Story: Weekly Party

Every Friday for the past month Henry had thrown a massive party at a different location every time. His excuse was to celebrate being young and a live. The only thing was you had to be invited. These parties were compared to the great Gatsby himself.
    Henry's girlfriend well now ex-girlfriend was invited to every party but she went. Annie would always come up with some excuse, most of the time she had better things to do. But her closet friend Pat begged her to go every week but every week Annie would refuse to go.  Once again another invite come for Annie and Pat. and once again they refused The two of them set up for there annual movie night.

Girls watching tv Gurl

   BUZZ
 Pat's phone lit up. Opening up the message, it was David. "I thought you and Annie would want to know that Kate's decided it would be a  fun to rip up all the photos and art that Annie made for Henry." Pat's face turned red with anger. "what is it." Annie stated. "we have to go to henry's party! Kate, she's destroying everything." Pat began yelling. Annie got off the couch to grab more popcorn. "I'm not going."
"What! But Kate is..."
"I don't care."
Pat paused the movie and walked up to her grabbing her full attention. "ok I know Henry cheated on you but we can't let Kate get away with this. If we just went." Annie slammed the bowl of popcorn on the corner. "i'm not going if you want to go then more power to you." Pat's eyes widened. "wait really? You'll let me take care of it?" Annie's back was still facing Pat. She was trying to hide her tears. "If you go just promise me that as soon as you take care of my art you'll head home. you wont talk to Henry or deal with Kate you'll come home." Taking a deep breath she turned around. Pat was trying to hold a devilish smile. "Now promise me." Pat nodded. " i need to hear it." "I promise. I swear I'll come home after I'm done." Pat grabbed Her keys and headed to the party.
   When she got there, Kate had already managed to tear up all the scrapbooks and was about to start on the paintings. David rushed over trying to stop her. "Kate Tallic Put That Painting Down!" Kate's eye's got wide and slowly placed the painting on the ground. Pat took a quick step towards her and Kate ran for the bedroom. Pat followed her meeting with a slammed door to the face.  She tried ramming the door with her body three time. On the fourth time David grabbed her arm and Pat met David's eyes. "Pat go home, take the canvas and go home. This isn't your fight. It's Annie's." Pat yanked her arm away and picked up the last piece of art that Kate didn't destroy. As she was leaving, the door cracked open and Kate swiftly walked towards her. Pat swung around grabbed a can out of the closet persons hand, threw it at her, and  knocked her in the head.  She began to laugh. David grabbed her arm once more. "leave Pat." Turing around  to head back to the door, she was met with a blow to the gut and something sticky spilled on her. "you should have left when you had the chance."

Authors Notes: I uses the Deeds and death of Patroclus for my story. I changed the characters to women and put it in the modern day. Pat was Patroclus character. I didn't really want to kill this character. I felt like the lesson to learned was don't over step you ground. Because if you do then you might get the lower hand.  

Bibliography: Homer's lliad retold by A. J. Church. link to reading

Reading Notes: Homer's lliad

Homer's Lliad was not what I expected. I was expecting just a battle not seeing Achilles decide he wasn't going to battle. As well as the amount of Greek God and Goddess interaction. I think my favorite character would have to be Apollo or Athena.

Drawing of Apollo and Athena The Grub Street Project

Apollo sparked my interest by the way he acted when we was in the story. Especially at the end of Part A in Deeds and death of Patroclus. Patroclus tries to rush troy's wall four time and Apollo tell him to go back when Patroclus doesn't listen Apollo doesn't care and deals with the problem. I feel like this is how Apollos personality  is in most greek stories. I think I would want to do a story based on Apollos personality or make the interaction longer between Patroclus and Apollo. Have that ending sequence between the two of them be a story. It could be almost like a dark comedy. 

  Then Athena when she is trying to give wisdom instead of fighting. most stories I've read with her always have her fighting. I enjoyed seeing this side of the Goddess. 

I may try to add Hector in the story with the immortal horses and chariots but instead of horses make it be like race cars or something.  I may even make a story upon the scene with all the gods in the room watching Zeus and Hera argue. I think these two scenes stick out the most for the reason of being different from the rest of the story. 

Over all I really enjoyed learning the lessons this story had to teach.

Bibliography: Homer's lliad retold by A. J. Church Link to reading A 

Growth Mindset

Learning about Growth Mindset was very interesting. Using the words not yet or yet instead of passed or failed seemed to help boost kids self esteem. It is to try to encourage kids to want a challenge. Not wanting it to be easy for them.
   I agree that everyone should want to challenge there brain and not just depend on it being easy. The reason why I see people like the easy way is they know they have accomplished something that may have been hard or its something there very talented at. I know for me school has always been challenging no matter what I have done. This is for the reason of my reading and writing disability.  So when something came easy for me it was a sign of relief. It shows that I have gained strength in this area and my skill set is already stronger. I'm not saying everything needs to be easy but not everything needs to be  a challenge either.
   While at OU I have learned from my strengths and weakness. The great thing about something coming easy is that I can budget my time to focus more time on the harder more challenging assignments. The easy busy work still engages my mind but at a slower pace and allows my mind to rest.
   I am not to sure how I feel about the Growth Mindset. The parts about telling a kid they didn't fail, that they just haven't achieved full potential yet is a good idea, but at that same time if this was used with me I don't feel like I would have tried as hard as if it said I hadn't passed. I think I would be interested in learning more about Growth Mindset to see if it would help me with the challenges I already have with school. I guess in a way it's stating you learn from your mistakes, or your failures but if we hide the fake that we failed then how do we learn from these failures?

Quote about Growth Mindset via Growth Mindset Memes blog

Starting the Semester

For the longest time I would use Apple calendars so everything was linked up with all my devises. After a while this became more of a challenge then it helped. I bought a planner and all my assignments and reading are color coronated. Even social events and things I need to do for my job are in this.

Example of a daily planner. Playing in the Pages

I also have a dry easer board up in my kitchen that I post major projects on. The other thing that helps is writing sticky noted to important things that are due. I'll stick them to my desk. These methods have helped me stay organized in my college life.  The biggest tip though is not to get behind on readings. Do them in between your class time. This will help you get ahead. Because most of the time when you get home at night your not going to want to do your homework. So if you do it during the day when your brain is engaged, you will get a lot more done a lot faster.

Reading Options

Exploring UnTextbook was very interesting. There were several units I am excited to read! For week 2 I have decided on Homer's Iliad I did this because I read the Odyssey  in high school and loved it. Getting to read the story before the Odyssey sounded interesting to me.

Book Illustration UnTextbook 

The other stories that popped out at me where Alice in Wonderland, Russian Folktales, and King Arthur. I picked Alice in wonderland and King Arthur for the reasons that I know these stories but I have never read the originals. I am a huge sucker for the classic stories. I also choice the Russian Folktales for the reason I have been very found of the Russian culture. I am even learning a little bit of Russian. 

Storybook Favorites

While looking at all the storybook blogs the three that caught my attention where, The Trickster of OU, Tragically Ever After, and Fairytale Case Files. I picked the last two for the different twist and classic fairytales that I love.

  The design in Fairytale Case Files was my favorite. The theme of the blog is the Grimm fairytales turned into a mystery. There is a detective that is trying to solve the cases of the classic fairytales. The design of the page gave it a very Sherlock Homes feeling. Especially the opening page, having a picture of a man standing centered framed with a dark ally behind him, drew me in.

Dane Lane By Nicky Fernadez Filckr

            Tragically Ever After had a very Elizabeth feel to it. It drew me in by the title, and the subtitles for each story.  The idea behind this one was to see what happened after the “happily ever after.” Most fairytales end happy but this shows us the darker side of the fairytale.  The grey background provides the sense of uncertainty and sets the tone for the stories you are about to read. I really like the idea behind seeing what happens after the Happily ever after. Most people don’t think that fairytale lives continue but this provides an alternative viewpoint.

      The The Trickster at OU grabbed my attentions by the title again. Most of the time I will read anything fable about OU, probably because I go to school there.  The design was very simple but flattering for the theme. It made it feel like it was a school paper website. Sticking with the school colors. I liked the way the introduction was laid out. It was almost like a letter to the audience who was readying the blog. It started in a story then transferred to a letter. It was a very interesting twist.

Introduction

Hello All! 

    I am Melanie, I am a fifth year Film and Media Studies Major. I have several different sides. I have my Disney side, my film side, my marching band side and my love for travel. Now as a kid growing up in a family of musicians I was involved in music. I have been in band since the sixth grade but my real passion has been dance and singing. I was still in band in high school but I was more involved in color guard. This has allowed me to express my self through music and dance. This path has taken me to be one of the four color guard captains of the Pride of Oklahoma.  I’m excited to see what this season will bring for the Pride and OUr football team!

Me performing on Owen felid. Filckr

            My film side isn’t one of my strongest sides but I love it. The idea of creating a set of images in your mind then producing it to a screen so everyone else can see it is amazing. This is why the movie Inception is one of my favorite movies. Because it is the definition of what a film is. When you think of film for job there are four major categories they can fall under, Directing, writing, editing, or doing something in production.  My problem is I’m interested in all of them. And anytime on a set or a position and get to try new things I add that skill to the list of things I want to do in film. There are so many possibilities with film. You can do pretty much anything you have a passion for on the film set. 

Oh I forgot to mention above that I also love photography! I carry my camera everywhere with me.  I actually run my own photography business! You can check it out Here! 

Me filming a short film 

    With the band and film has given me the opportunity to travel the country. I have gotten to travel to Indiana, Texas, Kansas, Louisiana, West Virginia, and Florida several times. With film I have gotten to go to New York, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Maryland, and of course all over my home state Virginia. Traveling is a huge part of me. If you look at my Pinterest board you can see all the places I want to go. The top destination right now is Scotland and Ireland!  These locations are so beautiful and filled with so much history. And I mean who wouldn’t want to visit? Just look at it!

 

Castle in Scotland Across the Pond

The other location that’s top on my list is to visit all the Disney parks in the world! I have been to three of them so far, Disney land in California, Disney world in Florida and Disneyland Paris. Speaking of Disney, this is one of my top dreams. I would love to work for the company again. I worked for Walt Disney world resort From January 26^th to June 15^th. I would love to work for the studios. Any job there would be amazing! Getting to creating magic in film and sharing that magic with people would be the best thing ever! There are so many things I want to do and can’t wait to see what my future holds.

Holiday Home Story

Cabin in the Woods painting by Leonora "Lee" Schneider from  wikicommons

“Congratulations! You are our grand winner!” Was displayed in giant red letters across Ted’s screen. He clicked on the email.  “Congratulations you are the highest bidder of $100 for the cabin in the woods holiday home! It’s ready to move into tomorrow.” Ted was so excited he nearly fell out of his chair. Rushing for his phone he dialed Jammie’s number as fast as he could. “Jammie? Hello? I got the place. Tell Kyle to pack his bags! The three of us are going to the holiday cabin! I’ll see you tomorrow morning at 9:30 sharp. Ok bye!” Ted threw his phone on the bed, dragged his suitcase out from under it and started shoving as many clothes in it as possible.

            The next morning, Ted woke up early filled with excitement.

Ding Dong.

Ted rushed to the door and opened it, but no one was there. A yellow envelope laid on the welcome mate with his name on it. Flipping it over it read in bolded black letters do not open until you’re with your full party for the cabin in the woods holiday home. Ted slammed the door, rushed for his bag, hopped in the car and headed for Jammie’s.

            Jammie was sitting on her front porch when Ted pulled up. Waving at her She jumped up and ran inside. When she returned Kyle was following her out with about seven different pieces of luggage. “gezz jammie how many suit cases do you need?” Ted sarcastically said.  She laughed, “Only one of those are mine, the rest are Kyle’s.” Kyle struggled, “What I have a lot of stuff.” Kyle loaded the bags in the back and the two of them got in.

            Ted pulled the envelope out of his pocket and opened it. A key fell out, “umm what just happened?” Jammie’s voice was shaky. When Ted looked up they had been teleported to the cabin.  “umm man what is this?” Kyle said. Ted turned off the car and opened the car door. “It’s our cabin for the holiday. Let’s go check it out!” Jammie and Kyle just stared at him. “Come on guys it will be fun!” they were hesitant but they all pilled inside. When they entered they were greeted with another note.

            Welcome to your holiday home. Now there are some rules you must follow.

            1 Don’t go further then the nettles in the south side or 50 paces anywhere else.

            2 don’t leave the cabin at night

            3 no outdoor fires

            4 keep the noise down

            5 Don’t eat anything but what is provided by the cabin.

Enjoy your stay.

 Jammie and Kyle stared at Ted  with fear in their eyes. “It’s fine lets have fun!”  Ted said. He pulled out his speaker and began mixing drinks and turn some music. A couple hours later the sun was setting and they were all laughing.

            A strange noise outside stopped the laughter.  “Ted turn off the music!” Kyle shouted. Jammie ran over and shut it off. “What’s the deal?” Ted said. Kyle waved a hand at him to be quiet.

            The noise sounded again. Ted opened the door and walked outside. Jammie and Kyle ran after him “Ted we aren’t suppose to go outside at night.” She said. Ted ignored her and walked further outside toward the sound. They had been walking for about five minutes when Kyle said, “Come on man we are way past fifty paces we should go back”. Ted waved them off and kept going. “It’s fine. We are just having a little fun. What’s the worst that could happen.” Ted said.

            All of a sudden a flock of angry birds started attacking Jammie. She let out a scream running as fast as she could. She couldn’t see which direction she was going and slipped into a patch of quick sand. Kyle and Ted tired to pull her out but the sand took her whole dragging both Ted and Kyle with her.

            With a yell Ted woke up, with a blinking computer screen asking for the amount he wanted to bid. Closing the webpage he shut his computer and went back to sleep.

Authors note

This inspiration for this story came from a map that I saw and I used three different aspects from it.

Bibliography
"Map of the Area Surrounding our Holiday Home," a cartoon by Tom Gauld from his book ROBOTS MONSTERS. Etc Web Source

My Favorite Place

It's called the most magical place on earth for a reason.

Walt Disney World is by far my favorite place on earth. I mean who wouldn't want to escape the real world and step into a fantasy? Walt Disney World is compiled of four different parks, (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom) and a downtown area now called Disney Spring.

Disney Spring Boardwalk Kingdom Magic travel blog

Now I love all four parks very much, but Magic Kingdom became home to me after working for the company for six months. No matter what kind of day your having there is always magic to be shared. Magic Kingdom has six different lands with in it. FantasyLand, TomorrowLand, AdventureLand, Main Street, FrontierLand, and New FantasyLand.

Walt Disney World Resort Map Oxford

Working with the Walt disney Company is probably the reason why this is my favorite place. Being there for six months felt like I was living in a fantasy.  As a cast member, (which is what the Walt Disney Company calls there employees)  I had the privilege of creating magic every day.

Cast Member name tag 

So back to the reason why it's called the most magical place on earth. Like I said before magic happens every day. Now its not the type of magic that you zap with a wand its the magic of making memories. Such as getting a free Mickey bar, or getting to joke around with a cast member, or seeing Wishes the fireworks show at the end of the night. These are just a few sparks of magic seen every day. The best thing about wishes is it happens every night in Magic Kingdom behind the castle. The whole show is about never giving up on your dreams and letting your wishes come true. Which is what I think the definition of magic is.

Magic Kingdom Castle during Wishes (photo taken by yours truly)

Within the Magic Kingdom, there are several prime spots that I call my favorite. One of them is actually a bathroom. The bathroom is Rapunzel themed but it is the cutest bathroom in the whole park! This area is also a charging station. If you look over into the pond you can see several Pascals. It looks like you have stepped into the movie "Tangled"!

Rapunzel Bathrooms flickr

Walt Disney World Resort is my favorite place on earth. I have had so many different experiences here that will last me for a life time. Disney will always be home for me. And I mean who doesn't want a little magic in there life.

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First Post

Writing the  first post in the blog