Friday, January 31

HAPPY FRIDAY! Today is Friday of Week 3. Here is a link to Week 3, and if you're ready to get a head start, Week 4 is available now too!

Class Procedures and Reminders

Other people's stories. For the regular Week 3 blog comments, you will be reading people's stories! Some from Week 2, some from Week 3, plus stories from later weeks (some people are really working ahead), and some microfiction experiments too. Plus, if you are curious and want to read more stories, you can always do the extra credit commenting option that's available each week. Reading other people's stories can be a great way to ignite your own creativity!

Project Stack. Yesterday I managed to get to all the projects turned in before 5PM on Thursday, and I'll keep up with incoming assignments today as best as I can. As always, you can check the stack to make sure I received your assignment.

The following items are for fun and exploration:

Blog Stream. I am excited to announce the first Twine experiment of the semester; you can find out more at AshLynn's blog post: Choosing Adventure. You can find out how to make your own Twine stories in the Tech Tips.

Twitter Stream. Every week #FolkloreThursday is a great Twitter event to watch; here's something from yesterday that caught my eye: Divining the Witch of York.

Indian Epics Today. The Ramayana character of the day is Kaushalya, Rama's mother. More about Kaushalya; she is also the mother of Rama's sister, Shanta. This painting shows Kaushalya mourning the death of King Dasharatha:

100-Word Stories. Today's story is a Buddhist jataka: The Resurrection Mantra (click title for more info).

Storybooks. This is an Indian Epics Storybook that goes in a very different direction in both time and in space, Rick and Morty: Earth C-137 Epics.

India Video. And speaking of science fiction, did you know the ancient Indian Gayatri Mantra is part of the Battlestar Galactica theme? It is! Click here for lyrics of the mantra and more information.

Words. And mantra is a Sanskrit word that has been adopted into English. More about the word mantra here. This image shows the OM syllable which can be used as a mantra:

Writing. This animation shows the alphabets of Europe evolving from a Semitic alphabet. For more information, see Wikipedia: The Alphabet.

Mindset Cats. Today's mindset cat believes in mind-opening practices: Open your mind with a new perspective.

HEART Video. And if you have a few minutes to spare, here is a beautiful video about the power of new perspectives and being different: Alike.

Event on Campus. Come celebrate World Hijab Day with the Muslim Student Association in the Union today from 9AM to noon, with henna tattoos too! (details)

January 31: Alan Lomax. Today marks the birthday of Alan Lomax, one of America's great musicologists. He was born on January 31 in 1915 and died in 2002. You can read about his life and career at Wikipedia. After he graduated from college, Lomax traveled all over the country recording folksongs and recording interviews with musicians like Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly and Jelly Roll Morton. You can listen to the Lomax archive of sound recordings at CulturalEquity.org. The image below is an album cover from his collection of Prison Songs:

Here is one of those songs in a YouTube video:

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