Epics of India

Taken from the Epified Krishna series, on Youtube . (Krishna playing the flute, from Wikipedia ) I always enjoyed the short, concise format of the Epified series, and the one on Krishna is no different. I love the calm atmosphere the narration and the background music provides. My thoughts on Krishna are...mixed. He was basically the one who instigated the war in the Mahabharata. I mean, I get that he's an avatar of Vishnu, but still, does that mean he can treat mankind as his plaything? Apparently so, as in the Mahabharata. Poor Devaki. Every child she had was smashed against a wall. In prison. I love the story of Krishna eating mud. When his mother gets angry with him and tells him to open his mouth, she sees the universe in Krishna's mouth. Of course, the vastness of it nearly breaks her mind, but she's brought back to reality by the realization that her son, though a Brahmand, is still just a child. The humanity balances her. Sorry, I appreciate Krishna ...

(shaking hands in friendship, from MaxPixel ) Maybe it was because he was blessed by the gods, or maybe it was because his father was always so soft spoken, but from his youth, Marcus always had exceptional hearing. Events happening miles away, if he concentrated, boomed in his ear. Now his father, Shinso, though soft spoken, was by no means a pushover. In fact, he was a legendary war hero who had never been defeated in his entire military career. It was said that when Shinso brought out his bo staff, he would become a invincible torrent of destruction. So skillful was he at using the staff that there have been rumors that the face of God Himself appeared on the staff as he swung it. No one can confirm, because no one has lived after facing Shinso with a staff. Growing up, however, Marcus had no knowledge of this, but was content with the simple life they lived. Even though they barely had enough to survive, Marcus was just happy to spend time with his family. Shinso, touched ...

This is from the public domain edition of the Mahabharata, by Vyasa . Because I missed this part of the reading last week, I am making it up now. The House of Fire Not sure how well thought out the plan was to soak a palace in oil.  It would be pretty obvious, I think. Everything would be slippery, there would be an oily smell in the air... Also, how convenient was it that there happened to be a woman with five sons that came by? Poor woman though. Burned alive in her sleep. At least they died with full stomachs. Bhima and Hidimba Ah! A rakshasi who falls in love with Bhima and refuses to kill him. It's like the plot of one of my stories, Savanad , but in my story, Savanad is a rakshasa who wants a human female as a mate. But still, I think it would be cool to explore this possibility further - certain subsets of beings that defy the expectations of their own race. It IS possible for a rakshasa to be good. There's nothing that stops them from transforming into a human...

At this point in the class, I am on track to make an A! So I am quite happy with the progress I'm making, especially in regards to writing stories. The stories are probably my favorite part of the class, because I have the creative freedom to do what I want (within the confines of the class) while receiving feedback to refine it. It's a good cycle to be in, where everyone benefits. And I think I've adapted to a good, habitual, weekly routine now. Extra credit on Monday (if I have time), reading on Tuesday and Wednesday, story/lab on Thursday, then project/comments over the weekend, with more extra credit if I'm feeling up for it.  Looking forward, I'm wary of becoming too comfortable with this schedule, and not looking at the Canvas and end up missing some big announcement. In regards to my website and blog, I am thinking about maybe changing up some design elements? I think they're okay and convey the focus of what they are for, but maybe they can be refined...

Feedback is a bittersweet thing, at least to me. On one hand, I dislike criticism, but on the other, I know that to improve, I need different viewpoints. And the latter usually outweighs the former, unless the feedback isn't constructive at all. Sometimes (and I'm guilty of this too..) people are just commenting something random to fulfill the assignment checklist and I can tell they didn't really read the entire story. For example, someone would comment on a specific part of the story about how something could be explained more, but I explicitly stated the explanation further along in the story. In general, though, I like to hear feedback about what I could change to make things more clear for the reader - explaining some story element further, more character development, possible changes, etc. As I read others' works, I'm inspired to make changes to my own work and feedback as well. Some feedback I receive is really good, and I am able to then use it to evaluate...

There's an interesting dichotomy I think, between any work I look back on and the work I am currently writing. As I'm in the process of writing something, the ideas are flourishing, and the story seems to unfold spectacularly, with no flaws. However, after publishing something, leaving it for a week, and coming back again to look on it, it's so...awkward and chunky. Grammar mistakes, spelling mistakes, sentence structure and overall flow - invisible weeds that suddenly become visible after not working on it for some time. The feeling I thought I had conveyed to the reader, upon visiting the story again as   a reader  - it's just not what I had envisioned in my mind. But the frustration of it all - I don't have the proper vocabulary or mastery of writing techniques to properly express this idea in my mind. I don't have the "meat" needed to beef up the bones of my story. I look at stories that I think are really well done - " Avatar: The Last Airben...

"What a fool! I guess a blind man's son is fated to blind, am I right?" The mocking laughter echoed again and again in my head. Every night it was like this. How could someone so beautiful and serene be so ugly and twisted within? It was useless to dwell on such matters. I would obtain my revenge, by any means necessary - an ugly woman deserves an ugly fate, and he would make sure she fulfilled it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "What an idiot! A truly honorable idiot," I gleefully thought, as Reuben reluctantly took the challenge. Not like he had a choice. This is what you get for being a royal warrior. I could see the conflicting emotions on his face. Duty-bound to never back down from a challenge? What a joke! That just means your enemies can always ambush you. "Your uprightness will get you nowhere in a game of pure chance," I cackled as my uncl...