Exploring Second Life

As I mentioned in my previous post, another way NGCP will be expanding in Web 2.0 is by building an island in Second Life. I have spent some time during the past few weeks creating an avatar, shopping for clothes in Second Life, flying, and exploring the many resources and educational opportunities available in Second Life. The expanse of Second Life islands and place to "teleport" is, I admit, overwhelming. I needed a little help finding places to travel, things to do, and stores to shop for clothes. Apparently if you stay in your "newbie" clothes, other avatars will make snide remarks (a little like Real Life, I suppose)!

When I heard of Second Life for the first time a year or so ago, I was initially turned off. It seemed like another avenue for people to disconnect themselves from the real world. But as I explore SL, I realize there are significant educational opportunities as well as opportunities to meet people of diverse cultures and backgrounds. You can visit places in Second Life you might never be able to see in Real Life. Anyway, a basic membership is free, so I encourage you to try it out and spend a little time exploring.

Here is a snapshot of my Second Life avatar standing in the Texas Alamo gardens for the International Society for Technology in Education Conference in San Antonio. Below is a snapshot of my avatar flying in front of the Alamo!



I graduated from Santa Clara a year before construction on the new library and learning commons was completed. But I can visit it in Second Life - my avatar is flying in for a view of the new library.


Lounging in a bean bag chair in the new Santa Clara University library.


Also on the Santa Clara Island is the de Saisset Art Museum, where you can view current art exhibitions. The current exhibit is Experience Teaches: Santa Clara University Art Faculty Exhibition, which celebrates artistic achievement of SCU Art and Art History faculty. Here is a snapshot of photographs from David Pace.


Santa Clara's distinctive Mission Church is also on the SCU Second Life Island. Below is a snapshot of the altar and ceiling of the church. Within the Mission Church, you can read a note card about the history of the Santa Clara mission, which dates back to 1777.

Charles White, Director of Mission Santa Clara, writes in the note card: "The ornate ceiling above the marble altar is an exact replica of Davila's ceiling of 1825. Pictured in the center is 'IHS' which is the Greek anagram for the Name of Jesus. Above that image is a now forbidden depiction of the Holy Trinity as three look-alike, co-equal bearded men. At the four corners of the ceiling of four 'Doctors of the Catholic Church': i.e., St. Gregory, St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, and St. Jerome." All information that I didn't know while I was at Santa Clara!

National Girls Collaborative Project

As of April 2008, I have been working for the National Girls Collaborative Project (NGCP). NGCP is a National Science Foundation funded grant that brings together organizations committed to informing girls and encouraging them to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and math - or STEM (catchy acronym, huh?). We do so by sharing resources, providing networking opportunities, and supporting existing programs.

Right now, we have ten Regional Collaboratives (from the Northwest, to Texas, to Florida, all the way up to Maine) that have been busy planning Kick-Off events and Forums, promoting STEM, and helping distribute NGCP mini-grants - small seed grants of $1,000 for collaborating organizations planning events like STEM summer camps and Expanding Your Horizons events. It has been incredible to talk with many of the Regional Collaborative leads and hear their enthusiasm for encouraging girls in STEM. I also love hearing about all of our successful mini-grants and seeing photos of the girls having a blast conducting science experiments, building robots, or designing computer games.

One exciting part of my job is promoting NGCP on the Web in a variety of ways. NGCP has a Facebook group, for instance, where we advertise events and resources available for STEM programs as well as individuals. The group now has over 150 members and we have a number of members who actively post relevant STEM information on the group wall. Another very cool part of my job is helping out with our monthly webcasts. We select presenters in STEM-related fields to talk about their programs and successes. Webcast participants log in online to view the live webcast while listening to the presentation over the phone.

Some other Web 2.0 projects in the works are an NGCP blog, Wikipedia page, and an NGCP Island in Second Life. I am learning that a lot of organizations and school programs are starved for resources, so it is a good feeling to provide them with free, valuable resources for helping girls pursue STEM. The opportunities for STEM programs to network through such Web mediums seems endless.

If you are on Facebook, join the NGCP group!

Proof that God Loves Us and Wants Us to be Happy

No, not beer as Benjamin Franklin claimed, but Lake Chelan.

I spent a glorious weekend in Chelan, where it reached 100 degrees. Being from Seattle and spending only four years in California not including the summertime, 100 degrees is entirely too hot for me. Yet 100 degrees on the shores of a Cascade stream-fed, crystal clear, 1,486-foot deep lake nestled peacefully within the North Cascades National Forest and steep, craggy hills is certainly nothing to complain about. The cold, (nearly) pristine oasis offered a satisfying respite to the heat and scorching solstice sun. According to Wikipedia, the lake is the third deepest in the country and the name comes from the Salish Native American word "tsi - laan" meaning "deep water."

I won't gush about Lake Chelan for long in this post because I will be visiting the lake again in August for an entire week with friends. We have a lot of fun plans for that trip, including: visit Stehekin for a day (the northern most point of Lake Chelan where there is a small town not accessible by car); go for a sunrise boat cruise; intertubing; travel to a boat-in campsite for a day; visit a couple small lakes nearby, along with Lake Entiat (actually a river, along Highway 97); and float and swim every time in between.

Here are some photos I took this weekend.

Another photomerge photo, taken from 25-mile creek campground.

Beautiful Lake Chelan.

At the Manson Marina, bright and early to pick up our boat for the day.

Hard to believe there was any snow left!
Goodbye till August, Lake Chelan!
We stopped at the Icicle River in Leavenworth on the way home. It was 103 degrees!

Sun-Dried Brick...

What is Adobe?

Adobe Photoshop has a feature called "photomerge" (in File>Automate) in which Photoshop will automatically merge selected photos into a panoramic photo. I was on my way to a NW Girls Coalition meeting at Alki Beach, and wanting to try the photomerge feature, snapped a series of photos of Downtown Seattle. See below for some photomerge fun.

On a side note, I met some really interesting and talented women at the NW Girls Coalition Summer Membership Mixer (which I attended for work). One woman worked for a group called Powerful Voices that helps middle and high school girls in the public school and juvenile justice system by leading career training classes and offering numerous girl-focused activities. Another woman (a 2002 Holy Names graduate) works for YWCA Girls First, in which young women meet with freshmen girls after school from selected King County high schools to talk about social justice, racism, sexism, and other issues affecting their communities. Girls First also offers a number of field trips and leadership activities for the participating high school girls. It was a rewarding experience to talk with so many hardworking women dedicated to improving education and quality of life for girls in the Northwest.

Pirates on Elliott Bay!

I took this June 23rd from Alki Beach, West Seattle.

Fremont Solstice Parade

One of the most interesting (and scary) experiences of my life was being in Paris during the summer solstice. I was 11 and terrified by the near-riot in the streets along the Seine and French people climbing Honey Buckets and the Saint Michel statue for a better view of the festivities. Needless to say, Americans do not know how to party compared to the French. But Seattleites climbing the Fremont Lenin statue to get a better view of the Fremont Solstice Parade comes pretty close.

The parade featured naked cyclists, satirical figures, brass bands, belly dancers, whimsical creatures, lavish floats, and about a half a million people packed onto Leary Way and Fremont Avenue. The acceptance of all body types and nudity at the parade also felt more akin to Europe than to the typical American body modesty. Though the photos show usual Seattle overcast, the air was warm and humid and almost stifling along the parade route.

As crowded as it was, the parade was fun, entertaining, and a break from the norm. Some highlights were water balloon wars between onlookers and parade marchers, Dick Cheney chugging Pennzoil (see photo below), along with the nude man painted with "Dick" Cheney and George W. "Bush"... you get the idea. I was able to snap some photos of the parade participants...

I Couldn't Help Myself...

The Swiftsure at the Center for Wooden Boats.

The Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria

Sounds familiar, right? This weekend, I visited the 93-foot hand-built (using only hand tools) replica of Columbus's ship, the Nina, on display at the Center for Wooden Boats on Lake Union.

According to the Nina Web site (linked above, hosted by the Columbus Foundation), the Santa Maria was Columbus's least favorite ship - it ran aground and sank in 1492 off Hispaniola. However, the Nina, is claimed to be Columbus's favorite ship. All Spanish ships during the time were required to have a religious name, the Nina's was Santa Clara, which explains why she was such a good boat (go Broncos!). The Nina sailed at least 25,000 miles under Columbus's command and was the only vessel to survive a West Indian hurricane in 1495.

I was astounded at the relatively small size of the boat. It was hard to imagine the 93-foot boat that sits less than ten feet above the water in the center crossing the Atlantic Ocean and even surviving a hurricane. On the 1492 voyage, 27 crewmen traveled aboard the ship; all slept on deck (and if they were lucky, used rope as bedding). There were no sleeping quarters except for one captain's quarters where Captain Vincente Yanez (and Columbus on other voyages) had a small navigation desk, two bunks, and only about four feet of head room - all below deck. The only ventilation in the captain's quarters was the hatch opening. Below deck the provisions, animals, and supplies were stored.

Though Columbus caused irrevocable damage to the peoples living in the Americas during his voyages, the experience standing aboard the Nina was worthwhile and allowed me to gain some perspective and appreciation for the flawed yet profoundly influential navigator.

Almost twice as many people were on the boat during the 1492 voyage than in this photo!

Happy Solstice!

Best day of the year! And the sun came out in Seattle...

Though my dad, who likes rain and thunderstorms, says he likes the Summer Solstice because the days start getting shorter.

Cheers to the longest day of the year, summertime, and almost 16 hours of daylight!

Dreaming of Volvos

One of my latest interests is designing vector images using Adobe Illustrator. I traced a photograph of a 1980s Volvo 242 that a friend then used for his shop's (Ballard Tire on Leary Way in Seattle) new business card. The card looks great and is very unique. I have since updated the Volvo I traced for him, changing the color to my own favorite color. It was exciting to draw the Volvo in Illustrator and see it come together and actually look like something real. I learned a lot as I went, and ended up redoing the wheels (my favorite part, and the most complicated).

I have also been working on translating my aunt's original Swift Asset Management, Inc. (that manages Swift assets, like Marvin Road Water Company) logo into a vector image. Thank you for the artistic inspiration, Karen! I'll post soon with the final version of the logo.

I would love more opportunities to create logos, images, etc. in Illustrator - so let me know if you need or want something and I can attempt to create it. I am also learning to build Web sites; requests are welcome.