Days of Our Second Lives

The Reluctant Quester Does Ristretto

Barely averted disaster at the grand opening of Karuna's Café Ristretto.  Between IM's notecards, Flickr, FaceBook, Linked In and so forth, you would expect communication to be flawless, precise, or at least redundant. Duh!
 
So using all the tools of social networking known to man, woman, and Tinys, I promote, hype, tout, hawk, and hock people to come to the Café Ristretto opening for a live performance by Juel Resistance.  This was to be an inaugral event - the first in a new series of coffee house concerts being presented on  Karuna (if you don't know, ask: National Library of Medicine funded HIV/AIDS island in Second Life).
 
Disaster strikes when I find out there has been a mix-up with the time and date!!!  The concert promoted to happen in just three hours is on Juel's  calendar for the following day!!!!
 
First through yelling and screaming (which is never effective or pretty), then through begging and pleading (also not pretty), I persuade the gracious and professional Juel to adjust her schedule so she can perform as planned and (ugh) promoted. Woot!!
 
And what a performance it was!  Juel was a big success, playing to a packed house that generously contributed Lindens to Karuna. When Juel was done, they stayed and kept dancing into the night to the tunes of DJ Otowan Fouget.
 

I hope to see you at the next concert at 6:00 pm SLT on Wednesday, July 15th. when we will dance to songs sung by Songstra.  Need a limo?  IM Jenaia Morane or Marty Snowpaw, or simply take the SLURL below:

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Karuna/33/213/29 

                                                  - Marty Snowpaw

A Vision of the Vision Quest

Well the Vision Quest is officially over, meaning the contest ended and the awards were given out.  However, the Quest itself has found a permanent home on Story Quest Island and there continue to be a large number of folks coming through to give the concept a try.  Most notable has been a class of 20 educators led by Miss Annie Ducatillon who came, listened to Marty and I talk about Questing, asked questions, and now are working on their own stories.

Then today I logged into my email account to find that the BBC podcast is out with the interview featuring myself and Jolie in which we chatted about what it means to be blind in a virtual world and how Max is making a difference.  You can hear the results at the link below.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/podsandblogs/

 

And the Winners Are........

 It's with great pleasure that I announce the winners of the 2009 Vision Quest, created and dedicated to Max the first virtual guide dog who made his debut on June 27th, Helen Keller Day.

The Vision Quest encouraged participants to imagine what it is like to be blind and to explore how the relationship between a blind person and his or her guide dog is formed.  Our three winnners did a magnificent job.

First Place
Franchella (aka Pata Facciponti in her first life)
Teacher, photographer, videographer, academic technologist, GIS mapper; wife, parent and grandparent; animal-lover and historic preservationist; writer and poet, Pat Facciponti enjoys studying and writing about just about anything.  Franchella Milena, her alter ego, was born into Second Life in January 2008.  Together, Franchella and Pat collaborate on adventures of discovery, learning, writing, building, and teaching in Second Life.  For her three-part submission entitled, "Journeys and Inersections." Franchella will receive $10,000 Lindens and the HKD award.

Second Place
CorDeRosa Loire (aka Laura Fedeli)
CorDeRosa Loire is the first and only and beloved SL avatar of Laura Fedeli, an Italian teacher and researcher working in the field of instructional media and distance education. Currently she is a PhD candidate in e-learning, Knowledge Management and Psychology of Communication at University of Macerata, Italy. Her award winning entry is entitled, "The Story of a Dream." For her efforts, CorDeRosa will receive $7,500 Lindens and the HKD award.

Honorable Mention
Louise Later (aka Louise Nicholson) 
Louise's piece, entitled "Lucky's Great Hopes" could not be considered for an award because she is one of the organizers of Helen Keller Day - hence the honorable mention.   In Second Life, Louise Later is the avatar of Louise Nicholson.  Louise came to Second Life to develop and teach classes that business managers are required to take by state and federal law.

She thought the highly adaptable world of Second Life would be the perfect place to demonstrate inclusion. After all, in SL, a big quarterback-sized CEO could have an avatar who is a little old black woman in a wheelchair.  So, Louise was all revved up and ready to go with her team of innovators at KEY Ethical Advisors and Moderne Communications.  However, she discovered she could not see well enough in SL.  Second Life itself needed to become more inclusive.  So she put the "business mangers" project on hold, while she and members of Virtual Helping Hands developed Max, the VHH Virtual Guidedog as assistive technology so that people who are visually or print-impaired can use SL effectively.
***
Louise is an award-winning writer, a California-credentialed preK through adult teacher and specialist.   She won the “Golden Rule Award for the top volunteer in Southern California” for her work at LARRS—the Los Angeles Radio Reading Service.  She also co-produces "Access Unlimited" on KPFK 90.7 FM, a radio show about issues involving disabilities that is streamed inworld at Wheelies and over the net at KPFK.org.
***
Louise Later shares her apartment at Wheelies with Max who has his own incredible one-prim doghouse by this year’s “Resident Choice Award-Winning Prim Sculpter,” Vickie Greenwood.  Louise Later is the Concept Developer and Team Coordinator of Max, the VHH Virtual Guidedog project.

To see the full text versions of all the winners, please visit RezLibris at www.rezlibris.com

Second (Online) Lives, Kids, and Education

Marty Snowpaw, (aka this blog's Reluctant Quester) just pointed out an interesting article by Mike Shields.  Entitled, "Nielson Online: Kids Flocking to the Web," Shields summarizes recent Nielson Online findings which reveal that kids are flocking to the Web in droves.  Even more significant is the amount of time they are spending in virtual worlds.   "Kids are living online," says Shields. "Time spent among kids has soared by 63 percent over the past five years, as kids are increasingly drawn to watching videos and playing games---and even more so than adults, visiting virtual worlds."

Here is Marty's response:

"This should be no surprise to any of us.......At the recent Solutions Provider conference hosted by Linden Lab...Enterprise and Education were always linked.  However, they have been primarily focused on Post Secondary efforts that we have all read about on the Linden Blog.  My question?  What about teens and younger users?  
 
We have all seen what a wonderful educational tool Second Life can be,  and that virtual worlds aimed at children can have a huge impact.  It would be a mistake for Linden Lab to turn the page on K-12 education, merge the grids, and just move on.  Education is at a turning point.  It must become more child-centered by using individualized education plans.  There must be project-based learning in which the success or failure of a project is assessed by  its completion not by a two-dimensional, standardized test.
 
How wonderful it would have been to take teens and younger students on the recent Vision Quest hosted by The Virtual Worlds Story Project in celebration of Helen Keller Day (see http://www.rezlibris.com/for details); to have introduced them to and given them their very own Max (the virtual seeing eye dog).  What an engaging, eye-opening, and creative experience it would have been to have kids write their own stories about what it feels like to be blind,  or even what it might be like to be Max.  How wonderful it would have been to have children helping us celebrate Helen Keller's birthday and the development of a tool that helps us appreciate differences and level the playing field.  Wow...

Sun and Thunder on Karuna

As part of our ongoing “Celebrate Life” series, we welcome a middle school science teacher turned Second Life (SL) sculptor and photographer named Sunn Thunders to Karuna this month. 

 

Sunn had no idea that he had an artistic bent until he got interested in what he calls “prim torture” shortly after entering SL.  “I never did any kind of artwork until I discovered SL,” says Thunder.  “Then I fell in love with art... first, prim torture and creative building, then photos, and now my own original digital artwork.”  My RL art stuff is digital, mainly abstract illustrations.”

 

 

When asked about the “prim torture,” he laughs and says, “no prims were actually harmed in the process.”   Apparently the “torturing” involves twisting, cutting, and otherwise manipulating prims to get unique shapes and effects.  Thunder sees this as a logical extension of how his mind works.  “Prim torture is very creative, but I am very logical and methodical, and the mathematical side enters into it.”

 

Another interesting aspect of Thunder’s work is what he calls “serendipitous color.”  Most of his work begins when something – some “aspect of a landscape, usually rich colors” – strikes his fancy.  He then plays with color, texture, shapes, symmetry, and chaos until he comes up with something he likes.  “I am always looking for a new shape -something unusual that can be done with a simple prim."

 

Of all the many and varied things artwork in SL has taught him, Thunders finds that the way the lines between RL and SL artwork blur the most intriguing.  “It's that blending of dimensions that fascinates me,” he says.  “Photos in SL become art in RL, and textures in RL get incorporated into SL work.   I love how the boundaries are crossing.”

 

Thunder’s work can be seen on Karuna throughout the month of July.  Look for his images along the Path of Healing, his remarkable photos on the rooftop garden at the Community Center, and his “prim tortured” sculptures along the banks of the river.  “There is something deeply satisfying about setting up an exhibit here on Karuna,” he said.  “The natural beauty is restful and is a great backdrop for my work.”

 

 

We hope you agree and will stop by to take a look at Thunder’s work.  While you’re here, take a moment to visit the new Resource Center, Café Ristretto (behind the Community Center), and the rooftop garden at the Community Center.  The SLURL below will get you to Karuna and Thunder's work:

 

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Karuna/33/213/29

 

To see what Sunn himself has to say about Karuna and his work there, please visit his blog at: http://sunnthunders.blogspot.com/2009/07/celebrate-life-artist-at-karuna.html

 

Adventures of a Reluctant Quester: Part IV

Ok…ok…so I dropped the ball. First there was that awful griefing incident on Helen Keller's birthday….horrible. Then we got a stay of execution. Never a good thing for a procrastinator…just gave me an excuse and an opportunity to postpone writing, and also gave me more time to play with Max!!

Play though was not what he had on his mind.  Work, work, work - this dog meant business and he was determined to show me everything he could do, and more importantly, what it would be like to be blind and be truly dependent on him to get around the SL grid.

Well if you don't mind the pun…"what an eye opener" this has been. There is so much to hear and experience…people to meet…questions to answer. Strangers would come up to me and ask me about Max and want to know more - how to go on the quest and get their own dog. An entire class of students came in a group! Very exciting stuff.

And then I met Louise Later and Jolie 1 Magic who actually helped create Max and use him to get around Second Life. He levels the playing field for them just like so much of Second Life does for so many people who are handicapped in their first lives but here are transformed….healed.

Our prejudices, even ignorance become irrelevant.  We can't "see" the handicap, so it is not there.  Just the person is there…their essence…their humanity.  Who would have thought that a pixelated reality would be where we learned to celebrate diversity, see its strength…learn empathy and even wisdom.

Thank you Max, Louise, and Jolie…thank you…

                                                                                   - Marty Snowpaw

Vision Quest Magic

Okay I confess that the horrible screams and abusive images that poured over and around us on June 27th (Helen Keller Day) were very disturbing.  I'd never been in a griefing incident as intense as that one, and the tension it created, not to mention the crashes and sim malfunctions, were palpable.  Folks were upset, and I didn't blame them.  It's hard to understand why anyone would want to try to disrupt or make a mockery of an event celebrating the arrival of a virtual guide dog in Second Life, but there was no denying what was happening. 

My own presentation about the Vision Quest did not go over well. In fact, it could be argued that it didn't go at all.  I crashed three times, folks were so busy discussing the griefing in voice that they talked right over me, and my poor transcriptionist could barely see to copy text into chat.  I left the stage feeling more than a little disappointed.  I had prepared a presentaion I felt was both entertaining and thought provoking. I was eager to share my ideas and get feedback.  The fact that a griefer prevented me from doing either left  me cranky and discouraged.

A few hours later, however, it occurred to me that it might be possible to give my talk again.  I contacted the organizers and Pathfinder Linden, all of whom not only supported my idea but gave me space and prims to set up my own presentation area.   Woo hoo!  I was happy.

Anyone who has attended one of my storytellings knows that I have a thing about nature and like to park myself and my listeners on stumps and surround us with trees, water, and lots of green. I got all four and then some at the place I was given.  Set on a spit of land surrounded on three sides by ocean, the presentation circle was ringed with pines and gnarled oak trees from which leaves drifted lazily in the breeze.  A cobblestone path led from the landing site beneath two arching trees and into the semi-circle of stumps set in front of the slide viewer.  My own stump, a simple two prim affair I take with me everywhere,  allowed me to face and feel part of the ring of listeners around me.

This time, the story went off without a hitch. It was one of those magical times when you can feel your audience leaning in close and your own voice warms with the fun of sharing a story that gives you pleasure.  I began by talking about my goals for Questing - to help individuals embark on journeys of self discovery and in doing so find the Narrative Threads™ that link us all - and moved on to Vision Quests and animal guides.  By the time I got to Max and the Second Life Vision Quest, we were talking about how the relationship between a blind person and his or her guide dog is one of the closest possible. Blind people routinely refer to their dogs as their soul mates, best friends, and mind readers.

My point was that we all long for this kind of relationship - for the intimacy, trust, responsibility,  mutal respect and love that are inherent in interdependency. The goal of the Vision Quest as I set it up was three-fold:

1) Help participants to shift their perspectives and see and experience the world a little differently, either as a blind person or from the viewpoint of a guide dog

2) Help participants understand and experience how relationships are forged between a blind person and a guide dog.

3) Help each person go within, examine his or her responses to the activities in the Quest and then learn to express those responses as a story.

Finally, I left everyone with a challenge: "Take the Quest. See what it's like to be a blind person or a guide dog. Explore interdependency, vulnerability, trust - then come back to share your story with us.  Help us celebrate the Narrative Threads™ that allow us to share and weave our lives together, forge community, and make sense of our lives."

That is the same challenge I would like to leave all my readers with.  If you haven't yet explored the Vision Quest, I hope you will find the time to do so.  It will be at its current location through Friday and then will move to its permanent home on Story Quest Island.  If you'd like an LM, just IM me inworld or drop me an email. 

I look forward to reading your stories!

Quest in the News

The Quest is making news!

CNN: http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-279943

Adventures of a Reluctant Quester: Part III

Wow…great music here in Chelsea. Wonder if Max likes to dance?  Supposed to take a walk around ...let's go for it. Better turn the music off so we can hear the cars, buses, and bustle of London.

Ok…I am going to close my eyes and let's see if you can take me across the street without getting us both pixilated.  Good doggie…so far so good. You start sniffing around. We are supposed to smell London…how about leading me toward something delicious?

Why are you stopping?  Sniffs…ah smells like Indian Food. Why are you pulling me away? Wait a second. I like Indian food!  Hmmm. You barked. You trying to tell me something? You don't want Indian food?  Ok, sniffs again. Smells like fish…fried fish. Fish and chips…gotcha… you want to eat English…no saffron, curries or chutney. Do you think anyone will mind if I ask for ketchup with my fries…I mean chips. Dah!

So what do you think…you like hanging out with me? It's important that we become close buds…I am putting my life into your hands and all I have to pay you back with are dog biscuits…
Now what are you barking about???  Did you say write!!  Oh the quest!!!  Completely forgot...having too much fun…

One of Those Days

It was one of those days
when even air chafed the skin
and my eyes - sleep focused on dim dreams
of loss and longing - refused
to completely acknoweldge the morning.

I slept halfway through the first cup
of never-strong-enough coffee
through my cat's incessant purr
the bleeps and pings and tiny rings
of online friends
calling me home.

How did they know
I needed those gentle 
half-formed notes - the abbreviated versions
of their daily lives
to recall me to my own?

How did he know - that persistent, patient man
with a surgeon's touch -
to pursue the threads of unraveled lies
down to bone
down to a simple gift of love
carried on a cry?

It was one of those days -
a day I could've done without
but without a doubt
wouldn't have missed
for the world.
                                               - Jenaia

ONE MORE WONDERFUL POEM

If You Are Lucky in This Life

If you are lucky in this life
A window will appear on a battlefield between two armies.

And when the soldiers look into the window
They don't see their enemies
They see themselves as children.

And they stop fighting
And go home and go to sleep.
When they wake up, the land is well again.



By Cameron Penny,
who was a 4th grader in a Michigan school when he wrote this poem.
The poem was originally published in 2001.