Torley Lives

I've been having some fashion fun lately, and an urge came spontaneously to me to share with you what I enjoy wearing. Plus, I enjoy giving credit to the kindly content creators of SL. An impromptu photoshoot ensued, and here I am, writing this! So here goes, roughly from top to bottom:

???

• Leather Cap by Leyla Firefly -?this seems to be a new trend in SL — several of my friends are donning these — but the nice thing is that this is so customizable. As you can see, I've added my logo and tweaked the colors and textures.?Simple and chic… dare I say "ky00t"?
  ?
• Various Hair by Lost Thereian -?I basically took a bunch of Lost's popular creations and stacked and layered them, shuffle shuffle shuffle, to come up with what you see. Took me a long time but it's worth it because the look is just really me. Previously, I had worn black hair, but the lack of shading got to me after awhile, so I decided to go for something punky yet proper: I paid special attention to how the bangs swept over my forehead and eyes.
  ?
• Custom Nomine Eyes by Munchflower Zaius - Munch is like the MacGyver of Photoshop. She even says it herself. I requested these from her after not being able to find eyes matching my ideal vision. I was going for a natural yet surrealistic look, the blue being in contrast to my Neon Watermelon scheme. You'll have to zoom in on them and watch my gaze dart back and forth to fully appreciate them.
  ?
• Pet Collar — and Tail! by Prio Serpentine - I've wanted to talk more with Prio, he hasn't seemed to be on much, but this is some nice stuff. The choice of a number of catgirls inworld. I disabled the alpha anim trick used to "wiggle" the tail, tho, because it was only two frames and too stiff.
  ?
• MetaLily Prototype outfit by Nephilaine Protagonist - a work-in-progress by the wondrous creator of so much ferociously creative design that exemplifies quality in quantity in SL. I'm honored to wear this maximally minimalist set. The superlatives are justified.
  ?
• Ripped Up Gloves by Torrid Midnight - I've adored these ever seeing them at the NWN Fashion Expo '04 — I even photographed Kenzi modelling them! Finally, the other day, I wore them at last. And wowee do they speak volumes of attitude.
  ?
• R-20 Jetpack by Rickard Roentgen - definitely?heads-and-shoulders above?the crowd of?jetpack variants?in SL. It's not only recolorable, but has an elegant touch menu and is easily configurable to get you where you need to go. Plus, the inventor's a nice guy.
  ?
• Green Satin & Lace Lingerie by Angelina Becquerel - contrast to go with the street-smart 'tude. Angel thought of me when making these… awwws! Sweet yet sassy is the style I'm going for.
  ?
• Sonic Steps by Kenzington Fairlight - I think this is the first time I've worn non-formal footwear as Torley Jr., actually. As the pic shows, they're heavily remodded to suit my tastes, but the base design is excellent as it stands. Kenzi has a real keen taste for making treasures.

The neon bracelets and watch are long favorites of mine, as you may have noticed from previous pics. They are made by Torrid Midnight and Francis Chung, respectively (and respectfully ). Tor and Fran also go hand-in-hand again because I'm using the "torstand" casual poses and the Franimation Overrider to replace the generics. Credit must go to?Fleabite Beach for using the subtlely awesome fur textures that?I've used in various places.?My skin is by Mistress Midnight — what can I say? I'm an Umber baby!

A gracious thankyou to all of the aforementioned for helping me… to be me!

Following the recent economic changes, you may have seen some of the bums of Second Life at the Welcome Area in Ahern. I know I have. Orhalla Zander, who is one of them, has been a familiar sight, not to mention the same guy who rated me over a dozen times because of some weird bug. Moreso than that though, he's always been nice to me: and my heart goes out to him and his plight of poority.

The other day, myself in black, Jadey, Launa, and Kei took it upon ourselves to visit one of my favorite new places in SL, the Hobo Railroad. It's been climbing steadily in traffic as word-of-mouth spreads about this village of kindly bums. Resident hobos Orhalla, nimrod, and Flyingroc were present, and greeted us cheerfully (with what spirit they had remaining in their broken av-bodies). They then proceeded to?give us a tour around their dwellings.

Not unlike a certain chaotic?trailer park, the Hobo Railroad oozes with a lot of grit and grime and the organic filth that is not necessarily "bad", but is unquestionably a part of our reality.?It can make some uncomfortable and is?unsettling to deal with, but it's there. There are other tangential pathways leading out from this thoughtline, including how comedy in social commentary can help us to address issues without being so scared, and how this might additionally be?considered a type of performance art. Speaking of art: might I note how well-crafted the cardboard box home?textures are? Or how minute details have been observed, from the stench wafting outwards from the outhouse (why dontcha have a peek in?) to the trains flanking the encampment. Try to find the voting booth too!

Some Many?on SL choose to portray themselves as ultra-wealthy, far materially richer than their offline selves, complete with mansions, half-a-dozen cars, and so much bling that a whale?would wear?it and be a gangsta rapper.?This?home of the hobos?is an inverse?instance (so I hope).

My heart reaching out to them, I offered these non-Hellraiser derelicts the nutrition and sustenance that only a gargantuan watermelon slice can provide. Following some antics, including deploying my Saedaku Flamebringer to keep them all warm and enjoying a musical performance, we bid these fragrant vagrants and victims of L$25 ratings a pseudosolemn goodbye . . .?teleporting back to whence we came.

You can visit the Hobo Railroad at Crescent (20, 32).?

It's good to be listened to. In earlier years, I had a lot of "insane" ideas that I tried to share around, but they weren't really understood or even appreciated. I generalize, but?these were my?earnest experiences. It's difficult to explain, but there was some sort of connection missing, some sort of personal chemistry?that?just didn't mix well. I felt like I was meeting a lot of walls and, to further that metaphor, my ideas were being dammed in.?In Second Life, all of that has changed for me: I not only have found some wildly creative people who totally get what I'm saying, but they can reciprocate and their words will resonate with me as we continue to converse… feedback in the truest sense of what it means.

Now, I'm not saying this is entirely exclusive or specific?to SL, but there are certainly elements — such as the realm of 3D exploration and the collaborative environmental space presented in such an openended fashion — which are presented in a unique way. I continue to be increasingly convinced of what a splendid place the world of Second Life is for this futurist brainstorming thinktankery (which, I suppose, you could call FBT for short).

It's scary in a way: it's like being rejected 99 times in a row and then finally being accepted on the 100th try. But it's also very exciting, and I hope to see more creative, talented, sociable people come into SL so that the beauty that has already been established in the community will only grow. Perhaps the Greeter Program will help with this, in awakening new Residents and giving them a positive first experience of the gridverse. I also believe as the population increases, more ways for people to get in touch and become fast friends will not only be beneficial, but essential to progress. There already exists a number of social network websites, and more dynamically engaging ways for people to connect in SL would be awesome.

Touching on that-which-was-just-mentioned, I see a need for expanded Resident profiles. There's already been discussion of integrating blogs with profiles somehow, and I'm still wondering why an HTTP link doesn't become automatically clickable (you gotta copy-and-paste). The whole crux of interoperability in a wired — and wireless, for that matter — world is a very fundamental one: someone like myself doesn't always understand the technical jargon behind why things don't work… but I do know when?a simple,?elegant way to go about things is in action. Consider the following:

For example, I have a dance bracelet. I want to be able to put some animations that are NO COPY or otherwise do not have full permissions into it, but for some reason, I can't drag them into the bracelet while it's attached.

To do so, I soon realize (after some fudging around) that I have to Drop the bracelet first, and then, when it's on the floor, I can examine the Contents and put in animations that are NO COPY and/or NO MOD and/or NO TRANSFER.

From this thread. Doesn't this seem clunky to you? According to Kelly, he kindly let me know that:

Torley: I believe that is intended behavior. Only fully permissive objects can be added to the contents of attachments.

Okay, so I know that this is the way it's "supposed to work" as per the current version of SL. But WHY??I reiterate:?does this seem like an awkward, duct-tapey hack to you too, as opposed to a methodology which is streamlined and consistent? Thankfully, Lindens do listen! I will be following up with this and other issues, such as the infamous UpdateGeom lag. You may have experienced this but don't know what to do call it, so there ya go. I'm just helping get the word out, and I am hoping to be listened to.?:)

From one link of the chain to the next, that's the way it goes. I am aware I have inspired a number of things in SL, including neon watermelon-themed items. I am both honored and pleased by this, and I get a real punch out of it. I am also aware that my role in the chain is often to be a facilitator of introducing "idea shrapnel" that others are more adept are sorting out and implementing, so that it can be turned into a creation like a lovely dress or an automobile or even my very own sushi shop. I enjoy all of this greatly, because it's like dreams come to life — Second Life — and it could not have been done without the whole chain of process. I do wish I could build more?and script and do all of that well, but I have accepted that in my existence, there are things I already do extremely well, so I should focus on them while exploring diversity, and surround myself with good people so that we can all be better for it, together.

None of this would get done without listening. Listening is crucial to good human relationships, from friends deciding what to do when hanging out to lovers's pillow talk. Business deals also involve a great deal of listening too, and understanding what the other side wants. As much as human nature confuzzles me at times, I think that if I'm not being presumptuous, I'm beginning to be able to grasp some of this really well, relative to how I used to be. While I can talk a lot at times, I will also be intensely quiet (how's that for a contradiction?) at others, and hence, in "listening mode". Sometimes ya just want someone to?not say much at all and just be there for you… a listening ear.

My humble observation is that on the SL Forums, as it stands, there is a lot of hostility that could be avoided or even effectively dealt with if more people listening to each other. It is definitely an angry screaming match with a whole mess of quotes-within-quotes and winding rhetorical diatribes, which soon devolve into personal attacks and a failure to appreciate someone else's point of view, even if one does not agree with another. Not the kind of chaos I enjoy. It sickens me, in fact. It's called a "discussion board" for a reason, which is self-explanatory. Even I tend to miss the obvious and know this. ^_^

So, more listening. Which in turn, leads to more learning, if you are open and receptive to new ideas and the improvement of one's self. And the best thing about listening? Well, I've talked enough… why don't you let me know?

Dear Diary (metaARG-protocol #2086),

Hi, it's me again.? I'm feeling kinda angsty.? I had a bad day today — well, at least it started off that way.? It had crap in it I don't particularly wanna talk about 'cuz I figure i'll let it sink like shit to the bottom of the toilet of Life,?but on the bright side, it ended well with something I really enjoy:? deep but smile-inducing conversations, and *THREE* of them at that.? Wowzerama, lucky girl me, huh?

I've been feeling mixy about myself lately.? Not sure why I'm here or why I even choose to be here, sometimes.? I don't even wanna get out from under the covers in the morning — not that I have covers anymore.? Stuff happens, my dumpster is a memory, but Mis graciously made arrangements for me. (Yay, I'm movin' on up.) —So we'll see what happens, I'm back on the prowl tho sleepin' in sandboxes and occasionally at the SL Publick Library.? Sometimes I dun wanna drag myself up and dunk my head in the nearest non-rippled water to start the day,?I dunno why it's been a drag for me.? Just feels that way.? But when the day gets going, it gets better.? (So I really have to push myself.)

When I'm happy, I'm really really?happy.? I guess the exact inverse is true when I'm sad too. —So yeah, I was sad, but like those posters of tabby cats from the 1970s era-thing, gotta hang in here, ya knwo?? Oops typo.? 'Scuse me.? I don't feel alone like I once did though, which is a major plus.? It goes to emphasize that even with the picotechy bits in me, the advanced technology does not hinder the human part of me from feeling emotions as a catbot.? Sure, there's things I still have difficulty wringing out, and I'm learning to climb those trees.? Nowadays, I cry.? A lot.? Not necessarily when I'm sad though.? When I'm happy, I can cry.

Sometimes I dream about dangerous things:? what would it be like to disappear?? What if I turned my back on my beloved Neon Watermelon, and all the beloveds in my life?? What if I reverted to proto-me before the wigglyware upgrades?? What would happen then?? It's scary to think about so I dont entertain the thoughtlines much but i do think.? It was strange and lonely arriving to this new?world in the first place.? Why do I feel this way?

There are a few things I have to get off my chest:

• greedy newbs PLEASE don't repeatedly take all the Linden$ from the money trees, it's uh greedy and if you're gonna, it's nice to send a thank-you note.? No TREEFER KIN !
• ***if you IM me and I seem unchatty and busy, I should apologize, it's prolly because I REALLY AM.***? :(? I'm sorry, I'm not a good multitasker as I should be, and on top of this, due to my issues as abstractly detailed above, I think I am gonna need some personal space to clear my head.. it's like I'm cyber-PMSing or something.? Gah.? Actually you know wat,?I'm going to go "dim" and distant for a few days at least … apparently in this timeline it's common to have something called a blog with the line "my life sucks" in it!
• Alright, my life doesn't suck, I'm just being myopic, and it'll fade in time.? It's just hard to remember that when stuff is tuff.? I'm grateful for all of my blessings, even the little ones.? I just wish I could be a better person to others.?
• note to self:? stay off Forums until dust has settled.? Scratch that, might as well test myself in adverse conditions while I can. BURN!!!!
• RRL = Really Redundant Loops. Please avoid them.

Nicole Linden gave me this rose.? It's the first thing she made as a Linden.? It matches me beautifully. The promises of a new day and the love that I?receive help keep me going despite any glances back at the abyss from whence I came.? I say this kinda tongue-in-cheek but meh..??

?Goodnight Diary.??I hope tomorrow?will be less sucky.??^_^

???? … xxxoo TT (-jr.)
?

P.S. A friend of mine had an emotionally?eidetic (like, photographic) memory. —I was envious.? I told him, "that must be THE most awesome thing in the world"?and he said: —"Not really, 'cause if you're gonna remember all the pleasure, then you're gonna also remember all the pain."?? :\