Introduction to Third Essay

I sat there awaiting the performance to begin. Curious as to why the drummer was the only person I could see, I made my way to the front of the crowd. Before I could look up music came from every direction, only to hear the sweet band giving my ears the sweetest sensation. Why was this so exciting for me? What excites avatars about the arts in Second Life. Is it the form of representation, or is it just actually the way a piece is presented. Through the islands of Second Life there always seemed to be a form of art nearby. Whether it was created as a real-life duplicate or created only in Second Life. Art consists of many different forms, and Second Life itself is a form of artwork. I decided to go in search of the answer to which art forms excite avatars the most by finding out what art forms in Second Life are the most popular.

Research Paper Outline

Research ?: What arts in Second Life are the most popular?

I. Introduction
A.List a few places around second life that apply to the arts field such as: Theatres, Ballrooms, Museums, etc.
B.Give a personal story about what I observed at a place
C.Give Research ?
II. Body
A. Theatres
1. What I saw
2. What I experience
3. Feedback from others
B. Museums
1. What I saw
2. What I experience
3. Feedback from others
C. Concert
1. What I saw
2. What I experience
3. Feedback from others
III. Conclusion
A. Conclude personal experience
B. Show popularity in statistics that are supported by personal experience

Research ?

What arts in Second Life are the most popular?

A date again? hmmm

Mary and I went to some jazzy spot to "dance the night away"! I had a blast and it also helped me with my paper a bit. People at this setting seemed to keep to their partners and not so much communication with others.

Work to do

I told Mary how my conference with Dr. C was and after she got done she shared with me. Mary as a bit of research to do, all I have to do is visit a few more places, and start writing.

A date!

Mary and I have had our first date in SL. We went out to find a tux worth wearing and a dress for her for a formal setting. We went to a ballroom sort of place and we shared a few dances, and now that I think of it, we should've had dinner, I'm such a loser.

NO MARY DURING SPRING BREAK

Mary still hasn't got with program when it comes to being UPDATED WITH TECHNOLOGY! lol just kidding. She couldn't help it because she has dial up at home and her area where she resides isn't capable of getting cable internet. We did talk on the phone while I was at Walmart shopping for food, to discuss a bit about our papers.

Surfing USA

Today after class Mary and I met up at the Weather Channel Beach where we were able to surf. I had did it once before, so I taught Mary! We socialized with other avatars on the beach, and I found it stereotypical that socially interacting with avatars there was so laid back. The more entertaining the location gets the less proper people tend to act.

YAY! Shopping

We shopped late tonight so we could pick out some outfits for Mary to try. I got a few suits actually myself, and they look weird on my avatar. We spent about 15-20 minutes looking for her clothes, just like real life! LOL

V.H to discuss the road to Success

Today Mary and I met at Virtual Harlem (V.H.) and we pretty much discussed her paper and how she didn't feel comfortable pursuing a direction on her paper so I tried to come up with some ideas for her to play with.

Decision Making

Today I squashed the idea of entertainment and i jumped into the world of social interaction. Mary is doing appearance and it seemed kind of funny because the other day I was looking at skins (appearance)! We briefly discussed our topics.

Animal Skins

Today I went to go look for animal skins preferrably lion skins to clothe my avatar. I found a few people to help me look for them, but they weren't free. I teleported Mary to come visit and she looked around with me.

Introduction to Second Essay

We tend to take for granted the things that connect each of us. How we interact in Second Life falls under this connection and could very well be the most important. Socially interacting with other avatars may differ in locations in Second Life. These differences can explain what might be expected of avatars at different locations. Expectations may include anything that could be courteous to another avatar or just the environment. Social interaction can differ at a library, dance club, and shopping areas.

Topic Sentence and Thesis!

Topic Sentence: Different environments affect social interaction in Second Life.

Thesis Statement: The way an avatar socially interacts with other avatars differs in a variety of locations such as; libraries, dance clubs, and shopping areas.

Mary and I...

Today I went to an island I had no clue of. I searched for a movie theatre, and invited Mary to come watch with me. We got into the first 3 minutes and realized that we had way too much to do. I told her that I am halfway through with my paper. Oh yea and I almost forgot, we went through some type of haunted house. SPOOKY!

FREAK OUT!

So Mary and I decided to meet tonight and have a conversation about our papers. We didn't really go into our papers, more of the deadline. I reminded her that our papers were due next Friday, and she lit up like a light bulb with too much energy! She started to panic, but I seem to have that magical vocabulary where I can calm her down. I told her not to worry everything will be fine. I also met another mnemonic I didn't even know she was in our class, and she offered me friendship. We didn't meet anywhere special today, only virtual Harlem (not to offend you Dr.C, but there is just so many other places in Second Life that attract me!). I started on my second point today.

Malfunction

I called Mary to ask her if she would like to get on SL to meet again and discuss how our papers were going, and she wasn't able to sign in. Apparently her computer was gliching. My guess was that when they did construction to the program it would take awhile for both of us to meet. We decide to talk over the phone to discuss what time we would be able to meet next, but soon realized we both were busy when the other was free! I guess no more good times until next week. :(

BEER and coffee! LOL!

Let me just start off by saying Mary and the Lone Star Ranch, what a lot of fun! We rode bulls and Mary got 52 seconds on a ride!We found someone to help Mary with riding a horse. I drank beer and Mary drank a cup of coffee. What a nice time!

A Night to Remember!

So tonight Mary teleported me to Lone Star Ranch in SL. She was pretty excited to show me the horse she was planning on buying. She told me that Dr. C would be paying for it which I thought was pretty nice. We also talked about a bull that she stated she rode earlier today, but is going to ride tomorrow so that way she can take pictures. We also set up a meeting time for tomorrow and I can't wait!

Introduction

Imagine a second life where architectural ideas that could never exist in the real world are coming true. Buildings could withstand thousands of pounds of pressure and still hold structure. Houses floating in the sky, and still able to have a landscape, and no matter what happens, the only thing that affects the building is a click of a mouse. This “Second Life” does exist. Second life allows architects to show their ideas in a 3D visual form that could take hours upon hours to create. Simple ideas can begin to get complex and before the process has even begun, days have passed! In Second Life, architects are known as artists who have constructed artwork. Incorporating architecture into a second life involves inspiration, an overall theme, and a process in which the specific project is constructed.

A Quick Meeting with Mary

So today we were only on for about 10-15 minutes, and we discussed what I was going to incorporate in my paper and the meeting with Dr. C. I was really excited to inform Mary that I met a couple who seemed to be canadians in R.L., and the female is a teacher at a university who is teaching Architecture. She is in the process of trying to incorporate SL with her teaching methods. I learned a great deal about building, and we even had a "Build Off," where we built a structure and saw whose was best. I lost, she won!

Mary and I Met at Mill Pond

Today Mary and I met a Mill Pond and we discussed outlines to keep us on track. She told me what to prepare for when it comes to the meeting, and she told me that she still was having a bit of a problem with her thesis being to vege. We worked on it a bit more with the advice Dr. Carter gave her and we believe we finally drove the nail through the wall. We also talked about the Introduction due on Monday.

Wednesday and Mary

Today we talked briefly on preparing Mary for her discussion with Dr. Carter. She was freaking out about what her thesis was going to consist of. I think she was worrying about what points she was going to have in the thesis. We met at Virtual Harlem, and I tried to give her ideas on what to add in her thesis. Spice it up a notch!

3rd Meeting

So Mary and I discussed that we will now be meeting at a nice quiet place called Mill Pound. We shortly discussed that we will meet here unless we needed to go somewhere else. We still are not for sure that whether or not we will have a set schedule for meeting each other. Both of us are very busy!

Thesis Statement

Topic: Architecture

Thesis: Incorporating architecture into a second life involves construction of an idea, a theme, and the process in which the building is built.

Thesis Conversation

Today around 9:15 or so Mary and I discussed more into our own main points for our thesis statement. We went over our topics to get a full understanding before writing my thesis. She helped me choose main points: Construction of a building, the Theme, and Process.

The First Coversation

Today Mary and I went to Virtual Harlem, to discuss our topics with each other. She seemed to be intrigued by the entertainment topic, and she thinks it won't be that difficult. I chose my topic to be Architecture soon as though I am majoring in it, and I thought it wouldn't hurt if I learned something new! After choosing and discussing on how we were going to organize our papers, we went over to the slideshow and began to reread the thesis sections. We thought it over and even ran through the examples, and we both thought it would be easy enough to compile some main points. After almost 20 minutes of meeting, I logged off and she continued to talk with other classmates.

Exploring the Second Life

LET’S TAKE A HIKE

So throughout my journey of Second Life I have came across some interesting people, objects, dance moves, and places. I really enjoyed the assignment because it actually gave me a bit more practice on the virtual world, and allowed me to enhance my skills. I now believe that I can efficiently Walk and Fly! I did have a bit of trouble, but managed to get through it allowing me to complete the assignment. The places I went to visit actually were places that symbolized something in my “Real Life.” I hope you take the time to read the captions about each location!

Peace Park was a nice and relaxing place.I believe it had a church , and quite a wonderful taste of landscaping. I noticed the flowers and the water fountains.It's weird how I notice simple things, but sometimes I feel the only things that matter are truly simple. So as I came across this Park I had a friend come along and she helped me to figure out the picture ordeal. We decided the gate entrance to the park was a nice spot. I made sure to include the water fountain in the back of the picture as well as part of the plants shown in the park that stood out to me.

Second Life Resource Center gave tons of info from economics to business and legal matters. I noticed as I first walked into the place that there was a freebie link, which I am always looking for. In this building they have a desk just in case you needed any assistance. I took a pic outside the building with two other friends just admiring the long pools.

I also went to the Espana building and it held quite a bit of Spanish information. It even had a few pieces of art. The reason I decided to go to the particular place is because it is part of my heritage. Me and MU went to March of the Penguins although it might sound dumb it was pretty cool. The Penguins were really moving and making noises and stuff. I did not really learn anything because when it comes to some animals, I know quite a bit.
I went to Apocalypse and it seemed pretty ghetto to me. Dark and gloomy, with almost like a gothic appeal. I did not stay long, but it sure had some interesting people. The first individual I encountered her hair look as though she just got zapped by electricity. As I made my way around for a bit, I noticed everyone seemed to be paired not 3 not 4 but 2. Odd observation and maybe just a coincidence, but I saw what I saw.


The next place I went to was the 2nd Live Reflexive Architecture. I chose this spot because I want to be an architect someday, and I thought it could possibly brush up some old skills on reflections and things of that nature. I loved the area and at first some of the pieces seemed too abstract, but then I felt like I understood what was going on. There seemed to be a jumbo foot piano, but you couldn't set the notes off, they just automatically did it. I liked when you walked down the hall the reflections of messages came above your head as if they were moving. That is the key of an optical illusion.
Last but definitely the best Themiskyra was the neatest place yet. It was like a small Amazon city, and had quite a bit of neat things such as a little pool, but could very well have been a little bird bath or something. I got to Themiskyra and it seemed to be a huge maze until I figured out where I was going. It is a group owned area, and it is actually up for grabs (For Sell). It seems enchanted, because as I was taking my last steps in the region, the broom to my left was up sweeping the floor without someone there? WEIRD!

Let Me Introduce my Second Self

SO FRESH AND SO CLEAN CLEAN!

So this is Kirk Mnemonic. He might come off as a bit "Gangster," but really he is an amazing guy. He has a nice golden skin color that goes great with his huge diamond necklace. He wears a t-shirt with denims, and a pair of sneakers. He loves meeting people and also getting FREEBIES! I have modified almost everything on my avatar. I didn't really make it seem to look like me, but more of a symbol of what I liked. Don't get me wrong, I do love myself! To elaborate more on the physical features, I gave him a broad shoulder appearance, with 2 guns and a six pack! Check Em' Out!

My avatar was not nearly what I would have pictured him when we first met. He wore the most ridiculous clothes and did not represent me at all. I wanted someone who could show others a bit of what I was about without completely giving my character away.

I love to go out and have fun. Partying is an occasional thing, reason being is because I am afraid it could get old fast. I love to dance and sing.

When friends first saw me on SL they liked the look. A lot of people made fun of the bling, but what can I say "My chain so heavy that my neck don't like me." Overall I really like my avatar and there are enough freebies out there that money isn't an issue!

This might sound corny, but it's cool how people here in SL do not stereotype as much as in the real world. I've not met a single person in SL that is rude. Everyone seems to love me! After all I do have my Mortal Combat dance which I have been obsessed with for a few days LOL.