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  • Pearl Grey 01:14 on 09/03/2015 Permalink | Reply
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    Invitation to Learners 

    Here’s something you can participate in at your own pace and in your own time. I took four photographs that can be illustrative of a story alone, in combination, or all together. You can write a short story, make a photograph or short machinima.

    This is an experiment for me as I’ve never done anything like this. It’s outside of my comfort zone. But I’m willing to see how others might respond. If you want to participate and don’t have a WP blog,  no worries. There are details about note cards, etc. in the post.

     

     
    • Neeva 12:44 on 09/03/2015 Permalink | Reply

      Awesome Pearl! I’m looking forward to this.

    • Neeva 13:27 on 09/03/2015 Permalink | Reply

      Here is my story from your pictures, Pearl. Feel free to post it where you like.

      “Let me show you my movie” he said, fiddling with the projector. “It’s about a dog.”

      But she could see only a swirl of light against the screen.

      “Is this all?”

      He shrugged apologetically. “I had no script”

      “That can be remedied,” she said. (She was a practical woman). “I’ll just sit right here and type you one. You said it was about a dog?”

      “Yes, it’s about a dog”

      She clacked for awhile on the keys of the ancient typewriter. The script began to take shape. It was the story of a man, a woman, and a peculiar, overstuffed chair. It was the story of stairs that defied gravity and lead to the unknown. It was the story of a chandelier of cut crystal that forever danced its light across a dusty floor.

      “Thank you,” he said at last when she had finished and they were standing together at a respectful and chaste distance. “Thank you, But it was supposed to be about a dog.”

      • Pearl Grey 14:28 on 09/03/2015 Permalink | Reply

        Copy/pasted in the comments! This is a lovely story! And thank you for going first.

      • Myra 21:20 on 09/03/2015 Permalink | Reply

        That’s so cute. Clever.

    • Pearl Grey 00:08 on 11/03/2015 Permalink | Reply

      We have three great short stories so far!

  • Pearl Grey 01:01 on 07/03/2015 Permalink | Reply  

    We Got Blogged 

    I noticed this yesterday: http://temioyen.slmame.com/e1508055.html

    In my virtual world, no one seems to have much of an understanding about what MU is. I share links and attempt to explain sometimes but there’s likely no adequate way to do so.

     
    • Paypabak Writer 02:56 on 07/03/2015 Permalink | Reply

      Some good guesses about the design of the campus. I wonder if language made it tricksy for her to discuss it with anyone she found. She seems to have visited early on, as far as the Katy Perry head goes. For myself, I visit and try to report what I see and talk to people, fellow learners, to get what they’re doing. It’s still coming together.

      • Izzy 04:48 on 07/03/2015 Permalink | Reply

        Aww, it’s a sweet write up.

        Layout of the campus. It should be possible to use sky boxes with distance each other, but these could be set intentionally dense to develop through friendly competition? Comparing with other LEA projects providing a full SIM for each artists or UWA art project with three dimensional layout, this looks a bit crowded. May be enough for students?

        How funny that she thinks it’s crowded compared to LEA or UWA, when, of course, my single biggest lament so far is that we’re nowhere close to the density of an RL city. I wish we could reach that kind of density / critical mass / eyes on the street / community… alas… I don’t think we can get dense enough! 😀

        Penny Patton — who I was lucky enough to spend a couple hours with last weekend and who will probably come give an MU Visiting Artist talk sometime before the semester is over — continues to preach that almost all builds in SL are grossly over-scale creating less immersive experiences that eat up land and land-impact (prim counts) and cost more money for a worse experience!

    • Paypabak Writer 18:48 on 07/03/2015 Permalink | Reply

      I agree with Penny, but at the same time, why in a world where we fly and teleport, do we need walls? I saw a design of the American Library Association’s island back in 2008. It was pretty cool: based around a lake, like Epcot Center, but with various levels and platforms, taking advantage of what we can do in a virtual world rather than trying to recreate an actual world. And considering the Lab effed up on scaling to begin with, that’s a pretty good move.

      The trouble with the kind of density you seem to be aiming for isn’t so much prim limitations as an actual population tends to crap things out. Sixty people on a moderately primmed out island tends to be the limit.

      • Izzy 13:21 on 08/03/2015 Permalink | Reply

        60 would be great! 30 would be fantastic! Most of the time MU has less than 6!

        Yes, you’re right about walls. Actually though, Tiffany had a powerful insight on this in one of the comments on the original Kerfuffle post (not the tastier Raspberry Kerfuffle follow-up post)

        We bring into the virtual realm what we know – we must, because its all we can do. Virtuality can take on new forms, however, virtuality almost always most closely resembles what we have in the real world, to a degree, because without those “hooks” into reality, we’d be completely lost.

        http://mediciuniversity.co.uk/talk/there-has-been-a-kerfuffle-in-the-force/#comment-242

        Or as Ray Kurzweil put it in The Age of Spiritual Machines, “We want to solve all of our ‘problems’… just not too quickly…”

        Even simpler than your ALA Island, I love the hair shop Analog Dog. Instead of walls and boards, she built a beach and hung hair all over the water. You just wade around as you look for the ‘doo you want.

  • Pearl Grey 21:20 on 12/02/2015 Permalink | Reply  

    Photographic Arts Students ~

    Second Life Photography: A Designing Worlds Exploration part one, is available for viewing on the web. Part two will be shown live on Monday 2/16/15 at 2 p.m. SLT on Treet. TV and will be available for viewing on the web a few days later.

    https://designingworlds.wordpress.com/2015/02/08/second-life-photography-a-designing-worlds-exploration/

     
  • Pearl Grey 00:25 on 12/02/2015 Permalink | Reply  

    I first became aware of Medici University eight days ago. Through a series of winging- it steps, I’ve got myself a studio on Vashti 2, intending to study virtual photographic arts and creative writing.

    I’m not an academic and have been out of school for a long time. I also happen to have organ and brain damage from environmental toxins and other trauma. I’m gradually and brilliantly restoring myself.

    I’ve also faced some substantial discouragement and exclusion in Second Life. I’m passionate about demonstrating that I and my life matter as does my creativity.

    The set-up phase with the different sites here have been quite a challenge for me to navigate. When Izzy asked for help, I volunteered to encourage new students and somehow have obtained the title of Advisor of Students or something like that. I’ll put my heart into it. Feel free to help out if you’d like.

    I have a blog and Flickr:
    https://millionhappyendings.wordpress.com/

    Monk's Roadside Jazz Cafe

     
    • Scarlett Luv 00:32 on 12/02/2015 Permalink | Reply

      i am almost always logged in during the day as well as Scarlett Luv and would be happy to assist as well. I may not be on sim but iming me will surely have me drop what im doing and come to assist!

      • Izzy 10:35 on 12/02/2015 Permalink | Reply

        Fantastaic Pearl! Great Scarlett! Thank you so much for helping out!

        Yes Pearl, every place, MU, SL Help Island, A Prison in Siberia, A Tropical Island, they’re all opportunities to oppress or empower.

        Just about the most empowering thing I’ve ever seen anyone do is to stand up and say “I am here!” Or to shout it from your wheelchair. Or tap it out on a keyboard. I think that’s why the Pride Parade has always been such a powerful, beautiful, thing.

        Perhaps we should transform Chaplain Beedit’s Convocation on 1 March into a Pride Parade! Or schedule an MU Student Pride Parade shortly before or after that event.

    • Paypabak Writer 14:17 on 12/02/2015 Permalink | Reply

      Thanks for stepping up like this, Pearl! I will extend an Add next time I’m logged in but if you’re inworld before me, please add me so I can bet in touch. My blog is all about the stories I find in SL along with the experience of it.

      Winging it? That’s the best approach to take in SL! Stay in the moment and say Yes. See you soon!

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