At last, the Couples Animation Vehicle :)

I was deprived of a young girl's dream
By the cruel force of nature from the blue
Instead of a night full of romance supreme
All I got was a runny nose and Asiatic flu
It's raining on prom night, my hair is a mess
It's running all over my taffeta dress

Well, as anyone who has had to have the misfortune to listen to my whimperings the last few days can attest, I spent all my dayjob days off laid flat down with the flu. Bleh. So, last night rolled around, and once again I found myself on Second Life vice doing those things that people who find themselves sans maladie do, even if they have to work at six am or so the next day (Why do flights start so early in the morning? Why can't we just start our work at three in the afternoon or so? But I digress) The silver cloud in my raining on prom night cloud being the fact that today finds me still in disheveled dishabile at the computer, rather than on the unappreciated dusty trails of various hotel rooms. I moaned and whimpered enough to get a note from the nice doctor, made my excuses on the phone to the main office, and back to bed.

Or rather, a long nap followed by finishing up a few SL projects. One of which, I am happy to say, is the long awaited Embrace--an elegant name for Ms. Vicky Christensen's couple's animation device that allows two people to walk together. I am happy to say, it handles most terrain fairly well, with the notable exception of stairs (an SL issue with vehicles, I'm afraid). Later versions will allow flight and swimming, but for now, it has some lovely animations for couples walking romantically together, and even running. It has a "waiting for one's gentleman/lady friend" animation it plays until you are joined on the poseball by your companion. It allows either the owner or a friend to lead, and is rather easy to understand--just use the arrow keys. All in all, quite cute, and quite fun.

If you want to try it out yourself, a demo model is at Secondframe Animations: http://slurl.com/secondlife/animation%20island/14/160%20/322/

Well, I did the vehicle part, so Ms Christensen generously gave me a copy to play about with last night. It could not have come at a better time. I was feeling a bit mopey with self pity and such, so my friend Miss Terry Lightfoot had taken me out to a Jazz Concert in Venice. That was cheering enough, but then a certain fellow by the name of Mr. Trevor Rowlands wanted to know if he could join us. I should admit, by way of explanation, that in fact, I know Mr Rowlands well enough in RL. He has gallantly refrained from any teazing on the subject of said obsession, and in fact created his account recently so that he could see the world that I will go on about at times.

Well then, I certainly wasn't going to trip the light fantastic in RL, or even grace the inside of the local, so this was a fine enough alternative :) Mind you, I say so strictly in view of my obligation to beta test the Embrace device.

First, there was standing---


And a bit of a stroll (I assure you the feet are moving in a strolling fashion here)--


And then full speed sprinting. Despite my flats, I found the terrain a bit rough going, but as you can see, he is a strong fellow!


Well, that and some swing dancing earlier had us all good and virtually glowing, so it was time for a hot toddy and a bit of a chat before toddling off to a fair early bedtime. But one cannot argue with the ability to get out and about, even when one is less than fit to be seen in RL public :P