Karen
Parallel Universe (Real Life) Identity of Kathryn Jerica Stone
June 13, 2003:

I decided that if Kathryn should get a little online diary, why shouldn't I?

Well, for anyone reading this who's curious, I'll add a bit of RL info about myself.

My name is Karen, and I'm a 20 year old Security Officer from Australia (but I'm currently unemployed). I found Deckleswood after a friend of mine from Victoria pointed it out to me. At the time, I was getting bored with the chatroom I was at (Outpost10f) as I felt that there was little chance for me to advance from my position there. I sent off the first enrolment form sometime mid-Marchish 2003, but Deckleswood had been attacked by a troll at that time and my information was lost. So I sent another one around about 15th of April and it was the 11th of May when I got the email telling me I was basically allowed in.

Chosing the name "Kathryn Jerica Stone" was one of the easiest things I've ever done. I knew that my RL name (Karen) was a derivative of the name "Catherine", but I had always preferred spelling it "Kathryn". I don't know why, I just have. I went to babynames.com to look up a name that meant "Strength" that started with a J, and when I found the name "Jerica", I just knew that it would fit perfectly. I don't know where I got the name "Stone" from, though. It just popped into my head. (As most of my weirdest thoughts do).

I decided to make Kathryn the same age as myself, as it has simply been too long since I was "First Year age" (11) that I couldn't remember what a 11 year old acts like. Plus, if anyone asked, I was gonna say that "People always tell me to act my age".

I don't think that I'm a very humourous person, but some of the things I say get a laugh. My family has always believed that laughter is the best medicine, so I suppose I try to incorporate that into my character. But there is a very serious side to me, which is most often seen by online friends when I'm depressed. Sometimes I have trouble sleeping because of some of the memories that I have that make me so serious. (When you see two people try to hang themselves at the same time when you're 18, you grow up very quickly).

I haven't had any formal training on webpage design. Everything I know about HTML I taught myself. I've spent about $200 Australian on webdesign books but so far haven't had the time, or the reason, to study them intensely. I did a unit of computing in Year 10 (uhm.. I dunno what that'd be in other countries... it was the third year of High School, figure it out yerself) but it was too simple for me, and it was basically a 'given' pass. I did it at Year 11 level as a Year 10, so I thought that if it was too easy, I wasn't going to do it as Year 11. (And I didn't, I took up Chemistry instead). I really don't have a specialty field, and that's what's making the decision of what to do once my character graduates from Deckleswood so hard. But I've got some time to figure that out yet.

June 14, 2003 (0339 hrs):

Just a quick additional note as it is early and I should get some sleep. Today was a rather depressing day in Deckleswood's Great Hall as two of our members (Pippa Pepperpot and Lil Gargamath) had a relative pass away. I really don't know how I would be able to react if it was one of my relatives who passed away. I cried for hours when Pop K (on my mother's side) died, but that was 11 years ago, and I was only 9. I can't remember him any more. I wish I did. Apparently he was a great man, and was even an extra in a movie! (Which I haven't seen cos Mum won't let me touch her only copy of it- perhaps I can get it on DVD). I wish I could have offered Lil and Pippa some words of comfort, but I really don't know what to say. That's one of the downsides of talking on the internet- I'm a very hands-on person.

Making these notebooks was a good idea of mine, I think. It is one way of getting all that 'arg' out into the open. But I don't know if anyone'll ever read it. I don't know if I even CARE if other people will read it.

I've been having some trouble with Kathryn's character. I've been thinking of killing her mother off, but I have absolutely NO idea on how I'm going to do that. I was thinking of having Alanna (Kathryn's mother) join the Armed Forces after Kathryn left, head of to some foreign country for peace-keeping duties and get killed in a cross-fire or something like that, but I really have NO idea how I'm going to get Kathryn notified of such an accident. Perhaps if Alanna put Kathryn as her next-of-kin and to be mailed via Decklesby. It's an idea, but I don't know if it'll work. I may have to talk it over with a few people to try and iron out the wrinkles.

For some reason, I've been looking for pictures that I could use as an avatar once I become a Qualified Witch at Deckleswood. At first, I was gonna use a Dame Edna one, but then I thought that was just too... weird. Then it was going to be Dylan from "Charlie's Angels", but I think that Drew Barrymore is already a popular enough avatar, and I wanna be different. Of course, I COULD always use the one of me in my riot kit from Baxter IDF, but somehow, that may frighten the kiddies. ARGH! Why am I even worried about that? I've got my Entrance and Exit messages all figured out... just not the avatar. Oh well.

Well, I should go to bed now as it IS 0400 hrs and I'm sposed to be going to the Bridge tomorrow, and I wanna go see the back paddock. Sometimes, I really wish we didn't have the internet. It's too addictive.

June 14, 2003 (2252 hrs):

I'm being nasty to myself and making sure that I actually write something in these things. Kathryn's log will be written in later this evening, when there's actually something to report.

I did have another thought as to how the news of Alanna's death would be sent to Kathryn: Via Jimmy Baxter. It's a thought, but I don't know just yet. At the moment, though, I should probably get Kathryn's life into some order, before I go changing it. I was thinking perhaps I should scribble up a few 'letters' in Kathryn's journal. Actually, that's not a bad idea...

Today was a bit of a fizzer as to getting the things I wanted to do done. I've been trying to work on the new Deckleswood House crests (I ain't gonna give the school one a go, cos I'm just not that good), but Photoshop 4.0 kept dying on me, and I can't do what I wanted to do in Photoshop 6.0. Grr. I have an excellent idea of making it like a tapestry that hung on the walls of castles, but I don't have the right pictures for it. It'll take me a grand total of half an hour to find the best pics, so I'm not that worried. If only Photoshop would work for me! GRRR!

June 15, 2003 (0421 hrs):

I've finally found a semi-suitable avatar for me. I scanned in the picture that Nanna B gave me of when I was an ickle little thing, wearing Dad's akubra and petting Fred. As my avatar of me as a Detention Officer caused some confusion (Chris Tepperweed thought it was an avatar of a guy!) and the avatar of me in that CERT kit at Baxter will scare the kiddies, I reckon this picture of me as an ickle thing will do nicely. Now all I gotta do is get to the rank where I can actually USE it.

I mentioned in Kathryn's journal that she had to write to her Mother. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have thought up enough stuff to put into a letter. Leave it be for a few days, then get the reply... Easy enough, hey?

I really wish I didn't have the late-night net time as I tend to stay up til it's rediculously early... and I think I annoy my brother cos he gets up early to play on the Internet. Not that he'd say anything, but I know it annoys him. Besides, I'm not sleeping right. It's frustrating and annoying and I've only myself to blame for it.