Class Procedures and Reminders
Portfolios/Storybooks. I managed to get through all the assignments turned in before Friday! If you turned something in on Friday, it will be at the top of the stack on Monday. You can check the contents of the stack here, and I'll update the listing at least once or twice over the weekend.
Finishing up the class. After this week (Week 11), there are just four more weeks of school: Weeks 12-13-14-15. It's important to make a plan now for finishing up the class, i.e. choosing what assignments you want to work on, deciding on how many stories you want to include in your Portfolio or Storybook, etc. If you have questions about any of that, let me know!
The following items are for fun and exploration:
Writing Resource: Oxford Comma. Okay, I do use the Oxford comma in cases of real ambiguity, although I am not what you would call a religious Oxford comma user . . . but there are such users out there. This infographic has a good overview of the Oxford comma debate; here's a full-size view of the infographic.
Words to Watch: Today's words to watch out for are WAIST and WASTE. For details, see this blog post.
Featured Storybook: Tales of Kailasa. In this Storybook, you get to meet Kailasa himself, the mountain, and listen to him share his stories with Shiva, the mountain's most famous resident.
FREE Kindle eBook: Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll. Here is a link to the book at Amazon, and this blog post provides additional information about the contents of the book. This is the sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonerland.
Words of Wisdom: Today's proverb poster is If my heart be narrow, what avail to me that the world is large? (an Armenian proverb). Details at the Proverb Lab. In other words, the world is only as big as your heart!
Mahabharata Image: Today's Mahabharata image is Arjuna at Draupadi's Swayamvara. Arjuna is the only one who is able to win the archery contest!
Saturday Event on Campus: The National Weather Festival will take place from 10AM to 2PM at the National Weather Center at the corner of Highway 9 and Jenkins (details). Find out more about this and other events at the Campus Calendar online.
All Saints Day - All Souls Eve. The reason Halloween was celebrated yesterday, on October 31, is that it was the "Eve of All Hallows" (Hallow-Evening), i.e. the Eve of All Saints, which is celebrated today, November 1. Today is also the eve of All Souls Day which is celebrated on November 2. The holiday of All Saints celebrates all those who have died and attained blessedness in heaven, while All Souls celebrates all those who have died but who have not yet achieved heaven. In many countries, November 1 is a holiday during which people visit graveyards, bringing flowers to the graves of the dead. For example, November 1 is an important national holiday in Poland, where it is called Wszystkich Świętych, which means "All Saints" (image source):
Note: You can page back through older blog posts to see any announcements you might have missed, and you can check out the Twitter stream for information and fun stuff during the day.
