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Last night I was in world with Shawna0630, Rosabelle and a few newbies, including Joecool2126. We were hanging out at the Gamepark, catching up on the Oscars—which was Fan-tabulous—and the Islander life, when the newbies started asking me about how to earn money. I decided this was a good time to go over it because I realize that so many newbies just don’t know how!

It's quite simple. In order to earn money on Stagecoach Island, you visit the ATMs and click on "Earn Money" to visit the Virtual Learning Lounge. You "Take the Quiz" by answering three money management questions. If you answer them correctly, you earn $15 for each question.

There’s also a section on the left called "Get the Facts" where you can read about the topic and find ALL the answers. You can only take a Learning Lounge quiz every three days, but the trivia question changes every day, so you can earn a few bucks from it daily.

Speaking of which, I gotta run to the ATM. See you in world!

If you read Cassie's Blog regularly, you probably know about the new Island that Shawna0603 found. She was speeding south on the ocean for "miles" when she hit a piece of land in the the middle of no where. If you haven't been there yet, check it out at 775s 773w!

New things: iPhone , Wii™ , PlayStation® 3 , Xbox 360™   and new movies—can we really catch up to all this stuff? I can't even remember what I had for lunch yesterday, but if you were to ask me about the Wii, I could practically recite all the features, talk to you about swinging techniques and feel like a pro tennis player. Reality? Well, you'd probably beat me pretty quick if we were to have a real match of tennis, and although I love golf, I would not at any given time consider myself a pro out in the golfing range.

With all these cool gismos and gadgets launching everywhere, it's hard not to get swept up by the trend. But I've never been the kind to stand in line two days before the game arrives to wait for 10 Xboxes, only to find out that they sold out the last one to the person in front of me—it's just crazy what so many people are willing to do for these things.

Let me tell you of an experience I recently had. I drove by a ridiculously long line at Best Buy® waiting for the new Xbox to come out that following morning, and I kid you not, they had a propane stove and were cooking right outside the store! It's become like a family get-together and event. What in the world? Did I miss something, or have I really fallen off the bandwagon of games?

Don't get me wrong, I think they're awesome and would love to own them, but is it really worth waiting 48 hours in the cold?

Last night I was in world with Felie, Cbow and Desperado just catching up by the game park when we decided to go make some music! So we all got on an instrument and jammed for a bit, trying to make some sort of melody or tune. Cbow was on the keyboard while the rest of the gals hit the stage. I was having a blast when I received a telegram from RandyLH inviting me to a secret place. I couldn’t resist, so I teleported and—whoosh—I landed on a new island that was illuminated by the moon and night sky!

The entire island is super cool-looking, and its shape rocks. It takes on a form like a slice or a ginormous sliver of pizza or cake! I flew up to check it out, and it just sits like a wedge of lemon in the water.

Then, Shawna0630 joined us, and RandyLH told me that she actually found it. Supposedly she jetted out on a water ski heading south going non-stop and went on for miles and miles till she hit a piece of land in the middle of nowhere, which she now named "Titanic Island"! Come in world and check it out!

 

I remember going to class in high school one day when my friend handed me bright plastic green, purple and gold beads to wear. The first two things that came to mind were: This is an awkward color combination, and why do I have to wear them?

It wasn't school spirit colors, so of course I wasn't fully informed on what the beads meant. It wasn't until later that I learned about the history of the beads. Each color, chosen by the King of Carnival, Rex,  in 1872, had a different meaning. These official colors were purple, which represented justice; green, which stood for faith; and gold, which was symbolic to power. So after digging briefly into what the background of the beads were, I wore them like a champ to celebrate one of the biggest parties across the country—Mardi Gras!

Nobody really knows where this holiday came from, but many believe that it came through French heritage in 1699.  All we know now is that it's one of the most celebrated holidays, where people actually FLY in from all over the world to meet up in party central, New Orleans. From there they wear masks, throw beads at each other, and basically have a super-fly time meeting and dancing with people all over the streets.

One of the first things that I always wondered was the meaning behind the words "Mardi Gras," and indeed it was a surprise. It stands for "Fat Tuesday," the day of the week that Mardi Gras is celebrated. The key to choosing which Tuesday it is depends on the Easter holiday. Mardi Gras MUST be 47 days before Easter Sunday, so in reality, the date can fall anywhere between February 3 to March 9. 

This year, the date is—yep you guessed it—THIS Tuesday, February 20th! I think we should host a fat celebration of our own—we can make our very own Stagecoach Island Fat Tuesday!

So for all who missed it, including myself, there was a huge flood in Stagecoach Island yesterday! According to a few islanders, it was because MegSRP did a cannonball into the open pool area – and that flooded the city with a downpour! Tell us what you saw if you were caught in the overflow of water!

 

After getting RandyLH's comment on my Valentine's Day Hype post , I feel like it's only fair to go and look into our past to see how traditions and beliefs of this day historically came to be. Every year when February comes along, flowers, gifts, candy and cards are all exchanged between loved ones all around the world. There are great stories behind this time of romance.

St. Valentine's Day roots into both Christian  and Roman  tradition and beliefs. There are stories that say Valentine was a priest around the third century in Rome. The emperor, Claudius II, made a proclamation—a very strange one—that single men were better soldiers, so he outlawed marriage for young men. St. Valentine, seeing the wrongness in the emperor's actions, continued to marry young couples secretly, serving like a kind of a Romeo-and-Juliet savior. When his secret was discovered, though, he was put to death, like a true martyr in the name of love. How romantic is that? Well, not the death part—but the heroic rescuer of love is.

Why do we send Valentine's Day cards? Well, according to one legend, St. Valentine sent the first Valentine's Day card while he was in jail. He fell in love with a young girl and wrote her a letter that was signed, "From Your Valentine,"  a popular phrase that people use during this romantic season. No one knows for sure if these legends are true, but Valentine definitely represents a romantic figure and was one of the most popular saints in France and England during that time. He was the knight in shining armor that sacrificed in the name of love.

Here's some fun facts for you to think about: The Greeting Card Association  estimates approximately 1 billion Valentine's Day cards  are sent each year. Can you believe that? My hands would be so tired they'd fall off if I wrote anything close to a thousand cards, let alone 1 billion—not to mention that all my pens would run dry. They also estimate that 85% of the valentines are purchased by women. How bizarre is that? I guess gals get the cards and guys get the flowers. This day is known as the second-largest card-sending holiday for the post office behind Christmas.

What did you do? I want to know how your Valentine's Day was, and you should share with everyone as well! So hurry up and spill on how great your V-day celebration was!

Congratulations to our first Talent Show champions of 2007! Coming in first place was Darthvader, who won 1 million Stagecoach Island dollars! In second place was Jesusfreak012, winning $50,000, and then, last but not least, our very own adorable Ashleyxoxo came in third and won $10,000! A big round of applause to all the participants and people who showed up to watch the show! I'll let you know via telegram when to expect your winnings in your bank accounts.

As for the winning gigs, Jesusfreak012 sang a beautiful song for us and brought tears to RandyLH's eyes. Darthvader made us laugh with a great stand-up comedy routine, and Ashleyxoxo told us a hilarious joke. One of the judges, Ryan, also went on stage even though he couldn't win and told us a ghost story based in Hawaii about the night marchers. Gave all of us islanders chills! Overall, we all enjoyed watching the show and had a great time participating and being a part of something new and exciting here on Stagecoach Island.

A big thanks to RandyLH for exclusively sponsoring, hosting and emceeing the event—and to Kai, Ryan and Hayley (myself as well) for judging! It was all made possible by everyone who came and joined us.

One thing to share with everyone who missed the performances is Ashleyxoxo's joke. Check out the rest of the performers on the screen shots for more in-depth detail on the ins and outs of the show!

"What did the traffic light say to the car?"
"Stop looking, I'm changing!"

 

As a wrap to our exciting weekend Talent Show, the winners are as follows:

• First place ($1 million): Darthvader – Winning routine – Comedy – Stand Up
• Second Place ($50,000): Jesusfreak012 – Vocal performance of a song
• Third Place ($10,000): Ashleyxoxo – Comedy – Joke

A big thanks to everyone who came and participated, especially RandyLH, who sponsored and emceed the event; Kai, Hayley and Ryan, for acting as wonderful and impartial judges; and to everyone who came to watch
and chill with us!

 

It's time to showcase your talents! Join RandyLH and friends at the Auld Lang Syne Pool for the first Stagecoach Island Talent Show on Saturday, February 10th, at 3:45 p.m. PT/6:45 p.m. ET. MegSRP is emceeing the event and the judges are Cassie, Kai and Kenz. All prizes are funded by RandyLH. First prize is ONE MILLION Stagecoach Island dollars! Second prize is fifty thousand dollars, and third prize is ten thousand. Anyone can participate—you can rap, dance, make up a song, write a poem, or do anything that rocks our world! See you on Saturday!

I spent my first full night in world and everything was so beautiful! I had imagined it to be something like this, but I had no idea how cool it would look. It reminded me of that bedtime story from when I was a kid called "Goodnight Moon"  with the cute family of bears. Have you read it?

I met up with RandyLH and Bear810 at a nice quiet spot and moon gazed, literally. We didn't talk much except when Bear810, the newbie, wanted some advice on getting a new look from our clothing shops—but that was it. The whole time, we sat atop a roof and watched the moon. It was one of RandyLH's thinking spots and personally, I thought the view was super serene.

It made me wonder about one of the Wallace and Gromit  movies where they took a trip to the moon  because they thought it was made of cheese. I remember them hacking away at craters and stuff on the "cheese moon"  just so they could eat their crackers!  It looked identical to the moon I was staring at all night. Or maybe I was just hungry and everything in world looked like food—who knows?

It was just so amazing seeing the moon stamped against the starry skies. I can't wait for you guys to see it, too; it's really worth checking out. There's nothing like this from before. Make sure you let me know what you think of the new night and if you liked our cheese moon, too!

Yesterday I went exploring in world to check out what's new and to catch up with everyone! I joined up with Darthvader, whom I haven't seen for a while, Fireball, RandyLH, Jdp9693 and so many others to chat and hunt for fun new things. We talked about the talent show and went through some planning for it. We scouted out some great locations to host the show, and we aren’t spilling the beans yet. It will be top secret until we have the full report from RandyLH and Kai.

 

What I can tell you is that RandyLH has decided that the show will be emceed by MegSRP and there will be three judges: Kai, Scorpio and me! It's going to be so fun and exciting! I’ll help RandyLH keep us posted on the fun details—watch for an Events posting here soon!

Why participate in the talent show, you may ask? Well, because the grand prize is ONE MILLION Stagecoach Island DOLLARS! This prize is funded by our host RandyLH, and there will be one lucky winner walking away with a fortune. Will it be YOU?

The song goes: "Cupid, draw back your Bow, and let your arrow go, straight to my lover’s heart, for me."  But did you ever wonder who Cupid was and where he came from? I always wondered why he was named the infamous angel of love, in charge of creating couples all over the world. What made Cupid so special?

According to Roman myths, Cupid  was the son of the Goddess of love and beauty, Venus . Cupid was famous for making people fall in love by shooting them with his magical bow and arrow. The secret that nobody knew was that Cupid, amidst his power to make people fall in love, had fallen hopelessly in love with a mortal maiden named Psyche , and he married her.

Venus, his mother, of course, was angry and jealous of Psyche’s beauty and forbade her to ever lay eyes on Cupid. But realistically, how could you never look at your husband? So Psyche sneaked a glance at Cupid and was punished with three tasks that caused her death. Cupid was devastated and brought Psyche back to life; all the Gods, moved by their undying love, gave Psyche the gift of immortality. So as the story now goes, Cupid represents the heart and Psyche the constant struggles of the human soul.

With this cute little myth to think about, who does Cupid have you falling in love with this year?

For all of you that missed out, tonight was the first time that Stagecoach Island celebrated its first beautiful sunset! We all gathered at the beach, and there were quite a few of us. We watched as the sun dipped till only its rays shone over the water. It was amazing! The super cool thing was that the water was the color of orange soda when the sunset began - but then slowly, it turned to lavender and dark blue. It was so pretty and different than what we're all used to seeing!

Afterwards all of us flipped on our backs to look up at the sky and watched as the stars glowed faintly and began to really shine against the night sky. There was so much going on and so many people were there. To top it all off, it ended with fireworks in the city center bringing great closure to the beautiful night. The whole island looked so pretty and romantic, I guess we're all prepping for that big Valentine's Day!

Were you there? How did you like it?

 

In celebration of our new night feature, Cassie will be throwing a party at 10:45 p.m. Eastern Time / 7:45 p.m. Pacific Time on Thursday, February 1st, at the Auld Lang Syne Pool. Come see our new night and watch the sunset for the first time together!