Reflections of Fall 2015

Taking a look back at this semester, I feel that my fish-themed Portfolio has been my best work. It made it on to the favorites list and students from both Myth-Folklore and Indian Epic classes have read and commented on my Portfolio. Making stories for the Fishy Portfolio Guide was quite difficult but it was worth it in the end.

This class was very fun and interesting. I enjoyed reading and writing stories throughout this semester.

Week 14 Growth Mindset

With Dead Week here and Finals next week, I figure that this meme would be most appropriate to how most of us feel.

College meme from Pintrest

 This meme really hits home when any college student is going through Dead week and Finals. I know for a fact that during my Freshman year I was kind of like this along with my whole dorm floor. Heck, even I am still a bit like this now haha. Anyways, this is just a reminder to do your best and good luck!

Week 14 Curation

With this weeks theme of European folklore, I ventured onto the internet to find some neat stuff. First is a game adaptation of Dante's Inferno which adds a whole lot of action pact fighting that is similar to the game God of War. A lot of my friends have played this and told me that if I like a lot of action, gore, and demon slaying, then this game is what I need to play.

Dante's Inferno the game

Second on my list is someone who currently has their own movie that is playing in theaters right now. His name, dare I say it, is Krampus. The polar opposite of Santa Claus, this anthropomorphic figure punishes the kids who have misbehaved. Just shows that you can't have light without darkness.

 

Last but not least, is Rumpelstiltskin himself in the fourth installment of the Shrek franchise. Here, Rumpelstiltskin is out of business because everyone has what they want and will not make a deal with him anymore. Until Shrek comes along wanting to be feared for being the ogre he is.

Rumpelstiltskin and his witches

 

Tech Tip: Weather

Knowing the how the weather is an important part of the day. It lets you prepare for the day and make any other types of preparations if needed. I have added a weather widget so that you all can dress accordingly and prepare for anything that will possibly happen outside today.

Famous Last Words: Week 14

For my reading of the week, I chose to read Dante’s Inferno. This unit caught my attention from its title. Also, I know a little bit about Dante and Virgil from the game series Devil May Cry. I enjoyed my reading this week, but I am disappointed that I could not finish reading it all in time to post up my other diaries. It is partly due to my own fault for not having to start reading early but also because I have had a string of bad luck very recently.

In this past month of November, I have gone through two cars. My first car that died was a used car that my dad got it for about $1800 and fixed most of it up himself before giving it to me to drive since the middle of last spring. The car still had some issues but it was in working condition or so I thought.

Sometime in the middle of November, I was driving my girlfriend to her anatomy class at OCCC. When I first started my car, I noticed that the engine sounded and felt a bit off since it had a slight rumble. I just brushed it off as a cold morning start and drove off not knowing that it would soon become a very dangerous sign.

After my girlfriend got off, we drove back to Norman and my car was really rumbling and was not accelerating as it should. By this time I was really freaked out and luckily made it back home and switched to her car.

A few days later when I had time, I took my car to get a diagnosis and they told me that all of my car’s engine mounts have been damaged. They told me that the cost of buying and replacing the mounts were going to be over $1400. I spoke with my parents, who are living in Wisconsin since last winter, and they told me that it isn’t worth it and that I should just drive it slowly back to my place.

As I drove back from the car shop my car started smoking through the vents. I knew at this moment that my car will either just die on me in the middle of the road or that there is a chance that it could explode due to the mix of fumes that could possibly leak out. Luckily, I was able to make it to my girlfriend’s place, which is much closer than my place, and had it sitting there for several days. I was able to push my car back to my place with the help of several friends.

A couple weeks after my car trouble my parents sent another car down for me to drive. My second car has been with my family ever since they bought it in 2003-2004. I have drove this car since senior year in high school till I swapped it for the first car. This car was still in very good condition since me and my dad have taken care of it so much. I knew that the car would last me even after I graduate. However, this was not the case.

The very next night after I received my second car I got in a fender-bender. This is where I really think about what I have done in my life to deserve such a string of bad luck. I, and the guy that hit me, go through the whole process of collecting information, getting estimates, and going through our insurances. I get a rental car and have been driving it for over two weeks now.

Then just last Thursday I got in contact with the car shop that is going to repair my car and they tell me that the insurance has not given them the permission to either work on it or call it a loss. So my parents and I contact our insurance and they tell us that the car is a loss and label it as totaled since the cost to repair it exceeds the car’s current value.

At this point I am devastated. I am going through so much bad luck that even my store manager tells me that for the last five months I have not been chosen as employee of the month. Now in order to be employee of the month, there is a random draw of recognition cards that other manager’s write up for their workers. For the last five months they have drawn an employee who had only one recognition card while I had about 5 to 7 cards. Actually, I have been working there since summer of 2014 so I have actually never been employee of the month since then.

Me saying good bye to my second car

Other than that, I’m still thankful to be alive and well. Life really sucks for me right now but hopefully after all this bad luck there will come good luck.

Week 14 Review

Click and clique. They sound alike but they aren't.

 

 

 

This Words to Watch blog post caught my attention because both click and clique are things that happen in daily life. These two words however remind me of the movie Click staring Adam Sandler and how some of my friends have their own little cliques and exclude others out.

Reading Diary A: Dante's Inferno

Dante’s Inferno

Dante's Inferno

Limbo

As Dante and Virgil go through the First Circle, Limbo, Virgil is guiding Dante quite well through this first part of hell. In this first circle, there are many people who are trapped here due to the fact that they we not baptized and because they lived before Christianity. I could feel the sadness from the people that were in Limbo just because they came to the world at the wrong time.

Poets and Philosophers

There are many famous spirits that dwell among the others in Limbo. Famous people such as Homer, Caesar, Socrates, and Plato were there. These great poets, heroes, and philosophers were stuck in Limbo as Dante and Virgil continue on deeper into hell.

The Second Circle

Paolo and Francesca

In the Second Circle of hell, my understanding of this place is that this is the place where people who have physically sinned come to. The story about Paolo and Francesca really caught the attention of Dante. I wonder what made him so interested in the two lovers. What was more interesting was how Dante blacked out after feeling pity and from talking with Francesca.

The Fallen Angels

Dante and Virgil get deeper and deeper into hell and approach the City of Dis. Here at the walls they encountered Fallen Angels who guard the entrance. They allowed Dante to enter in but they refused Virgil’s entry. However, Virgil’s denial was short lived since he made some sort of deal with the Fallen Angels. It makes me wonder what kind of deal he made with them and how it will affect their journey. As far as the two have gone, Virgil is still guiding Dante very well through hell.