Monday, April 9

Today is Monday. Week 11 is now over... and Week 12 has begun. The new week's topic in the Myth-Folklore class is stories from the British Isles, and in Indian Epics, it's free reading (Ramayana, Mahabharata, or other Indian stories). You can find the week's assignments at the Class Calendar. There are just three regular weeks of class left now, plus Dead Week!

Class Procedures and Reminders

Success Tip: Work on your luck. Yes, you really can make yourself luckier, as you can read in this article about psychology research into "luckiness" and what that actually means about people's perceptions and personality: The Key to Good Luck Is an Open Mind.

Canvas menu. You probably noticed that I made some changes to the Canvas menu this weekend. I moved up the link for the "Finished" form to fill out when you are done with the class, and I added a page with the new Project slideshows (a friend of mine introduced me to this very nice program called Photosnack, which turned out to be a really nice way to make slideshows).

Search box. Somebody made a really useful suggestion that was easy to implement: there's now a search widget in the sidebar of the Announcements blog! I always look at the suggestions people leave in the Suggestion Box, and sometimes they are quick fixes I can accomplish really easily, this this one.

Project Stack. As usual, the stack is huge on Monday morning. 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.

The following items are for fun and exploration:

Blog Stream. Natalie did the Canva Tech Tip to create this fun quote poster: Saltwater: The cure for anything is saltwater: tears, sweat, or the sea.

India Item. Here's a Krishna graphic from Devdutt Pattanaik's The Boys who Fought.

Myth Video: And here's an Arthurian Crash Course video: Galahad, Perceval, and the Holy Grail.

India Comic Book: Today's comic book is Jagannatha of Puri: Dreamt by a King, Sculpted by the Gods. See the Amar Chitra Katha blog for the Bizzell Reserve call number and more information. And, yes this is a juggernaut:

Proverb of the Day: Today's proverb is like counting your chickens, but with bears: Don't sell the bearskin before the bear is caught. Find out more at the Proverb Laboratory.

Writing: Grant Snider has some suggestions about what you could put in your Writing Notebook.

H.E.A.R.T.: Here's an item from Jack Kornfield to reflect on: Beginnings and Endings.

Growth Mindset: Today's growth mindset cat is a lifelong learner: Sometimes I limit myself to only what I know, when there is so much more in the world. I want to know more! You can find out more at the Growth Mindset blog.

Video: I am old enough to remember these Grammar Rock videos from when they first aired on television. Here's my favorite: Conjunction Junction. Find out more at Schoolhouse Rock.

Event on Campus: There will be a brown-bag lecture by Shir Alon today at noon in 145 Farzaneh Hall: Strategic Orientalism: Fantasies of Literary Origins in Modern Arabic and Hebrew Literatures (details). Find out more about this and other events at the Campus Calendar online.

April 9: Tom Lehrer. Today is the birthday of Tom Lehrer, born in 1928, an American mathematician and composer of some very funny satirical songs: Happy Birthday, Tom Lehrer! If you have not heard his songs before, I recommend taking a listen at YouTube. Here's a science song: The Elements.

And here's a mythological song: Oedipus Rex.

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