Famous LAST Words: Week 9

This week has been a good one both in this online class and my other courses at OU. I felt like my story this week that I posted to my portfolio has been one of the better ones that I have posted. It is titled Princess’s Challenge for those of you looking for a good short story. The source story for it was Draupadi’s Swayamvara. In addition, my portfolio is starting to look a little fuller now. In addition, every week I seem to continue to clean up my grammar mistakes and other small writing issues. Therefore, I am having less and less revising to do. All in all, I have really appreciated this class and what it has offered me. This will be my actual last assignment and my true famous last words for epics of India.

March Madness (Jakesdtvblog)

What I will be up to from now on:
I plan to celebrate being done by watching the OU vs Texas A&M basketball game tomorrow. Normally during this time I would have been working on Indian Epics and would have had to multitask to watch the game. In addition, I will be focusing heavily on my other classes which will start heating up towards the close of the semester. My plan next semester is to take Laura Gibbs other course she offers, Myth-Folklore. This is because I enjoyed Indian Epics and I am very satisfied with the setup of this course. I assume Myth-Folklore will be somewhat similar to this course. I am a big fan of the set your own pace style in this course and the tons of extra credit offered. It allows me to work a lot when I'm free and miss a few assignments when I'm busy. All in all, I am pleased to say the least with how everything has gone. Thanks for reading.

Review Week 9: LEAP

Looking before you Leap (Proverb Lab)

This was my favorite announcement of the week. It encourages going for it, but it also encourages thinking before doing. I think there is a perfect balance between risk taking and being too conservative. This meme serves as a good reminder. Thanks for reading.

Learning by Heart Time Mangement Week 9

Matt Haig, Reasons to Stay Alive

I liked this learning challenge because I am always a fan of the Time Management related ones. This one was unique to the others and wasn't related to procrastination. I found it interesting how it incorporates all of the senses into different senses of the word "time". Thanks for reading.

Growth Mindset Week 9: Because I practice, I do better

Because I practice, I do better! (Laura Gibbs)

I like this meme because it is like the old saying of practice makes perfect. I truly believe that practicing anything can make you improve any facet of your life. This is a good rule to live by and something to always remember. Thanks for reading.

Tech Tip Week 15: Google Reverse Image Search

Ravana 10 headed mask (Ceylon Vintage)

This was the picture I reverse image searched. You can find it on many different websites in original size. Using the Bing search engine I found it on this Pinterest site. This is a really neat tool and is very easy to use. Thanks for reading.

Reading Diary Week 9: Divine Archer Cont.

Sugriva and Vail fighting

I finished the rest of the Divine Archer today and have been pleased with the overall plot. I have already previously mentioned this but I will go ahead and say again that I myself did not see a whole lot of difference between the two versions I read of the Ramayana. Below is my analysis of the rest of the Divine Archer:

· The only difference that I can partly see is that the Divine Archer appears to not emphasize the longevity of the war whereas it seemed in the pde version that the war carried on much longer.

· Rama again kills Vali and is identified as the main protagonist of the story.

· Again we see Hanuman as the “right hand man” so to speak for Rama. He again sets the town on fire and aids in the finding and rescuing of Sita.

· I liked and didn’t like the ending battle between Rama and Ravana. I liked it because it was short and sweet however was displeased with lack of detail.

· We see Sita and Rama are finally reunited and there is a similar ending as in the public domain edition of the Ramayana. Sita is again sent into exile by Rama and I’m again displeased with this ending.

· All in all, the Divine Archer was a nice simple interpretation of the Ramayana.

Bibliography: The Divine Archer, written by F.J. Gould.

Reading Diary Part A Week 9: The Divine Archer

Vali Courtesy of Wikipedia

This week I have chosen to read the Divine Archer for my personal reading selection. I have chosen this for a few reasons, but mainly just because I enjoyed the Ramayana more than the Mahabharata. In addition, I would like to revisit the Ramayana and see how this story differs from the public domain edition. Below is my analysis of the divine archer:

· For the most part, it seems to me as if the stories are very similar. Including the same characters and same plot.

· We see similiarly how Rama wins over Sita in the beginning with his great mastery of bow and arrows.

· Similiarly in the pde version we learn of the curse that happened to Dasaratha when hunting and accidently killing a boy.

· We see similiarly how Rama is exiled from the King’s curse.

· Again Rama teams up with the monkey god Sugriva. Once Rama helps him with his past troubles, Sugriva helps Rama on his quest to capture Sita.

· All in all, for the most part the interpretations from the public domain edition and the Divine Archer show to overlay well.

Bibliography: The Divine Archer, written by F.J. Gould.

Review Week 8: Sew vs Sow

Word of Day by Laura Gibbs

I picked this announcement because I have messed this up from time to time. It seems to be less of an error nowadays because people aren't as often doing either of these activities. Thanks for reading!

Famous Last Words: Week 8

For this class this past week I finished most of my assignments before spring break started. Which in turn paid dividends as I did not have to worry about anything being due. In addition, I was able to finish up editing on my last story telling titled "Two Brothers". I feel as if it turned out really well and gave a nice alternative ending to the Ramayana. Also I added another story to my portfolio this week which I thought was one of my stronger story telling’s as of late. It is titled "Queen's Challenge" and its source story is from the Mahabharata.

Me at Grand Lake over Spring Break

In my other classes and extracurricular I was not super busy, as it was spring break. I was able to fulfill some of my spring break plans and was able to go fishing with my grandpa. I am slightly disappointed that I didn't have any time to play golf over the break, but the good fishing made up for it. I am not really looking forward to getting back into the groove of things this next week, but I guess every vacation has to have its end. If not, I think it's called retirement. Anyways, I am soon approaching the point total for the grade I want to achieve in this class and I am looking forward to finishing early. It will really help to relieve stress on my other classes as I come into the crunch time of my other classes. In addition, I am looking forward to warmer weather. Once the time change date hits, I know that the cold weather won't last for too much longer. The days lasting longer is always awesome as I can’t stand when it gets dark at 5:30-6:00. I now should be able to have time to practice golf after I get out of class instead of it being dark. Thanks for reading.

Portfolio Introduction

Quest for the Throne
Corruption of the throne has led to its strange replacement by the gods of the island.

Island Kingsom

Author: Floato, Flickr

Two Brothers

A long missed brother returns to the city in which his brother is King. 

Awaiting the Return of the King (audiopalungjit)

Princess's Challenge
Who will be worthy of marriage to the princess?

Argo in disguise with a Golden Bow & Arrow (flickr)

Tech Tip Week 14: About Me Sidebar

Hey all, I added a new about me sidebar to my page. If you would like to know more about me though you can check out my introduction. Thanks for reading.

Tech Tip Week 13: Weather Gadget

I finally got around to doing this tech tip. It took a little more work than I thought, but I'm glad I learned how to do it! Now my readers can check out the weather for good ole Norman, OK when stopping by. Thanks for reading.

Learning Challenge Week 8: Time Management

Time Management (Courtesy of Laura Gibbs)

A lot of my learn by HEART challenges are about time management, but I think that is because it is my favorite at this point in my life. I like to try and remind myself to live in the moment. I feel as if this meme emphasized not living in the past, but trying to live in the present. Thanks for reading.

Growth Mindset Week 8: The bigger the challenge, the more you stretch

Stretch yourself thin is a good thing (Courtesy of Laura Gibbs)

As humorous as the picture is, it holds much truth. The bigger the task, the more you have to try to accomplish it. I think there is a healthy balance on stretching your mind with big tasks. It helps me to continue to learn something new everyday and expand my knowledge. Thanks for reading.

Tech Tip Week 12: Google Timer with Pomodoro Technique

I have been trying out the Pomodoro technique in conjunction with using the Google Timer feature. It really is a useful technique as long as you keep yourself disciplined to it. Shout out to Andrew Wright for showing me this tech tip. I wanted to share it with others because I liked it so much. Thanks for reading.

Pomodoro Technique (Laura Gibbs)

Reading for Weeks 9 and 10

I would like to revisit the Ramayana or the Mahabharata for my next readings coming up. I am leaning more towards the Ramayana as it was my favorite of the two epics we have read thus far. I have already watched Sita sings the blues, but I would like to read another version of the Ramayana still. One option I am considering is by Gould, called the Divine Archer. The other story I am considering reading is by Sisodia, called Ravana, Roar of the Demon King. The synopsis is about the background of Ravana and I would like to know more about his childhood. I think it would help me to understand his character more and I think it would be an interesting tie with my knowledge of the PDE version of the Ramayana. The last story I am considering reading is by Devee, called the Ideal Indian Women: Sita, Promila, and Shakuntala. I think it will be neat to see the perspective of the stories from the different wives point of view. In addition, it mentions how the Mahabharata will tie in with Shakuntala. Thanks for reading.

Rama from the Ramayana (Wikipedia)

Blog Ideas

Using the random blog finder I stumbled upon Nikita's blog. I really like the design of hers and how the colors were very visible. I feel that my background doesn't contrast with my hyperlinks very well, making them hard to see sometimes. Another blog I visited was Andrew's. There I found some interesting tech tips including the one about the google timer that I am going to try out with the Pomodoro technique. Lastly I visited, Alexis's blog. I found that one to be most similar to mine as far as setup goes. I liked it for one just because it was similar to mine, therefore I figured it must be a good format since Alexis is also using it.

Time Management

Time Management (Laura Gibbs)

For me I think my schedule fluctuates based on the workload I received each week in all of my classes. I will say that I have very few times actually finished all the assignments on the Friday schedule I had originally planned. It seems to me that I always split the workload between two days. Usually Friday and Sunday being those two days. In theory, I still feel as if my Friday schedule will still continue to work though because I am still on track for the grade I want to achieve in this course. My main strategy I want to continue is to keep up with the extra credit each week. It has really helped to excel my progress through this course and should allow me to relieve stress on my other classes when needed. Thanks for reading.

Reading Diary Week 7: Epified Mahabharata Continued

Since I missed the Tuesday reading assignment, I am finishing the rest of the Epified Mahbharata for the makeup reading. I did theses assignments so far apart that I had to re-catch myself up to what happened. Here are some of the highlights I saw in the Part B section of the videos:

• I didn't remember Karna's background and I liked the detail provided in this version. He is not trained the art of war until he lies about his ancestry.
• Once trained Karna's heart even more desires war.
• As Karna's jealousy increases after draupadi's swamayarma he only builds the suspense for war with the pandavas.
• I learned in more detail of how the arrangement of Draupadi's marriage with the five pandavas would workout. In addition, the similar consequence was interpreted in both the pde and the epified version of the Mahabharata.
• We learn about Arjuna's journey with the Brahmins in the himalyans. We also saw that he thought it was worth the exile. More detail was given about his other mistresses he finds on his twelve year journey.
• I find it odd how Arjuna's wants changed rapidly from each journey/kingdom he stumbles upon. It almost symbolizes how a person today changes there wants so rapidly.

Arjuna in the lake (Wikipedia)

Famous Last Words Week 7

This past week was especially tough and stressful. For one, in my other classes I had a pretty difficult test. In addition, I found it stressful that our teacher would not let us ask any questions during the test, because some of the problems were not absolutely clear on what they were asking. Instead you have to state all your assumptions. So in that aspect, I guess I just have to hope I got lucky and made all the correct assumptions for the test. Besides that test though, I received a few of my other test scores back from my formation evaluation class and my structural class. Both of which I was fairly pleased with and let off a great deal of anxiousness off of my shoulders.

As far as this class was concerned I was disappointed that I did not get my Tuesday reading assignment done before the deadline. This was due to my heavy obligations in my other classes, but I'm still upset to lose the points. However, since that I felt that the week went fairly well. My storytelling this week I felt like was some of my better writing for the semester. In my opinion, the story is as if you took a negative copy of a photograph. If you have ever seen an original "negative" copy of a photograph, then you know it is the complete opposite of the regular photo. This was the approach that I took for this week's storytelling. It turned out really well and gave the original story a great twist. In the week's upcoming I hope to continue to explore new writing styles. The one I did this week seemed to just spur upon me as I did not receive the idea prior to writing it.

I am looking forward to spring break coming up soon even though I do not have grand plans to celebrate it. It will be nice to take a break from school and relax. I am hoping the weather will be warm so I am able to go golfing and possibly do some fishing. Thanks for reading.

Where I want to spend my Spring Break (flickr)

Review Week 7: Passive/Active Voice

Passive-Aggressive Voice (Laura Gibbs)

This was my favorite weekly announcement for a couple reasons. First that writing my stories in passive voice seems to be my biggest problem. In addition, I found this post humorous for the Passive-Aggressive voice. Thanks for reading.

Growth Mindset Week 7: Geniuses work hard too

Genius work hard (cheezburger)

This meme was really inspiring to me for one reason. That being that not everything comes easy to people that are good at something. In other words even geniuses have to work hard to continue to stay a genius. Hard work is a must to become good at almost anything. Thanks for reading.

Learning Challenge Week 7: Time Management

Courtesy of Laura Gibbs

This was a post that really caught my eye. The time to start breaking a bad habit or start something new in your life doesn't have to wait. You can start anytime you want and that time can be now. Many people always wait for New year's to make resolutions, but that's not necessary. Anytime is a good time to start. Thanks for reading.

Storytelling Week 7: Arjuna and the Five Wives

Author's note: This story was inspired by Draupadi's Swamayarma in the Epified version of the Mahabharata. I have turned the tables though and made it to where Arjuna is picking five wives to be his queens. Similiarly, Arjuna comes under a curse however it is very different than what happened to Draupadi. He is cursed for wanting five wives and is prevented from getting what he wishes. There are some added details in my story but for the most part it is just a complete inverse of the events that happened in the Mahabharata. Thanks for reading. 

The time had come come for Arjuna to pick his wife, but one wife would not be suffice. Arjuna being the compartmentalist he was, he wanted a wife for each of his specific wants. The first wife that he would pick would first have to satisfy his food requests. Only a wife with the best cooking skills would be suffice for Arjuna. His second wife would need to satisfy his love needs and be able to give birth to sons fit for the taking of his throne. Not just any wife would do for making children, but one who showed great traits of courage, bravery, and intelligence. Traits of which Arjuna wanted his sons to bear. His third wife would need to be able to tend to all of his requests and be a messenger for him and his needs. Arjuna's fourth wife would have to possess qualities of athleticism as she would be his fitness and training partner. And Arjuna's fifth wife would have to possess shrink like abilities. In which, he would use to meditate and connect with himself and other spirits. Lastly, his request was

that all of his five wives must be sisters.

Arjuna trying to hold one of the Draupadis (Wikimedia)

Many people thought that his request was a very tall order and it was indeed. For three years Arjuna searched for the perfect wive set until he finally found the Draupadis sisters. All of which were to his very demanding criteria.

As the day came to be wed with the five sisters, an omen appeared to Arjuna. The love goddess Sofi spoke to Arjuna and was disgusted for his greed and lust for more than one women. Sofi cursed Arjuna with being unable to speak for the rest of his life. Arjuna thought little of the handicap as he would have no trouble still accomplishing his wants and needs. As Arjuna stepped up to the alter with the five women the priest before him asked if he would take the hand of all of the five women for marriage. Arjuna tried to say "I do", but all he could do was blink. Great confusion came over the women and the priest as they were shocked at the mute response of Arjuna. Again the priest asked and Arjuna did not respond. Finally the priest gave up on the wedding ceremony and deemed the sisters free to go back to their kingdom. Arjuna then lived the rest of his life alone and unable to produce words.

Reading Diary Week 7: Epified Mahabharata

For this week I am revisiting the Mahabharata in a new way. I have chosen the Epified Mahabharata because I was a fan of Sita sings the blues and I was hoping to enjoy this video as much as the other. I do wish that is was just one long video instead of little episodes. I did prefer the ending in this story over the Ramayana and watching this epified series helped me to see the ending clearly. Here are the notes/highlights I wanted to note from the episodes:

·       For the most part the general storyline is the same and the characters I recognized from the public domain edition of the Mahabharata have the same personalities and traits.

·       I was a fan of the story of winning Draupadi as queen at her Swamayarma because it helped visualize the story from me. I wrote a story similar to this last week and it was neat being able to see animations of the story they told in the episode.

·       Arjuna was as I imagined him in reading the PDE version of the Mahabharata. His bow is as mighty as I thought as well.

·       Karna finds out that he is supposed to be a soldier instead of a farmer, I don’t remember this realization in the PDE version.

·       There is no surprise when I see that there is still trouble between Draupadi and all five of the Pandavas’ marriage with her. We see that again Arjuna is exiled for 12 years and in his exile he visits a few different kingdoms and goes on what seems to me as random journeys. Upon which he marries another woman from another kingdom.

·       The ending in the episode seems to be clearer to me than when I read the PDE version. I now understand how the Pandavas exited the Earth and returned to Vishnu.

Krishna in Chariot (blogsuk)