WTF was I thinking when I said to a friend "Show me your Meeroo"

Over the past 5 years or so I have seen phases come and go and I have held back and not been conned into any of them.  Well, I did eventually become a vampire, but that was to learn about it ... honest it was!

So you would think I would have more sense right? After all, I have survived this long without falling for any gimmicks or cute adorable things.  Well ALL sense went right out the window when I decided, maybe on one of those rare maternalistic kinda days, that I wanted to see a Meeroo because not only did I see the Meeroos but I also bought 4 bloody nests.  FOUR!  Then I had to go and get a stump and some food and ...

OMG... I had succumbed to...

(drum roll)

a Breedable pet.

Now I blame my purchases on two things, or should I say the lack of them - because neither my partner in crime OR my best friend were online to stop me.  I mean, how could they let a woman wander the grid alone.  HOW DARE THEY!!! It was their fault entirely.  I had NOTHING to do with it, Your Honour.

So what is a Meeroo?  Are you sure you want to know?  To put it as succinctly as possible they are the cutest damn things ever. 

 

When I look at them I think of Puss n Boots from Shrek and that little "I'm cute and adorable look", with the exception that these don't wear boots and they don't turn into evil-fighting machines ... or do they?   (I have no idea what they do when I'm sleeping damnit so how would I know).

I knew I had finally lost my SL mind when I realised that I was telling them off.  They are scripted objects for Christ's sake, why would I tell them off.  Then,  they have this absolutely adorable way of coming up to you... (Yes they WILL seek you out) and holding their arms out and saying in local chat, "Please pick me up and snuggle me".  I'm afraid I have got to the stage where I most commonly tell them to piss off I'm busy.  They also talk to you and a friend of mine and I have definitely heard them say a number of times "Aw, crap!" The rest is usually pretty incoherent rambling.  (Much like my children when not fully out of earshot but not quite close enough that you can hear what they are saying properly.)

So four became ummmm.... well... 12.  And my partner has 6.  And then the breeding began and they needed to be fed and petted and hugged and ... OMG... the pressure.

Now since I run a photo studio I felt it necessary to make a Meeroo Photo Studio so that people could, well, take a pic WITH their Meeroos.  The Meeroos contain a special animation which positions them in a hold while you are standing, but sit down and they can end up anywhere, including your butt.  It kind of reminded me of the legends of some people going into hospital to have gerbils removed from certain unmentionable orifices, but we won't go there will we!

So I delved into my thousands of poses (god help me) and emerged TWO DAYS LATER with about 50 semi-workable poses that wouldn't have my poor roos being sat on, squished, eaten or, well, you know.  Then along with a huge mushroom building and some top-of-the-line backdrops, I created a photo studio for the general public to come and have their pictures taken. 

To say I'm tired now is an understatement. 

I am close to ripping some poor Meeroo baby from its nest so I can slip inside and pretend I don’t exist until some bugger comes along and coaxes me into the light.  Then I think I will just gurgle "Aw crap", reach out my arms, blink my huge big eyes and whisper, Please pick me up and snuggle me".


<3 Kay.

 

Blatant Self Promotion - Image Essentials

Now I've had some friend ask me why I haven't done anything on my blog for so long. It comes down to one simple fact. I've been working my butt off building inworld and now I've finished I am going to blatantly self promote what I've created. LOL

Quite a few months back I got involved in a pose hunt. Things have never been the same since. After filling my inventory with thousands of poses (literally) I decided that I needed to make a place in which they could be used. So, Image Essentials was born.

I have, in the past, looked around for GOOD photo studios so I could jump on some poses I didn't have and take some awesome pics of myself with friends or a significant other (well ok... with myself then).

Sadly they were few and far between. There are hundreds of fabulous sims I could go to and I, of course, do. However, a lot of these sims do not allow rezzing so I couldn't use my own poses, or the poses that were on the sims weren't what I was looking for. So as I wandered around some of the best posemakers in SL, and spent a small fortune on poses etc, the revelation that "if you don't seek and find, you create it yourself" came to mind, so I did.

Image Essentials is a photo studio setup with hundreds of pose settings for you to play around on. The area is split into multiple zones. Female, Male, Couple, Theme, Family, Group, Carnival Cutouts and Shop. There is a free-to-use photo studio in the female, male and couple zones along with multiple prop setups for all of the various areas. All are top of the line and the prop areas will be changed periodically to give everyone samples of different kinds of environments to work in. They contain top of the line poses and backdrops. Almost all of the props, whether inside the zones or in the public areas, are menu-driven giving the user lots of different looks each time.

The whole place is set in a kind of tropical style area, with wooden walkways and little nooks with poses strategically placed for those who look hard enough.The off-sim island also has poses on it. Follow the instructions and off you go. Feel free to grab some pose balls off the intan and dance the evening away in the pergola or just cuddle and take pics while the sunsets.

The Carnival Cutout area is still in development but will provide a unique place to play around while you poke your head through numerous fun cutouts. More are on the way once I have a menu system created to better cater for different size people so bear with me on that one.

There are also three wheel trikes that you are free to use to drive around the place. Note that if you arent a group member you may have trouble if you try and cross into group access only zones but the main walkways provide a great course you can race around but, please, try not to run too many pedestrians over. I hate cleaning up the blood. *grins*

I decided to put in a store area when I realised how many backdrops I had that I had imported inworld and others had commented upon. There are also some fabulous props created by my partner in crime, Ange, which I have to say are bloody brilliant and deserve to be checked out.

We will soon be holding some shows in the area and have special guests entertain. I'll let you all know via the group so don't forget to join.

Hope to see you there soon.

Loves you all... Kay

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Love%20Beach/196/47/23

Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Conference

Where else but in a virtual world can you be a part of an amazing experience such as the VWBPE where people from all over the world can share their thoughts and knowledge easily and you can participate readily from the comfort of your own home or office.

As my alter ego Menolly Riederer, I have the pleasure of working with an amazing team of people through Virtual Ability Inc to be the official transcriptionists for the conference. Our task, to share a voice to text meaning transcription of what is being voiced live at various venues of the conference.

 

As the conference was due to start I rezzed to the social hub that was the central auditorium and quite frankly what I found was as awe inspiring as the content of the conference itself was about to be. The build is STUNNING.

The content of the conference has so far been fascinating to say the least and I recommend to anyone who is interested in education in any way shape or form to get inworld and go to the conference.  For information on what is coming up, who is speaking and slurls to all the locations go to http://vwbpe11.vwbpe.org/ and follow the master schedule.

You will NOT be disappointed.

St Patrick's Day is Coming

It's nearly St Patricks Day

so what better place to visit than

St Patrick's Day Town.

OMG there is so much to do...

Where do I start?!?

Dancing with the Leprechauns by the pot at the end of a rainbow. Who can resist that?  

Up to 5 people can do it...

Very Cute.

How about going on a "green beer" slide?  If you buy one for your own St Pat's party you can even get your own wet t-shirt after.

The pool was a little crowded though. Wonder what those too were doing down there?

Ohhh free hats?

Tell me...

Does my butt look big in this? *laughs*

More leprechauns to dance with...

These remind me of those Russian dolls that fit inside each other.

Very cool and fun when you have lots doing it

The shops have a fabulous array of clothing and accessories, gifts, decorations and everything else inbetween

Photo opportunties abound so come and take a look, after all...

It's time for fun and the Irish do it with style.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Elizabeth%20Town/127/128/1089

The John King Experience.

Remington said.."Let's explore"...

So we did and it was a great mini adventure called

The John King Experience.

Many a boy dreams of adventure and freedom to do as he pleases, perhaps to sail the seas as a pirate drinking rum and digging up buried treasure.

Well there was once a boy who's dream of becoming a pirate came true, let me take you into the painting and tell you of a boy called John King...

And so we clicked on the painting and...

landed in a crows nest with 3 compasses on the rail

Touch each of the compasses in order and an image will appear along with a story. 

There is a nice little surprise at the end of each one *laughs*

Down the crows nest you go to each area of the story.

Beautifully done.  A good story told in a unique way.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Escapades/30/141/23

The Grand Canyon - SL style

It was 9.45 Monday morning and I was bored.   What does an intrepid explorer do when they are bored?  They explore of course.

So I opened the showcase and what did I find.... the Grand Canyon. 

Three sims?  I was up for that.  So off I toddled to TDT Estates to see what I would find.

The sales pitch went "Explore the gorgeous, rugged beauty of the Grand Canyon — a place of beauty that also offers SL skill-enhancing activities and sports. Adventure, contemplation, relaxation and discovery await you at this majestic, peaceful destination across three contiguous sim."

The first of the islands is well set out with a wedding area, stores, a photo studio, maze, enchanted forest, various clubs, mermaid park, 7 Seas fishing, what is claimed to be SL's first REAL bungee jump, hang gliders and the entrance to the Grand Canyon.

With great vistas abound you will find intans scattered across the area enabling you to enjoy all the sims have to offer with a friend.  There is even a drive-in theatre (cars provided LOL) for you to sit back and enjoy a movie or two.

One of my favourite activities was being shot out of a cannon (a great way to enter the adjoining sim.)  

Now how many times can you say you have done that in RL.  *grins* 

Tobogganning down the slopes was another activity that made me giggle, especially when a Wolf avatar went past on his sled at breakneck speed.

There is absolutely no way that you could be bored here.  With some much to do you could spend a good couple of hours just trying everything out.  It is a popular destination so be patient if you cant get in.  There are regulars to chat to who I found to be friendly and helpful.

This is definitely a set of sims worth having a look around.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Grand%20Canyon/124/216/111

The Untroubled Sound - Memories of NZ

Opening the showcase I was excited to find The Untroubled Sound.

Home of the Southern Cross Marina and The Shipwrights club, the gardens and surrounds are open to chill and relax.

This Sim has been themed on The Marlborough Sounds, South Island, NZ.

Being that I used to take the inter-island ferry from Wellington to Picton often for day or weekend trips I had to go see what they had done.  I wasn’t disappointed.

The club layout was unique...

Something I don’t say often with clubs in SL. With DJ Laurence spinning deep house from 4pm on Fridays I will definitely be back for a look. 

7Seas is available for the fishing devotees (a store is in the fishing supplies shed at the end of the pier).

As I wandered around the foreshore and saw the flora it brought back memories of childhood when a group of friends and I would play chase in and out of the toi toi. 

Climbing over the barbed wire fences also brought back memories of green pastures, and quiet coves. 

The DOC (Department Of Conservation) Hut is open to for overnight stays.

I have been away from NZ for 23 years and this is the first time I have felt homesick.  The sim owners nailed this sim.  Perfect.

Please leave a note in the guestbook located in The Shipwrights Boatshed.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cosmo/87/170/22