Kitty O’Toole has been a regular in Second Life since her incarnation in December 2006. It took less than a few hours for her to realise that she’d found her spiritual home here amongst the pixels and polygons, Goreans, Furries and erstwhile perverts with extra-large prim phalluses who make up the Metaverse. She loved it even more when she realised that you could buy, as Howard Carter once famously uttered, ‘Wonderful things…’
So buy them she did, fluttering like a demented butterfly from virtual store to virtual store as quickly as her prim wings would carry her. (It was at this time that a few SL merchants may have seen a brief but surprisingly welcome spike in their profits) It didn’t take long before Kitty rented her first home and started filling it with as much freebige (Abstract noun meaning ’Lots of Freebies’) as she could possibly manage. Alas, Kitty then discovered the bane of many a Second Lifer’s existence, the dreaded prim limit, so she buggered off and brought some land of her own and filled that with all sorts of beautiful nonsense. During her virtual travels, she managed to persuade ‘The Avastar’ to employ her and for a time attended all sorts of mad and occasionally inane events in the name of virtual journalism. She also started to regularly frequent a select few watering holes and meet and make friends with some utterly wonderful people. Kitty’s time at ‘The Avastar’ was short but enjoyable, and using all the experience that she gained she subsequently decided to dip her toes into the world of solitary virtual journalism as the sole writer and producer of ‘Kittywitchin’ an eclectic mish mash of reviews and happenings written by Kitty in her signature style.
June 2009 saw Kitty launch her business, “Kittylicious! Shapes by Kitty O’Toole” upon the Second Life grid. It was an immediate success, prefectly mixing curvy feminine shapes with elements of high fashion to create a unique base for premium skins. The shapes have proved just as popular for their down-to-earth prices as well as their wearability, and Kitty is in much demand.
In RL Kitty lives with her beloved ‘Jez’, who doesn’t rate Second Life nearly as much as Kitty does, but loves her enough to understand that she’s completely bloody addicted and never nags her when she declares that she’s ‘Going in world, and I may be some time…’ In actual fact Jez is very supportive of Kitty’s efforts and even bought her a spangly laptop so that she could post from her sickbed, and he’s also very appreciative that he lives with the kind of woman who lets him twat Goblins on a nightly basis and also let him install various huge arcade machine’s in the dining room…When not in Second Life, Kitty can be found toiling at her desk working for a multi-national company where she pretends to be very intelligent and has so far managed to pull it off quite successfully. When her daily grind is at an end, she rushes home to be with Jez, their 6 cats and Staffordshire Bull Terrier puppy. (Ooh I forgot a bit there, it didn’t mention that upon the way home she usually pops into her local ‘Bargain Booze’ to collect her evening refreshments) She enjoys regular trips to the movies, considers herself a bit of a film buff and electronic music enthusiast, especially anthems created by such synth gods as the Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode and New Order. Kitty is a Wiccan, and enjoys using the metaverse to mingle with fellow like-minded nutters Pagans from all kinds of denominations. She also acts as a moderator or two groups in world: ‘Pet Shop Boys fans in SL’ & ‘Kittywitchin’
REVIEW GUIDELINES:
If you have any items that you would like me to review then I’d be chuffed to do so. However, a review is just that, I’ll write exactly what I think, but my mum raised me to have manners so rest assured even if I think your stuff sucks I’ll say so in the nicest way possible. I don’t see any point in writing a review if it doesn’t actually criticise the item in question, so that means I’ll scrutinise the details, zoom in on the seams and the textures and also take into consideration important stuff like permissions ( Mod/Copy/Transfer) and price. We live in interesting times and every Linden Dollar counts…Kittywitchin is all about quality and I have standards, contrary to popular belief! I’m a prim whore so I’ll review most objects within reason. I like reviewing furniture as well as clothes, but I also review jewellery,houses, skins, hair, eyes, modelling poses and anything else *including* the kitchen sink! If it’s relevent to the Second Life metaverse, then it’ll be relevant to the Kittywitchin’ readers too. I’ve been asked by a few people what my policy is for review items, and I’ve been spurred on to include a finite copy of my review guidelines having seen the brilliantly sensible list published on Savoir Hair. Incidentally, If you would like your products back after I have reviewed them then that is absolutely fine, I don’t expect freebies…but they are nice! Of course I have my own personal preferences, so for the record I’ll list them here and that may help you when sending me items. As far as clothing goes I’ll wear anything EXCEPT sticky-out skirts (You know the ones I mean, they fill many a freebie box in world) I can’t stand them! If it’s hair that you’re sending me then please be aware that I’m particularly interested in variations on my signature bobbed hairstyle, and my favourite colours tend towards the darker end of the spectrum, so think black/dark reds and earthy tones please, I’m a typical Virgo! I like Autumnal shades rather than pastels…personal preference shouldn’t really play a part in a review I know, BUT I don’t think I could give you an honest opinion if I was dressed up like a fondant fancy. I’d be far too busy vomiting due to my candy pink allergy.
If you decide to send me review items, please abide by the policy below:
1. Folders are super useful and appreciated. For super safety, call your folder ’For Review’ followed by submission date and your store name please.
2. Please include a notecard, with all the essential details on it like:Name of the store & designer(s),Name of the outfit/hairstyle/object/building/small patagonian mammal,Price, SLURL, Link to your blog- I can then include you on my blogroll, which is nice,Whether you’d like your items returned,Anything else that you want to include.
3. Send me the folder via my profile. Easy, no?
Of course you don’t have to adhere to these guidelines, but they do make reviews a lot easier to manage. I’ll respond as quickly as I can, usually within 24-48 hours. If you’re worried that I haven’t reviewed your product and that time period has elapsed drop me an e-mail Alternatively, you can IM me; but I get flooded with ’stuff’ every day and am *very* easily distracted. NOTE: Your sending me items does not guarantee a review; if that’s the case I shall be polite and return them, obviously:) As well as reviews I like to document my adventures in-world on this blog, and I’m always happy to hear about any events that you may have planned,so please feel free to share your news with me. I’m always extremely happy to give in-world fundraising a mention upon these pages, charitable soul that I am, but please give me at least a weeks notice so that I can get the post written and drum up some trade for your function/event/gala. Last but not least, here’s a completely shameless plug. Kittywitchin is non-commercial and funded purely out of my own pocket. It started out as a vanity project (and then some) but has developed into a successful blog that I’m immensely proud of. In real life I work for a major multi-national company as a minion ( we’re talking so near the bottom of the pile as to be buried) so I only manage to work on Kittywitchin in my spare time. I did look into the possibility of having advertising on the site but unfortunately WordPress.com doesn’t allow it, which is fair enough….SO if you enjoy the site please consider chucking a few lindens my way as a small token of your appreciation. Incidentally, all monies I receive via my stores are funnelled straight back into the metaverse…they don’t line my pockets with silver or pay any real life bills, but they help me to obtain nice new things for review upon these pages. It’s my way of giving back to a community that has given me so much, and it also means that in-world artists and content creators benefit.
Finally, if you want to know who the real Kitty is…..
Unfortunately, this is me.
Yes, I know: old enough to know better!
