Tech Tip: SoundCloud Embedded

This week, I have embedded a SoundCloud link in my blog! I chose the song "Hello" by Adele (her new single) because I have listened to it nonstop this week. This is a remix though, so it's just a little bit different. I hope you guys enjoy!

Reading Diary B: Amar Chitra Katha

Indra and Shachi: The Lord of Heaven and His Devoted Wife

• Tvashta's son, the three-headed Trishiras, is an enemy of Indra (the god who continually helps Indian Epics characters by bestowing weapons and chariots upon them)
• Indra defeats Trishiras
• An asura Vritra is created by Tvashta to wage war against Indra in order to have justice for the defeat of Trishiras
• We remember how the asuras and the gods get along (especially Indra)
• Indra pretends to make peace, but then acts out and kills the mighty asura 
• He runs away, ashamed, and this causes chaos on earth
• A mortal takes Indra's place in the heavenly realm, but the gods are not satisfied with him
• The gods find Indra and approach him to kick Nahusha (the mortal) out of heaven
• Indra's queen, Shachi, and the night goddess, Upashruti, come up with a plan to get rid of Nahusha
• A sage turns Nahusha into a snake and then he is expelled from heaven
• Indra takes the throne once again

(Image Source: Amazon)

Amar Chitra Katha

Reading Feedback

As always, I chose my reading selection from what was available readily online. However, I narrowed my selection down from a list of topics and I picked what sounded the most interesting to me. I chose the gods and goddesses as my selection. Originally, I also planned to move on to myths and folklore, but I did not realize that each comic book would take as long as they did to read. Not that they were that long, but it took me longer than just reading through the Mhabaharata or the Ramayana. I am happy with my reading choices because I actually do not mind putting the work into reading them since I feel that they are truly interesting!

I chose this photo because this is where I imagine doing most of my reading, inside by the fireplace. Realistically, I read inside, but underneath a heated blanket and not by a fireplace.

(Image Source: HGTV Fixer Upper)

Tech Tip: Pinterest Browsing

This week, I chose to add the Pinterest button to my toolbar in my browser. I am a big fan of using Google Chrome and Chrome makes it super easy to add the additional little add-ons to the browser! I also have one called honey that finds me coupons when I am online shopping! Woo hoo!

(Image Source: personal screenshot)

(Image Source: personal screenshot)

Week 10: Growth Mindset

This week, I was able to share the power of the Growth Mindset idea with someone else. They were really down about their grades as it is right after midterms here at OU. I was able to encourage her because I have been in that position, but also, I was able to tell her that failing grades are not defining of your identity or character! A grade of F can simply mean "not yet" and that is perfectly alright. She seemed to be more encouraged by my words at the end of our conversation so I really hope that I was able to help her in some small way!

(Image Source: The Huffington Post- "10 Questions to Ask Your Roommate Before Move-in Day")

Week 10 Review

My favorite thing from the announcements this week was this cool mythological creatures diagram. I started looking at it because of the bright colors, but it really was interesting to see how they charted out the different creatures and how there are multiples of each different type. I also found this diagram useful for including something in my next story for my storybook project.

(Image Source: Laura Gibbs' Course Announcements)

Tuesday, October 27 Course Announcements

Week 9: Growth Mindset

I chose this meme for my Growth Mindset project because I really liked the quote. I thought it had a lot of deep (no pun intended) meaning. I am also always a fan of the cat memes so I just had to include this photo because it brings a little bit of humor to the quote!

(Image Source: Laura Gibbs' Growth Mindset Memes Blog)

Famous Last Words: Week 9

This week went pretty well! It has been one of the best weeks I have had in college just because of the good times I had with friends and the easier workload that I had. Also, I got to miss classes all day on Thursday (an actual viable excuse) because I had a job interview in Houston, Texas. It was an incredible experience and I am so thankful that I was chosen as a candidate whether I get the position or not in the end.

When I was in Houston, I was able to meet up with some of my older sister's friends who live in the area who were nice enough to take me out to dinner for the evening. We got to catch up and share stories and it was exactly what I needed to settle some of my pre-interview nerves!

I was also thrilled because I was able to attend the Texas Tech (homecoming) game this week, which is the one game I have wanted to go to all year! I did not think I was going to be able to go originally because of my job interview in Houston, so I sold my ticket. Right after I promised my ticket to someone, I found out that I actually could go. So after some scrambling, I got a ticket from a friend (for free!) and I was able to go to the game!

Now, I am having to play catch up since I basically took a break from school from now until Thursday. I am rushing to finish all of the extra credit assignments for Indian Epics and I am hoping to finish it all tonight, so I will not have a hard time completing them before the deadline tomorrow at noon! Sorry Laura! I will be so much better next week about finishing my work on time!

(Personal photo from my trip to Houston this weekend)

Week 9 Review

My favorite thing from the announcements this week was the European Word Translator link. It was really cool to find out about a tool that can be so interesting and useful!

(Image Source: Laura Gibbs' Course Announcements)

Sunday, October 25 Announcements

Reading Feedback

I chose this week's reading simply because it was well planned out and I simply had to go and find the comic books to read. I did not understand that each comic book was meant to count as one reading diary post, though, so I ended up posting three in my first reading diary post of the week and it ended up counting for the next few times as well! This was an unexpected blessing! I thought that the comic books were simple and easy to understand and the reading guide was very effective in helping the reader to further understand the stories about the Indian deities.

(Image Source: Pinterest- Bizzell Memorial Library)

Tech Tip: Editing Pins

The pins that I edited were just for fun, although I also have a Pinterest board specifically for this class. I edited my food board on Pinterest for this week's technology tip and it is called "I'm hungry and that looks good." I collect these food pins for fun for future recipe ideas and for meals to have with friends and family!

(Screenshot from my Pinterest account)

Pinterest: Edited Link

Reading Diary A: Amar Chitra Katha (Deva/Devi)

Deva- Sanksrit for goddess
Devi- Sanskrit for god

For this week, I focused on the gods Vishnu, Brahma, and Shiva. I chose these stories to highlight because they all had something that mentioned the mountains in them. I thought maybe I could tie these in to my storybook somehow since it involves the Himalayas.

The Churning of the Ocean:
-Durvasa- a sage
-Durvasa receives a "fragrant garland"?
-Gives the garland to Indra, Airavata flings it to the ground
-Durvasa is furious and curses Indra, forcing the gods to become weak
-the asuras defeat the gods in battle
-Vishnu seeks peace with the other gods and they want to churn the Ocean of Milk in order to make peace with the asuras
-They use Mount Mandara as the churning rod and Vasuki as the churning rope
-Halahala (poisonous) emerges from the ocean, Shiva drinks it up and his throat turns blue
-Lots of creatures emerge, but Shira finally appears and makes peace among the gods and the asuras
-Shri chooses Vishnu as her consort
-Dhanvantari emerges and is carrying the nectar
-Vishnu takes the form of a woman (Mohini) and the asuras want her to distribute the nectar
-It is a trick and a great battle breaks out
-The gods defeat the asuras and return to their home

(Image Source: Amazon)

Parashurama: Sixth Incarnation of Vishnu
-Bhrigu has a son named Richika
-Richika is getting married to Satyavati
-Bhrigu wants to encourage heirs in their line, so he gives Satyavati sacred rice in order to produce sons
-The rice somehow gets mixed up and so does the lineage
-Jamagdani, Satyavati's son, has a son named Parashurama, who lives lives as a brahmin even though he was born into a different caste
-He is an incarnation of the god Vushnu and he advocates for justice
-He fights warriors such as Kartavirya Arjuna who enjoys making the world a miserable place
-He is a very obedient son (willing to kill his own mother on his father's behalf)
-Mother Earth begs Parashuma to stop fighting, so he gives all of his weapons to the god Drona and gives all of his wealth to the other brahmins
-He moves to the mountains to live the life of a hermit

(Image Source: Amazon)

Prahlad: A Tale of Devotion from the Bhagawat Purana
-Visnu is incarnated as a man-lion named Narasimha
-Hiranyakashipu's son is Prahlad
-Prahlad is extremely devoted to Vishnu despite Vishnu being responsible for killing Hiranyakashipu's brother
-Prahlad is sentenced to death by his father because his father sees his devotion to Vishnu as betrayal
-Vishnu takes the form of Narasimha in order to defeat Hiranyakashipu, the king of the asuras

(Image Source: Amazon)

Amar Chitra Katha

Week 8 Review

(Image Source)

This was my favorite thing from the week's announcements because it made me laugh! I do not often think of the differences between the spellings of the same words and how they can mean such different things!

Saturday October 17 Announcements

Famous Last Words: Week 8

This week was a lot easier for Indian epics because it was a review week and we did not have any reading involved. True, there was some research for reading plans for the future, but it did not take as much time as the reading normally would. This was very nice for me because I had the busiest week that I have had since college. I had three midterms in other classes and I was struggling to see how I was also going to finish my work for Indian Epics. When I saw it was the review, I was relieved. Writing the reflections came very naturally to me and I did not find it difficult in the least to explain what I thought about the class in the past or what I was thinking about the class for the future.

This all being said, this week was very stressful. My midterms were difficult, but I got through them. I need to catch up on sleep this week so I can be well-rested for a very important job interview that I have on Friday. That was my favorite part about the week. I got an email saying that I advance to the second round of the interview process with a company I really admire and would like to work for in the future. I am flying to Houston at the end of the week for the interview and I am so excited! I actually feel like a grown up, being able to fly out of town for a business meeting while I am still only twenty years old.

Another part about my week is that I got to go to a fall retreat this weekend for my sorority and it was so fun! I really enjoyed myself and my time there and I feel refreshed. I am also very tired at the same time though because I shared a giant room to sleep in with all of the girls in my sorority (over 200 girls). It was so fun though and I cannot wait to see what this week brings!

(Personal photo: Sigma Phi Lambda-Sisters for the Lord)

Week 8: Growth Mindset

This week, I chose to research more about Carol Dweck for my growth mindset project. I have been wanting to focus on applying the growth mindset project in practical ways throughout my life so I thought this week was a good week to start. I believe that I am going to order her book Mindset so I can start reading about more concepts and ideas referring to the growth mindset thought process.

My favorite thing that I read was this quote, "Everyone is born with an intense desire to learn." 

The thing that I specifically like about this quote is that I do believe it is true. The only thing that differs is what we choose or want to learn about in our own lives. Everyone wants to learn more about something, but it is all different. I think that is something that is so cool about us as humans is that we all have such unique giftings.

(Image Source: Cheezburger)

Google Timer Tech Tip

For this week's technology tip, I chose to test out the Google timer. It was so useful! I set the timer for the maximum time it should take me to accomplish each part of the Indian Epics work this week and it really kept me productive and focused! When I set a time limit, it was like setting a mini goal for myself every time and considering that I am very time-oriented, it worked like a charm for my life. I recommend that everyone should try it at least once to see if it works for you!

Reading Plan

For my reading plan for the rest of the semester, I wanted to choose something that I would not only learn from, but also something that was convenient for me. I have picked my past reading choices based off of what is available readily on the internet and I truly believe this was the best option for me. For the general topic, I chose to do the mythology of the gods and goddesses. After that, I thought that I would finish it up with some basic folktales! That being said, here is a rough outline of what my reading plan for the rest of the semester will look like!

(Screenshot from Indian Epics: Amar Chitra Katha)

Week 9: Amar Chitra Katha- Vishnu, Brahma, & Shiva Part 1

Week 10: Amar Chitra Katha- Vishnu, Brahma, & Shiva Part 2

Week 11: Amar Chitra Katha- More Gods and Goddesses Part 1

Week 12: Amar Chitra Katha- More Gods and Goddesses Part 2

Week 13: Amar Chitra Katha- Jataka Tales Part 1

Week 14: Amar Chitra Katha- Jataka Tales Part 2

**Part 1= the first half of the stories listed
**Part 2= the second half of the stories listed

Source for Reading Plan: Amar Chitra Katha

Reflections: Looking Forward

Writing: I think that as far as my writing goes, there is a lot to be learned. I have seen other classmates' work and I am envious of their inherent writing skills. However, I am not going to let the fact that I am not a natural writer get me down! I have been taking mental notes as to whose blogs I really admire for their visual appeal and for their writing styles and I am going to implement some of their own ideas into my blog!

Reading: Reading comes very naturally to me. I do a lot of reading every single day. Being perfectly honest, sometimes the reading in this class can feel a little bit like a burden. Some days I am more tired and the different Indian names and spellings start running together in my mind and I cannot seem to remain focused. For the future of this semester, I want to be a week ahead for this class so this does not happen. I have made the reading a burden on myself when I have waited until the last minute to complete an assignment.

Time: Something I have realized that I want to change in regards to time is to work more ahead than I have been! Some weeks get out of hand as far as my schedule is concerned and all of a sudden, I have a pile of Indian Epics homework waiting for me on Sunday. I do not want this to be the case anymore! I am going to try my best to start working so I am about a week ahead for the rest of the semester. This way, I will not feel as rushed when I get to Sunday and have not finished as much work as I need to!

Location: Obviously, as I start to look forward as to what the rest of the semester will look like, I realize that in regards to location, I will probably have to forfeit the joy of doing homework outside. We all know what an Oklahoma wind chill feels like and I am not about to go sit outside in the midst of that. So focused on location purposes, I will probably be doing most of my Indian Epics homework in my room, with an electronic fire on my TV screen, my candle warmer on, and my heated blanket set to level 7. A very cozy way to experience winter and this class!

(Image Source: Fun Mozar- Funny Motivational Quotes)

Reflections: Looking Back

Writing: So far I have had only a few stories that I am really proud of in my own writing. However, I am especially proud of, ""The Succession" story that I wrote one week. I think that it really highlights my best writing abilities and brings about a different side to the story that maybe people did not see before. My project is going well, but I have seen other people's projects and they seem to look much better visually. I am using some of my peers' ideas in their storybook sites in order to further develop my own storybook.

(Screenshot from The Brilliant Elephant blog)

Reading: My favorite reading so far has been of the Mahabharata. I enjoyed this epic so much because of the ending. I love stories with great endings and I did not feel as satisfied with the ending in the Ramayana compared to the ending in the Mahabharata.

Interactions: I love that this class is online. Every semester, if I can take an online class, I definitely try to! They are simply the best when it comes to my schedule because I am always diligent in getting my work done! I have loved getting to leave comments on other people's blog posts as well as being notified when people have commented on my own blog! It is incredible how much you can get to know people through the internet!

Time: Unfortunately, my schedule has to change around frequently throughout the semester because I have a crazy schedule! I usually do most of my work for this class in about three two-hour blocks of time. I do it at the beginning of the week, near the end of the week, and on Sundays mostly, but this schedule does change!

Location: I do most of my work for this class either at work (I have a cushy desk job on campus) or at home. Sometimes, if I still have access to internet outdoors, I will sit on my back deck at the table and work on it (weather permitting). I enjoy the work for this class, mostly because I can pick my location/time. Sometimes, it is just inconvenient to have to go to class when it is a beautiful day or when you have a lot going on during the week.

Growth Mindset: I have done a growth mindset challenge almost every week. I really enjoy doing them because I feel like I am learning something new that I can apply to my life every time. I also enjoy reading other people's growth mindset blog posts to see what they have learned from doing the challenges because everyone gets something different out of them!

(Created with Imgflip by Hannah Spates)

Curation: I have only done one of the curation posts for extra credit because I feel as if I know how to do most of the curation suggestions already. I am not trying to be snobby, I am just trying to say that I want to be able to get the most out of this class and learn the most I can before I use the things I already know for extra credit!

Reading Feedback

One thing that I really enjoyed about the reading this week was where I read. It was so beautiful this week and such nice weather that I chose to read outside and spend some much-needed time in the sun  in order to relax a little.

(Image Source: Boomer Blogs)

Campus really is beautiful this time of year and I encourage everyone to head outdoors before winter is truly upon us!

This week, I continued reading the Kincaid Mahabharata. I really did like the layout of the different stories in comparison to the original Mahabharata that we read. I also appreciated the ending to the Mahabharata a lot more than the Ramayana. It was a much happier ending and you find out exactly what happens to everyone.

Week 7: Growth Mindset

I think that the greatest place for me to apply the Growth Mindset idea in my own life is not only in my academic studies, but also in my relationships.

Something that has always been important to me is the power of family and friendships. Growth mindset ideas can be applied to people as well as schooling because sometimes we fail at relationships and we have to know how to fix them and to move on from past hurts.

For instance, I am closest to my three roommates. Something I always want to be aware of is how I am showing them love. Some weeks, I do not show love as well because I am focused on myself and what I have to do for that week. They are always so caring for me and they always take steps to make sure that I know I am loved. They have cleaned the apartment for me as well as buying me small gifts to show their appreciation for me as a friend. I hope that I am able to reciprocate this feeling as well as they have for me.

The growth mindset makes me want to move past the times that we have not gotten along as friends/roommates and focus on the future moments. Life is too short to not love well.

(Image of Me and My Friends- A personal photo)

Famous Last Words: Week 7

This week was very hectic for me in the middle of the week. I have been preparing for three midterms coming up this next week and I had a very important interview with a potential company in Dallas for the summer. The internship would be a dream for me because I absolutely loved the company and the people that I met that worked for the company. I will find out this next week if I advanced to the second round of the interviewing process and I am much more nervous than I thought I would be in the beginning.

This next week will be very busy for me as I have three upcoming midterms. I am thankful that in Indian Epics, we never take tests because testing gives me very bad anxiety and makes me anxious. As I had to study all weekend for these midterms, I was unable to go home to Dallas for OU/Texas. That being said, I am glad I did not go home because of our disappointing loss yesterday and because I got the chance to experience Norman in a whole new quiet light this weekend. Only one of my three roommates stayed and we got to hang out all weekend along with being dedicated to our studies for the upcoming weeks. I also pulled a couple extra shifts at my job this weekend in order to cover for people so they could attend the game on Saturday. I like going to campus when no one is in town because it seems very quiet and serene. It was a nice change of pace from the norm.

This upcoming week will be more hectic than last week and I do not know how I will be able to handle it yet. For now, it is a lot of being studious and diligent with keeping my planner in sync with my crazy life that seems to change from minute-to-minute!

(Image Source: Hectic Gif Images from Gif Gallery)

Week 7 Review

(Image Source: Laura Gibbs' Course Announcements page)

I chose this image from the course announcements page because of the cleverness of it. I love clever little images like this and it definitely made me smile on this crazy Sunday!

Sunday October 11 Course Announcements

Tech Tip: Hashtags and Retweets

The tweet that I chose to retweet from the class pages was "10 Elementary Tips for Writers from Sherlock Holmes". I chose this tweet because it links to an interesting article that I think is useful for everyone in this class since we find ourselves doing so much writing in the form of blog postings.

10 Elementary Tips for Writers from Sherlock Holmes

The hashtag I chose was #boomerbuzz. I chose this hashtag because I had never seen it before and I thought it was obviously relevant to OU!

Reading Diary B: Kincaid Mahabharata

-The Pandava brothers have finally spent all twelve years of exile when they come to the year of disguise. They plan to spend this year in the court of King Virata.
-King Virata's daughter ends up marrying the son of Arjuna.
-Yudhishthira disguises himself as a gambler because of his past, Bhima disguises himself as a cook, Nakula works in the stables, Sahadeva is a cow-herd, and Arjuna is disguised as a dancing teacher.
-Draupadi is disguised as the queen's beautiful maid.
-Kichaka tries to rape the beautiful maid and Bhima promises to avenge Draupadi.
-Bhima waits one night for Kichaka and crushes him to death (exactly how does he go about crushing him to death?).
-Draupadi claims that she has a celestial husband and this gets her off the hook for the death of the queen's brother??
-The Pandavas reveal their true identities to King Virata at the end of their exile. This is also when Arjuna's son marries the princess.
-Duryodhana wants to keep the brothers in the forest, so he tries to convince King Dhritarashtra to continue their exile for 12 more years.
-At the end of the Mahabharata, the Bharatas are reunited once again.
-Yudhishthira has a loyal hunting dog that accompanies him and Indra takes him and the dog up to heaven. However, his siblings are down in Hell. He must renounce heaven in order to be with them and so he does. Wow, true loyalty. This is also a test from Indra though. Because of Yudhishthira's choice to be with all of them, they are all allowed to go to heaven with him now.

("Yudhishthira with a dog as a chariot from heaven arrive" from Wikipedia Commons)

Kincaid Mahabharata

Reading Diary A: Kincaid Mahabharata

-Duryodhana is the eldest of the Kauravas (one hundred sons between King Dhritarashtra and Queen Gandhari).
-The Pandavas and Kauravas are both descendants of King Bharata, so they are known collectively as "the Bharatas".
-Duryodhana grows very jealous of the Pandavas and plots to kill them along with their mother, but they escape by means of a tunnel with a warning in advance.
-Kunti and the Pandavas run to the forest disguised as Brahmins and have many adventures and dangers there.
-The Pandava brothers all marry Draupadi.
-Arjuna is sent into "self-imposed" exile when he enters Draupadi's room at the same time that Yudhishthira is in there.
-Yudhishthira has a gambling problem and ends up going so far as to gamble away Draupadi, his wife.
-The Pandavas are forced into exile in the forest for 13 years (the 13th year must be in disguise).
-Arjuna climbs the Himalayas in search for the heavenly city of Indra (Amaravati).
-Arjuna is told by a man (Indra in disguise) that he must search for Shiva before he can find this city.
-Arjuna kills a boar, another hunter (Shiva in disguise) challenges him for the boar and then reveals himself, bestowing golden armor for Arjuna.

("Disrobing of Draupadi" from illustrated Mahabharata)

I liked reading from the Kincaid Mahabharata a lot more because the reading guide was easier to understand. It really helped with the flow of the stories and kept my interest throughout the entire reading. It is also very useful to go back to and find stories easily. This quality makes it perfect for storybook projects in the future.

Kincaid Mahabharata