Possible Storybook Topics

1. Possible Topic: Weapons. I have always had an interest in historical battles and weapons and my time in the military has only strengthened that interest. I love that there are so many weapons that have fantastic powers and how the various gods gifted them to worthy individuals. I remember the story where Rama broke Shiva's bow and I could see a possible story where Shiva seeks revenge for Rama breaking his favorite weapon. As for the battles, I was particularly interested in the battle between Ravana and Jatayu (I already wrote a story about this titled Murder at the Office, but I think I can expand it into something even better).

Research so far: I found that there are a great number of weapons that are used through out the epics. Many of these weapons are bows, but there are some interesting ones like the Sudarshan Chakra. This weapon is a disk with serrated teeth that is used by Vishnu.

 
Vishnu holding the Shudarshan Chakra

2. Possible Topic: Ravana and other Rakshasas. I noticed there were many stories about Ravana in the epics along with other Rakshasas. I thought it would be interesting if I could make a story with the Ravana as the main character, making him being the protagonist and have him and the other Rakshasas being terrorized by Rama. I feel this would be an interesting twist and a little bit of a challenge to try and promote sympathy for such a hated character.

Research so far: Ravana seems to be the equivalent of the devil or satan in the Christian faith. He has ten heads and twenty arms, which I thought was terrifying to think of. By looking at the demons topic page and Wikipedia site about rakshasas, I found that there are tons of characters to choose from, but Ravana still seems to be the most interesting just because of his central role to the epics.

Ravana, The Demon King

3. Possible Topic: Karma. I think most of us are familiar with the word, but I did not know exactly what it meant, so I needed some research to get a better grasp on the concept. I did know that karma was loosely a principle of “what comes around goes around” so I thought this topic could be a fun way to show how an action could cause unwanted repercussions.

Research so far: From the Wikipedia site on Karma, I saw that it is a principle of cause and effect. The most striking thing that I found was karma’s role in rebirth. There has been an underlying theme so far in the epics of living a virtuous life and this could be because the mortals would not only like to ascend to heaven, but to be reborn into a better situation. Referring back to how I wanted to make Ravana the hero in one of my stories, I think I could have him redeeming his evil ways by performing a heroic act and being reborn as a virtuous god with even more fantastic powers.



4. Possible Topic: The god Indra. Not much has been covered in my readings so far of the Ramayana about Indra, but I do remember that he was a god of rain and thunderstorms. In the story about Rama breaking Shiva’s bow there was a reference to the sound that the breaking bow made sounding like Indra’s thunderbolt. I would like to explore more about

Research so far: I found from the Wikipedia article that Indra is like the Norse god Thor. He was said to be the one that holds up the sky and he released the waters of the world from the grip of the serpent Vrtra. Also, he was prone to commit acts of mischief that he would be punished for. I think a good story could come from Indra planning on doing something mischievous and being found out by one of the other gods or even Rama.

Indra Riding His White Elephant

Week 2 Storytelling: Murder At The Office

It was late spring at the law firm of Ravana, Jatayu and Rama. These three had been working separately for the past twenty years, but had recently combined their talents into a shared law firm and had built quite the reputation in their competitive city. The firm started out with just Rama and Ravana, with the newest partner being Jatayu. Rama, a very skilled lawyer, is renowned for his likability among juries and has astonishingly never lost a case. Rama’s reputation started to make Ravana, the oldest of the three outstanding lawyers, stew with jealousy. Ravana had graduated Summa Cum Laude from Harvard and built the frame work for what the law firm had now become. Ravana was getting tired of his prospective clients always asking for Rama to represent them and simply ignoring his abilities as a lawyer. Needless to say, Ravana has an unhealthy grudge on Rama. Jatayu is the newest partner to the law firm and is a quiet and deliberate man. He has a hooked nose, almost like a beak, and very dark eyes that make him seem intimidating to some, but he is actually a very kind and thoughtful man. Jatayu and Rama quickly developed a friendship even though they had only briefly known each other.

Late in the day, Ravana came to Jatayu and Rama explaining that he had given his younger sister, Shurpanakha, a job as his secretary and that she should be welcomed with open arms. The two agreed and went on with their days. After many weeks Sharpanakha turned out to be very rude with all of the other employees at the firm, but would magically put on a sweet appearance whenever her brother was around. Many complaints about Sharpanakha were brought up to Ravana, but he always ignored them because he never saw his sister act any way but nice. One day, Rama and Jatayu observed Sharpanakha belittling an intern and decided to intervene. When confronted by the two lawyers, Sharpanakha began to run away, but tripped. As she was falling, the hateful girl knocked over a freshly brewed pot of coffee that spilled onto her head. Sharpanakha screamed in agony as the hot coffee scalded her face. Ravana heard the screams from his sister and rushed from his office to see what was going on. Once on the scene, Sharpanakha told her brother that Rama had pushed her down, causing her to be burned and disfigured by the burning hot coffee. Rama and Jatayu were in disbelief of these wild accusations and quickly tried to disprove these statements by Sharpanakha, but Ravana was unmoved by what Rama and Jatayu, or anyone else in the office for that matter, had to say in retort. He was sure that the disfigurement of his sister happened exactly how she had explained it. Ravana, engulfed by the flames of rage, lunged at Rama to avenge his sister, but Jatayu stepped in and tried to mediate the situation. Ravana’s rage then switched to Jatayu for having the gall to keep him from vengeance. A fight broke out between Ravana and Jatayu with Rama standing by in shock. Ravana grabbed Jatayu’s throat and started landing blow after blow to Jatayu’s body and head. Jatayu fought back with a flurry of fists of his own but was no match for Ravana’s superior size and strength. Eventually Ravana landed a thunderous blow to the temple of Jatayu that caused him to fall into a heap on the ground. Rama rushed to Jatayu’s aid, but as he checked for a pulse, he could not find one. Ravana had killed Jatayu in cold blood right before him. Ravana then quickly raced out of the office, barely escaping the grasp of Rama. Rama could not believe what had just happened, nor could he believe that he Jatayu had defended his honor like he did. Rama, stricken with grief, vowed to track down Ravana to make him pay for his evil deed. He then took off out of the office as quickly as he could in search for the evil that had taken his friends life.

Rama Scolds Sharpanakha 

Image Source

Authors Note:

My story makes use of a collection of stories from three sources from the PDE of the Ramayana that are listed in the Bibliography below.

In the original story, Sharpanakha goes to Ravana after Rama's brother cuts off her nose and ears because she was trying to trick Rama. Ravana then abducts Rama's wife, Sita, but Jatayu, the bird/vulture king, intervenes and a battle ensues. Jatayu is killed in the battle and Rama is in hot pursuit to take back is wife and avenge Jatayu. I kept the names the same and the plot mostly the same as the three sources, but I chose to make the story take place in a more realistic setting (a law firm). My main goal was to make the story as realistic a situation as possible, but that proved to be quite difficult for me with keeping the plot intact. 

Bibliography

1) Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913)

2) The Iliad of the East: The Ramayana, by Frederika Richardson Macdonald (1886)

3) Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists by Sister Nivedita (1914)

Week 2 Reading Diary, continued: PDE Ramayana

As a reminder, I am reading the Public Domain Edition: Ramayana. My favorite moment during this reading was the battle between Ravana, the demon king, and Jatayu, the vulture or bird king from Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists by Sister Nivedita (1914). The description of the battle was very short and I think I could expand it into quite the epic scene. I really like that Jatayu comes to defend the honor of Sita, and swears to protect her for Rama, even at the cost of his own life. Jatayu is a very interesting character to me for the simple fact that he really had no cause to be involved in the abduction of Sita. The bird king nonetheless vows to help Sita because he believes in Rama's virtue and wants to help. I also really like the character of Ravana. When I was younger I liked a cartoon called Samuri Jack, and the main antagonist was a character by the name of Aku. Like Ravana, Aku is a demon king that is bent on destroying a virtuous being. Aku, has his origins partly tied to the Hindu god Vishnu, along with various other gods from different cultures, so there is a strong tie between him and Ravana from the Ramayana. I believe I could expand on this character and maybe intertwine the tales of Aku and Ravana to make them a completely new character. I was even thinking of making my storybook from the point of view of Ravana. This strategy would be a complete role reversal, making Ravana the hero and Rama the villain. Overall, I've come to realize through reading these stories that I am particularly interested in the battle scenes and I will most likely have my storybook's main focus be centered around the various battles in the Ramayana.  

Image Source: Ravana abducts Sita and a

battle with the bird king, Jatayu, ensues.

Week 1 Reading Diary: PDE Ramayana

After reading the first half of the reading assignment (I chose the Public Domain Edition Ramayana) I noticed a few things things the authors did that I liked and one thing that I disliked. I will list the things I liked first, followed by my dislike.

Likes

1) The extensive descriptive details in the version of the Ramayana by Donald A. Mackenzie, titled Indian Myth and Legend. Mackenzie painted a setting that was very detailed and made it easier to get involved in the story.


2) The use of links for all of the characters and other Indian geographical sites (mythical or real). When I first began reading the stories in the Ramayana, I was completely lost because there were so many Indian names and places that I could not even pronounce, but as I gradually clicked on more and more links I was able to get a better grasp on what was going on in the stories. I think it will be good to include links to any obscure names and places where appropriate.


3) I like how so many of the gods have such diverse powers and some of these powers intertwine among them. I think I could use these powers to make my own twist on things when writing my own stories.


4) My favorite story was "Bhagiratha and Ganga" taken from The Great Indian Epics by John Campbell Oman (1894). I particularly liked liked the picture showing how Ganga was finally allowed to fall through Shiva's hair, as shown below.

Shiva, With Ganga Falling Through His Hair

Image Source

Dislikes

1) I did not like the rhymes that were scattered throughout this edition of the Ramayana. I found them hard to follow, and confusing at times. This will not be a style that I use for my storybook.

Week 1 Review

Well, week 1 is officially over and we are back in the swing of things for another semester. I have been very surprised by how much I am enjoying this class so far. There is a mountain of interesting stories and information that is available to us, which makes it a challenge to be bored. My favorite thing from week 1 has to be my introduction into the philosophy of the growth mindset, by Carol Dweck. I know this will be very valuable to me in shaping myself into a more productive and overall better person. Plus, the cat memes are great, as seen below. It was great to read other classmates introductions and get to know them better, even without actually meeting them (something that is not typical in traditional on-campus courses). Also, I couldn't believe how much creativity people showed in the storytelling assignment. I only read four stories, but they were all so well written and interesting. I'm looking forward to the rest of the semester and I hope to get to meet and read more from my fellow classmates.

"Learn to look at things from different angles."

From the growth mindset blog

Tech Tip: Blogger Template

I just wanted everyone to know that my page just got a make over thanks to the Blogger Template Tech Tip. When I started my blog I didn't really see any problem with just the simple orange background that it had previously, but then I started browsing around other classmates blogs and I immediately saw that theirs were much more aesthetically pleasing. I feel that more people will enjoy looking at and reading my blog now that it is not so dull. I hope everyone likes the new template!

Learning Challenges

Like so many students, I constantly struggle with time management. We all want to do well in class and make good grades, but there are so many other things that we could do. The task of managing time effectively becomes most difficult for me when attempting to take on a particularly dry subject. I have to admit that I watch entirely too much t.v. (especially sports, and t.v. series), and this puts a real kink in my overall study habits. The H.E.A.R.T. website looks great and has a wealth of topics that can be explored to help improve habits, and generally help a person achieve success in life. The time management tab on this site introduced me to the Promodoro technique, which may be beneficial to me, since I struggle so greatly with managing my time effectively. This technique, which relies on working on something for a gradually increasing time interval and then rewarding yourself with a short break and something that you enjoy doing, may be able to get me out of the habit of procrastination and get me on track for being an effective time manager. I also really enjoyed the short video that touched on the psychology on why we procrastinate. Knowing the reasons why I procrastinate will help me better understand how to implement a strategy in overcoming this habit.

"Reality Check" by David Whamond

(A good depiction of me when I get into a show.)

Growth Mindset

I have personally never heard of Carol Dweck, but I do think I have encountered the philosophy of the Growth Mindset sometime in the past. After watching some of the videos with Carol Dweck explaining the Growth Mindset and the results that have been achieved upon employing this strategy, I have to say that my interest is piqued. These videos revealed to me that I have a tendency to fall into the fixed mindset, which makes me feel discouraged and guarded against new challenges and learning. In the past I have generally picked up new concepts very quickly and never had to apply myself very strenuously to many tasks. I think that never having to really push myself allowed me to become complacent and not seek out new challenges and also to never really grasp what it means to retain information effectively. I have come to realize, quite to my dismay, that this habit of a fixed mindset is greatly detrimental to my success in my chosen field of chemical engineering because the course work is very demanding and requires a relatively thorough knowledge of almost every previous course that has been covered. The course that I am most worried about this semester is kinetics because it is the one area of understanding that separates the chemical engineer from all other engineers and I would like to do well in it. I suppose that I should be excited for the challenge, according to the growth mindset, but I still have the expectation that I should make a good grade, which is obviously a characteristic of a fixed mindset. I absolutely plan on using the growth mindset to not only further my capacity for knowledge retention, but to also strengthen my personal relationships. I have no doubt that this subject will be a valuable asset to assist me in becoming a better person in all areas of my life. I cant wait to see what new discoveries await me and how I will change.

A Meme From the Growth Mindset Memes Blog

Image Source: Cheezburger.com

My Storybook Favorites

The first storybook that caught my eye was "1000 Ways To Die: Demon Edition" because it is a play on a t.v. show that I really like. The author of this page uses the same title image and the same type of opening statement that the t.v. show uses, so it makes me start thinking about some of the previous episodes I've seen. The introduction provides very good detail in what to expect in the stories within the storybook. The layout of the introduction is very basic, but it does a good job in conveying the type of gore and bloodshed that are the topics of the story through its use of a black background and some red text incorporated. The overall navigation is easy and straight forward and all the pages are the same design. I like how the author incorporated his stories to an existing storytelling shows style and I may consider something similar.

1,000 Ways to Die

Source: Zap2It

The second storybook that I came across was "Epic Indian Battles" by Ben Denton. This title was catchy for me because I like historical documentaries of battles. The introduction was very creative with the author choosing to have a pessimistic man telling how exaggerated the stories were. The layout and design of the page were easily navigable and had a consistent design on every page. I did not see anything that jumped out to me as a great design that I may want to use in my own project but the creativity of the retelling of the stories from a different perspective was quite clever.

Rama vs. Ravana

Image Source: BBC Website

The final storybook that caught my eye was "Women of Epic Proportions" by Rosa Pasuarella. After reading the introduction it was clear that this book was going to be a play on a matchmaking game show. Normally I would not be interested in a dating show, but the page was designed so well and the use of pictures prompted me to continue reading into the book. I liked design of this book and how it used the entire page with very little clutter to distract the reader from reading the page. All the stories were completely dialogue based, which is something I may consider for one of my stories, but not all of them. Overall this was the most well put together page of the three listed in this post and I will be striving to make something very similar when designing my own storybook.

Overview of Indian Epics Course

I have chosen to read the public domain edition of the Ramayana because of its ease of access and its extensive links, notes and illustrations that accompany it. The Ramayana by Narayan would be more difficult for me to read because it is only offered at Bizzel Library. Also, since I learn very well with visual aid, the lack of pictures in Narayan's version would possibly not allow for as engaging of an experience that I think the PDE version will.

I have never been in a class that focuses primarily on epics, but I do recall going over the Homer's epic, The Odyssey in high school and I really enjoy the Game of Thrones series. The only other experience I have had with Indian/South Asian culture was my deployment to Afghanistan. I did not have much contact with the locals in Afghanistan so I cannot really draw any connections to this course just yet. As I was browsing for images on the Indian Epics site, I remembered some of the names of gods and goddesses, but the thing that I felt made me really think of Indian culture was a four armed goddess. With some searching I came to find that the four armed goddess was Lakshmi who is the goddess of wealth, fortune and prosperity and the wife of Lord Vishnu. I think that this is the image that I associate most with Indian culture because it is so distinctive (i.e. four arms). I have provided an image of Lakshmi below.

Lakshmi 

Web Source: Wikimedia Commons

Introduction to a Future Chemical Engineer

Hello everyone! My name is William Spradling and I am currently a sergeant in the U.S. Army National Guard. My job in the army is fire direction control, or FDC for short. FDC members calculate the launch conditions that must be met for an artillery shell to hit a target accurately for various artillery pieces such as the M109A6 (Paladin), M777, and M119.

                          
                       M109A6 (Paladin)                                    M777 and ammunition 

 

   M119

I joined the Army in 2010 and spent four years of active duty service with two of my years in Schweinfurt, Germany; a year in Paktika Provence, Afghanistan; and a year in Fort Sill, Oklahoma. The lessons I learned during my active duty service are invaluable and I can truly say that it was the greatest learning experience I have had so far in my life.

(Personal Photo from 2011) A picture of me (left) and some of my platoon 

conducting a counter fire mission in Afghanistan 

Field Artillery Troopers: Fire Mission M777

After I finished my four years of active duty, I decided that it was time to go back to school and finish a degree using the benefits of the Post 9/11 GI Bill that I had earned. I came to the decision to go to the University of Oklahoma to pursue a degree in Chemical Engineering. I was immediately drawn to the wide range of topics and problems that a chemical engineer would be exposed to and now as a senior in the program, I have concluded it was without a doubt the best choice of major I could have picked for my personality.


My short term goal is to finish my degree and get a job somewhere in the chemical field, preferably in polymers. My long term goals include moving to Colorado and becoming a lead engineer at a chemical company. My biggest dream would be able to move back to Germany and work for BASF.


I am about to be married to my beautiful fiancé, Makale, in March of this year.

(Personal Photo from 2016) Makale and I in Vail, Colorado.

Makale and I have been living together for about two years and we just recently moved to Moore.
We also have a crazy dog together by the name of Jax, who is half blue healer and half American bulldog, and he thinks he is a small lap-dog even though he is 80 pounds.

(Personal Photo from 2015) Jax with his most prized possession.

I hope you have enjoyed this small introduction to my life!

Week 1 Story Telling: The Ostrich And The Albatross

There once was a great ostrich whose name was Charles. Charles had a very good friend that was an albatross by the name of Hector. Charles envied Hector’s ability to soar in the sky, and daydreamed about flying almost every day.

Charles the Ostrich.

Web Source: Wikimedia Commons

One day Charles wandered up to Hector, who was taking a nap and asked Hector to teach him how to fly. Hector, still drowsy from his mid-day nap yawned “Well I suppose I could try. You do have wings after all.” Charles flapped his wings and jumped up and down while flapping his wings in excitement and squealed “Oh thank you, thank you Hector!” Hector could tell this meant a lot to Charles and was determined to get him up in the air so they could fly together. Hector urged Charles to calm down so that he could give him proper instructions. Finally, with Charles still some-what fidgeting, Hector told Charles to observe him as he took flight. Hector jumped off the ground with his wings stretched wide and with a few powerful thrusts of his giant wings, Hector was flying in circles just a few feet above Charles.

Hector the Albatross.

Web Source: Wikimedia Commons 

“You have to allow your wings to catch the wind”, yelled Hector to an amazed Charles. “But your wings are so much bigger than mine, and my body is so heavy”, replied Charles as he attempted to take off with no luck. Hector knew that this could be a problem, but he was still determined to help his friend, so he flew back down to Charles and landed back on the ground with light thud. The two decided to call it a day so they could work on a solution to get Charles in the air. Many days passed with Charles only being able to stay in the air for a couple of seconds at a time, but each day Hector would take off and land so that Charles could observe how Hector flew and landed. Charles would try every day to fly like Hector but could never get his big body to stay off the ground for more than a few seconds. Each passing day made Charles more and more impatient. Charles was thinking to himself “Hector makes it look so easy, why can’t I fly like that?” One day Charles had the idea that if he took off from a higher place he would be able to catch enough wind under his wings to fly like Hector. Charles was so sure that his idea would work and wanted to surprise Hector, so he headed to a giant cliff to test his idea. Once he got up on the cliff, Charles jumped and violently flapped his wings, but was unable to keep his giant body in the air and met his end at the rocky ground below.

Authors Note: I used the fable of "The Tortoise And The Ducks" for my retelling. In this fable there is a tortoise that was very envious of all the creatures that could run quickly and fly about, while he was cursed with short legs and a heavy body that could barely get him around. The tortoise tells a pair of ducks of his woes and they decide to help him fly by taking him up by a stick that each of them held while the tortoise held on in the middle. The ducks told the tortoise to be quiet while he was on his flight or he would be sorry, but the tortoise was praised by a crow that said he must be the king of all tortoises and he began to accept the praise which made him lose his grip on the stick and fall to his death. I kept the theme of envy and wanting to be something other than what you are intact, but there was a twist with the old adage of "even good intentions can have grave consequences".  

Bibliography: This story is based on the fable "The Tortoise And The Ducks" in the Aesop for Children, by (anonymous), illustrated by Milo Winter (1919)

Schweinfurt, My Favorite Place

In 2010 I joined the U.S. Army and was sent to Schweinfurt, Germany for my first duty station. I lived in Schweinfurt for two years, separated by a year-long deployment to Afghanistan. I love the German culture and it always seemed like there was a festival or gathering going on. The Christmas market, as seen below, is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.

                        (Schweinfurt Christmas market with the Town Hall in the background,
                                                              Photo by Barock Schloss)