Cheezeburger Tech Tip

Last post in this class! Had a great time in class! 

Week 14 Reading Diary B

-Buck is ending the story.
-Bhishma survives the battle.
-He chooses when he will die.
-He does not curse Yudhishthira for fighting him.
-Bhishma dies on the Winter solstice.
-Yudhishthira declares that the war is officially over.
-Dwaravati is flooded.
-Takshana takes Astika took him into the underworld.

Week 14 Reading Diary A

-Duryodhana uses his powers to keep people from entering the lake.
-This caused fighting.
-Arjuna comes in on his chariot after the fighting ends. Drona destroys his chariot.
-Duryodhana and Bhima are dueling.
-Duryodhana dies and tells Ashwattahaman to raid the Pandavas camp.
-Only survivors of the Kaurava army are Kripa, Kritavaramen, and Ashwattahaman.

Fake Twitter Tech Tip

Bob Stoops personally apologized for how terrible OU is this year!

Week 13 Reading Diary B

-Female warriors are not allowed, this is why gender switching happens
-Sikhandini becomes a man so she can become a warrior.
-Yudhishthira meets with enemy before battle.
-Bhisma lives with a body full of arrows.
-Pandavas seem to be winning the battle.

Week 13 Reading Diary A

William Buck, The Mahabharata pg 191-246
-Begins with Pandavas getting water from the lake.
-However, the lake kills them.
-Pandavas spend years in exile in the Matsya kingdom.
-Yudhishthira enters service as brahmin.
-Story or Karna and Indra.
-Kickaka, general of Virata, longs for Drapaudi.
-Karna wants to fight with the Pandavas

Week 12 Reading Diary A Twenty Two Goblins

Important Plot Findings
-King Triple Victory lives on the Godavari River.
-Monk brings king fruits that contain gems.
-In return, Monk asks the king to go to a tree and retrieve a body
-King has to answer a series of riddles. If he gets is correct, he has to start all over.
-In Brave, Wise and Clever, the story talks about Rama and Ravana (might have to include in my storybook project).
-King decides that he should only give his daughter to brave men.
-In Four Suitors, kings name was Heroic.
-Warriors daughter was given away.
-Three Delicate Wives-wive who was bruised without being touched was the most delicate (strange?)
-The Snakes Poison: Cool story. King killed a man and left the dead man to blame himself for his own death. King gave correct answer, so the goblin was returned to the tree.
-Girl and the Thief: Setting is Ayodhya like in the Ramayana. Girl wants to give up her life with the thief. King wants to make sure his promise to the monk is fulfilled, so he follows the goblin back to the tree.
-Generals Wife: King who died for the love of the general's wife care more about her than the general in the story. Shows the king was more dedicated to the girl than the general. Goblin runs back to the tree again.
-The Four Brothers: King admits he is willing to run back to the tree. The one that gave life to the lions was the one to blame for the lives the lion took.
-The Old Hermit: Hermit leaves his own body and took over the dead body of a boy. Hermit missed his old body, but was happy he now had youth. Goblin runs back to the tree.
-Father and Son, Daughter and Mother: King is confused by the goblin's riddle. When the king cannot answer the riddle, the goblin reveals that the monk is actually planning to kill the king in a ritual.

Week 11 Reading Diary B

pg. 49-91
The Mahabharata by William Buck

Important Things
-Duryodhana asks Dhritarashtra who he believes will rule the kingdom after he resigns. The town says Yudhishthira would look after them.
-Purochana builds a fire trap near where the Panadavas are staying.
-Yudhisthrita builds a tunnel around the fire.
-Vyasa takes Pandavas to the swayamvara.
-Draupada begs Shiva to give him a son to defeat Drona, who captured him.
-Draupadi marries 5 of Pandava brothers.
-The architect god leaves the forest and asks Arjuna's protection from Agni.

Week 11 Reading Diary A

pg 1-49
The Mahabharata by William Buck

-Duryodhana causes "all creatures to be slain and wastes the Earth"
-Arjuna is the "prince of all bowmen".
-Nakula is dark and guards Arjuna's chariot wheel with Sahadeve who is considered fair.
-Yudhishthira is manly and kind hearted.
-Vyasa was the poet and Ganesha was the scribe.
-Ocean was made of milk instead of salt.
-Ocean would churn and leave nectar is immortality.
-Gods emerge from the ocean.
-Shantanu falls in love with Ganga.
-Bhishman was 3 wives: Amba, Ambika, and Ambalika.

Week 10 Reading Diary B

Important Plots
-Pandavas are very powerful and make a lot of peace offerings.
-Duryodhana plans to take Krishna captive, however Krishna disrupts these plans.
-Battle happens and Bhishma is killed.
-Drona is influenced by the enemy, which is strange.
-Drona is told by the enemy that his son is dead and he gives up.
-Bhima drinks the blood of Duryodhana's brother, even though he had killed him.
-Duryodhana cries out to Krishna for his dishonorable behavior. Krishna doesn't care and tells him he had it coming.

Week 10 Reading Diary A

pg. 85-131

Important Facts
-Duryodhana is tempted by the gods
-He is captured by a gandharva and his plan to humiliate Pandavas is ruined.
-Nakula wants to drink from a lake, but the lake comes alive and asks him a series of questions that he must answer before he can drink from the lake.
-He doesn't listen and drinks from the lake. The lake then kills him.
-Others drink from the lake without answering questions. They are killed as well.
-The talking lake is actually the God of death and the questions were a test.
-Susharman, a pal of Duryodhana, is excited when he hears of Draupadi's death.
-He suggests they steal his cattle.
-Uttara and Abhimanyu get married.

Week 9 Reading Diary B

Reading: Narayan's Mahabharata pg. 84-131

Important Facts
-Dhritarashtra is shown to be an open vibrant character at the beginning, but then turns back-stabbing as the story progresses.
-This is similar to Kaikeyi in the Ramayana.
-A game is taking place between the two families.
-Dhritarashtra divides the kingdom between the families.
-Yudhistira makes a bold promise.
-The game that is being played is like gambling and is causing conflict between families.
-Draupadi has to advocate for her freedom in front of the large crowd.

Week 9 Reading Diary A

Narayan's Mahabharata pg 1-39.

Important Notes:
-Devavratha was raised in the river and did not have a dad.
-Raised by his mother.
-Devavratha needs to marry and father's of daughters want to make sure that their daughter will be on the throne.
-Takes vow of celibacy because of a stolen cow and killing mating deers.
-There seem to be a lot of characters in this book and I need to find the main characters.
-Vsaya is the parent to Vidura.
-King is blind.
-Pandu and Madri die.
-Arjuna and Karna are brothers, however, they are unaware of this.

-There seem to be a lot of different things going on within the first 39 pages. I feel like I've highlighted the main points, however, I need to do further internet research to gain a better understanding of this complicated story.

Reading Diary Week 8

I believe that the reading diaries are helpful to outline the reading. I really like reading outlines a lot more than I like reading tedious information with a lot of stuff that is rather irrelevant. I like to quick read because it allows me to catch the main idea of everything. I am able to remember locations within a story, so if I need to go retrieve something specific, I can. As I am quick reading, I will quickly note down important things that happen in a Word document. I like to include things like major characters or new characters that are just being introduced. I also like to include major plot ideas. I think by focusing on the major events within a story allows me to think more in-depth about the overall message of the story, instead of worrying about every little detail that is not relevant to the story. I also like the reading diaries because they are useful for when I am going back to write a story for the storytelling on Wednesday. If I were given a quiz instead of a reading diary, the reading would turn into busy work. I think that the reading diaries are better than quizzes because they are more useful. I have used my reading diaries to remember specific stories, especially when I am reading other people’s stories or thinking about my own stories for the storybook project. I think it would be cool if I started including a picture in my reading diaries from now on. I think this would allow me to visually connect with a story when I go back and look over my reading diary when writing the storytelling stories. Also, I just think pictures bring the stories to life and look a lot better on a blog!

(Wishbone, one of my favorite TV shows as a kid, and his books. Credit TVTropes.org)

Famous Last Words Week 7

This week begins the best week in college football history. I am really glad that I looked ahead and we have a review week this week, because my mind will be 100% on OU TX on Saturday. OU TX is the best weekend of the year and all of my friends that go to OSU are always jealous that we get to go to Dallas and represent the entire state of Oklahoma. Even though the Sooners lost Saturday to TCU, I am still confident that this OU team is well equipped to win big games this season. Since a lot of top 10 teams lost, it opens up the play off bracket to just about anyone now, so the Sooners technically still have a chance! I’m really excited that we are beginning to work on our Storybooks now in this class. It was cool to look over all the Storybooks from previous classes, so I was really looking forward to writing my own Storybook and trying out my creative hand, since I am not that creative to begin with. So far, this class has been really fun. Every other class I take is usually boring, but I have learned a lot and had a lot of fun in this class! 

I am really excited for the weather to become more fall-like. It was sad draining my pool this weekend because I tried to get every last warm day out of it. Hunting season starts in the Fall and my favorite holiday is in the Fall… who does not love Thanksgiving? Endless food and football with the expected nap. It is probably the only day of the year where naps are required. The weather is slowly starting to become cooler, but for every day where it is a perfect 68 outside, the next day is either 94 or storming! 

(The picture tells it all Credit: Footballbraniacs.com)

YouTube Tech Tip

This is one of my favorite songs, Walking in Memphis by Marc Cohn. Check it out!

Week 7 Storytelling: Rama Wrecks the Puskpaka

Rama Wrecks the Pushpaka

Exhausted after fighting Ravana for days, Rama knew that he had to get back to Ayodhya before his exile was over so that he could save his brother Bharata’s life. As Rama and Sita began to search for a mode of transportation, Vibhishana swooped down in a pushpaka, which is kind of like a flying chariot.

“Here, Rama,” Vibhishana said, “take this and hurry back home!”

Excited because he had never been in a pushpaka before, Rama and Sita hopped in and Rama started playing with the gadgets and cool stuff within the pushpaka. While Sita was focused on getting home before the exile ended, Rama was having fun playing around in the pushpaka. There were no “flying chariot” police at the time, so Rama began to speed and do flips in the pushpaka. Sita was terrified, but Rama was on the edge of his seat.

“Slow down!” Sita yelled.

“Don’t be a back seat pushpaka driver!” said Rama as he pushed the pedal to the floor. “This is so much fun!”

Rama was speeding around curves, winding through dense wooded areas, and flipping over mountain ranges. Although Rama was having a good time with the pushpaka, he forgot the only rule to flying a pushpaka… fly on the right side of the sky. As Rama pushed the pushpaka to its limits, he ended up spinning out of control and went into the left side of the sky, where another pushpaka driver was. The two pushpakas crashed and fell out of the sky.

“Now look what you did, Rama!”, yelled Sita. “We are now stuck in the middle of nowhere!”

Both pushpaka drivers were not hurt, however, their pushpaka’s were pretty badly damaged. Rama knew he had to quickly repair the pushpaka and get back to Ayodhya as soon as possible. So he went out searching for help.

As he, Sita, and the other pushpaka driver ventured for help, Rama suddenly recognized where they were. They were near the same location where Jatayu was buried! Rama searched and found Jatayu’s grave, where he plead to Jatayu’s spirit to give him strength and knowledge to repair the pushpaka. Jatayu used to a professional pushpaka driver, so he knew a lot about pushpakas.

“Oh, Rama. How are you so wise, yet you still wrecked a pushpaka?” came a voice in the mountains. It was Jatayu’s spirit.

“You need to change out the alternator and flush the intake lines to get the pushpaka working again,” the spirit said. “And slow down!!”

Rama took the advice of Jatayu and repaired the pushpaka. He got both pushpaka’s up and working again, however, this time Sita would not let Rama drive, so Rama sat in the back and watched the in-flight entertainment all the way back to Ayodhya.

Authors note: I decided to tell the story of the journey back to Ayodhya on the pushpaka in a little more humorous fashion. 

Bibliography: Buck, William. The Ramayana: King Rama's Way (1976)

(Rama and Sita with Jatayu's Spirit Credit: http://www.harekrsna.de)

Week 7 Reading Diary B

Pg. 374-442
The Ramayana by William Buck

Important Things
-Rama and Sita take a flying chariot home.
-On the way home, they stop to see where they hurried Jatayu. In order to announce that they are on their way home, Rama sends Hanuman ahead to tell his brother so he doesn't kill himself.
-When Rama arrives in town, the town is very excited. They give him presents.
-After a long period of time, Sita becomes pregnant.
-Because she has been with Ravana, she is considered not innocent. Rama sends Sita into exile.
-Valmiki hears of this and agrees to take care of Sita in her time of need.
-Sita eventually gives birth to two sons, Kush and Lava. They grow up hearing tales of Rama.
-Rama has a big festival in the forrest, where he eventually realizes that Kush and Lava are his kids.

Week 7 Reading Diary A

Pages 325-373
The Ramayana by William Buck

Important Parts
-Rama and Ravana are still fighting to get Sita back.
-Ravana is becoming more and more cocky and gets mad at the time God, Kala, who was on his side. Ravana doesn't worry about it too much though.
-Rama and Ravana eventually end up directly fighting each other.
-Rama cuts off Ravana's heads but they keep coming back.
-Ravana disguises himself as Indra, however, Rama sniffs this out. Rama is now ahead.
-Rama eventually kills Ravana.
-Vibhishana takes over as king of Lanka and Rama and Sita get back together.
-Rama and Sita hurry back to Ayodhya because his brother, Bharata, was going to kill himself if Rama wasn't back at the end of his exile.

Famous Last Words Week 6

Hello again. Just wanted to keep everyone up to date with my writing for this class and what is going on in my life at the moment. I went to the Oklahoma vs Tennessee game and had a great time, even though we killed them and it wasn’t much of a game. I really enjoyed watching the Oklahoma vs West Virginia game last week because the game was really close and entertaining until the end! This week we had a bye week, but next week we play Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. And the week after that is the best time of the year… OU/Texas weekend. I cannot wait for this game, even though we will probably kill them because they are not very good this year. As you can see, I really like Oklahoma football. So I decided to do my Storybook project over it! I had to write an introduction for the Storybook and design my Storybook site. I really enjoyed this because I have never written anything like this before, nor used the majority of the technology tools that we are using for this class, so it makes the writing fun, informative, and useful for the future. I have not decided how I want to write my first story yet, but I’m sure I will think of something creative soon! I’ve really enjoyed the freedom this class offers because it allows me to actually enjoy the writing I’m doing and not simply write something over a certain topic because I have to. I think the writing for this class is also useful because it is pushing me to be more and more creative every assignment. Creativity is very limited as an undergraduate science major, so this class offers a unique opportunity to be creative in class.

(OU/TX logo Credit: SoonerSports)

Week 6 Storytelling: Fat Cat Hanuman

        “I must catch this mouse!” Hanuman thought as he ran around the streets of Lanka. He had transformed into a cat in order to be incognito while in Lanka searching for Sita, however, it was now backfiring on him. Hanuman, although powerful, was having the natural, overpowering thoughts of a cat. All he wanted to do was eat, sleep, and chase mice. This proved to be a problem for Hanuman because he kept getting side tracked from the mission of determining the location where Ravana was keeping Sita hostage. Although, one day his cat-like instincts proved to be just what he needed to locate Sita....

            Exhausted from chasing a mouse around the town square of Lanka, Hanuman decided to take a long nap, however, he was brutality interrupted from his nap by a heavenly, appetizing smell. Was it steak? Was it fish? Hanuman had to investigate, so he got up and put his trusty nose and taste buds to work. Hanuman tracked the smell across the entire town of Lanka. He tracked it across rivers and streams until he tracked it to a large house on a hill just outside of the city. Licking his lips, Hanuman ran up to the door, eager to get his paws on whatever smelled so good. However, he was immediately stopped in his tracks when he saw the decorative sign on the front door that read “Welcome to Ravana’s House!” in fancy letters and coloring. Hanuman had ironically used his lazy, fat cat-like instincts to find Ravana’s house where Sita probably was! However, cats have a hidden side behind their lazy, fat exteriors… they are naturally sly animals. Hanuman went into stealth mode and slowly opened the door to Ravana’s house. Although the delectable smell of a prime rib was stronger than ever, he did not let this distract him from the task of finding Sita. As Hanuman made his way to the kitchen, he saw one of Ravana’s wives cooking but could not find any sign of Ravana or Sita. By this point, his fat cat-like instincts overpowered his slyness and Hanuman pounced on the prime rib she was cooking. Ravana’s wife was startled, as Hanuman ate the entire prime rib in one bite. However, instead of getting mad at Hanuman, she was impressed that he ate an entire prime rib in one, huge bite. Hanuman and Ravana’s wife conversed about the Ravana and Sita situation for a bit and eventually she told Hanuman to go check in the grove for Sita. Hanuman made his way out of the house and into the grove where he saw Sita across the way, however, the prime rib was starting to take a toll on him and before he could move any further, he flopped down on the ground and into a deep cat-nap.

(Hanuman and his counterpart, Garfield/Credit: Blogspot and Wikipedia)

Authors Note: I decided to add some humor to the part of Hanuman taking on the role of a cat disguise while in Lanka searching for Sita. 

William Buck: The Ramayana 

Week 6 Reading Diary B

Pages: 270-324
The Ramayana by William Buck

-Hunuman tells Rama what he discovered about Sita's kidnapping across the ocean in Lanka.
-They decide to build a bridge so Rama can get to the city
-The bridge was built by Nala, the sea monkey.
-Rama and his group make a plan to go across the bridge to get Sita from Ravana.
-However, Ravana has Shuka, a hawk, watching Rama the entire time.
-Ravana uses magic powers to show Sita a fake head of Rama so that she thinks he is dead and that Ravana has killed him.
-However, Phrahasta enters the room with Sita and Ravana and lets Ravana know that Rama has entered the city. This gives away Ravana's ploy with the fake head of Rama.
-Ravana and Rama fight. In the process, Kumbhakarna (Ravana's brother) kills Rama's forces, however, Rama ends up killing him. He also kills Ravana's son, Indrajit.
-Now the only people left to fight are Ravana and Rama.

Week 6 Reading Diary A

Pages: 219-270
The Ramayana by William Buck

-Hanuman tells the story of Sita's brutal abduction to Jambavan.
-Sampati is Jatayu's brother and Jatayu overheard the story Hanuman was telling. Jatayu is sad because his brother, Sampati, was killed.
-Jatayu provides insight to the Sita abduction. He said he saw Ravana leap across the ocean to a town called Lanka.
-Hanuman and the people searching for Sita decide that Hanuman leap across the ocean.
-Hanuman encounters many different obstacles as he leaps across the ocean. He was eaten by Sinhika, but escaped through her ear. He finally makes it to Lanka.
-Hanuman takes on the role of a cat while in Lanka so he can move around undetected.
-Hanuman finds Ravana's house, but does not find Sita there. Ravana's wives tell him to search in the ashoka grove.
-Ravana is trying to convince Sita to like him, but Sita refuses. When Ravana leaves, Hanuman makes contact with Sita. Sita tells Hanuman a message to give to Rama.
-Hanuman decides to burn down Lanka, but manages to tell Sita that Rama will be back to save her.