real life, you know outlet stores are the way to go.

I picked up a nice Sweater and Jacket outfit for 100L and it works great with my bag from the earlier post.  I will share a picture of that here, and end this rather wordy entry with a Happy Mothers Day to all of the mom's who read this.

 

Day 2. The quest for money.

So yesterday, I went  shopping as you all know, and I spent a good chunk of my Linden balance.  Today's quest was to replenish the money I spent yesterday so I could increase the size of my wardrobe, and furnish the nifty little house that was provided to me for having a premium account.  I know that I will be getting my stipend at some point soon, but I would love to have at least one change of clothes today, hence the need for a money hunt.

I remember in my travels yesterday I saw a sign for "how to earn money in sl" at one of the info hubs so I started my journey there.  I popped over, grabbed the instructions and ran home.  First thing on the list? Go premium.  I already did that, so I kept reading, item number two, the linden exchange, but well that means buying it on the visa, sure I can do that, but there is no story there!  Next, get a job or build stuff that people want.  I will probably follow that advice, but that does not solve my problem of wanting money now! Thats it? those are my options? So much for instant gratification! What is a guy to do!

I quickly picked up the phone and called my good friend and semi retired blogger extraordinaire Sarra  and asked for her advice.  Well she told me to look in search for things like camping, free money, and lucky money chairs.   Well I looked up Lucky money chair, and I was dumped in the middle of a lake with no cash to be found.  Ok, maybe the money person rebuilt and moved the chair?  I ran all over the place, peeked in somebodies closet, but alas, no money! Oh well..onto the next.

I went ahead and did a search for free money, and it led me to a place called "money tree island"  Hey this sounds promising!  Now those of you who are familiar with yahoo chat will understand the hell I am about to describe.  I go there, and there are about 30 new people standing there, all trying to get their grubby hands on this free money, and they are all making stupid comments in open chat not talking to each other, just making noise for the hell of it.  At some point I even heard Sloth from the Goonies mention that he likes sex.  Good for you Sloth! If that was not bad enough there are people milling about inviting you to join their awesome group and giving you landmarks to their shops.  While all of this craziness is going on, the money tree island is shouting about clicking their ATM to do a survey and make Lindens in English and Spanish every 15 seconds.  Then in between that we have the announcements from the Lucky Money Chairs..finally found some of those..but they are set to give out one linden every 10 minutes, and there are 40 people competing for five chairs.  Well I suddenly lost my desire for instant money. 

I have half a mind to try this camping thing, but if it is anything like the Money tree island, well I do believe I will live like a Benedictine Monk, traveling the land doing good works with no worldly goods.  I must say this instant money hunt is scarier than the river boat on free buffet night.  I think it is time for me to go ahead and take a building course, and my fellow noobs, I suggest you do the same, it seems much safer than the money chair. 

Day 1 Part 2

Some things I have already learned. Do not be afraid to ask questions. The older avatars, the ones who look good, they know where to shop! with the asking of a few questions I managed to lose the penguin walk, get some decent clothes, some decent shoes, and a not half bad head of hair. It will cost you a little bit of money, but with my new found good looks I am ready to take this world by storm.

The residents I spoke to both in world and on plurk sent me to a few different shops. First, it was off the Vista Animations to walk better. I got there and figured they must do a good job, the place was jam packed with avatars, mostly women dragging a bunch of guys that looked like me and waddled like me around. I picked up one of the cheaper Animation Overrides, I figure I have a grace period where my noobdom allows me to get away on the cheap side for a few weeks while I build up my cash balance. From Vista one of my fellow shoppers sent me to HOC ( House of Curios) to update my clown shoes to a decent pair of sneaks, and while I was there, I picked up some bitchin shades, and a pair of boots too.

While I was browsing the shoe store I saw a dude with a pretty good lookin pair of jeans and asked him where he picked them up, he gave me one of those landmark things for a store called WOE. That was to be my next stop, I got in, I was a little discouraged at first, the first thing you see in the store is the women's clothes. I guess that makes sense, the women tend to do the shopping, whether for themselves or dragging there men along..Hey that reminds me a lot of the physical world! Anyway, I wandered to the back of the store, found a decent pair of jeans and bought them up. There was no shoppers in this store to ask for my next stop, so it was time to hit google.

A quick search query "the best men's hair in second life" led me to the Phantom's Republic blog with a list of the top ten mens hair in SL. I scrolled right down to number one, got the name of the store and entered it right into my second life search. I went over to Uncle Web, great stuff, kinda edgy. While I was there I ran into the dreaded talking tummy I have heard my senior friend mention. Some girl was standing there looking at mens hair while her belly spouted crap about carrots and Vitamins. This my fellow noob is where you learn to use that lovely mute function. Peace and quiet for my shopping. I grabbed a few demo's like another person suggested, putzed around a bit and settled on my hair.

I ran home to try pictures because hey all the blogs got em..and while I was figuring that I out, I had an inspiration.. the new Bill Broadmoor needed a messenger bag. You know that cool over the shoulder man purse where the modern dude can keep his i-pad and his i-phone and his i-whatever, unless of course your Jack Bauer, then its just an over the shoulder bag of ass-kicking. Anyway, I used search again..it's not that hard new guy..you just type in what you want and the machine finds it..and landed myself at a store called Aitui. Confusing little place, but as I was wandering trying to get my bearings, I ran right into the Messenger bags. Look Complete. I can now wander with the cool kids!

Look I tried to do pictures!

Day 1 Part 1

A close friend of mine has been playing Second Life for some time, and last night, she finally Convinced me to join. She also suggested I write about my experiences so here goes nothing.

I went over to the web site, signed up for my avatar, actually it was a pretty painless process, and now, I exist in virtual space as Bill Broadmoor. I followed their instructions and wound up buying a "premium" account, it comes with a house, and everyone needs a house right? I then downloaded the recommended viewer and logged in, this is where the fun begins!

I found myself in an underwater dome with a bunch of other suckers..err...new residents, and there were signs everywhere saying DO THIS DO IT DO IT! I went along, had a conversation with a bird, learned how to penguin walk, and followed the landmark to wait for it..wait for it...the MAINLAND!

Now here I am, a baby avatar let loose on the world, not a clue what to do, running around bumping into people, I asked a couple of folks on the landing zone where I should go, what do I do? After a few "Shut up noob figure it outs" I got sent over to a joint called the Gnubie store.

I can tell it will be hard to be a man here, 90% of the free items were for women. I did manage to pick up a bicycle, two shirts and a scarf, then some helpful guy dropped me a halfway decent shape.

Before I joined Second Life, I was first introduced to plurk by the same friend who dragged me into sl, so I had a little "secret knowledge" from the ladies of the old breed. I went back to last nights conversations, found a place called Belleza for "skin" and headed over. While I was standing about waiting for things to appear, I got ran over by a naked girl running like a penguin on speed! This world is going to be fun! I managed to survive my first experience with a premium store, and now I am currently sitting in my house, browsing the web for more information on fixing myself up. Stay tuned! Maybe what I go through will help some fellow just starting out like I am!