Famous Last Words Week 4

What a weekend! Well not really.. I just worked the entire weekend, but let's focus on the positives! I'm definitely getting faster at work. There are several areas that need improvement, but I'm learning how to work under pressure one day at a time. I'm happy to say that I passed my pharmacy final! In other words, my pharmacy manager evaluated me and decided to keep me as a pharm tech. I spent some time with my older brother which is always a blessing. My brother and I have opposite schedules, so I barely have the time to see him anymore, except this weekend I was lucky to spend a couple of hours with him. He brought home a new pet snake! His work was giving away baby corn snakes, and he kept one! The snake is so tiny!

My brother holding the snake (size comparison). Personal photo.

In her cage. Personal Photo.

She'll grow to be a monster though. We discussed what to name the snake. I liked Medusa, but for some crazy reason my brother named her Shivakamini Somakenerkram... I have no idea how to even pronounce that... School has been tough. My lab professor gave a notebook last week, and my lab group did not do well at all. He was a really rough grader. There was some controversy about his teaching style and lack of office hours. I work really hard in that class, and it sucks when my grade doesn't show that. I guess I have to make more improvements in the lab to earn the grade I desire. So far this class has been going smoothly. I try to finish the readings and homework early. My favorite assignments for this class are the growth mindset posts. I like to explore more about growth mindset. Believe it or not, it has affected my life more than I can imagine.

Reading Feedback Week 4

I really like the fact that we have the choice between comic books, videos, and online PDFs. In previous weeks, I chose to read PDFs because it was more accessible than heading to the library to check one out. I prefer to have access to my stories at anytime than to be restricted at the library for a three hours. Each chapter had a reading guide which was extremely helpful. It was nice to have a short, sweet summary of the chapter. This week, I decided to watch Sita Sings the Blues on Youtube. I chose this option because I wanted to try something different. Reading PDFs all the time really bored me, and I was interested in how the animation made the story come to life. I was not disappointed! The video was really funny and entertaining. My only complaint would be that it was longer and took more time to watch than reading PDFs. However, the video clarified some major points that I didn't understand from the PDFs. I also appreciated the reading guide to the video. It was very necessary! I did not understand the beginning scenes with the different gods and goddesses until the reading guide clarified it. Overall, please continue making reading guides!

Goddess from Sita Sings the Blues. Source.

Tech Tip: Canva

For this week's tech tip, I decided to use one of the quotemakers called Canva. It was really easy to use and definitely user-friendly. They have a 20 second tutorial which explains everything from layout, photos, colors, themes, and more for a beginner. Since it was my first time, I did take an hour to create my first quote image. I didn't know what quote to use, so I explored my Pinterest board which had a list of my favorite quotes. I came across one that really reminded me of a very important person in my life. So below I made a quote poster, if you may, of my brother and me. I believe the quote is very applicable to him!

Because of You. Source: personal photos.

Growth Mindset Week 4

I decided to try the writing challenge for this week's Growth Mindset post. Over my college career, I have always been the type of person to do every assignment as early as I can. I cannot procrastinate. Leaving assignments or studying to the last minute is not part of my work ethic. Some people may see this as a positive attribute, but it also has its down side. For example, I stress over completing assignments early therefore I stay up late to finish them early. If I don't finish an assignment early, I feel like the world is crashing on me. So for my writing challenge, I decided to write my storytelling post an hour before the deadline. I wanted to experience the time pressure of submitting the post on time and see how it would affect my writing. It really did affect it. I was constantly looking at the clock which distracted me from actually writing a coherent story. The story that I wrote wasn't my best work at all. A reader could definitely tell that I rushed it. My story lacked creativity and a concrete plot. In all sincerity, my story looked like word vomit. So what I've learned is that I don't write well under pressure. Maybe that's why I start my writing early so I can brainstorm ideas while I type and edit. Lesson learned: do not write under pressure. It's just not for me.

Cats learn too! Source

Storytelling Week 4: Ravana and The Fates

Ravana tried convincing Sita to leave Rama and to marry him instead, but there was no hope. Sita remained loyal and faithful to Rama. Ravana offered her gifts, love, security, and a home, yet Sita refused. Frustrated and confused, Ravana asked his counselors for advise.

Counselor 1: "Ravana just take her against her will! You stole her, now make her yours!
 Ravana: "I don't want to force her. She must love me for who I am."
Counselor 2: "You don't want to force her yet you kidnapped her from her husband... I believe your logic is flawed my good sire."
Counselor 3: "He had no choice but to kidnap her. She was already married to Rama. He simply took the initiative and invited Sita to his house."
Counselor 2: "Why kidnap a married woman? And I believe there was no 'invitation.'"
Counselor 1: "Because Ravana deserves Sita! That's why he took her! Ravana deserves the best, and if he wants her then he can take her!"
Ravana: "She needs to realize that I am the better fit for her than Rama. If Rama really loved her, then he wouldn't have left her alone for me to kidnap. Therefore, my logic is on point."
Counselor 2: "Ravana, the deed is done. She's already here. But a path towards a woman's heart is complicated. You must be patient with her. You cannot expect her to fall in love with you when you took her against her will. In her eyes, you are the villain. You must show her your kind side."
Counselor 3: "That is a very good point. But don't you think that will be too time-consuming? Ravana has everything going for him. Money, power, good looks. Sita should be begging Ravana to make her his wife."
Counselor 1: "And she shall be his wife! Ravana just take her now! Rama was too kind to Sita. She will be attracted to your aggressiveness! Women love that."
Counselor 2: "You're an idiot. How did you get this job?"
Counselor 1: "I am primary counselor! I will have you sentenced to death!"
Ravana: "ENOUGH! Counselors, you have helped in my every time of need. There is still not a solution to make Sita love me. Please help me, or I shall replace all of you!"
Counselor 3: "I have an idea. Sita is in love with Rama. Why don't we just kill Rama? Then she will have no one to love except for Ravana. He will comfort her which will show kindness. One thing leads to another and BAM! Sita is your wife."
Counselor 2: "That's insanity."
Counselor 1: "That's genuis."
Ravana: "That's the solution! Tonight I will kill Rama and make Sita mine! Thank you good counselors. You have once again saved me with your advice."

Ravana then exits his palace to prepare for battle.

Counselor 2: "You know Sita will just hate Ravana even more."
Counselor 1: "Yeah but women love bad men."
Counselor 3: "It's kings like him who can't think for themselves is the reason why we're employed."

My take on Counselor 1, 2, and 3 (aka The Fates). Source.

Author's Note: In the original story, Ravana kidnapped Sita from Rama while Rama hunted for a golden deer for Sita. When Sita resided in Ravana's palace, Ravana attempted to persuade Sita in becoming his wife. According to the story, Ravana never wanted Sita as his wife unless she wanted to. He didn't believe that he should be forceful with her, which is ironic since he kidnapped her.
I decided to write about Ravana's dilemma of how to make Sita fall in love with him. In Sita sings the Blues, Ravana was described as a good person until he kidnapped Sita. I tried to portray his "kindness" with the fact that he refuses to force himself on Sita, but of course since he's the villain I made him believe that killing Rama was the only solution. The reason I wrote about three counselors was because several kings do have some sort of counseling staff or a group of advisers. I chose three counselors, each with a different attitude. Counselor 1 is the aggressive type while Counselor 2 is more reasonable. Counselor 3 is the middle ground between Counselor 1 and Counselor 2. I imagined the counselors to be like the Hades' counselors of Past, Present, and Future (which explains the image). Whether Ravana actually succeeds in killing Rama is up to the reader.

Bibliography: Sita Sings the Blues by Nina Paley

Reading Diary B: Sita Sings the Blues Part II

I finished the film! There were some weird scenes of a dancing lady and a dancing skeleton which reminded me of someone taking LSD with a bad trip. Something I don't quite understand is the backstory with the girlfriend and boyfriend. He moves to India, and he's being weird towards her which leads to their break-up. I guess it can relate to Rama and Sita since Rama rejected Sita after rescuing her. One thing that really made me laugh was when the narrators commented on Sita's pregnancy with "They joined the mile high club!" That was priceless! In the online version of Ramayan, I don't remember reading that Sita was pregnant. This film also shows that Rama banished Sita from the kingdom while she was pregnant because he was afraid that her reputation would discredit him as being a respectable king. I find that really ridiculous. Another scene that makes me chuckle was when the narrators were arguing about how Sita's unconditional love towards Rama. The male narrators did not understand why she kept praising Rama, but then the female narrator explains unconditional love to them. The film was quite entertaining! I did enjoy watching it.

Scene from Sita Sings the Blues. Source

Reading Diary A: Sita sings the Blues

I began watching the first half of Sita sings the Blues, and my first impression of it was that it was very trippy. The introduction shows Lakshmi rising from the ocean with a peacock-shaped phonograph. Then the scene shifts to outer space where where see a several gods such as Surya, Shesha, and Chandra. Moving along, three Indian narrators begin to tell the story of Rama. It's pretty entertaining because the narrators argue with one another about characters. They summarize how Dasharatha has three wives and four sons, and how Kaikeyi demanded the king to banish Rama from the kingdom. Then there is a skit of Sita singing an old song, describing her devotion to Rama. The narrators then describe Ravana. I didn't know that Ravana was a loyal king to his country. As the narrators described him, Ravana was so devoted to Vishnu that he played a musical instrument with his intestines. Honestly, what made him evil was when he kidnapped Sita from Rama. Hanuman, the reincarnation of Shiva, joins Rama to help on his journey to find Sita. With his great leaping powers, Hanuman jumps to Lanka. I was surprised to see how bloody the battle scene was between the monkey army and the demons that guarded Lanka. It reminded me of Happy Tree Friends because of all the bloody animation and dark humor. Then came the scene where Sita and Rama finally reunite. The video depicted the scene exactly how I wrote my storytelling post! Rama fought a war to rescue his wife then just rejected her because he questioned her purity. Overall, I enjoyed the humor and the sound effects of the video. I laughed out loud a few times in the library which was quite embarrassing. Also, the animation in the movie was really neat. Everything had a bold and simple shape to it. I cant wait to finish the rest!

Sita sings the Blues poster. Source.