Week 10 Lab: Writers Write

Writers Write

The Writers Write website is full of articles to help writers of any kind.  I spent most of my time looking through the articles under the creative writing tab.  One article that I particularly liked was called 6 Ways for Writers to Stay More Motivated by Bridget McNulty.  I often find it hard to stay motivated when I am writing, especially when I am writing for my science classes.  McNulty suggests finding a place and time to consistently write.  A writers brain gets in the zone when a writer is able to do this.  As of now I have no consistency when it comes to the time and place I write.  It all depends on when I have time and where I am in the moment.  McNulty also argues that a writer is always writing meaning that in the dead times, a writer is always pondering over writing ideas.  I hardly do that at all so I might need to change my daily mindset.  Other articles I found on the Writers Write website seemed to contain very useful writing advice as well.

Sources

6 Ways for Writers to Stay More Motivated by Bridget McNulty
Writers Write Website
Image Information: Writing Space: Pixabay

Week 10 Reading Notes: Epified Krishna B

Epified Krishna B

Krishna and his cowherd friends were hanging out one day and eating off of the same plate.
Brahma, the creator of the universe was curious as to why they were doing this.
Brahma then decided to test Krishna's divine power.
Brahma then disappeared with the cows that Krishna and his friends were watching over.
Krishna went looking for the cows and found that Brahma had taken them and his friends.
Krishna, to teach Brahma a lesson, played a trick on him.
He created the lost cows and cowherds out of himself.
No one could tell the difference when he returned home.
Brahma kept the cows and cowherds for a whole year but life went on normally in the village.
The parents of the cowherds could not even tell that their children were not real.
When Brahma went to the village to find all of this, he used his powers to find that all the fake cows and people were actually Krishna.
Brahma fell to his knees and acknowledged Krishna's divinity. He also thanked him and gave back his friends and cows.
Krishna went back out with his cowherd friends and told them that he wanted to become strong enough to punch the bull Hastin.
Hastin was the strongest bull in the village.
He was the source of all the cows in the village.
The whole village was scared of Hastin because he was so violent.
Killing the bull was not a good deed so he told everyone that he would ride it.
Nobody believed him.
Krishna played the flute in front of Hastin every night for a month.
By the end of this, Hastin became docile.
Krishna then rode Hastin and the village was shocked.
In this Krishna taught the village a lesson of kindness.
Kindness is the ultimate strength.


Bibliography

Krishna by Epified TV
Image information: Krishna Riding Hastin: Wikimedia Commons

Week 10 Reading Notes: Epified Krisha A

Epified Krishna A

Krishna was a boy that had enemies before he was even born.
Many tried to stop his birth from happening.
When he was born, they did everything they could to keep him from growing up.
As a result, Krishna's childhood was filled with people and other beings attacking him.
He survived however and became a king and much more.
He made powerful allies and was a friend to those who needed help.
He made enemies of those who tried to harm his loved ones.
While many were involved in the life of Krishna they never understood that he was not a part of their world but that they were part of his world.
Krishna was destined to guide the Pandavas into war and bring about a new age.
There was a cruel king of Mathura named Kams who was told that his cousin's 8th child would be his heir.
Furious he tried to go kill his cousin (Vasudeva) and his cousin's wife (Devaki).
His sister however kept him from doing so.
He ended up throwing his cousin and cousin's wife in prison.
He killed the first 6 of his cousin's children.
The 7th child was transported from the mother's womb by the goddess Mahamaya to the womb of Rohini, the cousin's first wife.
Kans was happy because he thought Devaki had suffered a miscarriage.
Then she gave birth to her 8th child, the 8th reincarnation of Vishnu as a bright light shone from the heavens.
The whole world and all of the animals could feel the happiness.
Word reached Kans about the birth of his slayer.
The gods went to sleep and Vasudeva was able to leave prison with his son.
He traveled to the Yamuna river so he could cross it.
The river was so large he knew he would not be able to make it so he surrendered to the river and asked it for help.
A serpent with a hood came from the river and guided him across the river.
He reached a camp of gypsies, the people of Nand which was his destination.
There he found Yashuda who gave birth to Maya on that same night.
He left Krishna with Yashuda, took Maya, and left the camp.
He was sad but knew this is how his son would be safe.


Bibliography

Krishna by Epified TV
Image information: Vasudev, Krishna, and the Serpent: Wikimedia Commons

Week 9 Story: Rock On to Rock Off

The Day that Music Died

Dave, at only 18 years of age, already knew what he wanted to do with his life.  He was going to rock.  This Seattle native was blessed with one of the greatest singing voices the world has ever seen.  Because he grew up in Seattle during the 90's, he naturally grew a passion for the grunge rock music unique to that time.  Heavily influenced by Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden Dave, and his brother Chad and Vick, created a garage band called Overly Caffeinated Hippopotamus.  Dave of course was the lead singer.

The band quickly gained popularity as teens from all over the country traveled to see their gigs.  Within two years, the band was selling out huge concert halls and arenas all over the US.  One night while the band was playing, Chad spotted the most beautiful girl he had ever seen sitting in the first row.  He found her after the show and said,

"I have played hundreds of shows, and seen millions of faces in the crowd, but have never seen a girl as beautiful as you.  I am Chad, what is your name?"

The blushing girl said, "My name is Samantha, but most people call me Sam."

Chad and Sam began going on dates and had a healthy relationship.  Their affection for each other  grew over the next year and a half, and Chad was ready to ask Sam to be his wife.

Without telling Sam, Chad traveled to her home and asked her father,

"Do I have permission to marry your daughter?"

To his surprise, Sam's Dad said no, for he did not approve of Chad's rock and roll lifestyle.  He believed that Chad would bring great shame to his family.

Discouraged and down, Chad went to his brothers for support.  Chad loved Sam, but could not fathom the thought of leaving the band.

Dave went to Sam's father and begged him to gives Chad permission to marry Sam.  Sam's father did not budge.  Dave offered to kick Chad out of the band so that he could marry Sam.  Still, Sam's father remained steadfast because bringing Chad into his family also meant bringing Dave and Vick into the family.  If they continued to rock, they were bringing shame with them.

The next day Dave and Vick made a vow that would rock the world.  Together they said,

"We swear to never play music again so that our brother Chad can marry his love."

In a moment, the best rock band on Earth was wiped from the face of music.

When Chad heard what his brother's had done he was deeply distressed.  He felt responsible for taking away the dreams of his brothers.  Never the less, he would not let their sacrifice go to waste, so he married Sam.  The lived a happy life.

Dave and Vick, despite the constant cries from fans, did not break their vow.

Authors Note

The inspiration for this story came from the Mahabharata when Devavrat made the vow to never marry so that the fisherman's daughter, Satyavati, would be given permission to marry his father, King Shantanu.  Devavrat had tow half brothers named Chitrangad and Vichitraveerya.  In my story I changed the names, plot, and setting.  Devavrat was Dave, Chitrangad was Chad, Vichitraveerya was Vick, Satyavati was Sam, and Shantanu was absent.  It made more sense to me to have Chad as the one who falls in love rather than the three son's father so that what I did.  Just like the original, Dave made huge sacrifice in the form of a vow for the happiness of a family member.  I had Vick say the same vow because his identity in rock music was also preventing the marriage of Chad and Sam.

I love rock music so it seemed like a fun topic to build my story around.  Starbucks, based out of Seattle, is where I happened to write this story so it made sense to use the form of rock that Seattle is known for, grunge.  It was a little difficult for me to think of of a way to connect the Mahabharata with rock music, but I think I made it work haha.  Hope you enjoyed it.

Bibliography

The Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution by Epified TV

Image Information:  Alice in Chains, Another Popular Grunge Band from Seattle: Wikimedia Commons

Week 9 Reading Notes: Animated Mahabharata B

The Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution

King Shantanu passed away.
Bhishma then acted like a father to his two half brothers, Chitrangad and Vichitraveerya.
He taught them statecraft and how to be good administrators. 
Chitrangad battled Gandharva and was killed.
Vichitraveerya who was not healthy became king of Hastinapur.
Bhishma decided to get his brother a wife just in case something happened to him.
He kidnapped three princesses, Amba, Ambika, and Ambalika, from the court of Kashi.
The oldest of the three sisters, Amba, begged to go marry king Shalva her love.
When she got to king Shalva, he rejected her because she was taken by another man.
He told her to return to Bhishma and marry him.
She went back and begged Bhishma to marry her but he stayed true to his vow.
Amba became angry and blamed Bhishma for all of her.
She declared she would not rest until she punished him.
Amba looked tirelessly for one who would stand up for her, but know warrior dared to attack the son of Ganga.
She finally went to sage Parshuran who was supposedly an avatar of Vishnu.
Parshuran said he would convince Bhishma to marry her.
He said no again and then Parshuran challenged him to a fight to the death.
They beat up on each other for 23 days with no winner.
Finally Parshuran gave up and Bhishma won.
Vichitaveerya died and Hastinapur was kingless.
There was also no prince.
The Queen mother Satyawati decided Bhishma needed to marry.
She ordered Bhishma to father the children of Ambika and Ambalika.
Bhishma remained steadfast.
Satyawati then was forced to tell Bhishma a secret she had been keeping from him for all his life.
She had a son before she had met king Shantanu.
The father was a sage named Parashar.
The son was Vyas, who was destined to be the greatest poet the world has ever seen.
Vyas made a promise before he was sent away that he would appear whenever she summoned him.
She then called him, and he came.
She asked him to father the children of Ambika and Ambalika.
Vyas was not good looking and Ambika and Ambalika were afraid of him.


Bibliography

The Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution by Epified TV
Image Information: Hastinapur Temple: Wikimedia Commons

Week 9 Reading Notes: Animated Mahabharata A

The Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution

Ganesha is the lord of beginnings.
Story of kings and queens.
Story of heroes and villans.
Story of a war that swallowed the continent.
Temple building became an art from in India at the time of the Mahabharata.
It is a epic that shows how karma functions.
Shantanu fell in love with the princess Ganga and they got married.
The lovestruck king agreed to her harsh terms to never question her decisions.
Queen Ganga drowned her first 7 children.
Shantanu finally questioned her when she had the 8th.
Then she told him about the Vasus she agreed to set free from the mortal world.
She left him and took their only son.
He found his son Devavrat shooting arrows into the Ganges river.  He was overjoyed.
Devavrat had learned the art of war from a sage.  He also acquired great knowledge.
Shantanu brought his son back to the kingdom to be the new prince.
King Shantanu fell in love with a new woman.  She was a fisherman's daughter named Satyavati.
He asked her to marry him but she said no because her sons would never be king because of Devavrat.
He suffered and started negleting his kingdom.
Devavrat went to the fisherman and tried to reason with him to sooth his father's pain.
The fisherman said no no matter what Devavrat said.
Devavrat spoke a vow that he would never marry.  This would eventually lead to a gigantic war. This was for the sake of his father's happiness.
Devavrat from then on became known as Bhishma.
The fisherman then let his daughter marry the king.
Bhishma went to his father thinking that he would be happy but he was not.
The good thing that came out of this was Bhisma was able to decide the time of his death.
Death could not come whenever it wanted to.  It was his choice.
Bhishma kept his promise and Hastinapur remained peaceful under his watch.


Bibliography

The Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution by Epified TV
Image Information: A man who will never marry: Max Pixel

Week 8 Progress

Progress Street: Picserver

I am really happy with the progress I have made this semester.  I think I have become a much better writer in these short 8 weeks.  Writing stories is way more fun than I anticipated.  It is a really good feeling when you are able to tie the whole story together at the end.  It feels like a big accomplishment.

I definitely have room to grow in my story writing though.  There are many skills that I don't have but can obtain if I keep working at it.  I look to keep bringing together ideas from different stories to create my own story.

Week 8 Comments and Feedback

The quality of comments on my portfolio stories have been great so far.  Many nice things were said followed by constructive criticism.  The suggestions really helped me improve my stories.

I think the quality of feedback that I've given has been good!  The tools WWW and TAG were especially helpful for me.  I actually haven't been reading stories to come up with more ideas for my own stories.  I've been reading to leave comments.  I really think from now on I should read my peers' writing like I read the other stories for this class; as a writer.

I have been really happy with the blog comments and getting to know people.  I have read multiple stories from some people and I feel like we are getting decently close.  Everyone in this class is super friendly which is nice.

In the future I plan on reading all stories like a writer.  I think this will help me not only write better stories but also leave better comments.

Not Stuck for Long: Cheezburger

Week 8 Reading and Writing

Looking Back

I really do like the way my blog looks.  It might be fun to play around with more options though.  I think I will likely do that as a tech tip for extra credit this week after I get done with my tests.  I really love the way my project website looks.  I found some really cool pictures to use as my banners.

The reading and writing assignments are going great for me.  I have put a lot of thought into each of my stories.  I am sure though that I still have room to improve.  I think my blog looks good but could use a little work.  I am really happy with my website though.  I think my biggest accomplishment for writing in this class is really just that I am writing my own stories.  Writing my own stories is something new to me.  My favorite readings have been the Jakata Tales and the Mahabharata.  My reading notes have really helped me write.  All my stories are based off of the notes I've taken.

Favorite Image

 Website Banner Image: A Young Asian Elephant Stepping into a Stream: Pixabay

I think this picture is beautiful.  The rays of sun shining through through the trees capture a cool moment for a young elephant and it's mother or father.  Elephants play a huge role in Indian culture as well which makes this picture even more special.

Looking Forward

I will keep reading the stories in their entirety and writing the stories that come to my mind.  I might try writing in different styles and from different point of views to have some fun.  As far as new ideas for this class nothing really pops up in my mind.  I have enjoyed the structure of this class and have not had any issues.

Reading Notes: Banyan

Banyan

Banyan was the king of the deer.  He was the golden deer.

His eyes were described as jewels.

His antlers were described as silver crescents.

His hooves looked like pears.

If I saw this deer idk what I'd do.  I would probably freeze, memorized by its beauty.  As someone who likes to deer hunt, I have gained an appreciation for the animal.  They are quite beautiful creatures to begin with so I Banyan must have been stunning.

Banyan was not the only deer king.  There was another named Branch.

They both ruled over 500 deer.

The king of Benares was a big deer hunter.  He went out every day.

The king and his men trampled many crop field while riding their horses to the hunting areas.

The peasants who worked these fields begged them to stop.

They came up with the idea to push the deer into the into the kings garden so that he would no longer have to travel to hunt.

These men surrounded the forest with sticks and spears making sure to cut off any escape route for the deer.

They then chased the deer out of the woods and into the king's garden (which was actually another forest across from the other forest, the crop fields separated them).

They shut the gates behind the deer so that none of them could escape.

The peasants came to the king an told him what they had done.

They said he no longer needed to pass through their fields to hunt.

The king was thankful.

From then on he just hunted in his forest.

He told all of his men that the two golden deer must not be killed.

Many deer were wounded many times before being killed.  (This is exactly what you do not want to do as a hunter)

Branch came to Banyan to propose a solution.

One deer under Branch would give itself up every other day.  On the other days, one deer under Banyan would give itself up.

These deer took turns.

It became a doe's turn but she had a fawn that she did not want to leave behind.

Banyan went and took her place.

The king seeing this act of kindness decided to never kill any more deer.

As a matter of fact, he never killed any more animals.

Bibliography

Banyan from Twenty Jataka Tales by Noor Inayat

Image Information: Spotted Deer Native to India: Wikipedia