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 on Saturday, you should have comments back from me already. If you turned something in on Sunday or Monday, it is probably still in the stack. If you want to check to make sure your assignment is in the stack, you can see the contents of the stack here. PLEASE DO CHECK: if something did go wrong with your email, it is important for you to let me know right away.
Week 7 Internet assignment. For the Week 7 Internet assignment, which is available now, you will be reading STORIES at the Storybooks. That means you have more reading to do this time (stories and possibly also introductions), so you will have just THREE Storybooks that you comment on. You are welcome to do that assignment now; you don't have to wait if a person you are assigned happens not to have published a story yet. To find out more about how the assignment works this week, see the Internet assignment page.
The following items are for fun and exploration:
Fun Map: Here's a mythological map: North America as a dragon. It all depends on how you look at it. :-)
Writing Resource: Short and Sweet: Eliminate Passive Verbs. As some of you have seen already, I'm asking you to think about some different revising strategies as you work on your stories, and eliminating passive verbs is a way to make your writing more lively while also lowering your word count.
Foreign Words in English: Today's foreign word in English is cheetah, which comes to English from Hindi. For details, see this blog post. The image below shows the Emperor Akbar hunting with cheetahs:
Featured Storybook: To Sumitra, With Love. You know Sumitra as one of the wives of King Dasaratha, but in this Storybook you will see a different side of her, reading the letters sent to young Sumitra by her father, a great warrior and adventurer who traveled all over ancient India.
FREE Kindle eBook: Japanese Fairy Tales by Yei Theodora Ozaki. Here is a link to the book at Amazon, and this blog post provides additional information about the contents of the book. There are some stories in this book that you will recognize from this week's reading in Myth-Folklore, plus many more.
Words of Wisdom: Today's proverb poster is Go north or go south, your fate will follow you. (a proverb from India). Details at the Proverb Lab. There is no escaping fate (or karma) in any direction!
Ramayana Image: Today's Ramayana image is Rama and Ravana. You can see where Rama has sliced off some of Ravana's hands already!
Tuesday Event on Campus: To get ready for the showing of the movie Thor this weekend, the UPB is offering Thor Hammer Cookies for free in the first floor lobby of the Union, 11:30AM - 12:30PM (details). Find out more about this and other events at the Campus Calendar online.
February 25: George Harrison. Today marks the birthday of George Harrison in 1943; he died in 2001. You can read about his life and career in this Wikipedia article, and the YouTube video below is a recording of George Harrison performing "Om Hare Om: Gopala Krishna." Today is my birthday too, and when I was growing up I always felt special because I shared my birthday with one of the Beatles. And yes, today is one of those big birthdays for me; I'm turning 50! :-)
Note: You can page back through older blog posts to see any announcements you might have missed.
