My RL Birthday, and also Strawberry Singh's Rezday.

Today is my RL birthday, I turned 51 today.  Criminy, I'm getting old you whippersnappers.  Now bring me my headache powders, I'm going to listen to Caruso on the Philco.

Not only that, but it's also Strawberry Singh's rezday.  (Thanks to it being the same day as my Birthday I tend to remember it) Her blog is pretty much the only SL fashion blog I follow these days. While I kind of miss the old days of less video and more text, her videos ARE very helpful for those knew to mesh avatar enhancements.  Happy Rezday Berry!  Thank you for helping to keep our avatar selves pretty!

I usually treat myself to SL fashion shopping on my birthday. Picked up this Cynful Maxi Summer dress from C88. I thought it was dressy enough to wear more formally.  It has versions to wear with heels, and with flats, smart idea on the designer's part. I'm wearing KC Kairi heels.

I also picked up this LaGyo jewelry set at C88, which reminded me of some of the Maxi Gossamer sets Berry wears, which is why I'm rather less pale than usual. There's a necklace, earrings and headpiece. Thought it would work well with the red version of this dress. (I also picked up the Maxi Gossamer Boho set that was also at C88)  It also comes in silver.  I'm wearing Argrace Miyako hair in brown and Lumae Ruby skin appliers on my Catwa Kathy head in T6 Tawny.  the Makeup is the Luxe sets for eyes and lips from Alaska Metropolitan. Eyes are the IKON Charm Eyes in Chocolate.

Thought this was a nice shot of the reflecting pool, and the back of the dress.

Got a reclining shot too, though my fingers are poking through.

As you can guess, pictures were taken at the Zaara region.

Ms. CC does the Strawberry Singh Dancing in Second Life 2016 Challenge!

Yes, another Strawberry Singh Challenge/Meme

Location: Edison Ballroom in St John in Second Life
Dance was Nina 5 from Akeyo
Muted Coven Dress from Zenith
Margot Ballet shoes from Slink
Zoe (3) skin from Nar
Rogue updo from Lelutka (included with their mesh heads) and tinted to my proper dark red color. (I use 128/65/0 to get it close enough to the classic Truth Blood/Reds05 and the old 2007 version of ETD Mahogany.)

I'm also wearing the new Deluxe Slink feet, which have ALL the feet shapes in one attachment.  You use the utilities hud to change feet styles, no more detaching and attaching!  Not only that, but there are TWO new feet styles, a "Ballet" style, that I'm using in the video, and a new KITTEN feet style.  When I first heard of that I went SQUEE, since I adore kitten heels in RL.

Berry has an in-depth review of the feet on her blog.

Primary Election Day 2016

It is Primary Election day in:

Florida

Illinois

Missouri

North Carolina

Ohio

If you live in one of those states, I encourage you to excercise your right to vote.

I voted a bit ago:

As my readers might guess from my Bernie Promposal post, I Feel The Bern. 

Yes, it's basically the SAME outfit Berry wore in this post, except for the League skin and the Fri.day Rosie boots.  And the fact that I had to use Berry's Flat Draxtor and not Real Draxtor. (If only he'd been online when I was going to do the shoot on March 2nd....)  

Bernie Bear available at the Bernie SL Headquarters.

 

#BerniePromposal, A Colbert Meme by way of Strawberry Singh

The Setting: 1985

Mom!  Like, I'm going to Prom with Bernie Sanders from 2016, for sure

That's Nice Dear, what dress are you wearing?

The Totally Awesome Zenith Brocade-y Corset-y one, it can pass as one of those "bitchin" short ruffly mid 80's prom dresses.

That's Nice Dear, enjoy the prom.  Hope he doesn't talk your ear off about Income and Wealth Inequality.

But MOM!  Like, Income and Wealth Inequality is an IMPORTANT ISSUE!  Don't tell me you're going Yuppie on me, gag me with a spoon!

No Dear.

That would be so grody to the max. We'll have the prom photographer take a picture.

Yep, I'm doing the Stephen Colbert's #BerniePromposal meme.  I AM planning on voting for Bernie in the primary.

For more information about Stephen’s Challenge, you can check out the following links:

Challenge Blog Post: Ask Bernie Sanders To Prom

Hashtag on Twitter: #BerniePromposal

Stephen Colbert’s video on YouTube: A Modest PromPosal For Bernie Sanders

I decided to give Bernie an 80's blonde prom princess.  The Dress is Brocade Corset Top and Lace skirt from Zenith.  Hair is the Harlow from Chemistry, Skin is the Pink Fuel Harley, Jewelry is the Kinbaku Heart set from Maxi Gossamer.

SLURLS:

Zenith Main Store

Chemistry Hair

Pink Fuel Skin

IKON Eyes

Stockings from Big Beautiful Doll on Marketplace

Maxi Gossamer Jewelry on Marketplace

Commoner Sash (Flawless) it's a gacha item so beware.

Ramadan, Van Salee, and ancestry. Inspired by Strawberry Singh and Helen Boyd.

I'm a member of an online transcommunity run by author Helen Boyd.  I've been a member of that community for 11 years, the only online community I've followed longer is Slashdot.  Yes, I know...Slashdot. /me shakes head sadly at my own nerdosity.

Last week Helen did a post about Ramadan's History in America.  Which is a VERY long history, much longer than most modern American's think.  Upon seeing that post one of my first thoughts was ... "Berry's going to be doing her annual Ramadan post soon."  Which she did, the next day.

It also reminded me of my own small connection to Islam in America. It might be surprising to some, but yes, I do have one.  While as my readers, acquaintances and friends know, I'm mostly of Celtic ancestry on both my mother's and father's side, but that's not all my ancestry.

I'm descended from one of the first Muslim settlers in the New World, in New Amsterdam aka New York City, actually. And his Q'uran is the oldest known Q'uran in America.  To those who know their history those facts alone are enough to identify him, Anthony Janszoon Van Salee.

Yes, that means I have Moroccan ancestry.  And yes, that also means I'm descended from the woman variously described as Manhattans first "lady of the night" or "The Carrie Bradshaw of Colonial America", Grietse Reyniers.

So inspired by Berry, and my ancestry I decided to do a post with some "ethnic" clothing.  First I did some googling about women's clothing and fashion in Morocco, and after seeing some pictures decided to try to find a kaftan, which I did.  Then I was thinking that perhaps I should search Berry's Blog for a "less pale" skin, but while I was looking through more pictures of Moroccan fashion I found a woman that made me go "squee" and say to myself.  "I guess I really don't have to change my skin...or my hair color."

That woman is the Her Royal Highness, Princess Lalla Salma of Morocco:

Who is an awesome redheaded fashionista-princess-engineer with REALLY nice shoes. She knew she had it "goin on" there.  Google her, she's fabulous.  Yes, she's ethnically Moroccan, there are redheads among the Berbers.

The kaftan I found was the Bilo Rani "Sabah", as it turns out, Berry wore it back in 2013.  The girl always has the scoop, she's the Berry!  I wore it in green because there was a famous utterly fabulous green kaftan that Lalla Salma wore and redheads look good in green.  Sadly, this kaftan shows more cleavage than I wanted, but I like it anyway.

Belleza Betty skin, Hucci Jacmel pumps.

 Of course I needed some fabulous jewelry.  (The Princess has some REALLY nice stuff.).  As non-luck would have it, I have the Maharani set from Maxi Gossamer, which I picked up from May's Uber, if I recall correctly.  When I saw the display and the model I thought:  "That model looks like Berry."   "It IS Berry, well who else would you want to model that set?"  The set has two metal choices and several gem colors.  Sadly you have to click on each piece individually, there's no HUD to set them all at once.  Hair is Truth Harmony (Ponytail)

 As you can tell, those are not my usual green eyes, but brown ones.  Ikon "Charm" eyes in Chocolate.

Since I was wearing the Maharani set, I went ahead and put on the nose chain, the mang tikka, and the Zaara Chandni Lehenga in Scarlet, to take some pictures of the full set and the Chandni, which I've had for a while.  Might as well go full on Berry-clone, except for the paleness.

I adore the Chandni in this color.  While I adore it, and think it's beautiful, I probably won't pick up the other colors as much as I might want to.  Pale Celtic redheads, even those with Moroccan ancestors, probably shouldn't be wearing lehenga's too often.

Truth Sally hair, which always reminds me of one of the hairstyles of Mad Men's Sally Draper.

SLURLS:

Sabah kaftan at Bilo Rani

Chandni Lehenga in Scarlet from Zaara

Maharani Jewelry set from Maxi Gossamer

Belleza Betty skin

Ikon Charm eyes

Truth Hair

Hucci

Berry's Movie Character Meme

Another week, another cool Berry Meme.

Meme instructions: Dress up your avatar as a character from a movie. 

Which I did.  One of the characters my readers probably expect, Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's in her Iconic Little Black Dress.

That dress being the Maitreya Audrey.  Hair is Elikatira Arabella, Angsa hat from Schadenfreude, Hucci Glynco pumps, Maitreya Jackie-O sunglasses.

But here's a character one might not expect from me, Magenta from the Rocky Horror Picture Show.  This is the maid outfit from Provocation Berry showed off some time ago, Hair is Truth Magenta, Frock-Be-Gone raygun from Doctor Obolensky, Hucci Jacmel pumps, Blacklace stockings.

Berry said that someone requested a Mean Girls meme in plurk, and Berry figured this would give us the opportunity, so I did Cady Heron a la the Jingle Bell Rock scene. Sexy Santa dress from Tuty, Hair is Truth Esperanza, boots from GOS.

I did another classic teen movie with Big Red from Bring It On.  This one didn't turn out quite so well.  Cheerleader costume from Meli Imako

Since I'm old, I just had to do two characters from the classic Heathers.  First up is my interpretation of Queen Bee Heather Chandler's Croquet outfit.   "My School Look" from Monso, Hair is Truth Dasha, Tights from Izzie's, Esme flats from Ingenue.  The croquet decorations were already rezzed at my house.

I did two Heather Duke shots, in an outfit inspired by her end-of-movie look. First up a shot inspired by her lounging at the window scene.

And near the lockers.  Diaz jacket with dress by Coldlogic, Tights from Izzies, Shoes from Fri.day, Hair is Truth Vixen.

Berry's #secondlifeproblems Meme

Yes, yes, I could be actually blogging items I've bought, but I'm blogging another Strawberry Singh meme.  Okay, so I did buy the T-shirt, and the Truth Harmony hair, which has both a bun/updo and ponytail version, is a recent purchase, so that's something.  Now these are all jokes, so don't take them seriously:

The funny thing is, I've had a sweater, a dress and a hair color named for me. No skin or hair or gown yet, such shame as a fashionista... #secondlifeproblems  ;-)

 I should have done one that says:  "FATPACKS?  They're WILLOW packs darn it.  #oldbiefashionista"

 That's why I grep my logs, to help me remember things.  Thank goodness for grep and pity on the Windows users that don't have it. #linuxandOSXgoodness

And these meme pictures PROVE I'm crazy.

Berry's SL Yearbook Smile Challenge

As I say, Berry Makes Me Blog, this time with a Yearbook style picture theme for her Monday Meme.   I imagine this is how "Ms. CC" would have looked in High School.  This is the kind of girl I wanted to be like when I was young. Preppy-feminine.  I'd have killed to look like this then.

  Sweater from Fashionably Dead, Skirt from Jane, tights from Izzie's, Flats from Ingenue, Glasses from Seburo, Hair is Sandy from Wasabi Pills, Skin is Pink Fuel Harley with the Rose lipstick (mouth version).  I went with Pink Fuel because I look younger with it.

I'd have preferred a classic black loafer but couldn't find a good one. Here's a full length shot of the outfit.

Prepare for Glamour, Like Anna Wintour, inspired by Berry.

It's not a meme, but Strawberry Singh asked in a post where she writes about how she gets inspiration from Vogue and Vogue India:

So what inspires you? Do you get inspired by fashion magazines?

Yes, yes I do.  I generally read Marie Claire, Glamour and Allure, though I let my Allure subscription lapse and I should renew it.  I read Vogue now and again, especially the September issue.  So yes, I do get inspired by fashion magazines, websites, pictures, books, catalogs...you name it.

The CC decides to channel Vogue editor, Anna Wintour, with a short bob, sheath dress, and dark sunglasses.

The dress is the "Caroun", a simple colorblock and lace sleeveless sheath from Doc Eldritch.  The skirt has the flattering and proper slightly-above-the-knee hemline that is my favorite hem length.  DE has several similar sheath sets, this one does has a fitted mesh option.  It's well worth picking up as a nice addition to a capsule wardrobe.

My sunglasses are the old Heiress sunglasses from Paper Couture, I think I have some modern ones, but just grabbed these because they're quick to find.

The short bobbed hair is "Looking" from Elikatira (which is no longer available, of course),tinted to a proper dark red. The shoes are "Diana" from Fri.day.  As is usual for Fri.day shoes, they are worth adding to a capsule wardrobe.  The skin is my usual Belleza.

The jewelry set is the platinum-diamond tennis set from Earthstones which is a touch overpriced by my standards.  But again, it's a tennis set, which isn't common in SL.

The clutch is the HUD controlled Muci clutch from Mutresse with 13 color options, plus options for chain and studs.

I have been known to say the following, with apologies to Team Rocket of the Pokemon series:

Prepare for Glamour
like Anna Wintour

To protect the Grid from devastation
to unite all Fashionistas into one nation
to denounce the evils of Lola's and bling.
to shop incessantly and acquire EVERYTHING.

CC
Creeggan

Team Fashionista goes shopping at the speed of light.
Stay out of our way or prepare to fight

Nyan!  Dat's right!

 SLURLS:

DE Designs

Fri.day shoes

Paper Couture

EarthStones

Mutresse

Belleza

Strawberry Singh Friends List Meme

Yep, another Strawberry Singh meme, this one pertains to the Friends list:

1. What is the number of contacts on your Second Life Friends List? (visible in firestorm viewer or your web profile) :  304
2. Are you picky about who you add to your list or do you usually add most people?   With new folks I always accept out of sheer politeness and wanting them to have at least "someone" to IM if they have a problem.  I'm often shy about offering it, not because I'm snooty or anything, I just don't want to bother others.  There are people I probably should friend, but haven't yet.
3. Who is your oldest contact? (check your calling cards) Cleon Goff.  I think I met him at the SL event I attended upon first login.  (I joined SL to take part in a "GeekBrief" vodcast meetup in SL.) 
4. Who is your newest contact? (check your calling cards) Robie Shan
5. Do you know every single person on your list? No.
6. How many do you speak to on a daily (weekly) basis? Daily I would say about 2 to 3 and weekly maybe about 6 - 8.  Mostly because I don't want to bother others.  Now that doesn't count group chats, because there's plenty of  people in my friends list whom I see in various group chats very often.
7. How many do you see/get together with in-world on a daily (weekly) basis? Not many.  Maybe a half dozen or so weekly.  I could be underestimating, I see a LOT of people.
8. Who on your list do you have the closest relationship with?  Gabi, every steamlander knows who that is.  It's a part of our "Caledon Legendarium" that we're cousins.
9. Who do you wish you knew better?  Salome.
10. Who on your list is the funniest/most entertaining?  Easily, Salome. Who is made of pure awesome.  We have similar interests.
11. How did you meet most of the people on your list? (work, parties, etc…) I haven’t actually “met” MOST of the people on my list.   Group Chats, other fashionistas, random encounters shopping, socialization.
12. Do you ever clean out your list? No.
13. Do you have a crush on someone in your list? Yes.  There are a few, and one very special one.
14. Is there anyone on your list that you would trust with your password? Yes, if need be, there are a couple. 

And now for a couple of entries of my own:

1. Do you have any FIC in the friends list?  Yes.
2. Are there any friends that have left SL that you wish would return?  Yes. Sabrina Doolittle is one of them, of course.  As is Kit Meredith.   And Swirly Cyclone.  The CC misses the Swirly and her humor very very much. There are some others that haven't exactly left SL but don't log in often.
3. Has anyone in your friends list passed away in RL:   Yes.
4. Okay CC, how many in your friends list are designers?  Actually not many designers are in the friends list.  I've met many as acquaintances, but friended/been friended by relatively few.
5. Who were you tickled pink to have accepted your friendship?  Several people, including most of the fashionistas and Caledon notables in my list.

As for what I'm  wearing, basically only the hair is new and it's the Truth Lunara.

Location:  Cody & Billy's Stompin Ground

Berry's Sexual Meme

Yes, I'm doing another Strawberry Singh meme.  This one is about Sex, baby.  But first, cheesecake pictures using the same hair Berry did:

 Truth Perla in Reds05, IKON Lucid Eyes in Moor, Belleza Betty Pale 3 skin with the Shyla/Betty lip 9 over it.  Lingerie from Luxuria


This one came out well, for not having depth of field and shadows on. Mata Hari sandals by Sax Shepherd.

1. What is your sexual orientation or do you not like to label yourself? – Sapphic.  That's no secret.


2. Name a physical attribute that you find attractive or sexy. – Pale skin, dark or red hair, and glasses.


3. Are you promiscuous, a prude or in between? – I'm rather asexual in both lives, I mention the asexual thing in my profile, but not a prude.  I can count the number of intimate encounters I've had in SL on the fingers of two hands with fingers to spare.  Okay it's 7, I'm averaging about once a year.  Some of those just involved cuddling.


4. What turns you on? – Not much.


5. Are you dominant or submissive? – While I don't do the whole D/s thing, there is one thing I sometims say for fun:  I am the CC, and you will OBEY ME! Though I really would need a Nehru Jacket and natty svengali look to do that properly. Why do designers not OBEY and fulfill my every whim?  This disappoints the CC.  Perhaps saying things like that is what gets me mistaken for a Domme at times.  Or maybe it's the slinky black dresses or the riding crop.


6. Are you into sexual roleplay? – Not really.


7. Which sexual position is your favorite? –  There are sexual positions?  And what is this sex thing you speak of.


8. Do you have any fetishes? – Other than for massive amounts of shopping?  Well I do like nice lingerie, and redheads, and brains.


9. Have you or would you do porn, amateur or professional? – I don't know, considering all the many things I've done in SL....in fact I think I remember doing an amateur porn video in SL once.  C'mon it was the old days, we all did crazy stuff back then, it was the Jooky Juice.


10. Do you consider yourself sexy? – Me? No.  My avatar, maybe, sometimes.

SLURL's:

Belleza Skin
 
Luxuria is still in Nouveau

Truth Hair: Perla

Sax Shepherd Mata Hari's

IKON eyes: Lucid Moor

Strawberry Singh 42 Groups Meme

Yep another Strawberry Singh meme, this one about 42 Second Life Groups

Have you reached the 42 group limit?

Yes, I have, and did soon after that limit was introduced.  Since then I've either been at or near the limit.  As I've said many times... I really could use 100 group slots...500 would be better.


Do you do a lot of group hopping to keep up with all the groups you want to stay a part of?

I have done so, at times, I try to not do it much.

What makes you want to join a group?

It varies so much. Sometimes it's wanting to support or be a part of a community, sometimes it's wanting to follow a designer's work, sometimes it's for fun.

A lot of store VIP groups have a group fee which you have to pay to join. How do you feel about paying group fees?

I consider my group slots to be valuable and finite... they should be paying ME!  That said, I don't mind a small fee, say L$250 or below.  But I would not join that group to just get a group gift and leave.

Name a few groups that you are a part of that you feel everyone should look into joining and share your reasons behind that.


Fashion Consolidated... a great way to get notices from lots of stores.

Fashion Emergency.  If you NEED something NOW, that's the place to ask where to get your NEED.  Fairly social too.

Vita's Boudoir, for the costumes and the burlesque gear and the hats.  The sisters are just so nice..and adorable.

Hair Fair Demo Group, for obvious reasons.

I hear Skin Addiction and Menstuff are good too.