Surf's Up

My friend, the lovely GL, took me to an amusement park at Long Beach recently and it seemed like an ideal place to snap a few photos. Long Beach has all kinds of rides, including a flume ride, a train, and an elephant which juggles and breathes fire. I highly recommend it if you have some Second Life time to kill.

The first photo finds me working in the lemonade stand (what you see is me standing inside a lemon which has been split in two), the second posing with surfboards. The dress in the top photo is from Ingenue, which makes lovely retro inspired clothing (look for another post soon featuring Ingenue) and the bikini in the bottom photo is CKS Design's Bitsy model. The star tattoos were a custom job, for those of you who have asked.

Click photos to enlarge.

Ingenue "Powder Your Face With Sunshine" in Grass Green
(Photo at: Long Beach Carnival and Amusement Park)

CKS Designs "Bitsy" bikini

(Photo at: Short Beach Castle, Carnival and Amusement Park)

Dot Lane's Wardrobe: CKS Designs

When I first arrived in Second Life, I did the usual shopping routine: free stuff from everywhere around SL combined with boxes and boxes of things people dropped on me when they saw that I was new. It was if I had opened the SL branch of Goodwill and people were just leaving things at my feet. I spent hours sifting though these boxes, wondering at the sheer amount of stuff produced by the residents of SL. I mean, how many black thongs does one need? (The answer is one, and no, you're not going to see me in it.) Lingerie seemed especially plentiful but not particularly practical for the vast majority of SL activities--I love SL amusement parks and skydiving for example--so I stuck with jeans and a t-shirt for most occasions along with the occasional non-prim skirt that didn't make my bum look ten feet wide.

Friends offered good fashion advice, informing me about the free hair offer at Gurl 6 for new SL residents or a great deal on latex catsuits (which, truth be told, are not my normal style but make a great change of pace) but it wasn't until I was dancing at Popscene and saw a girl wearing the most striking black and white outfit that I started to unravel the mysteries of SL style. I asked her where she had bought it and she gave me the landmark for CKS Designs.

I teleported to CKS and my eyes were opened: here were lovely outfits, thoughtfully designed, beautifully textured, and in colors which suited my pale freckly glasses-wearing self--think, if you can, of a sexy librarian, which is how the CKS clothes make me feel. My first purchase (I believe) was the "Prep School Princess" outfit, quickly followed by "Earthy", "Star Athlete" (ha!), and "Valedictorian". CKS also has separates, swimsuits, lingerie, and a particularly naughty take on the whole schoolgirl uniform phenomenon called, appropriately enough, "Detention". What I really appreciate about CKS is that a notecard and photo are included with each outfit describing what the model's hair and skin and other accessories are in the photo and where one can find it. This is an immense help. And, oh, I don't want to forget to mention that CKS designer extraordinaire Kit Maitland has a blog of her own.

And now the clothes (click photos to enlarge) :

CKS Designs "Prep School Princess" (Photo at Tri-Xi Sorority)

CKS Designs"Star Athlete". The letters are attachments so you can change them. (Photo at: Fairway Park)

CKS Designs "Detention" in Bubble Gum (Photo at: The Pink Pony, Gotham City XXX)

More photos of CKS Designs to come in future posts.....

Dotty!

Under normal circumstances, I would never be caught wearing my underwear in public. Now I know this is the default look for many of you but I am, um, mysterious? a prude? sensible? In any event, I was strolling around Gotham City XXX (to look at the architecture, so stop thinking dirty thoughts) and I came across this Vargas or Vargas inspired poster on the wall. Well, having just bought the Dotty underwear sets from ducknipple, I of course had to strip down, hop on a ladder, and pose. While I'm not as glamourous as the poster, I like to think I have a certain je ne sais quoi.

You Really Like Me!

I can often be found at Mysteria, which is a very well run and beautifully designed women only SIM. They've recently opened up Club Mysteria and I joined in a dance party there today hosted by the lovely DJ Mel. I put on my best little black dress (from PixelDolls), threw my name up on the contest board for the "Best Clubwear" theme, and lo and behold, I won. Well, I actually tied for first, but still! Friends were surprised to see me in a dress and without my glasses on. I'm just full of surprises aren't I?

Playing Games

I neglected to mention that Koreshan Pointe has its own blog. Here I am playing Pong in the Joysticks arcade at the amusement park. The irony is that while you can play other games at the arcade, including Whack-A-Mole, the Pong game is sadly in operative. I'm optimistic that I will find SL Skeeball at somewhere. Know a place with good SL games? Leave a comment!

Second Life Fashion Blog

I met the lovely Chartreuse Muni last night, editrix of the SL fashion blog The Excellent Second Life of Chartreuse Muni. I recommend a visit to the blog and if you see her out and about on the fashion beat, say "hello" to her--she has the lowdown on the goods.

"Doing Nothing"

I received an IM from a friend last night who asked what I was doing. "Sitting around doing nothing" was my reply. I could sense her skepticism: after all, "doing nothing" encompasses a whole variety of SL activities, from skydiving to being tied down to a bench by a seven foot tall Amazon who is tickling you with a feather duster. At least that's what I've been told. In any case, when the IM arrived I was in the middle of exploring the Koreshan Pointe Amusement Park and sitting on a trash can, taking pictures of myself as you can see. I highly recommend Koreshan Pointe both for the amusement park rides and for the overall look and feel of the sim. I will write more about a couple of the stores I found there in future post.

Are You Pregnant?

When Dot Lane was but a wee lass in Second Life, she heard the question "are you pregnant?" several times. While I do have a tummy (see above) I certainly don't think it is out of the ordinary. (For those working on their own avs, my belly is set to 23). Someone has since told me that anything over 5 (on a scale going up to 100!) isn't normal in SL. After that early flurry of questions about my health, I have been spending more time around women so I haven't heard it asked for quite a while. I do still think about it however, and the other day I came across a store selling pregnant shapes. I'm starting to believe that the pregnancy question wasn't a backhanded way of saying "hey, you're fat!" but more of a desire that I really were pregnant to satisfy some sort of kink, to which I say "ewwwwwwwwww!" Some people who I have told this story to reply that I can always change my body shape but I think that misses an important point: I'm comfortable in my own SL skin and the tummy stays, unless I join an SL gym.

It's Just A Step to the Left

Spent the day fighting lag (quel surprise) and picking various attachments out of my body, where they would mysteriously appear after teleporting--a shoe firmly embedded in my bum, my necklace and ring orbiting my body, and few other unpleasant surprises. Having one's hair suddenly appear between one's legs produces no small amount of anxiety when showing up in a place that rezzes slowly because people can see you, but you can't see them. Doesn't anyone in SL sell razors? Because of this, I never teleport while wearing a bikini. One can't get a toothbrush either, so far as I know, so while people may look fantastic, SL personal hygiene appears to be stuck in the 16th century.

Hello!

Hi! I'm Dot Lane, and this is my blog. I'm usually not so glamourous but I felt I needed to put my best foot forward to introduce myself. I live in Second Life but have, as they say, no fixed address. My plan is to write about my Second Life although my friends needn't worry as I'm not going to name names, unless I get permission. Still, I do have to thank LB for taking me shopping this morning and showing me this lovely dress which she thought would be perfect for me. She was right. It's the bem querer dress from Bossa Nova and you need one too.