Tuesday, February 4

Today is Tuesday of Week 4. Here is a link to Week 4. Today is a reading day for many of you, and I hope you will enjoy this week's reading!

Class Procedures and Reminders

My schedule today. I'm going to be away from the office most of today with limited Internet access, so I might be slower than usual to respond to your emails. So, thank you for your patience in advance, and I should be able to reply to any questions by the end of the day today.

Project Stack. I've read and replied to all the assignments turned in on before 3PM on Saturday, and I'll keep working my way through the rest of the Saturday assignments today. Meanwhile, you can check the stack to make sure I received your email.

The following items are for fun and exploration:

Blog Stream. I'd always heard the song Girl from Ipanema, but I never knew where that was... but now, thanks to Monica's blog, I do! Here's her photo of Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janeiro.

Twitter Stream. And look at these gorgeous ear ornaments from the ancient Moche culture of Peru from The Met at Twitter, with details at the Met Museum website.

Indian Epics Today. The character of the day is URMILA, Lakshmana's wife. She is most famous for the story of "Umila Nidra," the Sleep of Urmila; more about Urmila here.

Storybooks. And here's a project about Urmila's sister, Sita: Sita, Sidewalks, Shadows. Stars.

Indian Epics. Here's another Ramayana character: it's Hanuman, as sand art.

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

 

Myth-Folklore Video. For those of you who have been looking at Greek sculpture in the Myth-Folklore reading, imagine those sculptures... in color! Tracing the Colors of Ancient Sculpture:

H.E.A.R.T.. There are lots of colors in that box of crayons: Life is about using the whole box of crayons. 

Mindset Cats. Today's mindset cat is aiming high: If I try harder, I can climb higher.

Writing Video. Here's another Mike Rugnetta video (from his days at PBS before Crash Course): Are LOLCats and Internet Memes Art? Of course you know I would answer: yes!

Event on Campus. Come enjoy coffee and biscotti at the OU in Arezzo booth on the South Oval from 9AM-11AM today (details).

February 4: Sri Lanka National Day. Today, February 4, is the holiday that celebrates the day in 1948 when the island nation of Sri Lanka gained independence from British rule. (India had gained its independence about six months earlier, in August of 1947.) You can read more about Sri Lanka in this Wikipedia article, and the image below shows a mountain, Sri Pada, commonly called "Adam's Peak" in English, which supposedly holds the footprint of the Buddha (according to Buddhist tradition), the footprint of Shiva (in Hindu tradition) or the footprint of Adam (in Islamic tradition):

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