Shopping

In which I find an fun activity via solving an problem





So I was an egg for four days and solved the problem,

An egg at the top of the world

only to have it return aggressively about a week later. This time, not only didn't I rez, but my surroundings didn't either. Then I came back as some kind of freakish Frankenstein monster; all taupe coloured with sockets for eyes and ball shaped prims on my head. It was not a pretty site.

Luckily, the solution was the same, however: change the outfit.

I couldn't change into just anything, however. Turned out I had to pick something I'd worn many times before, something old. If I tried something new for some reason I couldn't find it. Later I found that changing to an ultra simple outfit, something with only four or five pieces, was my best bet.



At the door of a shop looking like play-do gone wrong



So I tried all kinds of things for several hours

        until something worked and I could get back to

being the adorable 1930's creature I had become.

More on that later.

In the meantime, I couldn't do anything without rezing so I did some shopping on Marketplace.This turned out to be a mistake on my part as I had a whole set of new difficulties in store. I didn't discover this until later, however, after things had gone back to normal.



After I solved the egg dilemma,  (to everyone who tried to help me, thank you,)  a couple of other problems sprung up like Hydras in their place. I may have mentioned that I love shopping at some point. One great thing about second life is that you can pretty much dress yourself and get anything you need for free or nearly free. Also, the Linden dollar, which is the currency used, is about $235 lindens to the dollar or something crazy like that. The minimum you can pay for something that actually costs say, $1L is $.031, so even the dollar items are even cheaper than a dollar. The really exciting thing to me was when I discovered that the "oh my God! They've got to be kidding!" prices; say $1.500L only turn out to be $10.85 or something, so you can get away with spending very little, except by accumulation. There are thousands of  free things in the marketplace, however, so you can fill up your cart with zeros and ones pretty quick. A lot of the cheap stuff is extraordinarily good, as well, so no need to turn up ones' nose at anything just yet.

In period underwear from Reasonable Desires and "Rosalind" wig from Cut up and Dye

Each seller sets their own price, so the quality is not always indicated by the price. You can also demo a lot of products, particularly hair, make-up and skins. I've bought a lot of great freebie and dollerbie merchandise on Marketplace over the course of my short life; but one weekend as I was cheerfully adding ten free things to my orders; nothing was delivered - four orders worth. I found out that second life had a glitch in the marketplace on the April 26th which was supposed to have been fixed by April 28th, but somehow in my case effected purchases into May. I called the help line only to find my only solution was to send an IM (instant message) to EACH individual seller and ask for redelivery. I had about 35 items to go through.  First I had to go to their store, (all their listings on Marketplace,) click on the owners' Profile and then IM them with a pre-written form I came up with which had the name(s) of the items I'd bought from them and an explanation of the problem. Luckily in a few cases I'd bought up to 5 items from one vendor so I could take care of 5 purchases at once.  I found as I was doing all this that  often, I could find the seller's "in world" store in their profile and buy directly from them in the virtual world or Sim (simulation.) So now I have another activity I can do while dressed up and walking around second life with nowhere I know of to go! Shopping!
Also shopping "in world" basically guarantees instant, no muss, no fuss delivery; so I have been doing all of my shopping there since my marketplace problems.

In wig and air ornament from Falln, Kimono by  Bhadras' Kimonos'

 I've sent out many IMs and even had a great conversation with one of my favorite vendors. I found a new activity and must now be careful of those little $2.50 minimum "buy Lindens"  because they do add up eventually. I now have a nice 1920's/30's/40/50's wardrobe and some fantastic hair and make-up to go with it, as well as the beginnings of a Geisha.
I'm very excited by the possibilities of these new looks. The great thing about second life is that you can change and be whoever you want from day to day, hour to hour or minute to minute, so I can go wherever m mood takes me. There's several sims set up for Japan in the 16thh or 17th century and some wonderful early twentieth century. I've bought a 1919 motorcycle from Gorgon Motors which can drive as well as fly, so I'm looking forward to further adventures in the virtual world.





In one of my new 1930s top and skirt from Vita Bella, fur by Donna Flora and "Daisy Mae" wig by Cut up and Dye



I am one month old and I'm an egg!



Glitchiness, lagging on my one month birthday...

I just had my one month birthday on second life. This is an important landmark in that world, apparently. In a way, I feel like if I've sustained my interest so far, I'll be able to continue until I get the hang of it.

To get back to the my second life story, I just want to mention a little thing called lag.. This is when there's too much going on, in a sense, or the site is having difficulties of some kind (I am not a computer nerd, so bear with me,) and things freeze or jerk or don't resolve into the visual world you've come to know and love. Or, even more dreadful, you yourself don't "rez" or become yourself, or your clothes won't stay pretty, or your face is blurry..ugh.

There are also glitches, which involve problems with being unable to remove articles of clothing, or change articles of clothing, or use a new program...etc.

So my personal best involved being an "egg" for about three or four days. Basically you look like an egg when you first appear; as your entire appearance is loading. Talk about frustrated..I got a LOT of advice on how to fix it. This involved logging out and back in, closing my Internet and restarting, restarting my computer, turning my computer off and then back on, and "rebaking." Rebaking is when you sort of "restart" the objects and things which make up second life and you. To rebake, go to the "advanced" tab on the top of your screen (you have to have an advanced account; which becomes a default once you log in and out once after creating your account.) Hit the "rebake textures" button and your clothing, face, whatever will become wonderfully crisp and clear; or you will magically appear if you are an egg. None of these things worked for me.

So, I called the neighbour who had introduced me to this obsession  world, and found that he was in the process of moving out of our building! Can't help me until Thursday and it's Sunday night. Fortunately, just before we get off the phone he suggests I change outfits. Wow! You can click on a folder in your inventory (more on this later,) if it is an outfit and select "replace current outfit" and presto! you are dressed in another completely different outfit. You can create and save your own combinations, incidentally; and when I have figured out how to do this flawlessly I will tell you the process.

Anyway, unlike everything else, that worked (my neighbor worked for second life.) And I now have more control over my avatars' appearance. The "rebake" feature can really fix those blurry problems. I'd been having trouble with my lips appearing smudged and the fine details of the elaborate clothes I'm wearing blurring either on the top or the bottom half.

Your body is somewhat broken into separate parts, as well as separate layers. This makes it possible to wear gloves, make-up, tattoos, shoes, and the separate bits of each outfit. Your clothing, etc. is also broken up into layers; which enable you to slowly build up your look and attire. This is extremely useful; as it means you can wear underwear, glitch pants, a skirt, shoes/boots, a bustle, another skirt, a top, a jacket, an overcoat, some tattoos, some make-up (applied as a tattoo layer) a scalp, a wig and a hat or hair ornament. A useful feature is the "add" button under the right click menu you use to "wear" the various items. If something is sharing a layer with something else you want to wear; like a shawl and a necklace; usually one will replace the other. The "add" button allows you to wear both. Sometimes one of the items will get "stuck," however and you can't get rid of it no matter how hard you try. At least, I haven't figured it out yet.. Another annoying glitchy thing..

To be continued...

We begin...

I should start by telling you a bit about myself and my work. This is the way all good stories start and this is nothing if not a story; so let's begin:



copyright 1993 Eric Fischer



Throughout my life I've felt the need to express myself visually; first, through writing and drawing, then as I became an adult and attended Art School with assemblage and installation, to performance art, (as it was then known,) and finally through the medium of dress and performance. I still consider what I do an art form, and began several years ago to look at the sum of what I've done in the last 30 years (30 years!) and look at it as a body of work. So I've tried to document it. The relics of these past works are in the photographs, journals, scrapbooks and clothing that I have used to supplement and present these personae.

With new media and new ways of expression being created all around us, it stands to reason that even my art form would be influenced by and hopefully influence these new means of expression. So here I am, presenting a new work in progress to you.

I will try not only to document my experience in this nebulous world, but to inform and educate; as I always have. With my work came the opportunity to teach and pass on the hard won knowledge of materials and techniques that make up the cloth from which these personalities are made, so here I will attempt the same thing; by sharing my finds, explaining how I've put these materials together and advising on how you can best do the same. If you are already in this second world, this second life; perhaps we'll be able to share our knowledge and if you are just beginning, as I am; or are curious, maybe this will give you some insight on a different way to live a second life!

So welcome to my musings, pull up a chair, get out your sewing machine, pull out your laptop and let's sit down and explore this Brave New World.

Perhaps you will enjoy my perspective on this new way of living. Perhaps you won't see it as living, or maybe you'll doubt that this can be a method of artistic expression. Let me say now that from what I've seen so far; there are true artists creating the world we inhabit in second life and true artists inhabiting it. So welcome to this experiment ---- off we go:

My SL Personae takes the Air

I'd been quite at a loss for some time as to my next persona project, considering how much my illness has effected my ability to  create and participate in the real world. I had been inspired at various times to begin to live and/or perform as new personae; including an actress from the mid to late 18th century, a courtesan and salon host from the late 19th century, and a mad Irishwoman from the mid 19th century. Sustaining these inspirations had been difficult as I lacked the energy and strength to pursue them.

copyright 2004 Bella Donna Courtesans

My last two projects, Elizabeth Siddal (an real artist from the 1850's,) and Seresina Olivia d'Hiverno; a Venetian courtesan of 16th century Venice, had gone very well, but the performance demands of the venues where I presented these women had become too much for me. I reluctantly acknowledged it was time to take a break.
I tried in vain to find a mode of dress and being that I could inhabit easily in my current state, but as my illness became more severe, I realized I had to focus on my health and try to dress enough to satisfy my daily need to present an interesting spectacle to the world, while making it easy and simple enough for my present state. Also, fluctuating weight from medication made it difficult to wear what I really wanted to. So, while I waited for my health to improve and my weight to return to normal; I cast about for a way to express  myself artistically.

It was then that I met a neighbor who worked for Second Life; an interactive virtual world with seemingly endless possibilities. At first it did not occur to me that I might be interested in this world for any other reason than a bit of amusement, but as I explored it a bit I realized I could do and be anything that I wanted within this sphere; so, this project was born.

To be continued....