Week 11 Tech Tips: Pinterest Research

I have been using Pinterest since the seventh grade, but I actually haven't opened the app in a while. It was funny, cause it felt like an entirely new app to me. It's gone through so many updates and I was honestly surprised by how incapable I was at using it. However, I managed to create a new board for this class and pinned a few things related to my storybook. I hope this helps me continue to write and organize my story.

Caption: Mythology Pinterest board. 

One Polar Bear Shot, Sir.

It was an unusually slow Friday night in the Eskimo Bar. The bartender was cleaning the iced countertops when a frail old woman walked into the bar. Another unusual sight for the Eskimo Bar. She sat at the end of the bar with her hands in her lap and her head down. The bartender wiped the counter down and made his way to her. 

"A shot for your thoughts?" he said with a small laugh. 
"Uh, yes I would like one Polar Bear shot," the woman replied. 

Taken aback by this request, the bartender nodded and retrieved the woman's shot. He slid it the shot in front of her and she picked it up and raised to the ceiling. 
"
To letting go," she said and threw back the drink. Her face scrunched and she began shaking her head. The woman picked up her purse hanging on her seat and fumbled in it for a few moments. She set her purse on the counter and sighed. 

"Sir, I am terribly sorry, but I don't have the money to pay for this," the woman said. 
The bartender sat for a moment and thought about her predicament. Usually, he wouldn't be forgiving of this, but seeing her state he felt she deserved some slack. 

"I will let you off, but on one condition. You tell me your story of what brought you in today," he said. 

The woman smiled and took off her jacket. 

"Well, I better take off my jacket because we will be here awhile," she replied. 
The woman proceeded to tell the story of how she had been fostering a large wolf-like dog she found on the side of the road. She loved this dog as if he were a child. She walked him, fed him and bathed him. Although the dog was sweet and protective of her, the dog was vicious to others. One day the dog broke out of the backyard. He charged around the neighborhood and attacked a man and left him severely injured. As a result, the dog had to be put down, but before putting him down she released him to the woods to find a pack of his own.

"So that is how I ended up here. To take a strong shot of something to let go of the only being that did not remind me how alone I am," she said and looked back down at her hands. 

The bartender now felt even more guilt than before. He sighed and swung the towel over his shower. 

"M'am, I'm sorry about your dog and tell you what. How 'bout every week you stop by for a Polar Bear shot on the house. You can tell me about your week or whatever," he said with a smile. The woman nodded. 

"Thank you, sir. You are very kind and I look forward to it," she said and gripped his hand. 

The end. 

Caption: Wolf by Simon Rae. 

Author's Note: I chose to do The Woman Who Had a Bear as a Foster-Son. I changed the bear to a dog and had her tell her story a bartender. I didn't want to alter the story too much, and I wanted to keep it simple. I wanted to keep the same emotion, but give the old woman a happy ending. Without the dog, she wouldn't have met the bartender. Another thing to note is a Polar Bear shot is one part chocolate liqueur and one part peppermint schnapps, and I felt it fit the Eskimo vibe. 

Bibliography: Eskimo Folk-Tales by Knud Rasmussen with illustrations by native Eskimo artists (1921).

Reading Notes B

I finished up part B of the Eskimo Tales. I enjoyed this unit. I feel like it exposed me to a group I know little about. It was an eye-opening journey going through these stories. Here are a few that stuck out to me. 

The Wife Who Lied. A grotesque story about a woman pitting two tribes against each other. She ultimately pays the price when her tribe is taken over and the new tribe chooses to cut off her arms and kill. 

Papik, Who Killed His Wife's Brother. Papik hunted with his wife's brother, and Papik would always come home empty handed, while his brother-in-law would return with big animals. He became enraged and killed his brother-in-law and as a consequence, he was attacked by a vengeful spirit. 

Atdlarneq, The Great Glutton. Atdlarneq went out hunting one day and stumble upon a house with three women in it. They greeted him with open arms, but they said their master would be home soon and he needed to hide. As he hid they fed him food, even when he was full. After nearly dying, he left and never returned. I thought this story was interesting and similar to Hansel and Gretel. 

Caption: Bart is the Great Glutton. Obtained from pinterest.com 

Bibliography: Eskimo Folk-Tales by Knud Rasmussen with illustrations by native Eskimo artists (1921).

Week 11 Reading Notes A

This week I decided to indulge in the Eskimo Tales for my reading. Overall, I enjoyed Part A. I thought the structure of some of the stories was a little funny. In The Woman Who Had a Bear as a Foster-Son it ends with "Here the story ends," which I found interesting. There were a few stories that stuck out to me. The first one being The Woman Who Had a Bear as a Foster-Son. It was about a woman who had been given a bear-cub, and she took it home and raised it as her own. As it grew older, it became more aggressive and killed a man. The woman decided to let it free to be with its own kind. I felt this story could be applied to a lot of modern situations of loving something and being forced to set it free. 

Another story that stood out to me was Nukúnguasik, who Escaped from the Tupilak. A twisted story of a brother killing another brother and eating him. I don't think I can translate this to another plot line, but I would like to give it a try. I might explore it this week. I just thought it was twisted and disturbing. It was definitely noteworthy. 

Caption: Brother Bear. Obtained from giphy.com

Bibliography:  Eskimo Folk-Tales by Knud Rasmussen with illustrations by native Eskimo artists (1921).

 

Week 10 Story Lab

This week I decided to watch the TED talks over storytelling and stories. I enjoyed both videos, and here are my thoughts for them. 

The danger of a single story | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

   I thoroughly enjoyed this TED Talk for a number of reasons. Firstly, I enjoyed Chimamanda's approach to telling of her story, and how she wasn't attacking or being vengeful in her argument. She made it a universal problem, one that everyone can work on. I feel this was an overall eye-opening TED Talk. 
   Secondly, I remember when I took Discoveries of Archaeology, we often discussed the racism among common myths, legends and conspiracy theories we have today, an argument that I feel can contribute to this TED talk. For example, a wild conspiracy out there is aliens actually built the pyramids, not the Egyptian. There are books, reddit threads and several t.v. shows that claim this. Although not pointed and obvious racism, to claim this is stripping the Egyptians of an incredible accomplishment that spurred technological and cultural advancements. I think this follows along with only reading a single story. The consequence of reading a single story is stripping a person or collective group of earned merits and accomplishments. 
   Lastly, I was raised in a diverse neighborhood. On my right was a Hispanic family, on my left an African-American family, two doors down was a Yemeni family, and then there was my Irish-catholic family right in the middle of the cul-de-sac. Due to this, I never felt I had one single story of any background because I got to see several different cultures engage in the same experiences as I did. This doesn't mean I haven't mindlessly stereotyped or (shamefully) jumped to conclusions about people, but I have grown to be aware of the dynamic backgrounds people have. I liked how she called herself on it, too. Overall, one of my favorite TED Talks to date. 

Caption: What happens when you only read a single story. Obtained from giphy.com

Imaginary friends and real-world consequences: parasocial relationships | Jennifer Barnes | TEDxOU

I enjoyed this TED talk as well! It is funny though because I began zoning in and out, but when she started talking about Taylor Swift and Olivia Pope (a.k.a my queens) I was zoned in. I experienced, what she later identified as, a social facilitation effect. I enjoy psychology and the cognitive behaviors which lead us to do the things we do. Overall, I enjoyed this video, maybe not as much as the first, but it was very interesting and informative. 

Week 10 Reading Notes Part B

I finished up the Myths and Legends of California and the Old Southwest where we explored more about why things are the way they are through the use of the coyote. We learned how the rattlesnake learned to bite after being taken advantage of. In the story of the Coyote's Eyes we learn how he desired a brighter eye color and through a rather gruesome method, he achieved yellow eyes. In How the Bluebird Got Its Color, it was discovered that the bluebird achieved its color through singing in a lake. These were the stories I enjoyed the most. I love reading different interpretations of how the universe and the world came to be. It will be fun to explore these storylines this week.

Bibliography: Myths and Legends of California and the Old Southwest by Katharine Berry Judson (1912).

Caption: Bluebirds (or roadrunners) and Coyotes obtained from giphy.com

Reading notes Part A: Week 10

This week I decided to focus on the California and the Old Southwest stories. I liked the idea of reading a unit involving regions I have been to and have stories I might have heard before. I enjoyed how this unit focused a lot on the creation of the world a lot, and it has some biblical aspects in it. In the Legend of the Flood covered a flood that wiped out the planet sparing one coyote. He gathered and planted feathers and they sprouted into trees. Coyotes were a consistent theme throughout the unit, and there may have been a deeper meaning to that. However, I am deliriously tired right now, so as far as I am concerned this coyote brought fire into the world and man and everything else.

Caption: the coyote carrying out God's assignments. Obtained from giphy.com

Bibliography: Myths and Legends of California and the Old Southwest by Katharine Berry Judson (1912).

Reading notes part A

This week I read Tibetan Folk Tales (PART A). There were various stories, but there were a couple that jumped out at me that I feel could contain a good storyline for this week's assignment. 

Caption: How I imagine the tiger felt obtained from tenor.com

• How the Fox Fell Victim to His Own Deceit: Tiger and her baby cub are living in a cave, and the mother goes out one day and asks a baby fox to be her cub's friend. She provides all the food and shelter for this fox and in exchange, he is the cub's playmate. Soon after, the mother tiger brings home another playmate for the cub (a calf), which makes the fox incredibly jealous. The mother tells the cub and the calf that they are brothers and not to believe anyone who says otherwise. The fox begins stirring rumors between the two out of jealousy. The two figure out what the fox has done and attack and kill him. 
• I like how these stories are relatively simple to read, and I feel they can be rather timeless with their messages. 
• The Ingratitude of Man: There once was a man, a snake, a crow and a rat were walking in a narrow dark pass along a deep chasm. The road gave out and they fell into the chasm. A traveler help rescued them one-by-one. They all promised to repay him one day, but he only believed the man would. However, the crow stole a string of jewels from the queen for the traveler. The traveler showed the man the jewels and the man turned him into the king. As he was sitting in jail, the rat brought him bread. Then the snake promised to release him and proceeded to turn himself into a ghost and choke the king. The king begged for his life and in return, he would set the traveler free and give him many jewels. 
• I feel this story could definitely be reimagined into a modern tale about gratitude. 

Caption: Men. Obtained from wifflegif.com

Bibliography: Tibetan Folk Tales by A.L. Shelton with illustrations by Mildred Bryant (1925).

Week 8 Progress

So far, I am content with the progress I've made especially with my storybook. I really feel it's coming along. I haven't use the extra credit yet, but I do plan on utilizing that in the coming weeks when things slow down. In the second half of the semester, I plan on planning my schedule a little bit better. I am dropping a course next week, so I think that will open up my weeks a little bit. It's overall been an overwhelming semester with work and school and social life, and I am still trying to find a balance. I think I will get it down soon, so I'm hopeful.

Caption: Leslie Knope speaking my inner-truth. 

Week 8 Reading and Writing

It took me a while, but I finally got my blog layout designed in a way that I think reflects me best. I played with it a couple weeks back and it took me some time and several different layouts to finally get to one I liked. I have always liked the layout of my project's website. I always felt it reflected the story well. I feel my reading posts have declined a little bit in development. As the semester has progressed and my investment in my project has grown,  and for my personal preference I pour myself more into that, but I will try to improve my reading notes. 

This is the Monkey King and it is my favorite image I have used because just look at it...it is incredible.

Reading Notes B

I read the second half of the Monkey King. It developed nicely. It was interesting to explore heaven as a class system with titles and such. The story reminded me kind of Plant of the Apes, maybe because there was so much discussion of apes and kings. Again there I don't know what I will use for this week's story because it was kind of a long story and might be hard to condense, but I enjoyed the read. 

Caption: the call of the Monkey King obtained from themonkeyking.com