Welcome to the weekend

I took a break from my recent clean-living regime this weekend in honour of two very important things: meeting up with the guys and gals from Twitter/SL and a day of raucous fun with Best Mate.

The first of those involved spending an evening in Wagamamas and Oxygen in Leicester Square with Loaf, Roxette, Johan and Loudmouthman.

Now I'm a bit of a heathen with Japanese food, so I spent most of the week whining at poor Loaf that I didn't understand the menu. His attempts to introduce me to sake also went down like a suspiciously regarded lead balloon.

But I did give it all a go, and in future will be haunting the local Wagamama branches just for the ginger and white choclit cheesecake. Proving I am nothing if not an adventurous ignoramus. And that Loaf was right. But we won't tell him that bit.

Oxygen was its usual cornocopia of cocktails and, three or four jugs of them later, tongues were loose and much gossip was exchanged. Plus I think I managed to spill at least three colours of alcoholic concoction down myself... and probably other people. I still blame the straws, they give you an awful lot of straws.

Anyway, it was marvellous to meet everyone I spend all day talking to when I'm supposed to be working, I had a fab time and I can't wait for the next one, though I have already decided I will be bringing more tissues.

Yesterday began with the Sex and the City movie, which Best Mate and I have been looking forward to forever and a day as we used to watch the episodes back at university and harbour secret wishes to join the cast.

It was fantastic, I wasn't expecting it to be such an emotional experience - much sorting out of the eyeliner was required afterwards. We also had to refrain from talking about it because, every time we did, Best Mate burst into tears, especially at a particular scene where Samantha spoonfeeds a devestated Carrie, because that's something we would do. Cuz we wubs each other <3>

The rest of the evening was spent guzzling wine in the pub, scoffing pizza, wittering endlessly, being drunken at the Twitter party on SL (sorry everyone!) and having a girly moment with some black eyeshadow, hair grips and a handy camera.

Best Mate is my secret personal stylist and I was rather in love with the result of her ridiculously talented tinkerings, explaining why I have liberally plastered this post with pictures of it. Vanity, thy name is kirby grip.

Telling...

Considering how my week's gone thus far, the results of this quiz are more than a little comforting...

You are The Star

Hope, expectation, Bright promises.

The Star is one of the great cards of faith, dreams realised

The Star is a card that looks to the future. It does not predict any immediate or powerful change, but it does predict hope and healing. This card suggests clarity of vision, spiritual insight. And, most importantly, that unexpected help will be coming, with water to quench your thirst, with a guiding light to the future. They might say you're a dreamer, but you're not the only one.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

What's in a name?

The other day - while discussing the letter w, I believe - WillowZ revealed the origin of her Second Life name over on her blog. She chose both halves for personal meaning, which got me to wondering whether we all do the same.

For those who've never had the pleasure, when you make a Second Life account you are given free rein to pick a first name, but a finite number of surnames to choose from. The list changes regularly, the original idea being, common wisdom says, to bond people into 'families' within the world.

I picked my own name equally carefully. Willow, as I suspect will surprise nobody, came from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer character of the same name, just as WillowZ's did.

Caldera I picked because it was the name of a little town in Morrowind, my all-time favourite pc game - I might well still be playing it now if my hard drive hadn't crashed, burned and dissolved, taking with it 3 years of saved games. My little dark elf really did kick some arse by the time I was done, but that didn't save her from silicon hell.

So what made you pick your name, was it random or did you have your reasons?

I told you this would happen...

Remember I warned you I was almost certain to receive regular Big Brother updates, with or without permission? Well here was tonight's...

Willow Zander: "blah blah walks in on blah blah and sees him washing his genitalia in a cup"
Willow Caldera: WHAT?
Willow Zander: they are about to "talk" to him about "said cup"

Just what are you meant to say to that?

If only to faun

It's taken me an awfully long time to build up to watching Atonement, and for very good reason: the book is my all-time favourite novel and I was concerned they might bork it. Also I'm not especially keen on Kiera Underbitely and didn't want to change the Cecilia in my head to match her emaciated frame.

Having recently suffered from a burgeoning crush on James McAvoy, however, I couldn't resist it any longer. What better place to watch his beautiful emotes than in the most romantic tale I know? It's something of a step up from the until-now top secret fact that both Lorna and I found him highly attractive as a faun in Narnia. We must never speak of this again.

It wasn't the disaster I thought it was going to be, they didn't smack the book around and stick it in a shredder, so I can't complain too much. But a movie was never going to capture the strength of the novel - that ending was like a punch in the face, it shocked me completely and I actually burst into tears on the bus to work. It stayed with me for weeks, no other book has ever so profoundly affected my mood.

(Except possibly LOTR, which I had to give to my mum to look after when I got to the bit with Shelob because I was very small and very distressed.)

I wasn't sure they would be able to pull that off and I was right: it's a good movie, Mr McAvoy is delicious and Underbitely doesn't drive me as far up the wall as she usually does. But it wasn't my Atonement, because that story is a league apart.

Whispering Falls

Second Life hasn't been the same for WillowZ and I for a long time now. Back in the day, when there were far fewer of us populating the virtual planet and those who had already popped into existence roamed in happy, loyal herds, things were much simpler. The sl00ts were always there waiting when we logged in, ready to have nonsensical fun and look pretty in a pack.

But, as with all things, the novelty wore off and, one by one, they all slipped away. Until finally there were just the two of us, two sad and neglected Willows, a little lonely and slightly bemused.

In the end, even we succumbed to the inevitable. The second version of our lives was no longer as interesting as the first, so gradually we gave up trying to recreate the good times and spent less and less time in pixel form.

Eventually, Second Life turned into a workplace, something that provided blogging and article opportunities and the odd spot of shopping. It wasn't enough - the time I've spent inworld over the last year that hasn't involved something 'official' would barely add up to a couple of evenings.

That was a while ago, and since then there have been plenty of high points, and lots of good friends and happy times, but nothing like as much everyday, unplanned fun as the early days.

So WillowZ and I have bought some land, just for us, in a little island sim called Whispering Falls. Within half an hour, Fred and Hallie had joined us, and that was 4 of the sl00ts back together right there.

It's going to need a lot of work to make it as pretty as we want it to be, but it's already looking gorgeous with its Straylight landscaping. We're a bit on the lazy side, I'm completely useless and we may get sidetracked by fluffy toys and chicken dances, but at last we have a haven, for new friends and old. And a unicorn...obviously.

Arty Farty

Apparently I'm doing something right after all: I entered a couple of the SL-based pictures I've made recently in a competition set by Fleur Skins. The theme was swimwear and the idea, I believe, was to look as heavenly as possible in one of their skins.

I came third with this entry and got an honourable mention, and very pleased with myself I'm feeling about it too. Perhaps my artistic muscles haven't completely atrophied after all.

You can see the rest of the winning entries by clicking here.

The Loneliest Piece of Popcorn

Today I was very brave indeed: I went to the cinema all on my ownsome. I've barely considered the idea before, but it struck me that I walk past Richmond Odeon on my way to and from work every day of the week, but not once have I wandered in. Talk about failing to take advantage of a good thing.

So I decided to see The Happening as an after-work treat. It wasn't meant to be today, originally I was supposed to see Sex and the City with Best Mate, but we made a bit of a pig's ear of that plan (despite what can only be described as a monumental effort). So, having been denied one movie experience, I treated myself to another in its place.

And I did enjoy my solitary self, though I was a touch bored waiting for things to start and I missed having someone to jab excitedly during the trailers.

As for the movie, unlike a lot of people, I quite like M Night Shamalayadingdong and his strange little brain. I like the twists and turns he takes, I enjoy the stories he dreams up and, barring a couple, I tend to be more than satisfied with what he does with them. I loved The Sixth Sense, Signs and Lady In the Water (please don't disown me), though I could take or leave the rest of them. Mind you, I'm more patient than most when it comes to movies - I'll watch any old rubbish.

I won't say too much about this one, except to confirm that it is, as many have commented, a very odd movie. Unusual characters, which is always refreshing, and a novel idea. Not flawless, by any means, but I think I liked it.

Or, at least, I did until my brother texted me the ending halfway through.

I'm gonna rip his nads off when I see him next.

Huff Doo

I try to limit my grumpy days one a month, but occasionally the grumbles run away with me. As has been the case since Saturday, when for no apparent reason I entered a state of extreme lethargy and began to waste time on an epic scale.

Now, as previously discussed at some considerable length, the wasting of time is something I do not take to lightly. When my brain decides it's had enough of being helpful, the rest of me tends to enter into panic mode at the very idea of not doing anything productive and then the whole lot freezes up and becomes incapable of useful movement.

Add to that a hell of a week, one or two (dozen) highly aggravating people, the tax man wanting to take me for every penny I have and various other exciting little experiences and the grand result is: a grump.

One that Best Mate single-handedly managed to lift.

Texting me on my way home from work, she expressed her affection and concern for my irritable state. I wrote back to say I was going home for a grumble and that I felt like one of those trolls, only with flatter hair.

To which she said:

"I am also imagining you as Scrappy Doo...Huff Doo."

Thanks to this startlingly amusing sentence, Huff Doo has this evening proofed 50 pages of Tim's book and 21 pages of her own and written this blog and will be heading off momentarily to read more of her Dreamweaver idiot guide. The bitch is back.

Are we nearly grrrrr yet?

I wasn't going to blog about The Incredible Hulk, but then I got home and sat down at the pc and remembered I have to find something mildly entertaining to write about for the BBBC, and that was the only interesting thing I've done today.

Now, if I'm going to be absolutely and truly honest, I really only went for the company - Yaz, Tim and Lorna are choice cinema companions, whether pretending to be a monkey at a wheel (Tim), confusing panda arms for boobs (Lorna) or announcing pleasure in having talked so loudly that the people next to us moved and freed up the arm rests (Yaz).

As for the movie, I wasn't expecting a lot from it. I didn't bother to see the first one because I don't find the Hulk a very inspiring character - once he's gone green and felt a bit angsty about it, you've kind of seen it all. Bruce Banner isn't very interesting because he's just a weedy, whining bloke (even if he is Edward 'women want to mother me' Norton) and the Hulk isn't very interesting because he's just a big green thing that bangs stuff.

You can even see it in the poster - one thing wanders about menacingly, the other mopes a good'un. Perhaps you need to see both halves at once - Spiderman and Ironman manage to do personal choice-making while kicking arse. Or maybe it's just that the Hulk's a touch on the predictable side.

So, while there were mixed opinions as to whether the movie was utter bollocks or kind of alright, I'm pitching my flag in the hole that says: the experience was fun, it made me laugh, it was better than I thought it was going to be (which was never going to be hard) and, all in all, I'm glad I went.