Future Reading Plan

I have decided that I will focus my reading on the various gods and goddesses of India for the remainder of this semester. Since my storybook topic is geared towards the exploits and plights of Indra, I think it will be interesting to introduce some of his peers. This focused reading will also work as a bit of research about what the other Devas and Devis were up too while Indra was going through his own journey. I want to mesh some of these stories together with Indra's background to further shape the slightly unstable and narcissistic character direction I am hoping to portray for him.

In order for me to avoid committing myself to only reading about the other gods for the rest of the semester, I will focus on this topic for weeks 9-10. As long as this topic remains interesting to me I will continue with this plan.

Source: Collection of Indian Gods

Week 8: Blog Ideas

I recently went back to my Introduction post and I noticed that I didn't even tell anyone what I actually do in the Army. I decided to add a little detail about my job and some background on some of the artillery pieces I have worked with. I also included pictures of the artillery pieces because I do not believe many people would recognize them just by their nomenclature.

As I was browsing through the class directory I came across a few aspects within some blogs that caught my attention. Here is a list of the things I found during my exploration:

I really liked Ashlyn's blog design/template. The background with the books on the shelves makes me feel like I am in a giant library, which I think is pretty cool. I have gotten some comments that people like my blog design/template, so I am reluctant to change it if it is already aesthetically pleasing to my visitors.

I was really impressed with Kayla's font choice in her blog. The cursive font adds a personal touch to the blog and avoids the mundanity of traditionally academic fonts (i.e. Arial and Times). I think I will update my blog to incorporate a more unique font. Hopefully this alteration will attract more readers.

The final aspect that caught my eye came from Savannah's blog. Savannah found a way to include a section of her sidebar that displayed recent posts and recent comments on her blog. I thought this was a very useful tool for not only Savannah, but also her visitors. I noticed that she was using wordpress for her blog, so I do not know if blogger will allow for this addition to come to fruition for me. I definitely want to add this same section to my blog, but I will most likely need to tinker with the layout in order to find a solution. I'm not sure if this is already a tech tip, but it would be a great addition if someone had the time to write up some instructions.

Time Strategies

Taking a look back on how this semester has gone I have noticed that I need to spend more time than I originally anticipated. At the beginning of this course I chose to start my week on Monday, where I will complete readings and continue the readings and storytelling assignments on Tuesday. I also chose to complete the remainder of the assignments over the weekend (i.e. half Saturday and half on Sunday).


I am pleased with the days that I chose to complete these tasks on, but seeing as the second half of this semester will be much more hectic in all of my courses, I will make an effort to work on this class almost every day of the week. I see the importance of working ahead so that there will be a bit of a buffer when unexpected circumstances prevent me from completing tasks on time. I recently fell a little behind due to a four day drill for National Guard where I was without an internet connection.


My commitment to the Oklahoma National Guard will continue to present a time challenge for me throughout the remainder of this semester, so I will need to work ahead in order to allow myself to better serve this great state and the soldiers under me.


My other classes require a great deal of my time as well. I will attempt to set aside time blocks for these courses, just as I have for this course. Fortunately, all of my courses are on Tuesday and Thursday, so I have more time on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I will try to make the most of Wednesday and Friday for my other classes since I have chosen Monday as a time slot for this course.


Below is a graphic of something that I really need to take to heart because I spend a lot of time worrying about things outside of my control.

Source: What you should focus on (Image by Paul Brown)

Tech Tip: Reverse Image Search

I just used the reverse image search tech tip instructions to find a larger version of the sample images posted. It turns out that this technique brought me to the PDE Ramayana that I read earlier in the semester. This was a really cool tip and it could prove to be useful for me in the future. Here is my image results:

     Ravana tricking Sita and then abducting her.