SL Hates The Working Man [Or Woman]

For some reason, SL has taken a nosedive for me today, to the point of where I cannot log in at all. And that's just too bad since I was TOTALLY on my way to a sandbox to work.

I think I'm going to push back my opening a couple more days. I planned on opening tomorrow, but I'm really not ready and I probably won't be home for most of the day tomorrow anyway. Then I thought about Sunday, but I guess we'll see about that. There's no rush and I don't know why I feel like there is. :-p

Possibly the main reason I want to hurry and open is because so many of you have been so kind and messaged me to tell me how you can't wait to see the store and can't wait to meet me. And I'm very excited to get to meet a lot of you! The place where I'm at is very cool, with a great bar/hang out type place, so I'm hoping that you'll explore the land and hang out when you're finished looking at my stuff. :)

When I was in-world earlier, I was making the freebies rounds, as I normally do after logging in, and I stopped over at Big Booty, Big Money. BBBM isn't a store that I remember to go to a lot, which is a shame because there's always a great gift there at the door. After I picked up the gift, I wandered outside and ended up in someone's photography exhibit.



I appreciate art. I really do. But I kind of didn't understand the photos in the exhibit. This one was very bright, though. :) I like the colors. It did have an America's Next Top Model photoshoot feel to it. That's probably not a compliment, huh?

Maybe I'll attempt logging in now.

What Distracts Me?

[New poll on the side!]

I wrote this incredibly long post, but I just deleted it. I swear sometimes I type just to hear the keys clacking.

Anyway, lots of distractions today to keep me from really working. But it's ok because quite honestly I wasn't in the working mood.

I hosted an 80s event tonight. It started out very very quiet, but by the end it picked up. A 2 month old noob took a shine to me and when he wasn't floating crazy around the club, he stayed glued to my side. He said that if I need him to kick anyone's ass, he'll do it. I giggled because I didn't know what to say to that. Then he took off his clothes to change. ALL his clothes.



This caused me to wonder WHY people - in public - feel the need to remove all their clothing to put on a new pair of pants. I usually don't remove all my clothes to change clothes, especially in public. Maybe in private I'll get naked to try things on, but not very often. He, unfortunately, didn't just change pants. He turned into a furry, but then went back to his own shape, took off his head and tail, and just wore the furry skin. I offered him a skin, shape, and some clothes. He was drunk and didn't seem to want my help. Maybe I shouldn't have offered it in public chat.

After the event I headed back to my store, but the call of the pole was too much.



I hung out with everyone until they decided to go to bed. Then I set up a little workspace in my shop. Yes, that's a real screencap of my computer. If you go into the store, you can see what's usually open on my computer.



I FINALLY headed to the sandbox after all of that to work on a grenade. It was requested that I do a belt with grenades and a knife and some other stuff. I figured the grenade would be the hardest to do. I was totally right. I had to scour the internet to find the right texture and look at pictures of grenades.



I can't figure out if I like it or I think it sucks.

It's after 5am now. I think I'm going to sleep.

Do you like to clicky??

Ok, bloggers & readers, I have a mission for you!

Head over here to Bermuda [SLurl] and then follow the arrow [you'll have to go through the store] and vote for our own girl wonder, Tymmerie Thorne! She is competing in the Wet Dreams/Silk Dreams Model Contest. Just one little clicky is all it takes. :) Ok ok, I GUESS you can look around at all the other bikini clad women in the photos first. But then vote for Tymmerie!! Her name is over her poster, and it's one of the first ones you see when you come in, so you can't miss it. She's the prettiest one, she's not covered in oil, she's not blinging, and she's not being overly slutty. Why WOULDN'T you vote for her?! Hey, take your friends, make an adventure out of it! :) But whatever you do, just vote!

A little of this, A little of that, and some mushiness.

Wow, you guys REALLY came through for me on the dresses question! I got more suggestions and landmarks than I knew what to do with! :) But I totally loved it, and I did end up picking up a few cute things today and I have tons more places to check out. I also got more ideas today for belts. You guys are really keeping me hopping! ;-) Tomorrow I'm dedicating at least 2 hours during the day to just building. That does sound like a long time to just sit and build, but the Bad Girl belt took about 3 hours, so really it's not that much time at all and I'll probably end up building longer since that's the way it seems to go once I really get into it. The host belt WILL be finished tomorrow. I want to have it ready to wear by the time I host my event at 7. I'm not DJing it, just hosting. At least, that's the plan. You never know what will happen. :)

So Cen and I went out to La Reina tonight to check out some poseballs she'd seen because I wanted to know who made them. Did you guys know that the poses from Demoiselles are no longer $1L a pack? I am soooooo glad that I picked up all of them back when they were!! But the store has moved from the little stall to a big store, and there was a Sine Wave stripper pole in it. Of course we tried it out.



Sorry, I didn't take a picture of me working the pole. But as you can see, Cen is winding and grinding up on that pole. :-p We'd be the best strippers ever.

After she left, I went to my shop to try to do some stuff. It didn't work and I ended up going to <3Cupcakes to check out the new skins. They're very very pretty!! As I've mentioned before, my primary skin was one I picked up from there. The new skins are more expensive than mine was since, well, they're new, but I may end up getting one eventually. I'm still really partial to mine, though.

I also wandered into a store called Soap [SLurl], which sells accessories and some clothes and other stuff. It's a pretty cool place. It even has Twister!!



But the best thing EVER? OMG. Ok, I don't often go nuts over some little thing I've seen in SL. I LIKE a whole lot of stuff, but it takes something truly fab for me to gasp out loud and yell "I NEED THAT!" In fact, Mr. Kitty can testify that I woke him up with my exclamation tonight. Check it out.



That is a Speak & Spell!!! Ok, so it's called a Poke & Spell, but you know damn well what it is. That was my FAVORITE toy when I was a child! Man, I wore my Speak & Spell OUT. I would have bought it tonight, but I'm going to wait until I have a bad day, and then hop over to get it because I know it'll make me smile. And yes, that is a Teddy Ruxpin on the other side of me! 80s Heaven!

So I was checking my Google Analytics tonight, since I haven't in a while. I have reached over 10,000 page views and over 6,000 visits. That's pretty shocking to me since I really haven't advertised this blog, and well...it's just me. LOL I also had to laugh because someone searched "what i need for making barrettes" and ended up on my bush barrette page. Oh that's so sad. But big thanks to SL Free*Style, Tymmerie, Are We Not Men, Sidonie, Wrath, and Calaya, because I get the most hits because of your blogs. Thank you ever so much for adding me to your blog links!

You know, I started blogging just to give myself something to do. I never dreamed that it would lead to some of the best times and experiences ever due to the people that I've been lucky enough to meet because of this blog. I actually didn't think it would last. For those of you who have been long time readers, you know that there were days when I was lonely and unhappy in SL. I considered leaving several times. I can honestly say now that there is no way in the world I could ever be lonely in SL again because you all won't LET me be! The random IMs just to say hi, the "Hey, come here and look at this!" teleports, the encouragement and support for whatever I am doing... Well, at the risk of getting all girly mushy, I just want to thank you all so much. There are many times when I am quiet, and many times I don't say all that I should, but just know that I am appreciative of each and every one of you. :) [Some more than others, but they know who they are. Or they should. :-p ]

But I really AM still wondering about the 2 visits I had from people searching "clitless girl."

Oh geez, I said I was going to bed early tonight. So much for that.

The Summer Sun Knows Me By Name!

With spring most definitely in the air [well, in my part of the country at the moment], I went on the hunt today for sundresses.

I came home empty handed and completely sad.




There is a serious shortage of cute, non-slutty, non-ugly, SIMPLE dresses in SL. Oh, I found dressy dresses. I found dresses masquerading as simple dresses only to realize there are 5000 little layers and ruffles to them. I found crazy dresses that practically give the farm away. I found super expensive dresses that didn't even have any prim parts. But I did not find anything simple and cute.

I know, just last week I was raving over the dresses at <3Cupcakes, and I DO still enjoy spending my $L in there. But today I couldn't find what I wanted there either. The dresses just seemed too frilly. And don't get me wrong, I love me some frilly, but it wasn't what I was looking for.

What I'm looking for is just really basic, sleeveless dresses, preferably with a flexi skirt, that doesn't cost $15,000L. :-p I'm looking for polo dresses, too. So...if anyone has any suggestions, please throw them at me.

If I have to learn how to make my own damn dresses, that is going to piss me off.

*Yawn*

For some reason, I cannot seem to go to sleep without a post to finish the night. I think I have a sickness. :-p

I reeeeeally didn't get a lot accomplished in the shop today. I'm beginning to rethink my posters. See, the sim where my shop is located has the urban grunge feel to it. In fact, there's a sign right outside my door that talks about government cheese - something that cracked me up to the point of not being able to speak. But of course, I was tired at the time, so who knows. But I did get stuff done outside of the main portion of the store. Cen had this great idea a few weeks ago, and it involves a lot of shopping. :) Tonight we shopped and shopped until we got lag and had to relog. And then we spent a couple of hours putting things together. We're still not done, but when we are, it's going to be pretty cool. At least to us. :-p But it really was tons of fun.

The main question I've been asked lately [aside from "When are you opening?"] is "Are you going to do belts for men?" Yes, yes I am. I'd gather that several of my belts are going to be unisex, but some are specifically for women. I do plan on doing some for you men, too, but I need your help. What are you looking for on belts? And don't say guns & knives. I could probably do a knife, but I don't think building a gun is in my skill level right now. So let me know what you'd like to see and I'll let you know if I can make it. :)

I'm DJing Wednesday night if anyone feels like coming out to play. It's a Cowboys & Indians event. OMG Cen, I can be a cowgirl, huh?? LOL But I won't be playing any country music [unless I can sneak it in] because I think my boss man would throw down and stomp me under his huge boot. I'm also DJing a "Prom Night" event on Sunday evening. How cute is that? I'll have to find a really great dress.

I'm just yawning up a storm here. Oh! A few people have asked me how Mr. Kitty is doing. He's recovering nicely. Unfortunately his little body didn't agree with the antibiotics very well, so he's been recovering from that more than from his arm. My poor little guy lost weight and he's still not 100%. But he's getting better, so I'm happy.

I am SO ready for bed now.

Who's a BAD GIRL? ;-)

Ok, Cen has seen the new belt, so now I want to show you guys too! I think I may end up creating a new blog just for the store so I don't have to bother you guys with product pictures all the time. [LOL, all the time. Like I'm gonna be crankin' out 25 new things a day.] Introducing, the Bad Girl Belt!



I'm still not sure if I like the poster, but it'll do for now. I'm just all giggly over it for some reason. Maybe it's the condoms. Happy's Condoms! And of course Cen's NaughtyGirl Mouthwash. It's extra strong, 'cause you know...sometimes... :-p

Primtionary is about to start and I haven't been to a game in a while, so I'm off!

Setting Up!

I moved into my new store tonight! Now it's definitely NOT ready for business, and probably won't be for a few days yet, but it makes me happy to see my lil sign outside on the dirty steps. :) I spent some time tonight setting posters on the walls just to get a feel of the place, but I know I'll fiddle around with them for a while before I'm perfectly satisfied. And of course poor Texture Monkey Dog had to put up with Cen and me making him change the textures inside over and over, and match seams and all that. I don't feel too bad for him. ;)







Now you know that I take all of your belt suggestions seriously and I have about 4 belts in the works right now. But Cen gave me an idea tonight and I thought it was so hysterical, I sat for about 3 hours tonight putting it together. It's the Bad Girl Belt, complete with condoms & mouthwash. I'd show you all a picture, but since it was Cen's idea, she gets to see it before you guys do, and of course she gets it for free for having such a great idea. [Well, ok, she could always just ask me for anything in the store for free, but it sounds more like a prize this way. LOL] I think the belt came out SUPER cute and I'm actually quite proud of it. I can't wait for everyone to see it!

I really should be in bed. I've spent far too much time sitting at the computer today getting things together. But it's been so much fun. I'm really and truly enjoying the work that I've been doing. It's not perfect by any means, and I certainly don't put myself up there with the great builders at all, but I'm having such a good time!

Bedtime!

The Worst Try-To-Pick-Me-Up Conversation Ever

There are so many things I should be doing right now, but I completely forgot what happened to me yesterday. For a blog post that I will [hopefully] be doing soon, I headed out to Freebie Island to look around. It was crowded, as usual, with both newcomers and freegans and the like. If it weren't so laggy, it would be a fun place. Someone said hello to me within the first couple of minutes after I arrived. The following conversation took place out in open chat, so I had to cut out all the extra stuff, but other than that, nothing has been changed.


[17:59] Random Guy: hy alicia
[17:59] You: Hello
[17:59] Random Guy: i am brazilian, and you?
[17:59] You: I'm from the US.
[18:00] Random Guy: good
[18:00] Random Guy: you are very beautiful
[18:00] You: Thanks. :)
[18:01] Random Guy: i want you
[18:01] You: For what?
[18:01] Random Guy: well...i don't know...sorry
[18:01] You: LOL


You know, I don't get hit on a whole lot. I know all the stories about how women in SL can't step foot outside of their door without some man chatting them up and trying to get them into bed, but that very very very rarely happens to me. And heck, maybe something got lost in translation here, although he seemed to understand English perfectly well, but I'm THINKING that this is pretty much not the way to go when trying to pick a girl up.

Btw, if you haven't gone out to Encore [SLurl] to pick up your free Sit-n-Spin yet, you SO should. I wasted quite a bit of time earlier just spinning around.

Ok...back to the grindstone.

Those shoes aren't UGGS...They're just UGH!

[The original first part of this post has been taken out because the offender may/may not be reading this blog.]



And I really don't want to be known as that blogger who hates everyone's clothes. I don't. But sometimes I just have to say something for the good of SL fashion.

I worked some tonight on some textures. My mint chocolate couch has now become a Mint Chocoflowers couch because I had a paintshop brush that I liked. And I got my first poster done for my Photography Belt.



It's not fancy, but I'm proud of it. :-p I thought I was going to have to be out for the morning and most of the afternoon tomorrow, but my plans changed, so I have all day to work on retexturing the Mint pieces, and getting the bedroom sets photographed. I'm not going to add poseballs to anything, but I'm thinking that I'll put some together and add to the boxes. That way there's a way to lay down, but no one is forced to use them. Hmm... If I add no copy animations to copyable poseballs...wait. No copy animations to copyable & transferable poseballs - can that work? It is WAY too late in the night to think about that.

Oh, and of course in the middle of all of this, I hopped over to pick up a free outfit. It's so showgirl. It's a peacock outfit!



Alicia's Tip Of The Day: Please stop wearing those white strappy shoes with your black outfits. PLEASE!

Back To Windlight

I'm sitting here waiting on 2 things. 1) For my RL friend to call me since she somehow broke her car and needs a ride to a guy's house to pick it up. And 2) For Windlight to finish downloading. Yes, I'm going back to the Windlight viewer which has proved, thus far, to be the most stable viewer I have used yet. My avatar may look terrible, but at least I won't crash as much and my prim edits will stick.

[That just reminded me of the line from the movie Clueless. "What happened? Did my hair get flat? Did I stumble into some bad lighting?"]

If you'll notice, I've put up another Project Playlist playlist. :) My first one is filled with 90s goodness. This new one [the black one, not the blue one] is a little sampling of the kind of music I play during my sets. It's also often what I'm listening to when I'm really deep into building.

Later on - How To Wear Freebies & Not Look Crazy.

Headachey

Is "headachey" a word? It is now. :)

I did a great set tonight. Fast and hard pretty much covers it. Heh. Excuse me while I giggle like a 14 year old for a few minutes.




Nope, not done yet.




Ok. Anyway, it was a good set, only 2 hours of hard rock & metal leaves me pretty tired. I love the songs I played, don't get me wrong. But I can't just play the music like a normal person. Oh no. I have to turn it up REALLY LOUD on my side. I really don't know where I got into that habit.

To try to relax, I headed out shopping. But it was not relaxing. Why? Fashion disasters! Everywhere! I ran home and curled up in a ball mumbling, "Can't come out. Oily skin will eat me. Can't come out. Oily skin will eat me."

I tried to work on some pieces because the plan now is to start getting the shop set up on Monday [I get free rent for a month, starting from the first day I move in, so I want to be pretty much ready to go as soon as I start getting in there.] I got an AWESOME idea for a belt from the super great Wrath Paine. He's brilliant, if you didn't know. :-p

What's not brilliant is how SL wasn't letting me build without it reverting my edits back to the original, or close enough. It really sucks when you get a texture just the way you want it, and suddenly it's rotated 43.208 degrees. I'm going to go back to the Windlight viewer tomorrow and see if that helps, because I wasn't really having that issue while I was building in Windlight.

So tomorrow's projects: Start getting some product pictures done [I may need someone willing to pose with me on the beds. Nothing dirty, I promise. lol], work up the posters in Photoshop, continue working on the belts, post a blog that I have in mind but I need to do some work and do pictures, and... sleep. :)

Actually, sleep sounds good. Well, a shower, and then sleep.

Wow. What An Idiot.

More about the theft of Laynie Link's Vanessa dress can be found here.

So this thief didn't steal this dress for the "normal" reasons that people steal. She, Lalinda Lovell, wasn't selling it or trying to make a profit. She was passing it out full perms because she was angry that Laynie supports Autism Speaks.

That has got to be the most idiotic reason for content theft I have ever heard of.

If you see that a designer supports a cause or charity that you don't like - DON'T SHOP AT THEIR STORE. Simple!! Because when you pull a stupid stunt like this, it automatically makes your opinion worthless and hurts your argument since now you look like a nutcase.

So Lalinda doesn't like Autism Speaks. Fine. That is her opinion and although she may be passionate about it, it in NO WAY gives her the right to steal a dress and pass it around. I am just so astounded that someone could be so STUPID, it makes me angry!

There are many charity organizations and causes that I don't support. I don't support PETA [People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals - although I do support People Eating Tasty Animals], but if I saw that a designer had a kiosk out collecting donations for PETA, I wouldn't run into their store, scream about how it's terrible, rip a dress or a skin or whatever, and pass it around just to be a moron. I wouldn't donate to their kiosk. I might not even shop there, depending on how passionate they were about PETA.

[And please no comments screaming how PETA is a wonderful organization. I've known too many PETA headcases and that has completely turned me off to the whole thing. You may as well ask me to become a Scientologist.]

There's no excuse for content theft - EVER. But I think what's really horrid is that Lalinda Lovell felt justified to do this because of her beliefs. She did not sit and talk to Laynie calmly about this. She did not try to defend her reasons behind her dislike of Autism Speaks in an intelligent way. She acted like a fool. Threatening to steal Laynie & Teagan's designs hurt her cause, and you know what she ended up doing? Raising MORE money for Autism Speaks since many people donated when they went out to pick up the Vanessa dress.

There are ways to do something and ways not to. Lalinda Lovell found the way NOT to do it.

Stop Stealing! Gosh!

I woke up to find that yet another designer has had to put up a freebie because someone stole their design. This time it happened to Laynie Link of Layniewear [SLurl]. From what I read on the Freebie Finds In SL blog, this occurred because Laynie refused to take down her Autism Speaks kiosk. What the hell? That's the most ridiculous reason for stealing someone's dress that I've ever heard. Go pick up your Vanessa dress, and educate yourself on what is real and what is stolen.

You know, I love free items as much as the next person. I built most of my SL on finding where the best free things are. But I really hate when designers are forced to give away nice things, whether it's by them feeling like they have to, or if they do it because someone has stolen what is rightfully theirs. So yes, I now have this cute black dress that I probably wouldn't have bought otherwise [let's face it, how often do I go anywhere nice?], and I have my absolutely fabulous black heels from Maitreya that were given free this week, but I really hate that the designers pretty much had to do it.

Anyway, after all that, I hopped over to <3Cupcakes [SLurl] and picked up the dress that I've had my eye on for the past couple of days. <3Cupcakes is a sickness for me, I tells ya!



Isn't it just too adorable?! It was one of those dresses where I kept saying "I can't buy that. I already have people asking me if I'm a teen avatar. That's just too cute with the little flowers." But, the other side of me that was screaming "It's CUTE! BUY IT NOW! You have shoes that match!!!" won out. :)

I guess I better get up and get my day started so I can come home and get some work done before DJing tonight. Just so much to do. :) Have a lovely Saturday, everyone!

Quiet Night

You guys crack me up. You really do. I was rolling at the jokes and sites that were posted in my last entry! I knew I could count on you. ;)

So Mr. Kitty survived the vet visit and he takes a shot like man. Turns out that in one of his outdoor excursions, he'd gotten in a fight and he has a small puncture wound on his arm, which was leading to the limp. So he got checked out, some blood drawn, and a shot. He's a trooper. Of course, I have to give him some medication for the next few days, and I'm not sure he's going to appreciate it.

I had a 4 hour nap this afternoon. I think I may go to bed early tonight, though. I have to get up early tomorrow to get some things done. I never did get around to working on any of my pieces, although I did think about it as I was laying down for my nap. :)

It was a quiet night for me in SL. I went to Primtionary, IMed now and then, bought a couple of dresses at <3Cupcakes [I want ALL the clothes there! ALL!], and signed up to DJ tomorrow night. So if you don't have anything to do tomorrow night, I'm DJing from 7-9pm SLT. I grabbed more songs tonight to pad my playlist, so it should be fun. :) It's a "Night Of The Dead" event, so if you want to look dead or gothy or something, well, now you know where to come. Just IM me at event time and I'll send a ride for you.

It's definitely bedtime now.

I never get enough sleep!

I fully expected, and planned on, sleeping late today. But nooooooooo. I'm woken up by my mom calling, all upset as is the norm these days, and I spent an hour calming her down. I was about to go back to sleep after we hung up when she called again just to get the moral support, part deux.

And now I'm taking Mr. Kitty to the vet, because his fat butt jumped down wrong [he's not the most graceful of kitty cats] and he's been limping since last night. I'm worried that he may have sprained his ... wrist? Ankle? What to you call the front leg thing? lol Dammit, I don't know. But I'm worried, so off we go to the vet.

I'm trying not to put my Crankypants on, but good grief! Is it a full moon or something?

So what I would like for you all to do is please leave me a comment with a joke, or somewhere funny to visit, whether it's just a website or a place in SL to explore. Humor is the word of the day. :)

Now wish me luck. Mr. Kitty isn't too keen on visiting people, especially a vet!

Friday Five - Inspiration Or Perspiration?

We talked in the last meme about who inspires us in SL, but not what. :) It's up to you if you want to apply your "First Life" to these questions, but my answers will be Second Life related.


1. What inspires you?

2. What blocks your creativity?

3. Do you do anything special to get your creative juices flowing?

4. What time of day do you feel most inspired?

5. How do you like to express your creative energy?



My answers:


1. I'm often inspired by what other people do in SL. Whether it's building, scripting, or just decorating, it's amazing what people come up with. I love to get things, take a copy, and then pull it all apart to look at see how they came up with such a wonderful creation. There are so many completely brilliant people out there!

2. My own abilities. LOL It's one thing to be able to dream of what you want to make. It's another thing entirely to get it out into SL. There are many times when I cannot make a prim do exactly what I want it to do just because of the prim limitations. Also, I am not an artist, so anything I do in Photoshop has to be exceptionally simple, which pretty much leaves out most clothing. It's hard to have ideas but not talent. :)

3. I go exploring or shopping! Just seeing what others do is enough to get me excited. Or I share something I'm making with someone else. When they admire it, it makes me really happy and I want to do more to impress.

4. This is going to sound crazy. I am, by nature, a night owl. I am NOT very talkative or charming for at least an hour or two after waking up. [Apologies to those of you who have had the displeasure of talking to me when I've just woken up!] But, I'm most productive and inspired during that time. It's the oddest thing.

5. Silly question. :) I build! Or I hop up on a posestand, take some pictures of myself, and get to work in Photoshop playing with filters and colors. Fixing up my photos, or those of others, makes me feel creative, even though it's all just what looks pleasing to my eye. But I guess that works too. :)

Getting Rid Of Miss Crankypants

I think I've finally gotten out of my Miss Crankypants mood. It only took...oh, 12 hours or so. LOL

So I was supposed to host an event tonight, as I usually do on Thursdays. Guess who didn't show up? But honestly, I was NOT in the mood to DJ, and since it was extremely slow, we just canceled the event. I can't say that I was disappointed.

I am on the hunt lately for pretty, casual, everyday dresses. You see a ton of formals and a ton of sleazy hooker dresses in SL, but it's not always easy to find something that is just cute that you could wear out to shop or to explore in. I hopped over to <3Cupcakes [SLurl to the new location] to check out the new store, and I am just in love with the pretty little dresses there! I don't know why I've never noticed them before, or maybe I just wasn't in the mood for dresses. But they're so cute and they fit my body really well. Look at this little darling dress I picked up.



It comes with a flouncier longer skirt too, but I used the slimmer version. It's a little dressier than I was really looking for, but I just couldn't help myself. :) There are several others I have my eye on too, and for just $100L each, I just know I'll be set for dresses soon enough.

Oh! And now that Mimi has moved her store over to the Popfuzz sim, she's in the bargain basement too with other items. I picked up a whole pack of skins for $25L. I didn't need all of them, but now I have my skin tone in bunches of makeup. I am having to fix the lips on the skins to take the gloss off, but that doesn't take long at all. I'm really happy with that purchase!

I spent some time tonight just going through inventory. I deleted well over a 1000 items, and boxed up some stuff too. I don't actually have a lot of JUNK, which makes me pretty happy. But at the same time, not having junk makes it harder to get rid of stuff. :)

Tomorrow I'm going to finalize the rental of my soon to be shop, then get to work taking pictures of the furniture that I've got done so far. I also need to get into Photoshop and make some textures for the bedding. It doesn't REALLY matter so much since the free textures I used have been stretched and rotated and recolored, and I don't plan on selling these for very much anyway, but ... I know they aren't my textures. I also need to finish up these 2 belts that I have so far. I think the photography belt is pretty much going up as it is, even if it is simple. The host belt I need to finish up but that shouldn't take me too much longer. Cen and I were talking tonight about an idea she had and I am going to help her with, and I think we should set up part of the shop for that. The Ch'Know shop will be filled with random goodies. LOL

I think I'll post this, then go find the Friday Five questions so I can post those up before bed. :)

Meta-LIFE!

It's rare that I have an actual topic to discuss in here, but today I had the extreme pleasure of being given a very cool topic. :)

Robbie Kiama of meta-LIFE contacted me in world to ask if I'd like to give the metaHUD a try, and he was even nice enough to give me a demo of the whole thing!

Meta-LIFE is an up and coming social networking platform in Second Life. Think Facebook-Twitter-MySpace-SLExchange-your local entertainment newspaper all rolled up into one very nifty HUD.



This thing is really amazing. You can add friends, rate and comment on your friends, tag and rate different places [great if you have a club or land where you want people to go to!], travel, and even shop!

What's really cool about the friends thing is that you can keep up with what your friends are doing. The timeline is kind of like Facebook or Twitter. Not only can you see where they've gone, you can actually use the HUD to tp to that location too! So like if you have the HUD and you see that I've gone to Pillow Talk, and you want to go to Pillow Talk, you just click on it and go. How cool is that?




If you use the Public Timeline, you can see where others who use meta-LIFE have gone and what they've done. It is SO neat! When you get to a location, you can tag it yourself and rate it, or just rate it. And it's not limited to just a thumbs up. Oh no, you can rate a really terrible place with a thumbs down. You can also add a location to your Favorites, and then you don't need to keep landmarks in your inventory, unless you just like landmarks. :)

And yes, you can SHOP! Right through the HUD! I gave it a try with a free item [the Free category was the first I hit up!] and I have to say, it was delivered more quickly than when I use SLExchange. If I were a shop owner [and I guess I will be one soon], I'd definitely get my items listed with this program. Designers, c'mon!! Do it! :)

I've been having a ton of fun with my HUD this evening, popping around places and tagging and rating. If you've like to give it a go, just IM me in-world and I'll pass you a HUD to wear. Or I believe you can go to the website and see where a terminal is and get one from there. Big thanks to Robbie for showing me this and being patient while my blonde brain tried to figure things out. :)

I should be insulted, right?

Ever have one of those "What the hell?" moments?

I was out at Primtionary and usually everyone is really nice, no one makes fun of you if you need to build at an easy level, or if your build looks crazy or anything like that. People are very nice and supportive, and that's part of the reason why I keep going back. But today this girl... I don't know if she was just in a Crankypants mood too, or she really is just a bitch, or what. The last build of the day, the builder chose medium. I always choose medium, just because that's pretty much my skill level. So this girl says that he couldn't even make it a good one for the last build.

What? He's comfortable with medium. Medium is what he wants to build at. Who cares if he can't build at the Impossible level like SOME people think they're so great at!

So me being in a Miss Crankypants mood as well, I speak up and say that I like the medium level because it's better for my small vocabulary. Because, c'mon, how many instances in my life do I honestly use the word "pupate" or "laudatory?" Not to mention the afternoon Primtionary games are more for the European time zones, and therefore not all of them are native English speakers.

So what does this girl say to me? She said, and I quote because I chat log, "Your limited lexicon is of little importance to me."

Well excuse me, bitch! Here's some lexicon for ya, you deplorable little know-it-all. How about you try being nice to people even if you think you're better than they are? Because you sure as hell are not any better than I am. Grrrrr!

I didn't say anything more. But you can bet I'll no longer greet this person, or even bother guessing when they go up to build. Her building time is now my IMing or get up for a drink time. And I am almost positive that I won't be showing up for any of the games she hosts. Oh, did I mention she's a Primtionary host? Nice attitude for one, huh?

Geez!

Miss Crankypants

So just from reading the comments to my entry about love, and what some of you have told me in world, the answer is clear. Love is love and cannot be explained, but is welcomed. :) And maybe online relationships aren't perfect, but hey, "real" world ones aren't either.

I am tired today. I got myself up early so I could do a couple of RL things, and sit to work on my hostess belt. I've been sitting here working on it, but I'm tired and now I'm annoyed a bit. It's a silly thing, but it still annoyed me.

When you do most of your building in a sandbox, you know that you're going to meet people or people are probably going to stand and watch you build for a bit. I have no issues with that because I often watch the other builders as well just to see their technique. [I do use camera controls to watch from a distance, though. I never go and just stand on top of their work to get in their way.] Well, today I'm sitting here working and this guy comes over and just stands there. I'm cool, so I just keep making my rings. Then he starts talking.

German Guy: wb alicia
You: wb? lol i didn't realize i'd left.
German Guy: was ist denn das?
You: what?
German Guy: die kiste oder tisch - sehe nur einen schwarzen block
You: um...ok.
German Guy: achnee drüber haste auch noch etwas
German Guy: she aber nicht was das genau ist
German Guy: nun sehe ich nur etwas rundes - was ist ist das
You: i don't understand what you're saying.

Wasn't it apparent that I don't speak German? But he said that he'd spoken before with a girl with my exact same name and she spoke German. Guess she must look just like me, too. :-p

So I'm trying to line things up, and he just keeps going on and on. Rule number one of sandbox etiquette: If someone doesn't stop what they're doing, shut up, because they're busy. If they STOP, look at you, and continue making conversation, then that's cool. I didn't stop working. I was making a little notepad [which is super cute] and he was just going on and on! Then he asked if I sell my things, to which I replied that I'm planning on opening a shop, so that's why I'm working on the belt. And THEN he really annoyed me.

German Guy: right - if you like to make profit with you work - do it -
You: no, i don't do it for money. it's not important. i do it because i enjoy building.
German Guy: ok - that is your desicion -

Well of course it's my decision! Not everyone makes stuff for profit!

Wow. I'm really cranky today. I'm sorry, guys. I need a cuddle or a nap. Probably a nap. :-p

What a full evening!!

I just love the opinions given in my last post!! You guys are awesome. :) And I am always happy to hear of people who have found love, online or off! :)

Tonight was one of those nights were I was constantly moving, and I enjoyed it greatly! I have a bunch of pics and a lot to say, so let's get going!!

Earlier today, I was trying on some things, and I put on my very awesome Dreadlock Ponytails from Soulfire [SLurl] when I remembered that I've been meaning to bother Valryn and ask if she could please do the platinum in the multi-colored dreads like she did for the black one. She's as sweet as can be and did it up for me really quickly. I just LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!





Now I know, I could have recolored it myself. But she did a far better job than I could have done. Later, I realized I SUCK and I didn't even pay her for her work! So I tripped on over to the store and bought the Blues set I've had my eye on since she posted it in her blog. It is SO CUTE. I want all of you to go buy it. It's worth it just for the belt and choker alone!

So after that, I was just hanging out at my place staring at myself, when Casius reminded me about the party that was going on for the island where I live. [He's my landlord, if I've never mentioned that.] It was a fun party!! Even Tymmerie and her boyfriend Jerremy were there! :)







I left the party early because I was going to go play Primtionary [and I needed a relog badly, which is pretty much how my whole night was] but I wasn't really in the "sit down and play" mood. So I got myself redressed and headed over to my job because there was a big "frat party kegger" going on. I was a cheerleader!



You can't see it very well, but I'm holding a cigarette. I'm THAT cheerleader.

As the party was ending, CeNedra and I were chatting and she said that she knew of some vendor space for me, if I was interested. So I got out of my cheer outfit and back into my Blues outfit and headed over to her. It's a great place, still being built, and best of all it's owned by a good friend of ours. Well, friend to me, family to her. But she's like my sister so it's all the same actually. LOL I will probably end up renting two floors, so that I have space to set some things out and stuff. But it depends on when I actually get my ass in gear and get some things finished. I think tomorrow, since I don't have anything to do during the day, I'm going to set a time and just do nothing but work for an hour or two.

Oh, but look. Valryn's awesome outfit makes men drop to their knees around me. :-p



Later on, Cen, her guy Rick, and I all headed out. We hit up the Carnival of Doom, which is by the same people who did the Greenies sim. It's kind of fun, especially when you die! LOL See, you get to wear a health meter and some things can take your health away. I ended up dying and ended up in the waiting from that's from the Beetlejuice movie. And I got a balloon!



After that, we went to Bedrock to explore. One thing about the Bedrock sim, they have great music. We just had to dance in the Rubbles' house. :)



Oh, and in case anyone was wondering, Cen and I would TOTALLY be lesbians for each other if we weren't straight.





We did a fun thing before she signed off for the night. We went on the FashCon Tour Bus!! It's loads of fun. You get a HUD from one of the FashCon kiosks [bunches of stores have them], wear it, turn the Tour Bus on, and every 5 minutes your map pops up and you can teleport to a new store. We went to a whole bunch of stores, most I know I hadn't been to before. It's a great chance to see places you may not know of, or hit stores that you have liked in the past. Not all of the stores are great, of course, but 5 minutes is pretty much nothing to wait until the bus comes for you again. :) We ended up at silks stores, skins stores, and even a place with stripper stuff. Hey Wrath, you owe me $1L.



All in all, it was a pretty great day. :) But it's most definitely bedtime now.

Is It Love?

There's a little discussion going on on a forum I frequent. Now the beginning of it was simple enough. Are there good men in SL? But it has ended up being a "How can you call it love if it's just a game?" debate.

Personally, I think of SL as being more than just some game. It's many different things to many different people. But I absolutely believe that you can love someone that you meet in SL, whether it's romantic love or friendship love.

One girl [she sounds extremely young, so we'll not call her a woman] stated that love in SL is not real and ask any "therpist" and they'd tell you the same.

Really?

What makes SL love any different than any other kind of love? I have online friends that I've known for a number of years that I've never met, and possibly never will meet, but that doesn't make my love for them any different than the love I have for my family that I never see. We share secrets, dreams, our daily lives. I love them as if they were my family. I am growing to love my SL friends very much. They're the ones who let me fill their IM boxes with nonsense and with problems. They're the ones who make me smile when I think about them. How is that love not real?

Most of my "real" world friends are married or in committed relationships. Most of them are unhappy. A few have told me that they're no longer in love with their significant others. Why is that better than loving someone online? Just because you can touch someone physically doesn't mean that it's any better!

We are living in a world where online friendships and relationships are very common. I truly believe that for some people, without the aid of technology, they would go throughout life not speaking to anyone if they didn't have to. There are people who are so shy they can barely say hello to the checker at the grocery store. There are people who cannot leave their home because they are scared, or disabled. But with things like chat rooms or SL, they have lives. They have learned to love people. They have learned to interact and talk to others. I know that my daily life has changed because of SL because I have learned that it's ok that I speak to others.

Confession time. I'm exceptionally shy. I know, chatterbox me. :-p I have real world friends, but trust me, it is more their doing that we are friends than mine. I'm incredibly lucky to have them. But since coming to SL, when I go out somewhere now, I smile at people. I talk to them. In fact, if you get me going now, I don't shut up.

[Really, Ali? We never would have guessed.]
[Oh, you guys be quiet. LOL]

I guess what I'm getting at is that love, whether first life or second, is real if you believe it is. The love I hold for my friends is absolutely and most definitely real. And how can that be a bad thing?

As far as romantic love goes - Do people really fall in love in SL? Of course they do. Heck, it may be even better than falling in love with someone you meet in a smoky bar when you're drunk on cheap beer.

I'd love to hear more opinions on this, good or bad. :)

Yes yes, I'm going to bed.

Now I'm REALLY going to sleep. But I got caught up taking silly quizzes. :-p

Your Theme Song is Back in Black by AC/DC

"Back in black, I hit the sack, I've been too long, I'm glad to be back" Things sometimes get really crazy for you, and sometimes you have to get away from all the chaos. But each time you stage your comeback, it's even better than the last!

What's Your Theme Song?

You Are 30% Left Brained, 70% Right Brained

The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning. Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others. If you're left brained, you are likely good at math and logic. Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet. The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility. Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way. If you're right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art. Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.

Are You Right or Left Brained?

Your Personality Profile

You are dependable, popular, and observant. Deep and thoughtful, you are prone to moodiness. In fact, your emotions tend to influence everything you do. You are unique, creative, and expressive. You don't mind waving your freak flag every once and a while. And lucky for you, most people find your weird ways charming!

The World's Shortest Personality Test

The bad thing about sleeping...

I slept so much before...now I'm totally not tired!! Damn! :)

I've been giving the whole "cheap store" idea a lot of thought lately, especially since people have been so kind and have been encouraging me to do it. But as I mentioned to Zillion earlier, if I opened now, I'd have a half finished belt and a couple of chairs only to stick in it. :) So I think I have a lot of work to do to get some more items done. I have some furniture that I've done, a couple of bedroom sets and the Mint Chocolate living room furniture, but I want to do my own texture for the MC set. I'm actually trying to do my own textures for everything, but I'm NOT an artist. I guess we'll see how that goes. Since the items will be priced cheap, I guess it doesn't matter THAT much in the long run. I end up stretching and shrinking textures a lot anyway to get the look I want. I headed to the sandbox tonight to start work on another belt idea I had. So now instead of one unfinished belt, I have two.



Introducing my hostess belt. I need to fix the pouch and dollars. The dollars are WAY too small. And I'm going to add a little cord on the microphone. I thought about making a bullhorn, but um...I'm just not that good. LOL I'm thinking the next belt [can you tell I love belts?] will be a shopping belt. Money, credit cards, a water bottle, a catalog or two, and a cell phone because you know sometimes when you're shopping hard, you have to call someone to send you more money. ;-)

After I was done building, I decided to head to Sine Wave to buy a dance for my chimera. I think it's time I start building it up. I love the dances we have in our club dance machine, but sometimes I want my own.



I ended up buying this totally bouncy happy dance. It's so incredibly cute!! I need more dances, though. I have a few freebies, but of course they're the same ones that are in all the freebie boxes. I keep wondering if there are other free dances out there that aren't in all the boxes. I'm going to have to research this, because you know, you could go completely and totally broke just buying dances at Sine Wave! Of course, they are great, so very much worth the price.

Oh, and I did a little friends list cleaning tonight. If I was on your list, and now I'm not, it's because you never talk to me. :-p But I don't think anyone I took off my list tonight reads over here anyway.

I really should try sleep. I need to go grocery shopping tomorrow and do some laundry. Real world chores...what a pain.

Multitasking! :)

12 hours of sleep and a big ol' cup of caffeine, and I'm back to myself again!! Woo!

I'm actually in the middle of playing Primtionary right now [I made Etherian come out to play too. Haha, I'm bossy! LOL Oh, and I got to meet one of my readers! Hi Zillion!] but I can do two things at once. :)

A couple of nights ago, I went out to the store Free 4 U [SLurl] which is out at the MIA sim. It's a big building and has a bunch of stuff. It's not, of course, super high quality stuff. But it's fab if you need some stuff to just decorate. Like these books and magazines!



The best part is that there are cuddle rugs and furniture. Now the stuff itself isn't that wonderful really. BUT! You can usually rip it apart and steal the animations, which is exactly what I did. :) So now I have great couples sits and lays. The animations are no copy, but of course you can get a whole bunch of these things, since they're free, and then you'll have the animations.



There is also clothing out there. I picked up some feather silks just for a laugh, and a pack of simple sweatpants & jackets that I just love because they're totally basic.

The MIA sim is actually pretty fun. Where I was at was this cool boardwalk, complete with games and places to sit and everything.



I was super excited because... Skeeball! OMG SKEEBALL! LOL This is, besides for pinball, my #1 game whenever I go to arcades or carnivals in the real world.



What? That really is how I play. Is this not right?

Speaking of games, I have now found a new favorite timewaster in SL. Zyngo!



This is legal since it's freeplay. I love this game! It requires almost no skill, which is great for me. LOL I think I played about 20 times before Primtionary.

Primtionary is over and I think we're going dancing, so I'm off!

Wrapping up the night

I'm heading to bed, I really am. But I'm still unwinding from a very bouncy fast set I did tonight. Oh yes, I DJed. LOL The DJ scheduled had family things to do. Supposedly. But you better believe I had the programs & folders I use for DJing already up and open by 6:55. :-p I'm thinking about asking that on my shifts [I work each Monday & Thursday] that I just be scheduled as hostess & DJ. I don't mind doing double duty, and I seem to have to do it anyway. It's unfair to have someone scheduled with me, and then not show up for whatever reason, and I'm scrambling at the end to get music up and all of that when I should be greeting guests and sending notices. If it happens again Thursday, then that's just what I'm going to do.

I got to hang out with Sidonie and Mr. Coolname for a bit after the event. We went to this store called Weird Shit. It was pretty neat - and yes, had lots of weird shit. But if I ever need some kind of crazy costume, that's going to be my first stop! I had fun hanging out with them. :) They did a great job of not making me feel like the 3rd wheel. :)

I'm really spacing out now, so I think it's honestly bedtime. Tomorrow I'll talk about a cool freebie store and some other junk.

I Need A Nap.

Before anything else, I wanted to say thank you [again] to those of you who have offered support, words of encouragement, or just an IM box for me to vent in this past week. I think today settled a lot of matters, and the weight that's been on my back this past week has lifted considerably. I ate my first real meal in a week today, and I think I may even be able to sleep more than 2-3 hours tonight. Woot! :)

I hit up the Shiny Things group sale last night. There wasn't a huge selection, BUT I was extremely happy that the boots I had my eye on were up for sale!! I first spied the lovely Glossy Ribbon Boots on a girl who was at Primtionary a few days ago. I loved them immediately, but I didn't think they were worth $500L. However, they were definitely worth $250L at the group sale! Plus there's a HUD so I can change the color of the laces in the boots. I'm a happy camper. And I picked up a pair of basic black pumps that fit my feet, don't bling, click, or have gems and other doodads on them. [Does anyone remember the snack mix called Doo-Dads?] But yes, Shiny Things group sale - pretty good stuff. I may go back after my shift tonight and pick up another pair of shoes.

Oh that's right, tonight I'm hosting a Come As You Are event at 7pm tonight, if anyone wants to pop by. I am supposed to have a DJ, but you know how that goes. LOL If for some reason she doesn't show up, I'll be taking the stream. But hopefully she'll show up because the one time I've had the opportunity to hear DJ Rhyssa, she was really good.

Excellent ideas on what my next project should be! I'm starting to kind of dig the cheap store idea, but I'd have to really focus my attention on building before putting that together. But it would be great to make some stuff [like my camera belt] that is just cute to have and that you don't have to pay $200L for. And I like the 20 dates idea, too. Finding men willing to date me might be a problem, though. :-p Or maybe I should just get myself a string of prim babies. Or cats! Give me more ideas, I love what you all come up with!

I'm so tired. I got maaaaaybe 2 hours of sleep last night before my mom called at 7:15 this morning [actually, I am working on less than 2 hours of sleep, now that I think about it] so I think a nap is definitely in order.

Or a round of Guitar Hero. You know. Whichever.

Hey Ali, how's that $5L project going?

Well... LOL

I was going over my transaction history for the past month and most days I do ok, but sales have been my weakness. I've "invested" a lot. :-p

The main problem that I see are the $1L demos. I'm a freak about demos. I just HAVE to try things on whenever I can. But well, when there are 10 hairs I want to try and they each cost $1L, that's 2 days of my self-imposed budget. So please please please - make free demos! Especially if you're a huge top selling shop. Look, all I'm saying is that if you're selling your hair for $300L and your skins for $3000L, and people are buying them, what's the purpose of the $1L demo?

I'm starting to think I need a new project. The $5L a day project was great and I really did have fun, but I proved my point within the first few weeks. You CAN do it, you CAN look absolutely stunning, you CAN have a ton of fun and not spend hardly anything at all. I discovered great places, met super nice people, and developed skills that I may not have if I hadn't done this.

I don't want to go crazy and become some top label fashionista. That's not me and it never will be me. I enjoy being one of the "freebie obsessed." I don't really think that my spending habits as they are right now will change. But now what? I want a project. What do you guys think? Any suggestions for the next phase in my SL? I'd be very interested to hear your ideas. :)

Another Meme :)

It's not Friday, but as requested by Willow, here's a new meme to fill your Sunday afternoon with. :)

1. Do you remember the first person who helped you in SL, and are you still in contact with that person?

2. Do you stick around in SL for business, or for the people?

3. Who is the most positive influence in your SL?

4. Is there someone who makes you roll your eyes and groan when they IM you or if you run into them somewhere?

5. Is there someone in your SL that makes you smile whenever you notice their name on your friends list, even if they're not online?

6. Do you let people map you? Do others let you map them?

7. If we found out tomorrow that SL was closing, do you think you'd still remain in contact with your friends?

Here are my answers. :)

1. I do remember her, but we never added each other, so we haven't kept in touch. I'm not even sure if she's still in SL.

2. Definitely for the people. I know that a lot of folks make a business out of SL and spend all day building and scripting so they can bring in that money, but money can't replace what friendship gives you.

3. Oh, CeNedra, for sure. :) I was about to give up on SL again before I met her, but her friendship has made all the difference in my SL. :)

4. Unfortunately, yes. LOL Not naming names, but there's this guy I met at the club where I work, and when he IMs me, I know it's to whine about something. Plus he deliberately misspells words to be "cute" and UGH, it's just annoying! Oh, and then there's the guy that messages me every so often to ask if I'm still a virgin and if I want to change that. /me rolls her eyes.

5. Several, in fact. :) And you all should know that I'm crazy about reading profiles, so even if you're not online, sometimes I read your profiles just to do it, and that makes me smile too.

6. I don't mind giving my friends that option. They could just ask me where I am anyway. But right now only one person has the option to map me. He's special. :-p

7. Oh, I hope so. There are some people I would hate to lose touch with.

Eeeps, time for Primtionary!

Bella Italia

So I went ahead and downloaded the new Windlight viewer. I have to say, I like it. My screen is still fine, I'm not crashy, and things are looking good. To test it out, I went to the Tuscany sim. It's a very pretty place. There's a beach, and I think some shops, but I stayed higher up on the grassy part. Of course I had to dress up to go out there. :)





How cute is my peach basket hat? I'm wearing red shoes, too, but you can't see them. The thing I liked best about Windlight this time around, and it's probably been a feature forever and I never noticed, is the reflections in the water. It just gives things a little extra sparkle. I probably wouldn't have found it, but I decided before uninstalling my last version of SL to clean out EVERYTHING from the application data folder and all that. So when I installed Windlight, all of my previous settings were lost, which caused me to have to go into preferences, which then let me see all the neat settings for Windlight. :)

I even managed through a very crowded game of Primtionary using the new viewer. All in all, this version of Windlight - Not bad. :) Of course, I don't do much in SL but shop and sometimes build, so I don't know how it works for others.

Speaking of building, I headed back to the sandbox to keep working on my camera belt. It's still not done, but I got a little more done on it.



Wow, sorry for 2 posts of crotch shots in a row. At least I didn't have to use a barrette. But see, I've got the film canisters on there now, plus the buckle. The buckle needs work. Well, the whole thing needs work. But I like how it's coming along. Once I finally get it all completed, I'll be happy to pass it out to anyone who wants one.

Oh, by the way, Aden Breyer is now selling hair at the Tuli shop, and so everyone in the Tuli update group got free hair tonight. Join the group to get yours! I don't much care for the front of the hair [on me] but I'm wearing it because the back is just too adorable with a claw hairclip, and is very "me" because before I got my hair chopped off, it was my RL style. Well, still is, actually. But the hair that hangs out of my clips now isn't as long. :) I admit it, I went and bought another Aden style. Not on sale. I know, I know. :-p I did have the pleasure of running into Meara Deschanel. She's absolutely gorgeous! Just so put together. I'm just glad I didn't run into her while in my pajamas, or I would have been totally intimidated!

I wonder if I can go to bed early tonight. I'm thinking probably not.

Back To The Sandbox

After my last post, I headed to my favorite sandbox and set about building a belt. I've seen belts with all kinds of things on them, but I haven't seen any that are photography based. Not to say that there might not be one out there, but I haven't seen it. I want to make my belt with a camera, some little film canisters, maybe a pouch, and another lens thing. [This goes to show how much I don't know about real photography, so I'm googling like crazy.]

It's sometimes hard to work in a sandbox because there's almost always that ONE guy who is running around, banging into people, or simply SITTING on their workspace.



He wasn't a newbie. He's over a year old. He came to sit on top of my stuff after running around, flying around, pushing some poor alien all over the place, and hitting on a girl who was there just trying to open some boxes. I'm usually nice to everyone when I meet them, but I wasn't very polite to this guy and told him to get off of my stuff. Just plain rude, that's what he was!

But, I finally got the camera part done. I need to make some additions to it, and get it textured better, but I think it's cute so far.



I didn't have a texture to simulate glare on the lens and flash, so I whipped one up in Photoshop. It sucks. :-p But it works. I'm not recreating a perfect camera. And of course the belt won't be staying like that, it'll have parts and texture, but I just needed a belt to fit my shape so I could see how big to make things.

I have to admit, it was really really nice to get back to building something. As much as I love shopping, there's just something completely therapeutic about making something with your own two hands. Or, um, your own mouse clicks. :)

Too much shopping? Did I just say that?!

I have the worst headache today, but luckily Saturday television is semi-good. :)

I was in world earlier, hitting the rounds of gifts and all of that when it just hit me that I have been spending a CRAZY amount of time lately just shopping. I haven't really explored anywhere good lately just because I'm shopping all the freaking time. I haven't built anything lately, unless you count my Primtionary builds. [I had to build the word "pregnancy" the other day. It looked like a worm in a blister. Luckily it was guessed before I had to build the breaking of the water.] Someone asked me the other day where I get my inspiration from when I build. Well, to be honest, my builds in the past have been based on what I need at the time. I need a chair, boom, I build a chair. I wanted a tiny miniskirt that fit my body without glitch pants, boom, I built one. But with all the shopping I do, I haven't felt the need to continue making skirts. I live in a beautifully furnished skybox, so I don't build furniture anymore because I don't really need anything.

So my goal this weekend is to get back to basics. I adore the "neko" belts with all the stuff hanging off of them, but they almost never fit me. So I think I may try building one for myself, which means I'll have to probably work with mini-prims again [something I'm not all that great at], and figure out what I want to put on the belt. I already have an idea, it's just figuring out how to make it is going to be the problem. But isn't it always? :)

Enough talk. To the sandbox!

Going to Church

I don't discuss the "heavier" real world topics such as politics or religion with people unless I know them better, just because I know that's a good way to get in a fight with someone. :) But I am a Christian, non-denominational, and as such, I often explore different churches in SL because I'm interested and because usually they're quiet, pretty places. I was laying on my couch [with my new Pillow Talk pillow!] tonight when a notice came from a group saying that there were free rosaries out at a Catholic church. So, I got myself up off of the couch and went to check it out. But I wasn't there 2 minutes before running into this guy.



Yes, I'm wearing pajamas in church. :-p So this guy, when he came in, was wearing jeans and a red cowboy hat. Then he abruptly changed into this outfit. That's a flame sticking out of the top of his head, if you were wondering. He also had a huge bible that he wore for a bit as well.

[23:25] Church Dude: hi
[23:25] You: hello
[23:26] Church Dude: can i buy you something?
[23:26] Alicia Chenaux giggles. Oh, no, that's ok. Thank you for asking. :)
[23:26] Church Dude: are you innocent?
[23:26] You: um...i guess?
[23:26] Church Dude: very good
[23:27] Church Dude: your young
[23:27] You: Not really.
[23:27] Church Dude: i like your shirt

Now any normal person would have gotten her pajama clad butt out of there, but I didn't have anything else to do, so when he told me to come explore the church, I went along with it.



The church itself is very nice, and very much styled after a Catholic church. There are poseballs with rosary animations and everything. But Church Dude was almost frantic with wanting to pray and for me to see things. It was kind of amusing, but kind of weird all at the same time.

[23:29] Church Dude: come this way
[23:30] Church Dude gave you Holy Spirit.
[23:30] Church Dude: this is my gift for you
[23:30] You: oh thank you. :)
[23:30] Church Dude: it will give you many bible passages
[23:30] Church Dude: and read to you
[23:30] Church Dude: as you walk
[23:30] Church Dude: it has many
[23:30] Church Dude: come with me please
[23:30] Church Dude: you need a bible too
[23:30] Church Dude gave you Bible.
[23:31] Church Dude: sit here
[23:31] You: yeah, you know, i'm not really into confession. lol
[23:31] You: but thanks!

Oh yes, you read that correctly. See, there was a confessional booth. I don't know what he wanted me to say, but I sure as heck wasn't going to confess to some guy with a flame sticking out of the top of his head.

Oh look...an update to Windlight. But people are saying that the IMs are now all in bold and the installer is in German. Hmm...maybe I can wait before installing it this time around. LOL