Thursday, February 1

Today is Thursday of Week 3. If you have not done your story yet for this week, that means today is Storytelling Day, and I hope you enjoy creating your second story of the semester! Here is a link to all of this week's assignments.

Class Procedures and Reminders

Success Tips: Look for story ideas everywhere. You really can find storytelling ideas everywhere you look! Everyday household objects, things you see walking around campus, foods you eat, snatches of other people's conversations you overhear: there are story ideas lurking everywhere, and the more you use your imagination to dream up stories, the easier it will be to write stories for this class every week.

Project Stack. If you turned in a project by 3PM on Sunday, you should have comments back from me by now. My goal for tomorrow is to finish the Sunday afternoon projects and make a big dent in the Sunday evening stack. Meanwhile, you can check the stack to make sure I received your email.

The following items are for fun and exploration:

Blog Stream. Some people have already written their stories for this week, and I wanted to share this beautiful story by Laura in Indian Epics: Ashes. Take a look at the author's note also; I always enjoy getting to hear about the thought process that goes into creating a new story, and you can see Laura sharing her thoughts there in the note.

Myth Item. The ancient Greek and Roman worlds extended far beyond the modern countries of Greece and Italy, and I thought you might enjoy this beautiful Roman mosaic from northern Africa, in what is now Tunisia: Mosaics from the Thysdrus Museum.

India Video: As you explore the world of Amar Chitra Katha comic books, I thought you might enjoy learning about the remarkable man who created them: Anant Pai.

Myth Book Online: Today's free book is The Book of Saints and Heroes by Leonora Lang. See the Freebookapalooza blog for links and the table of contents. This illustration shows Saint Anthony and a centaur:

Proverb of the Day: Today's proverb is a neo-Latin proverb familiar to fans of Hogwarts: Never tickle a sleeping dragon. Find out more at the Proverb Laboratory. The Latin is: Draco dormiens numquam titillandus.

Writing: I like how even the cat and the dog have stories to write here in the Family of Writers.

H.E.A.R.T.: And on the subject of heroes and of dragons, here are some thoughts from Brian Andreas.

Growth Mindset: Today's growth mindset cat is ready to face new dragons: Every day new and larger dragons come along. You can find out more at the Growth Mindset blog.

Video: And here's a video about superheroes and their education: Failing Superman.

Event on Campus: Karlos Hill will be speaking at the Black History Heritage Dinner tonight at 7PM (details). Find out more about this and other events at the Campus Calendar online.

February 1: Langston Hughes. Today, February 1, marks the birthday of the African-American poet, Langston Hughes, who was born in 1902. He was one of the luminaries of the Harlem Renaissance, and you can read about his remarkable life and career in this Wikipedia article.

(cover of Weary Blues, 1926)

Here's a video interpretation of "Weary Blues" that I found at YouTube.

Check out the Twitter stream for information and fun stuff during the day, or click here for past announcements.