At first thought, I feel my name doesn’t really say a lot about me, but if I really think about it there’s actually a lot between me and my name. I know Ken is an actual word in the dictionary. It’s defined as “knowledge, understanding, or cognizance; mental perception”. It’s weird since most of my friends say I’m really understanding and that I’m easy to talk to. I don’t know..

How do other people respond when they hear my name? Well some refer to Street Fighter when they hear Ken since it’s a character from the game, and I earn nicknames like “Hadouken” or “Ryu’s rival”. Which I think is really amusing. I’ve loved street fighter since way back! Others think of Barbie and Ken, and people like Diana call me “Barbie”. And yeah it gets frustrating but I’ve gotten used to it. I have a picture of a kangaroo because some of my friends say that my name sounds like kangaroo, if said quickly. “Ken Guerrero” , “Kangaroo”

Does it?

…

Well, all these images don’t just relate to the nicknames given to me, they also relate to what I like doing in my spare time. And if you haven’t already figured it out, I like playing video games. Especially fighting games like Tekken, Dragon Ball Z Budokai and sometimes street fighter .

In a deeper sense, my name makes me think about family. I feel it is my duty to carry on my dad’s name since he claims that I am the last Guerrero. Which sucks a little since it acts as a burden almost. He’s always telling me to put up his name because in the Philippines the Guerrero’s aren’t perceived all friendly-like. I plan to change that.

The green surrounding my name represents peace; since I plan to live a relaxing life.

vdkj-recording.mp3

By Daniel Rivas, Vivian Unuoha , Juan Deltoro & Ken Guerrero

Q1. How did your avatar’s initial appearance compare to your own?

A1. It doesn’t resemble me at all, at least I think so.

Q2. Which features did you begin editing first, and why?

Q2. I began with my hair but my avatar’s head didn’t turn out proportionately. It was the easiest part to modify since spiky hair was a style Second Life offered as an option.

Q3. Which features were easiest to replicate?

A3. I felt my hair was the easiest thing to replicate.

Q4. Which features were most difficult to replicate?

A4. I thought the head was the hardest part to replicate.

Q5. Why do you think it was difficult to replicate those fearures?

A5. My head always had a bald spot, either my hair was too long or it was too short.

Q6. Approximately how many attibutes did you modify for your avatar?

A6. I modified approximately 10 attributes.

Q7. What would need to be required to fully replicate your appearance?

A7. To be honest I don’t really know, but if I had to guess I guess the details of my face.

Q8. Does your avatar’s appearance remind you of anyone, if so, why?

A8. Definitely not me, but I feel I’ve seen that face in person before.

These images are all related to me in many ways. The first image, apparently, has to do with Bay street. I go there with my friends like once a week to either grab some pizza from Pizza-My-Heart or some ice cream from Coldstone. There’s a lot you can do on Bay street. From eating good food, shopping, and just sitting by a fire reading a book you can purchase from Barnes and Noble. The images showing the beautiful condominiums and Pixar just show the buildings of Emeryville. I put up a picture of KFC because that is where the majority of Emery High students go for lunch, since it is very close. Since I’m Filipino I put up the Philippine flag representing my pride in my culture. The book Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is thus far my favorite book ever. I included the Myspace image because the majority of my time spent online is always on Myspace. The image of the Wii with Peach and Mario simply shows I love my Wii. I typed Emeryville in my montage to represent my small but close community and the things that surround and affect us.

Media has such a deep impact on people whether it’s video, audio, interactive, text or graphic. Media surrounds us in the form of televisions, computers, radios, newspapers, movie posters, etc. Unless you’re some kind of hardcore hermit, it’s hard to not come across media.

If I had to guess which type of media I first encountered, I would say the television. I started attaching myself to the television at an early age of probably 5? Not even fully aware of the images being stored in my head, I’m positive it’s affected my growing up. As I got older, my television addiction pretty much died. At around 8th grade, I tried doing something, which was to read the newspaper but I got tired of it quickly. Later on, I discovered the internet (interactive media), which is so fun. I use the internet for a lot of things. I use myspace to get in touch with all my friends who don’t live close to me. I also use my school website a lot if theres research to be done. And if I have time, I email my relatives in the Philippines through yahoo. I’ve played games online such as battleon and runescape. Other times, I just chat with my friends through AIM and watch videos on either Youtube or Veoh . All this pretty much sums up my exposure to media. Video media, I think is the most influential and most effective type of media just because people are more inclined to watching videos as suppose to reading newspapers or listening to music.

I’ll be surrounded with media all over in my tech. class. In which I plan to be more technologically adept so I am able to induce change with the use of media. Most likely, I will be spreading information with the use of text and interactive media. (Blogging, e-mail, etc.) Hopefully in the future, with the help of Trevor and Simon I’ll have access to spreading information these types of media.

Adios, Sayonara, Paalam

Goodbye