Building My House on Tuscany Island

Wow, has it been a month-and-a-half since my last post? Where did all that time go? Well, another fabulous—if I may say so :-)—issue of Prim Perfect magazine came out, so that was part of it. And I’m also gearing up to design a new magazine under the Prim Perfect Publications umbrella—it will focus on Caledon and similar time-period sims (roughly 1700s to 1920s), with the first issue out in May. Zoe Connelly (of the Connelly Telegraph) will be the editor.

I’ve also been in a sort of funk, wanting to start building my house but rather scared to start. I’ve built some furniture and odd-and-ends, but nothing on this scale before. What if I fail? What if people think it’s ugly? How much do I need planned beforehand? So I’ve sat on my hands for the last month, content to do social things in SL.

Then fate kicked my butt and forced the issue.

One of my neighbors, who owned three plots on Tuscany Island, decided to move. Long story short—and it’s an interesting tale of struggling to communicate with someone who speaks only a little English and a lot of Italian when I speak a lot of English and only a little Italian (some of it hand gestures)—I bought his two plots in the southeast corner of the sim and Saffia (editor of Prim Perfect magazine and my neighbor) acquired his third plot and my old plot, which are adjacent.

[As a small aside, here's an example of trying to communicate with my Italian neighbor through Babbler:

Me: May I go inside? (DaVinci was showing me his new house)
DaVinci Leonard: tutti collegati e sui 2 fronti avrei anche il mare
Babbler3.17: all it connects to you and on the 2 foreheads I would have also the
sea

Granted, I think he was replying to something I'd said earlier, and it wasn't always that confusing, but it was a challenge. :-)]

So I took all of my stuff back into my inventory, returned the house I’d borrowed from Saffia, and stared at my new empty double plot, homeless. I really had no excuse not to start building now.

Heh. I found I could still procrastinate this indefinitely.

About a week later Roberto, a friend from Caledon, IM’d me to see how I was doing. I’d expressed interest in seeing a house he’d built himself and he was calling to find out if I’d like to come see it. It was a simple, nicely-built Victorian abode. I asked about textures and scripts for doors and windows, and he said a majority of that stuff he’d picked up for free—googling images for textures and trolling through the free items available on SLExchange.

See, a voice said in the back of my head, this doesn’t have to be hard. You don’t have to have all original textures and you don’t have to build everything from scratch.

But I don’t have everything planned out! I whined back. I don’t know exactly what the front porch is going to look like and exactly how the tower is going to attach to the main part of the house and what dimensions everything is going to be and…and…

Building is a creative process, the voice replied patiently. Like a river, it flows, and trying to have everything set in stone before you actually start dams the flow (and damns the flow). Go build. Enjoy the process. Don’t worry about what the neighbors think.

So I did. I plunged into the tumbling waters of creativity (okay, that was a florid metaphor, but it fits the water theme of the previous paragraph) and laid the foundation. A day later I had a few walls, and a couple of days after that I had floors for the ground floor, ceilings, and a front and back door (purchased). A query to the Caledon list about where to find a pair of nice french doors resulted in followmeimthe Piedpiper just up and giving me the doors from her inventory (Wow! I should ask about things more often!).

So here are the beginnings. I want to put stained glass panels over both the front and back doors but I need to create the panels first, so that’s why the middle of the house doesn’t have walls yet. The texture for the exterior walls I scanned from a book about Tuscany and I’m very happy with it.

Here’s a look of the back at the lovely free! french doors. Saffia suggested yesterday that I raise the ceilings on the first floor (I agreed with her), so I not only raised them, but converted the ceiling in the living room to a cathedral. I like the new height a lot better. The big drawback? Now the exterior walls are too short and the second story windows too low.

Ah well. Building is a creative process and it flows and changes. The important thing is that I’ve started. And I’m enjoying it.

Apropos of Nothing

 

My dragon hatchling avatar can hold a margarita. That is all.

Taking a Moment to Breathe: Spaceport Alpha

Nothing like exploring somewhere new to take your mind off your problems, so that’s what I did. And believe me, there are a lot of places to explore at the International Spaceflight Museum, located at Spaceport Alpha.

Sponsored by NASA and JPL, The International Spaceflight Museum reminds me greatly of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Unlike KSC though, which has a more-or-less clear route to follow through the exhibits, ISM goes off in several directions. I picked one at random and started to meander.

ISM has wonderful exhibits, like the solar system simulator (you can see Neptune and Uranus off to the far left—Pluto was off doing its own thing and had a pointer) and a map of Cape Canaveral.

Other interesting exhibits include a planetarium, a model of the shuttle robot arm (which you can maneuver yourself), and a rocket ride which will take you into low earth orbit where you can see models of the Space Shuttle Endeavor, the International Space Station, and the Hubble Telescope. (Warning on the rocket ride: Passengers will experience launch forces in excess of 7 Gs and reach an altitude of 400 km. Do not board this rocket if you have a fear of 1. Small spaces 2. Vacuums 3. Exploding. Heh. Particularly amused at the exploding part.)

You can teleport from the low earth orbit platform out to explore the planets in our solar system. Very, very shiny. If you do or see nothing else at ISM, see the planet exhibit.

At one point I’d found that I’d accidentally left ISM and meandered into Exploration Island to the south. Hey, but there are some cool things there, too! In the Mars Mountain area I rode on the Mars Explorer Rover Sojourner as it poked around, flew with the glider, and rode the airbag display as it bounced down the mountain (you have to be quick to sit on it!)

Watch out for dust devils here—they’re three times more powerful than tornadoes on Earth. According to the provided information, you and two friends can ride a dust devil around Mars Mountain.

After the dust devil passed I felt the need to rest a bit in the sitting area off to the right. Too bad I couldn’t pick up the coffee there—I really wanted a cuppa about then. (Below, Perry looks longingly at the steaming coffee in the very fashionable NASA mug.)

Then it was back to Spaceport Alpha and the ISM. One of the very cool things about ISM is that it offers a live feed from NASA. There are several areas where you can just sit and watch, for instance, a shuttle launch.

Rockets from missions past and various countries are on display here in the Rocket Ring. Built to scale, they make a striking silhouette against the sky. Information placards are located at the base of each rocket.

What visit wouldn’t be complete without visiting the gift shop? (I wanted some freeze-dried ice cream.) I did, and I found a WORKING TELESCOPE!

Okay, so it cost me about as much as I would spend on a good skin… But it works! It’s scripted, and not only do you appear to look through the telescope, you can also see actual NASA photos. Very shiny. I immediately went home and tried it for myself.

So if you’ve ever wanted to be an astronaut, or just have an interest in things spacey, Spaceport Alpha is a great place to visit. If you have more time on your hands, consider checking out some of the adjacent sims: Science School, Spaceport Bravo, Explorer Island, and NASA CoLab.

The International Spaceflight Museum can be found at Spaceport Alpha 49/79/24
Telescope created by Jenika Connelly of Jenika’s Eyes and Optics (Neon 23/75/22)

Taking a Moment to Breathe

I want to build a house. A Tuscan house (I thought that appropriate since I live on Tuscany Island). To this regard I’ve checked out books from the library on Tuscany, I’m researching how to create seamless textures, I’m scanning in textures from aforementioned books, I’m working on simple blueprints, I’m trying to track down where to get scripts for such basic things as opening doors, I’ve read one great book on building in SL and I’m in the midst of another, I’m collecting examples of furniture I’d like to build, and now I just have to figure out how to do it all.

I’m utterly overwhelmed. Yet people build houses all the time in SL. Am I making this too hard on myself? Am I overthinking things? Do I need to find a mentor? Or do I need to just throw caution to the wind and start building?

Sahara Design and Furniture

As the name implies, this store in Second Life sells items with an Arabian theme. The store set-up is pretty typical—walk up one aisle and down another with items for sale on both sides—but that’s where the commonplace ends.

The first things that caught my eye were the decanter and glass sets. The textures were resplendent, the attention to detail meticulous. I was entranced, and I’d only barely come through the front door.

And the amazement certainly didn’t end there.

Lush, rich, exquisite—these were all adjectives that applied to the wares I saw for sale: beds (some with interesting animations), furniture sets, hookas, wall hangings, mirrors, tents, rugs, cabinets…even a flying carpet!

Just look at the detail in the image below—not only on the cabinet, but also on the vase of flowers, the rugs, and the lace table covering.

A good selection of furniture sets were available to choose from that featured not just sofas and chairs, but also end tables, coffee tables, and lamps, all coordinated. M and F poses were included, along with some non-gender-specific ones. You can pick individual pieces, or buy entire sets.

There were also some nontraditional furniture choices (and animations) for the more exotic-minded. The item below is not your grandmother’s sofa.

A doorway on the right-hand wall toward the back of the store took me outside where a variety of tents were for sale, and taking the stairs in the center of the store led me to their Aladdin fantasy items, including pavilions and a flying carpet.

Items tended to be prim-heavy, but some of that is understandable given the attention to detail. Prices were reasonable. (I would’ve like to have seen an option to turn on and off the bling, though.)

Overall, this is a wonderfully thematic store with gorgeous wares. Even if your own home is not decorated with a Middle Eastern flair, adding a choice piece or two from this store will enliven any decor.

Sahara Design and Furniture
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Koala/127/173/52

Dawn

I happened to be inworld at the right time to experience dawn today. (It was coincidentally at the same time as dawn for me in Real Life [RL™]. Days are much shorter in SL than in RL—like about 3 or 4 to RL’s every 1, if I remember right.)

There’s a lovely moon setting just as the sun rises…

(In a previous post I lamented that my next door neighbor had disappeared, taking his house and leaving a big hole. Someone else bought that parcel, enlarged the hole, and added boats. Aside from that, ignore the boats and look at the beautiful sunrise.)

After the sunrise I went for a walk around the sim I where I rent land, called Tuscany Island. One of my neighbors has created an outdoor amphitheater, which is lovely.

I have another neighbor—the one that also owns the parcel next to me with the big hole and the boats—that has built a castle?…mansion?…BIG HOUSE on the far corner of the sim.

It’s still fairly empty on the inside and I look forward to seeing what he’s going to do with it.

Then there’s this other neighbor that has me rather bemused. He owns a couple of parcels—a fair sum of money each month in tier payments—and yet has not developed the land at all.

Just rolling hills…and a land description that reads: Asian rope bondage dungeon escorts submissives slaves dominants Mistress dancers strippers sluts gorean gor cum porn rubber fem.

Hmmmmm.

No More Bare Midriffs!

Okay, there is something highly annoying about the avatar’s mesh in Second Life that creates this unavoidable gap between where the shirt ends and the pants begin. This is fine if you want to go clubbing and partying all the time, but sometimes you just want to make more of a professional impression (and not that profession).

Some of this is rectified by creating shirts on the jacket layer (which will overlap your pants or skirt), but this doesn’t work if you want to wear your favorite shirt tucked-in, or want to wear a shirt and a jacket.

Thankfully some clothes designers are now paying attention to this problem. Yay! Within the past couple of weeks I’ve found a few shops selling midriff-covering tops so I’m going to advertise them here WITH GLEE.

Women’s pin-striped black shirt by Style Starts Here.

Preppy jacket and shirt by Kitchy Boutique.

Wraith top by PixelDolls.

YadNi’s Junkyard

OMG. Junkyard fits—there is some organization, but stuff is pell-mell everywhere. And the size? I am awed at the sheer quantity of stuff.

Here’s one whole wall several stories high with boxes organized by month and year.

Let’s just look at October ‘04. The boxes for that month contain: 15 Free Weapons; 16 Free Doors and Windows; 16 Free Buildings; 21 Free Records (audio); 23 Free Vehicles; 31 Free Lamps; 98 Free Sounds; 53 Free Gadgets; 79 Free Home Furnishings; 104 Free Clothes; 153 Free Poses; 20 Free Animations; 70 Free Decorations; 27 Free Jewels; 4 Free Avatars; and 17 Free Animals.

And that’s just October ‘04.

Textures, scripts, furniture, clothes, animations, attachments, decorations, you-name-it and it’s probably here somewhere. Granted, this isn’t going to all be top-of-the-line merchandise, but if you’re a serious shopper and love hunting for a bargain, or you’re a newbie just starting out—hey, this is your nirvana.

There’s also a Freebie of the Month area (anybody want a penguin?) where I found two useful boxes for my upcoming building adventures: Wayfinder’s Builder’s Tools and YadNi’s Junkyard Builder’s Toolbox (filled with fun things like prim and color charts, measuring tape, protractor, particle system tool, rezzer script, and much more).

.

Be sure to look for the pic of the Grid, taken June 2007.

YadNi’s mission statement: NEW FREEBIES ADDED ALL THE TIME FOR YOU TO PLAY WITH AND LEARN—A NEWBIE’S PARADISE SINCE APRIL 5TH 2004.

Wow. What a great service.

YadNi’s Junkyard: Leda 210/28/54

You Wouldn’t See This in Real Life

I check out a number of SL fashion designer’s blogs regularly to see what’s new. A few of my favorite places to shop are in the Japanese sims—the clothes are cute in a young, schoolgirl sort-of-way, and the prices are very reasonable.

I saw this today at BP*:

I made new eyeball.
its FREE!
It is in the paper bag in the basement of BP*main shop. .
Please get it

Here Be Dragons

The Landscape of the Month for this upcoming issue of Prim Perfect is the collection of ten sims called the Isle of Wyrms. As the name implies, avatars here can be dragons. Wanting a few more snapshots for the article, I went there myself.

The first resident I met was Skylarian Isachenko, a gold dragon who approached me after I teleported into the sim Limbo. Apparently I looked like a visitor. (Heh. Perhaps me standing there and staring around in wonder had something to do with it.)

Skylarian was wonderfully informative, giving me a number of documents about the Isle of Wyrms and dragons in general. (A perk to being an inquisitive visitor is that you might be offered a ride on dragonback…)

Very fun! I felt like I was in the middle of an Anne McCaffrey novel.

After talking with Skylarian, I decided to check out the adjacent sim to the north called Cathedral. Here you can find dragon eggs on display.

I’m a little fuzzy whether or not these eggs are for sale. If I understand things correctly, you can buy a hatchling or wyrmling (young dragon) avatar at any time, but not sure if from these particular eggs. (The adult dragons—wryms—are only for sale at special times of the year and only in limited quantities.)

In Cathedral I met Houkou Ninetails, another adult wyrm.

Houkou patiently answered my numerous questions and posed for a few snapshots, along with another dragon, Keiko Katscher.

With me in the foreground, you can get an idea how big these adults wyrms are.

Houkou presented me with a hatchling avatar of my very own as a gift from the Isle of Wyrms (an aquatic fire hatchling, which seemed to me like a contradiction in terms, but I certainly wasn’t complaining!).

It was a lot of fun to scramble and waddle around in this shape.

Houkou offered to show me around and I took him up on it. (I think it was a him but I’m not sure—gender never came up.) He transformed into a beautiful white wolf to play tour guide and I fell in love with his wolf’s prim hair.

I stayed a hatchling for the tour, partly because it was fun and novel, but also because I didn’t have a quick way of changing back into my human form without flashing Houkou first, which seemed like bad form, considering he’d been so helpful and polite to me.