Tuesday, March 21

Today is Tuesday of WEEK 9, and I've re-arranged the Modules area in Canvas so the new week is on top. If you have not done any reading for this week yet, that means today is the day to do some reading, and I hope you will find some story ideas that grab you! Here is a link to this week's assignments.

Class Procedures and Reminders

Beginning of the end... I am pleased to announce that Shruti (in Myth-Folklore) is done with the class already, so that's a big congratulations to her: well done, Shruti!!! There are some other people who are very close to finishing up, and for those of you would like to finish early, the key is doing some extra credit each week. It really does add up, and if you start now you can easily finish well ahead of Week 15.

Project Stack. I managed to get through the projects that were turned in over the weekend before Spring Break, and today I'll start in on the projects that were turned in last Monday and later during the Spring Break week. I'll keep on working my way through the stack in the order received, and if all goes well I should be able to get through the stack by the end of the day on Friday as usual. Meanwhile, you can check the stack to make sure I received your assignment.

The following items are for fun and exploration:

Reading. I would definitely vote to add an eighth day to the week just for reading. :-)

Writing. There are so many reasons why people write, and I found this nice graphic at the #WhyIWrite Twitter hashtag:

Spelling. Yet another one of those English sound-alike pairs that the spellchecker will not help with: BOARD v. BORED.

Featured Storybook. This project is from the Myth-Folklore class: The Imperial Pixies. Learn about the Imperial Pixies of ancient Britain, foes of the Romans. Again and again, the women of Britain find an ally in the Pixies, but are the Pixies' powers great enough to thwart the Romans?

Free Book Online: Today's free book is Indian Fables and Folklore by Shovona Devi. See the Freebookapalooza blog for links and the table of contents. This is a beautiful book of stories, and it is one of the reading options for Indian Epics in the second half of the semester.

Words of Wisdom: Today's saying is You cannot hold two watermelons in one hand (a Persian proverb). Find out more at the Proverb Lab. It's like "don't bite off more than you can chew" ... but with watermelons instead.

Video: The video for today is Prem Joshua's Hele Mele. Here is how White Swan describes this fusion experiment: "Hele Mele bears prominent traces of Balkan, Moroccan and Indian music, with lyrics based on an obscure mantra dedicated to the River Ganges. It starts with the banshee-like wail of the Bulgarian gaida and steadily builds to an ecstatic, sufi jazz pitch."

Growth Mindset: Today's growth mindset cat is focused on learning new things: Pay attention and stretch your knowledge. You can find out more at the Growth Mindset blog.

Event on Campus: OUWellness is starting another STRIDES series today, Tuesday and Thursday, meeting up at the east entrance to the Union at 11:45 and then doing the walk at noon (details). Find out more about this and other events at the Campus Calendar online.

March 21: Peter Brook. Today is the birthday of Peter Brook, creator of the extraordinary Mahabharata stage play and film that some of you may be watching in Indian Epics this semester. He turns 92 today! You can read more about his life and career here, and you can listen to an NPR broadcast about his latest stage production, Battlefield, which is also inspired by the Mahabharata.


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