Class Procedures and Reminders
Last Day of Week 3. Today is the last day of Week 3. I probably won't be able to send the usual reminder, but you can use D2L to check and see if you have any work left to finish for Week 3 — and if you have time, do some extra credit too! Building up a cushion of extra credit now in this class means you can skip some assignments in here when midterms start in your other classes.
OUT OF TOWN. (repeat announcement) I'm out of town this weekend and also most of Monday, and I'll probably have very limited Internet access while I'm gone. Definitely send me an email if you have questions about anything, and I'll write back to you when I get online. I'll also be updating the Project stack too, and I'll start working my way through the stack on Tuesday.
Mythical Lake Monsters. The accompanying article at Atlas Obscura features detailed information about some of the wilder legends. It even includes the giant octopus that is supposed to live in Lake Thunderbird right in Oklahoma!
Mythology Words in English: Today's mythology word in English is HECTOR, from the name of the Trojan hero. For details, see this blog post. Over time, the English word "hector" has taken on negative connotations, meaning something like "to bluster, to bully," even though Hector is a very admirable hero in the Iliad!
Featured Storybook: The Roaring Lion: Demons and the Desert Fathers. In this Storybook, a man named Adam journeys on a spiritual quest to Saint Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai desert, and in a series of earthly encounters and heavenly visions, he is transformed.
Free Book Online: In God's Garden - Stories of the Saints by Amy Steedman. This blog post provides additional information about the contents of the book which includes many famous saints such as Saint Francis and Saint Nicholas.
India Featured Film: Sita Sings the Blues. This blog post provides additional information about this option for Week 4 in Indian Epics — and it's not a book, but an animated film by the amazing Nina Paley!
Words of Wisdom: Today's proverb poster is Well begun is half done (an English proverb). Details at the Proverb Lab. This is a great proverb for the beginning of the semester, or for the beginning of any new project.
Today's Video: Unread Book: Just Read! That blog post has the lyrics and the Bruno Mars original for comparison. :-)
Growth Mindset: Today's growth mindset cat is ambitious: I love a challenge! Details at the blog.
Event on Campus: You can hear the winners of the OU Symphony Orchestra 4x4 Competition at 3PM in Sharp Concert Hall (details). Find out more about this and other events at the Campus Calendar online.
February 7: Laura Ingalls Wilder. Today, February 7, marks the birthday in the year 1867 of the American author, Laura Ingalls Wilder. I'm sure many of you may have read her series of books about life growing up on the American frontier, starting with Little House in the Big Woods, and you might also have seen the Michael Landon television series based on that series, Little House on the Prairie. You can read more about the life and career of Laura Ingalls Wilder in this Wikipedia article. This photograph shows the Ingalls family, with Caroline (mother) on the left, Carrie and Laura standing, then Charles (father) sitting, with Grace and Mary on the right (image source):
Note: You can page back through the 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.
