The House of Usher

The year is 1847, and I have just arrived at the House of Usher with my two friends, Meghan and Jordan. We were afraid to enter the house at first because it was dark and creepy looking. I felt as if I was going into a haunted mansion on Halloween since the house screamed trouble.

Once we walked inside we were greeted by Roderick, Madeline, and Margaret. Roderick, who looked like Professor Snape from Harry Potter, offered to give us a tour of the house. I immediately separated from the group and went to look for clues in the house as to what Roderick and Madeline have been doing, since it was my task. First, I went upstairs and looked in all the bedrooms. I found a clue written by Roderick on his desk about how he thought Madeline might be hiding something from him. I wasn't sure how this would have helped me or what exactly is meant since she denied hiding anything from him. Margaret told me that they don't hide anything from each other and they have a special bond. I also found a bookmark in a text on medicine about hypochondriasis, which helped since then I knew that Roderick must have been faking his symptoms. In one of the rooms I found a gun, however, it wasn't loaded nor could it be shot. On one of the beds, I found a map of the cellar, but I never used it. Lastly, I found a note in Roderick's handwriting about choral hydrate and chloroform.

After I was done looking for clues, I went to go help my friends who were with Roderick and Madeline. Jordan was with Madeline, and she was trying to convince Madeline not to take the medicine and rest. Madeline kept talking about the voices she was hearing and how she wanted them to stop. We told her that we would stop the voices, and we tried to convince her to leave the house. However, it was hard since she didn't want to leave. At one point, Madeline faints, and we put her to bed. Jordan made sure to stand in the room to watch that she did not go anywhere. While this was going on, Meghan was distracting Roderick. Roderick talked about how they were going to die and how they both were sick. We tried to convince Roderick to bring her to the doctor, but this did not work since Roderick did not trust the doctor and his motives. While Madeline is resting, I was in a different room talking to Margaret. Jordan told me that Madeline disappeared from the bed she is, and I knew then that she must have been down in the crypt. I ran down to the crypt, and got a little lost while I was down there. I remembered being told that there was three floors to it, so I had to keep running around until I found it. When I got there, Roderick was there and Madeline was in the coffin. I knew I needed help convincing him that she was alive, so I yelled to my friends to come help. I guess my convincing was doing much since Roderick actually laid inside a coffin. I kept telling him that Madeline is alive, her cheeks were flushed, and her heart was beating. When he got out of the coffin he went over to her, and she was still lying inside. Jordan kept opening the top of the coffin so we could see her, and I eventually stood on her, which got her to wake up. Once she woke up she was confused as to why she was resting in the coffin. She thought that we placed her there, so we had to tell her we were trustworthy and would never do that to a friend. She believed us and eventually followed us out of the house. I would say that our plan was a success. We were able to convince Roderick that she was alive, and no one died.

Personally, I do not think the clues helped me in saving Roderick and Madeline. However, I do want to go back and see if I missed anything important. The clues that I found were easy to find, one wouldn't have to search forever to find one. I do not think they should be moved since the spots they were found in would make sense. For example, I found the notes on his desk.

Also, Iggy did a great job on the special effects since they actually started creeping me out also. The actors did a great job, they stayed in character the whole time. I felt as if I was really in the story the way the house looked to the way the actors were. The furniture and set up in the house was also great since it was all from that era. The rats were my favorite part of the house along with the spider webs since when I picture an old decrepit house they would most likely be present.

As for changing anything for next semester, I would think about Margaret playing a bigger role. I felt as if she didn't really have a part in the story except for telling Madeline that she should rest. Other then that, I believe everything looks great!

The End Is Near

I have one more day of class left. It seems hard to believe that the semester has gone that fast. I remember my first day of class because in my mind I was thinking "He seriously wants us to play a game? Really? This sounds insanely creepy, who does this!? Get me out now." I never did leave despite my premature feelings for Second Life. After listening to the description I came to the conclusion that it was going to be boring, strange to write on and definitely not as good as Facebook.

Now, four months later I am able to see how far my views have changed. I'll admit that it was boring for me in the beginning but I began to feel more comfortable talking to people and traveling to populated areas. I realized that if I had a friend to go with we both could laugh together at whatever we came across. I was a bit confused on how I was to write wikis on Second Life since I wasn't used to either. But I found out through my Gender Switch Project that the process of changing my appearance and writing about it was fun. It was without a doubt my favorite project. As for Second Life not being as good as Facebook, I can deal with that since Facebook is taking over the world ha.

Besides my feelings for Second Life changing, I also was also able to practice photography for FREE! I usually look up Second Life places in google to see what looks interesting. I enjoyed traveling around and taking pictures from different angles. Since I do not have time to actually go out and take pictures and develop them, I would travel somewhere that was different. In Second Life you can take pictures of anything you want, such as nature, architecture, and people. I was able to travel to Devils Moon, which resembles the movie Blade Runner. This visit was interesting since I had to watch the movie for Core last Sunday. Seeing a place in a movie and in virtual world was exciting since I felt like I was apart of the movie.

I hope when the freshmen next year leave the class after the first day they don't prematurely judge Second Life and actually give it a try since there is much to be learned about virtual worlds because most people are oblivious to them.

Finally Fun In Second Life?

Up until now Second Life has been quite boring for me. I could never find people, I was shy when I found people, and no one talked to me. However, after doing the gender switch project I came to actually find myself laughing at things and talking to everyone. I realized I have nothing to be afraid of and that I had no reason to be shy. I found fun places, and now I even go with my classmates to places and we joke around.

I just went to the Junkyard Blues Club with Meghan and Caroline and we had so much fun. All three of us were in the library laughing each others avatars. I told Caroline she had a cheap ass weave and we just kept poking fun at each other.

After, when me and Meghan signed off I went to ask her a question and by accident I called her Jordin, her avatars name. It made me realize that I was so into Second Life at that time.

House of Usher

If I were able to alter something in Poe's story I would either go for a more gruesome ending rather then a nice ending where the doctor is called to help. Since the house is mysterious, and feels evil I would make sure to pack a gun for my visit. This is for safety reasons and later on would be used to kill Madeline when she is at the door. Or I might have just shot her while she was in the tomb with her rosy cheeks. Since I already read the story I know that she is buried alive, so i would just be making sure that she is dead. I would be saving her since back then everyone was afraid of being buried alive, I would make sure she was dead. I'm aware that this ending isn't normal, but then again neither is Poe's writing.

However, I may have entered the house but not stayed as long as the narrator stayed. I would have brought both Roderick and Madeline to a doctor. Since the narrator did not know Roderick very well (he did not even know Roderick and Madeline were twins until later) then he should have left once he got a bad feeling around the house and Roderick started hearing things.

Got Problems?

I have a problem and it's that I can never find a group of people in Second Life. I can transport to over 10 places and never find an avatar. Why is this still happening to me? My avatar does not have swine so I'm not sure why I can't find anyone. Anyway, I had this great idea to transport to orientation island. It proved to be the best idea I've had since I found loads of avatars! I was so happy that my plan had worked out.

Just then, another problem occurred right when things were going well. I tried to fly over a step then all a sudden my avatar won't land and she keeps flying upwards as if God has some sort of gravitational pull on her. I flew up, up, and away until at one point i was so far in the sky and never coming down that I got frustrated and logged out of Second Life.

This isn't the first time that my avatar has done things when I'm not even commanding her to do so. For example, there will be times when I'm just walking straight and she walks then walks backward to where I started. Or she will just keep walking straight right through the buildings and not stop. It's possibly the most frustrating thing in Second Life besides not find any other avatars.

The Forgotten Blog Post

This September post was supposed to be on a question that I had about Second Life. Even though I am doing it months later, I still have the same question, which is how do people get addicted to Second Life? And what makes Second Life better then the other virtual worlds out there such as World of Warcraft, etc (Why do people play Second Life as opposed to other worlds) ?

Second Life reminds me of the Sims, however, I find the Sims to be more addicting. I haven't been able to use Second Life for a prolong period of time because I feel as if I have nothing to do. However, I do see how some people may play it since the world looks real and you can interact with people.

This leads me to a conclusion that people play Second Life to interact with others. I'm on the fence of what I concluded since now people are able to use facebook, twitter,myspace to connect with people. Therefore, maybe people are really enjoy meeting new people when they aren't themselves and also maybe they enjoy doing things they aren't able to do in real life.

I remember during the summer when my oldest brother and his fiance would play World of Warcraft. I had no concept of the game, nor did I care since I called them losers. Anyway, if I were to tell them about Second Life they would blow the idea away. To them, the idea of Second Life would most likely be ridiculous. But they are playing in a virtual world already so what's the difference? I realized they were playing World Of Warcraft for the fighting aspect. They weren't into the exploring and adventure that Second Life had to offer. From what I have experienced, Second Life does not have this gruesome fighting, which is not what I'm looking for. I would have played Second Life if my friends were on it and people more my age. However, if I was in an older age group I would use it to make connections and try new things.

Houston We've Got a Problem

The biggest problem Second Life faces as a communication technology is it's not as known as facebook, myspace, or twitter therefore it doesn't have as many users. Besides myspace, facebook and twitter are two new communication technologies that have become part of everyday use. Both are used by celebrities, connect people to friends and family, and even help for meeting new people. In Second Life, you are able to connect with people, however, from my experience it is difficult and seems impossible. Second Life seems to not have many users, therefore to me it kind of makes it boring since all you do is explore and take pictures.

Hopefully, in the near future it will become more popular. I cannot see it becoming as popular as facebook or twitter since those are easier to keep in touch with and meet people with.

Heritage Key

When I first arrived at Heritage Key I was in a room that had helpful tips on how to get started. If I was new to the virtual worlds then I would have definitely read most of them, however, I only read a few to see if I was missing out on anything.

The first thing I did was change my avatars outfit since it was terrible. I like how all you need to do is drag the item from the inventory onto your avatar as opposed to Second Life where you need to drag the box into a space.

After, I went to go find out how to get to King Tuts tomb. When I got there I got a notice on how the server has crashed and I need to log out. I tried logging in again, however the application froze and I had to quit. It kept saying how my system contains a graphic card that is unknown to them.

I was able to get everything working after a few tries, so I went on to continue exploring King Tuts area. There were a few tents that I passed by that were artifacts most likely being examined. Next, I waddled my way to his actual tomb to see what I will be doing soon. While in the tomb I went into a room with hieroglyphics and couldn't believe how real it looked. Once I was done looking around the tomb I went back outside to my hot air balloon..except I wasn't able to get in it since it was floating in the air.

Halloween Horror Village

On Saturday, I was having problems with Second Life. I had downloaded the new version and it was still lagging. I felt bad because Meghan was waiting for me, however, she was updating me on what was happening to her. I thought it was bizarre how she got attacked by birds.

When I finally arrived, I was greeted by Freddy Krueger. I was shocked to see how real he actually looked since he had his striped sweater, hat, and long claws. I even got the shivers when I heard a voice saying "one, two, Freddy's coming for you, three, four better lock your door..". As I walked around I saw other avatars , however they were in costume and I think they worked there. Even thought the event had just started I was surprised that there weren't more avatars.

I was able to get a picture of Freddy in front of a haunted house that said MYERS. I don't think I could actually have gone in the haunted house because Mike Myers actually scares me. Looking at it from the outside was just fine. As I continued walking, I saw the headless horseman riding around a tree. However, it was not an avatar it was a hologram. Behind it, I saw Frankenstein and some crazy guy with an axe. Next to the tree that the headless horseman was riding around was a sign that said "impale yourself" with blood dripping down the stick. I definitely was not going to click on that but I would have liked to get a picture of someone trying it.

I was bummed that I wasn't able to ask any avatars questions. However, it was fun to go somewhere that had a theme such as Halloween. I want to know if there any Christmas events? I would love to find events as it nears. I learned that Second Life can be whatever you make out of it. It can be a fun virtual world used for educational purposes where you can learn about different cultures and see people use it for business. Or you can put time into Second Life and actually try and meet people. It can also be an escape for some people or just a relaxing, entertaining past time.

Before My Visit

After narrowing our choices down, Meghan and I decided to visit Halloween Horror Village - FrannyDj Dean-12pm on Saturday, October 18th. I wanted to go here because I love scary things so I'm hoping there's something that will give me the goose bumps and make me jump out of my chair. This village seems like it will be a lot of fun, and I hope people dress up even though I won't be dressing up.

I'm excited to go because I haven't been in this kind of situation. However, I'm also nervous because I haven't had a lot of experience talking to avatars, so I hope I don't make it obvious that I'm a newbie.

I want to find out if they delete the village after and if they are getting paid to hold the event. It must take a lot of time to create the village, so I wonder if they get anything out of it. I wonder if the village is just made in celebration of Halloween and Burning Life. It would also interest me to find out what experienced people get out of second Life. Is it the idea of doing something different, meeting people, making money, or educational purposes? Hopefully, I'll be able to find answers to some of my questions when I visit.

Places to go & People to see

Whenever I visit the landmarks in my inventory I don't find any avatars. This seems to be a reoccurring problem for me. I decided to go on a search for avatars so I chose to go to a club on Saturday night. I first changed my outfit then teleported there. Upon arriving they all greeted me and some even called me "Sky", I liked the nickname since it made me feel more a ease there. The only problem I had was I didn't know how to dance. I sat on a white couch in the corner and watched the dance floor for a few minutes. I finally got the courage to ask the avatars there how to dance. They all gave me instructions on what to do, so I headed out to the dance floor and busted a move. When they left they even said bye to me! I was so happy to finally have socialized a bit.

However, on my next trip to Epiphany Island I did not come across any avatars. When I arrived it was night and light was shining through the beautiful stained glass windows which was cool because it made the church seem real. I wouldn't think of putting that small detail in. There were rows of pews on each side and the alter was illuminated with a greenish light. Leaving the church to my right was an area where you can light a candle. This feature is also in real churches which made the church seem real.

My last stop was Dublin. Even though it was dark and quiet out, it was still very nice to fly around. My friends have visited Dublin so I always wondered what it looked like. I wasn't sure what to expect at first. The streets were different from that of the other places I visited because they were a little more complicated since each way split compared to going both ways. I would like to visit Dublin when it is lighter out so I will be able to see it more and hopefully meet avatars.

Librarians

I might have been too harsh when I was talking about the librarians from my school because they all weren't mean. In fact, whenever I needed to use the stapler in the morning because my papers were all over the place this one librarian would gladly hand it over to me. She didn't abide by the rules as strictly as the other librarian and she would let kids eat a lunch time snack when there was supposed to be no food or drinks in the library.

However, there was one librarian that me and a majority of students could not stand. If she saw food, phones, dress code violations, or anything else in violation of the ridiculous school policy she would take it away or send you to the office. My friend had her ipod touch out one day and the librarian thought it was an iphone so she started yelling at my friend. After, my friend said it was an ipod and the librarian felt embarrassed. There are other stories about her that demonstrate that she was not one of the nicest librarians.

What do you expect?

Last year I remember sitting in my College English class reading the poster next to me on plagiarism. All I could think was "how could you possibly get caught plagiarizing here unless you blatantly copy and paste words". For something teachers preached so much about, the only consequence was a zero on the plagiarized paper. Therefore, many students including me didn't care to cite their sources properly.

Teachers didn't spend time going over how to cite sources because they left it up to the mean librarians that nobody wanted to listen to. My old ways will not fly here at Richmond, which is why I'm grateful that Hjortshoj explains the ways to cite sources properly. I was never really sure how to cite and I wasn't clear on what the rules of plagiarism were, so I'm glad he cleared it up. When I get my first college paper back hopefully I will have cited correctly. If I didn't cite properly hopefully I can learn the right way so I don't make the same mistake twice because plagiarism in college is taken more way more seriously then in high school. I don't expect the teachers to be lenient here because it's a serious issue thats on the Honor Code.

Travel Around the World in Minutes : $0

If I told my mother that I just went to The Globe Theatre, Harlem, and Morocco in a matter of minutes, she would most likely call the Health Center to check me for swine flu. However, I did visit all three locations last night! I was upset that there was no one around to talk to at any of the places but I still took advantage of the opportunity to explore. My first stop was the Globe Theatre and even though I wasn't dressed in Shakespearean attire I still felt like I was back in that time because the hay on the ground and old looking houses gave it an old feel. Upon arriving I noticed the row of portraits of people from Hamlet which caught my eye because the pictures looked so real. Also, I was really surprised to come across the Trojan horse since I always thought it was a clever idea and to actually be able to stand on top of it was thrilling for me. Next on my stop was Harlem, which made me feel better since I miss the Big Apple. At first, I wasn't aware that this location was Harlem in the 1920's but the old cars and cotton place hinted at the time frame. The way the buildings were set up with the sidewalks and stoops seemed to really capture a picture of what Harlem looks like to me even if this was Harlem in the early 1920's. It was so much fun to ride the trolley since you don't see them around anymore and the tour it gave was a nice history of the Harlem. My last stop was Morocco, which ended up being my favorite. The picture below with Skylar sitting on a cart gives you a glimpse of what Morocco was like. The little shops set up on the side sold pottery, rugs, and other hand made crafts which made this site really unique. I also saw my first animal and went on mini soccer field. Morocco looked a bit like the movie Aladdin to me in the way that the buildings and shops were set up. I liked how the buildings weren't brick and how they were differently shaped from those in Harlem. Morocco gave off an arabian theme which I admired. It all seemed so real and made me actually want to visit!

To tell you the truth, I wasn't thrilled about visiting these places before I logged on because I thought they wouldn't be interesting. However, I learned that I can't judge something if I haven't even seen it. I also was able to see how much thought goes into making one of these sites. Everything serves a purpose and makes the places seem more realistic.

The Virtual Me.

I went into this virtual world blind in the sense that I had no idea what my name, appearance, or feelings would be. The first step I had to take to get settled into this world was to find a suitable name. I googled gender neutral names since I couldn't think of many because I google everything since it's my GPS for the internet. When I came across the name Skylar I knew it was exactly what I wanted, it was a name that was not common and could be spelt one of two ways. It's a very unusual name but that's what I like about it.

I'm not quite myself in Second Life. It's not that I don't want to look like myself it's just that I believe it has always been fun to come up with my own character and change the appearance depending on my mood. Whenever I log into Second Life I have to change my avatars outfit. This does get quite annoying because I'm so indecisive and it can take awhile to find something that I like. I think that by looking different from real life your able to gain a different perspective which is interesting.

I'm not "creeped" out by Second Life. It actually reminds me of the game the Sims but more adventurous and realistic. I also like the fact that I'm able to take snapshots of places I'm most likely never going to be able to visit. I look forward to exploring more of this world with Skylar Hendes.

The Transition

I'm not proud of my high school habits. When I was assigned a paper I would wait until the last minute because I would put the deadline in the back of my head and not think about it at all. My procrastination was like a game to me because I never knew if I was going to be rewarded with a good grade. However, it didn't really matter to me what grade I received because I always new there were plenty more papers to come.

My writing process reminded me of a horror film, really scary and not knowing what to expect in the end. I felt like Hjortshoj knew exactly what kind of writer I was - the lazy procrastinator who likes to crank a paper out as soon as possible. I'm aware that my old habits can't stick with me so I'll listen to Hjortshoj's guideline "College teachers observe weaknesses in student papers that are characteristic of unrevised first drafts." I don't expect to get the grades I use to here, but I can always work towards getting them after changing.