the conversation yesterday got me thinking about how the format of the t.v. show "House M.D." is really made to make the viewer feel as if they are in House's head. Now that I reflect on it, my watching experience of the show had me believing that I was with House for the 45 minute span of the show. Part of that sense was created by the camera never zooming out to take in the expanse of characters and places in the show. The show features House's viewing perspective.

 We started class with Anne mentioning that her comments to all our papers had been posted.  She said they ranged across the board in how good they were.  Then, she shared 3 student papers on framed and unframed states that particularly interested her.  At this point I zoned out a bit, and forgot about my note-taking task and got into the discussion.  I came back to my notes when the class was discussing how the character of House involves the viewer in his dream state.  While some students felt this way, others felt like a viewer and not a participant.

As was (I think) suggested in class today, I watched the last episode of Season 5 of House ("Both Sides Now"), in which House overdoses on Vicodin, hallucinates most of the episode's events, and is finally checked into a psychiatric hospital, and moved on to the first episode of Season 6 ("Broken"), which follows House's adventures in detox and then in the long-term psychiatric ward.

the conversations we had in class today really appealed to me. two concepts/ideas/comments really stood out in my mind and i find myself still playing with them.

 This may seem completely random, but looking back at the amount of time I've spent on Serendip, both reading other people's posts and blogging myself, I really wish there was some version of a "like" button on posts. Sure, maybe that's an indication that I spend far too much time on Facebook, and it could cut down on comments. But for the rest of us who want to acknowledge what a user has to say, but don't want to repeat what other commenters have written, have a "like"button would be a really useful tool. Also, the poster themselves could get much more feedback, because they know that what they wrote is actually being read.

Maybe something to think about in the future?

 I really find myself wishing that House would put aside his stubborn nature-just once. Even though I remain hopeful that House will one day expose his warm nature, I know that it could never happen. Perhaps one of the reasons this show is so alluring, is the way the audience is drawn to the characters- at least for me, when House confronts people and situations with his usual aloof, and sarcastic demeanor, i keep hoping that the next episode will bring out the warm, gentle qualities in him. However, my wishes are fruitless since this does not actually happen-but my expectation that it eventually will leads me to watch episode after episode. 

Dear literary kinds--
Here's the plan for Thursday's performances. We appear to have 8 groups; since class is 80 minutes long, each group should plan to take no more than 10 minutes (if some take less that's fine). I'll be monitoring the time, and cut you off when yours is up, so you should practice ahead of time re: the time you'll take.
At this point the schedule is
jrlewis, aseidman
jrf, ShaynaS, spleenfiend
mkarol, xhan
rmeyers, teal, sbg90
Herbie, sweetp
nk0825, TPB1988
skindeep, aybala50, rachelr

Can't wait!
Anne