Chic at Phil's Place

You know when you spend so much time looking for something and you can't find it? And then, somehow it miraculously appears?

I took the weekend off more or less. You may or may not have noticed :D.  But I did log in this late afternoon to work on my inventory. Too many lovely home and garden items I couldn't find. It was time. When I journeyed out to my favorite sandbox I found a fantastic build of Stonehenge plopped in the middle of the sandy sim.

To say it was impressive was an understatement. I cranked up my Windlight settings to foggy, blocking out the almost overwhelming Sunday clutter of houses, planes and spaceships and took this photo.

Luckily Emerald had fixed the pesky "inspect" issue and I could check to see who built this impressive monument. Sooden Ren was the name and a quick look at Picks gave me the shop SLURL. I'd actually been there the week before on some hunt. That, I do remember. I found the vendor for Stonehenge and although I have no space for it, I thought it was reasonably priced -- always a plus in my book.


I found myself in a grassy area amidst the tall stone (top photo). It was powerful, magical and peaceful. If you venture over to the vendor not far from the site, you can buy either the full sized Stonehenge or a mini version. If you need a bit of positive energy in your life or on your sim, this just may be the ticket.

And so I found Stonehenge, a place I had looked for over the past year and never quite connected with. Sometimes, the stars are just in the right spot. The moon shine between the monolithic pillars and we find what we have been searching for.

As a side note, Blogger has a new interface with some added choices. One is a larger photo, and eventually we will (in theory) have a "read more" cut that works. I'll be experimenting with different layouts over the next few days.

Please feel free to give me your input on the size of photos that work for you. I am on a 1680 resolution and a speedy DSL. I know that some of you may have slowish connections (hence large photos can be problematic) and some may be running at 1024 making the new, larger photos seem overpowering. All photos will STILL link to very large, high rez versions. That will not change. I'm just trying to find the best mix of the options available.

This post includes a lead photo at the new largest size as well as medium photos for the remainder of the document.

Go forth. Add some magick to your lives. The Druids would be happy.

PS. There is NO spell check in this new interface. How CAN that be? Version 1.2 please! Yikes! We may be back to the old style for awhile. We'll see.

Fashion notes as well as close ups of my outfit can be found HERE.

I am little miffed. OK, that was a bit tame for what I am feeling. I just perused an article about the danger of the overusing of Photoshop on photos. While I don't particularly agree with the article in question ( I like pretty pictures), I was definitely put out by the author's use of Victoria Secret graphics.

I went to the Victoria's Secret catalog and found one of the exact photos here. Please note that at the bottom of the page there is a clear copyright statement: " ©2009 Victoria's Secret. All Rights Reserved". I am guessing that was there when the author of the above document took the photos from the website. I am guessing that they did NOT have permission from Victoria's Secret to do this.

This is STEALING folks. Things on the web are not public domain unless they say they are free to use, and they are clearly NOT free to use when there is a copyright statement at the bottom of the page.

The terms and conditions of the Victoria's Secret website state in part:

Victoria's Secret Web Site and all of its materials, including, but not limited to, its software or HTML code, scripts, text, artwork, photographs, images, video, and audio (collectively, "Materials" ) are protected by copyright laws and other U.S. and international laws and treaties.

... you may not copy, reproduce, publish, transmit, distribute, perform, display, post, modify, create derivative works from, sell, license or otherwise exploit this site or any of its Materials without our prior written permission;

I know that most of you would never think of doing this. To those of you that believe it's no big deal?

Tell me ---


How can I know who I am




When I have no hint of where I came from


I need to know the secrets long buried -- whatever they may be.


Explore the roleplay sims of Eire Isle >>




Style Notes:
********************************************
Hair: Simply Britnee Hair Cindy/Media Noche
Skin: []::Tuli::[] Bella (fair/li) Helena (releases tomorrow); CyberStar Body Art fullbody tattoo fairy wing 1 upper - dark
Clothing: hO wEAr Matador (free until 8 pm)
Shoes: BAX Prestige Boots
Accessories: Magpie Gear Flower Collar 3-flower ruby-black





Download my Windlight settings for this locale HERE.



Backstory:


Ms Huet is definitely in top form this week with several exceptional releases. This is definitely my personal favorite.

I'm not sure why Matador is so special for me. It might be the Spanish influence. It could be the perfect for boots pants that go under the skirt.

It certainly has something to do with the belt complete with cross. I feel like a 18th century Buffy ready to slay -- well whatever needs slaying.

The black lace over the deep red definitely works for me.




I wanted dramatic makeup for this outfit, so I changed into a new Bella fair skin tone with dark red lips and messy eyes, adding a bold tattoo in black that shows just a bit.

A slightly disheveled hair was called for and Cindy worked nicely.

I wasn't wearing jewelry until I got back to the studio. Then I decided I could use one more added touch; over the top is a fine style when it is on purpose.

My long time blogger buddy, Nissa had sent me this necklace during the jewelry fair. I don't think I blogged it then but from my long inventory list of chokers and collars, it was my top choice as a finishing touch. I'm not sure just where I can wear this outfit again, but it is definitely going in my outfits folder!

If you've been reading the blog for awhile, you know that I have been venturing out to role play sims from time to time. I would like to find one that works for me, but so far they all seem to delve into the fight, capture or kill mode. PREY is not a word that works for me, I am not of a violent nature, and luckily don't need a release for any buried aggressions *wink*.

When I was shopping last night on Xstreet I saw a banner ad for "Erie Isle -- voted the number one RP sim ....". I had been to the website before, but never followed up on visiting. I will say that the information on the website is extensive and well done. They want people to know the rules and how the game is played. They want newcomers to think about their characters and do some homework. There are newbie classes for first timers and more information than you could work through in a day. There is a really well done video on Erie Isle here.

Another thing Erie has going for it is the four sim concept. In my explorations, I've found that multiple sim areas lend themselves to a more authentic feel. We get used to just how big sims are; when the area becomes larger than the norm, it seems to also become more believable -- to me at least.

I enjoyed my visit, but I'm still stuck in my Switzerland mode. I want a land with storylines that don't include all the maiming and murder. Still, I REALLY enjoyed dressing for the part, and my briefly imagined character backstory became the theme of the prose in this post. That works!

PS. For any of you who read through this lengthy post and found seemingly contradicting statements, here is my explanation. I enjoy the feeling of empowerment, but I don't feel the need to USE that power, and most of the time I do not :D.

Cheers!