Without a filter, man is just chaos walking

You know when you know you're supposed to be doing something else but you're doing something else instead? No, me neither. So I decided I would answer Strawberry Singh's Monday Meme - and this week, it's about books.

Kitti is scared because her balance isn't great and she's wondering who taught her books to fly.

1. Are you a bookworm? I guess so, yes. I read 48 books last year.
2. Which do you prefer: hardback, paperback or electronic? I used to only buy hardback if I could, but now I'm not so fussy. My one rule is that if I begin a series, I must buy all of them either in paper copies or electronic copies.
3. Which book is your favourite? That's tough to call, but probably Blood Canticle by Anne Rice.
4. Which children's book is your favourite? I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen. I discovered this book only in the last couple of years, and I absolutely love it. So does my ten year old cousin, and my mother. Make of that what you will.
5. What's the last book you've read? The Wolves of Midwinter by Anne Rice. Currently reading The Book of Dead Days by Marcus Sedgwick but it's kind of slow-going at the moment.
6. Name your top five writers: That's so difficult! Anne Rice, Bernard Cornwell, Patrick Ness, Garth Nix, and Paul Hoffman.
7. Name a book that had a strong impact on you: I could list many, but let's go with A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness.
8. Favourite and least favourite book genres? My favourites are fantasy and history. I don't tend to enjoy reading non-fiction books for pleasure, but I don't dislike them particularly. They just wouldn't be my first choice.
9. Favourite and least favourite book-to-movie adaptations? I know it isn't a movie, but Game of Thrones is a fantastic adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire. Even when the series isn't wholly true to the plot, it is true to the narrative and to the characters in a way that I find really exciting. I don't always agree with the way certain characters are explored (ask me about Joff and Roz, if you really want to know) but I still respect those decisions. Least favourite...Interview with the Vampire. I know Rice loves the film version of her novel, but I just can't find it in myself to like it. It feels gaudy and silly whereas the book holds a lot of meaning and a lot of weight for me.
10. Have you ever bought a book based on the cover alone? No, I always read the blurb. Covers attract our attention though, right?
11. Where do you usually buy your books? A mix. I used to only buy them from WH Smiths, but then I discovered Waterstones and now I use Amazon too.
12. Do you go to the library? Sadly, I don't. Libraries always make me feel a little sad because they often feel sterile and isolating and I don't think reading should be like that.
13. How many books to you own? I would guess nearly two hundred, but it could be a little more than that. I haven't counted the ones on my Kindle in that figure.
14. If you were to write a book about Second Life, which topic would you focus on? Ahaha, I'm not sure! There's a fantastic book by Tim Etchells called The Broken World about the idea of a merging of life and video game, and I'd like to write something that captured the blurring, of both reality and emotion, that that book toys with. 

Now ask me these questions tomorrow and I'll give you different answers. Isn't that almost always the way when it comes to books? 

The title of this post comes from The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. It's the first of the Chaos Walking series. I couldn't recommend it enough.

Read Strawberry's original post here - here!

Fall (from Grace)

Left to Rust

Strawberry Singh's meme challenge for today is a few questions about Autumn. It included suggesting we take an Autumn-themed picture to go with the post, but after despairing searching for good autumnal sims that weren't full of afk avatars photo-bombing every shot, I decided I'd take a different angle on the theme. 

So here - I give you Kitti-turned-Ariadne (if Ariadne had pointy teeth, and the sense to steal some armour, which I'm not wholly sure the Ariadne of the stories had). Ariadne put herself out to help Theseus escape the Labyrinth of the Minotaur, and received in return what amounted to a quick roll in the sack and then abandonment. Theseus got bored with her and instead of braving up and telling the poor girl how he really felt, he left her miles from her home, miles from everything she knew and loved, on a random island in the middle of the sea. 

What a bastard. Silly, silly Ariadne. 

If that island had been Autumnal England, Kitti-Ariadne would quickly realise that, beautiful as the island was, it was wet and windy and cold. The fog coming in off the sea would stick in her lungs and smell faintly of burning (am I the only one that thinks that?), and start to rust her armour. Hopefully she'd land somewhere in the North, because the South of England is pretty disappointingly flat once you get passed the pretty cliffs.

Anyway. The Challenge.

1. Is Autumn your favourite season? Why or why not? - Autumn is my favourite season, but it is often disappointing. As I look out of the window now, the leaves on the trees are green and muddy brown, and it's raining. Autumn is supposed to be thin jacket/jumper weather - not too hot, not too cold. Red leaves on the trees would be very, very nice. It's also my birthday next month.

2. Do you call it Autumn or Fall? - Autumn. I exploited what I believe is the American term, 'Fall', for the title of this post, but that's about it.

3. What kind of weather does your area get during this season? - The same as the rest of the year. I live in England! :P No, seriously. It's a little cooler, and the Sun can be lovely and bright...but it also rains a lot, and is damp. Apparently, it's unseasonably warm here right now, but I think the weather is just being a bit crazy. 

4. What colour do you associate with Autumn? - a nice crisp red :)

5. Which Autumn related sim is your favourite at the moment? - I don't have one! If anyone has any suggestions, please send them to me. I tried Strawberry's suggested Tempura Island, but there were afk avatars everywhere. I took the photos for this post at a completely unrelated sim, but I was inspired by the grey-greenery and the oh-so-English Autumn fog. The name of the sim is The Citadel of the AdEternum Horde.

Oh - one last thing. The Kitti-Ariadne should have a conclusion. I think she's a savvy kind of girl. Maybe she used Theseus just for the lift, knowing he was a bastard. She was probably weary of these 'heroes' to start with, especially after hearing what happened with Jason and Medea. I reckon Kitti-Ariadne would make this little green island work for her.

Weary

Click here for: Strawberry Singh's original post and the pictures from this post (and many that don't get blogged) on Flickr.

It's All Meme-Me With You

Strawberry Singh has upped the SL bloggers' productivity this week by posting the Procrastination Meme. It is everywhere, and poor Miss Berry has the job of reading all of them, since she asked people to put the links to their posts in her comments section. I doubt she even knows who I am, but I'm going to slap my url in there, too, and join the fun of...well...doing things we're not supposed to be doing, when we're supposed to be doing something else!

In the style of Strawberry Singh, too, I attempted some professional-style close-up headshots. I recently got a whole new bunch of Windlight settings, too, which are fun to play with, especially since my little plot of land in the sky is now full of trees. Cue dappled light!

see this on flickr here - here!

• What is the rez date for your current SL Avatar that you use most often? 

I actually only have one SL avatar, and her rez date is October 30th 2010. 

• Where was the first place you made friends as a newb and got to know people in Second Life? 

This is where I hang my head in shame...the first place I made friends as a newb was Necronom VI. I was taken there by a RL friend on my first day in SL, and there I met Jaegen (then known as Laertes), and later, Sian Pearl. Most of the people I am now friends with were introduced to me by Sian, or are people I got into contact with through Flickr :)

• Where do you spend most of your SL time now? 

Tragically (is that tragic?) at my skybox. In my defence, it is beautiful. Otherwise, I like to stand in the sea at Hangars Liquides and just talk to people. 

• Who is your closest friend in Second Life? (only pick one) 

I actually can't pick only one. I spend a lot of time in SL these days with Carmine Chris, Croon Nandahar, and Salix Southpaw. I like to bug Lawrence Celestalis, who is an Eternal Sweetheart, via IM, too. I've spent a fair about of time with Sian Pearl, too, though now her computer is bust. Cue taunting - because she would taunt me if it was the other way around :P

• What is the most favorite thing in your inventory? (only pick one)

Again...I'm not sure that I can pick only one! I am in love with my roller skates from The Secret Store @ the Arcade, and I also picked up the cutest clown-bear from...oof...Intrigue Co. @ the Arcade, too. I love them both so, so much. 

• The last thing you purchased in Second Life? 

Kitti's new eyes - and a pair in white, too - from IKON. I tried a couple of different places, but I'm not sure how I feel about the tiny-pupils craze that seems to be taking SL by storm at the moment, and, I confess, I'm not very patient at looking through new shops if I've found what I want in one I already know. Don't get me wrong; the tiny pupils look great on most avis I have seen with them, but somehow, they manage to make Kitti look like a husky in a haughty kind of way.

• What color clothing does your avatar wear most often?

BLACK TO MATCH HER SOUL I mean black and white. This isn't even, really, by design. She wears a lot of blue, too, since blue seems to be a pretty safe colour to combine with her ginger hair. 

• Do you prefer to walk, run or fly? 

I walk - although, when I get fed up of the slowness of walking, I try to run by double-tapping the forward arrow key, and invariably end up doing a series of cartwheels or somersaults that fling me far passed where I actually wanted to go. I never, ever learn. 

• What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done in SL? 

Kitti and I are relatively boring. I spent a good hour flinging Kitti off things and trying to take pictures at Hangars Liquides for my blog banner once. I got into a helicopter with Carmine Chris which, let me tell you, is a pretty crazy thing to do. One time, Croon and I trolled Sian in my skybox. I say I trolled her - Croon did the trolling, rezzing something that would drop playpen balls on her head. I laughed loudly. Maybe that falls under the category of "mean" rather than "crazy"...

• Who would you like to play YOU, in the movie of your SLife?

Oh, well. The OBVIOUS match for Kitti would be Nicole Kidman, but Rose Leslie could be good, too. This is just an exercise in me finding links for pretty ginger-haired ladies and pasting them on my blog, so I'm going to stop now (fun and procrastinating-ly as it is).

Aw c'mon. You knew there's be a twist.

Thank you for reading - I'd stay and ramble some more, but I really do have to stop procrastinating now...I'm running late!

The Stick

It would appear that I've been memed. The rules of the meme are as follows:

1. Link the person that tossed the stick
2. Answer the questions
3. Toss the stick to five different people
4. Tell those people you threw a stick at them
5. Ask five new questions

So Sian Pearl, meanie that she is, threw a stick at me, and then demanded I answer her questions. Seems a little unconventional to me, but eh, why not? I handed in my last piece of university work ever (for the time being, anyway) yesterday. I've got some time.

At Matchbook Monday's lovely roof garden. I'm really pleased with these shots!
Check them out on flickr?

Here goes.

1. Why do you write an SL blog?

You've heard this story before. I started my SL blog out of a desire to extend an essay I wrote on SL for my degree course last year. The marker of my essay said he wanted more of it - which was a cruel comment, considering that I had a pretty strict word limit - and so I set about writing about all of the things I hadn't been able to put in my essay, and then some. As far as I am aware, this lecturer doesn't read my blog, though I believe he was told it exists. If he does...hi Tim! I'd like to think that I'm raising some important points, here, and if nothing else, starting debates about some of the issues that face us not only in Second Life, but in our first lives, too. And if my Theatre and Performance Studies angle slips sometimes...well, I guess that's okay.

2. Avatar underpants: yes or no?

When I started SL, I wore pants with every outfit. Every outfit. Sometimes, they could be seen because they went higher than my trousers, and that's when I started to question their necessity. Nowadays...I'm not telling! I am a big fan of the imagination. Though, I guess, you have all seen Kitti's underwear already - but that doesn't mean she wears it all the time!

3. Third Party Viewers: Classic or Dud?

Here's the deal. Upon a number of people's suggestions, I have tried all kinds of viewers, but all they really did was confuse me with a new interface. They might soften lag or, I dunno, make turning on shadows easier, but the point is that my laptop is so behind on the SL requirements that there is very very little that can be done to mediate my lag. And shadows? Pfft. Shadows are just a dream. So I'm sticking with the official Linden Labs viewer. I know my way around it, at least, and it's pretty clean and simple for an official viewer.

4. Who is your favourite person in SL?

That's a cruel question! I think Sian asked this because she hopes we'll all say her! Sian is one of my favourite people in SL, but I have also met a whole lot of other great people, like Salix Southpaw and Marls Vaughan, to name but two. I'd have got nowhere without the help of the charming and ever-patient Jaegen Fenris. There is also that wonderfully awkward moment when I see someone in world whose blog I follow, and then I have to run screaming back to Sian Pearl's house to fan-girl all about it. Like this one time, I saw Laverne Unit during the sale of the Gallactic Aphelion catsuits, and I nearly died. So yeah - that happens, too.

5. What is the most important piece of advice you'd give to someone concerning SL?

That's a tough one. There are quite a few things I would like to say, but I think maybe the one that encompasses them all is that no matter what the shops or the sims or other people might suggest, you are in control. You are in control of your Second Life, more surely than you are in control of your first. Sure, it might be difficult sometimes to get what you want, whether it be an AO that doesn't make you walk like a supermodel, or, I dunno...whatever...but it does exist, somewhere, and you can get it. And if it doesn't, you can build it - or you can refuse to engage.You don't have to do anything that you don't want to. You don't have to give it any more time than you want to. And you can log out when you want to. Don't let anybody convince you otherwise. How dramatic does that sound?!

There - done. I'm not going to 'throw the stick' at anybody else, but I would say that I actually kinda enjoyed answering those questions, and they are good questions, so if you're reading this and want to answer them yourself, please do so, and leave me a comment with the URL for your answers? Maybe (cheekily, I ask,) you could link back to me? That would be cool. Tres cool.