Review - Week 9

Molokai, Hawaii

This week's image was taken from Sunday, March 27 daily announcement. The scenery and nature of this image really appealed to me.  I would like to get to visit Hawaii someday. 

Tech Tip: Quotemaker

This week I chose to play with  PosterGen Quote Generator. This tool gave me a large variety of different fonts to play with.  I have decided to chose a quote that goes well with my quotes widget, which of course means it's from Terry Pratchett.  I definitely think I will chose this challenge again to experiment with more quote maker tools, and keep Terry Pratchett quotes as my theme for this class.

Learning Challenge: OU Mental Health - Week 9

This week for my learning challenge I focused on Health/Happiness.   I watched a few of Health and Happiness Videos.

Image From Youtube Video

There are points in everybody's life were things get hard.  Life is full of challenges and not everything goes right all the time.  Seeing some of these people's struggles makes me realize that no matter how bad things get, somebody always has it worth.

Cooper Lund on the weight of depression, ending mental illness stigma.
I feel for this person.  Sadness sucks, and depression sucks even worth.  I would just want to tell this person to hang in there, and it gets better. A remember seeing a whole campaign to fight depression and suicide thought called "It gets better."


OU Student on Mental Health: Ivey Dyson talking about Anxiety.
I definitely don't feel anxiety to the point Ivey does, so there is no true way to empathize.  I feel like comparing my daily anxiety to hers would cheapen what she has gone though.  I cannot understand or say I know what she's been through because it's not something I have experienced to this degree.  I am glad that she was comfortable enough to go publish with this and promote awareness for others so they know they are not alone.

Week 9 Storytelling : Forever Reaching

Pixabay - Day and Night

Forever Reaching

There was once a girl who lived in a small house with her four brothers.  The girl had golden hair and seemed to radiate light and happiness with each step she took.  Every day her brothers would go out and hunt while the girl would go out and gather fruits, nuts and berries.  In the evening they would all gather around their small table and eat a meal together as a family.  They lived happily this way for many years.

One day when the girl was out in the woods she saw a ladder leading straight up into the sky.  She stared up in wonder.  Curiosity overcame apprehension and she decided to climb up the ladder to see what wonders lay in the sky.  The girl climbed and climbed until she got to the top of the ladder. She looked around at the vast open sky before her.  Then she looked down and it was a beautiful sight.  Lost in the moment, the girl forgot to hold onto the ladder!

When the girl let go of the ladder, she drifted through the sky.  Although she could go anywhere she wanted to go in the sky, she was unable to get down or get back to the ladder.  A few years passed and the girl started to grow very lonely all alone in the sky.

One day, a pale young boy looked up and saw the radiant girl in the sky.  He fell in love with her instantly and vowed to find a way to reach her.  When he found a ladder leading up into the sky he did not hesitate.  At once he began to climb  When he reached the top of the ladder he leaped up into the sky.  He looked around hoping to catch a glimpse of the girl he loved.  He saw her on the opposite end of the sky, just as she was disappearing over the edge of the horizon. The boy decided that no distance was too far, and he immediately began to follow the girl.

At the same time, the girl spotted the boy at the edge of the sky.  From the direction she was facing, the boy seemed to be moving away from her.  The girl was delighted to see another person in the sky.  She longed for company and immediately started moving towards the boy.

The boy and the girl both perused each other, but what they failed to realize is that they were traveling in a circle.  No matter how far they travel, the boy and the girl will always be on opposite sides of the earth, forever pursuing but never reaching each other.

The radiant girl turned into the sun, and the pale boy turned into the moon.  To this very day you can look up in the sky and see them.  They are destined to chase each other across the sky until the end of time, forever lonely, forever reaching.

Author's Note
The original story tells a tale of a boy and a girl.  A boy falls in love with a girl. One day, the girl decides to climb a ladder leading into the sky.  The boy follows the girl but the girl is already floating away in the sky.  The girl becomes the sun and the boy becomes the moon.  The boy is always chasing the girl, but never catches her.
I really liked the imagery of this story.  The main difference between mine and the original, is that in my story the boy and the girl both chase each other.

Bibliography 
The Boy in the Moon is part of the Alaskan Legends unit. Story source: Myths and Legends of Alaska, edited by Katharine Berry Judson (1911).

Week 9 Reading Diary, Continued: Myths and Legends of Alaska

Myths and Legends of Alaska, edited by Katharine Berry Judson (1911).

Evening, Sky - Free illustrations on Pixabay

Origin of the Chilkat Blanket

• This story tells the reader that "In those days also, animals could take off their furry skins; then they looked just like people." This was a detail that I already figured out.  I think it should have been mentioned in the very first story in this unit instead of here.

The First Woman

•  I enjoyed the proof that the tale is true, as listed at the end of this story. 

Origin of the Winds

•  I like the idea of the sky being a wall that people can walk along. 
• The repetition in this story gives it an almost sing song feel.  It would be a good children's story.

The Land of the Dead

•  I like the variety of these stories. They all take place in the same world, but the different stories are very different.  For example, this one is a little bit darker.

The Ghost Land

•  The concept that eating food in the land of the dead will not let somebody return is a common one.  It makes me think what about this concept appeals to people?

The Lost Light

• Searching for light is a common theme among many of this units stories.  I assume this is because Alaska is far enough north that the length of nights and days is more extreme and changes.  I like stories that make me think about the culture around them. 

The Boy in the Moon

•  This is a very pretty story.  I think I might write a version where they both chase each other around the earth, and never reach each other.  I like this better than having only the boy chase the girl.

Cradle Song

•  Unlike the other stories, this one has the feel of a poem.  I think it really fits this type of story.

The Wolves and the Deer

•  The deer are afraid of wolves because of laughter.  The wolves have sharp teeth and the deer have flat teeth.

The Last of the Thunderbirds

•  I like the image that was chosen for this story.  Now when I see that totem I will be reminded of this story and the Thunderbird.

Origin of the Killer Whale Crest

•  To me this story seems a little odd.  Natsiane instructs the killer wales to kill his clan members, then afterwards never to kill again.

The Discontented Grass Plant

• This story reminds me of The Stonecutter from the African Stories from Lang's Fairy Books.

Tricks of the Fox

•  This story has an interesting ending.  Fox is always clever, across most stories.

Week 9 Reading Diary: Myths and Legends of Alaska

Myths and Legends of Alaska, edited by Katharine Berry Judson (1911).

Raven from Wikimedia Commons

The Raven Myth: Raven's Creation

• I like how in Native American creation myths everything comes from natures. 
• It is interesting that it is Raven who made the vine and Raven is the first person the man met. 
• Raven must be somebody significant in Alaska, I like the reason why the reindeer have white bellies. 

The Raven Myth: Raven Creates the People

• I like that raven does not just shape everything and then leave man alone, he stays with man and shows him how to live in the world. 

The Raven Myth: The Skyland and the Sea

• This story has a nice root in real life. Everything that the raven describes really exists in the real world. 

The Raven Myth: Raven-Boy and the Sun

• This story is a little sad. I did not expect the story to turn so dark. 
• The image of reindeer with sharp teach is an amusing on.

The Flood

• It is interesting to see that the native american stories have something in common with christian myth. Both of them have a giant flood. 

The Origin of the Tides

• I like these myth, they all have nice imagery with them. I like to imagine the man opening a closing a hole as the tide washes in and washes out. 

Raven's Feast

• This is an interesting story because it deals with the traditions of the Alaskan people. 

Raven's Marriage

• This story makes good use of a repeated phrase. In this case it is "Who will marry me? I am a very nice man." 

Raven and the Seals

• Raven ate them all during two nights. He ate all the seals in front of the house." Wow, that is a lot of seals 

Raven and Marmot

• It was amusing that Raven wants to prove that he is not a carrion-eater by eating something that is not carrion. That only proves that he does not only eat carrion, not that he doesn't eat carrion. 

The Bringing of the Light by Raven

• This story does a good job of making the reader curious. The reader does not have any more clue where the light is than the Raven does. I prefer this approach to stories rather than stories where things are obvious to the readers but not to the characters. 

The Naming of the Birds

• It was interesting to hear about the different birds. I like that the author included a large variety of birds. 

How Raven Stole the Lake

• It is interesting to hear how things have changed.  For example in this story, it is the fact that crows used to be white.