Monday, April 30

Today is Monday. Week 14 is now over... and it's now Week 15, a.k.a. Dead Week. If you have not finished the class yet, you can use this week's assignments to get the points you need, but you need to complete all work for the course by Friday at noon. For details, see the Class Calendar. Make sure you have a plan in place now for finishing up the class!

Project Stack. While you are waiting on comments back from me about your Project assignment, you can check the stack to make sure I received your email. I'm focusing first on the assignments from people who are not done with class yet, starting with the new stories people turned in for Week 14, and then moving on to the other Week 14 assignments.

Finishing the class. As soon as you have the points you need (410-A, 360-B, 320-C), you are done. Just fill out the "Finished" form that you will see in Canvas, and you are good to go!

ICYMI: In Case You Missed It. Here are some of my favorite items from announcements earlier in the semester. The items below come from Week 7 and Week 8.

Word from India. Here's a word that comes from India that might surprise you: CALICO: first it was a fabric from "Calicut" on the Malabar coast of India in Kerala, and eventually... calico became a cat:

Myth Item. There are many weird and surprising things on the Internet, and among the most weird and surprising is... the Brick Testament. Bible stories: all told with Legos!

Myth Video. And here's a wonderful video about one of my favorite Biblical heroines: Esther, whose story is celebrated every year in the festival of Purim. You can read more about Purim in this Wikipedia article. The song is called Raise Your Mask by the Ein Prat Fountainheads in Israel:

Writing: What is your Punctuation Personality? I guess I am mostly a semi-colon, with a dash of dash.

Creativity: Some wise words from Joseph Chilton Pearce.

Video: Here's a video for a quick boost: The Biology of Positivity. Find out more here: Your Brain: You Can Reprogram It.

Proverb of the Day: This is a proverb to keep in mind at the end of the semester: The fuller the cup, the sooner the spill. Find out more at the Proverb Laboratory. That is true for a cup of coffee, and also for the metaphorical cup of life.

Storytelling: It's not really clear where this saying got its start, but it is definitely true: Until the lion learns how to write, every story will glorify the hunter. Find out more at the Writing Laboratory.

India Video: For your listening enjoyment, here is one of my favorite Shankar Tucker videos: Guru Brahma. It's a jam session inspired by a traditional Sanskrit shloka: Guru Stotram.

Event on Campus: There will be an Oklahoma Gubernatorial Candidate Forum from 6PM-8PM in Meacham Auditorium (details). Find out more about this and other events at the Campus Calendar online.

April 30: Walpurgis Night. The night of April 30 is celebrated as Walpurgis Night in many countries of northern and central Europe, often with bonfires late into the night. The holiday is associated with magic and witchcraft, and it thus shows up in the Harry Potter books, where the Death-Eaters are referred to as the "Knights of Walpurgis," which is a play on "Walpurgis Night." You can read more at Wikipedia, and here the witches of Wolfshagen im Harz in Germany doing their Walpurgis dance; find out more here: The Witch Dance.

And here is a Walpurgisnacht video from the pagan-folkband Faun:

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