Reading Diary A: Public Domain Ramayana

1. King Dasharatha

There are two kings, Dasharatha and Janaka. Dasharatha is broken-hearted because he has no sons and no heirs to his kingdom, despite him having many different wives. Another king, Janaka, has a beautiful daughter named Sita.

2. Dasharatha's Sons

Dasharatha is sick of having no sons, so he takes his wife, Kaushalya, and they complete a horse sacrifice to the gods. Brahmins chanted mantras during the sacred sacrifice. The gods grant him four sons instead of only one.

3. Rama: Avatar of Vishnu

Four of Dasharatha's wives who had eaten of the sacrificial food became pregnant with his four sons after the sacrifice. The most handsome son was Rama. The brahmin remarked how he had the markings of the god, Vishnu.

4. Sita

Rama travels with his brother, Lakshmana, and they make their way around the city. They stumbled into the king's garden, and this is when Rama first laid eyes on Sita. They instantly fell in love when their eyes met and it is said that they loved each other forever. Since Rama is an avatar of the god Vishnu and Sita is an avatar of the goddess Lakshmi, Vishnu's counterpart, they are destined for eternal love in every way.

5. Rama and Sita's Wedding

(Marriage of Rama and Sita, circa 1750; you can see all four couples: 

Rama and Sita, Laskhmana and Urmila, Bharata and Mandavi and Shatrughna and Shrutakirti)

This story is written in poetry. Line by line, the poetry reveals how decadent the wedding was for Rama and Sita and their siblings. It also has some powerful lines of poetry that are Rama's vows of love for Sita. Rama and Sita are married in this story, but they share the wedding festivities with Rama's three brothers and Sita's three sisters.

Public Domain Ramayana

I enjoyed the five stories that I listed above the most out of the Ramayana because of their powerful writing. These are the deepest cultural tales I have read out of the Ramayana. I enjoyed learning about the different perspectives of the characters as well as the interesting pictures that were included.

Week 1 Review

My favorite photo from the Course Announcements page was the following:

(Photo from Laura Gibbs' Course Announcements)

I love this photo because I love online cat photos! I find that Reddit is usually the best place to find cute cat photos/videos such as this one.

Week 1 Curation

I have had a lot of experience with computers before this class so I was able to easily understand and navigate through the topic of curation for this week. I am a naturally organized person, so it comes very natural to apply organization to computers as well as my life. I already use bookmarks in my web browser to save the things I use most often or want to go back and look at again. They are very helpful for a class like this or they can help if you need to save a bunch of articles to read for a project, for example.

While I was not familiar with Known, I was familiar with Pinterest as I use that website frequently. It is so fun to be on Pinterest for hours and hours because it is so easy to access creative ideas and intelligent design.

(screenshot of my Pinterest account)

I included this screenshot of my Pinterest account to demonstrate my love for curation and organization, especially online! Pinterest is the easiest way to summarize how simple it can be to organize all of your information (or pins as Pinterest calls it) on the internet!

Growth Mindset

I had never heard of Carol Dweck before watching the Growth Mindset videos, but I read a lot about her afterwards because I was so inspired. She started off her TedTalk so strongly by talking about the "Power of Yet". She explains how one school in Chicago gives students the grade "not yet" if they do not make the grade needed to complete the course. This grade "not yet" has so much more positive power on students than an "F" because they can understand that although they were given a "not yet", they still have the potential to one day, reach a completion grade. Whereas, with the grade of an "F", students defeat themselves by thinking of themselves as failures and therefore, possibly never reaching their full potential. Fear is not a good motivator, but positive reinforcement is in the long run.

Throughout my own schooling, I would say this idea of growth mindset must be true because I have only ever felt more defeated when I receive a failing grade. Even making a "B" can be defeating in the student's mind. I feel that if I had the "not yet" grade applied to my circumstances, I would feel that I had more potential than I had ever given myself credit for in life. 

(Found on Pinterest by Michelle Shuman)

I liked this picture because it really explains how we have to grow our minds (growth mindset project) in order to achieve our full potential. This highlights both positive and negative things we might tell ourselves, but it phrases them all in ways that our mind can interpret as positive reinforcement.

Storybook Favorites

My Storybook Favorites were hard to pick, but I finally narrowed it down to just three!

1. Elephants of Indian Epics

(Image by Bonnie Morgan)

Elephants of Indian Epics Storybook

Not only did the author do an excellent job of explaining their topic throughout their storybook, but they also had a topic that hit close to home... ELEPHANTS!!!! I was so excited when this was the first storybook project that came up. I knew I had to use it in my blog post! I liked the overall layout of the storybook as well. It really helped to guide me along while reading it and I thought it was well organized. I found the general tone of the storybook to be imaginative, creative, and humorous. This was a great start in my overall search of finding three different storybooks to write about!

2. Real Housewives of Ramayana

(screenshot from "Real Housewives of Ramayana")

Real Housewives of Ramayana Storybook

This storybook caught my attention immediately! The creativeness of the title is what inspired me to read it right away. I am not a fan of the Real Housewives shows, but I do think that the title was creative and definitely took some thought. If it stood out to someone who is not a fan of the television series, then this author did something right! I like how the final chapter of the storybook included "Season Finale" in the title to further tie in the theme of the Real Housewives into their storybook. Overall, it took a lot of thought and I enjoyed reviewing their work.

3. Powerful Women in Indian Epics

(Image Information: Sita-Lakshmi;

Web Source: Blog Ninapaley)

Powerful Women in Indian Epics Storybook

I liked reading the title "Powerful Women in Indian Epics". It is a title that stands out and makes the reader curious to read more. After looking at the online storybook for some time, however, I found the content to be a little disorganized and it did not stand out to me as much as the other two storybooks I chose to review. I decided that I would make my storybook most like the elephant storybook and probably least like this particular storybook.

Some of the design features that I liked that were used throughout the storybooks were bright colors and a neat, organized design. If the storybook looks organized, readers are more willing to read it because they can find out exactly what they are reading a lot faster this way. I am very excited to start a storybook project of my own here in just a few short weeks!

Course Overview

Indian Epics

Although I have not taken a specific mythology course before, my English class in high school one year covered all sorts of Greek mythology as we read great works such as Oedipus Rex and Homer's The Odyssey. I have taken religious courses before, but not centered around Hinduism or Buddhism. The most interesting class I took was a Christian Humanities course.

I do not know a lot about Indian culture or traditions, but my family has friends from India and they constantly teach us things. I will have to bring up the fact that I am taking this course!

I am particularly interested in reading all of the stories in this course. I know that India has amazing stories that stem from its people and their culture and traditions. I am also particularly excited to be able to choose our own reading towards the second half of the semester. I think that will really make the course even more interesting since we will be able to choose ourselves. 

("Rama and Lakshmana builds a bridge

with the help of the monkeys")

Photo from Laura Gibbs' Indian Epics Blog

I chose this photo because I thought it was very interesting. I think that this photo summarizes the interesting aspect to Indian art and storytelling very well. I also though that "Rama" and "Lakshmana" had almost a Frida Kahlo look to them.

Tech Tip: Blogger Template

Well, readers, I have chosen a new template for my blog! I picked something that was a little more fun and dressed up than the old layout of the page.  I also chose the new template based on something that I felt would go along with the name "The Brilliant Elephant". So if you like this new change, please let me know!

Famous Last Words: Week 1

This week was full of surprises for me. I thought it was going to be a fun last week of summer and while still fun, the week also took a serious turn. I started working on this class early in order to get a good head start and I started working again. I work on campus, so it is not too difficult, but it feels almost stressful to be back on campus when no one is around. I also love to walk around on OU’s campus, though, so it is fun, but hectic.

The University of Oklahoma

(Photo from Wikipedia)

I moved into a new apartment, which required way more work than I thought that it would actually take. While everything is set up and put away, I am still getting used to the idea of calling this apartment home. It helps to have the same roommates, who also happen to be my best friends, throughout the whole moving process!

I am curious to see what next week brings. I am excited for school to start, but also nervous. Just recently, I found out that I am on track to graduate early (December of 2016). While doing some research, I also discovered that with some hard work, I could quite possibly graduate in May 2016 if I wanted to. This is good news, but also bad news. I thought I was going to have a full four years at OU and now that is not the case. It is hard to pick exactly what I want to do after graduation too. Do I want to try and get a job or do I want to transfer directly into graduate school in order to get my master’s degree? There are so many options, which are nice, but it also makes every decision that I make more difficult.

Anyways, that was the rough summary of my week. I am looking forward to writing about next week!

Introduction to Myself

My name is Hannah Spates and I am an Accounting major at the University of Oklahoma. I am from the Dallas/Ft. Worth area of Texas. I serve as an officer for my sorority, Sigma Phi Lambda, and I love to hammock, bake, read, watch TV, sit outside with friends, and many more things. I am also very involved with Summit Church in Newcastle, OK.

Some of the classes that I am taking this fall include: Accounting Info Systems, Business Finance, and Intermediate Accounting (I know, it's all very thrilling. What can I say?) I am a Junior right now, but I am hoping to graduate early, maybe even this next May! Even though I am an accounting major, I do not actually want to be an accountant (believe it or not)! My dream is to graduate from OU and then return to Dallas (where I am from) and attend a university there where I can get my Master's degree in Human Resources. From there, I want to work for a company in their Human Resources department interacting with all of the employees for years to come! We will see where this crazy life takes me next!

Some fun facts about me:

Favorite Movie: The Prestige, The Dark Knight, or Interstellar (I obviously like Christopher Nolan)

Favorite Book: The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas

Favorite Music Genre: Indie Rock or Indie Pop (I don't really have a favorite artist)

Favorite Ice Cream: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough or Cookies 'N Cream (has to be Blue Bell, no contest)

Favorite Food: (besides ice cream) My mom's homemade chicken pot pie

This summer, I basically vacationed the whole three months that I was away from OU. I started out by studying abroad in Vichy, France, and while I was in Europe, I visited places like Barcelona, Spain, Gimmelwald, Switzerland, Florence, Italy, and Rome. It truly was an incredible experience and I would very much like to do it again! When I got home from Europe, I  went to Orlando, Florida, in order to visit the oh-so-famous Walt Disney World. Then, we went to Destin, Florida, to spend some time on the beach. I spent the rest of my summer hanging out with my family, watching TV, and playing Xbox. I was completely unproductive, but it was relaxing and fun all the same.

(Photo by: Hannah Spates)

How a Man Came to Wear a Pig

You might be interested in some words I have to say.

That is, of course, if these words do not lead you astray.

There are strange tales to be told for sure, 

But this one might be the most absurd!

One quiet, sunshine-filled day, a man, new to town, went to his local barbershop for a haircut. As he made his way down the street, he took notice of how empty the town had become.

Image from Flickr Photos

(Photo by: Ewan Munro)

As he walked into the barber shop, he noticed he was the only customer inside. When he saw the barber, he politely asked, "Sir, where has everyone gone today? I observed our town's empty streets today and I was wondering what event is taking place?"

"Well, good sir, you do have the best of timing. I was just about to head there myself. The entire town has gathered for a day of fun at the Hickerson farm just outside of town," proclaimed the barber.

"Yes! I would love to attend with you if I may!"

So, the barber and the man headed off down the road towards the Hickerson farm for a day of fun. When they arrived at Hickerson farm, the local deputy ran up to the barber waving his hands in a mad sort of fashion and yelling at the top of his lungs.

Davy Jones yelled, "Mr. Robertson! Mr Robertson! Come quick! David Mayfield and Rudolph Vanderby just placed a bet where Vanderby lost and now he has to wear a wig made of pig hair!"

Mr. Robertson, the barber, calmly chuckled to himself and said to his guest, "See, it will be quite the day of fun here at Hickerson farm. Are you not glad that you joined me?"

The man also laughed, but was very surprised at the recent turn of events.

"Well, let's see about this pig wig now," said Mr. Robertson.

The Andy Griffith Show

(Picture of Barney and Gomer Pile on Wikipedia)

As the deputy, the barber, and the man came over the hill, they noticed Mayfield and Vanderby standing next to a squealing pig. The barber pulled out his shears and he was ready for action. The crowd gathered around and started to chant:

"Barber, barber, shave a pig;

How many hairs will make a wig?

Four-and-twenty, that's enough:

Give the barber a pinch of snuff!"

(traditional nursery rhyme)

When the barber finished shaving the pig, he gathered the hair in a bundle. He presented it to David Mayfield and Mayfield thereby presented it to Vanderby, on top of his head! The crowd went wild! 

The man who came with the barber said to himself, "I do believe I am going to like living here."

The end! The end! What more truth can I bend? 

A nursery rhyme to tell the tale,

A blog that will surely not fail!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Author's Note. This is an original story created from the nursery rhyme "Barber, barber, shave a pig" which is quoted within the story. The original nursery rhyme can be found in The Nursery Rhyme Book, edited by Andrew Lang (1897). The story I wrote simply came about from many long minutes of brainstorming. I liked the nursery rhyme and I knew that I wanted to create a funny tale explaining how a barber shaved a pig and made a wig. 

My Favorite Places

My Favorite Places~

Throughout my life, I have loved to travel. I have been several places across the globe, including most of the fifty states and part of Europe. Some of my favorite places are hard to choose, but I have finally made a list!

Florence, Italy:

I have visited Florence twice! Once I came with my family in high school and the second time, I came after a study abroad program with a few friends. Every time it was magical! 

Florence, Italy 2015

(Photo by: Hannah Spates)

Gimmelwald, Switzerland:

Known for the popular mountain culture and friendly habitants, Switzerland is my favorite place that I have ever been. Everyone is friendly and the food is delicious. The scenery is beautiful and there is plenty of it to see! What more could anyone want?

Gimmelwald, Switzerland 2015

(Photo by: Hannah Spates)

Maui, Hawaii:

Growing up, my parents always took the family on vacations with mountain scenery. We hardly ever went to the beach, so I did not really consider myself a "beach person". A couple of years ago, I got to go on vacation with my boyfriend's family and they took us to Hawaii! After only a few minutes on the island of Maui, I officially declared myself in paradise and now I could never dream of NOT vacationing at the beach!

Maui, Hawaii 2013

(Photo by: Hannah Spates)

Maui, Hawaii 2013

(Photo by: Hannah Spates)

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Source of Image: Google Images

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First Post

Hey guys! As I figure out what to do for my online Indian Epics class, I will be posting more on my blog for future assignments! Let me know what you think of my blog!