Mythology Blog Fall 2019

I had already been introduced to this mindset by one of my science textbooks. Linus Pauling is known as the father of Molecular biology, and this is his quote "The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas." I read this last semester and haven't forgotten it yet. This video put that quote into more context though. It was a great video and reinforced that same idea I learned from Dr. Pauling, and it's one that I am taking very seriously. It was also good to learn that procrastinating isn't always a bad thing lol! I hope to achieve as much as Dr. Pauling, or "the originals" that Adam Grant talks about. If I don't then that's fine, but I will definitely try by thinking outside of the box or I'll find some other ways to be creative. Who knows, maybe one day I'll win a Nobel Prize too. Link to video:  http://growthmindsetmemes.blogspot.com/2017/08/original-thinkers-by-adam-grant.html  A photo of Dr. Linus Pauling from:  h

Cool mythology map I found at  https://metal-gaia.com/2013/06/07/a-map-of-world-mythology/ I watched all three videos and I have so many questions. I never knew that myths were studied this intensely. There is so much to them that I do not even know where to begin. I like the idea of the monomyth, I think it's a great way to turn a myth into more than just a story. The theory that everyone is a hero makes these stories far more relate-able. I never thought that I would relate to Odysseus fighting a cyclops, but with this theory maybe I have already fought mine or will fight mine idk. Thinking about myth's this way can definitely inspire some people with the "if they can do it, then so can I" mentality. Now after watching these videos I'll be sure to keep an eye out for the universal traits they talked about and will definitely consider them when I am working on my storybook project. Videos found at:  http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2017/12/crash-cours

I changed my display name on Canvas from Jose Juan Macias to just Jose Macias and I added a profile picture. For my picture I chose one of the Aztec god Huitzilopochtli. I chose this one because it is one of the few pictures I have saved on my laptop and also because I think he looks like a badass lol.

This idea of a single story is something that I have already thought about before, and Chimamanda explains it perfectly. In her talk, she explains to us how susceptible we are from an early age. Especially when the stories we hear are the same over and over again. The danger comes from when those stories are used to spread misinformation about a certain subject. Take the Holocaust, for example, Adolf Hitler fabricated a single story to take the lives of millions of innocent people. Everywhere he went he told the people of Germany, and later the rest of Europe, that the Jews were the cause of their countries plagues, corruption, and economic crisis. He repeated that single story so much that eventually, they believed him. To avoid this we must be able to think critically and come to our own conclusions. In an age where we have access to all the information ever conceived by man, we cannot allow ourselves to be fooled by the single stories of the wicked that try to divide us. For Dr.

Oil lamp like the one I image the genie is in. Photo from:  https://www.importsfrommarrakesh.com/product/aladdin-oil-lamp/ This story was short and sweet. It was very different from the story I knew, but that was expected. This story was very different than the other ones I read in Arabian Nights. Which, I suppose is a good thing since I said the other stories were repetitive. I though it was interesting how it took place in China rather than India. Other than that nothing else really stood out to me. Today's Reading: " The Arabian Nights' Entertainment " by Andrew Lang

Image of a magic book from: Link Today's reading was really good, I really like the idea of stories within stories. However, I don't think I will have the skill to pull something like that off in my project. The stories in this story were interesting as well. They all seem to involve life or death but I think it's interesting when the stories involve magic and the ways each country or civilization thinks magic operates. I wonder what other kinds of magic I'll read about or if the Aztec believed in magic. Today's Reading: " The Arabian Nights' Entertainment " by Andrew Lang

Sinbad escaping his grave: Link The stories of Sinbad's travels were interesting. I liked how he used creativity to get out of those dangerous situations. However, they all seem to follow the same pattern, which made the story predictable and repetitive. The trend is, he gets on a ship, something happens, and he becomes endangered, others die, he makes it out alive, he finds someone that feeds him and treats him well, he recovers his lost or acquired goods from the trip, sells them and makes a ton of money, goes home, becomes bored, goes on another ship. The story is really similar to The Odyssey in a lot of ways, mainly because it follows the same sequence of events. While I don't like the repetitive nature of the story, I did like how unique some of the situations he found himself in. My particular favorite was how he was buried alive and resorted to killing others to eat their food. What a wild story. When I write my project, I will definitely want to include some cra

I have been using the Canvas app for over three years now. It has been so useful! Having the technology we have today makes it so easy to get work done from your phone. One time I was on my way to a Post Malone concert but I had an assignment due that night. While we were waiting in line, which seemed like forever, I was able to finish the assignment on the Microsoft Word app on my phone and then submit it through the Canvas app. I also regularly use it to submit assignments through my Ipad. There was one incident I had with the app, I was taking a quiz for my biochem class on my phone and all of a sudden canvas crashed. It basically ended my quiz and submitted it before I could finish all the problems. I email canvas support to try to get it figured out but they were absolutely no help. My professor told me to email canvas to see if they could find a way to let me finish the quiz, but when I explained the situation to canvas support they told me to try to take it again. The quiz only

My project will be an overarching story. Each episode will consist of my main character, Huitzilli, Nahuatl word for hummingbird, encountering an Aztec god or characters from another account or legend. I am not currently sure which gods or characters I will include in my story, but I will add some links to sources that I think will contribute the most to my decision making. I do not have anything specific that I would like to learn about. I do not know much about Aztec mythology so just learning about it, in general, is what I am looking forward too. Links http://www.native-languages.org/aztec-legends.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztec_mythology https://www.inside-mexico.com/category/myths-and-legends/ http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Ar-Be/Aztec-Mythology.html

Image: "Starry Night"  by Emmanuel Valtierra

Image of a bloody knife. Image from  https://www.pinterest.com/pin/164944405087963930/?autologin=true It was a stormy and lonely Thursday evening at the diner, a man with great white hair and a face worn down by years walks in and sits at the counter. He wore a long grey coat over his wrangler jeans and button-up shirt. The waitress could tell he was troubled. Man: "I'll take a coffee, please." His voice was so deep and robust it imitated the thunder from the storm outside. Waitress: "Sure thing, hun, any dinner or  slice of pie for you tonight?" Man: "No thank you." The waitress quickly brewed up a fresh batch of steaming hot coffee. The earthy aroma filled the diner. Waitress: "Here you go hun. Sugar or creamer?" Man: "Please." The waitress grabbed a couple packets of each and placed them by the man's cup. He slowly added them to his drink while he waited for the coffee to cool. Waitress: "So what

Echo they Nymph. Image from  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echo_(mythology) Story:  The Metamorphoses  by Ovid. Translated by A. S. Kline This reading was a lot less interesting than the one from yesterday. I only liked the story of echo. These stories are really messed up, it seems like greeks hated young girls. I struggled to understand them, I had to google some of them. I don't see anything in these stories that I will incorporate. The ones from today didn't even flow as well as the ones from yesterday. I actually fell asleep reading them. 

The Sun God - Helios - and his golden chariot. image from  https://www.theoi.com/Titan/Helios.html Story: The Metamorphoses by Ovid. Translated by A. S. Kline This weeks reading was interesting. I usually take notes over the language in these stories highlighting phrases that I find really beautifully written, but in this story, I wasn't moved by the language that much. I had a hard time understanding a few of the parts of the story and had to reread them multiple times. What I really liked about this story was how fluid the transitions were between the smaller stories. Ovid was easily able to connect them all and create a much larger story from all the individual ones. I also enjoyed the smaller creation like stories, like the swan and peacock's tail, that were just randomly dispersed throughout the story. My final note is that I'm a little surprised at how brutal these stories are. In grade school, I knew Zeus had a lot of children but I was never told he went

Elpenor - image from:  https://sites.google.com/site/theunderworldhades/matrix Notes based of  Homer’s “The Odyssey” - translated by A. S. Kline Link:  https://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Greek/Odhome.php The reading for part B of The Odyssey is very different than from part A. In part A, we go to see some of the challenges faced by Odysseus’ men as they made their way back to Ithaca. In part B, the story begins with the crews departure from Circe’s island after Odysseus was told that he must go to some island where to rivers meet and perform a ritual in order to speak to the ghost of a sort of prophet? The prophet tells Odysseus what to do in order to return home and tells him of the troubles plaguing Odysseus’ wife and throne. After this part is when the story sort of changes. After Odysseus spoke with the prophet, he goes on to continue talking to several other ghost. The most notable of the ghost being his own mother who seemed to have passed away after wa

A photo of Odysseus i got from wikipedia For my week 3 reading I chose to read Homer’s “The Odyssey” instead of “Cupid and Psyche.” I did this because I prefer action/adventure stories and I had read The Odyssey in middle school so I was familiar with it too. The Odyssey is a very interesting story and for these notes I want to write down how the plot plays out in their adventure and also incorporate some notes on Odysseus’ character. In the online reading their journey begins with their arrival at Polyphemus’ island. It was an accidental discovery and had they leave immediately they wouldn’t have lost any men. However, Odysseus, which to me seems to be a very vainful character, wants to meet the cyclops. They journey to the Cyclopes cave where they get trapped, six men get eaten, then they trick the Cyclopes and the survivors escape. While they’re escape can be attributed to Odysseus’ wit, they wouldn’t have gotten in that situation in the first place if Odysseus would have ju

If at first you don’t succeed, try try again! Image from:  https://www.cio.com/article/3211485/why-it-projects-still-fail.html The first article I read was “ Talking About Failure is Crucial for Growth. Here’s How to do it Right.”  That article was very informative and well written. It provides a lot of good points and examples. We all experience failure at some point in our lives so learning how to deal with failure is a crucial skill to being successful. I agree that talking about one’s failures or problems with friends or coworkers is a great way to learn. Talking about it with other people allows you release any negative feelings you have about that failure and reflect on what you did and how you could have improved. I also think talking about it with coworkers makes you seem more human and approachable. I love how they talk about social media. These days it’s really just a platform where people post only their accomplishments. It makes others who aren’t receiving the same

Tonatuih - Aztec Sun God Image from:  https://www.thoughtco.com/deities-of-mexica-mythology-170042 Creation Stories. I think creation stories are fascinating. It is interesting to hear the different ways that people thought humans were created. Growing up catholic, I was very familiar with the creation story in the Bible. Middle school was the first time I heard the creation stories from other cultures. I remember thinking that those stories were silly, but now I appreciate the creativity behind them. I don't know much about them other than what I learned in grade school. I would like to learn new creation stories, specifically from Latin America and the indigenous tribes that originated there.  Mayan Creation Story:  https://readicon.com/maya-creation-story/ Ghost Stories. Ghost stories have always been one of my favorites. In elementary, I read every ghost story available in the library. The suspense kept me coming back for more. The only ghost story I was told gro