Week 11 Famous Last Words

Getting Back to the Grind

The past few weeks have been CRAZY! I've been so busy and sick that i've barely made it through. However, there has been a lot of good things to celebrate as well. So, let's focus on the positives! 

• I have purchased my flight and gotten all of my shots for my trip to Africa! It's so surreal to think i'm actually going to be in Africa in just a few months! I just want to scream (but that would be inappropriate.. i'm sitting in the Cox Convention Center, attending the Calm Waters booth at the agency fair). 

Tanzanian Flag

Found on gCaptain

Check out my gofundme HERE

and/or

Follow my progress and adventures on my blog, HERE 

• I am going to graduate in a little over a month! Oh my gosh. These four years have gone by so fast. I had to talk about something I experienced my senior year of high school and couldn't believe that was actually like 5 years ago. It feels like just yesterday I attended Camp Crimson and learned the fight song and alma mater. 

Getting my cap and gown was a TRIP!

• I got accepted into the OU School of Social Work Advanced Standing Master's program! I was freaking out waiting to hear back from them, and finally I got my email saying i'd gotten in. It's crazy to think that, universe willing, I will graduate this summer with my Bachelor's and next summer with my Master's. I'll be a 22 year old MSW! Woot!
• I finished my first draft of my capstone and submitted it to my professor for editing, so that's a huge weight off my chest. 
• My little brother turned 19 last week! Holy crap. He is NOT supposed to grow up! We are really close and I love him to bits. It's tough not being able to see him and his accomplishments, but i'm so proud of him. 

Me and Bub in Broken Bow, OK during Christmas break 2014

• One of my good friends, Michelle, got married and it was so beautiful! 

The beautiful Mr. & Mrs. Coldiron

• I'm down to 180 lbs and a size 12/14!! I haven't been this small since 7th grade!

My face!

• My cat is super adorable, sassy, and generally magnificent. 

Derping together

The BooBoo Kitty is the cuteness! 

Week 11 Untextbook Feedback

For this week's Indian Epics untextbook feedback, I chose to read the story of The Giant Crab from The Giant Crab, and Other Tales from Old India by W. H. D. Rouse (1897).

First thing, I really liked reading the book in the HTML version, it just seemed like I had to click through a few things before getting to the story so the link might need to be adjusted a little. The links for the other stories I read worked fine and took me directly to the story. Otherwise, I loved the pictures! I decided to review this book because the title jumped out at me and I knew I hadn't read the story before when I took Indian Epics. It just sounded like fun. This story was broken up really well, keeping it from getting boring or monotonous. It was also easy to read, and I felt like anyone could understand it. It would be an especially good choice for someone who planned to do a children's book themed storybook because it was written in that format to start. I would highly suggest including this in your untextbook for Indian Epics. I really enjoyed it and feel like it would be a refreshing change from some of the more difficult to read content associated with the Mahabharata and the Ramayana.

I thought it was fun and silly to imagine a giant crab asking an elephant for a kiss. It made me smile. In fact, most of this story made had me grinning like a fool while I read it at an agency fair in Oklahoma City. I have to admit, I was a little sad that the crab died, but not too sad because that meant he couldn't kill anymore tigers (which are my favorite animal, I know, i'm biased).

I also read the Hypocritical Cat  which initially got me interested for two reasons:
1. Cats. Enough said.
2. Hypocritical?

I liked the amount of dialogue in this story. I also liked that it was really short. This unit's stories are short and fun which I really like. They don't contain large blocks of text and they aren't a trek to get through. It's really refreshing and felt like I was reading for fun, not just for class. Anyway, I liked the cat's character. He seemed kind of pompous and full of himself, much like how i'd like to imagine my cat would be if she could talk. I was surprised by the ending, but liked it because i've got a morbid sense of humor and enjoy strange, dark stories. Who'd ever think of rats eating cat meat? I love it.

The final story I read was The Crocodile and the Monkey. It was an interesting story, probably my least favorite of the three I read, but not bad. I liked that both characters actively engaged in trickery with the other. I'm not a fan of monkeys though, so I have to admit I was rooting for the crocodile. Plus, i'm a Crocodile Hunter fan, and always have been.

Week 11 Essay

This week I finally got to read about Britomart and I was not let down. She was a total badass! I really liked the readings and felt like she could be a role model for just about any little girl. She embodies female power, strength, honor, confidence, and ability to perform tasks that are normally considered to be masculine or only for men. I think my favorites were probably the one I used for my storybook (How Britomart Fought with Six Knights) and How Britomart Walked Through Fire. I liked these because they showed Britomart fighting against seemingly impossible tasks to stand up for what she believes in and help others in need. There weren't really any stories I didn't like, though the ones that focused on her love for a man she'd never met aren't my favorites (I guess i'm cynical in that way). I think the stories, particularly the first, could use a little background and explanation of some of the characters. For instance, what's the deal with Florimell? Is she important, does she have a back story related to the princess? I think this unit is fine without further information before you get into it.

This unit fits perfectly with my goals for this class for a few reasons. The first is that it fits in perfectly with what I plan to write about in my storybook and has a truly strong female character. I feel like these stories foster empowerment, which is what I as a woman, and as a social work major, strive for. I hope to empower others in my future and stories like this would be great. I hope to tell my child this story one day, male or female, to teach them important lessons about women, equality, and confidence (while also being a fun tale of knights and wizards). It also fits because I wanted to learn about mythology and folklore from around the world and I haven't heard a whole lot of English mythology, oddly enough.

It was pretty tough to find a female knight that wasn't sexualized, but I liked this one:

Sophia, Female Knight

found on Wikia

Week 11 Reading Diary A

This week I chose to read Britomart: Faerie Queene, below is a summary of the first part of the unit.

Britomart happens upon Sir Guyon and his squire who she beats at jousting, but unfairly so since their lance was enchanted. She was searching for Artegall, the champion knight of justice. Guyon and her fight as a test of strength then he joins her and Prince Arthur on their quest.

The trio comes upon a big forest where a white horse ridden by Florimell rushed upon them. She is attacked and the two male companions rush to save her. She leads them toward a castle where 6 Knights were ganging up on 1 poor dude. Britomart ran in to rescue the guy and found out the reason they were beating him up was that they wanted him to leave his wife for another lady and he wouldn't do it. Britomart made quick work of them and they threw their swords at her feet. 

The knight joined Britomart and they all entered the castle (Castle Joyous). They came upon the lady of the castle who took a liking to Britomart (thinking her to be a young male knight). The lady snuck into Britomart's room at knight to try to get a glimpse of what hid under that armor, but she awoke and freaked. The lady's Knights ran in and one of them shot Britomart in the side with an arrow. Brit's companions came in and a great fight ensued. After they won, they left the castle 

We find out in "The Magic Mirror" that Britomart is in love with Artegall. As it turns out, she had seen an image of him in a magic mirror and fell deeply in love, though she refused to show it. Merlin made the mirror to show anything as long as it had to do with the person looking into the mirror. 

After seeing Sir Artegall in the mirror Britomart grew ill. She was lovesick. Britomart's nurse, Glauce, took her to see Merlin in the hopes that he could cure her. Merlin told her the knight's name and that he lived in the land of the faerie queen. He told her that she'd help him win the crown and reign with him. He'd have a son and a long succession of kings from his lineage would rule. She felt much better. 

Britomart vowed to journey to the land of the faerie queen and find her love. 

One night, Britomart found herself in a fierce storm. She hoped to take refuge in a castle that belonged to a churl named Malbecco, but he wa mean and refuses. She decided that when she could, she's punish him. She tried to enter the pig pen but was blocked by a group of Knights. She told them to let her in or shed fight them, which pissed one of them off. They fought and she won. She told them of how Malbecco had treated her and they all decided to burn down the building. Malbecco decided he'd rather let them in then lose the building so he did and served them dinner. The next morning Britomart was off again. 

When they left, Malbecco sicked a giant on them like a total tool. However the giant was a coward and flees from the knights. They went into the forest in search of the giant, but instead found a sleeping knight. His name was Scudamour and he told them that his lady had been taken by an evil enchanter who wanted her for himself. Britomart vowed to save her. They came to the enchanter's lair and stopped at the entrance where a wall of flames blocked their entry. Britomart, undeterred, put her shield in front of her and marched through the fire. Scudamour tried to do the same but got scorched. She explored many rooms but didn't find the maiden. 

Wall of Fire 

Found on dreamstime 

Week 11 Tech Tip: Resize Image with PicMonkey

This week I used PicMonkey to not only resize this image of our dog, Lily and my roommate's grandmother's dog, Katie, but to edit it and put a fun Polaroid frame on it. 

Original Image

PicMonkey Edit