queenbrat

Pet peeves

   I don’t want to sound whiney but there are some things in SL that I find very annoying. We all deal with lag, it’s a part of the game. But, lately for me, it has been a lot worse. I’ve talked to many people who have the same problems. SL usually says lag is on our side and not theirs, but when so  many people experience it maybe it should be worked on.

    I find it very annoying when I am in a show and the models refuse to line up despite being told several times to do so. I don’t know if other people find this as annoying as I do or not.  Along these same lines is professional behavior. If I am in a show I do my best to always be on time or early, go to practice on time and pay attention. Most models I know do as well. But, there are some who don’t. To me it brings the show down if some act like unprofessional behavior is acceptable. I approach SL the same way as RL. If  I make a committment, I do my best to carry out what I agree to do to the best of my ability. I do realize that RL interferences happen and have happened to me as well. So occasionally missing something you agreed to do or being late is unavoidable in those cases, RL always comes first. But, I am talking about the models who make this their pattern of behavior. Thank goodness these models are the exception and not the rule. Like I said the majority of models are professional, including the models competing in MRI.  

 

 

queenbrat

random thoughts

QueenBrat at HOB

  I had a very busy weekend. I was in 4 shows this weekend. That makes 5 shows for the week. Since fashion shows and runways are my favorite thing to do, it was awesome.  I had serious lag all weekend though. Really bad. Other people had the same issue so I think it is SL. I sure wish they would do something.

  I have a very busy week coming up. I have 3 shows scheduled for next weekend so I have a lot of rehearsals this week, plus one competition. Plus I’m American and we have Thanksgiving this week. At JCNY they have this very narrow runway they left backstage and whenever I am there I love to practice on it. I made runways to practice on at the house in SL. But, it’s always fun to practice on a new runway.

   The picture above is me modelling at House Of Beningborough. I’m wearing the White Swan gown. This has been such a fun month. The theme is winter elegance. So I got to dress up all month, plus  gowns are my favorite thing to wear. I’m also very excited that I am a top 10 finalist this month. Last month I was a top 15 finalist. Some people get so upset about not being a finalist. I will admit when I have not been chosen as a finalist I have been a little bummed but that quickly passed. I say have fun and do your best. The rest is out of your control and worrying over it constantly won’t help at all.

queenbrat

Miss Refined International Challenge #3

  As promised, below is my interview I did for challenge #3 of the Miss Refined International competition. We had to be interviewed by a friend as if we were way ahead in the competition. A great lady named  Kitsuki Chayoo interviewed me. So here it is.

Kitsuki Q You are a favorite for the MIss refined Model Contest. How does that feel?  It’s exciting. I’m really just happy to be in the competition at all, so to think I’d have even a slight chance to win against all these great models is very exciting and humbling at the same time.
Kitsuki Q Do you feel confident? No, I mean I think I would make an amazing Miss Refined International but like I said I am up against great models. Plus this is a competition from Second Life and just like in rl, anything can happen.

Kitsuki Q How do you prepare for such a competition.  By being fabulous. Just kidding. Well I prepared doing what I always do, working on my avatar and practicing to make sure I am the best model I can be.

Kitsuki Q At what point do you stop feeling nervous, or don’t nerves play a part? I don’t know at what point nerves stop because I havent reached it yet. But, having done a lot of shows I feel comfortable on a runway doing a fashion show. It is before that I feel slightly nervous sometimes and when competing. But, I find that the nervous energy helps me focus and do my best.

Kitsuki Q How long have you been modeling and how much does your experience in this play a part in the competition? I started modelling around June of this year. I think the more you model the more confident you become. The more you know what is expected and have your look straight. I love my current look and have worked hard to get where I am.

Kitsuki Q What determines your choice in skin and outfits? I choose my clothes that are appropriate for the occasion. Whether I am going to a formal event or an event requiring couture, etc.  I then choose my skin to match and compliment the outfit. I love to dress up and am seldom in extremely casual clothes. I prefer to always look refined, elegant and classy. I never leave my house unless everything is perfect down to nails and accessories.

Kitsuki Q How would you assess your personality? I’m fun, good sense of humor, sassy, independent, driven, ambitious, friendly,outgoing, talkative,organized, good-hearted and like to help people

Kitsuki Q  What would winning MIss Refined mean to you personally? Winning Miss Refined International would be a dream come true. It would mean that all my hard work was paying off and recognized. I would be so honored if I was chosen.

Kitsuki  Q How would you see it in helping your future? Well having a title can only help your modelling career because it gives you status. Winning a photo contest is one thing but winning a competition that you worked so hard for shows everyone you are serious about your modelling.

  Also as part of this challenge the person with the most votes for their before/after Miss Refined picture gets a bonus so please vote for me. Thank you.

http://wp.me/pyh5c-uw

queenbrat

help my inventory please!!

   I really need to spend a lot of time working on my inventory in SL. Every time I start working on it someone interrupts me or I remember something I need to do. I am up to over 69,000 things. I don’t think I will ever again be one of those under 20,000 in inventory people but am hoping to reduce it by say 10,000. Most of all I just need to organize more. I haven’t had time to work on organizing outfits into folders. I also bought inventory storage boxes but never used them. It really is a lot of work. I used to do a lot of hunts and my inventory exploded and then I started modelling. Well, all models know we need a lot of stuff for modelling. So I now have a ton of gowns, other clothing, accessories, poses,etc. I don’t even want to think about how much money it cost.

QueenBrat modelling my new gown

    Above is me modelling my new gown on the House of Beningborough runway. I love this gown. I love purple. I’ve been wanting this gown for a while so I finally just bought it. This gown is called Confetti.

   In my next post I will include my interview I had to do as part of MRI Challenge #3. It was a fun challenge. The hardest part was deciding who to ask to interview me. SL friends are so great. Always there to help when you need it. Speaking of MRI, please don’t forget if you read this to vote for me please. http://wp.me/pyh5c-uw I have been shamelessly asking everyone I know and even people I don’t to vote for me. It means a lot to me. If you have time to vote thank you in advance.

queenbrat

my awesome day

oh my gosh that's me again

    Today was a great day for me. My hubby went out-of-town so I can stay online and play tonight. Just kidding, that’s not why it was great. Today was great because it was one of those few modelling days where everything went right. I competed in the Le Charme Fashion contest and made it through to the semi-finals. I was second actually out of the 8 of us which is not bad. I was chosen for the week for the JCNY Showcase and I was picked to be a finalist at House Of Beningborough for the November Model Awards. I was also looking around JCNY and found a second picture of me on the wall! I was shocked. There are two pictures of me on the wall now at the store. I had to take a picture of course lol. Who knows how long it will be there.

    I had show practice today and it went well. No lag for me, which is unusual. I didn’t have much of a lag problem when I competed either. That’s quite unusual. With 8 girls competing and an audience I expected more, but wasn’t too bad. I have found that closing out everything on my pc except SL in these situations and reducing my draw distance to 64 has helped tremendously. Out of all the tips that I posted last week, those 2 things are what works the best for me. I always restart SL too,but that’s a given.

   As I said before days like today are rare so I will enjoy it while I can and be thankful and grateful for every opportunity. Oh, and don’t forget if you read this to please vote for me in the MRI competition. TY http://wp.me/pyh5c-uw

queenbrat

How to get the best lighting

   In real life, professional photographers and models know that things like whitefill reflectors are flattering for people, and take advantage of this in their photo shoots.

   Advances made in SL graphics allow residents to have their own ‘whitefill’ without having to use a face light.  Follow the steps below so that you can get optimized lighting conditions, too.  These tips are all over SL so not sure where they came from and can  have some slight variations. Once you enter these settings, play with it until you achieve the best look and are happy. If you are like me, you don’t like the ugly gray shadows. See your avatar the way it was meant to be seen!

1.  Open your Environmental Editor.
(Menu bar > World > Environment Settings > Environmental Editor)

2.  Go to Advanced Sky settings.
3.  Click the New button.  Type in Nicelight or whatever you want to call it and click OK to save your new lighting preset.

4.  In your new  preset, go to the Atmosphere tab.  Make the following changes on the sliders:

Blue Horizon:
R:  0.10
G:  0.32
B:  0.66
I:   0.66

Haze Horizon:  0.00

Blue Density:
R:  0.04
G:  0.04
B:  0.04
I:    0.04

Haze Density:  0.00

Density Multiplier:  0.19

Distance Multiplier:  27.0

Max Altitude:  1315

5.  Go to the Lighting tab.  Make the following changes on the sliders:

Sun/Moon Color:
R:  0.29
G:  0.28
B:  0.32
I:    0.32

Sun/Moon Position:  1.000

Ambient:
R:  1.00
G:  1.00
B:  1.00
I:    1.00

East Angle:  0.00

Sun Glow:
Focus:  0.17
Size:     1.75

Scene Gamma:  1.15

Star Brightness:  0.00
6.  Hit the Save button to save your new settings. That’s it! The light on your avatar should now appear even and smooth, making your avatar look its best!

queenbrat

MRI Challenge #3 and you go girl

    Well we got our assignment number 3. The last for the semi- finals. We have to get votes for our picture from last week. Our before/after Miss Refined picture on the MPI website. 100 votes for max points. So I’m not above shamelessly asking anyone who reads this to please vote for me. If you know anyone else who would vote, that’s great as well. 100 votes is a lot. The other task we can do is have a friend interview us and post it here. I will do that too and post it. Here is the link to vote for me.  http://wp.me/pyh5c-uw

  I’ve been looking at my schedule for the next few weeks. It is going to be crazy. I have an average of 3 shows that I am in a week. I did 3 last week too. I love it though. Runway is still my favorite thing to do. Auditioning for a show and being chosen is always a thrill. Not to be arrogant, but I get picked the majority of the time I audition. But, whether I am picked or not I always give it my best. I can’t do more than that. 

   I was given a notecard on what to do about lag in a show. One of the suggestions was not to complain about it. I told the guy who sent out the tips that, thats not going to happen. I have no problem at all with another model saying wow lags bad or watch the lag, work the lag or anything else. Obviously if someone was complaining constantly it might get annoying, but that’s never been the case that I have seen. As I told this guy, women might complain but we root each other on, cheer for each other. That’s a bonding experience. That’s being a team for women. We give each other pep talks. We don’t talk about it killing morale to mention an issue. I don’t think that talking lag is a contagion that spoils the whole show like this guy told me. We know lag is a part of shows. I don’t think people blame their performance problems on lag when it isn’t true. I know lag does crazy stuff sometimes, so I would never think someone was faking it. I think guys can learn from us girls. Don’t worry, we will cheer you on too.

queenbrat

photography vs model looks

 
QueenBrat HOB entry
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
QueenBrat HOB entry
  •  Today was a slow day for me. I worked at JCNY and HOB like usual, but I didn’t have to rush to rehearsals and shows. I took some pictures for my entry into HOB this week. My own pictures. Two of my pictures are above. I love taking pictures and once I learn how to use Photoshop they will be better. I can add text in Photoshop but that is about it. I wanted to take a class that’s starting this week but because I am in so many shows over the next few weeks I can’t do it. Some of my friends routinely make their own backgrounds and they are amazing.  But, Photoshop or not I keep trying. Often some contests in SL are about how amazing the photographer is and not about the models. If you want to hire the photographer that’s fine but to me, most contests should be about how the model looks. How attractive is the model. Do they style well and pick the right fashions?  But, I’m not running these contests and they can do what they like of course. I’ve seen pics from some great photographers and the model looked terrible. The purpose of the picture was about being artistic and not how the model looked.  I’ve seen  some great pictures too, of course. It’s all so subjective though. What I think looks terrible sometimes, other people love, and probably vice versa. We don’t all have to agree. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Mine happens to be right. Just Kidding.
queenbrat

marketing me

QueenBrat on the runway at JCNY

   Well here I am again on the JCNY runway right after our show today. It was laggy but went well. This beautiful gown was from our sponsor this week Miamai. This is the third week in a row I got a great gown. Gowns are my favorite things to wear. Probably because I can’t recall the last time in rl I wore a gown.  A customer told me once that I lived in the wrong place because I don’t wear gowns much. She was from NY and I am from the midwest. I agreed with her lol. 

    So I submitted my entry for MRI challenge 2. I am worried about it though because I have never in my life done anything marketing related and am not sure I was even in the ballpark. We had to create a 10 point marketing plan for our blog. This is all foreign to me. Two weeks ago I did my first blog and now I am trying to create a marketing plan for it. But the idea of basically marketing myself, marketing my blog which contains my thoughts, is not something I had ever thought about doing. It was an interesting challenge. I like challenges. Challenges are how we learn and grow. I won’t say it was fun though. Marketing is not fun to me. Which I hope isn’t insulting to business people. I don’t mean it to be insulting, it just isn’t for me. But I am sure there are things that interest me that other people would find uninteresting.   

    I was picked for the show where I wear the darker skins. I am excited. I love being in shows. I did 3 shows in 3 days this week. Fashion shows are my favorite modelling job. I was called a show hog by an agency owner once. I try to get into every show I can. I don’t see what is wrong with that. Does it upset other people? Maybe it does. I thought it was rude when he said that though. I would think most models try to do as much as they can. Agency owners should be happy that their models are out there and working and encouraging them.

queenbrat

race in SL

   I want to talk about something that’s probably a little controversial, race in SL. I went to an audition and the requirements were dark skins. I have no problem whatsoever with making my skin dark for a show. I’ve talked before about my willingness to change my avatar for a show so that the designer is happy. It doesn’t bother me to be dark or light or anything needed.  I was actually surprised that some people don’t want to do this. I don’t see the big deal. But, what’s worse to me is it seems fairly prejudicial to outright refuse to change. I know there are people who play SL from all ethnic backgrounds and I wonder how they feel about it. I don’t think prejudice is any more acceptable in SL than it is in rl. I’ve heard from people who felt others were prejudicial towards them. It just isn’t right. If we can’t make our skins dark for a few hours that just makes me sad. But to be prejudicial towards others in a game, in SL, makes me mad. We are all equals. My white avatar is not better than a black one. To me all are welcome on SL and all should be treated equally because the person behind the avatar, is just that, a real person with feelings. I know other ethnic groups face prejudice in their real lives and isn’t it sad they can’t even escape this in SL.

  So get your act together if you read this and are one of these people. We are all the same inside and there’s no excuse for prejudice. If people have another excuse for not changing their skins to dark I’d like to hear it. If it isn’t prejudice what is it then?