Wednesday 31 October 2007

Happy Halloween! Part 2.

Yeah well classes sucked. Nobody came to the uni wearing a hockey mask and carrying kitchen knives, I was most upset. Anyways, here are two more of my fave places for spooky Halloween fun visits.

Gloomy Sunday. Nicholai and I visited this place on his birthday. Go and see that post for the kissing pic that was taken here *grins* Basically its a very cool haunted house on top of a hill full of loads of funky fun stuff to play with. I loved it, and the park is open all year round for romantic couple style stuff apparently.

The Devils Labyrinth. This is a very cool maze/dungeon type place, with multiple paths and exits/endings. Includes some fun puzzles and some gruesome scenery and the odd surprise in the form of random screams and ghosts... Highly recommended!

Well I was hoping to give you slightly more exhaustive reviews but I don't really have the time so this will have to do...

Have a great night and dont forget to be mean to those greedy begging kids.

Esmie xXx

Happy Halloween! Part 1.

Figured I'd celebrate this All-hallow-even (God, I love Wikipedia) by giving you a lil review of my three favourite spooky places in SL.

This is the first.. the other two will follow in later posts (I hope!).

1. The Sinistyle sim. Although it is basically just a huge store with fancy surroundings, this is a build of exceptionally high quality. It has everything you could want, really;

A crypt - inside you can buy coffins :D

An endless cornfield. Kinda really spooky, you dont realise how big it is until you walk into it. Its big enough so that you lose the name tags of the people you're with after a few seconds. Running around trying to find your partner is fun. There's also a secret snuggle place hidden in the barn, for those moments where you have to hide from the crazed, chainsaw wielding, flesh-eating redneck locals.

The lights on the bridge come on as you walk past them... Ooohhhhh Spooooky... how do they do that... Joking aside, it is a lovely touch and really builds some atmosphere.

This big, beautifully creepy old house is in fact now Sinistyle's main store. Inside you'll find all the dark, blood spattered clothing and razor blades, barbed wire and trenchcoats you'll ever need.

There are also pumpkins to buy and there are a few vendors out in the open area of the sim, selling all manner of creepy accessories and gadgets.

Its definitely worth a visit.. although my main complaint is that once you walk all around it there isnt much to actually *do*. Nowhere to sit or anything like that (unless you go inside the main store and thats basically camping for no pay). It is a seriously gorgeous build and my pics here only cover about half of what's there. I recommend it highly, especially for those looking for inspiration for their own place or for a creepy, gritty outfit for a party tonight.

The second place on my list will be in my next post - hopefully in a few hours after I come back from classes.

See ya then!

Esmie xXx

Tuesday 30 October 2007

Bandant, Pwned and dirt

Honestly, when Nicholai showed me his first concept idea for his Bandant magazine, I thought "Oh how convenient. Just as dirt spreads its wings and escapes the nest (Issue #2 is out Nov. 1st) my Kitten comes up with this rival publication".

I mean, even the title is French slang for dirty or filthy... *raises eyebrow*

But when you look at it, it isn't at all, and I am very glad he came up with this idea. Its more about general gay lifestyle stuff and combines RL elements, as well as erotic stories (guess who the stars are...) and fashion. While dirt will always be my priority (they had me first), I have pledged my support to Nicho's mag and I'm really quite honoured that he has given me the chance to design the front cover. I'm now a 'consultant' for the mag (Nooo idea what that means) and I hope to have at least one or two concepts for the cover done within a couple of weeks (if my classes aren't too intense).

Linuxess is working on the mag also and I can't wait to see what she comes up with... although looking at her recent blog posts, I feel that perhaps her mind will be elsewhere.

As for dirt... Chester has been focusing his attention on building houses and concepts for CNDG's new project recently - it's a big one - and I feel like the mag has been put on the back burner for a bit, which is foolish because the deadlines are much more strict for the mag than the build. Although it is Chester's own personal choice what he does with his time, I would hate to see this brilliant creation of his (and his interest in it) fade. Somehow I struggled to produce 6 pages in a month. I think we need more staff to help with the writing and design/production aspect of dirt - I will discuss this with our Editor in Chief and see if he agrees. I'll let you know what, if anything, we change about the mag.
Our next issue is entitled 'Combat Kitties'... and today, while strolling around the Block, I saw Pwned magazine. Its also on issue 2 and I was stunned at how awesome it was. Then I looked at the team and saw how freaking huge it was and I am proud we managed to produce something almost as good (Well I think so anyways) with just the three of us. Their issue two was also a 'Neko' special edition. I hate coincidences...

Ah well. Look out for Issue #2 of dirt magazine, available November 1st from our vendors - one is outside the Thrift store on Boots' beach. Otherwise you can just ask one of us for a copy of the mag. Ideas for Issue #3 are already swirling around inside my brain, we'll see what happens with that ;D

Esmie xXx

Sunday 28 October 2007

RenderGlow.

Use ctrl-alt-D to bring up the Client and Server menus. Go Client > Debug Settings. Select RenderGlow from the list and set it to 'TRUE'. Its amazing, beautiful, eye-opening but also very wierd...

We went to the SL Botanical Gardens just to see how crazy it could be. 'Ethereal' was the term Nicholai used.



Pics from outside and inside the glass house at the Botanical Gardens. If you haven't visited the place before, just go. Whether you have RenderGlow on or not it is a beautiful place, full of inspiration and an outstanding example of what can be achieved through co-operation and imagination in SL.

Esmie xXx

Saturday 27 October 2007

Stuff, Glorious Stuff...

Well this is gonna be random so hold on to your hats...

First up: The Brogear Mainstore SLURL. Truely is a great store and I am a big fan of Broder's stuff. Thanks Kaj for the LM!

Second Up: Aitui is having a sale of all the old stuff before the new things come out next month. Go there and buy the old stuff right now, its still better than pretty much anything else out there. Oh yes, and Jesseaitui has put up these shots on Flickr of the progress on his new skin... I must say its looking pretty freaking awesome. I might start work on one for a project over the holidays, could be fun :)

Third: Someone proposed I do a guide in my blog about Friends lists and the etiquette related to them... like do you wait one month or four before removing a AWOL friend? I can't give any decent advice on this... really I haven't removed anyone from my list for a long long time - hence it being 120+ people right now... But I guess you just gotta make up your mind sometime.. I have people on there I have literally not seen for 6 months and I know that in all honesty I will never see them again. I wasn't that close to them but I know people get upset when they go away for a while and everyone deletes them off their list. So... I say, give them a month or two - if you know they're coming back then don't delete them. If you know (they told you) they are never coming back maybe you just want to keep them on your list just in case they do.. or to just remember them. Its really up to you what you do.

Fourth: The Velvet. Its an alternative/rock/indie club and its almost always empty. Lovely tunes - Radio Pepito - and pretty much one of every dance you could ever want, as well as some awesome chill out spots and places to sit. I took Nicho there tonight and I think he loved it :D




Fifth: 100L to the person first to comment who can correctly guess who this pansy below is. Clue - He's a very regular visitor to Boots Beach. I briefly went to the Yumbo Halloween party tonight and I discovered this... thing. In fact he TP'd me there...

Finally: Hawtness. I made this new profile pic for myself, hope you guys like it. Feedback so far has been positive ;)

Took me about half an hour. Shiiiiit *remembers* I still havent sorted out Micahs... aaaaargh crap he must be pissed at me. Sorrrrry Micah!!! I'll refund your money and give you the two samples I already made for free, cos I treated you like crap and I feel like shit about it now. Thats the end of my customer service reputation *sighs*. Eeek I'd better pay Chester back too, I never even got round to starting his new one before I decided to take a break from doing all that stuff.

Shiiiiit again - that reminds me. I need to do those dirt article things. Tomorrow will involve a fair amount of writing I think >_<

Thats all for now, folks!

*Goes to bed, then to sleep*

Esmie xXx

Thursday 25 October 2007

Esmie Procrastinates.

I have a math test in an hour or so... I should be studying. Instead I am standing here talking crap with Broder (of Brogear - shit - I dont have an LM so no SLURL) and Jaho. Broder is now officially the youngest guy on the beach. Little bitch.

Esmie xXx

Wednesday 24 October 2007

RP

I put the RP up on the Nekoboiz blog. I guess you could say its a rather brilliant piece of two-person story telling. It has action, adventure and a tingling sense of tension running throughout. It leaves a few things unanswered though, and frankly, the bit at the end I cut off is just pure hot sex... so you dont need to see that, right?

:P

Esmie xXx

Tuesday 23 October 2007

*Fanboy scream*

Jesseaitui, creator of Aitui tattoo, jewellery, clothes, hair, skins and some furniture too, and also my hero and demi-god read my blog :O

He says I dont gotta wear my Aitui Advance skins for dirt mag.. and that he loves me and wants my babies (Ok that was my fantasy part of his IM) and that he is working on some stuff.. but ssshhhhhhhh! I dunno if its a secret or not >_> <_<;

BUT Aitui is having a big, fat makeover and will be bringing all-new tattoos and jewellery to SL in November... I can't fucking wait, seriously. I cannot describe how much I love the store. You may notice I kept the full body tats when I changed skin... thats how deep a part of my av they have become, I feel like I can change my skin easier than my tats.. buuut if I see something that suits me better in the new Aitui stuff, I will probably be swapping them for it - I hope Gabe wouldnt mind if I did, seeing as he bought them for me - but I reckon as long as I look good he doesnt mind ;D I forgots to ask my Kitten if I could post the RP *smacks head* so I'm prolly just gonna paste it onto the Nekoboiz blog, that way he can take it down if he don't like it (He runs that blog, hence the crazy Japanese videos in the sidebar.. >_>)

Sooo next time I get a moment on SL I will grab that. Also I have lots of stuff to do for dirt magazine.. the deadline is getting a little near and I still havent written all my articles... I keep procrastinating... in fact I even procrastinate about procrastinating.. like.. I spend five minutes putting my socks on in the mornings so I can put off having cereal, which I make really slowly, so I can put off going out the door to classes.. I'm like that with everything now, I think my whole life might just grind to a halt any day now. As if I can stop time!? O_o

Esmie xXx

Monday 22 October 2007

Some Epic RP.

I was gonna post Nicholai and I's rather epic RP from last night on here. It has a run time of over two hours ^^;

Then I figured I had better ask his permission first, just to be polite and thoughtful. Sooooo if the answer is 'yes' expect a huge IM log with no edits to be posted up on here or perhaps the Nekoboiz blog. If the answer is 'no' expect Nicholai to have a sore butt from the 'remember who is boss' spanking he'll get ;D

Only joking. I'll let you know on here if it comes up on the Nekoboiz... and if it emerges on this blog I guess you'll find it easily enough *lol*

Oh yeah. One more thing before I run off to classes. Check out Gabe's blog (he updated it finally!) for his reflections/thoughts/opinions/views on that (apparently) wonderful Chester bloke.

TTYL...

Esmie xXx

Saturday 20 October 2007

Skin Details

Ok well here it is.

I have been looking for new skins recently... for Nicholai and myself. Not sure why he wanted to change, his Gabriel from ND was perfect. But he went with a couple of eyeliner skins from Aitui, the Advance line, and he looks very cute indeed. I don't think its quite as sexy as the Gabriel, and makes him look a little older but of course - nothing could make me stop wanting him and he definitely looks totally lickable.

As for my skin... well you might remember the pack of skins Jesseaitui gave me for use in dirt magazine shoots. I love those, but they just felt kinda.. lifeless and pale. I really adore the dramatic eyeliner, and will of course be using those skins for dirt mags and some of my more extreme outfits. Anyways. I was tired of being pale and a little under-fed so I've been looking around for decent, hairless, fairly muscular skins with little stubble and dark eyes. Of course, ND's Dante skin looked gorgeous, but the body hair, stubble and obvious mole totally ruins it for me. Plus the wrinkles around the eye made me look alot older than I'd have liked.

The Justin skin from The Good Life was another possibility and looked good on me, my shape being derived from Dagon's interpretation of the standard Justin shape. Still - the chest/stomach hair and slightly beefy muscles didn't suit me. As for the FNKY! Antonio skin... I was totally clueless about whether to buy this or not - It looked very hot, very realistic - but it lacked warmth and character, and it has grown way too popular, I see so many around now. Plus it had body hair.

So that was tempting but I thought better of it in the end. Last night I was on the beach when a fairly new SL resident turned up, Viktur Vendetta, wearing an exceptionally hot and handsome skin. It reminded me so much of the Antonio but was a totally different skintone. I asked where he got it and after exchanging an LM to the place I got my piercings, he gave me the LM to DragonFly.

Now... the old DragonFly skins are well known in SL, I see them around alot. But they're a bit shiny and muscled, not very detailed, with plump lips. The new one is called Joshua, and to me it seems like a cross between the Gabriel and the Antonio... I simply love it. I was thinking of going for a caucasian skintone, but Nicholai loves a nice tanned bod - and as I said, I was tired of being pale - so I plumped for the Beachtan skintone.

The skin cost 1650L, and is available in a multitude of body, facial and head hair types.

Esmie xXx

A New Skin!


You know what this means... Having to redo my profile pic, updating the blog header and also taking loads of more revealing pics for my next post. I also have to make a SLURL and give you the location of the store I got this from, as well as tell you who the rather handsome young gentleman was who set me on this path of discovery. I guess I also should explain why I went out and got one after getting those skins in that free pack from Aitui... All will be revealed next post!

Esmie xXx

(It isnt the Antonio from FNKY!)

Thursday 18 October 2007

Happy 1st Rez Day!


To my Kitten!


I love you Nicholai.. I've known you most of my SL and you have been consistently the one person that has given me more happiness and unquestioning loyalty and love than anyone else, throughout it all. I hope to celebrate every rez day with you... and I hope you liked your present :D
Nicholai had a fairly low-key rezday. We explored some haunted houses (I will be reviewing my favourites here soon)

Then I gave him his present while we danced alone in a very pretty sim... Can you guess what the present was? :D

To Karl!


I've known you almost exactly as long as I have Nicholai, and well, we had some 'fun times' back in the old days, but you've become one of my coolest, dearest and closest friends. Love you, ya big dumb yank :)

Karl's was decidedly not low-key. He had a party on Boots beach with fireworks and dancing and rezday cake. Yum!

Of course my love goes out to everyone else, whether its your rez day or not. Mine is coming up in a month roughly and so is Gabe's and my SL bro Andrew's - all one after the other, on consecutive days I think. Might have one massive party :D

Stay tuned for details..

Esmie xXx

Wednesday 17 October 2007

How To Emote


Welcome to Esmie's Guides and Advice Part 3.
~ How to 'Emote' ~
(Part 1 - How to build an AO - is here. Part 2 - How to be a Neko is here.)

*WARNING - Most emotes are used in a sexual or roleplay context, so that's my excuse for making my examples full of sexy stuff. If you don't like it, don't read it!*

No animation in SL can convey as much detail, action, or indeed, emotion as even the most basic of emotes. I don't claim to know everything about this mysterious, powerful force. In fact, even I had to learn the most basic stuff at some point, and it was Nicholai who taught me, and I have taught a few others since, but I am always learning and adapting, trying to improve my emoting... it can never be perfect. I tried to include as much in this guide as possible, so that even the most novice of SLer's can take something from it, as well as those guys my SL age who just want to hear my thoughts on it. I do not presume to tell you that you need help with your emoting, so don't get upset if it seems like I am telling you everything you already know - take as much or as little advice from this as you like - its there for you if needed. But I hope this will be an enjoyable read whether you know how to emote or not.

Good emoting is the difference between:

Esmiel Posthorn: *sucks your cock*

and...

Esmiel Posthorn slowly drops to his knees, looking up at you as he unzips your fly. He trembles slightly in anticipation as you lower your pants around your ankles. He takes your growing cock in his hands and strokes it gently with his fingers and lips, kissing the tip softly. He wraps his lips around the head, before opening his mouth wide and taking your full length, and he gags slightly as the tip hits the back of his throat...

I was showing off a bit there. I wouldn't be that creative in that situation - let alone able to type it all out before my partner assumed I had crashed. But you get the point - its not difficult to determine which one is more enjoyable or erotic.

The whole sex in SL thing falls into three or four categories for me.

Firstly - the kind where you put on your Xcite bits, jump on a Sexgen bed and pose n click your way to climax. Kinda like virtual porn, no thinking required. I grew out of that a long, long time ago... its just not for me. But if it's you, then its all good :)

Secondly - 100% emotes. Often all you need is a sitting or basic cuddle pose and all the rest is text based - cybering. No nudity, no poses, no clicking. This is a nice way to do it, allowing you to concentrate entirely on the emotes and situation. Although its not very pornographic, if thats what you want.

Thirdly - just clicking. I have seen people do this and I have no idea how they can bring themselves to say 'that was good, thanks' afterwards. I did this once as a newb. I will never forget how freaking lame it was. All you do is click a couple of buttons and that's sex? Puh-lease. Oh, and if that is you, I hope to God you take some notes from this guide.

Fourthly - a combination of emotes, Xcite and poses. (I assume you use Xcite, just cos pretty much everyone does... if you dont, then I love you and you are awesome). This is the way I like it. We start on a Resolution (the greatest make-out set of animations ever, from Bits n Bobs) or something, then basically emote kissing 'n' de-clothing each other, clicking Xcite parts to go along with our emotes, just to give it a slightly more sexy, visual element. Of course, doing all this at once can lead to you forgetting things like removing your pants. Its not a problem, just take them off and blame the lag later ;)

I find using type 4 is more akin to 'making love' than any other form of sex in SL. You form a deeper, more explorable, exciting and open-ended experience with your partner, a real, true bond that can get you off enough to not need Xcite or Sexgen.

Of course, typing usually requires two hands, and that leaves me with a little problem, in that I spend all my time typing and not as much on 'getting off'. Although I have only ... once maybe twice had a RL climax from participating in sex in SL, those were the only times in 11 months. I know the majority of people out there are jacking away while they have sex in SL - (even whilst creating the most amazing, sensual and very long emotes) and thats cool, cos I would too if I could. But I use my hands and my mind to concentrate on something deeper than that - the experience - of both partners - is more important to me than the outcome, so I focus on that.

Although saying that, knowing my emotes, appearance and actions in SL can give my partners *that much* pleasure in RL is a fantastic feeling! :D

The greatest thing about emoting is the freedom that it gives to your roleplaying. You can sneer, smirk, smile, laugh, grin, giggle, chuckle, blow a damn raspberry - and thats only some of the things you can do with just your mouth! If you did that stuff with a simple animation, the others involved in your RP might miss it, and there is no way to discern between a smile and a grin from an animation - but they are distinctly different things. Essentially, RP and emote-type sex are the same thing. You tell a story along with your fellow RP'er(s), and its up to both of you exactly where it goes and for how long, who you are, why you're there and so on... for Nicholai and myself, RP forms a big part of our sex life.

I've broken the main 'How to *actually* emote' section of my guide down into 4 bite-sized chunks. Here goes...

1. Basics - How do you actually emote?

Many people have asked me 'how do you do actions like that?' or whatever...

The classic *, denoting an action, is fine if adding a little something to a line of chat.

For example:

Esmiel Posthorn: Chesty, I think dirt magazine needs more nude shots *grins*
Chester Howley: *nods* Esi, you are so right, as always!
Esmiel Posthorn: I know *blush*

However, for longer, mostly 'action' lines, you need a proper emote. /me is how to do it.

Example... type in

/me kicks Chester's ass at everything, including emoting, shopping and being hawt.

and you get:

Esmiel Posthorn kicks Chester's ass at everything, including emoting, shopping and being hawt.

Easy.

2. Tenses, Point of View, Etc.

Emotes are present-tense, third person. Mixing this up can have disastrous consequences, ranging from making you look a little bit silly to totally ruining an amazing RP session.

How NOT to do it:

Esmiel Posthorn smiled warmly as I remove your shirt, pressing my soft lips against Nicholai's chest.

There are 4 mistakes in the above emote;

'smiled' should be 'smiles'
'I' should be 'he'
'my' should be 'his'
'Nicholai's' should be 'your'

It should appear thus;

Esmiel Posthorn smiles warmly as he removes your shirt, pressing his soft lips against your chest.

I'd reccomend not referring to your partner by name in your emotes (unless you're in a big group), you wont want to type out their name repeatedly, and the whole 'puts his (my) hands on his (not mine, yours) chest' gets annoying and confusing. I know we all make mistakes, and this is where good language skills really come into play - if you're not too sharp on that, no worries, just practice and speaking in third-person will become like a second language to you.

3. Repetition

BAD:
Esmiel Posthorn gently runs his fingers up your spine, his fingertips caressing your skin gently.

GOOD:
Esmiel Posthorn gently runs his fingers up your spine, fingertips softly caressing your skin.

Much better huh? Nothing I hate more than seeing a wonderful emote being ruined by over-use of a descriptive term. Unfortunately I only know a few words for softly, gently, delicately, and I do tend to really over-use them - what with Nicholai being the sensitive type 'n' all :)

I guess you could cut down on this by varying your actions a little... or your RP style/characters each time... so that softly becomes firmly, stroke becomes grab etc.. depends what your partner likes. Speaking of which, the final part...

4. Reciprocation (- noun, a mutual giving and receiving)

When you emote, you generally expect your partner/friend/snuggle buddy to do emote back. Sometimes, you find someone with who you just seem to gel naturally. Spend alot of time with them and you can predict what they will answer with to certain actions towards them. If they are expecting you to do a certain thing, mess them up by turning the whole situation on it's head. See what happens. A stubborn individual will steer it their own way, expecting their partner to tag along. What can be quite good is to consciously reverse this role each time, keeping the RP fresh and exciting as each of you will probably end up taking the same situation on a completely different path to wildly fantastic endings - hopefully your partner will be willing to go along with your idea and not pull you back into their own perfect fantasy. It's good if you both enjoy it, but you have to allow for some experimenting by either partner sometimes. If they cant do it with you then who else can they do it with?

Some people emote better than others, or do it in a more suitable, matching style to your own. Sometimes it just works, sometimes it just doesn't. If you want to try RP/making love using emotes with your partner, and they seem uninterested, I'd suggest at least asking them to try it once... If they say no, then they obviously don't care enough about you, and if they hate it then they are lazy and boring and just want porn. Thats just my own personal opinion, because if they're willing to ignore your desires and just focus on their own, then why are you there? It had better be a good reason, like money or something *lol*

Of course, the most important thing to do when learning to emote is practice and experiment. You can tell amazing stories, play impossibly cool, cute, fantastic characters - it may say Esmiel above my av, but I decide what Esmiel is like, how he acts and how he speaks during any one RP session - and you can do anything, go anywhere, be anyone, make love in any position. All using emotes.

For Part 4 of my Guides and Advice series I will be covering and explaining taking snapshots in SL.

Esmie xXx



Tuesday 16 October 2007

The Mysterious Disappearance.

Osayo's blog all vanished :o

Now it just has little messages saying he wants to start over. Which is cool. I kinda liked the old one, but as long as he is satisfied with his own creation, thats what is important. Its still the same address and my link to the right still works. At least he has done *something* with his blog recently :P

Not sure if I will be on tonight... Going out for a meal and some drinks with friends and classmates. Uni finishes at 4.15.. I'll get back to my place about 5.30 then we're meeting up at 7.30 so not sure if I will have time for a quick visit to SL. I hope so. I'll be in-world if I get home before midnight, which I should do, so I hope to see you then :)

My next post (tonight or tomorrow) will be Esmie's Guides and Advice Part 3: Emotes. Hope you're looking forward to reading it as much as I am to writing it!

Esmie xXx

Monday 15 October 2007

dirt mag #2

Ok well issue #2 is out November the 1st. I'm gonna leak you a tiny bit of the sizzling hot content (Chester hasn't given me permission to do this, but screw him! This is my blog I can post this if I want...)

Esmiel Posthorn lets out a muffled gasp as a small, feminine hand wraps around his face, covering his mouth. He feels something that closely resembles the business end of a Glock prodding him in the spine and sits up straight, whimpering softly. A sexy Australian accent whispers into Esmiel's twitching ear, hot breath tickling his soft skin; "The title and one pic only. Or else. Mate." With that, the shadowy figure dissolves back into the darkness. Esmiel turns around to see who the intruder could possibly have been but the door slams and he is already gone. Wiping his sweating brow, Esmie gulps and continues with the blog post, fingers trembling as they type...

Well I decided not to reveal any more than the title and one pic, that I have taken for the mag. Issue 2 will be entitled 'Combat Kitties' and this is just one picture that will hopefully make it into the mag:



Maybe I should spend my day off (read post below for info) doing some work for dirt, writing up articles and such. I know the whole thing will fall apart if I don't do my share...

(I'm sorry about the whole intruder emoty thing just then, I'm practicing for my emoting advice guide :P)

Esmie xXx

*Yawn*

I stayed up til almost 4am last night so I could be with Nicholai. In the back of my mind, I was screaming at myself "You have to get up at 7am!!". Now for some people, it would be easy to just say "ok baby I got to get to bed, see you tomorrow" but for me... I just decided not to.

Now I'm sitting here, munching toast and missing my classes because I had to sleep in... I could not function without more sleep. So I got up at 11am and I am *still* sleepy. Its hard enough staying awake during my classes, but today it would be impossible... I think I might go back to bed a bit later (I didn't get much sleep saturday or friday night either). But I have a lab book report to write up for tomorrow (which I wouldn't have been able to do if I *had* gone in today, cos I woulda collapsed when I got home and not done any work at all). So at least I have a chance now to do that.

On my last two posts you may have noticed a cheeky redhead posting comments... Sean is a DJ who does Irish stuff - classic (old celtic things) and modern (Snow Patrol! :O) and everything. I'm putting up a link to his blog, where you can get his playlists from his shows at the Blarney Stone in SL Dublin. As well as some other things he is beginning to stick on there :)
Ohhh and I will also put the link to his partner Ryan's rather awesome Men's Second Style blog, through which I found Armidi recently, for which I am eternally grateful. I don't think our dirt mag is much of a rival to this blog, because it has a much broader range of outfits and proper reviews too. Although I might steal some of the ideas. Speaking of dirt mag, I'm putting up the link to our blog for that too. Its absolutely nothing right now, but I'm hoping Chester will get round to making it into *something* soon.

Esmie xXx

Sunday 14 October 2007

200

Ok well here we are. Post number 200.

Firstly I'd like to thank you all for reading this far. I know this blog has gathered quite a following and it seriously gives me great confidence and pleasure to know that you enjoy my rambling bullshit. So thanks for making my blog worth writing, because although I love doing it anyways, and would do it even if I had no readers, knowing you guys are out there makes it that so much more special for me.

Look back at post number 1.

21st of February... I don't even remember what I looked like back then, not for sure. I think I was in my oriental street punk kid mode, although the general fashion trends in SL were not helpful at the time...

See my old set of rules?

Rule 1. Broken several times.

Rule 2. Almost broken. Really. I won't go into the details, but yeah it was happening til someone stopped it.

Rule 3. I hope I haven't broken this one too often... but I know I have said the odd mean thing without thinking. If I ever have, just know that I don't mean to be and I have bad days just like everyone else. I'm sorry :)

Rule 4. Well damn I break this one too often.That "Can you tell the bride to hold on a sec, I just gotta read that last IM from Gabe" sorta thing actually could happen :)

Rule 5. I haven't broken this one. At least, I've never intended to and hopefully have never even come close...

Well I think my time in SL since that day has been relatively successful, fruitful and very happy.

I've grown up a whole load, made many many new friends, had a few relationships. Felt alot of hurt too, mostly not directed towards myself, but through the people I have come to truely love and care for. I know I've got too deeply, emotionally involved in this place, I admit it. But these are real people with real feelings and emotions and I care for them... so I can't help but get involved.

Any hurt I have felt or seen or experienced here, and my reactions and those of the other people involved have made me stronger as a person in both lives. As I grew in SL I realised I must have a reason to exist here - and that reason should be a good, worthwhile and honest one. I've had alot of luck in my RL, it's been very good to me. I know many people who are not so fortunate, most of the people closest to me in SL have many RL problems and fears, worries and issues.

From my RL I've realised that just talking and listening to people can do a whole lot of good, both for them and you. I'm constantly astonished by what some people (including myself) are willing to reveal in SL about their personal details and problems. So... anyways.

My purpose in SL, my reason for being here is... to make other people's SLs and RLs better, in anyway I can... and if I can't, then I'll be with them and support them however they need me, for as long as I can. Thats it, thats all I try to do here. Whether its by making them a nice profile picture, giving them advice on clothing or by helping them build a house or by listening to their problems and offering my support - I hope I can make a real difference to all my friends' lives, change them for the better.

Over the past 200 posts I hope I have helped make your lives a little more fun, a little less boring, maybe helped you out some other way with advice or information. If you have any problems with what I do include, or want to suggest anything I should include, don't hesitate - just let me know. This blog is as much about you guys as it is me, and I thank you for being a part of it. Lets see how it grows over the next 200 posts :)


Esmie xXx

Saturday 13 October 2007

Black Sheep

Well I haven't been on much the last couple of days - yesterday I wasn't on at all. Mostly because in the evening, I went out with some friends and we saw Black Sheep at the cinema. It is a stupid film, intentionally so. It's gross too. Absolutely disgusting in some parts - I'm not squeamish, but there's a bit near the end where the sheep bites his... *crosses legs*... that was just too much for me.

Basically, its about a guy returning to his family's farm in New Zealand, 15 years after leaving. He has a phobia of sheep. Which is great on a farm with 50,000 of them. His fear suddenly doesn't seem so irrational when we discover the farm has been used to breed and experiment on genetically modified sheep. They turn out to be less than friendly when one escapes.

Essentially, its that 28 Days Later movie, with sheep instead of people. Oh, and interesting things happen to the people who get bitten by the sheep. You'll have to watch it to find out what I mean :)

Negatives:It is a stupid movie, the plot is paper-thin, the acting is less than brilliant.

Positives: It has some genuine LOLs in it. The guys are cute, especially Henry (the main character). The effects are awesome and suitably extreme and OTT. Some of the scenery and landscape is breathtaking (It is NZ after all) - although you dont get to see much of it before it gets covered in blood and entrails.

So.. thats where I was last night :)

I just realised that my next post will be my 200th on this blog. I'm going to be taking a look back in time to my very first post and finding out what has changed for me and my SL in general in that time.

Also coming up in the near future is Part 3 of my Guides and Advice - this time its gonna be emoting. I'm gonna leak one or two of my pics from the next issue of dirt, just for you guys :P I'm gonna be putting up that post about my RL quite soon too, so I hope you're looking forward to that! I also have a few other things to bring you that I'm currently working on... wait 'n' see! ;D

Oh, and by the way, its been ages since any of the blogs in my links section were updated... Thinking about deleting some of those links unless we see some activity... I'm kidding but seriously... you guys must have done something worth writing about in the last few weeks! Maybe I am just too obsessed with this shit :)

Esmie xXx

Thursday 11 October 2007

Check These Out...

Interesting article here from the BBC, about 'universal avatars' being able to move between all online worlds. I can't imagine my Esmiel avatar working too well in Puzzle Pirates...

A very awesome British band called The Departure have a new single out. Their first album was excellent, but nobody bought it. Hopefully this single will change things for the better for their second effort. It's available as a free (legal!!!) download here.

Dunno if you guys will like it, just thought you might wanna check it out :) (Its alternative rock stuff by the way, so if you only listen to Madonna, be warned)

Finally, this flash animation on Newgrounds is one of the funniest things I've ever seen on there. Again, not sure if you guys will enjoy it, but hey, its worth a look :)

Tankmen 2

Sould keep you busy while you're supposed to be working ;D

TTFN!

Esmie xXx

Better Again

Thanks for all your kind comments and sympathy guys... I'm better already! Yay! I'm surprised it lasted that long actually, but I just get lucky usually. Big thanks to Adian for the e-card, it was so sweet! *hugs*

Of course, having a cold is nothing really, compared to what some people in the world suffer with. We all know whats out there, and that it could hit us at any time. I guess I am extremely lucky that all I ever seem to get are colds, nothing worse. (Apart from the genetic diabetes of course - I can't escape that *lol*). All this fuss over a little cold, when we should be thinking and caring more for the people who really need it. But I appreciate it, really, guys :) *hugs*

My friends informed me that yesterday was absolutely awful, boring and pointless, so I'm kinda glad I had a real excuse to take that day off *lol*

Esmie xXx

Wednesday 10 October 2007

Taking a Day Off

I can't remember the last time I took a day off cos I was sick.. was probably last year around this time. My cold is a little bit worse than yesterday.. my throat is more sore and my nose more blocked, but at least it isnt dripping as much. I just feel kinda tired and my muscles ache and I cant be dealing with the stress of uni in this condition. So I'm taking a day off to ensure I get rested up and to help my recovery. I'm expecting it to be gone by tomorrow, well, hoping anyways, cos I hate taking days off...

Tuesday 9 October 2007

*sniff*

No its ok, I'm not upset about anything... I just have a damn cold! Urgh the sore throat, the aching eyes, the runny nose. I feel like crap. I don't get ill very often, and I'm quite lucky that when I do its usually only a mild cold thats over in a day. I'm just hoping it wont get worse because I don't fancy missing classes tomorrow, which I will have to if this gets more intense. Should be fine tho :)

Leads me to thinking... in RL, we get sick, we get old, we have diseases, pain, injuries and accidents. In SL... I can fall 2,000m with no parachute onto solid rock and stand right back up, dust myself off and walk away. I haven't tried this in RL but I imagine it would leave a stain.

So... I think if we could take any aspect of the SL world into RL, I would choose that - the painless, forever healthy aspect, and RL would be a better place. Its not like we would live forever, we could still die, just like we can delete the account.

I'm interested what other aspects of the SL world people would apply to RL, if you could only pick one, what would it be? The ability to fly? To teleport? To not feel pain also? To be able to create anything you want with a few thoughts? (I think that would be a little too dangerous). There are many more to choose from, I'm just interested what you guys would choose? Debate!

Esmie xXx

Monday 8 October 2007

Our New Home

Check this out:




Isn't it gorgeous? The 2499L Sonrisa from Pre Fabulous.

You might be able to see a pink bed hovering over the pool... Nicholai put it there to 'see if I would notice it' lol
He's made a post on our Nekoboiz blog, explaining whats been going on with him the past few months. It's painful for me just to read it, I can only imagine what it must be like to go through that experience... and I wont go into detail about that thing with the guy, it makes me too angry and upset to even think about it. It feels like Nicho needs me more now than ever, and I can't be around for him as much as I would like, it makes me feel awful.

But the computer will be free tonight, cos Alfie is out visiting a friend, so hopefully I can get some quality time with Nicho and the rest of you guys who I've been neglecting recently :)

Esmie xXx

Friday 5 October 2007

Time Limits and New Houses

Ok well my time in SL and on the computer generally has been severely limited since Alfie came home. Its fine, because he needs to do his work on here, being a computer science student and all that. He's currently asleep in bed, missing classes, because he told me 'fuck off I dont give a shit' when I tried to wake him up in time, like he asked me to. Oh well...

So, because of that time limitation, I'm not gonna be doing anymore profile pictures once I've finished the ones that have already been paid for. If Micah is out there wondering why his has taken so long, its because I finished the 3 samples then decided I hated one of them and presenting it to him would be an insult *lol* so I've been working on a new one, which, because of constraints mentioned above, is taking a while.

Nicholai and I are planning on buying a new house today, from Pre Fabulous

The homes and skyboxes here are truly stunning, and the house we plan on buying only goes on sale today. We thought the house we have now was perfect, but this place is just something else... I'll give you a tour of it once we've got it sorted.

Esmie xXx

Wednesday 3 October 2007

An Interesting Blog

Well I had just signed into Blogger and was wondering what to post about when I noticed the scrolling 'Blogs of note' feed. At that exact moment was one entitled 'A Soviet Poster A Day'.

I've always been interested in the media manipulation and propaganda excreted by any government, but I find Soviet and Communist ones especially fascinating. Not only is the artwork harshly striking, often beautiful in its simplicity and angular design, but I also feel they convey an important message about a period of history in a fresh and inspiring way.

It's also a pretty good resource for modern artists trying to capture a retro style in their work. I hope you find the blog and artwork as interesting as I do :)

Esmie xXx

Tuesday 2 October 2007

New Residents

I was swimming around Society Islands/Maupiti the other day and I noticed we have some new residents. I'm not talking about the cute neko Chained, or the lovely Desiree (although they are new residents in Maupiti), I'm talking these guys:
Dolphins!
A baby Blue Whale. You may notice Desiree's house in the background... typically she picked the one with the most pink. Girls never change...

We also have loads of tropical marine fish, turtles and crabs and starfish, sea urchins and a massive, toothy monster of a beast that hides somewhere under the pirate ship. There is also a giant, evil spider in the secret caves within the mountain. I've had to rescue Nicholai from him more than once...

I'll see if I can get some more snaps of our local fauna for future posts.

Esmie xXx

Monday 1 October 2007

Burning Man

Well on Sunday, Nicholai and I went for a day trip to the Burning Man festival. It was a fascinating place, full of wierd stuff. I guess the best way to describe it is to show you some pictures : )

Possibly the biggest tongue I have ever stood on.

I didn't do it! >.>

The robot took the space rocket to the chest like a champ!

The Ice Queen's Palace! Being a faun, I wasn't sure if this was such a good idea...

FAUN?! I hear you splutter.

Yup.. Nicho got me this as a present, I love it! The little horns are so cute :)

Our reception was somewhat frosty...

Lots to do here; Ice skating, snowball fights, exploring the Enchanted forest or getting freaky in the formal gardens...

This gigantic tree was most impressive.

The whole area around it was speckled with little interesting, moving sculptures that Nicho just *had* to ride :)

The tree and all its little extras was incredibly well made - must have taken alot of work.

Train! A very highly detailed model. Couldnt get in it tho :(

The picture doesn't show how all the textures and prims were moving, like eternally mixing and rolling waves. Very cool, but it hurt my brain a bit...

... and the inside did nothing to cure that.

Hideous isn't it?

This *really* made my brain hurt. If I took videos of this stuff, I'd have to put epilepsy warnings on my blog.

Just don't ask... I don't know what the hell this is. Indeed, 'wth', 'wtf' and 'omg wtf' were repeated quite often on our day out.

Here we have the visitor's map... you can see how many sims there were. LOADS. We only visited 2 or 3.

Ice, lava and a burning Globe theatre. Does it get any crazier than that?

The 'linden train spotters fan club bench'. It was free to copy but alas I failed to grab one.

Well at least the timetable is more accurate than the British Rail one...

Giant ants eating a white chocolate bunny.

Perhaps one of the most interesting things we found was this crashed spaceship.

It was supposedly bringing what we desperately needed in order to revive our dying planet.


All I found in the wreckage was a notecard, the central theme of which was:
'You laugh, and the whole world laughs with you. You weep, and you weep alone"

Thats deep.

So yeah. That was only a tiny fraction of what was on display, but the lag got to us eventually and we left to visit Gay World mall.

During our trip to the Burning Man thingy, we were laughing at a mock up of the US alert thing, where at Critical Threat level it had 'omfg we're all going to die, vote Republican'. Then some guy called, I'm fairly certain, 'Nigga Graves', dressed as Darth Vader, told us to 'fuck off and visit Hezbollah.org' or something. So we just walked away from that one. Some people in SL... there aren't words.

Esmie xXx