Review: Week 14

Graphic: My favorite graphic from this week was the Latin proverb about dragons. It introduced me to a Latin prose that I had not seen before and I like the meaning behind the proverb: one does not improve his own standing without harming someone else

Source: Go Proverbs!

Video: My favorite video from this week was the musical version of the Epic of Gilgamesh performed in Sumerian. I read and studied the Epic of Gilgamesh in an Ancient Near East Civilizations class I took a few semesters ago. And on top of already enjoying the Epic of Gilgamesh, I also really love to listen to folk music from around the world.

Famous Last Words: Week 14

Most of this semester has been quite hectic. On top of trying to keep up with school work, I have been traveling across the country with the softball team. But this week was especially hectic. Typically, we leave for our weekend series on Thursday afternoons. This week though, we left early Wednesday morning to play a mid week game in Wichita and left straight from there to Ames, Iowa. In any spare time I happened to have, I tried to chip away at the vast collection of homework I had, including all the extra credit assignments in this class (because I still haven't given up on getting a B in the course). I have tried extremely hard to keep my procrastination to a minimum and I have missed out on a LOT of sleep but I think I managed to get everything accomplished. I am proud of the story I wrote to wrap up my storybook and hopefully I spent enough time on it so that I might not have too many revisions to make. Unfortunately, I don't have much time to catch my breath. This coming week looks to be just as hectic and I have just as much, if not more, homework than this past week. To be completely honest, I'm kicking myself every time I think of how much easier it would have been if I had just gotten hooked up earlier in the semester. I would be considerably less stressed and would still be a normal sleep schedule. But I understand that those are the consequences of prioritizing things other than school. But I am determined to see it through to the end of the semester. Somehow, I will try to find a way to get everything done. I can smell the finish line and rest is just around the corner.

Image Source: Christianbook

Wikipedia Trail: Hellebore to Herbicidal Warfare

Hellebore - I changed my iPhone background to one of the default flower wallpapers. I was interested in what type of flower it was. It turns out that the picture I chose is of a hellebore which is a poisonous flower native to Europe and Asia

Siege of Kirrha - Apparently, in 585 BC, during the Siege of Kirrha in the the First Sacred War in Greece, hellebores were used to poison the water supply of the city. This is one of the earliest instances of chemical warfare

Chemical Warfare - Chemical warfare has been around almost as long as war itself has been waged. The pinnacle of chemical warfare is most likely the devastating mustard gas attacks during the First World War

Herbicidal Warfare - This is a specific type of chemical warfare in which neither people are not the direct targets of the attack. Rather, the attacker attempts to destroy the enemies crops using herbicides in an attempt to cripple war efforts. This was a common tactic used by the United States during the Vietnam War.

Hellebores. Source: Home Depot

Learning Challenge: Reading Out Loud

I have always thought that I read slower, mostly because the way I read in my head is the same way I would read out loud. But, I found that when I read out loud, it was as if I was telling the story to myself. It took longer to read the story but I felt like I got more out of the reading. I used inflection and pauses when reading the dialogue and I held a certain tone while reading narrative parts. Reading out loud helped me to understand the story on a deeper level than just the plot because I had to build a character's persona when I read for them. I also found that I noticed, and remembered, more details about the story after reading out loud compared to reading other stories silently.

Image Source: Joel Goldman

Growth Mindset: Acronym

Take
Advantage
of
Comprehensive
Talents

To be tactful means being adroit in dealing with difficult issues. In order to be tactful, you have to be thoughtful and able to find solutions to unique problems. One must use their talents they already possess to their full potential in order to solve a problem. This acronym just reminds me to 1. be tactful and 2. use my strengths in problem solving.

Quote from Isaac Newton. Source: Quotes Cover

Tech Tip: YouTube Playlist

Besides Google itself, I visit YouTube more than any other website. I created this playlist as a collection of my girlfriend's high school softball highlights mostly to embarrass her. Most of the time, I use playlists to organize videos that I might come back and watch again. I also utilize YouTube's default playlist of liked videos to find old videos that I think are funny or really interesting. Having all of those videos in one place is really handy when I remember seeing a video I liked and would like to watch it again or share it with someone else.

Extra Reading Notes: The Two Corpses

-a soldier was heading home on leave when he had to pass a graveyard in the middle of the night
-he heard a voice running up behind him saying, "Stop! You can't escape!"
-the soldier saw it was a corpse chasing him so he B-lined it towards a little chapel
-in the chapel was another corpse and no one else
-the soldier hid in the corner
-the first corpse ran in
-the corpse on the table rose and asked the other, "What hast thou come here for?"
-He said that he had chased a soldier into the chapel and that he was going to eat him
-The second corpse argued that the soldier had run into his house so it would eat him itself
-"No! I shall!"
-"No! I shall"
-The corpses began to fight
-they fought for so long that with the coming of morning, they fell lifeless
-the soldier went on his way home

"Skeletons Fighting" by Theodore Major. Source: Pinterest

"The Two Corpses" from Russian Folktales unit. Story source: Russian Fairy Tales by W. R. S. Ralston (1887).

Week 14 Lab: Creative Life TED Talks

Video 1: Copyright is Brain Damage

In this video, Nina Paley mainly discuses the need for copyright reform. She argues that claiming rights on intellectual property does not ultimately benefit the creator of the ideas and instead prohibits the continuation and evolution of art. I really enjoyed the analogy Paley made regarding information. She compared people to neurons, each one part of a vast network, receiving and transmitting information to one another to make up a "great mind." the ideas that this great mind form is culture. However, copyright is a brain disease because it allows ideas to flow into a neuron, but not to be sent out. Therefore, copyright laws must be reformed, or even abolished, in order for the great mind to work freely.

Image Source: Photo District News

Video 2: A New Theory of Human Intelligence

In this video, Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman discusses the need to rethink human intelligence. He says that in the current education model, too many kids fall through the cracks because it is unable to  properly accommodate the unique needs of what he calls twice-exceptional children: those children simultaneously having exemplary strengths and extraordinary weaknesses. The current binary system categorizes children based on ability and disability when it should be holistic and all-encompassing. The theory Dr. Kaufman presents focuses on the four C's: Capacity: the potential intelligence and aptitude; Competence: the actual intellectual achievement; Commitment: the motivation and determination to learn; Creativity: problem solving and the ability to hurdle intellectual obstacles.

Reading Notes: The Fox and the Horse

-A farmer had a horse that had grown old and weak so he turned it out of the stable

-while the horse was seeking a shelter in the woods, he met a fox who asked him why he was so sad

-the horse tells the fox that his master will not take him back unless he becomes stronger than a lion

-the fox told the horse to pretend to be dead

-the fox went to the lion and told it of a dead horse

-the fox says the lion can eat the horse more comfortably in his cave so he ties the horse to the lion

-the fox managed to tie his legs together

-the fox then told the horse to go

-the horse dragged the lion back to his masters house

-his master relented and took care of him till the end of his life

An elderly horse. Source: The Horse

"The Fox and the Horse" from Fairy Tales by the Brothers Grimm, an audiobook recording available at LibriVox based on a Project Gutenberg publication.

Reading Notes: The Straw, the Coal, and the Bean

-there was a poor woman who decided to build a fire on her hearth to cook some beans
-a piece of straw fell from the bundle, a bean from the pan, and a piece of coal from the fire
-each tells the other how they were almost destroyed by the old woman
-to escape her, they decide to run away to a foreign country
-on their journey, they come to a brook which they must cross
-the straw lays itself out to form a bridge
-the coal starts to cross but becomes scared half way and stops
-the straw burns because of this and the two fall in the brook and are swept away
-the bean seeing this, laughed so hard it burst
-a tailor happened to be passing and because he had compassion for the bean, he sewed the bean back together
-he only had black thread though
-this is why every bean has a black seam

Black-eyed Peas. Source: Wikimedia Commons

"The Straw, the Coal, and the Bean" from Fairy Tales by the Brothers Grimm, an audiobook recording available at LibriVox based on a Project Gutenberg publication.

Wikipedia Trail from Umlaut to Gregorian Calender

1. Umlaut - the umlaut is the two dots above vowels in German to tell the reading that that vowel sound should come from the front of the mouth

2. Tilde - the squiggly line above some N's in Spanish was originally scribal shorthand used to denote the title of something, which is where it gets its name: from the Latin word titulus meaning "title"

3. Anno Domini - usually abbreviated to AD and means "in the year of the Lord" in Medieval Latin.
However, it is becoming more common to use CE, meaning "common era," in place of AD

4. Gregorian Calendar - the calendar introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 that we still use today.

One of the first printed editions of the Gregorian Calendar. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Growth Mindset Motto

To me, fake it till you make it simply means act like you know what you're doing until you actually know what you're doing. Be confident  and own it. Work with meaning and purpose. Give your best effort with a good attitude and the ability will come.

Learning Challenge: Deskercise

I think exercising from time to time at your desk is great way to boost your productivity and attitude. If you enjoy and look forward to your deskercise time, you might set a goal for yourself to accomplish before you can start the exercise. Or, if you dread exercising, have a buddy keep you accountable and deskercise with you at regular intervals. The latter scenario might make you enjoy doing your work rather than exercising. But with either method, deskercising can help you stay motivated while improving your health. Having a beneficial routine to break up long work days helps with getting you mind out of a rut and getting your blood flowing makes you feel more energized and driven. My favorite three deskercises were the desk push ups, the office chair dips, and just simply walking around.

Deskercising. Source: DIY Genius

Article from the Washington Post

Extra Reading Notes: Dnieper, Volga, and Dvina

-the Dnieper, Volga, and Dvina rivers used to be people: a boy and his sisters respectively
-they were orphans who never had anything to eat
-life was a burden for them as they had to toil in the nude just to get the day's subsistence
-one day they sorrowed over their little morsel of bread and thought of ways to provide more
-they decided to turn into great rivers
-they decided their paths and went to sleep to start flowing the next morning
-the sisters however chose the best paths while their brother Dnieper was asleep
-in pursuit of his sisters, Dnieper flowed fiercely through steep banks
-that is why the Dnieper is swifter and has more rapids than the Volga and the Dvina

Dnieper Rapids. Source: Wikimedia Commons

"The Metamorphosis of the Dnieper, the Volga, and the Dvina" form Russian Fairy Tales by W. R. S. Ralston (1887).

Tech Tip: Automotivator

"History, it never gets old," is a phrase that I thought of to humorously tell people how much I love history (and irony). The image is from Smithsonian Magazine.

Week 13 Story: The Excaliboard

To this very day, King Ollie's legendary skateboard, known as the Excaliboard, is still lodged within the ancient anvil at the Ye Olde Englandland skate park. Most visitors know the story of how the board was lodged into the anvil when King Ollie, with his group of friends, the Knights of the Octagonal Table, attempted to land the impossible lip trick, but most do not know how he originally procured the legendary skateboard.

Long ago, King Ollie was amidst a game of SKATE with the tallest skater when he snapped his board in two. While searching for a new board to complete the game, he came across a pond. Out of the pond, he noticed an arm holding a skateboard and approaching him was the Lady of the Pond. King Ollie asked the Lady if he could have the skateboard. She responded by saying that he may go and take the board, but only if he promised to give her a gift. Being a popular skater, and perhaps slightly cocky, King Ollie pulled a marker from his pocket and started to autograph his helmet to give it to the Lady. But she stopped him and said that she did not want a signed helmet. Instead, she would ask for the gift in her own time. He agreed to give her the gift she would ask for, no matter what it might be. He then waded out into the water to take the skateboard.

When King Ollie took the board out of the ghostly hand, it disappeared. Now holding the Excaliboard, he realized that it was like no other skateboard. It was crafted using material of the highest quality and with the utmost craftsmanship. With precious gems inlaid in the board's deck, it was obvious that this was board possessed unnatural abilities and would give its rider a remarkable advantage.

Proud of his new skateboard, King Ollie forgot about his heated game of SKATE. Instead of returning to face his opponent again, he rode the Excaliboard to the town of Carlion to show the rest of the Knights of the Octagonal Table.

Cover for Backyard Skateboarding. Source: Wikia

Author's Note

If it wasn't obvious, my inspiration for this story is the tale of how King Arthur acquired the Sword Excalibur. However, to change it up, I took a reference from the 2004 video game Backyard Skateboarding and ran with it. Also, the original story, Merlin is with King Arthur when he finds Excalibur, but I excluded a Merlin-like character to simplify my story.

Bibliography

"The Sword Excalibur" from King Arthur: Tales of the Round Table by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1902).

Reading Notes: Sir Lancelot Meets Sir Galahad

-Lancelot heard a voice in his sleep that told him to rise, take his armor, and board the first ship he saw
-He rose, put on his armor, and soon found a ship without sail or oar
-He felt a sweetness like no other and fell asleep
-when he woke, there was a bed near him and in it lay the dead sister of Sir Percivale and in her hand was the story of her adventure which he took and read
-he remained afloat for a month until the ship came to rest near the shore
-there, a knight was riding and having seen the ship, stopped to board it
-the knight asked for Sir Lancelot du Lake's name
-wouldn't you know it, the knight turns out to be Sir Galahad, the son of Sir Lancelot
-the two share their adventures from the time they left King Arthur's Court
-they stayed in the ship for 6 months until it comes to rest on the edge of a forest
-there, a knight with white armor and two horses
-the knight said that Galahad had spent enough time with his father and that it was time for G to go on the quest for the Holy Grail
-A voice told them that they would not see each other again so they said their goodbyes and Galahad went on
-Lancelot returned to Camelot where he found that over half of the Knights of the Round Table had been slain

Sir Galahad by George Frederic Watts. 

Source: Wikimedia Commons

"Sir Lancelot Meets Sir Galahad" from King Arthur: Tales of the Round Table by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1902).

Reading Notes: The Sword Excalibur

-Arthur was being beaten in a fight with the tallest knight
-Merlin put a charm on the knight and took Arthur to a hermit to get healed
-As Arthur and Merlin left, Arthur realized he had no sword
-Merlin said he would get him one
-As they rode past a lake, an arm rose from the water holding a sword
-The Lady of the Lake came to the shore to speak with Arthur
-Arthur asked for the sword
-She said she would give it to him if he would give her a gift when she asked
-She directed Arthur to take a boat to the sword and she would ask for her gift in her own time
-Arthur and Merlin rowed out and retrieved the sword
-Merlin asked which Arthur liked more, the sword or the scabbard
-Arthur said he liked the sword
-Merlin said that was unwise as the scabbard was worth ten of the sword
-the scabbard, as long as it was bucked on Arthur, allowed him to lose no blood whatever the wound
-they then rode of to the town of Carlion

King Arthur Asks the Lady of the Lake for the

 Sword Excalibur, illustration by Walter Crane.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

"The Sword Excalibur" from King Arthur: Tales of the Round Table by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1902).

Wikipedia Trail: from Saint John's Day to Dr. Whitney Smith

I started with the article about the origin of Saint John the Baptist's Day which I used while researching information for my project. I learned that it is held on June 24, also called Midsummer, because it is the day that marks the Summer Solstice.

I then clicked the link that led me to an article about dragons because apparently one of the traditions of Saint John's Day is to build a large bonfire that was supposed to ward off dragons. There, I learned that dragons appeared relatively often on various European coat of arms.

Following the link to the article about coat of arms, I learned that the practice originated from the Romans painting their unit's insignia on their shields. The study of coats of arms is closely related to vexillology, which I am already interested in, so I followed the link.

There, I found that the International Federation of Vexillological Associations has their own flag. I also discovered that Dr. Whitney Smith formalized the field of vexillology.

Flag of the FIAV. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Following the link to the article about Dr. Whitney Smith, I learned that he designed the national flag of Guyana that they still use today.

Reading Notes: The Three Roses

-once there were 3 sisters
-their mother asked them if there was anything they wanted
-the first two asked for a great many things
-but the third, Mary, only asked for 3 roses
-the mother went out and bought a great many things for the first two sisters
-but night fell on her way home
-she wandered off the path back to their home and came upon a great castle with beautiful roses
-remembering the third sisters wish, the mother took 3 roses
-out came a basilisk which demanded the roses be paid for with the daughters life
-the mother obliged and brought back the third sister
-the basilisk demanded that the girl nurse him for 3 hours every day
-she obliged and on the third day of nursing, the basilisk came back with a sword
-it demanded the girl cut off its head
-she obliged and out came a snake
-it too demanded she cut off its head
-she obliged and from the snakes head came a handsome young man holding golden keys
-he said that the castle was his and that the woman must marry him
-she happily obliged

A Basilisk. Source: Wikimedia Commons

"The Three Roses" from Czech Folktales unit. Story source: The Key of Gold by Josef Baudis (1922).

Reading Notes: Beth Gellert

-a prince had a greyhound he very fond of saying it was a lamb at home, but a lion on the chase
-on one day, the prince blew his horn to call his dogs to hunt
-all came except Gellert
-he went without the dog and when he came back, Gellert came to meet the prince
-the dogs face and and teeth were covered in blood
-fearing the absolute worst, the prince rushed towards is infant sons nursery
-the closer he got, the more blood and disorder
-reaching the nursery, he saw signs of conflict but couldn't find his son
-thinking the dog was a monster, the prince took his sword and thrust it in Gellert
-With Gellert dying yell came a baby's cry
-his son was asleep under the cradle next to a slain great wolf, realizing that Gellert had actually saved his son
-but it was to late to save Gellert
-to honor the greyhound, the prince buried it in front of the castle so passers-by might see the memorial
-the monument was called Beth Gellert, or the Grave of Gellert.

A Greyhound dog. Source: Wikimedia Commons

"Beth Gellert" from Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1892).

Reading Notes: The Shepherd of Myddvai

-a shepherd led his flock near a lake
-from the water, came 3 maidens most beautiful
-he offered one his bread
   -she said it was hard-baked
-the next day, he offered her another piece
   -she said it was unbaked
-the next day, he offered her a piece he found in the lake
   -she was pleased and said that she would marry him if he could tell her apart from her sisters the next day
-the next day, he recognized her by her sandals and they were married on the condition that he does not strike her 3 times without reason
-she gave 3 cows, 2 oxen, and one bull as her dowry
-they had 3 children
-one day, he lightly tapped her on the shoulder which she said was strike 1
-when she was crying another time, he tapped her on the shoulder to ask what was wrong which was strike 2
-at a funeral she began to laugh, so he nudged her on the shoulder which was strike 3
-she left taking her animals back into the lake
-she came back only one time when her sons were men to give them healing abilities

Shepherd with Sheep by Thomas Sidney Cooper (1868). 

Source: Wikimedia Commons

"The Shepherd of Myddvai" from Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1892).

Week 11 Story: Bill and Willy

There once lived two rednecks, Bill and Willy. For some odd and unexplainable reason, they were also powerful wizards. However, unlike their fellow wizards in England who went to school to refine their powers and fight forces of evil, they mostly used their abilities to play pranks on one another. One day, Willy was fishing out on the lake in is flat-bottom, aluminum boat. Willy went fishing almost everyday and was especially proud of his tackle box. He had put charms and spells on his lures to make them nearly irresistible to the fish he was trying to catch. On this particular day, Bill happened to be passing by the lake on his way into town. As he looked across the water, and saw Willy’s boat. Having already polished off his first six pack, Willy had dozed off with hook in the water. Bill, being the prankster he was, waded into the water a little ways and transfigured himself into a 25 pound largemouth bass. As a fish, he swam over to Willy’s hook in the water, hooked himself, and began swimming hard in the opposite direction. Willy was jarred awake and scrambled to control the line. As Willy struggled to reel in his catch, the fish jumped out of the water. Willy couldn’t believe the size of the fish on the end of his line and was now more determined than ever to win the battle. Just as Willy had hope that he might win, Bill snapped the line, taking the magic lure with him. Willy was left with nothing but a story.

Later that night, both Willy and Bill met some friends at the local cantina. Willy told his fishing tale saying that it was the biggest bass he had ever seen and how close he was to catching it. Then he told everyone how the fish snapped his line and took his prized lure. As soon as Willy finished his story, Bill broke out in uncontrollable laughter. Willy, getting mad at Bill for laughing at his story, asked what was so funny. Bill, who had laughed so hard he made himself cry, wiped the tears from his eyes and pulled the lure out from his front pocket. Immediately realizing he had fallen for another one of his friend’s pranks, snatched the lure from Bill and stormed out.

A 22-pound Largemouth Bass. Source: Outdoor Life

Author's Note:

My story is based off of a story of two Eskimo wizards. In that story, one wizard gets revenge on the other by transforming into a walrus and fooling the other much the same way Bill fools Willy. The only major changes I made were to the setting and, unlike the original folk tale, I did not give a reason for Bill to fool Willy other than he thought it would be funny.

Bibliography:

"Tunguujuluk and Saunikoq" from Eskimo Folk-Tales by Knud Rasmussen with illustrations by native Eskimo artists (1921).

Reading Notes: Tungujuluk and Saunikoq

-T and S were both wizards
-T could turn into a walrus and S could turn into a bear
-T had a son but S did not
-T taught his son how to kayak which made S jealous
-S went hunting seal as usual but when he came to T's house he turned into a bear and scared T's son
-T went to stab the bear but then it laughed and he realized is was S
-T waited a long time to get S back
-When S went hunting for seals, T turned into a walrus
-he let S think he had him but then took all his line and his air bladder
-later that night when the hunters were all eating at T's house, they told each other about their days
-when S said he had his line and bladder taken by a walrus, T brought them out and said this line and bladder
-S was so embarrassed he went away and was never seen again

A Walrus. Source: Wikimedia Commons

"Tunguujuluk and Saunikoq" from  Eskimo Folk-Tales by Knud Rasmussen with illustrations by native Eskimo artists (1921).

Reading Notes: The Giant Dog

-there was a man who had a dog so big it could haul narwhals
-the man put throngs through its jaws so that he could mount and ride it
-the man wished to have a son but never did so he put the amulet meant for his son around the dogs neck
-the dog once ate a man so the man who owned him had to move elsewhere
-once a stranger came so the man had to take the dog far away and give it a giant bone to gnaw on
-but the dog smelt the stranger so he was sent away because the dog was so fierce
-the man had many enemies because of the dog
-one of them rode to the mans house with 3 dogs that were big as bears to kill the giant dog
-the giant dog pretended to act scared but then surprised the 3 dogs and crushed their skulls
-the man noticed that the dog would sometimes wander off
-it would then return with the leg of an inland-dweller
-it was because of this dog that all inland-dwellers had a fear of dogs
-but it was okay, because inland-dwellers were known to carry off anyone stranded in the fog

Clifford the Big Red Dog. Source: Flickr

"The Giant Dog" from Eskimo Folk-Tales by Knud Rasmussen with illustrations by native Eskimo artists (1921).