and I don't need reminding how loud the phone can ring, when you're waiting for news

Seen on the SLUniverse forums:

"Blender is the Pai Mae of 3d programs. It hates newbies, despises windows users, and has nothing but contempt for English speakers. It will let you learn, but mostly because doing so will give Blender a chance to amuse itself by making you suffer."

That comes from Shamus Young over on Twenty Sided Tale, and it's hysterical to read through. And not necessarily wrong--I spent two months poking at Blender once. I adore their free textures, I wanted to give the main program a try. At the end of two months of honestly trying to learn, this is as far as I'd gotten:

Blender: You want to make a fairy skirt.
Me: No, no really, I don't.
Blender: You want to make a fairy skirt.
Me: I'd really rather...couldn't I just...how about a marble?
Blender: You want to make a fairy skirt.
Me: *sighs* Okay, fine, I'll make a fairy skirt.
Blender: What are you, mental? That's for advanced users. I spit on your grave. *takes fairy skirt pattern away, replaces it with mesh cliff on distant shore, while I stare in horror at the screen*

I'm not kidding. This is the final point I came to. Really, I gave up. 3D software, paid or not, may simply just not be my thing.

But prophecy, that's a maybe--Ciaran Laval, just today, posted wondering if user content--or, at least, user content not endorsed by the Labs--was going away. It's a solid thought--what we want from Linden Labs may not be the question anymore. It's what Linden Labs wants from Second Life, that should be the main question.

So word came down on the Kitties about a hair sale over at Adora Shapes & Skin. She's got very intriguing eyes, some available free in three packages at the front counter, but for the next few hours, she's also got all-hair-color packs of her last hair line.

Given that demos were one Linden, and full packs were one Linden, I thought I'd just buy some and see.

Adora hair:


This is Elvira hair, plain and simple. The pics above are of the Rose Blonde (which is sort of a heathered brown, really), and of the Noir black.

It alphas a bit, less so in the darker colors, but if you really need Elvira hair, get this one.

Alexa hair:


Alexa's a cheerful little bob, good gloss, nice textures. Also: found the facelight. *coughs* Shown in the Silver and the Brown, worth getting if you like good short hair.

I apologize for the very sneering look on the Brown.

Audrina hair:


.....

The alpha glitching is TERRIFYING on this hair. AVOID.

Daphne hair:


Had to toss this one, too.

Don't get me wrong, there's amazing gloss on this hair in some of the offered shades. I'm showing Berries and Sunshine Blond[e], but really, they're all impressive. The addition of the rope tying the hair back is fun.

I just can't imagine where I'd wear this hair.

Demi hair:


I really like this hair, save for the fluff loft of the crown. The pics are of the Toffee and the Burnt shades.

It's not flexi at ALL. *sighs and tosses*

Devon hair:


This is a nice little cut, bit too spiky for me, but there are those out there who can carry this little flip length with grace and aplomb. Shown in Auburne and Purple, which is really more of a black with black cherry highlights. Worth getting if you like the style.

Diva hair:


Right out of the box, this would take an hour of adjusting to wear at all. Plus, I'm not fond of updos that look like I might tip over backwards from the weight of my own hair.

Shown in Chesnut Baby (I'm not kidding, that was how it was spelled)and Snow Blond[e].

Dulci hair:


This one alphas against other alphas, but the gloss cannot be matched. It's a gorgeous style for casual to fantasy, I love it. Shown in Platinum and Black.

Ella hair:


Ella comes in a limited range of colors, which is good, because I'm not keeping it anyway, I won't pine. It's not as innovative as Daphne, and the textures are frankly, substandard stripes. Another one that would need massive editing out of the box, plus the whole stripe thing...

Shown in Brown, and Dark Brown.

Gillian hair


The hell.

This is a bizarre little bubble bob. It's not terrible hair, and the colors are strangely attractive. Takes a bit of adjustment but not tons, there's a patch at the back I'm going to have to work with. Might be keeping this just for the oddity of it.

Shown in Coco Frost and Amber.

Katie hair:


What designer on crack did this....*coughs* Pardon. But really, for a bob this short? There's a LOT of weird activity here. You've got flip-back curls, you've got I-read-a-tutorial pointed bob strands, you've got half the hair with the texture numbers on stun, the rest with the textures barely numbered at all. It's deeply bizarre.

Shown in Burgandy (her spelling) and Punk. *considers, then moves at least the Punk
into the possible-keep folder*

Mia hair:


This...is just...freaky. I have a hair monster on my head!

Honestly, I can't decide if I like it or not, it's just weird.

Shown in Blond[e] and On Fire.

Soleil hair:


Simple cascading pony style. Doesn't work with the shading she put in on some colors. Semi-flexi. Didn't keep.

Shown in Dirty Blonde and Red.

Taylor hair:


I swear, if I ever start making hair, I am going to remember that not every updo needs to look like Amy Winehouse's signature hair pile. Gah.

Shown in Midnight and Plum.

Tori hair:



Wau. Another one that would need a ton of adjustment to wear, and for all of me, it looks like it's an attempt at a short ponytail updo. The hell?

Shown in Frosted Blonde and Light Brown (which is a black, for all intents and purposes).

There you go. Make your own choices.

All of these pictures were taken at Miriel, which really has some of the best reflection-highlights eyes on the grid. She closes her sim permanently on the 20th. Teh sadness, it is there.

(And yes, for all of these shots? I'm using Miriel's Warm Shimmer eyes. If I'm gonna promote, I like to go all out.)

In the meantime, some philosophy to end things:

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.

These and a few other statements were written by Kent Keith; he calls them his Paradoxical Commandments, and they were first penned very very very long ago. There's a lot of wisdom in these statements...and a surprising amount of oddly compassionate cynicism.

Lastly, sulvitri Barbosa is tying up her Bring-Tani-Home sale in an interesting way. Seeing as how they're within sight of the goal (I think under L$15,000), she's going to bring up the prices slowly by L$20 every few hours. So it's likely L$60 or L$80 for a few more hours, then another twenty Linden raise, and another, and so on, until everything's full price, and tani Darkstone is home. It's inordinately romantic; so if you like their stuph, and want to help, just drop by and contribute, or buy something.