Famous Last Words - Week 13

I am writing this post on monday because the rest of my week is going to be pretty hectic. My grandmother unexpectedly passed away yesterday. I will be leaving tomorrow after class because I don't have class on Wednesdays. The funeral is set for Thursday morning. Friday morning I leave to go to Austin for my cousin's wedding, which is friday night.
This may get a little sentimental.
It is so scary to think about how quickly things can change. One day - everything is fine. The next day - everything you knew has changed. It really puts things in perspective. We need to make the most out of each day we're given. We need to think of each day as a gift versus a privilege.

I am feeling a little stressed out because I have to get all my school work done before I go.
I have more school work in this class right now than my other's so that's what I have been focusing on today. However, I do have a test tomorrow so after I write this post I am going to switch subjects.

My parents came down for the Baylor game this past weekend and that was a lot of fun. I love when my parents come down. They love Norman, they think the little town feel is so cute. It is a little town compared to where I live.

Since this technically isn't the end of my week, that's really all I can say for now.
Till next time....

In honor of my favorite season and my favorite holiday coming up.

RSS Widget Tech Tip

This week I added a RSS Widget to the sidebar on my blog. This is one of those things that I never thought about having until I got it. It allows people to subscribe to my blog and keep updated with my posts. They could see my posts as easily as emails. This is actually a pretty cool idea. If you find someone's blog that really interests you, you can easily see all their posts. Aside from that, you can subscribe to as many blogs as you want. I hope more people in our class do this tech tip.

Storytelling: Matsya Kingdom - Week 13

The final casting list was about to come out. Students lined up outside the theater with high hopes of scoring the part of their dreams. The teacher came out with the list and walked up to the bulletin board; the students crowded closer and closer and tension grew. She pinned the list to the board and quickly moved out of the way.

Final Casting List

Matsya Kingdom

In order of appearance:

Brahmin .......... Yudhishthira

Virata's cook .......... Bhima 

Sudeshna's personal maid .......... Draupadi

Cattle supervisor .......... Sahadeva

Horse supervisor .......... Nakula

Eunuch .......... Arjuna

Synopsis of Scenes:

The acts take place in the Matsya Kingdom where King Virata rules. This is where the Pandavas choose to spend their thirteenth year of exile. They take on these parts to aid in their disguise. 

Everyone was content with their parts, it had been just what they auditioned for. Except for Arjuna. Arjuna read his part and stormed down the hallway. How dare the theater teacher force him to succumb to the part of the eunuch. The eunuch lives with the women of the court as a music and dance teacher. This seemed like the result of some curse. 

Yudhishthira was exceptionally happy with his part. In his real life, he had never been very good at dice and chess. The brahmin was an expert at dice and chess. Yudhishthira got to be whoever he wanted in the alternative reality that was the theater. That is why Yudhishthira loved the theater so much. He had always been the star, everyone looked up to him. 

Draupadi was excited to be the token woman in this act. She knew Yudhishthira, Bhima, Sahadeva, Nakula, and Arjuna all liked her and she milked it in every way that she could. 

Sahadeva was the youngest of the group and therefore felt the need to prove himself.

Nakula was Sahadeva's close friend. Nakula only joined theater because Sahadeva did. 

Lastly, Bhima proved to have unmatchable talent in everything he does. He was very confident in his part of the play and everyone else was confident in him.

All of the actors will come together Saturday night to create a one of a kind play that would portray an important aspect of Indian Culture.

Google Images

Author's note:

I decided to base my story off of The Pandavas move into the Matsya kingdom. My story takes place in a theater setting. The Pandava brothers and Draupadi are the actors and the parts they play are the parts they take to disguise themselves while in exile. I tried to describe each character in my story parallel to who they are in the original story. 

Buck, William (1973). Mahabharata

Reading Diary B - Week 13

-Vyasa sees many bad omens about the upcoming battle
-Bhishma becomes the commander of Duryodhana's army
-Karna refuses to fight


-Drupada had been praying to Shiva for a child
-He wanted a son but got a daughter named Skihandini
-Sikhandini asked a yaksha to make her into a man

-Sanjaya tells the story of the battle to Dhritarashtra
-Bhishma is killed with arrows but is able to choose his time of death

-Duryodhana makes Drona in charge
-Arjuna's friend, prince Uttara is killed and Arjuna is distraught
-Arjuna kills Jayadratha by beheading him

-Drona kills Druapda
-Dhristadyumna kills Drona in the forest

-Karna challenges Arjuna to a battle
-Arjuna kills Karna
-Shalya is killed by Yudhishtira

-Duryodhana is badly wounded
-The Pandavas come to the lake to end it with Duryodhana

Reading Diary A - Week 13

-Yudhishthira sends his brothers on by one into the forest to fetch water
-When they didn't return, he went into the forest and found their bodies
-The brothers are revived by Yama when Yudhishthira answers questions proposed as a test

-The Pandavas decide to spend their 13th year of exile in the Matsya kingdom
-Yudhishthira becomes a brahmin with expertise in dice and chess
-Bhima becomes a cook
-Draupadi becomes a maid
-Sahadeva tends to cattle
-Arjuna becomes a eunuch
-Nakula tends to horses

-Indra wants to armor and earring that Karna has worn since birth
-Indra comes to Karna in disguise but he sees through it
-Indra ends up giving Karna an infallible dart

-Kichaka is killed by Bhima when he tries to attack Draupadi

-Susharman and Duryodhana plan a cattle raid
-Arjuna defeats them all by using a weapon to make them all fall asleep

-Sanjaya comes to see the Pandavas

-Karna says he can defeat the Pandavas single-handedly

-Duryodhana and Yudhishthira go to see Krishna
-"When Krishna awakes, he sees Arjuna first and offers him a choice: he can take Krishna as his ally, or he can have all the soldiers of Krishna's army. Arjuna chooses Krishna as his ally, giving the soldiers to Duryodhana"

-Krishna pleads with Karna to join the Pandavas but Karna refuses

Famous Last Words - Week 12

This week is finally coming to a close and I couldn't be happier. Although this week hasn't been that busy, it seemed long. I had a presentation over gangs and a test on tuesday. However, after that I was finished for the week so I can't really complain.
I register for next semester this week so that's weird. I can't believe I'm registering for my last senior year semester. Time flies so fast.

This class is still going pretty good. I found myself in a tight spot getting my storybook revisions done last week. This week I need to write a story. I hope to have it finished before the weekend. I find it hard sometimes to completely start from scratch with stories; to have to use my own creativity versus a book. Although I do like it better.

My family is coming down to norman this weekend so I'm excited for that. They always come down for the Baylor game. Bentley fractured his tail this past week so we've been dealing with that. I have no idea how it happened. His little tail is shaved and he won't leave it alone. Poor little guy has to wear a cone on his head.

That's all I can think of for this week!
Till next time....

This week I am constantly listening to the song 'Drinking Class' by Lee Brice. I'm obsessed. 

Google Images

Announcements Tech Tip

This week I figured out that you can subscribe to emails for class announcements. This is king to be EXTREMELY helpful. I did not know you could do this. Too often, I miss announcements because I figure all the important information would be sent in a email. Then I check the announcement page and I've missed something important. Now, I only have to worry about checking my email. I wish I had known about this freshman year.