What?

What??? Stop looking at me like that. They're not what you think! I swear! 

I think these might be the wrong socks.

This is me taking a short shopping break. I needed to rest my eyes from all of the full bright and glow around me as I explored the beautifully decorated Christmas sim today. 

And this is me later, on the floor of one of the shops having a mini-crisis because of three things:

1) Those pillows behind me are never going to finish rezzing.
2) I can't decide if my outfit is ok or if I look funny.

3) I just realized that these antlers are going to make sleeping very difficult.

Meet Junior

Everyone on Plurk (it seems) was doing a face morphing activity to see what their imaginary children would look like. This is Junior:

 

He would be a happy child with his father's love of prims and a chaotic inventory. I would always be shouting, "Junior! Clean your inventory or you will not be allowed to stay up to watch Snail Races!" Not sure where his blonde locks would come from, but we would make him grow up to be tall - at least 90% on the height slider bars. We'd also hope that he would grow up to be a virtual land baron. What do you want to bet that he'd rebel and become a Gorean warrior? Imaginary kids these days.

Gonna catch my death...

I know, I know. I am inappropriately dressed to be standing in a snowy field at a landscaping shop. But you see, I have an excuse. We live on a tropical beach. And it is a dry cold. And I am standing in the sun. Seriously. I am not even a bit chilly.

Why, yes! These are new antlers! Thanks for noticing! I picked up a couple of them at different stores on the grid and I think I will be rotating through them during the season.

Today, I started to put out Christmas decorations at our home and at Starting Point. I realized that I need to upgrade most things I have so I have been shopping today. Some of the decorations I already own were purchased when I had limited prims with which to decorate. But now, I have a healthy prim cushion and there is some great stuff made of sculpties. I'll share pictures as I go. 

For now though, I need to get inside before I get a sunburn.

It's Antler Day!

This is an early post for me - but I have to get it done and out of the way since NEED to get SL shopping today. Also, today is also Antler Day. Yes. For my third holiday season in SL I have donned my festive set of antlers from Nico Creations. Although, to be honest, as cute as they are, I think it is time for new ones. I am going to have to keep my eyes open for a fresh pair. If I remember correctly these antlers are in a set that includes some "Christmas light" pasties. I might have to surprise my hubby with those later.

You saw this coming...

It is Thanksgiving here in the States today. So I am sharing a picture of what I am most thankful for in my SLife - my husband, Jerremy Darwin. (And yes this is two days in the same Turkey outfit - don't judge me! It was this or a hoochie Pocahontas outfit.)

I snapped this as we were playing with our house and trying to decide if we should add a third floor, and possibly, a loft area to our bedroom. I was watching and talking with him as he shifted walls and popped the roof. 

I love making ideas come to life with him. We say it all the time: we are a great team. He has taught me so much in both lives that I can't even begin to thank him or express just how much I love him. So, thank you, Sweetheart for being you and sharing the wonderful man you are with me. 

Now, let's get those Christmas lights up!

If we can make it here...

I just got back from the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in SL. It really is very cute! It is complete with crowds, ride-able floats, giant balloons and Al Roker! The most fun? Some other explorers were jumping on floats, too! 

 

 That is me in the center; Anjel Messmer is on the left; and Dug Ah is in the pink outfit on the right. (Thanks again for letting me take your pictures, Ladies!) You can see Rockefeller Center and Macy's behind us.

 We tried out the giant cooked turkey float and the "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" float, too, but they weren't as fun as the Polar Express float. On that float, we got to do a funky dance for the crowd. We were adorable, if I do say so myself.

Pilgrim Pride

Hi! Today's picture is of my shopping excursion to find properly festive Turkey Day-wear. I also have an eye out for a fanciful Winter Festival dress for the upcoming Second Life Blogger group's next meet-up party (Sunday, December 13th, noon-2 PM SLT, SLURL will be posted closer to the party date).

While shopping, I wandered into a costume shop that had a mini-Thanksgiving meal preparation area. I decided to try it out while I decided whether or not I needed a slutty pilgrim costume. I decided that I do, in fact, need one. Just not the one available at that particular store. So my quest continues.

OMG! On a PG sim?

 

Jerremy and I explored Photon's Castle yesterday evening. We an evening of exploration. ZOMG this sim is such a fun place for pictures. I even recognized one area from the log-in screens. I seriously felt like the sim was famous and I needed to ask for an autograph or something. 

We wandered around and found all sorts of animals including flying sharks, a dragon, giant crabs, killer sea urchins, bees, and pink octopi. While the octopus I found simply blew bubbles at me...

...the one Jerremy discovered seemed to find him wildly attractive. 

Happily, Jerremy escaped with his dignity mostly intact and he is walking much better today.

Tanks for Coming to the Party!

Hi! I promised some party pictures so here are just a few favorites! You can see many more on our Thorne-Darwin Flickr page!

 The tank was full of amazing aquatic creatures - and a few land-based ones, too.

We worked really hard to make it look like a real aquarium -- we even made a giant living room visible through the glass.

 Aisuru Rieko (Beloved Custom Designs) had an adorable jelly fish costume.

 

Our friend Alicia Chenaux was our DJ and not only looked gorgeous, but played an amazing set!

Aquaman came to our party!

At times it was hard to tell the decor from the guests. These two puffer fish are actually our friends Margo Sciarri (the pink one) and Night Singh (NightSong Lingerie).

We LOVE hosting parties! Thanks to everyone who was able to make it! I wish there were no time zones so that everyone could always come...but if you missed it, there will be more in the future! Watch this space!!

I was sad because I had no shoes...

...until I met someone who didn't have reliable high speed internet. So I am going to count my blessings and find other things to do today.

This was me today. I zipped eagerly into the shoe fair hoping to find some piggy-less sandals and super sneakers. It is a good thing that I am pretending that it is a dry cold, or I would be freezing there!

And this is me, after making all avatars disappear in an attempt to see something...anything. No luck.

The snow people look happy, though. Of course, they don't have feet.

Thinking About Seamen

 
Sorry. I could not help myself. Here I am thinking about the GOBS of photos I need to sort through  from Jerremy's aquarium-themed Rez Day party last night! It was so much fun and people were really creative with costumes. I love, love, love that I found a partner who is so enthusiastic and creative. 

By the way, Jerremy thought up our costumes - Sea Monkeys! You know, the kind you used to see advertised in comic books as kids like this:

 See?:

This is a sneak peek! I am organizing the pics that Jerremy and I took and will share them with you ASAP. Meantime, if you want to see some others' pictures check out Lalo Telling's and Lolita Oleander's.  ETA: Marnix Malifozik has party pics and a blog post up, also!


Speaking of Jerremy's creativity, I was talking with him yesterday and we were imagining what kind of story was going on in the picture in yesterday's blog post. Jerremy described that we were hungry and saw the fish food outside of the tank (what we are looking at in the picture). We are talking and trying to figure out how to get some. The human outside of the tank might give us some, but we don't want to demean ourselves by doing tricks for them. After all, we are members of royalty. :-P

If I told you that you had a pink body, would you hold it against me?

This is me with today's Rez Day Guy, my husband Jerremy Darwin. He's two! We are surveying our little underwater kingdom and imagining tonight's party. 

Jerremy took this picture. I really love the way he uses unique angles in his photos. I added an underwater effect to get all fancy-schmanchy on you. This also gives you a sneak peek at our costumes and the atmosphere we tried to create for this evening's festivities.

Happy Rez Day, Honey! I hope it is a wonderful one!

(Please come to our aquarium party tonight to help us celebrate Jerremy's special day! Dress up even if you just wear a swimsuit! We have a great DJ in our friend Alicia Chenaux! The event is from 8-10 PM SLT.)

She really needs a password on here...

This is me, checking out what sorts of things Redd Columbia (the brilliant creator behind RC Cluster) bookmarks on her computer. I found lots of baby animal picture sites, John Stamos Fan Club sites, and knitting message boards. 

I was in her house because, today, Redd is hosting a fundraiser! You can donate to the cause by buying adorable boxes and cans of food and then setting them in the back of a truck she will drive to the donation place. You can also buy the most adorable Thanksgiving meal and a great sweater -- and 100% of the proceeds go to the charity (FeedtheChildren.net). There are also lots of freebies and treats. The party started at 2 PM SLT and is probably still going on if you want to stop by!

By the way, I have no idea who was watching me, except that he appeared to be a minor who enjoys dry toast, so I refrained from downloading any pr0n.

But wait! There's more!

 

What would you pay for an ordinary sunken treasure chest? $1 million Lindens? $2 million Lindens? But wait! There's more! What if I told you that by simply clicking on it, you would dance like ...like...like a really good dancer! What would you pay for it now? 

Well, you are in for a treat! Because we are going to let you use it at our party Friday night for FREE! 

Yea. This is just a picture of my new "dance ball" creation. I have a script and I am not afraid to use it (anymore)! See how happy I am? I can now make "dance balls" for any type of party decor Jerremy and I can imagine. 

We are currently finishing our own costumes and trying to sink a pirate ship. Wish us luck! And see you Friday at 8 PM SLT!

I love being a girl...

I was feel very feminine today so I thought I'd slip into some pretty lingerie from NightSong Lingerie and Babydolls for today's photo. This is also kinda of sort of a special little Rez Day gift for Jerremy... except for that whole anyone-who-sees-my-blog-can-see-it thing.

And speaking of Rez Day gifts (Honey - if you are reading this, close your eyes, please.) I have no idea what to get Jerremy as a gift. He already has more thongs than anyone could possibly wear. 

Will Jerremy like the Star Wars sheets I picked out?

This is me on a furniture shopping expedition as I try to avoid the three major SL design styles: Gorean, Lolita-Threw-Up, and Dungeon. We are redoing a few rooms in our house - including our bedroom. Our first bedroom was black and gray. Our current one is deep red with warm wood accents. The next? Possibly 'inside of a circus tent'. Jerremy OK'd the bed I am looking at in the picture, so it is probably going home with me. :-P

Friends Don't Let Friends TPWD

 

This is me moments after realizing how close I came to causing PIXEL TRAGEDY! 

IT WAS AN ACCIDENT! I swear!

Here's what happened. I was browsing the third floor of a shop called Fire Good! while waiting for Alicia Chenaux to arrive to  DJ a short set of tunes as a kick off an art event* at the Hallelujah Azul sim.  I walked casually to the edge of the balcony to watch the crowd gathering below.

Just then, Alicia IMd to ask me if I would TP her to the event location. I said yes, quickly sent the TP, and turned to walk back into the shop.

Suddenly a blur of high heels, black satin and blonde hair flew through my peripheral vision and I realized what I had done. I screamed in both worlds. Alicia announced in group chat that I had thrown her from a balcony. I collapsed in grief (and laughter).

If you look at the picture closely, you can see a tiny, Alicia Chenaux-shaped mark on the cobblestone down below.

Amazingly, she was able to walk it off and went on to play a great set. And I promise to never commit a TPWD (teleporting while distracted) again.

*The Hallelujah Azul Art Walk is an open air exhibit featuring 15 artists from across the grid and different corners of the world. The event runs through Nov. 30th.

DETANGLER! STAT!

Jerremy and I live on the shore of a Linden ocean and the Route 7 waterway. Boats drive by all the time. The boat behind me got stuck on a flag pole on the beach of the sim next door. I have no idea if it is an escapee boat or if it was abandoned - I never saw any people on it. The neighbors haven't been in-world a for a few days, so the boats is stuck until they can return it or its owner comes to get it. Every once in a while though, the boat struggles to free itself and flies up into the air for a few seconds.

I went out there to see if I could bump it or something (I couldn't). I liked the look of the wind blowing everything around, so I decided to take a picture here today. I got fancy and instead of using my default "surface of the sun" windlight setting, I tried out a few others. 

Queen of My Castle

Last night, Jerremy and I spent time designing things for our upcoming par-tay. I am sitting on the aquarium castle that I made. Since we are building our aquarium under water, when I took this photo, I had been holding my breath for over an hour. I know! Even I am impressed. This swimsuit makes my bottom look incredibly good, by the way. (You'll have to take my word for it.)

Happy Rez Day to our friend Adonis!

See that sad, slightly embarrassed look in Jerremy's eyes? That's him wondering if there is an Al-Anon chapter in SL.

Boot Scoot

Good gawd these boots make me tired. That is why I am on the ground in today's picture. When I purchased them, I adjusted them using the handy dandy resizer HUD. It took a while because the HUD does this nifty thing where as you increase the size of the calves, the feet get HUGE! Sadly, I think the calves were designed to fit a flamingo. I adjusted and moved prims until I looked somewhat normal, if long-footed.

Ahhh...but then I got too smart for my own good. I thought to myself, "Self, I'll bet these are chock full of laggy scripts!" And, seeing no 'remove scripts' function on the HUD, I decided to remove them on my own.

Sigh. 

So. What you see in this picture is the second pair I had to buy. Full of laggy scripts and giving Sasquatch a run for his money. But looking not half bad, if I do say so myself.

At least from this angle.

It's not as racy as it looks...

This picture is not as racy as it looks. Yes, Jerremy and I are sitting in our hot tub together. Yes, we have satisfied smiles on our faces. BUT we are both wearing tube tops and ski pants...which you cannot see in the photo.

Write your own caption!

We are having a party to celebrate Jerremy's 2nd Rez Day and I whipped this up as a draft of the invitation - but I think I am going to have to go buy a box and take a pic myself or design something from scratch if I want to do it properly. But the event is approaching quickly, so I will just surprise everyone!

The party is aquarium themed and costumes are highly encouraged - or you might drown. We are holding it in the bay next to Starting Point from 8:00-10:00 PM SLT on Friday November 20th. Please join us! We have our favorite DJ, Alicia Chenaux!

I still need to work on my costume and some aquarium accessories - such as a giant aquarium net.

I also just realized that a significant portion of the photos you will see over the next year will be of my back. Luckily, I have an adorable bottom. I will try to mix it up a little, though.

This might be the start of a year long home tour...

Happy Sunday! I am going to dip my toe into the waters of a blog challenge. The bright and beautiful Chestnut Rau has started a 365 blog project and will post a picture of her av every day for a year. I love the idea behind this and it might get me out of my thinking too hard about my posts.

So, here goes. Some days you will get some text with the picture. Some days you will just get a picture. But, I promise that each and every day you will get to see why I am not a fashion blogger. 

Anyhoo, the above picture was taken this morning as I thought about what to do for the day and waited for my hubby, Jerremy, to come in world. This is our back patio. I spend lots of time here IMing people and sorting inventory. As you can see, it is a miserable place. Why, I can't even reach my lemonade! 

I will just have to suffer through it I guess. :-P

Fill 'er up...and make it Premium

 

Ah! A full bright gas station! The perfect place to ponder Premium memberships. Right now, in my humble opinion, Premium is not Premium. It is more like Mid-grade. Free accounts would be Regular for this comparison.

You see, Alicia Chenaux's blog post a few days ago made me think. She posted some suggestions for improving the SL experience. One of these was increasing the benefits for Premium memberships.

I have had a Premium membership since I started SL. Why did I do this when I knew nearly nothing about it? Well, when I do something I like to do it all the way. I am a total sucker at the automatic car wash (The Extra Super Scrubby Plus with Undercarriage Wash, please.). I only paid it monthly at first, so the cost was small in my eyes. I liked the idea of extra support. And I saw the stipend as a refund of some of my money. Oh also, I had the mistaken notion that Premium members would be exempt from the Linden buying limits imposed on new accounts.

I have my own ideas about how to make Premium a higher octane product. I especially love two that Alicia suggested, so I will list them here also in the faint hope that LL might see this post.

Here are some ideas:

• free or half-price uploads (Or heck, what about giving Premiums the first 25 uploads per month for free?)
  
• free inventory back up or some sort of storage mechanism
• discount on the fee for buying Lindens
• ability to change capitalization and remove numbers from your name once. (Right now it is never.)
• more group slots (as Alicia mentioned)
• more profile pick slots (as Alicia mentioned)
• priority for log-ins when the grid is super full
• increased number of IMs before they cap (i.e., 100 vs 50) 
• no fee for creating a new group (currently $100)
• 512 tier donation matching (As long as you were not one of the group's owners, LL would make your donation of tier to a group worth 1024 m.)
  

One thing I hear a lot is that people see no benefit in becoming Premium. I always advocate for it and enthusiastically share how much I like the increased support. But most people are more technically savvy than I am and use support infrequently. (I do own mainland, so that is a benefit for me also.)

What other game out there costs so little? It is $9.95 per month if you pay monthly. I am fortunate in that I can buy the $72USD annual membership. So, that is $6USD per month. Since I get a $300L (roughly $1.15USD) each week, it costs me about one dollar per month for the membership. If you pay monthly, the cost is under $5USD.

And to tell the truth? I would not even mind a small increase in the cost to buy a Premium membership if it included some of the benefits listed above. Or maybe LL could offer different levels of Premium accounts.

Premium members are among some of the community's most engaged customers and provide a revenue stream. I believe that it makes sense for LL and for the community to increase their numbers.  So, LL? Fill 'er up!

Out of sorts...

My biggest challenge today? To figure out where to file the Blood Spurter that my friend Arminasx Saiman (Electric Pixels) made and gave me at our Halloween party. I could put in under Clothes > Costumes > Body Parts or under Clothes > Costumes > Medical/Nurses/Doctors or under Clothes > Costumes > Holiday Specific > Halloween. Or I could put it under Objects > Holidays > Halloween > Blood Stuff. Hmmmm...

See? That made me sound all organized. But, I'm not. At least, not naturally. I have to trick myself into being organized. I actually enjoy most parts of inventory sorting. The only part I don't like is adjusting hair before I file it. Bleh. 

Anywho....I am glad I force myself to be organized because I just opened up my Objects > Holidays > Thanksgiving  stuff folder and it is so ready to go!  Now, understand that food is a whole inventory category unto itself. So I have lots of goodies waiting under the Objects > Food > Holidays > Thanksgiving folder. I used to further divide food into party and non party food ...but that was taking it a little bit too far and led to judgement calls as to whether something was just a snack or an appetizer. As it is I am struggling to properly categorize things I consider snacks but are on buffet-appropriate plates. 

The most challenging part of my inventory? Dresses. I tried Clothing > Dresses > and then sorting by color. But sometimes I want a certain style and am not concerned with color. So I tried sorting by style, but that led to all sorts of judgement calls as to whether something was a party dress or a cocktail dress or a baby-doll versus a sundress. So, I tried sorting by designer. Well, nice try but that left me with about 7 billion folders each holding one dress. Insanity. 

Dresses aren't like tops - which I have found more forgiving to sort. My tops have both style and color categories, with things organized according to the attribute I find most important to that garment. So, a white polo goes under 'white', but a white tank goes under 'tanks'. See? Dresses aren't like that. So, I sort of gave up and decided that when I meet someone even more insane than me, I will ask them what system they use to sort dresses. And that should solve my problem! 

Sort of.