Blog Post : Week 16

Ayn Rand-

She was a writer, philosopher, playwright, and screen writer. She created the philisophical system of objectivism. The name "Objectivism" derives from the idea that human knowledge and values are objective: they exist and are determined by the nature of reality, to be discovered by one's mind, and are not created by the thoughts one has. Rand advocated reason as the only means of acquiringknowledge, and rejected faith and religion. She supported rational andethical egoism, and rejected altruism.

Blog Post : Week 15

I like the idea of the dharma and doing the best in the lot you have been given. Though, I also think people should strive to be better than they are. Not in a huge way, but I do enjoy people who put just a little effort into their lives to make themselves better. If getting ready in the morning and dancing to music gets you in a happy place that lasts all day long than a person should do that, just to give themselves an extra air of happiness. If a person enjoys being able to cross of items on a to do list, than a person should make the extra effort to make sure all items are finished by the end of the day. Little things that make you feel better will turn around and make the people around you feel better. For dharma, it seems as though we are only supposed to excel at the lot we have been given. A person can make the choice to create a new path for themselves and maybe get a new dharma.

Blog Post : Week 13

The ghosts of murdered kings had several key components that made the facts they shared, not invalid, but definitely questionable. First, without any documentation on the body, how do they know it wasn't just someone who got dumped there for nefarious purposes? Second, the items next to the bodies or found in the bogs may not have been sacrifices to a god, they could have just fallen in. Third, why are they so sure that the items they found are religious, or for that matter, why do they think they know anything about a culture that was written by an outside perspective?

The idea of a king or queen giving his body to the land in order to seed the earth and make it fertile is poetic, but I don't really see a king or queen allowing that to happen to him  or her.

Blog Post : Week 12

In class we discussed the difference between giving women the right to vote versus prohibition. How prohibition caused an uproar and led to criminal activity we didn't have before. Giving women the right to vote did not cause the nations revolt, simply gave women a chance to have a say in what happens in the country.

Blog Post : Week 11

Bullfinches Mythology has been helpful in explaining the different characters and mythology surrounding the legend of King Arthur. Finding out Merlin was only half incubus is interesting and not part of the normal stories surrounding him.

Blog Post : Week 9

I think Sheena would be more relevant today towards women versus Wonder Woman. Women today are encouraged to know themselves, whatever that means. Sheena was bold, she had a mate/lover instead of a "boyfriend", she wore what she wanted, did not conform to society, and took care of herself. Wonder Woman had a secrety identity, felt compelled to stick with one man (even though she was tossed into a whole world of them), and was meant to have women follow a certain ideology how equal rights should be achieved.

Wonder Woman is brave, loyal, smart, and tough. She is the epitome of what a classy, clever, and strong women should be aiming for. These are great things to be, but gender equality is supposed to be about being EQUAL. Not working double time to prove that we deserve a shot at being considered. Wonder Woman sort of sets a precedent of how much "better" women have to prove themselves to be in order to be considered for equality.

Sheena on the other hand, I think is closer related to how many women are beginning to express themselves. Women can be cavalier towards sex, dress how they want to express themselves, and behave truly to their own personality. Women do not need to be accomplished in art, drawing, instruments, singing, dancing, and languages like during Jane Austen's time. We are allowed to be who we are and express ourselves how we see fit.

Don't get me wrong, I am closer related to Wonder Woman personally and I love her dearly, but after reading this article I see how much further women have to go before real equality can be reached. I think we need more women to stop from judging each other about how we are "supposed" to behave, maybe stop labeling behavior in general.

Blog Post : Week 8

With my trip to Thailand being on my mind all the time at the moment, I decided to look up some religious sites. I picked one by chance called Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. It is a Buddist temple that has a mysterious past for the reason of the contruction on that particular mountain top. . .

Once upon a time, long ago a holy relic was multiplying itself. A priest (I think) decided to put it inside the back end of a white elephant. (No way, will I even begin to imagine how that was accomplished.) The priest wanted to see where the elephant would go with the relic inside it. The elephant went to the top of the mountain, trumpetted three times, turned in three circles, died, then the temple was immediately erected.

Not sure the elephant felt it died for a good cause. . .

Blog Post : Week 7

I was thinking about Herbert West and Dr. Frankenstien. In class we discussed how even Lovecraft killed off the "monster" who created these animated corpses, like Mary Shelley. The first similar story that pops into mind is The Rocky Horror Picture Show. I watched it for the first time weeks ago, and had no idea what I was getting myself into. O'brien also kills off the main character. When Riff Raff says "Our mission is failed, I am your new commander, your lifestyle is too extreme" the writers are also falling into the theme that bodies should not be animated. I wonder what Freud and Jung would have thought about this overwhelming belief that bodies should not be animated, and who they felt were the primal offenders were.

Blog Post : Week 6

Driving home on the freeway I keep seeing a Stornetta Clo sign that has the cow in a toga with "Moothology" written on the side. Suddenly Mythology is ever where!

Blog Post : Week 5

In Voyage of the Dawn Treader, by C.S. Lewis he mentions "Dufflepuds" which are simililar to the Scopoids in the readings. They are small and dumb according to all the human's bossing them about. The creatures are two feet tall with one big leg and foot the size of two legs and feet. Having something similiar to reference makes it easier to imagine the different Monster Races!

Blog Post : Week 4

I think we should have a "Dress up like a character from some Mythological story" day. I think it would be fun to see the different stories people went with and their own representations for the character they pick.

Blog Post: Week 3

After watching the presentation I am pretty excited about teaching the class about a myth. Of course, my heart belongs to Greek Myths.

Internet Meme

Testing out the new blog site!