Reading Notes: Russian Fairy Tales Part A

For this week's extra credit reading assignment I decided to read Russian Fairy Tales by W. R. S. Ralston (1887). I chose this option because this seems to be a cultural that I expect to be different from many of the others I have read so I am curious to see what tales are told. In addition, I am curious to see if there are any reoccurring morals across cultures. Below are my reading notes:

• There seems to be an interest in peaking emotions then letting them go flat very quickly. At one point I was admiring and at another I was hit with an unexpected sad stance.
• I like the spiritual punishment that was given and the idea of potential corruption and greed are strong writing points. 
• Again, I see the theme of what today's world would perceive as silly stories but are actually stories with strong moral ties and reflections to today's problems.
• Most of the stories have one thing in common and it's a theme of karma/fairness presented in the end of each tale. The bad wife is a good example.
• I find it interesting that the poor orphan boy decided to choose love over greed as that is a very powerful decision and one many of us face in today's world sometimes.
• Occasionally, like in the Aesop's Fables, we see the bad guy come out ahead. Which to be fair is how life turns out sometimes. The good guy doesn't always win and the bad guy doesn't always get punished even if he deserves it.
• Commitment is also a cool moral that I hadn't seen in other stories I've read. This would be a pretty interesting theme to write on.

Wikipedia: Russian Fairy Tale

Wikipedia Trails: From Sioux to Source Rock

This week I decided to start my trail on the Sioux since that is the native american reading I chose. I learned that many of the Sioux Indians lived in north central united states area like present day North Dakota. Being the Energy focus person I am, I then clicked on the Bakken Formation which is one of the U.S.'s largest oil producing basins. Lastly, I clicked on source rock to fact check Wikipedia's knowledge over hydrocarbon generation. It looked on par to me. Thanks for reading.

Wikipedia: General Stratigraphic column of Bakken

Reading Notes: Myths and Legends of the Sioux Part B

This week I decided to read Myths and Legends of the Sioux by Marie McLaughlin (1916). I chose this unit, because I feel like I've often heard of the Sioux tribe in history and I would like to learn about some of their tales and storytelling styles. Below are my notes for part B:

• These stories of Unktomi are somewhat grim and I see the potential to do a "negative" copy of the story, or a positive ending.
• It is interesting how the tricks and tales across cultures can align even when there is no communication between groups. Again these stories of the Sioux seem to be fairly grim in nature.
• I find it interesting how animals and insects of the native american culture can do humanly like tasks or activities such as making arrowheads.
• It is neat that there is an equal opportunity for creatures of each realm to "win" in an encounter. Such as Iktomi and the wolves.
• I am a fan of the morals that are also taught of selfishness and self reliance.
• Trickery is a very frequent topic of storytelling and makes for an entertaining read and potentially an entertaining write.

(arrowhead, by D. Birgenheier)

Reading Notes: Myths and Legends of the Sioux Part A

This week I decided to read Myths and Legends of the Sioux by Marie McLaughlin (1916). I chose this unit, because I feel like I've often heard of the Sioux tribe in history and I would like to learn about some of their tales and storytelling styles. Below are my notes for part A:

• I like that there is a sense of humor in the stories. In addition, I like that the stories are told by animals and they interact with each other. It is interesting that the story teller also used terms like grandmother and grandson when the rabbits talked to each other. 
• I am a fan of how these stories are witty and usually revolve around someone being fooled by a trickster or gamble.
• The reason for why there are so few bears is an interesting tale. This again is similar to other culture's tales in the sense there is a myth which explains something in the present today.
• In addition, I am a fan of the native tongue which the animals sometimes spout off in the stories.
• I found it neat that there was an individualized telling from the Sioux that was similarly themed to Dances with Wolves.
• It's interesting as I have read through these stories over completely different cultures how there is a very similar lesson or theme in them.

(turtles)

Review: New Punctuation Marks

Laura Gibbs: Punctuation marks we should be using

I picked this out of the daily announcements because I found it humorous. You we kind of are pretty limited in how we can deliver tone with ending punctuation. I feel like adding some of the punctuation marks could save a lot of misunderstood text messages. Thanks for reading.

Famous Last Words: Winter is coming

For this class this past week I finished most of my assignments before OU-TX weekend holiday started. Which in turn will pay dividends as I will not have to worry about anything being due. In addition, I was able to finish up editing on my last story telling titled "Sinbad the Sailor". I feel as if it turned out really well and gave a nice background to Sinbad and his fortunate and unfortunate events. Also I added another story to my portfolio this week which I thought was one of my stronger story telling’s as of late. It is titled "The Levels of Storytelling" and its sourced from actually two different stories. One story contributed to the style of the delivery and the other delivered the main plot of the story.

Wikimedia: Colder Weather

In my other classes and extracurricular I was not super busy. I was able to fulfill some of my around the house chores before OU-TX.. I am slightly disappointed that I didn't have any time to play golf, but mowing the lawn, for the last time hopefully, was something that needed to be done. I am not really looking forward to getting back into the groove of things this next week, but I guess every small vacation has to have its end. If not, I think it's called retirement. Anyways, I am soon approaching the point total for the grade I want to achieve in this class and I am looking forward to finishing early. It will really help to relieve stress on my other classes as I come into the crunch time of my other classes. In addition, I am looking forward to colder weather. Although I am not looking forward to getting dark sooner. That will eat into the time to practice golf after I get out of class. Thanks for reading.

Wikipedia Trails: From Celtic Mythology to Copper

Since I read some tales out of Celtic Mythology I decided to begin my trail there. From which I encountered what was called the Iron Age, in which was the era the Celts were from. I then learned that after the Iron Age came the Bronze age in Europe and Asia. This occurred with the advancement of blacksmithing and metal working technology. However, it was also noted that in some areas of the world these ages were flipped in time. Lastly, I learned that bronze was a combination of smelting copper and tin.

Wikipedia: Native Copper