Week 3 Storytelling: Trevor and Tyler

As the president of a large Fortune 500 company Trevor was very used to getting what he wanted. In fact, there was only one instance in his life that involved him being denied what he wanted and that was a boy that he had fallen in love with during high school; You see, Trevor came from a family that frowned upon being gay, and so it was not meant to be. Years later, after college and working his way up the corporate later, Trevor met a beautiful women name Nikki. They became best of friends and to them it seemed only logical to complete the next step and get engaged. Stepping forward again a few years Trevor now had two children, a wife, A large house and was CEO of his company! 

All was going well in Trevor’s life and for years he lived happily. But, like many men in positions of power Trevor soon became uninterested in the life he had built. Some would call this time in his life a “midlife” crisis, but Trevor recognized that he wasn’t just unhappy with his life, but he was missing something. He soon turned to alcohol and drugs trying to dull the thoughts away. Unfortunately it didn’t work. Trevor’s lust grew and grew until he was no longer able to control it. 

One day walking from his limousine to his hotel room in the Grand Hotel of New York. He saw a young man doing the Ice Bucket Challenge. Interested in what was happening Trevor decided to strike up a conversation with the guy. His name was Tyler and he was a student at the University of New York City. Trevor invited Tyler to stay the night with him in his hotel room. Tyler agreed and Trevor’s emptiness he had felt was dissipating. Later that night, while things were getting heated in the bedroom, Trevor’s wife was trying to enter the bedroom, but the door was locked. She left to get a key. Alarmed at his wife’s presence Trevor decides that he will dress up both himself and Tyler in slacks and a pressed shirt. Trevor had successfully transformed Tyler into a business partner. When she returned she found no incriminating evidence of her husbands betrayal, but instead a business meeting that had gone well. Trevor went to the grave with his secret and continued to live a happy life with his wife and kids. 

Authors Notes: Greek Myths: Ovid’s Metamorphosis: Io
For this story I tried to retell it in a contemporary setting. I included details such as a gay relationship and my favorite the Ice bucket Challenge. The story if Io was very gruesome, but also interesting. The story was about Jupiter raping a young women name Io. When Jupiter’s wife came to find Jupiter, he quickly turned Io into female cow. Juno, Jupiter’s wife, was unsuspecting but eventually she finds out about Jupiter raping this women. 

Illustration of Io as a Heifer

Week 2: Famous Last Words

As I look back on this, Week 2, week of the course I feel like I am finally beginning to get the hang of this new online format. I sometimes wish that all of the online course at OU were offered this way, but of course I understand that this class is unique and not all classes can be taught this way. This week, Week 2, I feel like my best writing came from the storytelling post. I was very happy with my ability to come up with a story this week. While reading Homer’s The Iliad, I was pretty concerned about how I was going to do a retelling of the story in the storytelling post. Unlike Aesop’s Fables I found the Iliad to actually be way more difficult to retell. I think this is due to the way the story is told. instead of just retelling a portion of the story I ended up somewhat retelling the whole thing. The pieces of the Iliad went together really well, so it was difficult to separate it out and just write a single story. I just finished reading Ovid’s Metamorphoses. I can already tell that I am going to have a much easier time writing a storytelling post for this section. The readings were much more individualized and this is going to make it easier, in my mind, to be more creative with the stories. I feel like I am going to have some more creative liberties and I am not as tied down to a storyline as I was with the Iliad.

All of the above being said, I still think the best writing I was able to do this week was my storytelling post! I was very proud of the work I created with the storytelling post. I feel like I was about to overcome a challenge, and I succeeded! 

Connections in other classes are becoming more and more apparent. This week I started working on my Storybook. One of the topics I have chosen was about how Native American Stories regarded dogs as the protectors of humanity. I found this topic to be really interesting, and even though we only covered it briefly in my other class I thought it would be perfect to cover it in this course too!

Dog Protector of the Human Race: Ready for Battle

Week 3 Reading Diary: Ovid's Metamorphoses

For this weeks reading I chose Ovid's Metamorphoses; listed below are my favorite sections from this epic poem.

Reading A:

Deucalion and Pyrrha - Jupiter has ordered all rivers and streams to overflow.  Eventually the water swept away all life including animals and human until the world had no land and was only sea. The whole world drowned swallowing towns and countries. Animals had no use to try to survive because their adaptation could not help them. Those who did survive had no food and were defeated by slow starvation. There was however, land that rose above the clouds that is where Deucalion and his wife survived. They prayed to the gods. When jupiter saw that only one man and one women was left and that they were good and worshipped he calmed the sea and allowed for their survival. Deucalion pleads for the human race to be “repaired” to a temple goddess. She take pity on them and tells him how the human race could continue. Oh this part is weird... The two surviving people are told by the temple goddess to cover their faces and throw stones behind them. When they threw the stones onto the ground the stones began to soften and start to take human form! Thus new humans were made... That is a really weird way to make new humans.

Io - Okay, so right off the bat we learn the Jupiter (Zeus) sees a pretty lady and deems her worthy of being with him. So he rapes her as she tries to run off. Yay gods?! Oh, BTW Jupiter is married to the Queen of Gods (I wouldn’t want to mess with her). This part was confusing, but it seems like Juno, Jupiter’s wife, was looking for Jupiter. He did not want her to see him raping another women so he transformed into Io into a Heifer. Juno then claimed this women as a gift...? Whatever that may mean. Io could not speak now and so she could not tell her story. Okay, these stories are ending weird, but I like them. So Juno is pissssssed at this women that Zeus raped. Juno calls this girl a slut... which is obviously no true in todays understanding of the word. Jupiter calms Juno and Lo begins to take back her natural human form from the Heifer. The End?

Phaethon and the Sun - So, Lo had a child from Jupiter and her child was friends with this guy named Phaethon. Phaethon is trying to prove he is the son of the Sun god. People do not belied him so he decides to ask his mother for proof. She send him to meet the sun god himself, and so he does. When Phaethon meets his father in his temple he ask his father to give him proof that he is his offspring. The sun god confirms that Phaethon os his offspring and lets him ask something of him to prove he is his child. Phaethon ask for the ability to control the Sun god chariot for the day. The Sun god regrets his decision to let Phaethon ask whatever he likes. He tell Phaethon that controlling the chariot is difficult for even Jupiter and Phaethon is only mortal. He warns him many times about the consequences. Cool story, again they leave it without a ending. It was left off with a warning from the Sun god about what might happen.

Phaethon’s Ride - In this part of the story Phaethon has decided that he realllllllyyyy wants to ride in the chariot... in fact, he is determined. His father tried and tried to warn him not to ride in the chariot. The sun god pleaded and said he could have anything, but this is an exception! “Please make a wiser choice”. Phaethon is still insistent so his father directs him on how to use the Chariot. Now Phaethon takes off and is soon finding himself in a pickle when he cannot control the Chariot. Now Phaethon is regretting his decision. He is facing horrible mythical creatures that are trying to kill him. Phaethon lost control of the chariot and crashed sending the earth into flames!

Callisto - Callisto is a virgin women who is devoted to serving Diana, the virgin goddess of the hunt. Jupiter set his sights on Callisto and decides he want to “get with her”. He transforms into the goddess Diana and meets with Callisto. Jupiter then rapes Callisto. After the rape, Diana, the real one,  and Callisto met again and it turns out that Callisto was impregnated by Jupiter. Because Diana is the virgin goddess Callisto was expelled as a follower of Diana for no longer being a virgin. Callistos son is born. Juno, Jupiter's Jealous wife, transforms Callisto into a bear! Years later Callisto’s son, a hunter, meets his mother in the woods and is about to kill her when Jupiter tosses them both into the air. They then became the Great bear and Little Bear!

Reading B:

Narcissus - As Narcissus becomes tired he rest in a very beautiful spot covered by tress and untouched by others. Since he is tired he goes to take a drink of water from the pond, but as he leans over the water to take a drink he find another beauty. Himself... He tries to catch his reflection in the pool, but he cannot. He is so fixated on his own reflection that he does not eat or sleep. He finds himself so attractive that he can only look at himself. Narcissus is confused by the reflection. He seems to think his reflection is for some reason evading him. Eventually Narcissus dies from I believe starvation. Sad.

Narcissus Looking at His Reflection

Pyramus and Thisbe - This is a very cute story about a boy and a girl who could not be together because of their families. They decided to run off in the night together. The girl, Thisbe, gets out first and goes to their meeting location, but she leaves because she sees a lioness that has just killed a cow coming toward the meeting place. While running away Thisbe drops a piece of her clothing. When Pyramus gets to the meeting location he sees the piece of clothing stained in blood and he notices the tracks of the lioness. he assumes the lioness has killed Thisbe. Upset of the thought of losing his lover, Pyramus kills himself with his sword. Thisbe returns to the meeting place to see her dead lover. Now a distraught Thisbe picks up Pyramus’s sword and kills herself out of love!

Mythology and Folklore Storybook Topic Brainstorm

Topic: Native American Creation Stories

Comments: I am very interested in creation stories among Native Americans. The ones I have heard are both beautiful and mysterious. I think one of the most important aspects of culture is where people believe they come from. I think this topic would give me the opportunity to finally investigate Native American creation stories and learn more about some of the cultures that live in this world. 

Possible Stories: I know the Un-textbook provides a lot of creation stories. I am much less interested in Christian creation stories, but I think the un-textbook will be a great start for Native American stories. I have also found many sites on the internet for Native American creation stories.

Sample Story Comments: I read a story from the Tuskegee Tribe about the origin of Earth. It was a very fascinating story about how there earth was once all water. The was a council held by birds to decided if they should have a world of all water or all land. They decided on land an the leader, the Eagle, made a small island. eventually the island grew and grew into what is not earth. The tribe believes they were chosen by the Great Sprit and placed on the Earth first a long, long time ago. This was a great story, an it really makes me realize the different world views that are found throughout the world!

Bibliography:

Story Title: The Origin of Earth Book Title: Indigenous Peoples’ Literature Index
Book Author: Glenn Walker
Year: 1995

Topic: Zombie Culture
Comments: To be completely honest, Zombies are a passion of mine. I love the television shows and there is just something about the “undead” culture that draws me in. I would have a lot of fun doing a storybook project on this topic. 
Possible Stories: The un-textbook had a couple of stories from the African section in Nigeria about zombies. After doing some research I have also found stories from Haiti and Cuba, where French ideology and African culture have mixed during the slave trade. This has led to voodoo myths.
Sample Story Comments: I read some stories from Haiti about reports of people becoming zombified. The stories about zombies are very intriguing because it is hard to understand who these stories come about. I am very interested in this topic, but I am not exactly sure how to intersect this topic with this course. If I were to choose this topic I would definitely need more information. 
Bibliography:
Story Title: Haiti and the Truth about Zombies
Book Title: Passages of Darkness: The Ethnobiology of the Haitian Zombie
Book Author: Wade Davis
Year: 1988

Topic: Dogs: Are they really your BF?
Comments: For this project I would like to look at the roles dogs play in cultures around the world. i have learned that some Native Cultures regarded them highly as protectors of humanity and I would like to explore what other cultures ideas about dogs are.  
Possible Stories: The Un-textbook has some animal stories, but none that I could find that relate entirely to dogs in particular. However, I have found some interesting text online about dogs seen as protectors in Native American Tribes. 
Sample Stories Comments: This story comes from the Hupa tribe in Northern California. This tribe sees dogs as the “Protector” of humans. They took a vow of science and will only speak when the world is coming to an end. I loved this story and this is exactly what I was looking for. 
Bibliography: 
Story Title: The Hupa
Book Title: The North American Indian: Volume 13
Book Author: Edward S. Curtis
Year: Unknown

Topic: Norse Culture Myths
Comments: For this topic I would like to explore Nordic culture and their mythological stories. I have been very interested in Nordic culture since I was a kid. 
Possible Stories: The Un-textbook has many stories for me to use on this subject! 
Sample Story Comments: This website was very interesting, and it describe what Valhalla is. If I was really interested in this topic I might change it to the Heavens and the Hells of different cultures.
Bibliography: 
Story Title: Valhalla
Book Title: Norse Mythology for Smart People
Book Author: Dan McCoy
Year: 2012

Week 2: Essay Homer’s The Iliad

For this week I read Homer’s The Iliad. I really enjoyed reading this story even though I have read the story before. It has been quite a while, sometime in high school, since I last read the Iliad. I was quite surprised at just how much I had forgotten about the tale, but when I finished the reading I was very happy that I took the time to re-read, or listen to, the story. Since I have read the story before I already knew the background story, but if I was reading this story for the first time I might have been confused about the beginning and how the whole war was started. It went by pretty fast in the chapters.

Something else I would consider telling perspective reader in Mythology and Folklore course might be that it was a little difficult for me to try to write my storytelling post. Personally, it was much easier for me to write a storytelling post from the Aesop’s Fables. This, of course, is in part because Aesop made his fables so easily understood; and perhaps The Iliad just needs a person with a little bit more of a... creative imagination. I chose this reading because I thought having read it before I might be able to better grasp Mythology and Folklore, as opposed to jumping head first into the deep pool of Mythology. I hope this tale of the Iliad is a good icebreaker into the course of Mythology and Folklore. 

This unit was a superb one. I was very glad to see it on the reading list. I think the most rewarding thing I learned from this unit may be a new writing style. As I mentioned above, one of the hardest things for me this week was writing the Storytelling Blog Post. While I had a difficult time writing the post, I think I also made tremendous headway in terms of developing a new writing style. 

Achilles Warrior

Google Presence Tech Tip

This was a fun Tech Tip. Unfortunately for me I have a very common name. Christian Allen is pretty unordinary. Nevertheless, it was still fun to see who had a name like mine. As of right now, I do not have much of an online presence. With their being so many Christian Allen’s in the world it is a little hard to compete for number one spot, which at this moment goes to a video game artist  I have googled myself before, but like I said it was difficult to find anything about myself in particular. Even when I tried googling my First Middle and Last Name I did not come up with anything about myself. I was not very surprised by these results. In high school I shared, with many people, my last name. 

Comment Wall

Leave your Comments Here

Week 2 Storytelling: The Slaying of Prince Jack

This story starts out in a distant land, far from those known to you and I, known as Catlandia. This world was inhabited by an ancient and intelligent race of Felines. Their city of Meowton is surrounded by a large and sturdy wall that is impenetrable to any opposing enemies. The King of Catalonia is referred to as King Nala. He was a just king who always treated his subjects fairly. He was a proud king and a proud parent of two beautiful children. His firstborn was a handsome lad named Jack and his youngest was a beautiful princess named Pepper.

One day in the land of Catlandia Pepper was off on her daily stroll by the ocean when she came across a strange man passed out on the beach. His name was Sargent. He was a rough looking mutt from a land on the other side of the ocean called Barkersfield. Unknown to Pepper or Sargent at the time their paths had just crossed and would forever be intertwined.

Cat and Dog Love

“Meow, you okay?” Pepper questioned Sargent.

Scratching his ears he stood on his four feet, “Yeah, I’m fin...” He caught hold of the princess beautiful eyes and paused for a moment, “Fine... Who are you?”

"Princess Pepper", she replied.

Skipping ahead several hours Pepper and Sargent were still talking. Little by little they were falling in love and soon Sargent would ask Pepper to run away with him. And so she did leaving all she had ever known behind to start a new life in the land of Barkersfield.

King Nala was worried about his darling daughter when she did not arrive at supper that night. He sent all of the guards he could afford to search for her. Unable to find his daughter the King finally came across a humble farmer who told the King he had seen his daughter with a dog sail on the ocean toward Barkersfield! The king outraged ordered his troops to go fourth and retrieve his daughter.

Soon, the troops returned empty handed. They told the King they had not enough troops to find or force Princess Pepper back home. On their voyage home the troops were followed by the Barkersfield Army who were ordered by their king to lay siege to Catlandia. At once King Nala ordered his entire army to ready themselves for war. They did as the King said and started to prepare. Before they knew it Dog Warriors from Barkersfield were unloading onto the shores of Catlandia and the War had begun.

Both sides suffered major injuries. Bites, scratches and disgusting slobber attacks. The war ended for the night and proceeded the next day. The second day advanced and many more casualties followed on each side. Finally each side agreed to send out their best fighters for Victory. With many years of experience in the field of Marshal Arts, King Nala sent his son, Prince Jack. During the time of his sisters running away to Barkersfield, Jack was very upset about the kidnapping of his Sister.

The King of Barkersfield sent his best man, Sargent. A proven warrior in combat, Sargent was the best hope the King of Barkersfield had. Sargent was ready to fight for the hand to his new girl, Pepper, and Jack was ready to fight to have his sister back.

The battle between the two was finished almost as soon as it had begun; It was over. Jack was able to get in a few good hits, but Sargent was victorious in the Battle and ended the battle with a final chomp on Jack’s neck.

Depiction of the Battle between Jack and Sargent

As the battle ended it was evident that the Barkerfieldians were superior to the Catlandians. All was well in the lands again, and soon Sargent and Pepper were wedded and live a very happy life together!


Author’s Note:
I choose to do a funny style of writing with new characters that closely matched the events that took place in the original story, Homer’s The Iliad. I choose this style of writing because eI felt like I would be better able to engage the readers into the story. I based some of the characters off of pets that I own or that my relatives own. The original story had a women who was taken by greeks from troy. A battle occurred in Troy and eventually the hero Achilles defeated the Champion of Troy.

Bibliography:
The Iliad by Alfred J. Church (1907)

Week 2 Reading Diary: Homer's Iliad

For this week I choose Homer’s Iliad listed below are my favorite sections from this epic!

Reding Part A:

The Quarrel - My first reaction for this section is sorrow for Apollo, I found it very shocking that his daughter was stolen from he and even when he begged and tried to give trade gold for his daughter. Agamemnon was atrocious for not returning the daughter to Apollo. Further on, I found Achilles heroic actions to disobey his King and save the life of Apollo and his daughter.


What Thetis Did for Her Son - Poor Thetis. This section starts of with her begging Zeus to give honor to her son Achilles. I love the imagery the book used where she is pulling on Zeus’s Beard. I also like the section where Zeus’s wife Hera was trying to pry into what Zeus was up to. She finally figured out the scheme and tried to give advise to Zeus. My favorite part of this section was the dream Zeus sent to Agamemnon to give honor to Achilles!

The Embassy to Achilles - Favorite quote from this passage, “For the men of those days were as mighty in eating and drinking as in fighting.” The King Agamemnon sent Achilles gifts of kettles, gold, and his daughters hand in marriage in turn for Achilles to return to battle. I could see a story about a fish that disobeys his king. Achilles refuses the gifts and says he will stay true to himself. Kings that sit in their tents receive more treasure and spoils than the men the fight the battles. Why then would he fight? Achilles has thought about settling down in life. He has two choices, Live short and name be forever remembered or Live a long life and be forgotten in history.


Reading Part B:

The Rousing of Achilles - Achilles was so upset by his friends death, that he only had to be seen at the Trenches on the battlefield for people to be deathly afraid of him. He obeyed his mother and went to the Trenched. Even though this was a sad part in the story, I think it has been one of the most powerful. Achilles mother Thetis promises to bring her son new weapons so that he may fight in battle... Great Mom. 

The Slaying of Hector - Apollo gave courage to a warrior to not run from achilles, but to stay and fight him. Finally Hector stood outside the gates and waited for Achilles. It is better to save the people of Troy by either slaying Achilles or be slain by him. But Hector ran away and was pursued by Achilles. Zeus was conflicted about weather or not to save Hector from death. Hector had been faithful to the gods and always offered sacrifice. A goddess tricked Hector into fighting with Achilles. Hector was well armored but there was a weakness in his armor. Achilles speed him and killed him. Hector pleaded to let the Troys have his body. Achilles dragged Hectors body behind a chariot back to the ships. 

Achilles and Hector

Week 1: Famous Last Words

This week I have really enjoyed starting up my blog for this course! I have had some experience with blogging, but not much so it is a bit of a different experience for me to write. Throughout the week and after reading other peoples blogs I think I have finally figured out a couple of writing styles that I would like to start incorporating into my own writing. While I think that I am moderately decent at creating and writing stories I have been very impressed with others ability to be super creative. I am definitely going to try and focus on being even more creative with this course. After all, how often do you have a course where this type of creativity is encouraged! I hope I do not go to far outside the lines! For this week I would say my best or most creative writing was my storytelling post. I felt like I really sat down and created something of my own to go with the Aesop Fables. I enjoyed the experience and am excited for next weeks storytelling.

I like the style of writing I used for my storytelling and I believe I will definitely use it in the future. It seemed to come pretty naturally to me, so for that I am thankful.

During this first week of classes I have really started to notice a parallel or connection to other course I am currently taking. One of my courses if titled Anthropology: Native American Artistic Traditions! Part of the artistic traditions we talk about is storytelling, including creation stories! I have found these to be not only beautiful, but awe inspiring and magnificent.

I am pretty excited for this course and most of my other courses. I recently finished all of my general education classes. I think I am going to have a great time in this course, even though it is my first Online course.

Good luck to you, future Christian. When you look back at this I hope you remember how much fun your semester was. :)



Pacific NW Frog

Youtube Tech Tip

Here is the embedded YouTube video of my favorite Stand Up Comedian Anjelah Johnson. This YouTube video is titled Stand Up Comedian by Anjelah Johnson - Nail Salon. 

Blogger Template Tech Tip

This Tech Tip was about template changes you can make to your blogger blog. I found that even without the use of the dynamic templates there was a wide range of template options for one to choose from. I was surprised to see the actual amount of possible templates. I also blog on Tumblr and when I compare the two I find that Tumblr happens to have a much larger array of options to use in terms of templates. The thing I like most about both Tumblr and Blogger is the Archive links. I love to be able to look back at past post! I choose this template because it was a pretty simple design (anything too fancy I feel takes away from the blog) and the color scheme along with the design reminds me of ocean waves! I would definitely recommend sprucing up your blog with some beautiful templates to make it a bit more appealing to your audience!

Week 1: Storybook Favorites

The first project I found and was interested in is titled A Grimm Look at Grimm Tales. This project stuck out to me because I loved the irony of the story its self. The author did a great job of comprising the story with modern technologies. I found the fusion of modern technologies and conveniences with the known Tales of Grimm to be very beautiful and overall witty effective writing style. I would like to try my hand at this type of story writing!

The next project I decided to write about was titled Native Creation Myths: Dreams or Reality? I found this project to be completely different from the first project I choose. It struck me as interesting again from the stand point of the writing style used in the introduction by the author. I was quickly drawn into the story and wanted to know more about what they had to say. I would definitely like to use a writing style of this project to enrapture readers. 

The final project I choose was title The Old Names: Name Stories. This author set up their project beautifully. My favorite aspect of this project was the projects website. I really loved the format. I think the author was very creative in their story and it was definitely a story that I could read again. 

I enjoyed all of these storybooks. I am excited to create my own and get a chance to make read some great storybook projects!

Week 1: An Introduction to Myself

Hello,

My name is Christian Allen. I am a junior at OU majoring in Anthropology and minoring in International Studies. I am specifically interested in Archaeology, (One of the four subfields of Anthropology), of the Pacific NW. I only recently found my passion for Archaeology after taking some anthropology classes on campus. If you haven’t yet taken an Anthropology class I highly recommend it!

I was born in Joplin, MO, but have moved around a lot as a child. Interestingly the hospital I was born in is no longer standing, due to the Joplin tornado and all. I graduate high school from Broken Arrow High in OK and now live in Norman. I have also lived in Kansas and Arkansas.

I am currently employed at Griffin Memorial Hospital here in Norman as a billing specialist and at the Oklahoma Archaeological Survey on campus washing artifacts from archaeological digs here in Oklahoma.

Do NOT be alarmed if you see two of me walking around campus. I have a twin brother who recently transferred here to the University of Oklahoma from OSU. He is studying Public Affairs and Administration.

We now live together and combined have a total of three pets. I own one dog, an English Bulldog named Sargent, or Sarge for short. Below is a picture of him from this summer cooling off in the summer heat. His favorite pass times include playing in kiddy pools, placing your hand in his mouth, and sleeping... a lot. Sargent recently went under the "great snip” and is currently not feeling up to par, but usually he loves going on long walks and meeting new dogs. He hopes to one day bring about world peace, but for now he is content with his life in Norman.

(Photo of Sargent the English Bulldog taken by myself)

My brother has two cats. Nala, pictured below, and Holland. We have had Nala since he was a kitten and he was unfortunately named before we found out the he was not a she. Due to a medical condition neither of Nala’s testicles descended. While my brother and I have had no problem changing Nala’s gender pronouns from female to male our mother still has the hardest time, even after four years!

Nala the King of the House (Photo taken by myself)

In a nutshell, that is my life. I am looking forward to this semester and creating some great memories!

Week 1: An Exploration into the Unknown of the Un-Textbook

Here I am going to list some of the titles from our class (Mythology and Folklore) Un-Textbook. I will say that may of the chapter look fascinating and I am very excited to start this course!

Week 2 and 3: Biblical
For this section I choose Homers’ Iliad and Legends of Noah. I think I was appealed to both of the sections mostly because I have heard of them before I know they are great stories and would love to read them again, but I think I might try to go with something I have not read. Cupid and Psyche looks pretty interesting as well as Jewish Fairytales. I’m not quite sure what to expect out of them, but my the blurb and titles I am intrigued.

Week 4 and 5: Middle East - India
 Instantly I saw the title Life of Buddha and was excited. This would be something I am definitely into reading. A story such as this would probably get me thinking about life and new perspectives which is exactly what I like to do. Twenty-Two Goblins also caught my attention, I love riddles and think this story would interest me!

Week 6 and 7: Asia/ Pacific and Africa
I have always been enchanted by Tibet and I hope to travel there one day. I think my next choice would be Tibetan Folktales, not to mention so far I am missing out on the folktales thus far. This part is hard. I love African history and I think many of these titles are jumping out at me. If I have to be honest, I have an obsession with Zombies or "Zombie Culture” so I would choose Tales from the Congo

Week 8 and 9: Native America
Fantastic! I am very excited for this section. Pacific NW is number one for me. I love the area and the anthropology of the native cultures from the Pacific NW, it just makes sense for me. I would probably choose Indian Fairy Tales next. It seems like a good place to get a somewhat general overview and I like that it is told for children (that will probably help me understand it better)

Week 10 and 11: British Isles
In this sections I would probably choose Beowulf I love the story and I would like to actually read it.
Next I would choose Celtic Tales, I have never read Celtic Tales but I like Celtic Knots and it seems like an interesting culture... I would like to learn more.

Week 12 and 13: Europe
I would choose Czech Folktales. I have family that is from the Czech Republic and I would love to know more about the culture there! I would also choose Grimm! I love these tales and think they would be a great read!

Week 1 Storytelling: The Boy who Planned on Getting a New Toy

Timothy was a very young lad and had a fruitful mind. He knew exactly what he wanted and he was very careful about planning out how to get what he wanted. For two whole weeks Timothy had his eye on a brand new toy car that had just come out. During this time he had created a plan to get what he wanted. He asked his mother if he could clean the house for some allowance. She was hesitant at first because the family did not have much money to spare on frivolous items such as toys.

"Why don't you help me set the table, and then go and play with your friends? You don't need a toy to be happy" She said.

“Oh, please mom, the whoooole house,” he begged.

She could not say no to her precious boy and he was soon at work cleaning the house. While his friends played outside he found himself sweeping and mopping, dusting and scrubbing and worst of all changing the cat's littler! All the while he cleaned he could only think about the brand new toy he would get, but first he had to come up with a plan to make enough money for even cleaning the house was not going to be near enough to afford the new toy.
 

He planned to buy an apple from the grocery store and plant the seeds in the into the garden of his backyard. When his apple tree was grown he would then sell the apples and make a very large profit, enough to buy many toys.  

“Soon,” he exclaimed “I will have that toy.”

He was given his allowance, as promised by his mother, and ran as fast as possible to the grocery store. As he walked into the entrance he was stopped by a beautiful gum ball machine. With money in his hand he wasted no time and was soon happily chomping on a bubblegum flavored gum ball. Continuing on his journey to buy an apple his dream of owing this brand new toy was unknowingly cut short when the cashier said, “That will be thirty-eight cents please.” Panicked Timothy had just learnt of his mistake, he had spent all but a nickel of his allowance. With the purchase of the gum ball vanished his apple seed, tree and all hopes of every owning that new car toy.

Kids at a Gumball Machine

Authors Note: Don’t count your chickens before they hatch!
This story was about a milkmaid who planned to use her milk to make butter to sell to then buy eggs and hatch chickens and then sell to buy a dress and look good for potential suitors. Unfortunately for her, the milk spilled and he dreams and plans were washed away and she could no longer find a suitor.

Bibliography:

The Aesop for Children. Aesop. N.p.: n.p., n.d. The Project Gutenberg. Rand McNally & Company, 2 Dec. 2002. Web. 13 Aug. 2014.

OU Email Tech Tip

As a student I tend to organize many things, including my email. I organize my email two folders deep. The first folder is organized into semesters. An example of these folders names would be (Fall 2013, Spring 2014, Summer 2014). I use this strategy to make finding a particular folder easier. If I can remember which semester I took a particular course in. The next file folder down is organized based on courses. For example, within my email folder labeled Spring 2014 I have five folders. These folders are labeled by course number like ANTH 2113, ANTH 3043 and GEOL 1003. This type of organization makes my life much easier for finding and organizing all of my emails!

Week 1: Favorite Places (Table Rock Lake and The Pacific North West)

After some debate I have narrowed down my favorite places to just two different places. One is from my past and the other is somewhere I want to be.


Table Rock Lake, Missouri: As a child I grew up on Table Rock Lake. It is a place that has so many good memories for me including boating, spending time with my grandparents and camping! It is a beautiful place surrounded by Missouri wilderness and fun activities, such as the Branson Belle shown below.

(Showboat Branson Belle: Wikimedia Commons)

 

 

North West Pacific Coast, US: As an Anthropology major in the Archaeology discipline there is a tremendous amount of pressure to try to decide what area of study you want to do before you get to graduate school. Most graduate schools for Archaeology are specialized in two or three areas. Last year I fell in love with the area along the NW coast of the US known as the Pacific North West. In my future I plan to go to a graduate school in this area and start my journey as a post undergraduate there!

 

 

 

 

(Crooked River in Smith Rock State Park: Wikimedia Commons)



Test Post

This is a test post for my new blogging site. I will be using this blogging site for a course I am taking at the University of Oklahoma called (Mythology and Folklore). I am looking forward to this class and to learning about things from around the world :)