Operation Off the Grid

It is one in the afternoon and I am six hours into my twelve hour adventure in the real world...you know, that world without internet or video games? It's not so bad, really. I woke up just after seven and shut off my phone and computer. I had some breakfast and did the usual morning crap. After all that, I cleaned my room [this part probably sucked the most...cleaning is awful to begin with, but take away music and it just becomes painful]. This, unfortunately, only took up about an hour of my day, so when I finished I pulled out some knitting that I have been neglecting for the last month or so. I spent the next few hours sitting on my front porch and working through some leg warmers....perhaps this is what my life will be like as an old woman who is, presumably uninterested in video games by that point in her life [I really hope this is not the case, however]. Eventually, my brain guilt-tripped me into getting some homework started. I didn't really need to stay at home, as I didn't require the use of internet nor electricity, so I grabbed my backpack and headed to the park. I've been here for a good while now and I've completed quite a bit of reading and I even hand wrote my group's boss project proposal :) Even blogging has taken a bit of a twist today. Rather than composing this entry on my laptop in a tiny white text box, I am laying in the grass and writing it out in my notebook [I'll transcribe it to the internets later]. Anyway, it is a super nice day, so I am headed off for a run. I shall report on the rest of my day later.

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It's about a day after my twelve hours of technology-free time ended. I've had some time to think about it and I've come to the conclusion that I really enjoyed being off the grid. I am considering making it a weekly thing, actually. What I missed the most was not texting nor was it Facebook....I missed music the most. I found myself going for the computer and my phone at numerous points during the day. As I was getting ready in the morning, I walked over to my computer thinking I could just check to see what the weather was going to be like....nope. Later, I was getting ready to head to the park and I went to grab my phone...and had to just leave it there. I did find that I felt a little less secure leaving my house without my cell phone. I eventually got used to it and simply made my way through...getting a lot of knitting done in the process :)

While I was thinking, I also figured out that I have unintentionally done this no technology thing before. I spent about a month living in a monastery in the rural northern mountains of the Dominican Republic this past summer. During that time I was able to access the internet maybe half a dozen times and only for very brief amounts of time. It wasn't so bad :)

Virtual Time

I spend an immense time in virtual spaces. On a daily basis I use my iPhone, laptop, and desktop to explore these virtual environments. Within these devices I surf the internet, read the news, play video games, and do homework. I'd like to think that the time I spend virtually is mostly productive, but I know that I do spend a generous amount of time in video games and mindlessly surfing the internet. Dr. Shannon posed a question last class and I'd like to consider it in this post, "What would happen if it all went away?"

First and foremost, I believe that my organization of work and school would suffer immensely. As a nanny and part-time babysitter I lack a concrete work schedule. I use the calendar in my iPhone to organize where I need to be and when; it also allows me to set reminders. Virtual spaces also enable efficient and immediate communication between me and my friends/classmates/etc. With such busy schedules, sometimes it is difficult to find times to suit everyone to meet for a group project. This is where the internet is immensely helpful in providing us with tools like Prezi. In that particular application, you can edit your presentation simultaneously and in real-time without being physically together. I also use virtual spaces to keep in touch with my best friend who lives and attends school in Seattle, Washington. While we send each other weekly letters or postcards through the USPS we also enjoy talking on the phone and interacting through virtual mediums such as Facebook, Tumblr, Skype and our personal blogs.

Beyond all of that, virtual worlds give me a break from the real world....something I need rather frequently. After spending a whole day on campus attending classes and doing work I need something to just distract me from real life for a bit; an escape if you will. Sometimes I'll knit and watch a movie or read a book for pleasure, but on many occasions I just want to get online and thwart GLaDOS in Portal or try and tackle Ifrit and my lag in FFXIV. I enjoy the social community that comes along with MMORPGs like WoW and FFXIV. They give me the opportunity to game collaboratively with other RL people without leaving the comfort of my spinny chair. Furthermore, virtual applications such as Mumble and Ventrilo enable real-time verbal communication between players. If all of this went away I supposed there would be an overabundance of knit hats and scarves in the world. :)

Due to some cajoling and teasing, I've decided to turn off everything that would enable my connection to virtual worlds for twelve hours starting the moment I wake up. I'll be doing it this coming Friday, so if you need to be in contact with me for any reason...be sure to have your carrier pigeons ready ^_^ If you're feeling particularly adventurous you are welcome to join me in this endeavor and maybe we can compare our experiences :) 

Bioshock: The Video Game Equivalent of House of Leaves

Me. Playing through the introduction to Bioshock.

I abhor scary things, so I have no idea what made me decide to play Bioshock when FFVII wouldn't play nice with my OS. I mean, scary books are okay because I can change the environment that I read them in and they then become less scary...video games are just so overwhelming when it comes to your senses. In books it is just your imagination, in video games it is visual, auditory, and interactive. Nevertheless, here we are. Essentially three seconds after the game menu came up, I had to turn on more pleasant music and grab a blanket to hide under; I'm pretty much the biggest wimp when it comes to scary/suspenseful things and this game is definitely scary. I've got a lot of the story line down. Guy named Jack starts on plane, plane crashes into large body of water in a fiery explosion, I have to get the guy to land and find my way into this creepy submarine, and then creepy submarine plays a cut scene......then the really creepy stuff begins. From inside my safe little submarine, I watch a man get bludgeoned to death by this terribly creepy man and am shortly thereafter forced to leave my safe little submarine to face this violent little man. Oh yeah, in the sub, I picked up this radio on which I am talking to a guy named Atlas [appropriately named] and he is directing me around, giving me goals.

A "Little Sister" stabbing a guy with a syringe.

Things just got better and better after this. By better and better, I mean scarier and more violent. There are these "little sisters" that you can save. They're creepy little girls who, when you first meet them, appear to enjoy stabbing already dead people in the eye-socket with a syringe. I can also hack different electronics to my benefit by playing, what I would refer to as, mini-games that involve rearranging pipes so the the beginning connects to the end properly. The one redeeming factor to this game are the diary/journal things I can pick up and listen to...they're pretty neat. I can hear what happened to random individuals before the whole city, as my family would say, went to hell in a hand-basket.

Hacking Pipe Game

All in all, I'm enjoying the story line immensely. I really just dislike the creepy voices and the fact that I have to kill these poor people over and over with such crude methods as setting them on fire and then inimically bludgeoning them with my pipe wrench. It's horridly violent.

Coloring/Art Styles

V for Vendetta [Color]

I'm about half way through V for Vendetta and I've just now pinned down what bothers me: the colors! Now don't get me wrong, I still love the plot of the book....but I'm not as engaged in this novel as I was when I first read through books like Blankets or The Walking Dead. I think it is because I am distracted by the colors/art. In V for Vendetta, each page set seems to have a coordinating water color scheme/tone, and as much as I love detailed pictures I kind of feel like it pulls my attention away from the skeleton of the novel.

It's not just the color that bothers me; the art of the novel is a little too sketchy for my tastes. Many of V for Vendetta's panels blend together as I read/view them and I feel as if I don't experience the novel to the same extent that I have with other graphic novels. Also, the speech bubbles kind of blend into each panel and don't stand out. As such, I occasionally find myself skipping over them...

American Born Chinese [Color]

I don't just have a boilerplate dislike of graphic novels in color; American Born Chinese is a graphic novel that I've enjoyed each time that I've read through it. In this novel, the colors are solid and the lines are uniform and definite. Also, the speech bubbles are clearly defined in thicker black lines. I believe that the simplicity of the colors makes my reading experience more clear and I am able to absorb the panel in its entirety.

Persepolis [Black & White]

Graphic novels such as Persepolis appeal to me because of how simple, yet effective, the art appears. The characters do not require immense detailing or shading to convey the necessary emotions and tone. Would it be interesting to experience the book in color? Yes, definitely! But, I feel the novel is much more 'readable' in its current format.

The Walking Dead: Days Gone Bye [Black & White

I'm also not saying that simpler is better as a rule. An artist, like Tony Moore, can draw a detailed panel/comic [in gray-scale or cyanotype or whatever] and still have it be incredibly 'readable'.  I guess the point I'm trying to make here is that I think art in graphic novels/comics needs to be effective and direct. In V for Vendetta I think I experience something like a sensory overload with each page I read/view. Unfortunately, I have just moved the towering pile of graphic novels off of my desk to discover that it is well past four in the morning. As such, I should probably stop blogging and get some sleep :)

Theories & Approaches

I'd have to say that this is one of the most interesting classes I've taken thus far in my career as a student. Not only am I able to read books that interest me, but I am also able to explore video games from a perspective other than 'mindless gaming'.....for credit :) What a lovely concept. Even more! I can blog as an assignment ^_^ and shamelessly use excessively nerdy pictures in my posts.

 If you're new to this particular blog, feel free to disregard any and all posts prior to this one as they were for a class from last semester.