Last Dance in Steelhead

A mainstay for pretty much as long as I've been inworld, this Friday night dance was the last to be held in Steelhead. Fuzz had asked us to help decorate the town hall with photos and I managed to find the ads for every Steelhead sim...

I also put up my faves from 2007-2009 such as my postcards, the time the bay turned to lava, the Great Tensainami of 2009, the Wrangler Cup horse races, the time I got arrested for tiny disorderly conduct, the infamous wood chipper, and my very first visit to Steelhead...

I think Tensai put up this group photo from about 2009? I'm towards the right in all black next to Lunar...

It isn't a Steelhead dance without daleks and trout. You can see me and Phin dancing away in the center...

 Goodbye Steelhead...Goodbye Steamlands...thanks for the dance.

Out on the Water

I am still kind of reeling from the announcement the other night. Members of our community are so distraught, depressed, upset, lost-feeling, uprooted. It is such a sadness involved. Des (Caledon), Tenk (Babbage), and Selena (Winterfell) have kindly offered to take us in. After all, we have to go somewhere and not everyone's comfortable roaming the world like me. Even if it is a virtual community, it is still a community and that loss has a visceral feel to it. I thought I'd take to the waters, and brought Phin, who was brave enough to go along...

I named her the "Zephyr Too" after one of my original sailboats that I used to take out on the Firth of Caledon. The Blake Sea is much bigger and so interesting to sail on. I find it pretty calming just being out there, hearing the water, watching the planes go overhead, and other vessels going by. At one point, I dropped the anchor and we just talked. It felt good. It'll be OK...

Elle in Kitely

I ran into an old Caledon acquaintance who convinced me to take a look at Kitely. A builder's paradise in that you can get a lot of sim and prims for a whole lot less. Of course, I convinced Phin to noob it up with me and explore it...

 It had a very SL circa 2007-08 feel to me. Having been around in SL back then, it was like being in a fun throwback, except as a noob it was very hard to figure out how to get anything for yourself or what to do next. As in SL, one of the very first places I visited was their inworld version of Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater...

 

This one was really nicely done and to me, actually better than the SL version of it. I have been to the real life one and found the layout very familiar. I knew exactly where to go...

 There's Phin!

Phin and I always explore other virtual worlds. We joke it is in case we need to immigrate to a new one someday.

Happy 8th Rez Day to Me!

My handsome partner (looking very dapper Don Draper-esque) came inworld to celebrate my 8th Rez Day with me!

So much is different...but it's nice that some things stay the same!

Watching the Clouds

There are times when I am happy just to sit with Phin at our place in Caledon Mayfair and just watch the clouds go by...

Another Year with Phin!

Phin and I have been together ever since he stumbled out of my shop two years ago. We also celebrate being partnered inworld for a year today as well. We went back to the SL Botanical Gardens where we had our first long chat two years ago and were glad to see the chairs were still there. There's a comfort in familiarity, isn't there? Even inworld...
He is very funny, smart and sweet and has become a great friend to me in both lives. Thanks Phin...You are my favorite squirrel...

Tinies Jousting In Raglan Shire

The month-long medieval festival in Raglan wrapped up this past weekend with one of Raglan Shire's most popular annual events--the jousting tournament! I, Lady Fluffytail of Acorn, joined milord Fluffytail Phin to witness these courageous tinies for ourselves...

The spectators lined up in the stands as tiny by tiny jouster fell from the blows of their challenger's lances...Snakes...on a horse! It came down to two brave tinies. ReignShadow waits for his turn in the deciding joust!Reign's horse thundered down at his opponent, the bobcat Iwanta Salamander, who unseated him for the tourney win! Iwanta wins it all!Zayn awarded the tropies to Iwanta and Reign...And after the excitement, I visited the main fair square and donated to the wishing well, whose proceeds are going towards RL animal charities. Until next year!!

Elle in Blue Mars: Community & Beta Testing

So Phin and I both decided to explore Blue Mars together yesterday. Oh dear God, look...at...us. We look like Blue M Noob Examples 1 and 2...
Our moment of laziness as we sat at a table in Beach City turned into a good discussion about how important community and social interaction is in a virtual world. As this is not a MMO where leveling up would be important and content is already created, to us it seems that having things to do (not just alone) and socializing will end up being very important. We will explore the world with our friends, talk, shop...whatever we want to do to feel connected inworld. So it is important to be able to find each other and like-minded individuals as well. I am interested in seeing how Blue M tackles this...There are some basic animations that you can do such as shaking hands. I'll admit I was like "Ugh" when I was offered a caress once. A caress...really? Well, at least you get asked first. Phin gave me a "lovehug". Hey, at least I know him! I "raced" Phin to the bridge. OK...it wasn't much of a race at all as Phin's computer's much faster. Due to the LOD, he'd disappear almost right away to me. Thought it was a fluke on my end, but Phin would get the disappearing too. We ran into Dale Innis and he mentioned the same thing. We ended up having a really good conversation with him about Blue M. One of the things we talked about was being a beta tester. To us, this is the time to be critical. Let them know about this or that feature that seems off or could be improved. That's what you are in there for. I joked about how I'm being like that little old lady who calls the police about everything. You wanted to know our feedback, you're going to get it!We all also talked about coming into it and trying to leave our preconceived notions based upon other VWs behind. It can be hard, as the bar has been set high and there are big expectations. It's just not there quite yet, so we'll just have to see once there is more content and more folks. Oh, and look...I've got on jeans. Whew. Who wears short shorts? Not me. Phin made a short video about his experience so far in Blue M, if you want to get a feel for it as it is right now...loads and all.

No Phin, No!

I told Phin to stop taking food from strangers, but no...

Midsummer Grand Tour: Al-Andalus

Given all of the stability problems this weekend, Phin and I genuinely thought we'd be kicked out at 10:30 SLT, but when we found ourselves still inworld, we thought we'd take our chances and head on over to the Al-Andalus stop of the Grand Tour RFL benefit dances that went throughout the historic sims. I think it's safe to say we danced a pretty sulty tango...

Enjoying the Lighthouse in Mayfair

Due to RL extenuating circumstances regarding Phin's job, we have decided to enjoy the pretty waterfront parcel in Caledon Mayfair as much as possible for however long he can continue to have it. It made me think about what is important, and when one has to choose between what's best for their RL vs. SL, RL must always come first. So if he needs to let go of this in the future, that bridge'll be crossed when we get to it. In the meantime, sipping wine and watching the sunset over the Caledon Firth is the moment we'll enjoy for now.

Happy Rez Day Phin!

A very happy 2nd Rez Day to my darling Phin! *blows him a kiss*

Paso Doble at the Point

One fun thing about SL is being able to pull others into the things that you do. Phin was game enough to don the traditional Spanish "traje corto" suit of short bolero jacket and wide-rimmed hat that is worn by riders during the horse parades of the Feria de Abril (his is a deep blue). As there aren't flamenco/sevillanas couples danceballs (that I know of), I set out paso doble ones instead...
Paso doble is based upon the movements in Spanish bullfighting, with the man acting as the matador (bullfighter) and his partner acting as his cape or the bull itself...It is a really dramatic dance with a lot of spins and flair (a backwards kick leap and what looked like very low, almost upon his knee steps included!). We had a great time...

Snow Bunny on the Loose

Skiing in SL? Sure! Why not? Phin and I went to Tahoa Mountain Resort to try it out...In RL, I've always been terrified to ski, always opting out once I got to the ski lodge and looked up at the mountains. Inworld, I stood at the top, realizing I needed to get to the bottom...
Oh crap! TREES!It was so much fun I had to do it again! There's an info card there called "Where to ski in SL". Try it!

Exploring with Elle & Phin!

Phin and I decided to hop around the Grid tonight exploring. How does the game work? Go to a location and once there, pick a cool item and then choose the next location from its creator's picks. We started out in a 2004 build called Chase's Manhattan, where we zipped around on a Vespa. Phin was holding on for dear life and wisely said nothing about my steering...
Since we were on an older build kick, we ended up at Midnight City, via Aimee Weber's picks...Phin wanted to show me something fun at Artificial Isle and I found the Hall of Justice, taking me back to my kiddie Super Friends (Wonder Twin powers...ACTIVATE!) days...We then ended up at the Mocha Cathedral, where I'm sure Phin was thanking God he survived that Vespa ride...And somehow he wasn't afraid to let me be the captain of the Defiant at the Indigo: Sci-Fi Geeks Museum & Theater...

Feeling Squirrelly

Yup. That's a marshmallow tower in my front lawn. And yup, Phin's just as crazy as I am...nom nom nom.

Rez Day Roundup

Last year, I had a big blow-out party for my RezDay. This year, I kept things much simpler, preferring to talk and spend time with my friends. I did attend one party though, Lady Amber's Imbolc Ball in Caledon, celebrating the coming of Spring...
Pucky came inworld just for me and I did my happy dance around him as his wicker man blazed behind us...Later, Phin and I tangoed...And right before my Rez Day ended at midnight SLT, Lunar thawed out the snow in Steelhead and brought green grass and "Spring"! Yay! This has been a wonderful day. You know how I feel about simple pleasures inworld and these were all wonderful. Thank you everyone!

Dancing at Fibber's

GoSpeed Racer was DJing at Fibber's in Dublin so Phin and I thought we'd stop through. It's been a long time since I've been here and the place has been renovated...I had a good time getting my groove on.