Indian Epics

(Quote from writer Neil Gaiman ) I chose this graphic because I love Neil Gaiman. He is one of my favorite writers - fun fact: he responded to me on Tumblr once. American Gods, Norse Mythology , and Neverwhere  are some of my favorite books by him as well as The Sandman  graphic novels. When he responded to me on Tumblr his writing advice was to the tune of this graphic. I just think he is a great writer and a pretty great guy.  ( Pete Seeger -"Forever Young" ) I chose this video because honestly I'm a sucker for a good banjo and this song is just so uplifting and I needed that after the week I've had. I also chose it because I was happy to see Pete Seeger. My grandmother introduced me to Pete Seeger when I was a kid and listening to this song took me back to a happier time.

(Made with GIPHY ) This is a visual representation of how my week is going. Everything that could've gone wrong, did. I lost some important files and had to recover older saves from the Dropbox backup and that put me way behind schedule. As did the tornado weather Wednesday night. I spent valuable time huddled in my apartment bathroom with 2 very angry cats, a 3-legged-dog, and my rat. However, its 5 am and everything is finally starting to fall into place. Hopefully, I will get to sleep soon. For some reason, I've had a tougher time this semester than usual. My brain injury has been acting up and my migraines have been worse so this semester has been a real struggle. I've managed to wrap up most of my other classes and feel confident going into my only final, its an essay test where we will be tasked with doing a critical reading of a text we covered this semester, thankfully that's something I'm good at. Next week: SUMMER and I am going to sleep for the entir...

Durga I chose to start with Durga because I just watched several videos featuring her from Seven Secrets of the Goddess by Devdutt Pattanaik (2016). Durga is a popular form of Hindu goddess associated with war and combatting demonic forces. Often depicted riding a lion or tiger with multiple arms wielding weapons that she uses both to defend and deal punishments. Durga Wik i Durga Puja is an annual festival celebrating the goddess Durga epitomizes the victory of good over evil but is also a harvest festival celebrates the goddess as motherly power behind all creation  Durga Puja Wiki Sindoor a red-orange cosmetic powder from India usually worn by married women along the part of their hair I got here from the Durga Puja page because it states that married women smear this on the statues of the goddess on the tenth day of the festival the main components of sindoor are usually cinnabar, turmeric, and lime Sindoor Wiki Lead Poisoning I ende...

As I type this I am sitting at my desk with a heating pad on my back like the 80-year-old woman I am. This is why I chose to do one of the deskercise challenges for my last learning challenge. Hopefully, some of these exercises will help me need my heating pad less frequently. I read " 6 Yoga Exercises You Won’t Be Embarrassed to Do at Your Desk " and went through the exercises as I read them. Some of the exercises are very similar to the motions my neurologist gave me to manage my neck pain so I will definitely be doing these when I have to sit at my computer for long periods of time. I especially liked the reverse prayer pose and chair twists. (Reverse Prayer Pose Illustration )

I really like the idea behind multiple intelligences. It shows that you don't have to be super good at math to be intelligent, or adept at interpreting literature, or even a great dancer, but that everyone is intelligent in their own way. I am intelligent in the linguistic and interpersonal ways, however not so much in the visual or mathematical ways. As an English Writing major, I have the opportunity to grow in my linguistic intelligence but I would also like the opportunity to work on my mathematical intelligence, however, I would rather do it outside of the university. University math classes are intimidating and too much pressure. I think either doing math exercises found online or forcing myself to do calculations in my head rather than immediately reaching for the calculator would help me grow in this area. (Graphic from " More Than IQ and EQ – Do We Have Multiple Intelligences? ")

The website is super easy to use so I decided to make a LOLcat out of one of my cats, O'Malley because he loves to lay on my homework so I have to pay attention to him. (Made with LOLBuilder at ICanHazCheezburger)

Durga the mind without nature = Shiva the withdrawn hermit nature without the mind = Brahma the controlling priest a key theme of the Puranas a preferred form of the goddess is Durga riding lion, defying domestication unbounded hair signifies that she is still wild like Kali nose ring signifies that she is domesticated like Gauri weapons in multiple hands reveal a different kind of violence restrained unlike Kali offers protection but also can be used for punishment Brahma's defiant daughter Vishnu's protected and protective sister Shiva's affectionate wife affection cannot be taken for granted she will not be exploited domestication of nature (goddess) must be mirrored by the awakening of the mind (god) Kanya-Kumari a tale from southern India challenges idea of domestication in order to establish culture name means one who is a virgin expresses a desire to be Shiva's wife Shiva agrees but devas aren't pleased because without a husb...

Kali Many goddesses before Kali shared her name or attributes associated with her Associated with unbridled sexuality and female power represented in art as naked, with an outstretched tongue, and unbound hair, often sitting or standing on the dominated Shiva Proto-Kali (origins of modern Kali) Dirgha-Jihvi see as a threat by Indra sends a young man named Sumitra to overpower her she rejects him because he only has one manhood and she has "many vulvas seeking satisfaction" Indra, in turn, gives the young multiple manhoods this satisfies Dirgha-Jihvi the two "make love" while Dirgha Jihvi is pinned down during sex Sumitra uses the opportunity to kill her identified as a proto-kali because of representations depicting an outstretched tongue and unbridled sexuality "male anxiety before female sexual and reproductive prowess" by 1000 BCE Kali emerges out of the collective starts being seen as an independent goddess "the ...