No, I am not going to 'check this out'.

Am I the only person who wants to wrestle that gizmo called a blog hud out of people's little mitts and trample on it?

Yes, I know I can scroll. I have a fast scrolling finger. I just don't want to scroll through the 'check this outs' with pictures of pretty disco lights or whatever ten times a day just to find anything with any content before it gets pushed off the page.

And why yes, I'm grumpy.

Baubles and mustn't miss the train

Copy

and mod

and

tiny, tiny

prices

There's a free no-copy standing candle in my subscribo-whatsits.

Also baubles and pretty swags and wreaths and light strings (also for silly prices and copy /mod). And the cutest line of penguins ever. And if I could find the snapshot showing that stuff I would be happy. Sadly, trains don't wait for me to find an SL photo. Back tomorrow night.

Go buy them. Please?

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Napoleons%20Empire/91/209/27

Back to the drawing board

Scripting to me, is one of those love-hate relationships.

Hate, because I don't do maths (US translation = math) but worst of all I have a problem with anything 'spatial'. Me on skis - bad news. I can't even follow dance steps unless I'm facing the same way as the teacher.

So, getting a pair of double doors to open inwards, together - well, think 3 days of SL time. But, in the end it worked. Joy, rapture! Much, much was learned about rotation. PIs and axes and path cuts and non-controlling... well, lots of things.

The scripts I actually bought, which said 'right in, left out' etc. seemed perfect for a dope like me but in fact were useless because a) they didn't work (and I know why now.... sort of: it's all about that little minus sign and get rot and get pos, yadda yadda) and b) they were no-mod. Hmph. I really really need a tame scripter. And an SL millionaire but that's another topic.

So it was onto the 'let's modify the freebie ones', and as I said, joy. Opening doors, sliding doors... truly a Major Step for Avatar Me. That's when I really LOVE scripts.

Is it pathetic when seeing a successful compile is nearly as good as yet another pair of virtual stilettos or Slow Dance No. 7?

Yes, thought so.

Equipped with this amazing skill, I linked doors to my brand new build (the fruit of... a lot of SL time), and that worked too. So did the rezzer. More joy. Must put it sale and on SLExchange with link to my place so people can see it rezzed and I can become rich and famous and do lots of other colours and versions and get even richer and...yeah.

A girl can dream. If I actually cover my tier one of these months (cue violins...)... The house looks cute in sand, or ochre, or old rose, though. Must go do that. Except...

Clearly somewhat too pleased with myself, I made the cutest trunk with an opening lid for a little R&R after the bigger stuff. Did the bit I enjoy (much fiddling with textures and tapering and more fiddling with textures), redid the axes of one of the other freebie scripts and... it worked! Wow. More megalomaniac dreams of conquering SL with trunks that open and close (along with the zillion that no doubt already exist but again, a girl can dream).

Rezzed another. Turned it a little...

Ooops. Backflips and various other fun effects. More work on the scripts needed. Something about a local position not just a 'get position'. Too tired to care last night, so back to the drawing board today.

The art of apologising

Scroll fast if necessary. This is something of an 'all about poor little me' post.

I'm supposed to be a writer / editor (of boring, non-fiction, serious things). It tends to mean I rant about punctuation and spelling... and then mis-spell 'grammar' in my profile. It also means I type fast, which is a little like opening mouth before putting brain into gear. When will SL offer us a 'cancel that last post' button?

The above also means I need to apologise occasionally.

OK, often.

Apologising is an art, whether in SL or RL. It's also hard, particularly if you think that the fault lies at least partly with the other side. Making something sound sincere isn't easy, whether you're typing or in voice.

The head honcho of an organisation I work for once apologised to a roomful of people for screwing up on something. I was stunned, and impressed. Not the sort of thing you hear often at that level. He just said, quietly 'I can only say I was wrong, and I'm sorry. I'll do everything I can to put it right'. And he didn't have to do it - it would have been so easy to let other people carry the can.

I've had a particularly awful SL week, as in lost my main source of SL income (long story, you don't need the details), left my SL 'home' land (sentimentally hard, financially sensible), yelled at people (some didn't deserve it, some did). Got rapped on the knuckles by somebody I respect (deservedly) for taking out my crankiness on the first person to cross my path. Oh, and I put up a new store that later vanished from the sim and didn't reappear in lost and found. And yes thanks, I do know about group tags and autoreturn.

All that, however, is not an excuse for yelling and ranting at people who didn't deserve it. Arguably, that was better than demolishing a sim, and believe me, I came close. But friendships are more important than virtual buildings, so maybe a little virtual rubble...

Or no, it would have been better to take a deep breath, and let it pass. But it's not always that easy.

Fortunately, those in question accepted apologies, so despite being a little battered and tempted to do the the whole 'I'm leaving' thing, I won't. Flouncing doesn't exactly help much, right? Besides, somebody gave me gift vouchers to feed my inner Barbie and my texture obsession, which gave me the warm fuzzies, big time.

Again, apologising is hard. And doing it showily can be pretty tacky too, so my apologies (hah!) for that and for the dirty laundry stuff - but my point is that saying 'sorry' and meaning it is a good, good thing.

Accepting that 'sorry' is pretty nice, too. So thanks.

Grumpy Monday wish list

If I had my way, there would be:

- NO price increase for premium members sneaked in on us on some sort of dodgy pretext such as 'you're not using it how we wanted', after being granted some sort of 'perks' (and heaven knows what those perks will be, if anything). Besides, it's all possibly an effort to cheer us poor Premium mortals up after being described as 'immaterial' by a certain M.
I can't help being suspicious of these little treats we're offered these days. Can't imagine why.

- NO Christmas decorations, red dresses with fur on, or twinkling reindeer allowed on SL before mid-December. Really. Or Easter bunnies in February or pumpkins in early September. 'Seasonal', fine. Skating is fun. Commercial overkill, nope.

- NO more freebie hunts offering crappy stuff (and for 'crappy', see earlier rant on 'quality') being advertised all over the grid. Oh, and no idiots advertising BiaB crap on any update groups they can get into. And yes I know all treature hunts aren't for crap. But some are, and it's hitting people who actually work on creating not-crap.

- NO doctored posters in dress stores or on SLexchange (or whatever it's called now, and why did they change the name?). Exquisite does NOT describe a flexi-skirt that moves like a truck with bits of balsa wood showing on the bottom hem, either. Guh.

- NO profiteers. I've finished my 'give what you can' experiment, mainly because of one lady who could feasibly furnish a sim full of rentals with all she took, over and over. And over. And over. Shame for people who did kindly drop a few Lindens into the jar, but - I'm grumpy. So there.

- NO more camping for money.Tried it, thought it was stupid. I don't have problems with camping for items, please note, but I don't see the point in sitting on a chair for hours and hours to earn a dollar. How much is a coffee at Starbucks these days?

- NO bots. I can see the point of smaller areas using them to try and keep up with the big guys and their bot farms, but I still hate them. Particularly when a region gets clogged because of them.

(gosh, I keep this up for ever... but better not)

It's a wish list, OK? Personal one. And it is Monday and I am grumpy.

May get back to attempts to promote my stuff later, while wishing I had a virtual Uzi to shoot a virtual, twinkly reindeer or two.

Fashionistas, decoristas and obligatory plug

I watch the fashion feeds like any self-respecting SL Barbie. The accompanying drama is fascinating at times (and anyone who never ever found themself watching a drama of any kind and - even mentally - took sides or even felt like jumping on the bandwagon in some way, please throw the first stone).

So, anyway.

There's one designer I often see posting who has a really superb blog (no names, sorry, this is an example, not an excuse for an outcry). She's witty, dynamic and boy, does she get her stuff out there. I wouldn't buy it for all the rice in China, but I admire her and people like that. People with energy, who make their places buzz are - to me - more what makes SL fun than the most beautiful sim that is either empty or full of 'big names'.

Speaking of big names, of course there are some who 'market' by significant financial means, such as putting in lots of money for all kinds of advertising, smart buildings or sims (and why yes, of course I'm jealous). But if you have decent quality stuff that has a target audience, and a superb build plus and the surrounding publicity and exposure via blogs, etc., then you may well get a return on what you put in.

And yes, of course some people get their sims and fame by producing a damned good product that simply shines out above the rest. Somebody discovers it, and the crowds flock in. More power to them!

Then there are those who get it all wrong. Perhaps their bad, bad English, unfortunate ways of making a point, and a somewhat inflated opinion of their own talents will find its way into the 'news' - and this leads them into the fashionista war zone.

You can say 'no publicity is bad publicity', but I'm not so sure about that in some cases.

Those who feel sorry for such people always say 'but it's not their native language' (while others will suggest they go use the damned spell checker or find a friend who'll check it). Or 'but we all started somewhere' (the others will suggested that it's better to know the basics before telling the world how great you are are).

Those who are targeted can react in dignified silence, or outrage: "My customers love me", or fight back by hurling insults (more drama ensues, often involving banning a few people). I'm sure the temptation to yell and scream is huge, particularly when the pointing and mocking gets vicious. And boy, does it get vicious. There's no better bandwagon for some people to jump on if you can hide behind anonymity and lash out - through jealousy, boredom, or whatever. This, I guess, is human nature.

And what, might you ask, is the point to this post?

Sorry folks, none. Just a few observations. Makes me rather glad I make decor and stuff, actually. Or is there a decorista network I'm gloriously unaware of that fights over a the finer points of a well-finished couch?

Which, of course, leads me to the obligatory plug. I'm gradually revamping Vent du Sud with lots of new stuff, even though parts of it are at the 'under construction' phase. And dang I need to take photographs and box stuff and all that but I'm waffling here instead. Go check out the patio set with lots of built-in and couples poses and colour change cushions and stuff. I'm rather pleased with it (says she with total lack of modesty).

Mention the blog to me in an IM or notecard, and I'll give you da works (couch, chair, table, parasol, candle) for a silly price (depending on how flattering you are). New attempt at my own marketing!

The joys of posting to the wrong blog

My most humble apologies - just that I'm a newish blogger and thought I was posting to the Book Island blog.

Waffle intended for that group now edited out.

If you've never been there, go check it out. Great place!