Too much on my plate!

I haven't updated in a while, I know! And to anyone interested, I will let you know that it's because I have been extremely busy! And I have to say I love it. I think I go crazy when I have nothing to do. :)

There have been many progresses to the island me and Damien were working on. I was so busy that I couldn't even write a proper post about it. Yes... I copy and pasted the press release! It's been a bit crazy from the start.
After trying to buy an island from someone, and not getting it by the time we wanted to start building everything in our head, we went and just bought an island. It was only $1k, right? A lot better than the previous price. Damien quickly went to work, building everything he was thinking, finally putting it out in the world. Then, only a few weeks later....
We were offered a class 4 sim at a super cheap price! Yes that's right, they still exist. And they are still only $195 a month. We could NOT pass it up. We paid a few hundred for it, and then realized we were stuck with 2 extra sims, and no income from either. Oops!
This purchase was right after a big lay off at Damien's work. We figured we better get to doing something with them. We transferred all the work on the Class 4 sim, both now named Loco Pocos. Oh... I guess that might confuse shoppers down the road....
Well, we figured we would sell the other sim.
My co-owner of Hairspray, who is moving out in September (So she says?), wanted to purchase her own sim. So I figure I would offer it to her in lieu of what I would owe her. I have to pay her for her half of Hairspray when she moves out, so I would owe her $850 (Half of the old sim price). She refuses to take my $1000 sim! Says that it's too good to be true and she'd rather buy one the regular way later. WHAT! Okay, thanks. :P So I'm stuck with it.
Luckily we got someone to rent the sim for a couple months. \o/ So we got back to building Loco Pocos. It all quickly blossomed day after day. Me and Damien often took walks or sat outside to talk and talk about it, and ideas would form so nicely. But with all this time and money spent on it was all still daunting. We had no idea how it would take. Would anyone like it? Would we be criticized? Would anyone even KNOW about it??
Luckily I had the greatest help getting the word out, and help in general with accommodating the sim for players. I'd like to give a thanks to my three biggest helpers. Jun Kuroda, Gabby Panacek, and Sasy Scarborough.
Jun, with your help I was able to get thru the stress of opening a new sim. You always gave me an honest opinion, and I could confide anything with you. Even when I was being completely stupid and ridiculous, you just gave me a hug and told me that it would be okay. Thank you. :)
Gabby, the moment me and Damien said we didn't know how to advertise Loco Pocos, you were on it! You were completely pressed for time, but you wrote out a press release for us. That's something we could *never* do on our own. You really opened the door for us.
Sasy, you have a nose for finding interesting things, and I thank you for coming to see Loco Pocos. And thank you for listening to our tour... I thought you were completely bored! But, amazingly, you both made a wonderful video, AND you gave personal tours to every big blogger you knew. You went above and beyond and we have only known each other a few weeks. :)
So now Loco Pocos is out there. We are still new owners, very nervous about our product. Thanks again to everyone!

In the middle of the build for Loco Pocos, I have also been working on.... Hair Fair!! This is my first year on the committee, and I immediately took on a huge role. WTF am I doing, I have no experience with this! :P
I am having fun. I am in charge of all building work, and I seem to have fallen into a big role as the "go to" person. I am hosting our communication site, managing many of the people, and coordinating many events that are outside my role. Maybe I am just a greedy, controlling woman. :D
I hope to make the Hair Fair an extraordinary event this year, that everyone will remember. And if you know me, I will be spamming you with stuff about Hair Fair. Sorry, I can't help it. And yes, my own hair store, Mirada, will be setting up a booth at the fair as well. :) August 22! Mark your calenders.

All of this, along with being a full time student, and having a part time job, I am feeling super super overwhelmed! Most days I feel like I need an extra pair of hands around to help me with stuff. Well, I'll get thru it. :) But I am confused. With all this work, should I have at least *some* money in my bank account??? :P
<3 I will update everything again later!

Hair Fair 2008 Photo Contest

Hair Fair Flickr Group

Do you love hair? Show it in the Official Hair Fair 2008 Photo Contest on flickr! We're looking for pictures that show the range and fun of hair across the grid. We'll be picking 2 first prize winners, three second prize winners, and 5 third place winners to display at the Hair Fair throughout the whole event.

We at Hair Fair want to show the love and appreciation for the talented people that make us beautiful hair (both past and present), and in doing so we have created the Hair Fair Poster Contest. This contest is for you to show, in an homage style, a photo or photos that show your favorite hair styles and the way you love to wear them, what makes them your favorites and what it is about the designer and their work that generates that affection.

The Rules (there had to be rules, right?)
1. Be creative, but remember- we're looking for pictures that focus on the HAIR.
2. Feel free to enhance your shot in your photo editing program of choice, but don't add text or borders.
3. Keep your photos at 512 pixels by 512 pixels square.
4. Photos may only be entered once, and only the person entering the photo is eligible to win. The same photo may not be entered by more than one person.
5. Entrants are limited to 10 entries to the pool total.
6. In the description of each photo you enter, please include:
Your Second Life avatar name:
Model:
Photographer:
Hair Style Name and Store:
A description of why you love this hair/designer.
7. All photos must be entered by Midnight SLT on August 15th.
8. Winners will be announced at the Hair Fair.

You do not have to show hair that is made only be designers in hair fair this year. It could be past designers that have left Second Life, or designers just starting out, or even hair you or a friend made. Some examples of what we're looking for will be posted on the group pool


Finally, prizes will be announced at a later date.


These rules are not all inclusive, and as the Hair Fair committee we reserve the right to disqualify what we feel is not in keeping with the homage style of this contest. We reserve the right to edit, to reproduce, and re-use submitted images. By submitting to this poster pool, all entrants are agreeing to the conditions and permissions outlined within the rules.

Contact Laynie Link in world if you have any questions or would like a notecard on the rules and faqs

Other Hair Fair Committee Moderators of this group are
Sofia Gray , Washu Zebrastripe , Sasy Scarborough

LOCO POCOS ISLAND

Damien Fate has gone out on limb, literally, to bring to the Second Life grid an interactive destination unlike any other.

On July 9, 2008, Second Life (tm) residents will be able to experience, first hand, the magic that is Loco Pocos Island. The island is built with a story in mind, and visitors are invited to search the island for pages from the unfortunate Captain B. Bonnik's journal. Each journal entry will piece together the history of Loco Pocos Island and will lead the visitor to secret locations where special tasks and rewards await. The centerpiece of the island is the mythical tree, Rokeden. With it's rich texturing, imaginative design and Fate's characteristic attention to detail, visitors to the sim will instantly become immersed in, and a part of, the fantasy that is the story of Loco Pocos Island.

Fate felt inspired to create Loco Pocos Island hoping to bring a unique experience to Second Life residents. "My dream was to create something new in SL, not with just a product, but a whole island experience. Something that is intuitive, bringing things to a whole new level and above all, bring everyone in SL together by removing all language barriers possible." Fate continued. "Sims can be so much more than just a store, avatars can be so much more than just prims."

Loco Pocos, which, loosely translated, means "crazy tinies", are the inhabitants of this magical island. Each sculpted avatar, equipped with a user-friendly HUD, is meticulously detailed and textured. The Loco Pocos are infinitely customizable via the HUD for maximum personalization. Each avatar is able to emote and gesture via the HUD and wearing any of the multiple Loco Pocos accessories automatically updates the HUD with the appropriate customization options for that item.

The HUD itself is designed to offer maximum ease-of-use. The graphic icons are easily recognizable and a users manual, translated into seven languages, has been provided for those who prefer text based instruction. Overall, though, each avatar and it's HUD was designed so that the end-user could visit the Island Store, purchase an avatar and begin exploring all of the island's adventures within minutes.

Prior to beginning the Loco Pocos project, Fate worked with the Electric Sheep Company, playing a major role in the development of such notable projects as Ben and Jerry's island, IBM Sentinel 2.0, and CSI:NY (tv shows and inworld game/machinima), independently developed a popular line of Final Fantasy avatars, and the mirada.smartHUD, an emotion HUD which, to date, has sold over 5,000 units.

Fate was joined in this endeavor by his partner and wife, Washu Zebrastripe. Zebrastripe is a beta lifetime member of Second Life and is the original creator of prim hair. Fate and Zebrastripe are also co-owners of the Hairspray Sim.

To kick off the Grand Opening of Loco Pocos Island, a massive scavenger hunt event will begin at Noon SLT on July 9, 2008. Visitors to the sim on this date will have the opportunity to win a unique avatar which will only be available during events at Loco Pocos Island.

For more information about Loco Pocos Island, please contact Damien Fate or Washu Zebrastripe or visit the Loco Pocos website. ( www.locopocos.com )

Photos are available from Damien Fate's Flickr Photostream ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/damienfate/ ) and from the Loco Pocos Flickr Group page. ( http://www.flickr.com/groups/815951@N23/ )

Hair Fair '08 Wants You!

Applications are open for Hair Fair 2008. If you are a hair designer, please contact Mikayla Kohl or Paisley Poindexter to secure your spot. Applications close July 1st.

PiP City is open!

Pixels in Pink, a wonderfully talented Relay for Life team, has invited me to their team this year. While trying to scramble around around our busy RLs, we've been able to put together an island full of our RFL items. We have also put up a few other buildings, including an education building and a fun roller rink!!
Please come down, check out our RFL items and show your support for the American Cancer Society. Thank you! :)
Click here to TP
Learn more about breast cancer, and learn how to do self examinations with our Free to Copy examination chairs.

Make sure to have a little break after your shopping! Have some fun at the skating rink! \o/

Is Second Life enough for a committed relationship?

I have been thinking about relationships via SL lately, both because of recent posts on other blogs, and from a few other things that were going on in the lives of close SL friends. People often talk about “SL only” relationships, where the relationship is strictly SL, and those involved in the relationship have ‘real’ relationships in their first lives. That, specifically, is something I don’t understand and I never will. However this is going to be about something else: ‘RL’ relationships via SL.

What I mean exactly, is a couple that feels that they are in a real relationship, but they have met through Second Life. Does this work? Of course initially I would have said, “Yes, they do work!” since I am a prime example of SL to RL success.

To give you a bit of a background, my husband Damien and I were one of the first SL couples to get married in first life. We met through mutual friends in Second Life who weren’t exactly happy to see us together. While we made our share of mistakes, we felt strong in our relationship and fought through the anger and drama thrown at us. Along with Second Life, we talked over Skype, which made us feel relatively close. Eventually, I moved to England and we were married (But we’re back in the US now). We are still going strong and happier than ever. (Please read the old New World Notes to track parts of our story. http://secondlife.blogs.com/nwn/2004/09/the_fate_of_was.html )

But what about everyone else? Was my story just a fairy tale that usually doesn’t happen? I had always thought that Second Life gives you enough closeness that more RL relationships would happen. You can ‘see’ a version of that person. You can hear them via voice. You can interact with them in so many ways that are so close to being real.

But I have seen these relationships fail for all of my friends around me. Sometimes I think that I’m a bad influence… making them think that it’s all easy! Although it’s painful to them, it’s painful to me too, to see so many friends get into serious relationships, suffer through the long distance problems, just to face a hard break up in the end. I find my circle of friends becoming more split up as well, as more of them break up from each other.

Couples breaking up are of course dependant on the individuals themselves. But lately I am thinking that there may be more to it than that. Is it because long distance relationships are too hard? Or that Second Life and Skype are not enough? And should people bother getting into a long distance relationship if they think that it will be too hard for them?

Having a real life relationship over the internet is not easy. If you are heading into one, please know that it will be one of the hardest fights of your life.

Working from home and ADD

Keeping on track of everything is very hard for someone with ADD. Keeping on track of only *one* thing is hard for someone with ADD. Therefore I face the difficult challenge of trying to keep my life in order while working from home.
I often like to multitask, as it keeps me from getting too bored too fast with one thing, but Oops! I can often forget something or never finish it at all! However, I think I am getting better at keeping myself on task.
Regardless, I often feel inadequate compared to my peers. I push myself very hard every day, to the point of exhaustion. But I still strive to want to do better, and to be able to keep up with everyone around me.
Perhaps writing down my list, in public view, will help me keep on track. I would like to:
- Be dependable every day in my new position at work
- Create 1 new hair a week
- Somehow get Hairspray to have at least 25 visitors at a time, and not all in the freebie store
- Successfully manage the building aspects at Hair Fair
- Actively participate in the PiP build
- Finish the required schoolwork every day
- Get an A in every class
- Be involved actively in creating Loco Pocos
- Making and keeping Loco Pocos a success
- Create 1 blog post a week
- Learn a new language
- Understand LSL enough to create simple scripts
- Keep up on world and SL news
- Keep my house clean
- Get Koji some obedience traning
- Cook *some* meals for me and Damien
- Keep in touch with my family

Some of these of course are more difficult than others, and I'm sure there are many that I haven't thought of. Anyways, there it is. I need to keep this up, and become someone who I'm proud of. :)
Also, I need to keep my blog posts more on topic. ;P

Big project starting soon

Me and Damien have a large project we need to get off the ground soon. We're looking to buy an island, so if anyone knows anyone selling, holler!

Thinking about work.

I really often wonder what exactly it is I do for a living. Every day, I am very busy. I have meetings, work, meetings, work, and meetings. But what do I do? I do spend several hours every day doing college work, but it doesn't fill most of my time.
When I think about it, all I do is ask my husband to do stuff. I go to all the meetings and learn what the work is, and I estimate hours. But, do I actually do any work?? Am I needed or can Damien do this himself? Am I really just his manager?
Is having a manager something needed for Second Life content creators? Although he does all the work that can be seen, I always feel that I'm busier than he is. If we were to work at another company, would I be able to sell us as a team, with me as his manager? I doubt it.
Maybe my job is just "nag". ;)

Testing the new blog

This is my first time. Be gentle.