Week 13: Cheezburger Tech Tip

I decided to make a cute cat meme at Cheezburger. The hardest part of this was fighting with blogger to spell cheezburger the right way. You should try it, it is a lot of fun. I included the link above.

Week 13: Review

My favorite image from this week's announcements was from Wednesday, November 18. Gosh, that feels like forever ago. I chose this chart from Sabio Lantz because it shows the history of the English language, which I think is pretty cool. Here is the link to the full size version.

Week 12: Famous Last Words

(A personal photo of mine and my boyfriend's cat, Link)

Well, the semester is almost over. I am actually really excited about that. Capstone has been really rough and this past week or two have been the worst. It really won't be over until Thanksgiving Break/this Friday. Tomorrow and Wednesday are going to be the worst two days this entire semester. I have two papers to write and a test to take. I guess you can assume that I will finally have my first all-nighter this semester. WOOO! Except not really, those things are absolutely dreadful. I love sleep far too much.

Hopefully, by Tuesday night after my test is done, everything will be a bit less stressful. I am pretty sure this is the first in class test I have taken all semester and that kind of freaks me out in all honesty. But, I will say, after this week everything in all of my classes hits a wall and slows down a lot. This class is the only one with the same pace, but I love this class so it is okay with me! :)

Meanwhile, my birthday is this coming Friday! I am really excited about that. I am going to be 23! My boyfriend is flying in from Virginia and then we will fly back together next Monday for Thanksgiving break. I cannot wait. I need a mini vacation. Having almost a week with my family, my boyfriend and pets will be the best birthday gift of all. I seriously cannot wait.

I hope everyone else is doing well this semester and the pressure isn't too bad. Especially with my fellow seniors who are currently taking capstones right now! You can do it you guys! WE can do it!

Will probably do another one of these posts over the next few weeks. I am kind of sad that this class is starting to end. I feel like I just started to get to know people. It's okay tho. Anyways, hope everyone has a good week! Bye :)

Week 12: Review

This week's favorite post came from the announcements on Thursday, November 12. After watching the debate last night, this was even more cute to me. I hope you all enjoy the chart like I did.

Extra Reading Diary: Reading Diary B: English Fairy Tales

Since I missed the real Reading Diary A, I decided to use this opportunity to finish the English Fairy Tale Unit. Below are my favorite stories:

(Mr. Miacca illustration done by John D. Batten, 1890.)

Mr. Fox: Okay, when I first read this story, I wasn't anticipating how gruesome it would get. Boy, did it get gruesome pretty fast. It was pretty crazy that she presented what she saw as a dream. I didn't think that she kept the hand as proof that he was killing women. Pretty cool. Weirdly reminded me of Crimson Peak.

Johnny-Cake: It really was like the Gingerbread man!! I thought it was funny when Johnny-Cake yelled at the fox but then the fox just ate him right after he was bragging. Too funny.

Mr. Miacca: Kind of like how this played on tropes where the reader learns about how bad actions lead to bad consequences. Reminded me of Hansel and Gretel in a weird way.

Reading Diary A: English Fairy Tales

This week, I chose to read from the English Fairy Tales Unit. Below are a few of my favorite tales.

(A drawing of three little pigs and a wolf from a YouTube video.)

Tom Tit Tot: This sounds eerily similar to Rumplestiltskin. Was very easy to read and I really enjoyed it.

The Rose Tree: Right off the bat, I knew this was the English Fairy tale version of Snow White but with a brother and death. Why in the old tales did the stepmom eat the liver and the heart? Any major significance?

Mouse and Mouser: Was not anticipating the cat to eat the mouse. Kind of took me by surprise. The repetition and rhymes made it much easier to follow this story.

The Three Little Pigs: This was one of my favorite stories growing up. Perhaps because it was super easy to memorize so I could tell it to almost anyone, anywhere. I feel this one has a bit more meat on its bones than the story I was told growing up. Or maybe it is because I read it from a picture book and this has all the text on one page. Who knows, but I loved it.

Week 11: Tech Tip: Embedded YouTube Video

Hey guys! So this week I decided to do a tech tip for extra credit. I included a YouTube video on my introduction. It was super easy to do. You guys should try embedding a video into your posts to give your blogs a creative pop!

Linked here is my introduction if you wanna check out the video. It's cute, but a bit political.

Week 11: Review

Even though I am not a novelist, I found this cartoon made by Tom Gauld hilarious. It was featured in Wednesday, November 4th's announcements. If only writing would be this easy.  I think the shortcuts I find the most amusing are the change settings. A lot of novels can fit into those three settings alone. :P

Week 11 Storytelling: Gilbert

(A cute, fluffy puppy!)

There once was a prince named Floyd and he liked to hunt. Floyd was always great at hunting because on every hunting trip, he brought his hound Gilbert.

Gilbert was given to Floyd by his father, King Henry. Floyd had had Gilbert since he was a little puppy and raised him with great love and care. Gilbert was Floyd's best furry friend.

One day, Floyd planned to go hunting. He called all of his dogs out to on this trip, but Gilbert never responded to the first call. Floyd called three to four more times hoping that Gilbert would come out, ready to hunt. Gilbert never came.

Floyd did not catch much that day as his other dogs were not as good as Gilbert. When he arrived at home, Gilbert ran to the gate to greet him. Upon seeing Gilbert, Floyd noticed something was off about the dog. He was limping and blood was running down his chin. Floyd was immediately worried.

He followed Gilbert to his young toddler's room. Floyd frantically searched the entire room for his child, but could not find him. He started to grow very angry with Gilbert thinking that he had killed the child. After checking the room one more time, he went after Gilbert. Just as he was about to strike him, he heard a giggle.

The toddler was hiding under a blanket beneath the crib. Floyd sighed with relief, but shortly there after was filled with guilt. He did not like that he jumped so quickly to the assumption that Gilbert had killed his precious child.

So, Floyd spent the rest of the day piecing what had happened together. It turns out that early that morning, Gilbert noticed a wolf lingering around the house. He stayed behind to protect the child from the wolf. While Floyd was hunting, the wolf attacked and Gilbert fatally harmed the wolf. Due to his noble actions, he saved the toddler.

Floyd was so grateful of his best friend, that he commissioned a statue of him for all to know of his notable actions. The statue was placed at the center of the castle's public gardens. Floyd wanted all to know about Gilbert and never forget how animals are to be appreciated.

Even though both have passed away many many years ago, you can go to the castle where they lived and still see the statue of the infamous Gilbert.

Author's Note: My story is based off the Celtic Tale, Beth Gellert. In the original story, the dog stays behind to protect the child but, the owner does not realize this until after he has already killed the dog. I wanted a happier ending and I couldn't bring myself to kill off Gilbert. Unlike the original story, the prince finds the baby before he harms the dog. Hopefully, this comes across happier than the original story.

Reading Diary B: Celtic Fairy Tales

Here is the second half of my Celtic Fairy Tales Unit. Below are some of the stories and one that will likely be tied into my storybook.

(Changelings illustrated by John D. Batten 1892)

Beth Gellert: This is probably the saddest story I have read in the class. I felt horrible that the guy killed his dog because he thought it ate the baby, when in reality it was protecting the baby from a wolf. Seriously sad and kind of wish I did not read this story. Makes me dislike humans even more now. UGH.

The Tale of Ivan: This was a weird but cool story. Basically gets tricked into working for advice that eventually saves his life. By the end of the story, not only was he alive but he also had like three years worth of wage. Pretty cool.

Brewery of Eggshells: Not at all surprised by the oddness in this story. Babies were switched with changelings when left at home alone. Mom got worried when she passed elves, but nothing seemed out of place when she got home. SURPRISE. the babies were not growing so she realized that her kids had been switched. Mom then threw the changeling babies in the river and she got her babies back. I really like this story and will probably use it in one of my storybook stories!

Reading Diary A: Celtic Fairy Tales

This week I chose to read stories from the Celtic Fairy Tales Unit. Below are the stories I enjoyed the most:

(Munachar and Manachar illustrated by John D. Batten 1892)

The Horned Women: Kind of sad that she was under a spell. I don't know how someone could weave wool all night long. I'm glad that the Spirit of the Well decided to help her after taking pity on her and made the witches leave. Sounds like slave labor in a way. Reminded me a bit of Cinderella in a weird way (being forced to do all this work).

Munachar and Manachar: Not going to lie, this confused the heck out of me. Something about news today and raspberries and one of them bursting. I don't get it at all. If anyone does, please help. Is it about rivalry? Just confused.

Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree: This is obviously the celtic Snow White!!!! BUT it also seems to have some weird Sleeping Beauty features. Mom hates child cause she is more beautiful. Needs to eat heart and liver of daughter because it will cure her sickness. Dad gets mad, sends daughter away, mother pricks her finger with poison (made me think of sleeping beauty) and Gold-Tree "dies." Doesn't actually die and in the end good wins.

Reading Diary A: Alaskan Legends

This week I chose to read stories from the Alaskan Legend Unit. Below are a few of my favorite stories that I read.

(A raven)

The Raven Myths, 2, 3, 4: These four stories were an interesting connotation about how raven created man. It's interesting to see how raven creates things but also mirrors things that other creation stories have. Lots of common tropes in many of these stories: often there are human flaws and they cause problems. I like how he was surprised in a way they humans popped out of a pea pod. It was cool to see polar bears being made. Raven seems really angry in the last story.


The Origins of the Tides: It's interesting to read about how they explain tides without knowing science. How it's a man in charge of a hole is really different than what I have read about before.

Raven's Feast: Is this where we get Groundhog day from? That's pretty awesome if it is!

Week 9: Review

This week's favorite image from announcements came from Saturday, October 24th. Mind you, it is a growth mindset image that Professor Gibbs posted, but it really made me smile so I am including it on my review today. I just love cats. :)

Extra Reading Diary: Eskimo Folk Tales

(An old man and his big dog)

I chose to do an extra reading diary this week. The unit I chose to do is the Eskimo Folk Tales. Below are the stories I enjoyed reading.

The Coming of Men, A Long, Long Time Ago: This story captured my interest because everything fell from the sky. Also, it does not tell you explicitly how men were made. Light and death brought many things to man and explains how when men die, the go up to the sky and shine brightly. I really liked this story because it was short and sweet.

The Insects that Wooed a Wifeless Man: The saddest part of the story to me: In the evening, his wife began again asking and asking, and, seeing that she would not desist, at last he said: "It was in this way. Once . . . well, I woke up in the evening, and rowed out, and heard a man crying for help, because his kayak had upset. And I rowed up to him and righted him again, and when I looked at him, it was one of the Noseless Ones. 'It was a good thing you were not idling about by the houses,' said the Noseless One to me. 'I had but just got into my kayak,' said I."

And thus he told all that had happened to him that day, and from that time forward he lost his power of hunting, for now his old sleepiness came over him once more, and he lost all.

The Giant Dog: The reason I picked this story is because it was very hypocritical for the inland-dwellers to make the dog the bad guy when the people are not so great themselves. There is more information about the dog, which is something that I really like. We know things such as how the man gave him the amulet, how he killed the three dogs, and much more.

Week 9 Storytelling: When Beaver Shared Fire

(A campfire)

Many ages ago, Beaver stole fire from the Pine Trees. He did it because the winters were so cold that all of the animals and plants almost froze to death. The Council of Animals nominated Beaver because he was silent and swift.

Animals were not the only ones who wanted fire. Only Pine Trees had it, and the other trees wanted it too. The Council advised that Beaver should not share fire with others. They wanted the fire just for themselves because that is what the Pine Trees did. The Council wanted to ensure that Pine Trees would not be able to steal it back. Beaver felt that it was wrong to not share fire after he stole it, so he came up with a plan on his own.

Beaver worked with all of the other trees to trap Pine Trees and share fire with everyone. Beaver thought that it should not be owned exclusively by one party.

So on the day that the Council of Animals picked to steal fire, Beaver stole it, but using his plan.

Beaver hid in the bank, near the fire and when the Pine Tree guards were not looking, he stole fire and ran away. Pine Trees pursued him as he had hoped and whenever they got close, Beaver would run from side to side making the winds slow them down.

Beaver ran for miles and miles until the Pine Trees got tired. Actually, they got so tired that the Pine Trees just stopped on the river banks to live there forever. This is why there are dense forests in the Pacific Northwest.

However, a few trees still went on after Beaver, but he was far too fast and they eventually gave up.

On his way to the hiding spot of the Council where he was planning to meet all of the animals, he would stop along the trees and share a little bit of fire with them. He planned his trip so that he would run ahead of schedule and could share fire with other trees without the Council knowing.

He did not share enough fire that the Council would know it was gone, but he ensured that everyone could have a little of their own.

When he made it to the safe spot, no one had known about Beaver's deviation in the plan and no one ever figured it out. All were happy during winter because all had warmth. Thanks to Beaver, that is why some woods burn better than others.

Author's Note: I chose to write about When Beaver Stole Fire. I found this story to be really cute and quippy. The original story isn't much different from mine, but I thought I would expand in some areas and tell why Beaver shared the fire with other trees.  I made it where the Council of Animals did not want to share fire because of how Pine Trees always wanted to keep the fire to themselves. So I made Beaver a beacon of good moral and let him share the fire with everyone but made it where no one knew. I wanted Beaver to plan with other trees to show that it was a collaborative effort on his part.

Reading Diary B: Pacific Northwest

Here are the few readings I picked to write about from the second half of the Pacific Northwest Unit.

(Coyote)

Chinook Ghosts: I was a little confused at the end of the story. It was kind of sad that the ghosts bought the blue jay's sister and he spent so much time looking for her because he did not know where to go. I was just generally confused about the story. I think I will read it again tomorrow to try and see if I understand it better.

Coyote and the Dragon: It's interesting how they said that evil was to come of the white people taking the bones of the dragon away. I've also starting wondering why coyotes are strong protagonists of Native American stories. In many of them they seem like saviors or at least positive figures of the stories.

Reading Diary A: Pacific Northwest

I've always been interested in living in the Pacific Northwest, and so this week that is the unit I chose to read. Below are a few of my favorite stories from this unit.

(A North American Beaver)

How Silver-Fox Created the World: I think this was my favorite out of the creation stories. The best part was at the end when coyote was saying that there should be 10 moons for winter so that way he could eat, but silver-fox put his foot down and said that there will only be two moons for winter. All creation stories have common tropes and I've heard a lot of them, but this one was different enough from other creation stories that I was really into it when reading it.

How Beaver Stole Fire: In this story, pine trees has the secret of fire. It was so cold that the animals plotted to steal it so they wouldn't freeze to death at night. This story really captured me because it is not just about how eventually humans got fire, but it tells how the surrounding woods got so dense and why if you use certain trees, you can make fire.

Woodrat and Rabbits: At first I was a little weirded out by this story. Why would a woodrat want to fight and then kill a rabbit? Then I realized that once you got to the end of the story, the message in the story was very clear. To me the message was that the woodrats got what was coming to them because they sought out their end by doing what they did. I felt like this story was don't seek out violence (or anything bad) and not expect to pay the price.

Week 8: Reading Plan

(Aino-Triptych by Akseli Gallen-Kallela)

Oh gosh, picking out stories for the second half of the semester was really hard. There are just so many options, but luckily I was able to choose. Below are the units I plan to read for the rest of the semester:

Week 9: Pacific Northwest Unit
Week 10: Cherokee Unit
Week 11: Beowulf Unit 
Week 12: More Celtic Fairy Tales
Week 13: Kalevala
Week 14: Brothers Grimm (Ashliman)

As usual, things might change but, I'm feeling good about the rest of the semester right now. I am quite sad that the semester is more than half done, but also happy because the semester was almost done.

Week 8: Reflections: Looking Forward

(Another inspirational quote found on Google images.)

For the second half of the semester, I want to work on trying different writing styles and techniques. I think I've got a great topic with my storybook and I want to really challenge myself to expand into new creative writing styles. Trying out different writing styles will help me distinguish characters from each other in the storybook and I think it will add depth to the character themselves. We shall see how it goes.

In order to accomplish this goal, I will have to rework my scheduling. It clearly did not work out for me the first half. I got most things done, but I always felt behind. So this week, I will be trying to rearrange my life to make it much easier to manage capstone and my other classes.

I would like to finish this class early and I am going to be working my butt off to try and do it. I think I will take homework breaks from other classes by trying to work ahead in this class. I'm going to be honest and admit that I do not know how long that will last, but hopefully I can get into a rhythm where it will work out for me to do that. If I can maintain a schedule like that, I will get an A in this class. Plus all of the extra credit we are given. I am very thankful for that. :P

I look forward to the second half of the semester and I can't wait to see where it goes.

Week 8: Reflections: Looking Back

(I found this quote that is applicable to my life on Google images.)

After a rough beginning to the semester, I am happy to see all the work that I've done with this blog. I think my growth mindset self challenge to work my life around my capstone class hasn't been going all too well. It seems that I've let it take over all my time scheduled for other cases - including this one. So I think I will try a new approach to studying for the second half of the semester. I will schedule time to dedicate only to capstone and then segment times for my other classes. I want to get a 4.0 this semester and I am trying really hard to do so.

As for this class, for the first half of the semester I kind of rushed through some of the readings and i felt bad doing so. I made sure to get them done...sometimes, but when I did, I felt like I did not give myself enough time. I wish I had set aside more time to work on the projects we had and forced myself to try out more writing styles. I have the tendency to default to something I am comfortable with, and I definitely did that with this class so far. I tried out different note taking styles and storytelling techniques the last few weeks and it was hard. I really want to grow as a writer and that takes time. So, I need to set aside more time to work on my projects for this class. Otherwise, how will I learn?!

Learning is something I do focus on, but only in certain areas and that has become painfully obvious based on what I have prioritized the last few weeks. I regret not having my storybook done sooner, but I can only grow from here. So, hopefully I will be able to work on it more in the second half.

Tech Tip: HTML Box

If you look to your right, I've added an HTML box with a quote in it. It's a good way to add some personality to your blog if you do not want to change up your layout. You guys should check it out. It's pretty easy to do.

Week 7: Review

Time to post my favorite post of the week: review! This week, my favorite of this weeks announcements came from Wednesday, October 7.  I saw the picture below and it made me laugh so much. Often, things never go as planned so I think this is applicable to everyones life. According to the image, it comes from a Facebook page called Joy of Dad.

Week 7: Growth Mindset

(A growth mindset meme made by Laura Gibbs and Magistra Susan)

This week I tried the Growth Mindset Writing Challenge. I normally write from the perspective of a less focused on character, this week I decided to write it as a story told by a character. I saw that some students were writing stories within stories and I wanted to challenge myself to see if I could do that too. I think it went pretty well. I would probably change some formatting stuff and expand on character details, but overall i'm really happy with my first try. I will probably keep up with this style for a few more storytelling posts.

Week 7 Storytelling: Tar-Baby Revenge

(Brer Bear and Brer Fox walking as depicted in Disney's movie Song of the South.)

As Sandy was tucking her daughter, Rose, into bed, Rose asked about the Brer Rabbit story they read the night before.

"Hey Mom, did Brer Rabbit ever get back at Brer Fox for getting him stuck in the Tar-Baby?" said Rose.

"Well, there isn't a story saying if he did, but you can make one up if you'd like," said Sandy.

So Rose made up her own Brer Rabbit story. She called it The Tar-Baby Revenge.

Brer Rabbit was huffing and puffing about how Brer Fox got him really good the other day with his Tar-Baby trick. He wanted to get back at him by making him just as scared.

So, Brer Rabbit tried to plot something just as good but he couldn't think of anything at all. He thought maybe he should use tar too, but then decided that Brer Fox would already know it was happening. Then he thought he could trick him into falling into a lake, but that was predictable too.

Brer Rabbit almost gave up on his revenge plan, that is until he talked to Brer Bear. Brer Bear told Brer Rabbit to make a sand pit.

Brer Rabbit thought this was brilliant. For days Brer Rabbit sneakily worked on making a bunny that looked just like him to trick Brer Fox into stepping into the sand pit. He was so proud of himself for creating such a plan that he even shared the entire plan with Brer Bear. Beer Bear happily agreed to lure Brer Fox to the location of the pit because Brer Fox was mean to him too.

So on the day that they planned, Brer Bear walked Brer Fox down to the location of the sand pit. Brer Fox fell for the trick and got stuck into the sand pit. Both Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox looked into the pit and told Brer Fox that he needed to learn a lesson and get tricked himself.  Brer Fox agreed.

Despite his compliance with their demands to be more friendly, they still made Brer Fox sit in the pit and think about all of the mean things that he has done.

After making him sit in the pit for a while, Brer Bear got Brer Fox out. Brer Fox apologized to both Brer Bear and Brer Rabbit and went on his way back home.

Life was pretty good for a few days after that, but as usual, Brer Fox could not resist the urge and was back up to his tricks again.

I guess Brer Rabbit and Brer Bear will have to come up with a new plan of revenge.

Rose smiled proudly as she told her mom the story.

"Well sweetie, why did you let Brer Fox go back to being the bad guy if he was supposed to learn from this lesson?" said Sandy.

Rose exclaimed, "Because Mom, if Brer Fox wasn't mischievous... We wouldn't even have Brer Rabbit stories! And I love them! Duh!"


Author's Note: This story is based loosely off of The Wonderful Tar-Baby Story. In the original story, Brer Rabbit gets stuck on to this baby made of tar. It was made by Brer Fox and he was trying to figure out what to do with Brer Rabbit as he trapped him. As one might predict, Brer Rabbit escapes and his escapades continue in other Brer Rabbit stories.

I made this story more of a spin off to the original. My mom used to read me these stories when i was younger and I thought it would be fun to explore a kid telling their own Brer Rabbit story. It has a reversed role kind of feel to it. Where Brer Fox is the one in trouble but manages to escape.

I originally wanted to write a slightly altered Brer Rabbit story, but this idea got stuck in my head and I went for it.

Reading Diary B: Brer Rabbit

(This is a picture of Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox from the Disney film Song of the South)

With this second section of Brer Rabbit, I tried to go about reading it a different way. Last time, I started with reading the stories first and then listing to the audio. This time, I switched that. It made understanding the stories much easier. I listened and read along and then I read it without the audio. Much easier understanding.

My favorite stories in this section are Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Bear and A Story about the Little Rabbits.

The first story was funny to me because Brer Rabbit tricked Brer Bear into hanging from a tree and then ran away. A story about the little rabbits I really liked that the rabbits kept avoiding the Fox so they wouldn't get eaten. I really don't like Brer Fox. That may just be because he is always trying to harm Brer Rabbit.

I want to use the Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Bear for my storytelling post this week.

Reading Diary A: Brer Rabbit

(Disney's depiction of Brer Rabbit in the film Song of the South)

This week I read stories from the Brer Rabbit unit. I am also using this reading diary as a challenge to switch up my note taking style to a more reflective style.

I chose this unit because I remember my mom reading me a few Brer Rabbit tales when I was younger. Brer Rabbit is so mischievous and a trickster. I think that is why I have always liked him so much.

My favorite story when I was little was the Tar-Baby story and I still gravitate toward it the most today. I thought it was funny that he got trapped by this tar baby and the more he fought with it, the more he got caught in it. Now as an adult, I realize it's kind of reflecting any time you get stuck in a situation. The more you try to escape something inevitable, the more you get tangled in.

I will admit, reading the dialect can be pretty hard. I felt that I was struggling to understand what some of the sentences were saying. Dialects are interesting because it is as if you're reading another language that is similar to your own but trying hard to understand it. I wanted to see if I could get through the stories without listening to the audio. It took me a while. The second time, I read while listening to the audio and it made the stories much more enjoyable.

Week 6: Famous Last Words

(A personal picture of my cat napping, taken by me)

This week has been insanely hectic. Who am I kidding... this semester has been hectic.
I am really happy that this weekend is OU/TX weekend. I am not going to the game, but I am going home all the way to Virginia to hang out with my boyfriend. Very much needed time away from school. Especially because this week is full of papers due..yikes. One in philosophy, one in religion and then I have to declare a topic for a big research paper in another class. This is also the week of the mid-semester check in with my capstone class.  I CAN DO THIS! It's truly a struggle though. After these next two weeks, I think the rest of my semester will be much easier to handle. (I say that now...) I just keep myself motivated by reminding myself that I get to fly home Friday.

This means that when I go home I get to have some comfort food and snuggle my cat! Woo! We have these yummy cookies in Richmond called rainbow cookies. They make any day better. When you bite into them, they melt in your mouth like butter. They are so delicious. Also, they come in many different colors for the holidays. I am so excited.

Luckily, the hurricane that was supposed to hit the coast veered off toward Europe. I am so happy that everyone I know is safe. We only live about an hour and a half from Virginia Beach, so sometimes if the storm is really strong, we get hit pretty bad in Richmond. I was quite worried this week about my pets. My boyfriend's cat stays inside so I knew he was alright, but my cat (pictured above) prefers to be outside all the time. But, once again, luck was on my side this week. I think the hurricane added to my stress.

Hope everyone else is having a good semester!

Week 6: Review

Another week has passed, I feel like I am still behind BUT I feel the need to continue my review posts. This week, I was really into this video from Saturday, October 3. Watch if you want to learn some fun facts about secrets from the Hindu Calendar Art.

Week 6 Storytelling: The King of Jokes

(A tiger confronts a frog illustration by Mildred Bryant, 1925.)

I am the King of Frogs, but no one takes me seriously. Even though I am a small king, I am extremely powerful. One day I hope to show my power to a large animal and befriend them. The powerful animals must want to be friends with a powerful king.

Waiting and watching is something I had been doing for a very long time. A tiger was wandering in the woods a few weeks ago, and I thought he will be here for a while. He shall be the one I show my power and authority to! The poor tiger looks so weak and hungry, I felt mighty bad doing this, but I had to.

One day, while he was looking for food... I approached him. I was really nervous, but I hopped over to him and asked him where he was going. He responded that he was going to the forest to hunt for something to eat. According to him, he hasn't eaten in ages.

AND then...

He threatened to eat ME!!

I felt two things: alarmed and angry.

I am a king. I cannot be eaten, I am too powerful.

So, I challenged him.

First, he had to jump farther than me across the river. He failed because he does not have as strong jumping skills as I. Secondly, he had to throw up... here is where I got really clever... while the tiger threw up a bit of water, I "threw up" tiger fur.

How did I throw up tiger fur? I stole some off his tail right before we jumped!

He was so scared when he thought I had eaten a tiger that he ran away. I was shocked... So I waited for him to come back. And he did. He timidly walked up behind a fox and their tails were tied. After seeing that, a hilarious joke came to my mind... I would ask the fox if he were paying me with meat for dinner.

I told the joke and the tiger ran away so fast that his colors were blurred together. I never saw the tiger again.

I forgot to tell you, I am powerful because of my jokes.

Author's note: I decided to write about the story of The Tiger and The Frog. The original story is about how the Tiger helps the Frog go farther. I took this as making the Frog king have a really strong reputation. The picture is the picture that was provided with the original story. I thought it was really cute so I wanted to keep it.

I love big cats, but I thought it would be funny to make the Frog the king of frog because of his jokes. So I wrote in the perspective of the frog and say how he was able to scare the tiger off.

Reading Diary A: Tibetan Folk Tales

This week I chose to read stories from the Tibetan Folk Tales unit. Below are my favorite stories:

(Illustration of the beautiful woman and the yak by Mildred Bryant, 1925.)

The Ingratitude of Man:

• Animals were rescued by man, man scorned animals, gets into a sticky situation and then animals rescue him.
• This story reminds makes me think of how humans treat animals. We don't give them the respect and gratitude that they deserve. We should treat them better because they help us. I feel that we should be constantly reminded of the importance of animals.

The Man and the Ghost:

• This man was walking alone and met a ghost. They decide to be friends.
• Their friendship involveer the ghost stealing things and helping the man out.
• In the end. the man benefits from the friendship and thinks this is how a friendship between a man and a ghost works.
• I really liked this story because it seems silly but I just like how it's all based on the ghosts fear. The man internalizes his fears.

The Story of the Two Devils:

• Beautiful lady is looking for a lost yak. Turns out that she is a devil and so is the yak. They are married. 
• Lady marries one of the sons helping her find the yak. Each year a brother dies one by one. Parents seek out help from a fortune teller.
• The parents find out that the woman and the yak are devils, so they kill them.
• Fortune teller ends up as ruler of half of the King's land.
• This made me think about what you see is not always what you get. Something can look good, but actually be really horrible.

Week 5: Thoughts About Comments

I was a bit nervous at first when I learned that many people were going to be reading my works in this class. I am not one to enjoy criticism beyond what my professor is willing to give. Despite this, I have really started to enjoy receiving the feedback that I get from my peers. Having multiple people read my works and tell me what is working and what is not allows me to become a better writer. While making and receiving comments on introductions are some of my favorite comments, I really enjoy the storytelling comments the most. I like learning from other people and seeing how they use different techniques than I do. I have to work on providing more feedback to others, but I think it is something I can improve over time with this class.

Week 4: Review

I must say that this week, my favorite announcement this semester comes from the September 16 post. This linguistic family tree illustrated by Minna Sunburg is so cool. I wonder if they have it as a poster anywhere.... I'd love to have it hanging in my apartment.

Tech Tip: Weather Widget

Woooo! Guys, you can now know the weather when reading my blog. Unlike most people in Oklahoma, I cannot wait for winter.

Week 4 Storytelling: Ra's Creation

(Ra, the Sun God, illustrated by Dixey)

When Ra, the Sun God, was created by the wastewater, Nu, he knew he had to build something great. He felt the desire to fill the world with something that would take care of it. His companions made the stars, rain, and the beautiful features of the earth, so why not create creatures that appreciated this beauty.

So, for an uncountable amount of time, he spoke about the creation of beings. He kept the final design of them to himself, but spoke about how they would act to the other gods. He requested for suggestions from the other gods. The three hints that he unveiled to the other gods were that the beings would worship the gods, they would build a great empire, and that if they obeyed the gods, they would enter the heavens when they died. 

Ra stayed tight lipped about the plans he had. He would not tell the other gods and goddesses when this event was occurring or how it would happen. The gods and goddesses just knew it was going to happen soon. So, they waited patiently.

Then one day, Ra approached Tefnut, the Goddess of Rain, and asked that she meet him in private. Ra told her the next time she makes it rain, the beings would come into existence. Tefnut agreed to keep these plans a secret, but struggled with hiding her excitement.

A short time after the meeting with Tefnut, it was raining. Ra watched the water droplets hit the grounds of Egypt and prepared to reveal his creations. He sat upon his throne, hidden by the clouds, and wept. His tears would turn into humans as they fell to Egypt. He cried the entire time it rained. Hundreds of human beings were created in a matter of hours and the gods and goddesses were watching with excitement. 

Once the rain stopped, Ra met with the gods and goddesses and spoke of his plan. He, himself, would be disguised as a human and rule over them for a period-of-time. He wanted to establish the rules and teach them about the gods and goddesses. Ra wanted to build the foundation of the empire he envisioned. The other gods and goddesses were nervous, but agreed. Ra reassured them that his absence would only be for the span of a typical human life and that he would be back.

Ra promised that each god or goddess would get worshiped for the roles they played in creating these new beings. 

With that being said, he turned himself into a human and fell from the skies to join his creations.

Author's Note: I chose to base my story off of the Creation story in the Ancient Egypt Unit. The original story is about the creation of the Egyptian gods and goddesses. Much like the Greek creation story, there was a creature of sorts that created the gods and goddesses. The first was Ra and then after that, one by one, the gods were created. At the end of the story it mentions how Ra created humans and became human himself, and ruled them as the first king.

I wanted to focus on the human creation aspect of the story. I wanted to personify the gods and goddesses even more. I wanted it to seem like Egypt was planned to be this great empire blessed by the numerous Egyptian gods and goddesses. Even though the gods and goddesses were involved in the creation of the humans, I wanted it to be a surprise to them too. Ra was to be the only one who knew exactly what they were like until he was ready to share them. I wanted this story to seem like that Ra saw the humans as not only a gift to the world, but a gift to the gods and goddesses too.

Creation, Egyptian Myth and Legend by Donald Mackenzie (1907).

Reading Diary B: Ancient Egyptian Myths and Stories

This is the continuation of my reading diary for Ancient Egyptian Myths and Stories. I picked one of the two long stories to focus on in this diary and the short story.

(Anpu riding on the bull illustrated by Tristram Ellis)

The Two Brothers (one/two/three/four):

• Anpu is the older brother of Bata.
• They have disagreements because Anpu's wife lied, saying that Bata beat her when actually it was her that hit on Bata (causing one of the major issues of this story).
• Anpu plans to kill Bata, but the Oxen warns Bata and Bata weeps to Ra, who then creates a river between the two.
• Bata told Anpu what really happened, which resulted in Anpu killing his wife.
• Things get really weird because then a God wanted Bata's wife.
• The wife is the reason Bata dies, but he is resurrected as a bull kudos to his brother. 
• The wife then requests that the king kill the other forms of life that she knows is Bata.
• Eventually, Bata became king and his brother took the throne after he passed.
• This was such a weird story.

The Tale of King Rhampsinitus:

• This story seemed a lot like a setup to me. As if it was planted for them to try and steal these jewels and the one who was able to escape was pardoned. 
• I feel that this is a story that focuses on how if you were smart and able to succeed in things, the King was much more lenient with you.

Reading Diary A: Ancient Egyptian Myths and Stories

For Week 4, I decided to read Ancient Egyptian Myths and Stories. Below I will focus on a few of my favorite stories from section A that captured my interest.

(A drawing of Osiris, King of the Dead, found on Egyptianmythology.org)

Creation:

• Ra was the first God and is the the ruler of them all.
• Does Ra or does Nu create all of the other Gods?
• They start creating the earth and Ra created man.
• Ra was God and first king. He ruled for centuries. 
• This creation story is different from others because Ra wasn't just their creator, but their actual king. He took human form and established a nation.

Osiris:

• Became king when Ra went to Heaven.
• Men were, in his eyes, savages. So he established laws and judged wisdom between men. His action caused a long period of peace.
• He was married to Isis, who was also of great wisdom. 
• Osiris travelled the world to learn and Isis patiently waited for him.
• Set, brother, grew impatient, was one to start issues, and drafted a plan to overcome Osiris by guile.
• I know that Osiris is killed by Set, but was it because Set wanted the throne or because Set really did not like him?

King of the Dead:

• I assume this answers my pervious question, Set wanted the throne because in this story he is ruling over Egypt.
• Horus, Osiris and Isis' son, is old enough to be ruler and has a dream/vision that Osiris tells him to over throw his uncle.
• Why did Ra heal both Horus and Set after battle? If the plan was to kill Set, did Osiris tell Ra?
• Seven pieces of Osiris' body were united and formed the body of the God. At this time, Osiris became the Judge and King of the Dead.
• If he was so fair, did he become King of the Dead because of his ability to judge wisdom between men?

The Green Jewel:

• Is The Green Jewel a legend told by other Egyptians to learn from? This story seems to vary, in my opinion, to other stories in this section so far because of the content of it.

Changelings: Styles Brainstorms

(Der Wechselbalg by Henry Fuseli, 1780)

Topic: After much research, I've decided that the topic of my storybook will be changelings. I know there are many different changeling stories from numerous locations that I can focus on in my storybook. My goal is to find four changeling stories from four different geographic locations and focus on the similarities and differences between the stories. Two stories that really stood out to me were The Fair Folk and The Killcrop of Halberstadt. I worry that my biggest challenge will be finding stories that have major, noticeable differences. I believe if they are from different time periods along with locations, it will be easier to find differences between the stories.

Bibliography: 
1. The Fair Folk, Walter Gregor, Notes on the Folk-Lore of the North-East of Scotland, (London: Folk-Lore Society, 1881), pp. 60-62.
2. The Killcrop of Halberstadt, Martin Luther, Werke, kritische Gesamtausgabe: Tischreden (Weimar: Böhlau, 1912-1921), v. 4, pp. 357-358.

Possible styles:

Changeling perspective. I think it would be super interesting to take the stories and tell them from the more sinister side. As you may be able to tell based on my other stories, I am interested in exploring things from the perspective that most people usually do not consider. This perspective would allow for me to explore a side of the story that is often kept in the dark.

The victims perspective. Many changeling stories are told in third person and with this opportunity, it would be interesting to hear from the people who were personally victimized by a changeling. It would be fun to explore the journey they take to get back to their home and get rid of the changeling. Having the victim's perspective could allow me to leverage a strong emotional pull to the stories.

Changeling creation. I think a creation story for the changelings would be fun to explore. As far as I can tell, the creation stories all are with minimal explanation and vary drastically by location. If you look back, these beliefs had gone on for hundreds of years and it wasn't too long ago that many of these legends were told. Having a creation story that goes into detail will humanize the changelings and bring a new third person perspective.

Super legend. Legends frequently have an eery feel to them. Combining the different qualities of changelings from the different geographic locations would be very fun. I could create a "super" legend that knows no borders and could be applicable to every location. I would have the ability to focus on the commonalities but hint at the differences to add a level of creepiness to the stories. The best part is that I can expand and add my own features to the changelings (within reason).