Friday, January 29, 2021

Feedback Thoughts

"A fixed mindset could be holding you back — here's how to change it" was an interesting article for me because it included real word examples and situations. One of the best experiences I've had with feedback was in my eighth grade English class. The class took a quiz over the difference between it's and its, and I mixed them up perfectly. I didn't even know about the difference at the time, honestly. (Is that a defense mechanism?) Anyways, we graded them in class, and either I or the person grading my quiz told the teacher I got every single one wrong. My teacher started laughing in front of everyone. Luckily for me, this was one my favorite teachers, so I didn't think she was being evil. This moment did teach me to not take things so seriously and to laugh at yourself when you make silly mistakes. Silly mistakes are one thing, but mistakes where you thought you were right and put so much work into a project are more difficult to deal with. 

"Why It’s So Hard to Hear Negative Feedback" is true for me at times. I don't know. I do try to shy away from efforts that aren't guaranteed, and I don't want to be shackled to that mindset. I would say outwardly people probably think I'm very good at receiving negative feedback, and for the most part I am on the inside as well. Sure, there have been times where I brush off what someone says because I think it's ridiculous, but there are other times where I do genuinely think about what the other person is trying to tell me. Culture is very important. In this class specifically, I'm not nervous about receiving feedback I don't like because the stakes aren't pass or fail. It's learn or do well. Either way, it's a positive. 

Feedback (Source)


Thursday, January 28, 2021

Topic Brainstorm

Gospel of Mark

Messiah Netflix Show Trailer

    One of my ideas would be having Jesus' life take place now. For this story, Jesus' original coming wouldn't have taken place yet, so it wouldn't be a story about the end times but a story about how Jesus would start his teaching in the modern world. I had to imagine this story had been done before, so I looked it up and found a show called Messiah. It was a Netflix series that was quickly canceled after it was released because of the similarities between the show and the Muslim prophecy of the Dajjal. This is the Islamic equivalent to the Antichrist. I've never watched the show, although I am interested, but it would seem this storyline follows a second coming formula. That's not the avenue I would go down. The logistics of figuring it all out would be difficult. I think it would be better/easier to write it in the style of the Bible where all the details aren't mentioned. Otherwise I would be spending a lot of time writing about someone filming Jesus on their smartphone and things like that.

Robin Hood

    I would take the Robin Hood story and have him succeed in transferring all the wealth to the poor. I'm not sure how/if I would incorporate this into the story (ha, there's a trading service called Robinhood), but there's a lot of wealth distribution occurring right now. Members of a Reddit group realized there was a short taking place on GameStop stocks, so they bought a ton of the stocks which caused the prices to rise. Now services like Robinhood are preventing anyone from buying the stocks perhaps due to large fund organizations getting upset about losing their short money. Anyways, after Robin Hood gives all the money to the poor, the poor rise up and persecute the rich in the same way they were treated. It would be an endless cycle. Maybe there would be multiple generations of Robin Hood figures, and a new one would come and put an end to the misery and pain. 

Dante's Inferno

John's Vision of Heaven

    Instead of describing Hell I would attempt to describe Heaven. This task would be awfully lofty, although I'm sure it's been done many times before. I might use poetry to describe the immense pleasure of being in God's presence. I know Dante makes it to Purgatory and Heaven, but seeing as I haven't read those portions I won't have to worry about undue influence. This is the least satisfying of the ideas for me because I know I'm incapable of doing Heaven justice. 

Russian Folktales

    I have no basis for these stories, but I did see vampires mentioned. My idea is to have a vampire who doesn't want to drink blood as much as he wants someone to drink his own blood. In this story, a vampire's immortality can be transferred over when someone drinks its blood. The drawback is that someone has to drink blood to continue that immortality. So I caught myself right here and realize that if a vampire has to drink blood to continue their immortality, why doesn't the first vampire just stop drinking blood if he doesn't want to live anymore? My solution is that the vampire continues living, but its existence is excruciatingly painful and miserable. Maybe I'm not doing anything original here, but since I'm not aware, I'm claiming creativity. 


Robin Hood (Source)


Week 2 Story: The Heart of a Lion

     There once was a man and woman who were madly in love with each other. The couple was on the verge of marriage, but before that could happen the man had to attend to his duties as a guard of the village. The man's position was as a watcher. One day while watching, he spotted a pride of lions rushing towards the outpost at which he was stationed. Instead of alerting the men at the outpost of the incoming attack, he ran away. On his run away from the outpost, he hit his head and died, suffering the same fate as the rest of the men at outpost.

    The man was reborn as a lion the moment his spirit left his body. Since at this time lions and other animals could talk, they also aged much faster than lions we know today. The man-lion was walking through the jungle one day when he spotted a woman picking berries from a tree. This was the same woman the man-lion was in love with during his past life. The man-lion was enamored by the woman's beauty. He hid in a bush and watched the woman as she picked the berries. The woman noticed the man-lion in the bushes. 

    "My long lost love told me all about lions and their hunting techniques; when lions are on the prowl, they hunt in packs. Therefore I have no reason to fear you," said the woman. 

    "No, no, fair lady. You have no reason to fear me. Even if I was on the hunt I would spare you because of your great beauty," replied the man-lion.

    From there the two were nearly inseparable. The woman would leave her parents home to visit the man-lion in the same spot where they met every chance she got. There came a point when the two declared their love for each other and their desire to wed. The only thing standing in the way of their betrothal was the woman's parents. 

    The man-lion mustered courage and asked the woman to lead him to her home. The woman's parents were not very pleased with the man-lion's request but feared angering him due to his status as a lion. They told him they would agree to his marriage to their daughter if he declawed and defanged himself. They told him it was out of concern for their daughter, but it was really a trick.

    On his way to get declawed and defanged he noticed a pride of lions rushing towards the village where his love lived. He met their ambush before the village, and the pride stopped to hear what he had to say.

    "This village is mine and mine alone. I wish to eat its inhabitants by myself," the man-lion told the pride. 

    "We won't believe your lies. We know you are in love with a human woman in that village," the leader of the pride retorted.

    Seeing that forceful action would be the only way to stop them, the man-lion began attacking the pride. He killed many lions in the pride, but eventually he succumbed to his injuries and died. What was left of the pride retreated knowing they would not be able to pillage the village with such diminished numbers. That night out of the carcass of the man-lion crawled out the man who was once a lion. The man skinned the lion using its claws and wore his former skin as outerwear. Knowing that the lions would eventually return, he went to warn the outpost protecting the village where his love lived. They believed him, and with a war party of 100 men, the man that was once a lion marched off in the direction of the lion pride's retreat. There the man and the outpost guards slayed all the lions. This is why lions are associated with courage.

                                                        The Courage of a Lion (Source)

    The man returned with the war party to the village. He immediately went to the house of his love. With tears and confusion the woman cried in his arms.

    "My love, I was a coward and lost my life. I was reborn as the lion you fell in love with, but I did not remember my past life. On my way to get my claws and fangs removed I saw a pride of lions with a thirst for blood. I did what was courageous and stopped them to protect your life and the life of the villagers. In the process I lost my own life, but it seems the right thing does bring its own rewards," the man who was a lion explained. 

    The couple embraced and lived a happy life together. 



Author's Note: This story was inspired by "The Lion in Love." I felt bad about the lion being tricked even though I don't support bestiality. I always wondered why the woman would be okay with marrying a lion (maybe she wasn't). I turned a tale of deception into a tale of love and learning. 

Bibliography: "The Lion in Love" from Aesop's Fables by Joseph Jacobs



Wednesday, January 27, 2021

Reading Notes: Week 2 Anthology

 The Hare that Was not Afraid to Die

Eastern Stories and Legends by Marie L. Shedlock (1920).

http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/05/jataka-hare-that-was-not-afraid-to-die.html


Pygmalion

Ovid's Metamorphoses, translated by Tony Kline (2000).

http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/04/ovids-metamorphoses-pygmalion.html


The Tiger, The Brahman, and the Jackal

Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1912).

http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/03/indian-fairy-tales-indian-fairy-tales.html


The Lion in Love

These fables all come from The Fables of Aesop by Joseph Jacobs (1894).

http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/04/aesops-fables-lions-part-1.html

There is no mention of the daughter in this story besides the lion saying he wants to marry her. I would explore the daughter's role in this story. Perhaps due to the Buddha story about the rabbit I am thinking of reincarnation. In my version of this story I would write a backstory about the daughter having a former love who died. I think I would have the events surrounding his death be where he acted cowardly in some way. He would be reincarnated as the lion in a sort of irony just like The Wizard of Oz. The lion will remember his cowardly act from his past life, but he won't remember the reason why he has the chance for another life. That reason is his former love. He will see her at some point and be instantly attracted to her. The daughter won't understand why, but she will have some sort of fondness for him, too. Over time they will fall in love. The lion's act of bravery will be approaching the daughter's parents and asking to marry her as well as removing his weapons (maybe have this be paralleled to his cowardly act). They will ask him to declaw and defang himself just like the original story, but instead of them making fun of him for taking their advice he will turn back into his former self. Then the two lovers will live happily ever after.

(Lion In Love by Tenniel)



Week 2 Reading Overview



Choose from CLASSICAL and/or BIBLICAL units for Weeks 3 and 4.

Week 3:  Adam and Eve

Week 4: Infancy Gospels

Choose from MIDDLE EASTERN and/or INDIAN units for Weeks 5 and 6.

Week 5: Life of the Buddha

Week 6: Arabian Nights

Choose from ASIAN and/or AFRICAN units for Weeks 7 and 9. [Week 8 is review week.]

Week 7: Tibetan Folk Tales

Week 9: The Monkey King Sun Wu Kung

Choose from NATIVE AMERICAN units for Weeks 10 and 11.

Week 10: Myths of the Cherokee

Week 11: Native America Marriage Tales

Choose from BRITISH and/or CELTIC units for Weeks 12 and 13.

Week 12: Robin Hood

Week 13: Canterbury Tales

Choose from EUROPEAN units for Weeks 14 and 15.

Week 14: Inferno

Week 15: Russian Folk Tales

    I am particularly excited about reading Dante since I've been meaning to read The Divine Comedy for sometime. I actually started once when I was twelve, but the combination of poetry and the subject matter made it too scary and intimidating for me to stick with. 
    Many of the stories I picked I have some familiarity with but want to know the stories in-depth. Others I have no touchstone for. I look forward to the flow of creativity from reading these tales and myths. Some of the stories I already have an idea for what I will write, but I'm not sure if they'll work in practice yet. We'll see.


(illustration by Otto Ubbelohde)
    I picked this image because it evokes fear in me in the same way I think many folktales were supposed to do for children. It also reminds me of this film called The Lighthouse. I didn't like the movie that much, but it stuck with me in a similar way to the creepy origins of all the Disney princess movies. 


Tuesday, January 26, 2021

Time Strategies

     In "Eat the Frogs First Thing in the Morning" by Thomas Oppong, active procrastinators are mentioned. I would consider myself one of them. I don't necessarily think I work better under pressure, but I do know that I don't get overly anxious about what I save for the last minute. I oscillate between thinking saving things for the last minute gives a person more time for what they want to do and thinking doing a little often is more efficient. Actually, I think both are true. Not having anything on the calendar mentally means you're open up to doing things you might otherwise think you don't have time for. I would say that's one benefit to my procrastination. Until I truly need to do something, I'm usually available for last minute events and surprises. I need more balance! Hopefully starting this class in advance is a good start. There comes a point when I do a grand task at the last minute, such as a programming assignment, that I become inefficient because I'm burnt out from staring at something for so long. Then I find my spark! I've done almost all of my academic writing the night before it's due. It's not necessary in my mind anymore, but I do like to write all at once to understand how it all fits together. I don't just mean the overall structure and theme of the paper as much as I mean how specific sentences interact with one another. I find that kind of stuff fun. 


Eat me. I dare you.

Frogger

    "11 Ways Unsuccessful People Mismanage Their Time" was a little too generic for my tastes. However, I do see myself doing many of the items on this list. Back to my factory worker status from high school, I only ever did what was in front of me and didn't worry about the future too much because I didn't know where my future was going. Biblically, only worrying about today is a good thing, but it can have consequences when there is no vision beside the focus on today. I have mostly eliminated the fear surrounding graduating and finding a job. Now it's time to create an inspired vision of what my life is going to be. In essence, I need more goals and do need to schedule sometimes. Balance...

Technology Is Cool

     I like the setup of this class. I've been keeping a tab open for this class, and whenever I'm ready to do another assignment it's right there. It doesn't seem to reload and lose your place. Blogger is a very easy tool to use. I enjoy the simplicity of all these tools. I've been learning new technologies the past couple years as an MIS major, and sometimes the programs and services we use aren't so simple. 

    I used a website called Github to create a website last semester, so I'm interested in finding out how Google's Sites compares. 

    The folder tool for bookmarks is really smart. I don't use bookmarks too often, but the bookmarks I do have seem completely random, so it'll be nice to have a little organization. 

Who knows what could be in there...



Monday, January 25, 2021

Assignments and Thoughts

     I'm most excited to write fiction. Fiction is forgotten in scholastic writing once the five paragraph essay format is taught. At least in my experience. I have been told my writing style sounds very verbal, so I'm interested to see if I should find another voice for fiction or if my own can be adapted easily. I've had ideas for stories I could write for awhile. I hope this class gives me the experience and confidence to stop putting off writing them. 



Sharing them can be costly...

Growth Mindset

     I actually mentioned growth mindset in my previous post. I don't know if that wording was on my mind because I saw the name of this assignment or if it's because I've heard about growth mindset for so long. I mentioned growth mindset was one of the takeaways from my career class I took as a freshman at OU. 

    I believe in the growth mindset. I've never thought I'm incapable of learning something. I do sometimes think a person's baseline is different than another person's and that achieving that baseline might require more effort for one person than another. I've run into arguments for believing those things, but I always try to explain those beliefs in no way detract from what growth mindset proponents believe.

    On the subject of schooling and the growth mindset, I agree the current grading system does promote chasing a grade rather than learning the material. I was one of the valedictorians at my high school, and I sometimes joke the reward should have been titled "Best Factory Worker." I looked at high school as a game in some ways. I just needed to figure out the system. Luckily for me, I did retain a decent amount of what I was tested over. However, I think if grades weren't seen as such a big deal I could have possibly learned and remembered more. At the same time, without grades, I might not have applied myself to all the classes I took and instead would have focused on only the ones I found most interesting.

    One particular path has never stood out among the rest for me, so incentives such as grades have always been a carrot at the end of the stick for me when my interests didn't lead me anywhere. My explanation for why I focused on getting good grades was that my only job as a student was to do so. I've always wanted to make the most of time, so I think I did that in high school. Why I was able to achieve the grades I did was because I didn't give up when I probably could have. I believe that's what separated me and the other valedictorians from all the other students who were just as capable of getting all A's.



I like to learn most of the time...

(Caption by Laura Gibbs, Image from Flickr)

Friday, January 22, 2021

Introduction to an Unknown Future

     I have never considered myself a man of fear but a man above fear. One of my favorite movies, one I just watched recently with my girlfriend who has somehow never been exposed to a Batman movie, is Batman Begins. The theme in the film is overcoming your fears by putting them in their place and maybe even channeling them into a purpose. My fear as a child was the terrible, ominous dark. I thought I overcame it then. My dad, hopefully with my consent (although I can't remember), would put me in dark rooms by myself to overcome my fear. And it worked as far as I'm aware. I don't remember being scared of it all that much as a child, and it's been a long, long time since I thought someone or something was following me as I quickly ascended unlit stairs to the safe haven of a room with a light switch. (If your reader voice is out of breath from that sentence, then you understand the feeling of trying to get to that light.)

    But it's not really the dark children are scared of, is it? It's the unknown. The dark is a stand-in for the unknown and all that comes with it. What I've realized--more recently than I would like to admit--is that the best way to overcome the unknown is to depower it by making it known. I don't mean making the unknown known in any particular way other than understanding the unknown exists for everyone. So in that way, the unknown is quite known. 

    My unknown for the longest time was my career. And actually, it still is. My takeaway from a career class I took in 2018 was that major doesn't matter as much as an ability to adapt coupled with a growth mindset does. I think I looked at majors as shackles rather than keys. I was so concerned about picking the right key for the right door that I didn't realize the door doesn't lead to a single path. A college degree, no matter what it is, propels a person forward. Forward is the direction I want to go. I shouldn't be scared of forward. There are many vehicles carrying me forward, and at anytime I can put one of them into park. 

    So yea. I'm a Management Information Systems major, and we'll see where this vehicle takes me. 


Road to the Unknown

Thursday, January 21, 2021

Storybook Favorites

The Demon Slayer Named Sun

 https://sites.google.com/site/thedemonslayernamedsun/home

    I knew by the staff and the monkey holding it that this was based on Journey to the West. My awareness of the Chinese myth comes from one of my favorite shows: Dragon Ball Zdoesn't share as many elements to Journey to the West as the original Dragon Ball anime series and manga, but the main character did have a tail before getting it cut off. I enjoy the author's writing style. It does somewhat remind me of a translated story because of the easy to read sentences and how words such as "demon" are written nonchalantly. I like the design of the website, too. The background reminds me of an ancient scroll. 



   (Illustration by Xiaojun Li, from The Monkey King)


Badass Biblical Women

https://amandasmythandfolkstorybook.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html


I thought the title was interesting. While there are strong female characters in the Bible, I wouldn't traditionally think of them as badass. So in that sense, the title is intriguing. I'm interested in what perspective the author, whom I imagine is female herself, can provide to these characters. I am most interested in Bathsheba since her situation seems the worst and is representative of one of David's greatest sins. However, a lot of good came out of the situation. Eventually. 

Looney Tunes Goes to India

https://sites.google.com/view/indianepicshayden/home?authuser=0

My mind immediately goes to pop culture and my favorite heroes when I think about writing stories of my own. The first story made me think of Goku, the second Jesus, and this one Batman. Now that I see we have the ability to tell stories of our own while working off a myth, I see possibilities of incorporating Batman somehow. I think I'll need to get more ingrained in myths before I start thinking of how I can work Batman in. The author's note at the bottom of each page is useful. If I can explain how I'm combining the elements of the myth with my own story, then I can probably get pretty crazy. 

Reading Notes, Inferno: Part B

  This story is part of the  Dante's Inferno unit . Story source:  Dante's Divine Comedy , translated by Tony Kline (2002) I read th...