Ryeli's Blog

Gonna use this time to do some character research for my storybook! It might be nice to find some ideas and have them laid out so I can have an idea of the way I'm going to portray each of them for the sake of consistency! Shiva- Our "detective." There to keep the meandering bow on target. He's a god, so he's pretty powerful, obviously. My intro characterized him as fairly sarcastic and ill-tempered. Everything I've read about Shiva and the gods in general, lead to this characterization as well, so I don't think it's too off the mark. He has his moments of sincerity, though mostly I'd like him to be sarcastic and irritated because it works well with the energy that Pinaka puts out. We love a comedic duo.  Deadpan Snarker - I like that for him. He's sassy. Angry Dance - Rudra Tandava... probably shouldn't make him too mad.  Pinaka- The broken bow, kind of ditsy, but well-meaning. It is very much an opposite to Shiva. They don

Bhima and the Nagas  by Donald A. MacKenzie  Duryodhana is such a snake... get it because there are snakes in this section? Yeah, that wasn't funny. So, Duryodhana hates his cousins and decides he's gonna attack one of them, this time it's Bhima. Bhima is a Pandava, so he comes out of the snake attack fine. He also goes to the underworld to fight the snakes and because he isn't fated to die, he doesn't die! Because he had swallowed poison previously, the poison from the snakes doesn't bother him at all and he goes peacefully to the underworld to meet Aryaka. He is given the strength of a giant.  The Arrival of Karna  by Donald A. MacKenzie Karna is here! Finally! Love that! I had to do a lot of research on him when I was starting my storybook, so I like him lots. I like this section for several reasons, it sets up Arjuna and Karna's rivalry and I like seeing Duryodhana interact nicely with people. Basically, Arjuna was supposed to win the competition,

My dearest Rama, It seems like yet again, fate is pulling us apart. You are the love of my life and I have known this since the moment we first laid eyes on each other. It is rare to come across something so beautiful in this life. You are my moon, my stars, you have my heart. Though I have said these words to you, have shown my devotion to you time and time again, you have cast me away. I am aware a king must hold himself to higher standards than a common man, but I know not what I have done to deserve such disdain. There is and never has been any room in my heart for anyone besides you. I am the mother of your children, your queen, Sita. Do not forget that when you ask me to prove myself. I do have my own virtue to uphold, you know. I am writing you this letter as a final statement of my love. I pray that it reaches your ears, your heart, whatever it may be. I hope you are impacted in any capacity. I have heard your request to have me undergo another trial and I will abide by you

Here's to the last portion of the film!  Sita Sings the Blues  by Nina Paley The song following the intermission was so cool! It was also a new animation style that we haven't seen in this film. It's great that there is a mixture of more to be expected Indian music. It's a nice blend of all of these amazing styles. I found this interpretation of how Rama treated Sita when he felt her to be impure to be sort of how I felt too. I got the impression that the filmmaker didn't see the justification in it either. In the song, Sita herself didn't see the reason for getting treated like that. She didn't do anything to warrant that kind of behavior from him. When Sita is banished to the forest, she is pregnant. The poor girl! That's where we really start to see the parallels between Nina and Sita's lives. I like that this film is telling a breakup story. I've always seen it as a love story and I've always seen people talk about them like they

For this "reading," I chose to watch the film,  Sita Sings the Blues   by Nina Paley . I'm really enjoying it so far. I love the different animation styles. I find it to be quite humorous and I appreciate finding that in something as serious as The Ramayana. Beginning with Nina and her boyfriend, the story sets up to tell the story of love and heartbreak in its many forms. I liked this touch. I'm writing this having watched through the intermission point, so I know about where it's leading, but I liked seeing the parallels between Nina's experiences and Sita's. It gives the story an extra feeling of emotional depth. We've all been through something like this. I think it's a great storytelling tactic, getting the viewer to connect with an ancient story in this way. On another note, I love the music too! I never would have imagined blues and Indian epics would have meshed so well, but Paley does it skillfully. I find it to be humorously done, but

For my storybook, I want to look at the Pinaka as a divine weapon and its holders. I didn't have as much time this week to go into it as much as I would've liked, but I plan on making a detailed outline of each of its holders and the bow itself, reminiscent of video game stats or dnd, whatever you want to call it. Finding story sources for this is becoming a bit difficult. I know that they exist somewhere, but I lack the skill to find such a thing. I think I might want to make the storytelling aspect be from the bow's point of view, talking about each individual wielder's skills as warriors and so on and so forth. For Shiva, it might be cool to use the fight of Vishnu and Shiva. (I'm still trying to track down an official link, but I like this story! ) I would also like to talk about how the bow is given to King Janaka and then to Rama. This would give me a wide array of characters and stories to work with. Aside from those mentioned in The Ramayana, I'm s

Link to my project:  The Divine Bow Please be nice to me! :)  Rama breaking the bow ( Wikimedia Commons )

The surprising habits of original thinkers I really liked this video! I appreciated the comments on procrastination. It started off discussing procrastination as a negative, but then it further delves into its legitimacy in creativity. Moderate procrastinators are able to combine work and play, giving their brain the time to take a break. Having many bad ideas is also not a bad thing! Embracing failure as the ability to grow and learn is great! I have a hard time with this, but I'm trying! I'm interested in exploring the world of being a moderate procrastinator. I can see the benefit of being able to take some time to breathe instead of just moving from deadline to deadline. Not having something to work on constantly sounds like it would help a lot. I think I'm going to try to combine this with my work ethic! I tend to like how I do things for myself, but change could never hurt! Positive Thinking ( Pixabay )

Why Sleeping May Be More Important Than Studying Several of my professors have mentioned something like this at some point in time, but seeing it in an article format makes sense. I would never have guessed the impact that sleep can have on our lives. Sacrificing sleep to learn would mean that you aren't at your sharpest. You wouldn't be able to really learn the material or process it at a later date. Because you didn't get a good night's sleep, not clearing out the synaptic connections, you will be unable to learn further! It makes sense! I don't really stay up late to study thankfully. I like to do all of my work in the morning or early afternoon, but I know some people who wold benefit from knowing this information! My current sleep routine is fine. I go to bed around the same time everyday, around 10, and I get up at 8 in the morning everyday. It's all fairly consistent. If I don't have school, I have a morning shift, which I like more than the after

It is only week 4 and I am tired! This class is fine though. I’m enjoying getting to do things at a time that works for me. This week we finished Ramayana reading and it was sad. I didn’t like the ending! I did not like how Rama treated Sita with the fire trial and that sort of was like… okay. I think besides that, I’m glad I got the chance to read it. I’ve enjoyed watching these characters and learning more about Indian epics and culture. I’ve always been fascinated by mythology and I’ve never really had the time to learn more about my own culture (for reference, I’m also of Indian descent!) I’ve been enjoying reading other classmate’s writings as well. I like seeing their creativity! Everyone here is very talented and offer unique takes on the characters and stories, I’m always excited to see where they take me this week! I think the more successful writings haven’t been afraid to take risks, while still trying to uphold the integrity of the story. It makes fo

Writing can be hard sometimes. It's nice to know that there are places to turn to for free advice! Jon Winokur's website,  Advice to Writers , offers a helpful space filled with tips and tricks in the form of quotes that other writers have about overcoming their own writing weaknesses. I found the interview section to be the most helpful to myself. It goes more in depth with the writer and is able to more fully process what they're talking about. Mercedes Lackey I resonated with this interview a lot. I love storytelling, a common theme amongst most of the interviewees. Mercedes made up stories whenever she could, just for fun. Being creatively inspired at such a young age reminds me of myself. What I liked most about this interview was Mercedes' response to writer's block. She doesn't believe in writer's block, it's simply your brain telling you that your story direction wasn't meant to be and that it might be time to change it up! I think this is

This is the final stretch! I'm both excited and sad to be finishing the Ramayana, but I'm also ready to move onto our next epic! In my opinion, this section was the most fun to read, but writing will be difficult. I'm not sure how to do these amazing stories justice! Kumbhakarna Based on  Indian Myth and Legend  by Donald A. MacKenzie I really liked the imagery this selection this provided. It portrayed Kumbhakarna as a fierce enemy, vicious, large, and mean. He seems like he'd pose a good threat to Rama (though we know Rama could never lose this soon.) I liked how he questioned being woken up too soon and how he began looking for his meal. I think all of the character's witnessing this happening would be shocked and overwhelmed. It's quite a lot to take in!  Sita and Rama Based on  Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists: Ramayana  by Sister Nivedita Okay... they get back together and this is what happens. I am so mad haha! Rama insulting Sita after e

As usual, choosing a few that I liked and could see myself doing a story on. Let's get this started! I don't have as many ideas for this reading section, but I felt overall they tonally different from the others. That might just be me though. The focus on rescuing Sita is apparent and the is a clear sense of urgency in this reading. It's even more exciting.  The Rainy Season Based on  Ramayana, The Epic of Rama, Prince of India  by Romesh Dutt and  Relatives  by Arthur W. Ryder Being exiled is hard for anyone, but it's probably harder for Rama who cannot enter a city re: the terms of his exile, so he must wait for the rain to cease. He sits alone in the wilderness, lamenting about love and life. He's growing restless being away from his beloved. He really just wants to find Sita and be done with this whole ordeal. The lament is equal parts sweet and sad. Sweet, talking about his wife. Sad, talking about loneliness and distress. Poor lad.  Sampati and Jatay

All of these ideas sort of hinge off of my last idea in which the story is structured to break down the character's skillset! 1. Rama vs Ravana: A Western Styled Showdown I've talked a lot, probably too much, about my love for western and outlaw media. I would focus on their fight and make sure to put emphasis on Rama and Brahmastra. Despite the western focus, I wouldn't really be changing the weapon type, setting or anything of that nature. I just wanted to include it for how I wanted to stylize the story.  2. Karna and Vasavi Shakti This one is more simple in terms of style. It would be more traditional, blended with the character breakdown I mentioned previously, breaking down his specific skills and traits as a warrior. I could do Arjuna and Karna's last fight, but I'm unsure if I really want to do that. I would want to focus on him as a warrior, maybe look at battles that don't involve his brother at all.  3.  Pinaka Because the bow was pa

Be a Mirror If I'm being completely honest, I chose this one because of the title. I was happy to find that the article itself was interesting itself! It begins by referring back to growth mindset strategies, which I found amusing. Our fixed mindsets really do cause us a ton of problems, don't they? The author refers to a "mirror" in this instance as the role of feedback without judgement, like well, what a mirror does. That's how we are supposed to give feedback in this way. Focusing on the subject makes the feedback more applicable and able to be targeted. How to Give Feedback Without Being a Jerk I liked this article. Compliment sandwiches are difficult, I can relate to the author. I've found that the constructive criticism isn't heard as much as the positive feedback, which while also important, I did say several things worth noting! Personally, I find the giving of feedback to be quite difficult. I never want to come off as rude or condescending.

Sita sighed deeply, looking out the window, as one of her many assistants continued rambling on about her princess duties for the day. She heard something about diplomacy, something about a dinner she had to attend. Day in and day out, it was the same thing. She grew tired of it all. With a dismissive wave of her hand, she stood and exited the room, leaving the poor attendant confused, following after her, muttering anxiously after the princess.             “Princess Sita, don’t forget you are to visit the garden today,” she called.             “I never forget,” Sita said with a charming grin, fit to quell the other’s worries. “I always do what I must, yes? Let’s just go now.” She gestured for her to follow behind, Sita’s arm of bangles twinkling together as she moved. Her attendant followed along quietly.             It wasn’t that she disliked being royalty, she was rather fond of it. She was wealthy, beautiful, had no real problems so to speak, she was aware