Thursday, February 13

Today is Thursday of Week 5. Here is a link to Week 5. For a lot of you this is Storytelling Day, so I hope you will have fun with that (let your imagination run wild!), and then tomorrow I'll be able to add all the new stories into the randomizer.

Class Procedures and Reminders

Project Stack. I finished the Saturday assignments, and now I'm working my way through the Sunday assignments. I'll finish those today, and I should be able to start on assignments turned in on Monday (and then I'll finish the Monday assignments on Friday). As always, you can check the stack to make sure I received your assignment.

Introduction Comments. (repeat announcement; last time, I promise!) As I mentioned earlier this week, I've finished commenting on all the Introduction posts (I think!), but if I missed somebody, please let me know. I don't comment a lot on the blogs once the semester gets going, but I definitely do want to read and comment on everybody's Introduction.

The following items are for fun and exploration:

Blog Stream. Here's another microfiction that I saw go by in the blog stream, based on a super-creepy urban legend; you'll probably recognize it! Find out more at Kennedee's post: Microfiction: Skin Crawlers.

Twitter Stream. I know some of you are reading Egyptian stories in the Myth class this week, so I wanted to share this gorgeous Egyptian ostracon from around 650 BC:

Storybooks. And here's an Egyptian Storybook from last year: The Egyptian Goddess Isis.

Indian Epics Today. The character of the day today is a member of Ravana's family: his giant brother, Kumbhakarna. This beautiful illustration shows Kumbhakarna falling in battle; you can see that the artist has drawn it like an animation, showing you the fall as if it were frame by frame:

100-Word Stories. Today's story is a folktale from India: The Jackal and the Peahen (click title for more info).

Myth-Folklore Video. Here are some more goddesses from Crash Course: Fire and Buffalo Goddesses.

Words. And here's a word in English that comes from the name of a god, Morpheus, the god of sleep: morphine. This fresco shows the god Morpheus together with the goddess Night:

Writing. If you're writing a story today, you might enjoy this fun infographic: Seven Steps to the Perfect Story.

Mindset Cats. The mindset cat has some advice for creative writing: start by making observations.

Writing Video. And here is some all-purpose writing advice: Beware the Zombie Nouns!

Event on Campus. There will be a talk today at noon in 142 Farzaneh Hall: Modi and the Rise of Hindu Nationalism in India (details).

February 13: Lupercalia. Today is the Ides of February in the Roman calendar, which means it is the first day of the festival of the Lupercalia. Lupercus was the god of shepherds and his festival was intended to insure fertility in the coming spring. The Luperci priests would run through the streets, dressed in goatskins, and lash the women of the city with the thongs. You can read more about Lupercalia in this Wikipedia article and at NPR.

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