Noob time-traveler

I've been away for awhile, not because I'm being emo, but because in real life I'm trying to find a place to live. Looking at apartments and condos and trying to decide if I should rent or buy and blah blah blah. Boring. And draining.

For those of you who know my real-life woes, I tried dating Stupid RL British Ex-Boyfriend again and it only took about three dates for me to remember why I CAN'T STAND HIM. Ugh.

So yeah, I've been a little preoccupied and now I'm FREAKIN' CRUSHED to discover that I missed the whole RFL Clothing Fair. EXCELLENT news for my Visa balance but HEART-BREAKING news for my inventory. It looked so COOL this year -- not a pirate to be seen in the place! *weeps*

Speaking of hot men (oops, I edited out that paragraph, but let's pretend we were), Prad sent the real me an invite on Facebook to join the fan group of Heritage Key, and even though I had no clue what that was, I would pretty much do anything Prad asks me to do -- so I joined.

HEY, IT'S A SECOND LIFEISH GAME!

Right now, I *am* going to refer to it as a game because it's a lot more educational, involving teleporting to various historic sites and completing tasks to earn cool things for your inventory. (Oh, and to learn things.)

Maybe I'm the last person around here to discover it, actually, because the AV skins are designed by Ryker Beck -- UPDATE: Actually the more I play this game, the more I see that many objects are "given" to me by Ryker; if I weren't so lazy, I'd ask her "What up with Heritage Key?" -- and apparently Rezzables own/created it (?). It uses the old-school opensource SL viewer, except I can't find the Advanced Menu, which is bugging me. And yeah, this info is sketchy because for once I didn't feel like acting like a journalist and hunting down the story behind this game's 2009 inception. The FAQ page is HERE, though.



Like a girl, I'm sort of stressing because the clothes and hair options are limited and my AV isn't that stylin'. After you choose your noob avatar during registration, you can go to the Avatar Center after you log in and choose a different shape, skin, hair, clothes, etc. THANK GOD you can also pick up a decent AO because you've got that stupid duck walk as soon as you rez. Everything there is free and pretty decent . . . but the selection is small.

"No shopping for YOU!!"

Then you can hop over to a travel hub and choose a historic time and place, like King Tut's Tomb. I couldn't get there though. My TPs kept failing. So I settled for . . .



Stonehenge, bitch!

None of those men are real!

Looks like they're eating sushi!

I got some druid clothing when I arrived, so maybe that's an incentive to get the girls more involved. Free clothes at each location! Woot!

I earned that druid staff as a reward for building a wagon and the falcon as a reward for completing a historic nature walk.

Um, so yeah, my greedy competitive side likes to hang out there and finish challenges to get stuff. I crash frequently though and the place seems like it's still a work in progress. It's also pretty isolated -- I've yet to run into anyone else there. And I only have three bad photos here because I got stuck at Stonehenge in 2400 B.C., when they were supposedly building it.

(I still think aliens made it though.)

If you're comfortable with SL, it'll be easy for you to hit the ground running in HK -- controls, menus, etc. are pretty much the same, albeit more limited.

What's better, so far I see no need to use REAL MONEY there -- every inventory item I've found has been free, and I can't find any options to become a premium member or anything like that.

I don't know -- if more people got involved and there were more options for AV customization, with time it might become a pretty cool place: sort of a Second Life for history buffs, with a lot of RP potential.

I have no friends over there. I can't find a Search feature. I did get to choose my own name, so of course I picked Emerald Wynn just to keep my virtual self real throughout virtual history and all that.

I'm going to keep exploring there, but have no fear -- this isn't going to become a Heritage Key blog. It's a nice change of virtual scenery though. I'm curious to see if and how it evolves.

Ugh, this post is flat and lifeless (like my real hair these days!). I blame Welbutrin. It keeps me comfortably numb.

But thank you, Prad! I had writer's block (not that this post is going to win any literary awards) and I needed a new diversion. (Actually Prad kicked me off his blog roll, so I don't even know if he swings by here anymore.)

Stop! Sandwich time! ♥

It's my rez day and I'll laugh if I want to

Hi from the land of Bored Off My Ass at Work. I'm in kind of a bad mood because I'm groggy, not feeling so hot and I have to take my client out to dinner tonight, which is always fun. *cough*

So unfortunately you probably won't see me in world today, but toss back a shot or do something wild without me in celebration of my REZ DAY! And yours too, EVA BONNER!! Woo HOOOOO! (Eva and I both got up early today to log in and wish each other a happy rez day. Awwwww!)

I thought I'd post the very first pic I ever took at . . . um, I think it was called Orientation Island back then, and you had to walk around a big ugly castle and complete tutorials and stuff.

The final step was to sit in that chair and get your profile picture taken. Back then, SL gave you your first profile pic for free. Mine is so damn sexy up there!

I made that hairstyle ALL BY MYSELF!

Here's how I dressed the next day, on St. Patrick's Day:



THAT IS SO HOT!

Get it? Green is for Emerald!!!

And this was my first attempt at being fashionable:



Hell yeah, my hair matched my dress. (I'm pretty sure that pic's gonna turn out to be too big for this blog, and I'm SO NOT editing it on my work computer -- sorry.) Nice system shoes!! ("Stand Up!")

I still have that outfit in my 2008 noob folders and it's totally in the "My High Fashion/Couture" folder. Bwahahaha!

This is my first attempt at being hot AND using a pose:



HAHAHA: belly piercing -- I didn't realize you could move jewelry around back then. And you bet your skinny legs it was BLANGIN'!

And uh, I used to earn lindens by winning "best of" contests at clubs. Like "Best Tattoos." I guess I decided that ABSOLUTELY NO CLOTHES was the way to go. Note that I hadn't really grasped the whole "hey, you can actually mod your hair to fit your head" concept yet:



Oh Lord, those shoes. There used to be a place called Club Serena that included a shopping center with a giant sandbox and places to camp and earn money. They had a space set aside for noobs, with those "100 Free Shoes!" and "Free Business in a Box Sunglasses!" and "Free Ronja Wear!" boxes stacked up in huge piles. I can't really mock it because if it weren't for that place, I wouldn't have had any clothes or hair or a place to unpack boxes or even friends. As cheesy as it was, the people at Club Serena were really nice and I eventually rented a Club Serena skybox -- my first rental and I felt so into the SL scene after I got it. :D

On a nostalgic whim, I looked for Club Serena the other day -- I found Club Serena Rentals but it's not the same anymore.

Then I found a blog called SLFix (now Moonletters), thought it was totally cool (I still do) and started doing everything that Shauna Skye and Paypabak Writer told me to do. (Their posts are still so kind to new people -- check out that blog and you'll see that they're still bending over backward with their totally hip yet instructional posts to help new residents.) Then I found New World Notes and got the newsy, intellectual side of things from the full-of-win Hamlet Au, and that's when it started to dawn on me that Second Life could be so much more than just making your avatar fly around and buy things.

And then I started reading What The Fug and SL Fashion Police and realized that everything I was doing fashionwise was sort of wrong. So I started paying more attention to my clothes.



Um, well kind of.

Honestly, I didn't think of clothes that much when I was new -- I just spent a lot of time wandering around in wonder, talking to people and hanging out with my one friend Jon, who didn't give a damn what my AV looked like (*sniff*).



(I liked weird bikinis back then.)

My very first favorite stores were Callie Cline's Calliefornia, House of Nyla and UK Couture. They all have a special place in my heart even now.

I met a woman named Hermit Barber who told me about a group called Ode Butterfly Hunters (or something like that -- wow, I've been a member for so long, I don't think about the name) and there I met some lovely people and fell into fondness with jewelry designer Random Calliope and his touching generosity. I don't know where he is these days. I miss him.

(This chronology of my SLife is SO DAMN EXCITING, huh? Don't worry - it's almost over.)

I believe I was truly rescued the day that Alicia Chenaux and her friend CeN stumbled upon the first incarnation of the Emerald's Eyes blog (that v1 was deleted in 2008 in a spontaneous combustion of SLangst), took pity on me and introduced me to their circle of friends, almost all of whom I still love dearly to this day. About that time I also met this lovely girl Laleeta through her Baking Cupcakes freebie blog. She gave me a hot air balloon and taught me that I could get cute free stuff from generous designers and lucky chairs, not boxes for noobs.

Then I discovered the blog of the highly hot and insightful Prad and got my first avatar crush.

(Hahahahahahahaha - I swear I'm just messing with you, Prad. Kind of.)

(Prad thinks I'm a stalker.)

And meanwhile, I was making friends, real friends, not that the people at the clubs weren't cool and nice, but you know, REAL friends.

And then my Second Life got really happy.

And OH MY GAWD, now I'm totally sitting at my desk at work getting TEARY. (Thank God I have my own office, even though closing the door is considered rude.) "Oh gosh, these allergies are kicking my ass today!"

And here's a picture of the Kool-Aid man:



So looking back and particularly after writing this blog post, I guess after two years, if I could give only one piece of advice to new residents, it would be to read the blogs by other SL residents. And when you find some blogs you really like, let those bloggers know, particularly if they've helped you or made you laugh or touched your life in some way. I was so scared to do it at first (I'm still painfully shy around certain bloggers, actually), but when I did manage to get up the nerve to reach out to them, some of those bloggers became some of my best friends.

Oops, I forgot that a couple of Lindens read this blog (you poor things), so um, don't get me wrong, the official SL Wiki and Second Life blogs are GREAT, but I got my SL street smarts by learning about things through the words of other residents, sharing their explorations through their stories, discovering writers who spoke to my heart or made me laugh, looking at pictures they took of great sims and

LOOKOUT HERE COMES MY BOSS!!!

***blush***

Almost every week, a sexy guy drops a "New Releases" folder in my inventory, and honestly ladies, that's about the only action I'm getting from a man these days. Sad but true.

This week when I opened that folder and saw this Emerald hair by Truth, I got a little sniffly.

It's been a really crappy week — not to mention one of those times when you don't realize that it's been an eternity since anyone's done or said anything nice to you until they do, and then it takes you by such surprise that your initial reaction is to get all shocked and touched and weepy and such.

(HELL YEAH, that sentence sucked. Read it 10 more times in a row to feel the full force of my big damn dangerous "I can't write for sh*t these days!!!!!" POWER!)

Shoot, now I lost my train of thought . . . .

OH, the hair! So yes, that was an extraordinarily kind gesture and I really love it. It means the world to me. I'm not really the kind of gal who inspires people to name things after her — mainly because, you know, my name is, well, sort of GREEN . . . but also because I'm kind of boring and I don't exactly have a face that could launch a thousand ships or anything like that.

Thank you, Truth. It is so me, it's almost eerie. I look at my AV in this hair and it reminds me of better times in my real life, as weird as that is.

And because my real hair is finally growing out of [insert Samuel Jackson's voice here] THIS MOTHER-EFFING GRADUATED BOB, it even gives me hope that it won't be too long before I'll be that Fun Messy-Ponytail Girl again.

I wanted to pair it with a skin that's also a little more like me because — and I know this revelation is gonna shock you — as much as I love those sultry Curio Cupid skins, I don't actually look like that in real life.

Not that I look like that Belleza Alyson skin up there either . . . well, actually 10 years ago I kind of did! But with a wonkier nose. And thinner lips. And no freckles. But the rest of it? Spot on, baby!

OK, I have to wrap up this Pulitzer Prize-winning blog post and get to bed.

So, drumroll please, that hair is Truth's Emerald in Almond, which is pretty close to my real color. So just call me "Emerald 'Keepin' It Real' Wynn," please. Actually make that, "The Reverend Emerald 'Keepin' It Real' Wynn."

Now if I could just get Prad Prathivi to wear this hair in a picture with my dinosaur, ALL my wildest dreams would come true.

(My rez day is in three days.)

And that "Pure Sweet Hell" T-shirt is from Terri.Tees. The next time you see this post, the SLurl will be HERE.  I don't know you, Terri, but I love you. Your T-shirts make me laugh so hard. I promise I'll do them justice in a totally normal and sane post in the near future.

But anyway, I meant to write Truth a really sweet public thank-you note here, but unfortunately it turned into kind of a rambling worst-post-I've-written-this-month thing, but, um, the sentiment is still there.

I haven't been this moved since the Emerald viewer came out. *sniff*

Don't you have an off switch?

So this Beta V2 — it makes me feel all giddy, like a noob. Figuring stuff out and all that.

I was gonna write this really amazing post about it.

But damn, I am so tired these days.

Instead, I guess I'll just say, "I hate the new camera and motion controls."

Other than that, it's aiight.

And that dress by Zaara up there? Yep, it's gorgeous. But what people aren't telling you is . . .



FLASHER!

It doesn't walk so well.

If I would've known everyone was gonna get all up in my glitch, I would've worn decent underwear.

Thank you for all the dinosaur love. I'm really touched. I had no idea so many people would show up and take photos with my dinosaur. I'm thinking of putting a dance floor up there now.

I would show you some dino pics, but damn, I am so tired these days. Next time, I promise.

Instead of doing anything productive, let's play . . .

WHO'S HANGIN' OUT AT STILETTO MOODY? :D

Crack



Crack with attitude.

(Hahahaha — those two are awesome though. I don't know where they got that diva AO but it was spectacular.)



. . . and a woman, her latex-clad slave . . . and their child. (Sorry I couldn't get a shot of the ball gag.)

YOU THREE SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES!

That's sick.

You know, when I saw that threesome I almost went off on an unholy rant with this whole, "You need to keep your kid out of your kinky sex life!" thing . . . until, um, I remembered that it wasn't REALLY a kid.

But it's still sick.

Plus, I had to hear about all the whipping and the shocking and the "yes Mistress" in open chat. I get it, you guys are kinky. And pedophiles. Now slowly back away from the shoes and go home please.

As long as I'm speaking to people who can't hear me . . .

Dear Stiletto Moody, I love you and congrats on your new baby but . . .



. . . Roll
On Floor
Laughing.

There's no way in hell I'm ever wearing these new heel-less shoes. I don't care how Emperor's New Clothes-ish everyone gets about them. NOT WEARIN' 'EM!

And what really depresses me is that soon I'm gonna have to watch a bunch of bishes walking around everywhere on their tiptoes.

The dinosaur chronicles (Part 1) and Gaaaaaaaa Ga

So, I have this dinosaur on my roof.

(It sounds like the beginning of a bad joke.)

People started swinging by to snap pics on it. Now I collect them. (The pics, not the people.) And yeah, it's my lunch hour. I'm stealth-SL-blogging at work, so the creative process is a little stilted. Or stinted. Pick one.

I logged in the other day and discovered to my great delight that Deoridhe Quandry had been hanging out with my dinosaur. She snapped that pic up there, as well as this one:

Laugh out loud, Deoridhe! You rock. And I hope I'm spelling your name right.

Speaking of laughing out loud, I decided to give up "LOL" for Lent. Hey, you may think that's a stupid thing to give up, but you try not saying "LOL" for 40 days! TRY IT!

I found almost the exact same post proclaiming that I was giving up Second Life for Lent in 2009, so I already know that attempt would be total fail. I think I lasted 24 hours last year.

And as long as we're on the subject of total fail, if I would've known everyone and their grandmothers were gonna blog that ballerina dress down there, I would have never touched it. I swear!

Um, so . . .

"Dear Alexander McQueen, I thought you were cool. I'm sorry your life came to a tragic end. You will always be remembered fondly as an icon in fashion history. However, I'm done wearing weird shoes that were inspired by your designs. No offense. Love, Em"

I'm sorry, but they look like FRAGGLE ROCK FEET.

*ducks as the fashionistas throw things*

These aren't the ones at Pacadi Jasha (sorry if I spelled that wrong -- like I said, I'm at work). These are called GaGa Black Snake Heels from O! Bleak, which is a small store but SO DAMN COOL. I discovered it during Weekend Fever or on 50L Friday or on Where the Hell Have All My Lindens Gone Wednesday or during one of the other very rare sale days we have in Second Life (cough).

I think these shoes cost 250L. I bought them mainly so I could wear them in this blog and say "No mas!" But also because I'm a collector. (hoarder) I appreciate the thought behind them, I really do. And the fact that their SL creation was inspired by a fashion milestone, albeit a sad one, as well as a musical milestone, albeit kind of a WTF one. So I'm proud to have them in my inventory, if only for the sentiment.

(Who wants to buy them from me?)

But you're probably not gonna see me wearing them again . . . unless I break them out for a "Lady Gaga in a Bad Romance with a Dinosaur" portrait, which I start thinking about whenever I drink vodka.

Well, actually first I think about Naveen Andrews on "Lost" when I drink vodka. Then I kind of start fantasizing about the lawyer on Floor 11 of my office building. Then when all else fails, sometimes my mind goes to "What weird things can I do with my SL avatar?"

That's a roadmap of my drunk time for you.

(You don't have to tell me. Yes, I need to get a life.)

I also got these rockin' DNA Earrings at O! Bleak. I want to say they were 180L. Or maybe I want to say they were 200L. Or maybe I just want to say that I didn't write it down so I really have no clue. Sorry.

(Skin: Cupid, Crave 2 in Sundust by Curio; hair: Melinda in Cocoa by Troof)

Um, and you can get this GaGa Sparkler Bra there too. (/me prays that the IT Department at work hasn't flagged the word "bra.")

Set Environment to Midnight. Turn on nipples.

(Shoot, I just said "nipples" at work.)

The only thing I have left to say is about the store MEB. I'd never shopped there before last week. No offense to anyone who may get offended, but I've always kind of glanced at the stuff there and said, "Meh(b)."

HOWEVER, I stopped by there on the My Heart Bleeds Blue hunt and REALLY took a good look at the clothes this time and OK, now I'm a fan. I'm a texture fanatic. As such, I really love the work there. The clothes look so touchable, if not lickable.

I never want to take off this dress, called "prada skirt Lelie" (490L), and hey, I type it like I see it.

And that's one of my all-time favorite poses. It's called "Imma Just Stand Here and Look to the Side."

OH SNAP HERE COMES MY BOSS!

(bye)

We dress up our little dolls and take pretty pictures of them

I swore to myself that I wouldn't accumulate any dollie or lollie dresses this year because I have a million of them. And do you ever see me running around in them? No.

But when I saw this Withered Willamina dress over on the Second Life 24h blog, I decided that I needed it. I'm all about the rundown ballerina look, not sure why. It's free in the subscribo at The Dollhouse. And there are way better pictures of it over on that blog, obviously. :D

(Those boots that totally don't match that outfit are the McQueen Sequin Boots (450L) from the Heroes of Fashion exhibit. I'll admit that I put them on and said, "Uhhhhhh, I don't know." In retrospect, I should've gotten the Rose ones. R.I.P. Alexander McQueen. His Menswear Fall 2010 collection had us raising eyebrows and clapping at the same time, as always.)

Once I put on that dress, I finally got motivated to try out a Haunted Ballerina AO that I won (some time ago) from the lucky board (chair?) at ANA_mations. And yeah, that AO is beautiful but it skeeeers me! It sinks my AV into the floor and then pops her up in random places in various ballerina poses. I don't know if it's supposed to do that, or if it's just another symptom of "Second Life is Lame on My Computer." Hey, maybe that's why it's called "Haunted"! Um, so that's my best attempt at a pic up there. Hard to catch the action on camera.

So, I have this dinosaur on my roof:



And I want to thank the people who drop by, take pictures on it or of it and drop them in my inventory. They make me laugh:



Fricker is up there dressed as . . . a bear or an Ewok or something.



And that one's just DAMN COOL.

Anyway, I was planning to give up Second Life for Lent, but I keep pushing the date back, as in, "I'll start after I finish the Red Packet Hunt" or "I'll start as soon as I post pics from the Red Packet Hunt."

Yesterday I finished the Red Packet Hunt -- it's got a great Chinese New Year theme, the participating stores are fab and it's a MANAGEABLE 42 stops. I know you'll be crushed by this news, but I'm not going to post pictures of the prizes. Mainly because I haven't looked at them yet. But also because Tomoyo does a really great job of that HERE on the Free*Style blog.

So maybe I'll start the whole "sacrificing Second Life" thing now, but I'm not sure if I can give it up for almost 40 days, and I'm not sure what this sentence says about me. Um, but maybe instead I'll limit my logins to Fridays. Maybe I'll start next week. Or maybe I'll just give up chocolate for the 18th year in a row. (I'm weak.)

I meant to write this big long thing here about WHY I feel like I need to give up Second Life for Lent, and how I'm trying to embrace the whole Lenten journey to Easter this year, but seriously, who cares? I'm tired of navel gazing.

So anyway.

This new Truth hairstyle, Melinda (in cocoa), is one of my all-time favorites:



Yeah, I modded my hairy ear after I snapped that pic. And that's not a dead sock puppet around my neck. It's a scarf.

Profile:



Pretty. I used to wear my hair like that. (Sniff.)

And NO, I haven't been inducted into the Fangirl-Blogger Cult of Truth (still waiting for an initiation ceremony and the secret handshake) although I appreciate the fact that he deems my blog worthy of review copies.

Truthfully, pardon the pun, most of the hair I wear has always been either his or . . . TUKINOWAGUMA'S! (I have to check that spelling every time.)

But if I didn't like it, I wouldn't blog it.

Here are the two most fabulous AVs I've seen during the past week.

This chick at Tiny Bird:



Girl, WOW. That's all I can say. I wish I would have asked her if I could take her picture, like outside or something and not in the midst of 50L Friday chaos, but I'm pretty shy. Plus. . . she has a lot of guns.

Also on the list of awesomesauce is my friend Casandra, who was having a really bad SL day, with missing clothes, bizarre glitches, etc. etc. etc. When she showed up on the island where I live, she was RUTHED!!!! JOY! I didn't know we could Ruth-out like that anymore. I love! It makes me laugh! (Sorry Casandra):



You look beautiful anyway, Casandra!

(Gives her a standing ovation)

Meanwhile an ad on the Photobucket page is asking me if I want to order that picture printed on a coffee mug. Ha ha ha!!

No.

I don't have a witty ending for this post so . . .

"Maybe I'll take a blogging break now."

Cue Mary J. Blige

I'm trying really hard not to Disneyland-up my parcel this spring. I think I'm doing an AWESOME job at it so far.

My yard is so full of magic and joy that I really only have enough prim allowance left for the bunny, a pose stand and one piece of furniture, and that's this Requiem for Poe sofa (750L) from Alchemy's Attic.

It's got several poses in it. If you decide to read, click the book and it'll read "The Works of Edgar Allen Poe, Vol. II" to you. Well, not out loud -- on your screen in chat. And you'll most likely get a migraine if you really try to read more than 20 Edgar Allen Poe stories that way (she said, as she popped a Vicodin).

Yep, you can also get your Amontillado on while you're reading. This set includes Poe-appropriate refreshments. It also gives you the option of just taking the separate stories on notecards.

And then it wisely covers its ass by providing the link to Amazon.com where you can buy the actual book.

But anyway, if I could keep only one piece of furniture in my inventory (not counting the Bunny), I'd keep that couch. And you? Seriously, I'd like to know. 

I wouldn't be so brazen as to call that question a blogger challenge because only 12 people . . . wait, I guess it's 32 now!! . . . read this blog, but if you're scraping the bottom of your blog post idea barrel in the near future, there's one for you.

And HEY, I bought that couch myself, BTW! For those of you not-so-early birds who didn't catch the most memorable comment ever (now deleted) on this blog the other morning, just to clear up a couple of things: a) there are quite a few people out there who can attest to the fact that I'm not a giant va-jay-jay on legs, to put it in genteel terms and, b) hell no, I never ask people for review copies of anything. I know I'm prone to making an ass out of myself frequently, but I can't even IMAGINE how that conversation would go down.

"Hi, I have 12 . . . no wait, 32, according to my Followers widget! . . . readers. Would you like to give me some free samples of your exquisite designs so they can see your work portrayed in all its glory in my really, really horrible photos?"

I think good bloggers shouldn't have to ask for review samples anyway. I imagine if you're a good writer or if you have some kind of an appealing style, people will WANT their stuff to be featured in your blog. If you have to ask, maybe you need to spend your own lindens for a while until you build up a reputation and a reader base.

AND OMG I'M GETTIN' ALL PREACHY AGAIN! Sorry. :(

And that brings me to this point:

(Hair: Reese in Chestnut by Truth)

EnCore Mayne dropped this heart-shaped hole in my inventory today. And while I'd like to think she meant it as a deeply romantic gesture, I'm pretty sure it was intended to be an insult. But I actually think this thing is DAMN COOL!! That aside, I'm not a heartless bitch! I'm not! CAN I GET A WITNESS? (Sorry, I live in the South. We say that here.)

And to be honest, I've been reading EnCore's blogs for about a year now and I'm actually somewhat fond of her in a "thank you for at least writing something halfway entertaining and a little bit morbidly fascinating even though I don't understand most of it because I'm just a simple anti-socialite no-namer" kind of way. So in that respect, I won't approve any comments here that take shots at her.

In fact, I'm not approving comments that take shots at anybody anymore. And I took down those two controversial blog posts, but not because people were threatening to sic their lawyers on me or calling me horrible names or writing blog posts about me or using this mess as a blog challenge inspiration. I don't cave to threats or mob mentality or intimidation or whatever.

And I also didn't remove them because I regret anything I said. I still insist that the intent of those posts was to defend my friends, not attack someone for the hell of it with no rhyme, reason or factual basis. I knew if I spoke out, I'd probably be in for a bloody mess, and no, I wasn't eagerly salivating at the prospect of it.

Hey, speaking of bloody, if we're gonna have breedable pets in SL, why the hell can't someone make something like this:

I'd breed the Sam Hill out of those things. And if that's a Lycan, my apologies. I'm kind of out of that whole "Twilight" loop. My dark heart will always belong to Ann Rice.

Uh, anyway I never wanted this blog to get this ugly, as in, so ugly it makes me sick to my stomach now. So that's why I deleted those posts. I didn't feel right drenching my 12 . . . I mean 32! . . . readers in sordid gunk.

(I'm not removing the last post though, because I totally wanna trademark "Kiss my fatpack!" Sorry, it makes me laugh every time I read it.)

So I'd like to get back to my usual meaningless musings now, please. Thanks! And don't tell me there's no turning back now. That's just some bullsh*t that Vincent Price made up for the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland. You can always get back to where you once belonged. (Get back, Jojo!)

This post is long, but we still have time for some quickies. It's Valentine's Day weekend after all:

♥ If you like putting giant words in your yard that broadcast positive sentiments to any poor sucker who happens to walk by your house, I suggest you hop over to Just My Imagination and grab this Valentine's Day special this weekend for 50L.

Supposedly it has 11 poses in it. I was only smart enough to find four.

♥ And if you're doing the Weekend Fever sale thing, I'm digging these 50L glasses at Glow:

♥ The only Valentine's Day-related thing I'm wearing this year is Jori Watler's Keeper of Hearts necklace in silver (250L, includes matching bracelet) at alaMood. I used to say I was only loyal to three jewelry designers in SL. Make that four now. I like her work.

I don't even know if Jori reads this blog, but if so, sorry Jori. That pic sucks. It needed a black shirt behind it. And I'm lazy.

♥ And if you're on a budget but want to spread the love among your friends tomorrow, I have to tip my hat to Arctic Greenhouse, where you can buy this GAWD-DAMN GORGEOUS sculpted rose arrangement with trans perms for a special price of 10L this weekend. Like, seriously, I couldn't believe that price and maybe I should go back and check because I still can't believe it.

(If roses aren't your thing, there are a bunch of other arrangements that vary in price, all transferrable, obviously.)

My friend Aisu gave me this one. It goes really well with that Santa Muerte painting over my fireplace.

OK, I think I'm done. Maybe I'll take a blogging break now. (HA HA HA — or maybe I'll just start ending every post with that sentence in the hopes that one day it'll stick.)

Happy Valentine's Day! 
♥

love & Truth

(Updated to address the eloquently expressed concerns of a reader!)

I don't know Gala Phoenix, but she sent me a nice IM the other day that made me get a little teary. I was having a weird day and I don't think she'll ever know how much those unexpected kind words from a stranger meant to me. I won't forget it. (Yep, TOTALLY NAME DROPPIN'!)

So, sorry — I know they're all over the feeds right now, but I too got seduced by her Cupid 2 skins at Curio. (That means I BOUGHT them!)

Here are a few shots. They totally change my face, but sometimes change is good.

Oh, and hey there's new Truth hair! (Hell yeah honey, it was a GIFT! Watch me roll around in it naked!)



Skin: Crave 1 (Dark) in Sundust
Hair: Berry in Driftwood (You can change the color of that flower!) 



Skin: Pure 4 (Dark) in Sundust
Hair: Kirsty in Chestnut

The shading on these skins is gorgeous, and the details are awesome: the bellybutton, the elbows, cute little moles. Sorry I'm not showing you the nips. I'm shy like that. (But if you look closely at this gratuitous underwear shot, you can still see some nip fragments!)

Now try to guess when I got sort of sick of changing clothes, backgrounds and poses.



HA HA HA! It took a whopping two pictures before I said, "Enough!" I have to hand it to the hardcore fashion bloggers. It takes WORK to set up photos — even lame ones like mine. (OMG! Self-deprecation!)

Skin: Allure 1 (Dark) in Sundust
Hair: Peta in Night

I love that hair. I tried to catch it in motion because you need to see it move. I wish I could make my lame RL short haircut look like that now. I'm still mourning the loss of my locks. (Look! It's a shameless cry for attention!)

You get a lot of bang for your buck with these Curio skins: Each makeup comes in a day and night version — at least I'm assuming that's it, because Version 1 has pale lips and Version 2 has luscious lipstick. Here's Allure 2:



Hair: Peta in Blood. (Kiss my fatpack!)

And each one of those versions also comes with freckles or no freckles. And then each one of THOSE versions comes in a dark and light option. WOOOO! That's eight skins in one folder, if I'm doing my math right. (Doubt it!)

I feel like it took me 30 minutes to write that paragraph and I still don't think I understand it.

Each makeup is 1K. You might as well buy the fatpack for 3K. I did. (Because I can afford it!)

And the rear view is really pretty . . .



. . . too bad that picture sort of isn't. (Hey, look at my butt!)

Sorry, this is purely a vanity post. I just wanted to throw something meaningless up here. No matter what people are saying right now, I'm not a horrible person and this blog was never meant to be an ugly thing. (This blog reeks of drama and catfights!)

And now that I've filled up this screen with pictures I like, unless something truly extraordinary happens in my slice of SLife, I'm probably going to put this blog to bed for a while. I'm sort of sick of looking at it. (Banana!)

Peace be the journey. (Jamaica, we have a bobsled team!)