Storytelling: The Chase - Week 2

I made a promise to King Janaka the day I won his daughter's hand in marriage that I'd do anything I could to make her happy....if that means chasing a golden deer just to put a smile on her face then so be it. 

The tall grass whipped my ankles as I ran, small branches scraping my arms as if they were reaching out to hold me back. My eyes were fixated on the blur of a deer's behind in front of me; it effortlessly ran through the forest with no sign of stopping. I struggled to keep sight of it and keep my speed up at the same time. 

I am not about to let this deer get away. I told Sita I would bring it back...dead or alive, and that is exactly what I am going to do. However, at this point, dead would be a more desirable option. 

I began to think about Sita, how lucky I was to be married to a woman such as her. I would chase this deer for days just to see her smile. The thought of her beauty sent a brief smile across my face. I was quickly jerked back to reality when the deer took a sudden right turn into an open grassland. The large trees stretched over the area, making what acted as a ceiling for the grassland. Finally, to my relief, the deer stopped. 

He must think I am not following him anymore. Surely he wouldn't have stopped had he known I was right on his tail ready to shoot him down. 

I moved slowly through the trees that outlined the grassland, I was sure to avoid stepping on leaves for the sound might give away my whereabouts. I finally reached a place where I had a straight shot. There deer stood, shining in the small streaks of sunlight that crept between branches. 

He is going to make a beautiful rug.

I brought up my aim, lining the center of my front sight with his heart. A small ting of guilt crossed over me and for a brief moment I considered letting the animal live. I had to remind myself that I was doing this for Sita, and I had warned her that the animal would surely die at my hands. 

I released my golden arrow and the beautiful animal fell to the ground. 

How am I going to carry this large animal all the way back? I am now very far from hermitage.

As I neared the animal, it began to squirm.

It is not dead yet!

I leaned over the large animal, ready to take my final shot when all of a sudden...

"Oh Sita! Oh Lakshmana!" I was schocked to hear my own voice coming out of the deer's mouth. Then the unthinkable happened, the golden deer began morphing....into Maricha. His true identity was revealed.

I have been tricked! He has lead me away from my camp leaving Sita and Lakshmana alone!

Internet photo: Rama chases golden deer

Wikipedia

Authors note:

I chose to do the story from the point of view of Rama as he is chasing down the golden deer. Part of it is him explaining the event as it is happening and part of it is his inner thoughts. I explained, from my imagination, what he was feelings and thinking about as he ran through the wood. Rama seems to fear nothing so I just thought it would be fun to dig a little into what is really going on in his head. 

Bibliography

Narayan, R. K. (1972) The Ramayana.Maricha. Wikipedia

Reading Diary B: The Golden Deer - Week 2

Rama is going into exile and everyone is upset, except Rama who seems to be very calm about the whole situation. I was surprised by the level of devotion the characters have, such as Lakshmana and Sita wanting to go into exile with Rama.
Everyone is trying to convince Rama not to go by he leaves anyway. Dasharatha dies when he finds out about Rama's final departure.

Rama's brother finds out about his brother's exile and Dasharatha's death. Instead of taking the throne for himself, he finds Rama and unsuccessfully tries to convince him to return. I thought it was very admirable how Bharatha didn't just follow his mother's wishes and immediately take the crown.
Eventually, he decides to rule just while Rama is gone.

Throughout their journey, they meet Anasuya (the wife of a sage) and Shurpanakha (Ravana's sister). They also run across Ravana who desires Sita, and asks his uncle Maricha for help capturing her.
In the end, Maricha dies. However, it seemed as karma served him right.

I liked how Sita and Rama have a continuous devotion for one another, even through everything they are enduring. Rama is always concerned with Sita's safety and Sita gave up her life to accompany Rama on his journey.

Reading Diary A: Rama and Sita - Week 2

King Dasharatha

• ruler of the kingdom of Kosala
• has no children in the beginning
• His four sons:
• Rama, Bharata, Lakshmana, Shatrughna
• Wives:
• Kausalya, Kaikeyi, Sumitra

Vasishtha

• Dasharatha's mentor and guide
• the king listens to his advice

Rama

• Dasharatha's incarcerated son
• actually the God Vishnu
• Falls in love with Sita
• wins King Janaka's competition
• Kills Thataka and her son

Vishvamitra

• once a king, now a sage
• battles Thataka with Ram
• tells Rama about Mahabali and the Dwarf

Thataka

• very hateful of the world
• killed by Rama
• her two sons seek revenge

Sita

• daughter of King Janaka
• falls in love with Rama at first sight
• her father has a competition for her hand in marriage

Famous Last Words - Week 1

This week has been a whirlwind; the first week always is...and i've realized that still doesn't change as a senior.
I have had friends who have taken this class before and the response was always the same: "there is a lot of writing." To be honest, I came into this class a little worried, not knowing what to expect. However, I am pleasantly surprised. I've liked writing in this class because every assignment we have had, has been based on our own thoughts, our own interpretations, and our own feelings. I enjoy writing the most when I feel like I am expressing myself without bounds. Therefore, I would have to say that I feel I did the best on the Introduction post.
Usually in history or culture classes, you are strictly writing about something that has happened in history, and you can't put your own twist on history. This class has allowed us to mix history and our own thoughts. I believe that's actually allowed me to learn the information better; I am putting more thought into each individual topic.

There was one piece of writing that has stood out to me over all the others and that was Ryan's comment on my Introduction post. I think he has a very creative way of writing and I would love to incorporate some of that technique into my own writing.

As a Criminology major, i've taken every sociology class possible. As a senior, I am finally done with basics and just taking classes that are targeted to my major (other than this class.) With each sociology class, you learn something different about the human mind and the human experience. Currently I am in Gangs and Violence, Methods, and Social Statistics.
Overall, I like learning about people....so this class has been interesting to me. I'm learning about a whole new culture of people that I previously knew nothing about.

As most college students have realized by now, time management is so important yet so tricky. This week I learned about an iPhone app called "Up Next." Basically, it tracks both your calendar and To Do list on your phone and categorizes it so you can see what is coming "up next" in your week. You can set reminders or add new events. Aside from that, it has shortcuts to driving directions and phone calls. It's been very helpful for me because I have to be able to see everything I have to do in one place or I begin to get stressed and overwhelmed. If you're anything like me, you should definitely check it out.

Google: "Up Next" app 2014

Introduction - Week 1

My name is Carrie Graham. Currently, I am a senior Criminology major. I started out my freshman year as a Public Relations major with a minor in Criminology. I love to write, but I quickly figured out that I do not like learning about writing. Therefore, I decided to make my minor into my major and drop the whole Public Relations thing all together. People ask me all the time what I want to do with my major, and honestly...I am still trying to figure it out. I love Criminology and I am good at it, but it's been hard to narrow down exactly what I would like to do in that field.

I'm from Fort Worth, Texas and that is exactly where I plan to go back after college. I love Texas (as does most everyone from Texas) and I can't imagine living anywhere else. However, I am glad that I went out of state for college, I really feel like I have done a lot of growing up.

I absolutely love animals. They are my passion and have been my whole life. I get it from my mom, who gets it from her mom. We have a handful of animals at home, maybe a little more than a handful. Every animal we have at my parents house is a stray that my mom has taken in.
I finally got my own rescue pup last October, a 4 month boxer mix. He is everything to me. He's now a one year old ball of energy with legs that are longer than he can handle.

Personal photo, 2013

I also really enjoy traveling, and I travel a lot with my family. This past summer I went to Cabo San Lucas and Punta de Mita. Both trips were amazing, partially because the beach is my favorite place in the world. I've never been one for cold, however, last spring I went skiing in Colorado; we've gone skiing every since I was very young. I suppose you could consider that a hobby.
Aside from that, I enjoy photography and running.

That's about it. I look forward to this semester and what is {hopefully} my last year of college.

Storybook favorites - Week 1

The first storybook I picked was IE Yoga Studios: Pose Origins Workshop. This caught my attention because I am very into yoga; I attend hot yoga every week.

I had a little bit of background insight into the origins of yoga but nothing near what they explained on their site. I found all of their information very interesting and easy to understand. The website, which was full of pastel colors and big font, did a good job reinforcing the calming tone they seemed to be setting. The story book covered four different yoga poses: Hanumanasana, Virabhadrasana, Garudasana, and Bhujangasana (most of which I only know by the much shorter nicknames.) Each was well explained with brief and simple explanations, this made it easy to follow what they were saying. 

https://sites.google.com/site/ieyogastudios/introduction

The second storybook that drew my attention was The Royal Girls' Room. This page is based off of an American TV show called The Amanda Show. The website is full of bright colors and fun fonts. I used this watch this show when I was younger so when I was looking through the Storybooks, this caught my attention. The Introduction page is set up as a dialogue between a girl and a toilet. As odd as it seems, it was quite attention grabbing. The purpose is to profile four people: Sita, Kaikeyi, Kunti, and Damayanti. Once again, each page is set up as dialogue, making it seem as though they are just high school girls in the bathroom gossiping. This made it not only easy to understand, but easy to stay interested. 

https://sites.google.com/site/theroyalladiesroom/introduction

I love animals, so naturally I had to pick at least one Storybook about animals. So the third Storybook I chose was Zoo Animal History. I enjoyed this one because it was set up as if you were on an tour at the zoo. It described three animals of Hindu importance: Matsya, Hanuman, and Jatayu. Overall, the design of the page was good. Although, I have to say, the font was a little hard to read. Other than that, the information was presented in a well organized and well thought out manor. It was a lot of information was it was given in a way that made it easy to follow, which is important to me because who wants to have to look up the definition of every other word in a story? 

https://sites.google.com/site/zooanimalshistory/home

I really enjoyed reading each one of these Storybooks, its easy to learn when the information is presented in such a creative way!

Indian Epics - Week 1

I really have no idea what to think going into this class, my former roommate has taken this class and said it was quite interesting. To be honest, I know nothing about Indian Epics; the background, or the culture. It will be exciting to learn about a culture I have no previous ideas or opinions about.
So far, I enjoy this class, it's been fun! I look forward to the rest of the semester!

Storytelling - Week 1

THERE were two birds sat on a stone,

Fa, la, la, la, lal, de;

One flew away, and then there was one,

Fa, la, la, la, lal, de;

The other flew after, and then there was none,

Fa, la, la, la, lal, de;

And so the poor stone was left all alone,

Fa, la, la, la, lal, de!

Two little birds were sitting on a stone. One was named squeak and one was named squawk.
The stone was next to a pond and the pond was next to a tree. The little bird's nests were in the tree. Their mothers, fathers, and siblings were inside.
Every night they sat on the stone until their mothers made them come inside. They were best friends; they had been since they were first born. 

There they sat, on their favorite stone, talking about their day.
One bird talked about how he flew over a river. "it was beautiful," he said "and it went on forever."
The other bird talked about how he had eaten bread thrown to him at a local park. "the people were very friendly, I will go back tomorrow," he said excitedly.
They agreed to go to both the river and the park together the next day. 

Then one birds mom began calling him from the nest. She had a mouth full of worms and it was time for him to come home. "Come in for dinner, Squeak!" The first little bird left, leaving only one little bird and the stone. 

There the other little bird sat, waiting for his mom to call him inside. After a couple minutes she comes out of the nest calling for her baby, "come inside squawk, it's getting dark out!" He flew to her; he wouldn't dare disobey his mother. 

The stone was left alone, but not for long. For the two little birds would be back the next night to talk about their day. 

Authors note:

This story is based on the nursery rhyme "There Were Two Birds Sitting on a Stone" which is quoted there in the story; you can find the rhyme inThe Nursery Rhyme Book, edited by Andrew Lang (1897).

I decided to make the two little birds best friends, who sat on the stone every night and talked about their day. One bird talks about how he had flown over a river that day; the other bird talks about how he had gone to a park and eaten bread. 

I got the names from my mom. I live on a lake and there are two ducks who live in my backyard; my mom named them squeak and squawk. This rhyme reminded me of them because they are always together, it seems as though they never leave each other's side. 

Week 1: Punta de Mita, Mexico....my favorite place

Punta de Mita, Mexico is a beautiful peninsula known for it's year-round perfect weather and mountainous landmarks.

Personal photo: Bahía de Banderas

July 2014

Last time I was there, we went ATV-ing through the mountains and the small town located in the middle of them. It was without a doubt one of the most interesting things i've ever done. There was something fascinating about the people living there. They had so much less than us, yet they were living in a place more beautiful than we even get to see on a daily basis. Aside from that, they were were some of the most welcoming and most gracious people i've ever met. 

One of the things that I think separates Punta de Mita from other beaches is the rocks. Some people don't like them because they are all over the beach, but I do. 

Personal photo: Four Seasons Resort

July 2014

At night, the resort I stayed at lights them up and you can see them from any distance. It's very pretty. There is a ledge over the water that you can walk out to, thats where most people go to take pictures. They also do romantic dinners up there (on my bucket list.) 

If you're ever considering a trip to Mexico, look into Punta de Mita. Trust me, it's worth it.

Carrie