Reading Notes: Free Reading 15 More Jataka Tales Part B

Today I read about the little bowman. The little bowman was talented with the bow more than anyone in the land. He wanted to work for the king but he was too small and would be passed up because of his size. So he decided to find a big man that would be chosen and the little bowman could do all the work. So he searched until he found a big man digging. He explained his plan and the big man agreed. They were accepted by the king and agreed to split the money they earned. Their first job was to kill a tiger that had been roaming the forest. Once they completed that, the king was pleased and gave them all kinds of riches. Then there was a buffalo that was running up and down the roads. The little bowman once again shot and this time killed the buffalo. The king was pleased again and gave them more riches. The big man decided that he no longer needed the little bowman and said very mean things to him. The king received a letter from a far away kingdom threatening to take all the land in battle. The big man was made the leader of the army and was sent towards the camp of the intruding kingdom. Riding on an elephant, the big man approached the camp but he was unaware that the little bowman had slipped behind him on the elephant. The big man began shaking in fear once they got closer to the camp. The little bowman said not to fear because he would be with him. The big man slid down anyways and ran all the way back to his home. The little bowman pressed forward and pushed the other army all the way back to their kingdom. The little bowman lead his army back to the king and the king praised him for leading the army to victory. The little bowman was made the chief of the army! In the end, the little bowman should have had faith in himself because he had what it took to not only win with his bow but he was also a great leader!

Onward to victory!

Source:More Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Back

Reading Notes: Free Reading 15 More Jataka Tales Part A

Today I read of the wise goat and the wolves! A family of goats lived in a cave in the side of a hill and not far from them lived a couple wolves. The wolves enjoyed the meat of goats so they decided to feast on the family of goats until there were no more. One by one they ate all the goats until one wise goat remained. They tried and tried but could not catch the wise goat. Finally one wolf said to the other they should trick the goat. He would lay down and pretend to be dead while the other wolf made the goat feel sorry and come to help bury the dead wolf. When the goat came near, the wolf would jump up and attack! So they tried their plan and the goat would not go. Finally the wolf convinced the goat to go but it had taken so long that as they neared, the “dead” wolf raised his head to see if they were coming. The goat saw this and ran away! They tried again but instead, the wolf said that they wanted to be friends because the goat made the other wolf better by walking near it! The goat got smarter and said that she would go but she was bringing her friends to celebrate with them. She would bring all the hounds she knew! The wolves got scared and were never seen again! I liked how the goat was wise enough to outwit the goats but I wondered why didn’t she save her friends? If she were that wise, I would imagine that she would have at least tried to save her friends!

Wise Goat!

Source:More Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Back

Reading Notes: Free Reading 14 More Jataka Tales Part A

As I read about the hawks and their friends, the story had a great value to teach. Those in need who have great friends will bear through the hard times together. Those in need without friends will not last very long at all. The hawk made friends with all the animals on the shores the lake and when he needed help they were there. When the hunters were about to get the young hawks, the kingfisher was soon there to help. When the kingfisher has been worn out, the turtle was right there continue the fight. When the turtle had done his part, the lion came along and finished the fight! The young hawks survived because of the hawks friends! I’ve always said that who you surround yourself with will either uplift you or bring you down. Having good friends will be a great help through life in the good times and the bad times. But having bad friends can be just as bad if not worse than having no friends at all. It is important to choose friends wisely and ensure that when you need help just like the hawk did, your friends will be there to help win the battle! Of course this story did make me wonder, if the lion had come in the first place, wouldn’t that have gotten rid of the hunters sooner? I’m other words, know your friends enough to know which one can be the best help in the right situation!

Making friends can be Hawkward!

Source: More Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Back

Reading Notes: Free Reading 13 Jataka Tales Part B

The story of the otters and the wolf is something that I can soon relate to. The wolf and his mate were resting one day when the girl wolf said she wanted fish as her meal. The guy wolf said he would go and get some fish for her to feast on. So he went to the river where he found two otters. The otters were waiting on a fish when a great big fish swam by and one of the otters grabbed its tail. The otter was not strong enough so he called for the other otter to help pull the fish in. They were able to bring the fish out of water and began to divide it. One otter said I’ll take the head portion and you take the tail. The other otter thought it was not fair so he disagreed. The wolf approached the two otters and the otters asked the wolf to decide for them. The wolf cut the head off and gave it to one otter while he cut the tail off and gave it to the other otter. The wolf took the middle portion and left the otters. The otters were speechless and realized they lost the best part! The wolf grout the fish to his mate and she asked how he got the fish. He said he found the otters couldn’t make a decision so he made the decision for them. He took the middle portion as his payment! This reminds me of an arbitrator in law. Being a pre-law student, I can relate to the wolf!

Lead the pack!

Source: More Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Back

Reading Notes: Free Reading 13 Jataka Tales Part A

After all of the reading I've done in the Jatakas, I've been waiting for that plot twist and this story gave me close to what I was expecting. In the story of the Woodpecker, the Turtle, and the Deer, there was a hunter who found the tracks of the deer and decided to set a trap near the pond so that he could catch the deer. All three of the animals were great friends and also stuck close together. While the deer was going to the pond to catch a drink, he was caught by the trap and let out a shriek that signaled he was trapped. The woodpecker and the turtle heard the shriek and went to the deer to find out what had happened. The woodpecker told the turtle to chew through the leather trap and she would fly to the hunters home and distract him so the deer could be set free. The turtle began gnawing and the woodpecker waited at the hunter's home. When the hunter had awoken, he grabbed his knife and went out the front door to see what he had caught. The woodpecker flew in his face and struck him in the head! The hunter went back into his house and laid down for awhile longer. Again, the hunter grabbed his knife and decided to exit through the back door to avoid the woodpecker. The woodpecker knew the hunter would try this, so the woodpecker waited and once again flew into the hunter's face. The hunter went back inside and laid down for just a little longer. When the sun had come up, the hunter grabbed his knife and went out the door determined to get his catch! The woodpecker flew to the deer and said "hurry, the hunter is coming!" The turtle had gnawed through all but one of the straps. The turtles teeth had become weak and the turtle was bleeding from trying so hard to free the deer. When the hunter had arrived, the deer used all of his strength to break the last strap and get away. The turtle was so tired though, that he was unable to get away and the hunter grabbed him and tied him in a bag to a tree. The deer grabbed the attention of the hunter and stayed barely ahead of the hunter while leading the hunter deep into the forest. The deer then quickly lost the hunter and went back to save the turtle. Knowing the hunter would eventually be back, the three split up and the hunter could not find them. I expected the deer to be set free by his friends but I did not expect the turtle to be caught and need saving! I was almost ready to accept that the turtle gave his life for the deer to be free, but then the deer came back to save him!

Stick Together!

Source: More Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Back

Tech Tip: Canvas Calendar

This tip was really helpful! I haven't really used Canvas Calendar so it was great to learn how I can use it to help me! I usually tell Siri to remind me or set something in my calendar and that's about the only digital calendar that I use. It syncs up with my google calendar so that makes it nice when I'm switching between my Iphone and my gmail account. I have been working so much this semester that it has made it difficult to actually adhere to the schedule I set at the beginning of the semester. I think the biggest thing that I missed was adjusting my schedule to work better rather than trying to force the schedule I thought I would have from the beginning. I'll definitely use this for the remainder of this semester and for next semester!

Week 12 Reading Diary: The Kings White Elephant

As I was reading this story, I was expecting some kind of plot twist to happen or change the attitude of the elephant. The story goes that the elephant was walking in the forest and limped up the the workers on three legs. The elephant lifted his hurt leg to the workers and they pulled a large splinter from the injured limb. They cleaned it and it healed quickly because of their actions. The elephant was so grateful that he decided to use all his strength to help the workers. He would pull up trees with his trunk, or he would roll the logs down to the river for them. The elephant had a son that was white all over and they called it the white elephant. The white elephant was taught by his dad that the workers took care of him in his time of need and that they should lend them their strength. The dad elephant grew too old to work and the white elephant took over as the helper to the workers. One day while the white elephant was playing in the river with the kids, a king came by and saw what work the white elephant was capable of. The king bargained with the workers and offered them a hefty sum to take the white elephant to his kingdom to work for him. The white elephant looked back as he saw the kids he grew up playing with and went on to serve the king as he had served the workers of the forest. I thought it was quite interesting to see that the story went so smoothly. Even when the king took the white elephant, it was implied that the elephant would miss his friends but he still went on to serve the king with no resistance. I also wondered what happened to the white elephant's dad. Overall it was a nice story that didn't have a crazy ending!

Mad Skillz

Source: More Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Back

Week 12 Story: Princeton and the Janitor

Updated Story Found Here:Princeton and the Janitor

There once was an owner of a great and prosperous factory, Mr. Kingston. There were many men and women who had been with him since the beginning of his company, who all loved him because he was a good man. All of his employees respected him, were loyal to him and worked very hard for Mr. Kingston because he was good to them. He also allowed his employees to buy shares of stock of his company. Mr. Kingston had a son named Princeton who had been around the factory ever since he was a young boy. The workers were always kind to him but as he grew older, he became cruel and saw them as nothing but assets to his father’s great company. As he became a man, he knew that he would one day inherit the business that his father had built from the ground up and too liberties in changing “minor” things here and there, that overall effected the moral of all of the employees. As Princeton grew in experience and gained more confidence, he punished any employee who crossed his path and even fired some for innocent mistakes they made. This stirred up anger among all of the employees since they were like family. His father, Mr. Kingston never noticed any of these things because he loved and trusted his son, and he was becoming older as time passed.

            One day, Princeton went on a walk outside around the toxic chemicals, despite all of the warning signs, thinking nothing terrible would happen to him for he had grown up walking around the place. As he walked across the creaking metal bridge that all the employees always avoided, they just stood and watched, secretly hoping that he would just fall into some chemicals. As they reached for the door to go back inside, they heard the medal give out but none turned back to check on him.

            Luckily for Princeton, he had not fallen into chemicals, but into a large container of thick glue. Though he was not burned from the warm glue, he was having difficulties staying afloat. He was so focused on escaping this glue that was willing to swallow him alive that he never noticed the three little puppies that also fell in the rusted bridge broke, plunging them into the white abyss.

            Princeton managed to croak out a gargled “Help!” just in time for the kind janitor to walk by. He quickly responded with, “Hang on! I’m coming to help you!” and scaled the ladder on the side of the large container of glue. As soon as he reached the top, he saw a large mass that was a man, and three smaller lumps that seemed to be struggling to stay afloat. Being a compassionate man, he reached for the three struggling lumps first to put into the pockets of his jacket, then reached to pull the man out. Princeton carefully climbed down the ladder to the bottom where the janitor was caring for the small brown animals who turned out to be puppies. After a few minutes had passed and panic had left his system, Princeton realized that the janitor only given him a towel and had not bent over backwards cleaning him up, and grew angry. Though the janitor offered to let him use the small shower in the back, in his pride, Princeton declined the offer. Embarrassed and outraged, Princeton thanked him and stormed off, back to his house. The janitor then moved the puppies to his custodial closet to give them a nice warm bath.

            A few months after this incident, the owner, Mr. Kingston fell very ill and could no longer run his growing company and passed it down to his son, Princeton. Neither Princeton nor the janitor had told anybody about this incident because Princeton was to prideful, and the janitor was too humble. The two men had not seen each other since the fall, but Princeton still held a grudge for the janitor saving the puppies first, over himself.  

            Several months after the transfer of power, the janitor and Princeton ran into each other. The janitor kindly greeted Princeton, inquiring as to how he was doing to which Princeton just turned and walked away. He then went straight to his manager, and ordered him to humiliate and force the janitor to quit, to which he complied.

            The manager went to the janitor, knocked him down and yelled at the janitor, trying everything he could do the make him resign from the job. The janitor however just took the abuse and began to tell the other employees about how he saved Princeton and the three puppies that now live with him. The managers also listened in, and checked the cameras and saw that what he said was true.

            The employees out of anger and loyalty to the kind janitor all gave their shares of the stock on the company to him. Though there were other investors, the janitor now owned the largest portion, and legally became the new owner of this large company. He was good to his employees and friends, giving them bonuses and extended leaves of absences. They also worked hard and well for their new boss and friend.

Image found here

More Jakarta Tales by Ellen C. Babbit


Author's note: 
This story is inspired from the short story, "Prince Wicked and the Grateful Animals". In the original story, it is a king and a prince, so I named the two characters Mr. Kingston and his son, Princeton but changed their occupation to owners of a company. Also like in the original story where the Prince's men purposefully left him behind, the employees also left Princeton behind on purpose despite hearing the bridge breaking. For the three puppies that the janitor rescued, I wanted to show how helpless they were compared to Princeton so the janitor really had a good reason for helping them first. I did change their role some in this story by having the puppies just live with the janitor, and not doing anything to help him monetarily like the grateful animals from the original story. For the ending of the story, I did not think it would be realistic for the employees to kill the owner, so I just had him overthrown from power, and had the janitor take up the new open position as owner of the company. In the end, the employees were loyal to the new owner because he was good, just as they were to Mr. Kingston in the beginning of the story. 

Reading Notes: Free Reading Jataka Tales Part B

As I read about the Prince Wicked and the Grateful Animals, I prepared myself for the ending that I probably wouldn’t expect! The prince was rude to everyone everywhere and did not care to be nice to a single soul! Not even his guards liked him and would think of ways to let him get kidnapped. One day while they were swimming, a great storm passed through and darkened the entire river. The prince cried out that he could not make it out of the river. The guards decided that tha was their chance and left him there to drown. When the returned, the king asked where the prince was and the guards all said it was too dark to see and they assumed he went back without them noticing. What really happened was the prince grabbed onto a log that a snake, a rat, and a parrot all found refuge on. The log was pulled in by a poor man that cared for the animals first and then the prince last. The prince was angered by this and while the animals promised riches to the poor man for helping them, the prince faked his appreciation and promised that when he is king, he would take care of the old man. Once the prince became king, the old man tested the animals and they all proved true to their promises and offered gold and riches to the poor man. The poor man then went to the kingdom and when the king saw him, the king ordered him to be beaten and beheaded before he could tell of how he saved the king when he was a prince. The poor man did not protest but kept saying that it is better to save the animals than it is to save the prince! The wise men in the crowd asked what prince he saved and when they found out, they said that the king should be killed and the poor man be made king! So in the end, the prince dig his own grave by being rude to the poor man.

Karma!

 Source: More Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Back

Reading Notes: Free Reading Jataka Tales Part A

Once again during my reading, I was surprised about the outcome. I read about How the Monkey Saved His Troop. The monkeys had lived near a tree that stood next to a river. They had feasted on the tree’s mangoes daily and were living a satisfied life gathering the fruit on the ground while also gathering the fruit that were in the branches. One day, a king and his men stumbled upon the fruit and asked where it came from. After they found out where it came from, the kind and his men decided to camp out and have more mangoes in the morning. The monkeys waited until the soldiers were asleep and then, finding that all the fruit had been taken from the ground, the monkeys gathered what they could from the branches. While gathering fruit from the branches, the king was awakened from the noise. The king ordered his men to grab their bows and arrows and wait until the monkeys come down from the tree. The men were ordered to kill the monkeys as they came down! The monkeys were so frightened that they begged their chief to find a way out of the mess they were in! The chief swung to a branch that was over the river but it did not reach completely to the trees on the other side of the river. He was sure that some of the monkeys would fall and drown in the river! So he grabbed the other branch and used his back as a bridge for the other monkeys to cross. He called them to cross and after all of the monkeys crossed, the king noticed what the chief had done for his monkey troops. The king said it was a noble thing to do and that he would promise that the monkey chief would be taken care of for the rest of his life! I didn’t expect the king to care much for the monkeys but once the king noticed what the monkey chief was willing to do for his monkey troops, it makes sense that he would honor that because he knew what it meant to lead troops through life and death!

Warning: Plot Twist!

Source: More Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt

Wikipedia Trail: From Jataka Tales to Middle Indo-Aryan Languages

The Jataka Tales https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jataka_tales

The Jaka Tales  are about the past lives of Gautama Buddha in human and animal forms. Typically, there are a lot of characters involved who cause trouble, but then the Buddha figure intervenes and solves the problem. These tales are a part of the Pāli Canon, which I looked at next. 

The Pāli Canon https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pāli_Canon 

The Pāli Canon are the standard scripture for Theravada Buddhism. There are 3 general categories called Vinaya Pitaka dealing with rules, Sutta Pikata about sermons, and Abhidhamma Pikata about philosophy. It is the most complete canon in the in the Pāli language. 

The Pāli Language https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pali

The Pāli language is also known as Magadhan, native to India. It is studied by many people because it is the sacred language of all Theravada Buddhism texts, and some for Hinduism as well. It is very closely related to Sanskrit. It is also a Middle Indo-Aryan language. 

Middle Indo-Aryan languages https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Indo-Aryan_languages

 Middle Indo-Aryan languages (MIA) were used between 600BC - 1000AD. It just shows where in the development of this language that Pāli was used. It is the predecessor of languages such as Hindustani, Punjabi and Bengali. I thibk it is interesting how languages transform overtime. 

  

Image found here

Week 11 Story: The Girl and The Black Lamb

There once was a farmer who loved farming all of his fruits and vegetables, and tending to livestock. He would go out every day to pick his fruits and vegetables, and to feed and water his animals. As years went by, he met his wife, they had children and his farm became bigger and bigger until he had to hire people to help him tend to his crops and livestock. As his farm grew, he noticed that more and more children from the area would come to eat an apple or two, and to pet his animals.
As months passed, spring came around again, when all his horses, sheep and cattle began having their babies. One sheep in particular was his wife’s favorite, because she had picked her out at the auction herself when it was still a lamb. Now, a few months later, it was old enough to have a lamb of its own. The Farmer’s Wife went out daily to check on her sweet sheep, until it was finally ready to give birth. To her surprise, the new lamb was as black as night in the sea of white wool. The Farmer’s Wife fell in love with the new lamb and cared for it day and night.
A few weeks later, the Farmer’s Family all went on a road trip to scout out some more livestock to bring back home. During their time away, one little girl in particular who lived in the area had also fallen in love with the little black lamb and took her to her home a mile away to care for her while the farmers were gone.
When the family returned, they found the black lamb missing, so all of the hired hands went out in search for the lost lamb. One of the hired hands had noticed that the girl who used to come over all the time had not been around for the past week, and went over to her house. There, he found her and the black lamb playing happily in the yard. Together, they went back to the Farmer and returned their beloved lamb.

Based off of the story: The Girl Monkey and the String of Pearls

Image


Author’s Note:
This story is based off of the short story, The Girl Monkey and the String of Pearls. In the original story, it is a King and the Queen who have the pearls go missing. In the story I wrote, I chose to use a farmer and his wife who still have a lot of land and wealth because that is more relatable living in Oklahoma. Also, just like it was normal for the monkies to be in the garden, it was normal for the children to be at the farm. I also found it interesting that the King did not seem angry in the original story, so in the story I wrote, the little girl did not have bad intentions and I focused on how it was returned, and the Farmers were happy. 

Reading Notes: More Jataka Tales Part A

In the story of The Girl Monkey and the String of Pearls, I was interested to see the outcome so mild. The girl monkey waited to steal the string of pearls and when she eventually got them, I assumed that the guard would have been executed for losing the pearls. Then when the guard set up a plan to find them and lured the girl monkey out, I thought the girl monkey would be executed for taking them. Instead, it only mentioned that the guard was praised for his idea! It was just a different ending than I thought it would have. Then, as I read about the Stupid Monkeys and how they were given the task of watering the trees, it reminded me of a joke I heard years ago. In the joke, two guys were tasked with measuring the height of a flag pole. One started to lay it down to get the measurement and then the other guy said, we were told to measure the height! Not how wide it is! In the story, the monkeys were unsure of how much water the trees needed, so the leader said to pull them up and water them according to how long the roots are. It ended up killing the trees!

Stupid Monkey!

Source: More Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt

Reading Notes: The Jataka Tales Part B

Today I read about the elephant named girly face. The elephant was the nicest elephant who would never do any wrong. He always treated averyone nicely and would not harm any of the trainers. The head trainer always said that girly face is the nicest elephant and he would do no wrong to anyone! One night, some robbers were sitting outside girly face’s enclosureand began talking about how to rob a home. The robbers spoke of how they must kill anyone who was awakened in the house. They must be cruel and show no mercy so that they can be successful. Girly face heard this and decided that they were trying to teach him how to live his life. From then on he killed all the trainers that would enter the enclosure. After so long, the king hired a wise man to figure out why girly face had changed so much. The wise man asked around and found out about the robbers and their conversation outside of girly face’s enclosure. He told the king to send good men to have conversations and that would have the same effect on girly face. After this was done, girly face returned back to the normal elephant that he was and never killed anyone again. This story is great at showing why it is important to surround yourself with people who will uplift you and not bring you down.

Friends can lift you up!

Source: The Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt

Reading Notes: Jataka Tales Part A

The Jataka tales are very interesting! I loved reading the stories and seeing how they ended. There were some that were all about trickery and deception, and there were some that did not need trickery or deception to make a fool of one of the characters. The monkey and the crocodile was interesting because it made sure to note several times that the crocodile was stupid. It wasn’t that the monkey was smart, the crocodile was just stupid and couldn’t keep up with the monkey’s thinking. In the story of The Sandy Road, the leader of the drivers almost made a fool of himself by telling everyone to throw out their water and supplies because they would reach the city by the break of day and be off the sand. He fell asleep and lost the way which meant they were still on the sand by day break. He searched frantically until he spotted a tuft of grass, which meant there was water underneath. He ordered a hole to be dug there and when they hit a rock, he ordered a boy to strike the rock until water came forth. They drank the water and went on to the town, but it almost turned into a disaster. Some of the stories were about learning life lessons rather than having a character that was made a fool of. The story of The Ox Who Envied the Pig showed that it is better to be content with little and live longer with family rather than be given the “choice food” of death and enjoy it only for a time that will quickly come to an end. These stories were short but held many values and lessons in them. It was great to see all the cunning and witty characters come out on top!

All about the trickery!

Source: The Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt

Gangs of New York

Link to story on my portfolio site:Gangs of New York

Week 8 Progress

Looking back on my assignments for this class, I am disappointed in how much I have missed out on. I had set in my semester plan to do as much of the extra credit as I could. So far I have done NONE of it... I bit off more than I could handle this semester and I am hoping to get ahead of things during the last half of the semester. I will knock out some extra credit this weekend and plan to finish most of the reading for next week so that I can get ahead on a story. This last half will be intense and tiring but I will make it!

Attack the day!!

I definitely have to work on time management and prioritizing assignments to make the most of what time I have. I have picked out the slow times at work that allow me to finish up work and I plan to use those times to stay ahead once I use this weekend to catch up. As much as I can, I need to avoid doing the assignments past 9pm because I usually go to bed around 10:30pm and I try to rush through them when it gets that late. This last half is the half that I win it all!

Week 8 Comments and Feedback

I think the feedback aspect of this class is great! I really like how involved everyone is and how easy it is to read and evaluate other student's posts. One of the only down sides is that everyone tries to be so nice that it makes it difficult to leave honest critique because we have never met the individual that we're leaving the feedback for. I have noticed that as the semester goes on, the feedback is getting more in depth and students are more comfortable leaving feedback other than saying good job or what they liked about the posts. I think part of that is because of reading the introduction posts and that by this time, most everyone has seen everyone else's introduction post.

Cheezburger

With that said, I noticed that instead of pointing out what needed to be changed, I just left feedback saying that I enjoyed the writing and what specifically I liked about it. I find it difficult to actually be honest and I try to be nice with my posts. I am hoping that as the semester continues, I will feel better about leaving feedback and see that feedback can be helpful and positive at the same time! That is why I chose the image above.

Week 8 Reading and Writing

We're half way through the semester! Going back and looking at my notes, it is interesting to see how I translated my notes to a story. One thing I noticed is that I like to change a lot of the story. I use the foundation, but not much more. I'd like to try and stick closer to the origin and see where that goes. I would say that writing isn't one of my strong points. What I like about these blog posts is that they are all different and contain new material each post. It makes it nice to split up all of the writing instead of writing eight to ten pages on a broad topic. That's part of the reason I chose a portfolio. I was worried that I'd stall out and run out of ideas to finish up a long story. I love seeing how others are writing their stories and seeing how they carry them on week after week.

Amba, a Javanese shadow puppet

I like this image because the story of Amba talks about how distraught she was and how she had really let herself go and did not care about anything other than her revenge. When I read about her appearance, I imagined this but with more matted hair. To me it is a lesson about focusing on bettering myself rather than letting myself go trying to get revenge on someone else.

I look forward to writing more stories and using my notes in different ways so that I can understand which technique fits me better and produces better writing. Instead of straying so far from the story and my notes, I'll try making smaller changes and see how creative I can get with the characters. Happy midterms!

Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata, Part D

During today’s reading, I read about how a father went to seek vengeance on his son’s killer. The evil Jayadratha, along with his 6 warriors fought Abhimanyu, the son of Arjuna. Though his chariot had been destroyed, and the charioteer was dead he continued to fight the warriors, and defeated them one by one. The Pandavas tried to help him, but Jayadratha and Karna would not allow it. Abhumanyu received a wound on his forehead, and the blood poured down into his eyes, and blinded him for long enough, that the son of Duhshasana killed him. The story depicts his death to be a peaceful one, and not one of a man slain in battle. Once the man’s father, Arjuna heard that his son was dead, he made a vow saying, “May the course of a father and the vengeance of a warrior smite the murderers of my boy! May I never reach heaven if I do not slay Jayadratha on the morrow.” A spy heard this, and informed Jayadratha, so he went into hiding, “trembling in fear”. The next morning, Arjuna and Krishna drive swiftly across the land, fighting many warriors to reach Jayadratha. From an elephant, Duhsjasana faced him. When Drona blocked the way, Arjuna refused to fight him. Duryodhana also fought him, as well as Bhurishrava, who they slew. As they closer to the sunset, they went up against many warriors until finally, they found Jayadratha as the sun was setting. However, Karna attacked Arjuna, but Krishna covered the sun, making it look as though the sun had set, so Karna retreated and Arjuna defeated and cut off the head of Jayadratha. This story was intense, and showed the love and the loyalty that this father had for his son, and the lengths he could go to find his killer. 

Arjuna defeats Jayadratha.

Image Found Here

Source: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie

Found Here

Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata, Part C

During today's reading, I read about Arjuna and his journey to the mountains. He went up to the mountains to pray and live off of the land. Whatever the land provided to him was what he could have for food. Arjuna stayed in the mountains for several months eating smaller and smaller amounts until he only needed air to sustain himself. The air alone would supply him and he would no longer need food. He kept praying until he reached a point that he could stand with his arms lifted and without support for days at a time. I like the idea that he was living and breathing nothing but what he wanted to accomplish. He was seeking strength from the gods and nothing would be able to stop him once he attained that strength. During his prayers, a boar charged at Arjuna with intentions of killing him. Arjuna pulled out his bow and shot an arrow at the boar while at the same time, a hunter shot a dart at the boar. Hitting it at the same time, Arjuna and the hunter both got angry accusing each other of interfering with their shots and claiming it was their boar to kill. The hunter had his wife and several followers and appeared to be some king of the land. Arjuna said they should battle for it and the hunter agreed. Arjuna knew that this hunter must have been important since he was being followed by so many. Still, Arjuna challenged the hunter. After Arjuna shot until his quiver was empty, the hunter had absorbed all of the darts and was clearly not mortal. Arjuna didn't give up and challenged the hunter to wrestle for it. Being touched by a hand, Arjuna began to pray some more and cast garlands of flowers onto an image of the god he was praising. Instantly the garland was around the hunters neck and it was revealed that the hunter was the god and was pleased with Arjuna for recognizing and praising him. Arjuna was granted weapons and was blessed for his time spent on the mountain. I see this as Arjuna putting in time and effort to a goal and attaining that goal.

Arjuna receives the Pashupata from Shiva

Source:Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists by Sister Nivedita
Found here

Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata, Part B

As I continue to read more, I find it odd that a queen is acting as a beggar with her sons. When they escaped the palace that was set to burn, there was a family of beggars that took the queen and her sons place. They burned with the palace and everyone mistook their bodies for the queen’s and her sons. After escaping, a rakshasa fell in love with Bhima and completely abandoned her brother. Her brother happened to be the chief of the forest and after finding out she had disobeyed his orders, he threatened to kill them all including his sister. Bhima fought him and seemed to have been playing with him until his brother said to defeat him before the rakshasa gains more power from the sun rise. Bhima defeated him pretty easily and then defeated a “pest” in the next town. His mother, the queen, only had to think of him being there and he appeared to help them. Once again, the queen was living in a home of another family as a beggar. After leaving that town, they came across a large crowd who were travelling to see Nalayani, a woman who was famous for being fair and wanted as a wife. In her past life, she had a husband who was very happy, and they had a great life together. At one point, the husband decided that he would refrain from sexual desires and would not give in to her sexual desires. This made her upset and protest to Shankara. She said “I want a husband, I want a husband, I want a husband, I want a husband, I want a husband.” After protesting, Shankara said that in her next life, she will have five husbands because she asked five times. She did not like that response and tried to protest, but he said that it must be that way. Of all the men gathering to become her husband, five would be chosen because of her actions in her past life.

Vyasa tells Drupada about Draupadi's past life.

Source: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie

Found Here

Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata, Part A

It’s interesting how Shantanu found his lovers and what had to be promised for them to be with him. Bhishma seemed to give up everything for Shantanu no matter what it would cost. It makes me wonder why he cared so much for Shantanu and why he was willing to give up his right to the throne so that Shantanu would have who he wanted as his bride. Even when shantanu passed away, Bhishma still cared for his half-brother and made sure to find him a wife so that he could carry on the kingdom. Bhishma was completely capable of taking the kingdom for his self. Given how easily and joyfully he defeated the kings, it seems he wouldn’t be bothered morally to take the kingdom from his half-brother. Yet, he does whatever it takes to ensure his half-brother retains the throne. Bhishma’s actions did not account for much since Vichitravirya died before having any heirs. Even then, Bhishma did not take the throne or have a son to take the throne. When asked about having an heir, he reminded Satyavati that he promised he would never have children. Vyasa was the one to produce an heir, but was very unattractive. The first two sons were not good enough, so Ambika brought her handmaiden to bear a child. This child was chosen by Dharma as his incarnation and was chosen as heir along with Pandu, “the pale one”. One thing that surprised me was that Amba was so distraught that she wanted to destroy Bhishma. She was so filled with fury that Shiva appeared before her and promised that she would be able to slay Bhishma. She would reincarnate as a man and become strong enough to destroy Bhishma. So she gathered wood and set it aflame and stepped into it promising to come back and not rest until Bhishma was beaten. Talk about raging fury…

Sadhu in Pashupatinath temple, Nepal.

Source: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie
Found Here

Comment Wall

Here is the link to my portfolio: Sooner359

Leave comments below!

Week 5 Story: 90.9 Sports All Day

Here is a link to my portfolio site and the updated story: Sports All Day

Welcome to 90.9 Sports All Day, I’m Maximillian Bucks and today we will be discussing the career of Ryan Ratha and what his future may hold. I’d like to start with how successful he’s been so far and whether there are any challenges that lie ahead that may slow him down a bit. Of course, I’ll be opening call lines later on for the faithful listeners who want to share their input. For now, let’s talk about Ryan. Ryan has been training his boxing skills since quite a young age, and honestly everyone can see that it has been paying off. He had several bouts lined up for him as he started out and none of them seemed to even bring a challenge. Ryan’s manager was even asked by John Devit’s manager for a bout that would pit a young hopeful against an established powerhouse. John Devit has already made a name for himself and quite frankly has been unstoppable lately. Normally this would seem unfair that Ryan is so young and inexperienced, but John must not be paying full attention to how Ryan seems to be dominating his opponents. I may be in a small minority when I say this but I fully believe that Ryan could make John regret proposing this fight. Ryan’s fighting style is unique enough that it makes preparing difficult even for someone like John Devit. Ryan’s father was actually a very successful boxer as well and Ryan shows glimpses of his father’s fighting style, but Ryan’s father had a tragic accident that took his life while Ryan was still an infant. That is one of the mysteries of Ryan’s style. I find myself asking how Ryan developed such a similar style to his father even when he never had a chance to train with him. With all of that said, I truly believe that John Devit is making a terrible mistake underestimating Ryan Ratha. But this show means nothing if it only includes my opinion, so this is where I will take the first caller of the day! Our first caller is…

In the spotlight

Image found here

For this story, I wanted to include Rama's battle with Vishvamitra with a sports twist. I wanted to show that Rama is connected with Vishnu but there's a mystery around why they are so similar.

Source- Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists: Ramayana by Sister Nivedita

Story found here

Reading Notes: PDE Ramayana Part A

I thought it was interesting that Dasharatha wanted a son so bad, and then he ended up getting four sons because of Vishnu. He had everything he wanted, including three wives, but he was full o sorrow because he didn’t have a son. After making an agreement, he suddenly has four sons that will be strong warriors. Then at the end of his life, he remembers that he was cursed to not have a son. When he died, none of his sons were present with him. It’s pretty interesting to wonder if he remembered the whole time that he was cursed, or if he tried to overcome the curse by making a deal with Vishnu. I could see how this relates to our everyday life and how we think sometimes we can ignore certain restrictions or obstacles in our life. Also that Rama was so successful, and yet was forced into exile because of his father. He obeyed and willingly went into exile, and stayed there for fourteen years through his fathers death. Sometimes our actions carry further than just ourselves, and even into the next generation.

Dasharatha’s sons.  Picture found here.

Source. Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913)
Link to reading

Topic Brainstorm

Weapons of the Gods

                I’m excited to dive into this topic and discover the different weapons that were created and used in the epics. It caught my attention that special weapons were made for humans as well and I wondered whether the weapons were made because of the human’s actions, or if they were strictly for the benefit of the maker. The Pasha is interesting because it seems to be used for binding humans as well as animals during hunting. Was it given just to benefit the human? I’ll find out soon enough!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_magical_weapons#Indian_mythology

 

Epic Battles

                I think it would be pretty interesting to see how these battles unfold. What really caught my attention was the inclusion of animals in the battles. It makes me wonder if the animals had allegiance to one or the other side, or if they were somehow controlled or enslaved to fight. I’m also interested in finding out what made the Kshatriya the “ruling class” of the varna.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kshatriya

 

Food

How could I not at least consider food? All joking aside, I love to learn about cultural food! The different uses and reasons for food amazes me. In my daily life, people choose food that they like or that is cheap. In the epics, food is chosen based off of its properties or the benefit that it will provide them. Like the Kheer that was used by Dasharatha to have four children! When I think of Kheer, I think of when I was in Mongolia and during a major festival they would drink fermented mare’s milk.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kheer

 

Yakshas

                I’d like to read more about this topic and find out exactly what makes them different from anyone else. I understand that they have special abilities, but were they human at one point? If so, I’m interested in seeing how they change was made and why they were chosen. If not, where did they come from? Also, how they treat the humans and if they are all for or against or split with the humans. Kubera is a good example of the answers I’m looking for. Where did he come from and what is his goal?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kubera

Which one should I do??

https://larkable.com/brothers-wish/

Time Strategies

This semester may be the most time strained semester I have had. I'm only taking 15 hours, but I am working between 50-60 hours a week. Between all of that, like I've said before, my wife is second only to Jesus. No matter what I have going on, those two will get time that has my full attention. Sunday's are my only day when I don't have anything planned, and usually that means yard work sometime during that day. Thursday's schedule has about two hours of free time before bed, and that is my prime time for class work. Wednesday Evening has about 3 hours but sometimes it can be interrupted more than I like with work. Staying busy is good, but I like my sleep too! Reading will probably be the most challenging, only because I'll have to keep my eyes open long enough to read a page. I am banking on Wednesday and Thursday for my school work, and I sure hope it works cause I won't have much of an option outside of that!

Yoda knows best!

konnectagency.com

Unfamiliar Technology

To be honest, I am not really familiar with blogging or image editing or any of the tools mentioned. This class will be more than just Indian Epics for me, this class will be a learning curve on technology that I don't normally use. When I think of image editing, I think of drawing or painting (I know they are far from each other) and I am terrible at anything related to art. I still have issues with my hand writing and I have to write all day long at work. My mother always said I should be a doctor so I would have an excuse for my bad hand writing. So I immediately assume I won't enjoy using tools that relate to image editing. Being unfamiliar with most of these tools is intimidating, but I know I can at least learn the basics and grasp the concepts. With writing or drawing, no matter how much I practice, I have accepted that it just isn't my thing. I'm okay with that. Music is my thing and that's enough for me. I have intentionally stayed away from Pinterest because my wife does plenty of that for both of us. For the sake of the class, I'll check it out. But when I go MIA, just know we are doing "projects" that "will be good for both of us." Chances are that I'll probably enjoy it, but don't tell her that!

How I feel when it comes to image editing.

writingwinters.com

Class Assignments

My first impression on the assignments in this class was that there are a lot of them! When I clicked on the assignments list, I just scrolled down and saw a long list that was slightly intimidating. I realized it isn't as much as I first thought. Not only that, the assignments are relatable to my life and that makes it a million times better! I love the idea of using extra credit to get ahead rather than hoping that it is enough to put my grade where it needs to be. The positivity in this class is infectious to my other classes and even at work! I think I'm most excited about the Wikipedia trails extra credit opportunity. There are so many times that I look something up and end up clicking on a link and then another and then before I know it I'm ready for just about any trivia out there. I'm excited to get into the rest of the class and see how this plays out!

Positivity and comedy go well together!

https://me.me/t/cpr-meme

Growth Mindset

when I first started reading about growth mindset, it didn’t seem very appealing to me. When I read about the “not yet” story, I thought maybe it would lessen a students desire to excel. Kind of like saying “well I won’t fail, I just get a not yet and move on.” But then I realized that’s not how I react in my physical training. Even though I didn’t pass my physical fitness test, I told myself that I’ll get there eventually. Without realizing it, I’ve used a growth mindset already. I had never heard of Carol Dweck, but when I read the transcript of her Ted talk I realized the passion she had for ensuring children learn and grow without the feeling of being a let down when things don’t go their way. I loved reading about the Native American students who flipped from bottom to top with simple changes of the mindset. After learning more about this, I’ll be more aware of what mindset I have during my physical training.

I may not have passed my PT test, but I didn’t quit!
Growth Mindset Memes

Storybook Favorites

Soul of a House

This story grabbed my attention the most. As a child (according to my wife I still am a child), one of my favorite series was Goose Bumps. While I only read the introduction, it reminded me so much of the stories I read as a child. I instantly could picture the house and feel how spooky it was. Even with little information about the characters, it felt like I was reading about a friends experience. It may have something to do with the nostalgia, but I definitely had trouble breaking away from this story. I’ll be reading it in it’s full very soon. 

                                   Close up of the original house owner. Found Here.

Save Rama’s Bridge

There wasn’t as much information in the introduction to this story. I got the idea of what the story is about, but I didn’t feel drawn to it as much as the other two. I liked the idea of the story and what the purpose of the bridge was for, so I’ll definitely read the entire story. The introduction gave some snippets of what is in the story but kind of in a mixed order. The phrase “don’t judge a book by its cover” would apply in my mind to this story. I’ll find out soon how it really turns out!

Fairy Tale Case Files

I really liked the way this story felt as if it were a black and white mystery movie. I could just picture Hunter with a smoking cigarette as he embarks on this mystery. Sort of like a New York mystery in a forrest. I liked that Hunter just casually brought up that he is half human and half deer, but also noted he was the only one on the police force that Wolfgang had met. Staying in the theme of the old timeline, I drew comparison to when black/white racial divide still existed but was fading away.

Wherever you were... my favorite place

I grew up as a momma’s boy. I used to not admit it, but it’s strangely comforting now. My mom just knew what I needed when I needed it. When I needed advice, she was my automatic go to. She never went to college, but I still asked her everything. When my wife and I moved here to Norman, I lost count how many weekends I tried to convince her to come over to our house. She loved to travel anyways so the 3 and a 1/2 hour drive wasn’t a problem . Of course she also felt special that I would rather invite her over than go out and party like the rest of everyone at age 21 and 22. I had asked her many times to go to a football game with us, but she didn’t really think she would enjoy the game and she also knew I never sat down during a game and probably wouldn't let her either. In November of 2017, I finally succeeded. There were only two games left of the regular season and she enjoyed the first game so much, she came back for the final game of the season. I couldn’t have been happier. Being in that stadium is probably one of my favorite places to be. But I realize now that my true favorite place to be was where my mother was. I’m thankful for the places we shared memories together. On Friday December 1st of 2017, right about 6:00pm, she was in a fatal car accident. I’ll never forget the phone call. But I’ll also never forget what it’s like to be in my favorite place. For now my favorite place was when my wife and I were in that stadium with my mom. But eventually, I’ll have a new favorite place to be and she’s already waiting there for me.