I Want My Weekend!

Has the weekend begun yet? No! Another half hour and I’m outta here for a 3-day weekend…well, except for the on-call hours tomorrow.

So what am I doing Labor Day weekend? Buying new tires, playing in Second Life, checking in at work, playing in Second Life, working on some school stuff, playing in Second Life, doing laundry and buying groceries, playing in Second Life, going to a Diamondbacks game with the family (we’ll be in the pool area – whoo hoo!), hanging out with family, and who knows? Maybe I’ll play around in Second Life.

Dancing Liberally Tonight!

Second Life here I come! It’s Dancing Liberally tonight and I’m going to put on my dancing shoes (okay, they’re fuzzy slippers) and do me some dancing.  Any of you progressive-minded SLers out there come and join us. It starts at 7:00 SL time.

This Fall’s Film Series Starts with The Kid

Ah, the lovely fall semester has begun and I’ve already had to face tons of befuddled faculty, an extreme lack of parking, and returning students who feel that walking across the street while I am stopped to let them pass requires the slowest pace possible. Yes, I hate the start of the semester.

What I do look forward to is the film series that our Humanities department puts on. This semester’s is a doozy: The Films that Changed Films. From Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid to Coppola’s The Godfather, there are so many good movies in this series. I’m going to get to see movies I’ve seen before and movies I’ve never seen. Best of all, I’m seeing them with an audience, the way movies should be seen.

Tonight’s movie is Chaplin’s The Kid. This 1921 film was all Chaplin’s doing. He wrote, directed, and starred in this comedy about a poor man taking care of an abandoned boy. Little Jackie Coogan plays the kid. Coogan will grow up to play Uncle Fester in The Addams Family and Chaplin will go on to create even bigger and better films, but this was the one that broke the comedy mold.

Coming in at 68 minutes– a full-length, six-reel film when comedies were one or two reelers — the movie changed the idea of slapstick comedy. Sure there’s plenty of it, but there’s also some heartfelt emotion mixed in with the comedy. It is sentimental, but it still can get your eyes misty as we watch the Tramp and the Kid overcome odds in a world of poverty.

Other movies I’m looking forward to include Snow White, The Third Man, Citizen Kane, The Best Years of Our Lives, Bonnie and Clyde, Cabaret, High Noon, and Breathless.

So, though I complain about all those students and the beginning of a new semester, I feel rewarded. It’s movie heaven for me.

Where’s My Lazy Sunday Afternoon?

Here I am. Sitting in my office at work. Oh, woe is me.

Eh, it’s not that bad for the day before our craziest day of work. I’m getting things done and I didn’t have to do anything yesterday due to a power outage on campus. Yes, someone doing some construction cut a major power line on campus, which is bad, but it’s really bad when the power goes off at the ITS building. All those poor servers losing power meant that I didn’t have any work to do yesterday. Not bad for a fun Saturday.

Of course, it makes for a much less fun Sunday. Oh woe is me. 😉

Another SL Post

It finally happened. The land that abuts mine and has such a pretty view is up for sale. There’s the huge For Sale sign floating in the sky and a nice house has disappeared. Oh well, I knew that my nice view was not going to last.

On the bright side? I can find a cute outfit by mixing and matching various items in my inventory. See, it all works out in Second Life — ugly neighborhood; pretty clothes.

Let’s see…what am I wearing over my spiffy red and black bathing suit? Yes, that’s why I ended up with the black and red themed outfit. I needed something that looked good with the swim suit and my homemade red and black bracelets and earrings.

• Cherry cardigan in black – Artilleri
• Gia shoes – Artilleri
• Uptown Red outfit pants – Vitamin Ci
• Hair – ETD’s Jasmine in Jet
• Skin – Sin Skin’s Stratus Sultry Red

I like playing Barbie!

Hugh Laurie Fix

Damn. I need to go to bed. Unfortunately, I’m watching disc 2 of the second season of House M.D. and can’t turn it off. Hugh Laurie’s House is just too good a character not to keep watching.

If I’m dragging tomorrow we’ll know why, it’s my House obsession.

Stardust review

What is it about fantasy movies that make them such a risk. Either too cloying or too out there, it’s hard to find one that has fun with the fantasy aspects yet still keep the story interesting. Stardust achieves this feat. It doesn’t hurt to have Michelle Pfeiffer playing an evil witch and Robert De Niro a pirate.

Yes, I liked it. Here is my review.

Coffee Malady

So who thought it was a good idea to clean the coffee maker at work this morning? Someone is running vinegar and water through the coffee maker and I come in on a MONDAY MORNING and there’s no way to make coffee.
Sigh. All right, it needed it.

Orange Jewelry

My last few posts had a focus on the color orange. I talked about my Orange Night, then about the sale and fundraiser at Sand Shack Surf Co. and the orange clothes I purchased. Really, all this talk of orange colors you would hope that I’m taking in some vitamin C.

So what do I do today? All those orange items I bought need something to go with them. Thus, orange-themed jewelry. I’m sure that orange is this year’s… um…okay, what is this year’s hot color? Anyway, here’s what I came up with in Second Life:

Nice, huh? Plastic jewelry of the orange kind. I think it makes a fashion statement. Now if only I could do something about this strong craving for some orange juice right now! 😉

Shaking it Up at Sand Shack Surf Company

You know what doesn’t mix? Strawberry milkshakes and a laptop. As Emma Gilmour explains it it kind of messes with a Mac to have milkshake poured onto it. Who woulda thunk?

Emma is the creator of my favorite pair of jeans in Second Life. Her Sand Shack Surf Company (http://slurl.com/secondlife/artilleri/91/180/733) offers lots of great clothes, but in order to raise money to fix her computer she’s holding a fundraiser along with a wonderful sale. Shop and help someone at the same time? Oh yeah, you know I’m there!

I headed over as soon as I saw the post on Appearance Mode about the sale…er…fundraiser. I picked up a few things and what a great opportunity to take preening pictures of myself, practice my GIMP skills, and show off the great stuff I picked up. Isn’t life great? Or should I say Second Life?

I feel very French in this Kentford outfit. It must be the black and white stripes, plus the jaunty scarf around my neck. The sunglasses were also another purchase from Emma’s. I love the back of the shirt. Isn’t that great? It also comes with a skirt to match the scarf, and the shoes you see. The tattoo is from Butterfly Island. The hair is Reckless from Tami McCoy’s shop.

I wrote about how I was feeling last night after hanging out with the YearlyKos (now Netroots Nation) crowd. Some of us changed into orange clothing but I only had one shirt. Well, after visiting Surf Company that is no longer my problem!

Look at that orange! Wow. I’m wearing the Sunrise ensemble in the first picture. Shoes are from ETD and the hair is Calico Creations’ “Carol.” Am I “Little Miss Sunshine” or what in the second set of images? Hair is Calla’s Viscaria. The tangy tank top along with those favorite jeans (Hipster Cowgirl) is shown in the last image. These aren’t at sale prices but who cares? They’re great! The shoes are the Boho Sandals from Shiny Things and the hair is Calico Creations‘ “Sarah II.” All the skin is from the Cashmere tone in either Peach or Red at Celestial Studios.

If you could care less about Emma’s laptop you still should head on over to her shop. There are just too many good items on sale and at regular prices.

Orange Night

My plans to get some work done tonight were easily foiled by an email from the YKSL group in Second Life. An announcement that Jimbo was stating that he was interviewing Sanford Horwitt, author of Feingold: A New Democratic Party, I had to jump into SL and go see. I consider Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin the best of the Washington bunch. Horwitt’s biography sounded interesting. If you’re interested in learning more about the book Horwitt will join FireDogLake this Sunday to “talk” about it and answer questions.

Seeing a bunch of the YKSL gang made for a much better evening than getting some work done, though it now waits for me tomorrow. Still, we had dancing and you know I love that Second Life dancing! We joked dance, I flirted a bit with a gentleman named Townes Lusch (hmmm…now that’s  a good SL name), danced some more, and changed my clothes in public — easy to do in SL.

My black “Rock” t-shirt changed to something more DailyKos influenced…like something orange. A bunch of us put on orange shirts, pants, skirts, hair, and even skin.   I pulled out my other favorite t-shirt, the “Pop My Cherry” shirt (okay, okay, I can’t help it — I like it).

After the party Second Life continued the orange theme with a lovely setting moon.

Tats

It’s time to post some Second Life pics. My shopaholic nature keeps kicking in and I try new stores. Do I buy gorgeous gowns? Sometimes. Sometimes I buy for fun.

Here I am in very casual mode, wearing the Kitty tank top from Artilleri, the Grungy Denim Bermuda shorts from Sand Shack Surf Co., and Shiny Things‘ Boho Sandals in black. The glasses are another in my Artilleri collection, the Paula glasses in green. The hair is from Calico Creations and is called “Carol” in the midnight shade. The skin is Sin Skins Fresh in the Stratus tone.

What you can’t see are two other additions: tattoos on my shoulder and upper…um…butt.

I’m liking the fun of wearing tattoos that can be changed, removed, and added at a click of a mouse. I’ve got some colorful ones, but lots of small ones I wear on my back.

I discovered a new place last week that had tons of tattoos: Inks & Kinks. I bought a horoscope symbol for the upper back — I’m a Gemini in SL, also in real life as my rez day is the same as my real birthday. A rose for my chest, some arm and more back tattoos rounded out my purchase.

Hmmm…I should take some pictures of them on me shouldn’t I? Well, you’ll have to do with this picture. It’s me trying to decide what to buy:

See why I’m a shopaholic even with tattoos? It’s hard to pick just one!

Stardust Satisfies

I just got back from seeing Stardust. Now that was an adventure/fantasy/romance movie that has everything. Pirates, evil witches, royal quests, ghosts, unicorns, and cross-dressers could make for a messy movie, but Stardust manages to keep plowing along to create a fun, action-packed movie.

I’ll be posting my full review here in about two weeks, but I have to say that Michelle Pfeiffer makes a great villain. She was mean in Hairspray, but in Stardust she just drips villainy.  Charlie Cox is a sweetie as the innocent young hero, Tristan, while Claire Danes is her usual excellent self as the fallen star, Yvaine. With a cast that includes Robert De Niro, Peter O’Toole, Ricky Gervais, and Rupert Everett, the movie doesn’t lack for other star quality.

Stardust is hard to describe, but I can say one thing about it –it offers a fun afternoon at the movies.

Work Week Done…Thank God

What a nasty week at work. I stressed out at least four times this week and when I stress out I’m such a quivering Chihuahua. The week is over, I’m just about to feed my fish, close the window, and shut down this pc.

If I was a drinking gal still, and if I liked Miller beer, I’d be saying “It’s Miller time!” Instead, I’m going to get a couple of good dvds and head over to Burritos Fiesta for the best shrimp tacos around, head home, feed the animals, and then I’m relaxing.

Fridays — got to love ’em!

Hodge Podge of SL Tidbits

Natalia has the exciting news that she’s now an example in an academic paper. The paper looks at advertising and social networks (PDF) and my quick read found it interesting.

Our YKSL group had so much fun that a new event is now on my SL list. There’s a Drinking Liberally national group, a Laughing Liberally comics group, and now there’s Dancing Liberally. We can get together at the Cafe Wellstone and joke and dance on a regular basis in SL.

Voice is now available in SL. I can talk instead of chatting by typing. It sounds nice except for two things. My voice is fine but I dither on and on and “um” and “uh” a lot. Typing what I want to say keeps me on track. I also have a dog who barks every time I’m on the phone. Can you imagine me spending an hour or so on SL talking away? I don’t think the other folks want to hear me yelling, “Shut up, Spencer!” every three minutes.