Making a Withdrawal

I cashed out all my L$s today. Even shook down my alts for spare change. We’re in the RL Deep Freeze in more ways than one and there’s no time for sentimentality.

Well maybe a little.

I can’t bring myself to delete most of my inventory from any of my avs and I think the only way I could see my avs deleted is if LL’s server crashed. And then I’m sure I would grieve.

I am, however, going to sell off some loose stuff out of inventory. Clover’s liquidation of the DFS gear has brought a return of about 550 L$ on a 6k investment (but then, we can never get the land tiers back). I’m not sure how well that will do since I guess right now a half gallon of RL milk goes for 800L and (or 200 DFS Milk Crates). Still it feels good to actively be doing something, and to know that it’s only going to be a couple pay periods in which things are this tight.

Here’s Clover’s shop, what remains of it.

And here’s Mistletoe’s. I’m still fond of that Tipping Cow!

Mistakes Were Made

You may recall that on New Year’s Day, my alt Clover decided to try her hand at virtual farming (with the Digital Farm System, or DFS). About 3300 avatars are part of the official group, and these avatars grow virtual crops, raise virtual livestock, sell their produce or else use it in recipes to cook food, and then eat said food to replenish Energy Points (EP), which are depleted during various farm chores. I was told early on by a pair of experienced farmers, “You won’t make your fortune, not for a while anyway” and had no idea at the time just how serious they were.

New Costumes for St. Patrick’s Day

You know I love my old-fashioned small-town 1910s community of Philomena. Well lately I’ve been inspired to make some things for St. Patrick’s Day festivities and to start, here’s a matching pair of costumes I made.

We Bought The Farm

You may recall that when my sister alt, Clover, closed her shop, it was largely because the world had changed too rapidly for her to keep up with. Hundred and thousands of Ls and av-hours of work to create the products that made Clover’s Kitchen a success were suddenly all in vain and the food and beverage became almost laughably obsolete, practically overnight.

Well, you know that I love creating food for people in the Grid and so– in what may or may not be a moment of weakness– I invested a sizeable chunk of my savings into starting up what will be Clover Farms. (People who were fans of Clover’s Kitchen may remember, back in the day, that “Clover Farms” was an imaginary brand name used on items such as milk and orange juice).

Fireworks Show Tonight!

Ladies, Gentlemen, Friends, Neighbors, and Avatars of all ages and sizes! You’re invited to come see the debut of a show I’ve spent weeks building from the ground up. “8 Bits We Have Heard on High” is a retro Christmastime fireworks and music spectacular, full of light, color, and nostalgia. This is an all-ages friendly show in cozy Glenwalker Park, in the modern city of Lionheart, which starts at 5PM SLT and runs for about 20 minutes (so don’t be late or you’ll miss it!)

Please wear a low-impact avatar to the show and be considerate of other viewers.

Don’t miss the explosive pixellated fun TONIGHT, December 1, at 5 PM SLT!

Glenwalker Park, Lionheart Scar

I got a DJ gig tomorrow night…

And I have NO FREAKIN IDEA what I’m gonna play. I think my plan will be to just hit Shuffle and see where it goes. It’s an eclectic venue. I could pull this off.

Also, I’m building my own fireworks effects and getting ready for a super cool fireworks show next week for the Good People at Faery Crossing. They’re celebrating Samhain which is Kind of a Big Deal for pagan-type and faery-type folks and I’m always trying to stretch my creative muscles to come up with new effects for my shows.

A good friend of mine is talking about stepping out of SL altogether and while– for purely selfish reasons– I wish he’d stick around, I want my friend to be happy and in good mental health. So we’ll see how that goes. If he does decide to close his community I know a GREAT demolitions person.

Image is from some anime doll maker and I don’t remember which one.

‘Kay bye.

Sticking my feet in

So. I’ve done two fireworks shows since returning inworld. I’ve also rented a shop space, not really that I have a whole lot to sell but I have a little and it feels good to have a home base. I set up a sewing machine and a crude counter in there so it feels like a work studio.

I love that Philomena is still a place, if a slightly different iteration than I recall. It’s really really surreal knowing there’s a street named after me. I’m just this elf, ya know?

LETS BLOW THINGS UP!!

Pass it on! I’ll be giving my first fireworks show in four years this Sunday (April 29th) at 7:30 PM SLT at Toot Toots Carolina Pub in the sim of Sifton (SLurl to be added soon)!

The theme is “Spring Spectacular” and will feature uplifting classical music to accompany the beautiful explosions from Bach, Beethoven, Strauss, and more! Watch the sky fill with beauty as the music makes your heart soar with the end of winter and the coming of Spring.

Tell your friends, and join the Manic Elf Media group for more announcements of upcoming fireworks performances. See you Sunday night!

Off the Wagon

It’s been less than 24 hours since my last login.

I don’t know how I feel about it. I’m still sorting it out.  Embarrassed and ashamed,  I guess. And eager to do it again.

The thing that really hurt me about SL was the time sink. Hours and hours and hours would melt away and feel like 15 minutes. And those hours– hours that could have been spent working or dealing with issues IRL– would be gone, never to return.

So. If I’m going to do this. IF!! If I am going to do this, I need a way to keep track of time. To set a timer, and stick with it. To do the things I have to do FIRST, like pay the bills or arrange the interview or do the chores or finish the commission project or whatever it is I need to be an adult and take care of first.

 

In this world

I miss the Grid so, so, desperately much right now.

It’s so hard, day after day in this world.

I’m getting by. I’m safe. I’ve got people around me.

But I miss the beautiful Otherworld and its bubble and its magic so much. I miss being Mistletoe so deeply. I want so badly to take a break from this world that words fail me. I’m on the wagon, but fuck, it’s so hard.