Lindsey's Epics

(Frat house; Source:  Flickr ) Being in a greek affiliated group at the University of Hastings was a must. Tommy was a freshman getting ready to make the biggest decision of his life... deciding which fraternity he would join. You had the brothers of Psi Phi Pi or the brothers of Kappa Rho. Sitting atop of the food chain of Psi Phi Pi were 5 men: Yuri, Blake, Arvin, Nate, and Sage. Yuri was the president of the frat as he was a born leader and had the most virtuous personalities and characteristics. He always wanted to deal with conflict and settle disputes through dialogue rather than getting physical. Blake was second in command as he was well respected thanks to his strength and devotion to his friends. That being said, his strong devotion sometimes opposed Yuri's decisions if he did not agree with them, but he was always loyal to his brothers. Arvin was the most popular in the house. He was the person all the guys wanted to be friends with, all the girls wanted to date, ...

Arjuna struck Bhishma by arrow on the last night of the battle. With great sorrow, Arjuna wept and carried water to Bhishma. Yudhishthira and his brothers along with the Kauravas grieved together over Bhishma. This night, Bhishma told Duryodhana to become comrades with the Pandavas. Bhishma did not die until the conflict was over. The Pandavas went to rescue Arjuna's son but Jayadratha and Karna held them back. Arjuna's son was killed and he wept for him. Arjuna vowed to slay Jayadratha. In which Jayadratha heard of Arjuna's plans and worried for himself. Arjuna did not find him until night but Jayadratha was guarded by Karna and 5 great warriors. Krishna was on Arjuna's side and made it night while Arjuna overthrew and cut of the head of Jayadratha. The Kauravas grieved for his death. Arjuna called a truce to sleep. Drona died upon hearing of the death of his son, Ashwatthaman. (Ashwatthaman; Source:  Wikipedia ) Arjuna and Karna engaged in war. Arjuna became di...

Surya, the sun god, brought the Pandava brothers food in the forest. They lived in the forest for 12 years with Draupadi and Dhaumya. Krishna went to visit the Pandavas. Krishna went to forest to help them as he feels he could have stopped it from happening by being present during the matches. Arjuna, is a brother who can not be defeated. He set out for the Himalayas. He was worshiping one day when he came across a boar in which he seized with his bow. Although another sportsman, a rival of sorts, also shot the boar with a bow. Arjuna wanted to fight the man, but it was the Great God. The Great God gifted Arjuna the divine bow and blessed him. Indra, Varuna, Yama, and Kubera, all gods, appeared. Arjuna lived in Indra's city for 5 years where he learned and became skilled in music and dance along with the training of celestial weapons. Arjuna waged war with demons and giants, who were the ancient enemies of Indra. Arjuna was successful in the battle of overcoming the demons and gia...

(Creating and Styling your writing; Source:  Pexels ) Like many people, I like to think I'm creative, but when it comes to actually writing the story, I have some trouble. I have always had trouble creating a fictional world for my work, especially in this class so far. The video,  How to build a fictional world  by Kate Messner, helps explain the realms of fiction. Authors of fictional stories create worlds that are not possible in real life yet readers understand them to be logical in that book's world. She says that your imagination and a willingness to figuratively live in your own world it what makes fiction. Messner's video was helpful to me as she poses some questions to help start building a fictional world. You need to start with where you are and when it is. Then she creates a timeline about the world and the rules placed in the world. After establishing the big pictures of the world, she then focuses on the day to day. Another struggle I have in writing i...

Prince Vidura, half-brother to Pandu and Dhritarashtra, guessed the plot of Duryodhana. Yudhishthira realized the condition of the palace and spoke his fears to his mother and brothers. Vidura sent a miner to dig Kunti and the Pandava brothers an underground passage. Once to safety of the forest, Bhima returned to the palace to seek revenge on the guardhouse in which he set fire to it. Wind blew the fire to catch on the lac palace which had happen to be housing a low-caste woman and her 5 sons all whom perished in the fire. The next morning, people thought the perished were Kunti and the Pandava brothers. The Pandavas entered the forest. Bhima watched over Kunti and his brothers. Hidimba and a disguised rakshasa human woman, who was his sister, tried to lure the Pandavas. Hidimba battled Bhima, but died. Bhima married the rakshasa woman. Her son vowed to aid them whenever they called upon him. Kunti and the brothers minus Bhima were in Ekachakra. Bhima appeared and went to Baka. Bhima...

(Ganesha writing the Mahabharata; Source  Wikimedia ) The birth story of Vyasa to begin the Mahabharata can be important in my project of karma. The king of Chedi, Uparichara, dropped his semen into a river and the result was 2 children, a boy and a girl. The king took the boy, but he did not want girl so left her with the fisherman's wife. She had a fishy smell and worked as a ferryman. She met the sage Parashara and had a son with him (out of wedlock) named Vyasa. Ganga, the goddess of the Ganges river took form into human as the eight Vasus came to her. She became their human form mother and promised she would cast upon them her children. King Shantanu saw Ganga in human form and was taken with her immediately. He asked her to wed him and she would so long as he never spoke harshly to her or question her actions. They eventually had a son, but she gave him to the Ganges. The king was horrified, but kept his promise to not speak to her about it. Seven children later, all of...

Updated version of the story located at  College and Karma . (Express Your Love; Source:  Needpix ) At the University of Oklahoma, Ryan and Sarah were the couple to be. Everyone envied what they had and wanted a relationship like theirs, even if it meant ruining their relationship. Ryan and Sarah were juniors at the university, but the moment they locked eyes at a frat party one Halloween night during freshman year, they were hooked. It was love, and lust, at first sight. Sarah was a preacher's daughter and had only had short relationships in high school while Ryan was Mr. Popular Jock and definitely made a reputation for himself as a player. Let's just say, high school Sarah and Ryan probably would not have been a thought in anyone's mind. Sarah was the sweet, loyal girl who was friends with everyone and Ryan was the jock that was a part of the exclusive, "cool" crowd. Sarah's dad, Joe, being a preacher, was very strict and concerned about who his dau...

Notes taken on the video:  Sita Sings the Blues The start of part B begins in NYC and Nina. Nina has received an email from Dave that says "Don't come back" with inevitability breaks her heart. Back in the Ramayana story, Sita tells Rama she is pregnant. There is a new story included in this video where dhobi, a laundry man, is explaining how he is not like Rama in the sense that he will not take his wife back since she has slept in another man's house. Because of this story, Rama sends Lakshmana to take Sita to the forest and abandon her. The narrators include that they feel as though Rama always had doubt about how pure Sita was. I think this is interesting since this feeling was not portrayed strongly in the book version. (Rama thinking Sita is not pure; Source:  Wikimedia ) Back in the U.S. with Nina, she is dreaming of Dave and caught up on him which is similar to how Sita feels with Rama. Both women show loyalty to their men and complete sadness about no...

( Sita Sings the Blues ; Source:  Flickr ) This video tells the Ramayana story in another way. The video starts out with a human, modern day couple, Nina and Dave. Dave accepts a job in India, which is when the video starts to explain the ancient story of Sita and Rama. Some foreshadowing that can be taken possibly, is the comparison from Nina and Dave in the beginning of the video with Rama and Sita. As the video plays out, it will be interesting to see if there is actually a connection between the 2 couples. The video tells the story of Rama and Sita through 3 narrators. They are comical and add a relaxed and enjoyable aspect to the story that makes it easy to understand what is happening. Within the video are short segments where Sita sings her feelings. This makes the story more relatable as she is singing about her love, or how she misses Rama. The video is very similar to the book version of the story so far as Rama is sent to exile due to Kaikeyi wishes. Sita goes w...

Thank you in advance for your feedback. Karma Works (Portrayed is the idea that Karma is continuous repercussions of our actions: Source:  Wikimedia )

My first house in Texas was literally 100 steps away from my best friend, Caroline. We met through our older siblings, who carpooled to school together. It was in 2000, when I was one year old, that I met my best friend. They say that once you are friends with someone for 7 years, that the friendship will last forever. I am a firm believer in this, as it has been 20 years and we are still as connected as ever. It was a cold, wintery day in Texas and little Lindsey and little Caroline were up to no good as usual. Caroline's older brother Carter told us to go to her room. Us, being the little terrors we were at 3 years old, went into Caroline's room to scheme up a plan. Carter and his friend, Mason, came to her door and started banging on it, trying to bother us. When we wouldn't open the door, they started shoving crayons and other pens under the door to try and get us to open it. Now, I'm sure at this point in the story, you know what happened. Of course being 3 years...

Hanuman has arrived in Lanka and is now searching for Sita. He thinks he sees here, but realizes that there are difference between the woman he sees and how Rama described her. This woman is living luxuriously. After further searching, he finds Sita at Asoka Vana, which was basically a garden. She was being watched by the rakshasa women. Ravana still was trying to win over Sita to become his, but she stayed loyal and true to Rama. Ravana became mad and told the rakshasa women to break her will. Sita became sad that Rama forgot about her and had plans to hang herself. Hanuman went to Sita and explained everything and before he left, destroyed Asoka Vana. Ravana's son caught Hanuman, which was what Hanuman wanted. Hanuman burnt down the capital and returned to Rama to tell him what was done. Ravana's capital is rebuilt by Maya, the architect of the gods. Ravana is in awe of his new city, but realizes that he needs to do something about his present situation. A big battle is in ...

This reading starts with the abduction of Sita by Ravana. Sita thought she heard Rama in danger and sent Lakshmana after him. Lakshmana did not want to leave her, but among her stubborn request he left her vulnerable to strangers. Ravana had approached her disguised as a kermit. He was taken with her beauty and decided to reward his sister Ahalya with his kingdom. This to me is a display of good Karma for Ahalya, in which she believes she did something good for her brother and in return is getting a reward. Sita, being very loyal to Rama, was speaking of him with Ravana which makes Ravana mad causing his disguise to wear off. A scared Sita realized who he was and had all the hope in the world that Rama would save her and destroy Ravana. Ravana would be cursed if he touched a woman so he lifted her by digging on the ground she stood and left with her in a chariot. Jatayu, the great eagle that was friends with Dasaratha, saw the danger Sita was in and went to save her. After attempts t...

Like I said in my blog last week, I love getting feedback because I feel like it helps me grow as a student and an all together person. That being said, I do have trouble sometimes figuring out how I can give someone good feedback without just reiterating what they are saying. Of the article options, I read  What Kinds of Messages Help Kids Grow  and  How to Give Bad Feedback Without Sounding Like a Jerk . In the article about children and how to talk to them, it says that at their early stages of developing self concept, it is important to use language that can help them face challenges or struggles to help them grow and learn. My favorite point in the article is the use of "yet". I like the use of "yet" because it tells them that although they can't do it now, they will learn how to do it eventually. It teaches them to not give up, but continue to learn and grow. (Woman teaching children; Source:  pxfuel ) In the feedback article, I was interested in i...

For my project, I have decided to explore deeper into the idea and concept of Karma. I want to explore how it can affect in the present, but also in the future. All my stories are from the Ramayana. In this week's assignments, we started to read the Ramayana. One story from our readings so far that stood out to me in a karmic way was when Dasaratha realized how his past how caught up to him. Dasaratha was saved when he was younger by his wife from an awful act. Now that his wife, Kaikeyi, wants something that he is not giving her, she holds her power over his head to get what she wants. (Dasaratha obeying Kaikeyi's wishes to send Rama to exile; Source:  Wikimedia ) Another story I could explore more in a karmic way is  Vali's Story. This is another story from the Ramayana. This is a story between 2 brothers who fought with each other. As I read week 4 readings, the theme of Karma will become more obvious. (Vali, who was killed by Rama; Source:  Wikimedia ) ...