New Idea for a Not-So-Bland Date

OMG! Peter May's av looks just like himself!

I missed the Peter May interview on Off the Shelf at my home sim, Awen, so I was thrilled that Metaverse Books was interviewing him at an obscure time that I was actually available. I could barely contain my excitement because he is the author of Virtually Dead, a thriller that takes place partly in Second Life. My husband was at a computer behind me, laughing at my girlish enthusiasm over a real author in a pretend body who wrote a pretend story about an even more pretend place. Some people just don't understand, do they?

May was kind enough to work up a notecard of virtual locations he used for the story and then share it with us. I had received 5 copies of it so far from various sources. I could hardly wait to go on The Tour.

My first mistake was not bringing Cal along. You remember Cal. Very presentable, up for almost anything, even dancing in frockcoat. First of all, he'd have enjoyed the guns and airplanes thing, but secondly he would have danced with me and made much better pictures. You'll have to live with what you got. I sent Kathy because she was dressed and ready to go.

I did go to Body Doubles, but it's not that interesting, unless you, too, want to look like Brad Pitt or some of the other celebrities whose names I did not recognize. I prefer to create my own body shapes, but I guess some people cannot be trusted with the sliders. May created another av with the name of the character in the book to remind himself what it was like to be a newb. Wow, Chas!

My next stop was Midsomer Isle where I thought, Gee, this looks familiar. There are several locations here that were used. Below is the dining area. It is gorgeous, but it took forever to rez. Have patience, though, because when it all does finally rez, there is a lovely dinner to pretend to eat. It's just a shame I had to eat it alone (and that I got the T-bone piano there on the right).


Kathy hopes she doesn't have to pay for this dinner - that wine looks terribly expensive.


There are other locations in Midsomer: where Chas and Doobie danced and where they played chess. While Kathy was there someone suddenly appeared and Kathy worried that they wanted to ... play chess! Good thing she went there before Crack Town!

Next stop was the Crack Town in Carnal City. This has moved, since May did his research, to the Adult area where Cal can't go. (I do love younger men!) The picture that goes with the landmark is enough to give you the general idea of what to expect, but I happened to visit at a slow time of day. Kathy wondered what the poseballs did, but didn't try any. Who knows where they've been.

Only one naked woman wandering around ... this must be an off-time for Crack Town. Kathy thinks the poseballs look "nasty!"

By the time Kathy got to the Inspire Space Park, she knew she had been to these places before. They were old, old SL locations and she was surprised that they were still there. Inspire was one of the first locations Lludmila went to, back in 2007.

If Cal had come, he and Kathy could have been doing Tai Chi among the stars ...

There was a chase scene through the Abbotts Aerodrome. Oh yes, now I remember. What a great place for skydiving! Lludmila was very good at falling - just not landing on a target.Aw, go take a flying leap!

The last place on the tour is Gunslinger Armaments. Not only is there an actual av named Gunslinger who appears in the book, but that person is still in business! Take that, you whiners! Gunslinger wasn't in, but Kathy cammed into the office and now has a good, basic knowledge of the workings of an automatic pistol. I think my next av will be called "Cammie."

This is the life! Relaxing on the comfy sofa while one's beloved blasts the livin' bejaysus out of a target.

Wouldn't this be just the best date ever? You read the same book and then take a tour of the locations? It has everything: dining, dancing, games, falling from great heights, fire arms ... the typical SL experience!

Note: Link to more photos from the Tour on my Flickr page as well as other Literature-related areas and events in SL.

Magical Wall Decals

Do you have one of those d#%n Linden houses like I do and not sure what the heck to do with it? I tried putting artwork up, but I'd chosen one of the Japanese houses and ... well, it just wasn't working. So I changed the interiors (with the magic wallplate) - and half of the prims on my furniture disappeared. It all came back the next time I visited, but it made me say several naughty words.
Anyway, I think I've found the solution to the naked walls: Floral Wall Decals from the Wine and Roses Mainstore. You buy one decal and slap it on your wall (taking care to make sure you have it decal side towards you because it's invisible on the other side ... man, I've searched for lots of things like that ... and said naughty words. It would have been nice to know ahead the object would do that (maybe I should read the notecards more often).  And, Presto! you have a wall decoration you can copy over and over on all your walls, the floor, wherever. And, and, there are five patterns in the decal you can click on to change. Four are pictured in the photo above.
Neato!

Getting Some Tail

Kathy: This is your roving reporter, Kathy, deep in the lair of the General of the newly formed Bunny Army, General Cynthia Wonder -

General Cynthia Wonder: That’s “Army of Bunnies.”

Kathy: As you will. General, what is this thing about all these Bunny Girls running about Second Life?

General Cynthia Wonder: Our mission to increase the visual appeal of Second Life. Male avatars particularly seem to enjoy viewing long stocking-clad legs, cleavage, fluffy bunny tails, and cute bunny ears. Our very presence helps to beautify SL.

Recent Bunny Girl inundations of Grizzy's Cafe have led to a weekly Bunny Night (Thursdays) and the enlistment of Grizzy's shapely owner (far right).

Kathy: It seems to me that there are plenty of examples of long legs and cleavage running rampant in SL as it is. Are you asking your group members to wear these bunny costumes all the time?

General Cynthia Wonder: Hours spent in the official uniform of the Bunny Army show commitment to the cause. Many will be tempted or even feel that it is necessary to wear other things such as ballgowns or more comfortable attire such as T-shirt and jeans. This is certainly permissible. However the more time one spends in uniform, the faster and more likely one is to advance in rank.

Kathy: I notice that you are wearing the uniform –

General Cynthia Wonder: I spend my entire time in SL in uniform. I realize that few will be that committed and dedicated to the cause.

Kathy: That’s quite true. I’ve known you for ages and you’ve always worn the bunny outfit. I thought perhaps you have some interesting personal history that informed that decision.

The General while visiting haunted houses in October. At the time I thought it was just a Hallowe'en costume.

General Cynthia Wonder: Not really.

Kathy: Does everyone have to wear the same kind of bunny outfit? They certainly are common in SL, but yours looks particularly well-made.

General Cynthia Wonder: While *a* Playboy bunny type costume is acceptable, promotions are not even considered unless one wears the OFFICIAL uniform of the bunny army, which is the Deluxe Bunnygirl Outfit from Curio Obscura.

Kathy: Oh, they have great stuff. I love that place. They have that steampunk brain thingie. General, what do you say to people who think that this is a shallow reason for a group and that it debases women?

General Cynthia Wonder: Relay for Life is coming up in SL. I am a member of the team Spinners for Life and would like to use the bunny army to raise money for Relay for Life, which goes to Cancer Research. In fact this is the only part of our mission which is serious.

Kathy: A worthy cause.

General Cynthia Wonder: Another part of our mission is to increase self confidence and self esteem. Being a bunny makes one the center of attention at any party or gathering.

Kathy: Unless there are a dozen other bunny girls … Do you have some sort of men’s auxiliary?

General Cynthia Wonder: If a male avatar wants to become a bunny and doesn't have a very masculine name, he may join us as long as he agrees to wear a female shape and hairstyle while in uniform. If his name is too masculine, I will have to ask him to create a female alt. Thankfully gender reassignment in SL is quick, easy, painless, and reversible.

No. Just Plain ... No.

Kathy: I suppose that puts pay to the idea that this debases women if men can do it as well. And it increases the ranks, doesn’t it?

General Cynthia Wonder: My great hope is that there will be a day when any location in SL populated by avatars will have at least one or two of us in uniform. SL will be a better place.

Kathy: Well, I think we’re all for making SL a better place. Thank you, General, for being so frank about your cause.

General Cynthia Wonder: Thank you – and congratulations on being made Corporal, Corporal.

Kathy: DOH! Ohwhattagiveaway!

Virtually Consumed

It has only recently come clear to me (because, undoubtedly, I have had my head where the sun don’t shine) that there is just too much information out there for me to handle. I am loath, however, to cut back on anything. How many atheist blogs does a person need to read in a given day? Perhaps I should cut them back to once a week – Sundays, for example. Then there are all the library-related blogs. Even with scrolling past the posts that aren’t aimed at people in children’s services, there’s still so much to absorb.

Social networks are starting to annoy me. Don’t get me wrong; I still crave the contact, but it seems to be oppressive now. Twitter bores me, although that might be my frustration with the Tweetdeck, which is still, for me, the only way to view Twitter. Brizzly just didn’t do it for me at all. What I want is something that looks like the Tweetdeck, but is online. Plurk seems to have lost its luster after I achieved Plurk-Nirvana, but I still look at it obsessively.

So, what I see from reading this back to myself is: whine whine misery BUT.

Currently I am reading Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy And Who We Are by Rob Walker. This, of course, is mixing in with SuperSense: Why We Believe in the Unbelievable by Bruce Hood and making me reevaluate my thoughts about consumerism.

When I first entered Second Life, I was looking for serious dialogue – so, basically, what I’m saying is I had no idea what SL was. I quickly grew frustrated with it until I met some like-minded people who subtracted the mono- and inserted the dia- and made SL more what I wanted. I was dazzled by the builds and loved visiting them, but had no interest in buying anything. What would I buy? What were other people buying? Clothes? So what? Prim hair? I loved my system hair. It did exactly what my RL™ hair did not: looked poofy and stayed smooth with every “hair” in place. Why buy something that looked like fat ropes of cake icing? I was disgusted by the consumerism, the ubiquitous malls with their endless merchandise. Really what I was disgusted with was the lack of quality. All the clothing seemed to look alike: plunging necklines, butt cleavage, prim skirts that looked more like tutus.

All I did was hang out at the library (causing mayhem and the creation of regulations about where people could hang out) and other reading-related locations. After all, communication in SL is all about reading. It’s all typed chat despite the voice chat that was added later. It never works for me when I need it.

I became the Freebie Queen, having subscribed to a couple of the freebie blogs, and hunted down the freebies and collected them indiscriminately. In vain I swore to keep my inventory levels below 10,000; then 12,000; 15,000; 20,000 items. As soon as I think I can get them below 35,000 and that I can avoid the Hunts, then the Advent Season starts. I now have a notecard with Advent Gift landmarks on them. [/me hangs her head in shame.]

What was it that drove me to collect these things? Well, according to Buying In, it’s the craving for novelty. That really resonated with me. Now that I’m trying to empty my parents’ home of the accumulation of 65+ years of collecting, I think buying virtual goods to assuage that craving instead will be just the ticket. SuperSense is helping me let go of the crap in my life, or at least pare it down to something manageable. Buying In informs me that my need to see something new is human. I unpacked twelve boxes of newness just this morning and have yet to try everything on. Oh, look! What a cute pair of reindeer slippers for my avatar (who is already wearing her Christmas pajamas)! Does it clutter up my RL™ house? Nope. ‘Think I’ll keep them until someone makes even cuter ones (which might be hard – these have antlers with little ornaments hanging off of them so they might hang around until next year).

Now I shop in RL™ only when I absolutely need to get something. It’s a pain to actually get in a car, go somewhere, and stare at lousy merchandise when I can shop from the comfort of my own desk with a nice kitty in my lap. The fact that I can own many houses and they’ll all fit in a virtual file folder makes it even better! [That reminds me, do I really need that freebie vampire crypt with sex bed? Think I’ll delete that stuff next time I’m in world. I only kept it because it struck me as absurd.]

Romance On Ice

Lludmila and Cal on a sleighride.

Holiday Picture Frame HUD courtesy of Prim & Pixel Paradise.

In the interest of providing you with the best in Romantic Winter Sites in SL, I dusted off my skates and lured Cal out of his den to visit a few places. I only made it to three this year and I think I can stop looking. The first place was adequate and the second just beat anything I've seen this year or last. The third had its own points - that gratified Cal, anyway. You know how men like to steer.

Snowthulu, Lludmila, and Cal at Winterfest.

The place to go is Island of Inspiration North. They have two sims and lots of space. Besides, they have Snowthulu. There is plenty of skating, some freebies, and a (start singing, y'all) one horse open sleigh ride that takes you through both sims pausing only for things like sim and moose crossings. I loved it. It's a tour, but you can ignore the green chat and concentrate on romantic conversation with the avatar of your choosing.

Drive-It-Yourself sleigh (just remember to take off your scripted skates).

The Winter Wonderland at Equus was fine, too. What Cal liked was that he got to drive the sleigh. This means you have to stop everything to chat or take a picture. There is also a nice-sized skating pond with flashing disco lighting and a brisk snowfall:

Cal and Lludmila in skate autopilot.

Winterfest:

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Insula%20Inspiri%20Serenity/155/193/21

Winter Wonderland:

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Equus/35/216/22

The Haunted Library

Aw, shucks, I knew it! This was just a trick to get me to read a book!

At the far edge of Rachelville, in a secluded corner in the dark, lies the Haunted House of the Librarians. It isn't a scary ride, it's just a spook house with some deadly poses - with at least one I hadn't seen before. More than that, it's a resource for some scary stories. Dagnabbit! It's always books with those ding-dong liberryians!
Get a thrill reading them aloud to each other over voice chat.
Lludmila tries on her new pumpkinmask.

The real reason to go is that upstairs there is a selection of free pumpkinhead masks for free! Dang, these are cool! And free! Did I mention they were free? Yeah, so ignore the pesky reading stuff - just hop on a pitchfork and get some free pumpkinheads! For free!

Great Expectations

Okay, if you label yourself the Greatest Halloween Ride in the World Ever, you had better live up to it.

Kathy visited a couple of Haunted Houses later on her own and curled her lip at "the scariest haunted house in Second Life" when the front porch just had a big "Boo!" on it. So, she was ready to grade hard when she arrived here.

But you know what, they might be right. This ride had the usual stuff (Camp Crystal Lake - I mean, really!), but then suddenly it went underwater!

Traveling through the whale's ribcage toward The Flying Dutchman.

The stage dressings here were also beautiful and nicely laid out. Kathy unfortunately crashed part-way through, but we saw enough. Enough to say this is a "must see." I don't want to give away too much. Go, just go!