September 2009 Archives

I hardly ever buy jewellery -- most of the time I forget to wear them. But lately I've been wanting to wear jewellery, and getting frustrated by the fact that I didn't have anything to match my outfits. So when I went to the jewellery fair, I let myself go wild.
 
The fair organisers did a fantastic job. I went several times, and each time I marvelled that I experienced no lag there whatsoever. I mean, no lag beyond the normal sort that I'd experience anywhere else in SL. That was unbelievable! I had my graphics on the lowest possible settings, but still, it was incredible. Of course, this is one of those times when it pays to be in a weird time zone: each time I went, there were never more than 6 avatars within a 96m range! (Or so claimed my MystiTool.)
 
I noticed something weird though -- with my graphics on Low, it seemed to make some of the textures screwy. I bought a bangle, then put it on to see how it looked like (if it looked good, I planned to buy more from the same jeweller), and the texture on it didn't look anything like the vendor ad. Then I tried it with my normal graphics settings on High, and it turned a great deal more normal-looking:
 
 

Click picture for larger image
 
 
I have no idea why this would be or what caused it, but I noticed the same thing happening with one or two other pieces. Anybody have any ideas?
 
The other thing I realised was, jewellers seem to love full bright settings. Why? It doesn't really affect me as I tend to walk around in midday all the time, but I hate the thought that I'm standing out like a Christmas tree to other people who happen to be viewing me at night. And most jewellery, I've found, is no-mod -- the items have resize scripts instead -- which means I can't turn off the full bright setting. Grrr.
 
 

 
 
All three items of jewellery -- the necklace and bangles -- are full bright! From three different jewellers! Sheesh! And this is something you're unaware of when purchasing, because it's hardly ever mentioned in the vendor ad. It's almost impossible to avoid purchasing full bright jewellery unless you already know that particular jeweller has a penchant for making their items full bright.
 
Here's the same picture, in daytime lighting:
 
 

 
 
I also realised that sometimes it's really hard to tell what the item is going to look like on you. I bought a few pieces that I discovered I didn't really like when I tried them on later. One example is this bangle. It comes with texture change options, but I'm not very satisfied with any of the textures (clockwise from top left: silver - gold - golden - metal - copper - wood). They all look artificial, ESPECIALLY the golden one, and the gold doesn't look like any gold I've ever seen. The silver, although I can see some shading on the texture, just isn't "shiny" enough -- it's lacking a certain something and looks more grey than silver, especially from a distance. Probably the best of all the six would be the copper version. I'm very disappointed, especially because I like the pattern of the bangle very much :(
 
 

Click picture for larger image
 
 
Of all the three pieces I'm wearing in the above pictures, the one I was most pleased with was the necklace. It fit well, falls nicely, looks great. I really, really, really like it. Even though the pendant has glow. *sighs*
 
 

 
 
Jewellery:
Right bangle: CentoPallini Gem Bracelet Opale
Left bangle: FS Jewelry Hera Bracelet
Necklace: J and W Jewelers LesLey Collection Necklace
 
Others:
Hair: Frangipani Designs Eva - Teak [no longer available]
Skin: Rockberry Uma Group Gift - Natural
Glasses: PrimOptic - Stilo
Tattoo: Garden of Ku Dragonfly Forest - faded
Top: Oriental Life Summer Feels Wee - Sprinkling Ocean [50% sale right now! Store closes Sept 30!]
Jeans: Zaara Jeans - Indigo

Tonight I was feeling a bit 'meh' in SL after taking a picture (which you will see after the cut, and is NSFW :P). Maybe it's just the low you get after finishing a task you've set for yourself, y'know? Like you've been so focused on it and enjoying it, and then it's done and suddenly you have all this time and space and you don't know what to do with yourself! lol.
 
So I scrolled through my SL friends list and I realised that out of about 20 people online at that time, there was nobody to really talk to. Why's that? Can't you talk to your friends, Quaintly? Huh? Then why are they called your friends, you silly goose?
 
Firstly, most of the people on my friends list I hardly know. They're people I've met once or twice, and we're friendly when we do meet, but other than that, because we don't know each other very well, we seem to have little to say to each other. Then there are the people I consider friends, but don't talk with very much. Why don't I talk with them, you ask. I think they might be busy, they never IM me so I'm afraid to IM them, I worry that it's too trivial to IM just to say hi since I don't really have anything important to talk about even though I do want to talk with someone... oh, the list goes on and on.
 
 

 
 
The funny thing is, I plurked about it and most people either said they feel the same or that they would welcome some contact; so it turns out that firstly, we all feel the same way, and secondly, we have incorrect perceptions of how welcome an overture might be. The strange thing is, one of the people who commented was actually inworld as well at that time, but instead of simply sending an IM to say hi, responded in the plurk thread saying they would normally welcome an IM; making me feel like if you really are happy to talk with me, why don't you just contact me? The cool thing is, two Plurk friends who read my plurk sent me friendship offers inworld! \o/
 
I find that friendship in SL takes time and effort to keep up just like in RL, especially because I'm in a really weird timezone compared to almost all my friends. If I'm always the one saying hi first, after awhile I wonder why the other person never bothers to say hi to me... and from there I'm just one step away from wondering if maybe I'm disturbing them too much and they're too polite to say so... and after that the hi's taper away and slowly we drift apart due to not talking anymore.
 
I'm feeling a bit distant these days from a friend I used to be close with, another friend has just told me he's leaving SL, yet another friend will be spending less time in SL due to RL stuff, a fourth friend is currently away on vacation, and of course Karl and I have split -- although we're still friends, we've gone from talking every day to hardly talking at all, perhaps because there isn't any reason to talk anymore. So today in particular I feel a bit like I'm "losing" friends left and right, and as I already talk with so few, to lose some of these closer ones is particularly hard.
 
I'm not even sure that the Bax boots, scrumptious as they are, can make up for this, but I admit they are a small comfort. I haven't been able to take them off ever since I got them! Go past the cut for the pic I promised ;)

This is for Ari ;)
 
 

(Click picture for larger view)
 
 
When I went to the store, Bax Coen herself was there, greeting customers as they came in. Seeing as the boss lady was around, I took the opportunity to ask her directly about a demo (sometimes I have a one-track mind, yes I know it can be annoying!). She said, "No demo yet, but I can guarantee they will fit you," and when I bought the boots, she offered to help me fit them personally! The region was restarting so she TP'd me elsewhere, but when I put the boots on, they fit perfectly from the get-go so there was no need for extra fitting.
 
I was impressed to death with Bax's friendliness, kindness, and her willingness to answer questions and to help. Awesome customer service. It makes me want to buy the red version of these boots too... oops :P  And she said she is working on a pair in brown! *dies*
 
 
Skin: Rockberry - Uma Group Gift - Natural
Eyes: Beloved - Lolite Eyes (large)
Hair: Aden - Windblown in Dark Brown
Glasses: PrimOptic - Stilo
Dress: Fireflies - Nerezza
Wristband: Zenith - Black Leather Bracelet
Boots: Bax Prestige Boots - Black
Posing prop: Burned Rice - FeelCube

I was away for the weekend, joining a friend on a trip back to her hometown to visit her grandma. No, I don't know her grandma, neither did I know her folks, who were going along too. But when I protested that I would be intruding on a family trip, my friend said, "Don't be ridiculous!" I figured it would do me good to be away from the computer, the Internet and SL for the weekend... maybe not in that order, lol... so I agreed ;)
 
Just before I left, Karl IM'd me saying that he had to move to a different parcel and asked me to come pick up my stuff from his place. A lot of the furniture in the house belonged to me, plus I had those (never-finished) beanbags lying around on his work platform. I'd asked him about all that earlier, but he'd said that there was no hurry for me to clear my stuff since he had lots of free prims.
 
I guess I'd just felt reluctant to go do it because once you take all the furniture away and the house is removed, it's as if nothing was ever there. It's like negating or wiping out your history, and so easily done. I'm not even sure if I'm making sense. Laleeta asked if I had delayed getting my stuff coz I was hoping Karl & I would reconcile. No, it wasn't that. And it wasn't denial. It was just... I don't know, like when you stand in a newly empty house in RL, walk around checking that you haven't left anything behind, and mourn for what is past. Even if you are excited about the move and love the new house to bits, there's still the pathos of leaving the old place behind... a place that's full of memories, both good & bad.
 
In any case, because taking my stuff suddenly became a matter of urgency, I went over and did it in a very "get the job done" frame of mind. And in the end, it wasn't the stuff that caught me -- it was meeting Karl.
 
He was on his work platform, clearing up his own stuff. It was our first time meeting inworld since the breakup. We'd talked on Gtalk since then, and it had been pretty normal, friendly... so I hadn't expected things to be any different, meeting him in SL. But it felt so strange, to be face-to-face and not to hug, to stop myself from saying "sweetheart" as I would have before. I felt... strained, like I had to rein myself in and remind myself that things have changed while outwardly he -- everything -- looked the same as ever... and awkward, because I wanted to be friendly, yet not too friendly? lol!
 
I was thinking about this on my weekend away, and thinking of my two favourite songs, Natalie Cole's Starting Over Again and Rupert Holmes' Escape (The Pinã Colada Song). I like them because they both talk about rediscovering love with the person you once fell in love with. Married couples know that love is commitment; some days you don't feel at all loving but you stick with your partner and hang in there, and then sometimes you look at the person and feel amazed all over again that they ever agreed to marry you.
 
 

Starting Over Again - Natalie Cole
 
 
Of course I also like The Pinã Colada Song because it is clever and I am a dork, and both songs have great tunes, but never mind :P
 
I don't expect that this will happen for Karl and I -- it's not likely that we'll suddenly realise we'd rather be together than apart. But although things didn't work out in the end, being with him has actually convinced me that an SL relationship could work. Like any RL relationship, both parties have to want the same thing, be prepared to put loads of effort into the relationship, work at keeping the lines of communication open, learn to compromise & be considerate of each other. I could go on and on. My point though, is that the same principles apply.
 
 

 
 
What does this mean for me? I don't know. I won't rule out having another SL relationship in the future, but I'm not in a hurry to find someone else. Also, the time zone difference between Karl & I made things incredibly challenging and Karl being married (therefore having other commitments, and a much less flexible schedule than I do, limiting the times we were able to meet inworld) didn't help. In an ideal world -- which, as we all know, doesn't exist :P -- my partner would be either in my timezone or close to it, and single in RL.
 
For now, though, I'm simply going to pout about the fact that Bax Coen doesn't have demos for their new Prestige Boots, which cost 875L. Those boots have looked simply scrumptious in every single picture I've seen on the various fashion blogs, but I simply can't spend 875L on shoes without first trying on a demo! If anyone else is wondering, the store's customer service rep said, "We don't have them yet :-/  It's on Bax's To-Do list, but we just don't know when, sorry." Retail therapy -- thwarted! Arrrgh!