Wednesday, May 4

Today is Wednesday of WEEK 15. Wednesday morning, until noon, is the grace period if you did not finish the Tuesday assignments. Here is a link to this week's assignments, and remember: the class is over this Friday at noon!

Class Procedures and Reminders

Project Stack. I've been focusing on the projects where you need my comments to move on to the Week 15 assignment; I'm almost done with those, and then I'll move on to the items in the stack from people who are already done with the class. You can check the stack to make sure I received your assignment.

Congratulations to Chandler! Those of you in Myth-Folklore might know Chandler from her "History Mysteries" Storybook... and she has just published a novel at Kindle: Sister. Take a look, and maybe you will be inspired to publish something as a Kindle book yourself someday!

The following items are for fun and exploration:

Before You Hit Sned. Proofreading: it's a real-life skill.

Indian Words in English: Today's word from India in English is PAJAMAS comes from Urdu pajama, which is in turn from Persian pay-jamah, leg-clothing. For details, see this blog post.

Featured Storybook: Sita’s Soul. Indrajit has slain Sita on the battlefield, and Rama is desperate: he will do anything to save her. So begins his quest for the soul shards that he must gather from the gods Kartikeya, Ganesha, and finally Yama, the god of death.

Free Book Online: Orpheus: Myths of the World by Padraic Colum. This blog post provides additional information about the contents of the book, which really do come from all over the world!

India Featured Book: Kalidasa's Shakuntala, translated by Arthur W. Ryder. This blog post provides additional information about this reading option for Indian Epics. It is one of the most famous plays in the Indian tradition!

Words of Wisdom: Today's proverb poster is A goose-quill is more dangerous than a lion's claw (an English proverb). Details at the Proverb Lab. It's like "the pen is mightier than the sword," but with animals.

Today's Video: History of the English Language. From the Open University, here is a great video about the history of the English language - funny and informative!

Growth Mindset: Today's growth mindset cat is ready for finals! You have to work hardest for the things you love most. Details at the blog.

Event on Campus: There will be a lecture by Andrew Porwancher at noon in 330 Gould: "The Jewish Founding Father: Alexander Hamilton's Secret Life" (details). Find out more about this and other events at the Campus Calendar online.

May 4: International Firefighters Day. The day May 4 is celebrated each year as International Firefighters Day, and you can read more about this holiday at the International Firefighters Day website. May 4 has been celebrated in many European countries in honor of firefighters because it is the Day of Saint Florian, who is the patron saint of firefighters and also of chimney sweeps. Below you can see the emblem of the Oklahoma Fire Marshal, who is the chief firefighter of the state of Oklahoma:

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.