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.

Week 5 Reading Diary: Jataka Tales

These are some of my notes from the first part of week 5 in which I will be reading Jataka Tales by Babbit.

I like how a river can be such a huge part of life for animals. It is rejuvenating and can be a source of life to all. It would be cool to do a story about a river and the people it interacts with. Maybe it can have human characteristics.

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I really like elephants and I think it is amazing how they can literally die from heartache. They also have fantastic memories. Just yesterday I saw a video of an elephant picking up trash and throwing it away in a trash can. 

I like the story of the turtle and how he needed to keep his mouth shut but was unable to do so. It could be a good story to use the turtle character from Finding Nemo to do a story about the importance of knowing what not to say. 

I think it would be fun to do a story about a deer who played in a band up at the north pole. He deceived everyone by wearing reindeer antlers and he achieved success and sold plenty of albums. Only to find that everyone stops supporting him when they discover his lie. 

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Tech Tip Website

Hey everyone!

I decided to do a storybook on Native American stories from the Pacific Northwest! I really have grown to love that area of the country the past couple summers when I have visited. I really like the art from that area and I know there is a heavy influence from the Native American culture that originated there long ago.

Check out the site and read some of the stories I come up with!

Native American Stories from the PNW

This is probably only my second website so make some comments below if you have any suggestions or tips for me. Thank you!

Storytelling for Week 4: Life After Death

Two brothers Craig and Sam grew up in Pittsburgh under the same roof, however, they were very different.

Craig went to college at Pitt and studied chemistry for four years of undergraduate school and then eventually several more years to get his PhD. Craig was obsessed with acquiring knowledge. He was the guy who studied for his classes over breaks while most students were relaxing. Craig equated intelligence with success and wanted to be the smartest and most successful person he knew. He took pride it showing people how smart he was when rattling off random facts and talking over peoples' heads. Craig became so smart that he was eventually the head of the chemistry department at Monsanto. He was very good and figuring out new was to chemically engineer products to simulate/enhance natural products. Craig eventually learned that what he had been helping chemically engineer had very serious negative effects on the population and the earth. However, like so many of his coworkers he decided not think about that stuff. He was smart at chemistry and his intelligence had brought him nice things like his large house and nice clothes. These things brought purpose and happiness to his life.

Craig in his lab.
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Sam was the type of guy who struggled in school and did not feel like he was destined for higher academics. He decided to not go to college after he graduated high school and got his diploma. Sam realized what his strengths were in life and that led him to become a gym teacher at the high school he had gone to. Sam was one of those teachers all the kids loved and would hang around just to soak in his energy. Sam was great at giving kids advice and helping them through tough times. Sam realized that what he felt most passionate about was helping these kids he got to be around every day. He didn't have much money at all or "nice things" but what he did have was satisfaction at the end of the day. He had the satisfaction that that day he spent his time trying to make positive contributions to other's lives. He felt happy getting up each morning and couldn't wait to get to work and have fun with the students.

While Craig and Sam lived there lives Galaktastar watched them both. She was the creator of all things and it was her duty to judge the lives of humans so that when they died they were born into another life that was reflective of how they lived their previous one. 

Galaktastar
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Eventually Craig became old and passed away. He had a smoking habit he had picked up in college, which eventually led to lung cancer. Death was scary for Craig and he felt unsure of what was to come. Craig was born again but this time he was born as a mosquito. He was hated by all people and his life was constantly in danger of being ended by the smack of a hand. He was responsible for spreading disease because he had to live off of blood. He was sad an anxious most of the time.

Sam too eventually grew old and passed away. He died because his heart became enlarged and eventually his body did not have the strength to pump blood through it. Doctors said it wasn't an uncommon occurrence but his friends and family so it to be fitting of him. On his dead bed he was blown away by the number of people that came to visit him and tell him how he had effected their life. He was grateful for their kind words but in his mind it was them that brought him joy in life. When he was born again he was born an eagle. He spent his days flying all over the most beautiful landscapes and watching the sunset over the mountains or the ocean. There would be some sights that he witnessed that would bring him to actual tears because of their beauty. He would also cry because of the joy he felt in his heart. 

Author's Note. Reading The Sensible Enemy is what inspired me to write this story in this way. It sort of had a loose tie to the them of living a life centered on riches and knowledge versus living a life centered on others. In the original story it talks about the sons of kings deciding to go off on there own to be themselves and not follow in their fathers' footsteps. They believe they need money and gems to do the things they want to do though.
This story also reminded me of the story of the prodigal son in the bible. A lot of it is also just my own input. I think it is easy to feel pressured by your parents to do things or pursue certain careers. Sometimes I get frustrated by how much of that pressure can come from needing to attain money in order to sustain your life style. It is a weird relationship with money because I want to not feel so dependent on it for things yet at the same time I want to make money so that my parents don't have to feel further burdened by supporting me.
The images I chose for this story are supposed to help paint the picture for the reader. I chose them in an effort to assist in the reader's imagination and understanding of the story without interfering too much because I know different people will see it differently. 

Bibliography. The Sensible Enemy, The Panchatantra of Vishnu Sharma, translated byArthur Ryder, 1925.

Week 4 Reading Diary Continued: Panchatantra

Here are some more notes on my reading for week 4 over Panchatantra.

I think it is interesting how each side of our brains can specialize in a certain things that make us who we are. I think it would be fun to personify each hemisphere of our brain in a story. One side could be like a hipster that likes to make art and do creative things and the other could be the nerd that likes to do sudoku and play chess at the library with older men. Maybe they could end up meeting each other and decide to work together on a project at work and end up realizing they are a good pair and they end up making something incredible.

Creativity and logic
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I think it could be interesting to do a story about how a character goes to unheard of lengths to attain wealth. Doing things that are outrageous and ridiculous in order to have more of a feeling of power and stability. He then suddenly realizes that this feeling is only fleeting and that it has left him empty once again. He starts to think about money and how it controls him and aspects of his life even when he realizes it is as important to him anymore. He realizes how broken the world is due to greed. 

I think it would also be interesting to write a story about a scenario where an animal hordes all of the food and resources from the other animals does it in such a way that those resources can't reproduce. Afterwards when those things run out and he is left with nothing and no friends he realizes what a mistake he made.

Week 4 Reading Diary:Ryder's Panchatantra

For my reading this week I chose Panchatantra by Arthur Ryder. The stories are translated from Sanskrit into english.

One of the stories talks about having future lives and how it is difficult to act in the present life while considering those future lives and the effect the present might have on them. It would be interesting to do a story on characters that live differently in the present but both end up the same creature in their next lives. I could also do one where they could end up being different things in the future life.

I was thinking it might be fun to have an animal that is this huge "bully" of the jungle and he gets taken down by one of the most unlikely animals. Maybe a porcupine could devise this perfect plan to make it so the mean animal never messes with other animals again in the jungle.

The "Bully"
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I would like to do a story about the turtle from Finding Nemo who's name is "Crush". In the movie he is a young turtle and I think it would be funny to do a story that looked at him as guy in his twenties. Maybe it could be from the prospective of Nemo going to visit him in Australia. I loved that movie and the turtles because of their funny personalities and laid-back attitude.

Native American Stories from the Northwest: Styles Brainstorm

Topic. I want to do my storybook on Native American tribes from the northwest. I was thinking of doing four stories on four different tribes from the region. One story I would like to incorporate and draw inspiration from in The Youthful Warrior, which comes from the Tlingit tribe. I like the story from the Coos tribe called The Ascent to Heaven and I am intrigued by the Chinook myth called Raven and Gull. Lastly, I want to use a cradle song from the Haida tribe called Qa'gials qê'gawa-i because when I was working at camp in British Columbia this past summer one of the cabins was named Haida.

Bibliography. The stories I used were all found on the Internet Sacred Texts Archive.
1. Haida Songs, John R. Swanton, 1912.
2. Chinook Texts, Franz Boas, 1894.
3. Tlingit Myths and Texts, John R. Swanton, 1909.
4. Coos Texts, Leo J. Frachtenberg, 1913.


Possible Stylezzzzzz:

Modern Scenario. I think it could be funny to have a story where Native Americans or even one by himself/herself are waiting in line to get the new Iphone on release day. Or maybe a character would be going on a cruise for vacation. I like the idea because I think it would create a rather funny visual for the reader when they are imagining the story in their heads. It could be a story where a Native American rides his horse into a downtown setting because he was chosen for jury duty and gets a ticket for "parking illegally". I think I would like to involve some sort of time travel for the characters so that they are feeling very disoriented in the future.

Love Story. I think it would be cool to do a Native American love story and have it not be very traditional. Maybe it could show how we have created marriage into this extravagant "looks at us" moment instead of celebrating the commitment both are making. Or maybe it could be a story that shows the birth of marriages that are focused on the wrong thing. It could also be just a good love story about two characters that meet and above all odds find a way to be together and find peace together.

Vancouver Island
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Trees as the storytellers. The trees in the northwest are so enormous and beautiful and they were one of my favorite parts about visiting up there. I think it is always fun to make things that can't talk normally suddenly come to life. I think the trees would be like old men with lots of wisdom that could be lending knowledge to squirrels or a bird of some sort that was much younger in years. It could be a story about a mentor and his apprentice perhaps. Maybe it could be about a boy who climbs the tree only to find out that the tree can talk and the story shares there experience.

Campfire talk. I think the best conversations occur while circled around a bonfire. This could be a story style that involves a group of Native Americans sitting around the fire and then one goes into a story about a hero or villain or something along those lines. I also thought that maybe whenever a tribe makes a bonfire they are able to speak to the fire and that was how they knew where their enemies were. The fire spirit could transport to any source of bonfire and hear what was going on around it and see who was there.

Chief Anotklosh of the Taku Tribe of the Tlingit people.
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Chief Anotklosh of the Taku Tribe of the Tlingit people

Storytelling for Week 3: Unfortunate Events in Piccadilly Circus

Piccadilly Circus is a nice neighborhood to live in, especially for men and women living in their twenties. This part of London has a certain vibe that gives the people who live their the feeling of excitement and youthfulness.

Piccadilly Circus
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James was 26 and from Manchester originally. He moved to the big city because he got a high profile job working for Google. His flat in Piccadilly Circus was beautiful and considered to be worth a fortune. He liked living in London because, with it, came a sense of accomplishment and success. He liked to think his parents were very proud of him and that he was setting a good example for his younger siblings. James drove a luxury car that was built for pure speed. It was extremely expensive and rather poorly suited for the city but he didn't care, he had it so people would look at him. He came from a family of money and was taught about the finer things in life and believed he was of a superior breed of man.

Emma was 25 and although she was in her mid-twenties she radiated youthful joy. She was originally from Vermont and had moved to the London in order to pursue her dream of working at the Museum of Natural History. She loved history and getting lost in stories from times long ago. She felt like it was the closest thing to time travel and when she visited London her senior year in college she knew she wanted to work at her favorite museum. Her grandmother had recently passed away and left her apartment in Piccadilly Circus to her so it seemed like fate brought her to the city in a way. It took her a while to figure out the subway system and get used to the city but now she felt almost like a local. 

Museum of Natural History, London
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What James and Emma didn't realize was that they were almost perfect for each other.

Emma first saw James when she was walking home from the subway and he was in his car stopped at a red light. Her gaze was drawn to him by some subconscious force. She saw the man in the car looking at the mirror. She thought maybe he was looking to see if he had something in his teeth. Regardless of what he was doing he was beautiful. She was hoping he would notice her but instead he drove off without glancing her way. The next week she saw him again at the cafe near he apartment. She sat down after getting her coffee and noticed him sitting with a friend right in front of her. They were close enough to where she could overhear his conversation with his friend about the recent bonus he had got from redesigning something, she didn't understand all the vocabulary he was using. Once again she was hoping he would notice her but he ended up leaving without breaking his conversation with his friend. The last time Emma saw James was actually when she was walking to the market on a Sunday afternoon. James was crossing the street when he accidentally stepped into a large puddle. It was the kind of puddle where your whole foot is wet up to the top of your ankle. It happened right beside Emma and she couldn't help but smile and laugh a little. James however did not laugh. Instead he scowled at her and told her his shoes were Italian leather and that she probably couldn't imagine how expensive they were. He scoffed off in a hustle before Emma could react.

From that day forward when Emma saw James she made an effort to avoid him at all costs. In fact, they did not ever come in contact with each other again. 

If only they had known what they could have been thought Cassandra sitting on the bench in the middle of Piccadilly Circus. 

Cassandra
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Author's Note:

This was inspired by the story in Ovid's Metamorphoses called Narcissus. Being narcissistic means being absorbed with yourself. In a way a narcissist is constantly consumed with themselves and experiences life solely from their own point of view. In the story about Narcissus he is consumed with himself and his own image that he first notices in the reflection off of water in a pond. He actually falls in love with himself and longs for the image he sees in the mirror. Cassandra is a greek god that was able to see the future that I looked up in order to go along with the story. She is not part of the story Narcissus but she would be someone of the same genre of character.
For some reason I wanted to make this story seem somewhat realistic rather than purely mythological. I have noticed that I have began to write stories like that or at least think like that. A couple summers ago I went to London and saw Piccadilly Circus and the Museum of Natural history and enjoyed them very much. I also really like history and thought it would be interesting to work in a museum where you could learn about a lot of different things. I think in today's day and age it is more often that you run into people that are consumed with themselves and it makes me bummed out. It is very hard to have a conversation with them or have a  friendship, which makes me sad because they don't know what they are missing. Relationships with people are the best thing in life and I think by being narcissistic you aren't able to have a true relationship with someone because you are too distracted by your own self.
I chose the images to hopefully help set the scene for the reader and give them and idea of what it might look like. I really like the picture I chose to depict Cassandra sitting and watching the whole story unfold. I wanted her to come off as the old wise lady that was watching the scene in life she had already seen before.

Bibliography:

Narcissus, Ovid's Metamorphoses, translated by Tony Kline, 2000.

Week 3 Reading Diary Continued: Ovid's Metamorphoses

Below are some more notes and random thoughts on Ovid's Metamorphoses.

First off, the art in this section is incredible. How did someone paint this??

This is ridiculous.
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When I was reading the story about Echo I kept thinking about how interesting an echo is and how writers use it differently. Reading how something echoes into eternity kind of gives this erie feeling to the reader. It has way more of an impact than saying something survived throughout eternity. There is something spooky about an echo and it makes me want to incorporate an echo in one of my stories if possible. 

Reading the story about Narcissus makes me think about arrogant people and how it is never fun to have a conversation with them. When I do run into those conversations they always remind me not to lecture people or talk the whole time in a conversation. It reminds me to be a good listener and to ask questions to get the other person talking. In cases when I do that poorly I will leave the conversation thinking I should have asked more about them because I really do want to get to know people. I think it is way more fulfilling to learn about someone else than educate someone about myself. I think it has taken me time to realize that though. Maybe I can incorporate a similar moral involving listening and narcism in a story.

Week 3 Reading Diary: Ovid's Metamorphoses

There are some stories within this story it seems like and the first one of Lo was rather weird. Basically a God raped a Lo when she was a virgin. When she tried to get away he made fog and snatched her out of the sky and raped her. That is how it ended. Abrupt to say the least. It is surprising to see the Gods lie to one another and be so deceitful. Makes me wonder why ancient Greeks put them on such a pedestal.

A picture from the stories of Lo
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Another surprising moment came when Jupiter is scanning the walls of heaven to see if the fire has done them any damage. I wouldn't think there would be fire in heaven or that heaven could be tarnished in any way. The Greek mythology seems to generate a scene of heaven that is not so different from earth. It makes me want to write a story where I incorporate what I think might be characteristics of heaven.

There is another rape scene in the story and it just makes me feel weird and almost upset. I think it makes me upset because it seem thrown into the story in such a casual way. Almost as if it is saying that it isn't a big deal and that it is commonplace.

It is surprising to me to notice so much jealously involved in the relationships of the gods of Greek mythology. There is always a lot of drama going on and honestly it is kind of irritating. Almost like watching some bad reality TV show. I did find this picture below to be really incredible though.

The amount of detail is astounding
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