Thursday, August 29, 2019

Week 2 Story

Jamie and his friends set out to spend winter vacation on the beach. The flight was all clear off the tarmac with sunny skies and fluffy clouds in the deep blue sky. Jamie leaned back in his seat looking out of the window what seemed like a few hours before drifting off to sleep. He was woken up to the plane jerking about in the sky. He screamed for his friends not understanding what was happening. They yelled at him that the plane had been struck by lightning and was going down. He grabbed tightly to the seat gluing himself to the fabric hoping that it would all be over quickly. After what felt like ages he was thrown forward in his seat as the plane made contact with the ground. It spun in circles round and round before stopping. The next thing he knew the plane was sinking into the ocean. The water started at his feet and quickly rose to ankle level and then to his waist. He panicked cursing and yelling for his friends to free themselves. He unbuckled his seat belt and looked around hoping to see a route of escape. Off towards the back of the plane he saw that the plane was cut in half. He made his way up the alley fighting over people that were scurrying like rats to get free. He eventually made it out the top and dove into the ocean to be free from the plane. He knew that if he wanted to survive, he had to swim away from the plane as fast as he could. Luckily for him he could see an island off in the distance. He swam with all his strength and might for the island giving it everything he had. Eventually Jamie felt the sand under his feet and fingers. He kept moving until he was laying face up on the beach huffing and puffing for air. He looked around briefly before sinking into the deep embrace of exhaustion.
Jamie awoke to one of his friends standing over him yelling his name. He stood up quickly looking around to see only two of his friends had made it. He asked where the others were. They said they did not make it and only about five people survived but they were separated during swimming. Jamie sighed and the group headed deeper into the island to see if they could find shelter and food. Upon reaching the forest they were greeted by beautiful woman that took them to their palace and fed and clothed them. They were so nice and beautiful it must have been a dream. The group of boys were so seduced by the group of women that they slept with them and eventually married them. Later one evening when Jamie’s new wife was absent from the bed Jamie went and wandered around looking for her. He saw her off in the distance with what seemed to be a body of a man. He was lying face first in the dirt with her standing over him. She threw her head back and he could see fangs protruding from her mouth and blood dripping form her chin. He was so shocked and scared he couldn’t move. She made her way inside and overheard her mentioning to one of the other women that her hunt was successful and that she had a lot to eat. The woman she was talking to laughed and said that she would now have to find a new mate since hers had perished. She asked Jamie’s wife if she could have a bit of Jamie. Jamie’s wife said why not they were just men after all.
Jamie ran quickly to each of his friends houses and warned them trying to get them to follow him. He told them of what they were and how they had to leave. His friends agreed and they set out to find a way off the island. On the other side of the island they were greeted by a group of men that said they were the sworn enemy of the evil women that had taken them hostage. They joined up and got them off the island to freedom.

Authors Note: I decided to keep the main characters as men but change up the temptresses from goblins to vampires. I thought it would be a bit more seductive then goblins. I also changed the ending to where they were saved by other men who were fighting these women. They got them to safety off the island instead of a winged horse.


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Reading Notes: Week 2 Anthology

Goblin City by W.H.D. Rouse
The plot of this story was about a shipwrecked crew that landed on a island full of goblins. These were all female Goblins that would take men as their husbands and later devour them when they grew bored of them. The Goblins used magic on the men so they were unable to see what they truly were and to see they were the only men on the island. One night the wife of the captain came back chewing on human meat and singing about it. The captain knew he had to save his crew and got his men together and got on the back of a winged horse. The horse was a fairy that rode the men to safety. 

The characters of this story were the Goblins that married the men, the captain, and the crew. The goblins were evil creatures that used men for their own sexual desires then desired them. The captain on the other hand cared for his crew as much as himself and sought to save them from the situation they had fallen into. The crew followed the lead of their captain and most of them chose to get to safety on the back of the fairy. 

The setting of this story took place on a island that was controlled by Goblins. This island had no men on it and was a trap for men who became shipwrecked. 


Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Week 2 Reading Overview

I will be reading the PDE Ramayana version of the text. I chose this version because of its accessibility and how easy it will be to get through it! It also has comments that will help me get a better understanding of the text. There are several different comics that I saw that caught my eye and peaked my interest. I chose Krishna and Rukmini: A Love That Will Not Be Denied, and Vali: The Downfall of an Arrogant King. I chose these two comics because they seem to have thrilling stories. The first story interested me because of how it was a battle over a woman, the second interested me because it was a battle between Sugriva and Vali. I am not really that familiar with the characters but the stories sound interesting. The two videos I selected are Kali Through Many Eyes, and Stages of Life. I chose the first video because of the scary description of Kali and the second because it peaked my interest on stages that one lives. Overall I am looking forward to reading and watching so many things in this section. I feel I will learn a lot about not only the stories but the culture of the people behind them!

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Sunday, August 25, 2019

Possible Time Strategies

 After reading several articles I learned a decent amount about perfecting study habits. When I read the article How to Beat Procrastination, I learned so much about managing a serious problem I have been dealing with. I for as long as I have been in college have been one that waits to the last minute to do things. I usually tell myself I will have enough time, and that I only need this or that amount of time. Usually what happens is that by the time the assignment is due I actually needed much more time then I had given myself. This article talks about breaking it into steps and having rewards after the first one to incentivise finishing it. It also talks about visualizing how great it will feel when the thing you are working on is completed! I definitely need to try this! The next article I read was The Important Habit of Just Starting. This article opened my eyes about how getting used to just starting something makes it easier the next time you go to do it. In my case with school just starting that project early and completing it without the burden of stress would make me feel amazing. The next time I would not procrastinate because I would know just how amazing it felt just to start and get finished with the work!
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New Technology

I have to say that a lot of the stuff that we are using in this course are new to me. I am unfamiliar with blogging, and most of the other things listed on the technologies. I do however understand that if I go to canvas and click on modules I can access a lot of the information I need to do the assignments. I am actually enjoying learning about blogging and the different ways one can go about making a website and using it! I would have to say that this is a totally new experience to me seeing as to how I so rarely take online classes, and even those have never included blogging or website design. I am looking forward to learning how to blog and create a website for myself. I also kind of want to learn how to work graphics creation to make memes! :)
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Technology by TheDigitalArtist

Upcoming Assingments

I would have to say that I am intrigued by several of the assignments that we are to do this semester. Since I am a big fan of reading different stories I am really looking forward to the weekly readings that we are to do! I am also interested to read what others post on some of the readings that I read, so I will enjoy looking at those! I also am really looking forward to the project that we are to do. Looking at all the past semesters projects gives me a lot of different ideas about how I would like to do mine! I think that if I can figure out how to work blogger I can be quite successful when it comes to making a pretty cool project! I have to say this is the first class that I have done that is like this. I have always used computers throughout my education but never to this degree. I sort of feel like it is partially a computer class at times. Though I can't really complain since I love learning how to work this blog website!

silhouette spartan army roman soldier shield hero helmet fighter cape team strength courage patch brave pride war gladiator strong history ancient protect kingdom strategy fight black footwear black and white male fictional character headgear standing joint line clip art shoe monochrome graphics angle illustration art
Hero by Mohamed Hassan

Thursday, August 22, 2019

My Thoughts on Growth Mindset

    I think a lot of the views that Carol Dweck deduced from her experiment and thoughts on people to be correct. I also believe that under pressure people grow or they look for an avenue out through easier means and accept their failure. I also believe that people naturally don't want to run into difficulty in their life. Humans are like water they want to take the easiest path. I believe however that those individuals who seek out the pain and pressure are the ones who grow the most into something truly remarkable. They have increased their capacity to work and endure so much so that they have allowed themselves to continually grow! I believe that she was spot on when she talked about test scores and its affect on children. Children want awards now, that is their incentive to work. I also found her thoughts on "yet" to be fascinating. I believe that everyone's brain is wired differently and so children should be evaluated on the process they take to get to answers. This is how growth happens. I believe the growth mindset she is talking about is worth further research and definite implementation in school systems! Growth happens through discomfort. Being comfortable kills work ethic and produces laziness.
    Looking at the Growth Mindset Challenges would be worth participating in. I personally would take part in reading more about mindsets, exploring what genius is and how I can possibly obtain it, and lastly focus on feedback. I believe in the saying, "acquire what you admire". Which to me means become what you view as something worthy. I would like to explore great mindsets held by those successful so that I might acquire a way of thinking that would allow me to better myself. The next thing I would like to challenge myself to do for personal growth is to explore genius. Ask myself can I possibly obtain it and if so how? Lastly I would challenge myself to focusing on feedback of those around me. I believe this way I will be able to grow from things that I myself might not see. Those around me may see something that I could improve on and I should allow myself to be open to that change.
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Keep Moving Forward by Steve Worsethandetroit 

Introduction: A Bit About Me


    About Me
    Hello all! This is my last year at OU and I am glad to be finishing up with this class! My major is Russian Language and Literature from The University of Oklahoma. I would have to say the coolest thing about this major is that I got to meet so many interesting people and learned a lot about other cultures. Before getting into the program I did not know much about the world but after taking so many courses and studying abroad I got to see people from all walks of life! I also learned another language, which while challenging has really rewarding! From learning Russian I sought to meet others that were able to speak it or learning to speak it and just by happenstance met my fiancĂ©! Who knew Russian would do so much for me?
     
Me in front of the Winter Palace
    I love to read and many of the books I read or either science fiction or fantasy. Something about other worldly possibilities filling my head with dreams seems to sate a childlike curiosity in me. Because of such a curiosity I am taking this class! I have taken other courses like this before such as a Mythology course at my last college but I wanted to see what knew things that could be offered by this course! I would say that I have a few favorite book series such as Cirque du Freak by Darren Shan, Dresden Files by Jim butcher, and The Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind! I have reread each of these series multiple times, and each time feels like the first!
    Lastly I guess I would like to talk a little about where I see my future headed. I plan on going to nursing school in the spring to become a RN. After which I will move somewhere up north where the weather isn’t so hot and settle down. I have always known I wanted to go into the medical field just never really knew where I fit in. After doing a bit of research and talking to others I decided that nursing was the best of all possibilities. They get the most patient exposure and get to give the most hands on care, which is what I want.
Malta; Photo by Me

My Story Book Favorites

My Favorites

I clicked on this one because of the catchy title. Demon King sounds like such an interesting title and story. The title itself made me understand a bit of what the story had to offer. Upon reading the introduction I was thrown into a hunt for Sita by Lakshmana and Rama. The author did a really good job at setting up the story and making me want to know more about what was to happen to Rama and his brother! The introduction also kind of shocked me, because it made this godlike being seem like a mortal and allowed me to connect to him. 
This stories tittle kind of left what the story was about to mystery. I had no idea until I started flipping through the chapters of the post what the work was about. I found out it has multiple different chapters about different things. This was the first post that I read that did something like this. So essentially the name is spot on! I also enjoyed how the author included soundtracks to go along with the first story! It made the reading experience new and different! I could tell by the author's notes that he changed the story from the original which I couldn't tell from reading! The story was a good read and I enjoyed the comparison the author made between his work and the original work! 
File:The fish avatara of Vishnu saves Manu during the great deluge.jpg

I clicked on this story because I was interested to see who was reincarnated! When I clicked on the story I was surprised to see characters from Rick and Morty everywhere! This went the complete opposite of what I had imagined in my mind. Originally I thought it was a Hindu family that was reincarnated into something else, and were trying to get back together or something. Reading into the introduction I found that it was actually about episodes of Rick and Morty. The introduction lays out a background for those who aren't familiar with the show, so the author can pick up and start their story. The first chapter of the authors work was aligned with an Indian Epic I was unfamiliar with, using the cast of Rick and Morty. As for the blog setup it was very colorful even including animate gifs! This was the first work I actually understood the history behind since I have watched all of Rick and Morty. 
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Rick and Morty by Bago Games

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Week 1: My Favorite Place

Saint Petersburg Russia

I have lived many places in my life but non compare to Saint Petersburg Russia. Though I was there for but a year I have memories from there that will last a lifetime! I was lucky enough abroad in Saint Petersburg my Junior year of college. I met wonderful people and saw many wonderful sights. 


(The Hermitage: Photo by Ninara)
This is the Hermitage which is one of the worlds largest museums. It houses multiple pieces of art and history. I spent countless hours walking through this building awestruck at the beauty that resided within. 



(The Winter Palace: GoodFreePhotos)
This is a picture of the Hermitage at night also known as the Winter Palace which housed Russian Royalty. Walking around Saint Petersburg at night is simply breathtaking which gives viewers a new perspective on the city. I spent much of my nights wandering around the city taking in the many wonders that were to beheld.