Mistletoe’s Visit to Second Pride

EDIT: I got the URL wrong at the end! It’s http://second-pride.com , with a dash.

The Sky is Falling (again)!

There’s a thing that might come that could DESTROY SECOND LIFE FOREVER AND I HAVE NO CONFIDENCE IN MY STUFF EVER LASTING AND OMG WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO IF THIS BECOMES OBSOLETE?!

In other words, the same thing that was said a hundred times before in Second Life.

So, Linden Lab is working on a new virtual world and most of the buzz I hear calls it SL 2.0 and of course that means THE END IS NEAR!!! for the Second Life that we all know and love (to hate).

There are so many things that can happen between now and then that I think it’s just ridiculous to panic about it. And just ask my husband, I’m really good at panicking about uncertainty in the future. I dreamed up some of the most colorful nightmare scenarios you’ll ever hear just before we packed up and moved across the country last April. And I’ll say what he said: if you have a nightmare scenario, it’s good to talk about it and get it out in the open, because it helps you see just how unlikely it really is when you hear it out loud.Do you really, sincerely, think, that the virtual world that’s been operating for 11 years now, is just going to close up unannounced in a few months and leave you without your land, your money, or your stuff? I don’t.

It’s likely that things will change. It’s likely that some things will become obsolete, or that some things that already are obsolete will be replaced. But the sky is not falling, any more than it did with mesh, or alpha layers, or merging with the Teen Grid, or Zindra. It’s foolish to not enjoy what you have today, out of fear that you might not have it tomorrow. In fact in my opinion it’s all the more reason to enjoy it today.

Presenting: the SL11B Green Guide!

I rode the rides, got lost in the mazes, watched the movies, read the notecards, horded the freebies, got stuck in the sticky spots, climbed the stairs, viewed the posters, hopped on the pods, and now the time has come! SL11B opens today and I’ve compiled a list of my favorite exhibits.

On SL11B: Groove to your groove

So, the SL11B sims are all closed to exhibitors now, and now it’s time to wait. I’ve been working on the Green Guide, and I’ve thought about it and talked about it (not releasing any information as to its content of course!) and I’m glad that it’s being met with positive feedback.

In my real life, I’m not very confrontational at all. If I see something that is stupid, unless it’s outright harmful, I tend to just live and let live. In fact there are those in my RL who suggest that maybe I “let live” a little too much. It’s not the same on the Internet, of course. On the ‘Net, if something is bullshit, I’ll call it bullshit. If something looks ridiculous, I’m likely to say it looks ridiculous. Mind I’ll say it in such a way as to be about the act and not the person: if an avatar has spindly little t-rex arms and a waistline that would be impossible to support internal organs, I’d say precisely that, I wouldn’t say the person behind the avatar’s an idiot or even wrong for having what one grouchy old elf might consider a ridiculous form. I think Lola meshtits look absurd no matter who’s wearing them, but I’m 100% behind your right to have them. You like them? Then groove to your groove, man, and wear the shit out of those. Don’t worry about what someone like me has to say about them. But welcome to life, first or second: no matter what you do, you WILL hear someone say they don’t like it.

That’s just an example, of course, with the Lolas. Getting back to SL11B, or any exhibition, or anything that isn’t your own sim-on-a-stick at all, really: you put it out there, you may just hear someone say they don’t like it. It may really hurt. It may make you cry. Do YOU like it? Then groove to your groove.

Now, that all having been said, I’m not releasing a list of “exhibits that missed the mark by miles at SL11B.” Though, mind you, some did. It just doesn’t seem productive of me to make a public display out of what didn’t gel with my own personal opinion. And, this Green Guide is only my opinion of what really kicked ass this year. You may say “How could you even LIKE that?” and that’s your call too.

But it’s likely that someone, not me, but someone, may say awful stuff about your work. If you can, step back and look at just how much they’re saying is really a representation of themselves, not of you. And or be hurt and cry. And then move forward, building what you like, grooving to your groove.

One last thing, regarding SL11B. If something really wows you, maybe make your own list saying so. And, tell the builder him/herself what you like about it. No harm in that.

I admit it.

I’m snooping at SL11B. My build is done, I’ve got time to kill, so I’m sneaking a look around the grounds.

But it’s not enough that I’m snooping, oh no.

I’m also taking notes.

I’m Landmarking those builds that I especially like, that I want to visit again, that I want to show my friends when the gates open on June 22nd. I’m compiling a list of them. I’m thinking of calling the list the Green Guide, kind of as a homage to (or else outright theft from) Crap Mariner’s map that he published last year of SL10B. Builds he didn’t like were red. Builds that were good-but-not-great were yellow. But the ones that he really liked, he marked as green on his map. This will be a list of what I would mark as green on my map, if I felt like making a map. And I don’t.

Your build might be in the Green Guide. Or it may not. It may not have a hope in hell of making the Green Guide.

I can tell you why a build did not make the Green Guide:

• I simply haven’t seen it yet.
• It wasn’t started, or else not close enough to completion, at the time I snooped the parcel.
• I couldn’t find my way into your giant box of nothing.
• I found myself asking, “What’s the point of this?” and not seeing anything that could answer.
• It was an obvious advertisement.
• It was a tacky build. I know tacky’s in the eye of the beholder, but this is my list, so guess whose eye is doing the beholding.
• It had a giant, long stairway or ramp… that led to nothing. Or else, led to something that could just as easily have been on the ground.
• It used a bunch of Aley’s freebies and wasn’t a build made by Aley.
• It had a list of instructions longer than my arm, just so I could see the build.
• It didn’t function the way it was supposed to.

Now I’m not going to publish a Red Guide, I’ll leave that up to the evil robot. I’m also not going to leak the Green Guide until Opening Day (the 22nd). From now until then, I’ll keep snooping, keep landmarking, and keep compiling. Good luck.

Mistletoe Visits SLSFC7

You should visit too. Go http://slscificonvention.wordpress.com/2014/05/30/telehub-locations/ and follow the links to get there.

Overheard in SL11B Exhibitor Chat

This is something I find rather aggravating.

[Exhibitor]can anyone tell me the exact theme of this years SL11 please? So I can name my parcel
[Staff 1]: yes it’s on the website
[Staff 1]: where you applied..
[Exhibitor]: erm okay …………
[Staff 2]: http://slcommunitycelebration.com/
[Staff 1]: the empires of the mind are the empires of the future
[18:38] Mistletoe Ethaniel: Other way ’round I believe

Look, I know people get asked the same question 800 million times. I know it must be frustrating. But if you’re going to point out that the person who applied should know the theme by now, I may suggest that the person who accepted the application of someone who didn’t know the theme may have some share of responsibility as well. And I may suggest that the staff who quote it (in fairness, they may not be staff, I’m just guessing) should perhaps know it as well. Until they do, perhaps they could look it up on the website.