A Little Something Different

I was poking around on Flickr and happened to come across Berry's blog and her new meme featuring Ebbe Linden, which you can read about here. Which I plan to try to do in the near future, but meanwhile, another one of her memes/challenges caught my eye, and what I'm wearing right now in preparation for a new blog post... well that seemed to fit right in.

Here's her original post... but the challenge is to list five pieces of advice you'd like to give to newbies.

 

#1 - Don't believe everything you read. 

          I find that many newer "residents" come in with the idea that this is nothing but an endless sea   of pixel banging. And further, they seem to feel that this is so much the case that they don't need to do anything in order to get "ye olde sexy times."  Trust me when I tell you, Second Life is not actually populated by nothing but nymphomaniacs or victims of severe priapism. You'll have a lot more fun and maybe even get to that pose ball of your dreams if you'll approach both Second Life and other residents as if you happen to have met while exploring a new place. Because after all, that's what you're doing.

#2 - Know why you're here.

        What I mean by that is... because Second Life really defies description whether you call it a game or a social platform or what have you... I think in order to get the most from it - you have to know why you're here. There is a lot to do, to explore, to learn, to experience and so on here. Not only by yourself but with other people. Every day though, I hear complaints about pain and drama and rudeness etc and I think part of that springs from having expectations of Second Life and of other people that may not be really realistic or fair. Two people may come into Second Life with very different thoughts or ideas about what they want out of Second Life or what they want out of being here. The fact there's a difference of opinion can lead to a lot of heart ache.

#3 - Don't be afraid to ask questions.

        The learning curve for Second Life can be very steep at first. And even long time Residents can still learn new tricks. A lot of people get frustrated because even simple things can seem extremely difficult when you first get started. I recently helped a friend who was doing some interactive work in Second Life as part of her work as a Social Worker and therapist, and since she is not at all a computer person, even things like opening a box or sitting down and standing up seemed very complicated to her.  Eventually those things became old hat to her and she was even able to help some of her colleagues with similar problems. But without me to help her get started, she told me she probably would have given up and lost out on the coursework and training that was taking place within Second Life. 

#4 - Explore, explore, explore.

       Some of the coolest things about Second Life come in two categories. a) Things you can see and do and b) Things you can wear.  There's so much creativity, so much building, creating, designing, planning etc.. you really could never see  it all. But there's lots you can see. Undersea worlds, Caves, Cathedrals, Space, and it's always changing and growing all the time. So, get out there and check it out.  And as for things you can wear, I'm not just talking about what many try to do which is "Look like themselves" or "Look like a super model." You can be a panther. You can be a fairy. You can be a munchkin. You can be a robot. You can be a vampire. And on and on and on.  And yes, I know, I'm sort of on the super model track, lol. I guess it looks that way at least. But that doesn't mean I don't know there's other things out there.

#5 - Be excellent to each other.  The biggest thing, the most important thing is just kindness. There's a lot of generosity in Second Life. There's a lot of creativity and an ability to work together for common goals and the common good. But there's also a lot of petty drama and rudeness and general yucky stuff.  So please, don't leave your manners and your compassion behind the barn door when you sign on. Be kind. It will come back to you.

I did this shot to show that even when I'm being a super model, I can still get my demoness on sometimes.  I actually do have a post planned with this outfit so I won't say a lot about it now except to say that most everything I'm wearing is available at The 100 Block event. Credits will be on my post tomorrow and I'll link from it to here or vice versa. The chair I am sitting in is the Countessa armchair from Angelic Designs in black, a former 60L weekends offer.

Skin is by WoW

Top is by 1Hundred

Pants are by D-Style

Horns and Arm Bracelets by Arise

all at 100 Block