How To Survive Crazy-Making & RAWK Your Second Life

Hi, all!

So I'm going to show you a bit about some really awesome discounts that go on in SL (for almost every day of the week), from all kinds of creators (yes, even with mesh), for under L$100!  Because my new rule is that if it's not on sale, or I didn't earn the L$ (by playing "a fishing game" or something) within SL, then I'm not gonna fucking buy it!


...Meanwhile, why new posts tend to take a long time (around real-life work/chores and all that, of course, too), just so you know, is because I am working on a couple of projects in the background that involve:

1. Updating this blog... Mostly for my favorite Places in my Picks, to give more information + some of them have moved, OMG.


2. Helping Momma Rana get her Transgender Hate Crime & Suicide Memorial plaques up to date from 2015 to the present ...And let me just take a moment to tell you that it's unbelievable how much violence, hate, and shame this world unnecessarily has...  In this list of people we're working with, from the 1970's until 2015, there are over 1K names on there (just of the recorded incidents).  A lot of these people range from ages as early as 14, 16, and 20.  And they don't just "go silently into the night," they were dismembered, burned alive, stabbed or shot over 10 times, etc.  ...I feel it's important to finish these plaques to the present, to give honor to those who were unjustly punished for being true to themselves.  I am also proud that the recreation of these plaques look just as good as the old ones (if not possibly slightly improved).  I work on them in my spare time, but for now, you can join the TG Hate Crimes Memorial Project group to stay up to date (as last I checked, they have events like dances and raffles to help raise awareness), by copying this into nearby chat for a clickable link: secondlife:///app/group/03ec4da9-71fc-ddf6-f158-e1346f858fe2/about  


3. Finally, after playing "fishing games" in SL for several years and enjoying them very much... I was thinking that there has to possibly be a slightly better way to earn L$ faster (when you don't really have the time/equipment to make mesh so well).  Coincidentally, while going thru the Community Events, I came across something that suggested empowerment.  And you know, I would love to know how my avatar "ranks" as far as being pretty.  Plus, I think it would be nice to practice some smutty writing skills  ...So... I am thinking about applying to be a dancer or escort at a high-end club!  Yup.  The particular place I might become a part of has certain requirements, like that you cannot ever wear prim or flexi clothing... So it's been really fun going to events like Whore Couture (01MAR20 - 31MAR20) and Kinky (28FEB20 - 22MAR20) to find all kinds of EXTREMELY sexy clothing (plus sleuthing out what the best buy is for either "event-only," MP, or inworld stores options)!  ...My only problem is that if you guys think the object of SL is to look more realistic (so mesh clothing is a must), then why do some of these lingerie pieces not stay snug against my body?  BoM is new, hip, & in... So I really hope you all reconsider your views on "mesh only" options, seriously!!!  Helps cut down on lag too!


4. My son, Eddy, and I did also manage to visit another Townies event for St. Patty's!  This year, you can gold mine, and you're very lucky if you find all 4 gold bar prizes in each of the 4 rooms.  Go check it out, and copy this Townies group URI into nearby chat to join their group and stay updated on the next holiday town event: secondlife:///app/group/7ecd7ffb-ed50-c5c2-baec-0b4df3d54264/about


5. And, OMG, CasperVend worked thru a SL update, so now I need to update my store's Holovend crap ...fucketty-fuck-fuck!!!  ...Oh, but I survived the Maitreya and the Alienum updates, thank gawds!!!  :D

...And today was just like...

...So!

A while ago (+ being a dark fae / succubus, and therefore always interested in sexy cothing)... I joined the Graffitiwear group, copy/paste into nearby chat: secondlife:///app/group/372f4da2-57a7-4387-9693-228c806853ae/about (which I think was introduced to me from the CATWA HEAD Friends group, copy/paste into nearby chat: secondlife:///app/group/29c5ca14-7e13-fdf0-c531-2507844a1eef/about or the Maitreya Lara Friends group, copy/paste into nearby chat: secondlife:///app/group/7fe09f12-111a-9e64-d60e-5faef1dd4b69/about).

Anyhoo, Chalice Piers Fortune (chalice.piers) would post these notices about discounts her line is involved in, like the "Fifty5 Thursday" advertisements...

The latest Fifty5 Thursday notecard reads,

"Welcome to Fifty5 Thursday's Weekly Sales Event 3-5-20

"PRICES RUN FROM 55L TO 100L.

 "Sale starts at 7AM Thursdays, through Sunday.  Some designers keep it going the whole week.

"*Please note each store is checked to be sure these items are available to you for the sale.  The designers are awesome at having them ready in time, but at times (RL) and SL puts a hold on things.  Please give at least 24 hours before contacting me and/or the designer/s about this, as I do let them know personally that we are waiting.

"SEE ITEMS HERE: http://fifty5thursdays.blogspot.com/"

But usually, you can just click the textures in the NC to see what awesomeness is being discounted.

And, yeah... I started going to these different designer's places to see what they had for sale (not just for clothing, BTW, objects, textures, sometimes full perm stuff is also offered).  Some sales run all week, or only for their selected day/s.  At any rate, it's a great way to keep your merchandise before the public.

I think Graffitiwear is also involved in the Frisky Friday list, but I'll tell you why I now hate that list... This year, they started doing something different.  Instead of being upfront and showing me all the items ppl were selling at a discount, they'd feature some things in their list that weren't necessarily on a discount/+anymore (to get the consumer interested)... Which then turns into a sort of hunt, and annoying NC-back-&-forth with designers (bullshit, really, for both the consumer and the seller)!  And that came about because sometimes the NCs don't pop the landmark up when you click them (and no SLURL = listed), so I thought my original problem in finding these things was that.  But when I contacted the creator of the NC, and eventually found out the truth ...I was like (privately, to myself, because I didn't wanna be a completely rude asshole), "Well, thanks, but no thanks."  Like seriously, fuck that.  I may be poor and desperate, but my time is valuable, and there's PLENTY of other discount lists out there (& I think for that reason too, I don't really like the "My 60L Secret Sale List" either)...

One designer I visited, was involved in a different discount list for practically EVERY DAY of the week!  ...So you know what I did?  I subscribed to ALL of those lists, mwahahaha!  One thing lead to another and now I'm currently subscribed to about 10 lists consisting of ".::Secret Sale Sundays::.," "35L Sunday Sale List," "25L Tuesdays," "Fifty5 Thursday," "Fly Buy Fridays," "30L Saturday Shopping," "55L Saturday Sales Spree," "OFFICIAL S&D - Steals And Deals - Sale Ads," and the "Super Sales Weekend Lists."





...And see, some of these discount lists come in HUDs (a "heads up device" that displays only on your screen, not your avatar) that will teleport you if you see something you like, from scrolling thru the images via the arrows.  ♥

((And yus, I can do this while playing Alienum, too))  :p





...And yeah, you see all that shit on my screen and think that's something only a complicated badass would do?  Lemmie make it a little less complicated for you too, then!

I made several folders in my inventory to keep track.  

Right-click your main "Inventory" folder and select " New Folder," I called mine "GO."

In that folder, I put several subfolders.  One of them pertaining to each of these sales.  

In these specific sales folders, I will put their sales ads.  When I go thru their lists, I will collect demos and also place them in that folder to go thru.  

((You will note that I have a "Demos" folder in the "GO" folder, this is for loose demos I picked up throughout my journeys.  Sales demos will usually go into that specific sale's folder to be a bit more organized))

((You will also note a NC I wrote to the creator in there, because the item wasn't priced correctly inworld.  It happens sometimes.  And if they don't get back to me, then they don't need my L$  ;)  ))

...And yes, if creators don't have a demo for me to try, I'm not buying their shit, it's as simple as that.  Sorry, but fuck you.  I mean, I will try.  I will try to find their demo on MP.  And if it's not there, is really an interesting item that I don't think I already have in some other form, and I absolutely can't live without it ...I may send the creator a NC to see if I can try a demo.  But I've been met by some snobs who think their shit don't stink for being under L$100... And you know what?  I don't need to be nickel and dimed for shit that doesn't cover my fucking nipples exactly, 'k?!  So, no demo, no buy.  Fuck off.  You wanna be a douche and charge me a L$1 for your demo, that's fine.  I'd rather pay the L$1, than have an outfit I bought but can't feel comfortable wearing, even in a Moderate region.

Always, always try a demo!

Always turn your camera around IN ALL ANGLES to make sure what you're wearing fits (and if you're building something, that it LOOKS CORRECT)!

Damn it.






Always, always delete the shit in the demo you don't need (like clothing for bodies that are NOT yours).  Save on inventory space.  Save on sanity.

Empty your trash can too!  ...Seriously, delete that shit!!!

After buying the outfit, delete the demo and put newly purchases things into a folder where you can sort them and make them into outfits.  :)  

Save the original box that your new stuff came in (or box extra pieces, if the purchased item doesn't come with a box, or if your shit lacks the "copy" permission), and delete shit you don't need from your inventory.  

...Dragging around 60k elements worth of bullshit in your inventory causes severe LAG (and other problems).  I know that for a fact.  I'm currently working on fixing that.

As you can see here, I've clicked on all the items from my inventory that I'm now going to place into this box.  

CTRL key highlights one thing at a time.  

Shift key highlights things from last clicked to new click.  

After making sure these things are in the contents of my box (heheh), I will delete these items from my inventory, delete the script from this box, then take this box into my inventory and place it into this item's folder -in case I would ever need 

these things at some point later (doubtful, but you never know).

Neat trick to organizing your inventory + still being able to buy a shit-ton of decent stuff!  ...I might sell this cheap little box at a later point, but I dunno... You could really just make your own!!!  ;)

...So that, my friends, is pretty much what I've been up to and how I've been enjoying SL lately.  I hope you can appreciate the tips/tricks I showed you, and that they help you enjoy your SL as well!  I look forward to sharing more new things with you, but until then, we shall have to catch each other on the flip-side!

♥

---> I can't fucking read this!

Official?

Alright...
...Officially...

...talk about being "lost in the mail..."

RL:
Officially, RL had me choked.  But I knew it would be good to keep this blog active, especially for when I had finally worked through some of my challenges.  So thank you for letting me do that artistically.  I bet if you read between the lines, you could see what kind of death grip RL had on my emotional and mental well-being.

Usually, the duality of SL & RL will balance me out.  Like, if one reality sucks, the other will carry me through.  But sometimes, when things are so uncontrollably devastating in one world, you almost give up all hope.  I spent many weeks living in my bed, and I couldn't even tell you half of all the programs I zoned out to on the television!  :p

I'm fine now, tho.  I've come to terms with it and given it up to the powers that be, as well as healthy distraction.

Also, as another cool uplifting side-note... one of the problems I had with some gov't agencies and going back to school has finally resolved itself (after a year), so I have my auto mechanic opportunity back now.  YaAaAaAaAAaayyy!  :D

...So hopefully, my reality can be salvaged and I can finish completely pulling through the mess I refer to as my RL.  :p

SL:
I have a multitude of subjects to catch up with you on (I will highlight the different topics in red, so they're easy for you to spot)!  Links will be bold red.

...So we have all discovered there is nothing to fear from Tilia?  :)  I asked the Premium Chat Help, way back when this was first announced, if I would need to send in a bunch of proof, since I already had a PayPal account connected... And they were like, "Nope, you're fine!  Seamless!"  And I think I verified my information from my Dashboard > Account > Process Credit once ...So it should be good now, for whenever I want to cash out some L$ into real $!  :)

And, yes, I unfortunately & completely missed out on SL16B!  :(  ...I tried to go...

(...fan of flexi!)

(...love my updo, too...)

...but there was too much lag even for my lowest lag avatar, and I just very simply ran out of time!

Which did bring me to developing this JIRA for Firestorm.  And yeah, the answer from Willow Wilder is pretty darn cool -like, nobody from the FS Group told me this shit, as they were prolly all too busy trying to not crash in SL16B, themselves, LOL!  ;)

Hopefully, you got more than the 2 & 1/2 sims worth of free gifties + demos that I was able to tackle!  ;)  ...Unfortunately, I did miss out on the Premium SL16B giftie!  :(  But oh, well, I got the Halloween Decorating Kit, and that's all that matters, as Halloween is my favorite holiday!  :D

At some point, I'll have to show you how great BOM (Bakes On Mesh) is for me.  FS just came out with a BOM update, but Maitreya is still in the process of developing an upgrade (and so is CATWA - there's a relay HUD in their gift section inworld) ...Actually, I think SLINK is the only mesh body on the market that has completed a BOM product so far.  I am very excited about it!  Maybe my tattoos and make-up will finally look correct (as Photoshopping my skin + tattoos with Developer Kits = ugly seams)!!!


I'll share with you this Notecard I got from the Maitreya Lara Friends group (18MAY19), as to why BOM is so important (a layered mesh body is sorta like a bunch of linked Russian matryoshka nesting dolls: clothing, underwear, tattoos, & skin/body itself - although, a lot of you are referring to this as an "onion" *rolls eyes and cries about the simple Shrek reference*) ...And then there are the silly slights about old skins and how BOM isn't necessary... I simply think it's because you might not appreciate the value or empowerment this gives us to our identities regarding layers and not needing to use Mask Mode (which distorts & compromises the integrity of fine detail in tattoos & lacy underwear, for example):

Understanding Alpha Mask Mode v2


A very common thing to see in group chat is the mention of Mask Mode on layers.  I'll try to explain what it is, what it does, and why we need it, without lapsing into speaking Geek or using acronyms. I know this is long. It's a complex subject. You should have seen it before I edited it.  ;)

When our video cards process the scene in front of us, they have to decide what is visible and what is hidden. Normally they do this very well.  If everything were either transparent or opaque with nothing in between, there would be no problem. But our world is not that simple.  We like things that are sheer, and shaded.  That's where it can get tricky.

The problem we have with layers disappearing is not new at all. We used to see it with things like a wall that has a window in it - all on one prim and done with texture. If you put a tree outside, sometimes that tree would appear to come inside.  You would see it between you and the wall, not outdoors where it belongs.  That should not happen any more with rezzed objects.  But that does not apply to attachments.

Second Life does not sort alpha on attachments.  Our mesh bodies and heads are attachments. If they did 'flip the switch' and allow the video card to try to sort alpha on attachments, nobody would be able to do anything if there was someone wearing hair in the vicinity.  There is a solution in the works at Linden Lab, but it's in its infancy and there is no clue about when we will see it.  Fortunately, we do have a workaround.

There are 2 kinds of transparency in use.  First we have Alpha masking. This is an all-or-nothing thing. Think of alpha layers on the classic avatar.  It's either opaque or it's invisible, there is no in between.  This is perfect for some things.  But things like tattoos and sheer stockings need something more.  For that we have Alpha blending.  This is built in to the texture and called an Alpha Channel.  This channel has 256 possible values ranging from fully transparent to fully opaque. That's where shadows, sheer fabric, and tattoos come in.

** SIDENOTE  **  You can wear multiple tattoo layers and stack sheer clothes over them until the cows come home on a classic avatar and this glitch will never happen. The reason is because your card is not rendering those individually as it is with a mesh body.  No matter how many clothing layers you have on your classic avatar, it's all one texture, baked on the server and sent to you.

OK, so what is Mask Mode for?  Remember, your video card gets confused with stacked Blended Layers since there is no 'guidance' in the form of sorting. But adding a Masked Layer between them acts like a full stop for the calculations.  Think of it as dividing a pile of white papers by slipping a sheet of red paper into the middle of the pile. With that marker in there, you can easily tell where the upper half and the lower half of the pack are. A Masked Mode layer acts like the red paper, telling the video card what is what with the layers.

An example of how to use the Mask Mode is to wear a tattoo on the tattoo layer and sheer stockings on the pants layer. Chances are, the tattoo will disappear. Add something on the Underwear Layer, and turn on the Mask Mode on your Lara HUD.  Your tattoo will now show up beneath your stockings the way it's supposed to.  That Masked Layer in between the two worked like our red piece of paper in the pile of papers in the last paragraph, allowing both blended layers to render properly.

This glitch has been around for years, no video card, no software, and no product is immune to it.  SL gives us tools to combat it, but those are not something we as end users can employ.  The best thing we can do is choose our applier layers carefully and plan ahead to overcome the problems that can crop up.  Once you have done it a few times, it will become routine. The Lara body lets you choose which layer to wear an applier on, and that helps in the battle against the alpha glitch.

There is light at the end of the tunnel though.  LL has recently announced a plan to (in time) allow us to "bake" textures for layers on mesh bodies.  This will allow us to, for example, combine a tattoo and stockings into one layer with the skin, which will resolve the problem.

As always, if you have any questions, feel free to contact me in world and I will do my best to help in any way I can!

gяуρнση (gryphon.ronas)
Maitreya CSR
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Maitreya%20Isle/174/192/23

It's true... tho, as a builder, I can tell you that alpha blending (for a transparent/.png/alpha texture) looks much prettier than alpha masking.  Alpha masking is a great tool if you need to use it... But yes, detail will end up getting distorted.  :(  
---> Check out what this all means.
---> Original SL Wiki link.

I will attempt to show you:

Here, I have a skybox with the side-walls and roof as transparent textures.  

Perhaps you can see the skybox seams, with an experienced builder eye.

Notice how you can see the trees, but the sky is transparent (except for the clouds).  

This is to let the regular SL sky come through, and to perhaps give off a more realistic feel/effect.

Now I'm going to stand in the middle of this skybox and edit my flexi hair.

You can see that my flexi hair is made up of multiple faces of transparent textures (as otherwise, some type of picture would come up in the checkered square looking "Texture" part of the build window).

Notice how the Alpha mode is "Alpha blending."

Okay, now keep it in mind that my hair is made up of transparent textures.

And remember earlier, I pointed out that the skybox is made up of transparent textures as well.

Now, I put some thought into building the skybox... 

I used an Alpha masking technique on the wall textures.

Brought the Mask cutoff up to 100.

See how pretty my hair normally looks when we do that?

Why did I go thru all that trouble with the Alpha masking on the skybox walls?

Why didn't I just leave it on the Alpha blending default?

Because it's easier to adjust the Alpha masking on the walls of a skybox, than every little linked piece of my hair (which is prolly in the 100+ prim range).  ...And besides, I've deduced that the original creator of my hair knew what they were doing when they made my hair (as they are very well known + successful)!

But just for fun, let's watch what happens to my hair when I turn the skybox walls back to the Alpha blending default...

Uht, ohs...

...Look by my ear...

It looks like my hair is very greasy, to say the least!

...Where did all the fluffy thickness go?

Here it is from another angle, in case you missed that...

^ ...How my flexi hair (with a lot of prims + using the Alpha blending technique for its transparent/.png/alpha textures), 
looks against a background that also uses a transparent/.png/alpha texture with an Alpha masking technique 

-versus- 

that same background with Alpha blending... v

Especially right by my ear and the immediate start of my left wing, you can see that in order for my flexi hair to look normal, I have to adjust my skybox build to where the transparent/.png/alpha textures of the skybox walls are set to Alpha masking & with a Mask cutoff of 100.  Otherwise, it is like the 2 different objects with transparencies (my hair and the skybox) are competing with each other to be rendered (and inevitably, one loses).

Now we can make that the equivalent to such a thing as a mesh body and its multiple layers of clothing, underwear, tattoos, and the skin/body itself (especially with many transparent/.png/alpha textures layered on top of one another)  ...And why my tattoos disappear (whenever I wanna wear things like lacy underwear), which really pisses me off (and why I had to take my skin into PS & put the tattoos on it myself... which still pisses me off, because I cannot get them to line up correctly, as they do show inevitable mesh body seams)!

...Now let me show you why Mask Mode (at least on the Maitreya Lara mesh body, if not all mesh bodies) sucks and doesn't solve the issue of having, say, tattoos + lacy underwear on at the same time...

Let me take you back to my skybox example...

Here is the transparent/.png/alpha tree/cloud texture on regular/default Alpha blending mode...

Notice, to the left, how you can see the regular SL skyline and regular SL clouds behind the wall texture I have, here. 

Look what happens to the detail/blending of the wall texture's clouds when we change this to the appropriate Alpha blending mode with a Mask cutoff of 100.

Now you can really tell the difference between the skybox texture and the regular SL sky!

Perhaps I should've tried an Emissive mask + regular transparency %, but my comparative example here is fine (as there's no fine-tuning control for transparent/.png/alpha texture layers on mesh bodies anyway) ...But can you imagine how this affects tattoos/lacy underwear in Mask Mode on an actual mesh body?  ...Especially when how one looks in SL weighs so heavily on the consciousness of all SL residents?  I mean, the market relies so heavily on either land or personal identification... And if everyone is going to get so persnickety about how they look and jump on the expensive mesh body bandwagon, well, then shouldn't the texture layers of the mesh body have the right to look fucking fabulous right off the bat without a lot of dicking around?

I know, I'm outraged too!  LOL

...So this is one of the most important reasons why BOM is so very important and why I am officially looking forward to my personal success with this project!  - I fully believe that if you simply take all these layers (clothing, underwear, tattoos, skin) and allow the SL server to work with your mesh body, by baking them all into *one* simple texture that goes on (in the correct layer order, nonetheless -which is adjustable)... Things will line up (no seams), and you can wear *all* these things perfectly without anything disappearing! 

Other reasons can be found here ---> SL forum 

And also, I thought it would be fun to point out that in the "olden days" of SL building, one would put multiple face textures into *one* uploaded texture (and know how to adjust the one texture for each face of an entire object, or even multiple objects), to save on rendering texture cost 

...This may be why it takes so long for everything to rez from gray objects to their actual textures...  

One baked texture for mesh bodies = terrific!








So yeah, thank you, LL!

...Finally:

• Be the sexy you, that you desire to be in SL! 
• Justice for all the mesh body creators who work so hard to put something so elaborate & wonderful together!
• Justice for all the creators who painstakingly design fantastic clothing, tattoo, and skin textures!

...After sleuthing from FS's BOM page, this is the best blog I've seen so far (that really holds your hand through the whole thing), as you attempt BOM for yourself: 
---> Virtual Bloke "Get Baked – A Quick Beginners’ Guide to Using Bakes on Mesh" from Skell Dagger (quite a well-read guy with a personality I can appreciate!)  ;)

---> And this is a great video on how to make BOM happen for you (FS, Maitreya, CATWA, and a few other options), by Novata!

BTW, congratulations to Strawberry Singh (an infamous Blogger) ---> Strawberry Linden!

I never thought it would be possible to be so professional, thorough, and thoughtful that one could ever be held in the Lindens' highest regard, enough to actually
be recruited!  What an honor!

...Maybe I should start taking SL more seriously now!  LOL

...& I'm sure you're all aware of the official Lab Gab YouTube channel.

I keep missing them when they initially air, but one of these days I might be able to catch them & actually participate!

We're currently on episode 3, which talks about official blogging for SL!

---> This is the official SL Blog that covers the SL Blogging Network.

---> This is where you need to submit your blog for the SL Blogging Network.

-But make sure you read the Terms & Conditions + the Content Guidelines.

...Now, I've given it some thought (as this certainly has been somewhat of an inspiration to call me back to the awesomeness of updating my notes, here)...


...I mean, sure, I would love to put this badge on my page.  To be a part of a network of officials that get heard and mean something amongst valued SL residents...

But I honestly think that their end decision might be that my point-of-view is too raw & "in-your-face" to meet their approval standards.  ...I mean, I've thoroughly wrapped my notes up in the First Amendment and sealed it with George Carlin spices, just perfect for Cheech and Chong (or something, you know?  LOL)!  ...If something unfair is happening, I point it out (I don't want to be afraid to call a spade a spade).  But also, if something is great, I like to thoroughly nurture that too...  I like to put as much information in these as I can (even with links and such); geared for someone who isn't necessarily familiar with SL (who might even be possibly inspired to join the platform), or for those who are veterans and would like to know it from a somewhat amusing proficient's POV.  Not everything is bad.  Not everything is good.  I just like to present facts with some personality.  ...And I don't want to be afraid to be me.

I might submit this site for only some specific, selected posts? ...that would be cool and totally fine with me.  I do have the capability to write like that *swats some of the curse words off the screen*  ...Or I could totally put a NSFW parental advisory logo on every entry, LOL!  ...Maybe, maybe, if cool ppl like Skell get on there, then perhaps I have a chance too!  ;)

...But if in the end, I'm too "uninhibited" or whatever, that's fine with me as well.  I advocate that it's more important to not feel artistically stifled or constrained with the messages one is trying to communicate ... Because if we worry about the hoity-toityness of it all, then perhaps anxiety will consume us and we'll lose our voice completely --And a passionate, thriving world deserves to have an equal match [in it]!  ;)

In the meanwhile, I have some other important updates I'd very much like to inform you about!

...But I think this particular note is getting long enough, already...

So stay tuned for updates on my official family status ( <---may link this later) and some really officially fun things I've been up to in SL (like Blender, Alienum, maybe more detail on BOM + Dev. Kits, and even church *gasp, yes*) ( <---may also link these later)!  ;)

Good luck to you in your endeavors, and remember to be true to yourself ...the universe conspires to carry you!

---> I can't fucking read this!