How old are you?
In my early thirties.
Where do you live or where are you from?
I was born in Pakistan and grew up in the United States. I live in Florida.
What do you feel is your biggest accomplishment in life?
I don’t feel like I’ve accomplished anything that substantial or amazing, but one thing I’m quite happy about is being a teacher in real life has given me the opportunity to teach hundreds of children how to read.
When did you join SL and why?
I joined in May of 2007 because a friend of mine told me about it. I was a bit lost at first and didn’t log back in for a week, but then I decided to give it another try and I’m happy I did.
Why Strawberry and why do people call you Mango?
LOL honestly? This is so embarrassing. I chose strawberry because at the time of signing up I was eating a bowl of strawberries (yeah, that’s how imaginative I am LOL). As for Mango, well I have an extremely bratty friend named Sean Black and he started a rumor on plurk about my flatulence and the smell of mangoes and then somehow it took off from there and everyone started tormenting me with it. Obviously it’s all lies and fallacies because we all know that girls don’t do that kind of stuff. 😛 There, are you happy now? I’m surprised you didn’t mention pork swords. 😛
What do you do in SL?
I shop, dress up, take pictures, help Zaara and stand around and look pretty. Oh and sometimes I blog.
Describe your style in SL. Does it differ much from your RL? How?
I definitely do not dress as exotic or (skanky?) in RL as I do in SL. But I’m definitely not a fashionista in either life. I just wear whatever I think looks good and feels comfortable.
Do you have a home/workspace in SL? Can you take some pics of them and show us?
I do not really have a home. I have a platform in the sky on the Zaara sim. I just have a big white megaprim rezzed with some other prims for backgrounds and my pose stands lying around making a big huge massive mess. I honestly do not want to take pictures and show you guys cuz it’s quite embarrassing and really nothing special.
How did you get into blogging?
I was forced into it by a friend back in December of 2007. She had a fashion blog of her own and she wanted me to join and had been asking me for a couple of months. I just kept delaying it because I wasn’t really interested. At the time I used to host at a bellydancing sim and I just spent most of my time in SL in silks, dancing all day and just hanging out with friends. She pretty much threatened me to join her so I did a couple of posts and I got a great response from people and it got me hooked.
What advice would you give to someone wanting to start an SL fashion blog?
Grow a thick skin and don’t take what people say to heart. It’s your blog, blog the way you feel like and don’t let others dictate what, who and how you should be blogging. I’m still working on that myself.
Have you ever created anything in SL? Will you share it with us? (link, pic, etc)
Nothing really that important. Just a few goofy tattoos that I gave away for free. Here’s one. (cat whiskers tattoo)
You are the queen of social media. How do you keep up with all of your social media sites?
There’s actually a few apps and programs I use to follow a lot of my social media accounts. One thing I use is Chrome. It helps me because I use that exclusively for all of my sl work so I don’t get it mixed it up with my RL work which I use firefox for. I set it to open up a lot of tabs on start up, including three of my social media accounts that I follow often. The other app I use both on my pc and my phone is Hootsuite. That is seriously a lifesaver and it really helps me keep things organized, especially my twitter.
Can we see the oldest picture of your avi?
Why are you doing this to me?
If you could only keep 5 items in your SL inventory, what, specifically, would they be?
The Nizam set from Zaara. Hands down my most favorite thing on the grid. I want it in RL. Let’s see, what else….The Maitreya Mesh Flare Jeans, the Gos Equestrian Boots, All of my Truth hair and my mesh penis collection, (don’t judge).
What is the silliest/craziest thing you’ve done in SL?
hmmmmmmm I can’t think of anything, I’m so boring. Oh wait, I shot Zaara with sperm, does that count? No? Yeah, told you I was boring.
Which photo that you’ve created are you most proud of?
Oh boy, that’s a hard one. I don’t know if I’m actually proud of any picture I’ve done. I always find faults in all my work and ways that I can improve. This picture is one of my most favorites though:
Has anyone in SL inspired you? Who and in what way?
So many people. They inspire me with their talent, their generosity, their love and I’ve just learned so much from all of them. Here’s just a few and I know I am going to leave some out by accident so I’m sorry about that: Zaara Kohime, Prad Prathivi, Winter Jefferson, Sawyer Campese, Faint Paulse, Catero Revolution, and so many more, especially those plurkers that I don’t even talk to that often but they inspire and amaze me with the things that they share about themselves.
What would you like to do in SL that you’ve never tried?
I really want to make something, preferably mesh. But I know that’s probably never going to happen.
You have amazing skills in SL photography and Photoshop. Are you REALLY self taught? What do you draw inspiration from?
Yeah I am. I have never had any kind of formal training in photography or photoshop. I just watched tutorials on youtube and got ideas from other bloggers. I draw inspiration from a lot of magazines, Vogue is one of my favorites, especially Vogue India. I also draw inspiration from movies, especially bollywood movies. And I also draw inspiration from other bloggers that I love: Jenny Lawson the bloggess from RL (for blogging) and Kyrie Source from SL (for photography and styling).
When you’re sitting at your computer playing SL, what do you usually wear?
Well, that’s kind of a pervy question. During the day it’s probably shalwar kameez or a tank and yoga pants or jeans. At night I’m usually in Pajamas or naked under a blanket. 😛
Describe your workspace.
In RL? quite organized, I need to be. In SL, I’m a pose stand mess. I dunno why I am so lazy about keeping things clean in SL (this includes my crazy inventory).
What is something that not a lot of people know about you but you wish more people could know?
I’m really insecure and sensitive and fragile and not strong at all, no matter how much I pretend I am. So even one little bit of criticism or harsh word affects me greatly. Not sure if I do want everyone to know that but sometimes I get a bit defensive and upset over silly little things and perhaps it would be better if everyone knew that it’s not them or what they’ve said, but it’s just my own insecurities that’s gotten that reaction from me. I am working on it though. We’re always a work in progress, right?
Do you have any hobbies? What do you like to do when you aren’t in SL?
My biggest hobby is SL and it’s the one I make the most time for. Other hobbies or things I like to do are Kundalini Yoga (I do this daily). I also love playing table tennis and checkers and scrabble. And I love to watch romantic comedies and read 19th century literature, children’s books and Urdu poetry.
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
hmmmmm, I actually like where I live right now. The weather suits me well. I wouldn’t mind living in Toronto but not sure if I’m really a big-city girl.
What would you like to be doing in 5 years? 10? 15?
I’d like to be surrounded by my family and friends and people that love me and support me. I’d like to still be teaching because I enjoy it. I’d also like to be traveling the world. I don’t have a plan for 5 or 10 or 15 years, I’ll just go with the flow and see where life takes me.
What things would you try if you had no fear?
Haha, oh boy, where to start. I guess I would possibly like to fly to the moon if I could. Just to see what it’s like up there and I also want to be the first person on Mars, that would be kind of cool. I’m kind of addicted to Curiosity and all the things it’s doing up there so I would totally be up for going if I wasn’t scared and if it was possible. Also, I guess I will try skydiving eventually.
If you left SL today, how would you like to be remembered?
Hopefully in a positive light. I hope people would remember me as the goofy, silly girl that rambled on her blog and took some nice pictures and helped out whenever she could. Oh and also my pixel butt, can’t forget that.
Is there anything else you’d like us to know? I like big butts and I cannot lie. Seriously though, I guess I’d just like to thank everyone that puts up with me on all their social networks and that read my blog for all the love and support and encouragement. ❤ And also thank you to you guys at Bare for including me in this wonderful project of yours. I love reading all the interviews and it’s great to be included, so thank you.
We also asked Plurkers for additional questions and here they are!
from Alicia Chenaux: If Berry wasn’t in SL, what would she be doing instead?
I would probably being doing what I was doing before sl: working, hanging out with friends, and watching a lot more movies and reading a lot more books.
from Alice Demonia: So…how ’bout them pork swords?
Fired!
from Daniella Riaxik: Are you as fabulous in your day to day life as you are in SL and where do you get your inspiration?
I don’t think I’m fabulous in any life lol but I do think personality wise Berry and rl me are not that similar. Berry is a little more friendly and outgoing on social networks whereas rl me is quite shy.
from Ohna: What made you start wanting to do photography?
I was inspired by a friend who was the first person to ever take my picture in 2007 and then photoshopped it and made it all fabulous. Then he introduced me to flickr and the sl flickr community and I’ve been hooked since then.
from Lilly Lalonde: How much chocolate is too much chocolate?
There’s no such thing as too much chocolate.
Blog: Strawberry Singh
Berry’s Social Media: Berry’s Links
Bare 