Famous Last Words: Almost Done

These last couple of weeks have been challenging. I can’t believe that the end of the semester is so close, I feel like it’s been such a short time since it started. Since about the end of October, every day seems to have melted into each other and I’m not sure which way is up and which is down at this point. I’ve made such slow progress on my Storybook project after my “full steam ahead” attitude not long ago and am not sure if I even have the time in the next couple nights to do a story about Draupadi.  Since my project focuses on “twins,” I had the intention of doing two chapters featuring female characters with opposite gendered “other halves” as they make for a good comparing/contrasting pair. However, I have SO FEW points left to earn since I have done so many Extra Credit assignments it really just will take a few of these to earn my “A.” As such, since I am graduating and since the likelihood I can keep my website up and running in the months afterward are slim—I think this is what I will do. At this point, my remaining finals and post-graduation job hunting has taken full priority. Luckily this class is just that flexible that I can still earn an “A” this way.

In other news, I have a new tortoiseshell kitten. She was a stray that a family friend found her on Halloween, and we were chosen to take her in after they began asking coworkers and friends to give her a “forever home.” She is curious and spunky in comparison to my carefree and calm cat, so she’s been a welcome addition! Otherwise, outside of this class all is as usual- just trying to stay afloat until freedom when I complete college and can tie a bow on this chapter! I’m gearing up for the career-level job application and interview process ahead. This is making my motivation and focus fluctuate, but someday I imagine these days will just be like a dream forgotten! I do want to enjoy these days while they last, but I also want to make them worth it! So every bit of free time and wiggle room I can make I am taking full advantage of.

(Image Source: Pixabay Stock Photos)

Leave a Comment Famous Last Words, Week 15

Famous Last Words: When Flu Season Strikes

This weekend while I was with my family, I caught some sort of severe cold, moderate flu, or sinus infection (I'm not sure which). I haven’t been this sick in quite some time. I’ve been so miserable that even making this post and completing other assignments for this and the rest of my classes has been a major struggle. I was actually sent home by one of my professors on account of how bad I must have looked, which was actually a huge relief since I could suffer within the confines of my own apartment without an audience. I didn’t even know that such bad sinus pain could cause my eye sockets and ear canals to hurt. My lymph nodes are swollen, my nose is stuffy, my chest is congested, and I have a little bit of nausea. My fever comes and goes, and I don’t know whether it’s due to my body being imbalanced and inflamed from illness or if it’s the over the counter medicine I’m on, but I can’t focus for anything. I feel guilty about everything I have neglected and I think I need to go back to class tomorrow but considering how little I feel I have recovered even while resting at home I’m not sure I’ll be firing at full cylinders for a while. I also miss having an appetite for food, not to mention the ability to smell and taste. 

In the meantime, between being passed out and awake long enough to take more medicine I managed to do today’s “More Mahabharata” assignment. I have always liked the Epified channel on YouTube. It also reminded me of the other videos I had been meaning to get to in the class playlist and came upon one that was Harry Potter related. With the onset of cooler weather, and my having been a dedicated viewer of this series every Christmas since I can remember I thought it was appropriate to watch this video “Harry Potter Music (Indian Version) | Tushar Lall (TIJP).” It brought back so many memories and I loved the original spin they put on it with the traditional instruments, it was a great tribute to the iconic song. The production of the video was likewise impressive. It also reminded me of a Storybook that I found back in the first week called “Hogwarts: The Loyalty of Brothers.” The link looks broken now, but I remember bits and pieces of it and thought it was such a creative take on the Indian Epics and could really see where the author could draw parallels between the stories. 

(Image Source: Pixabay Stock Photos)

Leave a Comment Famous Last Words, Week 9

Famous Last Words: Taking the Good With the Bad

I feel like my life has been set on the spin cycle with the safety lock on. By this I mean I can relate all too well with my poor iPhone that, unfortunately, found itself stuck with my sheets and pillowcases in the washing machine. This event that ended my week really sums up how I have been feeling as of late, so I was the least bit surprised by my slight error that caused my cell phone to be swimming in suds on Saturday. On top of mid-semester exams, barely scraping by with enough money to make rent, and the shadow of stress from a serious financial burden from only weeks ago still on my shoulders, it’s been a shaky start to this spooky month to say the least. I know I have racked up plenty of extra points for a cushion in this class which is making my missed due dates a little less daunting, but I’m ready to start fresh for Week 8.

As the sun sets on this week, I'm trying to remain positive and resilient. Having just completed the last section of the Mahabharata, I feel even more confident that closing this chapter will help me regain focus and feel less compelled to dwell on this past week where I wasn’t ahead of the curve. Instead of being concerned about making up academic losses, I’m going to try and pat myself on the back for prudently putting in the effort of extra credit assignments in the past for such a time as this. I really liked the Mahabharata and I’m ready to now spend my time picking it apart with additional resources as an aid. I have started by coming through on my personal promise to return to Mahabharata related videos in the MLLL YouTube playlist to see how they can enhance my understanding of the epic. “Mahabharata Meets Game of Thrones” is one that caught my attention since the craze for that series swelled just recently with its final season. The way this video likens the characters to their GOT counterparts is so clever and adds a new dimension to how I understand them. I can really see how this relation between stories came about since they concern themes of family versus foe, good versus evil, peace versus war, and so on which I touched on in my last reading notes post. Up next “The Mahabharata(“Abracadabra” by the Steve Miller Band),” which tries to hit some of the main points of the epic to the tune of this song from the 80s!

(Image Source: Pixabay Stock Photos)

Leave a Comment Famous Last Words, Week 7

Famous Last Words: Looking Forward and Backward

Before I get started on Week 5’s assignments, I thought I would stop and reflect on my progress both on and offline in this couple of weeks. I have made strides on my Storybook project as far as continued brainstorming is concerned. As for the Introduction on my Google site, however, it has a ways to go. I’m assuming I will go an expository route since I plan to do an anthology rather than a narrative. My Week 4 story went well, too. I haven’t attempted to write poetry since probably high school, but I was pleased with the finished product despite it’s few flaws. Writing poetry takes more patience as it requires more time and effort than prose, but after the rush of satisfaction over how my “Sampati and Jatayu” re-write went I’m thinking I will try to recreate this feeling and keep working with rhyming verse. Something I was reminded of while writing was a poem (one of many) that I read when I was younger called “Humpty Dumpty’s Funeral,” which I suppose is a Western version of mythology-inspired reconstruction not unlike what we’re doing in this class with Indian epics.

Outside of class, I have a full plate. I have a first exam in one class, a first paper in another, and a date to deal with some financial matters that is a little overdue. Such is life, I suppose. However busy as this upcoming week appears, I know that I have provided myself some cushion with extra credit assignments. I also feel my grade is safe since I so far have been consistent in following the schedule I created at the start of the semester.  So long as I stay on track, I am confident I will just barely make it through the week.

(Image Source: Pixabay Stock Photos)

1 comment Famous Last Words, Week 5