Famous Last Words Week 6

Overall, I really enjoyed the ending of the Mahabharata. The characters really developed and I was able to understand the plotline better. It felt very focused unlike the earlier readings because of the numerous characters. I enjoyed the battle scenes too because many major characters were defeated, causing a really dynamic battle. I liked the Ramayana a lot better because of the relationship between Sita and Rama. It was my two favorite characters thus far.

I felt my storytelling was my piece of writing this week. I continued my story about Sugriva and Vali. I felt adding pieces of the Mahabharata to Vali’s revenge such as the poisonous pond and The Voice. I hope to continue this story with connecting future epics that we read.

My other classes have been pretty good thus far. I had three exams within the past week and I felt I did well on all of them but one. My reservoir exam had zero partial credit so I bet on I did not get a lot of points. I have a production engineering exam this week and I feel that it will be a tough exam. I have been studying all weekend so I hope I am prepared for what is going to be on the test.

Outside of class, I had a really fun weekend this weekend with all of my friends. We went to Top Golf all the way in Oklahoma City and it was a ton of fun. I am not the best golfer but the friends were good company. I did not hit many golf balls though because this past week I sprained my ankle super bad. I had to be on crutches and everything so that was not fun. I hope I can start walking again soon!

Source: TopGolf

Overall, it was a great week and I am ready for Spring Break!

Growth Mindset Week 6

Source: Growth Mindset Blog

This is my favorite growth mindset for this week. It is important for every child or person to understand that no one has gotten to where they have without a lot of practice and hardwork. Practice is vital in learning from your mistakes and focusing on what to change. If you want to be successful you need to practice and work hard. 

Week 6 Review

Source: Week 6 Announcements 

This was my favorite announcement from the past week because of the meaning behind it. It is vital to put in the hardwork before you can have anything you want. In life, nothing is given to you and if you want something, you must work for it. 

Week 6 H.E.A.R.T. Challenge

Source: H.E.A.R.T. Blog

This was my favorite H.E.A.R.T. post this past week. I find that this is extremely funny! This most relates to time a procrastination. Many students procrastinate all of their assignment, however, I like to get most of my things done the first day they are assigned. It is very easy to get behind so time management is vital in success, which leads to happiness. 

Week 6 Storytelling: Revenge is Poison

A continuation of my Week 6 Story:

Years had passed since Sugriva and Vali had battled at their school dance. Vali was nowhere to be found by the people, but Vali knew exactly where he would be. Vali knew Sugriva resided in the far away city of Kishkindha. Vali wanted his revenge, but he did not quite know how to defeat his younger brother.

At first, Vali tried to get this so called hero Rama to defeat his brother. The plan was perfect, Vali distracts Sugriva while the hiding Rama shoots his magical bow and arrow into Sugriva. The plan was flawless until Vali learned of what he would have to help Rama with.

“Rama, if you complete this task I will forever be in your service. What do you wish of me once my evil brother is defeated”?

Rama replied with the only request Vali would not help with. “Vali, my beloved wife has been kidnapped by the ten-headed Ravana. Her name is Sita and I miss her beautiful face every day”.

Vali could not face his once true love. He was scared of what Sita would say once they saw each other. Especially if the avatar of Vishnu himself found out Vali loved his beloved wife. “Rama I am sorry but I cannot help you find Sita for reasons I will not tell.”

Source: Rama and Vali Meeting

With utter disappointment, Vali left Rama to find another way to gain revenge on his brother. As he swung back to his tree house, a celestial being appeared out of nowhere. With a mystical voice, the being told Vali the story of a magical pond.

“Vali, my friend. There once was a group of brothers that were princes. Their names were the Pandavas. These brothers were exiled from their kingdom and wondered the forest with their mother. All of the brothers were so thirsty one day that I, The Voice, tricked all of these brothers into drinking my poisonous water. I am who you need for your revenge. I will help you on one condition. You must come back every day and give me company for a single hour. If you do not do accompany me, you will face a deathly consequence.”

“I will do whatever you desire.” Vali replied to The Voice.

Source: Pandavas and the Poison Water

As soon as he agreed to the plan, the yaksha vanished. Meanwhile, Sugriva, in hiding, awoke from a slumber to a magical voice. The Voice spoke sweet words to lure Sugriva to the poisonous pond. As Sugriva reached the pond, he took the water into his hands and drank a quick drink of the refreshing water. The poison filled all of his veins. As Sugriva laid their dying in total shock of what had happened, Vali walked out of the bushes to look his brother in his face.

“Sugriva, my brother, you do not look very well. I told you that I would get revenge one day, and that day is today. Goobye Sugrvia.”

Vali had gotten his revenge with the help of The Voice. No longer would his brother walk the earth. With a bit of remorse, Vali quickly left the pond to head back home, completely forgetting about The Voices deal….

To be continued…..

Author’s Note: I mixed the two epics that we read this semester: The Mahabharata and The Ramayana. The timeline is changed from the original story because Vali had not gotten revenge against his brother until after the Pandavas have died. Also, I made all of the Panadvas brother dying instead of Yudishthira saving all of the brothers. Also, I included The Voice in my story because I felt he was key in the Mahabharata. The celestial being seems to like making deals with people, therefore I made Vali make a deal with him in order to kill his brother. The Voice ends up killing Sugriva by the poisonous pond instead of Rama killing him with his bow and arrow. I did not like the way Rama killed Sugriva so this allowed me to avoid these actions of Rama. Furthermore, I changed the fact that Vali did not fight Sugriva one on one, but however, hid inside the bushes until after he drank the poisonous water. I plan on continuing this story and finally have Vali meet up with Sita again, along with Rama. 

Bibliography: The prose is from Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913), and the verse is from Mahabharata, Epic of the Bharatas, by Romesh C. Dutt (1898). 

Weblink: The Mahabharata

A Fire Ant's Adventure

The ant mound was in a total state of shock. The queen, the mighty Queen Ira, had been kidnapped. The crazy eight-eyed black widow spider, Rivana, had tricked her into coming out of her chamber by posing as a beautiful flower. The queen herself ordered the guards to take a leave of absence that night. The mound council called an immediate emergency meeting to plan the rescue. They knew the task would not be easy since the spider’s web was across the backyard. Many tribulations and obstacles would need to be conquered to rescue the beautiful Queen Ira. Only on ant possessed the skill to rescue the queen. It was the strong red fire ant Zane. The mound lit the flames signaling the mighty ant. The rescue was on.

Source: FoxNews

Zane brought only his best troops and his brother along for this dangerous mission. This was more personal to him than anyone realized. Zane and Queen Ira had grown up in the same mound and had a past of friendship and passion. He was an ant on a mission. With weapons sharpened, the group started their trek to Rivana’s web knowing very well that he knew that they would be coming.

After marching halfway across the yard, Zane felt a chill run down all of his legs. He knew they were being watched by something, but he did not know by whom. As he led the formation, he heard a large rumble behind him along with screams from his troop. The last ant in line was squirming around in the hands of an enormous praying mantis. His name was Khamton. The ants moved into attack formation before launching wooden spears into the giant praying mantis. Spears broke as they hit the rough hide of the enemy. All seemed lost until Zane took out his secret weapon, a holy staple given to him bythe mighty beetle Shimma. He slid under the legs of Khamton, jumped on its back, and cut off the mighty praying mantis’s head. Zane stood atop his fallen enemy. Rivana, revengeful, jumped on his speedy dragonfly and flew into the battle with thousands of spiders at his side.

Source: Metro

As Zane and the ants fought off all the spiders with his mighty staple, Rivana decided to counter the troop of ants. Zane sensed this with his antennas and turned around just as Rivana attacked. Rivana launched a string of web towards Zane, sticking the first ant to the ground. His brother quickly cut the web, freeing Zane. Rivana nosedived his dragonfly towards Zane, trying to use the speed to defeat Zane. Zane, at the last second, jumped to the side and launched his staple into the stomach of Rivana. Rivana fell to the ground, dead.

With the eight-eyed spider now dead, the Queen was now free. Zane untied the royal captive, looking deeply into the eyes of the beautiful queen. Zane spoke sweet words to his old love, “My queen, my love. You have been dearly missed. You are the light in my eye. Forever and ever I will serve you with love and affection.” Taken back, Queen Ira walked away from Zane with guards surrounding her. She knew of her responsibilities to the mound and that she could never marry the rugged Zane. Zane was heartbroken, but he understood her decision

As the years passed, Queen Ira thought of Zane, and Zane thought of Queen Ira.The two yearned to be together but would never cross paths again. As both of the ants took their last breaths, they slowly slipped into a dream of a wonderful land. The land was full of flowers and the best meals on Earth, crumbs. They both were in heaven, together. At last, the two ants could spend eternity together. 

 Author Notes: I received inspiration for this tale from the Ramayana. It followed the parts B, C, and D. I utilized the story of Rama and Sita being in love and wanting to always be together. While the ten-headed Ravana is portrayed by Rivana, the eight-eyed spider. I played off the physical appearance of Ravana. These two are very similar throughout the story. I, however, did not include the part where Lakshmana hurts his sister. He kidnaps the beloved Sita from Rama, and Rama attacks the rakshasa to rescue her. This is exactly what I wanted to accomplish in my story with the ants and spider. Also, the praying mantis Khamton resembled the giant Khumhakarna and his mighty battle with Rama (Zane). Khumhakarna was important in the original Ramayana because it was a great battle that showed Rama's strength. I thought about potentially making Zane and the Queen get together immediately unlike the original Ramayana. This would have made a better dynamic but I wanted to stay true to that part of the story. Overall, the story from when Sita was kidnapped on was very interesting to me and that is where I got my overall inspiration. Thanks for reading.

Source: Bibliography: Ramayana, The Epic of Rama, Prince of India, condensed into English verse by Romesh Dutt (1899). 

Week 6 Reading Diary: Part D

Below is the continuation of my reading diary for the Mahabharata:

·       Brishma, the grandfather of the Panadvas and Kauravas, is defeated in the battle. This is a vital point in the story because now Drona wants to take down Yudhishthira. Arjuna will ultimately have to defeat Drona to save his brother from capture. Arjuna is clearly the most important brother of this story because he will probably win the battle for the Pandavas.

·       Arjuna’s son Abhimanyu is killed in battle. This will cause a rage in Arjuna that could be the drive the Pandavas need. This differs from other epics I read because in the Ramayana, Rama does not lose anyone he truly loves in battle.

·       The Pandavas defeat Drona by tricking him into thinking his son had died. This is not something I wanted to happen because I feel that they need to stand up and defeat their enemies without tricks. I hope the climax of the battle will not happen because of trickery.

·       Arjuna defeats Karna in battle by shooting a bow into his head. This is the climax of the battle due to the great skills of Karna. Duryodhana goes into hiding because his most trusted battler has been killed.

·       Ashwatthaman sneaks into the Pandavas camp and slays all of their children. I feel this is extremely sorrowful part in the story. I wish this was not part of the Mahabharata because like Rama, exile was not actually accomplishing anything.

·       Yudhishthira is now going to be the ultimate king of all the lands. I am happy that he is able to be the king, but I sort of wish Arjuna could have been king. He did a lot of the battle scenes.

·       Krishna ends up dying by going into the jungle. This is sort of disappointing because he was such a vital character. I hope that this was his goal all along.

·       All of the Pandvas leave and go to heaven. Yudhishthira passes the test of trying to stay on earth for his brothers and Draupadi. I am glad that they all were able to end happily. 

Source: Pandavas 

Week 6 Reading Diary: Part C

Below is a reading diary of Part C of the Mahabharata:

·       Similarly to Rama in the Ramayana, the Pandavas are again exiled into the forest. I think this is very interesting because many of the main characters in these epics have the most character development during these exiles.

·       Arjuna again goes off on his own to find a powerful weapon to help save him and his brothers. This is sort of a parallel with the Ramayana and Rama’s bow and arrow. I wonder how this will help then Pandavas. He is given a chain of gold, a bright diadem, and the war shell. I feel this will be vital in the future of this story.

·       Hanuman makes another appearance so I may want to continue my story from two weeks ago with him and his brother, Sugriva.

·       Duryodhana is again drive into more jealousy. I am curious to see what will happen between Arjuna and Karna. The battles are my favorite scenes.

·       The Pandavas brothers all drink from a celestial water source that kills the brothers. Yudhishthira answers the questions of the celestial being very well, enough to be granted two boons: his brothers get life again and that his brothers will not be recognized for the next year. I find this part of the story to be weird because I feel that the sons of a god should be able to recognize this tricks and avoid this fate.

·       I am excited to see the war between the Pandavas and Kauravas. It has been building up all story so I am curious to see what happens during the climax of the Mahabharata.

·       Krishna is a vital character in this story. I feel that he could be as the same level as Hanuman in the Ramayana. I am curious to see what else he does during this story.

·       I enjoy this story better than the Ramayana because both sides of the battle are family and related. This brings a special dynamic to the battle. I am super excited to read the ending of this battle and I hope the Pandavas win. 

Source: WordPress

Famous Last Words: Week 5

I really enjoyed this week's reading and starting the Mahabharta. I did find it very confusing at first because of all the characters involved in the beginning. The storyline is actually starting to make sense after my Wednesday reading assignment. I am excited to see what happens with the Pandavas and their quest to get revenge against Duryodhana for taking Draupadi. I feel that it is going to be similar to the Ramayana except that the ending will be a little happier. Also, Bhima seems to be the best character and reminds me a lot of Rama. I am looking forward to seeing what he does in particular. I hope he is involved in a story plot that I can write about in next week’s storytelling.

My best writing thus far this week was my storytelling again. I had really enjoyed the scene with Baka and Bhima. I felt that it reminded of David and Goliath so I implemented the character of David into my story. The main antagonist was changed to a troll so I felt that was a good change. I really worked on paragraph length this week because I noticed my other stories were sometimes not broken up that well. I want my readers to be able to follow my story so I think I did a better job this week in my story.  If you are curious to read my story about a young man defeating an evil troll in a nearby town, read my story from Week 5.

My other classes have really picked up this past week. I had my first exam of the semester on Thursday and felt I did pretty well. I have two tests next week: Formation Evaluation on Tuesday and Reservoir Engineering on Monday. These exams should be pretty tough so I have been studying a ton for them. I hope I do great on these exams and start the semester off right. Also, drilling lab is starting to really get time consuming. We are required to write a lab report each week and they sometimes take a little longer than desired.

Finally, I “celebrated” my 21^st birthday by studying all night. My friends and I are actually planning on going to Top Golf this weekend so that will hopefully be really fun even though I am not the best golfer.

Source: Top Golf

Overall, this has been a very busy week. I am looking forward to getting past these exams and reading the Mahabharata 

Week 5 Review

Source: Week 5 Announcements 

This was my favorite announcement from the past week because I am a huge scary movie guy. I am from Texas so I am a little biased in saying that the Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a great movie. I recently watched Psycho and Bates Motel so I think Arizona has my favorite scary movie for sure!

Learning by H.E.A.R.T. Week 5

Source: H.E.A.R.T. Blog

I think this is an interesting idea for people to think about. Happiness is sometimes ignored because of past events that happened. For example, I moved high schools my sophomore year. I was constantly unhappy because I had just moved away from all of my childhood friends. I was always thinking about what could have been and how fun the past was, instead of looking into the future to be happy. I feel that it is necessary to constantly look forward to be happy.

Growth Mindset Challenge Week 5

Source: Growth Mindset Challenges 

I think this is an awesome way to think about challenges. Sometimes it is difficult to start a task that seems a little out of your comfort zone. These tasks, however, really help you fine tune your skills and allow you to push what you actually know. I am looking forward to taking on projects that will require me to push myself and work really hard. Also, this is true only if you have bosses or mentors that will be available for questions!

Storytelling Week 2: The Kingdom of Greed

King Dakin slammed the tankard on the table in celebration.  He was the most powerful king in all the kingdoms and he had just heard news of his first boy being born. As King Dakin finished the warm red wine, the rest of his council around him sang the kingdom’s hymn with celebration for the future king. Once finished, Dakin walked up the stone staircase to his chamber to meet his exhausted wife, Kiya, holding a sweet little boy. With a quick swift of the king’s massive hands, the little prince was in the arms of his father. King Dakin looked down in awe at his new boy and muttered, “Welcome to the world, Khal.”

Source: Castle 

As the years passed Khal grew into his large frame. He became known as one of the strongest men in the kingdom, even rivaling his father. He quickly became an expert with the long-blade sword, and even better with an eight-foot spear. It was rumored he could through it clear over the nearby mountain.  All the boys in the kingdom envied his strength and swordsmanship. By the time he was eighteen, he had seven siblings: six sisters and one half brother who was a hundred moons younger. The brother was born to his father’s mistress Harriet, which brought many issues to the kingdom. The question of which son would come into power and be the great king would now be an issue. Khal’s brother’s name was Kaydo. 

Now the half-brothers got along most of the time, but Kaydo was consumed with the greed of wanting to be the king instead of his brother. Furthermore, Harriet desired her son Kaydo to become king instead of Khal. They conspired a plan to kill the king and pin it on the eldest prince. The mother and son wrote the plans on a scroll in order to give to one of the guards that hated King Dakin as much as they. The guard would ensure that the men protecting the king when the assassination was going on would not stop the plan. The plan would be implemented  on the first hunt of the winter months.

Finally, on a cold winter night, the King went on a hunting trip with the two boys for sport. The men crept along the frozen stream, swords and spears in hand. Just when they were about to give up, they heard a rumbling noise in the distance. Out of nowhere jumped a huge boar with tusks longer than the spear Khal possessed. As the boar attacked the king, Khal launched his spear with blistering speed into the side of the boar’s head. The boar let out a deafening cry as it took its last breath. The king, breathing heavily, grinned at Khal looking at their hunting feat. Just as Khal and King Dakin embraced in victory, Kaydo slid his sword into the back of the King, mortally wounding him. Khal yelled out in horror, seeing his father fall down and breathe his last breath. Kaydo quickly turned his attention towards Khal.  He tried to give him the same fate as the King. In disbelief, Khal picked up his bloody spear out of the boar and in utter anger threw his spear into Kaydo’s stomach. Kaydo was slowly dying as Khal peered down at him. Kaydo realized what a terrible mistake it was to try and take over the kingdom from the brother and father that he loved. Greed and his mother’s advice had gotten in the way of what was truly important: family. . As he lay there dying, he spoke to Khal.

Source: Hog

“Khal, trying to murder our father is the worst decision I have ever made. My crooked mother Harriet persuaded me and forced me to commit these crimes. There is a scroll in my chamber that has the details of our plan written out. Goodbye, my brother, I will miss thee.”

Khal, in despair, walked back to the kingdom and then directly to Kaydo’s room. He turned Kaydo’s chamber upside down, finally locating the scroll. As he entered the kitchen, he looked right into Harriet’s face and dropped the scroll onto the table. In utter disbelief that Khal had located the scroll, the mistress broke down crying for she knew of her fate, death. Khal, in his mercy, spoke the words: “You shall be banished to the forest for every moon until darkness.” 

As Kaydo wept for what happened, he realized he was now the King. He had to be what everyone thought he was, a strong and intelligent King. As he walked out of the kitchen and onto the balcony, he looked out at his new kingdom where his father would no longer reside. He was  ready for a new beginning. 

Author's Note: My inspiration for the Prince Khal is of Rama and his excellent wielding of weapons, along with his strength and knowledge. In the Ramayana, Kaikeyi exploits King Dasaratha by forcing him to exile Rama. This is because she wants her son Bharata to be the king instead of Rama. This parallels my story in that the mother of the younger brother wants her son to be king. However, Bharata is very loyal to Rama unlike Kaydo with Khal. I wanted Khal to be like Rama, so he had sympathy for his father’s mistress. Instead of killing her, he banishes her. This is inspired by Rama himself because he is a very forgiving and empathetic king. This was great to include in my story because I feel that empathy is one of the best characteristics of a king. Khal is now the king of all these kingdoms as he watches the woman be exiled. Also, the mistress (Harriet) trying to make her son a king is inspired by Kaikeyi in the original Ramayana. Unlike in my story, though, Kaikeyi does not want to kill the king, but simply wants to get rid of the next in line key. Khal is very similar to Rama, but I do not think Rama would have killed his brother. The circumstances were different, though, so we do not know how Rama would have acted. Furthermore, I have gained inspiration for my story from the Game of Thrones book/movie series. Robert Baratheon, the king, is accidentally killed in a hunting trip. He is killed by the hog they are hunting, but in my story I changed what happened. I changed it into making the king be killed by the people he is with. 

Bibliography: Mackenzie, Donald, "Kaikeyi and Dasharatha." (1913). Web Source: Project Gutenberg

Martin, George, Game of Thrones.1996. Publisher: Bantam Books

Thoughts About Comments

I feel the comments to my stories and other posts have been very helpful. I have definitely changed up my writing style for the next week due to constructive criticism on the comments. I do find that I sometimes have trouble writing negative comments so I need to work on that to help the other writers! I also enjoy getting to read different people's stories each week. It allows for a change of pace and a great way to get to see many people's creative ideas. Overall, the comment process is an excellent thing to do in this course!

Week 5 Storytelling: A Troll's Reign

There once was a town named Pawnee. This town was full of laughter, love, and happiness.  The citizen’s days consisted of church and family gatherings. All was well in this little town but a darkness loomed nearby. A troll with teeth as big as the citizens themselves was in a deep slumber. The terrible troll was named Baki. The citizens had heard of his rulings every thousand years, but it was all a distant worry. The distant worry would soon be a cruel, cruel reality…

Source: SodaHead

Baki stretched his long arms after waking from a thousand year slumber. He was very hungry with an appetite for flesh. He performed his ritual of sharpening his teeth and club. As he got ready for his upcoming reign, he spoke words that boomed across the lands. “I’m coming dear Pawnee. Be prepared.” The citizens shivered with fear for they were not expecting those words to be spoken so soon.

Baki swept through the town with his mouth as wide as the sea. He quickly went to the King and ate him with one swift bite. The livestock and the occasion citizen fell into the depths of his mouth. The people ran with fear locking their doors and turning off the lights. The attack continued for the next week until Baki’s belly was completely full. Once he was finished, he started his actual reign over Pawnee. The rule was for each family in the city to alternate each week on offering the troll either eight cows, twenty chickens, or one of the family members themselves. These were the rules, and they would not be altered. One of the local families had neither chickens nor cows, therefore they would have to sacrifice one of the children. This outraged the town of Pawnee and news spread quick.

A nearby town heard of the terrible news. In the town resided a family of five sons that were in hiding from something that no one quite knew about. The youngest and strongest boy was named David. He thought of all the people that were being affected by this cruel creature and felt something needed to be done. He begged and begged his mother to let him go but she resisted. David did not care what she said. Pawnee needed a savior and he would be that for them. Later that night, David packed his sword, slingshot, and rocks before sneaking out to Pawnee.

Source: David

After a fortnight of traveling, David arrived in the middle of the city’s downtown. He stood firm with sword in hand and yelled out to the evil troll. “Baki you have taken your last human. Your last chicken. Your last cow. And especially your last breath.”

Baki jumped out of his makeshift thrown of cow bones. He quickly jolted towards David a swung his massive club, barely missing David’s head. As David ducked he took out his sword and attempted to stab the calf of the troll. The rough hide of the troll snapped the metal sword in two. Baki chuckled with a great laugh for he knew he had an easy win now.

“Ah young boy you are done for now. Give up now and I will make it quick.” Baki continued his laugh, his mouth being spread open. David saw his chance and took advantage of it. He took out the most rugged rock and placed it into the slingshot. David pulled back with all his might and let go of the rock, his last chance. As Baki chuckled, the rock went straight into his mouth and lodged into the troll’s throat. As Baki choked on the rock, David strolled up to him. “You have underestimated me my friend. People of Pawnee, you are forever safe from this monster. No more sacrifices, only happiness!” The citizens peaked out from behind their doors with smiles on their faces. As the town became full of people, they chanted for their new hero. Their new King.

Author’s Note: The inspiration for this story was that of the Mahabharata. The particular section in the Public Domain Edition was Bhima and Baka. Bhima, the son of Pandu, defeats an asura named Baka in a nearby town. This asura is reigning over the town. I chose to be similar to the Mahabharata in that the troll desired sacrifices of animals and if not available, humans. My inspiration for David was that of Bhima. I chose not to make him of a noble origin to being with because I wanted a rag to riches type of story. He differed greatly because at the end of the story Bhima was not chosen to be king. Also, a major difference in my story and that of the Mahabharata is that David’s (Bhima) mother wanted him to defeat the troll (asura). This is vital because defying his mother brings a certain dynamic to the story. I am glad that you read my take on the Mahabharata. Furthermore, David is sort of a take on David and Goliath.

Tech Tip Week 7

Hey Everyone.

If you have a Pinterest, one of the best tools is your search bar. I just used my Pinterest to look up some pictures of some oil pictures such as offshore rigs and pumping units. Also, I found some interesting recipes to try.

It is as simple as typing into Google!

Thanks for reading.

Source: Zombie Oil Rigs

Week 6 Tech Tip

Hey Everyone!

I just used the Google Timer to pace out my studying. It is an awesome tool. I usually just use my phone for a timer, but it often gets me distracted. I recommend using this new found tool.

All you need to do is type Google timer into your Google search box. It is that simple!

Thanks for reading everyone.

Source: Time Management 

Week 5 Reading Diary: Part B

Below is a continuation of my reading of the Mahabharata:

·       Kunti and the five sons escape the fire before it kills them. Duryodhana and the King believe they are dead however. The family escapes into the forest in order to hide.

·       In the forest, the boys and the mother face the rakshasa Hidimba and his sister Hidimbi. Bhima defeats the evil Hidimba.

·       Hidimbi falls in love with Bhima. This is very similar to that of Shurpanakha and Rama. There are many parallels with the Ramayana and I will continue to try and find similarities. The two elope and have a child.

·       Bhima futher proves his fighting skills against the asura Baka. He defeats him very easily.This also is similar to the Ramayana because Rama is such a great fighter and would do anything to save people. Bhima seems to have characteristics that resemble that of Rama.

Source: Wikipedia

Bhima and Baka

·       Draupadi, a supernatural being, has a swayamwara to be married. The Pandavas hear of this news and attend it. Arjuna was able to bend the bow and shoot it accurately. He has won Draupadi.

·       She will now be married to Draupadi, however, due to them being the sons of Indra, they all are one. Therefore, all five of the sons will be married to the newly won woman. I do find this different than most of the stories because usually there are multiple women to one man. This is very unusual and could have problems later on in the epic.

·       Arjuna is exiled because he breaks one of the rules regarding the five husbands and one woman. He meets the daughter of the nagas and has a son with her. I find it interesting that he continues to marry different women. He is unlike Rama because he desires many women. I enjoy Rama more because it makes the entire story have reason filled with love and a certain dynamic. He finally marries another woman Chitra and has a son.

·       Mayasura builds the Pandavas a huge palace that furthers Duryodhana anger. Yudhishthira is asked to go to a gambling match where he loses Draupadi. This is where the plot changes to that of revenge for the Pandavas against Duryodhana.

·       They are all exiled to the forest for the next 12 year.

Overall, this is a great end to Part B. I am excited to continue reading this epic because of the revenge story that is building up. I am curious to see what the Pandavas do to avenge their exile and the taking of their wife. 

Source: Arnold, Besant, Devee, Dutt, Ganguli, Kincaid, Macfie, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Seeger, and Tagore 

Weblink

Week 5 Reading Diary: Part A

For this week’s reading, I chose to read the Public Edition of the Mahabharata. I felt that this would be easier to read due to its accessibility online. Thus far, the story has been confusing do to its many characters. Below is what occurred in Part A:

·       Indra is flying through the sky and impregnates a woman fish that gives birth to Satyavati. She then becomes the mother of the writer of the Mahabharata, Vyasa. His name is also Dwaipayana or Island –born. The King below is the father of this son.

Source: Vyasa

·       King Shantanu marries Ganga in human form. She gets pregnant and drowns the first seven of her children. This part is very confusing to me because I do not know why she was doing this. The King disobeys her demands and she leaves him with the last boy alive.

·       King Shantanu desired Satyvati, however, the fisherman demanded that her son must be the heir to the throne. He could not because of the boy from the previous wife Ganga. This boy’s name is Devavrata.

·       The boy helps his father get Satyvati by stating to the fisherman that he will never take the throne. His name changes from Devavrata to Bhishma meaning “Terrible”. I do think that this decision was a terrible one, however, in both the epics the sons do anything for their fathers. I find this to be very unique and something that I want to write in my story.

·       Bihishma takes three princesses in order for them to marry Satyvati’s sons. Both these son’s die, making Bhishma go get the sage Vyasa. He and the two princesses give birth to a pale boy named Pandu and Dhritarashtra.

·       Kunti and Madri both marry the son Pandu. Kunti previously had a son before she married Pandu.

·       Pandu, similarly to Dasharatha, kills someone while hunting and is cursed. This is extremely important in both epics because it usually brings someone into power sooner than they expected. This is vital in the Mahabharata. He has five sons from gods before he ultimately dies from the curse.

·       To die with their beloved king, Madri and Kunti both want to be burned with him. The gods choose Madri to die with the king instead of Kunti and she is burned.

·       The blind son, Dhritarashtra, raises the five sons of Pandu in the royal city of Hastinapura.

·       The son of Dhritarashtra gets jealous of the five sons and plots to kill them. Bhima is poisoned but instead goes into the underworld and obtained the strength of a mighty giant.

·       Drona becomes the teacher of the Pandavas and the Kauravas. As training occurs, the Kauravas become even more jealous of the Pandavas.

·       Kunti son, Karna, comes into the scene of the mock fights and displays his strength. They all prove their skills and become warriors.

·       Duryodhana gets so jealous of every Pandavas feats and wants to set them and their mother on fire.

Overall, this is a great story so far and I am curious to see what occurs in the upcoming sections. Thanks for reading. 


Source: Arnold, Besant, Devee, Dutt, Ganguli, Kincaid, Macfie, Mackenzie, Nivedita, , Seeger, and Tagore. Weblink

Week 4 Review

Source: Weekly Announcements

This was my favorite announcement for this week. It is funny that people in the Middle Ages actually did the same things as we do nowadays. This may be why the Romans created the Roman Numeral numbering abbreviations. It would allow for people to quickly communicate without wasting too much time. I wonder if people will look back at some of our documents and find our abbreviations to by historically important. 

Week 4: Famous Last Words

This week’s reading was very interesting. I found that the Divine Archer did not differ very much in terms of the major plot points. It was a great reminder of the story and I understood what was going on much better than my first time reading the Ramayana. Also, I was able to better understand what the motives were for the characters. For example, Ravana’s sister Surpanakha had her nose sliced off and was beaten by Lakshmana. I missed this aspect in the original story so it was great realizing why Ravana was so mad in the first place to kidnap Sita. However, I did not necessarily enjoy the battle between Ravana and Rama. I felt it was extremely quick for such a vital plot point in the story.

My best writing was definitely my story I wrote this week. I focused on the two monkey brothers Vail and Sugriva. I am glad that I changed the story in that Sugriva and Vail had a relationship with Sita before they met Rama. This should make the motives more important. I felt that I wanted to include a reason for Sugriva to be so vengeful against his brother. I am looking forward to continuing my story with Sita and the two monkey brothers.

My other courses have really started to pick up. My homework assignments have been weekly and take a lot of time. My production homework took me and my friends more than 8 hours to complete. I also attended my first course on the drilling simulator at OU. This course allows you to simulate all of the surface operations such as tripping in and out of the well. (Tripping) I cannot wait for my other classes on the drilling simulator.

Souce: OU's Drilling Simulator

Finally, I watched the Super Bowl with all of my friends. I happy to announce that the Broncos won! Also, my 21^st birthday is this Tuesday so I am looking forward to celebrating with all of my friends.

Overall, it was a great week. 

Week 4 Learning By H.E.A.R.T. Challenge

Source: H.E.A.R.T. Challenges

This is very funny to me. I am have definitely been at this point during late night binge watching sessions. Although this is funny, it does display some real negative aspects of how people spend their time now. I think this can be connected and changed to both happiness and reading. Instead of watching Netflix by yourself, we should spend more time with friends and family. 

Week 4 Growth Mindset

I found this to be a very interesting meme. One of the big things to be successful is to constantly have that drive to learn. In the Petroleum Engineering field, there is so many things to learn because it is such a broad field. For example, you can work on facilities, production engineering, or even a drilling engineer. All of these are different and important in order to be a good PE.  It is vital to learn new topics every single day in order to work your way up in a company. Every person should make learning new things important in everyday life!

Source: Growth Mindset Blog