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