Week 14 Famous Last Words

This week has been interesting for me because I am a senior and starting to realize that college is going to be over sooner than I think. It has felt weird doing things for what could be the last time. Some things I am glad to do for the last time but there are others I will surely miss. I am not sure if I have appreciated Norman and living here as much as I should have until recently. I am going to grad school in Michigan so I won't be living in Norman or Oklahoma after graduation. I have realized just how great Norman is and what an awesome place it has been to go to college. The community here is unique and the people in Oklahoma have been great. Don't take it for granted.

For anyone who might be younger in school I have some advice and words of encouragement. We all know school can be tough and burdensome at times. It can really wear you down and there are a lot of things you have to learnt hat you don't always want to. However, the sooner you change your attitude towards learning I think that whole feeling of school wearing you down changes. I had that issue and once I changed my mindset and told myself how lucky I am to even get to learn things changed for the better. I realize that sounds cheesy perhaps but it is true. Your mind is very powerful and whether you think something is this way or that, either way you are right. You have the decision on how you are going to respond tot he situation you are in. I would also say don't be too hard on yourself during college, in all aspects. Realize that you learn more from messing up then you do from always being right. Also, be intentional with your friends and work to build relationships because that is the best thing in college. You get to live down the street or next door to people you want to spend time with. In the future when people get done with college everyone kind of seems to spread out. I know I am going to miss being so close to all of my friends.

I'll stop before I start rambling on about too much. Thanks for reading!

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Boomer Sooner.

Tech Tip: Weather Widget

Today I did a tech tip and put a weather widget on my blog. If you are interested in doing the same you can check out this link for directions. It only took me a couple of minutes to do.

I don't know about you but as I have gotten older I have noticed that the weather dictates my day a lot more. Having to figure out what the weather is like helps me decide what I need to wear and what to plan for. Being able to get accurate weather information has allowed me to save time and energy and not make mistakes like forgetting a rain jacket.

Week 14 Storytelling: Bernard

Cockaadoooooodledooooooooo!!

Bernard did a nice fist pump after he made his morning roar to wake up the farm. He was proud of himself for such a perfect execution in the soprano key.

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Meanwhile, the other animals were rolling their eyes at Bernard. The pigs thought it was ridiculous that he still did a morning call even when the family all had cell phone alarms. The horses were late sleepers and always felt like Bernard was doing it just to get them irritated. All the animals agreed that Bernard just wanted all the attention on him. He was that male pop star that left the band for a solo career and individual praise.

After his morning call Bernard strutting around the farm making sure everyone had heard him and fishing for compliments on his performance. He didn't do much besides strut around and boss other animals around. For some reason Bernard and Connor the pig disliked each other very much. Everyone has there theories as to why they dislike each other but no one can say for certain.

This morning Bernard walked over to Connor and told him what a filthy excuse for a pig he was and told him he could still smell him from the other side of the farm with a bar of soap in his nose. Connor just laughed and proceeded to do a belly flop in the mud puddle. This angered Bernard as the mud flew up and splashed his well manicured coat of feathers.

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Connor started laughing along with the rest of the pigs. Bernard looked ridiculous and you could tell he was embarrassed. Bernard scoffed and Connor and the other pigs and then trotted off. 

Bernard found a spot in the barn where no one was and sat down. He was frustrated and angry at the whole situation. What the animals didn't know about Bernard was that he had had a hard child hood. He lost his mom and dad when he was young and had no grown up with much parental guidance. He missed them very much and wondered why he had to have lost his parents. Growing up he was never the popular chicken and he was sought the others approval. He just wanted others to like him and be friends with them. But he didn't know how to best do that. Now that he was the head rooster he was still stuck in his old ways.

Connor came trotting in and noticed that Bernard was frustrated and upset. He sat and talked with Bernard and asked him how he was and apologized for splashing mud on him and laughing. He felt bad for Bernard and told him he didn't realize that he had lost his parents so young. His heart softened for Bernard and he felt compelled to try and be a better friend to him.

Five years later Bernard and Connor were inseparable and they were always having fun together. Bernard had learned from Connor on how to respect others and be a good friend. He found it funny when he stopped worrying about what others thought he actually found some friends.


Author's Note.
The original story is actually not about a rooster but instead a mouse. The mouse comes across a rooster at this estate and is bewildered by it.
"I passed the mountain bounds of this estate,
And off was trotting on another,
Like some young rat with nothing to do
But see things wonderful and new,
When two strange creatures came in view:
The one was mild, benign, and gracious;
The other, turbulent, rapacious,
With voice terrific, shrill, and rough,
And on his head a bit of stuff
That looked like raw and bloody meat,
Raised up a sort of arms, and beat
The air, as if he meant to fly,
And bore his plumy tail on high."

I really liked how the author described the rooster so vividly and it made me wan't to write a story about a rooster. I tried to make it warm and light hearted. I think it is easy to not like someone like Bernard but you never really know what they ares struggling with. Sometimes those types of people need a friend and some guidance the most but don't know how to ask for it. 

Bibliography.

Mice, The Fables of La Fontaine, Elizur Wright, 1882. 

Week 14 Reading Diary Continued: Fables of La Fontaine

These are notes over the second half of my reading on the Fables of La Fontaine.

I think it would be fun to do a story about a rooster and how he takes his job seriously of waking people up each morning. Maybe he has gotten too cocky though with the other animals and needs to get taken down a peg or two.

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I think it would also be fun to write a story about an animal that can also transform into a human. Maybe it could be a guy that when he wants to can transform into some kind of fish or whale. Maybe he swims to exotic places or goes to the Great Barrier Reef.

It would be fun to write a story about a woman who lived on a star and because she lived on the star she could travel to any moment in history. Not the future but anywhere in history.

Week 14 Reading Diary: Fables of La Fontaine

This week I decided to read from the Fables of La Fontaine. Below are some notes on my reading from the first half of the week.

I think it would be fun to create a spin off of the story about the rabbit and the turtle racing. I was thinking it could be a story where the rabbit wins because he has been taking performance enhancing supplements.

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I think it would be fun to create a story where two very unlikely animals become friends and help each other accomplish something. Maybe there could be a dolphin and a stingray that are big wave surfers and a huge wave comes and one has to save the other.

It could be interesting to make a story about a pack of wolves who are forced to survive through hardship and starvation. It could be a story about the will to persevere and how having support can get you through the toughest times.

Week 13 Storytelling: Celebrating Friday

A long long time ago there were no names for the days of the week. People wandered around hardly bound by time. This proved to be a good thing as well as a bad thing. People enjoyed not having hard deadlines for things but this brought about laziness and neglect.

The biggest city in the world at the time was called Origin and it was here that the idea of a week was born. In order to better govern the people of the world they decided creating a bigger presence of time was a good idea. One of the ways they thought they could do this was by creating a calendar that consisted of days, weeks, and months. There were to be 7 days in a week, 4 weeks in a month, and 12 months in what they called a year.

15th Century Calendar
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This proved to be a good idea and a lot of people felt like this would help progress society and the world they lived in. Some of the highly educated people had noticed that there wasn't a lot of motivation amongst people before they put in place a calendar. However, afterwards, those intellectuals noticed the pace of life increase and the growth of society to increase faster. They felt pleased with themselves.

The only problem they had was that people didn't know how to differentiate one day of the week versus another. The intellectuals decided that they should name the days of the week to help people in their organization.

There were five different intellectuals that decided they would go to a local tavern on the fifth day of the week and name the days of the week. They thought this would be a fun way to get creative in coming up with names suitable for the week days.

They all agreed the each of the names of the day should end with day. When it came to the fifth day everyone got excited because this was the last day of the work week for them. They were all teachers and the students had the sixth and seventh days of the week off.

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After much deliberation they all agreed on the name for the fifth day. They decided to call it Friday. The chose this because in their accent fri sounded like free. When school would get out on Friday and all the kids had left the teachers would walk out of the building together and shout WE ARE FREEEE! This had been there ritual for a long time so they thought it only fitting to use it as the name of the fifth day.

Author's Note.
In the original story there is a woman that decides she is going to comb and spin flax on a Friday. I think this is the type of work she does. Apparently this is upsetting to Mother Friday because she comes to the house of the lady when she has fallen asleep. Mother Friday is engaged that the lady would be doing such a thing and takes dust and dumps it all in the woman's eyes. The woman wakes up screaming and not knowing what happened. In the end the woman begs for forgiveness and Mother Friday eventually removes the dust so the lady can see again.
The story inspired me to do a story about the origin of the Friday weekday. I thought it would be funny to have there be a lighthearted story behind it because Friday is such a great day of the week for most people. I think ancient history can kind of be presented as a period of time where the people were more serious than lighthearted. I wanted more story to kind of change that attitude about that time period.

Bibliography.
Friday, Russian Fairy Tales, W. R. S. Ralston, 1887.

Week 13 Reading Diary Continued: Russian Fairy Tales

Below are notes I had while reading the second part of the unit I chose for this week over Russian Fairy Tales. 

There seems to be a lot of stories that are on the scarier and more suspenseful side. I think that it would be cool to create a suspenseful/scary story that really makes the reader swallow their breath little.

I also think it could be fun to tell a story about two friends and a journey they go on together. Maybe I could even make it animal themed like Homeward Bound.

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I think it could be interesting to tell a story about the problems gossip can create. Maybe I could kind of make it like a black plague.

Week 13 Reading Diary: Russian Fairy Tales

This week I decided to read Russian Fairy Tales. I am excited to read this unit because I am also reading a book right now called The Brothers Karamazov.

I think it might be fun to tell a ghost story. Growing up I always asked my dad to tell us ghost stories and it could be good practice for when I might need to tell one in the future.

It could be kind of funny to tell a story about the origin of naming Friday Friday. Maybe it could have  originally been called free day or fried egg due to some reason. Over time it could have changed to Friday due to people miss pronouncing the original.

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I would like to tell a story about a group of brothers. I was thinking it could be a story that is kind of a coming of age tale that could be funny but also kind of heartwarming.

Week 12 Reading Diary Continued: Canterbury Tales

Below are notes from the second part of the Canterbury Tales I decided to read for this week.

It would be cool to have a story set in Asia. There is some really beautiful landscape there that could be unique for a story.

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I think I would like to write a story that highlights God's grace and his forgiveness. I would want to show how judgment and deeds are not what God cares about.

It could be interesting to tell a story of a man who is about to be hung for a crime he committed. Maybe he has some unique realizations about life and death.

Week 12 Reading Diary: Canterbury Tales

This week I decided to read from the Canterbury Tales unit and more specifically The Chaucer Story Book. These are some notes over what I read in the first part.

I think it would be interesting to do a story about someone who is ashamed of their job or does their job even though they don't like it. Maybe it could be a story about realizing that you don't have to commit yourself to misery.

It could be cool to do kind of a scary story since I haven't done one of those at all. When I was a kid I used to love ghost stories. Of course then I would hate them when I was trying to fall asleep. Maybe I could do when about a grim reaper type character.

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I might want to do a story of a group of men that see debauchery as favorite practice. It could be a story about them realizing that it has grown boring and lacks purpose. They could realize they find more fulfillment in their lives elsewhere.

Week 11 Storytelling: Live Bands

It was safe to say Johnny was officially lost at this point. He sort of chuckled at himself because he thought this might happen in a city this size. New York city isn't really even a city. It is more like cities within cities within a city. It is colossal. It was his first time there in the city and he did not know his way around at all. Now that it was 1:00 am and his friends had all gone their own way he was alone trying to find his way back to his other friends house where he was crashing for the night. He knew it was somewhere in Brooklyn but of course his phone had died now and so he was left to go off memory.

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Is this even Brooklyn anymore? Man, I should have asked for Phil's address earlier I am such an idiot.

Johnny sat down and tried to calm himself down so he could think logically. He sat there for a couple minutes and tried to figure out what his next move. He thought maybe he should go back to the bar he was at and see if he could meet someone that might let him stay at their place. That seemed a bit sketchy though and unlikely. He thought about finding a hotel and just getting a room for the night but he knew that would be expensive.

He was about to get up and see if he could find a place to buy an iPhone charger when he heard something. It was faint but it sounded like live music. He wasn't sure what instruments were all playing but he could definitely make out a fiddle. Johnny was a musician himself and couldn't help but wonder who was playing. He loved live music and felt obligated to go and listen whenever he stumbled upon a live band.

Like a zombie he began to follow the noise to find its source. It seemed like it was coming from the back of an alley. He was reluctant to go down the alley, probably because of the amount of television he watched growing up but he  went anyway. The alley way opened up to the waterfront and he could tell where the music was coming from. In what looked like an abandoned warehouse he could see lights on and there were shadows dancing in the light.

When he finally got close he couldn't believe what his eyes saw. It was a bunch of animals! They was a band on a stage and then a  crowd of them dancing. He started to wonder if the drink he had earlier was laced with something. He rubbed his eyes to try to snap him out of it but when he opened them again they were still there having a blast.

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He watched them for a while and thought he must have been slipped some kind of drug, but hey these guys were good! He laughed at the different animals dance moves and even took a few notes for himself.

Johnny! Jooooooohn! John!!! Wake up man we gotta go.

Johnny opened his eyes and saw Phil's face staring at him. It was just a dream.




Author's Note.

HEY! diddle, diddle,

The cat and the fiddle,

The cow jumped over the moon;

The little dog laugh'd

To see the sport,

While the dish ran after the spoon.

The nursery rhyme made me think of a cat playing the fiddle and I thought how cool it would be if animals could play instruments. I thought about how weird it would be to see animals having a jam sesh together and then other animals dancing. I wanted to create a story that was kind of like when animals do human like things. I am not sure why I chose New York City but it seems like the kind of city where some weird things could be going on in the nooks and crannies that only a few people know about. I decided to make it a dream because I thought it made the story more realistic. Also, I love when I have crazy dreams and wake up and can remember them all so I thought that be fun to show in my writing. The pictures I chose were in an effort to help the reader get a decent idea of what I was envisioning. 

Bibliography.
Hey Diddle Diddle, The Nursery Rhyme Book, edited by Andrew Lang and illustrated by L. Leslie. Brooke, 1897. 

Week 11 Reading Diary Continued: The Nursery Rhyme Book

These will be notes for the second part my week 11 reading over The Nursery Rhyme Book.

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This picture made me think of an idea for a story. What if a young boy or girl stumbled upon an animal gathering in a weird place in a city. The animals could be gathered there for their monthly concert and party. It would be a jam session and kick back with their friends. 

I could write a story about a guy who likes a girl and tries everything to woo her. In the process he changes the way he really is and doesn't show his true personality. The girl and him could come to a final confrontation where she tells him he should have just been himself. 

It could be interesting to write a story that tries to explain and show the feeling a person has when they join a group that is already close with each other. Sort of the feeling associated with being a rookie in something.

Week 11 Reading Diary: The Nursery Rhyme Book

For this week's reading diary I will be going over The Nursery Rhyme Book, which is part of our British unit.

I think it would be fun to do a story about a man who lived on the moon and how he came to live there. Maybe it could be written as a sort of conspiracy theory. 

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I think it would be interesting to write a story that talks about living in the rainy season in the amazon rain forest and what its like. Maybe it could be a man telling a story over a fire as he is hiking with his buddies. He could have seen every kind of rain there was and what he liked about them all. 

I think it would be fun to do a story about what it is like for bears when they hibernate. 

I would like to do a story that takes place in the winter and shows how great snow is and how it is misunderstood.

Week 10 Storytelling: Anatole

Anatole awoke from his afternoon nap in the hammock in such a peaceful way he thought this is a moment in life he surely won't forget. That is saying a lot considering he is as old as time. The amount of naps he has taken in his lifetime might take years to count if one could remember them all. However, this nap felt special. His hammock was positioned perfectly under a tree on the beach so that the branches kept him in the shade but also let enough sun through to keep him the perfect temperature. It was after lunch so he felt perfectly content and relaxed. When he was asleep it was almost as if he was just conscious enough to still enjoy the warmth of the sun and the slight breeze hitting his face. When he woke up he just laid there completely still. Not wanting to move a muscle for fear this unmatched comfortability might disappear. He noticed the sun was starting to get lower in the sky and approach the bay. He lived in a shack practically on the beach and he could hear the chimes singing in the breeze. He could also hear the waves crashing against the side of his canoe he had built so long ago. Finally after he had spent some time soaking it all in he knew he had to get up and start getting ready. 

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Anatole had truly unique profession. When the earth began God trusted him with the job of painting the sunset each night. Anatole became a masterful artist as he practiced on his immense canvas each day. Each evening as the sun is about to set he paddles out in his canoe and paints the magnificent tapestry of colors that can be seen from all over the earth. No sunset is the same as the last and that is because Anatole paints what his heart feels each day. There are days when he is sad and doesn't paint at all. Sometimes if it is cloudy or rainy there is not canvas to paint on. However, most days he makes a masterpiece in hopes that everyone might get to enjoy it.

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When the sun finally goes down God and Anatole get to sit down with each other and talk. God shows him the people the were touched by his sunset. He gets to see the moments people enjoyed during the sunset almost like a clip in people's lives. Anatole is humbled by people's reactions and smiles from ear to ear. Some moments are too beautiful to describe with words and he will cry tears of joy. He believes he must be the luckiest man in the entire history of the world.

Author's Note.
In the original story Pearl-Feather is a sort of evil magician that killed Nokomis' father. The old woman, Nokomis, begs of Hiawatha to avenge her father and try to go murder Pearl-Feather. Pearl-Feather apparently lives on an island surrounded by massive snakes and the water around is black. It is a dangerous place to try and go to say the least. However, Hiawatha accepts the challenge and sets out in his canoe to try and take down the mighty Pearl-Feather. Hiawatha encounters the snakes first, which are enormous. He ends up killing them and eventually killing Pearl-Feather. The story ends with the hero sailing home.
The part that my story is reason based off of is in the beginning when the old woman Nokomis is describing the sunset. I wanted to create a story that showed the origin of sunsets. In this case it is an old artist that is responsible for painting them. I have grown up drawing and painting as a hobby and learning a lot of what I know from my Dad. I am not any good but I love looking at my Dad's water color paintings of the sunset and mountains so that is a little bit where the inspiration came from.

Bibliography.
Hiawatha and the Pearl-Feather, The Song of Hiawatha, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1855.

Week 10 Reading Diary Continued: The Song of Hiawatha

These are notes for the second section of week 10 reading that I chose to do over The Song of Hiawatha.

A native american woman describing the sunset makes me think I could create a story that explains the origin of sunsets. Or maybe a could talk about a character who is a mythical artist that is responsible for creating the sunset each night.

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I think it would be fun to do a story where a white man falls in love with a Native American girl as he explores the west. Or maybe I could do it where a Native American man falls in love with a white woman. I could tell the story of them meeting for the first time or realizing that they liked each other. 

I want to do a story that incorporates birch trees because they are my favorite kind of tree. I could come up with some reason they are significant.

Week 10 Reading Diary: The Song of Hiawatha

This week I chose to do reading over the Native American unit called The Song of Hiawatha.
The notes below are from reading the first section.

I like the idea of doing a story where the main character has a battle with a bear and kills it. The story could be about courage. I think it would be cool to have a plot twist at the end where the reader finds out that the warrior who defeats the beast is a woman.

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I think it would be fun to create a story that involves a character building their own canoe or ship and having to set sail on it for some kind of adventure. Maybe he could die on his journey and his spirit becomes a mythical creature of the deep. The creature could be wreaking havoc on sailors because he never made it to his beloved woman.

I would like to try and do a story in a poem format or maybe at least have a poem in the beginning. I have never really written poetry and I think it would be fun to challenge myself to do that.

Week 9 Storytelling: Evelyn

Dear Evelyn,

I hope the winter is going well in Canada. It has been weird not getting to see you everyday and go on adventures. Florida has been nice but it is definitely a lot different than home. All the other Ravens don't really get why I would marry a penguin but I just tell them you haven't met my wife then. Don't worry, not all the ravens are judgmental. I have been able to make some really good friends on the fly down and while I have been here.

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The fly down was probably the craziest trip I have been on though. As you know we started early that morning just after dawn. I can't express to you how long the line was at the border. You know when you see those pictures on TV of the worlds craziest traffic jams? They look like it would take you the rest of the day just to count the cars. It was like that but worse. We did not pick the right day to travel that is for sure. Then once we got to the booth to have our passports checked one of my cousins had to get taken back and questioned. Apparently they thought he was a different bird that had the same name who was wanted for pooping on sacred land. Took them about 2 hours to figure out that it wasn't him. Everyone was really excited to get past the border and right after we all played that racing game we like to play. My group one so that was a lot of fun! The fun soon ended after when we were flying across the midwest. I swear hunting is the only thing humans do in that part of the United States. Also, they all have such ridiculously nice guns that it is actually terrifying. No one in our group ended up getting picked off but the group ahead of us had two guys go down. Definitely a sobering moment of how precious life can be. I will never fly over Nebraska again that is for sure. After that it wasn't too bad until we were about to enter Florida. No one new this but there was a hurricane that was hitting land on the western coast of Florida right as we were about to cross the state line. This made for an interesting decent to say the least. There were probably a half dozen times that I thought I was going to get brain damage from how hard it was raining. A couple guys forgot their goggles and had to find shelter on the ground. I was worried for them since there are so many alligators in Florida. I had to concentrate so hard on my flight path I completely forgot to keep an eye on my friends and so I got very lost at one point. I finally found them after what seemed like forever and we got back on the right path. We eventually made it to Miami and all was well. I think I slept for like 14 hours after that trip haha. Here is a picture I took along the way!

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I have been missing you these past couple days really bad. I wish we could just hang out at the end of the day and have dinner together. In a way you are lucky you can't fly and can live through the winter up there. Florida is definitely not home and I miss our friends. I hope you have been getting to swim since I know it is your favorite. How is Agatha doing? Has she and Bernie gotten back together yet? You'll have to let everyone I say hi.

Can't wait to hear back from you and hear how you are doing! I hope you guys are having fun up there.

Love,

    Pete


Author's Note.
The inspiration for this story came from Raven's Marriage, which is a story in the Alaskan Legends compilation. In the original story Raven has decided it is time to find a wife. All the birds are about to head to the summer land because winter is coming quickly. Raven wants to find a wife to fly to summer grounds with. At first he is rejected again and again by all sorts of birds. He eventually finds a magic stone that helps him become appealing to a goose that ends up marrying him. On their way to the summer land he seems to be strong and graceful until near the end of the journey. He begins to become very tired as they are crossing the sea and eventually he can no longer keep up with the other geese. The leaders decide they cannot wait for him any longer to catch up. He loses his wife and the magical stone. He makes it to shore but he is all alone.

I wanted to make the story a little bit more personable so I decided to make my story a letter from a husband bird to his wife back home. I thought it would be funny to have two different types of bird be married because I feel like you never see that. I had the husband tell the story about his flight down because I always wonder how far it is birds have to travel for migration and how hard it is to make that that trip. I am from Michigan and I have had my fair share of long and crazy road trips in the past so I think that was part of what inspired me. The original story was kind of sad and gloomy so I wanted to make mine a little bit more happy and loving. I wanted to show a husband that was missing his wife.

Bibliography.
Raven's Marriage, Myths and Legends of Alaska, Katharine Berry Judson, 1911.

Week 9 Reading Diary Continued: Alaskan Legends

This is the second part of my reading notes for week 9 that are over Alaskan Legends.

I like the story about the first woman. I think it could be interesting to have a story that incorporates men meeting woman for the first time. I could imagine it being so odd to see someone so similar to you yet so different. The differences could become even more pronounced once they get to know how each other think.

I think it could be fun to write a story about what someone experiences after they are dead. Maybe there could even be two perspectives. One could be sort of a native americans heaven and the other a native americans hell.

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I have always been captivated by killer whales. Probably because of the movie "Free Willie" from when I was a kid. I think it would be cool to do a sort of native american version of free willie but with a twist. In the story I liked how he rode the killer whales out into the ocean and I think that could be fun to incorporate into my story.

Week 9 Reading Diary: Alaskan Legends

For this week's reading I decided to look at Alaskan Legends for the Native American section.

I like how it talks about man first coming to earth. It would be fun to do a story that involved man coming to earth for the first time. Or maybe someone who has been lost in time comes to an era that he has never experienced before.

I also like how the raven is a repeating character. It could be fun to incorporate a character that I previously used in another story.

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In the raven's marriage story he just all of a sudden decides to get married. I think it could be fun to do a story that dives into that a little deeper. Maybe raven talks more about why he wants to be married. Then once e is I could talk about the things he didn't expect and the good and challenging things that go along with marriage.

Blog Ideas

For blog inspiration I looked at the blogs of these three classmates.

Fred K

Matty Williams

Adrienne Crawford

They were all unique and different and I can tell they were creative people.

I think when it comes to my blog one thing I would like to do is try to incorporate some more memes because I think they are funny and it could give readers a good laugh. I also think I want to change my background from just plain white to something different. The white with black font just seems kind of boring now. I also really liked how Matty Williams label bar on the right side was see through so you could see the background more. I think hat would be cool to do on my blog as well.

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Time Schedule for the Blog

My time schedule thus far has been doing reading on Monday and Wednesday of the week and then writing my story on Thursday. Then I will do the weekend assignments at random during the weekend. Usually I will get to those on Friday or Sunday.

So far I feel like my schedule has been working out well. I don't feel like I procrastinate and have a bunch of stuff due all at once and that is a great feeling. I have a another online class where that can happen but the setup is also a bit different.

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One thing I have noticed is that some weeks I spend too much time doing this class but it is enjoyable and easy to lose track of time. I need to make sure I am not writing too much because I know the people who read my stories and writing don't have all the time in the world.

Overall I feel good about the class and the work I have been doing and it  has been a fun class tot make part in.

Week 8 Reading: Native American Unit

I am doing a storybook about Native American tribes in the Pacific Northwest so I am excited for this unit of reading.

The first option that caught my eye was the unit on Myths and Legends of Alaska. Some of the stories are from tribes that I am interested in for my project. Haida and Tlingit stories are great so I would love to hear some that came from Alaska. I feel like Alaska is a whole different kind of wild that is for the most part untamed so it has a certain mystique about it.

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I would also like to read Myths and Legends of the Pacific Northwest because of me currently doing a project on Native Americans from that region. I have gotten to visit Oregon and Washington over the past two summers and loved that area of the country so it has a personal pull as well.

I would also enjoy reading about the inuit people. For a long time I have loved their style of art and even have a tattoo inspired by some of their art. I think there stories would be interesting to read. 

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Week 7 Storytelling: Curstoff the Great

If you are of a certain age you have most likely experienced being taught to write in cursive. However, today it is being phased out of education and most schools do not teach a class on cursive handwriting. Why then did we ever have to learn cursive in the first place?

The reason behind writing in cursive might shock you. There is more to the story than most people know. So I will tell you...

A long time ago there was a wise philosopher named Curstoff. He was known by many as a man with a knowledge of the world that was so deep there wasn't anything he didn't know. People from all over the world came to him seeking answers for all sorts of questions. He was a humble guy who enjoyed helping others and so he worked with all sorts of people.

When he was about 35 years old he lived in what is now modern day Rome. A terrible king had taken over his country and he ruled over the people in ways much more unjust and harsh than some of the worst dictators in history.

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Curstoff was no longer allowed to read books or do experiments in his workshop. He was taken by the king to be a part of the king's council. This way the king could use him for his knowledge and also so that Curstoff didn't get any smart ideas about leading a revenge or bringing an end to the king's rule over the land.

Curstoff tried to escape a few times but it was just too risky and the king had too good of a watch on him.

Back in this time there were only a few dozen people that could write in the world and they wrote using what would be described now as symbols. It looked similar in a way to Chinese writing today.

One day Curstoff came in contact with another country's master in knowledge and they got a chance to speak in private. The other mans name was Dino. Dino recognized the oppression that the people of the country were facing and he told Curstoff he wanted to help overthrow the king.

Curtsy told Dino he had been hoping for a long time to meet someone like Dino who could potentially help the country. He told Dino he ad developed a new method of writing and with it a new language. Curtsy gave him what is now known as the english language and gave him papers that allowed him to learn how to write in cursive. Curtsy told him that this was his only copy of the language and the associated tutorial sheets and to take care of them at all costs.

Curstoff called his new language cursive and so it was born into the world.

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Curstoff and Dino relayed many messages back in forth to each other in secrecy and were able to organize a way to kill the king. They only had a few messages become intercepted  but when they were no one could read them or understand what they meant.

Through cursive they were able to kill the king and restore the country back to a better way of life. Curtsy was the new king and he ruled the people in a just manner. People praised him for his wisdom and soon cursive was beginning to be taught in schools.

It has continued to be one of the longest living languages and method of writing today. However, people have switched over to the new style of print writing, which seems to be effective.


Author's Note. 
This story was inspired by the Jamaican Anansi story called Tumble Bug. Tumble bug is another name for a dung beetle. In the original story it explains how the Tumble bug is trying to marry a beautiful girl and to do so he has to bring a jar of money to the king. He has a competitor though who is also trying to find money so that he can marry the girl. His competitor can only find poop and so he puts it in his jar. Then he tricks the tumble bug to go have a drink with him where he switches the jars. In front of the king they are both asked to dump out the contents of their jars and so the poop falls out. The king shouts at the beetle to pick it up and carry the poop away. This is why tumble bugs are always carrying poop somewhere.
I liked how the story found an original story and reason behind something that seems so odd to us humans. I wanted to do the same thing in my story but with a different spin. I have always wondered why we learned cursive and why it is now being phased out so that it what I tried to develop my story around.
I chose the image to show what the cursive lettering looks like for the readers to remember or see for the first time.

Bibliography.
Tumble Bug, Jamaica Anansi Stories, Martha Warren Beckwith, 1924.

Week 7 Reading Diary Continued: Jamaica Anansi Stories

I have continued to read the second part of Jamaica Anansi Stories and below are some notes from part B for this week.

Some of the stories are actually had to understand because it is written in the Jamaican dialect. Make sure if I do write showing a dialect or slang that I don't go overboard.

It could be fun to incorporate a new law that everyone has to follow in a story and show how it effects life. It could be interesting considering some cultures have laws that others do not.

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I think it would be funny to tell a story that explains why dogs like to sniff their own poop and even eat it sometimes or why mosquitos love poop. Or maybe I could make a story that explains a different reason behind bees making honey. 

I like how the author came up with a reason why dung-beetles are always around poop. 

It could be a fun story to have two guys chasing after the same girl. Maybe have the guy who is the underdog come away with the girl for some odd reason. Maybe instead of it being because he was nice and caring it could be because she thought he'd make more money or some random thing she liked.

Week 7 Reading Diary: Jamaica Anansi Stories

This week I chose to read Jamaica Anansi Stories written by Martha Warren Beckwith

I like how in the stories you can see the Jamaican dialect and slang come out. It makes the story feel a little more authentic. It would be cool to do a story in which I wrote how the people from that region spoke.

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I think it would be interesting to do a story from a mother's point of view. Maybe her actual thoughts going on in her head could be heard rather than what she says on the outside. Mother's can be so strong even when they are struggling or having a hard day. It could be interesting to hear their inner workings and where their minds truly go in those times.

Storytelling for Week 6: Crazy Water

Dear Joe Smith,

The following is a manuscript of a conversation between Dr. Phil Rupp and a unique patient who is not a human but is actually a glass of water. This is from their second meeting that occurred at noon on February 20th, 2016. The patient has not yet been diagnosed with any particular disease or disorder but is voluntarily seeking out help. He has been complaining of a multitude of ailments as well as being misunderstood and abused. It is our hope that you might be able to provide a second opinion on the patient and any thoughts you have in terms of diagnosis and/or treatment. 

Therapist: So, how has it been going this week so far? I know last week was our first time meeting and we have only just met in a way but I encourage you to try and be open with me so that we can develop a relationship. I know it can be hard at first but trust me when I say that I want to help you. 

Water: Well honestly, it has been kind of a crazy week so far. As you know I am from the ocean and this season is hurricane season so things have been a bit chaotic. Humans don't realize that the hurricanes make different water irritable and that is why you see such rough seas.

Therapist: I actually had no idea that that went on but it makes total sense. I think that weather would make me a little uneasy too. Have you been getting in a lot of arguments with neighbors?

Water: Yes, you could say that.

Therapist: Elaborate on that, how has that made you feel?

Water: It has just been especially tough this year. Humans and the amount of waste they throw on us has been reaching levels none of us had thought were possible. This has made us very frustrated because a lot of our friends and fellow sea creatures have been dying in record amounts. It has put a lot of stress on everyone so this hurricane season has been very confrontational.

Therapist: Wow, I didn't realize that was such a big issue?

Water: Yeah you might not know it but there are at least three places in the ocean that have become "water landfills" roughly the size of Texas. Those areas face some of the most waste because of the currents, they tend to pool the trash in places. 

Great Pacific Garbage Patch
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Therapist: So the issues you have been having aren't necessarily coming from your neighbors then?

Water: No not exactly. I mean frustration does get taken out on each other but that isn't the source. Excuse me for being blunt but it is the human race I am about fed up with. The lack of consideration and respect is almost unbelievable. I am not directing this right at you though I realize the issue is bigger than that.

Therapist: Well I am not so sure about that but tell me more. 

Water: Frankly, I feel abused. Here I am helping to cultivate this huge ecosystem that humans survive off. Here I am helping there be enough oxygen in the air to let humans breathe. Here I am helping to cool off the planet so that humans can live and not melt. It just feel like I am constantly helping and humans don't seem to acknowledge it.

Therapist: Why do you think humans don't realize this issue or chose not to react to the situation?

Water: Now that is a very good question. The ocean has a lot of conversation about this exact topic. I wish there was just one answer to this question but I think it is very complex and multi-faceted. 

Therapist: What do you personally think?

Water: For starters, I think most major media companies are focused on reporting on human related stories or obvious natural disasters. Since, the contamination of the ocean is something that occurs at a much slower rate then say a hurricane it is much harder to notice and report on. I also think humans are crippled with apathy and laziness and this causes them not to care. I think there are also a lot of people that do care and don't know what to do. Or there are people who care that don't have enough power or influence to bring about awareness and positive action. There are a lot of things human do as part of their businesses that they don't realize has a negative effect on the ocean. One example might be cattle farming. They don't realize that all that cow poop gets into the ground water and ends up at my front door for me to take a good wife of in the morning. 

Therapist: I think you might be being a little eccentric with all that. Have you had issues with hallucinations in the past?

Water: No! I am not hallucinating this and I find it offensive for you to think that. I also think it is ironic that humans do this to the ocean because they are essentially helping to kill off species of animals that live in the water that they eat! They are ruining their own food. 

Senka, you dead mon?
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Therapist: But how many people eat that much fish, I don't think we rely on fish all that much. But we are getting off topic. Do you feel like you have anger issues?

Water: Ya know, I think I am starting to be a little more angry these days. I think a lot of that is warranted though and if you were in my shoes I think you might snap a little too. Sometimes I feel like I am talking to a brick wall when I try to explain the current issues. 

Therapist: So you have been feeling excessively angry. It may be worth while to start you on some anti-anxiety medication. It could help with the anger. 

Water: I don't get why you humans love your pills so much. It seems like everyone is reliant on some drug or another. I want to get to the source of the problem and thats why I am trying to explaining these issues. I think they are the source of my problems.

Therapist: Honestly, it can be hard for one to know the source of their own problems. That is why I have a job and why I went to school for so many years. I am one of the people that can make those kinds of decisions about the source of problems. 

Water: Okay then what do you think?!

Therapist: I think that you have been suffering from delusional thoughts and are confused on a lot of things in your head and that causes you to become angry often. How old are you if you don't mind me asking?

Water: Older than any human.

Therapist: You could be suffering from Alzheimers. It is somewhat common in the elderly and has some of the symptoms I previously said. I will need to consult another doctor before making that decision though.

Water: Great, I can't wait to see how many meds you guys start telling me to take. 

Therapist: Well medicine is helpful and serves a valuable role in life.

Water: Riiiight. Is our time up yet?

Therapist: Yes it is, I will see you next week.

Water: See you then.

Author's Note. 

My story was inspired by The Legend of the Rice from Folklore of Laos. In the story rice is what the people eat and it is so big and nutritious that the people only need to eat one grain of rice to be satisfied. The grain would even roll down from the fields into the processing plant all by itself, which allowed the people not to have to harvest it. However, the processing plant eventually needed to be expanded and renovated. The people were under a time crunch to get the plant done before the rice came down from the fields. A lady working on the plant one day noticed the rice on its way and she asked in frustration why the rice couldn't wait until the people were done with the renovation. After that day the rice has always waited in the field for the people to harvest it and the size of the grains has grown much smaller.

I chose to do a story style that shows a conversation between a therapist and a glass of water because I thought it would be interesting and odd. I have had a few classes that have talked about ocean and water pollution. Some of the facts are astonishing and I hope that this story compels people to look for more information on the subject. 

I chose the images I did because I think they help the reader form an idea of the story and get their creative juices flowing as well as be informative. 

Bibliography. 

The Legend of the Rice, Folklore of Laos, Katherine Neville Fleeson, 1899.

Week 6 Reading Diary Continued: Folklore of Laos

I have continued reading Folklore of Laos by Katerine Neville Fleeson.
Below ae some notes from reading part B.

I really liked the story about the rice and how it used to be that humans did not have to strain to harvest it and they had more than enough. I think it would be cool to do a dialogue between a therapist and a glass of water. The therapist could ask the glass of water how it is feeling and why it has been feeling down and abused.

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I think it would be interesting to tell a story about a woman who deceives a man for her own benefit but through the process she realizes how unhappy she is. The guilt could eat at her so bad that she develops some ailment and life becomes miserable. 

I would like to do a story about the first snowboarder and he could be a boy from Laos. I want to explain how he addicted to the feeling of flying town the mountain. It could be a story about how everything is right in the ride down the mountain and that there isn't room to think about the problems of the world.

Week 6 Reading Diary: Folklore of Laos

For the first part of the week I will be reading Folklore of Laos by Katerine Neville Fleeson.
Below will be some notes from reading part A.

After reading An Enchanted Mountain I think it would be fun to do a story about a mountain and how people who climbed it found their true calling in life. They could have a new sense of purpose when they descend the mountain.

I also thought it would be cool to do a story about a lake that had magical powers. Maybe when you swim in the lake you could become your true spirit fish. It would be fun to have like a group of friends stumble upon this lake on accident and go for a swim only to have things be drastically different then what they expected.

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I think it would be cool to come up with a story that explained the process of angels earning their wings. Maybe it could be a dialogue between an older angel and a younger angel. The older angel could be sort of mentoring the younger angel on what to do. It would be a story about attitude and grace and not about what the angel thinks she had "to do" to become an angel.

Thoughts about Comments

It was really encouraging reading all of my previous comments. People were really supportive of my writing and gave me very good suggestions on how to improve my stories and related posts. I like that we have to do comments on other peoples walls because it allows you to get to know one another. It also is fun to see other people's writing styles because sometimes that make me think about new ways of writing.

Storytelling for Week 5: Sebastien

Most people don't realize how fishing originated or why it came to be that humans decided to eat fish. The origins of fishing our peculiar to say the least. This is a story of how it all came to be and what fishing is today....

A long long time ago, before there were boats or fishing poles there was a man named Sebastien. Sebastien lived on an island near was is known today as Samoa with his family and small village. They were a hunter and gather type of village, however, they did try and grow some native crops with the minimal land they had. Sebastien was known for being an excellent swimmer, which was a big deal in a village that loved traditional water sports and activities. He was said to be able to dive 100 feet down and back up in one breath. Some believe he pioneered the sport of free diving. Sebastien was also a very pivotal man in history because he was the first fisherman in the entire world.

Sebastien
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Sebastien loved diving because he loved to look at all of the wildlife in the ocean. His favorite creature of the depths was the octopus because of how it could disappear in the blink of an eye leaving only a trail of mysterious black ink. One year the village Sebastien lived in experienced a terrible infestation of beetles that killed all their plants and brought disease to almost all of the wildlife. The villagers were unable to fid healthy food and when winter came they were down to their last reserves. This was especially problematic because the winter season brought the most powerful storms  so they could not migrate to another island safely. They thought about risking it and travel by boat to an island but the trees had even been infested with the beetles and the villagers could not make proper canoes.

Sebastien saw the peril that the villagers were facing and understood it was a desperate time calling for desperate measures. One thing that the villagers did not know about Sebastien is that he could speak any sea creature. He had always viewed fish as friends but thought he might be able to use them as food for the people. After all, there were so many of them surely it wouldn't affect the marine ecosystem. He had no other choice. He spoke to the most trusted sea creature in the pacific, Cynthia, the sea turtle and mother to all. Cynthia warned him that if he started this type of hunting that generation after generation of his kind will continue to do so until there is no fish left in the sea. She also said she knew how tough times were and that she would understand if he ended up deciding to eat the fish. 

Local Villager
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Eventually Sebastien resorted to hunting and eating the fish and he made the villagers happy and healthy along with his family. The environment after the beetles left and winter died down sprang back to life and island sprang back from it dark period. However, the fishing did not stop. People had come to love eating fish and it was treated as a delicacy. Fishing spread to other islands and eventually to other countries as the population of the earth grew. 

Sebastien grew to be a very old man. He was still alive when he was 150 years old. Same say it was because of all the good nutrients he got from being in the sun all day. Others thought it was because he swam so much in the ocean. He didn't see any truth in all the rumors. However, he did see something that terrified him in his old age. When he went and swam as he would every day there were no longer hardly any fish in the ocean around him. He would be lucky if he saw one fish a week when he went and swam. When he spoke to the other creatures of the sea they were scared. They told Sebastien how hard it was to have the fish almost disappear. So many things relied on the fish for survival and now they could not. They were scared they might be the next ones hunted when the fish ran out. One turtle said he was not scared though. He told Sebastien he was not scared because he knew the ocean would be ruined if all the fish were taken from the sea.


Author's Note. The original story is about a king who decides to get his boys fishes for the pong that they have on the property. However, unexpectedly a turtle decides that he too wants to live at the pond. The boys go to see the fishes for the first time but when they see the turtle they think he is a demon. They have never seen a turtle before to know what one might look like so they tell their dad the king to get rid of the demon. One of the kings friends says that the king ought to throw him into the river where he will surely be carried out to the sea and killed. The turtle says to the king that that would be an awful and cruel thing to do to a turtle all the while knowing that could mean his real freedom. The king thinks that the turtle is telling the truth so in an effort to kill the turtle he releases the turtle to the sea.
I told the story as a way to sort of explain the origins of fishing because I often wonder how it all started. I have had a couple environmental classes at OU and it is shocking to hear how much overfishing goes on in the world. It is even more crazy to see how badly that effects the marine ecosystem. I don't think people understand how much we really on the ocean because we treat it as if it were a garbage dump.
The thing I took from the original story is that humans don't always treat sea creatures the right way or understand the sea and its creatures well. I wanted to use that in a similar way in my story and hopefully make readers interested in finding out more about the ocean's current situation.


Bibliography. How the Turtle Saved His Own Life, Jataka Tales, Ellen Babbitt, 1912.

Week 5 Reading Diary Continued: Jataka Tales

I have been reading Jataka Tales by Ellen Babbitt this week. I have really enjoyed these shorter tales in this series of reading. I feel like it allows for a little bit more creativity when thinking of how to recreate them or take a spin off of the original story.

I think it would be a cool idea to have a story where bird migrate to a different region due to the winter and when they do they are totally without anyone they know besides themselves. It could be a story about having courage to go and meet people unlike yourself and pushing yourself out of that comfort zone.

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I think it would also be fun to do a story that is more of an adventure tale about an animal hiking up a mountain. Maybe it could be a story from the perspective of a donkey that helps carry things up Mt. Everest with the sherpas. It could be a story about how he had wanted to climb the mountain for so long but was stuck at base camp until he finally got his chance to go up the whole way.

I think doing a story that involves fish would be worthwhile. It could be a modern day fairy tale about how the oceans came to be over fished. It could start with a good relationship between fish and human. One where they both helped each other until the fishermen became greedy and how they eventually ended up hurting themselves by destroying the fish populations.