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Showing posts from January, 2018

Reading Notes: Ramayana Part B

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Author: Donald A. Mackenzie Bharata Returns -Bharata learns of all that has taken place -he says he will not take the throne and will bring back Rama to do so -He is mad at his evil mother Dasharatha's Funeral -Bharata performs the funeral -Everyone is super sad Rama and Bharata -Bharata and one of Dasharatha's counsel try to convince Rama to return -Rama does not return, even after Bharat offer to take his place -Rama must honor his fathers commands The Sandals -Rama was given golden sandals from Bharata -These sandals were used as a symbol of the royal authority -Bharata went outside the city in bark to conduct the affairs of the city -all while holding the royal umbrella over Rama's sandals Author: Romesh Dutt Anasuya -Sita went inside Atri, ancient sage's hermitage -Met and told her story to his wife, Anasuya -Anasuya felt for Sita -Anasuya decked her out with jewels and robes Author: Donald A. Mackenzie Viradha -he's a man-eating r

Reading Notes: Ramayana Part A

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Author: Donald A. Mackenzie King Dasharatha -Ruled Ayodhya, a beautiful prosperous city -had palace guarded like a stronghold -but had no sons is was sad Dasharatha's sons -Dasharatha sacrificed a horse and the god promised him 4 sons Rama Avatar of Vishnu -Ravana was taking over everything -Vishnu dividing himself into 4 sons of Dasharatha -one of these sons was Rama, the most beautiful Vishvamitra -Vishvamitra was a rishi -his sacrifices were being disturbed by Ravana -Dasharatha welcome Vishvamitra and promised any gift he could give -he needed Rama to help overcome the devils polluting his sacrifice -with sorrow Dasharatha sent Rama with his brother Lakshmana to help Thataka -On their journey the three ran into Thataka, a rakshasa -They killed her and were rewarded with celestial weapons -later once they reached the sages dwelling, they tried to perform a sacrifice -during this Thataka's son and company tried to defile the sacrifice -using his cele

Reading Notes: Seven Secrets from Hindu Calendar Art: Genesha's Secret

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Ganesha's Secret : Devdutt Pattanaik Shiva and Family -Shiva: A mountain mendicant -Parvati: Shiva's wife, a mountain princess -Ganesha: Shiva's child, head of an elephant -Kartikeya: Shiva's child, holds a spear (not shown above) -gods and goddesses are individual pieces to God -Myth: idea churned in my world -Mythology: stories symbols and rituals that communicate a myth -The pictures are not meant to make sense to non-hindus -Gods are greater than gods, per the capitol "g" -Divinity is formless: however, we require forms to comprehend it -Brahma: first being who sang the Veda and transmitted it through sages, Rishis -Veda is a set of hymns, non-human origin -Vyas: compiler of Vedas -Saraswati: mother of Vedas, a part of Brahma -four bhead of Brahma: four expressions of Veda Four goals of life, each a head of Brahma -Dharma: Righteous conduct -Artha: economic activity -Kama: pleasurable pursuits -Moksha: Spiritual practices -Kha

Feedback Thoughts: How to take it

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Dealing with Feedback This article articulates the main points of how to deal with feedback. A few of them stood out to me more than others, therefore I will explore those more. One is "If you get something wrong, figure out how to fix it." I have always had the mindset that if I fail, I should keep trying until I succeed. I have never truly thought about honing in on the problem rather than searching for the solution though. This way seems more productive and will provide an ample amount of learning opportunities as I move forward in my life. Another point is that "Balance is Key." I was told by a teacher in high school that I should do my work then I should have fun, because I am going to have to do my work at some point anyway. I was falling asleep in his class constantly. This really stuck with me. Now I try to complete my work before I have fun, and it has relieved more stress than I can imagine. I also have found outlets at school and elsewhere, where I can

Topic Brainstorm: Riveting

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Surya, The sun God Surya I have always found cultural outlooks on sun gods to be interesting. The sun god in Hinduism, Surya, represents everything. Surya is seen as the creator of life and the center of the universe. The sun is the most prominent object in our entire solar system. It is something that produces all life on earth and is the sole reason our solar system sticks together. Even ancient cultures knew this, which is why they worshiped the sun deity as one of the most powerful. I would enjoy learning more about other gods encounters with Surya, as the sun god is usually the most powerful. If I were to write a story on Surya, I would create a scene of astronomers studying the sun, when the sun started to become blacked out by an eclipse, Rahu, they saw the interaction between the two. - Rahu and Surya interaction during eclipse Weapons of the Gods Science fiction has always been incredibly interesting to me, whether it be Dr. Who, Star Trek, Star Wars, the Twilight Zo

Week 2 Story: The Tale of the Unlucky Tomato

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There was once a tomato patch that fed everyone within the city. Every year the village people would send their children to go water and fertilize the tomatoes before harvest. One Year while the children were going out to care for the tomatoes, one child, little Timmy ran into what appeared to be a golden rock. Timmy went on to inspect the rock. Once he came upon the rock he realized it was gold. He ran back into to town to show the adults. Once he got there he exclaimed: "Look, Look, I have found a large piece of gold. We are rich!!" They then inspected the rock and realized it was simply fools gold. They explained to him that the rock is worthless. They then told Timmy he needed to go help the others with the tomatoes. Tomatoes As Timmy approaches the other children they begin to leave for they have already finished fertilizing and watering their part of the patch. Timmy, not wanting to be too late to get home, hurries while caring for his part of the patch. He finish

Reading Notes: Jataka Stories

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Bodhisatta The Foolish, Timid Rabbit : Ellen C. Babbitt -Rabbit has existential crisis about world ending -monkey drops coconut causing the rabbit to freak out -rabbit causes all the animal to run with him out of fear -Lion, king, stopped them with a roar and asked what the matter was -found out the rabbit was the only one who saw the world ending -went to the tree the rabbit was at and realizes the rabbit is dumb Moral: Don't take one person's word as fact. Be questioning. The Turtle and the King : Ellen C. Babbitt -King made lake for his sons in courtyard -King put fishes in lake, with an accidental turtle -Princes freak out, never seen a turtle and think it is a demon -the king order the turtle dead, knowing it is harmless -turtle tricks them into killing him by throwing him into a lake that flows into a river and rocks -turtle is now safe Moral: Be clever in your existence. The Turtle and the Geese : Ellen C. Babbitt -turtle becomes friend with geese

Extra Credit Reading Notes on the Jatakas

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Jatakas Buddha's Teachings The Hawk and the Osprey This reading presented a great take away, which is the value of true friendship is worth a great deal, although I did find it funny that the tortoise was able to pull all the men into the water. The Pious Wolf I very much enjoyed this story. I have always valued my integrity. It is what we have been taught since childhood, "act as though someone is always watching you", in this case the author placed it into an incredible analogy to show the importance of keeping your word. The Grateful Beasts and the Ungrateful Prince Another story giving an important lesson. One that many need to take to heart with all the hate floating around. Being kind and giving, although can sometimes appear a burden, in the end it will always be better than being hateful. The Golden Goose This story has a sad truth to it, that one person can be the representation of an entire group. This has been seen in current events from ever

Crazy Reading Options

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For the reading options over the epic of Ramayana, although I would prefer the novel like reading over readings from various authors the online availability of the second reading  is what is most important to me as I do most of my work via computer. The separate links to each chapter of the epic is also useful for keeping my place, instead of checking out a book from the library and having to remember my place. I also prefer picture books, Where the Wild Things Are For the Week 5 options, the film is an hour twenty minutes, which would mean that it would take less time to complete, on average, than the readings, but it also means my hyper active brain has to pay attention for that long. The second option of the readings would be my go to as it lays the readings out into part A and part B reading on single pages. For weeks 6 and 7 the second option is the most viable for how I work for the same reason as week 3 and 4. For Week 9 the options I would choose are for the sa

Time Strategies for Meee

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I have always had the mindset of having good time management, but put into practice I was quite bad at it. I found the post about procrastination  to be quite useful. I have already told people about what I am going to do in order to better motivate me to actual do it, instead of just thinking about doing it. Another useful article was over realistic study plans . I have always found myself placing my available study time at the end of the day, but this is unrealistic as my other activities might go on longer than what I previously expected, thus leaving less time for my studies, or less sleep for me. Therefore this semester I will be allocating one hour every morning to this class throughout the work week. If I am unable to finish the assignments within this time period I will complete the work on the weekends, as I am usually not to busy. If the work due during the week is completed faster than expected, than I will be able to work ahead with my allotted time for this course.  Pl

Spooky Technology

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The technology tools that will be utilized in this class are mostly unfamiliar to me. Advanced Technology I am excited to learn more than expected coming into this course. The most interesting is getting the opportunity to create a website to publish our storytelling assignment. The assignment will feel more similar to a personal project as opposed to school work due to the creative freedom given to us.

Reflecting on Assignments

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Exploring how the layout of the class works has me excited to start the course. The amount of extra credit along with the two assigned readings available each week seems as though the course is designed for learning instead of grading, which is something I have always personally thought to be a more productive method of teaching, depending on the student. It will also be interesting to conjure up a way of telling a story, as I saw students do creatively in the past. In terms of the extra credit assignments they all seem to be intriguing, but if I had to narrow them down to my top three I would choose: Wikipedia Trails, Famous Last Words, and Back-up and Review. Although I might not be able to fully complete each extra credit assignment every week, I will attempt to do so. Penguin Reading

My Growth Mindset

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Although I have never really deeply thought about the concept, I have always had the desire to learn. I feel as though this is due to my peers being extremely hard working, always pushing me and themselves to work harder. Along with my peers, my brother has always had a growth mindset. When were kids, around 7-10 years old, he would literally read the dictionary before bed. He is one year older than I am, therefore we grew up together pretty close, until our teenage years because teenagers are the worst. He went on to be known as that "genius" kid around every school we went to. Although everyone thinks he is just magically smart, which I won't deny he has a natural intelligence to him, I've witnessed him study relentlessly just for the sake of obtaining more knowledge, along with studying for standardized exams. Due to this I came to the realization that it wasn't simply natural talent that gets people far in life, but it takes effort and focus. Luckily I realize

Introduction into a Regular Joe's Life

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Hello all, my name is Zach and this is a story all about how my life got turned upside down. i.e college. I started out college believing it would be easy, like most people I imagine. Then I realized I was dumb and knew nothing and actually had to study for exams. It wasn't until my junior year that I really figured out how to college. I have a dual major in mechanical engineering and computer science that I will be completing over 5 years, I'm currently in my fourth, unless I fail something, then I'll probably just drop one of them and graduate. My biggest accomplishment last year was keeping a reasonable sleep schedule, which made me realize that sleep is actual important for being able to retain information. Over break I went on a road trip to Yosemite National Park, which was literally the most gorgeous place I've ever seen in my life filled with some incredible and interesting people. It was a good mental break from the stress of life. Here's a picture of me ta

The best Storybook Favorites

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The Ravana Diaries Ravana's heads My attention was immediately taken by the image chosen for the title page, seen above. After reading the introduction I was taken into the story. A ten year long architectural journey to find a box filled with the writings of a demon. The supernatural has always grabbed my interest, thus I could not pass up the opportunity to delve into it. Once I moved on from the introduction into the heart of the storybook I was even more curious as to the fate of Ravana. He was the god conqueror. How could he have fallen out of existence? The author did an excellent job at choosing essential sections of the diary to portray Ravana's personality and how it led to his downfall. The author also explored his own subjective views of Ravana, which I found interesting to compare and contrast my views to. The overall layout of the page was ascetically pleasing and easy to navigate.  Delilah's Radio Hour Trial by Fire Although the title is not

Mountain's are my favorite place

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There are few places that make us feel smaller than we are, but one of those places is being on a mountain. A small speck on an enormous rock. To hike and climb to the top of these giants evokes emotions throughout the journey. Starting out at the bottom looking up at this beautiful monstrosity prepared for the strenuous journey ahead. Once the journey begins it is not difficult, but rather quite easy, mile by mile up the rock. Moments pass and the intensity of the hike relays to my legs. It becomes difficult, step by step up a giant. Trying not to let the fatigue take over me. Internalizing the definition of tenacity as best I can. Passing those who have already experienced the strain I am going through. Until there is no one left to pass by me. I am atop this enormous beauty, overlooking the specs in the valley below. Nothing has ever made me love this world we live in more than experiencing the beauty within it. That's why I will choose to experience the same strenuous cli

Intense objectively true opinions on why the earth is flat

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If the earth was round than gravity would not exist. Gravity exists due to the FACT that the earth is accelerating at 9.81 m/s/s up through space. The sun is at a fixed distance from the earth also moving 9.81 m/s/s. Night and day is caused by the sun moving from north to south pole shining light much like a flashlight. The moon moves opposite that of the sun. Lastly, to explain the so called "pictures" of the "spherical" earth we will explore an easy explanation: "photoshop". It isn't hard to do people I mean look at this  If I can photoshop a flat earth then these "scientists" and "astronomers" can photoshop a "spherical" earth to gain nothing except to laugh at the stupid public. DO NOT be apart of this stupid sheepish public. LISTEN TO ME. These "scientists" with their "degrees" know nothing.