Tuesday, November 5

Today is Tuesday of Week 12. Here is a link to Week 12, plus Week 13 for anyone who is working ahead. And yes, working ahead, and doing extra credit — those are both ways that you can finish up the class early.

Class Procedures and Reminders

Week 12 Reading. In Myth-Folklore, Week 12 is the first British/Celtic week (details), and in Indian Epics, it's start of the free reading weeks: more epics, more jatakas, more gods and goddesses — whatever inspires you (details). I hope you will enjoy the reading this week, and if those of you in India Epics would like some reading selection advice, just let me know what you're looking for, and I'll try to help!

Project Stack. If you turned in a project last week on Friday or earlier, you should have comments back from me now, and I'll be working on the Saturday assignments today, plus hopefully starting on Sunday items too. Meanwhile, you can check the stack to make sure I received your assignment.

The following items are for fun and exploration:

Blog Stream. Akansha did the YouTube Tech Tip, embedding a video in her blog post... about bookstores!

Twitter Stream. I saw this in the APAStyle Twitter feed: lots of information about the use of singular "they" (I am a fan). Welcome, Singular "They"

H.E.A.R.T.. For those of you who are starting the Week 12 reading today, here is a thought about reading as a useful escape from reality.

Story of the Day. Today's story is a Nigerian legend that answers this question: Why the Cat Kills Rats. It's the sad story of a royal rat in love.

Indian Epics. And here's another aetiological story; you can see read the text here: The Origin of the Coconut. Vishvamitra is one of the characters in the story, someone those of you in Indian Epics know from the opening of the Ramayana.

India Video. If you have a few minutes today, here is one of my favorite videos from Devdutt Pattanaik (yes, TED is a global thing!): India is not chaotic.

Indian Epics Today. The Ramayana character for today is Bharata, Rama's noble brother who refuses to take Rama's place as king. Instead, Rama's own sandals sit on the throne, as you can see in this painting of Rama embracing Bharata on his return:

Proverbs. This is a proverb from Zanzibar: A coconut shell full of water is a sea to an ant.

Event on Campus. This is the next-to-last Bizzell Star Party of the semester! Come use the telescope and binoculars for star-gazing just outside the south entrance of Bizzell (details).

November 5: Guy Fawkes Night. This is Bonfire Night, commemorating the occasion when the so-called Gunpowder Plot of 1605 was prevented. The holiday is named after Guy Fawkes, but it is not in his honor: Guy Fawkes, a Catholic, was involved in a plot to blow up the House of Parliament in England. The plot was discovered, and Guy Fawkes, along with the other conspirators, was condemned to death. Find out more at Wikipedia; this Gunpowder Plot Galop is from 1856.

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