exposeur

How to Disappear Completely

Posted on August 24, 2016

Second Life has the fascinating ability to be like a virtual Russian nesting doll, with its residents often falling in with a compelling crowd or niche interest, which in turn becomes the circles we travel within. Bloggers frequently find familiar faces at shopping events; photographers spy names from their Flickr circles at picturesque sims; live music aficionados often discover a musician or DJ whom they enjoy, and will venture to those events again and again. That’s not to say that these crowds, and so many others like them, don’t intersect. But they can also be very insular; on days where there may be 40,000 residents signed in and spread across nearly 25,000 regions, you may still bump into someone whom you recognize on your virtual world travels. A boon for those who love to socialize, but difficult at times when you’re longing for a little bit of solace and space.

There are parts of me that truly want to desire the constant connection that compels my social butterfly counterparts, but my introverted roots dig deeply into their solitary soil. While I do enjoy one-on-one conversation with dear friends and loved ones, I’m often genuinely at ease being all by my lonesome. And when life, First and Second, began contentedly feeling like a jigsaw falling into place last month, I wanted to hold that to myself for a while, as one does a treasured keepsake. So when I was in-world, an occurrence that’s needfully becoming more infrequent, I sometimes ticked the Global Invisibility option in Firestorm, which I imagined would allow me to slip in as a shadow, clear notices and make some last-minute event visits, then exit quietly without causing any fuss.

But I’m foolish, I’ll admit: I’d forgotten that Global Invisibility is spotty at best, easily surmounted by certain scripts and by peeking at the members list of shared groups, and most importantly, can lead to some grievous misunderstandings and inadvertently hurt feelings. I’m very grateful to my dear friend Victoria, who gently and graciously reminded me of this potential. Although my auto-responder still irks some (primarily because it remains persistent through logouts, so if I forget to turn it off before closing the viewer, it will still be activated the next time I log in), it’s certainly preferable to anything that may arouse conflicted emotions or distrust.

Still, I’ve had to reorganize and prioritize, and the measures of relief brought by easing up a bit on my previous Do All The Things endeavors have been palpable. So perhaps the better title for this post would be “How to Disappear Selectively”, but Radiohead is my sonic touchstone, and I couldn’t possibly pass up on the poetic nod! Flickr is still my beloved haunt whenever time graciously allows, but I’ve needfully relaxed from trying to keep up with the over 1000 blogs (!) in my WordPress Reader. I’m in-world less frequently, but enjoying those moments all the more, and while I miss out on visiting most of the events I curate in my SL Shopping Events Calendar, it’s still a genuine pleasure to keep that resource going for myself and all those who find it to be helpful.

One thing I’ve found that I have in common with those closest to me is I’m a giver first and a giver second; meaning it’s difficult for me to ask for the things I want or need, and even harder for me to be a recipient without immediately looking for ways to return any gracious kindness or favor. But sometimes being selfish (that dreaded word) truly is the kindest thing you can be to yourself. So I’m not truly disappearing, not fading away, just quietly haunting the periphery of the virtual world for a while, as I once more find my equilibrium. It’s a genuinely wonderful thing when you recognize that you need to come back into balance, and you’re able to make the subtle adjustments to do so. To once more borrow wisdom from a Radiohead song, everything is in its right place. Alla prossima. ♡

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“That there, that’s not me
I go where I please
I walk through walls
I float down the Liffey
I’m not here
This isn’t happening …”

Look

Maitreya Body – Lara v3.5
Genesis Lab Head & Skin – Melissa
LeLutka Hair – H-NV-0001 (Naturals HUD with flowers add-on)

Style & Pose

Thalia Heckroth Dress – Nisha Gown (Rose Solid) *
Exposeur Pose – Spring Singles 12M

Destination & Inspiration

✈ Sights: Furillen
🎧 Sounds: Radiohead – How to Disappear Completely

This entry was posted in 2nd Second Life, Second Life Fashion and tagged exposeur, furillen, genesis lab, lelutka, maitreya, second life, SL, thalia heckroth.

Body Gold

Posted on July 31, 2015 Updated on August 5, 2015

It’s the end of another beautiful week, and we’re right on the cusp of August, hooray! This is traditionally my favorite summertime month since moving to the desert, as we have some terrifically fearsome monsoons in August, and as a longtime thunderstorm lover, it’s often my only chance to experience a good rainstorm all year long. I certainly wouldn’t hope to be caught in the rain in the dress I’m wearing today though! ;)

In my First Life, I rarely wear white as I’m so fair skinned, it just washes me out and gives me a bit of a ghostly pallor. But paired with a lusciously tanned skin in Second Life, I’m in love with its simplicity and the way it perfectly sets off my gold and neutral accessories. Today I’m featuring exclusives from the current rounds of The Epiphany, The Fantasy Collective, and Shiny Shabby; please check below for all the details!

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Style
* Headpiece / Salt & Pepper | Jungle Headpiece – Gold | Gacha Item at The Epiphany, through August 4th
* Necklace / Salt & Pepper | Fea Necklace | The Fantasy Collective, through August 15th
* Ring / Salt & Pepper | Jungle Ring – Gold | Gacha Item at The Epiphany, through August 4th
* Dress / Azuchi | Suma Dress – White (in Maitreya & Slink Fitmesh + Standard Sizes) | Shiny Shabby Event, through August 15th
* Shoes / KC Couture | Luxor Heels (for Maitreya, Belleza, Eve, TMP and Slink High)

Poses & Destination
Pic 1 / Exposeur | March 2015 Gift – 2 | L$1 on SL Marketplace
Pic 2 / Exposeur | February 2015 Gift – 4 M | L$1 on SL Marketplace
Location / The Wayward Carnival

Salt & Pepper creates beautiful accessories and clothing, and I’m so captivated by their items from the Jungle Set at this month’s round of The Epiphany! I’m wearing the Jungle headpiece and ring in gold, which both lend a perfect touch of bohemian glam to any outfit. I’m also wearing the lovely Fea Necklace (exclusive to The Fantasy Collective this month), which is elegantly rustic (there’s an interesting combination of words!) and beautifully detailed with perfect gold and neutral tones. My shoes are from my beloved KC Couture, and thanks to the wonderful HUD that comes with the Luxor Heels, I found the perfect combination of a wooden base, bronze straps and gold embellishments.

And that lovely dress which I dare not prance about in the rain in? It’s by Azuchi and is a Shiny Shabby exclusive, available in 3 solid colors (black, red and white) and 3 tropical patterns. It’s another design that’s deceptively simple but beautifully detailed; and best part is that it comes in Maitreya and Slink fitmesh versions, as well as Standard Sizes. It’s also materials enabled, which gives it a beautiful, soft sheen and really brings out all the lovely details. I’m wearing the Maitreya version, and I did opt to alpha out my pelvis because my AO has a lil’ bit of booty-pop going on (entirely unintentional, I assure you!) but I’m thrilled with not having to fiddle with upper body alpha bits, which I always find to be the trickiest. Thank you, Azuchi! ♥

To wrap up, my sincere appreciation to Birdy for the gorgeous Jaime skin (with optional freckles and lip gloss) that’s on offer as their VIP Group gift. I had at first thought that the toffee skintone may be a touch too deep for me (once a pale gal, always a pale gal!) but having no hope of perfectly luscious, tanned skin in my First Life, having it in Second Life is a special thrill. And it’s just so pretty! The group is L$150 to join, and that gets you access to group gift skins, eyeliners, a couple of ridiculously adorable wearable pets, and also gives you access to gifts from the Foxes and Alchemy brands as well. Sincerely recommended!

I’m off to make my final push to visit every last swiftly-ending event. Be sure to save a few – or lots – of Lindens, because the Mesh Body Addicts Fair and WearHouse Event both launch on August 1st, and we have Enchantment coming up two weeks later. And of course oodles more! Are you fashionably exhausted yet? Time to mainline caffeine, because a new month is upon us! xoxo

This entry was posted in Second Life Fashion and tagged alaska metro, arte, azuchi, birdy, exposeur, glam affair, KC couture, maitreya, mon cheri, second life, shiny shabby, SL, the epiphany, things, truth.

Dress Up Dollz

Posted on June 24, 2015 Updated on June 24, 2015

There’s an absolutely lovely series of videos making the rounds called “What Second Life Means to Me”, in honor of the virtual world’s 12th birthday. Linden Lab has invited participants to share their videos, and it’s turning into a really heartwarming project thus far.

Having absolutely no machinma or video-making prowess of my own, I favor written words flavored by photos, and of late I’ve become absolutely enraptured with Second Life photography. I can easily spend hours multi-tasking my day away, working in one window and surreptitiously browsing Flickr in the other, delighted and awed by the picture shares of my fellow Second Life residents. And whilst exploring SL always remains close to my heart, and I plan to engage in much more of it soon, the allure of pixel pretties inspire something inside me that brings me right back to my youth.

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Fashion dolls were a spendy prospect when I was growing up, and in her wisdom, my mom noticed that I loved the Jem cartoons and figured a Jem doll was a perfect compromise. I loved that doll tremendously: she was larger than Barbie, both in height and proportions, which mirrored my own extra-leggy stature. She also had LED flashing earrings, that remarkably never stopped twinkling even if I left them going for ~~days~~ ~~weeks~~ months at a stretch. But she also fostered my creativity, because unlike Barbie, Jem didn’t have a bevy of outfits and accessories to her name. So I had to fashion them out of scraps of material, haphazard crocheting, and a whole lot of ingenuity.

In Second Life, we have exceptionally talented designers who – literally and figuratively – fashion amazing creations for the “dress up dolls” that are our virtual selves. And while engaging in the world of Second Life fashion is by no means necessary to have a rewarding and satisfying in-world experience, it’s something I personally really enjoy, and I feel blessed and honored to be part of the blogging community who also embrace and celebrate their love of pixel fashion. And here I’d like to give a special shout-out to Cherri Banks of Elysium Cabaret, who is so exceptionally lovely and generous. You helped me tremendously with figuring out appliers for my new and beloved mesh body, and I can’t thank you enough for your kindness! <3

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My look today is wonderfully easy and effortless (thanks to Cherri’s applier tutelage!) and is top-to-toe db Dollz exclusives from the Ross Fair Event, which is gracing the grid through July 6th. I can’t tell you how lush and sexy my body feels in these jeans! And I’m absolutely thrilled to have learned about appliers, as one of the reasons why I initially hesitated to try a mesh body was because I’ve always loved system layer jeans and how perfectly they tuck into boots. So when I discovered that appliers work similarly to system layers, I was over the moon. Content creators, you are absolute geniuses!

Oh! And a quick note about my shoes: they’re made for Slink flat feet, but are unrigged so they work perfectly with my Maitreya feet as well. And who doesn’t love a great pair of sneaks to kick around in? Also want to mention that my hair is courtesy of Truth‘s wonderful L$50 sale, which was recently updated to include even more hair packs. I think the count is close to 200 styles being offered in the sale room (back of the in-world store), and I’m unsure of the end date so go-go-go before you miss out on the amazing deals!