5/15 What I Accomplished Today

1. I went to the office and stuff yesterday so I wouldn't have to do anything today. I'm just that lazy.

So the day started with some bracing WOW (I know that's a shocking surprise). Level 23 Night Elf Priest. Did Ruins of Stardust and Further Instructions. Delivered Ineptitude + Chemistry = Fun and Special Delivery for Galix; took Covert Ops Alpha and Beta. Ran to the Peak for mailbox and inventory and flew to ratchet to turn in Deepmoss Egg. I dinged 24 and spent my Talent point on Holy Nova.

Then I flew to Darnassus and got the level 24 priest training and did some auction stuff. Then I flew to Ashenvale and turned in Ruins of Stardust, taking Fallen Sky Lake. I then finished Covert Ops Alpha (I died once on this one) and Beta and turned them in, then turned in Kaela's Update and its return trip. I took Enraged Spirits and Wounded Ancients and worked the edges of the the Charred Vale working on Enraged Spirits and the Mauren basilisk quest until I needed an inventory adjustment. Then I went back and did it some more, dying twice in the process. I flew to Ashenvale and got Kayneth Stillwind.

That seemed a good break point.

2. We watched stuff like Letterman and The Daily Show and some comedians. Nothing terrifically memorable.

3. I finished a premium badge on Pogo. Tomorrow is new badge day. (When on vacation from school, it's important to keep oneself grounded in time and space.)

4. I read an issue of The New Yorker and The Nation from a few weeks. Lots of interesting articles; one on the Barbara Stanwyck centenary, one on Aimee Semple McPherson, one on the history of television, one on how Imus' choice of the Princeton Women's Basketball Team was a choice of the "right victim" in the same way Rosa Parks had been (similar things had of course happened to many people before, but those people couldn't be chosen for test cases because their lives couldn't withstand the sort of scrutiny Parks's could).

5. I completed the Placement payroll ending 5/15.

6. I started the fixes on my online 100 course; I have a list of things from the semester that I'll need to repair.

7. I took a look at the Fictitious Firm Name to see if it would suffice for the online website I intend to start; it looks like it ought to work, but I'll discuss it with my Co-Vivant tomorrow.

8. Back to WOW. It took quite awhile to finish Enraged Spirits and Retrieval for Mauren; along the way, I ran down the coast of Auberdine (I was out of Strangekelp) and got another Beached Sea Creature quest. After I finished those Charred Vale quests, I turned in Enraged Spirits, then the Beached Sea Creature, then Retrieval for Mauren. At this point, I dinged 25. I do not remember what I spent that Talent point on; I know I wrote it down, but I don't know where I put it. I ran to the inn-let in the Dwarven District, picked up the Oh Brother and Collecting Memories quests, and flew to Westfall. There I went to the top of the tower and picked up the quest with the handkerchiefs.

Here's what the deal has been: I have now worked all nine of my characters, one of each class, to level 25; some of the quests, I have done nine times. I haven't finished an instance yet. Tomorrow, I will have this Level 25 Night Elf Priest do the Deadmines. I'm sort of excited about that.

9. A few weeks ago, my Co-Vivant and I had a conversation I've been thinking about in the interim. I've been pondering what media is the most conducive to the creation of alternate realities. I asked her what she thought, and she gave me that, "Oh, please, you have way too much time on your hand if you think about stuff like this" look, but she asked me for clarification of what I meant. She likes having genuine, thought-provoking conversations, even if they're on topics she considers odd.

"Well, music, for example. I think music is highly conducive to permitting listeners to create their own interpretations, their own realities, if you will, based on the music. Lots of music has no lyrics, so it's largely impressionistic, and even songs with words often have unintelligible words. Sometimes even when you can understand the words, they're very open for interpretation; what does it mean if somebody can't take it because someone else left a cake out in the rain the recipe for which can never be duplicated? Lots of possible interpretations for many songs.

"Movies are usually a little more restrictive; even though many have elements of interpretation, the characters and plot are usually laid out fairly straightforwardly. Most television is more restrictive yet; most television shows, with the exception of a few of the more subtle dramas, don't leave a lot of room for interpretation; you're shown every single thing you could possibly need to see."

"And then videogames?"

"Depends on the videogames. A lot of them are extremely linear; to succeed, you have to follow a very specific sequence of steps, usually with not much variance of order. The Might and Magic sequence, Heroes of Might and Magic--not a lot of leeway, especially not in the campaigns. The Sims, however, is extremely open-ended. World of Warcraft is extremely open-ended; I tend to be a quester, but there are a lot of other ways besides questing to advance, and you don't even have to choose to advance. I would say that open-ended videogames are perhaps second only to music in their flexibility, in the range of alternate realities they allow people to create. You can also think of it how demanding a media is, or in terms of how actively a person needs to participate."

She thought about this for awhile. I think she found it really interesting, and I like to say things she thinks are really interesting. "So you think videogames require more active participation than watching television." She views watching television and movies as a process analogous to reading, what with interpretation and analysis and sensing subtext, and I can't say I disagree.

"Depends on the game, but even in a closed-ended game, yes, I think it requires more active brainpower than watching television."

"Even with subtext and interpretation?"

"Do you think I miss much subtext or interpretation?"

"No, I don't guess so. I agree that television is more restrictive than movies. I'm not convinced all movies are in the same category, though; I think there are ranges. Some directors make you work for it; Hitchcock, for example. Others put everything right there, like Capra." Beat, beat. "You don't care for Capra much; might this be a reason?"

"I hadn't thought of it, but I think you may be right. Capra's very busy beating us on the head, dotting every i, connecting every dot, fitting all the pieces together for us; Hitchcock gives us most of the pieces, not necessarily all of them, and usually makes us put them together ourselves. I totally agree with your extension on directors."

(Some Capra, especially It's a Wonderful Life, I like very much. Others of his films, particularly Meet John Doe, drive me absolutely friggin' nuts. Heavy-handed doesn't begin, in my opinion.)