Thoughts About Comments

I think comments are very useful to either get to know each other's writings or to give constructive criticism to help the author with their writing. My favorite type of comments is when someone gives me feedback on how to make a story even better. Taking their input into consideration allows me and all the authors in this class to take their audiences into consideration, which is really cool. I like how I have never really encountered anyone "destroy" a story. Everyone, for the most part, has come from a place of encouragement, which is really nice.

Source

Week Four Extra Reading Diary: Babbit B

The Wise and Foolish Merchant:

• Oh that demon sure is manipulative.
• "The wise man knew that man was a demon because he cast no shadow." The first man should have really ought to know that. Guess that is why he was the foolish merchant. 
• You really shouldn't believe everything someone says no matter how good it may sound. 

The Demon made it look like there was plenty of water Source

The Elephant Girly Face:

• I wish it was were that easy to train an animal. 
• Seriously, I would tell my cats that knocking over the canned food won't open it. Or that paper towels were not scratch posts. Sadly, they do not listen.
• It is nice that they got to the issue instead of taking care of Girly Face though. Good for the King. 

"It is wrong to hurt anyone. It is wrong to kill. everyone should be gentle and good." Source

The Ox Who Envied the Pig:

• How morbid. Thankfully, the Little Red had Big Red to tell him the truth.
• Poor pig, probably didn't see it coming. 
• I kind of love this quote,-"His food was good while it lasted, but it did not last long".

The pig was the guest of honor at the wedding Source

Why the Owl is not King of the Birds:

• I for one have never notice owls to look so sour. 
• I guess it would kind of make sense for them to be enemies since the crows are active at day and owls at night.
• I wonder if they chose the turtle dove to be king because it it pretty. Scratch that. They kind of look like a pigeon. 

"IF that's the cross look he wears when he is happy, how will he look when he is angry?" Source

Stories by Ellen C. Babbit for Jakata Tales. Read Here

Week 4 Storytelling: A Lifetime with the Blues

      In all of Ayodhya, there was only one place where the loners and outcasts can go without being ridiculed by the rest of the population. Bedoul Night Club was located in the heart of the mysterious forest and was the ideal safe haven for all the misfits of the Kingdom. It is rumored that the owner, Ravana, built the place for his unrequited love. Every night he tries to make his move on the beautiful girl but to no avail for her heart belonged to another fellow. If it wasn’t all so pathetic, some would actually admire his adamant persistence.

       It was not hard to fall in love with Sita. Her beauty was unlike any of the other maidens and her talent was fantastic, particularly when she tried to sing away the blues. The male inhabitants of the club often daydreamed about being the one she chose to fall head over heels for. It is not easy getting over your first love, especially when he was the Kingdom’s golden boy, the only heir to the Maharaja. 

       When they were little, Sita, Rama, and Ravana were the best of friends. Since Sita’s mother and father were servants and Ravana's mother a maid, they all lived within the castle. However, when Sita’s budding beauty caught the attention of Rama, Ravana felt more like the third wheel than the three amigos.Oh how he longed to be Sita’s mate! As the years passed by with his dream girl on another’s arm, his dull bitterness turned into outright resentment. 

        Ravana’s mother, Manthara, took notice of her only son’s anguish and hatched up a plan to break the couple up. For weeks she examined the pair to find holes in their seemingly unbreakable bond. Finally, she realized that the only person Sita loved more than Rama was her mother, Kaikeyi. She spoke cruel things to Kaikeyi’s ears, hoping that her unknowing friend would get her daughter to leave the future king. 

Rama’s bad. He will make your daughter mad. He is the worst in all the land. He will beat and he will cheat. Tell Sita to cut him loose while she still can. 

        At first Kaikeyi did not listen to the hateful gossip Manthara had spread. However, Manthara tried and tried. Every day it was another scheme. She even paid one woman to flirt with Rama in front of Sita hoping to get to the young woman’s insecurities. But the ever faithful Rama's love was unwavering. Instead, he told his brother Lakshmana about the beautiful Urmila and the pair got married right away. This went on for about a year before Manthara even thought about giving up. Unfortunately, she found her weak spot once Kaikeyi became ill, and her reservations about the treatment of her daughter became the only thing she could think about. After all, how could such a powerful future king be so in love with a women born with such simple means? So on Kaikeyi’s death bed, her sole wish was for Sita to never marry or be with Rama. Upon hearing the news from his mother, Ravana covered up his mother's tracks in the matter by pledging his false loyalty to Rama by telling him that he would forever take care of his Sita. Now she sings the blues every night, going through life without her one true love.

Source

Author's Note: I watched Sita Sings the Blues for this week’s reading diary. I absolutely loved the parts where Sita sang about her adventures and inspired me to write this story. In between the ninety minute short animated movie, two storylines intertwine: the relationships between Rama and Sita and Nina and Dave. Though I could not exactly figure out how to incorporate Nina, Dave, or either of the cats, I did want to play off the sort of heartbreak and turmoil of the loss of love.

       I Googled the term misfit in Hindu and that is how I got the term Bedaul. I felt that it was appropriate for Ravana to name the club after that because he could not find his place in the real world of Ayodhya and in a sense created his own version of reality in the forest. Though I wanted to change the epic up a bit, I still wanted to portray Ravana as the villain keeping Sita hostage. The italicized text played off the song Rama’s twin boys sing at the end of the movie. Sita is forced to live the rest of her life singing the blues because she cannot be with Rama. I wanted to do something different this week so I changed up the backgrounds of the characters. In the original story, Sita was the daughter of a King, Kaikeyi was the second wife of Rama's father, and Manthara was a servant who absolutely detested Rama. 

This story is based on Sita Sings the Blues by Nina Paley.

Week 4 Review

I'm not going to lie, I would have done this as a child as well.

Mon. Feb, 8

Reading Diary B: Sita Sings the Blues

We start off with heartbreak. Poor Nina. Best part: "They joined the mile high club on the pushpaka." Priceless. I like that one of the narrators points out Rama's doubt of Sita's purity. Even though she went through the fire, he was so concerned with his own virtue which only made him even more doubtful. So he abandons her while she is pregnant. That scene was kind of heartbreaking. Especially when she was as huge as the world and he was stepping on her back. Lame move Rama, you lost major cool points on that one. Speaking of lame moves, Dave still sucks. He was balding anyways. I hate how Rama said that Sita can come back to the kingdom if she proves herself yet again. I mean...couldn't she have done that before she banished her? In front of everybody and he could have saved everyone all this time and trouble. It was weird seeing Sita go back into Mother Nature's womb. But seriously, what happened to Lexi the cat?

Sita Sings the Blues by Nina Paley

Reading Diary A: Sita Sings the Blues

I chose to watch the video Sita Sings the Blues this week because I love animated films based on readings. On one of my tech tips I even posted another Ramayana video from YouTube. I liked that in the beginning, Lakshmi (with her four arms) rises from the sea. I almost forgot that Sita was an avatar of hers. It was interesting watching two story lines unfold: the saga of Rama and the life of Nina and Dave (and the cat of course). I don't know why but the narrators who told the story of Rama were hilarious. It reminds me of that show where the four monsters in the audience ridicules the movie they are watching (what is the name? I can't remember!). "Nasa? Must be true then". Oh my gosh Rama's reaction to Sita going is missing is too much. I could not stop laughing. I like that the video pointed out that Hanuman is an avatar for Vishnu and his sole purpose for being born is to help Rama through his travels and the defeat of the Rakshamas. The narrators asked the question,"why was Rama so cold to Sita after being reunited?" Which was what all of us were asking when we got to the end of the story. Also, what is up with Dave?! Relationships are so frustrating sometimes.  They ended where Rama and Sita go back to the kingdom so I am assuming part B is about Sita's exile.

Sita Sings the Blues by Nina Paley

Week 15 Tech Tip: Google Site Title

I changed my site title and page title. Check it out: here