Sunday, August 28

Today is Sunday of Week 1. Please make sure you finish the final Orientation assignments today, and you might want to do some extra credit assignments and/or get started on Week 2. You can find all the assignments for both Week 1 and Week 2 (and beyond) at the Class Calendar.

Class Procedures and Reminders

Orientation. Make sure you finish ALL the Orientation assignments today. In future weeks, if you miss assignments you can make them up with extra credit, but the Orientation assignments are different: you need to complete them to be ready for Week 2 and the rest of the semester.

Extra Credit. There are extra credit options available for Week 1, as there will be each week. The extra credit is meant to be fun and also useful, and doing extra credit early in the semester is a great way to build up a cushion so that you can take time off in this class later on when you have midterms etc. in your other classes.

Project Stack. For those of you who are already finishing up Week 2, you can check the stack to make sure I received your Week 2 Project assignment.

The following items are for fun and exploration:

Books. I know there are some Game of Thrones fan in this class, so here are some words of wisdom from Tyrion Lannister: A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone if it is to keep its edge.

Map of the Internet. I hope you will get a chance to explore new Internet territory in this class! For a visualization, check out Simon's Map of the Internet. Even "My Little Pony" has its own pink island, just north of the Sea of Subcultures and to the west of the land of Tumblr:

Spelling. Here's another pair of words that the spellchecker cannot help you with, which means you need to be aware of them: Throne - Thrown.

Featured Storybook. This project is from the Indian Epics class: Onboard the Spaceship Pushpaka. The spaceship Pushpaka is visiting a solar system where each planet has its own special connection to the avatars of the god Vishnu back on Earth.

Free Book Online: Yaqui Myths and Legends by Ruth Warner Giddings. See the Freebookapalooza blog for links and titles of the stories in this book, which come from the Yaqui people of Arizona and the valley of the Rio Yaqui in Mexico.

Words of Wisdom: Today's saying is Different strokes for different folks (a proverb from the USA). Find out more at the Proverb Lab. That's why I try to include so many different options and choices in the class: different people like different things!

Today's Video: Ravi Shankar on the Dick Cavett Show. Ravi Shankar was a friend of George Harrison, and both of them were guests on this episode of the Dick Cavett show in 1971; here is Ravi Shankar's musical performance:

Growth Mindset: Today's growth mindset cat is full of potential, as are we all: Our true potential is unknown ... and unknowable. You can find out more at the Growth Mindset blog.

Event on Campus: I hope you will make use of the wonderful Bizzell Library this semester; they are open from noon until 2AM on Sundays; you can check out their hours at the Libraries.ou.edu website and find out about all their resources and services too.

August 28: Goethe. Today, August 28, marks the birthday in 1749 of the great German writer, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. His contributions to German literature are enormous, and he is probably most famous for his play Faust, the story of a scholar who makes a bargain with the devil in exchange for knowledge. Here is one of Harry Clarke's illustrations for Goethe's Faust:

Check out the Twitter stream for information and fun stuff during the day.