Interview With Emorald of Montecito Bay

By Bixyl Shuftan

Among the people whom make the sim and community of Montecito Bay run, Emorald Resident is one of them. Often mentioned in the same sentence as her partner Lem Aiko (LemonPledge) as "Lem and Em," she has been around since the start of the place. Recently, we met up at the sim's Magnum Opus and I had a few questions for her.

When we found a place to sit down, we attracted some attention from a few others nearby, including Emorald. When he was told what was going on, he chuckled a little, "It's kinda funny. Ya get an interview with one of us, and you get all of us at the same time. But we all family here." He smiled and let

When asked to describe what her role was here, Emorald answered, "Well, I am the head of Parks and Recreation (smile). Pretty much, I do the hiring of DJs and hosts." When asked how she found out about Second Life, she responded, "I had heard about it a few times. Never though much on it till .... oh .... I would say 2015. Then decided 'What the heck, might as well check it out.' And well, been on here ever since.

"It's a rather nice way to stretch my creative side," Emorald went on, "I was never a good painter or anything like that. But many people told me I have a decent eye for photography. So I have been using Second Life to take pics of the avatars I fix up." It didn't come about right away, "I had taken pictures in SL (early on) a few times and thought nothing of it. But I had shown some people what I took and some liked it. So as time went on, I began trying to get better at it. I do use photoshop to make them look a bit better (smile)."

Emorald does get other ways to stretch her creativity, "Little bits of role playing when I get a chance, but mostly in photography. Getting my AV pose just right, getting the perfect lighting, It's always fun (smile). I do a little building from time to timem but, nothing really amazing."

I went and asked Emorald just how early on did she hear about the planning of Montecito Bay. She answered, "I want to say I had heard Moff talking about doing it after he left Furry Fashion. He had always wanted to make something really nice. So Monticeto Bay came about. It's been through a few changes, and next year there is gonna be another change (smile)." I of course asked what the change was, but she just giggled, "Hehehe.... That my friend is kept under lock and key (smile). But I can say it should prove to be pretty awesome. Hopefully the upcoming change will bring about more and more people."

So what did she think was Montecito Bay's most noteworthy event? Emorald told me, "Oh man, the Alien Invasion was pretty crazy, and a lot of fun (smile). The NuYu that is coming up in December should prove to be a lot of fun as well. ... This entire month this sim has been busy setting up for (it). ... I really enjoy this place."

Emorald besides being in charge of hiring DJs does some DJing herself, "I do a bit of everything, to be honest. If I can find it, I will usually play it. I never try and stick to just one type of music. I enjoy pretty much everything. Today i did a Disco set (smile)." I asked which of Montecito Bay's several venues did she like the most. "Always did like Studio 86 and Envy Nightlife," she answered, "two of my faves, guess 'cause of the neon and such." She thought for a moment, "Really though Bix, I love ALL the clubs we have here a MB. I know this place here is Moff's baby (smiles)."

I went back to her earlier saying she liked taking pictures of avatars, and asked Emorald what inspired her particular avatar and outfit? She giggled, "Heheh, that is a story in itself. When i started Second Life, my first av was a dragon. I think I still have it set up, I forget. But as time went on, I just got more and more avatars 'till I ran across this otter av.

"This is technically one of Brae's old avs. But the more I worked with it, the more it spoke to me. It's been through a few changes. But this latest version has a bento head (smile). It used to have the old PAWS otter head, which *is* a nice head. But, I don't think it has the, expression, this head seems to have. With this head she looks more sophisticated, and, just as cute and sexy (smile). The head I have now is the Happy Paws Lionet head. I paid Brae to fix up the otter head texture to it, and I played around with the sliders 'till it looked right. The tattoos, I fixed them up to be on the skin and not just a layer on the Maitreya body."

So what are her future plans besides the NuYu and next year's "surprise?" Emorald answered, "To be honest I dunno yet. I just live life one day at a time. I do play on continuing to take pics in Second Life. Hopefully I can get more stuff to help me get better and better at it." The last thing she mentioned was the NuYu, "I hope to see a lot of people (there) ... gonna be several shows, plenty of vendors selling things, should be an awesome time (smile)."

It was about then we parted and went our seperate ways. For those looking for Emorald, she can usually be found at one of Montecito Bay's events, often with her partner Lem.

Bixyl Shuftan

Angel Pierterson: Second Life Photogrpaher

By Deaflegacy

Angel Pierterson and I met at her house.  She has a gift in photography.  Angel had been a photographer for quite some time.  When she was asked how long she had been a photographer, she said, "Geeze, eight years give or take..?  Quite a while.  But it's been off and on, I have droughts when the muse doesn't visit like any artist."

Angel has a website to show her work on Second Life.  It does contain adult material and people who wanted to see her work would not be able to see it without signing in first.  99 percents of Angel's work is furry related.  Angel's website is at https://dj-angel.sofurry.com/. She does have this to say about photography: "I mean I average about 20 bad shots for every good shot in there and that's a great ratio."

When Angel was asked how long she think she'd continue doing photography, she said, "Until I either pass on or until they shut down Second Life. whichever comes first.  It's something I do enjoy doing even if it's off and on."

"I release my art under a non commercial creative commmons.  Meaning if you don't sell it do what you want with it. As long as I get my credit." said Angel.  "Truth is..  you really don't feel like you've made it until someone tries to steal your art... Not that I've had that happen..Angel did make a good point when she said, "As long as you note that you can't steal it with the permissions as long as you don't make money on it and credit me for it."

Angel does portraiture.  She predates flexies/sculpties/the marketplace/rolling restarts.  She loves helping people out.  She dislikes empty profile spaces.   She has a picture to show how far avatars have came over the years: https://www.sofurry.com/view/459236 . Angel said that the photoshop is crappy but it gets the point across.

"For me it's usually afternoons, because I really don't wake up quick in the morning.  As the quip goes, 'I hate waking up before the crack of noon.'" said Angel.  She said this about her time on Second Life: "You can be anything you want in SL and pretty much my entire eleven plus years here has been exploring my fantasies.  And that's the amazing thing about SL."

Angel often goes out into non furry areas.   She will gladly schedule time with humans and other non-furries.  Her circle is mostly the furred ones.  That's what she generally works with. The prices are negotitable as far as work goes, but she doesn't want her hobby to become a job. 

When Angel was asked about her muses, she thought about it for a bit before answering.  "Music, my friends, my fantasies.  I mean I'll let you and your readers on a secret of mine..." said Angel.  "I'm not a cheetah IRL.. Shocking, I know, right?"

Deaflegacy

Interview With Pyrie Catoria (Catalina Staheli)

By Bixyl Shuftan


The Relay for Life's fundraising season is still over a month away, but already some are getting ready for it. Among them is Pyrie Catoria (account name Catalina Staheli). Pyrie has been doing a photogrpahy project, taking pictures of each Relayer with their reason for taking part in a picture frame they're holding, and putting each on a Flickr page for the project. Recently the Newser had a chance to interview her about herself and her project, so I met her at her studio.

Bixyl Shuftan: "So how did you find out about Second Life?"

Pyrie Catoria (catalina.staheli): "Oh! I actually got involved in Second Life through my university. I was working as a technology consultant as I finished up my bachelors and they put SL into use at the university for online classes. They told us to familiarize ourself with the program to help if any troubleshooting was needed. And I came in, set things up, looked around and said 'What's the point of this, again?.' Coming from a gamer's background, I was expecting levels, goals, quests, etc. *laughs* And instead it was just a bunch of people standing around. I was like 'hmm.....alrightie then.' And then explored a bit more on my own time and, well, eight years later I'm still here."

Bixyl Shuftan: "What did you find once you explored?"

Pyrie Catoria (catalina.staheli): "Hmm....well, as an educator, I loved the online representations of the different cities. I still remember visiting an online Prague, Venice, Paris. And then I found out you could have a job in SL and well, I was a broke college student, so signed up. Worked for a bit, did well. And then started finding some of the role play sims and got hooked on that." *smiles*

Bixyl Shuftan: "What roleplay sims were you in?"

Pyrie Catoria (catalina.staheli): "Oh, I started off with the vampire sims, working as a handmaiden to a lord and his family. They actually paid their staff in lindens to be around, so it's how I sort of made that shift from jobs to role play. After that I explored the Gorean sims, beginning as a role player. I did that for a few years, branching out into Game of Thrones, where I was a part of the original King's Landing sim. I've explored Venexia, Kingdom of Sand, Goatswood. A few years ago, I realized a bit more about myself through my time spent in Second Life and began to pursue a new path that touched both on my SL and real-life journey.

"So some role play turned into real life. And some have continued to just be enjoyable role play." *chuckles*

Bixyl Shuftan chuckles, "How did you find out about the Relay in Second Life"

Pyrie Catoria (catalina.staheli): "I did Relay for Life when I was in high school, the walkathons, the fundraising, all of it. And I loved it. There are very few places that throw a party like New Orleans and so our RFL walk-a-thons were filled with crawfish boils, live cajun music, pet alligators you could hold, and teams that were laughing and dancing and showing such a camaraderie, it's something truly special. A few years ago, I saw some notices for RFL things, but really didn't pay that much attention to it. And then three years ago....I don't remember what prompted it, but I had this small kernal of an idea. I tend to be quite the dreamer and come up with fun projects to explore. So I had this idea of doing a photography project. I did a few samples before approaching Kaiila Mahoney, the captain of the Goreans For Life team, and from there, I fell head first into doing RFL every year since."

Bixyl Shuftan: "Have you done much photogrpahy in Second Life before your project for the Relay?"

Pyrie Catoria (catalina.staheli): "Indeed! I began doing photography about a year beforehand. Everything was a learning experience in terms of technique and composition and I really enjoyed the process. I worked as a photographer at A Touch of Glamour until they closed and then opened up my own photography studio after that."

Bixyl Shuftan: "How has your own studio done?"

Pyrie Catoria (catalina.staheli): "It did pretty well. I had a lot of fun and was doing 200-300 dollars a month in revenue. It was truly a second business for me. There's no studio or gallery as of now, but I still do freelance photography for any who want it." *smiles*

Bixyl Shuftan: "So how did your RFL photo project do at first? What were some of the initial reactions?"

Pyrie Catoria (catalina.staheli): "Oh it took off like a shot! I didn't start doing anything until the end of May or beginning of June. Between then and the RLF walk-a-thon, I raised about 50,000L that first year."

Bixyl Shuftan: "50,000 Lindens, that's pretty impressive."

Pyrie Catoria (catalina.staheli): "I was pretty happy! I think it was about 53,000L in the end. 50K had been my goal."

Bixyl Shuftan: "Sounds pretty great. What team did you say you were a part of?"

Pyrie Catoria (catalina.staheli): "The last two years I was with the Goreans for Life team. This year I am helping with the committee and reaching out to all teams."

Bixyl Shuftan: "Any specific plans for this year?"

Pyrie Catoria (catalina.staheli): "Yes! I'll be doing the 'Why Do You Relay" series for the third year and then I'll also be doing a special exhibition later this season featuring those currently fighting cancer and survivors of cancer."

There had been a man nearby in her studio, so I decided to ask about him.

Bixyl Shuftan: "I guess we need to mention him sometime. Is Corel Ewing here with your photo studio?"

Pyrie Catoria (catalina.staheli) smiles. "Corel's a friend who stopped by. We were chatting when you arrived."

Bixyl Shuftan: "Oh, I see."

"Was there anything else you wanted to mention about the Relay or the photoshoot?"

Pyrie Catoria (catalina.staheli): "The photoshoot takes about fifteen minutes from start to finish. And all are welcome. It doesn't matter what community you're from or what team you're on, everyone is welcome. The portraits are free and each participant will receive a full perm version they can do anything they'd like with.

"My goal this year is to raise 250,000L in donations, and 100% of any donation someone on a team gives can go to that team. So they help their team and they get the portrait. I'm just keeping a running tally of the donations for my own goal. It all goes to the same place and I just really want everyone to work together so that we can have an amazing year."

Pyrie invited me to pose for one of her snapshots, so that was quickly done. With both that and the inverview finished, we went our separate ways.

Pyrie posts her "Why Do You Relay" pictures on her Flickr page at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/81538244@N05/sets/72157649953979530/ . She's also made an SL video about them.



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Bixyl Shuftat