The Rose Princess Hunt... or Petra's Adventures Hunting part 1

Let me start out by saying.. I am not a huntress. Athena did not bless me with any particular hunting powers. In fact, I think I got negative hunting powers.

Don't get me wrong, I can figure out the clues and things usually, I just am not the best at hunting. So, I'm not a big hunt fan in sl. Especially because of things like this.

I made a little gif to underscore what I'm trying to show. The hunt object is teeny tiny in this great big room full of boxes. There's me so you can see what I mean. Without some judicious use of radar and area search, I never would have found half the prizes - at least. Because who can find these dinky little objects in a great big room like that, seriously?

Here's the sign for the hunt which I snitched from the hunt blog.

I was attracted to this hunt for a few reasons. I initially saw the sign at a jewelry store I like to go to, Zuri's Jewels. I've been buying jewelry at Zuri's for a few years now so when I saw that a really lovely choker was Zuri's gift in the hunt, I really wanted to try to get it.  Zuri has the earrings and bangles in mm boards so you can end up with the whole set for free ... not too shabby I think. Here's a pic of the choker which again I snitched from the hunt site.

On top of it, I read the information and part of the purpose of the hunt is to call attention to a new RP sim called Oras de Noapte or City of Night. From what I could tell it is patterned after or from Vampire Hunter D. I was intrigued by this because I'm a pretty big role play fan and I wouldn't mind finding a new place to RP. Plus, the theme of the hunt is NeoVictorian and I love that kind of style. 

The hunt is hud based. You purchase a hud for 50L, and it attaches of course and as you click each rose in turn, it gives you the slurl and clue for the next. You cannot skip around on this hunt, you have to do each one in turn. I did think the hunt was kind of big on my display but other than that it worked perfectly.

You can also see the hints here. And the prizes here.

Although I wanted the choker, and I do think a few of the other items are really exceptional prizes, what I really enjoyed the most about the hunt was the scenery on the sim. Absolutely gorgeous stuff.

So here's fifteen pics of views from the hunt.

SHP aka super huge pic

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Of course I had to try out the poses!  SHP

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I think I may just try to participate in the rp when it opens. :)

Clubbin' the Petra Way

As I said, I went out the other night... I don't know a lot of places to go really - and I'm not a fan of places where everyone is on voice nor am I crazy about being in a void where no one ever talks.

So I usually end up going to House of V, which is where I went. ...

Now, let me just say... I like V in general. There's always people there. There's always music and people *TALKING* in chat and those are big pluses. Nothing I hate worse than dancing in a club and nobody is talking. It's just weird. I really do not like voice, both because I have anxiety issues and because I really feel that when voice came along, it created a separation and people became either the voice people or the non voice people. And non voice people such as moi get looked at askance, as if we might be non voice because we have something to hide. Well no, I just have anxiety issues around being in voice and I don't need my relaxation time to have that on top of it.

Plus it just irks me for someone to feel entitled to my "proof" of what my gender is or whatnot before they will talk to me. "Well gee fella, I'm not tryin' to marry ya for a casual club conversation, okay?"

I do have some opinions on V and how they do things... that I don't really care for, especially the whole.. "Hi .. I am a solid gold DOM (because I paid 1k a month to be one) and therefore I am entitled to claim your butt if I so desire." BUT, since they also allow one to set ones own claiming limits, I've found it's pretty easy to get around that by simply saying that a claim does not entitle anyone to sexual favors from me. A guy can claim me all night long, he's getting a dance and conversation, that is all.

But anyhoo... it's a good place, spacious, adult verified, djs and so on. So I went, and I actually had a pretty good time. Met a few people that were new to me, had some decent conversations. Got to try out my dances that are in my new AO - Vista is really doing good work I feel with their recent aos and dance animations. I also found that I could add my own dances to the AO and have a ready built dance hud without having to add another hud to my view. That was a big nice thing, sadly most dances are no copy so when I switch aos I will have to move dances around but since I don't change aos around too often it's not too big a hassle.

Also kind of as a side note, I haven't been completely happy with either the Phat Azz ... which was a little too "phat" for my tastes... or the Cute Azz which was almost not big enough. (I sound like a butt Goldilocks right? This butt was too big and this butt was too small but this butt was just right!?)

In fact, I've switched to the Ghetto Booty and I love it. I really do think it's just right, and with just a little work all the Phat Azz appliers work fine. So... I said all of that, so I could show you this...*laughing*

So this is my top half as I was dressed for clubbing. I'm pictured in front of my lovely tropical oasis thingie on my sl land.  Super Huge size pic.

And these are the total look as they say on those top model shows. SHP

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Also just want to give a quick shout out to Label Motion. I've been really enjoying using their poses, especially because each pose set comes with a hud and a pose stand. I used the hud on these shots and as you can see they came out quite nicely.  More info on my outfit after the jump if you care.

And just as an added bit of detail, my landscaping here is all by Bee Designs.

Energy Levels Low

I had a lot I wanted to talk about, but at the moment I'm feeling pretty drained energy wise so that may wait longer than I had intended.  I'm an introvert and even interaction on SL can sometimes leave me feeling pretty exhausted.

I did the Rose Princess Hunt, which is a hud hunt. I enjoyed the hunt mainly because of the great landscaping scenes involved. Of which more later. Here's just one of the pics I took because of the humor involved.

And here's a thought on being an introvert which I found meaningful.

More soon.

Blog bizness and a quick shout out...

If you've visited before then you probably are wondering if I've lost my mind because I keep changing my blogger template layout - which incidentally keeps making me lose all my gadgets and blogroll etc. Who knew?

This is because I keep either finding something wrong with the template or deciding I want something different.  (Incidental side note, I did a search for the origin of the quote... "It is a woman's prerogative to change her mind." and though this sticks in the mind in almost folkloric kind of way, I could find no origin or author... the best I came up with was a White Diamonds commercial from the nineties which had the tag line... "It's a woman's prerogative to change her mind... and a man's to change it back." Let me just add I think this whole thing is rather sexist and everyone changes their mind based on new information and new experiences and so they should. As one's world view changes, one's opinions must change too)

And so it has gone with the blog thing. I learn more and realize I want a different template. So the blog layout is still a work in progress.

Also, because I'm a vampire... in my case being  a Twilight-like sparkle-pyre would be just fine for me. I realize most "true" vampires scorn this sparkle thing but hey... I'm a sparkly girl. No really though, I am kind of a vampire, I have sleep problems and often end up staying up half the night and not sleeping until the sun begins to peer up over the horizon.

But because I'm a vampire, I went to House of V last night. At 3 am eastern it wasn't too crowded, they had a good DJ going (hey Dracona!) and I got to try out the dances in my new ao - of which more later.

I also met some charming fellows for once, and had a lovely time chatting away. So shout out to M and I. *waves*

Here's a quick snap of me as I was coming home from clubbing. Next post will have the details of my fabulous outfit.

Click here to see the largest version of the pic, since the blog layout doesn't really allow large sizes.

If It's Not One Thing - It's Another...

The last few days have made me feel as if I've been through the ringer. and that's why there's been no update til now. My laptop came with both the Intel integrated graphics AND an nvidia graphics card, and this computer was purchased specifically for using with second life. Unfortunately, the nvidia card doesn't seem to be working any more. I was hoping I could just replace the card, but that looks like to be more of a problem to do than I had hoped. I have a desktop that needs some repairs so I'm going to hopefully get that one repaired and use that for sl so as not to burn out the integrated graphics on my laptop and turn it into an expensive and ugly paperweight.

Meanwhile... well here's some fashiony stuff.

 

Here's me staring at you all from out my new eyes from Ikon. 

I've been a fan of Ikon almost since he opened and I really like these Promise eyes which are mesh and come with a hud for adjusting size and position. These are the color called "Glass".

 

 

Couple shots of the full look. Please excuse the pixelation etc, since as I said I'm having problems with my comp at the moment and that's not helping my snapshots look good.

credits and detail shots after the jump.

My Latest Craze - Piercings...

One of the many things I enjoy about Second Life is the opportunity to "Try on For Size" different concepts, body modifications, life styles even that I might not want to try in First Life.

For a long time I've been curious about different types of piercings in SL but other than earrings and a belly ring I'd pretty much stayed with just curious.

But recently a brand called "Cute Poison" has really caught my eye because their piercings are cute, well done, modifiable, and come with a texture change hud that you can use to change the various parts of the piercing group to match your mood or outfit.

So, I've found two piercings that I plan to be wearing a lot from this brand, well three really but I'm only showing two.

The Stellar Piercing combines a sort of bindi type center star and stud arrangement with pretty studs and stars around the eyes. In First Life, I'd be -terrified- to attempt to get this kind of piercing set up, too close to the eyes and as a newly diagnosed Diabetic, I am just  not that crazy about having needles all over my face.

But it's so pretty here!

 

(Picture of me wearing the above described piercing, credits and links below)

I also am wearing the Quixotic Piercing which is again stars and studs against the collarbone area in a pretty and becoming arrangement. Imagine if you could just stick these on and they'd stay?

 

(Please ignore the slight disconnect between my boobs and my skin, sometimes matching is the bane of my existence )

Finally I bought a Hip Accent Piercing set for when I wear jeans or pants that are low... so pretty and again, I'd never buy them or get them in First Life. I've read too many horror stories. eek.

I'd really love more colors on these piercings, so I'm hoping Sae Luan, the owner behind Cute Poison will make more. :D

And just because I can, here's my total look today.

Click all pics for a bigger view if you so desire.

Credits:
Shape - much modified from Belissima by Paty Larimore.
Skin - Evon pale pink by Lara Hurley fatpack includes slink, phat azz and tango appliers yippee
Hair - Yeah from Point B by Queue Marlow - light blonds pack - still some of the best hair on the grid imho
Makeup Layers -
Lipgloss - Pout 50 percent Berry Smoothie from Pink Fuel by Mochi Milena (part of the Pinks Glossy Pout collection)
Lashes - MC Falsies Pack 1 from Mon Cheri by Freya Oliveri - I am in love with these lashes, they are mesh, come with a hud for lots of eyelash style choices and colors. I'm wearing the glitter version.
Eyes - Ikon Spectral Eyes Nymph - by Ikon from Ikon Innovia (just a note that these are mesh eyes and they come with a hud for adjusting. I'm thinking I Need a lighter eye color )
Dress - Banje Mesh Cardigan Dresses - Pinks by Blueberry from Blueberryxx Resident. - I am a huge huge fan of this shop which I recently discovered. Lovely mesh creations with Tango/Mirage appliers at reasonable prices. I bought the fatpack, this comes with the cardigan in dark or light versions of the pink in this case, with or without the dress, appliers for all versions and a hud for changing the color of the dress.  In other words I could wear the cardigan with a tank and a skirt or something instead of the dress. so much win.
Jewelry -
Piercings by Cute Poison from Sae Luan.
Earrings and Necklace - Ritzy Shimmer Pearl Necklace and Earrings by MG from Maxi Gossamer
Bracelets and Anklets - though you can't see those - Pearly Girly Leg and Wrist Jizz (lol) from HolliPocket by Holli Thespian.
Shoes - again you can't see them, but they are the Sublime in Teal by NCore from Claire Messenger (i set the heel and bow to pink, made a great match for the dress.)
All of these designers are people I buy from regularly so check 'em out!

Friends Gone Away...

Second Life has a funny way of magnifying certain things. It can magnify your faults into glaring horrid flaws... and it can magnify your charms... your best features in a lovely way that's almost transformative.

I think that's one of the beauties of Second Life really. Real Life interaction is so fraught with face to face anxieties where chances are in SL, your avi looks pretty good and you can be sitting in your pajamas with sleep still in your eyes and halitosis irl and who's gonna know. In rl, a date has so much... static ->... "oh let me fix my hair, did I brush my teeth, what if she/he hates this restaurant"

So what you're left with, if you also leave aside the tendency of some to fake it and try to make themselves "cooler" than they are...is the real deal. The essential you. What you say. What you do. How you say those things. How you do those things. If you have a sense of humor. If you are human. If you have compassion.

And it's easy to fall into like with those things when you meet a person who is.. in a word ... charming.  I think it's interesting how... human biology makes us still seek the most physically attractive person. (In a nutshell hormones are involved, for women, we are attracted to those who would make the best hunters, i.e. guys with muscles, brains and testosterone. For men, they are attracted to those who would make the best breeders.. i.e. those with good supplies of estrogen etc. There was a study on this, it was extremely cool.. but I digress. )

But left to ourselves with mind to mind interaction, leaving biology out of it, we are attracted to different things totally. For me, it's often a supportive, loyal, funny, compassionate, intelligent kind of person.

This differential between biology and personality is why so often rl meetings go wrong. At least that's my theory. You can mentally adore someone who does nothing for your hormones. It's a heart breaker.

Again, I digress.

The point is... these friends that you make... in online situations... they go in and out of your life in a way that's so painful.. because sometimes. They just disappear. There's no goodbye. There's no knowing... what happened. They are just gone, leaving a void that... eventually heals over, but you never really completely become reconciled.

And yet, we are such communal creatures. Nobody can live in a void... again there have been studies. We need human interaction, even if it's just online. We need to know we are not alone in the world. We need to make contact.

I know I do. And tonight, I'm feeling so sad about a dear friend, a charming friend, someone I really loved... who has disappeared into the great unknown. Stopped writing emails. Stopped coming online. I know they had health issues... God forbid that they passed away.  But I miss them. This person was important to me. And I am just starting to reconcile to the fact they are probably not coming back.

And I'm sad.

Long Time No See

It's been ages since I did a blog post. Partly that's because of real life things - about which more below - and partly because I just haven't been in SL that much.

My best friend and more than friend hasn't been in SL much so I really hadn't had a lot of reason to be there. If you're reading this Paul, I miss you.

But, I'm coming back in world again.

I gave myself a make over, one of probably a million that will happen during the next three months.

 

Photo taken at my island area, I'm wearing Sn@tch sweater, Gawk trousers, Mood Jewelry - I think they are closed now, Catwa Hair, Hush skin, appliers, lola's mirage, luck inc's phat ass, slink's casual hands, pink fuel's pout lipsticks. - click the pic to see it correctly sized