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Thursday, March 29, 2012

Easy lindens, "beefs" and stuff I like

I struggled with the decision of whether to start this blog post with an egocentric picture of me wearing some stuff I like or some cow slaughtering.

I opted to follow the blogger herd and start with a picture of myself.


I like this pic because I look a little helpless and slightly disbelieving in it, like, "Oh my God, my RL checking account has only $900 in it and I can't even get a job waiting tables in this one-horse town." That is, in fact, the small RL meltdown I had today. Vodka, lots and lots of it, finally helped. In fact, tomorrow I will read this post again before I hit "publish" and make sure it actually makes sense. *hiccup*

Anyway, if you didn't grab this cute hoodie/tube top set at FFL, 1 Hundred now has it for sale in store for 100L. I only JUST figured out that the store 1 Hundred is named as such because everything in it is 100L (or less if something's on sale). The clothes there are pretty cute and I usually go a little nuts in there. I don't know if the clothes are template-based or not — I'm clueless about that stuff — but I like the colors and textures, and the prices don't break my bank, so the place gets my thumbs-up.


Another FFL item that's now available in store is my new favorite necklace-slash-timepiece, Tick-Tock Hans Hase by Bliensen + MaiTai. (BTW, the cord is not jaggedy like it appears in the first pic — I'm not sure what the hell is going on there.) I bow down before designer Plurabelle Laszlo. Almost everything she creates makes me smile. This watch is scripted so you can set it to your timezone and is available in other designs if rabbits aren't your thing.


You can still buy these Long-Cuff Will Boots — shown here in limited-edition color Peach — at *G Field* from the RFL charity vendors that are now in store. There's also a limited-edition RFL Sepia version available. The RFL colors are 200L each, and the cuff patterns and lace and sole colors are HUD controlled. Other colors are available for 300L on the second floor of the store. I think these are some of my favorite boots. In my wealthier, gainfully employed days, I would have bought the 1200L fatpack.

And nope, for the record, I didn't sign up to be an official FFL blogger. (Thank God. I have enough RL turmoil without inadvertently ending up in an SL Blogger Hall of Shame.) These are just some things I got there and really liked.

Speaking of shopping and longing for not-so-material things, if you happen to be short on lindens, here's a fast way to make 250L, followed by another 500L shortly afterward.


First Opinions, an RL/SL company that facilitates surveys about SL residents, is hosting a paid survey for Westat, a social science research firm based in Rockville, Md.

•  If you live in the U.S., you can jet over to the survey site HERE and click that blue kiosk to get a survey HUD. (Check out the picture above and note the viewers on which the HUD doesn't seem to be working.)
•  You'll answer some basic questions about your political leanings, your level of happiness with your life, whether you think rich people are a bunch of jerks, etc. Your RL identity will be kept anonymous. DEADLINE: This first survey will only be available until April 2.
•  When you finish, you'll receive instructions on how to collect your 250L and then how to take the second 500L survey. I've already taken both and I've already been paid for the first one so far.
•  Some people who complete the 500L survey will be invited to take an RL phone survey that pays $30 USD. (Obviously, you can say "no thanks" if you're not comfortable with that concept.)

I mentioned it in an earlier post and I want to reiterate again that I've been taking paid SL First Opinions surveys for a couple of years and they're totally on the up-and-up. I know there's a heightened level of wariness these days with all the new SL phishing scams popping up everywhere.

On a sad note, due to limited prim space and lindens, I've got to start slaughtering some of my breedable cows. They've gotten out of control and I need the "death points" to pay for food for the remaining living ones. I was actually sort of shocked the first time I sent a cow to heaven. I mean, at least the other breedable creators have developed comforting euphemisms for deleting animals — Meeroos owners can "release" their Meeroos into the "wild"; KittyCats can transport their kittens to the "menagerie" where they can "purr, lick their paws or sleep all day long"; and Amaretto horses get to go to Horse Haven.

But the Breedabulls? Brutal, brutal reality:


Steaks, anyone? :(

Yes, when it's time for your cow to go, you have to click "Beefs" under "Care" (ironically) on your Breedabulls' menu and watch your beloved cow dissolve into meat right before your horrified eyes.

(Make sure you set out your Points Collector Rock — available for free at the main store — when you start the slaughtering so you can at least get paid for those rib-eyes.)

OK, now I'm hungry. I have to go find food and get some real work done. Have a lovely day!

VISIT INWORLD
First Opinions Survey Panel InWorld Office
Breedabulls Main Store

ROLL CREDITS
Hoodie/Tube Top - 1 Hundred - Pullover Hoodie with resizer scripts, 100L
Jeans - League - Garage Jeans in Turquoise, 245L
Boots - *G Field* - M*sh Long-Cuff Will Boots in Peach,  HUD-driven texture/color change, 200L RFL charity item
Necklace - Bliensen + MaiTai - Tick-Tock Hans Hase, 200L
Hair - Truth - Kalle w/Roots in Champagne (NEW), menu-driven color-change headband, 250L per color pack
Skin - Sugar - prototype, not yet available in store
Eyes - Vision by A:S:S - Prestige Eyes (NEW) in Versailles, special 1L in-store group gift, 150L join fee
Shape - Standard-Sizing Mesh Shape in Medium (adjusted with my personal face and Truth hair head dimensions) - get a FREE box of standard-sizing shapes (XXS, XS, S, M, L) for mesh clothing on Marketplace HERE to make your life less complicated when wearing mesh. (Yes, I swore I would never say that word again in this blog and I just said it three times. Sigh.) Many designers who sell mesh clothing also offer this free pack in their stores. I'm only wearing mesh boots in today's post, but I feel better knowing my body sliders have now been tweaked by some of the best minds in the business (no more worrying if my arms are too long). Between us, I think the boobs are a little droopy though. Less gravity! And yes, most boxes of Truth hair include a notecard with the head dimensions he uses to design hair. My life got so much easier when I switched my skull to that shape. Wow, this paragraph is long. Sorry.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

the clock is ticking (FFL, featuring Schoen's Seide)

I can't believe Fashion for Life ends today — Midnight SLT, to be exact. I went Friday and sprinted around at the last minute during that awesome 55L sale, but I didn't really get to soak up the whole FFL 2012 experience. From what I glimpsed when I was running by, all the sims look fabulous!

So hey, maybe I'll see you there tonight when I'm running around at the last minute again!

One thing I saw and loved was this Seide gown by Schoen. It's an RFL charity item for 600L. Look at the detailing on the back:

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Hey, I figured out a way to fix that annoying blocky wrist syndrome that sometimes happens with certain poses . . .

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Put a bracelet on it!

(That bracelet is not at FFL, BTW. I believe it was part of a Christmas group gift from Purple Moon.)

The front is lovely too.
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I'll zoom in, since my MacBook Pro lies and says it's taking high-res pics when they clearly, clearly are soft-res, best-viewed-when-drunk pics.

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Everything shown in this post (except the hair, which is Evelyn by Truth) is at FFL.

Gown - Schoen at DreamSeeker Vrijeme - Seide [Onyx]
Skin - [Katsucide] at DreamSeeker Vrijeme - Sandra Cendre in Empoisonnee, Light
Necklace - je suis at DreamSeeker Volta - une princesse - this may be a FFL hunt prize - sorry I didn't take notes during my last mad dash. It's menu controlled and extremely customizable, from the gem types to the colors to the metals. Right now I'm showing it in Citrine.
Eyes - Insufferable Dastard at DreamSeeker Aika - Glimmer Eyes in Green

The Seide dress also includes a short skirt prim if you're feeling kicky and a little more flirty.

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Tyra Banks would tell me I'm not connecting with my audience in this pic. *bops my AV on the head* "Look at the camera or make an expression or something! SMIZE, DAMN YOU!"

Boots - G Field on DreamSeeker Zolta - "Will" Long Cuff Boots in Peach, m*sh, HUD-driven color-change
Skin - Heartsick on DreamSeeker Epoque - Desire, Muse in Golden Berry
Eyes - IKON on DreamSeeker Zeit - Sunrise Eyes in Sand

OK, I'm gonna drop some honesty on you here. So put on your honesty-protection helmets or duck under an umbrella or something. Here we go. Deep breath:

I have many fashionista friends who breathlessly rave and rave and rave about IKON eyes. I've bought several pairs and I'm still not in the raving camp. I think they're lovely though! (OMG DID SHE JUST DESCRIBE IKON EYES AS PLAIN OLD "LOVELY" INSTEAD OF "AMAZING"???)

Don't get me wrong. I like them! I like them! I especially like the Sunrise line. Maybe I just need to try a few more pairs, but right now they just don't give me the eyegasm that some other eyes do. But the color combinations and the artistry are beautiful, the creator's talent is evident, and everyone else I see looks awesome in them. I know they're very high-society and all that, so I guess you can just chalk up the lack of eye libido to me being low-brow. Plus, I'm sort of in a love triangle with Vision: Eyes by A:S:S and Banana Banshee, so maybe my judgment is clouded by those deep and complex emotions.

BUT ANYWAY, there was a point to my honesty, and that was to tell you what I DO really like about IKON eyes. (Because if I were a full-time SL eye critic, that's how I'd roll.) SIZES! Every IKON pair includes S, M, ML(?), L and XL, and I have to give major props for that. Particularly because when I saw XL I got a little giddy and thought, "WOW, what the HELL do XL eyes look like??"

They look like this:

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RAWK AND ROLLLLL! That's kind of strange and awkward-looking and I dig strange and awkward-looking! (That's why my eyebrows don't match my hair!) And yes, those eyes are very striking and multidimensional. It's why I bought them.

Sorry. Anyone who knows me or reads this blog knows that I'm kind of weirdly obsessed with eyes in SL. I'm a junkie. I have more eyes than clothes. I'm kind of prone to running my mouth about them at any given moment for no apparent reason. I have all kinds of passionate thoughts and opinions about them.

OK, that's enough babbling! We're running out of time!! But wait! I do want to thank Sileny over at Free*Style for her recent post with the heads up on the photo studio by KamreK Creations that I'm using. It's loaded with 47 backgrounds and well worth the 199L it costs, in my humble opinion. There's also a 399L version that comes loaded with 18 poses.

Speaking of poses, all poses in this blog are by Label Motion (50L per pose, 180L per fatpack). I pretty much buy everything in that store because, in addition to the individual poses, the fatpacks include a pose stand AND a HUD that are both pre-loaded with all the poses. It makes my life so much easier, particularly since I'm too lazy to load my own damn pose stands.

OK — let's go!

ALL THE INFO YOU NEED
Fashion For Life 2012 Website, includes lists of all vendors and their SLURLS

ALSO MENTIONED
Truth
Label Motion
KamreK Creations on Marketplace

P.S. Sorry this post is running way later tonight than I planned. My alcoholic father is on a drunken rampage today and I'm trying to squeeze in writing and other productive things in between his random-ass tantrums and rants. Good times! :D

talls vs. smalls (y'all)

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This Vintage Cotton Tunic by Malt is not part of a special event. It is not a charity item. It was not featured in a Project Super Bargain Lazy Fashionably Eventa weekend sale. I simply walked into the store, saw it, liked it, and bought it.

I know! What a concept, right? And I've been stuck on that song "HippieChick" by Soho ever since I put it on. ("No hip-hip-hip hip-hip, no hippie chick!")

I am deeply weary in my bones these days and did not have the creative energy to style this look. But hey! At least I matched my Ingenue Gatsby Heels and my wallpaper to it! Matchy matchy!

So, to completely change the subject, I'm hoping someone will make some giant, bad-ass, combat-style boots and name them "PETITE STOMPERS!"and maybe give them a Hulk Smash sound when they walk.

I run into those damn little Petites whenever I try to TP anywhere. I trip over them and then I always have to beg for forgiveness and GRRRRR!

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Someday, somewhere, this picture will hang in a prestigious art exhibit.

Sorry, I got tired of waiting for their little faces to rez. And WHAT THE HELL, my shoes disappeared! I hate it when that happens. Now I will have to kick the leeeeeetle teeny fairies with my bare feets. Fairy juice in between my toes!

OK OK OK — you know I'm just fake-bitching about them because I'm jealous. I still can't afford one of those awesome petite avatars by Yabu. And I guess I'm not the only one. Creator Elvina Ewing of Caverna Obscura has made some free petite AVs, specifically because people in the VIP group were complaining that they can't afford them either. I wasn't one of them though. I save my moaning and wailing for this blog.

Thanks to her generosity, you can now grab these free Minikins in her store. They're available in 0.3 and 0.4 sizes, whatever that means. Sorry. The whole Petite thing is kind of foreign to me. I don't speak the lingo. I can talk about breedable cows until the cows come home though!

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Unfortunately, I'm not smart enough to understand the "Now you can get a petite sized mesh avatar FOR FREE!" notecard that announced them. It says, "Important thing should be mentioned: Minikin avatars are NOT compatible with clothing made for Petites!!! So please, don’t buy Petite clothes for Minikins! Animations made for Petites, furniture and other non-wearable things might be well suitable for Minikins, although I haven’t tested any."

So wait, that means . . . they're not really Petites? They're nudists? Or even though they can't wear clothes, they could possibly ride little tiny horses and sit in little tiny chairs and do little tiny dances or . . . whaa? They can hang out with the Petites, but they'll be like the naked misfits of the group? I don't know. You'll have to figure it out for yourselves.

Regardless, I went to get them . . . but when I got there, I ended up stopping dead in my tracks and staring with unfettered lust at this guy for about five minutes:

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HUBBA. HUBBA.

"Hi, I have some big, pesky dragons in my yard. Please come slay them. (JUST DON'T LOOK AT MY FEET!)"

WOOOO! I guess I just figured out what kind of guy I go for in SL. He got me all hot and bothered for a minute before I had to slap myself and say, "STOP THAT! HE'S NOT EVEN REAL!"

Plus, I don't really wanna think about why he was there to get some free tiny little fairy avies. :(

And then there were these two:

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I have to hand it to them — they had the whole scaly, sexy thing down with the slinky AOs and everything. I was both terrified ("Please don't hurt me!") and fascinated and possibly even a little turned on. I really think they were just there looking for Petites to eat.

Oh how I love to people-watch at that place.

I don't really have a way to end this post, so let's just all sing this song together:



VISIT INWORLD
Caverna Obscura

ROLL CREDITS
Dress - Malt - Vintage Cotton Tunic in Pear
Shoes - Ingenue - Gatsby Heels in Chartreuse (previous Collabor88 item)
Hair - Truth - Dee w/Roots (NEW) in Burgundy (Rigged M*sh)
Skin - Belleza - Lily in Sunkissed (Christmas group gift)
Pose (top picture) - Label Motion

Saturday, March 17, 2012

dirty pubs and talking crotches

Hey, in case you didn't know, it's St. Patrick's Day! Let's celebrate by looking at some stuff I found on Marketplace.

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This Dirty Dublin Pub is a pretty sweet deal for only 10L. It includes a bar, tables, chairs, decor and a bunch of other stuff I couldn't fit in this picture. Here's the vendor pic for your viewing pleasure:

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Get it TODAY because the price supposedly goes up to 100L after St. Paddy's Day. It's 36 prims without all the furniture. It's also fully modifiable, thank God, because you're gonna want to edit the linked parts and drop a scrubber script in the sign over the door outside. Otherwise you'll get smothered by big poofing cartoon shamrocks. They totally killed the whole dark, dive-bar vibe for me. C'mon, pub people! That's not dirty or grungy!

Buy it here: The Dirty Dublin Pub, 10L

Next.

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This TALKING CODPIECE almost makes me wanna get an SL boyfriend so I can make him wear it and laugh my shamrocks off. Gosh, and look at all the snazzy extras you get with it! For a mere 111L, it's A STEAL, gentlemen!

Buy it here: Men's "RUB for LUCK" Talking Codpiece, 111L

Let's step away from the wild side and get domestic for a second.

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If you read my post yesterday, you know that I couldn't rez anything for most of the day. That's why this post is sort of late and these are all vendor pictures. (That's probably sweet, sweet relief for you, actually.) Anyway, this cute chair is FREE and nicely done! I got it. I liked it. It includes a two-prim version and a four-prim version with shadow, and it's copy. Yay! Maybe I'll set out a bunch of them tonight and you can all come over and drink green pixelated beer with me in my badly terraformed yard.

Buy it here: Shamrock Porch Chair, FREE

Moving on.

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I appreciate the fact that these shamrock eyes are the 2012 version, and I swear I'm not being sarcastic when I say that. Pretty! You get two pairs — Mint and Kelly Green — for 1L. They're more subtle than other shamrock eyes I've seen out there, so they get my seal of approval. ARF ARF! (That was a seal sound.)

Buy them here: Shamrock Eyes 2012, 1L

So hey, what're you wearing today? I'm pretty loyal to the store A Touch of Ireland on St. Patrick's Day. I realize they're not gracing the covers of high-falootin' fashion magazines everywhere, but I don't care. I'M A FAN! I love the colors and the textures in that store. And the whimsy. THE WHIMSY, I tell you! I'm wearing ATOI's Emerald Shamrock Dress in the picture up top. It looks way better on this chick, though:

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I need a wind machine. Seriously, this vendor pic makes me wish I could learn how to take decent photos in SL. Beautiful.

Buy it here: Emerald Shamrock Dress, 375L

Or if you don't feel like getting all dressed up, you could always just slap on a giant shamrock:

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That's not me; that's the vendor picture, and HELL YES I bought this thing! How could I not?? It's only 1L. I know you're looking at it right now and exclaiming, "THAT'S IT! THAT is what my wardrobe has been missing all this time!" At least that's what I said when I saw it. I'm being serious.

It includes pants, shirt, socks and that big damn shamrock. OK, technically it's a four-leaf clover, but whatever. SADLY, that hair is not included. DAMMIT!

Buy it here: Four Leaf Clover Costume, 1L

Or you could skip costumes and go with a completely new AV. I still can't decide if this one makes me happy or scared:

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Look at his cool hat. He's 175L and includes everything you see here as well as "two silly leprechaun dances," according to the description on Marketplace.

There's also a female version of this AV. I'm not posting her picture because I care about you and your mental health. Suffice it to say, you're not going to see her as the centerfold in any leprechaun nudie magazines any time soon.

Buy it here: Male Leprechaun Avatar, 175L

The other day, my five-year-old niece asked me what the difference between a leprechaun and a fairy is. I told her fairies have wings and leprechauns have money. And fairies like flowers and leprechauns like beer. Then she ran away and asked somebody else. Oops.

I need a drumroll please for my final WTF item of the day. Or at least a suspenseful pause. Ready? drums and pause drums and pause drums and pause drums

OK. This, my friends, is called a Lucky Leprechaun Noob Pony w/Beer & Drunk MiniNoob.

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"OH DANNY BOYEEEEEE!" "Now with animated barf, new sounds & green exhaust fumes!" and "still only 1L!" *gales of laughter*

I can't do the Marketplace description justice, so here it is verbatim:

"For your St. Patrick's Day pub crawl — Leprechaun Noob Pony will do the crawling for you! Hang on tight, though, he's had a few himself. Stand clear of the MiniNoob who's trapped himself in the beer-mug hat — he's completely trashed and blowing chunks. Both of them are full of beer and blarney, so proceed with caution as you ride off looking for the "end of the rainbow." NEW for 2011 — leprechaun sounds, animated barf, and green exhaust fumes added !! (Leprechaun Noob Pony is a worn attachment that you move with your regular walk, run & fly controls. Rub his feet or right butt cheek for luck.) Comes in a gift crate with festive bow."

A FESTIVE BOW! And YES, that is a PUKING NOOB in his hat:

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I want my mommy.

Yes I bought it. And yes, I was slightly relieved when my rez problems prevented me from opening the "gift crate with festive bow." Maybe I don't want to see this thing in action. And maybe I secretly want to marry the guy who made it.

Buy it here: Lucky Leprechaun Noob Pony w/Beer & Drunk MiniNoob, 1L

I think I'm done now. That was a little too much excitement for me.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Friday, March 16, 2012

Hey hey hey it's my rez day

It's my Rez Day and everything is going to hell.

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(Hey, look at my cattle!)

It started this morning, with my RL cat Clover chewing through my laptop charger. Actually it was my BACKUP laptop charger, because she chewed through the first one a couple of months ago. So I had to drag myself to the Apple store to buy another one. Um, BAD DAY to go to the Apple store. There were about 9,000 people there buying the new iPad. OOCH. Calm down, people. SHEEEESH. You would think it was the second coming of Christ or something.

So an hour and $81 later I returned home with a new charger and logged in, only to discover that SL will not let me TP anywhere or REZ anything. Gosh, what beautiful irony. ("Happy REZ Day!") No matter how many times I logged in and out, I still couldn't rez anything. I found out the hard way by trying to rez a bowl of 1600L Meeroos food. It vanished with the message "Unable to rez an object."

**sigh and sad face**

Now I'm worried my Meeroos are going to starve and run away because I can't rez their food. That's sad, especially because when I went to check them I almost fell on the ground because OH MY GAWD THEY BAKED ME A REZ DAY CAKE!!!

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They've been digging up little presents for me all day — even a birthday card! AWWW! I have to give the Meeroos creators props for that little trick. That's pretty cool.

I'm a little stunned that I've been in SL for FOUR YEARS — WOOOO! That's a little disturbing. I don't have any big plans for today, nor do I want any. Usually I go out and splurge on something fun and slightly expensive . . . LIKE OH MY GAWWWD THESE NEW UNICORNS FROM WHITE OAK EQUINES:

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. . . but times are a little tight for me this year. It almost makes me wish I was one of those bold "Hi! I'm a blogger! Can I please have one of your unicorns so I can blog it?" bloggers, but I'm not. It's just not how I usually roll.

Oh well.

UPDATE: THANK YOU, MEARA!

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She got me the unicorn! YAY! I love it SO MUCH! Now if I could just get rid of my robot face!

And that wasn't a hint up there, I swear!

Getting back to celebration ideas, I thought about setting up a stripper pole with a tip jar and putting on a little show for all my friends who have been begging to see me naked, and then everyone could drink champagne and hoot and holler and shove lindens in my G-string . . . but then I got scared that SL wouldn't let me rez — and would subsequently EAT — my sort of expensive stripper pole. Hey, don't judge! Every girl should have one!

So I nixed that idea.

Anyway. Enough about all that.

I had intended to include a bunch of trippy St. Patrick's Day stuff I found on Marketplace in this post but I'm just realizing that all those pictures combined with the above paragraphs full of hand-wringing would make this post 100 miles long. So watch for it in the next post, which I'll start in a second. I just need to run and make a cocktail.

ROLL CREDITS
• For my special day, I decided to deck myself out in this lovely Gentle Fairy Green Gown by Angelwing. I got it at Fashion For Life. It was a mere 100L. I love you, Angelwing, for making beautiful things that I can afford. The gown includes a head garland and wings (not pictured).
• Hair - Truth - Lykie w/Roots in Snow, rigged m*sh. I think this could be my favorite hair ever. It makes me feel like a woman. *cue Shania Twain*
• Skin - Belleza - Lily in Sunkissed (Christmas gift)
THAT ROCKIN' UNICORN - White Oak Equines - get it on Marketplace HERE and inworld HERE. It's also available in Black and Palomino versions.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Shake your moneymaker

I found kind of a cool way to make lindens and see some of the, um, lesser-known parts of Second Life.

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(We Travel wall decal by If Walls Could Talk. The "and lindens" part was added by me though. Contact me if you want me to come write that on your wall as well.)

OK, maybe the word "cool" is kind of a stretch, but if you're bored and you have time to kill, it's something. I found it while I was eating toast and trolling for free stuff on Marketplace. It's called the SL TRAVEL MONEY HUD ("Make Money NOW!!!") and it's sort of like a mobile way to camp for lindens. Go get a free one HERE and put it on.

Ready? OK.

Click the "Travel" button on the HUD and you'll get a menu asking you if you want to travel or cash out existing lindens you've earned. If you click the "Travel" menu option, you'll get a menu that looks like this:

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Now for instance, if "Destinaton [sic] DanceFloor" doesn't look like your thing, you can click "Next" and it'll keep giving you destination options for varying amounts of time/lindens. (Once I clicked a 20-minute destination and crashed when I was on minute 18. I cried.)

Once you get to a place, you'll probably see other half-rezzed yahoos wandering around also trying to earn lindens, and you'll usually get a menu like this:

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There is a little bit of a language barrier. I don't know what "be lock for visit" means, because it's not like you'll be trapped there if you click "Yes."

If you don't get that menu when you land, look for a kiosk that says "SLTB" and touch it (see below). That'll usually work. Sometimes you may have to follow a beacon to get to the exact destination. If you still don't get a menu, check to see if your HUD is counting down your time anyway. If not, click "Travel" and mosey on to the next place.

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Note: You WILL get bitch-slapped if you get somewhere and try to just stand in one place. You'll get a stern message like the one above, telling you to "be active, walk around and discover the products within this place." So be active, dammit! Shake your moneymaker all over the damn place! Ironically, you'll also get reprimanded if you stray too far from the landing point though.

Some places have their own rules posted:

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"You must Not turning in circles, Not going up and down, back and forth all Time!" That sounds like my whole life, actually. I need to make a sign like that and hang it in my real house.

(These photos remind me of the good old days of blogging as a noob, when most of my photos either showed the back of my AV's head or my AV looking warily at something.)

As I mentioned, your HUD will count down your time at each stop. When you're done, it'll tell you to click "Travel" if you want to go somewhere else. Many times you'll end up in empty clubs.

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"PAY THE SPLODER!"

There are also many adult destinations, so just be aware. Once I ended up in a sex club for 10 minutes. After about 90 seconds, I wanted to yell, "I'M UNCOMFORTABLE! EVERYBODY PUT YOUR CLOTHES ON AND QUIT IT!" I need a T-shirt that says, "Kinda Prudish So Put That Thing Away and Cover Your Crack."

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GOD. HELP. US. ALL. (Obviously this is not a sex club, but I really wanted to use and then quickly delete this pic I snapped of some chick KEEPIN' IT KLASSY at The Dressing Room Blue. Nice pants!)

Sorry. Back to traveling for money: One of my destinations was The All New Cheeky Mouse Club (it's all new!) and I found a box there with these HUDS. So if you don't use Marketplace, you can still grab one inworld — see credits at bottom.

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I got my travelin' boots on! (Veracruz boots by Crazy. Insert "the M word" here.)

I cashed out after 6L. WOOHOO! Drinks are on me! And YES! I did get paid! It was kind of exciting! Now I only have to make 1494 more lindens and I can pay the rent on one of my farm parcels!

If you don't have the time or the inclination to become an SLTB travel ho, or "purchased visitor," as the Website refers to us, you can also occasionally make decent lindens by taking surveys about your time in SL. There are real scientist-type people out there who are FASCINATED by the fact that you live vicariously through an avatar!

— Join the First Opinions Panel in Second Life. I've been a member for a couple of years. They'll email you invitations to take paid online surveys, usually about your AV's habits in SL. When you're finished, you'll get a SLURL to a place where you can collect your lindens. Easy peasey. I believe each survey pays about 250L - 350L. If you sign up, please use my name as your referral — please, please, pretty please! If I refer two people by March 9, I'll get entered in a drawing to win 1000L. Hey, every linden counts! CLICK HERE TO JOIN.

RTI International (in Research Triangle Park, NC) is conducting an online Digital Life & Wellness Survey, which aims to collect information about SL residents' health, wellness and medical conditions. If you choose to participate, first you'll take a screener survey to see if you meet their demographic. If so, you'll take a 15- to 20-minute survey (you don't have to reveal your RL name) and collect 1000L upon completion. I did, and it was painless. (I immediately went on an irresponsible shopping spree and bought the Print Dress in Teal shown in this post — it's by one of my all-time favorite SL designers Milla Michinaga of MichaMi.) Here's the link to the screener survey: CLICK THIS! If you use it, please send me your name so I can submit it as someone I've referred. I'll get 100L for every person I refer who completes the entire survey. (WOOHOO!) In turn, you'll be able to do the same thing once you finish.

All these fake clubs have made me yearn for a real cocktail, so I'm gonna go mix some mandarin orange vodka with some cranberry juice and have a happy moment in RL. Ciao!

VISIT INWORLD
- Get a free SL Travel Money HUD inworld HERE or on Marketplace HERE
- If you're a sim owner/merchant who wants to add your destination to the SL Travel Money HUD, visit the Website HERE.

ROLL CREDITS:
Dress - MichaMi - Print Dress in Teal
Boots - Crazy - Veracruz M*sh Boots
Hair - Shag - Pussy Galore in Butterscotch, Roots
Necklace - PurpleMoon Creations - Selva Necklace in Brown
Sunglasses - BOOM - lil bow peepers in Zebra Print
Leggings - Aura - Snug Leggings (Opaque) in Dirt
Skin - Belleza - Lily in Sunkissed (Christmas gift)
Wall decal - If Walls Could Talk - We Travel (menu-driven color-change)

Thursday, March 1, 2012

The M word! (let's try this one more time)

(Edited to correct some big damn mistakes)

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Have you ever taken a picture for a blog and then looked at it later and wondered how the bleep your shoe got cut off? That's me right now. Live it in the moment with me. Meanwhile I'll just keep smiling and pretend I cropped it this way on purpose.

Anyway.

I changed my AV's clothes. Somebody throw a parade!

I switched from the Emo Fashion Chicken look to this cheery Stepford Dress by Sugar and it made me feel a little better. ("I feel prettyyyyyy! Oh so prettyyyyyy!")

I took a course in color therapy in college. Supposedly, the color yellow lifts your spirits if you stare at it long enough. That's about all I remember from that class. OH and if you match the color of your shirt to the color of your eyes, people will perceive you as more honest and trustworthy. So hey, all you liars, grifters, scammers and crooks out there — choose that shirt carefully when you're getting dressed in the morning.

Now I feel like crime statistics just went up a little because of me. Oops.

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I raved about Sugar creator Iokko Molko's skins in my last post. I didn't realize she made clothes too. I guess I'm flat-out obsessed with that store now. You're just gonna have to deal with it. You like this dress? You can get one of 10 available colors for a mere 75L at Depraved Nation's March Gatcha Madness event. If you're scared of mesh, the good news is each dress includes S, M, L and XL sizes. I'm wearing M. Click HERE to get a free box of standardized shapes that most designers use when working with mesh.

MESH!

MESH MESH MESH! I'm so sick of that word! Sick! Sick of it! SICK OF IT IN ALL CAPS!

Don't get me wrong. I like mesh. Designers are doing beautiful things with it (see above). It's hip, it's happening, it's now, I'm warming up to wearing more of it, and it's a helluva lot better than screwing around trying to adjust a bunch of prims. I'm just sick of hearing about it. Why can't it have a more attractive name? Take sculptie, for instance. Now that's a name that makes me want to bounce around and giggle. Or maybe even chortle. But "mesh," blah, it's only one letter away from "meh." Not only that, a local law firm where I live in RL keeps running a commercial looking for clients suffering from "complications due to transvaginal mesh implant" and, as such, I could be the only person in SL who thinks "transvaginal" whenever I see the word "mesh."

Consequently, it has officially earned a place on my list of "Words and Phrases I Wish People Would Stop Using for a While," which also includes "j'adore," "pop of color," "muah," "haz" (as in, "I can haz smack in face?"), "kitteh," "smexy," "hawt," "hun," "buttsecks" and "your bank account has insufficient funds," among many others. And I realize this is completely irrational, but I'm also sick of people who frequently! put! exclamation! points! in! blog! headlines! A couple times a month is cool, but several times a day? We get it! You're EXCITED about that free review copy! Blogging is fun! Blow up the feeds! Shout it to the world! Hold out your hand! Now swallow that Valium I just put in it!

Oof. I just can't seem to shake the bitchy these days. Sorry. Hold on while I go stare at a yellow wall for a few minutes . . . .

OK. Getting back on track . . . Henceforth, "mesh" shall be referred to as "The M Word" in this blog. Mainly because I'm tired of getting tricked into thinking about vaginas. Let's see how long that lasts.

Hey, look at this necklace:

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(FREE SKIN ALERT: This Milena skin is another Mynerva group gift, available in store. It's dreamy.)

I met Elemental Earth Designs creator Sirena Penucca at Jewelry Fair a couple years ago and now I like to keep an eye on her work. Her Tierra Jar necklaces are cool. That's a little butterfly in there! And if it's raining or snowing in your RL (or in your head), you could probably Break in Case of Emergency.

(Is anyone else old enough to remember when they used to put a cigarette in a glass tube that said "Break in Case of Emergency" as a joke? Hell, maybe they're still doing it now and I'm just not paying attention. But anyway, I will never forget the day, way back when I was a wee child in the '70s, when my mom actually broke one of those things open and smoked the cigarette inside. She had recently quit smoking and had a brief lapse in judgment. Little did she know she was creating a warm, fuzzy memory that would last a lifetime.)

As long as we're on the topic of addictions, join me at the Breedabulls store as I chant . . .

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"I DON'T NEED A ST. PATRICK'S DAY COW. I DON'T NEED A ST. PATRICK'S DAY COW. I DON'T NEED A ST. PATRICK'S DAY COW!"

They're 1100L each in a random-buy vendor, with three designs available. Trying . . . so . . . hard . . . to . . . resist.

VISIT INWORLD
March Gatcha Madness at Depraved Nation (through March 17)
Breedabulls cow store

ROLL CREDITS!
Dress - Sugar - Stepford Dress in Blue & Yellow Poppies (at Depraved Nation's March Gatcha Madness)
Shoes - MiaMai - DecO Miranda in Mango/Jeans
Necklace - Elemental Earth Designs - Tierra Jar Necklace in Fly
Hair - Truth - Felecia w/Roots in Champagne (The M Word! Includes flexi attachment)
Skin - Mynerva - Milena preview in Porcelain, group gift in store, 50L join fee
Eyes - A:S:S - Herbalist Eyes in Borago