Tech Tip: Embed Tweet

o em gee pic.twitter.com/wWRbLYoB2O

— Horry Puttor (@HorryPuttor) April 20, 2016

Week 13 Reading Diary: Grimm (LibriVox)

For this week I decided to read one of the Grimm's unit. These were my favorite parts.

The Frog Prince (source: wikipedia)

The Frog Prince

• a princess went for a walk with her favorite ball. She couldn't catch it and it rolled away.
• the frog helped her out.
• she forgot about the frog.
• the frog found the palace and the king said that since she promised it, she has to keep her word and let it live with her.
• after 3 nights, the frog turned into a prince.
• he was cursed by a witch. It will be broken once he is helped out of the spring, allowed to eat from the princess's plate, and sleep in her bed for 3 nights.
• they got married. 

Rapunzel

• the man and woman had trouble conceiving. 
• one day the queen saw rampion in the neighbor's garden and wanted some. The man climbed over the wall to get it for her.
• when he went back the next day, the enchantress caught him. She allowed him on one condition: that she have the child.
• once the child was born, the enchantress took her. At the age of twelve, she was locked in a tower.
• the prince came by Rapunzel's tower.
• Dame Gothel found out and tricked the prince. She pushed him off the tower.
• Rapunzel found him, and her tears cured him.

The Straw, the Coal, and the Bean

• the straw, coal, and bean all escaped from their death.
• they all died anyway.
• they came to a stream, and the straw stretched itself to act as a bridge. 
• the coal got to the middle, got scared, stopped, and burned the straw in half. The coal also fell in and burned out.
• the bean laughed so hard it burst.

Week 12 Famous Last Words

Reading This Week
I read Aesop's Fables this week. They were again, very interesting and short. It is very interesting how the author comes up with these stories.

My Best Writing This Week
I think I did a pretty good job for my new story for my storybook this week. I chose to retell Hansel and Gretel, modernizing it a bit. My storybook is in the form of a chat show, and I had a little trouble at first figuring out which format I wanted to use. I ended up with using the initials and then colons to indicate who is talking. This week's was a bit hard, since there were two "guests" and I had to decide who spoke which part. I would lose track a bit in the middle of who's saying what, but I think I fixed all my errors in the end.

My Other Classes
I had an exam this week, and it was horrible. It was for MIS Field Project, which is essentially the capstone for MIS majors. I was kind of glad though, because EVERYONE else also thought the test was awful. It is kind of reassuring that it is supposed to be hard, because 65+ is a B on the exams. We also get next class to argue our point for the multiple choice questions, so there's an opportunity to gain some points. I personally did not argue the points, I had a friend do it for me, but I got an additional 8 points after that class. It kind of shows that I was on the right track, that my answers weren't all completely wrong.

Outside of School
This is not completely outside, but my parents are coming for graduation in a month! I haven't seen them (physically, since we FaceTime most nights) since Christmas break, so this will be nice. I still can't believe that I'm graduating, although not really, since I'm going to grad school, so I'm not totally done with school yet.

Tech Tip: Hashtag and Retweets

I retweeted this tweet because I think the caffeine cycle is real. I personally don't normally drink coffee, but I have friends that do, and this causality loop definitely exists.

The hashtag that I looked up was: #ratchanok. I looked to see if there was a hashtag for the Thai female badminton player that is now ranked #1, and there was. She competed yesterday against China and won 2-1 sets. She's quite impressive.

Week 12 Storytelling: The Cat and the Man

"Hello, it's me, Venus. For those of you who don't know, I am the Goddess of Love. I have made many people fall in love before, but for some reason, those don't end particularly well. I have about a 90% success rate when it comes to couples staying in love. I can make them fall in love just fine, but I can't figure out quite yet how to make them stay loving each other forever, which is why you have divorce in your world. I am not here to talk about my success rate though, and those of you who are thinking, 'You have been alive and doing this for forever, how couldn't you know?' There are a lot of elements when making a relationship work, alright? And it's complicated.... Which leads me to the tale I have for you today.

"One day, this beautiful cat came to me, asking for me to change her into a human, so that she can marry a human man. It was already an odd request to start with, and I did wonder how she fell in love with the man. Turns out this man has been feeding her, taking care of her when he can, and recently just rescued her from the side of the street. She fell in love with his kindness and wants to marry him!

"I tried to explain to her, I did, that me changing her form wouldn't change anything else. Everything about her would still remain the same. She didn't care, only as long as she was a human. So I helped her out.

Wedding (source: ruffledblog.com)

"The couple met each other as humans and instantly hit it off. They soon got engaged and were set to marry... Nothing could go wrong. I was quite ready to run my data again to recalculate my success rate, when a disaster happened on their wedding night.

"Everything was going very smoothly. The ceremony went off without a hitch, the selected food were great, the band was awesome, and everyone was having a good time. Somehow, this mouse made it past the pest control and started running around the venue! Now, when I told her that me changing her into a human won't change anything, that included her basic instinct.

"What would you do if, on the day of your wedding, you see a mouse run by, and a split second later your wife is out of her seat, chasing the mouse around the venue, finally caught it, and devoured it right there in front of everybody?

"Sadly, my recalculated success rate is 94%. That darn cat."

Author's Note
I based my story off of one of Aesop's fables, which was short, so I had quite a bit of expanding to do. In the original story, this cat goes to Venus to asked to be changed into a human so she can marry the man. Venus does it, and on their wedding night there was a mouse, which the cat/human the proceeded to chase. The man broke it off afterwards. It was easier to expand on this than the Robe of Light story (Week 10), and I had quite a bit more fun with it. The man still ended up breaking off the marriage after seeing his wife eat a rat.... I wasn't quite sure if I wanted to change that haha.

Bibliography: This story can be found in the Aesop's Fables (English) Unit, under The Gods chapter.

Week 12 Reading Diary: Aesop's Fables (English)

I chose to read from the Aesop's Fables Unit this week.

The Gods (Davies)

• the gods laughed at the baby but everyone sees beauty differently
• Jupiter accepted Apollo's challenge to archery but Jupiter can step as far as Apollo can shoot, so what's the point
• people worship Hercules, but he can't really help since he's not a god. You have to help yourself.
• a cat asked Venus to change her to a woman so she can marry the man she loves. On their wedding night, a mouse ran past and she pounced on it. Her nature wasn't changed even though her form did.
• man is to carry his burdens on his back. It's easy for us to see others' burdens but not our own.
• the peacock goes to Juno about his jealousy of the nightingale's pretty voice.

Goose that lay the golden egg (source: wikipedia)

Fables about People (Boothby)

• the man cut up the goose who lay golden eggs to find nothing
• people abuse power; if people saw the wolf eating a feast, they would complain, but it's normal for humans.
• the trumpeter tried to get out of fighting by saying he never killed anyone, but he gets excited when fighting happens. Got shot anyway.
• the satyr questions the traveller when he blows: on his fingers to warm and his soup to cool.
• the child refused to cry A, because then they'd make him cry B too

Apes (L'Estrange)

• an ape had twins, and she favors one of them. While running away she grabs her favorite and swings the other onto her back. In her haste she slams against a stone, killing the favorite, but the one on her back was perfectly safe.
• there is an Ape training school where the final is a dance. Someone threw the apples at the apes and they all abandoned everything and dove for them. Nature is always stronger.

Foxes (Smart)

• the fox tricked the crow into giving him the cheese
• the fox poured soup into a dish, the stork cannot drink. The stork served the fox soup in a long-necked bottle, the fox cannot drink from it either.
• the fox tricks the goat into going down the well and leaving it there while he escapes

Growth Mindset: Practice

Practice cat (source: growthmindsetmemes)

I have always had difficulty with writing, whether it be papers or stories. This class forces you to write most of the time, such as writing your reading diary, comments, and most importantly, the storytelling and storybook projects. Because it's forced me to write a lot more than I am used to, I think I have improved due to the practice throughout the semester. It still takes me a bit before the ideas come together, but looking back at my first storytelling, I think I have definitely improved.

Tech Tip: Twitter Follow

I use twitter to follow my favorite YouTubers and actors. I have notifications turned on for some of them, since a few of the YouTubers do live shows now and again and I always missed them before.

Week 11 Reading Diary: Alice in Wonderland

This week I decided to read Alice in Wonderland.

Down the Rabbit-Hole

• Alice was bored out of her mind sitting with her sister when a rabbit in a waistcoat ran by.
• she followed it and went down the rabbit hole.
• it was a long fall. She passed several things on the way down.
• the fall was very long, and she started talking to herself.
• the white rabbit was hurrying down a passage, and Alice quickly followed it. 
• she came upon a room with doors all around, but they were all locked.
• on the three-legged table made of glass was a key, but either it was too small or the doors too big, it didn't work, until she came upon a door about fifteen inches high.
• she couldn't fit through the door.
• on the table, she found a bottle with the words DRINK ME printed on it. 
• she was now only ten inches high.
• when she went to the door, she had forgetten the key on the table. 
• she then spotted a little glass box containing a cake with the words EAT ME on it.
• it made her grow enough to get the key. 
• she went through the door.

Advice from a Caterpillar

• the Caterpillar asks who Alice is.
• she argues back and forth with the Caterpillar about her identity crisis.
• her arms, shoulders, and legs disappeared so she had to slither on the ground like a snake. 

Cheshire cat (source: quotesgram)

Pig and Pepper

• a footman delivered a letter from the queen to the Duchess to play croquet.
• she came to knock upon the door.
• she finally went inside. There was too much pepper in the soup, and she meets the Cheshire cat.
• If everybody minded their own business, the world would go round a deal faster than it does.
• Alice was handed the pig-baby to take care of.
• she set the pig- baby down and it trotted off into the woods.
• she decided to go the direction of the March Hare's house. 
• the chimneys were shaped like ears and the roof was thatched with fur. 

Week 10 Storytelling: The Robe of Light

Good morning everyone, and welcome to The Museum of Supernatural Artifact. We have a lot of cool things here, like Saturn's ring, Mars' tears, and most importantly, Sun's Robe of Light. Alright, if you guys could line up, demigods over here, fairies over there, and everyone else there. And remember, don't touch anything!

As the mismatched crowd walked through the museum, they were awed by the items they only heard in stories. While the objects were definitely cool, they were all looking forward to seeing the Robe of Light. Even though it was just a replica, it would still be amazing to see what it looked like, and learn more about it.

Dress of light (source: pinterest)

Item: Robe of Light (replica)
Origin: Earth
Date Created: Unknown
Created by: Human Woman
Last in Possession by: Sun
Background Information: The original robe, made out of the skin of small animals such as rabbits and birds, was created by a human woman. The animals were hunted by a human boy to be used as food for him and his grandmother. The grandmother sewed together this robe, which as you can see, is large and bright. It was worn by the boy when he went to spear for fish.

One day, Sun, while out following the trail in Sky Land, saw the robe. He approached the boy and asked for an exchange. Sun always wore a goatskin robe with a long fringe. The boy initially refused, but Sun convinced him. Sun dipped the fringe of his robe into the water, and fish immediately caught on. The boy accepted the exchange, and that is how Sun grew so bright.
Sun used to be pale, similar to Moon. Once he had his robes on, however, no one could look at him anymore, his robe shining too bright for the eyes.

We at the museum have tried our best to create this replica, getting the approval of its likeness from Sun himself. Sun actually mentioned that it's quite a good thing it's just a replica, since no one would be able to see the original due to its brightness. We thank him for allowing us to replicate it, and also for the donation to the museum.

Author's Note

I was having a lot of trouble coming up for ideas for this week, but thought that this could be quite cool. I followed the original story quite closely. The boy hunted for animals, the grandmother made the robe, and Sun asked for it in exchange of his own. I thought having this as an item in a museum would be cool, but since the original story was so short, it was a bit hard to come up with more stuff to write about it.

Bibliography: Why the Sun is Bright from the British North America unit.

Week 10 Reading Diary: British North America

I'm reading from the British North America unit this week.

Beliefs

• there are 5 worlds, one on top of the other. Earth is in the middle.
• above is Afraid of nothing, below is House of the Sun.
• Afraid of Nothing created the whole world.
• Afraid of Nothing made the mountains smaller than they used to be.
• Afraid of Nothing causes sickness and death when it visits earth.

Creation of the World

• the men dug too deep. The tree and the chief's daughter fell through.
• the swans came together to catch her landing.
• they went to ask Big Turtle what to do.
• Big Turtle turned into land.
• sometimes he moves his foot, and that's why there are earthquakes.

How the Earth Was Formed

• Wisagatcak tried to capture the beaver. He missed.
• he was determined, using the juniper wood to break the dam and drain the creek.
• the water didn't drain. It rose and rose until he had to make a raft.
• he took two of every animal.
• he gave the moss to wolf and made him run, making earth appear.
• it grew and grew. This is how the earth grew on water and why there are springs.

Sun and Moon (source: pinterest)

Creation of the Earth

• long long ago, everything was blank.
• Sun and his wife Earth.
• Earth told Sun to go away because he's too hot. Moon and stars left with him.
• the Old One changed Earth into the earth now. Her hair is flowers and her bones are rocks.

Origin of Rivers in Queen Charlotte Islands

• Raven steals away the water.
• while flying away from Beaver, he drops some, creating the rivers.

Origin of Haida Land

• Raven didn't follow instructions.
• the pieces became land.

Raven and Moon Woman

• Raven took the moon again and threw it down to the ground.
• one piece is the moon in the sky.
• the other piece is the sun.
• the scraps are the stars.

Creation of Light

• the chief won't give light to anyone else.
• the animals sang together until light started lighting up the sky.
• the old chief said 'let there be light' and light bursted into the sky.
• he didn't mean to do that.

Grizzly Bear and Coyote

• Grizzly bear wanted to make it dark all the time.
• they agreed for half and half.
• they agreed to each getting six months.

Origin of Light and Fire

• Raven asked for fire.
• the Fire people showed him how to make some.

The Burning of the World

• only a man, mother, and sister were saved.
• he shot arrows off into the four directions and told anyone that didn't want to burn to go to them.
• people didn't believe.
• he categorized and created the animals.

Why the Sun is Bright

• the sun is bright because he traded his fishing robe for the bright robe.

The Man in the Moon

• Sun is Moon's wife.
• the Moon allowed the Eskimo to choose one animal. He chose the seal and deer.

Week 9 Reading Diary, continued: Native American Marriage Tales

A continuation of Native American Marriage Tales.

The Dog-Husband

• A girl has a dog that turns into a human at night.
• She got pregnant. Her parents were so ashamed they moved away.
• Crow took pity on her and provided fire.
• She gave birth to 5 pups. Four male and one female.
• They are able to turn into humans. She taught them to hunt.

The youth and the deer (source: pinterest)

The Youth Who Joined the Deer

• A man followed deer tracks but lost them. Turns out it was the girl.
• The man doubted, worrying about his wife and child, but the deer convinced him it was alright.
• When people eat deer, they save the bones, wrap them, then throw them into the river.
• They deer come back to life when the bones are thrown into the river.
• The hunter became a deer

The Girl and the Turkeys

• This poor girl was never allowed to participate in festivities.
• She is able to talk turkeys.
• She was dressed in expensive clothing.
• She danced and danced with the turkeys.
• The girl ran away. The turkeys wonder where she went.
• The girl turned back into what she was before.

The True Bride

• A man had a wife and daughter. His wife died and remarried, and they also had a daughter.
• Her stepmother disliked her and always scolded her no matter what she did.
• The chief's son took interest in her.
• It is known that she is marrying the girl who can spit gold.
• The stepmother replaced the baby with a cat.
• The chief decided to kill her.
• The son did not like his new wife.
• They hung his new wife and he took back his old wife.
• He became chief after his father.

Tech Tip: First Tweet

I have had a Twitter account for a while now but I don't go on it much. I mainly follow actors, youtubers, and movie accounts. I have the notification turned on for my favorite youtubers, since they have live shows sometimes and I always missed it before. I follow several movie-production-company type things too to keep up with what's going on.

Week 9 Reading Diary: Native American Marriage Tales

This week I chose to read about Native American Marriage Tales.

The Piqued Buffalo-Wife

• The boy would run around different camps looking for his father.
• The headman took pity and send messengers to other camps to help.
• After several tries, the boy ran into a man and declared him his father.
• They went to the farm and a cow approached. As she got closer, she turned into a woman.
• She told him to never struck fire at her.
• He got mad one day and did, they turned into buffalo-cows and ran away.
• When he got to the herd, he had to go through a few tests.
• He failed one and got trampled.
• They found a small piece of bone and resurrected him.

Bear-Woman and Deer-Woman

• Grizzly bear and Doe
• While down at the creek, they helped each other hunt for lice on their heads.
• What the heck is happening. Grizzly bear chewed off Doe's head!
• She put the head in the fire where the eye burst from the heat. The doe children think it's their mother, but bear chased the children out to play.
• They played in a smoking hollow log. The does fanned the fire until the bears were smothered.
• They handed the log off to the bear saying it was a skunk.
• The children ran away and with help of the crane got over the river.
• Bear didn't and fell in.

Splinter-Foot-Girl

• The men refused to give up their daughter to the bull.
• The magpie told the bull to send a different bird.
• The men consented.
• The girl grew with them.

Splinter-Foot-Girl (cont.)

• The men miss their daughter.
• They sent flies and various birds but nothing worked.
• The blackbird recommended the mole and the badger.
• The girl agreed to flee with the mole and badger. She left her robe hanging on the arrow like the way she usually sat.
• They fled. They asked cottonwood for help. It said to run around it four times. They climbed the tree and waited.
• The bull followed their trail.
• They found the tree. The bull struck the tree, but got stuck. The men shot him and he died.

Splinter-Foot-Girl (end)

• The rock sent the magpie to ask the men for their daughter.
• The hummingbird brought the girl back.
• The mole and the badger made a hole big enough for the rock. When he came back, he fell into the hole and the mole and badger covered it up.
• They escaped. The rock was to remain where the hills are.

The Eagle and Whale Husbands

• The girl managed to escape. When the whale reached the shore, he turned into whalebone.

The Fox-Woman

• The man returned seeing everything done like a wife would.
• He staked out one day and saw a fox enter the house.
• It turned out to be a woman.
• After a while, he smelled an odor.
• It was the fox and she ran away and never interacted with a man again.

The Woman Stolen by Killer Whales

• A man reeled a huge fish in and asked his wife to help.
• When she went to wash her hands in the water, she was taken by the killer whale.
• The man followed the trail to find his wife.
• The man asked the fish chief if anyone would be willing to help get his wife back. Shark volunteered.
• Shark pretended to stumble and the water fell onto the fire. Smoke and ash rose. He pushed the wife to her husband.
• As they were running, Shark was fighting all the other whales.

The Rolling Head

• The wife would go to the lake to meet a snake.
• One day the husband followed her.
• She went to the lake, took off her clothes, got in the lake, and a huge snake went around her.
• The man killed the snake, killed his wife, and cut her up. He brought his wife's meat home, cooked it, and fed it to the children.
• The mother's head came rolling out and the children ran away.
• People heard about the sisters and came to them. They soon left and only the father remained.
• They ordered the lions to kill him.

The woman and the bear (source: pinterest)

The Bear-Woman

• A woman with six older brothers and one little sister lived with their dad.
• She refused to marry. 
• She would always run out after they went hunting to meet the bear in the woods.
• As the little sister got older, she wondered why the older sister spent so much time gathering wood.
• The little sister told their father.
• The father sent men to kill the bear.
• The older sister turned into a bear.

The Bear-Woman (cont.)

• They ran away.
• The bird told the brothers to shoot her in the head.
• The bear died.
• They are now the stars.

To be honest, I was very confused reading every story.

Future Readings: Week 9-10

I chose the British North America and Native American Marriage Tales units.

I chose the British North America unit because it deals with creation and origins of different things, which I find fascinating. I like to hear/read about what other cultures think the things around us come from. And I chose the Native American Marriage Tales unit because it sounded interesting. It's also intriguing to read about animal husband and wives.

Creation of light (source: wikimedia)

Blog Ideas

I actually went through all the blogs listed in the Class Directory and chose the three I liked best.

Audra Edwards
I liked the colors that was on her blog and the fonts. The font for the title fit really well with the rest, and the colors also all went really well together.

Madison Malget
I liked that her labels are at the top of the page in a sort of menu bar, making it another place people can navigate to different parts of the blog.

Caitlin Schachter

The background is Hogwarts! And the title and description of the blog is said by Dumbledore! I love that since the background looks kind of like the sun is setting at Hogwarts, the colors also fit the scenery.

Time Management

I don't have a particularly heavy load this semester, but my schedule is weird so I have to plan my time to do my homework. My Tuesdays are totally free, so I set aside that day for homework. My weekends are also free, so that's another time to catch up on projects and homework too. I also have a lot of group work this semester, so it is hard to coordinate due to everyone's different schedule.

I try to not have distractions during time I set aside for homework, since I do get distracted very easily. It's a bit harder since most of the homeworks and distractions involve me being on my laptop, so not only is it time management, but also self-control (to not go on YouTube and stuff).

(source: quotesgiant)

This doesn't really apply to me in terms of school, since I can't just say "nah" to any of my assignments and not do it, but more like going to Walmart. I always talk myself out of going, unless it's absolutely necessary. 

Tech Tip: Weather Widget

I added a weather widget to my sidebar. Instructions found here.

Reading Diary Week 7: Brother Grimm (Hunt)

For extra credit this week, I chose to read Brother Grimm (Hunt) stories.

Hansel and Grethel (source: thegloss)

Hansel and Grethel

• Wood-cutter, wife, and two children.
• Boy was Hansel, girl was Grethel.
• They didn't have much to eat. The wife suggested leaving the kids in the thickest part of the woods. Husband refused.
• Grethel heard and started to cry. Hansel told her not to worry. He went out to the pond and picked up all the little stones he could. 
• Hansel left a trail of stones. 
• The parents left them by the fire to "go cut some more wood". They never came back. The siblings fell asleep till nightfall.
• They just followed the stone trail home.

Hansel and Grethel (cont.)

• Once again, a scarcity hit and the step-mom wants to leave the kids in the woods.
• Hansel went again and picked up the pebbles, but the door was locked. 
• They were once again given a piece of bread. Hansel crumbled it and left a trail of them.
• The woman led them deeper in the forest this time. 
• They fell asleep again. This time when trying to follow the crumbs home, they weren't there, since the birds ate them all up.
• The walked all night and the next day, but couldn't get out of the forest. 

Hansel and Grethel (cont. again)

• It's been 3 days.
• They saw a beautiful bird and listened to it sing, following it when it flew away.
• They came upon a little house. It was built out of bread and cakes and sugar.
• They started eating different parts of the house. When a voice asked who was eating, they said the wind.
• An old woman emerged from the house and invited them in. She fed them and made beds for them.
• She was really a wicked witch. She ate children. Witches have red eyes but bad eye sight, with a really good nose.
• She locked Hansel in the stable. She forced Grethel to fetch water and cook for her brother... so that he would get fat and she can eat him. 
• The witch would go to Hansel, ask for his finger so he can see whether he's fat enough, but Hansel would give her a bone. 
• The witch lost patience after 4 weeks. 

Hansel and Grethel (end)

• The woman said they will bake first. She shoved Grethel towards the oven so she could see whether the flames are ready. She intended to shut Grethel in the oven and bake her.
• Grethel feigned ignorance and asked the witch to show her. 
• Grethel pushed the witch and shut the door, running away when the witch started howling in pain and finally died.
• She went to free Hansel. 
• They went to the witch's house and filled their pockets with the pearls and jewels.
• On the way back, they came upon a piece of water with no bridge to cross over. A duck was coming their way, and Hansel asked for a ride.
• When the children got home, their father was ecstatic they're back. The step mom's dead.

Thumbling

• A wife and a husband ponder why they don't have children. The wife will be quite happy with a little one, even as small as a thumb.
• She got pregnant for seven months and gave birth to a child no larger than a thumb. They didn't care that the child was small. They cared for it and called it Thumbling.
• The two men saw Thumbling ordering the horse to go forth and offered to buy him from the old man. 
• The old man refused, but Thumbling told him to give him away, that he will come back. 
• He slipped into a mouse-hole and the two men was forced to leave, mad.

Thumbling (cont.)

• He crept into a snail shell to stay safe.
• Two men walked by, wondering how to get hold of the rich pastor's silver and gold.
• Thumbling offered to help. 
• When they got to the pastor's house, Thumbling started yelling questions at them. This woke the cook. The two men ran away.
• He went to sleep on the hay. The next day, the maid fed that hay to the cows. Thumbling ended up in the cow's stomach. 
• The maid heard Thumbling but thought it was the cow speaking.

Thumbling (end)

• The pastor ordered the cow to be killed. A wolf came and ate the cow, swallowing Thumblig in the process.
• He told the wolf instructions to his father's house. When it ate everything, it was too fat to fit through the door. Thumbling started making noise.
• His parents finally appeared. Thumbling told them he's in the wolf's body. 
• The family is reunited.

Allerleirauh

• A king had a beautiful wife with golden hair.
• She felt like she was going to die, so she ordered the king: If though wishest to marry again after my death, take no one who is not quite as beautiful as I am and who has not just such golden hair as I have: this though must promise me.
• The king had a daughter who was beautiful like her mother and had the same hair.
• He decides to marry his daughter.
• The daughter demands three dresses: one as golden as the sun, one as silvery as the moon, and one as bright as the stars. She also wished for a mantle of thousand different kinds of fur and hair; one of every kind of animal in the kingdom. 
• The king managed to do it. She decided to run away. 

Allerleirauh (cont.)

• The king's hunting dogs found her tree the next day. 
• The men couldn't identify the princess because of all the different types of fur she covered herself with. 
• She went to work in the kitchen.

Allerleirauh (end)

• The king married Allerleirauh and they lived happily every after.

Week 7 Storytelling: The Human and the Princess

At the school for young underwater creatures, the old turtle, Gale, is getting ready to tell one of his famous stories. "Gather round kids, it's a new story today!" he says to the children running around the playground.

The little sea creatures all form a circle around grandpa Gale, quieted down, and paid attention.

"One day a long time ago, so long, in fact, that I was still a little turtle, I was captured by a human. The human seemed nice, a young man just helping out his parents, so I was able to talk him out of killing me. He let me go, and I didn't see him again for quite some time. Years and years later, when I was a bigger turtle with a big shell and strong flippers, I saw this human again! He was lost, out at sea, all by himself."

The little sea creatures were captivated by this story. They've heard of those creatures that live above the sea, these humans, but they've never actually seen one! "You actually saw and touched a human?" whispered one of the little fish, in awe.

"Well of course! But don't you go swimming up to the surface without supervision! We won't want you to become some unkind human's dinner now, would we?"

The little sea creatures gasped, some clinging to each other, afraid of the unknown world above them.

Turtle going to take a break (source: riotofinvention)

"Now, where was I? Oh right, I saw this same man again, and he was lost at sea. I had to remind him of who I was, then offered to bring him back to his home. I hadn't realized how far away from the mainland he was, and I was growing tired, so I veered off and brought him down here with me so I could grab a snack and rest for a little bit. While he was here, he caught a glimpse of the princess.

The princess (source: tumblr)

"The princess, a beautiful mermaid, as we all know, and the daughter of our sea king, has never met a human before. The princess became fascinated with the young man, and slowly fell in love with him. The young man, never having met a beautiful mermaid before, experienced what most would call love at first sight. Since it takes quite a while for a big turtle like me to "recharge", the two got talking at got to know each other. When it was finally time to leave again, the princess begged the young man to stay. The young man, having just fallen in love with a beautiful creature, agreed.

"Years passed and they were happy together. Until one day, when the young man missed his parents and wanted to go back to land. The princess was reluctant to let him go, but she did anyway, giving him an ornate box, with strict instructions to not open it. I was to go to him when he called, if he didn't open the box.

"The young man went to shore, and that was the last I've ever heard from him."

"What?!" exclaimed a lot of the kids, "You can't just end there! That's a bad story! Was the princess sad? What happened to the man? He didn't open the box did he? She told him not to! What happened?!" Questions were coming left and right from all the little kids gathered for story time.

"Alright, alright, settle down! I wasn't done with that sentence! I meant to say, that was the last I've heard from him since this morning!" shouted grandpa Gale. "Hahahaha! I got all of you! Of course he came back, the young man and the princess got married and had loads of kids! Who do you think are those mermaids and mermen you see everyday?"

"What?! Those are the princess's kids! I didn't know that! They're so nice and friendly!" chattered the kids, realizing who those beautiful creatures are.

"Well of course they're nice! Well, that's all for story time today! Go back to your classrooms and pay attention in class! Go on, scooot!"

Author's Note
I chose to do this over Uraschimataro and the Turtle from the Japanese Fairytales Unit. I like happy endings, so I changed the ending again. In the story, the young man catches a turtle, the turtle argues that it's too small to be of any use right now, and the man lets it go back to sea. They encounter each other again when he's lost at sea, and the turtle, wanting to repay him, brought him to the sea god. He met the princess, they were happy. Until one day when he wanted to go back to land. The princess, dreading it, gave him an ornate box with instructions to not open it. When he was ready to come back, he was to call for the turtle. When he got to shore, he realized that years and years have gone by. He finds his parents' tombstones, with their date of death the day that they discovered their son was lost at sea. Drowning in sadness, he opens the box, purple vapour comes out, and he's suddenly a mummy, time catching up with him. When he goes to the shore to call for the turtle, it never comes.

I thought I'd follow the majority of it since it's a good story, but change the ending to make it happy.

Bibliography: Uraschimataro and the Turtle from the Japanese Fairytales Unit.

Tech Tip: YouTube Playlist Embedded

Here is a playlist of some of my favorite videos featuring YouTubers, comedians, talk shows, and movie cast interviews. I have a channel on there but I haven't uploaded anything. I have this idea of starting a vlog thing and sending it to my family and stuff back home to take them with me as I go to school and stuff but never got around to doing it. 

*Warning: some of the videos contain cuss words*

Week 6 Storytelling: Did You Hear?!

Jessica and Gabby gossiping (source: Google)

One day, during their weekly brunch gossip session, Jessica and Gabby discuss the coming and goings of the daughter from the big house down the road. They don't see her much, but have heard so much about her parents, what with them being in the entertainment business and all. The daughter, Rose, seemed like a nice girl, but no one really knows much about her. So when this juicy bit of gossip came through the grapevine, both Jessica and Gabby pounced on it and didn't waste time discussing it with each other.

"Oh my gosh, did you hear?! Rose, you know, the daughter of those famous directors from down the road, yeah, that couple, I heard that she eloped this past weekend! I don't know what she was thinking, marrying that young, I didn't even know she was going out with someone! I wonder what her parents think about this!" started Jessica, immediately giving her opinion.

"You know, I did hear about that. I also heard that the guy, yeah, the one little Rosie eloped with, is actually some long lost childhood friend or whatever. Apparently they grew up together or something in the town they were in before they moved here, but then they moved here, and they lost contact or something! Isn't that sweet?! It's like a fairy tale!" replied Gabby. "Little Rosie is all grown up and married now! I know, I know, I'm only a few years younger than her, but I'm 31, I have a right to call anyone is their 20s little."

"That's what you heard? Really? I heard something completely different! I heard that he got her pregnant! Yeah! Can you believe it? I can't believe her parents would let something like that go on in their house! I would never!" exclaimed Jessica.

"Who did you hear that from? I heard it from Janet, and you know Janet, she always checks her news. I trust her gossip."

"I heard it from Lauren."

Gabby can hardly believe Jessica when she said that. "Lauren! You believe Lauren! That woman only listens to half of what everyone says and then makes up the other half herself! Trust me, Janet never gets anything wrong. I wonder how she gets all these juicy gossip. But whatever, back to the point. Little Rosie's totally going to pop out some kids in the next year. Her parents should make her life into a movie! Can you imagine?! Having to move at a young age and trying to keep in touch with your friends back home, losing contact after years of not seeing each other, but then, surprise! Your childhood sweetheart appears to audition for your parents' movie and the spark is reignited! You fall in love with each other again as if all those years were never spent apart, and finally, your dream wedding. Oh well, I guess that part isn't so fairy tale, since they drove to Vegas and got married by Elvis."

Jessica gives in, "Alright, alright, fairy tale, blah blah blah. I admit Lauren isn't always reliable. I still think she's pregnant though!"

In the end, of course Lauren was wrong, and Rose didn't have a baby until a few years after their wedding, both waiting until they were financially stable before agreeing to bring another life into the world.

Author's Note
I chose to base my story this week from the Cat's Elopement story from the Japanese Fairy tales unit. In the story, the two cats meet each other one day, fell in love, and ran away. One day, they faced a dog, and while the female cat went up the tree, the male one stayed to fight. It finally caught the attention of the princess's servants, and they took him to the palace. The female cat was being bullied one day, the male cat heard and came to save her. She almost didn't recognize him since they've been separated a while and the princess obviously took care and fed him well. They went back to the palace, explained their tale to the princess, got married, and had plenty of babies.

I thought the format of a gossip would be good, since eloping has a negative connotation these days, especially when the people involved are fairy young. I edited it a bit so that the characters (Rose and the guy) met while young, Rose moved, and meet again years later down the road. They had loved each other all this time, so they decided to elope (like the cats). Since I don't gossip, it was a bit hard to come up with a "gossipy" dialogue, but I think it went well.

Bibliography: The Cat's Elopement from the Japanese Fairy tales unit.

Week 6 Reading Diary, continued: Japanese Fairy Tales

The continuation of Japanese Fairy Tales.


Schippeitaro

• It is custom that when a Japanese boy reaches manhood, he would leave the house.
• A young man set off from his village, determined to never come back until he had done some great deed that would make him famous.
• He finally saw a mountain covered with a dense forest, thinking that there would be a high chance for adventure, he headed towards it. He got lost and couldn't get out.
• He found a chapel and took shelter there for the night. 
• There suddenly was a loud noise that woke him up.
• He went to look and saw a troop of hideous cats, dancing furiously. At midnight, they all vanished.
• It's weird that the creatures come on time every night for the next few nights to come.

The Crab and the Monkey

• There's a crab that lives in the hole on the shady side of a mountain.
• She was carrying rice back when a monkey came down and bargained with the crab. 
• The monkey came by another day and ate most of the good fruit. The crab asked him to do somersaults and when he did the fruits fell out of his pockets.
• The monkey got what he deserved.

The Magic Kettle

• An old man live in his little house on the mountain.
• He was just standing there one day when he turned around and saw a kettle. He took it and cleaned it.
• He boiled some water and while he was watching, the kettle changed into a tanuki.
• He sold it to Jimmu, a tradesman. When he got home, the kettle once again turned into a tanuki. When he told his neighbor, he recommended Jimmu take it around and show it off, he could be rich. 
• After a while, he grew rich. He felt guilty, so he returned the kettle to the man with gold pieces in it. The kettle brought them both luck.

How the Wicked Tanuki was Punished

• The hunters had killed all wild animals until only 3 remained. They hid in the thickest part of the forest, high up in the mountain. They were tanuki, his wife the fox, and their little son.
• They were wise and cautious animals. 
• They were starving when the tanuki came up with the idea to play dead while his wife transformed into a man and sold him. 
• He managed to escape from the buyer. They were starved again, and this time it's the foxes turn.
• While bargaining, since fox's skin don't sell as well, the tanuki had a thought --that he and his son would have more food if the fox were gone. He told the buyer that the fox wasn't really dead. The man hit the fox in the head.
• The little tanuki waits for his mother to return. He knows magic from the fox.
• He challenged his father. He went to the middle of the bridge. A king came by, and the father, thinking it's his son, didn't hide. 
• The soldiers thought the king was in danger and seized the tanuki. 
• The little tanuki avenged his mother.

The Slaying of the Tanuki

• A man and his wife lived in a cottage. He made friends with a hare.
• The tanuki hated the man. The tanuki would cause a lot of trouble. The man got mad.
• The man waited for the tanuki and finally one day had him bound by the legs. 
• The old woman pitied him. The tanuki got free.
• How gruesome! The tanuki put the woman in the mortar and pounded until she was fine, and planned to cook her and feed her to her husband!!
• The man was on the way back. The tanuki transformed to a woman and put the clothes on.
• When the man had eaten half the meal, he turned back. He told the man he ate his wife.
• The old man and the hare worked together to kill the tanuki.

The turtle bringing Uraschimataro to the sea god (source: Google)

Uraschimataro and the Turtle

• An old couple lived by the coast. They had a son, Uraschimataro, which means son of the island.
• He was daring and brave. 
• He caught a little turtle one day. He let it go back to sea. 
• Years went by and he saw the turtle again. To pay his debt, the turtle asked Uraschimataro to climb on his back and bring him back to land.
• The turtle brought him to the sea god instead. The princess begged him to stay and he did. 
• He really wanted to see his parents one day. The princess was convinced he would never come back. 
• Uraschimataro said he would return. There is one way to bring him back safely, and he said he'd do it. 
• The princess went to get a tiny golden box from her shelf, telling Uraschimataro to keep it and never open it. If he can do this, the turtle will bring him back. 
• He arrived back and realized everything has changed. Three hundred years have passed by. His parents died the day he disappeared. 
• He opened the box. Purple vapour came out. He realized his hand grew old, and saw his face as a mummy. 
• No one recognized him when he went back to the village. He went to the shore and called to the turtle, but it never came. 

Week 6 Reading Diary: Japanese Fairy Tales (Lang)

This week, I chose to read Japanese Fairy Tales (Lang), found here.

The Two Frogs

• The two frogs lived far from each other and wanted to visit each other.
• They set off to meet each other.
• On the way, there was a mountain they had to climb.
• They started talking once they met each other. They both wished to explore more. They rose on their hind legs and held onto each other. 
• When they rose, their eyes pointed backwards. Since they forgot, they turned their noses to their destinations, which means that their eyes are in the complete opposite.
• Each saw their own town without realizing and decided not to visit after all.

The Stonecutter

• There was a stonecutter who went everyday to a big rock to cut it. He used it to help others build houses and gravestones. 
• It was said that there is a spirit that would appear to men and helped them become rich. The stonecutter didn't believe so. 
• He was walking one day when he wished to be rich. A voice said that his wish will be granted.
• He became a prince. It was not enough.
• He became the sun. It was not enough either.
• He became a cloud. It was not enough and he poured rain until the rivers overflowed and the crops of rice stood in water. 
• He became a rock. One day he looked down and saw a stonecutter. He got mad.
• He became a man. He was finally satisfied.

The Maiden with the Wooden Helmet

• There lived a man and his wife. They have a beautiful daughter. They moved to the country.
• The women would clean, but the man would sit and think. One day he died.
• The girl grew even more beautiful. The mother was worried, so she taught her to always be busy so that she would never have time to think about herself. 
• The mother got ill one day and told her daughter to go get the wooden helmet and to wear it low, so almost all her face was covered. Her beauty was hidden. 
• She went to look for work and found one with a man that owned fields. She never took the helmet off.
• Many young men tried to lift her helmet. She didn't talk to people much. 
• One day the man watched the girl. He reassigned her to tend to his sick wife. 
• The man's oldest sun is back from out of town for studies. He saw the girl and immediately took interest to her. 
• He walked by her one hot day when she was splashing water on her face, her helmet off to one side. He caught a glimpse of her beauty. 
• When he told his family he wants to marry her, they got mad. She refused him, thinking it wasn't worth it for the family to fight over her.
• Her mother appeared to her one night, telling her to marry the man. She went to tell him the next day. 
• When they tried to dress her for her wedding and tried to pull off the helmet, it would not come off. 
• When they were married and finished drinking, the helmet suddenly burst with a loud noise and fell in pieces on the ground. The people turned and found precious stones which had fallen out of it. The guests were more surprised at her beauty.
• They were married till they died and had many children.

Cherry blossom tree in Japan (source: Google)

The Envious Neighbour

• There once was an old couple. Since they didn't have anyone to care for, they cared for a little dog. 
• The dog was grateful to them for their kindness and never left their side.
• One day out in the field, the dog was scratching and barking at the ground. He followed to where the dog led him. The husband began to dig and pulled out a large box filled with gold.
• A neighbor grew envious of their luck. He begged the couple to lend him the dog. 
• He was so persistent the couple finally agreed. The dog just ran around.
• The next morning the dog ran to the foot of a tree and started scratching.
• He started to dig but only found old bones. He was so mad he killed the dog. What a mean person. It's not the dog's fault you're greedy and lazy. 
• He told the couple that the dog fell down dead, that he took care of it and gave it everything. 
• The old man buried the dog under the tree he found the treasure. 
• He woke up the next morning having a dream of cutting the tree. The wife, trusting the dog's instinct, told him to do it. 
• They made a mortar from the tree. When they gathered rice and put it in the mortar, it turned into gold. 
• The neighbor asked for the mortar. The rice instead turned into horrible smelling berries. They were mad and smashed the mortar. 
• The dog appeared in the dream and told the couple to go get the ashes from the burnt mortar. He was to carry the ashes to the high road, climb the cherry-tree and sprinkle the ashes on the procession, and they would bloom.
• When the procession approached, the old man didn't bow. Before the messenger could reach the old man, he climbed the tree and scattered the ashes. Daimio was so happy that the flowers bloomed he gave rich presents to the old man. 
• The envious neighbor then went to gather the ashes, and waited for the procession. When he threw the ashes, the flowers didn't bloom but instead got into Daimio and his warriors' eyes. 
• The prince ordered the envious neighbor to be seized and thrown into prison. By the time he was free, everybody knew of his wickedness. 

The Sparrow with the Slit Tongue

• An old couple lived on a high mountain. A sparrow flow into him one day with a giant bird chasing him. He comforted the little bird and put it into a cage where it soon recovered. 
• The next morning he let it out but it would quickly return when it saw other big animals.
• The wife grew jealous of the husband's affection for the bird. She threw her broom at the bird. She finally caught it after a while. How mean. She stilted its tongue, and the bird flew away into the forest.
• The old man came back and asked for his pet. The wife told him what she did. At least she's honest and didn't try to get out of it. 
• He left the house to look for the bird, but never found it.
• One hot summer day he came upon a beautiful garden and a little house. The woman who came out was lovely and immediately invited him in. She turned out to be the sparrow. How weird.
• The woman brought out 2 chests and told the old man to choose one. He chose the small one. 
• His wife was mad. The husband took out the chest, opened it, and discovered gold and precious stones in it. 
• She asked him where he was and he told her. She put on her best clothes and went to find the woman/sparrow.
• When it was time to choose, the woman chose the bigger chest and returned home. When she opened it, she found poisonous snakes who bit her.
• She died. 

The Cat's Elopement

• Gon the cat. He belonged to a music teacher. 
• Near the music teacher's house is a woman who has a cat named Koma.
• The two cats fell madly in love with each other.
• Neither owners would sell their cats to the other.
• The cats ran away together.
• A dog appeared. Gon stood to fight, but Koma, with her loud screaming, finally drew the attention of a servant of the princess. He drove off the dog and took Gon to his mistress. 
• One day, a snake slithered up the princess. Gon saw this and bit its neck. The princess treated him great, but he only wanted Koma.
• Koma was being bullied one day when Gon came to her rescue. She almost didn't recognize him. 
• The princess got married. 
• Gon and Koma had many children, as did the princess. 

Week 5 Famous Last Words

Reading This Week
I read the Ramayana this week. It was very interesting and actually quite fun to read. Although the ending for the unit was kind of a bummer. *spoiler alert* I just thought that it was kind of pointless for Rama to go through all that trouble, and the others such as Lakshmana and Hanuman as well, just for him to reject Sita in the end. I mean, at least try to stay together or something and figure it out, instead of spending all that time and effort only to reject her immediately afterwards.

My Best Writing This Week
I think my Storytelling was definitely the winner this week for me. It was quite fun to write it, and the idea came while I was reading the earlier sections of the Ramayana unit. It's not as long as the others, but I think I did a good job for someone (me) who doesn't like writing all that much.

My Other Classes
My Field Project group and I actually went to the Children's Hospital in OKC at 8AM on Monday to present our Project Definition Project to OU Physicians. It's just the presentation we make to tell them essentially what we're going to be doing for them this semester. It went pretty well, although it lasted a bit longer than I thought it would.

OU Children's Hospital (source: Google)

Other classes are going fine. One my my previous professors actually offered me a job to help a graduate student do project research, so that's cool.

Tech Tip: SoundCloud Embedded

Here are two of my favorite YouTubers, Grace Helbig and Mitchell Davis, on a podcast together.

Thoughts about Comments

I think comments that suggest improve on the stories are very useful. It makes me think of different things I could have done with my writing, different directions the stories could take. There was one comment on my Cupid and Psyche story, where the person suggested that Psyche actually do tasks rather than answer riddles, and I thought that was a good suggestion. I later thought of different little tasks Venus could have had Psyche do (getting Psyche to separate little beans/beads, or filing or something tedious like that).

I definitely could improve my comments to others. Usually I have a hard time reaching the limit because I don't really know what to say. Most of the stories I have read are pretty good, so there really wasn't a suggestion I could make.

Week 5 Storytelling: Rama Online

Rama (source: tumblr)

Name: Rama

Age: 27

Location: Ayodhya, India

Status: It’s complicated

Height: 6’ 2”

Weight: 195 lb

Occupation: King of Ayodhya

Education: Plenty

Interested In: Women

Hey, ladies. My name’s Rama, and I’ve been king for a short while now. I’m looking for a queen, and a friend of mine said that this would be a good way to get the word out. Let me start at the very beginning….

My father, King Dasaratha, had 3 wives: Kausalya, Kaikeyi, and Sumitra. For some reason, none of them had any kids. One day, one of my father’s counsellor found this nutrition supplement that is supposed to help you along or something along those lines. Suddenly, all 3 were pregnant at the same time. I am born to Kausalya, Kaikeyi to Bharata, and Lakshmana and Satrughna to Sumitra. We all grew up like brothers.

At the age of 5, we were all taught by Vasishtha, our governor, in different different areas. We started with the alphabet and grammar. Soon after, we mastered 18 languages. It may seem like a lot, but it’s actually easier to learn pronunciation and stuff when you’re younger. We were also taught music, dancing, and painting. We all know how to play at least one instrument and learned ballroom dancing.

We never left the palace often, and since we had our governor and private tutors, we didn’t exactly go to normal school. As we grew up we picked up some sports like archery and sword fighting/fencing. It was always fun to duel with my brothers and we helped each other learn and grow.

I made a bet with my brothers one day about asking this girl, Sita, out for a date. She is so beautiful, it’s almost impossible she’s real. I had seen her the few times we were allowed off of the palace grounds. I think she’s the daughter of a business owner in our town or something along those lines. Turns out I won the bet and she agreed to go out with me (I mean, who wouldn’t!)

Sita (source: tumblr)

We went out for a bit, before this huge guy, and I mean huge (he was built like a quarterback or something) asked her out. This is the part where it gets a bit iffy. I didn’t see this myself, so I don’t know if they knew each other previously or what, but one of my brothers saw it happen. Now, I don’t know if he knew or not that she’s taken, or what the heck she was thinking, but I saw them out together one day. I tried confronting her, but she keeps insisting nothing happened.

I took her back and we went out for a while after that, before my family and friends voiced their opinions. It always felt kind of wrong after the little spat we had. I never got the chance to ask her outright whether she went voluntarily with the dude (even though it certainly looked it), and she never brought it up. I don’t know if she was purposefully avoiding the topic or just didn’t think she did anything wrong. My family and friends kept saying that she’s denying anything happened because I’m in line for the throne and she just wanted the benefits of going out and someday possibly marrying a prince.

I didn’t know what to think, so I broke up with her. I already had doubts about our relationship, and nothing seemed to be going well after I saw her with the dude; it seemed like we were always struggling just to be civil to each other. There was no more chemistry left with us, and I kind of lost my trust in her. We haven’t seen each other in months, and sometimes I wonder what happened to her and if I could have done something to save or relationship, but my family keeps reminding me that she was the one that went out with someone else, and that I did nothing wrong.

I don’t know much about this online dating thing, but some people seem to find their match his way. Here’s to hoping I find my next queen!

Peace! R.

Author's Note

I based my story off of the beginnings of the Ramayana. The beginning was quite similar, where the king had 3 wives and none of them had babies. I changed the part where the king made a horse sacrifice to a counsellor finding a nutrition supplement. In the story, Rama and his brothers learned all sorts of things at the age of 5. Rama went with his teacher and Lakshmana, his brother, to help out a neighboring city. Went they arrived, the king presented Rama with the bow of Shiva, saying that if he was able to bend it, he would allow Rama to marry Sita, his daughter. Later in the story, Ravana, a 10 headed giant with 20 arms kidnaps her. Rama, Hanuman, and the ape army managed to save her and bring her back. When they got back to Ayodhya, however, Rama decides that he couldn't be with Sita. To prove her innocence, she called the Earth. Mother Earth emerged from the ground with a chair where Sita sat on, and seconds later they disappeared. Sita is now in heaven as the goddess Lakshmi, and Rama, years later, follows her.

I chose parts of the story to write about, and thought that using the dating profile style would be appropriate. Instead of kidnapping, I just said Ravana asked her out when she was still with Rama. I changed the ending to them just breaking up and him not seeing Sita since then rather than killing her off. I tweaked the story a bit to make it fit into a modern setting.

Bibliography: the Ramayana Unit can be found here.