Read all about our correspondents and find out how to get Second Life love and life advice!
Well anything to keep from working. Carving pumpkins got me in the Halloween spirit over the weekend, so of course I had to also celebrate the holiday in Second Life. Like my glow in the dark, pumpkin bobble headband?
Since I’m both too cheap and too lazy to take a real life Photoshop class, as you know from a post last week, I’m taking a class in Photoshop in Second Life. I just completed my second class, and it was even better than the first. I learned lots more about layers, including effectively using the history brush. Well, it may not be your cup of tea, but it’s stuff I really wanted to know. However, I had to cut out a bit early for a real life appointment, so I left my avatar to take notes. Where was she when I was in law school?
But I know what you really want to hear about. The dish. You’ve come to the right place - just call me SL Gossip Girl. Because, unfortunately, no matter how ripe the peach, there is just no getting away from that annoying fly that buzzes around and buzzes around, and just drives you nuts.
Today’s class was nearly twice as big as last week. I should have expected that some yahoo who missed the first class would not read the provided notes and would spend the entire second class asking inane questions about lessons already covered. At one point I IM’d this “Gilligan” that I would loan him my notes from first class, but he seemed to miss my poison-tipped point. Gilligan took up so much time that when a friend from Holland called, we were able to completely catch up by phone without causing me to miss a thing in class. Do I look like I’m rolling my eyes in this photo? Gilligan’s face is covered to protect the guilty.
Worse yet, the guy is a complete brown noser. “Oh, Katya, I just LOVE the textures you sent us!” They’re files for us to learn on, Gilligan! I mean one is of a brick wall, for christ’s sake! And then when Katya, our instructor, politely answered “Thank you,” he said, “np” . No problem! You say “no problem” when you perform a favor for someone, like getting their cat out of a tree, not when they thank you for a silly compliment! Like it’s polite to imply “Yes, it was no problem for me to compliment you.” Sheeeesh! I’ve noticed this trend elsewhere in Second Life, and it needs to be stamped out before it spreads to the real world!
On a bright note, in addition to “Gilligan” this class also features a “Professor”. I’m not referring to the instructor, but to a man who knows how to discretely add a word or two of clarification just when it is most needed. Katya, he would make a fine teaching assistant.
My learning is further enhanced by a student who asks the questions I really want to but I know will get a raised eyebrow from the instructor. You go girl! You remind me of Ginger, unflappable and glamorous.
Of course, classes are always great places to meet nice people with similar interests, and I regularly exchange pleasantries and critical shopping information with the class nice girl, the “Mary Anne”.
My next class is tomorrow if I haven’t been thrown out for this blog post. Before then I’m hoping to find a “Skipper” who will toss “Gilligan” into next week.
I sit on a tree stump in the middle of a primeval forest, the soft breeze blowing through the green leaves, patterns of sunlight and shadow shifting at my feet. I glance at my circle of fellow students gazing raptly at our instructor as she explains critical concepts in detail. For most of us, these are lessons we will use for the rest of our lives. Suddenly I feel my teacher’s eyes on me… she has asked me a question while I was engulfed in a momentary daydream. Startled, I burble, “Yes, I understand how to apply the layer mask, Katya!” I look quickly into her face, her glasses pushed down her white snout, her whiskers trembling with authority. No, I’m not hearing voices or taking LSD. I’m taking a 10-week, twice-a-week Photoshop class from a cat in Second Life.
You might expect a virtual Photoshop class taught by a cat avatar for $4 a session (it was between this and a real life class for $120 per session) might not be of Seven Sisters quality. Au contrair, my skeptical friend. The instructor is professional, polished, knowledgeable and very, very experienced. She is, no doubt, one of the best instructors at TUI, Second Life’s Technical User Interfacing college. The students are oblivious to the species of this venerable feline as they question her about apha channels and tga files.
I know enough Photoshop to fake it now and then; it’s hard not to pick up a bit when you are in my RL business. But I’ve always wanted to really learn this program - and I have the stack of unread Photoshop books to prove it. Truth be told, I need deadlines and class assignments to make me focus on this rather than exclusively on my dozens of work deadlines. I invite you to check in here now and then to see how the class is progressing. Who knows, I may even invite you to the class fashion show at the end of the course!
As most of you know, Second Life isn’t all about studying and taking classes. So since today was Friday and the weather outside was not so inviting, I opted against walking down to the corner pub for happy hour. Instead, I did a little long distance traveling for parts uncharted and visited the Greenie home.
Upon teleporting to the Greenie home, I found I had to dig my way out of a dirty tunnel. I emerged into a charming room where I sat down and played the grand piano for a bit. Then I saw the door at the other end of the house was open and walked through. I was in a land of giants, with little greenies all over the place, listening to iPods bigger than themselves, checking the batteries in their space ship and one even flattened on the business end of an iron.
I realized I had been playing the piano in a doll house within a normal size dwelling. Somehow, I had been shrunk a la Alice to the size of tiny Greenies who had invaded this suburban home! Well, needless to say, I was a bit concerned. But my fears were soon forgotten when I saw a happy hour dance party in progress. The hard partying Greenies and their entourage were grooving to jazzy tunes stolen from a Pink Panther movie. Greenies and humans alike hailed me cheerily and invited me to join them.
Fortunately, I was appropriately dressed for a party in my little black cocktail dress. It may not be easy being green, but it sure is fun!
Want to see more about greenies? See Greenies on flickr.
