Lettuce Muircastle went on the minniest of mini-adventures

Last night I tried to explain Second Life to my family.  They looked at me like I was from outer space, and my son told me he thinks it’s very creepy.  At this point I could not argue because there is something about Second Life that doesn’t sit right with me.  But I say this knowing that I have only seen and done 1% of the life.  Unfortunately I have done something on Lettuce’s site where we hear voices and really I don’t have to hear some of those conversations.  I wrote that I needed new clothes and a kind person gave me a place to go but when I got there it wasn’t free and even when I searched for free stuff I couldn’t find it.  Before I landed in the shopping area I noticed that I, Lettuce, was flailing about like a puppet on a string.  I was happy nobody saw me and yet I had to disclose my predicament so I wrote it down – “I am flailing about”.  And then I thought this is crazy – got to go.  Next time I will turn on both computers, and get Lettuce and Gail Hellershank to meet.  Strength in numbers I say.  I hope I don’t dream about this tonight – then I will be very worried.

Second Life and Changing our Perceptions about Succeeding

Because I wanted to have Second Life on my laptop I opened up a hotmail account and now I am Lettuce Muircastle on the PC and Gail Hellershank on the Mac.  First of all my personal feelings  about Second Life is that I feel very uncomfortable if I am alone and strangers come up to me.   I realize that this sounds a bit weird because Second Life is not supposed to be real, and yet here I am experiencing genuine feelings of discomfort which are the same as I might feel in real life in the same situation. 

The island is very boring and lonely and I guess because my PC isn’t as fast as the Mac, Lettuce just takes her sweet time getting around sometimes freezing in mid-step.  She really loves the water and has spent quite alot of time in the deep blue.  On the other hand Gail Hellershanks is feisty and a fast walker.  But she hasn’t quite figured out how to go somewhere interesting.  She has also spent time in the water, but gets out a lot quicker than her friend (whom she hasn’t yet met) the oh so unsure of herself, Lettuce Muircastle.  Maybe Lettuce can meet up with Gail Hellershanks (how safe is that)?  Both of the gals need new clothes, and some wigs so they have to get themselves to a free store fast or else their boss, Gail Hammer will become somewhat bored with walking them, like dogs on a leash.

Alex’s class last week re Second Life was very interesting.  I would love to get to the point of being able to navigate to all these amazing sites.  I am not trying out Second Life to meet anybody, with the exception of friends but I would like to broaden my horizons and see places that I have never seen before.  The story of the quadraplegic woman who became a dancer in Second Life was inspiring.  Because Second Life seems to be able to change our perception of reality once we’re in there, we can become anything we wish to be.  It’s a virtual version of positive thinking gone to great heights.  Who needs motivational learning tools if we can now make our dreams come true in the virtual world?  The Second Life world seems to have the ability to give us the confidence we need to go out and “do it” in our real life.

Second Life – Weirder than I thought it would be

I opened up my account successfully and chose a rather strange name – Lettuce Muircastle.  I don’t know what was going on in my mind with the name Lettuce but I’ve kept it.  My avator is the girl next door – I was a bit nervous about a slutty appearance.  So I pushed the start button and there I was on an island.  I immediately headed toward a barrier overlooking the water, jumped in, and then spent the next half hour trying to get out.  Finally I did make it back onto land.  I jumped up and down trying to go somewhere and spent alot of time flying.  Wherever I landed  became a restricted area, and I was evicted.  The next day I logged on, and a man was standing very, very close to me.  Remembering Elaine’s lurid story I jumped up into the sky and landed once again into the water.  So far I prefer my life.

The universe is the scariest place to be

I’m thinking about space and time.  I don’t really like thinking about space because it brings to mind that there is a universe out there and it goes on forever.  What is forever – can it be measured in any way?  I believe in ghosts but I’m not quite sold on the life after death thing or the heaven and hell deal.  And is there a God?  I know it doesn’t make sense to believe in one and not the other, but I’ve had a few strange experiences that I can only attribute to something from the spiritual world.  When all is said and done, and when we’re done what remains “forever” is energy.  And maybe this is what is out there in that deep, dark, scary universe….lots and lots of energy.

What might be more interesting to contemplate at this point is the way time can be stopped with a photograph, a video, a tape recording etc.  That very moment can live on for as long as the material on which it is recorded can last.  And we can view these moments and see ourselves exactly as we were at that very moment that a shutter was clicked.  A photograph does not lie even if the smile was faked, or we said “cheese” as directed.  Even our faked moments are real.  Maybe manipulation of a photoshop is not ethical, and I say this knowing full well that Photoshop is one of the best inventions of the (still very youthful) century.  When I was a kid my Dad would bring home a tape recorder from the office and let us record our voices.  This was one of the best treats in the world – we never knew what we sounded like to the outside world – this was better than television because we could be more aware of ourselves than ever before.  It almost assured us that we were definitely alive and well – after all hearing our voices, or seeing our photographs was evidence that we definitely existed in this world.  We weren’t out there in that scary, dark, never ending universe trying to get back home.

“Oh the humanity” or is this what DM8106 means by the concept of space?

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Non-linear thinking – What’s it all about?

Today I started thinking about non-linear thinking realizing that this is actually the way I would like to think.  I have a feeling that I do think that way and yet I try very hard to be a linear thinker.  One of the courses I took in the second semester called Topics in Cross Cultural Communication was a disaster.  For now I will ignore the fact that I didn’t learn anything – I will just concentrate on how critical the (unnamed prof) was about my writing.  Although he acknowledged that I wrote in a very interesting and readable manner, he complained about my disorganization and non-academic style of writing.  I guess you definitely have to be a linear thinker to be an academic writer.  So I do try very hard to be organized so as to avoid the risk of failure.  And of course coming from a background where I developed my own black & white film, and printed my own prints like a baking recipe I could not deviate from the formula.  I have to agree that when processing film there is always a huge risk with deviation.  Who needs a ruined batch.  Now with digital we see the results in front of our eyes and even though I love black & white prints on fibre paper, using a digital camera allowed me to be unattached to what I was shooting.  I no longer had to follow rules because I saw my results immediately and there was always an opportunity to reshoot to get it “right”.  This was very valuable especially when shooting weddings.  I could take absolutely ridiculous pictures – who would ever see them except me.  So digital has allowed me to be more creative and to be more non-linear.  The only other problem I face is fear of technical stuff.  This holds me back I think – I have to learn how to just let go.  A very creative photographer whom I’ve known for a very long time has taught me to do sponge drawings on watercolour paper, using black ink, black pen, sponges and water and to do whatever comes into my mind at the moment.  Do not think is my mantra -just react.  And by the way what’s up with “Aspire but do not attain”…a quote I heard the other day from a visiting professor.  I get where he’s coming from but from a philosophical pov I am almost offended by that remark.  (and I’m not easily offended, nor do I even like to use the phrase “I am offended”).  Today, maybe tomorrow, maybe Monday I will do my very short clip that can be taken apart and repositioned.  I’m going to use my handy dandy Fuji 50 that I love so much.

Wrapping my brain around a new concept

I have been looking at some of the other blogs and my first question to myself is wow, how did they set up their page like that?  So I am now awaiting the arrival of WordPress for Dummies which hopefully will tell me all I need to know.  And I will also go to my lesson at the Mac store which helps ease my rustiness.  I like to learn new things but as I said in class yesterday DM8106 has no business being a 6 week course.  We had a Patch class yesterday – I can’t say I was lost but even a gun to my head wouldn’t help me do that on my own.

However, that being said, I like the idea of training myself to think conceptually.  I’m a fairly straight forward shooter usually in my photography – what you see is what you get and for me to begin thinking of time and space in a different way will be a challenge.  I think I have a good attitude but on the other hand this is a pretty big challenge  which is one of the reasons that I am worried about the duration of this course.  Although I don’t relish the idea of screwing up because I didn’t understand the instructions I also think that a mistake is the greatest gift somebody can have because it is a total learning experience.

So right now I have to give much thought to space and time, linear and non-linear thinking.  Tonight I will  do some hunting for new media art on the web and hopefully become inspired. 

Jules Winnfield – Pulp Fiction star and hockey coach

O.K. I guess I’ve heard of Chris Chelios and definitely Samuel Jackson whom I love in the role of Jules Winnfield in Pulp Fiction.  He is very funny as a hockey coach playing himself and Chris Chelios isn’t funny but then neither is hockey so it’s a good balance (funny coach, unfunny player…)

Back to Business – how am I liking this DM8106.  Well for one thing it should get a ticket for speeding!  Toooooo fast – tooo scary but I commend Alex and Steve for seeming to have kind, empathetic bones in their bodies.  I almost cried the last class – while everybody was on something called vodblog (or whatever it’s called) I was still trying to figure out my password.  But then I had a Eureka! moment.  I am the lucky owner of two one-to-one Mac cards so I booked a lesson for Tuesday and Wednesday, got somebody who showed me some of the pathways and then I ordered a WordPress for Dummies book.  Should arrive soon.

 

Tribute to Fats Waller

Dancing!

 

Pulp Fiction

JULES WINNFIELD RETURNS