Famous Last Words for Week 14

I seriously can't believe that this semester is almost over. It really didn't hit me until last Tuesday, when one of my coworkers mentioned how much they had to do over dead week. I didn't realize why they were so stressed until I had that "aha" moment.

I think this week my best writing was my storytelling. I sometimes have no idea what to write about, which is why I haven't written a storytelling post every week, but this week I didn't over think anything and came up with a story I was happy with! I appreciate that this class required that I write something every week, because it has definitely kept my creative juices flowing.

I had the chance to check out some new Storybooks this week, and once again I was very impressed with the amount of work that went into each one. All of them are so different from one another and so great in their own ways. The finalists deserved the extra shout out because their work really is exceptional.

This week, we watched a movie in my cinema class that once again reminded me of all the Native American folklore I've read in this class. There were several references that I felt I understood better because of the stories I've read in this class.

So much is happening this time of year! The Memorial Marathon was this weekend and so was Relay For Life. Next weekend, something just as important will take place. The Autism Oklahoma Piece Walk and 5k will take place downtown, and I'm so excited about it. I'm on the committee for the event, and I've seen so many incredible people work really hard to make the event a reality. I'm excited to help in any way I can and see all of the people that come and support the cause.

(Autism Awareness Ribbon)

Famous Last Words for Week 13

This week was a complete blur, and it took me a minute to remember what unit I even read this week. This week, I did Dante's Inferno, and it genuinely creeped me out. However, the essay I wrote over justice in tale was easy to write considering Hell is a place where sinners go to pay for the sins they committed on earth. Divine Justice is the central theme in the unit, so writing about justice was a breeze. Lately, I've been focusing more and more on justice in the stories I've read, and it's been interesting to see how different time periods and cultures dealt with the concept. I've noticed that a lot of tales from the distant past make it a point to show that justice goes along closely with revenge, which is something I find interesting because in other instances, such as examples from the New Testament, justice is something that people allow God to deal with. Dante's Inferno seemed to mix divine justice with personal revenge, as in the case of Count Ugolino, who got to spend eternity eating the man that starved him to death.

Voting for the best Storybooks and Portfolios this week was so difficult! Everyone has put so much time and effort into their projects, and I felt like everyone did an equally awesome job. It's been so nice seeing people use their creative talents to create such diverse projects. Here I am, having a hard time thinking of storytelling ideas sometimes, and there are people in the class that hit the mark week after week with some solid storytelling.

Today was the anniversary of the bombing in Oklahoma City. I happened to be downtown today for one of my internships, and I saw so many people interacting with one another and the memorial itself. It's heartwarming to live in such a close and strong community.

(OKC Memorial)

Famous Last Words for Week 9

My best writing for week 9 was probably my Storytelling post. I tried something new with my story telling, and I'm surprised that it wasn't completely awful! Telling stories backwards is something that I've always thought was really interesting, so I decided to give it a shot. I'll have to practice more with that, so I might have more stories like that in this class in the future!

The stories I read this week were great. I like that the stories for this week involve so many animals. Whether it is animals doing the telling or just being the main focus of the stories, they are fun to read about. I think the reading units this week were very good at inspiring people to think outside the box and really create something they could be proud of.

Reading about buffalo and fish and whatnot this week was really neat because it once again connected to my History of Western Cinema class. Reading about the different tribes was interesting for the same reason. This class helps put things into perspective in my film class. I'm also in a philosophy class, and it's interesting to observe how people rationalized what they believed and whatnot and compare it to the thoughts of Greek philosophers as well as those that grew up in civilized areas.

This week has been super exciting for me because I'm in Oregon. What's even cooler is that I got to see Memaloose Island in person. The island is what my storytelling post was essentially over, and it was just so great to be able to see the place I had read about. That doesn't happen too often, especially because a lot of the units deal with mythology from different countries, so this was incredibly memorable for me. I was able to tell my boyfriend about the background of the island and teach him something about the history of the area that he grew up in!

(Personal photo of Memaloose Island)

Famous Last Words for Week 7

This week was such a blur! I can't believe another week is just around the corner. This week, I read the African Tales (Lang) unit. I really enjoyed it, although I only did half of the reading. I enjoy stories that feature animals as their main characters.

I think my best writing was my storytelling for the week. I've developed a habit of taking stories and re-writing them from a different perspective. It's always interesting and challenging thinking of how to tell a story from another angle. I was worried that I wouldn't meet the length requirement and ended up being afraid I would write too much! That's always a cool feeling, I think. 

I really loved the Storybook projects I got to read this week. All of the ones in my group were really well-written and clearly organized. It's nice being able to see everyone's progress throughout the semester. It seems like the semester just started, and here we are, with all of these stories and whatnot under our belts. It's all flying by so quickly!

I'm having a hard time waking up for my morning classes. Spring Break can't come soon enough! In my film class, we had the opportunity to observe how animals enhance a film. I thought it was a funny coincidence since the unit I worked on dealt primarily with animals!

Lots of things happened this week in terms of news! The llamas that escaped were my main entertainment for a day last week, so I appreciated that. Then the dress debacle surfaced and made me want to delete all of my social media accounts forever. Very glad that has blown over. 

(The majestic llama)

A prominent Russian figure was murdered this week, and that was significant to me. I'm Russian and have family and friends overseas, so I like to keep up with any and all news from the other side of the globe. It's unsettling that such events happen. Overall, I would say the news this week was very diverse, and I'm glad I have so many outlets that let me stay in the loop.

Famous Last Words for Week 6

This week has been such a whirlwind! This is evidenced by the fact that it is almost 3 in the morning, and I'm writing this.

I think my best writing this week was my storytelling. The unit that I did, Chinese Fairy Tales, was so great for inspiring me to write. I also liked how detailed and action packed most of the stories were in the unit. I had an epiphany this week about my writing. If I go in and make a blog post and just add the title and labels, I focus more on what I want to write. It's funny how that works. I did that with several assignments this week and noticed that just doing that little thing made me want to brainstorm and concretely plan out my writing more.

The writing that I got to read this week was awesome. I didn't read any other stories based on the unit that I did, so it was interesting to get a glimpse of all of the other units that everyone read. I also liked reading the Storybook projects. It's fun seeing those start coming together. I'm sure that by the end of the semester, they will all be fantastic.

My other classes are getting a little crazy, but that's mostly because I procrastinated. I ended up going to bed at 4 in the morning the other night because I had so much to do and had also put off a drawing that I was supposed to finish for one of my classes. I learned the hard way that I really shouldn't do that again. Oh, well. You live and learn, I suppose.

I had the chance to go to a gigantic book sale in the city this weekend, and it made me want to read even more than I already do. So this is just a shout out to books - Go read them!

(Personal photo of my friend and me at the book sale, Feb. 2015)

Famous Last Words for Week 5

I think my best writing for the week was my Storytelling assignment, which was the unit Twenty-Two Goblins. The unit was challenging to write about because of how it was a story within a story. Also, the stories were somewhat redundant, so I had a hard time coming up with some variety for my version of the tale. Overall, I think having to really brainstorm helped me come up with some strategies for future writing.

I really enjoyed reading this week's stories on several different blogs. It always amazes me what kind of stories people can come up with! It's definitely inspiring to read other material, and I think I'm amongst a great group of writers. One of my favorite parts of each week is getting to read what my classmates have written. It was interesting also to see how many people did the same unit as me. Their spins on the stories made the unit much more enjoyable for me overall.

I have one other online class, and I realized that my writing in that class has benefitted from this class because of how writing intensive this one is. I'm also taking some art history classes that have been showing works that deal with mythology somewhat, so it's been interesting to see how that all ties in together! For example, in my Cinema of the American West class, we are dealing with mythological landscapes and characters. It's been fun watching the movies and seeing how the directors made use of Native American mythology in order to make their films more authentic and captivating.

Outside of school, I'm pretty much just looking forward to Spring Break. I'm going to Oregon, so I've just been on Pinterest for hours on end looking at waterfalls to hike to. That's been the most interesting part of my week, I think.

(Personal photo of Tamanawas Falls, OR, summer 2014)