One of the great things about this class is the creativity that the writing assignments allow for, though we were given general topics, how we chose to approach that topic was completely up to us. This stories written about the exact same subject matter individual reading experiences. Also because we had to read other people's posts this allowed us to look at the subject matter from a different perspective. There was an exchange of ideas between authors simply by reading each other's work. This worked towards causing a creativity salad among the students in the class. Each week I would read someone's post and it made me want to improve and create something the next week that would make someone want to step it up in the same way the following week. It was sort of a competition for me to read something by someone like Jessica Akerman and see how she would manipulate imagery, or go to Kerrti's storybook and constantly compare it to my own because she had the cleanest layout. This was not a class of individual group projects but rather it was a group of creative people working together on one project which was building the most creative writing enviroment possible.
I would simply change two things in the class.
1. Remove the Diary posts....We have enough to do in this class without the redundant check of a diary. The storytelling posts are enough to see if the reading was completed.
2. I want a recount!!!!!!!!!!!!! I looked at all the contestants storybooks and I have to say I believe there were some hanging chads!!!!!!!!! No way I didn't win!!!!! I retold the entire Ramayana in 4 poems, do you know how hard that was???????? Seriously hard!!!!! I will say congrats to the winner, their storybook was great (If you like pics of cute kids and stories that make you smile....Pshhhhh who likes happiness? Not me lol), but I am a little partial to mine is all I am saying. I mean I think there was some absentee ballots, or maybe I was swiftboated, and not to mention there was televised debate and what is an election without a good ole fashioned debate.
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
Friday, November 14, 2014
Famous Last Words Week 13
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| By Berger & Föhr; Ello, Inc. (https://ello.co/wtf/post/ello-logo) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons |
Other than joining Ello the big highlight of my week was completely and LSAT prep test for fun. I'm taking it in December at OU so I figured I should at least crack open the book once and try it out just to see what a test is like. Wow, that was a crazy test. My brain hurt after taking it. It was like having a conversation with a crazy person on a three day drug bender. Seriously some of the questions seemed so far out there that I am not sure what they were about or how I got them right. The fact that I was able to answer these questions makes me a little worried about myself. I have always known I was and odd duck, but after getting some of these questions right I afraid I might be a really odd duck. LOL. Well other than that this was a pretty easy going week for me. Hope all of you have a great week. Do yourself a favor and make someone smile this week. Trust me it will make you feel great.
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Essay Week 13 Me, My Editor, and the Work
When writing poetry I have always found it is best to not force the poem. By this I mean that I am unable to make myself be creative. For this class I chose to write poetry for my storybook, and this was a process that some weeks went rather quickly and other weeks extremely slow. For my first poem I thought about my topic for about two weeks. Throughout my day I would say phrases in my head and slowly but surely the poem was completed before I even sat down to type it out. This is a very natural way for me to write poetry. So the first poem in my storybook actually happened in a very organic way. My second poem, Sita’s Sonnet, didn’t come to me as easy. This was a poem that I struggled with more than any of the other poems. I knew what I wanted to say, but because I wrote it in the form of a sonnet, I was faced with many challenges that I did not face when writing the other poems. One of the challenges was trying to write a poem that told the story of Sita without breaking the meter. It is an extremely confining form that I chose to write this poem in, but I feel as if it was my most creative of the poems because I was forced to choose words that gave the most information. The third poem, and I feel the best of the group, was the easiest to write. There was no plan to writing this poem, I sat down at the computer and started typing and it just came out. My final poem and my least favorite of the group presented little challenge in writing. I feel that this is my least creative poem, though this poem may be the easiest to read by someone that is not familiar to the story.
Just because these poems were typed up and turned in did not mean that the work on them was finished. The most horrible part of the writing process was just beginning, the revising process. I have always found this part of the process to be the most alcohol inducing of them all. When a writer completes a piece of work there is a great deal of pride that they feel. They feel this because writing is a journey. For most of my work this is not something that I just sat down and typed up. Instead it is something that has been floating around in my head for a good deal of time, and even though I know it can be improved, I still feel proud and extremely protective of the work. This is why there is always a bunch of anxiety when you send in your work to your editor. This is for a couple of reasons. First, you want them to like the work. No matter what someone says, they really do want to be recognized as being gifted and one of the ways that they receive this from other people is through compliments. Second, as a writer you have a vision and this is your vision alone, so to have someone else comment of what they think your vision is can be frustrating. Finally, as a writer I hate to change my work. Still, it is a necessary step in the writing process. So even though receiving notes from your editor can drive you to drink, cuss, and throw your computer out the window, I have found it is best to stop, take a deep breath, and realize a few things. First, the editor is a fan of your work. If they did not like your work their only note to you would be, “this is horrible, delete it and start over.” Though they don’t tell you they like the work, the fact that they are taking the time to read it and give you honest thoughts on the work is proof that they like the work. Second, the editor wants your vision to be seen by people as much as you do, so their notes are an objective way of being able to share your vision with everyone else. Their objectivity is what is most important because as a writer you lack objectivity because you are emotionally attached to the work. Finally, they themselves are often writers so they know how much work goes into the writing. They know that if you are not pushed to make these changes you will regret it later when you revisit the work, because you will have gained some objectivity and will see that you could have done better. The most important thing for me to remember as a writer is that this is not a journey I am on alone. This journey involves myself, my editor, and the work and without the editor and I working together the work will suffer. As a writer I have to be able to surrender my ego and realize that the editor and I are working together to make the work the best possible version of itself.
Just because these poems were typed up and turned in did not mean that the work on them was finished. The most horrible part of the writing process was just beginning, the revising process. I have always found this part of the process to be the most alcohol inducing of them all. When a writer completes a piece of work there is a great deal of pride that they feel. They feel this because writing is a journey. For most of my work this is not something that I just sat down and typed up. Instead it is something that has been floating around in my head for a good deal of time, and even though I know it can be improved, I still feel proud and extremely protective of the work. This is why there is always a bunch of anxiety when you send in your work to your editor. This is for a couple of reasons. First, you want them to like the work. No matter what someone says, they really do want to be recognized as being gifted and one of the ways that they receive this from other people is through compliments. Second, as a writer you have a vision and this is your vision alone, so to have someone else comment of what they think your vision is can be frustrating. Finally, as a writer I hate to change my work. Still, it is a necessary step in the writing process. So even though receiving notes from your editor can drive you to drink, cuss, and throw your computer out the window, I have found it is best to stop, take a deep breath, and realize a few things. First, the editor is a fan of your work. If they did not like your work their only note to you would be, “this is horrible, delete it and start over.” Though they don’t tell you they like the work, the fact that they are taking the time to read it and give you honest thoughts on the work is proof that they like the work. Second, the editor wants your vision to be seen by people as much as you do, so their notes are an objective way of being able to share your vision with everyone else. Their objectivity is what is most important because as a writer you lack objectivity because you are emotionally attached to the work. Finally, they themselves are often writers so they know how much work goes into the writing. They know that if you are not pushed to make these changes you will regret it later when you revisit the work, because you will have gained some objectivity and will see that you could have done better. The most important thing for me to remember as a writer is that this is not a journey I am on alone. This journey involves myself, my editor, and the work and without the editor and I working together the work will suffer. As a writer I have to be able to surrender my ego and realize that the editor and I are working together to make the work the best possible version of itself.
Story Telling Week 13
Twenty-Two Six Strings
Each day after John was done eating he would politely nod goodbye to Mike and hand him a sticky note with a picture of a musical note on it. Mike would take the note and nod back to John and throw the sticky notes in his pockets and when he got home we would throw them up on the dresser and forget about them.
One day however, John gave came home and gave the note to his teenage daughter. She looked at the note and headed to her room. About five minutes after this happened Mike heard screaming.
“What’s wrong?”
“Where did you get this?”
“A guy I know gave it to me. Why?”
“Oh my god! My dad knows John Mayer!”
“Who?
”
“John Mayer daddy. Look her on the other side of this note it is his autograph.” Mike looked at the note to see that signature of John Mayer. He went to his room and grabbed the other notes that he had tossed on his dresser. Each one had his signature on it; his daughter noticed that each musical note was different. “Dad, do you know what this is?”
“No. What?”
“It is a song. This is a song written by John Mayer.”
“Of course it is.” Mike did not want to seem to uncool to his daughter. Since she reached her teenage years he felt more out of touch with her than ever, so this was a moment he had longed for, a moment when his little girl looked up to him as someone cool again just like she did when she was three years old.
“Where did you meet him dad?”
“I have lunch with him every day in the park.”
“Daddy you have to take me to lunch to meet him. I love his music. Please.”
Staring into his baby girls eyes he knew he had no choice but to tell her “Yes.”
The next day Mike and his daughter went to the park bench for lunch. When John walked towards the bench to sit down, Mike’s daughter jumped up and threw her arms around him, “Oh my god you are John Mayer. I love you, I love you, I love you.”
John was gracious to her and hugged her back. Mike looked at John as if to say, “I’m sorry.” After Mike’s Daughter calmed down, he pulled out the sticky notes from his pocket and showed them to John. “You gave me these, what are they.”
“Well they are your song. Well actually I guess they are her song. The first day I sat here with you I heard you on the phone with her and I was inspired to write a song about your daughter and you. I am working on my new album and well I was coming here each day for inspiration to finish this song. In fact today was going to be the last day because I am almost done writing the song. Actually after meeting your daughter I think I am done with the final note in the song. Those notes were the notes to the song and my gift to you.”
“Will you play me the song? Please?” The teenage girl was completely star struck by John, and even though he did not want to impose on John, he loved the feeling of being his daughter’s hero, even if it was just for a day.
“I will give you anything if you could play my daughter that song John.”
“Sure thing. I’d love to play that song for her. You say you would give me anything, well that sounds like a pretty good deal.” John pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Mike. “I need you to go downtown to the music store and in the back is a 1959 Les Paul Whitford 'Burst guitar. Hand that piece of paper to the store owner and he will give you the guitar. Bring the guitar to me and I will play you guys the song. Me and you daughter will wait her and have lunch together.”
Mike nodded at John, hugged his daughter, and headed to the music store downtown. He grabbed the guitar and handed the note to the owner and left the store and began to make his way back to the park. As soon as he was a block away from the store he heard singing coming from the guitar. Mike dropped the guitar and then heard it say, “Ouch! Why did you do that man?”
“What?”
“Why did you drop me bro, I was grooving, why you killin my groove man. Where are you taking me?”
“What is going on? How are you talking, am I on some weird television show, where are the cameras?”
“Nah man, it’s all cool here man, no one is messing with you. Where are you taking me?”
“To John Mayer.”
“That dude ha. He has been trying to get his fingers on my strings to hit a lick for a while now. Ok, well if you want to take me to him that is cool with me, that boy’s got talent, but first you have to answer me a question. I you are clever enough to answer it then you have to return me to the store. If you know the answer and try to be slick and not say anything then your head will explode.”
“What!”
“Ha, got ya. Nah there bro just relax I was kidding your head won’t explode. You will just go to hell. See I am the devil in disguise, and don’t go thinking you can’t play this game because you gave the owner the note and that is a binding contract. So if you don’t play then I get your soul.”
And so began the story of the twenty-two six strings.
Author's Notes
The is a retelling of the introduction to the "22 Goblins" tale listed in the assignments. It is a little long but I have cut it down in half already and could not cut it down anymore. The basic of the introduction is a king is given fruit by a wise man each day. The kings throws them away until one day gives one of the fruit to a monkey and then sees the monkey playing with a jewels and realizes all the fruit has jewels. He is so happy he gives the jewels a way to his assistant ( I guess that is the best term ) and promises a boon to the wise man. The wise man sends him to a tree to fetch a hanging dead body. The dead body contains a goblin and the goblin makes him answer questions before he can take him back to the wise man. If the wise man knows the answer then he has to say it or else his head will explode. If the king is correct then he has to return the goblin to the tree.
Picture attribution
By Delhovlyn (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Reading Diary Part B Week 13 22 Goblins
Twenty two Goblins
Introduction
King Victory????
King throws away jewels
Finds them and gives them away
King is sent on a journey
Discovers goblin
The three Lovers
Goblins tells the king a story at the end the king must answer the question
If he lies his head will explode
King must decide who the wife belongs to
The man that slept with her ashes is the husband
Brave Wise Clever
King must decide who a girl should marry
He decides the brave man should be married to her because he risked his life
The Girl her husband and her brother
Boy falls for a woman while at the village bathe
They marry and the husband and brother are killed
Their heads are placed on eachothers body
King guesses who should be the Husband
Food Women Cotton
Three brothers quarrel about a turtle
They stay with a king and their cleverness is tested
King victory decides the brother that was the specialist in cotton was the most clever
The Four Scientific Suitors
Lotus city=pleasure city= golden city- Ujjain
King named heroic
Son named brave, daughter named grace
King is looking for a husband for grace
She tells him to marry her off to a man that understands science
First science is the working man
Second science is the farmer
Third science is the strong armed soldier
Fourth science is the ability to restore life
King victory decides that the soldier is who she married
The three delicate wives
King Virtue banner
He had three wives
Crecent, star, moon
King injures Crecent with a lotus flower
Star is burned by the moons light
Moon is bruised by the sound of Pestles
Goblin ask king victory which is most delicate
King victory says that moon was most delicate because nothing touched her, she was injured by just sound.
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
Story Telling Week 12
The "Fire!" Alarm
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| http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yama_Vac_Pot.JPG |
Jon lived on the top floor of the a five story building. This is not uncommon for most people in the city to live on the top floor but Jon was scared of heights. At night Jon would sit awake scared that a fire would break out and he would be trapped on the top floor and die. Each night Jon would make himself a pot of coffee so that he was able to stay awake and think about how he was gonna die on the top floor of his building in a fire. Each night Jon would fall asleep eventually and dream about how he was going to die in a top story fire. This fear followed him around each day as he would walk through the city and look at all the tall buildings. He would think to himself that he "better not enter that building because he would die in a fire for sure in that building."
One night Jon fell asleep on his couch. It had been a long day of worrying and he was ready to fall asleep and worry some more. In the middle of the night he woke up and smelled something burning. "Oh my lord, it's a Fire!" he said as he ran out his apartment door and down the stairs to the fourth floor.
"FIRE!" he screamed as he ran past the fourth floor where people woke up and heard them.
"Fire!" they all yelled and began to run down the stairs.
"FIRE!" he yelled as he passed the third floor.
"Fire!" all the people on the third floor yelled as they followed him.
"FIRE!" Jon yelled as he passed the second floor.
"Fire!" everyone from the second floor yelled as they woke up and ran down the stairs to the first floor.
"FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!" everyone yelled on the first floor, waking the building manager.
The building manager saw everyone running and yelled "STOP!" and everyone stopped. The building manager was extremely cranky because he was having the best dream about everyone in the building paying their rent on time, so he was short with everyone. "How do you know there is a fire? The fire alarms and sprinklers are not going off. Not to mention I don't smell any smoke."
The people from the second floor said, "We didn't see the fire or smell smoke but we saw the people third floor running and yelling fire."
The people from the third floor said, "Well we were only running because we heard the people from the fourth floor yelling fire and saw them running."
The people from the fourth floor said, "Well that is true but it is only because we saw Jon running and yelling fire."
Jon said, "That's because there is a fire in my apartment now we must go so I don't die."
The building manager looked at Jon and asked, "Did you see the fire Jon?"
"Well no, but I smelled it."
"You smelled smoke?"
"No. I smelled something burning, I didn't stop to look I just got out of there because I knew if I didn't I would die."
"Well there is no fire Jon so let's go to your apartment and see what you are talking about."
When everyone arrived at Jon's apartment they saw that there was no fire, though they all agreed they could smell something burning. All day Jon had remembered to worry about dying in the tall building. He remembered to sit awake at night and think about burning to death on the top floor of his building in a fire. He remembered to make a pot of coffee so he could stay awake longer and worry about dying in a fire. He even remembered to dream about dying in a fire on the fifth floor of his building. Jon remembered to do all this, but forgot to turn off his coffee pot. Jon had not smelled a fire at all, but rather Jon had drank almost all the coffee in his coffee pot and had smelled the last little bit evaporating from it. Jon felt foolish.
Author's Notes
This is a retelling from the "Foolish, Timid Rabbit" in the Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babitt. I updated the story to use people instead of animals. The lesson of the story is not to panic so I used the scenario of a Fire to express that because we have always been told "Don't yell fire if there is not fire" because people will panic and run and people can get hurt. So I thought this would fit right in perfect with the story of the rabbit.
Reading Diary Part B Week 12 Jataka Tales
The monkey and the Crocodile
This sounds like the frog and scorpion story
The croc is trying to kill the monkey for his mother
The monkey is smart to tell the croc he left his heart on the shore
This seems to be a story about out witting your enemy and then having your enemy find respect for you
How the Turtle Saved His Own Life
The boys think the turtle is a demon
The king orders the turtle to be killed
The turtle tricks the men into thinking that throwing him back into the lake is a horrible thing for the turtle
The Turtle who couldn’t stop talking
The Geese ask the turtle to come home with them
They tell the turtle he can not talk on the flight home
But the turtle does talk and falls to his death
The Ox Who Won The Forfeit
The man treats his ox bad and the ox refuses to pull the carts and loses money
The Ox and the man talk and the man realizes he was at fault and swears to never treat the ox bad again and the Ox goes back and does the work and the man wins his money back
The Quarrel of the Quails
The leader of the Quails comes up with a plan to keep the quails from being captured
The quails refuse to work together because of a misunderstanding so they are captured
The foolish, Timid Rabbit
The rabbit allows his imagination to scare him so when he hears a noise he panics
This panic causes all the other animals to panic
The lion steps in and calms everyone by getting to the bottom of things
The Banyan Deer
The deer are being killed
So the two deer kings agree to sacrafice one deer from each of their herd each day by taking turns
A mother deer is to be killed and the Banyan Deer takes her place
His life and all the deer’s lives are spared
The Princes and the Water-Sprite
The king had three sons
The star, moon, and sun princes
The king promised the Sun Prince’s mother a Boon and on his 21st birthday she asked him to make her son king
A water sprite traps the two younger brothers
The oldest brother passes the water sprite’s test and saves both brothers
The King’s White Elephant
An elephant has a splinter in its foot
To pay the carpenters back for taking out the splinter the elephant does work for them
The elephant has a son and teaches him to work hard
A king sees this and buys the elephant and the young elephant has a good life
The Ox Who Envied the Pig
To oxen on a farm
One becomes jealous because a pig is fed better
The older ox tells him not to be jealous
The pig is killed for a feast and the young ox understands not to be jealous
The Crab and the Crane
A crane tricks a bunch of fish in a dry pond into being eaten
The crane sees a crab and tries to do the same thing
When the crane gets the crab to the place that the fish were eaten the crab cuts off his neck
The Girl Monkey and the String of Pearls
A girl monkey sees a queen put her pearls in a box
The girl monkey steals the pearls and hides them
The guard comes up with a plan to trick the girl monkey
He throws a bunch of glass beads and all the monkeys come down and take them except the girl monkey
To make the other monkeys jealous the girl monkey puts on the pearls and is caught
The Three Fish
Three fish live in a river names Thoughtful, very thoughtful, and thoughtless
Thoughtful and thoughtless are captured in a fishermen’s net
Very thoughtful tricks the fisherman into thinking there is a hole in his net so he releases the two other fish by mistake
The Tricky Wolf and the Rats
The wolf wants to eat the Rats
The wolf tricks the rats into thinking he is injured and each day he eats a rat
The chief of the rats begins to suspect the wolf is eating them each day and sets a trap
The chief of the rats kills the wolf
This sounds like the frog and scorpion story
The croc is trying to kill the monkey for his mother
The monkey is smart to tell the croc he left his heart on the shore
This seems to be a story about out witting your enemy and then having your enemy find respect for you
How the Turtle Saved His Own Life
The boys think the turtle is a demon
The king orders the turtle to be killed
The turtle tricks the men into thinking that throwing him back into the lake is a horrible thing for the turtle
The Turtle who couldn’t stop talking
The Geese ask the turtle to come home with them
They tell the turtle he can not talk on the flight home
But the turtle does talk and falls to his death
The Ox Who Won The Forfeit
The man treats his ox bad and the ox refuses to pull the carts and loses money
The Ox and the man talk and the man realizes he was at fault and swears to never treat the ox bad again and the Ox goes back and does the work and the man wins his money back
The Quarrel of the Quails
The leader of the Quails comes up with a plan to keep the quails from being captured
The quails refuse to work together because of a misunderstanding so they are captured
The foolish, Timid Rabbit
The rabbit allows his imagination to scare him so when he hears a noise he panics
This panic causes all the other animals to panic
The lion steps in and calms everyone by getting to the bottom of things
The Banyan Deer
The deer are being killed
So the two deer kings agree to sacrafice one deer from each of their herd each day by taking turns
A mother deer is to be killed and the Banyan Deer takes her place
His life and all the deer’s lives are spared
The Princes and the Water-Sprite
The king had three sons
The star, moon, and sun princes
The king promised the Sun Prince’s mother a Boon and on his 21st birthday she asked him to make her son king
A water sprite traps the two younger brothers
The oldest brother passes the water sprite’s test and saves both brothers
The King’s White Elephant
An elephant has a splinter in its foot
To pay the carpenters back for taking out the splinter the elephant does work for them
The elephant has a son and teaches him to work hard
A king sees this and buys the elephant and the young elephant has a good life
The Ox Who Envied the Pig
To oxen on a farm
One becomes jealous because a pig is fed better
The older ox tells him not to be jealous
The pig is killed for a feast and the young ox understands not to be jealous
The Crab and the Crane
A crane tricks a bunch of fish in a dry pond into being eaten
The crane sees a crab and tries to do the same thing
When the crane gets the crab to the place that the fish were eaten the crab cuts off his neck
The Girl Monkey and the String of Pearls
A girl monkey sees a queen put her pearls in a box
The girl monkey steals the pearls and hides them
The guard comes up with a plan to trick the girl monkey
He throws a bunch of glass beads and all the monkeys come down and take them except the girl monkey
To make the other monkeys jealous the girl monkey puts on the pearls and is caught
The Three Fish
Three fish live in a river names Thoughtful, very thoughtful, and thoughtless
Thoughtful and thoughtless are captured in a fishermen’s net
Very thoughtful tricks the fisherman into thinking there is a hole in his net so he releases the two other fish by mistake
The Tricky Wolf and the Rats
The wolf wants to eat the Rats
The wolf tricks the rats into thinking he is injured and each day he eats a rat
The chief of the rats begins to suspect the wolf is eating them each day and sets a trap
The chief of the rats kills the wolf
Monday, November 3, 2014
Famous Last Words Week 11
All My life I was always told that I was a spitting image of my father. As a child I always felt like this was some kind of insult. It was however completely true. I was a bull headed kid. I was prone to doing things my way. Doing things my way usually led to trouble. A spitting image of my father at that age. When parents got divorced I was sent to live with my father. I dreaded the thought of being locked up in a house under his thumb. My father was extremely strict. I hated living with my father. We were so poor, we never went anywhere except to eat once a month. I never had anything new, all my clothes were second hand. As a kid I just hated living with my father.It wasn’t until my son was born that I could appreciate just how high of a compliment it was to be compared to my dad.
My son being born is easily the happiest moment of my life. The moment I saw my son I instantly believed in love at first sight. It was like every cell in my body was yearning just to hold him in my arms. After forty long weeks I was finally able to kiss his little lips and tell him “I love you,” over and over again. This was truly a life changing event. One minute I was one person and in the next minute I was a completely different person. I even had a new name. At the same time I was filled with fear about not being ready to be a father. This fear continued to build until the second happiest moment of my life which just so happens to have taken place minutes after the happiest moment of my life. This second moment changed me because I realized I was an adult. This gave my perspective on how selfish and immature I was a child.
After kissing and telling my newborn son “I love you” for what must have been twenty minutes, I noticed the room was quiet and I felt the stares of everyone in the room on me. These were not the stares of “Awe look at him what a cute daddy.” Instead these were the angry stares of the doctor, the nurses, and the mother of my child. As a man that had just spent the last nine months receiving angry stares for things like the way I was eating, the way I was breathing, the way I walked, and although she never would admit just the simple fact that I was the reason she was pregnant, I was not quite sure what I had done to draw the ire of every lady in the hospital room. Still as any man will tell you, I know I did something to get in trouble.
Then the doctor spoke up, “Um daddy did a great job getting through the labor and childbirth but do you think mommy could hold him?” I tell you this shamefully that I held him for another minute or so before handing him to mommy. I wiped the tears from my eyes and composed myself and by all accounts I was pretty sure I was not needed here anymore so I left the room to tell everyone the good news.
As I exited the room the first person I saw was my father. He was waiting in the hall that was supposed to be restricted to anyone other than hospital workers and people that were in labor. I imagine that someone told him that he could not be there but knowing my father he did not listen to them. He was leaning against the wall directly across from the birthing room. I realized he had been standing there listening to everything. Every moment of my son’s delivery from the first push to the last he was listening. When he heard the door open and close he looked up at me. I did not then, nor do I now possess the vocabulary to justly describe the way he was looking at me, all I can say is that this was a look I had never seen from him before. For my part I felt like I was seeing my father for the first time. We instinctively walked towards each other and my daddy wrapped his arms around me and for the first time, I knew. I knew what an idiot I had been my entire life.
My father grew up the only son of Sam and Rose Costa. Sam thought it was his duty in life to teach my dad to be a man. Part of being a man was not sucking your thumb. Sam had an interesting approach to solving this problem. He would duct tape my dad’s hands together as a so that he would not suck his thumb in his sleep. When Sam would come home and see that my father had removed the tape in his sleep and was sucking his thumb, his father would beat him like my father was a full grown man. These were not just slaps, but rather they were the closed fist hands of a golden gloves boxer. I don’t mean that as a metaphor, I mean that his father was a golden gloves contender. To look at my father’s nose it is easy to see the numerous times that my father’s nose was broken. Even now as I think about it I cringe at what it must have been like for a five year old boy to be woken up to a full grown man punching him in the face. Thumbsucking was not the only reason Sam used to beat my father. If Sam was drunk my dad got beat. If my aunts did something wrong my dad got beat. If Sam and Rose got into an argument my dad got beat. Sam did not believe in beating women, just my father.
I found out later when I was going through the end of my relationship with my son’s mother, that when my parents split up it was hard on my dad, much in the same way as my break up was hard on me, but he never let it show. When I was sent to live with him, I was being sent to live with the only person that was able to stay on top of me. My father took me in and gave me structure to ensure that I would get on the right path. He witnessed his friends and family get involved in drugs and other various criminal activities and was determined to make sure I avoided that life. When all the other kids were out drinking and bouncing around town causing whatever trouble they could, I was at home. I guess it worked because I have never done drugs, I don’t have a drinking problem, and I’m not in jail. My dad was strict on me because he loved me and wanted me to have a better life than him.
Not only was my dad strict but the guy was also a ninja spy. I could not do anything at school that he did not know about. If I got sent to the office, he knew. If I got a bad grade, he knew. If I skipped school, yep you guessed it he knew. I only saw my dad about forty five minutes a day, and for the most part my dad never had any free time, but he always had time to know what was going on with me at school. He was involved enough to recognize that I had fallen through the cracks, and that in a small town school like the one I went to, the teachers were not too interested in making sure I got off to a good start to my scholastic future. He sent me to Upward Bound because it placed me on a college campus and gave me the extra schooling I needed so that I could have a chance at being successful at life. My dad did this because he knew what it was like to have a parent that did not care about their kids future. His dad died after my dad turned ten. For her part his mother was truly neglectful. Yes she worked, but she made no attempt to involve herself in my dad’s life. If he got bad grades or skipped school, it didn’t matter because she didn’t care. There was nobody in my father’s life to instill the importance of an education to him. It wasn’t until he was in his late thirties that my dad went back to school, and he was determined to make sure I didn’t wait that long to do the same. Along with extra schooling Upward Bound gave me other tools that helped me build my confidence. It was an environment that allowed a person like me to be surrounded by other like people so that I could make friends.
Yeah we didn’t have nice things. Everything I owned was hand me downs. It seemed so important then, but in the long run it didn’t matter. All that matters is that my father did the best he could. The man went to college full time. When he wasn’t studying he was trying to sleep so he could go to work. At work, my father, a grown man, spent his evening wiping other adult’s asses. Literally that is what he did for a living. My dad worked as a nurse’s aid while he was in college. If the opportunity for him to work a double shift came up he worked it. There were times he would go seventy two hours without sleep. He never once complained. He worked the extra shifts so that he could afford to take me out to dinner once a month. He took me out on those dinners because he knew I did not have any friends and he was my friend. He missed me and liked spending time with his son. All he knew of his father was physical violence. All I know of my father is emotional support. He was always found time for me, no matter how busy he was, my father always had a way of knowing when I needed him. Having nice things doesn’t matter now because I always had food in my belly, clothes on my back and a roof over my head. My dad was one thing in my life that was never a hand me down.
I hugged my father looking at my childhood in a new light, and something that had never happened before happened. I heard my father begin to cry. I had never heard or seen my dad exhibit much emotion let alone cry. I didn’t realize it but I was crying too. We must have looked silly standing there hugging each other while crying. To be honest I don’t care how it looked because to me it was one of the most beautiful and tender moments I have ever felt. I felt so safe, so happy, and I felt so loved. This made me cry even harder. I never felt loved growing up as a child. I can’t explain why I just never really thought anyone loved me. When my son was born I had never felt so much love for another human being. This though was different. This was the first time I have ever felt so completely and unconditionally loved by another person. I know that no matter what I do or say my father will always love me and be proud of me. I know this because I felt the same way the moment I saw my son, and I could finally understand what my father had always felt when he looked at me. I wanted to be just like him. Being told I was the spitting image of my father was something I finally took pride in being told. Knowing how much he loved me made me happy. I did not think I could be any happier when my son was born but I had room in my heart. I was so full of joy that my chest hurt, I could not control my tears and neither could my father. We told each other that we loved one another. I told my father that I hoped I would be as good of a father as him and then he told me something I will never forget. He said,
“You’re gonna be better.”
My son being born is easily the happiest moment of my life. The moment I saw my son I instantly believed in love at first sight. It was like every cell in my body was yearning just to hold him in my arms. After forty long weeks I was finally able to kiss his little lips and tell him “I love you,” over and over again. This was truly a life changing event. One minute I was one person and in the next minute I was a completely different person. I even had a new name. At the same time I was filled with fear about not being ready to be a father. This fear continued to build until the second happiest moment of my life which just so happens to have taken place minutes after the happiest moment of my life. This second moment changed me because I realized I was an adult. This gave my perspective on how selfish and immature I was a child.
After kissing and telling my newborn son “I love you” for what must have been twenty minutes, I noticed the room was quiet and I felt the stares of everyone in the room on me. These were not the stares of “Awe look at him what a cute daddy.” Instead these were the angry stares of the doctor, the nurses, and the mother of my child. As a man that had just spent the last nine months receiving angry stares for things like the way I was eating, the way I was breathing, the way I walked, and although she never would admit just the simple fact that I was the reason she was pregnant, I was not quite sure what I had done to draw the ire of every lady in the hospital room. Still as any man will tell you, I know I did something to get in trouble.
Then the doctor spoke up, “Um daddy did a great job getting through the labor and childbirth but do you think mommy could hold him?” I tell you this shamefully that I held him for another minute or so before handing him to mommy. I wiped the tears from my eyes and composed myself and by all accounts I was pretty sure I was not needed here anymore so I left the room to tell everyone the good news.
As I exited the room the first person I saw was my father. He was waiting in the hall that was supposed to be restricted to anyone other than hospital workers and people that were in labor. I imagine that someone told him that he could not be there but knowing my father he did not listen to them. He was leaning against the wall directly across from the birthing room. I realized he had been standing there listening to everything. Every moment of my son’s delivery from the first push to the last he was listening. When he heard the door open and close he looked up at me. I did not then, nor do I now possess the vocabulary to justly describe the way he was looking at me, all I can say is that this was a look I had never seen from him before. For my part I felt like I was seeing my father for the first time. We instinctively walked towards each other and my daddy wrapped his arms around me and for the first time, I knew. I knew what an idiot I had been my entire life.
My father grew up the only son of Sam and Rose Costa. Sam thought it was his duty in life to teach my dad to be a man. Part of being a man was not sucking your thumb. Sam had an interesting approach to solving this problem. He would duct tape my dad’s hands together as a so that he would not suck his thumb in his sleep. When Sam would come home and see that my father had removed the tape in his sleep and was sucking his thumb, his father would beat him like my father was a full grown man. These were not just slaps, but rather they were the closed fist hands of a golden gloves boxer. I don’t mean that as a metaphor, I mean that his father was a golden gloves contender. To look at my father’s nose it is easy to see the numerous times that my father’s nose was broken. Even now as I think about it I cringe at what it must have been like for a five year old boy to be woken up to a full grown man punching him in the face. Thumbsucking was not the only reason Sam used to beat my father. If Sam was drunk my dad got beat. If my aunts did something wrong my dad got beat. If Sam and Rose got into an argument my dad got beat. Sam did not believe in beating women, just my father.
I found out later when I was going through the end of my relationship with my son’s mother, that when my parents split up it was hard on my dad, much in the same way as my break up was hard on me, but he never let it show. When I was sent to live with him, I was being sent to live with the only person that was able to stay on top of me. My father took me in and gave me structure to ensure that I would get on the right path. He witnessed his friends and family get involved in drugs and other various criminal activities and was determined to make sure I avoided that life. When all the other kids were out drinking and bouncing around town causing whatever trouble they could, I was at home. I guess it worked because I have never done drugs, I don’t have a drinking problem, and I’m not in jail. My dad was strict on me because he loved me and wanted me to have a better life than him.
Not only was my dad strict but the guy was also a ninja spy. I could not do anything at school that he did not know about. If I got sent to the office, he knew. If I got a bad grade, he knew. If I skipped school, yep you guessed it he knew. I only saw my dad about forty five minutes a day, and for the most part my dad never had any free time, but he always had time to know what was going on with me at school. He was involved enough to recognize that I had fallen through the cracks, and that in a small town school like the one I went to, the teachers were not too interested in making sure I got off to a good start to my scholastic future. He sent me to Upward Bound because it placed me on a college campus and gave me the extra schooling I needed so that I could have a chance at being successful at life. My dad did this because he knew what it was like to have a parent that did not care about their kids future. His dad died after my dad turned ten. For her part his mother was truly neglectful. Yes she worked, but she made no attempt to involve herself in my dad’s life. If he got bad grades or skipped school, it didn’t matter because she didn’t care. There was nobody in my father’s life to instill the importance of an education to him. It wasn’t until he was in his late thirties that my dad went back to school, and he was determined to make sure I didn’t wait that long to do the same. Along with extra schooling Upward Bound gave me other tools that helped me build my confidence. It was an environment that allowed a person like me to be surrounded by other like people so that I could make friends.
Yeah we didn’t have nice things. Everything I owned was hand me downs. It seemed so important then, but in the long run it didn’t matter. All that matters is that my father did the best he could. The man went to college full time. When he wasn’t studying he was trying to sleep so he could go to work. At work, my father, a grown man, spent his evening wiping other adult’s asses. Literally that is what he did for a living. My dad worked as a nurse’s aid while he was in college. If the opportunity for him to work a double shift came up he worked it. There were times he would go seventy two hours without sleep. He never once complained. He worked the extra shifts so that he could afford to take me out to dinner once a month. He took me out on those dinners because he knew I did not have any friends and he was my friend. He missed me and liked spending time with his son. All he knew of his father was physical violence. All I know of my father is emotional support. He was always found time for me, no matter how busy he was, my father always had a way of knowing when I needed him. Having nice things doesn’t matter now because I always had food in my belly, clothes on my back and a roof over my head. My dad was one thing in my life that was never a hand me down.
I hugged my father looking at my childhood in a new light, and something that had never happened before happened. I heard my father begin to cry. I had never heard or seen my dad exhibit much emotion let alone cry. I didn’t realize it but I was crying too. We must have looked silly standing there hugging each other while crying. To be honest I don’t care how it looked because to me it was one of the most beautiful and tender moments I have ever felt. I felt so safe, so happy, and I felt so loved. This made me cry even harder. I never felt loved growing up as a child. I can’t explain why I just never really thought anyone loved me. When my son was born I had never felt so much love for another human being. This though was different. This was the first time I have ever felt so completely and unconditionally loved by another person. I know that no matter what I do or say my father will always love me and be proud of me. I know this because I felt the same way the moment I saw my son, and I could finally understand what my father had always felt when he looked at me. I wanted to be just like him. Being told I was the spitting image of my father was something I finally took pride in being told. Knowing how much he loved me made me happy. I did not think I could be any happier when my son was born but I had room in my heart. I was so full of joy that my chest hurt, I could not control my tears and neither could my father. We told each other that we loved one another. I told my father that I hoped I would be as good of a father as him and then he told me something I will never forget. He said,
“You’re gonna be better.”
Friday, October 31, 2014
Essay Week 11 Positive and Negative Assignment
Each week we have a reading assignment for this class and each week the entire class reads the same story. We post notes on our blog pages and then we follow it with a storytelling assignment. This week however, we were allowed to choose which story we wanted to read. This method of allowing the students to choose the story they wanted to read allowed for greater freedom, not just in exploring our interest, but in our storytelling ideas as well. This of course does present positive and negative issues in regards to the student and the assignment.
The positive of course is that this method does break up the monotony of the class. Each week because the entire class reads the same story there is little in the way of surprise and discovery when doing the storytelling response posts. This is because each student is basically rereading the story that they have just read. There are of course surprises in that each student has a different perspective on the story and that does come through in the storytelling posts, but still there is very little in the way of discovering something new about the story. This method is good because it allows each student to read a different story and then post a storytelling post based on that the new story. Which in turn allows another student to discover a new story and become interested in that new story.
One of the negatives about this assignment is the lack of direction due to the amount of options. The assignment page is like a buffet of topics, so simply choosing a story to read becomes an issue in itself. This may not seem like it could cause a problem, but when looking at the topics to choose from then opening the assignment link the student is then left with even more choices to choose from, so trying to simply narrow down what to read can be time consuming. Once this is figured out by the student then the issue becomes the length of each story. Because the stories are short, when it comes time to choose a topic for a storytelling post the student must narrow down their topic so that they can retell one of the stories. A student may enjoy having a set reading and storytelling topic and sometimes too much choice can be a bad thing.
Still the positives of this assignment do outweigh the negatives. Though the assignment does break from the format by allowing the student to choose the assignment topic, it also allows the reader to remain in the structure of the class by offering the option to do an assigned reading on the current class topic. By adding this element of choice, the class is injected with new creative subjects that work toward opening the other students up to different stories and possibly peaking there interests to literature outside of the class. So while there are possible negatives with this assignment, there are definite positives with this assignment that add to the strength of the class.
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Story Telling Week 11
Sita and the Boy in Blue
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| http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/05.RamSitaGods.png |
Sita sat in the garden near the palace of Lanka when she smelled smoke. She looked up in horror to find that the beautiful cit was burning to the ground. She thought to herself "What could have caused this?" when suddenly a monkey named Hunaman appeared before her. "What have you done?"
"Your husband is here to save you my lady. He and his army is across the waters and soon he will be here to rescue you."
"OH NO!"
"Ok. That is not the response I expected from you Sita."
"Do I look like I need rescuing?"
"Well yes you do."
"Well No I don't. I am happy here. I have known Ravana for years. We went to highschool together and well look at him. All those heads and arms and muscles. I am not a prisoner."
"But my lady you are married to Rama?"
"Is that what he told you? Gosh he just won't listen. I was never with Rama. He is not my husband he is my stalker."
"Stalker?"
"Yes. He has been obsessed with me since he came to see my father. I have been trying to get away from him ever since. I went to the forest to live as a hermit and told him I needed some time to think. He turned down his crown and told everyone we were going into exile and followed me. I needed to escape and so I sent him after a golden deer and hit up Ravana on Facebook to come get me. When Ravana showed up we left."
"But my lady, then why did you leave a trail of jewelry to lead us to you?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well you threw this ring down to me."
"Yes I threw it. I was getting rid of it. Why would I want to wear that ugly wedding ring."
"What should I tell my master Rama?"
"Tell him that if every man in the world was gone and he was the last man on earth I would choose to be single rather than be with him. Now be off and do not return."
Hunaman returned to Rama and told him what Sita had said and Rama responded by saying, "Oh pay her no mind little monkey, she is playing what we rich folk call 'Playing Hard to Get'. Let's go forward with the plans to rescue my love."
Hunaman began to realize that this was more of a kidnapping rather than a rescue but still did as his master ordered. The battle of Lanka began. It raged on for quite a while, like for eight pages. Which in those days meant like twenty thousand years or something like that, and when it was over Rama went to Sita.
"I am here my love."
"You again. Come on man take a hint. I am not into you."
"You are so funny. That is one of the things I love about you Sita is that you have a really great sense of humor."
"You are crazy Rama. You burned this city to the ground. Killed everyone in it. Why?"
"Because I had to save you."
"I didn't need to be saved. Look we can't ever be together. I am with child"
"A magical baby! My Sita the pure carries my child. This is wonderful news."
"Yeah.......it's a magical baby alright. I spent the last year here with Ravana and now I am pregnant and oh wow it is a miracle....Yep that is what it is...because he never touched me." She couldn't help but laugh under her breath.
"I bet the child will have my eyes. We should call for a celebration."
"Yeah it will most certainly have your eyes. Look you are not hearing what I am telling you. You are a great guy. I mean who wouldn't want a man that constantly doesn't listen to her and makes her live in poverty and slaughters countless people in her name, but at this point in my life I need to focus on me. It's just that I am
not in a good place to be in a relationship. It is not you. It is me."
"You are perfect."
Frustrated by Rama Sita jumped into the fire. Unfortunately it began to rain and she was unharmed. She screamed in frustration. Rama took this as a sign of her proving her purity to him and took her back to his kingdom. When they got there Sita wrote Rama a Dear John letter and left it for him. After reading the letter Rama gathered his people together to tell them the news.
"So guys our queen is gone. I told her,'hey babe you're great and all but you are smothering me. I need some me time. It is not you it is me.' so I dumped that chick guys. I am rolling solo. Just me the king. Single. You know what I am saying. No ball and chain to hold me back. I am going to be at the bar tonight tossin back shots and mingling with the ladies if you know what I mean."
Because Rama was the king, Hunaman and others let him save face with his lie.
Author's Notes
I have always felt like Rama treated Sita like a piece of property, or like he was just some rich entitled spoiled prince. I wanted to change this story and make a story about "What if Rama was a creepy dude that couldn't take no for an answer." All the details of the story are there but I changed the perspective of the characters. I thought of this after watching Sita Sings the Blues
Bibliography
Sita sings the Blues/ Youtube/ Nina Paley
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Reading Diary: Sita Sings the Blues Part B Week 11
There is one of the Characters that commends Ravana for not touching Sita
Still even though he would not force himself on Sita he is looked at as being evil
Rama denies Sita
Monkeys standing on the heads of Ravana
I don’t recognize the gods in the animation
I think they are supposed to represent Sita praying to the gods in the trial by fire
The husband is again ignoring his wife she is headed to New York
I guess this could be a play on the exile of Sita
The return of Rama and Sita from Lanka at the end of the 14 years
Everyone is walking in the rain except Rama I think this is playing on how silly Rama actually is as a character
Looking at it from this movie’s point of view I can totally see Rama as a spoiled entitled brat
Old time movie intermission
Intermission is over this animation is humerous
Back to the States
Ok dave is telling Nina not to come back in an email now I know this the story of Rama and Sita
The animation and music has changed I think it is Sita dancing in the fire
Ok this song is the song of Sita in exile from Rama
They are making fun of how Sita got pregnant
Shows man beating a woman and saying that he is not like Rama
One of the characters thinks that Rama doubts that Sita is pure and that is a possibility to why he banished her
If that was true then it would raise all kind of other questions
This could be a Disney movie
Dave and Nina are back together?
It was just a dream
The cold outside and the inside of the apartment mirror the circumstances of Sita’s exile
All the animals seem to be in love while Sita is sad and crying and alone
The colors of the animation go along with the song title because they are blue
Sita have twins in the forest
The sons are taught songs of praise by Lanki
Nina calls Dave
The characters discuss the silliness of unconditional love because Sita is somewhat abused and should not be praying and begging for Rama back
Nina is reading the Ramayana
The movie ends
Still even though he would not force himself on Sita he is looked at as being evil
Rama denies Sita
Monkeys standing on the heads of Ravana
I don’t recognize the gods in the animation
I think they are supposed to represent Sita praying to the gods in the trial by fire
The husband is again ignoring his wife she is headed to New York
I guess this could be a play on the exile of Sita
The return of Rama and Sita from Lanka at the end of the 14 years
Everyone is walking in the rain except Rama I think this is playing on how silly Rama actually is as a character
Looking at it from this movie’s point of view I can totally see Rama as a spoiled entitled brat
Old time movie intermission
Intermission is over this animation is humerous
Back to the States
Ok dave is telling Nina not to come back in an email now I know this the story of Rama and Sita
The animation and music has changed I think it is Sita dancing in the fire
Ok this song is the song of Sita in exile from Rama
They are making fun of how Sita got pregnant
Shows man beating a woman and saying that he is not like Rama
One of the characters thinks that Rama doubts that Sita is pure and that is a possibility to why he banished her
If that was true then it would raise all kind of other questions
This could be a Disney movie
Dave and Nina are back together?
It was just a dream
The cold outside and the inside of the apartment mirror the circumstances of Sita’s exile
All the animals seem to be in love while Sita is sad and crying and alone
The colors of the animation go along with the song title because they are blue
Sita have twins in the forest
The sons are taught songs of praise by Lanki
Nina calls Dave
The characters discuss the silliness of unconditional love because Sita is somewhat abused and should not be praying and begging for Rama back
Nina is reading the Ramayana
The movie ends
Reading Diary: Sita Sings the Blues Part A Week 11
The animation is simple but it works
The music seems extremely old
Title screen is a bit cheesy
Based on Valmiki’s Ramayana
Images of the god’s and there is rama on the bed of milk and serpents
Ok so these are all the gods and the characters from the story
Ok the mucis is much better now
SanFransico scene
Not sure what this has to do with the Ramayana
Three god figures discussing the Rama
Ayodhya
The characters compare the story to the bible as it being true
Laxman is Lakshmana????
Discussing the different names of sita
Explaining the story of Rama’s exile
This is a humerous approach
Animation of Rama being crowned
This seems like a very accurate albeit loose retelling of the Ramayana
Ok this is funny because they are telling the Ramayana but finding a way to incorporate the different versions that have been told over time. You know how each story puts it’s own spin on it.
Back to this old song
Ok they have taken a song and found a way to use it to tell the story of Sita following Rama into exile… So creative
Not sure what the Eyeball bats represent
Oh it is the story of Rama killing the rakshasa army in the forest
This is funny she is just singing and this plays out like a romantic dance
Ok the man is leaving for India
The story of Ravana
So Ravana is not evil but actually devoted to Shiva
He is a good king
Kink of sri lanka
Nasa images of the bridges
The movie is making fun of the lotus and how it is so big in the culture
Who is all this music from?
Using the song to confess Sita’s love and Loyalty to Rama
The background music fits well with the capturing of Sita by Ravana
They are kind of making fun of the fact that Sita left for exile without any jewelry and yet she is able to drop some for Rama to find her
The hunaman origin
Ok hunaman is incarnation of shiva….
How many incarnations of Shiva are in this story
Back to the couple in San Francisco
I think this is poking fun at the relationship between Rama and Sita and how they are never really together
Sita in Lanka
Surprised faced Ravana
This animation is so simple and cheesy yet it fits in with the story so perfectly
This song is being used to display sita missing Rama in Lanka and the animation works perfectly to tell the story
Hunaman is burning down Lanka
The characters poke fun at how easy it would have been to leave Lanka with Hanuman
Blood thirsty woman lol
The explanation of the difference between actual monkeys and the monkey army is good
Now the army is marching to Lanka the animation shows them walking on water and Rama knocking on the door
Where is this music from because it fits so perfectly with the sory
Old time batman tv series and comic book animation
Ravana’s heads flying over Sita as she sings
The couple reuniting is much like the reuniting of Rama and Sita
It’s cold and he wont come near her like Rama did to Sita
The music seems extremely old
Title screen is a bit cheesy
Based on Valmiki’s Ramayana
Images of the god’s and there is rama on the bed of milk and serpents
Ok so these are all the gods and the characters from the story
Ok the mucis is much better now
SanFransico scene
Not sure what this has to do with the Ramayana
Three god figures discussing the Rama
Ayodhya
The characters compare the story to the bible as it being true
Laxman is Lakshmana????
Discussing the different names of sita
Explaining the story of Rama’s exile
This is a humerous approach
Animation of Rama being crowned
This seems like a very accurate albeit loose retelling of the Ramayana
Ok this is funny because they are telling the Ramayana but finding a way to incorporate the different versions that have been told over time. You know how each story puts it’s own spin on it.
Back to this old song
Ok they have taken a song and found a way to use it to tell the story of Sita following Rama into exile… So creative
Not sure what the Eyeball bats represent
Oh it is the story of Rama killing the rakshasa army in the forest
This is funny she is just singing and this plays out like a romantic dance
Ok the man is leaving for India
The story of Ravana
So Ravana is not evil but actually devoted to Shiva
He is a good king
Kink of sri lanka
Nasa images of the bridges
The movie is making fun of the lotus and how it is so big in the culture
Who is all this music from?
Using the song to confess Sita’s love and Loyalty to Rama
The background music fits well with the capturing of Sita by Ravana
They are kind of making fun of the fact that Sita left for exile without any jewelry and yet she is able to drop some for Rama to find her
The hunaman origin
Ok hunaman is incarnation of shiva….
How many incarnations of Shiva are in this story
Back to the couple in San Francisco
I think this is poking fun at the relationship between Rama and Sita and how they are never really together
Sita in Lanka
Surprised faced Ravana
This animation is so simple and cheesy yet it fits in with the story so perfectly
This song is being used to display sita missing Rama in Lanka and the animation works perfectly to tell the story
Hunaman is burning down Lanka
The characters poke fun at how easy it would have been to leave Lanka with Hanuman
Blood thirsty woman lol
The explanation of the difference between actual monkeys and the monkey army is good
Now the army is marching to Lanka the animation shows them walking on water and Rama knocking on the door
Where is this music from because it fits so perfectly with the sory
Old time batman tv series and comic book animation
Ravana’s heads flying over Sita as she sings
The couple reuniting is much like the reuniting of Rama and Sita
It’s cold and he wont come near her like Rama did to Sita
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Story Telling Week 10
The King, The Stable Boy, and Petrarch
“Woman you make no sense with your request. Tell me to conquer a city and I will, demand a throne and it is yours, request to have me sail the oceans to bring you the finest of silks and I shall harness the winds. This I can do, but what you request is impossible.” the king said.
“Yes my lady. Far be it from a simple man as myself to disagree with you but our dear king does make a good point.”
“I do not sit outside your window requesting your love, nor do I request your conditions upon which I can win your love, neither do I when receiving those conditions request new conditions.” the lady replied.
“But my lady….” the king said.
“Do not stand out side my window in an improper manner and say “My lady” and expect me to simply buckle at the knees like some lustful prize whose hand can be won by some simple currency because that would make me no higher than a common unfortunate. Is that what you would have me be?”
“I would not!”
“Nor I, my lady.” Said the stable boy.
“Then you asked for my heart and those are my demands. Should I ask you to enslave the moon and the sun then you should do it and think it a worthy trade should you not?”
“I should my lady.”
“As should I.”
“Then it is settled. No be gone from my window and do not return until you are able to pay my dower.”
The two men left befuddled. Love is a complex equalizer of men. A king has no more a greater understanding than the poorest of men. Equally confused the two men decided to seek the help of an expert in the matters of winning a woman’s heart.
They traveled day and night for a month until they arrived at the home of the poet Petrarch. In his quarters they found him asleep and when he woke up he saw the popper. The king afraid the stable boy would gain the knowledge of how win the woman’s heart first spoke up.
“Now I am a king and I was here first and being a king it is your duty to offer me the courtesy of receiving me and my request first!”
To this the poet replied, “Ah yes you are a king but we are not in your kingdom and in my house are equal to kings. I am unaware of who was here first but I did see this man first so I will talk to him first. Please good sir what do you require of me?”
The stable boy explain his desire to win the heart of this woman to the poet. When he was done the poet sat in silence for a moment and said, “I will help you both. To one of you I will give you this book of all my poetry to read to her so that you may win her heart. Inside of it is every poem I have ever spoken to win a woman. To the other I will not give you any of my poetry but instead I will teach you how to write poetry. I will leave the choice up to you poor stable boy since you were here first.”
Without hesitation the stable boy said that he would not take the book but instead learn how to write poetry. This made the king happy because what good would writing one poem be against hundreds of poems. He thought he was sure to win and took the book and headed home. On his way out the door the king said, “I shall wait one month for you and then we will go to her window and see who wins her heart.” Then the king left.
After one month had passed the two men met outside her window. The woman looked down on them and said “Tonight one of you shall leave with your heart, and the other shall leave with my heart.”
The king looked up at her and began to read poems from the book. He read poem after poem to her until all the poems in the book had been read. She sat at her window unmoved by his words. Then the stable boy looked up to her and began to speak. With each word she became more captivated. She began to blush and smile and when he was done she tossed him down a rose.
Angered by this he asked the woman, “How could you choose him. I have read you countless poems written for countless women to win countless hearts and yet you choose this stable boys words over mine.”
“Yes king I do choose this stable boy to give my heat to because he wrote one poem meant to win one woman’s heart,” and with this the king stormed off. “You good sir what is your name?”
“Westley, my lady.”
“Come up to my chambers.”
“As you wish my buttercup.”
Author's Notes
At first read this may seem like it did not have anything to do with the Mahabharata but it does. This is my twist on the scene when Duryodhana and Arjuna went to see Krishna. The king in this story is Duryodhana, the stable boy is Arjuna, Petrarch is Krishna, and the woman is the kingdom they both want. I put this twist on it to make it a little more fun, and though it seems completely different it is still in keeping with the spirit of the scene in the book. Plus anytime you can get a Princess Bride story into the class the better I say lol. Enjoy.
Picture Attribution
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
Reading Diary Part B Week 10
Yudhistira begins to regret having to goto war and knows he will win
He wishes he was not born in a castle
Krishna offers to goto the kings court and try to work out something peaceful
Bhima tells him not to provoke them
Krishna laughs at him
Others in the family scream for war though and Draupadi says they should all die also
Dhritarashatra is excited to hear that Krishna is coming
He readys gifts for his arrival
Vidura says that Krishna deserves all the gifts but says that the gifts will not win his favor instead the king should give him what he wants
Duryodhana says they should keep Krishna as their prisoner
Duryodhana offers Krishna dinner and Krishna refuses
In court Duryodhana says he has done nothing wrong and that Yudhistira is to blame for losing the bet
He storms out of the court
Duryodhana makes plans to seize Krishna in the court
Krishna says it is ok if they try to take him by force he will allow them to try
Krishna tries to get Karna to give up his support for Duryodhana but Karna stays loyal even though he knows they will lose
Krishna returns to Yudhistira and reports that no compromise could be made
Before the battle Duryodhana sees bad omens
Earthquakes, jackals howel, and meteors fall
Arjuna tells Krishna that he can not fight in this war
Krishna tells him to pay no mind to the enemy they do not deserve his sorrow
Krishna shows Arjuna his true form and Arjuna is no longer worried about killing his kinsmen
Yudhistira goes across the battlefield to honor Drona and Bhishma
Arjuna attacks Bhisma
Drona almost kills Dhrishtadyumnna but Bhima saves him
Krishna jumps off Arjuna’s chariot and says he will kill Bhishma because Arjuna will not do it
Arjuna reminds him of his promise not to fight
Arjuna kills Bhishma
Duryodhana decides to capture Yudhistira in order to end the war
Arjuna’s son is killed
Karna kills Ghatotkacha with a spear given to him by Indra
Drona is killing a lot of the enemy so Krishna suggests that they tell him his son is dead to dishearten him
Everyone refuses to lie to Drona
Finally Yudhistira agrees to lie to Drona
Upon hearing this Drona loses the will to fight
He takes off his armor and sits down
Dhrishtadyumna take advantage and kills Drona
Arjuna kills Karna
Yudhistira kills Sayla
Bhima defeats Duryodhana in single combat and crushes his thigh then dances on his body
Gandhari curses Krishna
Yudhistira feels sad about his victory
An explanation as to why Karna died it given
Bhima chastises Yudhistira for not wanting to be king
Krishna tells Yudhistira to stop whinning basically
Yudhistira lights a fire and declares that Dhritarashtra is still the king and that if the people want to honor him they will follow the king and all his commands
He wishes he was not born in a castle
Krishna offers to goto the kings court and try to work out something peaceful
Bhima tells him not to provoke them
Krishna laughs at him
Others in the family scream for war though and Draupadi says they should all die also
Dhritarashatra is excited to hear that Krishna is coming
He readys gifts for his arrival
Vidura says that Krishna deserves all the gifts but says that the gifts will not win his favor instead the king should give him what he wants
Duryodhana says they should keep Krishna as their prisoner
Duryodhana offers Krishna dinner and Krishna refuses
In court Duryodhana says he has done nothing wrong and that Yudhistira is to blame for losing the bet
He storms out of the court
Duryodhana makes plans to seize Krishna in the court
Krishna says it is ok if they try to take him by force he will allow them to try
Krishna tries to get Karna to give up his support for Duryodhana but Karna stays loyal even though he knows they will lose
Krishna returns to Yudhistira and reports that no compromise could be made
Before the battle Duryodhana sees bad omens
Earthquakes, jackals howel, and meteors fall
Arjuna tells Krishna that he can not fight in this war
Krishna tells him to pay no mind to the enemy they do not deserve his sorrow
Krishna shows Arjuna his true form and Arjuna is no longer worried about killing his kinsmen
Yudhistira goes across the battlefield to honor Drona and Bhishma
Arjuna attacks Bhisma
Drona almost kills Dhrishtadyumnna but Bhima saves him
Krishna jumps off Arjuna’s chariot and says he will kill Bhishma because Arjuna will not do it
Arjuna reminds him of his promise not to fight
Arjuna kills Bhishma
Duryodhana decides to capture Yudhistira in order to end the war
Arjuna’s son is killed
Karna kills Ghatotkacha with a spear given to him by Indra
Drona is killing a lot of the enemy so Krishna suggests that they tell him his son is dead to dishearten him
Everyone refuses to lie to Drona
Finally Yudhistira agrees to lie to Drona
Upon hearing this Drona loses the will to fight
He takes off his armor and sits down
Dhrishtadyumna take advantage and kills Drona
Arjuna kills Karna
Yudhistira kills Sayla
Bhima defeats Duryodhana in single combat and crushes his thigh then dances on his body
Gandhari curses Krishna
Yudhistira feels sad about his victory
An explanation as to why Karna died it given
Bhima chastises Yudhistira for not wanting to be king
Krishna tells Yudhistira to stop whinning basically
Yudhistira lights a fire and declares that Dhritarashtra is still the king and that if the people want to honor him they will follow the king and all his commands
Reading Diary Part A Week 10
Duryohana goes to make camp next to the Kamyaka in hopes of making his cousins jealous
When they don’t show up to his camp he sends a messanger to find them and have them come to his camp
The messenger is denied access to his cousins
A huge battle breaks out and Duryohana is captured
Yudhistara sends Bhima and Arjuna to save Duryohana
After Bhima and Arjuna rescure Duryohana he thanks them and leaves for home
He has learned a lesson
The pandavas are lured into the forest and to a pond by a deer
A crane will not let them drink the water until they answer questions
Nakula drinks without answering a question and falls dead or so it appears
Sahadeva did the same thing
Ajuna shoots arrows at the crane then drinks and falls dead
Bhima also fell dead
The crane is a Yashka andYuhistara has to answer a bunch of questions
At the end of the questions Yudhistara is told to choose which brother to revive and he chooses Nakula
The Yashka revives all his brothers
The Yashka was really Yama
Yama gives Yuhistara the power to go anywhere without being recognized
Their 12 yrs are up and then all decide to get jobs in the kings palace
Duryodhana sent his spies to find out where the pandavas were and they were unable to find them
Duryodhana learns of Kichaka’s death and begins to make plans to invade Virats’s kingdom
Virata is captured and Bhima saves him
Ajurna and Drona fight
Ajurna corners Duryodhana
Three days after the battle was over Vitara saw the padavas as who they really were
A Wedding takes place
Krishna is at the wedding
Krishna announces that it is time for Yudhistara to regain his kingdom
He tells everyone to think about what to do
A debate begins about whether or not to take back the kingdom peacefully or through war
Krishna says one more time to try to get the kingdom back peacefully but if that is not possible then call him and he will support war
Duryodhana becomes aware of all this through spies
Duryodhana goes to Krishna
Arjuna also goes to Krishna
Krishna says that one of them will get an army of one million men and the other will get him
Krishna will not fight but stand at the side of the man who chooses him
Arjuna chooses Krishna and Duryodhana gets the million men
Duryodhana gets Salya to lead his army
Yudhistara gets Salaya to utter discouraging words to Karna
The priest tells the court that the Pandava’s are not wanting war they just want their share of the kingdom
Though they take this as a threat they send Sanjaya with a message
Sanjaya says that they also want peace
Yudhistara agrees to peace if Duryodhana will return his land
Sanjaya suggests a compromise
Yudhistara says he will take five villages instead of half the kingdom
Dhritarashtra seeks the advice of Vidura upon hearing what Sanjaya had to say
Dhritarashtra wants to concede to the demands of Yudhistara but his son’s convince him otherwise
When they don’t show up to his camp he sends a messanger to find them and have them come to his camp
The messenger is denied access to his cousins
A huge battle breaks out and Duryohana is captured
Yudhistara sends Bhima and Arjuna to save Duryohana
After Bhima and Arjuna rescure Duryohana he thanks them and leaves for home
He has learned a lesson
The pandavas are lured into the forest and to a pond by a deer
A crane will not let them drink the water until they answer questions
Nakula drinks without answering a question and falls dead or so it appears
Sahadeva did the same thing
Ajuna shoots arrows at the crane then drinks and falls dead
Bhima also fell dead
The crane is a Yashka andYuhistara has to answer a bunch of questions
At the end of the questions Yudhistara is told to choose which brother to revive and he chooses Nakula
The Yashka revives all his brothers
The Yashka was really Yama
Yama gives Yuhistara the power to go anywhere without being recognized
Their 12 yrs are up and then all decide to get jobs in the kings palace
Duryodhana sent his spies to find out where the pandavas were and they were unable to find them
Duryodhana learns of Kichaka’s death and begins to make plans to invade Virats’s kingdom
Virata is captured and Bhima saves him
Ajurna and Drona fight
Ajurna corners Duryodhana
Three days after the battle was over Vitara saw the padavas as who they really were
A Wedding takes place
Krishna is at the wedding
Krishna announces that it is time for Yudhistara to regain his kingdom
He tells everyone to think about what to do
A debate begins about whether or not to take back the kingdom peacefully or through war
Krishna says one more time to try to get the kingdom back peacefully but if that is not possible then call him and he will support war
Duryodhana becomes aware of all this through spies
Duryodhana goes to Krishna
Arjuna also goes to Krishna
Krishna says that one of them will get an army of one million men and the other will get him
Krishna will not fight but stand at the side of the man who chooses him
Arjuna chooses Krishna and Duryodhana gets the million men
Duryodhana gets Salya to lead his army
Yudhistara gets Salaya to utter discouraging words to Karna
The priest tells the court that the Pandava’s are not wanting war they just want their share of the kingdom
Though they take this as a threat they send Sanjaya with a message
Sanjaya says that they also want peace
Yudhistara agrees to peace if Duryodhana will return his land
Sanjaya suggests a compromise
Yudhistara says he will take five villages instead of half the kingdom
Dhritarashtra seeks the advice of Vidura upon hearing what Sanjaya had to say
Dhritarashtra wants to concede to the demands of Yudhistara but his son’s convince him otherwise
Monday, October 20, 2014
Famous Last Words Week 9
Answering the Phone
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| "Friendship love and truth". Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Friendship_love_and_truth.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Friendship_love_and_truth.jpg |
I really don't have much in common with people my age. I am 38, I am a server, I've never been married and I am a college student. Before you say "Plenty of older people are college students" please understand most of those people work there and I have literally been the oldest person in all of my classes since I started attending OU. Not to mention that I am in the English department and I am a man so I am a pretty small percentage of the pie.
Most of the friends I used to have are drug dealers, alcoholics, prisoners, or married people with careers so I really don't have any friends my own age that I have anything in common.I looked at my Facebook page and thought to myself "I literally haven't seen or talked to any of these people in years" I actually deactivated it. It just seemed so impersonal by nature. The only people I do have anything in common with are my professors and fellow students which presents itself with all kinds of issues.
The professors and I share our age and love of Literature, but they are my mentors so by nature a friendship with them is a bit inappropriate. The male students and I have a barrier because of age. And the female students, well that is a crazy issue in itself. No one wants to look like the "Creepy Old Dude." Even though everything is completely honorable the appearance is inappropriate, so it's not a good look and best to be avoided.
Now don't get me wrong. I love my life. I really do, I have an amazing son and though I am a 38 year old college student I have had a ton of fun along the way. All I am saying is that the hardest part for me about going to college is the social issue. I hunger for friendship. I am a social person, I love meeting people and going to dinner with friends. I love chatting with em on the phone throughout the day, and I love having fun. So this college experience for me has been something that I would not change, but with all the stress that we as students face with grades, one thing we may not ever look at is the friendship aspect of it.
Life truly is about sacrifice. It is amazing how many people I have had to leave in my past so that I can have a future. Right now I am in this kind of Friendship Limbo. Though I would love to make friends with people and begin to build real meaningful bonds that will last the rest of my life, it is one more thing that I have had to put on hold until I graduate from law school.
If I could pass along one piece of advice it would be to answer the phone. Life is hard enough without having people there to share in the misery of failure, the frustration of the struggle, and the elation of success. People will disappoint you, trust me I have made one friend at college, though I have had a few temporary friendships, but you can't allow the let down keep you from putting yourself out there with people. A connection to one another is required to get through all this craziness. As I said earlier, life is about sacrifice but you should never sacrifice the bonds that connect us to this life, so when one of those connections call, answer the phone.
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Story Telling Week 9
Candy From a Baby
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| By Gaz at en.wikipedia (Transferred from en.wikipedia) [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons |
John and his brother Ralph were always competitive with one another. When they were younger they would compete for girls, grade, and athletic acclaim. Though they were competitive, neither one of them wished the other ill. John had ten kids and his brother had five, and John loved his nephews like they were his own children. Their father was retiring and one of them would be chosen to take over the business. John wanted the job, but than that, John’s sons, wanted their father to get the job. John’s sons were jealous of their cousins. There was never any reason for this, but still his sons always envied everything that their cousins had, even though their cousins had worked hard for everything.
It was time for Ralph and John’s father to announce who would take over the company. John was heartbroken when his father chose Ralph instead of him, still
John was happy for his brother. John’s sons on the other hand grew even more jealous of their cousins because now that their uncle was the head boss, their cousins would be promoted ahead of them. John’s sons began to plot against their uncle.
Ralph planned a party for the entire family to come celebrate his new promotion. There would be food, music, and games. It was here that his nephews would execute their plot. In his younger years Ralph had a gambling problem and his new this, so they came up with a plan to cheat Ralph out of all his wealth.
John’s sons took Ralph into a private room. They lit cigars and drank Brandy from warmed sniffers. They toasted their uncle and showered him with compliments about how smart he was and how he was the right man for the job. Ralph loved hearing this because he loved his nephews and was about to tell them that he was going to invite them to join the company and share in the profits so that they could all live in comfort. Before he could tell his nephews the news one of them pulled out a set of dice.
“How bout we roll some dice for old time’s sake,” Steven, his most clever nephew said.
“Oh I don’t know kids, it has been a long time and your aunt would not appreciate me falling back into old habits.”
“C’mon Uncle Ralph. It will be a friendly game of dice. We will do penny bets, besides there is no way we can beat you,” Steven told him.
“A friendly game?”
“Nothing serious. Just a friendly game between family.”
“Well I guess it couldn’t hurt. You roll first Steven.”
Steven rolled. “I win.” He said, “Pay up Uncle.”
Steven continued to roll and continued to win. After losing ten times Steven offered to raise the bet a little more to make the odds a little more interesting.
“I don’t know this was supposed to be a friendly game,” Ralph said.
"Well if you’re afraid?”
“I’m not afraid in the least, here give me the dice.” Steven handed Ralph the dice. “Let’s up the stakes then boys. Let me show you how a real man gambles.” Ralph pulled a hundred dollar bill out of his pocket and placed it on the ground.
“I don’t know Uncle. You may be too rich for my blood.”
“Now who’s scared?” Ralph replied.
“Well when you put it like that.” Steven matched his uncles bet. Ralph rolled, “I win again,” Steven said.
“Double or nothing” Ralph said as he rolled the dice again and again. Each time he would lose.
Steven and his brothers decided to up the stakes even further. “Uncle why don’t we stop? You just can’t beat me. It is ok, you can’t always win, you may be too old to roll the dice properly.”
“I’ll show you old!” Ralph became visibly angered by his nephew’s taunting.
“Well let’s make it interesting then. How bout you throw your car keys into the pot.”
Ralph loved his car, not as much as his house, or his job but he loved his car, still this was a challenge he had to accept. He couldn’t let his nephews beat him in his own house. “Sure. Let’s do it.” Ralph rolled the dice.
“I win again Uncle.”
Ralph’s face turned red. He knew he should quit playing, but once a gambler always a gambler. Besides when he won everything back he was planning to take everything they had to teach them a lesson. “Here is the key to my house.”
“Oh, Uncle you sure about that? I don’t think you can win.”
“This time though you roll the dice.” Ralph felt that maybe the dice were just cursed in his hands.
“No problem.” Steven rolled the dice. “I win.” Steven and his brothers began to laugh and give each other high fives. “Well Uncle looks like the game is over. There is nothing else you have to bet.”
“You have to give me one more chance to win everything back,” Ralph said.
“What could you possibly have that would equal that bet?”
Ralph loved his job. He knew that he could quit playing the game and in a year regain everything he lost. Still he couldn’t walk away a loser and he knew his nephews would jump at the chance to own the company, plus his luck had to change. There is no way that he could lose every time. “I’ll bet the company. Is that rich enough for you?”
“Ok. We have a deal.” Steven rolled the dice. “I win again…..we have everything you own Uncle.”
The sons announced that they were the new owners of the company. They immediately fired their cousins and told their Uncle to leave the house. Later they laughed at how easy it was to steal everything from their Uncle. Steven held up the dice to his brothers and said, “I can’t believe he never realized these were trick dice. It was like taking candy from a baby.
Author's Notes
This is an updated version of the game that Yudhistira and his nephews played. Instead of using family members and a kingdom as the prize I used what would be considered part of a modern day kingdom, or rather things someone may envy about someone else. Also in the book the nephews use Yudhistira's own pride against him so I wanted that to be a part of the story as well. I ended it with the nephews taking over everything because I wanted the readers to create the rest of the story in their mind.
Works Cited
ision, 1987. Print.
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Story Telling Ramayana Continued
The Blue, The Red, The Rat, and The Lightning
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http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
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| By flydime (http://www.flickr.com/photos/flydime/4671890969/) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons |
I hadn’t noticed yet but we were surrounded. Littered as far as my new eyes could see we were surround by feral rats. They were talking to us; I know this because I could understand them.
My arms moved into an odd position as if they were holding something. This felt like an out of body experience. My right arm was extended straight in front of me and my left hand was by my face. What was I holding, and better yet why did I feel like I was aiming at something? The wind was hot as it touched my skin. It began to swirl around me kicking up ash and dirt, painting my face and body with both. My eyes noticed a bluish white light in my right hand. I was holding lightning. I could feel the erratic vibration of its energy pulse through the palm of my hand and through the rest of my body, only it did not move towards the ground but up through my chest and head till it entered my other hand that rest against the side of my face. It exited the fingertips on my left hand and moved in a straight line until it reached my right hand. It was a bow. A bow made of pure lightning.
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By Florent Chouffot (Own work)
[CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia
Commons
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I could see now that I was aiming toward the center of the rat army at the largest feral beast in sight. It was their general. It had to be. He was the one shouting orders and when he shouted all the other rats seemed to move in the direction he wanted them too. A loud humming passed my ear and there was a flash of light. All the rats dropped to the ground dead.
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Gustave Doré [Public domain], via
Wikimedia Commons
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It was me, I mean it wasn’t, but it was, I had released the arrow without knowing I had done so. It just sort of happened. The lighting moved from rat to rat connecting each of them in a light storm of death until it finally entered the heart of the Rat General. The smell of the burnt flesh was almost as bad as the smell of the burnt hair that now filled my nasal cavity.
The ground began to shake, and beneath where the Rat General lay dead the earth opened up and lava erupted from the ground.
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By J.D. Griggs edit by User:Mbz1
(Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
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Again we were surrounded only now it seemed as if Mother Earth was our enemy. I looked at my brother but he stood solid in his resolve, showing no sign of fear. The lava began to move on the ground as if it was alive, towards the hole it erupted out of. It continued to build upon itself until it had arms and legs, then a head and a mouth. It looked like Brian’s brother Phil. Again I looked at Lance; still he had that same look of fury in his eyes.
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“You have offended my sister, injured her honor, and hurt her physically. No one, especially so stupid green pea human is going to get away with…..”
Once again my body moved without my consent and I let another arrow fly towards him. I could feel the air scream in agony as the arrow popped and boomed through the sound barrier. My cheeks felt the air's rage as more ash and dirt pelted my face. It was instant. There was not even time for Phil to adjust the look of anger to a look of surprise when the arrow pierced his chest and separated his head from his body. It felt natural to me, like I was meant to kill him, yet my chest became heavy with sorrow and guilt. I had just killed a person. Not a rat, or some animal for food but a real living breathing human being. I fell to my knees and pierced the ground with my fingers. Gripped the dirt within the palms of my hands.
"Yes this was real."
I could feel the dirt, "this was real."
I could taste the ash on my tongue and feel the hot air fill my lungs. This was not a dream at all, this was real. I closed my eyes and begged for this nightmare to be a nightmare. I could feel the tears carve streams as they made their way down my face before falling off my chin. The tears cooled my face as they washed away the ash. My body began to get cold again.
“Are you listening to me? JOE! HELLO! Anyone home?” I opened my eyes and I was sitting at my desk in front of Sara. I could still smell the rats.
Author's Notes
This is just another in the series I am writing of the Ramayana, if you have read the previous stories then this one should be pretty easy to pick up on.
Reading Diary Part B Week 9
this version has a geneology tree
Duryodhana thinks about bribing Drupada to isolate or kill the Pandavas
Dhritarashtra has trouble making a decision because he is at odds with his sons
Drona Says he saw krishna in Drupada and his sons camp
Vidura goes to Panchala with gifts for the king
The king invites the Pandavas to return to Hastinapura
Duryodhana thinks that he and his family are doomed
Arjuna has the bow Gandiva so Sakuni thinks that they should be left alone and not challenged to war
The bow is a gift from Agni
Though they are treated with respect and kindness Duryodhana beleives they are being taunted...He is jealous
Sakimi tells him to give up on challenging them to war again
Dhritarashtra builds a marble Hall
Dhritarashtra invites everyone to the Hall the Cyrstal palace to gamble
Yudhistira tells everyone not to cheat
Sakuni tells him that it is not deceit to play and win if you are competent
Sakuni says if Yudhistira does not feel up to playing then they should not play at all
Yudhistira accepts this challenge
Yudhistira is being tricked
He was giving warning about this in the past
He agrees to play even though he says that Sukini can not play by proxy
Sakuni wins over and over again in the dice game
Sakuni taunts Yudhistira and this angers Yudhistira
Yudhistira loses almost everything
Yudhisitra demands the game be stopped
The howling Jackal is Duryodhana and he is called evil by Yudhistira
Vidura warns that if this continues Dhritarashtra's family will be destroyed
He orders Dhritarashatra to have Dhananjaya to kill Duryodhana in order to save his race
Vidura knows that Sakuni is using deciet to win he is cheating
Duryodhana becomes annoyed and says that Vidura is a friend of their enemies and owes the sons of Dhritarashatra a debt
Yudhistira bets his youngest Brother Nakula and loses
Yudhistira nexts bets Sahadeva and loses
Sakuni wins Arjuna
Then Yudhistira bets himself and all that he has
Sakuni wins
Yudhistira bets Panchali and loses
Duryohana orders Vidura to get Panchali
Vidura is angered
The plan to create inner fighting in Yudhistira is working because the people are begining to ask who was lost first
Karna Dussasana and Sakuni laugh and Panchali and call her a slave
Draupadi calls them cheaters and says this game was not fair because the other side took advantage of Yudhistira and that they did not offer up an equal bet
Bhima tells Yudihistira that he was a fool and that he will burn his hands
Bhima and Arjuna blame Yudhistira
Karna says that the game was legit because Yudhistira knew what he was doing and did so of his own free will
Dhristarashtra summons Draupadi and offers her boons
She asks for Yudhistira to be freed from slavery, his brothers to also be freed and she does not use the third wish
Yudhistira is sentenced to wander in exile and others follow him
Yudhistira feels guilty for involving his family in his mistake
Vidura comes to Yudhistira while in exile and Yudhistira wonders if he being summoned to another dice game
Dhritarashtra feels guilty for banishing the a Pandavas to exile
Vyasa tells Dhritarashtra to makes peace because his brothers son's are only 5 and he has hundreds and there is no reason to envy them
Krishna tells Yudhistira that he had to be away on another mission otherwise he would have stopped the game of dice
After Krishna leaves Draupadi and Yudhistira argue because Yudhistira is too forgiving and not angry at his brother
Yudhitira tells her that anger is destructive
Yudhitira also tells her that her language is slanderous to God
She tells him that is not her intent
Yudhitira admits that he participated in the Dice game in the hopes of winning the entire kingdom from his brother
Duryodhana thinks about bribing Drupada to isolate or kill the Pandavas
Dhritarashtra has trouble making a decision because he is at odds with his sons
Drona Says he saw krishna in Drupada and his sons camp
Vidura goes to Panchala with gifts for the king
The king invites the Pandavas to return to Hastinapura
Duryodhana thinks that he and his family are doomed
Arjuna has the bow Gandiva so Sakuni thinks that they should be left alone and not challenged to war
The bow is a gift from Agni
Though they are treated with respect and kindness Duryodhana beleives they are being taunted...He is jealous
Sakimi tells him to give up on challenging them to war again
Dhritarashtra builds a marble Hall
Dhritarashtra invites everyone to the Hall the Cyrstal palace to gamble
Yudhistira tells everyone not to cheat
Sakuni tells him that it is not deceit to play and win if you are competent
Sakuni says if Yudhistira does not feel up to playing then they should not play at all
Yudhistira accepts this challenge
Yudhistira is being tricked
He was giving warning about this in the past
He agrees to play even though he says that Sukini can not play by proxy
Sakuni wins over and over again in the dice game
Sakuni taunts Yudhistira and this angers Yudhistira
Yudhistira loses almost everything
Yudhisitra demands the game be stopped
The howling Jackal is Duryodhana and he is called evil by Yudhistira
Vidura warns that if this continues Dhritarashtra's family will be destroyed
He orders Dhritarashatra to have Dhananjaya to kill Duryodhana in order to save his race
Vidura knows that Sakuni is using deciet to win he is cheating
Duryodhana becomes annoyed and says that Vidura is a friend of their enemies and owes the sons of Dhritarashatra a debt
Yudhistira bets his youngest Brother Nakula and loses
Yudhistira nexts bets Sahadeva and loses
Sakuni wins Arjuna
Then Yudhistira bets himself and all that he has
Sakuni wins
Yudhistira bets Panchali and loses
Duryohana orders Vidura to get Panchali
Vidura is angered
The plan to create inner fighting in Yudhistira is working because the people are begining to ask who was lost first
Karna Dussasana and Sakuni laugh and Panchali and call her a slave
Draupadi calls them cheaters and says this game was not fair because the other side took advantage of Yudhistira and that they did not offer up an equal bet
Bhima tells Yudihistira that he was a fool and that he will burn his hands
Bhima and Arjuna blame Yudhistira
Karna says that the game was legit because Yudhistira knew what he was doing and did so of his own free will
Dhristarashtra summons Draupadi and offers her boons
She asks for Yudhistira to be freed from slavery, his brothers to also be freed and she does not use the third wish
Yudhistira is sentenced to wander in exile and others follow him
Yudhistira feels guilty for involving his family in his mistake
Vidura comes to Yudhistira while in exile and Yudhistira wonders if he being summoned to another dice game
Dhritarashtra feels guilty for banishing the a Pandavas to exile
Vyasa tells Dhritarashtra to makes peace because his brothers son's are only 5 and he has hundreds and there is no reason to envy them
Krishna tells Yudhistira that he had to be away on another mission otherwise he would have stopped the game of dice
After Krishna leaves Draupadi and Yudhistira argue because Yudhistira is too forgiving and not angry at his brother
Yudhitira tells her that anger is destructive
Yudhitira also tells her that her language is slanderous to God
She tells him that is not her intent
Yudhitira admits that he participated in the Dice game in the hopes of winning the entire kingdom from his brother
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