~* Adriaen ~ ~* Lake of Secrets *~

Addenum to the Post Below

2009-07-24T00:31:00.001-07:00

I am not one to take shit. As a RL Journalist, I work all day with freedom of the press and freedom of expression granted by law, where opinions do NOT equal to proof, therefore opinions do not constitute crime of slander or libel.

Having said that, since I was called a LIAR, directly or indirectly, I felt the need to present proof of my actions and words.

Gala Phoenix accepted my friendship request on the January of 2009. I requested in order to keep her updated about my blog posts on her skins. The entries pertinent to such can be found in my blogs: http://hadriaen.blogspot.com/ and http://adriaen.wordpress.com/. If you're so very interested, these are four screen shots on my account too, proving this woman was on my list until I removed her. Go and look for it yourself if you REALLY want to know; it's there, it's on websites, it's everywhere, but I don't have to do anyone's homework.

Another point to observe: you (reader) may (or not) have noticed I no longer dedicate myself to the SL blogging career.

Besides being very tiresome to cope with total assholes in RL, I don't want to do the same when I FINALLY have time and nerve to log on SL.

I am not sick, crippled, lazy, and I am not parked at home, procrastinating and getting fat doing nothing but making other people’s lives hell online, with some slimy-running-nose children crying on my ear. Therefore, it's easy to deduce that I have a RL, things many of the SL users do NOT have. Well, I am not an avatar, I am a human being. My RL is important for me, and obviously my RL comes first.

I am a real life hard worker, with a pleasant but extremely dynamic and tiresome job.

So, unlike people that have nothing in life but a computer (that they use as an invincibility shield in order to hurt others and remain unpunished), I log on SL, perhaps once a week, to relax and have a bit of fun, when and if I am feeling like doing it, and to hang out with my true (and quite old) friends.

Having said that, I don't HAVE to cope with shit from any random idiot on a stupid computer game. For me, SL is JUST a GAME, where my RL people play, and my RL friends happen to gather. So, I log in SL to be happy and have some fun, unlike some mercenaries who only look at money or bastards who forget that behind each screen, there’s a human being with feelings.

SL should be leisure and pleasure, and I keep it this way; if something or someone comes on my way of such, I get quite mute/AR happy or just turn of SL and go play something else, where I don’t have to give my RL money, that I work hard for, in the hand of some stupid shop-owner who can’t even value that it’s MY money, it’s money from people like ME, it’s money from other human beings, that fucking feed them, in leisure and pleasure online, or in feeding their slimy kids. If nothing else, at least for my money, I deserved SOME respect, and the right to be left alone to at least freely hand out that money.

Sounds harsh? Shove it. I don’t care. I don’t hide feelings behind masks, or screens, like cowards do. The good side, is that those who bother knowing me a bit better, have a nice surprise. I have a good side; loads of people will attest that, although not many manage to reach me. I have TODAY, the same friends I had 10 years ago, what may come to show these ones are REALLY my friends.

I strongly protect what is precious to me. That means leisure and pleasure. I can see my friends in SL or Skype or AIM or at home, doesn't matter. However, I'm not seeking for more friends and I am not going to let some random unknown bastard to give me shit. If shit comes my way, I turn off the computer, and the shit is gone. I'm not like those who crawl and beg and need SL to live.

And honestly. My RL work is full of bastards. I could write a book about the types I had the displeasure to have met.

But I NEVER, in more than 30 years of LIFE, I NEVER met so many bastards as I have met in 2 years of SL.

And that's why I don't befriend SL people, except those I met before joining in here and a couple exceptions; this is why I only log maybe twice a week; this is why I stopped blogging for SL, and these blogs are mainly halted now. I do NOT receive comments, I do NOT receive offline IMs by e-mail, (so if they cap, good for ME), and if you HAPPEN see me online, the only thing I’ll ask, is to be polite, and for heaven's sake, DEFEND YOUR CUSTOMERS FROM GRIEVERS THAT DISTURB PEOPLE WHO COULD VERY WELL BE WILLING TO SPEND ENOUGH TO FEED YOUR GOOEY KIDS FOR A WHOLE WEEK. Also, don't bother sending me an IM to ruin my day, and I won't bother being mute/AR-happy on you.

Thanks, bye bye.

PS: Thanks to my friend who helped me translate this into readable english.

How To Loose Customers and Get Grievers Instead

2009-07-22T20:43:00.001-07:00

So we went, my friend and I, to CURIO, to get Gala Skins. I have blogged the skins before and even had the maker on my friends list.

HAD.

I wanted to make a present for a baby friend who is starting to blog now, and my friend wanted a full pack of skins for her own use. So we went there together.

As we arrived there and stood in front of the vendors, two ladies approached my friend. One entered between my friend and the vendor, then started to push and dance over her head.

We both complained to the owner, who was online. Meanwhile they continued to harm us, one even pushing way between my friend and I, invading private space.

The owner came over, and instead of banning the grievers, she just said "mute". "Yes", I answered, "to mute is OK, but it doesn't prevent them from jumping on faces and dancing on heads". They did it in front of the owner, too. Just to push more.

The owner, instead of defending us, threated to ban us. To ban US, the grievers' victims. So I left. I was the OFFENDED part, not the offender one.

Well, she just lost two customers willing to waste nearly 20K each on her shop, to gain two grievers who will proably do the same to other customers who were trying to shop, just like us.

She will probably ban me for posting this. See if I care. At this rate, she won't have my patronage again, and I do think she lost some of my friends', too.

If you have a shop, then DO NOT do this to your customers, paying or not. Simply don't. Don't be a coward, defend your customers. We don't deserve to be grieved, and we don't deserve to be threatened of ban for being victim of grievers.

Taking a Break

2009-07-13T17:11:00.001-07:00

You may be wondering why I have stopped blogging for a while in here, and specifically, for Second Life,R in circle, TM.

Basically, what makes me a little unhappy, is how bloggers are seen by merchants, and what bloggers do to deserve the "bad treatment".

I won't get into details here, but to summarize, I got fed up with the way the EXCHANGE between bloggers and merchants came out to be, and took a break from blogging anything related to SL. SL for me is leisure and pleausure and I am no one's punch bag. I don't HAVE to be mistreated because some other people were jerks. I'm not those people, but if it'll leak on me, I'm out.

I'll blog when I want and what I want, and only for nice people. So don't expect scheduled news from me anymore. I'm happier writting somewhere where my work is respected, and where there is a mutual respect and a consciousness of what the word "exchange" really means.

Harmony in Beauty

2009-03-09T21:56:00.000-07:00

Today I want to introduce not only one, but TWO beautiful things.

The first is the new skin line of Bebae, Coral. It has ten make-ups and thee eyebrow colors. The fans of Belina are a bit sad because they won't see any more make-ups for it, but most of my friends found Coral more suave and demure. I agree. I love suave and demure.

To balance the softness and the beginning of Spring, I am also showing the Floratta collection from Reale. It makes me happy to see the outfits of this shop, rich in details and special beauty. It comes to prove that Brazilians work hard and they're capable to come up with impaired quality.

Enjoy!

Curio -- Curious?

2009-03-07T20:56:00.000-08:00

I have received these skins from Curio to show you. They are sweet and have a special touch about them on the cleavage that's worth seeing.

Since today my life is calm, I chose to pose them in the waters. I find this collection (named Lovely) deserved a serene scenario, and chose four of the sweetest make-ups of the batch, although there's a couple of really rock and roll make-ups.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. They are indeed Lovely! (Take a look at Breeze too, it's as cute.)

All Cool and Calm...

2009-03-03T20:56:00.000-08:00

So I decided to go shopping with my friend...

And so I have nothing to say but I put a photo of me here wearing my Donnarama skin (from Baiastice) that I love so much!

My Sweet Valentine...

2009-02-19T19:25:00.000-08:00

I have a SL, sort of boy, but the entry isn't because of my Angel boy.

It's what I like to wear, for my Valentines day, the things I love the most at the moment, and in the place I love the most also.

So, without any further ads, please meet Me and Baiastice: The Love Affair.

I won't mention the name of the dresses, it's more fun if you try to find them on your own... butmy skin is Donnarama. Go visit!

Imagen Lia Este

2009-02-16T18:53:00.000-08:00

Today not much to do except present you with these skins I found by chance during a Valentine's hunt for that kiss. They are Lia Este from Imagen.

Twelve skins plus the one for Valentines!

It comes with tintable eyebrows and, hum, the hair of belows... that I didn't try! And the version with freckles is called Irene.

There are four skin shades (that I have seen) with names of the Cardinal Points (if you don't know what those are, look in search engines because culture is always a plus!!), so most likely you'll find one you enjoy!

Redgrave Leona!

2009-02-14T18:30:00.000-08:00

I don't really have much to say about the big brands except that some desevrve to be big due to the quality of their items.

For instance, Redgrave has awesome men's outfits. Some of which my friends have, and love; I gave one to a friend once (outfit) and really enjoyed.

As far as skins go, I am to confess that near to none looks good on me because of my shape. The skins are awesome in everyone else!! So, when Redgrave released one that looked good on my shape, I absolutely had to talk about it.

Leona comes in fifteen make-ups and some different eyebrow colors, of course, because not everybody wants to be blonde! And they have a hair version too.

The make-ups seem to cover every situation, from everyday to party night, and it includes red lipsticks for paler skins. A particular pet peeve of mine is no red lipsticks to pale skins. So, when a skin set offers this option they always get a bonus with me.

Anyway, enough of babbling... let me present you with six different make-ups of Leona from Redgrave!

Mia, Mia

2009-02-12T17:48:00.000-08:00

One day I was walking with a friend, not very happily around one of these random sims of SL, nothing to do that day and in a foul mood on top of that... both my friend and I, by the way.

Then we stumbled across this small shop, that sold these skins.

They looked good, with niice coloring and great quality, and we debated on how the smaller shops should sometimes get to be known, because well, they are sometimes even better than certain big shops that only sell crap.

Maybe people who have money pay for their publicity, I don't know. It saddens me, because the smaller merchants that do good things have to struggle so much to reach the same fifty-shops point. And SL is an addiction, a vice many people are willing to spend money in order to get the most they can out of their "addiction". Nott everybody can afford that... or the publicity.

Well, smaller shops deserve the spotlight too. So, here presenting to you four make-ups from Mia skins, by Kara Eagle from Karamia. She has two shops, one of them located here, and miss Eagle, I hope to see you straight on the top!

Delicious, Part Two

2009-02-05T15:29:00.000-08:00

Again, skins and lingerie and jewelry are my suggestions for Valantines. I know a couple people who really love that.

So, drooling over a little more, I have my eternal favorites in BlackLace-Bandit and a good skin to cmplement it. Soon I'll be blogging also a couple dresses as well, because Valantines is not only Feb. 14, but always when you have someone you love!


Skin: Cupcakes - Lovespell Jewelry: Bandit - Dephra Diamond Lingerie: Blacklace The matching of the white, the soft make up and the diamonds is perfect to seduce those who prefer innocence.	Skin: Cupcakes - Lovespell Jewelry: Bandit - Dephra Diamond Lingerie: Blacklace In this photo you can see well the diamonds in all its splendour!

Skin: Baiastice - Donnarama Lingerie: Blacklace Blacklace can do also lingerie that are beautiful and practical. Business women seduct too!	Skin: Baiastice - Donnarama Lingerie: Blacklace A close up on the blue make up from Donnarama, that seem made for a blue sexy dream as well!

Delicious, Part One

2009-02-04T14:59:00.000-08:00

Another big idea for a wonderful time on Valantines if you are more of the dreamer, romantic type without loosing the touch for the naughty dreaming.

Obviously skins are in my oppinion the best gift. Sometimes I love a skin and I hesitate in giving out the name because well, you know, I like exclusvity, but shapes are my own... so, here we go.

And surey, there is no better combination than a sweet face, a sexy lingerie and expensive jewelry. I firmly believe in this formulae of seduction to the elegant women!


Skin: CBW - Valantines Purple Jewelry: Bandit - Dephra Rubi Lingerie: Blacklace This skin is really demure, as well as the lingerie... sexy touch comes with the jewelry!	Skin: Cupcakes - Lovespell Jewelry: Bandit - Dephra Rubi Lingerie: Blacklace In here the lingerie from Blacklace is more sexy. The skin gives it a naughty air.

Skin: Cupcakes - Lovespell Jewelry: Bandit - Dephra Rubi A close up of the skin and the wonderful Dephra ruby set. Perfect in any situation.	Skin: Baiastice - Donnarama Lingerie: Blacklace Here I present a mix between the hint of sexy, and a bit of innocence. Great pair!

Je Suis Française!!

2009-02-02T14:38:00.000-08:00

Here starts my suggestions for Valantines day!

Do you want something really nice, cute, and elegant for your lady? So I suggest this dress. It's one of my favorite releases from Prelude so far and it belongs to the Collection Privée. This dress is inspired on the 60's. And it is awesome. It comes with two skirts, two or three pants, a lot of tops to mix and match all cutely.

In my oppinion is looks so French. With that cute elegance only French people can have.

The skin I have on is my Donnarama from Baiastice. I love it, love it.

Migrating

2009-02-01T14:14:00.000-08:00

Important Warning to all my readers...

My Blog might be moving to Wordpress.

I know, know. I came to blogger <B>FROM</B> LJ. Basically because I was quite sick and tired to have my readers spammed by all sorts of advertisement, whereas I can't really afford a paid account. I would like. I have been with LJ for many years.

However, most of the readers have some sort of ads-blocking software, banner-blocking, pop-up blocker that often comes in most browsers. If you have Firefox, you can simply get the plug-in here and program it to block the awful advertisements of my journal, or any other from that site.

I would post more and faster on any other site it seems, because the softwares related to support LJ and Wordpress basically does the HTML for itself, whereas in Blogger I have to manually do it in a HTML editor, TWICE, before you can see the pictures dysplayed here as they come for you. It's a lot of work and too time-consuming; and blogger doesn't really offer that much support. Last time I tried to just paste the HTML on blogger my table of pictures went to the bottom of a page after good fifteen empty paragraphs!!!!

Now, LJ also offers me some support for my comments that Blogger doesn't seem to have: I can control who posts what. I mean, Blogger offers some level of moderating the comments, but doesn't demand people to wrte e-mail and address. If someone will call a bad name, they better be ready to do it without a mask. I don't like cowards and Wordpress allows me this control (LJ and Blogger do not). Sure, someone could make a fake e-mail, but it's easy to tell because we can track via IP.

Besides, I do wish to get rid of people who are so moronic they think they're insulting, when they aren't. The other day someone commented on my journal, "you're a man". So what! As if being a man was an international shame! Of course it isn't. To be a man is a source of pride, as much as to be a woman is.

Besides... Do I really owe random strangers explanations about who I am in real life, or who I am not? I don't think so. If I walk on the streets with fifty kilos of boobs, I can be either a Pamela Anderson wanna-be or the transvestite of the corner, and STILL I'd owe anyone anything. My RL gender, age and location are none of anyone's business, but it doesn't mean I'm an asshole; it just means I am a private person. Not that I am hidding behind anonimity. It means simply that I am avoiding hrrassment from strangers and it also means I won't be opposed to tell my friends all aboutme... but random sharrassing strangers hardly can be qualified as friends.

Yet, I'd prefer to avoid the annoyance of wasting my time to decline some assine comments of people who really have nothing better to do, I suppose... Makes sense?

Here I wanted to show a little more the versatility of the wonderful skin called Donnarama..

Valantines: What NOT to buy!

2009-01-31T14:01:00.000-08:00

Valantines Month, yay!!

Have you started your shopping spree yet? Hopefully you have a sweetheart too. Someone worth spending some lindens on.

With the advance of the technology we can now purchase with the blessed gift cards, if we don't know what to give and if the thing you want to give is no-transfer.

The bad side, for our cultures at least, is that our tradition says, "do not let the person know the monetary value of the gift". It's a bit rude for us. So, things are always a double-edge. What should count is the emotional value, isn't it?

I had promised this month to be all love-dove, but when I see certain things, I can't leave them alone, so I am going to show you some things NOT to get, too, starting with the freebies.

The first is this FREE outfit from PXL, that I grabbed during the Kiss Hunt. I looked at it and thought, "it's more cute than what they are oferring in the hunt", so I took and was crazy to wear. Then I worn and... my face fell.

Look carefully at the SEAMS of this top. The motif is cute, the style is perfect, the job is... I don't have a kind word to say here. (In case you don't want to zoom the photo: the problem is that the skin (and underwear) show where the seams should be. Back, shoulders, around the arms... everywhere.)

And I won't hear "but it is free". Yes, no one is obligated to give gifts, it's not mandatory. But when giving, shouldn't it be at least reasonably decent? When you give something, be it to a friend or some random stranger, maybe you give something that you no longer want, but you give it in a good state, right? Much as creators do not have the obligation to give, we don't have the obligation to feel grateful for something we will not wear or that won't be useful to us because it's broke...

And, just because it's free, do we deserve bad quality? Does it mean that poor people deserve only rotten rags to wear and rotten food gone bad to eat? Water full of dirt that can even become a colera? I don't think so.

Same applies to SL. Freebies need to be of quality.

Speaking of which, when someone says "freebie" to you, make sure they're GIVING, ok? The word "freebie" is a derivative from "free", it also means "NO monetary charge".

As you can see in this photo here, the "freebie" of the "super-famous" RuPaul (is it the "real life"RuPaul?, I wonder), costs money.

If this is the real RuPaul, I confess, as a semi-fan, that I am disappointed to find out that this famous idol, artist, that is supposedly very intelligent (I know not every artist IS, but one can hope...), knows very well how to be famous, how to be a Diva, how to forbid people IMing him. He just forgot how to open a dictionary to seek what "free" really means

If something is costing ZERO, then it is FREE. If it costs fifty cents, it's no longer free. Conscious people that charge L$1 for their gifts have the taste to call that either "dollar-billie", or "almost free". Some idiots who forgot to complete the basics of first grade and skipped grammar classes charge their FREE items ten lindens.

Go figure. :p

Unfriendly? ME???

2009-01-30T15:08:00.000-08:00

Another venting that was due... my profile.

Two days after I decided to join SL something really annoying happened to me. One of the guys who were on my friends list, someone my friend told me I should always look up to, because he was a fantastic guy, copy-pasted my whole profile on a forum to badmouth me.

The other day, someone said my profile was unfriendly and uninviting. I replied to them, "since when to have interaction limits towards strangers make of me a total jerk?" No. I don't think so. To have limits doesn't make of me a jerk; to talk about the wrong shit I see doesn't make of me a total antisocial cunt. And I don't do like Mr. Scheflo, a man who is successful in business, but has nothing better to do than badmouth people he a- doesn't even know, or 2 - look up to him with admiration and kindness.

I wonder why people don't do this with profiles like "Fuck you all", or people who puts in their profiles pearls of social behavior like "don't look here, don't talk to me, I'll AR if you IM me". I ask of you self-righteous perfect ones: WHO is unfriendly and uninviting?

People should consider looking at themselves in the mirror before badmouthing so lowly when they have nothing against someone that has been nothing but kind t them. So, think twice before pointing your ugly twisted finger, and remember that when you point ONE finger, there's three others pointing at yourself, and one pointing directly towards the sky, the supposed household of gGod or all the good energies and spirits above.

I am not anti social and I am not a jerk, but I am sick and tired of people treating me like am either the top-notch scum or their best friend just because I wave and say hello. I am neither and I wonder what is wrong in being friendly with a stranger and leave it at that.

I mean... it is true that every single human being presents at least one of the following:

one physical flaw
one personality disorder
one mania
one phobia
one pathology (look in the dictionary!)

But it has nothing to do with tastes, preferences, and this stupid need to go to either the extreme of being an ass for criticizing or an ass for trying desperately to be on someone else's life. It could be that most people that come on SL are desperate sociopaths?

Not everybody on SL is desperate for attention or to make friends or whatever. Some of us, just use SL the same way we'd do if we went to the shop. We buy what we need, exchange friendly, quick, and business talk with the sales person, even a smile or two, but nothing more than that. Or how we'd do if we put a chair outside and spend a couple hours talking to the neighbors. It's nothing less than a 30 minutes casual talk,and nothing beyond that either.

Yesterday I watched one of these socialization from afar. Polaire and Cezare talking to some customers. They spoke in friendly manner, and there was nothing less than ultimate friendliness and politeness towards those customers, but nothing more than that either. It was the perfect balance.

Please notice their "circle of friends" is very limited. Maybe because they are real people, fully aware of their human states, that do not need to hide their flaws or overdo their merits, either.

The pictures below is me on Donnarama skin from Baiastice. They show the dress Erzebeth, now in Prelude Lucky Chair, if you want to try your luck there for this beauty. Their chair has a short timing and I bet you'll be pleased with the dress, because it is fantastic.

La Donnarama de Baiastice

2009-01-28T15:06:00.000-08:00

After helping my friends with their new project last night, I got these skins to blog. They are Donnarama from Baiastice.

I had a hell of a hard time choosing some to blog because they are very beautiful. I love the quality and the fact that face and body mix perfectly, smoothly. I like the pale ones as everybody knows, but the interesting is, they are the only other brand that have a tan I LIKE (the other being Soul from Iarita Beck).

They come in many skin tones, ranging from dark to porcelain. Each has four eyebrows (black, brown, blonde and red, the one I wear on the photos). The first three (top) are Porcelain (Red Diva, Purple 80's and Peach Heart) and the three down are Sun (Pink Doll, Fuchsia Dream, Cherish Diva Night). I did them more or less the same so you could see well the facial traces and breast curves (that I find important to show their gracefulness).

A small detail: these have pubic hair! It amused me, because most skinners do the "thing" shaved, and you have to buy "the bush" separately in naughty shops, if you are into this sort of thing. So, I like these because they are far more natural, but very discreet at the same time. Not that I stare, because for me it doesn't really make any difference. The only thing I hate is the skinners that make the "insides" of the thing showing. I find it extremely vulgar, but again, I don't like vaginas.

In any case, I didn't want to put more than six in here, so I can wear them to present clothing too... and keep them always up-to-date!

A curiosity: it took me DAYS to learn to spell Donnarama. As it took me forever to understand what Baiastice means until I IMed the owner, Sissy Pessoa, to ask her. I won't spoil the surprise, I'll just say, long live creativity. Baiastice also has fantastic clothing and I even dared to buy one. I nearly died. I'll show sometime soon, maybe now in February that comes.

Thank you Sissy!!

More Conjectures

2009-01-26T15:02:00.000-08:00

Conjectures brought me to quit blogging for stingy people, specially after what I have seen a couple of times.

I mean, some bloggers even charge money to blog. You have to give them what you wish blogged plus a certain sum of money, for example, I saw a girl that charges L$1000 per outfit blogged. And she blogs that item only once and that's it!!

I charge nothing. I blog things I like, and I am, as Cezare says, a "prick bastard" when it comes to liking things, because I can sniff talent and quality from a distance. I made my RL living this way and I am not one who claims poverty. I may not have enough to put on SL, but I never go without food or due on my utility and rent, and when I need to go to the doctor or to the market, my car won't stop mid-way for lack of gas. So, considering the raw reality people on SL like to hide under the carpet, I can't say I am in big shit. I don't have any extra cent to give to SL, but that's because the extra cent is very well used in things that could prevent me to log in altogether. So, yes, my job on "sniffing talent" is pretty good.

So, it also means that if I send you a letter saying I would like to blog your stuff, it's because you have perfect seams, a very nice style or trace, your clothing has everything to do with me and is SUPER well-done, and I would be happy to wear it in Real Life. Surely it applies to skins, too - I stick to my favorite make-up brands for this reason.

So HELLO people!! Don't be stingy or greedy when it comes to FREE publicity that can grant you MORE money for MORE time! To each fat pack of skins you give to a blogger, you receive at least 2 times as much for publicity for one day, and at least SIX TIMES MORE if they are like me and blog you at least a couple times per month.

If you are greedy, it's time for a wake-up call. If about L$200 Lindens cost only one fucking US Dollar, do you REALLY expect to become millionaire by selling 2 USD per day? Be serious! Not everybody is that stupid to believe they were born from a seed planted in the back yard, for heaven's sake. Every kid of seven already knows that even if the parents (who were probably fornicating at 14) try to hide it. And no one more than 3 months old in SL believes your "income", to "feed your children", comes from selling a measly 5 USD/day when any moron knows 5 x 30 = 150, and that USD 150 hardly pays your damn supermarket of the month, let alone gas, rent, mortgage, scholarship, phone and utility bills. Yea right, Hmmhmmm. We believe it, all right.

Yet, those who can't count even the simplest of the maths still claim they make a living out of SL. But after the casinos crash, this is a more remote possibility, because LL will take money from you ANYWAY. They'll either take money from you based on the alleged "if you're using my product you have to share", (thus reducing your measly daily wealth of 5 USD to at least 2.50), or they buy your business off, probably in obscure circumstances (like they did with SLX, that became a SHIT, alas), or they will close your business altogether, like they did after their attempt to put their hands on Casinos and Banks moneys failed. (And just so you know, any Casino or Bank owner have their own grid now and they're doing pretty well.)

And if you want to be millionaire and still share your wealth with Linden Labs, you won't be able to do it by selling skins and clothing alone. Leave your studio and go walk in world, where things happen. Dig carefully and you'll soon find out where the true wealth of SL lays: it's on LAND, mate. And I am not talking about your poor humble parcel on someone's sim. I am talking about YOUR SIM, that you purchase happily with Linden Labs, often having to sell a kidney to black market to do so, unless you were born swimming on money and your dad gives you an allowance of 300 USD/month... when you're grounded.

Big companies that were already rich BEFORE coming to Second Life, buy LAND. Skinners and Clothing makers that are rich, own LAND. Unless you are the owner of Fatima or Caledon, that have money to throw by the window, land to profit and charge 40% over ANY of the others for their rent (and people flock over there anyway God knows why, may be the excuse of double prims, big bullshit because any moron knows that 1 sim = 15.000 prims and not one prim more), you won't be millionaire selling only your skins and clothing, nor take a big loss for offering a fat pack of your skins to a blogger.

Because, as I said before, Blogger = publicity. Some will blog you ONCE, and might charge you money for it. Others, like me, will blog you constantly when they have a new something to post.

You may even say, "ah, but you blog because you want / you like to do it!" That's right! But we blog YOU, and there's nothing wrong with showing a little gratitude by sending good things my way so we BOTH win. It's easier, more convenient and cheaper to be a stingy bastard why? It's not a real life tee-shirt made of cloth in limited quantity. It's a Second Life texture skin made of database in unlimited amounts on your inventory and HD that can be copied and distributed at any time.

There's nothing wrong with a bit of gratitude, but if there's no gratitude and recognition of my efforts, then so be it back. I am not blogging anyone who is stingy with me. Even if I like your stuff. Even if I even bothered to write you my "May I blog you" letter, that is a bit common but it is rewritten case by case.

I know a couple people that go crazy and do a mass distribution of their wares by sales or by lucky chairs or hunts. When I look at them, and look at some people who won't give me a fat pack or a full outfit to blog because of their greed and stinginess, I really consider the human race disgusting, and am ashamed to be human. Maybe in a couple months more, when I am fed up with everything, I'll become a furry.

The skins of the pictures below are from Bebae,Valentines Collection. The first dress is Rose and the second is an outfit called Samira Samara, both from Prelude. Worth notice that Prelude is one of the most generous shops in the grid, they often give out outfits in lucky chair sudden sprees and their sales with fantastic Victorian dresses ends on Monday.

Prelude Collection Privée II

2009-01-21T17:41:00.000-08:00

Today I present the latest two beauties of Prelude! These outfits for this collection are nothing but fantastic and worth a look. Mysterious and sensual, these are the ones that tell a tale. So, with you... the part II of

Prelude Collection Privée


Baroque Mysterious and very elegant, this outfit has an epic tale to tell. Perfect for those who is fanatic for History without loosing the touch with modernity. For this photo set I have Rockberry skin and a High Oxfords from Tesla on my feet!

L'Amant The tale this outfit tells is one of secret sensuality. It's a hot, delicious ensemble perfect for hidden meetings, elegant cocktail parties, and anything in between. One of my favorites, I may say, with a hidden, mysterious sensuality and.. a little something more. I chose the daring skin from Truth to present this outfit.

Prelude Collection Privée I

2009-01-20T17:35:00.000-08:00

Ok, these took me a while to get done because I wanted them to be perfect. Because I love them, because I am proud of them. And I'll write about them in two parts (today and tomorrow).

Prelude Collection Privée

This is Prelude's private collection. Very elegant outfits, one different than the other and all carefully crafted by Cezare and Polaire. I'm not one to blog outfits a lot but these are totally worth it. I'll just show them at once and speak a bit of each...


Sorbonne Named after the famous College in France, this outfit is joyful and very sexy. It's a day light outfit in my opinion, but even if cheerful, I find it to be the sort of outfit that intelligent people who retain knowledge and prefer to keep this fact in secret, would wear. I wear my fantastic SOS Skins and Tesla High Oxfords. The other model is Polaire.

Opera This is the night dress. With straps and a deep cut in the back, this dress is hyper sexy and modern, yet so mysterious, and with a touch of Spain. Perfect to Soirées and Operas. It comes in three versions: Silk, Sheer and Glitter, that looks like silk full of little stars. It's lovely. My skin is Lilly from Rockberry; Polaire and I wear jewelry from Bandit.

Sales at Prelude!!

2009-01-15T21:46:00.000-08:00

The Grand Sales at Prelude have just started!!

Since they'll be releasing the new collection (keep an eye to this blog!), they need space to put the new items and decided to retire some of the old ones.

Attention: Each dress in these three series (below) cost only L$150!! Grab yours FAST because after that, they'll be gone forever!

The Victoria Serie is composed of wonderful Victorian dresses Ballgown type. They are so fantastic. My favorite is the red one. For that dress, I chose the skin Sakura from Mela's. Victoria is also available in Blue and Green.

The next two are from the Elise series. They are more light, even if still ballgown style. Do you remember the younger sisters of Scarlet O'Hara from Gone with the Wind? When I wear Elise, I feel like that. The Elise comes in Lilac, Blue, Silver, Gold, Pink and Green. For Elise Blue, I chose the skin from Curio, Opaline is my favorite shade. For the Silver, I chose London from Minnu (which I'll never call by that new name.). The hair is Vanessa, from Minnu also. And the hat is Elise Hat from Prelude.

The third one is Gwenn. It's very countryside for me and reminds me of Italian and French Vineyards at the Harvest party times. It's fresh, even if I chose one of the darkest colors. Obviously I chose a skin from Belleza, Ange, suave like the mood of this dress. Gwenn is available in Burgundy, Caramel, Chocolate, Autumn, Green, Magenta, Pink and Blue. Perfect for a great harvest party!

By the way: all of these great outfits from Prelude featured in great Fashion Shows. It'll be a pity to let them go so get yours fast!

Demo 2: A matter of Exploitation

2009-01-11T12:25:00.000-08:00

Imagine this scene.

You enter a department shop. You pick up five outfits and two pairs of shoes and take them to the try cabinets. Then, a lady at the door looks on your hands: seven items. And she charges you anything between 1 to 10 bucks per piece.

What would you do? Cuss? Go away? Throw the merchandise on the floor and stomp on it while cussing the third generation of the grandmother of the stingy owner of the shop?

Well, that's what I would do in real life if I had to pay to try things that may not even look good on me anyway and I'd have to leave at the store.

And, that's sort of what I do every time I stumble across paid demos in SL, except that we don't have a stomping stuff animation.

So, why charge L$1 (one linden) to try things that will be thrown away anyway?

If you like, you'll buy the proper item anyway, and that will cost you more. Besides, if the item you like costs L$300, and L$300 is all you have, if you buy a L$1 demo, the vendor will NOT sell you the item for L$299.

The excuse of the "extra cost" to upload demo textures isn't exactly good either. For example, a hair can always have among the good strands, bad green strands or those that say demo, demo and demo. Shoes can ave a box or a rock attached to it (read the former entry to see one).

Clothing and skins, ok, I give you that: you have to upload each twice; one stamped with the demo signs of your choice and the other good one. But the only people who sells demo dresses are those whose dress cost at least L$600 and most skins never really cost less than L$500 (with exceptions). So, you sell two of these and you already have the demo texture cost covered.

But as if this wasn't bad enough, there is a shop that sells skins without demos. If you want only the skin to fit YOUR shape, though shit for you.

Now, more irritating than this, is what I saw in a famous skin shop the other day. Whereas most skinners sell a pack of demos with all skins inside, these sell a small group of skins for one linden each. If we want to try all their skins, we'll spend at least L$100 lindens on that shop in demo stuff that, good or not good on us, will go to our trash anyway.

It feels like we are being forced to make a donation to the creator; it feels like we are paying to throw stuff away, it feels like we are being exploited.

Exploitation twice as much... I feel someone is getting rich through my trash can!

Demos 1: A Matter of Style

2009-01-10T10:16:00.000-08:00

Ugly ugly demos. Who can really deal?

Today my protest goes towards those creators who, in the (much fair) eagerness to protect their stuffs, end up making demos that harm us in seeing their products somehow.

PLEASE consider placing the demo signs in another way than one of these:

Skins with straps and drawings;
Shoes inside a no-transparent box;
Hairs with a board so close we can't see the top of the head;
Skins with drawings all over;
Shoes with colors that do not correspond to the real one;
Hairs without one strand of texture and all the rest painted only with only green-snort or pink-bubble gum.

And since it is very bad form to point fingers without offering a solution, please see the pictures below to some of the most creative demos EVER. They are cute, cool, and they do make a difference when showing a product...

In these photos I am showing three creative demos! The dress I am wearing for them is Olivia Ciel from Prelude, but the demos are of several other places.

By the way, I do have to mention that the skin I have on me is Curio GP. I am quickly falling for these skins. You can either buy them separate or make a notecard, choose 8 of them and it costs 5K. They have ten skin shades for you to choose from, with or without freckles! From the lightest to the darkest, they are Pearl, Glow, Opaline, Radiance, Classic, Lumine, Luster, Ecru, Hazel and Ebon. And it's worth mentioning the black one is fantastic. I want a fat pack of Opaline... XD

Happy Rez Day Polaire!

2009-01-08T08:57:00.000-08:00

HAPPY REZ DAY POLAIRE!!!
You are very loved and dear to us all. May you keep always happy and being always this wonderful, kind, generous and amusing person you are!

And with you, my sweetest friend, and with your handsome husband, I sign under the protest: what happened to our elegant clubs??

I was disappointed when you guys told me and had to go see for myself. One of our best clubs for jazz and entertainment, changed owners. What was once the centre of elegance, is now the core of decadence. The dress code is no longer enforced, there are noobs and harassers flying all around, and on top of that, the place seem to have become a whore-joint.

The other, once so medieval and elegant, is now run by a Brazilian manager that logs on SL, stands there and does nothing when certain noobs, also without the appropriate dressing code being enforced (regardless of the blue pop-up we have to click every time), use many ways to cuss at other guests badmouthing their dresses and wares openly and making everybody's life a hell.

I agree with certain clubs that charge a small fee for entrance per day or per event. It serves well to kill these people, as mainly harassing people is actually free.

I also notice, on the same token, many good shops disappearing because LL decided to shove the prices of the open sims, now called "homesteads", all the way up people's asses. It's nothing new, as we all know LL never listens to anyone who doesn't have a high pocket (read: 30 sims). We have camera problems, asset server issues, lag, no-deliveries, inventory loss, and they have profit, profit and more profit.

On such account, it is sad to read that someone's good shop disappears because they can no longer afford their tiers. And it is sad to fly to those once long ago beautiful gardens just to find out it was destroyed in order to accommodate some ugly village or some ridiculous joint that serves no other purpose but to make money to support its only existence. And now the beautiful, elegant clubs or ball rooms where romantic couples could enjoy a dance and a moment together also have disappeared.

I hope, sweet Polaire, that you and your husband have found another nice place to have your moments of beauty, romance and peace together.

We love you. All of us, all of me.

Polaire and his beauty and love towards animals...

Polaire and his love, together at work (Polaire made a dress, Cezare made a house!)

Polaire's husband holding "his Rose" near his heart

Desenchanté

2009-01-07T08:51:00.000-08:00

I am... I don't have the words in English to express, only the French one: desenchanté.

I love so much skins. Why? Because in Real Life, a plastic surgery costs a million and here we can do this. But in Second Life, we can be white, black, Egyptian, Blue, Martian... We can be what we want.

But it is also important to keep an identity, to know who you are. And yes, who you are is inside, but the outside counts a lot too. I mean, I am one of those people who disable the viewing of "name tags" on SL to make it more realistic. When someone calls me by my name, my first instinct is to ask, "do I know you?" because I don't remember having met that person before...face to face.

And SL is "visual". We are here to see, and be seen. So I like to meet people face to face, and have a face to remember. Yes, it is "SL". So what! Yes, it's true we can teleport, fly, change skin, be mermaid, be a fox... But that's enough fantasy for me. The rest, I want to keep real. I want my identity. I want my own face.

Thus, seeking for the one skin that would mean me by me, I met many people, and many creators who are wonderful. Some of these creators create my perfect image of fantasy and I'll keep blogging them.

But the ones that could really represent "Miss Lane/Mr. Lane" ... they have one of the two problems:

They either do not offer enough options of a make-up; OR
they are simply too expensive for my poor pocket.

When we sign up to SL, we are presented with a site full of beautiful people, that says, "Sign Up for a Free Account!!"

But the rough and sad truth is that when we log in, we face the hard and cruel reality: we are nothing but monsters and, in order to look good, we must -- as Cezare puts so well -- vomit money in other people's laps.

But there is another ugly truth behind the screen. The one no one wants to remember, but needs to be rubbed against people's faces on occasion otherwise they'll forget they're humans: some of us pay bills. And after the bills, not everyone has the little money extra to buy Lindens and have fun. Some even has debts.

I am among those who has nothing extra to buy Lindens. So I know, first hand, that for us, the poorer ones, there are very few options. If you're a poor bum like me, you have one of these options:

Get a rich sponsor that buys everything for you out of kindness;
Find a SL job, if you're lucky to find ANY job looking like a noob monster;
Be happy with cheap-ass hair, deformed shapes, and freebie skins, some of those rather pitiful.

And merchants always make sure to remind us that poorer people should not have any sense of taste and elegance, and should be condemned to an eternal second life of ugliness. Blatantly or subtly, they all say, "you're poor? Then you don't deserve this beautiful pack of skins and this gorgeous outfit. Log off SL and never return again."

Still, some of us try very hard to earn lindens to be able to be in this world without looking like a bad noob and be mistreated, banned or judged for it, as MANY people do.

Life is hard on newbies and poorer old ones without the required talent. If we want money to have a decent pack of skins and be just like any other beautiful person, we have to work hard. Some escort, some dance, some sell stolen items (including skins), and some live out of the kindness of their friends, because their talents do not include scripting and building and they have too much self-value to become cyber-whores.

Unfortunately, for the good or the bad, I am one of these people who are poor but have a sense of ridiculous, who like to be always elegant, I have good taste, and I have too much honor and won't become a cyber-whore. However, I try to learn to build, and even if I never sold any bear, I do the best I can with my only talent: my witting.

So, back on the skins that I have chosen to represent me, two of them have very limited make-ups in regards to pale skins. As if we didn't deserve red lips and darker eyeshadow. So, I skipped to the next step, but I couldn't have them either. The packs are awesome and offer 40 skins each. But... each one of these packs costs anything between 8K to 30K, and I can't afford either.

The irony, is that these are wonderful skins that I blog with pleasure, on my everyday life. I never expected to be paid for my blogging, as certain people actually do. More: the other day I recommended said skins to took a couple of my friends and instead of buying one, they bought the fat pack. I even took my best friend to one of these shops personally, and my friend too got a fat pack.

So, while I do agree that no one HAS to give anything, I also don't cope well with ingratitude. I find that when a creator refuses a pack of skins, a set of clothing or some hairs to a blogger, they are throwing away the opportunity to have free advertisement that is often made out of love and, in most cases, without any financial interest. And it's a constant advertisement too, it's not a "today-only" deal. This advertisement lasts for many days!

But if we analyze things on the financial aspect, we'll soon find out that this stingy attitude is unfounded, because to each pack of skins or to each outfit a creator gives to a blogger, they profit at least four times as much, per published day, because in each day readers read your blog, at least 4 come to purchase those skins or clothes. If that was not true, if advertisement was not profitable, there would be no reason to hire publicity companies or advertise in magazines, TV channels, and, in SL specific case, blogs.

Besides, anything we create in SL stays on our inventory anyway. It's not like we are giving one exclusive item out of a limited version. We just give COPIES of things we'll have in there anyway. There are NO losses.

So, while - I repeat - no one HAS to give anything, there is no need to be some stingy person either, because as I said so before, what we give are copies of what we already have, there are NO losses, and to each copy you give to a blogger, you profit at least 4 times that amount per published day!

So, I am halting with blogging wares of certain people. It seems that it is too much (financial) sacrifice for some, to give a blogger a pack of skins or a couple dresses to increase their own sales! When I see people being that stingy, my good will does fade a while lot.

I mention here what happened to Cezar (with his permission) in regards to stingy creators.

He had a friend who left SL and left him a little money. He got a couple skins from his favorite skinner, and a couple nice clothing, and spared the rest to invest. He was very careful, but with casinos and banks problems that broke SL economy, the spared money soon went away. So, he became poor. He hardly could pay a small lot tier, and worked as DJ to survive in SL.

In time, Polaire and him decided to get married (poor people love too!). Cezare had no money left, but he got a little from his gigs and spent it preparing his wedding party, that was humble, but beautiful.. he even built the tent himself.

He wanted a new skin to his wedding. So he IMed his favorite skinner, the one he bought from in the past. He wrote a very polite notecard explaining the situation: he was going to marry his sweetheart, he had little money, and he wanted a nice skin. He mentioned he couldn't pay the full price, so he asked the skinner, since he had been a good customer in the past, if now the man could make him a discount so he could look nice for the wedding.

Keyword here: discount. Cezare didn't ask it FREE, he asked for a discount.

The skinner told him if he needed money oh-so-that-badly, he'd better off by quitting SL, because SL wasn't place for poor people.

.............. (no words.)

The best things in life are free, and that includes good feelings like gratitude, recognition, solidarity, help and love. So, I do like Cezare now. I won't quit SL, but I'm quitting with stingy people.

Why for...?

2009-01-06T08:44:00.000-08:00

Today basically I am working for obligation, with no inspiration and pleasure whatsoever.

In real life, many people have a job they hate. It's not because they can find something they LOVE to work at. Most times, it happens because this job they hate is all they can get, for a reason or another, and those reasons are often personal, for example, some didn't study enough, some are ill, etc. But, regardless of reasons, everybody needs to eat, live and pay at least the primary utility bills (you know, electricity, water, medicines,phone, and if there's some left over, Internet).

If people get stuck doing something they find no pleasure at, and they are working only to pay the food, house and bills, then they're working for obligation. If they love the job, they'll put an effort and eventually get further ahead with raises, promotions, etc. If they hate their job, they may never go any further.

My commitment, as a blogger, is to write, what I truly love. But thanks to a couple people I am considering to stop blogging some brands, or join the small team of bloggers dedicated to the man skin and fashion, because I am utterly disappointed with the ingratitude of some people I always considered very highly.

There are a couple things I can't cope with in SL or in RL: rude people, stingy people, ungrateful people incapable to reward who helps them and extremely ambitious people that exploits poorer ones because they never once remember that not everybody collects money from trees.

Surely I am aware that when we do something out of kindness, we shouldn't expect rewards. But it's not an excuse for blatant ingratitude and despise towards our efforts, either.

The world is made of exchanges. If you walk on the streets going from home to work, cross with a stranger and say good morning, they WILL give you something in return. It can be it a smile, or another good morning, or despise, or an "are you crazy" glance... fact is, whatever it is, every action brings a reaction. And if the reaction for your action is bad, it's only natural that you may feel bitter about it.

Many people would just shrug it off. But in a world where it is "beautiful" to hide your feelings, and "awesome" to hide your pain not to be an inconvenience for others, I suppose I belong to Cezare's club, the "Deviants", because we are not afraid to show exactly how we feel, for the good or for the bad.

So There! I feel CRAPPY, disappointed and hurt because I have given my best to some people and was not rewarded with a demonstration of gratitude! And because of these ungrateful people, I am not going to blog them or drool over their wares anymore, even if they have excellent quality.

I am IMPORTANT, just like you. I don't deserve to be despised, just like you, just like everyone else.

Beauty to the Core

2009-01-05T08:39:00.000-08:00

Today I have two sets of skins to show. I'd write an article to come with them but I guess I am so tired today because of our New Year Party.

Besides, I am really really bitter because of these skins.. I'd love so much to get a fat pack of each or at least of one of them because they are fantastic, but even if all that we created is on our inventories full perms - and that means, there are no losses when you drop a copy to someone - I can't get one because I am too poor to purchase and no one really wants to buy stuffed bears...

So.. to the photos. These are worth every cent, believe me.

The first picture is of me showing SU from Lion Skins. The first photo is on Pale and the second, my favorite, is Fair, the one I would love to have a fat pack of. These skins come with two different eyebrows and they are so beautiful. The Fair one is pale enough to suit my tastes and it looks alive and suave. The curve of the breasts is fantastic. The fat pack is of 40 skins, and the make-ups are awesome, ranging from the most common to the kick-ass make-up, including lace masks!There are red lips for pales, something I consider heavily before wanting a skin. SU is something you really need to see... and I'd have killed or died for this full pack because it's awesome.

The second set of pictures shows me in Belina from Bebae. Another skin whose jumbo pack brings 40 skins. The make-ups are fantastic. Unfortunately, the pale version doesn't bring the beautiful make-ups of the other skin tones (the Chocolate has copper and gold, the Cina has a make-up called navy), but they remain being so beautiful I'd have killed or died for a fat pack of this one, too...

Take a look at them both. They are awesome and worth every cent.

Red Lipstick Please!

2009-01-03T07:56:00.000-08:00

Here goes my protest: I am sick and tired of pale skins that offer no red make up. As if us pale ladies didn't deserve to have stronger make-up.

It's not at all vulgar or appealing. Quite the opposite: the concept of vulgarity changes with cultural standards (for example, I find super vulgar those 'brazilian women' with excess of ass, thighs thick as a tree trunk and boobs maximized to 100 in a tanned skin. But I know women who'd kill or die to look like one.)

Regardless, more vulgar is not the make-up, is what you'll DO with it. The make-ups are an option for those who like to wear long blood red dress or anything along these lines. And it is so hard to find I am very upset by the lack of options for paler skins.

Fortunately however, I recently found some at Cupcakes.

My friend and I have been customers since they had a smaller shop in the shape of a hallway, which I find very cool. We met them in a small shop at some other sim and absolutely loved the dresses and their clothing pieces.

I got all the demos from their Birthday Suite... but by then I was too poor to get and, being the elegant writer I am, I wouldn't be satisfied with only one. I'd want a fat pack.

After that, finally I got to blog these. The Celebrity skins are suave and beautiful. I like these pale shades, but the next one is just as beautiful. The cleavage is awesome too. I chose for myself bigger breasts so cleavage is important (although not nearly as big as some cows we see in SL, something awful, they think they're beautiful carrying two watermelons inside the shirt. Poor ones!)

The collection has 20 make-ups to choose from, with or without freckles. They are beautiful and suave, and I present here six make-ups for you to get the idea.

Dernier Cri

2009-01-02T07:39:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

Unfortunately the New year's entries didn't came out as planned thanks to RL. But surely I won't apologize for having a real life, and won't apologize in other people's behalves because they too have RL.

So, since I still believe that skins are the best gifts, I put here the skins of Denier Cri. They were supposed to come out in the New Year's party, but the party didn't happen, so here they are anyway because they are nice.

The line on the top row shows Adriane, in three different make-ups. it was hard to choose as I believe that pale women deserve strong make-up too (more about that soon). Adriane sticks to the softness of colors, and it has demure but straight traces. I find it serious, but no less beautiful. I'd recommend for executive women and CEO of companies. There are many skins to choose from.

The second row shows Lina. Probably it is the most well-known line from Dernier Cri. Again what I would call skins for the executive women. The traces are unique and the tone of skin is different from Adriane, to give more versatility and options of choice. I particularly like the cleavage traces. As on Adriane, there are plenty to choose.

The third row shows Kelsey. They have less options in regards to make up but still have the same well-defined traces of the other two.

The Hunt That Hurt

2009-01-01T07:27:00.000-08:00

STOP!!!!! First of, before you continue reading, please scroll to the top of the page, and re-read the *warning* in italics.

Have you? Great! Thank you.

It was necessary because today I'll present a subject that for some is quite "polemic": the rotten affairs of the last Hunt. Thankfully, the hunt is over and I have received the go-ahead of my friends to publish exactly what I think and saw during the Hunt, and it includes a pact of never participate in any events of any sort that are organized by this same team again.

I don't mention names in this entry. I believe "every one has a hat that fits their heads", as one of my friend says. So, if they do have a working conscience they'll know who they are. Unfortunately however, some people turn it off, or are born without a working one...

Regardless, while I don't mention names, be warned that other sites have published full logs, with names, photos and all the good stuff. So, if someone is intending to sue people, I highly recommend to start with THEM. After all, close to what they present, I'm being actually quite nice! I'm just making a simple comment of what I didn't like, in my personal blog. Who will want to spend time, A LOT of money and expose their own shame to sue a poor blogger of a tiny little country on the other side of the world, without any proof whatsoever?

As for those sites that mention names and show photos... sorry, but I won't give you the sites URLs. First of, I am not being paid to sponsor or redirect them. Second, I don't really want to be "connected" to other sites, for my own peace of mind. And third, I believe if someone is indeed interested, they can do their own homework by themselves. Any idiot that can screw up people in SL, surely can read and write well enough to search without my help.

This entry with my comments is as far as I want to go in this... case. Any step further, you're on your own.

One more thing: after re-reading my disclaimers above, remember that reading my blog isn't mandatory, it's optional. I am not taking down my post, and think twice before IMing me in world to harass me on this account, because I can mute and AR people. I won't accept to be harassed in-world by speaking my mind, and I don't apologize for my opinion. And if you don't like what you read, remember others published full names and avatar photos. Take it on THEM. I'm being NICE compared to them.

Now, to the facts.

To every shit that happened, the organizers always said "ah, but we have 300 shops participating, we can't help everyone". this became known as "The Three-Hundred Excuse".

About 10 or 15 merchants supported this poorly made "300 excuse". However, it's known that far less than 100 merchants had serious problems and needed help. Later on we found out that some merchants actually DID have organizers' help, namely these 10 or 15 merchants that presented their support towards the "300 excuse". They were presented with some level of bribe of favoritism by the organizers. Bad form, eh??

A friend of mine complained that certain "hunters" were being rude. The organizers did NOT backed my friend up, as they SHOULD as any events organization. On top of that, they also fell on his ass. Two weeks later, other merchants complained of the same thing. The organizers tap-tap their backs, but did nothing in that regard. Sure they can't, they are not hunter's mothers, but they could have at least shown some solidarity towards the merchants of their hunt, starting by my friends they just despised. A couple friends of mine, after hearing this bullshit, left group and hunt even before the hunt was over.

When my friend complained of being mistreated, a certain bastard had the NERVE to play the self-righteous and say "if you don't like to give, don't participate". Well, he had no right to say that: the prize the "judging man" was offering was a big old shit, like most things a his shop. He is only some self-righteous pitiful guy that should shut up before speaking shit about people he doesn't even know. He tried to judge someone he never even met before (or wanted to), making assumptions and accusations without NO basis whatsoever. The person he tried to judge is one of the most generous persons in SL. One that offers home for two persons FREE OF CHARGE, that gives outfits of excellent quality in many other hunts he participates, that helps people without expecting anything in return, and that works very hard, doing researches, and reading software books. Whereas the self-righteous "judging man" is antisocial, rude, ridiculous, and offers the worse customer support EVER. How do I know? I spoke to him without him knowing who I was! He was nothing but mean to me, and mind you, all I asked was, "do you have this outfit in red? If you do, sir, I can't find..." By the way, he also offers third hand shit he put together with parts made by other creators. I know, I have inspected. Others have too, and published about it.

Hunters were really rude. One IMed my friend for help. My friend went to the shop to offer help (and left me stranded in the middle of our shopping spree to do that!), and he even offered a Lucky Chair gift as extra prize. The hunters treated him so poorly *I* cried when I saw the log. He was cussed and mistreated without any reason whatsoever by these hunters.

Another of my friends had a similar situation: a guy IMed him and he TPed to his shop to help the customer. He told the customer that no, he would not just say where the ball was ("This is a hunt... but I give you a hint!") The hunter told him to "fuck off". When he tried to speak of it with the organizers of the hunt, a certain person there told him to "shut the fuck up" before he could even finish typing. Mind you.

The organizers tried to forbid three Gay sims from participating of the hunt. Homophobia to the core. One of these was so battered he left the group chat in the middle of the hunt and just left the ball there because "Customers aren't at fault. Unlike the organizers of this fucked-up hunt, THE CUSTOMERS don't act with homophobia when they're collecting our free gifts" (his quote).

The organizers begged and solicited in name of their closer friends, showing favoritism, but were incapable to help merchants that asked for help with customers, etc, when they didn't belong to their "clique".

The organizers allowed merchants to offer BIAB and free items not created by them as gifts and did nothing about it. The "300 excuse" doesn't really work because everybody knows they DID check (and had others checking) for LMs and legitimate LMs, even if they say otherwise.

Merchants changed LMs or removed prizes before the time. Organizers did nothing about it... they were busy... hunting.

The organizers, in a uttermost show of total incompetence in events organization, sent no less than FIVE different boards to be used by the merchants.

The organizers demanded people to leave gifts "easy to be found". My friend answered, "Well, we signed up for a HUNT. This is not distribution of gifts, this is a hunt". In which the organizers tried to push the responsibility of the "misuse of the word hunt" onto the merchants, yet again showing the level of events organization and willingness to "talk things over".

By the middle of the event, somehow the organizers found out one of the merchants owner of a shop was a big "Gay Icon" and demanded him to remove his shop from the hunt. The guy threatened to speak to some bloggers and the organizers again shut up their homophobia.

The organizers suppressed, smothered and otherwise hindered any attempt of help and solidarity among merchants towards mistreating of customers and other smaller problems, all they could put their filthy claws on anyway. They didn't help out merchants, and didn't let merchants help one another either. As a matter of fact, one of the organizers even forbade people to wish Happy New Year in some groups!

*******

Impressive, no? Now, these are only some of the occurrences I read, heard, or, unfortunately, had the displeasure to see. And all I did was to offer a bear for the hunt.

I have participated, written about and documented about 12 hunts before this one. My friends participated of many before and NEVER had issues. This is my 13th I participate either by hunting or reviewing. I am disgusted with what I have seen on this specific one.

And if you're disgusted with what you read here, or if you read and do not believe me, I urge you to open your browser and seek for the right words, the right names and the right sites like I mentioned above. You will eventually stumble across logs of each fact mentioned here, with names and photos, and even facts I did NOT mention here.

I hope, since the year is beginning, that this experience serve to open the eyes of hunters so they can stop being rude - a Free Gift is a privilege, not an obligation; and hunts are supposed to be of entertainment for you, not an opportunity for you to mistreat merchants. We owe you nothing, what we give, is out of kindness and generosity.

I hope this year brings merchants kindness, patience, creativity and a better sense of solidarity and less self-righteousness towards others. Competition can be HEALTHY. It doesn't need to be a war. And you don't need to judge others you don't even know to be happy. We get more flies with sugar. I hope for a far sweeter year.

I hope this year brings the organizers of this "event"a little bit of sense of ridiculous, some shame, and some competence. Kindness is something you're born with, but if you have none, be happy because at least, Events Organization is something you can learn form books. Or from people who really know how to organize grid-wide events. You don't need to be professionals, but you can learn if you have a bit of good will. Also, you just need to learn to LISTEN. I hope for more understanding, willingness, hard work and solidarity sense for you this year.

Thanks God 2008 is over. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Christmas Day

2008-12-25T18:52:00.000-08:00

Happy Christmas!

Many of you readers may be wondering why I always write backdated. I explain.

Thanks to the constant theft of textures and misuse or unauthorized use of pictures, I take the time to apply watermark and encryption to mine. After all, if this Avatar is directly connected to a company that holds much of my real and personal data, it's correct to assume that an avatar is a pixelated representation of your real self.

And since we haven't reached the level of the Matrix yet, AND since there are bastards that actually DO steal every single thing they manage to put their paws on, this is something that absolutely needs done.

I won't join the crowd that preaches that theft should stop because this gospel is old and so far no good. People continue stealing, reselling, distributing, and when LL got one Avatar banned, another is created to do the same-old, same old. Gets tiresome. If the TV and the rest of the press is saying "quit smoking, quit smoking", will I spend my pages doing the same? No. Will I advertise smokes? No.

I prefer to show people who uses their own creativity to actually DO things. Someone has to give the good news, along with the eternal advisory column... and the elegance hints!

My Christmas was spent with my friends. The last two pictures are of my friends. The first is of Cesare and Polaire, they are so romantic, and will marry... again. One year together and they adore one another, like two newlyweds. The second is my sweet boy Angel savoring... sort of... a lolly. And yes, he is a boy! Actually, MY boy. What? Never saw a cross-dresser before? Get over it!

I didn't want to take pics anywhere special so I made these in raw studio, because I couldn't stop changing clothes. I spent my day oscillating between the items of my favorite designers, including my Minnu Skin and my Mela's, that I alternated all day. I don't remove my Blacklace Lingerie and my Bandit jewelry, and of course, my favorite shoes that are the High Oxfords by Tesla and my awesome dress from Azul, this one being Farfalla, because I wanted a very Happy Christmas!!

Christmas Eve Dinner Night

2008-12-24T11:30:00.000-08:00

How are you going to spend Christmas?

I'm spending mine in two parts: A and B. One for the Midnight party, and the other for the whole day of Christmas.

Remember it is never too late to give someone you love a nice gift, and I have my picks of favorites for tonight. I would like to share them with you! And by the way: did you know that you can give Christmas Gifts until January 6th? I don't know exactly why but you're welcome to do so because every person you love... loves a gift!

~~~*~~~Christmas Eve Midnight ~~~*~~~


The quality and the beauty absolutely have to walk hand in hand. It's important be always elegant, classy and stunning everywhere you go. This is why Bandit and Blacklace is the perfect combination for me. But it is essential to present a nice make-up that reflects your mood, matches the outfit and suits the night. SOS has this night of joy with me, and Alexxis managed to prepare a bunch of awesome make-ups for these skins.

Obviously, the final touch was to get a great dress and matching shoes to accompany the wonderful night. I chose again Bandit with Eternity in Pink, and the dreamy Josephine dress from Azul. It's a touch of Renaissance, so romantic, suave, but with a touch of sensuality only Azul can bring to the most elegant of the dresses. So, what else can a lady want? The perfect dress, the perfect pair of shoes, the perfect make-up, the perfect jewelry, and the perfect face to make every dream come true on a Christmas night!
Skin: -SOS- Acid (8); Jewelry: Bandit Marquise; Lingerie: ~Blacklace~Foxy Pink Satin; Shoes: Bandit Eternity Pink; Dress: -Azul- Josephine.

Turning the Game

2008-12-23T00:34:00.000-08:00

A lot of things needs said in regards of innocent until proven guilty.

Some people like to put the past behind. Turning the game for a new life, a new start, a new beginning. Isn't it true everybody deserves a second chance, when proven they regret the wrong deeds of before? Forgiveness is divine, even if forget is stupidity, because one should never forget the lessons of life.

So, the other day I saw thread on a forum, about favorite skins. There was someone who mentioned Soul. The reply was, "I don't recommend Soul, because...(link was offered)." And me, as a good noisy reporter-wanna-be, followed the link and spoke to some people.

I am not sure if by any wild chance, the owner of Soul had, back then, committed or not the theft of base skins to make their own. I happen to have seen an open skin (many to download on outside sites), and I know each creator has it's special touch. But honestly, the whole shadows and highlights make the "faking" of a skin a job I wouldn't dare doing. To put your ugly neighbor's head on a porn actress body and send by e-mail to everybody you know seem easy task if you compare to fake skins. Translation: it's hard as hell.

It was however at least a couple years ago. It seems they have hired two ladies, Iarita Beck and Nany Merlin. They are the ones responsible for washing away the bad times of Soul and giving the new line of skins a totally different way.

Obviously they are not unaffected by the xenophobia Brazilians are bringing over themselves when they decide to spam groups and use shout and solicit sex everywhere they go. But they come out to show that some Brazilians can be nice too. There are always roses in the middle of the thorns, as rare as may seem. And these exceptions... they work hard.

Yes, I said they work hard. Are you surprised? Don't be. Truth be told, Brazilian people, when they decide to be decent, they have nothing of this "Lazy" reputation of Carnaval they acquired somehow in some other countries. Actually, in comparison, Brazilians work harder and more than any of the countries I have visited. For example: While in USA you normally can't find a mall open after 8 PM (20:00 hs) and you get kicked out of clubs at 4 am (I know, I resided in US too as many of you), and while in certain countries government offices are closed during three months per year, Brazilians have three work shifts and you find markets and malls open 24/7; you go to a club at 9 PM and leave 9 AM of the following day; and the services of the government (and private ones also) never close. Lazy who??

In SL, it's not different. Some do work hard and I wanted to bring out these exceptions and show them to you. I have already started yesterday, so here I do once again. Iarita and Nany's wonderful work can be seen here... and purchased at their shop, Unique.

The Spain lady (photos 1 and 2) is really beautiful, no? There are 11 make-ups in two versions: with or without beauty mark. I used with, for the photos, and I also wear the dress called Maja from Prelude. I have been seeking for a good Spain or Flamenco outfit and Maja is magnificent... it moves with grace and fluidity and is available in three versions. And, to complement, although in these pictures you can't see, I have on me my fabulous Tesla High Oxfords in Scarlet.

My favorite of the skins however is the Egyptian. It's something strange because I do like the very pale ones (without tending for the Gothic side of ghost-white, or diseased or cadaverous shades of skin.) This one is the exception to the rule. With 19 make-ups to choose from, some include henna tattoos on the face, really nice.

I hope you enjoy them as much as me. And decide to give them as gift to someone!

Name Righteousness

2008-12-22T00:12:00.000-08:00

Let's speak about names. Naming people, naming things.

Do you know why do we refer to obvious things or people with any other name that is not the original? Can you tell me why? And why for?

Shame is one of the reasons. Fear, another. Prude mind, or excitement.. some even call it "tact". Another reason is the sadistic enjoyment to see old lor prudish people blush is yet another. We are ashamed, afraid, or prudes, to call things by their rightful names.

Thing is, reasoning doesn't really matter. We just do it. We all do. But some reasons are more ridiculous than the others.

In any case what makes me really upset, are some unnecessary delicate gestures of politeness that hide righteousness.

For example... The other day my friend pasted me a log where he was talking to one of these ladies that look like those old women from movies... they say they're humble, know nothing and just want to give to the poor, but have the most snob attitude, and a "I-know-it-all, you-know-nothing" behavior. During this talk, my friend called a noob... noob. The bitch went hysterical saying he had insulted and judged the noobs calling them the obvious!! Epitome of the righteousness.

And the other day there was this lady had a tag on her head saying, "Bitch". I didn't see the name under, needed an information and didn't think twice: I called her "hey bitch". The woman would have killed me if she could, in which I replied, (by then seeing her name fully), "If you don't like being called a bitch, why do you carry this label on yourself?" Duh!!

As my friend says: he won't call a sales man a prince, when the sales man is a sales man. He won't call a prostitute a doctor, he'll call a prostitute, prostitute. If you're new somewhere, you're newbie, in any grammatical and spelling variations of the word: newb, noob. The same goes to a whole lot of things. The same goes to ME.

And on this line of thought I present for today two skins that would be offensive to call anything BUT what they truly represent. I am still fond of skins as gifts, and these two were a special gift to the whole SL populace.

Accurate and well-made, they are realistic without loosing the touch of "dream girl". I mean, in SL everybody wants to be beautiful (so I hope), but to have options is a must, specially when you want to RP, or when you're tired of yourself.

The other day I was reading on a forum someone who wanted a black skin. They referred to the skin as "Afro" and later on "of color". I haven't seen lots of African skins lately, but this African is awesome. I don't have this one, but I know for a fact they are beautiful, and perfect. My friend tried the demo.

I proudly present to you the Ethnic Collection. The pics on the top are a close-up of the German Girl. There are 11 make-ups to choose from on this set. Underneath you find Polaire's favorite, the Girl from India. This one has 15 make-ups, some include the Bindi already so you don't have to fight with the bad camera in order to place your prim Bindi... or if you REALLY want prim Bindi, you can use this one as positioning reference. I find them absolutely fantastic.

You can find them at Unique shop.

=-=PROTEST=-=

2008-12-21T08:04:00.000-08:00

Dear Readers,

First of, I would like to present my apologies to all readers. I am having a hellish RL week, so I log on SL and idle. On top of that I am a bit sick, feverish with the flu. So I have not posted every day.

Not that I have the obligation. I realize I can blog when I can, no pressure; even so because I don't accept pressure from anyone. If I have a life outside the computer and a health to take care of, then I have. Pressure changes nothing.

But I like to blog every day out of consideration towards the creators that are so very kind to send me things I like for review. So, in name of my gratitude towards their kindness to me, I present my formal apologies.

What brings me to the subject of today.

When a Blogger reviews items, the creators get advertisement. Sure, I don't dedicate my blog to review things only, and this is clearly stated in my presentation notecard, as well as on the blog itself. I never lied to anyone, and this is not omitted, look at the disclaimers of the blog, on the top of the page..

But even so, I already had to cope with snarky remarks such as "you were only wearing the item. You just mentioned our products and offered a link. I saw no specific reviews about us."

I think the creators that told me that doesn't realize, that sometimes, only a picture without words is publicity enough to make a difference. A lot of people see a picture and IM us to say "wow, it's beautiful this skin/outfit/hair/shoe you are wearing, where did you get that?", without a word on the blog, and not even a link to the creator's shop.

And I always mention the items I get out of the creator's kindness. I am so very deeply grateful to all of these creators. So, if you see me in my pictures wearing something I didn't mention, it's because I didn't receive that item to show. Also, I always offer a direct link. But if you look well, there are a whole lot of Bloggers that barely mention the items they receive and there are many Bloggers that don't even offer a link. On top of that, I don't limit myself to review an item and then delete it or box it. I wear them in a constant basis and blog about them in different entries of my journal.

So, what's the big deal if I don't do like the others and spend a whole entry just to worship someone? I am not a creator worshiper. And creators like that certain guy who advertised in his group that if we were lucky we could MAAAAAAAAAAYBE meet him in world and take a picture on his lap of Santa, or something like that, do not deserve more than a spit from me. Who does he think he is? Yngwie Malmsteen? Or that lady that denied me entrance on her group because I have not spend L$250 on her items (although yes I did, just not at once)... Who does she think she is? The Queen of Denmark?

Some people forget they're just humans behind the computer. Flesh, bones, a huge but useless ego and a prideful but small mind. I know excellent creators with a humble and giving heart -- far better creators than these mentioned above and the others I won't even mention...

Now. When the creator sends a Blogger something specific for review, the blogger reviews that. But when the creator sends the Blogger a whole pack of items, it gets hard to review all in one entry, so the Blogger chooses a couple and reviews those. That's the easiest way. Besides, as I mentioned above, after the first review, Bloggers have the possibility to direct advertise by wearing or using the items themselves, and they can show the other pieces in other entries, too. This is awesome for the creator. It's better to be advertised many times than only once. It keeps customers returning to their shop for more.

And it means creators remain profiting in other days too, not only that once. In a cold, business manner of speech, if you send a fat/full pack to a blogger, usually the return of the investment takes no more than a week. I even had a person telling me that, even though I am not exactly the most read Blogger, their sales increased 20% already. I was glad to help, because they make wonderful stuff worth blogging.

So, I didn't really understand why that lady wanted me to pay 20K for the skins I wanted to advertise for her on my blog. And I really, REALLY wanted to blog those ones. I found them fantastic. But 20K is a LOT of money and as she spoke to me, she made me feel I had to pay her for the privilege to be able to advertise her skins. So, the way she spoke and the amount she charged me turned me so damn down and threw me so off the horse I swore to myself the releases of the contacts I already have, are the only ones I'll remain blogging from now on.

And on this account -- both the charging me for advertisement and the lack of understanding of what my blog really IS -- there will be no pictures in today's entry, as a form of protest.

On Elegant Christmas

2008-12-17T04:20:00.000-08:00

More on Gifting... this one is a compilation of the much I am yet to show.

This is about Elegance and class. If you have a lover to give a gift, you may want to consider the following options because they are fantastic...

	Jewelry: Bandit - Etername Set Lingerie: Blacklace - Silent Night Pink Satin Shoes: Bandit - Eternity Pink Diamonds Skin: Rockberry
Bandit is perhaps one of the best stores for jeewelry in the whole SL. The shoes they offer are fantastic. Here gracefully presented with Blacklace lingerie. I am not all that fond of lingerie, preferring one very basic set of cotton, but when I saw Blacklace it was like discovering a whole new magic world of beauty. And Lingerie always look good with Jewelry...
	Lingerie: Blacklace - Minstrals Kiss Pink Satin & Black Velvet Corset Shoes: Tesla - High Oxfords - Berry Skin: Rockberry
Another option is Lingerie with great shoes. There are many shoe makers in Second Life and certainly Tesla is one of the top three in my humble oppinion. Again, it's a love exception case. I'm happy in having wo pairs whereas most women are unhappy to have anything less than 200. So, when I saw these... I absolutely had to talk about it.
	Outfit: -Azul- - Farfala Shoes: Tesla - High Oxford - Scarlet Skin: Mela's
Elegant parties, yes... Why not? Great outfit from Azul, the ultimate class with a touch of cheerful gypsy blood, at least in my point of view. It's elegant, sensual, hot I dare say. In my oppnion, the Oxfords fromTesla shoes look great with it, but again they look good with anything...
	Outfit: -Azul- - Siren Blue Jewelry: Bandit - Akita Black Pearls Set Skin: Mela's
Another elegant outfit, super sensual, the Siren from Azul. Men who want to have a hot sultry after-party-hours, dancing in private with their female lovers should get these. Complementing the wonderful Christmas ball, why not this magnificent set of Pearls from Bandit and soft make up from Mela's?
	Outfit: ~Prelude~ - 1950 Brocade Jewelry: Bandit - Marquise Set Skin: Truth
Those who prefer to dance the night away have also this fantastic option from Prelude. The Brocade enhances the curves of the female body down to sin and secret promises. Threfore, nothing better than the diamonds of this wonderful set named Marquise. Perfect combination to a Christmas with a touch of unholy...
	Outfit: ~Prelude~ - 1950 Brocade Jewelry: Bandit - Marquise Set Skin: Truth - Lychee (Pale) tone
A little zoom at this beautiful face and the decoleté of the Brocade dress, complemented by Marquise diamonds set. Skins as gifts are still one of my favorite options and no doubt Truth made them quite nicely. None of the make-up is excessive, and all are of excellent taste for any occasion.

Notes for Christmas & Christmas Suggestions 1

2008-12-16T02:41:00.000-08:00

Hello readers.. sorry I have been sooo busy with real-life issues it's not even funny. But I have wonderful suggestions for gifts, to be published from now to the Christmas date.

However I need to say a couple things.

First, welcome to the new blog looks. It's not the final looks yet, but I wanted to make it less tiresome to the eyes and any doctor can tell a black background hurts less the eyes on the long run because the white background reflects light, while the darker ones absorbs it. But I am working on designing a template of my own. I don't know XML but I'm trying... so please bear with me while I learn one more skill.

Second, I am sorry but the pictures will have to come out as JPG files from now on. PNG quality is excellent, but the size isn't and my host is complaining. Plus, JPGs load faster on people's computers and more people with slower computers (like me!) won't spend so long waiting for the photos to load. The PNGs however are available for the creators who want to use the photos. Just need to send me an IM in world. By the way, JPGs also take watermark and bar code!

Third, I'll have a little corner in world soon. Prelude was kind enough to offer me one of their saloons to put my wares! Bloggers need money too and I sell stuffed bears in order to "survive". My subscribe-o-matic will be located there also. I thought about a SL group, but with the amount of chat-spam, I totally gave up on this idea. Besides, no one would want another ridiculous (and unnecessary) title on their heads!

And now... the joys of Christmas Gifts.

Today I introduce three skins I like. They are skins from X-treme Reality, called Michelle, Heidi and Adriana, in this order.

The interesting of these specific skins is that they are quite realistic to the usual padrons of SL. I mean, you'll see shading that are more real, not uniform, and the facial traces are realistic as well take a look at the ears if you put your hands on one.

Probably the makers were preparing skins for robots prototypes when they made these ones. They are quite well-done and honestly, I bet the maker took a whole month working on them...

By the way, since I am a bit tired of snow and Santa's Reds, I chose for symbol of Christmas the Champagne glass and the bikini because in the southern part of the globe, it's SUMMER. That's right folks, there's LIFE under the line of Equador.

Skins: X-treme Reality
Shoes: Tesla - Marie.

On Generosity

2008-12-15T19:03:00.000-08:00

So I was wondering: what should I write about, today? I had decided to write a good thing about some merchant's generosity, because there are people out there with great hearts.

Some merchants are starting now. Little shops, awesome freebies, even better quality items. Unfortunately, I have seen some that grew on their 'careers' in SL and increased the size of their egos, too. And the shape of their hearts become ugly and colorless. My SL Brother used to have a favorite designer and he has nearly every release of her shop. One day, she found a new "friend", that seems to order her around and whose arrogance compares to none. And the cool, suave, amusing lady who even graced people with hours of her time went away, being replaced by a reclusive and no less arrogant - but also far richer - person.

Fortunately for us, money doesn't change some people. They start small and humble, friendly and sweet. Then they grow and become rich, and keep being the same old friendly sweet person they were in those times they had nothing.

I ask myself why money changes people so much. Is it the supposed 'power'? One makes two cheap-ass tee-shirts that takes 30 minutes to create from scratch, costs L$10 to upload, sells for L$100 and they think they own every person that walks the planet? Or is it that now that they can buy everything, they think people who can't deserve nothing?

A LOT of the veterans on SL forget once they were noobs once, having the same hardship learning the "game".

Generosity, it seem to be inversely proportional to mercenaries. And generosity doesn't apply only to money. People can be very generous with their goods, with their time, and with their lands.

Polaire and I were seeking today for a good place to present the magnificent dresses from -Azul-. We went to several places, that we considered of particular beauty. What we saw made us want to cry, to slap people, we were ANGRY.

The Botanic Gardens (one of the many) was totally destroyed. Someone seem to have bought the sim and took off the beauty to make a pitch from hell. One of the many Toscanas, that looked like the real thing, wit the green grass and trees and the magnificent sunset... replaced by ugly homes for people to rent out. One of the Venices is reduced to a spamming place of shops and nothingness, and one of the most beautiful restaurants of SL with wonderful gardens and venues for people to marry at, became another darn mall.

SL resembles RL more and more... in RL, nature and beauty are yanked from us by the capitalist mercenaries from the government. In here, from the mercenary landlords. "It's my land, I do what I want with it. Are you paying? No... so shut up!". Meanwhile, places of beauty just ...sadly... die Damn you mercenaries!!

And thanks heavens for people like Polaire, Lady Jewell, Miss Melanie, and Kesseret...

Below are the magnificent dresses of -Azul-:
Photos 1 & 2: Polaire and I wearing eWe. I wear the exclusive design in silver, yet to be released!!
Photos 3 & 4: Polaire and I in the elegant Mojito Royal. I'm in red, Polaire is in Black.
Photos 5 & 6: I am wearing Largo, the newest release, in Pink.

Thanks to Polaire, always so generous with his time, for helping me with these pictures.

A bit of Reality Call

2008-12-14T18:53:00.000-08:00

I wish to start this note with a quick reminder for those who play children avatars.

It doesn't matter what I think or what others think: SL is yours, for your fantasies as much as it is for mine. If you're an adult of 50 and want to have 6 or 16 again, go for it. Just remember to keep what is private, private; and behave like a normal kid in public.

I said NORMAL!!! Not "abnormal". Damn, poke your head out of this computer for five minutes, go to the nearby garden or kindergarten, close your eyes and LISTEN to the kids speaking. Just listen.

Probably you'll notice, much for your Second-Life-Horror-Fantasy, that kids, real kids, are NOT grammatically impaired retards as many adults in SL make them look like. I lived in countries where I saw impaired children and I assure you: it doesn't matter the country you live in, most kids are healthy enough to speak like adults do, except they have a child voice, of course. I said VOICE. Not dislalia.

So, unless you are playing a child that suffers of Dawn Syndrome, for example, or has being punched and lost their two teeth and cut the tongue severely, or has some mental physical impairment that affects the speech capabilities... try not to make others think that kids at your country are too idiot to have proper education. In general, kids are not retards and they CAN speak. I promise you. Follow their good example.

Back to normal program, today I bring to you a beautiful skin. Skins are awesome gifts for Christmas, and in a couple days I'll be posting a special about Skins on Christmas. If you know someone you love that wants one... try, and give.

The one below is Emma, from Soda, in Pale of course. I have three different make-ups in these four pictures. The details of the eye shadows are really nice in my opinion. Each skin comes with four lipsticks inside. I find Emma very elegant.

And if you like elegance, you may wish to complement the looks of Executive Girl with this elegant outfit from Prelude, called Gabrielle. The hand purse is included. If you're a business lady, and like to be always IN, these are a good match!

Gifting the Horses and the Roses

2008-12-13T23:47:00.000-08:00

So you want to give a gift to someone. And you love to shop. Yes, we all do, to some extent. Even me, and I am quite the antisocial one. But there's something that always manage to exasperate me in shops: people that firmly believe that other avatars are dummies of LL (like those noob dummies I used to make pictures) and behave like the shop belonged to them.

So there I was, happily at this one shop, when we hear people shouting, dancing, pushing. I grabbed my demos and we TPed away. Then I went to another, and there was pushers festival. The other, an idiot wanting sex with anything that resembled a woman. Incredible. And it's NOT the shop owner's fault of course. It's just the way some people are.

I wish people could learn how to behave. I mean, in Real Life, even if it is mainly an "adult environment", normal people won't stand in a mall or in a museum yelling "Hey, wanna fuck?" or dancing like retards or pushing others. As "public"and as "adult" as it seems, they'll be kicked out by the security of the place before they can protest.

A sim may even be for public use, but it still belongs to "someone", be it an individual, a group of individuals, or an entity (for example, Mainland belongs to Linden Labs). Therefore, a bit of sense of collectivity during shopping would be not only necessary, but also advised. Respect the others damn it!!! The rest of the planet doesn't want to hear hahahas, jajajas and huashuahuahus, nor is interested in who you're sleeping with. And those who DO could very well be IMed. Turn off your dance chim, and if you can't because you're stuck on a no-scripts place, TP somewhere you can turn that off and come back; because the shop won't run away but other customers will, what can surely interrupt the fun of shopping for others and profits for the shop owner. Don't push others, it can even cause others to purchase things they didn't want, by mistake, and not every merchant will refund. Not to mention it's the epitome of the rudeness. And don't blame the pushing on rez either. If you don't rez, take two steps out of landing point, park there like an old car, and wait for the rez; it's more polite than push fellow - and my PC is a damn turtle to rez.

Respect is the best gift one can give to a random stranger.

In any case, I do have something to show today as a suggestion for a Christmas gift. They are the MM Skins. I saw these four and love them. I think skins would be an amazing gift, honestly. I am not sure how you can get one to another person, although skins are something so very personal one should choose by themselves... But if you have a beloved one, and you KNOW they want a certain one, try to get, because it's a nice gift. These ones from MM Skins are really gorgeous. (Paris photos taken at another location!) Here I present 3 of each, all in Pale Tone. Click to see bigger picture!

Paris	Moscow	Rome	London

Yellow Pages Bloggers

2008-12-12T19:15:00.000-08:00

More on shopping spree for Christmas Gift, I am super without creativity today, and on top of that I made a bunch of gift boxes AND I have to finish my bears, and find out how to script, and I... swear... I won't... be... stressed.

So, Polaire and I jumped from shop thanks to some other bloggers, but I found out something that annoys me.

Shop owners kindly provide us items for review. I mean, Bloggers get cool stuff to show and advertise for. We get these things in the very palm of our pretty virtual little hands. So, what does it cost to at least provide a URL or SLURL of the shops, whose owner kindly provide us with a little something cool?

Count also that, thanks to the brand-new, latest bullshit from SL, a whole LOT of people had to move their shops away. Some even closed their shops altogether, what is a pity. So, the search is no longer enough for us to find the shops by name.

On top of that, sometimes the readers only want to click the link with the shop name instead of having to IM the blogger or leave a message.

Therefore, I think some bloggers could be a little bit more proactive... and offer links to the places they are advertising for. Even if it's wrong in the end... the good will should count, I think... after all, we are a bit of Yellow Pages!

Some would say it is a pain to write a SLURL. Heck, you just have to replace every space in the sim name(s) with a percent twenty (%%20) and replace the comma with a slash (/). It's easy, but the most neuron-impaired ones can write just the coordinates (sim name (#,#,#)) and the Second Life map does the rest for you.

And thankfully, because of a blogger that offers links, Polaire found this shop that had a belt I nearly died for. What is rare, because I so don't go for belts, but this one is so beautiful. And the outfit is so nice I want the Silver one (please someone drop one to me on my profile). I love it nearly there! And did I mention the skin is fantastic too?

Thanks Polaire, for carrying me around!!

Pictures Model: Me! Skin: Sakura from Mela. The belt is from Sir Sven Olbers, and the outfit is from Mimikri . Belt & Outfit purchased separately but on the same Mimikri shop!

Christmas FUN!

2008-12-12T19:04:00.000-08:00

It's just one of those days where we have to run all over the place to get gifts to the family. So, we have been visiting many places, and, well, yes, spending on ourselves because we are most beautiful than our other family members! :p

In any case, ahem, we went to several shops and nada. Many ideas and not much to buy. Lack of money is universal problem so any cent helps. Well, I accept donations of skins and clothing, because this is what I spend money at (hehehe), but honestly, I need to buy a gift for people on my family.

Polaire and I love to shop. And Christmas should be fun, not stressful. People have to remember two things in special during Christmas:

1 - Christmas is the day we celebrate the birth(day) of Jesus Christ. For those who do not believe in God and Jesus, Christmas is the day to celebrate Love among all people. It's NOT a "exchange gifts" day. The gifts tradition come from several ancient cultures, but in all cultures the "common piece", is the "Love the next person". So, get someone you love and do something goood for them. o, don't give them a material gift, give them something important. Something that shows your love above the pocket.

And if you don't love someone, or anyone.. just leave them alone. It's not mandatory to love, or to hate. You don't HAVE to, no one does.

2 - Christmas is not mandatory, it's optional. Don't feel obligated to give to the point of running everywhere and be grumpy. You don't haaaaaave to give a gift to a mother in law you dislike. You don't haaaaaaave to give a toy to that annoying kid son of a cousin you didn't see since the times Mahomet didn't have a beard. You don't haaaave to make a meal. You only have to be happy and to love.

After all, love is supposed to be giving out of your will and make you happy, because love is supposed to bring joy and happiness. If it's obligation, if it is annoyance, the whole concept of "out of love" crashes to the ground.

I am happy to go hunt for our Christmas Gifts in great company and dressed accordingly!

Pictures 1,2 and 3: Model: Me and Polaire! Skin: Minu London by MM Skins. Dress: mine is CramberryHug, Polaire's is Tea for Two, both by Prelude.

Picture 4: Me, on skin Sakura from Mela.

Limits of a Fantasy

2008-12-10T08:33:00.000-08:00

One of the things that amazes me the most in SL is that we can actually be whatever we want to be. Well, within limits I suppose, but I have seen many strange creatures. From tentacle monsters of anime to mermaids, from Renaissance people to Luke Skywalker's school mates, basically in SL anything goes.

Unfortunately however, some people abuse the right to live their fantasy. Some are so moronic to the point of forcefully imposing their RP on others. The so-called "Bloodlines" of SL being one. They ask if they can bite you and whether you say yes or no, your name goes on their off-world "database" -- against your will or awareness. If you find out and try to remove your name from there, they have the GALL to charge you 1000 Lindens.

Bloodlines was created by White Wolf when they released Vampire the Masquerade. I met Cesar in one of these games and it disgusts us to find out what these guys are doing. Impressive. Cesar has handed these "bloodliners" to White Wolf; someone else hired a Real Life Lawyer to sue the living daylights out of these people. This is crime of extortion in many countries.

There's a way out of it. Should an asshole of these try to bite you, don't accept or decline... simply log off. Log back on in another place, and mute them right away. And never go back in that shop. It's true that we can't choose our customers, but if some shop owner agrees with this "scheme" and doesn't ban the offensive parts, you have no business being there , really. Unless, of course, you WANT to be part of it, but then, that's well, your business, to each their own... just don't walk close to me... I follow V:TM by the old books and the old rules.

In the spirit of living a fantasy, I do have mine. I don't live it in an every day basis and I think Ball gowns are ETERNAL... so here comes some pictures of my own dream. Ps, if you see me dressed like this in Bare Rose or another shop... you do NOT need to enter my RP and bow to me. I keep my RP to IMs, like polite people do when they come out in public dressed in-character.

Pictures 1,2 & 3: Model: Me! Skin: Marie Baroque by Xtreme Skins. Dress: Garance Ballgown by Prelude.

Picture 4: One of the two creators of Prelude outfits: Polaire Aeghin wearing Anjali, from Prelude.

And The Oscar Goes To...

2008-12-08T17:45:00.001-08:00

After giving up the Globe Hunt altogether, I picked up my favorites to start speaking about them - and also the last favorites, usually held by either arrogant shop-owners or indifferent ones, who offer the first shit available and that usually doesn't have the same quality of the things they sell,as I mentioned in a former post.

I agree with Cezar when he says, "If by any chance I go to a shop that is offering a freebie that is totally different of the items sold, or that is offering their most broken item, I don't return. They aren't worth my time and money." I couldn't have said better.

And thus, so far, the top prizes of my list are the following shops:

Rockberry. The Lily skins are awesome. This make-up was created exclusively to this hunt, and not given a day before. And mind you, the skins are beautiful. If you don't like it on my shape (photo 1, below), don't let it deceive you... the skins fit nearly any shape. Just go and try for yourself.

Hilarious. They are a very small shop that seem to be starting now. But the items they offer, are of great quality. And as a plus (at least for me), they make outfits for chubby ladies!! One nicer and cuter than the other. Even the dresses and the pants. I really get happy when I see people doing outfits for chubby. Guys complain, with reason, that they have very little in regards to option... it's true also for the chubby people. It's worth seeing it, even if you are NOT chubby because the outfits are really nice.

Both highly recommended for many factors I take in consideration: pre and post sales customer service, friendliness by the part of creators, beauty and quality of items offered as freebies and sold in the shop.

More recommendations later!

Rockberry skin & Hilarious outfit.

Beauty is in the Eyes of... WHO??

2008-12-04T16:40:00.000-08:00

A wise friend of mine said:

"If people in first life are born ugly, it's not their fault. But if they are ugly in SL then it IS their fault."

I don't think I could agree more. In a magnificent virtual world, who wants to be ugly, strange, deformed, or simply have measurements of Barbie Doll? Perhaps those who want to be mermaids, drows or... whatever takes their fancy.

Who am I to criticize whoever wants to live a Fantasy... Ater all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder... but I am yet to see in our virtual planet, a totally ugly drow or mermaid. My character on a RP once developed a crush for a thin-can man (a robot). And I love to pet a tiny, a furry or a Chewbacca on occasion. And all of them, if not beautiful at the point of running for Miss/Mister Universe, at least didn't make me run away.

What I truly CAN'T understand, is WHY someone would want to be the epitome of the ugliness. I see a lot of amazonian sized women with boobs bigger than their heads, buts bigger than the planets, and waist so thin probably the ring of the hand would serve as belts. Impressive also how they choose the worse skin and hair to complement the... I don't know. They seem like aliens from another planet and dimension, with very little talent, desperately trying to mimic a lusty busty woman's body in order to walk among us, and failing miserably. If they want to be beautiful, and desired... why they don't make something a little more harmonious?

I have a friend, owner of shop. One of these IMed him saying the outfit didn't fit. He saw the girl, and told her, "Oh I am sorry, these are for normal people. I don't do clothing for abnormalities..."

I don't understand the concept of beauty of some people. Do you?!

Ugly Model: Adriaen Lane. Beautiful model: Polaire Aeghin.

Freebies on Hunts

2008-12-03T21:13:00.000-08:00

The Hunt for Peace started December 2 but I wanted to go to some shops before posting.

What I have observed in the hunts are impressive. And since all the bloggers commented the GOOD stuff, I'll play Devil's Advocate and comment the bad part as well as the good... Credits well-deserved, by the way... but that's something we have in life... everything has the good and the bad. Not my fault, I didn't make humanity, don't sue me.

Regardless, first point: I wish the customers were a little more mindful. A lot of people that just come to grab the freebies. They vent into the shops, get a globe and go away. They don't even see the decor.

How many thanked a creator for their generosity in giving out good things? Last hunt, Polaire and Cezare (owners of Prelude, who is still a small shop), gave out FIVE prizes, among their best creations. I know of a famous and rich skins shop that gave out a very cheap-ass prize that seemed to be taken from the pits of hell.

So, both as creator (I make bears!) and as avid shopper and hunter, there are some points I would like to bring to attention of those who offer gifts:

* Please, don't underestimate hunters. Some of us create too. We aren't idiots.

* PLEASE offer good things. Polaire and Cesare always say: "a freebie is the business card of your shop". What image of your shop do you want people to have? If you want a good one, don't offer trash and blame it on artistic expression. Shoe with inversed sole, prim skirt with parts missing and dress with inversed texture aren't artistic expression. it's just a sign of a creator who doesn't give a damn about their customers.

* If the hunt has a theme, please try to stay in theme. So far, the best thematic prizes EVER go to Ivalde, Prelude and Tuli.

* If your work field is too diverse and you can't stay in theme, offer something that is pertinent to your work area! Being an avid skin collector (even if I just wear one!), I was delighted with the offers of Rockberry, Belleza and Dernier Cri.

But I was very disappointed when I entered the shop of a certain guy who questioned the generosity of my friends, and saw that what he offers is such a trash that isn't worth the time to comment. A true disappointment, to point fingers but to offer bad crap.

* Speaking of which, it's very rude of a merchant to question the generosity of another, whom you never even met and whose work you don't know. Specially when you're offering a little something that doesn't even match in quality with what you usually put up for sale. In other words, if you can't do more and better, don't criticize another, don't question, don't assume. Stick your tongue on the paper bag.

* And speaking of paper bag, I have to repeat this for good measure. If your shop sells excellent clothing, don't offer some crap that looks like a rag ran over by the train or a snow globe that is broken or stuff of the likes. If you make jewelry, don't offer the smallest ring of the shop. Make beautiful things! Make your "free gift" match one of the best of your shops. Your act of consideration and generosity towards your customer will pay out for sure.

Model: Adriaen Lane. Scenario: Private Residence. Photo and advertisement COPYRIGHTED IRL, if you want one like this ("I prefer to be naked than wear bad freebies") please contact me.

Brazil Trend??

2008-11-28T21:11:00.000-08:00

I love Brazil, spent some good years there. And I met good people there. So I don't understand why most Brazilians are total jerks in SL.
Therefore, dear reader, please don't get me wrong for posting this, but yes, this is a protest towards spammers, but mainly Brazilians. Yes, other people of other country do this TOO, but in far smaller scale and amount. So far. in SL, I only see Brazilians who manage to do all the wrong stuff.

Some are spammers, joining groups just to advertise. Sometimes I pity them because advertisement in a group often have the opposite effect of what they want, and also grant them a banning. But they don't seem to care, one even told to my face she just creates another alt. Such attitude has forced more than a couple shops I work with to replace the SL group for the Subscribe-o-Matic one.

The others are the sexual harassers...before getting a skin and a shape, they get genitals and run after every person they see (according to their own sexual preference) and ask for sex. They skip a greeting, skip everything. I wonder if they are aware of what SL *is* when they open an account. Maybe they think the other avatars are like The Sims, programmed to bed them. I wonder if they get disappointed when they find out we are NOT softwares. And that no, we don't want to 'fuck' someone who doesn't even have decent skin. And that it's a matter of seconds until we fill AR for sexual harassment.

There are also the scammers. Many times I saw them selling stolen goods. One even sells fake copies of a famous skin brand from times to times. My SL brother has a log of a conversation with the person, who openly said "if I get banned, I come back and do again, no problem." He got banned in June, came back November, and tried to resell the same skins. Impressive.

There is the annoying type. They don't ever use IMs or "say", they only shout, for hours in a row. And they shout their laughter too. Lines and lines of Huashuahuau and KKKKK. Not too mention that they also forget that SL isn't based in Brazil and the world has no obligation to speak their language: it's an American game. If it was an international game based in France and people wanted to join, it would be expected of the international players at least the basic of French. But this one is widely shared by many people of many countries. I mean, it's OK to speak with a friend who comes from the same country in your native language. What is NOT OK, is to expect everybody else and his brother do, too. And demand we know their language. And insult us in clear English when we don't!

I do know that there are some good Brazilians out there. But they don't even tell anyone they are Brazilians. I know many people from Brazil in SL who lost something or someone dear for confessing they are Brazilians: a CEO, a Bride...And this has happened because of those who spam, who harass, who steal, who are obnoxious. Not for who they are inside, but because of what others of the same country DO to shame and humiliate themselves as well as the others, and everyone else avoids them now. And it's not that the world is shallow. It's just how the trend goes. It's of the human nature to label one for the mistakes of many.

So please, if you are a Brazilian reader who does this sort of thing... Actually, if you are one of those regardless of where you are from... please think twice before spamming groups, harassing people, shouting, stealing. Please be considerate of others. The group you spam, the art you steal, the shop you shout inside, they are for everyone's use, but they don't belong to you. Other people sell their goods or show their art for their enjoyment or financial gain, but they are sharing with you - and everyone else, too.

So... Have some sense of collectivity. Honor your people and the country you represent, regardless of where it is. All are rich and magnificent, so let's bring out the best and not the worse. For one, I love Rio. I would prefer if people didn't see the noob attitudes of Brazilians, but rather, for the beauty we represent on the pic below.. Don't you?

Models: Adriaen Lane & Polaire Aeghin. Scenario: Rio.

Attacking the Noobs!

2008-11-24T19:22:00.000-08:00

Have you ever wondered why a new person would want to get an older account of someone else?

The answer is simple... to avoid prejudice and mistreating coming from older players.

Second Life is perhaps the hardest game ever. Because this game isn't about shooting and killing like counter-strike. And it's not a "create a world and watch it happen while you savor ice-cream", like The Sims. Or build something and watch quietly while people amuse themselves, like some whatever-tycoon.

And at the same time you have all of it. And more: you have sex, drugs, violence, and you have to interact with other human beings in a nearly constant basis. Humans that more often than not, use SL to show their "true colors"-- what makes hard to find good people.

And most of us get nearly horrified of the newbies because most newbies are perverts who want nothing but sex. Or cause grief and trouble.

And this is why most people on SL hates the noobs, the people wthout money.. thanks to 98% of the noobs, it is assumed that 100% of the noobs are jerks and few older players give them a chance. On top of that, noobs are target of everything evil the old players have inside them, as if they have forgotten they were noobs once.

So, if you want an account but want to avoid this awful behavior from some older players (not all do this but better safe than sorry), OR if you have an account and don't want anymore... First of, read read the SL TOS. Seek for paragraph 2.4. It'l explain how to do it in legal ways... unless, of course, you share your computer with some family member.

Also it isa great idea to read a LOT the forums, you learn tons there. And try to meet someone who'd be willing to sponsor you or who will bring you from somewhere else, with instruction manuals already loaded in your head. Otherwise you risk to join the team of the "mistreated ones", and quickly loose the taste for this wonderful, hard, and thanks to others, often harsh world called Second Life.

Clothing: Ruth by LL. Skin: Rockberry Demo.

Sorting the Inventory

2008-11-20T11:46:00.000-08:00

There is a huge mess on my inventory and I decided to fix. How to start however? How can a newbie start if they only remember to read the Linden manual about inventory management when they reach the immense amount of 40.000 items and the inventory doesn't load easily. My friend always have this problem and it hurts beyond anything (for him anyway) to wait hours to find one little blouse...

So I decided to box, box and box.

It seems stupid but boxing is the answer. Demo skins over 3.000. Holy mane. When I boxed them all, my inventory breathed relieved.

Then you box notecards. Making a folder where only the important things are placed. Like the data of your stream and receipts of land rental. The rest?Box, box, box!!!

Next are those calling cards. Really, they aren't THAT useful. Most people seek those who aren't in their friends list in search anyway, so unless they are useful to you in a daily basis... toss without fear. Even the friends online: they remain on your list.

Next, LM. Why do you keep 30 LMs of the very same shop? If the shop changed locale, toss the old and get the new! Simple! Remember those golden years when we could discard LMs as well as notecards?

Next, textures you don't use and photos. And last, try clothing by clothing. Sort them. Give what you don't want anymore (if transferable) to the first kind noob that doesn't ask for sex or money. If not, box it.. you never know when you'll need that ridiculous thing... And don't grab every freebie you see either. And try, immediately, the ones you get, to make sure you want to keep it or not.

It CAN be done, believe me. It can. I relieved 5.000 items of mine.

Migrating Away from Abuse

2008-11-18T19:37:00.000-08:00

So my journal migrates from LJ to Blogger. I prefer a little tiny bar on the top of my blog that matches the whole theme of my blog, over that stupid amount of advertisement LJ has put all over for free users now. I mean, I was ok with hosting my pictures elsewhere, with only 5 pictures or so for users. But I find the amount of advertisement abusive.

Worse: if the blogger is female, the advertisement is about pregnancy and babies. Ridiculous. Surely not every woman likes this thing of being a breeder. Since someone invented condoms - believe me or not, two centuries ago - pregnancy is optional, not mandatory. But it seems the society still sees females as breeders; and those females who agree with being seen this way should indeed being raised to be driving stove, rather than preach the suffragist gospel.

In any case, I am very happy to be here now.

~* Adriaen *~ * ~* Lake of Secrets *~