Reading Notes: The Cunning Crane and The Crab

The story of the Cunning Crane and The Crab (Link) really caught my attention because I used to love the trickster type stories when I was young.

Just several lines in to the story, I notice how the author puts a lot of personification in the animals in the story, which I really enjoy, because it gives the story personality and shows the deeper intentions of the animals. I also like how cunning the crane is at first, by only taking the one fish to the big lake to vouch for him on how great it is.

Now finished with the story, I really enjoyed it because of how smart the crab was to trick the crane, and because they added the common platitude of how deceivers often get whats coming to them. Overall I think I could defintely use this story in the story telling assignments because there is a lot of directions I could go (either adding new characters or changing the ending, the crab got away pretty easy...).

For the image, I really liked the one that went with the story because of how dangerous it makes the crane look to the fish. (Link)

Reading A: Reading Options

The first link that caught my eye was the link for the Ramayana collaboration of authors and stories (http://ouocblog.blogspot.com/search/label/PDE%20Ramayana).

I like the idea of multiple authors because I think it can give me a deeper understanding of the characters and how different authors interpreted them.

For the second link, I like the first Mahabharata option.(https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00HB5LXHQ/bestiarialati-20)

I'd rather do the book for this reading just to change it up from the public domain works that I will most likely choose for Ramayana.

Lastly, I love how you did the Amar Chitra Katha comics webpage, so that you can refresh it and get a random one! (http://ackguide.blogspot.com/).

I definitely plan on checking out some of the comics, the artwork really grabbed my eye. I especially liked this one for the snake and realism:

(http://mythfolklore.net/scripts/images/ack/762.jpg)

Time Management

    I think that the class schedule that I originally chose will work fine for this class since I can do the bulk of the work on Friday, my only day with no classes.
    As for time management strategies, I currently have been trying to get better at planning and organization, so I have been using a Panda Planner (Link). It is helpful because it is goal-orientated and you can make short weekly goals and broader, semester long goals.

    The two links that I chose to read about were:

• The Important Habit of Just Starting by Jory Mackay
• How to Beat Procrastination by Caroline Web

    I chose these two pages because I feel like out of all time management vices, I tend to struggle with procrastination and just starting things the most. I've noticed that when I choose to just get started on things, I can usually do them relatively well and fast, I just need to give myself enough time. I liked how one of the pieces of advice given in "How to Beat Procrastination" was to publicly pre-commit to something, so that you would almost force yourself to be accountable, or risk public humiliation and let down. I think that is something I have been doing more of to force myself to do things on time.

     

Technology Tools

    I like the idea of expanding my knowledge and use of writing tools on the internet. I am familiar with most of the technologies you wrote about in the Wiki, except for audio recording software. I even used to mess around in Gimp(a good, free alternative to Adobe PhotoShop) and PhotoShop.
    If I were to have a goal for this semester in terms of technologies I use in this class, I would say that I want to be more proficient in other writing platforms outside of word, and to be able to use the google websites well.

(Link)

Assignments Overview Reflection

   After looking at the assignments overview, I think that the structure of this class is very different from any classes I have taken before. I am interested in the semester-long project because I've never really been in a class before that does that, and I hope I can use the time wisely.
   I also like the extra credit assignments, and the Tech Tips one caught my eye because I like using different pluggins and add-ons to my browsers.

This image is kind of random but I'm sure many of us use Amazon.com to shop, and if you download the chrome plugin CamelCamelCamel you can use it to show you a price history of the item you are viewing, so you know whether or not it is actually a good idea!

(Link)

Growth Mindset Thoughts and Reflections

Watching the required videos really opened my eyes to the possibilities of loving to learn and grow, and made me consider if I was truly doing enough to grow and whether or not I truly believed in my ability to grow and learn. Before today, I had never heard of Carol Dweck. I had heard of TED talks and really liked many of them, but a TED talk over growing and learning was new to me. After watching it, I don't think that I have been doing enough to challenge myself and grow intellectually, so I tried to use some of the provided tools to help.

I like the "Challenge: Read an Article" because I have always been a good reader, and I can recognize that my desire to read and learn new things to challenge my ideas have declined since middle school and high school- probably because of time constraints, but that's not really a good excuse. So I plan to try to read a new, divisive article every day to challenge the way I think and learn about new things.

I particularly enjoyed this image (Link) because I always felt like I struggled with creativity, unless I spent a lot of time brainstorming and going through possible solutions.

Introduction to a Future Business Management Graduate

         Hey guys and girls, my name is Brady Roberts. I'm a junior here at OU, and plan on graduating from the Price College of business with a Bachelor's degree in Business Management, and hopefully a minor in healthcare management.
         Over the past summer, I had the opportunity to Intern at Abbott Labs, one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in the world. I was interning with the contract operations department, which allowed me to see the inner workings of the industry and gain valuable exposure. Because of this experience, I recently became interested in pursuing the healthcare management career path to be better qualified for the industry.
        With that boring stuff out of the way, I can tell you all some things about myself. At OU, I am a member of the fraternity Phi Gamma Delta (Fiji), and the opportunity has definitely enhanced my experience here. Through the fraternity, I've been able to meet lifelong friends while making valuable business connections with alumni. I've also been able to be part of many philanthropy programs like habitat for humanity and volunteer at the Norman Regional Food Bank.
        But on a more personal level, I'm someone who has pretty varied hobbies. A lifelong love of mine has been hiking, mainly around Breckenridge and Summit County, Colorado.

          Here is a picture (Link) that's a few years old, but it's of my little brother and mom and I on a hike. To date, I've hiked 11 of the Colorado "14ers", mountains that rise above 14,000 feet, and I hope to add more in the future.
          In terms of family, I have a little brother, Luke, and a fraternal twin brother, Jackson. Although, most people won't know we are twins because we don't look much alike.
          And that's a little about me. I look forward to reading through some other introductions and getting to know about others in this class.

My StoryBook Favorites

Here are 3 of the Storybooks that caught my eye and made me want to read more about them:

1.  Hogwarts: The Loyalty of Brothers (Link)

The image above (link) is what first drew me into this storybook because I got a moment of thinking back to my first time excitedly watching Harry Potter and marveling at Hogwart's size. I like how the author introduced the ancient histories of how the houses were founded in their introdction to give context to the rest of the storybook. I also enjoyed how the new characters in the storybook had an arc that ran somewhat parallel with the original story. Overall I thought it was really interesting because I would have never thought Harry Potter had much to do with Indian Epics, but the fusion of the two was intriguing.

2. The Adventures of Kusha and Lava (Link)
This storybook really caught my attention in it's attempt to blend Epics of India and classic fairy tales. Coming in to this course, I never really thought about how merging the two would work. I liked how the author wrote the storybook from the perspective of Rama because I thought it made the storybook easier to read and understand. I also liked how in the third adventure, the author ties in the old adage about mental capabilities over physical.

3. CSI: Indian Epics (Link)
I am almost always a fan of the "found diary" type storytelling, so this storybook immediately caught my interest. I'm also an avid watcher of all the CSI shows so I knew it would be fun to read. I enjoyed how in the "Death of Drona", the author uses pictures to more accurately depict what they are trying to convey. I admit that I was a little confused at the conclusion of the storybook because of all the names being thrown around and my almost nonexistent exposure to Indian Epics, but I still thought it was a great story nonetheless.

My Favorite Place in the Mountains

Link to the Image

Here is a picture of Breckenridge, Colorado. This is a picture of the Breckenridge Riverwalk center which sits by the blue river. It's my favorite place because I've had great memories here.

IE Test Post.

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