- I enjoyed the Snowflake Ball vicariously… I puttered around clearing inventory but listened to @radioriel as they did a live stream. #
- Star Warz Cat-Cat attak ur base! #LOLCatCat #pewpewpew http://t.co/LZTjtmVi #
- @m_ethaniel Augh! The Linden Hop! So simple, like the jitterbug, yet it plumb eluded me. #
- RT @hbahimself "RT @TLEclipse Squirrel Appreciation day in Steelhead Boomtown January 20th at 7pm SLT" http://t.co/ivzdAuoe #
- @hbahimself I am really looking forward to Squirrel Appreciation Day. I'm nutty like that. #
- RT @TLEclipse "Lunar New Year's January 27th in Steelhead Shanghai at Shamian Alley at 7pm SLT." http://t.co/F65DWIZr #
- Better get cracking on my lantern then. RT @TLEclipse "Chinese Lantern Festival January 13th at 7pm SLT" http://t.co/f62ZA1EB #
- Typist relieved; meetings cancelled because chairperson went from total n00b to burnout in record time. #thingsyoucantsay #
- The rest of us will try to muddle along without the constant head-butting, miscommunication, 2-hour meetings, and wheel-spinning. #
- The people in meatspace wear too much perfume. #
- Attention, Bronies: My Little Pony avatars are pretty common in #SecondLife http://http//www.theawl.com/2012/01/the-bronies-take-manhattan #
- Dixville Notch: Obama gets 3 votes, Romney and Huntsman 2 each, Gingrich and Paul 1 each. Obama WINS, Santorum loses. #
- Dixville Notch: And that one guy voted for Lizard People, maybe? #
- Can't count before brain activated by caffeine. #
- On A Clear Day You Can See 4096m #SLOnBroadway #
- The Bots From Syracuse #SLonBroadway #
- (George) M Linden #SLonBroadway #
- A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Community Forum #SLonBroadway #
- @RosannaHimmel Two minds with but a single thought! #
- Hello, Avatar! #SLonBroadway #
- RT @MrKips "Oh, Landcutta!" #SLonBroadway #
- RT @m_ethaniel Proklahoma! #SLonBroadway #
- I'd like to accept my #SLonBroadway Tony award, but it won't attach as I'm in a no scripts region. #
- RT @AnthonyHocken WordPress, which powers 15% of the web, breaks their no-politics rule to speak up about SOPA. http://t.co/8VjbuaCU #sopa #
- Happy Rezzday @rodvik!! Thanks for making stuff. Wodjaget? Wodjaget? #
- @isfullofcrap Maybe Wheat Thins needs to introduced to bacon. #
- Kudos to @LindaKellie and @Ferd_Frederix for offering free resources to #SecondLife content creators. Got #buildflu again! #
- @AbelUndercity That is a disturbingly apt metaphor for all my online projects… 😉 #
- RT @ROBLOVE146 Ignorance is not bliss. #HumanTraffickingAwarenessDay #
- @SecondLie oooh, new hair for your #SL makeover… paper or plastic? #
- @wizardgynoid #Steelhead is down there somewhere… #SL #
- RT @oobscure We failed as ppl. We failed as a team. R failure was intensely personal #secondlife #lindenlab #history http://t.co/i3WgKLW1 #
- Criminey, finally figured out profile feeds and social networking from within Second Life… maayyyyyybe. http://t.co/iaL4sGnE #SL #
- RT @Music_Island Where's Torben Asp been? He'll be back in #SL with his sythesizer & original works Jan 28 @ 1 pm SLT http://t.co/0nzmTny6 #
- RT @SecondLie Inventory DB maintenance has been completed. If you keep buying more junk, we'll start a TV show: Storage Wars – Second Life. #
- @SecondLie Yyyyyyyyyepp!! #StorageWarsSL #
- @SecondLie Auctions would be about the same: "If you have enough $L you can certainly own it…Letsgoletsgoletsgo!" #StorageWarsSL #
- I rarely do #FF but simply must spread the frothy goodness from here to etaintity: @SpreadSantorum #
- RT @ROBLOVE146 Love protects. Love defends. Love restores. Love empowers. http://t.co/jbo203IP #
- That fills me with teh HAPPEE!! RT @vicwu Guys! Look at this!! *hugs all the baby seals* http://t.co/ZgDoE39x #
- Have 2 doc/vet appointments, 2 errands, winter snow/ice/cold finally here, and it's #Fridaythe13th What could possibly go wrong? #
- @MiyoDarcy Hmmm. PE= P*rn Equivalent? Too obvious? Nah, it's #SLMarketplace #
- Heard that, was awake RT @radioriel Tune in: http://t.co/Dn6teHFV – #nowplaying Jean-Pierre Rampal – Flute Concerto in G major – 2. Arioso #
- Awakened by ear splitting alarm at 430am. Window froze, sensor misaligned. Partner stumbling around in underpants. Comedy ensued. #
- Typist has dr appointment that may require swearing; she is increasing access level to G, M, A. No, it's not in Zindra. #wouldratherbeinSL #
- @Elviraafterthot Rated "absolute BS" for sanctimonious value judgements from a likely copybotter or griefer about nudity. 😉 #SL #
- I feel like a home improvement project – the kind where you punch a wee hole in drywall. Erf! #
- In the end the doc will admit I'm a mutant and move on. #
- @adrianpaul1 So sorry, what a loss to so many friends. #
- RT @adrianpaul1 @Alexis_SJ: Yay #Highlander ! @peterwingfield @cinemablend 20 Best SciFi TV Series Opening Credits http://t.co/JWToQzWi #
- /typist nods head. "Ah, #Highlander season 3. We spent hours dissecting every episode in the AOL chat I hosted. Good times." #
- Proof of my old-skool #Highlander fan cred. Nowadays I chat on #SecondLife in "3-D" with music and "nize hets." http://t.co/H0Z1D9r8 #
- File under "schmot." Some Subscribo-matics in #SecondLife now offer RSS feeds instead of sending announcements. http://t.co/ceE1DYLp #SL #
Dhughan here, recommending Music For Builders. Whilst messing about with floating lanterns that fell 500 metres and buried themselves in abandoned mines in Steelhead St Helens, I listened to an excellent programme, hosted live by Carter Denja. Radio Riel is essential to maintaining one’s cool while excavating down to the Second Life water table to find physical objects set to float… wait for it! on the surface.
My other floating lantern, which Miss Bug made in a class project, floats so enthusiastically that it would go into space if not constrained by a ceiling.
Clearly, more study (my take, break, remake method) is required.
Soothing music will be required in vast quantities. Thank goodness for Radio Riel.O
Tango Night is back! Tonight’s Monday Night World Music explores the heart-racing thrill of this Argentine music form. From masters of the orchestral form like Astor Piazzola, to legendary vocalists like Carlos Gardel and Julio Sosa, to the modern electrotango pioneers like Carlos Libedinsky and the Gotan Project – get ready to dance the night away in sultry style.
This was an excellent show, wonderful music, and hope to tune in again. I usually stay on the Riel Reverie stream, but the Main channel has interesting programs with actual hosts.
Link: Radio Riel: Una Música Brutal – Tango Night, 6-8:30PM SLT
Dhughan Froobert is a Steampunk resident in Second Life who putters around with prims and takes pictures of same. He occasionally manifests as a small Victorian otter.
Yes, yes, Dhughan here, very slack of me to disappear like that. I happened to be very busy avoiding as much work as possible during the holidays. Back again in good old Steelhead Shanghai, and there certainly are interesting things happpening this week.
—- Chinese New Year 2012: Year of the Dragon – Breathing Fire into the New Year
Chinese New Year is the longest and most important celebration in the Chinese calendar. The Chinese year 4710 begins on Jan. 23, 2012.
Chinese months are reckoned by the lunar calendar, with each month beginning on the darkest day. New Year festivities traditionally start on the first day of the month and continue until the fifteenth, when the moon is brightest. In China, people may take weeks of holiday from work to prepare for and celebrate the New Year.
Legend has it that in ancient times, Buddha asked all the animals to meet him on Chinese New Year. Twelve came, and Buddha named a year after each one. He announced that the people born in each animal’s year would have some of that animal’s personality. Those born in dragon years are innovative, brave, and passionate.
That sounds very flattering to those of dragonkind, but unfortunately I’m a bit of an ox. However, there’s a great deal of energy and effort being put forth in Steelhead generally these days (goodness, one look at the Social Calendar in the town Ning-thingy and you wonder when the locals eat, sleep, or Get Things Done).
—- Friday, January 13th: Lantern Festival in Steelhead Shanghai Bay
The lantern festival is held on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. Some of the lanterns may be works of art, painted with birds, animals, flowers, zodiac signs, and scenes from legend and history. People hang glowing lanterns in temples, and carry lanterns to an evening parade under the light of the full moon.
Lantern Building Festival: Anyone interested may participate. Make a lantern, either floating or hovering or to be hung on a string. 4 prim max and send to TotalSolarEclipse Resident. We’ll rezz out the lanterns in the bay and dance among the lights.
I have actually been motivated to Make Something, or Two or Three Somethings, by myself tonight. Er, well, I adapted a freebie rotating lantern, but the texture for the shade is the fearsome dragon seen above. I was also motivated to fool around with something I tried long ago called “SL-Prim-Emboss“, a very primitive sculpt-relief maker. Some forum folks worked out how to use it several years ago, and it still works. I did not bother with following their suggestions as to making it a fully rendered prim; for the moment it was enough to make a double-sided panel, in low relief, with a nice teak frame and linen backing.
Here is a side-by-side comparison of it, lit and unlit. The lantern at the lower left is based on a freebie one by Babu Oh. I spent an enjoyable few hours taking it apart to see how it worked, breaking it, and then fixing it. This is how I learn things: take them apart, break them, and put them back in working order before someone discovers it.
Here now followeth a short discourse on The Disorganizer’s Guide To Organization:
I fussed about trying to fix the way my aetheric device displays images from the excellently free GIMP program; I ended up installing some infernal foreign code called Sagethumbs. Some users at the forum complained that layer files sometimes did not display correctly if transparent layers appeared above “visible” layers, but I hit on a rather clever solution. I mostly use layer files to create marketing flyers for my virtual shop on the Marketplace, so I will add my final “flyer” .PNG image to the top of the layer stack, to act as a lead image.
Here endeth the discourse
Right, well… in the course of all that blather, I reorganized my virtual shop (had forgotten about those blasted “Magic Boxes” needing to be rezzed out).
And now I’m feeling tolerably satisfied about having got things done.
What else is happening in Steelhead this month?
—- Friday, January 20th: Squirrel Appreciation Day
Squirrel Appreciation Day is an opportunity to enjoy and appreciate your tree climbing, nut gathering neighborhood squirrels. It’s held in mid-winter when food sources are scarce for squirrels and other wildlife. Sure, squirrels spent all fall gathering and “squirreling ” away food. But, their supplies may not be enough. And, the variety of food is limited. So, give them an extra special treat today to supplement their winter diets.
I quite like squirrels, the little beggars chatter amusingly. I once encountered an old chap feeding them in a London park; he seemed pretty fond of them but they’re not everybody’s favorite.
Some say they are an acquired taste, but I don’t frequent those sorts of restaurants.
—- Friday January 27th: Lunar New Year: Year of the Dragon
Celebrated in Steelhead Shanghai, hosted by Krystine Quinan
Excellent, more Year of the Dragon celebrations. As it happens I have a number of dragon images so I hope to make some more interesting items. Or, perhaps I shall hibernate. It could go either way.
Ooh! Fun events to entertain and distract the discerning Steampunk resident:
R.S.V.P. to Mr TotalLunar Eclipse; be there or he’ll eat you and stomp on your house, in that order.
That may seem unnecessarily harsh, to destroy your home after you’re dead, but dragons are notoriously hot-tempered and really hold a grudge.
Better mark your cslendars, I’m just sayin’.
Also, too: SQUIRRELL!!1!
Link: Eclipse: Chinese New Years in Steelhead 2012
- Many funs had last night, dancing at Lacamas Reading Room/Cafe Wellstone in #SecondLife I made some dumb Occupy signs to wear. #
- Trying #Firestorm again (sorry so late) RT @InaraPey "Blog post: "Firestorm 3.2 Release: In-depth" – http://t.co/dVmluLXh #SL #SecondLife" #
- Had weird problems with V3 last night, then muted myself in Imprudence (older version). So, #Firestorm .. How you doin'? #
- In #SecondLife I flirt with third party viewers like some people hang out at infohubs. #
- @MoodyLoner you could ask Michelle Bachmann that, but the answer is always "GOD SAYS I SHOULD BE PRESIDENT." #
- RT @torley "We're having some problems with our morality subroutines." That's going to be a fun JIRA thread. 😉 #
- RT @SecondLie "The Mayan calendar ends in 2012, but none of you can afford Maya. Use Blender to make sculpties instead." Set LOD to 3! #
- How goes the Great Exodus from http://t.co/BQ8TGxyv? Smooth, bumpy, or frappé? #
- RT @GinnyRED57 "New Post:: Bob Anderson Dead: Sword-Master Not Immortal After All" #Highlander http://t.co/ljU3fBir #
- @MoodyLoner You'll be relived to know there's a National Geographic script for GIMP, then. 😉 #
- @MoodyLoner You saw that, too. I was sad there was no mention of his work on #Highlander but the franchise rep is trash. #BobAnderson #
- You thought I was kidding, right? @MoodyLoner http://http//registry.gimp.org/node/9592 #
- @MoodyLoner Wait, I think I've got 'em in my hip pockets. #holiday15lbs #
- Resolved for 2012: continue breathing. #
- /me glances innocently at clue free #RL cow-orkers who wore too much goddamn perfume. #
- Also resolved in 2012: Less goddamn swearing, goddamn it. #
- I went to Grizzy's Cafe for the last hurrah. Then checked in with #CafeWellstone and #Steelhead Forgot worries. #
- RT @GinnyRED57 "Welcome to day 2 of the "no swearing, goddammit" initiative. #
- @isfullofcrap Since you did situps, I'll walk at lunch. Right past the health club in the basement, but I'll walk. #
- @revpaperboy "A People's History of the United States," by Howard Zinn. It'll warm your commie Canadian heart. #
- Just one more day, and Iowa sinks back into corn-fed obscurity. #
- @rimbaudsmuse Thanks for posting that link. Now wishing I'd participated in "las posadas" at Epiphany in #SecondLife this year. #
- @MoodyLoner Nope, still funny. Deserves its own hashtag. #SantorumComesFromBehind #
- Enjoyed listening to Radio Riel for my walk. Back to the cavorite mines for me now. #steampunk #
- Why is #Imprudence / #Kokua wiki full of spam? Check http://t.co/21GfQC9P , click "Recent Changes" or "Random Page." #SecondLife #
- Just one more day, and Iowa sinks back into corn-fed obscurity. #
- RT @AbelUndercity "Virtual civilizations have risen and fallen since the last #SLTweetup When are we doing this thing again" #SecondLife #
- THIS. Oh, this. RT @IndigoMertel "To the Lindens, Past & Present | Sand Castle Studios" http://t.co/cNvfIsPo #SecondLife #
- Looks like Frothy the No-Man almost pulled victory out of his underfunded a$$ last night. #
- And now I've got that song stuck in my head, except everything's all hot cocoa. You're welcome. #
- Stumpity-stump-stump, Stumpity-stump-stump. #FrothyTheNo ManLyrics #
- One of my earliest #SecondLife experiences was a penguin themed hunt. RT @CoreefJanus "Poppin' Penguin Hunt http://t.co/1QpZgRXA" #
- RT @DirkTalamasca FROTHY http://t.co/6SlXYahB // additional reading: http://t.co/mPN6dHwU #
- This looks like fun, do they have a steampunk version? #SecondLife http://http//secondlife.com/destination/bumper-boats #
- @SecondLie Waffles! Yes, please. http://t.co/6wPxRuoC #
- @HolocluckHenly Ooh, I like Glenn Miller. Guess in #SL my favorites would be "String Of Prims" or "Little Sculpty Jug." 😉 #
- Stupid GOP, voter trix are for Democrats: RT @jimtarber @HuffingtonPost "Vote-counting mistake in Iowa" http://t.co/BYwSXL7o #
- (That's Just) Elmer's Stream RT @m_ethaniel "@HolocluckHenly @LelaniCarver Do I smell another hashtag game?" #SLSwing #
- Pardon me, bot… Is that the RT @m_ethaniel "Heterocera Choo-Choo" #SLSwing #
- Other composers work, too: "Rhapsody in (RGB: 0, 0, 255)" #SLSwing #
- Breedables pets wanna hear "In The Meerood" #SLSwing #
- RT @m_ethaniel "Rum and Talking Cola" #SLSwing #
- RT @m_ethaniel "Windlight Serenade" #SLSwing #
- Tuxedo Malfunction #SLSwing #
- I've Got A Bot In Buk@kke Bliss Island http://t.co/qNvRy9Vm #SLSwing #
- That Old JASS Magic #SLSwing #
- My @radioriel Reverie #SLSwing #
- Cinderlelani (Stay In My Arms) Obscure, but a favorite of the typist's momma. #SLSwing #
- Boogie Woogie Bugle Bot #SLSwing #
- RT @m_ethaniel "Laggy Weather" #SLSwing #
- @HolocluckHenly Oh, well played! #
- @m_ethaniel well done. #
- Do You Know What It Means To New Toulouse? Great song by Louis Primstrong. #SLSwing #
- @m_ethaniel Oh I *love* that one! #SLSwing #
- Just so you know, there's a Glenn Miller tune that doesn't need to be modded: "The Mole." @m_ethaniel @HolocluckHenly #SLSwing #
- @HolocluckHenly I own one of those, maybe I could rallye with a zombemobile. #
- @SecondLie Pix or it didn't happen. #
- @HolocluckHenly That's what I was waiting to see: a simple update and expression of regret, not a buried comment. #
- @stevecavers His post cited #RFL as the "gold standard" for #SL inworld charities, but the image overpowered the text. #
- Upshot: I'll be supporting #RFL fundraisers and events in #SecondLife a lot more this year. #SteelheadSalmons #
- Hi, Torley! What Flickr groups do you recommend for #SecondLife users? #
As forum poster Chosen Few helpfully noted:
After the initial posting, cooler heads prevailed, including Gaia Clary, who’s the Blender/JASS/Primstar maven at Machinimatrix. And then Domino Marama weighed in – the creator of the scripts that so many Second Life creators have relied on (both free and paid versions).
Re: Blender dropping COLLADA Reply to Chosen Few – Chosen Few wrote: Nothing’s been decided yet, so nobody panic yet. If worse comes to worst, and the Blender devs do cease official support for COLLADA, I’m sure enterprising SL residents will just create their own COLLADA exporter for Blender, and release it to the public, just like they did for the excellent sculpty tools that so many Blender users now enjoy.
Are you looking over my shoulder? Oddly just before this issue came up, I’d just started digging into the Blender code to fix some Collada bugs. I do tend to agree that the current implemention in Blender is awkward and in the long term best replaced. So instead of fixing bugs, I’ve started on a Python implementation of a Collada exporter. And getting it working for SL is the first priority – it’ll be free to all Primstar 2 and Avastar owners – I hope to have it ready before Collada support is dropped from Blender :smileyhappy: – Dominic Marama
via Blender dropping COLLADA support – Second Life
As I very rashly bought, downloaded, and managed to install Blender 2.61 with the JASS/Primstar-2 add-on, I guess I now have a duty and responsibility to wrap my head around it and actually make sculpts with it. Trouble is, no matter how many times I take classes, watch videos, and make notes, I remain deeply confused about it. However, last night I did make some progress with the help of some of Gaia’s new help videos, and some things that had plumb eluded me started to sort out a little in the basket of cute, fluffy kittens tangled adorably in sparkly yarn that is my brain.
I also took a pretty helpful class Tuesday night at Builder’s Brewery, which I had hoped to repeat Thursday, but it was cancelled… I’ll keep an eye on the class schedules and keep reading the many class materials I’ve gathered but left unread in my inventory.
I’ll just… follow some of the other helpful suggestions out there.
For the second time this week a picture used to illustrate a Second Life news blog caused a false impression and seemed to link a respected event or charity with scandal. Yes, it’s another NWN post by Hamlet Au causing the confusion. No linky-love for him, Google amongst yourselves. The first time was bad enough.
Fortunately, Au took the image down late last night or early this morning. Unfortunately his blog is widely read and the damage has already been done, not easily to be repaired by an update buried in the comments.
This time, an event picture from the widely respected Relay For Life cancer fundraising charity was used to illustrate a story about the current “fake charity receipt” scandal, which broke on SlUniverse and Twitter the other day. Au was very careful to mention fact-checking, sources, and not to mention the charity by name…which everyone already knows. So all that care, associated with the RFl picture, seemed to imply the scandal might go farther.
At a Steelhead group event last night, our award-winning fundraising coordinator for RFL was not pleased. He noted that the image topping Au’s post seemed to imply that Relay for Life was the charity in question (Au did call RFL the “gold standard” of inworld charities). However, our coordinator also mentioned the earlier post, that referenced the wrong image/event/sim, and snarked that it was probably just another NWN mare’s nest.
“I’m very, very happy that this scandal was NOT about RFL.”
It absolutely was not. RFL, as I said, is the gold standard, which is why I included a screenshot of their site, as the role model. However, because I don’t want anyone mistaking even for a second my intention, I removed the image.
Posted by: Hamlet Au | Saturday, January 07, 2012 at 01:36 AM
Unfortunately the image already gave the wrong impression last night, even if only momentarily. A prominent, award-winning RFL fundraiser mentioned it in group chat, with the caveat that you probably did not mean to associate the charity with the scandal, which was already well known.
A picture is worth a thousand words; the exchange rate in $L is subject to change.
Posted by: Lelani Carver | Saturday, January 07, 2012 at 04:19 AM
via (no linky love) New World Notes: SL Fundraising Scandal Strongly Suggests Need to Work Directly With Real World Non-Profit Organizations
Yeah, I piled on. It was irritating to see yet another fuss made over at NWN whose end result is more eyeballs on ads, and oops, my 3 or 4 non-spambot readers may add to that.
On the other hand, thanks to Crap Mariner’s blog roll posts, I’m now following a much more interesting blog, Zak Claxton’s. He posted photographic proof that a charity gig he played at helped to feed a passel of very cute Kenyan kids. Doesn’t look ‘shopped… 😉
All this musing on Second Life charities (which is most worthy? Which is most transparent?) has me thinking. We’re (that’s the household we, not the royaly we) waiting for the shoe to drop with a RL family member; in fact we’re going to a family confab tomorrow at which… Something will be announced??? We’re not sure, but the auguries are not good.
I’ve decided to throw a lot more effort into Steelhead’s RFL fundraising campaign/slog/marathon this season. And if Mistletoe holds any Love148 events, I’m in for those, too.
Lelani Carver is a Steampunk resident in Second Life who blogs a little about everything, and about nothing of any importance. She sells odds and ends inspired by her real and virtual lives at her store in Steelhead St Helens or on the Second Life Marketplace.
And an amazing time was had by all. Taken with Firestorm, var. V3, with most graphics (distance, LOD, trees, terrain) set to max and the Fine Day preset.
Red Dragon Dance, originally uploaded by Lelani Carver.
Yes, that was “our” Qarl in that BoingBoing post earlier today. Gee, he’s not busy enough deforming mesh for fashion-forward avatars, he has to create a tiny model of his house as a snowglobe holiday gift for his wife.
If you feel like sending him money to make you one, by all means… but some of you may be able to figure out his process based on his blog post.
Posts about the mesh deformer were all over my feed, so when I saw the BoingBoing.net post about “A clever fellow named Qarl,” I knew it had to be him before I clicked the link. Sure enough, links to his Second Life projects are at the bottom of the page.
Ironically, I bailed on a “Make a Prim Snowglobe” class last night inworld because I missed the first 8 minutes and couldn’t get started with the right dimensions for the base prim. I’ll try again later… future cloudy, though.
this year for christmas i gave my wife a special present: a snowglobe with a tiny copy of our home inside. she loves it. i love it. everyone loves it. so here’s how you can make one for yourself:1 order a custom snowglobe kit. ebay has a bunch to choose from. try to find one that tells you its exact dimensions so you can size your model before the globe arrives in the mail.
via qLab» Blog Archive » the weather outside is frightful
Not only that, but it’s timely, factual, and actually reported by a fox, and not the sort of Faux News we usually get from NWN (tip o’ the clockwork hat to Mr. Crap Mariner).
Another year is gone to the history books, and before saying goodbye, time for a look back. From Redzone to Mesh to a promising new CEO, Second Life has seen it’s share of problems, developments, to influential people, whom left impacts both big and small, temporary and lasting, some well talked about while others slipped under the radar of the majority.
Link: Second Life Newser
Lelani Carver is a Steampunk resident in Second Life who blogs a little about everything, and about nothing of any importance. She sells odds and ends inspired by her real and virtual lives at her store in Steelhead St Helens or on the Second Life Marketplace.