Isla Tartan Skirt from Mimikri

I came across this cute fun tartan skirt from Mimikri hot couture:

My outfit includes the "Laoris" elegant elven choker from Inca Temple, Takara Silver nails and rings from Mandala,   Dante shoes from Kalnins, and a white dress shirt from Connors. 

Why I Don't Wear Mesh -- Yet

The recent release of the Phoenix Viewer version 1.6.0.1591 with mesh support finally convinced me to try mesh. Prior to this release many, if not most, viewers used inworld could not render mesh properly so why wear it ? You would just look all garbled and partly naked to those viewers without mesh support. But now most viewers would render mesh properly so I thought I would give it a whirl.

I found a nice looking semi-sheer cropped lace tank top from Beetlebones @ Existence. I like the way mesh drapes nicely:

Unfortunately, body parts can still poke through mesh clothing items producing the familiar wtf look:

Mesh clothing cannot be resized like normal clothing or sculpted prim clothing. So, mesh clothing vendors provide several sizes to select from. This item comes in 5 sizes - XS, S, M, L, XL. I tried the XS since my shape is smallish but it was too small and my torso poked through in several places. Medium size was way too big so here I am wearing the Small. It fits fairly well but notice how the front of the top hangs a few inches out in front of my chest:

Normally I would simply move the top back a bit by selecting it and editing the position. You cannot even position a mesh clothing item! So, no mesh for me. Yet. It is possible that with improvements to mesh like the mesh parametric deformer project that mesh will someday be a significant improvement to Second Life. Maybe even as-is there are some mesh creators who design clothing for avatar shapes that do not have huge boobs. Till then, thanks but no thanks.

Boho Baku Aztec Gypsy Skirt

I love this colorful Gypsy skirt from Boho Baku. Previously I modeled the Fiesta Tie Dye skirt from the same store. Here I am wearing the Aztec Gypsy skirt and belt, basic neck strap tank from Sassy Kitty, and the Night Moves black velvet choker.

Boho Baku Fiesta Tie Dye Skirt

I discovered a cool hippie/gypsy clothing shop in Second Life called Boho Baku. Their Boho skirts come in a wide variety of colors and fit comfortably. They also sell tops and jewelry. Here I am wearing the Boho Fiesta Tye Dye Skirt and Belt. I matched a top from L&G - the Valentina Rose, for a simple beautiful comfortable colorful look. I'm ready for the Country Fair in Second Life's Eugene, Oregon!

LeLutka Shorts and BOOM Sport Tee - Cute and Comfy!

I've been so busy lately adding Wolfram Alpha query support to my Pandorabots that I haven't had time to show off my latest favorite finds. Here's a pair of shorts from LeLutka I just love. The sport tee and deck shoes are from *BOOM*.

Sintimacy Rocking Lowrise Latex Outfit

I recently purchased a discounted item from Sintimacy - the Rocking Lowrise Latex Outfit in black (only L$99). It's also available at the same price in red. As seems to be normal for the aptly named Sintimacy, the outfit is scorching hawt! Fairly easy to select a subset of items for my outfit, my only complaint was the No Copy boots which needed fitting. Why do designers distribute items that need modification with No Copy permission ? See my rant on this topic.

However, the boots resized and repositioned easily and the dialog menu provided a "delete scripts" button so everything went smoothly. Here's my modelling session in the Rocking Lowrise Latex Outfit:

*BOOM* Halter, Boyshorts and Deck Shoes

Recently I discovered yet another clothing store I love :) *BOOM* is a large shop with an excellent selection of quality items. Here I am modeling the Hibiscus-Green Infinity Halter and Boyshorts with their deck shoes. Cute! The deck shoes are a pain to configure - it's nice they are so detailed with 4 different color areas but each shoe must be configured separately, there are no presets, no way to store presets, and no menu option for deleting the scripts after configuring a pair. I like them anyway!

Machinima of the BURN2 2011 Man Burn

Debbie Trilling and the Burn2 Team have produced a truly awesome machinima of the BURN2 2011 Man burn. From the Info section of the video:

For the third year running, 'The Man' has been created by the team of  Debbie Trilling, Elfod Nemeth and Gypsy Paz on building and scripting,  with Lorin Tone on sound effects.

2011 also sees Aleeta Zelin join the team with a very significant contribution to this year's new build.

'The Man' build comprise 800+ prims and is 71m high at its tallest point.

Best viewed at 720p - Enjoy!

Phoenix Rising Risk Vest and Pocket Watch

Phoenix Rising must be going out of business or their minds since everything in the store is L$25 with discount items at L$1. I picked up a few more colors of my favorite vest and pocket watch as well as several nice tops and a gown. Super great sale - I have no idea how long it's going to last.

Here I am modelling the Phoenix Rising Risk vest and pocket watch. The pants are included in the package (now only L$25 !!). I'm also wearing a white dress shirt from Connors, Dragoness shoes from Kalnins, nails & rings from Mandala.

Fun Mermaid Ride at BURN2

Maya Paris built a fun ride at BURN2 called SkellyMer. She provides a free skeleton costume to visitors then you just click and ride. The cool music stream is provided by March Macbain. Lots of fun stuff at BURN2 2011 - thanks Maya!

I made a video of me riding the mermaid:

Five of My Favorite Second Life Blogs

Recently Hamlet Au at New World Notes posted five of his favorite SL blogs. Hey, I can do that too :) I follow dozens of Second Life blogs so these are just 5 I follow. It's a little surprising to me how few people seemingly follow SL blogs since the number and quality is high. I guess Second Life is still primarily an inworld experience but I find a lot of products, clothing, events, and pretty interesting socio-political-wtf drama in the SLogosphere.

Here are 5 blogs I find extremely informative:

1. New World Notes - Hamlet Au was formerly an embedded journalist for Linden Lab and now runs what is arguably the best Second Life news blog or anyway, the one I plurk/tweet most often.

2. Daniel Voyager's Blog - Ok, well, maybe Hamlet's isn't the best SL news blog since Daniel's is arguably better. Daniel is also a contributor to the History of Second Life wiki article. Both of these guys seem to have excellent insider LL connections or anyway they are right on top of official announcements, events, and trends.

3. Living in the Modem World: Thoughts on Virtual Living - Inara Pey maintains one of my favorite technically oriented Second Life blogs. Inara's is not strictly a technical blog - she also posts on fashion, design, devices, events, and more. However, her tech savvy is excellent and she provides detailed easy-to-understand explanations of breaking technical news.

4. StrawberrySingh.com - Berry is another eclectic SL blogger, posting on fashion, tech issues, lifestyle, travel, and providing excellent tutorials. One of SL's best photographers, Berry's posts almost always include stunning pics. I copy her fashion advice often.

5. Shopping Cart Disco - this collaborative fashion and gossip blog is the home of SL Secret and the What I Like series, two of my favorites. SCD is a full service blog with posts on all topics written by a group of bloggers and contributors.

If you find it too time consuming or tedious to visit a bunch of blogs then you might prefer to use an RSS reader. I use Google Reader so that all the blogs I follow are aggregated into a single view inside my reader. It makes clicking through blog posts from all over much easier.

Batty Suit with Tails and Jacket from silentsparrow

The new silentsparrow (the old location is now the Ozimals Orientation area!) is an excellent source for high quality gothic suits for men and women. They also have a nice selection of gowns, corsets, waistcoats, and an eclectic mix of items.

I've reviewed other suits from silentsparrow before, including the Ryou Suit and the Corbie Suit. Here I am modelling the Batty Suit with tails and jacket.

Black Transparent Latex Cape

The black transparent latex cape from Unique Needs can give any outfit a mystical look. Here I chose to go sexy mystic with the black lace trim top by Valen Texan and black thong by PussinBoots String. Sn@tch Royal bangles, Mandala rings/nails/bangles, and shoes from Kalnins complete the look.

Acid & Mala Creations Boho Long Skirt & Mini Top

I love the  Boho Long Skirt and Boho Chic Mini Top from Acid & Mala Creations.  The beautiful colors and flowing natural look of these outfits really are a joy to wear. This outfit demonstrates for me the way clothing and fashion can act as a mood enhancer. It's fun to wear, looks great, and makes me feel good - what's not to like ?

Coco Bodysuit, Ears, Tail, & Tattoo

The white bodysuit from Coco makes a playful outfit that can be spiced up with accessories to give a fun sexy look. Here I am wearing the white bodysuit along with the neko tail from sWEET, erotica ears from Zen Creations, the Night Moves black velvet choker from DeSSion Jewelry, Sn@tch Royal bangles, Mandala nails/rings/bangles, Kalnins shoes, and my Follow Me / Tweet These tattoo as a jacket layer over the bodysuit.

My Favorite Hair

I'm very picky about hair in Second Life. Maybe my head is too big or not round or something but most hair doesn't look right on me. Plus I hate resizing hair. So, I only have a few hairs I like to wear. Here are my favorites.

My absolute favorite hair is from Laq:

 Calico Ingmann makes a number of moderately priced nice hairs:

 sWEET Hair is consistently awesome:

 LALA Moon offers some really fantastic creations:

 I like the hair from Anaphora that includes this floppy hat:

 The hippie in me loves this hair from Nikita Fride:

Don't forget to delete the scripts in your hair after making a backup copy and resizing/positioning/configuring as hair can often have many laq inducing scripts.