Felie is hosting an open house party at her home in Isla Del Sol this Saturday. Come celebrate the winners of the Housing Contest. Here’s a recap of the winners for those who missed out:

• Nurse—most creative
• RandyLH and Scorpio and Typhoontycoon—most unique
• Matt—best use of natural resources

Felie stood out as the final winner ... so we’re celebrating at her pad. Don’t miss out on the fun!

As our community grows, it’s exciting to see what other businesses evolve! Let’s put our hands together to welcome the new edition of entrepreneurs on the island. As the island expands, you guys have helped bring in some of the most awesome ideas and features.

The newest we have is a company called Lostpoet’s Architecture and Construction, a business opened by our very own Lostpoet in partnership with Onetruegod. It’s in a plush pad in Sapphire Springs all decked out with cubicles, construction vehicles—and they are hiring right now! Exciting, isn’t it?

 

As many of you may already know, voting is under way for the best profile picture for MySpace. Have you voted yet? Check it out soon to voice your opinions—you can find it in the Feedback section. Vote now, or forever hold your peace!

As many of us step onto the graduating path (which is exciting, yet scary sometimes), the huge, heavy word called our "future" is dropped like an anvil on us. Ouch! You'll start to realize that now you have to start planning for your future and lay out your plans for the next big step in life—the "career"(gasp!). All of a sudden you start thinking about finding a job, thinking of your qualifications, housing, a family, the whole shebang. Where do you start?

It always helps to take things one baby step at a time. You figure this: You can't buy a house until you have a job, and you can't have a job until you find one, and you can't find one if you're not looking, or looking in the right direction. The best place to start is to evaluate your skills and preferences. What do you like to do, and what's your passion? What have you done so far to prepare for that and the ultimate ticket to employment—your résumé ? Think of it like the road map of where you've been and a snapshot of your life. It's super-duper important that it's done right!

Usually you can find pretty good résumé guidelines on the Web or from professors. Don't hesitate to ask or speak up—I talk and ask questions all the time (as many of you already know). Why not? Learn as much as you can from as many people as you can. What advice do you have for other fellow islanders?

After tallying up all your votes (drum roll, please …), the SI community has selected Felie as the final winner of the Housing contest. Congratulations, Felie!

The Stagecoach Island Team also picked a few winners: Felie and Nurse for most creative, RandyLH and Scorpio and Typhoontycoon for most unique, and Matt for best use of natural resources.

Kudos to all who participated—you’re all winners!

You've heard this before, right? Just about every paper or Web page talks about how text messaging  is taking over our lives. I don't deny it—I'm 100 percent addicted to it, too. Are you? It's like our direct way of virtual communication, but instead of pulling up a chat box like we do in SI, we hit our phone buttons and max out. I always feel like it's a faster, easier way to communicate without having to run over your minutes.

There are instances, though, when it can get pricey ... so we really have to watch those extra texts, like when your friends send those chain letter text messages! I kid you not, I once had a bill that was almost $600 from an overdose of minutes and text messaging. Scary!

Texting really irks me sometimes because one message always turns into two; you get one from your friend and end up sending a text back telling them to stop sending you junk. The never-ending story of technology! So remember, if you use your cell phone to text as much as you talk, then heck, make a long-term investment  and upgrade your plans to unlimited text messaging!

Besides the Wii , which we know is amazing—has anyone tried the cooking game yet?—what other new trends are swimming right beneath our noses that we don't know about?

We all know about MySpace —the eighth wonder of the world—or the Nintendo DS , or the up-and-coming iPhone , but what else out there is cutting-edge? How about cool new gadgets? I've got one for you: It's called the Urban Mobility Bike , designed by Puma and Biomega. Why is it so awesome, you ask? Well, simple. You can bike on it, and when you walk into itsy bitsy cramped spaces, simply fold it up and save space. You read me right. FOLD. Other kicker? The bike practically self-destructs if you try to steal it.

See the wonders of keeping up with technology? Pretty soon we'll be like The Jetsons , driving little spaceships that convert into little packages to stick in a cabinet. Scary.

Did you know that the earth is made up of 70% water?  Keep that in mind when you’re taking a dip in the beach, clam digging, crab catching or oyster picking this summer. One of my hobbies as a kid (and I still have now) was collecting shells– my favorite was the sand dollar.  I would find the coolest looking ones and go home and listen to them because as a kid, my mom and dad told me if you put a shell up to your ear and listen hard enough, you can actually hear the ocean.

If only the sand dollar was really a dollar and not a shell, then we could form our own beach currency!  So instead of using cash, we could pull out a few of those sand dollars to buy hot dogs and lemonade. We would no longer have to worry about leaving our wallets on the beach while we scuba and we could just pile some sand dollars in a corner, use sand as camouflage and grab them when we need them. Not to mention, they make for some awesome beach decorations too!

What else would be cool to use as currency? Share, share!

A big round of applause to all of you who showed up to make the photo shoot so much fun. Everyone looked fabulous!

We shot a couple of pictures at Coconut Grove in Isla Del Sol and then climbed up to Snowboard Mountain for some sporty shots. King Rafa and Palemoon just could not stop dancing, and Brunette776, Karoline, Slade, Sinistar76 and Grizzlybear struck some sweet poses. Lostpoet and Legion came in their dressy suits, and RandyLH joined us at the end of the shoot. Take a look at the photos here, and let us know what you think. We’ll use the faves for the MySpace profile.

By the way, we also shot some video footage! Stay tuned to check those out—for now, let’s vote for the best picture for MySpace.

 

 

 

 

New homes have been added onto the “House Paparazzi” post so check them out and vote for your favorite home. Simply send a comment including which house you like the most and why. If you’re wondering how to figure out the owner of your fave home, just drag your mouse over the photo and a tag will display the owner’s name (virtual, of course). Good luck and keep submitting more homes to see if the lucky winner could be you!

One problem I have with summer every year is deciding where to go. Aside from this fabulous island, where can I go within my budget and still have fun? I mean, I don't want to go to a friend's house and call it a vacation.

For those of you who have endured a long semester sweating bullets for finals or those who need a break from the 9-5 job, where are you spending your precious summer to recharge all your energy? Personally, I'd like to visit Venice or somewhere in Europe, but it can get pretty pricey. So I have always tried to plan ahead and save up for a big trip. This way, I can manage my budget so when I DO go on vacation I can relax and not have to worry about breaking my piggy bank. Although I am totally spontaneous, these are the moments when I actually shine on my organizational skills—and I'm quite happy with the fact that I budget. Do you?

While I can't take this dream getaway just yet, I'll be here in Stagecoach Island, basking in the sunlight—sweet. Check out some in world shots from yesterday with a bunch of us newbies hanging out. See you on the beach.

We’re updating our existing MySpace Profile and want YOU to be a part of it! Style your avatar, bring your friends, and come on out and join the fun. The photo shoot will begin promptly at 4 p.m. PT on Thursday June 7, at the Coconut Grove (124S 81W). Don’t miss your chance to be featured on the Stagecoach Island’s MySpace page! And if you have additional photo shoot locations, let us know

Summer is peeking around the corner, and my allergies are killing me. The good thing is that we’re heading right over this "April showers bring May flowers" phase and moving into "Fun in the summertime" phase! This is the season where everyone can go outdoors, hit the beach, attempt to pick up surfing, get tans, and just have fun! Friends are on vacation from schools, and most likely this is also the time to rake in a few extra bucks to spend on school, necessities and other stuff.

One of my dream jobs during the summer was to work in an ice cream parlor—that way, I could always have access to all my favorite flavors and eat them all day. It was such a bad idea. I forgot that ice cream parlors are freezing, so needless to say, despite the thousand degrees outside, I felt like I worked in an igloo!

Tell me, what’s your dream job? Is the job you have now preparing you for your dream job? Love it, hate it? And if you hate it—got to look at the positives. At least it’s paying for your chic swimsuit and stylish shades, not to mention all the cargo boy shorts and flip-flops you’ll need all season!

Over the weekend, I met up with Lostpoet and Cam in world and checked out his new home in Isla Del Sol. Then he took us to see a banana in the café. Yes, there's literally a banana laying on its side and kicking back on the couch in the café. Reminded me of "Bananas In Pyjamas"  but without the swinging arms and PJs. Weird? Yeah, totally strange and out there, but hey—adds to the Stagecoach Island mystery, right? What else have you guys found that other islanders or I haven't seen? Share here so people can find them, too!

Lostpoet's home is decked out and posh, plus it has an amazing view—a perfect candidate for the house contest! Don't forget to submit your house pictures to us so we can put them up under the "House Paparazzi" post where you guys can vote on them! Also, because I told RandyLH I would help him, I'm offering this to all of you as well: If you don't know how to take a snapshot of your home or just plain old don't feel like doing it, I can help you! Just telegram me with your coordinates, and I'll get your house up to be voted on. Keep checking the post for new nominations every day!

 

Music has arrived and can be previewed in the Builder’s Paradise starting Monday, June 4!

Here are some tips to help guide you along the way: To play a song or sound, you input the following sound on any object: “create sound [input sound here].” This will play the sound file. Most of the music files will end in “.mid” and most sounds will end in “.wav” (for example, to play a sound, you input the command “create sound cheer1.wav”).

If you have any questions, feel free to post here—we’d love to hear what you think!