Bryn There, Done That: building

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Home, Sweet, Home

There is definitely something to be said for having your own little space in SL. Someplace to land when you log in, someplace to change clothes in private, someplace to express your personal style, someplace to just relax and get away when you need to. I know that I didn’t really feel “at home” in SL until I actually had a house to call my own. I’ve never felt the need to buy land but instead opt to rent for a few different reasons such as:

* I can rent with just a basic account
* I won’t ever have to worry about selling land if I decide to move
* I don’t need much space and it’s hard to find small tracts for sale

My first rented plot was very tiny (less than 500sqm), only had 200 prims and was pretty expensive considering the size and prim limit. But, I loved it nonetheless because it was right on a beautiful lake with mountains all around and quite a bit of privacy. I built two houses there, my first being a small one-room cottage and the second being a more elaborate two-level lake house. Unfortunately, that sim was sold and was turning into a commercial area so everyone had to vacate. I was heartbroken to leave but felt a sense of adventure about finding a new place to set down roots.

Let me tell ya, I had no idea exactly how much adventure it would end up being! I knew I wanted someplace scenic, semi-private, fairly small and with the availability to build my own house. I looked high and low and was amazed (overwhelmed) to find sooo many different types of rental plots all in different sizes / prim limits, permissions and environments. There were the plots that were too big, too small, too expensive, too ugly, too restrictive or not restrictive enough. I know I must have visited over 50 unsuitable locations and was feeling just about at the end of my rope when I happened to visit Romantic Isle Rentals. I instantly fell in love with a small plot on top of a mountain that had a wonderful sunset view and was beside a lake with a waterfall. The price was right, the location exceptional and I was so excited to have found this small piece of paradise. I was anxious to find out more about the island and kept my fingers crossed that I was going to be able to build my own house on the plot since there was a cute little tree house there at the time. I sent the landlord, Ben Turas, an IM and plunked down a few days worth a rent to make sure I didn’t loose that little slice of heaven in the meantime.

I heard back from Ben and he was very friendly and helpful. He told me that he could either provide a house (several available to choose from that didn’t count against the prim limit of the plot) or I could build my own (WOULD count against the prim limit). He also told me that he would be happy to do some teraforming on the plot if I desired. I was just in awe about how accommodating he was being as that was quite a change from some of the other landlords I had met in my travels. I told him that I would be building my own house and he whisked away the treehouse so that I could begin to create my own space in SL again. Woo hoo!

That was several months ago and my new house is mostly built (still lots of details to work on..ugh, I hate detail work) and I’m still loving living there. So much so that I wanted to share it with y’all in case you were looking for a place of your own. Ben recently sent out a group notice stating that he is now providing a Shoutcast radio (plays top 50 Shoutcast stations) and a YouTube Video viewer to all the renters. Just a little icing on an already yummy cake. :)

Here’s some general info obtained from a notecard provided to prospective renters:

We have 18 retreats for rent, each with their unique house on it, or your own house if you prefer. Privacy is accomplished between the retreats by waterfalls and hills between them. Our rents are very modest, 2L(inner land retreat), 2.5L(one beach retreat) or 3L(two beaches retreat) per prim per week. The rent varies from 700L to 4500L per week, no TIER! You decide how many prims you would like to have, within certain limits: The number of prims has to be at least 25% of the sqm of a retreat, the maximum is about 75% of the sqm. If you require a bigger retreat, or want to combine two retreats into one, we can accommodate that.

Inagural Post

Howdy y’all! Thanks for stopping by!

My name is Braunwyn Cleanslate in-world, but all my friends call me Bryn. I’ve been in SL fairly regularly since November 2006 and let me tell ya, it’s been a crazy ride. Despite that, Second Life has so much to offer and two and a half years later I feel like I’ve only just scratched the surface.

Up until this point, my main creative outlet in SL has been building and decorating three of my own houses. I’ve also enjoyed snapping a few pics here and there as well as meeting new people and cultivating friendships. Despite those activities, to be honest, I was feeling like I was in a bit of an SL rut.

Over the last few months though, I’ve picked up a number of new hobbies, each one seemingly leading to the next. It all started when I met someone who had done some style consulting in SL. This person had long given up that profession, but it got me to thinking about my avatar and what improvements could be made. This person had also made a few blog entries about their previous profession and that got me started reading the SL fashion blogs.

Now a whole new world has opened up to me in SL. Just in the last few months I have probably tripled my selection of skins, hair, clothes and shoes while at the same time clearing some very old and unattractive freebies from my inventory (boy, was that a time consuming task!). I wouldn’t go so far as to call myself a fashonista at this point but I would feel comfortable with the title frugalista since most of my new stuff is either very inexpensive or free. I’m amazed at the quality of some low cost items in SL, it’s just a matter of knowing where to look.

With my new and improved avatar I was feeling froggy when I saw a notice for an open model call for one of the in-world agencies, so I jumped. I was overjoyed and a bit intimidated to be selected as one of the agency’s models. That particular “job” lasted only a few weeks before the agency merged with another and had to cut their stable of models in half. I unfortunately didn’t make the cut that time around, but I wasn’t sad because my interest was fully peaked and by exploring modeling opportunities I knew that there were many more options available to gain exposure. Since I already had an interest in photography, I feel that hobby will also grow and develop as I pursue modeling.

I am constructing this blog (my first ever) as a creative outlet for me as well as a place to document the Second Life and times of Bryn. I won’t be focusing on any one thing but instead present a slice of Second Life as seen through my eyes and my interests.

Now that those formalities are out of the way, let's get this show on the road!

Model / Photographer - Braunwyn Cleanslate...Photo taken at free studio in the Ivalde store...Eyes - Tuli - intense eyes - blue - group gift...Shape - Alady 2009 Perfect Tribute to Jula...Skin - Genesis - Candace Peach "Glitteratti" - group gift...Hair - ETD Kiley - Blonde red - freebie...Shirt - Capris Abby Dawn Sweater - Navy blue - 10L sale...Shorts - Hell Bop - Leonard - hunt gift
Shoes - ETD - Demi Trainers (starley white) - welcome gift...Jewelry - Tickled Pink - Hearts cascade necklace - freebie

Bryn There, Done That

Home, Sweet, Home

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