Week 11 Story: The Rubiks Cube

The end was near. 

That's what Lola and Liza thought to themselves anyway. 

Out yonder, their sister Luna had a different opinion of what was to come. 

Luna, the eldest, found herself haggling with the snag toothed wretch who had kidnapped them. Wincing in disgust at the site and smell of the miserable being in standing in front of her she knew that it was here duty to rescue her naive siblings. 

Standing in front of her, the stringy haired, wrinkled, missing tooth woman demanded that she complete the rubiks cube before taking one more step. The requirement was that she complete this game of colorful intelligence within two shakes of a lambs tail. 

If Luna is able to complete her task then her sisters walk free. If Luna fails, she and her sisters will remain captive for all of eternity. 

Luna gawked at the cube, wondering how she would complete this task before the lamb shook his tail. Finally, with a huge sigh she held her sweaty palm out to retrieve the cube. The dark cloaked woman, grinned and handed her the cube. She was sure that she would not complete it in time. They both were. 

Luna worked tirelessly, twisting and rotating the colorful tiles on the cube. Sweat dripped from her brow, she felt a lump in her throat. The lamb shook it's tail one time. 

Distracted, she was certain that she wouldn't get the cube solved before the lamb shook it's tail a second time. 

Twisting and rotating the tiles, she was within reach of winning! She almost had the cube solved and the lamb had yet to shake it's tail of the second time. 

The last piece was needed, tension was high. The wretched woman still stand their grinning, Luna still nervous finally moved that last piece to complete the problem. The lamb shook it's tail for the second time but Luna was faster. The grin from the despicable woman disappeard and Luna jumped with joy. 

True to her word, the woman retrieved the sisters and brought them to Luna. They were free! 

The three sisters made the long trek home where they told of their adventure. A parade was held and there was a day of celebration. 

Within the crowd was that wretched woman. 

People took notice and talked, but Luna assured them that she was welcomed. 

Luna was a kind and gentle soul, she pitied the poor woman and so she invited her to return home with the them. Lonely, the woman agreed and her heart once hateful and evil heart was replaced with love and joy. 

They all lived happily after. 

Image Source: The wretched woman watching Luna work at solving the cube problem

Author's Notes: The idea for this story came from the story Princes and the Sprite, written by Ellen C. Babbitt. In the original story there are 3 princes who venture to the forest. The 2 younger brothers are asked by the water sprite to successfully answer a question, which they are unable to do. This results in them being carried off. Eventually the eldest brother goes to see why they haven't returned and meets the water sprite who is disguised. He is able to answer the question and the brothers are released. They all return back to the kingdom where they rule. Living within them is the water sprite. 

Reading Notes: Jataka Tales, Part B

The Elephant Girly- Face:
- Girly-face is name of elephant owned by a king
- he was a kind and gentle looking elephant
- one night robbers awoke girly-face and he overheard them talking about how to be cruel and be good robbers
- girly face decided that he wanted to act like that too
- the next morning he killed the keeper when he came to feed him
- he killed the next keeper who went to help
- for many days he acted like this and killed people
- a wise man was sent to look him over and found out that there had been bad men there
- that night the king sent good men to talk
- girly face listened and decided that he wanted to be good
- he lived happily ever after


The Princess and the Water Sprite:
- there were 3 princes, 1 was named Prince of Stars, the other Moon Prince and the last Sun Prince
- the queen asked the king to give the kingdom to Sun Prince
- he told her no and that the eldest and 2nd eldest would be king by right
- the king told the 2 older princes to go off and live in the woods because he was afraid the queen may kill them, the third, Sun Prince joined.
- in the forest the youngest prince went to retrieve water from a pond
- the pond was owned by a faire king and the fairies could have power of anybody who entered the pond unless gave the right answer to the question "what are the good fairies like?"
- they asked him the question and he answered "they are like the Sun and the Moon"
- that was the wrong answer so the water-spite carried him into a cave
- the Moon Prince got down there and he answered "Like the sky above us"
- that was the wrong answer so she carried him off too
- the eldest brother went down and realized that there was a water-spite so he drew his sword
- the spite appeared in a form of a woodworker
- he asked the spite why she took his brothers
- he answered the question right and the spite said he would bring back a brother
- the sprite brought back the princes and they lived in the forest until the king died
- they returned home and the eldest was king but the other 2 ruled with him
- he built a house for the sprite on their kingdom grounds
- they lived happily ever after

    picture info: Girly-face being a good elephant


Source: 
Jataka Tales   by Ellen C. Babbitt, 1912.
 

Reading Notes: Jataka Tales, Part A

The Monkey and the Crocodile:
-A mother croc asked her son to get her a monkey so that she could get his heart
-The croc tricked the monkey to get on his back to swim across and get fruit
-The croc went underwater and told the monkey that he would kill him so that he could give his heart to his mother
-The monkey said he left his heart at home
-They turned back around so that the monkey could get it and he ran up the tree instead
-The monkey moved trees but the croc found him
-Everyday the monkey jumped to an island in the middle of the river and ate fruit all day there, the croc watched him and plotted a plan
-The croc laid on the rock to wait for the monkey but the monkey realized that it was abnormal so he tricked the croc into answering him
-He was able to escape and the croc left him alone
How the Turtle Saved his own Life:
-A king made a lake in his courtyard for princes to play in
-He put fishes and a turtle in the lake
-They though he was a demon so he was taken to the king
-He ordered his men to kill the turtle
-A man suggested he be thrown into the water and he would flow away and die
-The turtle was able to convince them to "kill" him that way
-he was able to flow down the river and return home
The Merchant of Seri:
-a man sold brass and tinware with another man who was greedy
-a granddaughter told her poor grandmother to sell a gold bowl that her late husband used to use
-the greedy man pretended like it was worth nothing and threw it down
-the other man was on the same street trying to sell things
-he told her that it was worth more than what he had
-she plead with him to take it but instead he gave her everything he had in exchange for the bowl and 8 pennies
-he ended up leaving the greedy man and lived happily ever after
The Turtle who Couldn't Stop Talking:
-2 young geese and a turtle become friends
-the geese told the turtle that he could go with them back home if he didn't tell anybody nor talked
-he held on to a stick by his mouth in between the geese as they were flying
-he opened his mouth to talk and fell dead
The Ox who won the Forfeit:
-a man who owned an ox always bragged about his ox
-he bet 1000 pieces of silver that his ox could drag 100 wagons
-the man whipped and cursed at the ox so he didn't move b/c he had never been treated like that
-the ox and owner made up so they agreed to go back into the village the next day
-the man bet 2000 pieces
-they won the 2000 pieces and went home to live happily
The Sandy Road:
-a merchant in the desert on his way to the other side of the desert
-they moved at night and set up camp during the day
-the pilot told the men they would make it to the village so they could throw away food, water, and wood
-the pilot fell asleep and woke up in the same spot but they didn't have any items
-the merchant found a well and so everybody drank, bathed, cooked
-they set up a flag on the well so people could see it and made it to the village
-they sold their items and then returned home
The Quarrel of the Quails
-a group of quails lived in the forest with their leader
-a hunter who made a living off of quails tricked them to think their leader was calling them, he then sold them in town
-the leader set up a plan for the quails to escape
-day after day he came up empty handed
-the quails got in a fight and he was able to capture them since they didn't work together, he sold them

Image Source : The crocodile waits for the monkey with his mouth open

Source: 
Jataka Tales,  Ellen C. Babbit, 1912.

Wikipedia Trail from Dragons to Loki

I started my wiki trail out with dragons, I read a story from the other class that used these creatures and made me want to learn more. From there I looked up Norse mythology since I have always been a bit interested in it. I found it interesting that they had gods and goddesses for things like apples but I was more interested in learning about a skiing goddess they had so I went to check out Skaoi. Skaoi was not a let down and is an interesting goddess, I mean a goddess for skiing could only be that. On that page I saw that she was connected to Loki and was interested in learning about him. I went to the Loki page and learned that he is said to have helped the gods or may have been mischievous. Previously I had thought that he was only mischievous and was not a helpful deity.

Image info: Loki is being tortured with a serpents dripping venom. The goddess Skaoi is said to have bound Loki and placed the serpent over him.

Story Lab: EmpoWord

-Scope refers to boundaries of plot.. where and when it begins, the focus, background info that might be needed.
-Focus on important stuff to keep from boring the reader
-Sequence and pacing.. the order of the events and the amount of time given to each event
-Exposition- setting the scene, introducing characters, prepping for the journey
-Rising axn- things begin to happen, encounter conflict, set out on a journey, meet people
-Climax- peak of the axn, main showdown
-Falling axn- things start to wind down
-Resolution- everything is back to normal, things end
-In medias res- in the middle of things, start story with axn, then circle back to the earlier part of the story and fill in the blanks, continue on
-Can also bounce around in the story, fragments
-POV- impacts tone, mood, scope, voice, and plot
-Tone- emotional state of the narrator
-Mood- what emotions do you want your reader to feel?
- POV breakdown: 1st person (I, me, our) can include monologue, thoughts, etc
   2nd person (you, your) speaks to the reader, is the protagonist, or speaks to an absent or unidentified person.
   3rd person limited (he, himself, etc) observes and narrates but sticks near one or 2 characters
   3rd person omniscient (also third person pronouns) narrates from all knowing perspective , can include monologue and thoughts
   Stream of consciousness (uses inconsistent pronouns, or none at all) wandering and ungrammatical thought process of the narrator
-Characterization- development of characters thru axn, descriptions, and dialogue.. helps with building sympathy from reader
    Can introduce directly (thru description of them) or indirectly (thru behaviors, speech, thoughts)
-Round characters are very detailed, most important
-Flat characters are minimally detailed, briefly sketched or named, less important
-Static characters remain the same
-Dynamic characters change within the story, usually as a result of an event
-Dialogue- communication between 2 or more characters, connects reader to characters and let's them understand relationships
-Medium- way story is written via images, poetry, video, audio recording, "found" texts, illustrations, comics, journal entries, plays, blogs or social media


-See page 50 to review and get ideas on how to experiment with dialogue

Picture Info: Doge Meme

Source

Reading Notes: Naraka and Bana, Part B

Indra visited Krishna in Dwarka and told him that Naraka is nearly invincible. He took the sea's umbrella, took Mandara Mountain's jeweled crest and his mother's earrings. The earrings gave out ambrosia at the will of the owner. He then demanded Indra'a elephant so Indra asked Krishna to come help him kill him. Krishna agreed and Vishnu's eagle, Garuda appeared, Indra got on his elephants back and they all went to Pragjyothisha city.
Muru, a demon designed the city which had turrets, moats, and magic nets to capture the enemies. Krishna on the eagle flew over the arrows from the turrets, the moats and the nets. He cut the nets with his sword, dried up the moats with his fiery discus and battered down the walls of the city with his mace. Muru was at the bottom of the moat hiding under the water, when it dried up he had 5 heads, he had a trident that he tried to rush Krishna with. Krishna shot 5 arrows and they each hit Muru's head and he died. Within the city the 7 sons of Muru and Naraka's army tried to fight Krishna and Indra off but Krishna's arrows killed the sons and his sword killed the others so the army fled.
In the city they found all of the missing items as well as stables full of animals, and thousands of princes that were kidnapped and being held. They were all sent back to Dwarka.

Picture info: Krishna storms Naraka's city

Source:   Shri Krishna and Dwarka and Other Stories by C.A. Kincaid (1920)

Reading Notes: Krishna's Youth, Part A

King Kansa sent the demon Dhenuka to kill Balarama (Krishna's brother) in hopes that it would weaken Krishna and he would be able to kill him more easily. Three boys wanted to eat the fruit in the orchard where the demon hid ass a donkey but the donkey told them to go away. They returned with Krishna and Balarama. 

Dhenuka rushed Balarama but he ended up knocking his brains out against a fruit tree. The demons friends rushed Balarama and Krishna but they did the same and eventually the tree lost its fruit so all the boys ate the fruit. 

Another demon called Pralambha who was even stronger offered to kill them so he disguised himself and played with the boys. They played a game and the loser had to carry the winner on his back. Balarama won so Pralambha had to carry him on his back but he morphed back and ran away, Krishna was unable to catch him. 

Krishna told Balarama to knock him in the head so he did and he ended up dying. Balarma returned to Krishna. 

King Kansa left them alone for sometime. 

Krishna told the people of Gokula to no longer give thanks to Indra for the monsoon season but to give thanks and sacrifice to the Govardham mountain. They did so and when they got on top of the mountain they saw Krishna who accepted their sacrifices. 

Indra was mad so he sent down large rocks and floods that killed men. Krishna picked up the mountain and had the people hide under the mountain for shelter. 

Indra then came to earth and anointed Krishna as god of the cows and of the cowherds. All cowherds and milk maids threw him a party and passed out. They woke up in the middle of the night to find Krishna's dad, Nanda trapped and being crushed by a python. 

Krishna went to save his dad and the snake turned into a man who's name was Sudarshan. He said that he was cursed for being vain but when Krishna's foot touched him, the curse was ended. He then bowed to Krishna and was lifted to the heavens. 

                   Picture info: Krishna, the god of cowherds 

Source: Shri Krishna of Dwarka and Other Stories by C.A. Kincaid (1920)

Wikipedia Trail From Mount Meru to Iron Age

My interest for Mount Meru started when I read a storybook discussing the mountain and mythology of it. I scrolled down on that page and found a word that I was unfamiliar with. The word was yojana and is a type of mesaurement for distance used in ancient India. Yojana equates to be about 12-15 km and was used during the Vedic period. The Vedic period was between 1500 BCE- 500 BCE, the culture was tribal and pastoral. The end of the period challenged the Kuru Kingdom which was Indo-Aryan tribal union during the Vedic period and was located in the north during the Iron Age India. Iron Age in India is the prehistorical period.

Picture Information: Kuru Kingdom during the Late Vedic Period 

Week 9 Story: Romulus and Remus

"Oh no, where are we and how did we get here?! Last I remember we were having a leisurely stroll in the Amazon Jungle" Exclaimed Romulus to his brother Remus.

Remus calmly responded. "Well you see dear brother, our beloved city of Baia fell captive to the sea god, we lost all hope and retreated to the forest where we felt at home. While we were gathering ourselves and discussing our next move, you fell victim to a hunter who mistook you for a game animal. I fell victim to Glycon, the snake god."

In that instant all memories returned to Romulus and flashed in front of his eyes.

"What is wrong dear brother?" Remus asks Romulus.

Romulus responds, "It is because of me that we are here," he continues, "you see, if I had never told my loyal citizens to go to the shoreline and take offerings to appease the underworld god, we would not be here. It is my fault that they went crazy upon drinking the forbidden Meade. It is my fault that they decided the offerings needed to appease the underworld god, that they believed those offerings were meant to be that of human flesh and blood... of their own kin. It is my fault that my kingdom, my city, and my people have fallen to the sea god. Oh brother, what have I done?!"

Suddenly, Romulus recalls that he as five wives. With great concern he asks Remus, "brother, what has become of my wives?"

Remus responds, "Romulus, they are fine, our dear friend Hercules was sent to look after them. Hercules will stop at nothing to protect them."

Within that moment, knowing that his wives were OK, Romulus was finally able to be at peace and accept his fate for he was in the heavenly afterlife with his dear brother and his people. Here he was able to once again rule again, free of pain and harm.

                     Picture info: a statue from the sunken city of Baia still stands

Authors note: The original story from where I got my idea can be found here. This story from Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenize (1913) discusses the death of Krishna. In the original story Krishna gets a vision from the underworld god at night that something bad was going to happen. Krishna had his people retreat to the shoreline to perform devotions to the sea god and while they were doing so they opted to drink wine, which was forbidden. While they drank this forbidden wine they lost their minds and began to violently fight, killing each other. While all of this was happening Krishna and his brother, Balarama retreated to the forest, where both died. Krishna by arrow in the foot (his only weak spot), and Balarama by world serpeant. In the original story Krishna had Arjuna sent after so that he could return and look after his wives, who also died. Arjuna then continued on to the city of Indraprastha

Reading Notes: Mahabharata, Part B

The Year of Disguise:
-Pandavas spent 12 years in the forest
-They plan to be in disguise at King Virata's court
-Yudhishthira is a good gambler and disguises himself as Kanka
-Bhima disguises as a cook named Ballaba
-Arjuna is Brihannala. a dancing teacher
-Nakula is Granthika, a stable worker
-Sahadeva is Tantripala, cowherder
-Draupadi is Sairanhdhri, Queen Sudeshna's maid
-They leave a corpse in a cremation ground (who's corpse?)
-They leave their weapons in a shami tree
-The Queen's brother, Kichaka asks for the maid (Draupadi) to be sent to him, he tries to rape her
-Bhima switches places with Draupadi, he crushes Kichaka, and rolls him into a ball
-Draupadi tells the queen that she has a celestial husband who killed him, the queen believes her


The end of the Exile:
-People want to burn Draupadi on Kichaka's funeral pyre
-Bhima rescues her
-Duryodhana attacks King Virata, Susharma takes the kind captive
-Yudhishthira declares they'll rescue the king
-Prince Uttara, the king's son has Brihannala (Arjuna) as his charioteer
-Arjuna has the prince be the charioteer while he fights
-Karna and Arjuna fight, both wounded and both survive
-Pandavas reveal identity to King Virata
-Arjuna's son Abhimanyu, marries princess Uttara
-Yudhishthira ties to have a peaceful treaty with King Dhritarashtra
-Duryodhana tells the king the Pandavas should be exiled for 12 more years


The Great Battle:-The Pandavas prep for war
-Bhima renews vow to drink Duhshasana's blood and break Duryodhana's thigh
-The armies meet at Kurukshetra
-Bhishma, Drona, and Karna are on the Kaurava side
-Pandava's are smaller
-Arjuna injures Bhishma by using a Shikhandi (soldier who wore women's clothing)
-Bhishma waits for death on a bed of arrows
-Bhisma's mother, Ganga sends swans to tell him to wait to die until solstice
-There's a truce until he dies, and Arjuna helps him until he dies
-After he dies, fighting starts again
-Dhristadyumna, Draupadi's brother wants revenge against Drona
-He tricks Drona, telling him that his son Aswatthaman is dead
-He beheads Drona
-Karna is now the commander
-Arjuna and Karna duel in chariots
-Krishna is Arjuna's charioteer
-Karna's wheel gets stuck in a ditch and Arjuna kills him
-Bhima kills Duhshasana and drinks his blood
-Only Kaurava's left are Aswatthaman and Duryodhana, they have allies Kripa and Kritavarman


Duryodhana's Death:
-Duryodhana is under a lake and won't face the Pandavas
-He agrees to a duel with Bhima
-Bhima finally breaks his thigh
-The Kaurava's, Aswatthaman, Kripa, and Kritavarman raid the Pandava camp at night
-They kill everybody but Yudhishthira, the brothers, and Krishna
-The Kaurava's tell Duryodhana who then dies
-All of Draupadi's sons are dead, Abhimanyu (Arjuna and Krishna's sister's son) is dead, and so are the 100 sons of Dhritarashtra\
-Uttara, Abhimanyu's wife, has a baby named Parikshit.. he carries on the family line
-Dhritarashtra, Gandhari, and Kunti go into the forest, they die
-Yudhishthira becomes king of Hastinapura


The Death of King Krishna:
-Yudhishthira rules happily for a while
-Krishna kills King Kamsa, who tried to kill Krishna as an infant
-Krishna is king of Dwaraka
-Vishvamitra's cursed people of Dwaraka to kill each other
-Krishna doesn't allow wine drinking, in hopes that it will get rid of the curse
-Krishna's wife has a dream, he sends people to the shore to make an offering
-At the shore the people drink wine and kill each other
-Krishna's brother, Balarama leaves this world by giving up his spirit
-Krishna is meditating in the forest and hunter mistakenly shoots him
-A wave drowns the city Dwaraka
-Arjuna take Krishna's 5 wives to the land of 5 rivers, Punjab
-The wives are captured
-Yudhishthira hears this and decides the Pandavas should leave the world
-Parikshit is now king


The Reunion of the Bharatas:
-Agni (the fire god) tells Arjuna to cast the Gandiva bow to Varuna (the water god)
-They all climb the Himalayas
-All fall for sins
-Draupadi for loving Arjuna more than her other husbands
-Sahadeva for being boastful about wisdom
-Nakula for being boastful about his looks
-Arjuna for failing to kill Duryodhana in a second like he had promised
-Bhima for being boastful about his strength
-Yudhishthira is the only on left
-He continues on with his dog
-Indra appears to drive them to Amaravati
-Yudhishthira won't leave his dog and wins the test of loyalty
-In heaven he can't find his brothers or Draupadi
-He must go to hell to find them and stay there with them
-He does and so everybody is allowed into heaven
-Karna, Dhritarashtra, Bhishma, Drona, Virata, Drupada, Duryodhana, and all the warriors
-Everybody is at peace with each other and the Bharatas are reunited

    Picture Information: Krishna and Arjuna going to battle


Source: The Indian Heroes: Mahabharata- The Princes of Elephant City by C. A. Kincaid (1921).

Reading Notes: Mahabharata, Part A

Characters and The Princes of Elephant City
King Bharata- dead king
Vichitravvirya- king of Hastinapura.. also died
Dhritarashtra- older, blind son of Vichitravirya, brother of Pandu
Pandu- younger brother of Dhritarashtra, son of Vichtravira
        Pandu has 5 sons by 2 women
        Yudhisthira, Bhima, and Arjuna by Kunti
        Nakula and Sahadeva by Madri
        All 5 sons are called the Pandavas- son of gods

Dhri becomes king when Pandu dies
     Dhri and his wife Gandhari have 100 sons
     Oldest son is Duryodhana
     100 sons are called Kauravas

The Kauravas and Pandavas are the Bharatas.. descendants of Bharata.. dead king form above.

Drona- the boys' teacher
     He has the boys attack his enemy

Drupada- Droma's enemy, he's a king
Draupadi- girl who appeared when Drupada prays to the gods

Dury plots to kill Yudhi and his family b/c he was named king.
Vidura- Pandu and Dhri half bro.. he warns them and they escape

Hidimba and Baka:
the family flee into the forest as disguised peseants.
Hidimba and sister Hidimbi plan to eat them
Hidimbi falls in love with Bhima and warns him of Hidimba's plan
Bhima kills Hidimba and marries Hidimbi but Bhima leaves to go back to family
Bhima kills demon Baka when he arrives.. demon was making family give blood tax

The Winning of Draupadi: 
Draupadi is a sought after woman
There's an archery contest for her marriage
Karna almost wins but Arjuna who is still in disguise wins
Arjuna fights Karna, and Bhima fights king Shayla
Arjuna wins
Kunti tells Arjuna to share his winnings, not realizing he won a bride so he shares with his 4 brothers and she is wife to 5 men
Her father was happy to know they are royalty when he finds out from following but is angry she marries all 5.. finally agrees

The Adventures of Prince Arjuna:
Bhishma tells Dury to make peace with Pandavas once he realizes they're alive
The Pandavas get half of the kingdom and build a city
Arjuna enters Draupadi's room while Yudhish was in there and goes into exile in the forest
Yudhish goes to underwater world with water nymph Ulupi and they wed
In a dream the fire-god Agni tells Yudhish to burn the Khandava forest and destroy the nagas who live under protection of Indra
Agni gives Arjuna the gandiva bow, and arrows from the sea-god Varuna.. Arjuna is son of Indra
Arjuna sets forest on fire
Indra appears and pours rain down to put fire out

Arjune and Subhadra: 
Nagas flee and all are killed except Maya
Arjuna goes to Dwarka and meets Subhadra.. they wed
Subhadra is sister of Krishna
Subhadra and Arjuna go back to Indraprastha
Maya builds a palace for the Pandavas
Yudh declares himself emperor
Krishna tells him to kill king Jarasandha to be ruler
Bhima goes to wrestle the king and wins by tearing him in half
All captives are freed

Yudhishthira's Gambling: 
The palace where Dury lives is an illusion
Gamble ensues
Yudh losses his brothers, himself and Draupadi
Dury drags Draupadi by her hair, rips her clothes off but clothes are replaced by divine intervention
Bhima vows to drink Dushasana's blood and break his thigh
King Dhristarashtra gives her wishes.. she wishes all were free.. they are
Another bet goes down and the Pandavas go into exile for 12 years

Bhima and the Serpent
Endless food is supplied by the sun-god
People who followed them have food to eat
Vyasa tells Arjuna to find his father Indra for celestial weapons
He climbs the Himalayas
A hidden Indra tells him to find Shiva first
Arjuna battles a boar and realizes it's Shiva
Shiva goes away and Indra gives Arjuna golden armor
He returns to his brothers
Bhima goes missing.. Yudh finds him in the grip of a snake
Yudh answers the snakes question and a man appears
King Nahusha appears and is released from his curse b/c Yudh answers all of his questions

    Picture info: Arjuna and Subhadra Leave Dwarka with Krishna

Source info: Mahabharata. The Indian Heroes: Mahabharata - The Princes of Elephant City by C. A. Kincaid. (1921). 

Week 8 Progress

Overall I'm mostly happy with my progress but I know that I could have a higher grade since the assignments to do so are there! My weekly routine could probably change some to where I'm able to get ahead by at least one week, which is my goal for the last 8 weeks. This will give me some opportunities to work on extra credit and take off some pressure for weeks that I'm busy with work, other classes, or life. I may work on different layouts for my blog and my storybook to try to change it up throughout the rest of the semester. In fact, I think I'll either work on extra credit now or next weeks assignments!

      Image information : Not more procrastinating

Week 8 Comments and Feedback

I think that the comments I'm receiving are useful as I am getting a lot of positive feedback from everybody which is encouraging. Some of the most useful ones are the comments that give me suggestions which I can try to incorporate and use in my next assignment.
As far as leaving feedback for others, I think I'm doing ok but could probably go into a bit more detail when I offer suggestions. I am able to get writing style ideas from other peoples' stories which I can use for my stories.
Reading other peoples' blogs and introductions does definitely give me a sense for who they are which helps when reading their stories. I think my introduction mostly covers everything that I would like for people to know and me and I enjoy reading feedback from others.
For future feedback posts I want to try to give more detailed suggestions.


I chose the image below because it reminded me of my own cat. One night last month, when it was down pouring, I got a text from my mom telling me that Spikey Boo Fang (that's his name) was stuck in a tree. I called her and she told me that he had been stuck about 13 feet up in a tree for a few hours. We discussed what to do but decided it was too dangerous for either of us to climb a ladder to get him down. Finally I got a text from her saying that he made his way down and was safe in the house.


P.S. This was not the first time he had been stuck in a tree, I think his cat meter is broken.

                   Photo Information:  Hopefully this cat isn't stuck like mine was. LOL!

Week 8 Reading and Writing

Now that I am getting more familiar with blogging and google sites I feel like I will be able to change up the theme to better suite me. I played around with the theme for the blog and I like it but I may switch it up more. As for the google site, I'm pretty happy with the layout and the banner pictures that I chose. The reading notes that I have written seem to be sufficient for me to get the background information but I would like to try more styles. As far as writings go, I am fairly happy with the styles that I have used but would like to switch them up more so that they don't so closely resemble the original. I think my favorite one that I have done so far was week 7 where I more or less started in the middle of the original story, worked back, then worked to present day. For future posts I would like to work on using more dialogue though. I would also like to look at more research strategies as well as note taking methods.

 Picture information: Probably my favorite picture so far. This is a very calming and reflective picture for me. The sunset (or sunrise) along with the waves give off the vibe that this is a relaxed state of mind, as it should be!

Week 7 Story: The Girl That Got Away

I belched out in despair to my father, the king of gods "Oh father what ever shall I do? I have been deemed unlovable by the woman that I love more than life!"
In that moment he calmly responded "dearest son, you must'n worry for you will find your path and true love".



You see, weeks leading up to this exact moment I was ecstatic and filled with excitemnt because I had been given several gifts from my relatives for my birthday and was FINALLY allowed to live in their neighborhood. I'm sure you all are wondering what the big deal is.. but these gifts were not just any ordinary gifts and this neighborhood was not just any neighborhood! This neighborhood was an out of world experience where all gods, goddesses, queens, kings, nymphs, and Demi-gods lived, here they overlooked human activities.. and here is where I found my true love.



Pull up a chair and have a seat, I'm going to tell you a story.


So it all started with one warm and sunny day when I noticed something fishy happening off in a distance, so naturally I decided to approach it. As I neared the site in question I noticed that there were dead fishes and birds sprawled across the beach. I continue to approach this unforgiving scene and low and behold the damn ocean splits in two! I'm in my flight or fight mode but I remembered my father saying that I needed to man up if I ever expected to get into his neighborhood. I then also remembered the amazing gifts that my family had given me and that they had told me to use them if I ever was in despair.
I decided that this was a moment of despair as this 5 headed sea monster was lunging at me, open mouth, bugged eye, and all!
I pull out my handy gifts: one a stick, another a liquid in some weird shell, and the other a ball to catch Pokemon? WHAT?!
Throwing the stick I see nothing happened so I throw the weird liquid in a shell but once again nothing happened! My last resort is to throw this weird Pokemon ball so I do! I throw far and hard and hit the weird monster with it, all while holding my breath to the point of almost passing out.
Somehow, someway this weird Pokemon ball worked and this 5 headed sea monster was trapped in it!
Within seconds my father, his brothers, and his sisters appear in front of me to take me to my new nieghborhood that I wanted so badly to live in! Alas, I'm finally there!
So one night out with the boys I noticed a girl from across the room, she's wearing some amazing makeup with cat eyes, and had medium length black hair that was straight.. her outfit caught my attention, it was like nothing I had ever seen before. I decide to approach her and ask her her name. She tells me its Cleopatra.

Feeling myself because I had captured some weird sea creature, been admitted to the new 'hood, and turned 21, so I ask her for a dance. She agrees!
We danced, laughed, and talked the night away so I decided to ask her out on a date. She agreed again! I'm on a roll!



Fastforward to just this morning and I think that things are going great with Cleopatra, we're even planning on going to visit a tropical island soon. Then this morning she sends me a messenger pigeon telling me things aren't working out and that it's me, not her.. she tells me that I will never be loved because I'm just not loveable. I'm in shock so I call my dad and this is full circle to how we got here.

I still don't know why I'm not loveable or why my father says that it's for the best, that I must complete a quest. Can you help me on this quest?

    Picture information: Here is my love Cleopatra one Sunday evening


Authors Notes: The original story from where I got my idea for this one is Indra and Arjuna. In the original story Arjuna (Indra's son) is given gifts from the gods, taken tot celestial city where they all reside and is cursed to never love. Arjuna then goes to fight demons and beings from the underworld, he succeeds, and then continues on to the underworld where he again wins. Upon defeating the creatures of the underworld he is given another gift from his father.


Source: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913). Found here! 

Reading Notes: The Death of Krishna, Part D

People knew that something bad was about to happen but nobody could pinpoint what it was.
Eventually people knew that Dwarka was about to be destroyed and a figure came in the night.. the figure was said to be Yama who is the god of the underworld.
Krishna told everybody to perform devotions on the beach with wine to try to ignore and ward the evil off.
There was a woman who arrived and brought spirits who stole jewels from the women and weapons from the men. (omen)
Krishna's chakra (spirit) went to heaven, the end of the Yadavas (group of people) was coming up, and the asparas told people to come to heaven. (omen)
The people feasting on the beach with wine drank heavily and fights broke out. Everybody killed everybody (omen)
Krishna and his brother Balarama went to the jungle where they both died. The world serpent came out of Balarama's mouth and Krishna was shot by a hunter who mistook him for something else.. the arrow pierced his foot which was his weak point and the only place that could kill him. Krishna went to his heaven called Goloka.
Krishna seemed to know his fate so had one sent for Arjuna once he died. Arjuna arrived to find Vasudeva (Krishna's father), his 4 widows, Krishna, and Balarama all dead so he cremated them.
Arjuna then left and headed to Indraprastha and the city of Dwarka was taken by the sea (lost city of atlantis?)

Picture information : Death of Balarama, Krishna's brother

Source: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913). Death of Krishna 

Reading Notes: Arjuna and Indra Part C

Arjuna (Hercules) who is the son of Indra (Much like Zeus) receives "celestial" gifts from his father who is the kind gods, Varuna who is the god of waters (much like Poseidon), Yama who is the king of dead (Hades), and Kubera who is the god of wealth.
         What gifts did they give?
          Other gods similar to those, not just in Greek and Roman mythology


Indra then took Arjuna to the celestial and heavenly city of Svarga (replace with a seaside city or island?) where everything was just dandy. In this city were apsaras (nymphs maybe?) as well as gandharva who were male nature spirits.. all were rejoicing except one aspara approached him with a lot of hate because she had been tricked and mistreated by the god of love, Kama (Aphrodite, cupid, etc). She vowed that he would not find love
            What city can replace this one, maybe a seaside city with mermaids or sirens?
            What are other similar gods and deities?
            
Arjuna was reassured that this curse would be for the best in the end
             How else can I use this or can I omit maybe?


Patala , (volcano maybe) the underworld housed daityas (demons basically) and danavas (not necessarily bad or good). Arjuna went to fight them and when he arrived the water divided and he saw monstrous creatures who were deployed to fight him by the daityas and danavas. He won.
             Lots of fire and water
             Use of Celestial weapons
             What if the danavas join his team later on?

Arjuna then drove in his father's chariot to the city of demons and giants. All the giant women called to him but het ignored them which resulted in their deaths. Within the city he destroyed it.
Indra gave Arjuna a gold chain, diadem, and a war shell that had a thunder like blast in it.


Maybe change point of view to be the main character and in first person?
Maybe have the characters converse within the story?

                                Picture source: statue of Arjuna


Source: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913). Arjuna and Indra