Piety?

In the beginning, Sam was a lost sheep - wandering the world seeking insight. Then he found his God. And it was okay.

His God (some guy named Bob, I think) willed him to fish - for followers, for compliments, for new trunks. His faith manifested in weird ways - sometimes he could walk on water and other times his mullet was able to gross out a thousand people.

After many years of great piety Sam went home to his son and grandchildren. He was so enamored by his eldest grandson that he went everywhere showing the lad's picture to everyone.

Like all grandpas Sam doted on the boy. Sometimes this had untoward effects. Like when the boy was friends with folks like Grimmie. And when Grimmie owed the boy a favour.

And thus ended the story of Sam.




The End.

In the mirror and in the reflection

      My love and respect for the Sims began way back in the mists of time with the first SimCity. When Maxis released The Sims 1 I was in seventh heaven. This love and respect was a touch tarnished by the travesty that is the 4th incarnation of the franchise but thanks to the news about TS4 I discovered the EA official Sims forum. I'd posted sparingly on the forum in the past but I knew next to nothing about the dynamic of the forum or of the personalities that inhabited it. Then one day I learned about the following blog.

The barmy-looking equine to the left is the logo of The Mare's Nest. A blog from the UK dedicated to observing not only the official forum but also a variety of Sim-oriented fora and the personalities - positive and negative - found within. The blog was created in response to the actions of one virulent bully clique on the official forum in 2009.
Mares, as they are colloquially known, started off as a trio but real life has turned them into a duo of mysterious observers. The blog can be found at http://themaresnest.wordpress.com/.


       The blog is updated several times a week with amusing and serious articles on the interesting, the bizarre, and the trollish elements of the Simming community. The pair behind this blog also create custom content (shirts, posters, etc... for Sims 3) based on the more esoteric bands and TV programs found mainly in the UK. Now, if they would just create shirts based on PIFs.... ;)
       When acerbic observations on the trolls and on other issues related to Simming start to weigh the Mares down they turn to their top sim-carnation.

The gorgeous babe to the left is Lauryl Park West - nectar enthusiast, cat fancier, custom content supermodel, and Dear Abby in training. Her puns are about as deadly as her nectar vintages, by the way. For the last couple of years Mares has been running a serial with Lauryl and many other sim versions of simming personalities. It is inside-joke laden so you may want to binge-read the older articles before you try it out.

       The Mare's Nest is not everyone's cup of tea. Especially if you've made a general arse of yourself on any of the simming fora out there. The dynamic duo may give you a proper roasting. If you show up on their blog and you're not presented in a good light there is probably a reason why. On the other hand, if you're a decent individual - helpful and respectful toward your fellow simmers - they may mention you as well. If you have not yet heard of this blog I would definitely suggest adding it to your list.

       I hope to have another Ficus story ready to go soon. Thank you and have a good day.