Tuesday, December 4

Today is Tuesday of Dead Week (Week 15). Here is a link to this week's assignments. If you are doing the reading assignments this week, you'll want to do the Reading A assignment today.

Class Procedures and Reminders

Finishing the class. When you have the points you need (410-A, 360-B, 320-C), you can fill out the "Finished" form that you will see in Canvas: you're all done!

Project Stack. Yesterday I read through all the new Portfolio stories, and today I'll be working on the new Storybook stories. Meanwhile, you can check the stack to make sure I received your email. For those of you who are done with the class, I'm focusing right now on people who are not finished yet, but I will get to your assignments by the end of the week!

The following items are for fun and exploration:

Blog Stream. Everybody needs a thumbs-up at this time of the semester, so here is Danielle in a famous last words from last week: I am so cold!

Featured Storybook. Here's a project for the fans of cats: Tale of the Traveling Cat. Join Duke, the time-traveling cat, as he visits ancient Egypt and Japan; he even visits Muhammad in Arabia, who mistakes Duke for his beloved cat Muezza.

As the semester winds down, I am repeating favorite items from earlier announcements; these items come from Week 11:

Myth Video. Here's a Cherokee storyteller, Robert Lewis, talking about The First Fire.

Myth Item. I illustrated this Estonian proverb with a photo of one of the famous dwarves of Wroclaw: The one who is not strong enough to lift the stone must roll it.

India Video. Here's an Epified video about spiritual fire: Tapasya. For more about this spiritual heat, called "tapas" in Sanskrit, see Wikipedia.

India Item. Here is an animated graphic depicting the Indian myth of Rahu and Ketu, the Eclipse Demon.

Writing. This is one of my favorite writing graphics: Don't give up in the middle... Keep writing!

Growth Mindset Cats. Don't let fear stop you: just keep writing, and just keep going.

Instead of fear, try wonder! Here are some philosophical thoughts about the power of wonder.

And whatever you do, don't fall into the list trap.

Event on Campus. You can come by the Gender + Equality Center in the Union, Room 247, for snacks! (details).

Find out more about this and other events at the Campus Calendar online.

December 4: Omar Khayyam. Today marks the death in the year 1131 of the great Persian poet and scholar, Omar Khayyam. He is best known in the West for his collection of poems called the Rubaiyat, and he is also renowned as a mathematician and astronomer. You can read more about Omar Khayyam's remarkable life and career in this Wikipedia article, and there is a wonderful statue of Khayyam outside Farzaneh Hall:

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