Blue, blue...

I don't know whether to direct my rage and frustration at French telecom, my SL viewer, my husband or the PC.

Well, I don't think it's my PC that is making my Net connection blink out every time I log on to SL. Nor do I think my husband is taking up our entire bandwidth playing Angry Birds.

Viewer? OK I need to upload another one to try but it's the one I've been using for ages without a hitch.

However, I suspect it is something to do with the little box with blinky lights that provides our ADSL, called a "Livebox". Which tends to play Deadbox in high wind, thunderstorms, hot weather, cold weather, or really any time at all. This is France, after all.

Am I boring you?

You can say, really. I don't mind (and I can, after all, monitor comments although with the exception of one in Russian, one that was rude and one that was down and out vulgar, I don't usually).

So anyway. The idea, you see, was to catch up on 52 weeks of colour (version the first) that I hadn't done. Including the first two (blue, and grey).

OK gray if you're across the pond.

So in the approximately three minutes of non-crashing time last night I dragged out a blue bikini and had great ideas of arty, whimsical photos taken on my sim with water and dusk and shades of blue... plus some blue Vent du Sud stuff because a girl needs to plug, particularly when a girl is up to her eyes in translating sociology as written by some guy who has, I think, the most tortuous way of phrasing I've ever seen.

I got as far as two. Neither of which are up to much because the composition of the one above is all off-kilter somehow (head and rock rather on top of each other), and in the other one I look frankly gormless.

You may need to be a Brit to understand the word gormless. Look it up, if not.

I'm tetchy. Does it show?

Now, I would have sung the praises of AND given the references for this bikini if I had been inworld long enough, but I'm not and you can't see much of it anyway. It is a nice one. I suspect it is my only one, in fact (I need shopping time and building time rather badly).

So with that (and yes I know this is a post about very little but whining), I am off to attack sociology again.

However, if you really want to be bored, get this...
"Sociology is both pluralised and integrative within the framework of this research.  It is a question of understanding the relations between work, social culture, economic and institutional context, as well as the evolution of sciences and techniques. In this perspective, sociologies of labour, professions, sciences, organisations and institutions can be mobilised."

(I have 12 pages of this, in font 7. Deadline? "Well, sort of yesterday").

Khaki. Go away world. Mistakes.

Khaki makes me think of safaris or hiking in deserts (or pottering around Vent du Sud in a vaguely Lara-Croftish sort of way).

I mean you don't have a khaki evening dress, do you? You'd have it in 'moon beige' or 'pale crème brûlée' or something.

(How profound, Ari).

Anyway, khaki came up when I was in one of those 'go away world' moods.

(It hasn't. It's still there).

Digging around for something suitable, I stumbled on this superb T-shirt that says 'Wise girl profits by her mistakes.

Interesting, if a little preachy. 

But it did get me thinking (but not so much that I forgot to take a photo without the sweater and belt hiding it).

However, as a fashion blog is most definitely not the place for wailing and beating breasts and existential rambling, let's cut all that short right here.

Yes, I make mistakes. Of course I do.

I sometimes admit to them.

And sometimes I don't, let alone profit from them. And I go off doing the 'go away, world' thing.

Meaning mooching around and thinking instead of building, socialising or exploring.

However, as mooching doesn't get me anywhere, I'm ready to rumble again.

Off to make more mistakes, no doubt.

No, this is not cryptic. It's just me thinking too much. I do that.

Have another photo and be warned that I shall be back to plugging Vent du Sud forthwith.

Credits;
Hair Melody, Elikatira
Earrings Ahi, Miel
T-shirt from BareRose Snow Smile outfit
Belt and sweater Coco designs
Shorts Gisaci 
Socks freebie from somewhere
Shoes Lazies in Desert, Kookie

Tales of the easily distracted - Chartreuse

The idea was great. Woman in black tuxedo with chartreuse band on a top hat, perched on a stool and sipping a glass of the green stuff.

Then the Marketplace struck (and RL struck but it often does).

And I am in a building phase in SL as witnessed by the junkyard that is my work platform above Vent du Sud and needed a few supplies. As you do. So tuxedos gave way to searching for textures and sculpts, as they do (if you are me). 

 (One very bad photo or I could claim dark and cryptic sneak peek?)

Yes, I will be tweaking things and finishing them off any time soon but it would help if the Marketplace had deigned to, you know, actually DELIVER the five things I ordered (and which it cheerfully stated as "delivered").

So, more distractions occurred.

Notecards to creators (so far, one - one item received but OK, everybody is allowed a vacation but dammit I spent hours looking for exactly the window textures I wanted).

And while perusing tuxedos and top hats, more builder-type ideas emerged so I ended up back in my inventory digging up some fabulous textures... (but no appropriate window textures).

But back to Chartreuse. A quick search of "green" yielded this great dress (see credits), which was perfect. 

So, photo time but that reminded me of a texture I needed to fiddle with on Photoshop (well OK Pixlr, because I got distracted when I was going to reload Photoshop onto this PC. Many times).

And when I got into Pixlr (very useful thing, that), I got distracted by this...

 (Guess who found the vignetting button, but hey - Vent du Sud is pretty and ... OK. Back to Chartreuse)

There we go. Cropped out the clunky elbow as I haven't quite mastered certain other buttons yet. But I am getting there. Slowly. Ever tried mastering software in one language and tutorials in another? It does add a certain masochistic element to it all.

So now, back to finishing off a dozen builds... unless of course I get distracted by some terraforming I want to do at Vent du Sud.

Note to self: first, dig lake, finish and put out new house (and the rest), play more with shadow-enabled viewer, reinstall Photoshop and look at buttons and attempt to make own windows, send reminders re. missing marketplace items. Oh, and remodel the store, and do new colour ranges for some sets. And Marketplace listings.

Oh, and liver. Hm.

Credits:
Loretta gown, Jada Humby (I think free gift but nicely made... must go back)
Green II hair, Maitreya (go-to hairstyle, but also popped up in the 'green' rummage of inventory)
Enkythings Talyna stilettos (Enkythings at Vent du Sud)
Messy building site and pretty olive tree, also courtesy of Vent du Sud (plug where decor is 1L plug and builds 50L plug).

Weathered newness, olive (52 weeks of colour), dead routers, and Ayla.

I guess weathered feels a bit like me right now. Seen a little stormy weather and a bit worn around the edges but with a certain quaint charm? More on the 50-L Vent du Sud weathered tree platform below.

(And no, no, don't flock to the comments to tell me that I am as young and beautiful as I feel, because that would be around 90 and ugly. Think overwork. Think endless deadlines. But anyway, Vent du Sud (and me) aren't quite dead yet).

Close, though.

And speaking of dead, my router / ADSL box died yesterday, meaning 3 hours on the phone followed by a 3-hour trip to pick up a replacement. No, kind person, posting it to me for 'around Tuesday' when I work on the net...

No.

Olive? Tree platform? Hold on, we're getting there.  This could be an olive tree, if you stretch your imagination a bit. Although never seen one that high...

Here we go. One amazingly low-prim weathered tree platform (16) to dance on, to watch the stars and waves, or to toss a couple of cushions or a patio set on (go look at the Vent du Sud mainstore for those, all at 1L?) and watch the sun set. Haul up the ladders, and relax. Direct tp right here or take a stroll around the island (and look out for a big tree not far from the tree house...

And on to olive. *Cough* yes this is a terrible photo but the others were worse.

And not really enough credit for Ayla's really, really cute Kirsty top in olive so I stole a better one from her blog. She makes other really, really affordable and fun stuff too at great prices. Check out her blog here and her store here.

Back soon when I have wrangled with another couple of deadlines, but there has to be light at the end of the tunnel soon... or will it just be another train coming?