Friday, November 15

HAPPY FRIDAY! You have finished the first part of Week 13! Here is a link to Week 13 and also Week 14 for those of you working ahead in order to finish early.

Class Procedures and Reminders

Suggestion Box! There's a Suggestion Box link in the Canvas menu and also here in the blog sidebar; so, yesterday someone put in a fantastic idea about a new kind of extra credit assignment I could offer next semester to "unblock your writer's block." Thanks to whoever put that idea into the Box: it sounds like a great idea!

Project Stack. Yesterday I replied to all the projects turned in on Sunday, and today I'll reply to the rest of the Week 12 assignments, plus as many of the Week 13 assignments as I can. Meanwhile, you can check the stack to make sure I received your email.

The following items are for fun and exploration:

Blog Stream. I was so excited to see Emily did a Twine storytelling experiment this week; you can see it at her blog, and I've embedded it here too.

Twitter Stream. I found this very intriguing article via the LA Review of Books Twitter stream: I, Language Robot.

Myth-Folklore Video. Here's another Crash Course video: African Pantheons.

Myth-Folklore. And from the wide world of mythology and folklore, here is a very cool diagram of Mythical Creatures.

Indian Epics Today. The characters for today are the twin Ashwins, divine fathers of the Pandava twins Nakula and Sahadeva. More about the Ashwins. Plus a related Epified video: The Greatest Twins.

Story of the Day. Today's "why" story is an Aesop's fable that tells why the tortoise carries its home on its back: Jupiter and the Tortoise.

Writing. If you need some encouragement in your writing, Sylvia Duckworth has lots of reasons why you should be creative.

H.E.A.R.T.. And if you had a hard week, here's some advice from Molly Hahn of Buddha Doodles:

Event on Campus. Come to Gran Noche Gaitera in the Union Food Court, 7PM-10:30PM. There will be live Gaitas music, plus free food too (details)

(Gaita)

November 15: Johannes Secundus. Today is the birthday of the Latin poet Johannes (or Janus) Secundus. He was born in 1511 — not in ancient Roman times, but in Renaissance Europe. He is most famous for a series of poems he called Liber Basiorum in Latin, or The Book of Kisses. To learn more about Secundus and his all-too-short life (he died when he was just 24 years old), you can take a look at this Wikipedia article, and here is a portrait:

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