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i wasnt able to write up my reflections immediately after playing for the last few days, so i'm going to mush them all together in this post for today ...

accomplishments - I BUILT A HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! well, kind of ... but i'm still super excited and proud .... im still in singleplayer, so i feel awesome about myself that i survived long enough to do so ... i kept getting confused about how/where to get stone, and tonight i was mining some random dirt and then fell through the earth into this underground cave/mine. id seen other people in these spaces but didn't know how to get to them, myself. trial and error, yay learning process ... so then i mined the heck out of a bunch of stone, etc which was actually really empowering feeling ... i built lots of axes and shovels, etc. I spent my first night there, avoiding death .. the next day, i made some bowls but am one mushroom short of making stew ... then as night approached the second time, i panicked, feeling very protective of my hard won progress, so i quickly built a wooden enclave into the side of a mountain. this really consisted of me walling myself into the side of the cliff so that to get out i hard to hack my way through the wooden blocks and re-mine them ... but it kept me alive! i get bored at night, though, i just had to stand there until day broke. at first, though, i didn't understand how to actually place blocks to build things but then realized it must be like placing anything else, like a crafting table. so in a more meta learning sense, i was able to make connections between an unknown/question and what i already knew and had practiced. i used the 'how to build a house in MC' website i found last week for step by step instructions (mine wood, build a wood pickaxe, mine stone, build a stone pickaxe, etc ..) - so i've been liking this combination of guided and at times explicit instruction and then my own free exploration. i also didnt understand how to build a roof at first but just kept clicking frantically to place blocks until it seemed like i was safe enough. so i know im still 'behind' the general curve of the rest of us in terms of my building skills/expertise, but i wanted to celebrate my own accomplishment haha .. i hope to re-join the class server soon so that i can actually contribute to larger/communal projects, but maybe its good that im developing my skills individually before joining the larger group, who knows... 

observations - i've had 3 experiences in which i've been able to connect my 'life' in MC to my life outsisde of it (or to use thomas' lingo, which i like, my analogue to my digital life) - or in another sense, MC has helepd me strengthen my relationships in the analogue world, which is something i never would have expected and have strongly thought the opposite until very recently.

• one of the guys with whom i live (we lived together first year and have been close ever since) is a MC master and has spent a lot of time playing over the last few years. when he heard about our project, he became very excited and interested. i began talking with him about it several weeks ago, before we actually started the unit. since then, we've been talking about the game here and there, and on friday i reached out to him and 2 other guy friends who also play to see if they wanted to play together/help me learn. they were totally excited about it and agreed to do so. i make frequent use of the wiki and other internet sites, but now i also pop my head out the door and ask for his advice on any random question or problem that crops up. although we've been friends for all these years of college, we have never had all that much in common to discuss, but now MC is changing that in our relationship - !! it is definitely bringing us closer in some ways. i can tell that he gets a lot of satisfaction out of being able to help me. and i feel similarly because it gives us something to connect through. i would like to actually play in real time with him.
• the second interaction happened just tonight when i saw robert in the DC .. as we walked past each other, he called out and asked if i had seen the new house he had built in the class server. (i said i hadn't because i cant get back on the server ..) - but it was really cool and validating to talk about this other 'world' in which we interact in our daily analog space. although he and i would always acknolwedge each other and say hi upon seeing each other, this interaction had a new level of excitement as he shared of his recent building accomplishment. he was with 2 friends, and i wondered how it appeared to them and if they asked him what he was talking about as they walked away. 
• and third - also just tonight, i was waiting in line for food at the DC while talking with one of my first years .. she was saying how she hadn't gotten anything done today because she'd spent the whole time playing video games .. at first this didnt register with me at all, and then i thought to ask which games, 1/2 wondering if it could be MC ... indeed it was! she couldnt believe that i was doing it for a school project, and she agreed to teach me what she could when i asked for her help. we talked about it a bit more over dinner, which included her making fun of me for dying so frequently (in singleplayer!). this quickly turned into a running banter between us. it was ncie because she is someone i havent gotten to speak with a lot so far, and just like with my guy friend, the game gave us something in common that acted as an entry point to a deeper and more connected relatioship. very interesting in all 3 situations. 

questions - id like to talk with some of these friends i've mentioned who play/have played MC on their own. id like to ask them similar questions to those that we raised in our talk with thomas. id like to know more about their own experiences with it. especially because my one friend said she had 'wasted' the day playing it, i wonder if she could think of it as an educational tool or something that can so benefit your personal development .. 

struggles - i had paused the game to do something else, and all of a sudden once i rejoined the whole imagery was totally pixelated (more so than usual :) and very blurry .. things still worked ok, but it all felt like slow motion as i tried to move around and do things. it was very hard to look at. i asked my resident MC expert, and he said that it was probably because the game itself is such a large file and that my computer might be overloaded .. he fiddled with some of the game settings for the graphics and other things, but it didnt help .. i suggested i close out of the game and maybe even restart my computer, which he agreed with, but i havent done so yet .. anyone else experience this?? another struggle is that i still can't seem to get back on the class server! i had  forgotten the code, but after i ran into robert in the DC he reminded me of it, but when i entered it i still was not able to connect ... i will bring this up in class tuesday and hope someone can help me straighten it out ..