Carlo Williams

                                                                              This is a graphic that I relate to posted by Professor Gibbs. Source Looking at this photo that was posted by Professor Gibbs, I would say I am the Snacker. Whenever I am stressed out and studying I always go and grab food, whether it be from my fridge or the vending machine. Food distracts me from studying and that is why it is my go to distraction.  Also a video I enjoyed watching was a little gif that was about the mandrakes. I am only familiar with madrakes because I played Final Fantasy growing up. I thought it would be interesting to find out more about the mandrakes, so I clicked on the video and it sent me to an article that Professor Gibbs provided. I am really interested in Medieval History, so...

I was debating what I should put for my famous last words blog. I am nearly done with Week 4 and the semester is starting to kick back up with the first round of midterms. I wanted to first let everyone know that you all go this! These next two weeks might be insane with midterms, but make sure you are taking breaks. A goal I set for myself is to start going back into the gym. Exercising is a great in general, and personally when I exercise I feel that it is easier to study and retain information. Starting soon, I will be exercising consistently( I will try). Another goal I have in mind is eating healthier. It is difficult finding the time to meal prep and eat healthy, but I just have to dedicate some time during the weekend to cook for the week! That way I can save more money and also eat less unhealthy foods. That means less Canes for me. Freshman year of college, I would constantly eat at Canes, so pretty much every time they saw me they already knew my order. Granted, there is no...

I decided to start out my Wikipedia trails with Sugriva. Sugriva was the ruler of Kishkindha. However, when his brother, Vali, thought Sugriva betrayed him, Vali then removed Sugriva from the kingdom and also took Sugriva's wife as his own. Then, I decided to focus on Vali, the brother of Sugriva. After Vali forcibly removed Sugriva from his kingdom, Sugriva asks help of Rama. Vali does not realize the extent of Rama's powers and is defeated by Rama. It was thought Vali was invincible, yet Rama was able to defeat him. Next, I clicked on Tara . Tara was originally the wife of Sugriva. However, once Sugriva fled the kingdom from Vali, she became the wife of Vali. What is interesting about Tara is that she is nymph that is created from the churning of the ocean. Lastly, I decided to click on apsara to find out more about the term. An apsara is a supernatural female spirit who could potentially change fate and serve gods, similar to angels. They can be compared to the muse...

I read the article, "Why You Should Surround Yourself With More Books Than You'll Ever Have Time to Read."   I personally have a book obsession. I go to a book store such as Barnes and Nobles to go buy a book, and the next day I never touch the book again. Therefore, I have a growing library of books that remain unread. I feel guilty many times, thinking maybe I should read the books I have before buying a new book. However, reading the article brought an interesting perspective to my life. Having all these books shows me that there are a lot of things I do not know. Thus, by having these books I thirst for more knowledge and I can achieve some more knowledge by going to the books I have. Buying these books is not good for my wallet, but having theses books does spark my curiosity for more knowledge.                                                   ...

A meme I cared on Cheezburger This was my first meme I created on Cheezburger. I love creating memes but I have used different websites creating them. I will be using Cheezburger more often! Is is an awesome site to use! 

I was fortunate enough to talk to my friend Naomee about Growth Mindset. Naomee previously took Epics of India, so she was familiar with growth mindset; therefore, I wanted to find out whether or not growth mindset has impacted her life since she has taken the class. During our conversation she was telling me that with the creativity of the class and learning about various growth mindset concepts she was able to apply it to her studies and other aspects of her life enabling her to grow as an individual. She actually challenged me to pursue a growth mindset. Adopting a growth mindset is something that will help me not only during my last semester, but also outside of school.                                                                       Image portraying the growth of a mindset. Source: InnerDrive

This week I wanted to focus on more research for the topic I have chosen for my storybook. My topic I have chosen involves the Devas and Asuras. From what I have learned the Devas and Asuras have been in constant war among one another, but there is a moment where both the Devas and Asuras must work with one another together to help restore their powers back and gain immortality. The story I will be focusing on is the Samudra manthan "Churning of the Ocean". This source is found throughout various texts such as the Mahabharata and the Vishnu Purana. I will be reading the Mahabharata this coming week, so I will find out more information about the story within it; however, I was unfamiliar with the Vishnu Purana. I did some research into the Vishnu Purana and I was able to find a free text of it online at Hinduonline. It provided a broad range of stories and I was able to find the "Churning of the Ocean" within the text. I learned from the text that Sage Durvasa...

The Ramayana was an excellent read. Throughout the reading for Part D, I was interested in how events would take place. One thing I underlined during my reading was the council that Vibhishana tried to give to Ravana. Yet, Ravana refused to listen to the vital advice that Vibhishana provided. Similar to Vali, Ravana completely disregards words of wisdom from people who advice to take caution which will eventually cost the life of Ravana. This is a common theme found throughout Narayan's Modern Prose. The fire test that Sita went through to prove her cleanliness or purity was interesting to me. I guess since I am looking at this from a 21st century perspective that I was biased when it comes to proving that she was not touched by Ravana. I was thinking that she did not have to prove herself, yet there are cultural differences from my beliefs versus the time the epic was written. It was also interesting that Kaikeyi was forgiven. Within my story, a harsher punishment may be coming ...

The reading for this week was interesting! I was really engaged in the story between Vali and Sugreeva, I am possibly thinking about expanding on them some more within my own story I will create. I was annoyed when Vali went back to claim the kingdom he never lost, and also while doing that took in the wife of Sugreeva as his own. If Vali, listened and was not so rash the events would not have played out the same was they have. Due to the rashness of Vali, his brother Sugreeva has to suffer by not having a home or a wife. Another interesting point I found during the text is the ignorance of Vali. His wife he took, Tara, tries to warn Vali of a possible plan led by Sugreeva and his allies. However, Vali thinking he knows everything tells her that she is gossiping and being foolish basically. He implies that he would kill her if she continues mentioning and thinks that he is more intelligent than her. It is interesting that someone's downfall is due to their pride and ignorance....