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Wednesday, March 30, 2011

We don't have to take our clothes off to have a good time

It's been a while since something in Second Life has made me go, "WOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOO! WEEEEEEEEE!" in real life:


This thing did though.

Origami Bird, 100L, at the Help Japan market. Four people can fly in it!

In other news, I'm still crashing about every six minutes. I've tried doing a complete uninstall and reinstall, switched a beta viewer for the actual viewer and then switched them back, cleared my cache, etc., etc. I ran a diagnostic utility and noticed that every time SL crashes, my computer prints a "Cannot find executable for SLPlugin [blah blah blah blah blah complicated computer stuff]" message in its crash log thingy.

I'm premium, baby, so I did something I always dread and started a support chat session with SL support. The conversation went something like this:

SL Support: Hi, I'm helping several residents so it may take time for me to respond, OK? How can I help you?
Emerald: Well, I'm crashing on an average of once every six minutes. I've done a complete uninstall and reinstalled the viewer. I ran a diagnostic utility and I keep getting a message about a missing SLPlugin right before I crash though. It says, "Cannot find executable for SLPlugin [blah blah blah complicated computer stuff]."
SL Support: Did you try clearing your cache?
Emerald: Yes - I not only cleared it, but I deleted the whole application and reinstalled it.
SL Support: Did you try rebuilding your avatar?
Emerald: Rebuilding my avatar?
SL Support: Please watch this video — [insert link to an old Torley Linden tutorial] — and rebuild your avatar. Then clear your cache. Then restart your computer. Sometimes that helps crashing.
Emerald: Is that going to turn me back into a noob avatar? The one in that ugly pink polka dot dress?
SL Support: Yes but it helps crashing.
Emerald: Well, OK, but my computer told me what the problem is — it's freezing up when it can't find an SL plugin called [long complicated name].
SL Support: What?
Emerald: I ran diagnostics, and every time I crash, I get the message "Cannot find executable for SLPlugin [blah blah blah more complicated words go here]."
SL Support: Oh it sounds like you have a plug-in problem.
*Emerald screams in frustration*
Emerald: Yes, I said that at the beginning of this conversation.
SL Support: You'll have to file a ticket. Can I help you with anything else?
Emerald: No. Thank you. (This has been the most helpful conversation of my entire life. It has totally been worth the $90 USD a year or whatever the hell I'm paying — not to mention a couple hundred dollars in land tier a month — to basically log into a virtual world and crash out of it every six minutes. Thank you for reading my chat so carefully. Thank you for taking the time to put down your little plastic laminated card — the one that probably tells you to tell every single resident to clear his or her cache and restart the computer — and give my problem your undivided expert techie attention. Thank you for acknowledging the fact that I even dug out a "run this when you have computer problems" utility and went to all the trouble to copy a diagnostics log so you would have all the information you might need to help me. Thank you for existing. Thank you. Sorry. I'm bitchy today. But thank you.)

I would leave forever if I weren't responsible for the fake lives of hundreds of procreating pixels.

VISIT IN WORLD
Help Japan

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Back to the gypsy that I was (cue Stevie Nicks)


I have a RL friend named Ed who lives in this weird little town in Florida and is always doing fittingly weird things. He tried Second Life for about 15 minutes and left when he couldn't find a fat enough male AV in an adult-sized diaper. Why he wanted to spend his virtual existence that way, I have no idea, but that's my friend Ed for you.

Anyway, one day he got it into his head to build a gypsy vardo, complete with electricity and a bed. It was like an epic quest for him — trying to find just the right parts and just the right shades of paint. He blogged the whole process and it was, hands down, one of the most awesome feats I think I've ever seen. When the thing was finished, it was freakin' MAGNIFICENT. What killed me the most was Ed's "Now what the hell do I do with this thing?" attitude afterward. The joy was all in the building of it for him. I suggested he sell it on eBay, so he did — and people went wild over it. The bidding was off the charts. The people who didn't win it contacted him and begged him to build them custom versions of their own.

Now he's living happily ever after, building vardos for people who secretly long to be gypsies. Weird how one day he had a whimsical idea, grabbed it with a death grip and joyously ran with it and it changed his whole life. (Or at least until he gets his next wild idea.)


I think this La Roulotte gypsy wagon by Belle Belle would meet and quite possibly exceed Ed's very, very high vardo standards. It is beyond awesome and, as usual, evokes an "ARE YOU KIDDING ME, BELLE BELLE???" because it's only $150 this weekend for Spruce Up Your Space (SUYS).

I am continually blown away by the generosity of the creators who participate in Spruce Up Your Space. The majority of them knock the monthly theme way the hell out of the ballpark and then gift us with their creative fruits — YES, I said "creative fruits" — for a mere $150.

Hell, this little garden table with tea and cookies would cost that alone in ordinary circumstances:


COOKIES!!!

Cheeeeeeezus, I want some of whatever Belle Belle Creator Leyla Firefly's on. The woman is a machine. The 435-prim wagon is packed with details — note the crystal ball and the dream catcher in the interior shot up top — and even includes a working old-time radio. I think. At least it has a menu and looks like it works. But nothing really ever works in the land of Emerald's Second Life Sucks Right Now. So who knows?

For pictures of all the SUYS items, along with pics of items in many other sales events, check out the blog The Circadian. I just discovered it, and now it's another one of those "how did I live without it?" blogs in my book.

Subject change:

"Hey, aren't you that blogger who blogs about eyes?"

That was my goal when I started this blog, but I never really rose to fame as one of SL's premier and leading eye bloggers. Occasionally I do feel the urge to share the eye joy, though. So before I sign off, check out these special-edition Japan eyes by Banana Banshee, available at the Pacific Crisis Fundraiser market.


Japan - Nori, 100L. Joy joy joy joy joy joy joy! Each of these pairs also includes prim eyes and an alpha layer for them if that's how you roll.

This next pair is my favorite. Pretend I don't look possessed in this picture:


Japan - Fuji, 100L. (Skin: Kianna, Smokey by Mynerva with a Mynerva lipstick tattoo layer in Coral.)


Japan - Dragon, 100L. Banana Banshee's Rosemarie Indigo officially goes on my list of Creators Who Are Beyond Awesome. She is right up there with A:S:S creator Photos Nikowhatshisnameos as a ruler of the magical realm of rockin' eyes.

(Getting punchy. I think my Sunday-evening "QUICK - must numb the pain of my looming currently hellish job tomorrow" Xanax dose is kicking in.)

Vendor pic:



Some or all of the proceeds from sales at the Pacific Crisis Fundraiser market go to AmeriCares to aid Japan relief efforts. I'll try to show more items in future blog posts, although I never know when my laptop is going to blow up or if I'm gonna get sent on a surprise weeklong business trip to some place like Oklahoma or if SL is going to start acting like a little bitch. Let's keep our fingers crossed. *frustrated face*

VISIT IN WORLD
Belle Belle
Pacific Crisis Fundraiser, runs through April 10
Banana Banshee at Pacific Crisis Fundraiser


A vardo Ed made for a pickup truck bed.

Posted March 27, 2011

Monday, March 21, 2011

Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse . . .

So, I haven't been blogging much lately because I've had this weird black thing sticking out of my head:


That's attractive.

Oh yeah, and only a few textures on my body will rez at a time. That's why I didn't blog anything cool for St. Patrick's Day — like this Shamrock Dress from A Touch of Ireland.

So, back to the black curse. Here's what it looks like on a ranch:


FML

Speaking of my ranch:

"Dear Person With That Big Damn Shiny Silver House in the Background,

"When you rented that parcel, did you not read the sim rules? The ones that said, 'This land is zoned for farming and breeding. Please make sure all buildings, structures and landscaping match the farming theme'? Because that doesn't look like a barn to me, baby. I even scooted a silver horse over there and it's still not working out.

"Bottom line: Your hipster house is jacking with my cowgirl vibe and screwing up my farmlike pictures. Please GET IT THE HELL AWAY FROM ME.

"Love, Your Neighhhhhh-bor,
"Emerald 'Hey, Lookit This Black Thing Sticking Out of My Head' Wynn"

And now, back to the tumor.

I detached everything, ran around naked for a while, switched shapes, cried, tried wearing giant hats, rebaked, restarted, prayed, switched eyes, cursed . . . nothing worked. It was dismal. I had pretty much resigned myself to being "That Chick with that Creepy Black Thing Sticking Out of Her Head," when I got the bright idea to completely uninstall SL and reinstall a Beta version.

IT WORKED! IT WORKED!

As long as we're on the subject of BLECH, here's what you look like on my viewer when you're wearing those ass-crack jeans:


Walking around with your legs spread and your butt hanging out — and I think your tattoo layer is on top of your clothes — what would your MOTHER say? Plus, all you need now is a facelight shoved down there (see previous post) and you could be Casper the Friendly Ass for Halloween.

The Ambien thought that last comment was hilarious.

Anyway, I was so excited to get my normal head back that I put on this giant Siren hair by Shag and a face tattoo that should probably be in an inventory folder called, "These Face Tattoos are the New Bling." OK, so it's a little gaudy. Who cares? Look at the EYES!!!!


My sexy friend Photos Niko-I-always-screw-up-his-last-name-o of A:S:S made me these Super Exclusive Emerald Rezday Eyes for my rez day!! It made me get a little teary! He also included awesome bling reflex prims to remind me of the good old days when I joined SL three years ago. I tried to get them blinging in the picture but the flashes are tiny and small so I gave up. He offered to make them bigger. I coughed politely and said no.

I need to talk about Fashion For Life for a second.

Today (3/22) is the last day of Fashion For Life — you have all day and all night to check out the beautiful creations that some of SL's most talented designers are selling to raise money for cancer research. I had picked out 12 outfits to blog to promote this event. But then my MacBook Pro started making these horrible sounds like a rickety airplane trying to take off. And then it got hot. REAL hot, as in, I could fry an egg on this thing, I swear. AND THEN my boss told me I had to spend a week in Oklahoma. So that's where I am now, halfway to Oklahoma. Add to all that a jaggedy black thing sticking out of my head and making me feel depressed and ashamed and you've got total blog fail.

I can show you one dress now though. It's not my usual style and catapulted me way the hell out of my comfort zone . . . and then I realized that's what good fashion should do: Inspire us to want to see ourselves in new ways.


Svara Wrap Dress (wrap version) in Nude (350L) by Zaara. If that's too much skin for you, a more modest version is included. (Shoes by Pixel Mode; jewelry by League; and I forgot to write down the name of this cool pose. If it's yours, please let me know so I can credit it.)

I think it's sexy as hell. The only thing that made me feel a little unsettled was the back:


Wooooo! I'm not used to showing that much cheek! ("Hey, that's not farming attire!")

GET WRAPPED:
Zaara is on the Fashion for Life Mapplethorpe sim
Read the Fashion for Life blog HERE

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Hey, I have a new blog!

Random FYI: If you're wearing a facelight, here's what you look like on my viewer:


HELP, IT'S A GHOST!

Um, OK now that I have your attention, please check out these gorgeous Sakura Blossom horses that Amaretto Breedables is selling to raise money for Japan relief efforts. Did you know you don't have to be a crazed Amaretto breeder to enjoy a beautiful Amaretto horse? There's an option to set them to "Pet" mode. Yes, you still have to feed them, but it's not as expensive.

Lookie:


MY GOD, THEY'RE AWESOME!

Each horse is 1111L (for March 11, 2011, when the tragedy struck Japan), and all proceeds go to AmeriCares, a nonprofit disaster relief and humanitarian aid organization which provides immediate response to emergency medical needs around the world.

There's a black version and a white version of the Sakura Blossoms horse, along with either Passion Pink Sakura or Life Green Sakura eyes, and unfortunately you don't get to choose what you get: Each box is a random buy. I know people who have bought something like 12 boxes just trying to get a specific gender, color and eye. Dayum. At least it's for a good cause!

They come with giant pieces of sushi. You think I'm pulling your leg right now, but I'm not. To see more pics and SLURLs for buying them, you're going to have to visit MY NEW BLOG!

Yes, I started another blog, mainly to spare people who read this one from too much breedable babbling. It's called "WTF Breedables?" and naw, it's not replacing this one. Well, it might see a little more action for a while simply because all I seem to do these days in SL is sit around and wait for various animals to have sexy time.

It's still a work in progress. And now I can go back to devoting this one to . . . well, rambling about other stupid things.

Read it here:

WTF Breedables?

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Happy Rez Day to Meeeeeeeeeeeeee!

WOO HOO! It's my rez day! I almost totally forgot about it this year! Shower me with love and fake horse food! And cat food! And dog food!

Here's what my AV looked like when I left Orientation Island three years ago today:


BAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I designed that hair myself. And I thought the Janet Jackson-esque headset was a reallllllllllly nice touch.

Trying to assemble an AV back then was a horrendous experience. Choices were limited and I didn't know what the hell I was doing. I can't believe I survived that ordeal and stayed. I was actually really happy with that AV. As soon as I finished putting the finishing tweaks on that awesome, awesome hair (I think that bush behind my head has the exact same texture), I went straight to a virtual pub in Dublin. I thought it was SO UNBELIEVABLY COOL!

It took a guy to finally say to me, "Um, can we give your AV a makeover?" Until then, I lived in sweet, sweet oblivion.

Shoot, I have to go to work. Later tonight I might give my AV a modern interpretation of my look on Day 1. I meant to do it for this post RIGHT HERE but I was too tired to get up in a timely manner this morning.

Have an awesome day today. Do it for me!


Posted: March 16, 2011

Monday, March 14, 2011

Fashion for Life - Ready? Set? GO!

Blogging the Fashion for Life fundraiser fashions is particularly important to me. About five years ago, a doctor removed a layer of cancerous cells from my cervix. It was skeery. In fact, that whole terrifying "is this really happening to me and why??" experience reduced me to a whimpering "I want my mommy" mess for a while.

It was a frightening wakeup call, and I'm blessed that we caught it before it progressed any further. Many people aren't as fortunate, however, and I feel like my little brush with The Big C is nothing compared to the valiant battles so many cancer patients fight every day.

So let's buy some clothes and raise some money, shall we? Almost everything blogged during the next few posts is an FFL donation vendor item. A portion of the proceeds (varies per designer) goes to the American Cancer Society. (See my previous post for details.)

Mashooka:


Nene dress, 300L (UPDATE: It's "Nene," not "Nine," which would have been kind of awesome, actually. Blame the Ambien for that typo, please. Thanks!)

Why hello, Mashooka! I've missed you!

I love this color combination. It's like someone wrapped me up in a gorgeous sunset. If the black lace on the chest bothers you, never fear: It's an optional undershirt layer. You can skip it and highlight your decolletage with striking jewelry instead. But keep it simple, kids! You don't want to detract from the gloriousness of the dress. It looks beautiful in motion.

I planned to include a photo of the bare-necked look RIGHT HERE as a matter of fact, but I'm crashing on an average of once every seven minutes in SL these days. I'm not exaggerating.

So we'll have to settle for this one:


The Aesha earrings in gold are part of the fatpack that is Aleida's very generous FFL Hunt Prize. You're looking for little Fashion For Life boxes. If you find Likka House, please let me know. In fact, I need to say it again:

IF YOU FIND THE LIKKA HOUSE HUNT GIFT, PLEASE LET ME KNOW.

Sorry.

I'm wearing A:S:S' new Tears in Your Eyes eyes in Amber. They include the tear tattoo, shown on my face, and tear-effect prims. A single pair is 50L; the fatpack of 12 colors is 500L. I really love them. (They're a review item and available in store, not at FFL)

That Siren hair from Shag (shown in Toffee) is so damn FABULOUS I can hardly stand it. It's currently at the Chic Limited event, 225L for a pack of six shades.

Now let's talk about shoes.


Last month, a girl in a group chat asked if anyone knew where she could get some "free or really cheap" cool shoes.

I said, "Duh!"

She said, "OMG YOU'RE SUCH A BITCH EXCUSE ME FOR BEING NEW HERE YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW ME."

Oops! To this day, I die laughing whenever I think of that little misunderstanding. I gasped and laughed so hard I cried when it happened. Don't yell at me in run-on sentences in all-caps because it's only gonna make me laugh. You'd do better with sharp, cutting sentences with several syllables and perfect punctuation and grammar. THAT would cut me to the core.

Those Silk Floral Booties in Rose are 40L and, along with the same booties in silver, are Duh!'s FFL vendor donation items. Creator Renee Harvy has several other adorable items in her booth. If I can ever log on long enough to move two steps, I'll probably color some more of them.

And now if you'll excuse me, I need to uninstall and reinstall SL on my computer, so I can stay inworld for longer than four minutes at a time.

The SLURLs YOU NEED TO MAKE YOUR LIFE COMPLETE:
Mashooka is on the Mapplethorpe sim at Fashion for Life
Aleida at FFL
Chic Limited
A:S:S
Duh! at FFL
Fashion for Life blog, with maps, lists of participating designers, and pics of the sims and the featured fashions there
Poses by estetica

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Winning!

Lotta stuff to blog. Many posts to write. Let's hit it!


Hell yeah you're winning, Charlie Sheen — you're smashed between my boobs. There's no better place to be, baby. Unless it's smashed between my thighs.

(Wow! That was a little racy!)

Before the sobering effects of the recent devastation in Japan, I was — like much of the world — almost obsessively watching the trainwreck that is Charlie Sheen in morbid fascination. But my slightly amused "oh wow, no he didn't!" attitude quickly turned to flat-out concern and then eventually guilt, like I was part of a huge mob watching a guy on a ledge and egging him on to jump.

Now I'm over it. Sort of. I love the way we bring current events into SL and give them a voice, whether it be a collective shout of support for causes such as funding cancer research and aiding victims of natural disasters, or expressions of sorrow and tribute through our creations when an idol like Michael Jackson dies, or even just poking fun of complete doooooshes like Charlie Sheen.

I can trace recent RL history and pop culture milestones through the items in my inventory — the creative fruits of our Haiti fundraising efforts are in one folder, commemorative items from a 9/11 memorial service are in another, leftovers from my SL celebrations of my RL birthday live there, and there's a place for every holiday each year. Someday I'll look back on Second Life and see it in its entirety as a virtual journal of sorts. It started out as just killing time on a virtual playground and quickly evolved into a creative interpretation of the thoughts, emotions and events of my real life, and a place where I can capture moments in time and save them in folders.

That's why my inventory is so massive. (Yeah . . . that's it.)

That was a really long way of saying, "Hey, look at this funny Charlie Sheen T-shirt (40L, also includes a tank version) from terri.tees and these rockin' Tiger Sheen pants in Coal (150L) from LuNi."

Can we pause for a moment and also laugh at this "We're all very impressed with your slave. Now go away." T-shirt (40L) at terri.tees? No offense, people with slaves. I know it's a turn-on for some people, but I don't like hearing the whole "yes, Master" thing when I'm trying to shop. Or weaving my way around kneeling naked women in chains when I'm looking at shoes.


Um, getting back to the subject of causes and current events, Fashion for Life starts today. You read it first here! (That was a joke.) Running March 12-22 across nine sims, this annual fundraiser for the American Cancer Society has the theme Beyond Black and White this year, symbolizing hope rising out of the dark diagnosis of cancer. More posts to follow, but for now check out these Pearl Cancer Awareness Ribbon earrings by Peeps Fashion. They're included with a matching necklace in Peeps' 99L gatcha machine. Designer JennyLynn Capalini created sets in 18 colors, each symbolizing support for the victims and survivors of a particular type of cancer. As with all gatchas, you get a random set with each try.


Lavender is the color of general cancer awareness. To see the list of colors and the cancer awareness they symbolize, check out this Cancer Awareness Ribbon Color Chart. If anyone happens to get an extra teal-and-white ribbon set, which stands for cervical cancer awareness, please let me know, as it's a cause that's near and dear to my heart. Fortunately, my doctor caught my cervical cancer in its early stages and together we kicked its ass. I still live in occasional fear that it'll return, though. And right now someone I love is deeply affected by it. So yeah, I'd like that ribbon if anyone has a set to spare.

And while we're looking at that really big picture of my face, those Limited-Edition Fashion for Life Eyes in Emerald (200L) are one of Poetic Colors' RFL vendor items there.

These paragraphs are getting a little wordy. Let's switch to some quickies and get some of these pics out of my "To be blogged" folder.

                     NICE THINGS AND WEIRD LITTLE MIRACLES


I'm sure you've seen references to this bear when you log in, but there's a special Relief Linden Bear on SL Marketplace now, available in sitting and holding versions (apparently it floats, too!), for a donation of 300L, 1000L or 3000L. Proceeds go to the Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami Relief Efforts of the American Red Cross. As you probably know, Linden Bears are collectible, so this is a great way to add to your collection while supporting a worthy cause. And once again, we put a little piece of history in our inventory.

Next.

If you've been following this blog, you know that I've been on a quest for a young, charmed Amaretto Breedables unicorn with many babies in its future. Well, the other day two of my not-that-exciting horses — Mysti, the no-trait Grey Appaloosa, and Luther Vandross, the I-tried-to-sell-him-for-25L-and-couldn't Brown Bay — gave birth to . . .


A BABY GIRL PEGASUS, YO!!!!!

OMG! It's like winning the lottery! WOOO! Winning!

Anyone wanna trade a baby unicorn for it?

And THEN, miracles shall follow miracles and wonders shall never cease, because on the SAME DAY (yeah, sorry, lapsing into my overly enthusiastic ALL CAPS mode), my usually worthless Wildwoods Cats (no offense, little Wildwoods, but you give me nothing these days) gave birth to MY VERY OWN Spot o' Luck St. Patrick's Day elegant:


Winning!

It's the dark one with the green eyes and what we WW breeders call a cloak coat. The other two are cats I paid significant Ls for because I figured my own cats would fail me. But they didn't! Now I have a cat rock group. They're called the Shamrockers. I would sell one or two except Wildwoods has thrown a twist in the mix with these particular holiday elegants, namely, they can breed baby holiday elegants through March 18.

SO START SEXING, CATS! Let's get a big damn green army going!

And then there are the St. Patrick's Day KittyCatS:


These Leprecats are available for purchase as a single male or single female (850L each) or in a pair pack (1700L), which also includes two bottles of Love5 vitamins (Viagra for cats). I bought four pairs. Why? Because the competitive little catch is that these cats have a chance of birthing a very limited special-edition Leprekitten baby. Only 100 of those ultra-rares will be born.

SO START SEXING IN A MAGICAL, SLOT-MACHINE-WINNING WAY, CATS!

They are CUTE. (Look at their emerald collars.) They are not, however, the Second Coming of Christ. Lately I've been hearing a lot of over-the-top catgasms that make me want to drink heavily. For the most part, I like being in the KittyCatS group. However, I don't like it when people make derogatory comments about the Wildwoods in there. I'm protective of my Wildwoods. There's no need for elitism — can't we all just get along?

Next:


MercyStyle designer Victoria Endsleigh dropped an item called "Emerald's Blackboard" in my inventory yesterday. Awwwww! Look at it! This Cat Blackboard is for sale at MercyStyle for 80L.

And finally, a sales pitch:

My favorite holiday is right around the corner, so in honor of St. Patrick's Day, I birthed all my Wildwoods kittens with Forest eyes and put them up for sale at low, low prices at my Z Couture cat stand. IRISH CATS, Y'ALL!


The one on the right is a pointed cream named Irish Cream. You love her!

Unfortunately, people don't seem to be as excited about this idea as I was. Oops.

This post is long. Let's end it with some LMs and a sigh of relief.

WHERE TO FIND IT ALL
terri.tees
LuNi Designs
Fashion for Life Blog, where you'll find a map, sim SLURLs, and a list of participating designers on each sim
Peeps at Fashion for Life
Poetic Colors at Fashion for Life
Relief Linden Bears on SL Marketplace
Buy KittyCatS Leprecats HERE, HERE or HERE
MercyStyle
Emerald's Z Couture cat stand
Pose in top pic: From the Geometry set by HelaMiyo at the Pure Juice event (runs through March 26)
Hair: Priscilla 2, streaked (NEW) in Burgundy by Truth

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Fade to grey


I've been meaning to post several Skin Fair posts, but my cat of 18 years, Hopscotch, died last week, and I didn't realize how empty and ouchy and lonely my life would be without her. As pathetic and cat-lady as it sounds, I didn't realize my best friend was a cat until she was gone.

Get out the violins because there's nobody waiting for me when I get home from work now, and she's not sleeping next to me when I wake up in the middle of the night in the aftermath of bad dreams, and she's not standing outside the bathroom in the morning when I'm in the shower, loudly demanding breakfast. After almost two decades of moves, new jobs, falling in love, falling out of love, three failed engagements, pregnancy scares, alternately rolling in dough and dodging bill collectors, triumphs, tragedies, punching cervical cancer in the face and just sitting around doing nothing together, she's gone and I'll never see her again. Along this wild, sometimes terrifying and ultimately beautiful path that has carried me through my entire adult life, I have always been accompanied by my faithful little furry friend and now she's gone and LEFT ME HERE ALL ALONE.

*throws something*

I got her when I was 22, moving into my very first apartment in a new city where I knew absolutely no one, living alone for the first time as I started my first job out of college. I turn 40 this year. It's almost like she said, "OK, you're all grown up now. I got you this far, but now I have to leave you."

I've had other pets die before, but nothing has been as crushingly painful as this. I have two kittens that I got for Christmas, but they're sort of into themselves. I don't know if we'll ever bond or not. I'm kind of just a source of food for them right now.

My cat Hopscotch was a long-haired calico. The day after she died, my Wildwood cats gave birth to this fluffy tricolor with rainbow eyes. I've never seen rainbow eyes before - not in auctions or marketplaces - so that's kind of weird. Weeeeeeeeird. This is the only kind of spectacular cat I've ever been able to breed:


Blah, I'm bawling again so let's stop talking about her.

Speaking of Wildwoods, it's time for some new holiday elegants. Between now and March 18 (I think), any bundle that your Wildwoods drop could potentially hold some St. Patrick's Day goodness:


I bought those. I don't mess around when it comes to anything that's spectacularly St. Patrick's-y. I just scream, "GIMME!" and grab it.

Anyway.

I found another new-to-me skin designer called Mojo BodyBoutique at the Vanity Universe Skin Fair. Tomorrow's the last day, BTW, so get ye over there pronto if you've been meaning to go.


Pretty! This is called Alba in Hazelnut 01. See the shadow under the chin? That's an attachment on my mouth that's included with the skin. I thought that was kind of an interesting touch. And now what can we learn about poses and prim sleeves from this picture, kids? Oops. (Hair: Neve by Truth. Eyes: Madagascar by Adam n Eve.)

I used to be anti big-lips when it came to skins, but I've noticed I'm not as anti about them anymore. Maybe it's because I don't have a choice.

Oh and I bought a couple of Amaretto unicorns. Well, a unicorn and a pegacorn, to be exact.


We look kind of no-nonsense in this pic. (My posse's on Broadway.)

I didn't have to pay as much as you would expect for them because they're a couple of old ladies and only have a few babies left in them before they hit retirement age. So I'm breeding them like mad in the hopes that one of them will throw another unicorn before their wombs get cold and barren. ("Throw" = give birth to. I'm getting the breedables lingo down.)

I know how they feel: Getting old and tired while people are watching you and hoping you'll pull it together at the last minute and do something remarkable.

MY GOD THIS POST IS DEPRESSING.

I'm gonna try again later this weekend. Right now I think I'll go meet some people at an Irish pub. There's nothing like the ambience of an Irish pub in Memphis, Tennessee. *cough*

GET YOUR SKINS ON
Vanity Universe Skin Fair (lasts through March 6)
Mojo BodyBoutique (store)