Reading Diary A: Ramayana by R. K. Narayan

In Ramayana by R. K. Narayan, three stories stuck out to me.  The stories were Thataka’s Story(pg. 11 - 13) , Mahabali’s Story(pg. 13 - 16), and The Wedding(pg. 22 - 32).  What I found interesting in these stories was that Rama was able to kill three demons and protect everyone as a human.  His weapon of choice was a bow.  It was interesting in his choice of a bow over other weapons.  I am reminded of other cultures and instances were bowmen were shunned.  However, Rama was fine with using a bow.  In the Wedding when he pulled the bow together, I was reminded of the Greek hero, Odysseus, when he completed the same task.  What I also found interesting was that the demigods and the gods seemed fallible.  Take for instance Thataka, initially she was a demigod of might, valor, and purity, and her sons were also demigods but were wicked and carelessly destroyed life.  Another example was Indra when he slept with Ahalya.  Which makes it appear as if all gods and goddesses have all of the human desires and characteristics.  Interestingly enough Vishnu appears to embody the idea of a benevolent god who can do no wrong compared to the other gods and goddesses.  I also found it interesting in The Wedding story when Sita and Rama first saw each other.  It was love at first sight for them.  I am intrigued at what role love played into it.  Because even though they were reincarnated and lost their memories, they still found each other.  I can only guess that it had to been the work of the gods or true love.  I am excited to see were the story goes.  

Rama with his Bow (Source: Wikipedia)

Week 1 Review

My favorite photo this week was from Thursday's Announcements.

Because you always want seconds of dessert (Source: Laura Gibbs Blog)

Famous Last Words Week 1

Looking back this week I feel that I could have completed some of the assignments sooner.  If I had done that, I could have gotten ahead on next week’s assignments.  I hope that next week I do get ahead and am able to have leeway when I need it.  If I get ahead in this class, it will allow me to focus more on my other classes so that I can perform better in them.  In my other classes the pace is about to pick up which will cause my workload to increase.  However right now in my other classes, the pace is still slow.  I am interested in seeing how the readings will affect my daily schedule.  Even though this class is not like my other classes, all my classes involve time management.  This class is enjoyable because I am able to do something besides math and science.  And although both subjects are enjoyable, sometimes a break is needed.  In other news, the stories that I read from my group members were well done and I enjoyed them immensely.  I particularly liked the story by Kurtis Kunz.  I liked how he redid the story in the modern setting and placed the events at OU.  It was a very relatable story and I feel that over the semester his stories will continue to improve.  Even though I liked the story I believe I want make a story like Kurtis Kunz.  I think that the next story will still be a fantasy style story.  While I want the story to be relatable, I also want the story to be a unique story that triggers the imagination and sends the reader to a far off place.  I hope that my writing improves over the course of the semester so that I can do so.  

Steins;Gate, Image created at memegenerator (Source)

Tech Tip: Pinterest Research 1

I found several pins related to my search of Steins;Gate.  When I clicked on the images it gave similar images of Steins;gate and of other popular animes.  Pinterest was very useful in finding images related to the topic.  Another website that I would use would be deviantart.
Some of the Images found include:

Steins;Gate quote (Source:tumblr)

Scene from Steins;Gate(Source)

Ending scene from Angel Beats! as series progressed (Source: OtakuMeme)

Week 1 Curation

Interestingly enough, I had already curated information for this class.  I use bookmarks all the time to keep track of important websites and although I am familiar with Pinterest and Twitter, I do not use either one.  When I bookmark something, I bookmark in relation to topics.  This method has sufficient in regards to keeping the information organized but I would be interested in seeing how Pinterest and Known would improve my curation.  In regards to information that I cannot bookmark I create lists to keep track of the info.  In addition, while this method works, I am interested in a method that could make this more efficient and more effective to use.  One site I find useful in keeping track of information is Myanimelist.  This site has information on all the shows and I can keep track of my progress and what shows I have watched.  I am interested in seeing how my curating changes over the semester. 

Interested in where curating will lead (Source: cyberlawcentre)

Thoughts on growth mindset

Prior to reading the articles and watching the videos, I had never been introduced to growth mindset.  I had heard of the teaching method were student were rewarded no matter how much effort was put in.  I was highly critical of that method and when I started reading about the growth mindset, I thought it was the same thing.  However, after reading more about I saw the merits of the system and how it could improve learning.  It made me feel like that I had wasted a lot of my life because I was not pushed in school.  In college I believe I have unknowingly applied growth mindset in my life.  I have had failures but I have rebounded from those and have learned from the mistakes.  This semester I hope to further apply the growth mindset into my life.  

It's a Cha-Cha (Source: Growth Mindset Blog Post) By Laura Gibbs

My Storybook Favorites

My three favorite storybooks are Shadows of The Ishvara, Rate My Rishi, and Rama’s Bestiary.  All three titles do a fair job of informing on what the topic of the storybook was.  Rama’s Bestiary was the best title in my opinion because of its significance to the story and how it was woven into it.  The introductions of the storybooks were all detailed and were very descriptive.  The introduction of the Shadows of Ishvara storybook was the most detailed.  This allowed me to more easily to be drawn into the story.  Rama’s Bestiary’s introduction was interesting in that it was short but it drew the reader in by being short and by giving tantalizing tid bits to the reader.  Rate My Rishi’s introduction was very intriguing in that it gave the reader the information in the form of an ad.  Even though Rate my Rishi is a spin on a popular website, it managed to give a unique spin to the topic.  On the downside to achieve that spin, it felt like I, as the reader, was uninformed on the topic.  My favorite design of the three is Rama’s Bestiary.  When the site is first accessed, it opens to a page that has a few lines of text.  The text gives the feeling that an adventure is beginning to take place and excitement therefore begins to build.  Then it moves to a letter that gives a call to action for the protagonist.  The background of the site looks like worn paper, which is fitting for the topic.  In addition, the different pages of the site are neatly laid out.  It would have been nice for links to the next part of the story to appear at the bottom of each page however.  Shadows of The Ishvara was able to achieve an elegance from the simplicity of the site.  The contrast of the background and the text made it easy to read the text and minimized the eyestrain that would have occurred.  The storybook, Rate My Rishi, had a unique design in that it told the story of each Rishi from the perspective of multiple individuals.  This made the people involved more personable.  

An old leather journal (Source: deviantart) 

Indian Epics Overview

know only a little more about Indian epics than the average American, which I believe to be nothing.  What little I know was from an Indian friend who moved to America in 8th grade and from a college friend I met freshman year in the dorms and now we share an apartment.  My college friend recommended that I look at Karna.  So I looked him up, I found him to very interesting, and I cannot wait to read about him in Mahabharata.  In the image of Arjuna vs Karna I found the battle to be a one sided affair and it was interesting in the artists choice to what appears to be leaving the clothes off the dead soldiers in the middle.  Also, the men pictured have some nice mustaches.

Arjuna vs Karna (Source: wikimedia)

Introduction of Ethan Garner

Hi Everyone,

My name is Ethan Garner, I am a junior majoring in Chemical Engineering, and I am specializing in Biomedical Engineering.  Some of the classes I am taking this semester are thermodynamics and numerical methods.  I am a part of Paradigm (BCM) and AIChE (American Institution of Chemical Engineers).  Within AIChE, I am a part of the Chem-E-Car team.  In Chem-E-Car, We design and test a miniature car that runs and stops using only chemical processes.  My clubs in addition to my major keep me busy.  After my undergraduate studies, I hope to get an MBA and a Masters in Bioengineering.  After that, I hope to move to Japan and get a job working as a chemical engineer at a pharmaceutical or medical company.  The reason for that I chose Japan is because it is one of the main producers of chemicals.  I am from Clinton, Oklahoma and have always been a Sooner so the lyrics to “Boomer Sooner” ring true for me.  I am an avid reader and some of my favorite books are The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, Les Misérables by Victor Hugo, and Shogun by James Clavell.  One of my favorite authors is Michael Crichton, who if you were unaware wrote Jurassic Park.  I love anime, manga, and light novels.  My favorite anime include Clannad, Angel Beats!, Steins;Gate, and Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai (The Flower We Saw That Day).  I highly recommend that anyone in the least bit interested watch these titles.  I also love video games and my favorite series is the Mass Effect series.  My favorite entry in the series is the original game in the series Mass Effect 1.  One of my favorite things to go do is scuba diving.  Swimming underwater and viewing the marine life is very exhilarating.  One of my dreams is to cage diving and cave diving.  I hope that this post has been helpful in you getting to know me. 

Cover of Count of Monte Cristo (Source: wikimedia)

Storytelling Week 1: The Dastardly and the Righteous

This motif of an eagle fighting a snake shows the eagle which is the light defeating the snake which is the darkness
Source: (deviantart) License: (creativecommons) Changes:(resized image)

One day an eagle came across a snake that had just engorged himself on a juice, plump mouse. 

“How are you faring?” asked the eagle. 

“Very well,” replied the snake, “I have dined on the most scrumptious of mice and I would be most obliged if you would give me a lift to the mountain over yonder.” 

The eagle realized that the journey to the mountain would be arduous.  As he was a noble and honorable eagle, he decided to perform a good deed for another denizen of the animal kingdom.  Therefore, he swooped down and clasped the snake in his claws.

As the snake was carried to the mountain, he looked at the well-preened feathers of the eagle and thought to himself, “This eagle is very pleasant to look at and he has a healthy figure.  I think I shall devour him once we arrive at the mountain.”

“Once again I must offer my thanks,” said the snake hoping to mislead the eagle.

“It is no trouble,” said the eagle, “one such as I must extend our services to those in need.  Furthermore, I have family on the mountain and it shall be a blessing to see them once again.  For I have not seen my family for three winters.”

As they neared the mountain the eagle asked, “where should I set you down?”

“On the far side of the mountain, next to stream, at the tree line” replied the snake.

The snake prepared himself to attack the eagle.  When they arrived at their destination, the snake quickly wrapped himself around the eagle but his head was too close to the claws of the eagle to strike the eagle with his fangs.

“Why are you doing such a thing?” exclaimed the eagle.

“You shall make an excellent snack for me,” replied the snake.

So the eagle began a fight for survival as the noose of the snake crept closer and closer.  As the snake was about to obtain his victory, he was suddenly wrested from the eagle by a human hunter. 

“Curses,” thought the snake.  So he bared his fangs at the human hunter.  After missing several strikes at the hunter, he struck the hunter’s water skin and injected his venom. 

Seeing the proximity of the snake, the hunter swung down a fatal blow to the snake. 

As the snake crept off to die, the snake thought to himself, “we shall see who has the last laugh.”

The eagle, thankful of the hunter’s valiant effort, saw what the snake had down and flew into the air to wait for a chance to retrieve the water skin.  The exhilarated hunter walked over the stream to fill his water skin with the fresh mountain water.  After he had filled his water skin, and was lifting it his mouth to cleanse his parched throat, the eagle seeing his opportunity, dove and snatched the water skin from the hunter’s hand.  The eagle then flew off to dispose of the water skin the snake had tainted.

Authors Note:

This story is based off the Aesop Fable "The Serpent and the Eagle."  In the story, a snake attacks an eagle and as the eagle was gasping for breath, a countryman came and assisted the eagle.  Then the snake, who could not strike the countryman, struck the countryman's drinking horn.  As the countryman was about to drink from the horn, the eagle came and snatched the horn away saving the countryman.  I followed the base outline of the story and focused on the character development of the snake and the eagle.  I gave the eagle an honourable character and the snake trickster character, which I used to advance the story.  The countryman is a hunter in my version but his role is the same and he performs the same actions.  I felt that focusing too much on the hunter would detract from the story between the snake and the eagle.  The image was chosen because I felt that it was an accurate representation of the events that had occurred in the story.  The reason that the story was chosen was that I felt that this story shows of the age-old problem of good people being kind and be backstabbed.  In this instance, however a good Samaritan comes along and rescues the eagle from his plight.  

Bibliography:

Book: The Æsop for Children With pictures by Milo Winter
Author: Æsop
Year Published: December 2, 2006

Source: www.gutenberg.org

My Favorite Places: Cozumel, Washington D.C., Walt Disney World

I love to scuba dive and the best location so far has been Cozumel.  The water was clear and the weather was pleasant.  Also I didn't have to swim through jellyfish like I had too in Florida. Yay!

Scuba diving through a coral reef (Source: promoscozumel)

Washington D.C. is full of historical sites and museums.  I could spent weeks at Washington D.C. and still not have visited everything.

View of the Washington Monument from the Tidal Basin (Source: wikimedia)

Walt Disney World is an awesome place to visit.  It is full of memories of my childhood.  One of my favorite parks is the Magic Kingdom and the parade and fireworks at night there should not be missed.

Firework Show that I attended

Disney Parade that I attended

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Game of Thrones Brace Yourself(Source: memegenerator)

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