“In summer, the song sings itself.” ~ William Carlos Williams

I haven’t felt like reviewing an outfit for a while, but every so often something squee-worthy drags me up to the photo cylinder. Recently, I went scrounging around the grid for a “spoil me” Summer outfit to wear for the re-launch of my music venue.

Tropic of Summer Ensemble

What I came up with was one of those outfits I haven’t wanted to take off for a week and a half. I’ve donned it my “Tropic of Summer Ensemble” and I do believe I’ve struck yummy.

Tropic of Summer Skirt

To start off, we have the “To The Beach” wrap skirt from Hudson’s Clothing Co. This is a lovely little Summer wrap that doesn’t quite feed my sarong fetish, but comes pretty damn close. The single system layer is a richly-textured pant that is modest enough for public exposure while still revealing a bit of cheek. The fabric pattern is intricate and could potentially wear well on its own for a sunning suit outfit if accessorized nicely. Alas, it only comes on the panty layer, so you have limited mix and match options with it. The waist is a folded scarf sculpt prim that “ties” on the hip. The rest of the flex prims cascade down to form a semi-transparent asymmetrical layered skirt. The prim elements are a single item which attach, by default, to the pelvis.

Tropic of Summer Skirt Bottoms

There’s no reinventing the wheel happening with this item. It works and I like the look of it, but it’s the same flex skirt with the same transparency issues you’ve seen dozens of times over. It’s a very basic item that does not come with re-size scripts, but it’s copy and mod, so you can tinker. Modestly priced, I found it a very handsome piece for the sheckles. On a side-note it also comes in green, blue, and “dusk” (which is more or less a light purple-ish). If you like airy feminine skirts with a gypsy feel, this is your type of ticket.

Tropic of Summer Blouse

Moving on to blouse action, we have the “Summer Tie-Up” in “primrose.” If you like it, you should run — do not walk – I said RUN to Prim & Pixel Paradise to grab it because it’s only L$1 for who knows how long. I wasn’t familiar with Prim & Pixel and I found the included notecard too long and obnoxious, explaining how signing up for some group that was never named or linked to will get you exclusive this-or-that and after that point “they will be gone gone gone fahhhevah”. You can’t make this stuff up. I appreciate that designers want to encourage people to join their update groups, but given the limitations of SL groups and how many people have to pick and choose, this sort of bullying runs the opposite direction of inspiring customer loyalty from my perspective. If you have to force me to stay in your group through product blackmail, you’re doing something wrong. But then using ASCII graphics, phrases like “da bunnehs” and being KIND OF ANNOYING with CAPS LOCK probably means I’m not the target customer base.

Tropic of Summer - Blouse Seam Issues

That said, the top is darling with scalloped edges and silver conchos at the gather between the breasts and at the tie in the back. If you’re a seam watcher you’re not going to be happy as both the side seams and where one of the panels meets the rest of the layer in the back are not exactly prime-time ready. But, I can assure you, it’s cute enough to not really focus on the shortcomings. For the price and for the charm, it’s full of happy. It comes on undershirt, shirt, and jacket layers for mix and match mayhem.

Tropic of Summer - Floppy Hat

Next we have the Floppy Hat w/ Scarf from GOS. I’m told it’s already been over-blogged to death, but c’est la vie. GOS does a lot right from a consumer point of view. The hat has an in-store demo and excellent documentation. Attaching to the chin by default, the touch-menu system guides you through the oodles of options, including three shapes (Up, Flat, Down), three brim/base colors (Light, Golden, Dark), five scarf ring colors (Frake, Mahogany, Oak, Rosewood, Walnut) and sixteen scarf colors. The hat is copy / no-mod and the only thing I can even come near scolding them for is not having a remove scripts option, although I checked my avatar script time and didn’t have any significant jump with it.

Tropic of Summer - More Hat Goodness

You have to resize the hat each time you change the shape which made the “save” and “restore” options a little baroo for me, but the resizing is pretty painless button-pushing and you can remove the hat and copy it to save it in various stages for your favorite outfits. You can also reset it to factory defaults, which is nice when the reshuffle of prims does odd things.

Tropic of Summer - Hat Glitch

I had one display issue with the hat which is a heartbreaker for me, although many of the people I showed it to did not have the same issues, so it’s obviously viewer-setting and/or hardware dependent. If you zoom out to the point where you could take a full-figure shot, there is a transparency issue along the scarf/brim section that shows through. As annoying as this glitch is, it only happens when you zoom out enough to cause it. Given the quality of the sculpts and my propensity to sing songs from Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (shut up — it’s my hat and I can sing what I want) I was happy to stay zoomed in.

The “Espadrilles” wedge shoes also came from GOS and I was again impressed with their options as a consumer. Another purchase with amazing documentation and scripts that even come with remove options (although, once more, I didn’t notice any significant script time increase with the items). Also, it must be noted that at a time when shoes in SL are ridiculously overpriced, these puppies are no more expensive than a hair pack and you can buy color add-ons for only L$100, which is just brilliant.

Tropic of Summer - Wedges

At first glance they might seem to be cork wedges, but the base and heel cup are actually more like rattan. Alas, you cannot recolor these elements which is a crying shame after seeing the lovely straw options on the hat, but you can’t have everything. The ribbons, seams, bows, and toe of the canvass/linen textured elements can all be recolored depending on which packs you have, which means with a handful of color purchases you can mix up options for different outfits. I did find it somewhat limiting that I was unable to recolor the inner sole, especially given that the shoes were much wider on my foot than necessary when scaled for size.

The Espadrilles are 2.0 friendly and allow you to either re-size the invisiprim or turn it off and use the mesh alpha layer. They also come with an “ankle lock” feature that uses an A/O type method of keeping your feet and shoes working in tandem; this option can be toggled on and off for those who don’t like it. When editing, you can Sync the shoes so that changes apply to both and you don’t have to re-texture/size twice. As scripting goes, this is a company that understands how to make consumer-friendly products. Despite a few wishful tweaks, they’re riding the rails of perfection.

For jewelry I went to Mandala and picked up the “Pearl Rain” sets in cream and gold. The items are excellently crafted and delightfully textured, with luxurious pearl shine and variegated colors for a realistic effect. The sculpts are top-drawer and I cannot rave enough about the appearance. They are copy/no mod with full-bright counterparts included in each set and basic re-size “this prim” or “all prim” scale options. The necklace defaults to the chest attach position and everything else defaults where you’d expect.

Tropic of Summer - Jewelry & Glasses

The problem, however — and this seems to be a big issue with jewelry today in SL — is that the resize scripts are hogs. My avatar script time jumped over 1.0 when I was wearing all the items and an average of .3 per item (necklace, each earring, each bracelet). The menus do not offer a “remove scripts” option and because the items are no-mod you can’t remove them manually. When I’m home by myself taking photos, this isn’t a big deal, but if you’re out at an event, that kind of script hogging is just rude. I find myself not wearing jewelry these days because of this issue. When my avatar has an average script time of .25 – .3 with A/O, Mysti and my usual attachments, there just isn’t a way to justify quadrupling that for some jewelry.

***MEMO to designers — get with the program and offer us the ability to remove scripts if your items are script-time hogs. Kthxbai.***

Tropic of Summer - Glasses

Moving to a “depths of my inventory” oldie fave, are the Cat’s Eye Glasses from Frameworks which I am chuffed to report still exists in-world. These “never go out of style” delights are just L$80 and I love every spec of them, down to the rhinestoned corners. Copy and mod (those were the good old days) they use old /1 scripts to change colors, shininess, and transparency, although you have to size them manually. The scripts didn’t create any jump I could notice, but being as the glasses are mod, they can always be removed. I still love these as much as I did years ago when I first got them and I have to say, they hold up wonderfully against more modern offerings.

Tropic of Summer - Hair

Last but nowhere near least, is the ME hairstyle from Sixty Nine. I found this a few months ago and I’ve been in lust with it ever since. Sixty Nine has a modest offering of styles, but they’re all lovely. The sculpts weave together to form a realistic whole with a feminine and wispy delicacy that you just don’t see in a lot of creators. The textures are fantastic and each wig is offered in traditional size-yourself or re-size script options (which can be removed). I didn’t have to tinker very much to get it to go with the floppy hat for those keeping track at home.

The prims are static and not flexi, so that is the compromise; movement and poses will be less natural. Still, it’s a compromise we’re all used to at this stage of the game.

As Summer outfits go, there is a lot for me to love about this one and we may be kissing Autumn before I relent to taking it off. I might even go crazy and keep the white Espadrilles on after Labor Day.

…just kidding.

Where Does She Get Those Wonderful Toys?

TO THE BEACH SKIRT WRAP – L$150
HUDSON’s Clothing Co

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Paektu/48/174/94

Summer Tie Up Blouse – Primrose – L$1
Prim & Pixel Paradise

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Rebels%20Haven/75/196/22

Espadrilles Wedge Shoes – L$295
(Add-On Colors L$100)
Floppy Hat w/ Scarf – L$295
Gos
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Gos/150/150/301 (shoes)
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Gos/115/130/301 (hat)

Pearl Rain Jewelry Set/Cream Gold – L$407
Pearl Rain Bracelet/Cream gold – L$257
MANDALA

http://slurl.com/secondlife/TEMPURA%20SOBA/98/115/24

Cat Eye Glasses – L$80
Frameworks

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Triangulum/145/133/27

ME – Mocha Collection – L$300
Sixty Nine

http://slurl.com/secondlife/SIXTY%20NINE/69/70/691

“You can’t always write a chord ugly enough to say what you want to say, so sometimes you have to rely on a giraffe filled with whipped cream.” ~ Frank Zappa

I have a commercial fetish. There is something genuinely enthralling for me when marketing is done well. It is rare that an over-hyped product can put a spin on something that jumps out at me, but Direct TV nailed it with their “Opulence, I Haz It” spot:

Okay, let’s move off the fact that having a pillow-trained teacup-sized giraffe that pouts like a Pomeranian and then relents to offer a peck is just plain cheating. It borders on too adorable to remember what the product is. What’s brilliant about it aside from the cuteness, however, is that it’s absurdist enough to make you sit up and pay attention, and go seek out the commercial again to take a second glance at what might otherwise just be dismissed as a cookie-cutter gimmick spot.

Upstaging the guy with the cheesy Eurotrash accent and the pretty ornamental girls dripping off him in their painted on (and, it should be said, yummy) slink, the giraffe (which had better be in stores by the holidays — if anything ever needed to be taken from CGI into some form of marketable toy, it’s this thing) makes you go back and see what else you missed.

Like the dog holding an ace in his paw under the table during the live-action “Dogs Playing Poker” set up. It does demonstrate something about how the bar is set these days that live dogs actually set up looking to be playing poker is NOT absurd enough to make the grade — they actually faded into the background on my first viewing.

Maybe it’s true that the devil is in the details, but of that’s so, then the devil does good work. And if the devil has teacup giraffes, he can have my credit card number.

“We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.” ~ H. P Lovecraft

Blog Entry Warning: Lots o’ Photos and Personal Blather. Run.

A few years back, when my SL businesses were flourishing, I officially opened The Freudian Slip. It was little more than some decking, beanbag chairs, and waaaaay too many poseballs, and my musician friends had been playing on it before the launch, but it was a good enough reason for a shindig and it netted me the blonde wench, so I call that worth it.

The Freudian Slip: First Draft

Back then, the Slip was parceled and planned to add to the dwell and traffic of my texture store, Esprit Decor, which, at the time, combined with ads for Linden Lifestyles, covered tier, musician fees, and still provided me with a healthy supplemental income. I paid L$5000 per hour to musicians who brought in 25+ and L$3000 per hour to those who brought in less than 25 listeners. We hosted concerts 4-5 days a week. It turned into a lot more work than I wanted, but what developed was a community that I was not expecting; the little gaggle of folk have been the main pleasure of my SL existence ever since.

Unlike a lot of venues, the Slip is about camaraderie. We prattle a lot. Sarcasm is our native language and there is really no end of it. Although we are fundamentally there for the music, we are also there for the repartee. As such, the etiquette of the place balks at text blocks of “woo hoo” and focuses on actively engaging those around you in humor and ranting. This tends to intimidate newcomers, and I only half-regret that; while I want strangers to feel welcome, I don’t want to change our habits to accommodate those who want to copy and paste scrolling blocks of text. There are lots of places out there with the typical club atmosphere; I believe there’s nothing wrong in establishing a venue that instead recognizes the unique opportunity SL offers to the live music community. IRL if you’re talking during a musical performance, you’re a dweeb, but in SL it’s just the opposite and I think that should be embraced.

As my circumstances changed, I retired the Slip from being a fully operating music venue. For one thing, I was unable to offer the fees I felt worthy musicians deserve for their time. Second, there stopped being a wealth of people I wanted to listen to. So the Slip became focused exclusively on performances offered by Grace McDunnough and Lyndon Heart, with old friends occasionally tossed into the mix. Although I still get regular requests from musicians to play, I generally decline them. Until I can come up with a profitable model to run a music venue, I don’t want to appear to be back “in business.” And keeping the place a delight instead of a job is fundamental to maintaining the pleasure of it.

When I redesigned the Slip, I wanted to keep its charms in mind while also providing a lush, immersive atmosphere. The grid is exhausted with ugly, cookie-cutter, mall-draped music venues; I wanted a showplace. Dwell and traffic now being all but useless, I moved the venue away from the stores and, with the help of a good friend who has terraform-fu, was able to seclude it. Starting with a blank slate of sand and hills, what developed has become something I am genuinely thrilled to share with friends and visitors.

The Freudian Slip - Bird's Eye View

The “center” of the Slip is still a dock where the main congregation of sits and dances are within chat range of each other and the stage. Nearly everything is sit-able — from the sacks and barrels of goods to the rivets and posts of the deck. The large pile of lumber serves as a dance machine with a simple “sway to the music” animation people can opt for.

Freudian Slip : Main Deck

I tried to get rid of all poseballs, with only couples dances being the monkey wrench in my gears. In the spirit of compromise, I changed the dance balls into butterflies (on land) and fish (underwater).

Freudian Slip - Fish Disguised Dance Balls

Freudian Slip - Butterfly Disguised Dance Balls

Placing an emphasis on couples (which I’m not sure is warranted, but we’ll see) I tried to make sure there were plenty of couples sits. I placed them into coils of rope and bags of jewels so that those coming to listen and lounge could snuggle and still banter if they wanted. For those who wanted to listen, but move off from the group, there are snuggle hammocks on the main beach, as well as up on the hill top over the cave.

Freudian Slip - Hammocks

Freudian Slip - Couples Ropes

Admittedly, I went a little crazy with landscaping. The “Slipwreck” provides an amazing off-Sim backdrop, trapped upon rocks with breaking waves. I can’t stop taking photos of the damn thing.

Freudian Slip - Slipwreck Stormy Day

Freudian Slip - Slipwreck Sunset

Freudian Slip - Slipwreck Aurora Nights

Moai stand like sentinels from the shore, and there are runic stones and other tribal markers amid the tiki posts and lush foliage. I filled them with “fly” animations for fun, and I have to say, they are some of the best sculpts I’ve ever seen.

Moai @ The Freudian Slip

Freudian Slip : Birds of Paradise

Freudian Slip : Menhir Tribal Monument Stones

I wanted to keep a hint of the old Slip, so I placed our pet Squid (he’s actually an octopus named Squid) out lurking in the water and kept the compass rose cog-style stage, even though it no longer rotates.

Freudian Slip - Stage

Although I was bullied into disposing of my music monkeys, flamingos, and toucans, I added “Skelebard” propped up on the cannon behind the stage — as a warning to those who need to be kept in line.

Freudian Slip - Skelebard

There is even a hidden treasure cove for explorers who want to find a little nook to sequester themselves into.

Freudian Slip - Cave Exterior

Not a gifted builder, I’m much more of an assembler. Pulling from the depths of my inventory and from some of the more gifted content creators on the grid, I was able to create my own little slice of paradise.

Eventually, I may be offering the space for event rentals — I put a Tiki Hut DJ pavilion on the main beach for casual parties and such, but for now, I’m just genuinely happy to have a music venue that looks different from the rest and that feels, once more, like home.

Freudian Slip - Party Pavilion

Freudian Slip - Tiki Hut Hammy & Birdcage

It’s a public space, and anyone is invited to explore, snuggle or hang out. The music stream is set to a Beatles-only channel and I recommend sunset until the aurora borealis appears in the sky, at which time, midnight is mandatory.

Where Did She Get Those Wonderful Toys?
(In No Particular Order)

Dock Crane
Fish Buckets
Fish Traps
Menhir Tribal Monument Stones
Net Maker Rack
Runic Dolmen Stones
Rustic Warning Bell
Sail Maker Rack
Laufey Markstein
T R I D E N T

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Nordmaar/110/125/500

Assorted Palms
Palm Hammock
Tobias Novi
Tree House Designs

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Mycenae/102/91/32

Lock Stocks
Rustic Suspended Cage
Suspension Post
Treasure Chests
Ashade Sinister
Shade Fantasy Outfitters

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Crooked%20Earth/182/81/38

Shipwreck
BETLOG Hax

https://www.xstreetsl.com/modules.php?name=Marketplace&MerchantID=84453

Naima Coraline Barrier
Naiman Broome
Las Islas

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Las%20Lagunas/233/220/22

1 Prim Wildflowers
Birdcage
Hammock Tree
Oriolus Oliva
The Golden Oriole

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Verdigris/63/68/71

Mermaid Sculptures
Pumpkin Tripsa
Chakra Nova

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Rafail/128/66/2508

Birds of Paradise
Logan Bauer
Arctic Greenhouse

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Alternate%20Reality/142/141/55

KALAMA Palm With Egg Swing
POIPU Tiki Hut Dancefloor & DJ Booth
Hatzfeld Runo
Tiki Tattoo

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Tiki%20Tattoo%20Cove/10/173/421

Aurora Borealis
Various Plants
Kriss Lehmann
Botanical

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Straylight/183/52/25

Tiki Posts
Sally Seattle
REZOLUTION

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Deco/241/23/21

Moai Sculpts
Astolpho Majestic

“They might have split up or they might have capsized
They may have broke deep and took water
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters.”
~ Gordon Lightfoot, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”

*** JOIN US THURSDAY, JULY 22ND @ 6PM SLT FOR THE RELAUNCH OF THE FREUDIAN SLIP LIVE MUSIC VENUE. GRACE MCDUNNOUGH WILL TAKE THE FIRST BLUSH OFF THE COMPASS ROSE, FOLLOWED BY LYNDON HEART WHO’LL KEEP GETTIN’ IT ALL DIRTY WITH BOY COOTIES AFTER HER @ 7PM SLT. DO NOT MAKE US COME GET YOU. WE’RE PIRATES; WE’VE GOT LIQUOR AND SWORDS. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Seven%20Veils/44/127/26 ***

The Wreck of the SS Freudian Slip

It was oft whispered in the ports that dared allow them harbor, that the rag-tag coterie was doomed, being as they were steered by the obvious runt of the litter. Still, the winds generously billowed the sails full, the tides of wet goddesses rocked and cradled their passage, and there was progress toward some manner of destination, even if none were sure where such a journey might end. Fortune, of course, never leans too far too long in any one direction, but the idle comfort of a string of luck led them like children toward a sense of entitlement that the fates could not resist rolling against them.

The endless days of sun-beamed arcs bouncing off the rolling waves eventually led to sea blindness and a peculiar madness of false vision began to infect the crew. The only sanity that clung between the margins of the voyage came when the moon escorted the stars across the velvet midnight, blocking out the charlatan mirages that danced like ghosts on the spray. The artful dodgers of the bevy recognized the need to dispel the mounting tension, and trespassed down into the hold, returning with tapped casks of rum, whiskey, amontillado — all the others could hope to distract from the tedious delirium of the every day drudge.

No one was certain who heard the first lilting note, but it was not long until they were all awash in awe and wonder.

It was the Siren; her call vibrated across the distance like the kiss of a forgotten lover, passion-trapped within a bottle and finally able to wrest the cork from her stained glass prison bars. She called to them in ways none had ever heard, nor could they put words to all she inspired as they huddled against the masts and rigging, straining for some vision, some shadow that might quench the thirsts no spirits could sate. Secret and distant, she denied them, calling from the inky dark, and from the salty air itself, taunting and luring, drawing them closer. Closer. Closer.

When she tired, or perhaps when the Mistress moon merely tricked her back into her bottle, the troubadour replaced her honey-soaked verses with the crafty skills and pleasures of his trade. Familiar chanteys and rarely-heard canticles wove a patchwork spell, stitched from the same siren cloth which swaddled the lot of them into the stupors of drunken revelry. Unable to contain the need to catch the power of the rattle and hum, some dove into the unforgiving waters, arm over arm, flailing toward the echos that meshed, interlaced, plaited together like the sinuous coils of raw hemp that flanked the decks.

Before long, the very planks and rigging seemed to rein themselves toward the unknown cove of haunted songs.

The water-logged pages of the journal end there, leaving us to merely speculate about the fate of the SS Freudian Slip. Some say she made a cold, early grave of the briny floor at the edges of the world. Others spin wild tales of a treasure cove where the ancient faces of kings carved in stone and brightly painted totems hold court amid a lush and living landscape. But the story traded most often over mugs of foamy-headed ales casts the crew as the enchanted captives of a pair of pirate specter bards, tethered to the wreckage and rocks that serve as brig and stage; entangled forever by roots and tendrils none can sever.

Some Thursday nights, when the unsuspecting pass too close to those waves and rocks, the echos spill out over still waters, and just as twilight coaxes the horizon to accept the weight of the sunset back within its shimmering embrace, comes the intoxicating lullaby of Her.

And if you stand upon the deck long enough, the blanket of night will wash brilliant with color as He follows, melting the wick into the depths of the wax and daring those who hear to lean just a little closer for one more song.

“Every location has its sweet spot.” ~ Sean Collins

I grew up a stone’s throw from the Florida Keys, which meant that it was not all that unusual for some random family member to convince the kinfolk to corral all the nieces and nephews, their bathing suits, a few beach towels, and other odds and ends into their cars and caravan the whole motley crew down to Key Largo or Islamorada for an extended weekend of “wear the brats out until they’re sunburned and exhausted so we can ditch them in the hotel rooms and go get rum runners.” (Remember, it was the 70s and adults were allowed to be adults, they didn’t have to pretend like their lives began and ended with entertaining children). It was less common for us to make it all the way down to Key West, but there were plenty of times I watched expectantly for Osprey nests on telephone poles and tried to see if I could hold my breath all the way across Seven Mile Bridge (my Uncle Mark came up with that game; the man was diabolical) in anticipation of being able to count toes on the cats outside Hemingway House.

In my memory I don’t recall ever once staying at a hotel that had a national chain attached to it, or eating at a restaurant that had an existing counterpart anywhere on the mainland. Mostly I remember renting brightly painted trailers with an outstanding view of the ocean, mom-and-pop diners with conch fritters to die for, and hippie pottery / craft / art shops in every little nook and crannie that wasn’t occupied by a bar. Over the course of my childhood I purchased more shell necklaces and flip flops from street vendors than seems humanly possible. I’m sure my memory is washed in that nostalgia-haze where everything just seems better, but the last time I went to they Keys I loathed it. It just wasn’t the same; the charm had been dispelled and everything was national chains, splashy graphics, and bloated tourists complaining about the heat. Burger King and Margaritaville had invaded and if there was a surviving old timer, it had been made over into some tarty version of itself (say it ain’t so, Sloppy Joe…).

My childhood experiences of the Keys came some thirty to forty years after the Hemingway days, so I could not be considered an early adopter. I’m not sure I’d have wanted to be, given what I know of the way things were then. I’m sure it was a magical and fascinating place in its own way, but if Hemingway felt at home, I certainly wouldn’t. Now, some thirty years or so after my childhood time spent there, I’m no longer in tune with the place. It has bumped into the mainstream and is chugging along like an overcrowded machine that promises unique experiences packaged nicely in the same ribbons and bows you can find everywhere else — don’t worry, you’ll not experience any disconnection from everything that you’ve been programmed to understand as pleasure.

Yes, that’s a wee bit on the cynical side, but so is Margaritaville.

My fond memories of the Florida Keys fall into what I think of as the “Sophomore Sweet Spot.” This is the phase after the early adopters have cast their spells to transform a unique bit of real estate (virtual or otherwise) into something captivating, but before the inevitable, capitalism-fueled lust of appealing to the mainstream has battered the soul out of it. I have spent my life chasing the Sophomore Sweet Spot and have decided it’s both the highest high and the most bitter pill.

The thing about serial intermediate generation adopters like myself is that we tend to be halfway between idealist and pragmatist; we’re more than the pedestrian user, but less often the obsessive genius type that can froth a project to boiling by sheer will. We appreciate everything the early adopters do and we often admire them, but we can’t help rolling our eyes at their reindeer games and hyperbolic methods of deciding who is more X or Y and crying about how every little change is a harbinger that the sky is falling. At the same time, we can identify when the tides are shifting toward that wrenching moment of invasion when every lovely, soft corner will soon be infected with neon light, and when the same old grind is meaninglessly repackaged to cover the fact that there’s no longer room to take a chance and present something creative because the bottom line no longer accommodates the risk associated with things like “challenging” or “daring” or “new.”

The Sophomore Sweet Spot is the place between excavation and obliteration, between the first date and the painful break-up over coffee. It’s the creamy center between the hard dry cookie crusts. It’s always worth the trouble, but it really sucks when it’s over. Watching something shine golden and then fade into joylessness is just plain depressing… as any Ponyboy could tell you.

Lately, I’ve been feeling a sort of Gamer-anhedonia and I’ve been waiting for the next hit of something, like an addict jonesing for a fix. WOW is done for me, I think; I’ve been bored in the format for a long time and I’ve looked at the changes coming to healing with Cataclysm and they inspire me to want to play about as much as a brick to the head. I have zero desire to dip back toward Eve or EQ2 or Warhammer or any of the once-trod territory of “been there, done that” land. I don’t enjoy consoles anymore because no matter how awesome the graphics or interesting the storylines, NPC-only formats just don’t feel like real gaming anymore. I’ve tried a few free MMOs and it’s all so meh, and traditional games like Settlers of Catan Online can be fun, but they’re just a sip of whiskey, distracting and pleasant but unable to fan the flames after the initial buzz burns off.

Don’t get me wrong; I have plenty to do. Between learning to code, building projects, writing, etc., the last thing I need is a new shiny funtoi to distract me from real work. But we all need down time and things to rejuv our gray matter and it’s a little frustrating to look around at all there is and realize so much of it is the same boring rehash of point-and-click kill or upgrade-and-wait crafting. I’ve never seen so much of nothing new before and I don’t see a Sophomore Sweet Spot anywhere on the horizon.

It’s all so stupid and contagious; where’s the entertainment?