Workin' nine to five

Well, working anyway. I am delighted to announce that I've been hired by Pulse as their store manager / assistant / fixit-girl. This means that I will be spending even more time hanging out at the shop than I already do — but getting paid for it.

In the interests of clarity and disclosure of interests, I should point out this is a new development. My mentions of Pulse in previous posts were not paid for or directed by Eidolon and Lorac, but simply outpourings of my own enthusiasm. I wrote about their clothes and skins because I like them.

In other news but further in the same vein of own-horn-blowing, the Cushicle is damned nearly done! Woot. Stand by for photos.

Time in

Well, that was a long week! My apologies for the delay in getting back online. I hope you enjoyed yourselves in my absence (but not too much).

I am uncomfortably aware that I have been less than fully present in recent weeks, and have not been as good a friend to you as I should have been. I've been in an odd mood this month and have often looked at the list of friends online and thought that I just didn't have enough energy to talk. I felt quite unable to say anything worthy of your attention, and feared that I wouldn't even be able to come up with a "yes" or "no" while listening. My apologies for this, and I hope to be more outgoing and forthcoming in future.

What else is new? The Cushicle is nearly ready for prime time (as we in the industry say), it flies much better than before though still not entirely properly. I have started giving away copies to beta-testers, because it is always good to get other people's opinions and observations. If you would like to be a beta-tester, speak to me in-world and I will give you a copy. All beta-testers will of course get a fresh final-release version free of charge once the last bugs are ironed out.

Busy

My buddy Lorac has been making skins to sell in her shop Pulse, and Corvi and I have been up late every other day for two weeks "test-driving" them for her. Curse the round world and its timezones!

They are lovely skins, quite beautiful, handpainted in a great range of skin tones* and makeup styles — and different appearances of nipples too! Some will be available with freckles, which I like, and she has promised to make a few with the appearance of real lived-in skin: moles and marks and little scars. They are still prototypes so I can't post photos yet, but they should be in the store this weekend!

[Update: they are indeed up, and Eidolon blogged about them, with pictures. (Warning: virtual nakedness. I don't know why it should be necessary to say that, but apparently it is. Sigh.)]

In other news I have also been working on my Cushicle, and it too is progressing quite well as far as appearance goes. The body is made, and has working canopy and propeller; I still want to improve the inside fittings though, to make it softer and more comfortable. I want it to feel more like a living room in a holiday house, than a vehicle. Unfortunately, there is a maximum of 31 prims in a vehicle! I have only three more prims with which to complete the interior furnishings. /me muses quietly.

The Cushicle's flight script is still terrible, though. It will not fly straight up or down, but always moves forward or backward at the same time — randomly! And while flying it changes attitude, its nose sometimes points quite steeply up or down. Ah well, at least I will have something to do this weekend.

* Clarification, to avoid confusion and unhappiness: Pulse released one skin tone last weekend, a lovely light tan in sixteen makeup variations; Lorac is now working on the second tone which will be a Nordic type, a healthy pale-pink skin.

Happy

I have been in a good mood all week, without any particular reason to tell. Or perhaps with many tiny little reasons that all add up to happiness. One thing that makes me happy is simply being busy, I like having things to do and people to do them with.

I am starting to make good friends in SL, to my surprise and pleasure, and have begun to prepare a home of my own where we might meet — and dance! One of the first things I did was to set up a tango dance animation pair. Watching myself dance in SL has made me want to begin dancing again in RL too, I should join a tango club and take some more lessons this summer.

Corvi and I are in the process of starting a kind of literary magazine in SL, loosely modelled on the New Yorker magazine: our desire is to present good, interesting writing which will be in but not about SL, as the New Yorker is not actually about Manhattan. This is still in very early stages, we are talking about what we would like to do.

My buddy Eidolon has started a business making skins and jewelry, and will open a store soon with a friend of hers, an artist who makes clothes, accessories and furniture. It's been exciting and quite amusing to see them working together, preparing the store; Corvi and I have been advising them on prices because they just have no idea, Lorac had set everything out far too cheaply for the quality of her work. Their store has a blog of its own, and is found in-world at Nip Tuck Island.

And I am working on a little building project: making a very slow vehicle. It will be a kind of flying sofa with cuddle and sitting poses, sleek like an airplane on the outside and satiny on the inside, with wood grain and soft furnishings and cut flowers, something like a mobile gazebo. I will post some photos here as it progresses.