On Sundays, I have a free night. But I often try to get over to Dolls of Death to support my lovely friend starie. She hosts there and the DJ there is a good one. Also, there is my friend Oui who is SL married to my friend Ken. She's a dancer there and I love to flirt with her.
On Monday nights, I DJ at Rosewould Plantation. The event starts at 5pm SLT and it's always a come-as-you-are event. Most of the times, only a handful of people show up. But there are those rare times when we get a very good crowd. I think normally my hostess is Candy but lately there have been standby people filling in. So basically, I need to be online by 4pm SLT and stay there until my set is finished at 7pm. But I usually stick around for a bit just in case the take-over DJ needs a hand.
Tuesday nights are a night off for me. Unfortunately I seem to spend most of that time in 1st life taking care of things/chores that need doing. But I do manage to get online for an hour or so in the ev
Wednesday nights are "hump day" nights at Rosewould Plantation. Usually, there are more attendees there on Wednesday nights than on Monday nights. Again, this event is come-as-you-are and between 5pm and 7pm SLT. Again, I have to be online at 4pm just to set up a playlist. And again, I spend a bit of time there afterwards dancing and joking around.
Thursday nights are Ohana Rock Club nights. These events are come-as-you-are and take place at a rock club that is England based but runs 24/7. Their events are 3 hours long. So basically, I'm online for these for 4.5 hours at a time. That's a very long time to be in front of the computer!! But they are a very high traffic place and generally, I make good tips there. I start at 3pm SLT and go until 6pm. This means I have to be online at 2pm to setup a playlist. And recently, they have sent out a group notice asking that DJs and hosts stay for a while afterwards in case the relief host and DJ want to refer to us. So yeah, that's about 4.5 hours.
Then on Friday nights, I play at House of the Rising Sun. It's owned and operated by Alobar and sami. Alo is a very long time friend of mine from years ago, and I like the way he thinks an environment such as Rising Sun and the surrounding castle, RLV area and shops should be run. That's why I stay there. However recently he lost some of his internet radio DJ due to lack of traffic. It's true, I'm lucky to score L$300 there in tips and after I tip out it's more like clearing L$100. But I really like the place and the people there are quality and hard to find. I'm talking the owners, their managers, DJs, hosts, patrons and guests. Everything about the place is just plain fun and enjoyable. Well.... except for the blues. At least he allows for classic rock too because one can nearly overdose on blues, I'm here to tell ya.
Saturdays I spend the morning time on my L$60 Linden Weekend shopping spree. Sometimes it takes me hours go get through it but sometimes I find a good deal too. This last one was a ballgown that was unique for SL and simply gorgeous. And it was only L$60! I bought one for cat and I showed a friend's alt the dress too and I think she picked up a copy. I can't wait to see it on one of them. Then Saturday night is free if I can manage to get online. Again, I'm asked to fill-in DJ but there's no way I can be online for 4.5 hours so I have to turn them down. One Saturday morning I was asked to fill in and I agreed only to get pressure from 1st life because I had things to do later that afternoon and could not leave the computer. Yeah, 4.5 hours is a huge chunk out of a Saturday afternoon! I sure did have fun though, but it's not worth the 1st life grief I get.
In the end, the amount of tips I am paid just barely covers my weekly tier expense. One would think that working for 3 of the most popular clubs in SL would easily pay the bills and then some, but that's not the case. The main thing to realize is that while you might have made L$800 in tips, you end up tipping that same place back. Dolls of Death for example employs 3 dancers, a hostess and a DJ. Well, I normally tip the dancers L$50 and the hostess L$50 and the DJ L$100, mainly because DJs have extra expenses. So that's L$300, but keep in mind that during a 2 hour event, I do that twice. So I might make L$800 on Thursday night but I end up with only L$200 after tips. The solution? Don't go to places where people work for tips. But that kind of defeats the purpose of my logging onto SL in the first place. I enjoy those places. I suppose I could simply refrain from tipping but I have a feeling that's what a lot of people are thinking and that's why I'm not raking in thousands in tips like they used to in the old days.
Either way, I'm not making enough money for the time I have to spend online in SL. What I need to do eventually is to find an external source for money to cover my modest SL expenses. That way I will have more time for this blog and for other exciting things to check out in SL. Don't get me wrong, I do love to DJ, but doing it for the money is a mistake. It must be done for the enjoyment of throwing a party and celebrating life, not to try and cover expenses.
By the way, I have met some wonderful people here in SL of late as a direct result of my DJing. Some from Rising Sun have moved over to Ohana Rock Club with me and also someone from Rosewould Plantation. Ohana does pay well, even if it is the most time consuming and therefore the most demanding. They have some wonderful people working there and running the place. They screen their people before hiring them so there are no "divas" there. Just hard working, fun loving people. It's a great place to visit if you ever get a chance and they have events going on ALL the time, so you don't have to worry about when to show up. Just show up.
