Having a blast in Lag Land! Wish you were here!

Maybe I should start trying to make my blog posts shorter, snappier and more pointless.


This is my AV resolutely marching to God only knows where. She got caught up in a lag current and now she's evoking that "HELP I CAN'T STOP WALKING!" reaction from me as I watch helplessly and wait patiently for it to end.

She's still walking as I write this post. I'm sooooooo embarrassed because she marched off my parcel, across a bunch of other parcels, and then through my apparently very romantic neighbors' house.


Wow. I like that Billboard of Love up there. And that swimming pool looks happenin'. Maybe I'll try to make friends with them so they'll invite me over for pool parties. With cocktails!

For the record, I never ever ever ever cam into strangers' houses. I pride myself on that. But unfortunately . . . hold on, I have to check something . . . wow, she's still walking. Usually I crash after WALKING AIMLESSLY IN A STRAIGHT LINE OVER THE OCEAN FOR 15 MINUTES.

Lost my train of thought. Um. Oh yeah. I respect the privacy of my neighbors, but if my SL forces my AV to walk through your ban lines, walls, sexy playrooms, bedrooms, etc., there's absolutely nothing I can do about it except look politely away from my screen.

This couple has set up a big spacious mansion of love and adoration on a giant sim of land zoned for farming. I happen to rent six parcels on it. I AM THE QUEEN. But I guess they don't mind being surrounded by hundreds of breeding horses, cats, dogs, turtles and wow, somebody's still doing the breedable fairy thing! I'm tempted to get back into fairies. But then I'd probably need another damn parcel for them.

Maybe I'll write something that's actually worth reading later. But I finally crashed, which means I can now try to log back in three times before I actually succeed. I like weekends.

This post didn't turn out to be as short and snappy as I planned. Fail.

Posted: April 30, 2011

Duchess of Awesome

I got an IM in my email from my breedable dodo this morning:

"The object 'Jonathon' has sent you a message from Second Life:
/me is ready to breed"

So am I, Jonathon. Life's a bitch, huh?


I had huge plans for this Kate Middleton-Is-Really-An-Alien cutout, but SL is being all stuttery and I can't move. I got her as far as the edge of my stunningly landscaped farm parcel before we both crashed to a miserable death.

Get your own Kate cutout for 15L on SL Marketplace HERE, CLICK HERE, RIGHT HERE. 

I particularly like the description:

"Put some class in your SL experience by putting this in your house or office or at a party, many possiblities."

Many possibilities.

I got up at 5 a.m. Tennessee time to watch the Royal Wedding, only to discover that it must have started around 3 a.m. Oops. Dammit. But WOW, the hats. The Kentucky Derby has NOTHING on the Brits. We really need to step up our hat game.

I searched in my inventory for a fancy hat to get in the spirit of things, but I only have about 8,000 goofy ones, like this I-swear-I-didn't-know-it-was-illegal Hello Kitty Hat from Mad Hattery. Cover your eyes, Sanrio!


That's classy.

Congratulations, Dutchess Catherine! Wait, so, the queen didn't give her the title of Princess? Are we bummed about it? I kind of am. Or at least I'm confused. I'm going to call her Princess Kate anyway. I will also let her share my Duchess of Awesome title. It's more fun than Cambridge. Hopefully that will make her feel even more special.

Some credits should go here, but I crashed. I can tell you that those are Homesick Eyes in London by A:S:S, though. The pose is by Bent and the Shipwrecked Shorts are by A:S:S and both are available at the To Write Love on Her Arms charity event to raise money for depression awareness. Or you can just come on over to my house if you need to raise your depression awareness, seriously.

The cute little shoes that refuse to rez all the way on my *insert a bunch of bad words* computer are Straw Button Flats by Duh! at the Albero Gatcha Fest. You will see them in a future post in all their correctly rendered LOD factored glory, I promise.

And actually, make that "shoe," not "shoes," since one of my feet is sunk in the ground like it's pixel quicksand or something. Dammit.

I'm late for work. Here are the SLURLS I managed to write down before my AV bit the dust:

MAD HATTERY
TO WRITE LOVE ON HER ARMS
ALBERO GATCHA FEST
I'M GOING TO HAVE NIGHTMARES ABOUT THIS KATE MIDDLETON CUTOUT

This is not a blog post about Culture Shock (at least not the kind you think)

It's a post about this:


I don't like these things. I'm about to tell you why. But maybe you can change my mind. We'll get to that in a minute.

But first, yeah, I've seen so many blog posts about the upcoming Culture Shock event that I feel like I have Culture Shock Blog Post Shock.

So you won't find that here. (Mainly because I didn't get invited to blog it. WHAT?? WHY?? I take the best pictures and write the best fashion posts in Second Life! Ninety-nine people like me! Crushed and confused!)

Kidding. In all seriousness, it sounds like a good cause. I'm glad it's getting a ton of play. Please support it.

Actually, I've been wanting to write about a different kind of culture shock -- at least for me -- for some time now, and that's the culture of child AVs in SL.

I only took one picture for this post, and it's the award-worthy one up top. Even camming in on the back of a child AV in a store made me feel seedy, so much so that I had to borrow the other picture in this post from a friend. So that's why I wanted to talk about it. And I'd like to ask some questions.

This post might offend some people, but those are exactly the people I'm hoping will offer some insights.

Ready? Here we go.

[Unfortunately, this section has now been deleted at the request of someone who does not wish me to share her story, even anonymously. My deepest apologies. To sum it up: I am aware that there are people in SL who are role-playing child abuse scenarios, and it makes me physically ill.]

I realize that in the realm of family role-playing in SL, the violence my friend witnessed that night is deviant behavior and not the norm. I want to assure people that I'm fully aware of this fact.

But that aside, here's some brutal honesty: Child AVs have always creeped me out. The thought of a grown adult sitting in a room somewhere pretending to be a five-year-old disturbs me on a pretty deep level. Add to that the fact that I've seen child AVs -- and stores that cater to them -- increase and become more mainstream during the past year. So apparently the lifestyle is getting more popular, or at least it appears to be. When I first joined SL three years ago, child AVs were sort of taboo. Now they seem to be everywhere.


Photo courtesy of Alicia Chenaux

This one, for example, approached another friend of mine in a public area and asked her to be her mommy. Somewhere out there, an adult was on a computer, dressing an AV like a child and asking another adult to be her mommy.

*shudder*

I don't like them. Or more accurately, my rational mind does not like them. When they approach me in stores and talk to me in baby talk, I usually answer, "Why are you an adult pretending to be a child?" which sends them (literally) skipping away or wailing "Mommmmmmy!" and running to the AV who's playing the parent.

Here's the thing, though, and I'm bolding this statement because it's kind of the cornerstone of this post:

Yes, I'm freaked out by child AVs, but I realize that -- like all prejudices against any different culture, race, lifestyle, religion, etc. -- the roots of my disgust lie in ignorance (as in, a lack of knowledge, not stupidity, although some may beg to differ), misunderstandings and assumptions.

For instance:

1. I don't know anything about the dynamics of this culture (beyond the fact that it seems like it must be mandatory for child AVs to be annoying as hell in public).
2. I can't wrap my mind around the concept because I just don't understand it.
3. I assume that adults who like to pretend to be small children have some serious issues they need to deal with.

I once heard someone say that she's a child in SL because she had an abusive childhood, and SL allows her to experience what it's like to have loving parents, which helps heal the wounds from her past. I just don't know if I can get with that reasoning. Essentially she was saying that she's putting what she considers to be a form of therapy in the hands of strangers online who have no professional training. It concerned me. I wanted to hug her.

In RL, it's my job to do everything I can to ensure the success of the companies and professionals who are my clients. Looking through this business lens, I did think of one reason for becoming a child AV that I'd possibly consider to be legitimate, and that's to provide a paid service to other SL residents. I know people in SL who have gotten married and role-played a pregnancy. For people who want to get that deeply immersed in their SL experience, I can see how the next logical step might be to role-play raising a child together. So, as mercenary as it sounds, I can completely relate to someone who would rent out their services as a child AV as a form of employment. I liken it to being a paid actor.

Beyond that, I can't fathom why anyone would want to live a virtual life as a child. After doing it for a while, it's got to mess with your head, no? I ask because sometimes when I'm spending my lunch hour at my desk at work, I think about horse combinations or create spreadsheets of procreating pixel cats so I can keep track of who's zoomin' who and what their offspring look like. (Yes, that is scary and pathetic, I know.)

I don't like generalizing people, and I don't like it when I realize that I'm judging someone based on appearance or lifestyle. I'm all about peace, love, understanding and laughs, or at least I strive to be. So if you've made it to the conclusion of this post, I leave you with a couple of requests:

1. If you know someone who RPs as a child AV, would you mind asking that person to take a look at this post and shed some light on why he or she does it?

2. I've read some excellent blog posts that do an excellent job of explaining some of SL's other oft-misunderstood subcultures. However, I've never seen a blog post written by someone who talks about the choice to be a child in SL. If you're aware of any, could you please share the link in comments?

I don't have a catchy way to end this post, so I guess I'll just say thanks for reading and have a great night or day or whatever it is when you're reading this.

XO,
Em

Ode to orange

I'm using a pose from HelaMiyo's Poses Against a Wall pack, but I gave up trying to position my AV against a wall and decided to just look stealthy like this on my farm. Pretend I'm a very talented mime.

I love orange. In RL it agrees with me, as my grandmother would probably put it. I'm partial to it. So this Brig dress by CheerNo Femme makes me a little giddy. As usual, I'm coming in like a late-yet-awesome racehorse to tell you that you still have SEVERAL HOURS to go pick up this dress for 75L. Thank you, Project Themeory! If you miss it, this dress is available in several colors for the full price of 350L.

A few months ago I had a brief conversation with a chick in SL who told me that because of her chemotherapy, the color orange makes her nauseous. However, she was trying to pawn off an orange cat for my teal one, so who knows. I've met a lot of SHYSTERS since I ventured into the wild world of procreating pixels. If that was true though, that really sucks. And in that case, I hope she's not looking at this blog post. :-|

Speaking of cats, KittyCats has once again made me go "Wowsa!" with its spring collection of limited edition Lazy Dayzie cats. A friend gave me this Sunny Day cat as a gift:


I named her "Orange You Glad You Have Friends With Lindens?"

GAWD DAMN SHE'S BEAUTIFUL! I am continuously amazed by the care and detail that goes into these cats. I can't wait for her to start popping out baby Cocos and Flames!

(That's an inside joke — my cats never have exciting babies. They only throw ghettos, as we say in The Ghetto KittyCats Support Group. *ducks while people throw things*)

These cats are 800L each; but if you have my luck and warped determination, you'll spend about 7000L trying to get the color and gender you want. There are four colors of cats (pink, purple, orange and blue), but the color and gender are randomly selected when you buy one. It's like an expensive cat gatcha machine. Each cat comes with a week's worth of food too.

Hey, look at my bracelet:


Collage Bracelet in Zebrawood by Elemental Earth Designs, 99L. Several types of woods are available. It's really cool — it makes me wish I were a much better photographer so you could really get an idea of how unique it is.

I've been wanting to blog about Elemental Earth Designs for a while but I just haven't been feeling up to the task of trying to do it justice. I still don't, actually, but I could hear this jewelry gasping for breath in my To Be Blogged folder so I'm gonna give it a little mouth-to-mouth now. Plus, creator Sirena Penucca held the grand opening of her giant new store this weekend so I wanted to give her some love and attention. I first saw her work at last year's Jewelry Fair and I've kept my eye on her ever since. I love the eclectic, earthy vibe she's got going on.


This Nesting set in Vireo is just darling, and I rarely use that word. It includes a ring, and this color is on sale right now for 75L. Also, if you join the Elemental Earth Designs group, you'll get this set in Pastel for FREE.

Let's look at the vendor picture since my camera exploded when I tried to zoom in on this necklace. It was probably awed by my powerful cleavage.


The eggs have little speckles on them! This set is available in other colors and, um, I might have stretched that pic out a little too wide. oops.

(Hey, I love that new Karen hair, shown here in Driftwood, by Truth, BTW. It made me want to be a ravishing blonde for a while. Or at least for this blog post.)

And if I had an SL boyfriend, I would buy him this Message in a Bottle necklace:


You can put your own personal message in it. Mine would say, "OK, now it's your turn to buy ME jewelry."

I'm such a romantic.

If you celebrate Easter, I hope you and your family had a joyous one today!

VISIT INWORLD
Elemental Earth Designs
CheerNo Femme
HelaMiyo
KittyCats mainstore
Truth
Skin: Mynerva - Kianna in Smokey, with Mynerva tattoo layer lipstick in Soft Coral
Shoes: R.icelli - Sophia in Teal for The Dressing Room

On some wings and a Prayer

It's rare that a dress inspires me to belt out the song:

"I FEEL PRETTTTTYYY, OH SO PRETTTYYYY! I FEEL PRETTY AND [SOMETHING] AND [WORDS]!"

OK, so I don't really know the lyrics, but I like that first part.

This is one of those burst-of-song-inspiring gowns, and you may have already seen it on other blogs. Sorry. As usual, I'm late. (Gosh, the last time I said that, it was to a rather panicked-looking man. Sigh. Those were the good old days.)

The dress is called Gebet, which means "prayer" in German and HEY, I know some German now! WOOT! The wonderful thing about this gown is that the very generous Saya Littlething has set it out for FREE — along with a gold version — at Schön. But wait! There's a tiny condition. If you take one, instead of paying for it you must donate money — even if it's just a small amount — to a RL charity. If you don't, the bones of your family members will break and all your virtual pets will die. (OK, I made up that last part because it made me laugh.)

I think Saya described the concept beautifully in an accompanying notecard, and I'm going to smooth out the English a little and paraphrase it: "The donation, on an individual basis, may seem small and insignificant. But together, we can all make a powerful impact. Your generosity and kindness will become part of a powerful force that we all create."

Thank you, Saya. I think you have a beautiful spirit. No wonder your work is so beautiful.

Speaking of beautiful, I'm in love, and because of that powerful, powerful love, everything in the world seems beautiful right now. Allow me to introduce the object of my affection:


AWWWWWWW YEAH, BABY!

These dodos make me laugh so hard, I will be devastated if they're not widely embraced on the sometimes cruel and often demanding breedables scene. They are hilarious and I can't even tell you why. They follow me around and get all up in my face, and one of them likes to run up and shove me around my yard. I hope he's playing. Otherwise, he will soon see the inside of my inventory trash can.


My yard looks so damn magical, huh? If you want to set up a tent here, I think I have four prims left in my prim allowance.

I'm still working on a photo that truly captures their awesomeness. But here's the thing about the dodos, kids! They're not going to be mere breedables, although you can certainly go that route if you just want to breed for traits and sell them. They're RACING DODOS! As we speak, their creators are making dodo racing tracks, and those of us who race them — and hell yeah, I'm gonna be one of them — will be breeding for SPEED more than looks. (Although I really want a pink one.)

I imagine the sight of these dodos running around a track is going to have me rolling on the floor, clutching my stomach and dying of laughter.


These are beta test dodos. And those are nests of food on the ground, not dodo droppings. I will probably cry when they eventually go to Beta Test Heaven. I've gotten attached to them.

If you want to get in on this action, the beta test group is open, I think. Go HERE and click the Beta Test sign, or just look for the group Living Inc in my profile. When you join, look in notices and you'll see the list of places where you can pick up your beta pack of four eggs.

Read more about the dodos — and watch videos! — on the Living Inc Website.

And then there are these damn things:


I'm pretty sure people are going to gather outside my house with flaming pitchforks once I say this, but I'm just not feeling them at the moment.

Stream-of-conscious WTF moment. Ready, set, go:

I don't really understand what the hell I'm supposed to do with them and I'm coming into this beta testing during the second wave so the whole thing just seems friggin' confusing. All I can figure out is I have to wear this HUD that looks like a book with stuff on every page, including an "Oracle" page and GOD HELP ME when I click it because a mystical woman will quiz me about obscure song lyrics of songs I haven't heard in decades. If I answer the questions right, I get "regard points" and apparently enough of those will make me kind of special, but the disconnect between knowing the lyrics to ABBA songs and taking care of fake animals is really throwing me off. I'm supposed to pet them every day to keep them happy. I'm also supposed to join a fellowship of other Meeros owners so we can all pet each others' Meeros or something and just hearing the word "fellowship" makes me think of the gawd-awful Christian summer camps I had to go to when I was a kid so no no no no. My anti-social inner child is screaming, "NO!" There's a control panel disguised as a stump and a bowl of berries they eat and occasionally pieces of broken pipes or apple cores that I have to find for more regard points and meanwhile the damn things are running around and . . . well, just kind of looking cute. Sometimes I'll get a message "Meeroo No. 1888543 (I haven't named them) wants you to cuddle him" or something like that, and it looks like this:


Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's adorable.

I should probably go back and read the Website, because there's kind of a lengthy "Legend of the Meeros," which might explain why I have to know the lyrics to the song "American Pie," as well as detailed explanations and instructions and a great explanatory blog, which I skimmed and am now realizing I should have studied instead.

On first impression, I would say these things are for people who are looking for more of an interactive social experience that involves games and riddles and lore and stuff. I do want to point out that the majority of the people I know who are testing them are absolutely nuts about them. As for me, I'm just not sure. Before I got a chance to see them in action, I preordered a 5100L family pack, which I might try to pawn off on one of you for half price if it's trans. After hanging out with them for a few days, I just don't think I'll have the time and energy to devote to them.

Or who knows? Maybe I'll warm up to them.

But I'll probably stick to the racing dodos.

THE LINKS YOU NEED
Schön
Join the Dodos Beta Testing Group Here
Living Inc (Dodos) Website
The Wonderful World of Meeros Website
A great article about the Meeros in the March edition of BOSL magazine

You shut your filthy, squeaky mouths!

I'm in kind of a bad mood today. I just got back from a kick-ass week in Jamaica, so I guess you could call it the post-vacation blues. It's freezing here. I don't wanna go back to work. Wah.

So let's take it out on some total strangers!

Here's one of my few blog rules: If you irritate me or act like a complete douche in public, you get a first-class ticket to Blog Fodder City, baby. I could really use some now too. I'm in a rut.

Ready? Here we go.

Sometimes when I need to feel better, I go to creator Elizabeth Tinsley's store Frippery. I love her work. There's a lot of power packed in its delicate construction and it always lends fuel to the imagination. What's more, the main store is located on my favorite place in SL, the stunningly scenic and lovingly designed Wanderstill at Ode. Check it out, and please ignore the fact that my shirt didn't rez:


The Language of Light set (400L) by Frippery, also includes an awesome ring, not shown. Skin: Fae Fling (375L), in the RFL vendor at Sanu. Anything that Sanura Sakai creates also goes on my list of Things That Make Me Giddy. That hair is the new Denise style by Truth in Granny.

When you get to Frippery, you're greeted with this welcome message:

~*~Welcome to Wanderstill~*~: You have found your way to a tiny cottage in the middle of a wild meadow. This is the home of Frippery, a jewelry shop for imaginative minds. You are warmly welcome. Come in, make yourself comfortable, peruse the baubles, take a gift, and leave a message.

So I'm feeling all magical and imaginative and warmly welcomed when suddenly a latex Creamsicle and friend come along and start bugging the bejeezus out of me with sexy talk. I'm not a prude, but I also hate listening to a-holes attempting to be edgy by talking about pixel sex in open chat.

Yep, I'm gonna show pictures and name names and post the chat. Hey, if you say it in public, it's up for grabs, hipsters. Sorry. :)


See how beautiful it is there? *shudders at the thought of pixel spooge all over the wildflowers*

And we'll talk about that kilt in a second.

The conversation starts on a high note and quickly descends to the depths of you-just-made-me-throw-up-in-my-mouth.

[12:14] Jenny Utherwurldly-Patton: I certainly would reject her if she asked, but I'm not going to ask her myself now. It feels too soon. [Wha? I think she meant to say "wouldn't."]
[12:14] Angus Vesta: if she's totally aware of how you feel, you wont have to wait long, or ask yourself
[12:15] Jenny Utherwurldly-Patton: I can hope.
[12:15] Jenny Utherwurldly-Patton: She knows that I love her.
[12:17] Angus Vesta: I bet you can dream, and I bet they're rather damp

That's when I rolled my eyes and TP'ed to the other Frippery location. Then I TP'ed back when I realized it had changed to a satellite store. Confusing. Forget that. Read this instead, "And then I left for a second and came back."

[12:19] Jenny Utherwurldly-Patton: If you can reach the dirty parts.
[12:21] Angus Vesta: Angus Vesta can reach
[12:21] Angus Vesta: I can reach mine... and yours
[12:21] Angus Vesta: if need be


You know what, Jenny? Nobody's gonna be able to reach anything in that squeaky citrus body condom you're wearing. Although I'm going to give her credit for a) awesome color coordination and b) high latex standards. Yes, I'll admit it: I can tell the different between quality pixel latex and the cheap stuff.


*slaps that shiny rump*

[12:21] Jenny Utherwurldly-Patton: Even when it's extremely tight on the inside?
[12:22] Angus Vesta: more of a challange, but one I'm more than up for
[12:25] Jenny Utherwurldly-Patton: That only seems to happen when my girlfriend is around
[12:26] Jenny Utherwurldly-Patton: Well, yes.

You guys are making me so hot that I need to take a break and talk about fashion for a second. Men's fashion, to be exact:


No.

Just give it up, Angus. Why wear a leather kilt or a man-skirt or whatever it's called when your ass is going to be sticking out of it the whole time? Not hot. I sympathize — an AO can be kind of a bitch when wearing a sculpted skirt. Get a skirt shape.

I tried desperately to swing around to the front to see if he was wearing a pixel penis or proudly displaying his Ken Doll bulge, but my camera wasn't cooperating.

[12:26] Jenny Utherwurldly-Patton: If only my girlfriend weren't completely turned off by WAM.
[12:29] Angus Vesta: Yeah, u ned to fix that
[12:29] Jenny Utherwurldly-Patton: Yes.
(I'm assuming Angus goes into private chat to get really down and dirty here.)
[12:30] Jenny Utherwurldly-Patton: Yes.
[12:30] Jenny Utherwurldly-Patton: I can be content with no WAM as long as there's bondage.
[12:31] Jenny Utherwurldly-Patton: Not that I know of.
[12:32] Jenny Utherwurldly-Patton: I don't know. All I said is that I didn't want to force her to do anything that she didn't want to do.

I confess, I had to look up WAM in urbandictionary.com. It stands for Wet and Messy sex. "This can be either food, such as eggs, chocolate sauce, pancake batter, truffle oil, etc. Or a non-food delight like mud, sweet crude oil, plaster and the like."

Obviously I'm not getting any of that these days or maybe I'd know what it was. Regardless, you'd better get with the program, Jenny's Girlfriend. You're not completely satisfying Jenny in bed. Thank God you're at least into bondage. I wonder which Wet they're talking about. Probably orange juice.

OK, get ready for it . . .

[12:34] Jenny Utherwurldly-Patton: I can do without it. I've been more turned on by BDSM than WAM lately anyway.
[12:35] Jenny Utherwurldly-Patton: Probably.
[12:35] Emerald Wynn: Would you two please take it to private IM or an adult sim please? For God's sake. You're killing my blissful Ode buzz. Ugh.
[12:38] Angus Vesta: get yourself a outlet, before you explode
[12:38] Jenny Utherwurldly-Patton: Ugh.

Oh, I've got *an* outlet, Angus. WELCOME! Make yourself at home! Grab yourself a grammar book while you're here. How 'bout third-grade level?

Then they ignored me. I get no respect these days, even when I throw in a "for God's sake."

[12:39] Angus Vesta: You're more than a little tense, it's fair to say
[12:40] Jenny Utherwurldly-Patton: I'm too depressed to be tense.
[12:40] Angus Vesta: ffs, little drama dolly....
[12:40] Angus Vesta: snap out of it, lol, don't make me hump your leg again
[12:40] Jenny Utherwurldly-Patton: You're not my girlfriend. It's not the same.
[12:41] Angus Vesta: after a period of time, a humping is a humping...
[12:41] Jenny Utherwurldly-Patton: Maybe for you.
[12:42] Angus Vesta: hey, I'm fussy too...
[12:42] Teleport completed from Ode (220,222,78)

I couldn't take it anymore.

"After a period of time, a humping is a humping." Don't forget that, kids. Wise sex advice from a man named after a type of cow.

Watch out, Jenny's GF. He's humping her leg! They're gettin' all squeaky and sh*t behind your back!

VISIT IN WORLD
Frippery
Sanu
Truth
Eyes by Re.Birth (Lilacs, Electric)
Love is a Phoenix wing(s) by Hoot — no longer available, but everything else at that store is cool too

Save the Japanimals! (OK that's not a word.)

I went a little wild at Project FUR Japan today, pardon the pun. It's officially open to the public now, but they let bloggers in early if we asked nicely.

Proceeds from sales at Project FUR Japan go to Japan Earthquake Animal Relief and Support. Wait, that doesn't look right. Let me fact-check that . . . [long pause] . . . OK, actually it's Japan Earthquake Animal RESCUE and Support. Damn, I was so close!

Cool stuff. Mediocre pictures. Lookin' sassy. Let's hit it!


Cute Panda Tee, 100L, by Sassy Kitty Designs. Sometimes I think Sassy Kitty Designs doesn't get enough credit for bringing the awesome. *makes a note to give them more blog love in the future*


Brooke dress in Chocolate, 315L, by Elate. I'm on a quest now to find this dress in real life. Pardon my brief lapse in modesty, but I would look awesome in it. It's exactly the kind of thing I'd wear on the rare occasion when I'm in the mood to flirt with the cute single lawyer who works on Floor 11 of my office building. Someday he will be mine. Anyway, the swingy skirt shows off the legs, which are my favorite feature in RL, and the belt accentuates the waist. All I need is a Victoria's Secret Miraculous push-up bra under the sexy — yet classy! — sleeveless shirt and a couple of slathers of self-tanner and I'd be hot to trot, baby!

Shoot, I was totally getting excited there for a minute, and then the harsh reality that NONE OF THIS IS REAL came crashing down around me. Dammit. Dammit to hell.

Speaking of hotties, let's pause for a vendor picture:


Thank you, ASKA.

Um, OK back to me.

I couldn't love this necklace more:


Ling Ling, 100L, by LOULOU & Co.

The problem with taking close-up pics of necklaces is that you can totally see my fitting fail. Even with scripted resizers, I still suck at it.

And now for the moment you've all been waiting for: a big damn picture of my face. Eyes, to be exact:


Fishy! Hell yeah. Koi Eyes, 12L, by Abundantia. YES! You read that right! Twelve lindens!

That's my skin of choice these days, BTW — Kianna in Smokey by Mynerva.

Now we need some kicky shoes and an equally kicky bag.


Rose di Tela shoes and purse set, 180L, by Pelletteria Morrisey.


Woo those cankles are sexy!

The hair I'm never taking off is Carina in Burgundy by Truth. He released it a couple of weeks ago, I think. Or maybe it was last week. It all blends into one long hellish day, frankly. It's my favorite hair of all time. ALL TIME, I say!

I have a migraine. I'm going to stop staring at this computer screen and stare at my TV screen for a while. Maybe I'll finally watch the movie, "Black Swan."

Everything except the hair and skin is available at Project FUR Japan, which I believe is open for three weeks.

HELP THE JAPANIMALS!
Project FUR Japan marketplace
Project FUR Japan blog

We could all use a little Hope

This is my cat Aisuru:


It just dawned on me that any time I have any kind of a blatantly or vaguely Japanese animal ("blatantly Japanese!"), I name it Aisuru.

That's how much I love you, Aisuru.

I'm so happy to be the only one on the planet blogging about these cats. They are awesome. Join me for a minute as I honor my Southern roots with some redneck talk:

"Go get you one of them thangs for 1000L at the Project FUR Japan sim."


They look kind of doubtful and disapproving of my distinguished Southern drawl.

The Project FUR Japan sim opens at 9 p.m. SLT today (April 2), but I will make a drug run for you and go buy you one of these cats early for a mere dealer fee of 500L.

KIDDING, KIDDING, I'M JUST KIDDING!

(Everyone watches and laughs as Emerald gets her blogger tag get taken away.)

This Kibo Neko - Hope Cat is a special limited-edition fund-raiser KittyCatS cat for sale at Project FUR for 1000L. Proceeds go to the group Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support, which is awesome because Japanese animals need help right now too. I like animals way better than people these days. Sorry, people.

Breeders, please don't buy this cat and think it's going to pass along some kind of special traits. Think of it as a starter cat with paint on it. I keep hearing people get all mad and confused because their similarly limited-edition Valentine's Day cats or Leprecats aren't doing anything magical. They're not supposed to. It's just a starter cat wearing a fancy coat for a special occasion. Live in the moment and bask in its glory!

KittyCatS also will be selling another limited-edition cat, Yuki Neko - Courage, at its main store. All cats are sold as a single kitten, random gender, with enough food for a week.

Sometimes when a blog post starts sounding like a lecture or a book report, I just stop talking.


Don't forget to pick up a mustache pet bed by Intrigue while you're there. (Set of three, 100L)

GET THEE TO THE SIM
Project FUR Japan 
Project FUR Blog
KittyCatS Main Store


Stop looking at me like that.