So, you know how I usually talk about how much I want to work on Kyūketsuki and then promise that I’ll make a new post sometime in the near future? Well, I decided to go against that trend and not post until the new chapter is up.

Without further ado, I present Chapter 12 of Kyūketsuki.

I’ve actually had the pictures done for nearly a month, and I just got around to writing the post. Sometimes, there’s just too much RL to deal with :/

Anyway, I hope you enjoy it

I can’t say that I haven’t been in SL recently. I mean, just last Wednesday I logged in . . . to pay my tier.

RL has been very, very busy and has reduced my time for SL significantly. Add in the fact that I had been having problems finding the motivation to log on, and I’m pretty much a ghost these days.

I *do* miss all my friends out there, though. Hopefully, I’ll find time to play soon

I know we all grow disenchanted with SL from time to time, but it seems that more and more of the people who I became friends with during my early SL days are going away. Now, I can’t criticize (not that I would), as I have gone through long periods of absence in my two-and-one-half years in SL and likely would not be on very much now if one of my RL friends hadn’t started going in world, but it seems that very few of the people who I met and became friends with in my early days are around anymore.

Hence my question: does SL have an expiration date?

It just seems that we all start SL, become interested in the possibilities, form friendships, maybe get into a relationship (which will probably—maybe inevitably—end in heartache), try our hands at building or designing or whatever . . . and then we hit the point where we’re not sure why it is we’re logging in. Our friends aren’t around as much. We’ve seen all the really interesting places. We’ve given up on flirting due to a bad break-up. Things just happen that diminish the enjoyment we once had.

I’m fighting to keep SL fresh and interesting, and watching my friend establish herself in world is helping, but I’m not sure if this is just what I need to revive my interest or if I’m just keeping SL on life support, not wanting to finally let go.

Recently, my friend Whitney has been getting into dancing in SL, and this week, I’ve been tagging along. I’ve been dancing in SL in the past, but Whitney’s been going ballroom dancing, which I never really did in the past. Perhaps it’s because I’ve tended to be a little ragamuffin neko while in SL, which doesn’t really fit with the ballroom scene, but I always went to less formal places, like Sanctuary Rock or Lounge of Dreams (where the very awesome Rosie Barthlemess works). I have to say that I’ve really been enjoying myself, though, making me kinda wonder why I never tried this out before.

Yep, even ragamuffin Chloe enjoys being pretty now and then

Waiting for some nice young gentleman to ask me to dance . . .

It happens every year.

I wait so expectantly for summer, thinking of how wonderful it will be when the weather is finally warm again. See, I don’t like the cold. In fact, you could probably go so far as to say I hate it. Certainly, snow is pretty, but I could do without winter all together, thank you

So, June finally arrives, and I am happy that summer is here. The problem is, June passes so quickly. And then we have July, which for its thirty-one days, still seems like the shortest month to me. I mean, there is no way we can already almost be to August, right?

Anyway, I hope everyone is enjoying her or his summer. I’ve been in SL sporadically. I actully got a RL friend to join, and we’ve had some fun. It’s always great to get a new person started and help her find her SL style

Some people have been give me gentle nudges to do something with Kyūketsuki again. I’m thinking about it. I really do want to move that story along. I have so much of it left to tell . . .

In the meantime, I’ll probably pop into SL now and then to see what’s going on. If you see me, be sure to say, “hi”

Listening to Keeley’s band Sonorous Breaks

Hmm . . . seems like a significant date, for some reason.

But I wonder what that reason could possibly be . . .

I see that town. Silent Hill.

Yeah, not much to this post. I just took a few pictures tonight, did a little compositing and Photoshopping, and decided to share

Chloe finds herself lost in the fog, but she’s not alone . . .

Hmm . . . this gives me an idea. Maybe in between Kyūketsuki chapters, I can do a little Silent Hill fan fiction. Maybe.

In SL—where it is not a matter of whether everything changes, but when—I should not be surprised after a sim or build closes. Yet tonight, when I tried to find Mill Pond and the Open Latte coffee shop, only to discover that neither exists any longer, I was a little shocked.

I can’t say that I spent much time at Mill Pond. In fact, I probably only visited a handful of times, and I always accompanied the same person when I went. It always seemed to be busy, though—thriving. It seemed like there were always people there with whom to chat, if you so chose.

I suppose this is what happens after drifting away from SL for a time. When you return, the landscape has changed quite a bit, and it’s a little difficult to find where you fit. I’m dealing with that now, as most of the people I knew from my SL-obsessed, stay-up-all-night, I-have-no-real-life days are around occasionally, at best. Luckily, I’ve managed to catch up with a few of them recently, and I’m starting to feel more at home again. I’m hoping to run across more of you soon.

Bye, for now. <3 to you all

I was away from my computer the last couple of days, so I didn’t get an opportunity to post here and wish happy birthday to two of my favorite people, SL or otherwise. I’m rectifying that now

Happy belated birthday, Keeley and Dirk! I hope you both had great birthdays, and I hope that I get to catch up with the two of you soon!

It could probably use an edit, but chapter 11 of Kyūketsuki has finally been added.

And now I can get some sleep