Happy Hunting Day!

 New shop (new to me anyway)!  If you love the Fabulous 50s (and not only do I [sort of] remember them, but I am in them), what a great place to find Fabulous Furniture, Fashion, and paraPHernalia!  The shop is huge and just full of stuff.  I almost forgot to look for the hunt prize!

Funky Furniture!

Ruh-roh!  That tub is leaking!

Also worth visiting is THISnTHAT.  There are a few hunt prizes there - one for a minimum cost of 45L, but you get a whole deck with 2 chairs, a table, lights, and a ring to float in.  I think the ladder is a hilarious touch.

Lludmila relaxes in the evening at her new deck from THISnTHAT.

Shredders' Delight!

You may or may not know that Cal is an avatar I created for my husband, who is a guitarist/inventor.  So, I'm always on the look-out for guitars for him and, boy, did we hit paydirt today!

I think we spent all of 10L at Witch Babe and this is what we came away with:

Cal models the double-neck guitar from the lucky board.

Note, Cal is also wearing his  new roller skates from  justB.

Guitar #3.

Lludmila rocks out with her freebie.

10L Base guitar from the Outlet.

All the guitars came with HUDs and there is also a free HUD available.  

Okay, we did have to join the two groups, but that was free as well.  I suppose Cal will look in vain for a free Martin Dreadnought.  I still haven't convinced him to play inworld. Oh well.

Guitars: Witch Babe

Men's clothes: Brain Circuit, Inc (A freebie and they look good on gal's too!)

Roller Skates: group gift in the notices at justB

Dress: A dollarbie from justB

Shoes: G. Field 

Detachment

The big, fancy machine arrives, April of 2008.

Not only have I had four good years in the virtual environment, but I've gone through four graphics cards.  Each time it has been a minor pain to convince Dell that the card is the problem - until this last episode where they decided they wanted to see if the software was the problem.  The software was not  under warranty like the card.  I'd toodle off to work while my husband wrangled with software assistance until after three days, $200, and absolutely wiping the hard drive, they gave up and said it's probably the card after all.  Now we can't get hardware assistance to respond.  At least my computer is up again, although anything more complicated than YouTube is probably out for now.  No more 3-D immersion.
I am going to have to face the possibility that there will be no more Second Life for me.

This isn't such a horrible fate.  I'd been getting bored with it for quite a while.  The clothes weren't interesting me anymore.  I looked at the freebie blogs and just went "Ho hum."  This could have been because I'd been busily fashion blogging on my own.  That was making it Work, right?  And once it's Work, it isn't fun anymore?  No, I just think I'm getting choosier about what made good virtual clothing.

Must. Have. All. Toys.

Next, I became more interested in furniture and houses and fun toys.  I had to have that donkey with the twitching ears to carry around.  In fact, I had to have absolutely everything off of that set of lucky boards.  I was off the grid for two weeks while I was on vacation and dove right back into it when I got back.
But I'm tired of it now.  Hardly anything piques my interest.  What I believed I would miss the most, the people, I realize I have contact with other ways.  I'm connected to them on Facebook or Plurk so I won't completely lose them as friends.

The same hostessing outfit for the past coupla weeks because I can't change.

Then there are the jobs I had: dance-hall hostess and book-talk facilitator.  They weren't hugely successful, but they provided me with a place to stay, some extra Llinden dollars, and a purpose other than just wandering around collecting things just to "own" them.  What about my jobs?  I was raised to be Responsible and while a year in SL is more like 10 RL(tm) years, I would still feel like a flighty slut for ditching after so short a time.

Lludmila shows off her horse, Major, to ... hmm, might be Cal.

And what about my stuff?  Some of it I actually purchased, like the horse.  I remember losing my whole Toy folder, which included all my transportation, weaponry, etc. and how devastating it was.  I was slowly replacing it with more toys, more vehicles (although I couldn't bring myself to buy another penny-farthing bicycle), more silly things that made me smile because the creators can be just so, so creative!  Am I able to give up my stuff?  What would I do instead?

Necklace using pendant from Kay Pere.

Well, what did I do before?  I made things.  Made jewelry.  Performed (I have an extensive acting résumé).  Wrote.  Good merciful heavens, I even cooked!
Lately, I've been rediscovering the Fun of Ironing.  No, not Irony, Ironing.  Unable to get on SL Sunday afternoons, I've been starching and ironing clothes while listening to audiobooks.  I'm actually enjoying this.  But I realize Homemaking will get old after a while (and if I start cooking, I'll be getting in my husband's way). 

We have yet to settle the graphics card problem and the situation might change ... but I'm starting to slowly detach myself and find something else to do with my time.  But then what sort of news do I see?  Articles about how much better adjusted people with online friends are and how effective the virtual world is at helping you lose weight.  Dang!  Just my luck! 

Never Satisfied

Lludmila saw the cutest little house: two floors (well, one and a half), kitchen and living room downstairs, bedroom upstairs.  This place makes cute furniture too.  It's not horribly expensive - has a working door that opens slowly and naturally.  The upstairs balcony has a curtain that closes it off from view that also moves gently.  Lludmila's glad she went to the Demo to check out the scale though ...

Exceptionally Cute House

What's wrong with this picture?

I know she's only 4'8" - but when her head doesn't even reach the doorknob, there's a scale problem.  This door would be too tall even for the giants and giantesses that roam You Know Where.

Lludmila's First House

The first home I purchased for Lludmila was, I thought, just a teeny bit large for her size, but I was so in love with it, I bought it anyway.  Note that she probably reaches 2/3 of the way up the door which, at her height, is probably normal.  I know we need a lot of room to maneuver in, to skip around the ottomans of life like Dick van Dyke, to hang enormous paintings, etc. - but please please please keep things to scale!

O. M. G. Outta My Way!

Lludmila's Hot Rod

Lludmila's making up for the loss of her Toy Folder like nobody's bidness.  This hot rod is available on the group lucky board at KAMIKAZE SPEED HOTROD&HOTROD RIDE Cafe.  The lucky boards are around on the side of the building.  Other items are available and rotate on the boards.  There is also a board for non-members, if you've maxed out even the new limit.

As is typical for vehicles, Lludmila ran it right into the water.  You'll need space for this vehicle.  It has lots of fun features.  The "fly" feature will get you out of the water, but this thing really travels.

Remembering ...

Alamo Chapel

While waiting with Cal for the mini-piano to show her letter on the Lucky Board, Kathy got a message to attend the opening of the UT Arlington reproduction of the present day Alamo.  Kathy loves history.  This virtual museum is made from beautiful textures and is packed with information about the Alamo's last stand.  Kathy highly recommends a visit.  Coonskin cap available for sale in the gift shop!

Best viewed in Midnight

Cool Stuff

Cool free bicycle

 Perhaps I haven't complained enough about my entire "toy" file (containing all my vehicles) disappearing from my inventory.  In that file was a beautiful pennyfarthing bicycle I had wanted for a long time.  I paid actual lindens for it.  It was gorgeous.  Although I know where I can buy it again, the idea of paying for it again and having it vanish one day keeps me from buying one a second time.  So, I was very happy to see on the Virtual Vagabond blog that this cute bicycle was available for free.  Hurrah!

Japanese drum with great sound and sync'd animation

The Virtual Vagabond also mentioned a free tiny piano keyboard on a lucky board at RMI, Real Musical Instruments, which I decided I had to have.  It's a real piano with keys that play.  While waiting, I found a couple of marvelous things.  One is this huge drum with an animation that is actually sync'd to the sound.  There is also a beautiful piano (costing in the thousands of lindens) with many features.  So many features, in fact, that I was unable to absorb them all.  

It's definitely worth stopping by to try out the drum and the piano ... and there are 4 lucky boards running, three inside and one at the front.  Cal and Kathy have already won everything but the mini-keyboard they went there for.  Lucky boards are soooo exciting!