Research for my Essay

Ok, so tonight I wondered around SL trying to find people to talk to and trying to find places releated to my topic for my first essay. I tried to get ahold of my peer editing partner, but I couldn't so I just went by myself. Tonight was so far the most fun I have had on SL.

I ended up just typing wedding into the search bar for SL and it brought up to wedding events. I teleported to a place called Angel Kisses Weddings. This palce was amazing. It was so beautiful and peaceful and everything a girl would want for a weddings. After walking around for a few minutes, I ran into three wedding planners. I aksed for help and one named Starshine Benior offered to help me.

Starshine took me to the reception room were she offered a note card full of information about the weddings they offere and then she told me about some of the things they offered. Now, I was expecting just a chapel and that was it. But she told me they offered a limo service, a carrige service, reception hall, honey moon packages, wedding cakes, flowers, decorations, a bridal room and enimations for just about everything.

Next she actually took me to the chapels. I thought they were scattered all over the area but instead they were located in just one area. There was this beautiful water fall near the reception room and there also was a button on the ground in which wedding planners would only activate. She showed me all the chapels that generated from that one buttom and one at a time they took turns showing up over the water fall. They even had a gothic themed wedding chapel. It was mind blowing too me.

After the chapels she took me to see some of the cakes they offer and how if I wanted some thing different then I could request. I have never met a nicer person. I asked Starshine if I could take her picture, but she said no. She then offered to let me take a picture of the things I saw. I took a couple photos and then was on my way. Before I left she told me that there was a wedding on the 14th of Feb and I was more than welcome to show for it.

Wow.....

First short essay: topic and Thesis

Topic: Rituals
Thesis:
Composed with everything in mind, Second Life weddings are based on the extravagant details, out of the ordinary places, and over the top clothing.

I found a Peer Editing Partner

So, today while logged into the Virtual Harlem classroom I met and talked with Jennifer Buckwalter. Her and I decided that we should be peer editing partners. We talked a few minutes about what topics we should choose and I believe wile logged in she choose to do her paper on Entertainment in Second Life and I decided on Rituals in Second Life. We also asked a few questions back and forth, like what things we can go participate in and when we could hang out online. After class we exchanged emails and in the emails we sent each other we exchange information about when we can hang out.

Exploration Assignment

Introduction

I have been exploring Second Life almost every day even if for a few minutes in between my classes. So when I started on this assignment I thought it would be pretty easy to figure it out and to get it done, but I realized that it wasn’t easy at all. I ended up having trouble figuring out what place was what, if I was even in the right place, and I even had trouble finding people to talk to.

Info Island

The first place I had to teleport for the assignment was Info Island and there I had to complete several tasks. When first arriving I saw a sign in front of me that said “ Welcome to Info Island, The Road to Smart Investing”. After reading the sign and the other signs around the area I could tell that this place was about saving money, retirement funds, banking and other things of that nature. To the left of my avatar was a diner with a parking lot full of classic cars and motorcycles. To the right was another sign, welcoming me to the island. And the last thing I noticed when I arrived was that there were benches on a dock behind me that over looked water.


Since the diner was right next to where I first arrived, I figured it would be the best place to start exploring the island. In the parking lot of the diner were cars that I could interact with. I interacted with them by changing the color of the vehicles, opening the doors, turning it on and off, and turning on the lights. Once in the diner I saw a refrigerator, a stove, booths with orange seats, orange bar stools, and pictures advertising food n the walls. The first item I interacted with was the refrigerator. The only thing I could do with it though was open and close the doors. But I did get to click on the food inside the frig which ended up giving me vanilla ice cream, Boston crème pie, and eggs for my inventory. To the right of the frig was the stove/oven. The stove/oven was boring to interact with since I could only turn on/off the burners and open/close the stove. I didn’t even get to keep the items that were on the stove in my inventory. I hung out at the diner for a few minutes thinking that maybe someone would show up there and I could interact with them, but no one ever did. I also tried to send invites to other people in the class but every time I was on Second Life and on Info Island, no one else was or they wouldn’t accept the invite.

The second place I traveled to on Info Island was to a brown wood building or house that had a brick walk way up to the door. Inside the building and to the left of the front door was a small room that seemed to be a bar. It had bar taps and bar stools, but had nothing for me to interact with and there was no one in there to talk to. The next room I went into was to the right of the front door when I entered. This room was a kitchen and was empty as well. Although there was one item I interacted with; a coffee maker. Further back into the house I found a living area with a fire place and a fall colored painting above the fire place. Also in the living room was stairs leading up to the second floor. On the second floor of the house I found more information on investing. This poster in particular was on stock exchange and areas you could teleport to in Second Life. Again at this location I found no one to talk to or interact with and yet again I could not get a class mate to teleport to my location.

Next I came upon a house with a sign in front of it that said “Investment Strategy” . The house also had a porch on it with a rocking chair. The interior of the house was like any typical house and in the front room there was a fire place along with a couch and chair. To the left of the living room there was an office area with some pictures that said information on investing and one picture with a cat on it. In the back of the house there was a kitchen and a bedroom. In the kitchen I got to interact with another coffee maker and in the bedroom I got to interact with the bed by making it and unmaking it. Again there was no one present in or around the house and no one would teleport to the location so I could interact with them.

The last place I visited on Info Island was a gas station/ repair shop that had a car parked in front of it and a coke cola sign on the side of the building. I could not interact with the car in front of this building and every time I clicked on the car it told me the vehicle was not for sale. Inside the gas station there was a desk, a chair, tires, magazines, tool boxes, and vending machines. I interacted with the office chair by sitting in it and I also interacted with the soda machine. By interacting with the soda machine I got the choice of getting a soda for my inventory.





Pondex




The first place I decided to visit on the list that I was given was Pondex. I thought Pondex sounded like a neat place to visit and I thought that it would be an outdoor area. Upon arrival at Pondex I realized that it was now night time and I was on a dock over some water. I also saw a sign welcoming me to Pondex and a very large sign that stated all the rules of Pondex and how people who broke the rules would not be tolerated. While at Pondex I talked to a girl named Kiyoko Fhang, a woman named Merry Widow Shilan Folger and last an officer named Qwerty Atlass. All three people talked to me for a few minutes before going back to what they were doing. Also I found a small red car that had a sign above it warning people not to steal. I thought that it was pretty funny.




Apocalypse


The second place I visited from the list was Apocalypse because it sounded like it would be different. I found out when I arrived at Apocalypse that I did not like it that much. Not only was it night time, but Apocalypse seemed like a dark, abandoned, ghost town. I meet a man named Vamp Luik when I arrived and I tried to talk to him, but I didn’t understand what he was saying because his sentences did not make any sense. When walking around Apocalypse I noticed that the entire area was surrounded by a metal chain link fence and that there were bunkers everywhere. The only objects I found to interact with in Apocalypse were the machines in a gym.

Themiskyra

Themiskyra seemed like a peace village or a monk’s village when I arrived. I first arrived in a room in an Asian themed house or cottage. There was nothing in the room that I first showed up I and the only thing I could hear was water moving. I walked around Themiskyra, but did not find any one to talk to and did not find any signs that would help me figure out what Themiskyra exactly was. I also could not find anything to interact with until I decided to fly to get a bird’s eye view of the area. Once in the air I found a very big bird’s nest and I interacted with it by sitting in it and looking down on the area. Since the nest was the only really thing I saw in Themiskyra, I decided to take my picture in it.




Conclusion

So as a newbie to Second Life I am still trying to get used to hope to navigate around, but on my own I think I have been doing very well. I am also still questioning if I have done this exploration assignment correctly since I was not very sure if I was even arriving in the right places or if I was even near the right areas. Also I am still dumbfounded by why there was no one on whenever I was walking around the Second Life areas.

Let Me Introduce My Second Self

So this is my avatar. She is built thin and tall with bright green eyes and long dark brown hair. She also has bigger hips and high cheek bones. Everything else kind of looks funny because I got really irritated with trying to get everything just the way I liked, so I gave up and keep her the way she is now. Her appearance is like my appearance very little. We both are thin, tall, have green eyes, and long hair. The differences would be that my hair is not dark brown, not straight, and my eyes and breasts are not as big as hers.

I chose the clothes she is wearing now based on two reasons…. One, I had a hard enough time getting this simple out fit on her… and two, it is simple and nice and kind of the way I dress. She is wearing a simple black v-neck shirt and simple blue jeans. That is typically what I wear on a nice day when I am not working or in class. As for her accessories, she has a purple flower in her hair and hoop earrings.

I spent zero dollars on her attire and got everything from the freebie sites provided. I do wish that I would have some of the money though since there are a few things I would like to purchase. A couple of the items I hope to get in the near future would be tattoos and piercings. They range from 5 to 175 dollars. I tried looking into how to get a job on second life, but all I got were more items floating over my head.

I have not asked anyone in the class about my appearance and have not gotten any compliments from them either. But I did wonder around second life for about an hour or two the other day and I met a lot of different people that commented on how well my avatar was put together for only being on second life for a few days.

I have also been expermenting with the actions my avatar can perform and in this picture she is in the middle of blowing a kiss.

Logger Blooger

Hello Everyone! So earlier I didn't really post a very good first blog, so I thought I would do another one. I was told to maybe write my blogs on microsoft word so that I could do spell checker, but I thought about it and I figured that I am a bad speller so why try to hide it.

So, for everyone who doesn't know me, I am a jr in college and my major is social work. I was a psych major, but changed last semester. I hope to use my degree to better the system we have today for kids in need. I want to own and direct my own group homes and ISL services someday. I currently work as an in-home aid. I love my job and my job actually is what pushed me to change my major.

I am a some what athlete person and love to be out doors. I am shy and suffer from general and social anxiety. I hate it and it affects everything I do. I am also color shade blind which means I can not see certain colors. People who know me usually make fun of me because sometimes I wear clothes that don't match. I have three tattoos and several piercings. I plan on getting more and I love getting them.

My favorite foods are dried fruits, thick crusted cheese pizza, cheez-its, and ice cream. I drink mostly water and sometimes drink juice or soda. I love bright colored socks and toe socks.

Any thing else you would like to know the let me know. :D

Welcome!!!

Welcome to my blog! Hope you enjoy!

-Madison