To hell with a headline

Let's knock out some more blog posts and get some of these pictures off my desktop.

Ready? Go!


(My AV looks like we need to throw a bucket of cold water on her to wake her up. Or maybe I'm just projecting my own sluggishness on her. It's gray and rainy outside in Tennessee today.)

• The wannabe stylist in me yelled, "HOOHAA!" when I saw this &Vintage (ampersexy inspired) bodysuit and dress by Penned (100L, includes sheer and modest versions) at The Gallery Gift Shop. It's such a perfect blank fashion canvas for gussing — yes, gussing! — up with accessories. I like the whole dusky rose vibe when I'm working with an antique neutral. Original!

• Those lace stockings from *QP* are 30L and include prim garters. Garters in SL don't work out so well for me. Usually when I put them on, it looks like I'm trying to tie ribbons around a couple of sausages. That's why you're just going to have to imagine them here. Sorry.

• The Bow Back Shoes (special Stumblebum Brigade color, 199L) are from Tokidoki and live in my 2010 Shoes inventory folder. Yes! I still love them! Way to stand the test of time, Tokidoki! Hey everybody, there's still a wide selection of these shoes in store. I checked. Because I love you!

• The Chained Bag 2 purse is from the pesca gatcha (30L per play) at The Seasons Gatcha - Winter event (ends Jan. 28).

Let's pause for a sec and check out this dude who was *cough* selling his wares at The Seasons Gatcha when I went there:


(OOOOOOOH! Here's 15L! Kiss me! Kiss me with your hot, steamy cigarette breath, baby!)

Sorry, man. Not my type. In fact, is he anyone's type? My inner pimp wanted to help him, like, pull up his pants, yank off that towel around his neck and smack his ass with it, and then clean him up and make him look like Prad Prathivi. (Whoops, what happened to Prad's blog?? *sad face*) Then maybe women would drop their lindens and pants for him.

Moving on:


(I wanted this pic to be so much bigger.)

For me, the true measure of how enjoyable a hunt is can be summed up by the amount of lindens I spend at all the stores along the way. For instance, I really, really, really loved The Cafe Hunt (ends Jan. 31). I thought the prizes were whimsical and quality and I loved most of the stores that were participating. I did almost as much shopping as I did hunting, and because most of the stores were Japanese, everything was extremely affordable. (I wanted to put even more commas in that sentence.)

• I thought this "Fur Pettitte" (hey, I print it like they spell it) from a gatcha machine at 1mm (the first Cafe Hunt stop) was a steal for 20L, particularly since all the fur collars in that machine were ones I'd want to wear. Win win!

• The Marie (Type A) hair in Platinum is from a group gift fatpack from D!va. The group is free to join, and as of last night the gift was still available in store. I checked. Because I love you!

For all you bloggers out there, D!va recently sent out a subscribo notice inviting bloggers to apply for the review copy group. I did because I genuinely like the hair. They wanted to know how many visitors my blog gets a day. Apparently the answers "I'm not sure" and "possibly 295,000,000" did not go over so well with the decision-makers over there because I guess I didn't make the cut. Oh well. If you're a blogger and you're interested in joining the review group, go slap the subscribo and look for the notecard titled "About the recruitment of the official blogger of D!va" or contact Marisa Kira for details, although she notes that she is swamped with requests and can't answer everyone unless she deems you worthy of the blogger list. But I can also pass you the application form if you contact me inworld. You'll probably have better luck than I did.

• That FrostHeart skin in Peach (w/Bust!) is from a trippy store called [ P I X E L S] — another Cafe Hunt stop — and usually if you put a lot of symbols and spaces in your store name, chances are good that I'm going to be too lazy to type it that way. Fortunately I just took my Vitamin B-12, so there it is in all its high-maintenance-name glory.

Anyway, I'm prone to the drawn or painted-on skin look, and I'm also one of those people who likes to change skins almost as often as my RL underwear. So when I saw this skin — all ALONE on one floor of the store — for a mere 200L (the marked 400L price is wrong) I grabbed it. I like it. It's different. Someone recently left a blog comment (which I didn't publish) that said my AV has a weird face that probably makes most skins look bad. Why thank you! Just in case that person is still reading, here's the vendor pic of the skin on the typical downturned tiny-mouthed/weak-chinned AV face that seems to be OH SO POPULAR here (although this one does have a little bit more character than most):


For the record, I thought the Cookie shade looked a little jaundiced. Sorry.

Let's wrap up this post with two random pictures.

1. When I turn on "basic shaders," "atmospheric shaders" and/or "lighting and shadows" in my graphics preferences, my screen looks like this:


Rockin' it "Poltergeist"-style, y'all!

Static is the new black!

Acid-Trip Couture!

[Insert more lame attempts at bad-graphics humor here.]

I have no clue why it does this. I have a fairly new MacBook Pro, too. *kicks it*

2. Let's play the game "If I Had 140L"!

If I had 140L, I'd buy this Concentric Plug set at *QP*. Let me clarify — it's not that I don't have 140L. I am, however, living on a shoestring these days and trying really hard to refrain from impulsive buying. So even though I love this explosion of cords like hell — because it looks like almost every electrical outlet in my house — I realize it's not essential to my SL existence and AS SUCH I'm going to refrain from buying it. For now.


Yeah, I like some really random things.

Bonus points for the LMAO television set. I want that too. In motion, that dude is jumping around and singing like his pants are on fire.

I'm done.

Until next time!
Em

VISIT INWORLD
The Gallery Gift Shop (see pics and prices of the current offerings, which change each month, HERE)
*QP*
Tokidoki
The Seasons Gatcha - Winter (see pics of all the gatcha prizes HERE)
The Cafe Hunt Website, includes hints and links to all hunt stops
1mm
D!va
[ P I X E L S ] (Unfortunately, this SLURL will only drop you in the main lobby — take the in-store TP to Level 5)

Ninjas

Yes. I'm bored.






Second Life. Connect with Friends. Be a Vampire. Meet Autistic Ninjas.

We now pause for a moment of blatant and slightly pathetic advertising

Sorry. This post is tacky but I'm broke and stressing out about it a little.

I've sort of reached the point where, until I get out of this hell that is RL unemployment, I can buy no more lindens. It's important that I spend the meager amounts of money I make freelance writing and my tiny unemployment checks on things like, well, bills for instance and blah blah blah blah wah wah wah wah whine whine whine . . . wine. Make it red, please.

Fun times!

But ANYWAY, I got another kind-of-cool Meeroo baby yesterday. I don't know what's going on with my Meeroos all of a sudden. After almost a year of total and complete Meeroos failure, FINALLY I'm getting a few good nests. Sadly, I don't have a Meeroos market stand, so when I happen to get a halfway decent one, I put it on a bid board at Red Barn.


I know. Framed, autographed copies of this picture are available for a minimal price.

That's my little lazy female Welsh Forest. It's a fairly new coat. I walked around a few markets for research and it looks like Forests are selling for about 20K and up, depending on traits. Mine has no spectacular traits, but she is the daughter of an Aussie Great Coral, which is another cool new coat that my Meeroos popped out last week. (It looks like those are selling for about 7 to 15K right now.)

*sniff* She's up for sale at a starting bid of 15K on a bid board at Red Barn until tomorrow afternoon. There are a few Forests on boards around her for 20, 22, 25 and 28K, and I'm sure those people probably want to kick my ass right now. SORRY. I'm not trying to deliberately undercut the market — I SWEAR. I'm just desperate for rent money.


(*thump* Wake up!) If I can't sell her for 15K, I'll probably try to sell her for 10K. Wow. I feel a little bit like a loser cartoon character on a sad Charlie Brown episode right now. Wop wop wop waaaaaaah!

Check her out HERE.

Thankfully we don't need a lot of lindens in SL right now because there are some pretty cool hunts going on at the moment. I'm partial to ("partial to"!) The Cafe Hunt, The Chicken Soup Hunt and the FTLO Millennium Hunt (check out stores and prizes HERE). Thank you, generous designers, for your generous generosity! Perhaps I will join the many bloggers out there who are blogging some of the fabulous prizes, just as soon as I clean my RL bathroom and do a couple of loads of laundry and drink a beer or two and watch last night's episode of "The Real Housewives of Atlanta." Priorities!

Also, I don't know blogger Shayariel Teardrop personally, but like many people, I've been lurking around on her blog for ages. Fortunately for all of us, she's celebrating her third bloggyversary right now. DAMN that girl is BELOVED by many fabulous creators, and they've all contributed fun gifts in celebration. Join the Shay and the SL Shopping Gang group for free (CLICK), get all that stuff out of group notices, spread it all over your house, parcel or skybox and ROLL AROUND IN IT WITH GLEE!

Thank you for sharing the love, Shay!

I'll close with this breaking breedables news:


Wow.

I'm showing my age here, but now I'm stuck on the Hungry, Hungry Hippos song.

If you have the urge to own some procreating hippos, apparently you can get the starter kit HERE.

Have a lovely evening!

All sexed up and ready to run my mouth

When I'm bored and/or broke in Second Life, I like to wander around and check out trippy, trippy Japanese stores.


Get this thing for free at This Store With a Japanese Name I Can't Read and scare the bejeezus out of your friends.


Leesa w/Roots hair in HotPink by Truth.

(LOL. Now let's all laugh together as I get booted from his blogger review list. Oops.)

If you ever feel like going on your own quest for happy happy Japanese fun time, I recommend the Lucky Kitty Crew and Beanie Loves Japan! blogs. (Shoot, it looks like Beanie is taking a break, but her blog still has a lot of great tips and info.)

Hey, speaking of blogs, I laughed so hard I cried — seriously — when I read this post by Blingtardette. DAMN THAT GIRL IS FUNNY.

Moving on.

So I've been away for a while. I met a guy in RL and ran away to Florida with him. Then I ran back. Good times! It's been kind of a lonnnnnng dry spell since the last time I had my hands on some hot, steamy man-flesh so I'm feeling pretty refreshed at the moment. All I need now is a JOB and then maybe I'll actually be teetering on the edge of emotional stability for a change.

But anyway, back before I got distracted by sex it was my full intention to write some kind of a Merry Christmas post and use this picture:


Merry Christmas!

How do I love thee, Donna Flora Sirena dress? Let me count the ways. (I think those kickin' wings were a hunt prize from Hoot.)

I wore that dress all over the place for a few days. I'm all for running around in Big Damn Dresses in SL, particularly since I rarely have occasion to wear them in real life. If you happen to run into me in a store and I'm wearing one, just take a few steps back and duck if I turn around and you'll be fine.

OK, everybody sit down for a minute because I have some big news.

Ready?

I SOLD A MEEROO FOR $600 USD LAST WEEK!

Actually maybe it was almost three weeks ago, but then it kind of kills the impact of a giant, bold, all-caps sentence.

Can you believe that??? My two usually-lazy-and-nonproductive Meeroos bumped nasties and popped out a Nile Goldleaf, which apparently is worth at least 150000L right now. (Maybe less now that there are more of them out there.)

Gosh, it would have been REAL NICE if I would've taken a picture of it before I sold it, huh? OOPS. Just use your imaginations: It was black with gold rings around the eyes. There were probably some other striking details, but unfortunately the whole experience is kind of a manic blur at this point.

Somebody told me to hold out for 200000L, but WHATEVER. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, kiddies! I could not run to the SL Website fast enough to cash out that moolah. I used it to pay my Visa and my cell phone bills. Then I used my unemployment check to pay for Botox! (Kidding. I did consider it though.)

So THANK YOU, wealthy and slightly insane Meeroos enthusiast! You got me out of a couple of jams this month!

Let's end this post with two more bad pics.

1. Look at the extent to which I went to help a noob. I took this picture of my screen and drew a very professional arrow (the red one) and uploaded it for him and EVERYTHING:


Hey everybody, that's where your Search button is on the SL viewer! (Laughter.) And if you don't like it there, you can move it or get rid of it. Anyway, so I broke out the camera skills and the artistry for this guy and he grabbed the snapshot and ran off without saying "thank you." Hey Faceless Noob, I could've spent those five minutes shopping!

Frankly, I was bracing myself for "Can I borrow 500L?" so his grab-and-dash actually was a pleasant surprise.

2. And on an even sadder note, unfortunately we have another store to rape and pillage during the next few days. Bewildebeest is closing Jan. 16, and everything in the store has been marked down to 10L. (Thank you to my lovely friend Heidi for the heads-up on this news.)

I feel particularly bad about it because this small-but-awesome jewelry and accessories store has been on my "to blog" list for many months. I'm ashamed that I never got to it, particularly because I am awed by the talent of creator Coyote Momiji.

I got this ring there. I'm always searching for the Virgin Mary -- um, or skeletons that dress like her -- in Second Life.


Our Lady of the Lost Lindens

(La Señora de Las Flores Muertas ring, 10L.)

I feel sad and guilty and ashamed when I grab great deals at closing stores. Like a vulture. A greedy, blood-thirsty vulture. I don't know why bewildebeest is closing, but I do wish someone would make a list somewhere called Stores That Are About to Close Because They're Sinking Like the Titanic so we could swing by the ones we like and shower them with some linden love and possibly save them for a while. Especially the smaller stores of undiscovered talented creators. I know that's a pipe dream, but I am an idealistic plumber in search of, um . . . drains full of clogged hopes? *winces* OK, so much for my attempt at a profound metaphor. Hahaha! Sorry.

I'll stop babbling now. Happy New Year!

VISIT INWORLD
Trippy Japanese Store with Free Creepy Head
Collabor88 (Second pic: Minna blouse, Heron skirt by Sea Hole, 88L each)
Truth
Donna Flora (Sirena dress in Snow, 500L)
bewildebeest

A note about the last picture: After I snapped that pic, I realized the ring needed to be repositioned on my finger a little. Oops. But I needed to get this blog post out of my life, so I used that little marker tool thing on Photobucket to fill in the one little part that was sinking into my skin. Sorry 'bout that. Didn't want you to think it was a flaw in the ring.

The warm glow of Christmas carnage

It's that time of year aga . . . you know, I'm not gonna use that opener in this post. It's been done to death. Actually, so has the phrase "done to death." Sheeeeezus, my writing abilities apparently have gone (sledding) downhill.

How about, "I get SO DAMN GIDDY when everything in SL gets as barren and icy as my soul!" That means it's time to break out my loved-to-death Ice Castle (124 prims, 300L) by Beloved Custom Designs. I wept when BCD closed up shop in SL, but fortunately creator Aisuru Rieko still has a store on Marketplace. (Click HERE, baby.)


Yes, reindeer have invaded my yard this year. So many cute reindeer, so little prim allowance. Sigh.

The reindeer are nifty, but I think my favorite Christmas decor this year is this Wrecked Sleigh (22 prims, 399L) by FallnAngel Creations. OH SNAP, SANTA!


WOOOO, that is twisted . . . HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! The "I Believe!" sign is not included (it's part of an Awesome Blossom subscribo gift — go get it!), but DAMN, it makes me laugh so hard when it's next to that sleigh. I guess I need one that says, "I Believed!" instead. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

(Sorry.)

But WOW, poor Santa's sleigh burst into (animated!) flames and everything. Now THAT is what I call holiday splendor! Come on over and toast some marshmallows as we bask in the warm glow of the Christmas carnage!

Pretty sure if Santa survived, he's put me on his Naughty list now. Maybe he has a list for people who are worse than naughty — like a Demon Spawn list. Oops.

I went to Falln last night because it's one of many generous SL stores with Advent calendars this month. In Falln's case, it's an Advent tree (click the box with the corresponding date and you'll get a gift), and unfortunately if you miss a day, you're out of luck — once the date has passed, the gift is gone. I missed Dec. 1. *feels sorry for myself*

So speaking of FallnAngel, winter in SL is not only my favorite time to fill my yard with "WTF has Emerald Wynn done with her yard now?" goodness, but it's also my favorite excuse to wear fantastical winter outfits. Cases in point, these retro posts "Cool Like That" (2010), "Hey I Like Your Lesbian Washing Machine" (2010), "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Kitschy Glory" (2009) and "Put Some Pants On!" (2009). (Wow, those were the days when these posts were slightly more energetic and humorous.) Anyway, since I don't have a Big Damn Wintery Dress yet this year, I picked up this Owl Gown (599L) while I was at Falln.


("What? You talkin' to me?") The picture doesn't really do it justice (shocking). It's got a cool high collar in back made of bones. Yeah, it's a little pricey for my usual budget, but what with all the sales and markets and 'fests and expos and other consumer temptations this month (not to mention rent and animal food), I exclaimed, "TO HELL WITH IT" and gave myself $75 worth of lindens. *cringe*

Whatever. I have my whole life to pay off that Visa card.

(I'm sure those lindens'll be gone in two days, if that.)

I'm wearing Donna Flora's Porzia Sapphire ring (200L), and I'll admit I didn't realize it was that huge when I bought it. It's cool though. And that'll definitely be the hand I use if I have to punch someone in the face.


Behold the annual Big Damn Picture of My Face! Here's a close-up of the ring. And I've been wanting to show some of the cool makeups at Adam n Eve in this blog for a while. This eye makeup is called Bedazzled (100L) and it makes me look like I'm either going to throw a bunch of glitter all over you or punch you in the face with a giant square ring. I like it!

(Also shown: Skin: Alba 3.0 in Peach 01 by Mojo; Eyes: Herbalist Eyes in Borago by Vision - Eyes by A:S:S; Hair: Hoodoo by ploom (previous Project Themeory item). Yes, those are the bones of crash-victim elves tied with strips of snow leopard fur in my hair.)

So, this horse happened:


WOW. If you're not familiar with Amaretto horses, let me clarify for you: This horse is ALL jacked-up. I deliberately cranked up the exposure in this pic in attempt to better illustrate its freakishness, but you kind of have to see the real thing to really grasp the monstrosity of it. I birthed it two days ago and figured it would have worked itself out by now, but apparently not. I guess I could submit it to Amaretto with a support ticket, but I kind of have this morbid curiosity to see what it'll look like when it's full-grown. Maybe I'll charge admission for people to come gape at it, like they do with the two-headed sheep here at the county fair (yeehaw!).

I know I swore off Amaretto breedables, but I buckled when they released some limited-edition Halloween and Breast Cancer Awareness horses. I bought them, and then they started having babies with exciting names like Solid Midnight Tan Fell Pony with Haze Coat or Red Spotted Rocky Mountain with Blush Hair. These are new traits and breeds since I left the scene. So now I birth them to see what they look like and then slaughter them. Gee, that sounds inhumane. Sorry.

I'll end with a random picture, for all those people who are reading this post and yelling, "THERE AREN'T ENOUGH PICTURES HERE TO QUENCH MY THIRST FOR YOUR PHOTOGRAPHIC TALENTS!"

I'm usually not fond of child AVs, but I have to give this one props for looking pretty cool. And no, I didn't ask if I could shoot this pic. It was stealth-cammed. *looks ashamed*


So cute! I appreciate the effort this adult-pretending-to-be-a-child put into this AV's look. Seriously.

Signing off now. Have a joyous Monday (if that's possible)!

THE SLURLS AND SITES YOU NEED
Beloved Custom Designs on Marketplace
FallnAngels Creations Advent Tree
Falln Owl Gown
Falln Christmas Area (yes, the place is so huge, each thing needs its own SLURL)
Awesome Blossom (Christmas Signs Subscribo gifts still available)
Adam n Eve
Donna Flora
ploom
Mojo
Vision - Eyes by A:S:S

"urgh" (she said, with love)

I cannot get my inventory to load past 5,143.

I wish I knew what that mysterious, pain-in-the-ass 5,144th item is.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you who celebrate it!

I'm thankful for the fact that if I need help or a kind word or a shoulder to cry on or simply a friend, that technology has made this lifeline possible, through Second Life, Facebook, Skype and a gazillion other platforms. We have pretty much abolished loneliness through our technological advancements. We are awesome like that. Throw up all kinds of barriers and we mere mortals will always find a way to help each other over them.

To hell with any drama that may be sucking you into its vortex right now, because beyond that, there is always love. Don't ever let anyone convince you that humans are inherently evil or, at the very least, apathetic. Not even close. At our core we are caring, we are brave, we are strong, we are unified and we are fearless in the face of loneliness. Give us your blackest blackness and we will inevitably find a way to kick it to the curb. Together. I think Second Life is proof of that solidarity.

Even though some of us can say, "I can't stand [this person] [this blogger] [this creator] [this fashionista] [this former friend] [this neighbor] [this resident] [this subculture] [this Linden][this AV]" and even though some of us have made a list, in semi-permanent marker, of our enemies and frenemies, I can still guarantee you that if we really did have some kind of horrific zombie apocalypse we would all suddenly look at each other and say, "Wait, remind me, what were we pissed off about again? Why was I mad at you?" and then shrug and start bashing zombie brains together. Yes we would! All this time we've been thinking zombies are trendy, but maybe they're really here to bring world peace. THINK ABOUT IT!

Anyway.

There's so much smack-talk about the damage Second Life can do to relationships, but I wonder how many lives it has saved. You don't hear so much about that angle. I'll be testament to it though. In my darkest moments I've reached out here and someone has always grabbed my hand.

So thank you, friends. On this Thanksgiving Day, I'm grateful for all of you. I'm thankful for everyone who has reached out and grabbed my hand. I'm thankful for everyone on my Friends list and for those who someday will be. I'm thankful for all the people who read this blog. Whether you hate it or love it, the fact that you read it is a tiny acknowledgement of my existence, and God how I occasionally need that acknowledgement.

I'm thankful that one day several years ago, somebody said, "Hey, let's make a virtual world" and tens of thousands of people replied, "Yes, let's!" And thanks to that chorus of enthusiasm, my broke, middle-American, middle-aged self can now experience art and exotic lands and fashion and music and ideas and extraordinary visions and friendships the likes of which I'd never be able to experience in real life.

And because of all that, I get to write sentences with phrases like "the likes of which" in them.

If I were drinking Budweiser, I'd end this post with "I love you, man," but I'm drinking merlot that was purchased with an unemployment check, so I guess I'll end with this sentiment instead:

Whether you're friend or foe, tonight I'm thankful for you. And whether you're friend or foe, I've got your back if the zombies get out of control.

Love and mountains of blessings to you,
Em

"I don't like your blog."

It's been a while since I've expressed an opinion. I've sort of lost my words and my personality and my sense of humor these days, but I'll give it a shot.

There's been some recent heated discussion over on The Rumor regarding bloggers who sometimes say not-so-flattering things about creators' works.

I have mixed feelings about this topic and there's no point in me rehashing things that have already been said. (You can read my two cents over there in Comments if you have absolutely nothing better to do with your life.) I often read The Rumor. I laugh at some of the commentary and I wince at some of it and I take it for what it is — one person's opinion, not the Holy Second Life Bible of Sh*t You Need to Buy. Ultimately I appreciate the work over there — the previews of sale and hunt items are a godsend in these days of crashing with every third TP.

I can certainly understand feelings of hurt and anger if any blogger flat-out says something insulting like, "MY GOD THIS IS UGLY PASS ME THE EYE BLEACH THIS CREATOR SUCKS WANG." My problem is when creators get rabid over a balanced review that just happens to include some negative feedback, or even something that's not necessarily inflammatory, like "This outfit isn't for me" or "I'm not a fan of this look because [insert reason]." Hell, once I wrote a post where I happened to lament, "Damn, [this store] is having a sale today and I just dropped a thousand lindens there last week," and the owner basically started a Plurk war over it and transformed me into an ungrateful commoner who didn't appreciate sales. It was fun.

Anyway, the debate is kind of old news by now, but I started thinking about the flip side of it this week when I started seeing allllll the posts all over the feeds about tomorrow's Vintage Fair.

Unfortunately, I'm not one of those people who usually comes to mind when someone's having an event and making a list of bloggers to put on the early access/review copy/etc. list. There's no bitterness in that statement. I don't do a lot of self-promotion and my blogging frequency has really dropped off and my photos sometimes leave something to be desired and I'm not your typical fashion blogger (although I do always try to credit everything in my posts and, better yet, include prices when I can so readers don't show up at a store and keel over from sticker shock). And I write really long rambling sentences like that one right there.

If I happen to catch the buzz on an event that sounds like something I'd like to blog and I can find a blogger application for it, I'll sometimes apply. And speaking of the Vintage Fair, in the past I've occasionally requested to be on the bloggers lists for Chic Management events and have been accepted, so even if this post was meant to be a beef-slinger, it wouldn't be pointed in that direction.

But in light of the discussion over at The Rumor and the frequency of "Hey everybody! I'm a [insert event name here!] Blogger" posts, the thing that amuses me a little is this:

There have been times when I've admired a creator or heard of an upcoming event that sounded kind of cool and have put in a request to be a blogger in that capacity. And there have been times when the creator or event manager has responded, "Sorry. I'm not a fan of your blog" or the very popular "Sorry, we don't think your blog is a good fit for us" or even "I really don't care if my work is featured in your blog," or even a slightly tamer version of "Please take your ellipses and your ALL CAPS and shove them up your ass."

My response to that kind of feedback is usually an internal "ouch" (actually, make it an all-caps internal "OUCH") and maybe even, depending on the time of the month, a couple of tears, and then I get on with my SLife and try to accept the fact that this blog isn't for everyone. I don't write ranting posts or broadcast the creator's name. Hell, I usually don't even boycott the event or creator. It hurts, but when you put yourself out there publicly, you have to accept the fact that not everyone's going to be a fan, and sometimes they're going to bluntly say so. I will admit that at this point I'm starkly terrified to ask someone if I can blog their stuff/event, but that's about the only lasting consequence of the "I don't like your blog" dialogue.

So I guess that's the one thing I'd like to say to creators who get publicly outraged and start a flame war against bloggers who are outspoken enough to express a negative opinion. It goes both ways. Some of us get it from your side too. It just comes with the territory of creative self-expression, I guess.

. . . Hey, look at my mouse sleigh up there!

The Sleigh Hunt (runs through 11/30) is a small hunt sponsored by Carriage Trade and featuring equestrian-themed prizes. I saw this prize from United InshCon on another blog and had to have it. I'll take mouse droppings on my roof over reindeer patties any day. The link to the Web site, including participants, SLURLs and some pictures of the prizes, is below.

HERE'S MY LIST OF LINKS, YO
The Rumor
Chic Management
The Sleigh Hunt

I have substance, I swear

My yard is sexy looking.

I like to tell people that if you're feeling depressed about your photography skills, just come on over to this blog, and if you're feeling depressed about your terraforming skills, just come on over to my yard.

You'll feel much better.

My God, and when you put them BOTH in one picture, it's sort of like the universe implodes while your eyeballs fry!

Hey, have you ever done a search for "facelight" in your inventory? I haven't worn a facelight in years, but I thought maybe if I slapped one on in this photo, it would add some dimension to the lighting or something. (Fail.) Holy cow. I think I have about 3,000 facelights. I contemplated deleting all of them, but damn, that would take hours. My inventory is at 165K and counting right now. So I guess if you're feeling depressed about your inventory, you can come on over to my place and laugh at my 3,000 facelights and probably feel much better about that too.

Anyway, all day long, people have been saying to me, "Awww, you're just a white, glowy blob today!" That's mystifying because I'm not even wearing mesh. I hate it when I take the time to carefully dress my AV in a spiffy fall outfit, only to have people say, "I can't seeeeeeee youuuuuuu!"

Um, so here's some proof that I did in fact get dressed this weekend. Frankly, I wrote this post just to get rid of that gawd-awful Halloween picture at the top of the page. It was fun, but it becomes an eyesore if you look at it for longer than two minutes. Soon I'll write another post to bump down this newest gawd-awful picture. It's like the circle of bad-picture life over here.


Yay, we finally get to break out some crispy fall colors. Speaking of crispy, grrrrr, my photos look pixelly as hell. And when I turn on shadows, those glasses disappear. Trippy.

I'm loving this skin that's the Very Important Hunters Hunt (ends 11/30) prize at The Plastik. It includes several makeup options, a ton of tattoo layers and a couple of pairs of eyes. You're looking for a bow. Or a bow tie. Whatever it is, it's very important. Hints and SLURLs of participating creators are HERE.


Thank you, Aikea Rieko! That's lovely!

So, does anyone else get excited about "Dexter" on Sunday nights? I used to be pretty fanatical about that show, but this season seems to be dragging for me for some reason. I got really, really gleeful when I saw this Dexter AV at Death Row Designs though:


(Includes killshirt!) OH MY GOD, YEAH! Now I need to find a guy who'll put this thing on and SLex with me. (Complete Dexter AV, 700L)

I bought the laminated badges for 20L. It's not the same as the complete package (pardon the pun, *WINK*) but I can still wear it and pretend I'm Dexter's girlfriend:


(Um, Debra Morgan? Hell no. She's soooo damn annoying.) Hey, yesterday was the sixth anniversary of Dexter's first day at work!

OK. I'm done. Have a lovely week.

STYLE CREDITS AND STUFF
Hair - LeLutka - Rykiel in Marilyn
Skin - The Plastik - Aleria Nightbringer's Breath in Flush - *FREE* Very Important Hunters Hunt gift #3
Eyes - The Plastik - Senn (Vae Collection) - *FREE* Very Important Hunters Hunt gift #3
Glasses - Le Petits Details - Lady Lord Glasses - *FREE* group gift, free to join
Necklace - Kunglers - OGlam First Birthday/Crisis in the Horn of Africa fundraiser item, 200L, at OGlam Shopping
Scarf - Miel - Fringe Scarf in Leafy, 245L
Top - Rezipsa Loc - Brick Red T-shirt, 75L
Skirt - Les Petit Details - Mina Skirt in Red, 75L for Project Themeory this weekend
Boots - Les Petit Details - Lady boots in Coconut, 250L
And . . .
Dexter AV, Laminate Badges - Death Row Designs
Very Important Hunters Hunt Website (Ends 11/30)