Entrepreneur

I had big plans for the weekend; I was going to make soap (I got my shipment of colors and scents yesterday), and I need to make new jewelry to get my Etsy inventory back up. I didn't do either of those things today, but maybe tomorrow.

Today was nice. Bob didn't go in to work until 1:00, so I worked on the computer most of the morning, working on my Second Life business. I've had a little shop selling tee-shirts that I've made, but it hasn't been terribly successful. Probably a combination of poor location, lack of advertising, and goods that no one wanted to buy. I don't have any problem accepting that. I don't have a lot of time to spend on it, but I would really like to have it perform better, at least enough to pay my expenses.

Last week I discovered a new little shopping area, an artists' colony, and rented a shop, and a few days later decided to take the plunge and rent a home there--the rental includes the home, the shop, and a "skybox" workroom. Part of the problem with making much headway is that to actually create anything--clothing, furniture, landscaping--you have to be "in world," i.e., you can't build something and then take it into the game.

You can create textures and import them into the game, but to actually create the item you have to be online. Which is really a pain, because of course you can't tell exactly what something is going to look like until you've paid the (admittedly small) upload fee and applied it to the item. Of course, once you've done it a few times it becomes easier to know what it's going to look like, but it's still a gamble.

And the other thing is that when you rent a space you have a limit of how many "prims" you can have lying around at one time. Prims are shorthand for "primitives," or the pieces that make up whatever you're building. A box is one prim. I built a bookcase today which was made up of 5 prims--a hollow box for the top, back and sides, three shelves, and a decorative bottom piece. So when I would build before, I couldn't leave anything out or I'd go over my prim limit. So, just like at home, in order to make something I'd have to drag everything out of my inventory, then, when I was finished, put it away. Now, with the big skybox, I have a big prim limit, and I can leave things lying around.

The house I'm renting is next door to a friend of mine; she also has a shop in the same market.

My skybox workshop:

The big black backdrop is for taking photos; the white sphere is a light. I have a little desk set up so I can work, and a daybed to lie down and think.

My home:

The house is tiny, a shack, really. But it's plenty. I have it set up with a couch and a couple of chairs, and chairs on the porch. It's especially pretty at night.

And I love the view from the porch.

My shop:

The area is a Mexican-themed "mercado;" I think I'm going to switch my shop over to more furniture and decorative objects rather than clothing. I think I might be more successful, and the fashion industry is so competitive that I'd just as soon not get involved in it. Anyway, I know it's quite silly, but it's entertainment and escapism for me, and I figure it's no worse than watching television for a few hours a night. I know I could be doing something a lot more productive, but I do enjoy it. Maybe someday I'll be a Second Life entrepreneur.

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