Class Procedures and Reminders:
Storybook Stack. As usual at the beginning of the week, there are still LOTS of Storybook assignments in the stack. If you turned something in by Sunday at 6PM, you should have comments back from me now. If you turned something in later on Sunday or on Monday, it is probably still in the stack. Please check the contents of the stack to to make sure I received your email.
Grading. With the beginning of Week 9, that means there are a total of seven more weeks of the semester (Weeks 9-10-11-12-13-14-15), which means 210 points of regular assignments available, plus extra credit. You may want to start planning now how you want to finish up the class. For a chart that shows you week by week point totals and other information about the grading system, you can consult this Grading Chart page. Many people take these classes just to get the Gen. Ed. credit, so it's fine with me if you want to finish the class with a grade of "C" when you get 320 points or "B" when you get 360 points (for an "A" you need 410 points). When you have reached the the points required for the grade you want to take, just let me know. As soon as you get the points you need, you are done - you do not need to do any more of the class assignments.
The following items are for fun and exploration:
Featured Resource: A Field Guide to Procrastinators. As the semester moves on, there is more and more to do, so I thought you might enjoy this humorous field guide to procrastinators. I am an "internet researcher" (no surprise!) and also a snacker, alas!
Words of Wisdom: Today's proverb poster is The fuller the cup, the sooner the spill (a Chinese proverb). Details at the Proverb Lab. This is a very good metaphor for a busy schedule that is full (even too full) of things to do!
Mahabharata Image: Today's Mahabharata image is Surya, God of the Sun, who will become the father of Karna, one of the main characters in the epic, half-brother to the Pandavas.
Tuesday Event on Campus: As part of the Tuesday Noon Concert series, there will be an Opera Preview with directors Bill Ferrara and Jonathan Shames in the Sandy Bell Gallery at noon (details). Find out more about this and other events at the Campus Calendar online.
October 15: Eid-al-Adha. The Muslim festival of Eid-al-Adha is celebrated after the annual Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca, and it commemorates the willingness of Ibrahim to offer up his son Isma'il as a sacrifice to God, although God intervened and a sheep was sacrificed instead (a similar story is told about Isaac in the Biblical Book of Genesis). For more about the Eid-al-Adha, see this Wikipedia article and this article at the BBC. The image below is from a Mughal painting that depicts the celebration of the holiday by Emperor Bahadur Shah, the last of the Mughal emperors, in 1843:
