Week 2: Famous Last Words

This week marks the end of summer and the beginning of what I hope will be a good semester. It was pretty crazy and my apartment has been abuzz with the sound of our little trio trying to get everything prepared. I did some cleaning, bought school supplies, bought groceries, did some work for this class, and took care of my physical and mental state as best as possible. There were 3 big things that I did this week that I feel deserve a little more explanation:

1. 2nd Lap Band Fill
On August 13th, I had an appointment at True Results Aftercare to get my second fill for my lap band. A fill consists of a doctor taking my weight and vitals before discussing how i'm feeling about the band, how i've been eating, and what I want to do. Then, I lay back and the doctor pushes down on my stomach, about 2 inches below my biggest incision to find my port (my port is a little piece of hard and soft plastic that has been sewn into the muscle of my stomach and is used to put in or take out saline) before putting a big (I mean, really big) needle in there. The stick is uncomfortable, as all needle sticks are, but it is not very painful and is over quickly so I just breathe. When the needle has gone through the soft plastic of my port, the doctor pulls a little saline out to make sure they are in the right spot, then injects more saline in to make my band tighter. This will hopefully help keep me full longer, allowing my to lose weight and eat about 2-3 times a day without being hungry in between meals.

Anyway, I got another .5 ccs added to my band, bringing it up to 4.6 ccs out of 11 that the band can hold. I am very pleased with it and am super excited. I wont lie, even though I had surgery and i'm eating right and doing what I can to lose weight, I still expect the scale to go up when I step on it. I still expect to be disappointed at having gained weight, because that is what I am so used to after my year of injury. However, today I stepped on and lost another 2 lbs. I'm feeling great and now I have lost a total of 32.8 lbs since August! I can't believe it!

My Second Fill

My photo from August 13, 2014

I actually blog pictures, recipes, and my own thoughts about my health journey.
It can be found here: My fitblr

2. Girls' Day
My roommate Amber took me for a girls' day that consisted of shopping for practicum/work clothes, getting our hair cut, and getting our nails done before coming home to hang out for a while before heading to the hookah bar just the two of us. It was great to get out of the house and spend time with Amber; she's not just my roommate, she's my best friend and we spent a lot of our summer apart. So, we had a good time doing girly things and increasing our confidence by improving our outward appearance. It's crazy what a $7.99 (we had coupons) hair cut can do. We talked a lot and played with Lily which was nice; and it had been so long since we'd visited the hookah bar that we were received with big hugs by the owner. It was a great way to help us feel prepared for the semester by taking a mental health/relaxation day together.

Amber at the Hookah Bar

My photo from August 2014

Hookah Bar Selfie

My photo from August 2014

3. Practicum Training
So, this semester I am doing a 300 hour, unpaid practicum at Calm Waters in OKC. Calm Waters is an amazing non-profit group that holds support groups for families dealing with grief, specifically death and divorce. The people there are great and the service they provide is so important. Knowing this, I knew my practicum would be interesting, but I was a little peeved that I would have to spend so much gas money to go work for free at an agency that's 45 minutes away in North OKC. However, I had training Friday and Saturday where I learned what group facilitation will be like, what to expect, how to cope with things, etc and now I am so excited about the work I will be doing and the huge amounts of experience I will gain. I really think it is going to be a great experience!!

Here's the website in case you want to check Calm Waters out. They run almost entirely on volunteers... just sayin'.. Calm Waters

Week 2: Reading Diary B- The Plot Thickens

Reading Notes (p. 54-89)
The Ramayana by R. K. Narayan

Important: King Dasaratha dies when he hears the news that his sons were out in the rough forest (p. 55)

Foreshadowing on p. 56- something is going to go wrong on his journey? He didn't consult the astrologist about whether the timing was good for his journey, he wonders about possible change in the atmosphere.. then, he finds out the news of the reality of his family's situation- threatened to kill Kaikeyi if it wouldn't make his brother (Rama) hate him.

The kingdom needed a ruler, but Bharata refused and gathered a HUGE group of people to go with him in search of Rama. When they find him, they ask him to be king and he refuses. He wants to finish his father's wish of him living in the forest for 14 years. Rama and Bharata argue until the gods order Bharata to rule for 14 years in his brother's place.

Chapter 4: Encounters in Exile 
Setting: traveling through the forest, eventually arriving at Panchavati- very near to Godavari River

*Remember: Asuras = demon

"Rama's whole purpose of incarnation was ultimately to destroy Ravana, the chief of the asuras, abolish fear from the hearts of men and gods, and establish peace, gentleness, and justice in the world." (Narayan, 63)

Ravana's Sister: Kamavalli/Soorpanaka

• daughter of Sage Visravas

She approaches Rama and wants to marry him, unaware that he is taken by Sita. He refuses and she argues, until she sees Sita. She assumes she is another woman who has snuck up on Rama and tells Rama to stay away from her because she is not really a beautiful woman, but a demon. He laughs and tells her to leave before his brother finds her, then he turns around and goes back into his ashram, shutting the door behind him.

Soorpanaka then shuts herself in a cave where her infatuation turns to madness and hallucinations. She decides to get rid of Sita in a last-chance effort to win Rama before she kills herself. She stalks Sita and as she pounces, Lakshmana tackles her. Upon realizing she is a woman, he decides not to kill her; instead he cuts off her nose, ears, and breasts.

Soorpanaka leaves to go find Kara (a warior demon and Ravana's step-brother) who orders 14 of his commanders to go kill Rama and Lakshmana, but bring Sita back to him. When they fail, Kara and his army go to finish the job, but are defeated by Rama. Soorpanaka flees to Lanka to tell Ravana what has happened.

Chapter 5: The Grand Tormentor
Setting: Durbar Hall, owned by Ravana - filled with enslaved gods and adoring followers who rain flowers down on Ravana

Soorpanaka enters the hall and tells Ravana of what has happened to her. She then tells him of Sita and her beauty. Ravana falls in love with the image of Sita from Soorpanaka's description. Soorpanaka urges him to kill Lakshmana, take Sita for himself, and give Rama to her.

Ravana sets out to get counsel from his uncle, Mareecha who had tried to kill Rama twice and failed. He warns to stay away from Rama, so Ravana decides to simply steal Sita. He convinces Mareecha to take the form of a golden deer to lure Sita away so that Ravana can capture her. Rama goes to catch the golden deer, but realizes it is an asura and kills it with an arrow. As it died, it screamed out for help in the voice of Rama.

Sita hears this cry for help and freaks out, ordering Lakshmana to leave his post protecting her and go to Rama's aid. They two argue until she threatens to harm herself and he leaves. While he is gone, Ravana dressed as a homeless beggar enters the hut where Sita waits. Ravana sings the praises of the asuras and himself (in 3rd person) to Sita who speaks of her husband's mission and victories. When Sita points out a weak moment of Ravana's he grows angry and says he would destroy her if she wasn't to be his queen. He implores her to become his, but she refuses telling him to run and hide from Rama. Ravana picks up the ground Sita is standing on and puts her in his chariot before leaving.

As he's escaping, Jatayu (huge eagle who had promised to protect Dasaratha's children) begins attacking him trying to get him to take Sita back, but is struck down by Ravana's sword. Ravana takes Sita away to Lanka and Jatayu keeps himself alive long enough to tell Rama and Lakshmana what happened but then dies.

Narayan, R. K. (1972) The Ramayana
Class Reading Guide B (for my later reference)

Storytelling for Week 2: The Stone Maiden

The Stone Maiden

One wonderful day while Brahma rested, watching over the Earth, a thought occurred to the great creator. He smiled as this idea, this plan swirled through his mind tickling him and growing to become a grand scheme. “Yes!” He exclaimed, “She shall be as beautiful as the sun shining down upon the Ganges!” With that, Brahma went to work collecting the ingredients necessary to create a true beauty. His hand created spirals in the air as his ingredients began to swirl and glow. Slowly they began to take the shape of a woman. Brahma’s excitement grew as he watched the sparkling figure form before him. Then, with a flash of blinding light, she was completed.

Brahma looked down at his creation with great pride. She was a vision! Her every breath brought with it grace and beauty. He looked down into those stunning brown orbs that shone with flecks of gold and said, “Ahalya, you shall be called Ahalya.” At that she smiled, and the sun shone brighter. Brahma laughed a hearty laugh that sounded like wisdom, power, kindness, and masculinity. He sent for the wise Sage Gautama with whom he planned to leave his delicate creation to be brought up and taught the ways of the world. It was during this time that the God Indra, caught sight of the lovely Ahalya. He was immediately ensnared by her beauty and vowed to have her as his own. Brahma ignored Indra and Ahalya was sent off to live with the Sage who raised her until she was old enough to return to her creator.

After many years of watch Ahalya grow and mature into a gracious young woman, Brahma greeted her return with an all-consuming hug and a smile that could light the darkest dungeon. He hugged her and spun her around, admiring his work close-up. “My dear,” he said, holding Ahalya’s hand, “I am so ecstatic to see the glorious creature you have grown up to be. You have done well and I have Gautama to thank for that.” He looked over to the sage before turning away from Ahalya to shake his hand. Brahma was impressed with the sage and his purity; not once did an unclean thought slither through the sage’s mind as he raised this incredibly attractive young being. Because of this purity, Brahma decided that the sage alone was worthy of his daughter’s hand and as such, presented her to him.  The two were wed with the blessings of Brahma and many other gods in a divine ceremony. They lived a life of bliss together. Ahalya had grown up with the sage and as such knew him well; she was a great wife to him and him a loving husband to her.

The two went on their daily routine day in and day out not realizing they were being watched.  You see, unbeknownst to the sage and his wife, Indra (the God whose obsession with Ahalya had only worsened by her marriage to Gautama) had been sneaking up to the sage’s ashram every day to behold the beauty of Ahalya. How did he do this without being caught? Well, Indra was known to be a great shape-shifter who used his gift to spy on the woman every day, his infatuation growing with each passing sunset. Then, one day, the temptation became too much.

Indra knew that every morning the sage would leave to go bathe in the river and pray, so one morning the crafty god took the form of a rooster and woke the sage who, believing the time to be the same as always, took his leave to perform his morning rituals. Not soon after he had gone did Indra take the form of the sage and stroll into Gautama’s ashram and into the arms of the unsuspecting Ahalya. She gave herself to him, and the two made love though for Ahalya, something didn’t seem quite right. Her wildest fears could not have conjured up the truth for when the sage returned early (sensing a disturbance in his routine) and found the two the truth was revealed. Indra quickly changed from the shape of the sage to that of a cat, hoping to slip away using the cat’s natural quietness and agility. Ahalya screamed and grabbed for something to cover up with, humiliation and shame taking over her.

The sage looked quickly from his wife to the cat; he was not fooled. Indra in his cat form could not get away before Gautama changed his existence forever. With a few simple words, the sage made the outside of the god reflect his inner thoughts. Suddenly, Indra’s skin erupted with a thousand female organs, the object of his constant obsessions. Indra fled, fleeing into a life of hiding in the shadows, unable to reveal his form to anyone out of respect and decency. 

With Indra taken care of, the sage's attention turned to Ahalya. "Please!" she pleaded, "I didn't know!" But with one quick gesture, Ahalya was silenced. "You have committed a sin of the flesh, regardless of your intent or awareness, you must be punished" the sage said before telling her, "Your beautiful flesh shall become your tomb. Your punishment shall be to watch the world go by, unable to move or talk, thinking about your indiscretion until Rama one day crosses your path. Then, and only then, will you return to your human state and rejoin the world, and hopefully me." With that, the sage turned her into an odd, smooth shaped stone to await the arrival of the one named Rama. 

Ahalya Leaning on a Tree

Chromolithograph by R. Varma (1896)

Retrieved from Wikimedia Commons

Author's Note:

This short story is a retelling of an excerpt from The Ramayana by R. K. Narayan titled "Ahalya's Story." This excerpt tells the story of Ahalya's creation as well as her entombment. It describes how Brahma created her out of the most beautiful ingredients and how the Sage Gautama took her in and raised her before taking her as his wife. It also tells of the jealousy, attraction, and obsession felt by Indra the god who tricks her into having sex with him when he is in the form of the sage. The two are discovered and as punishment, Indra is covered in 1,000 vaginae (later, when the sage is no longer mad, he turns these into eyes-hence Indra being known as the thousand eye god). Ahalya's punishment is to be trapped in a stone until a royal descendant named Rama crosses her path. It was an interesting story, but I liked that when she regained her human form in the end, Rama told her not to dwell on her past, but to try to move on and make a positive future. I personally believe that it is essential to not focus on the past, no matter how bleak, but to look on toward the future with hope. You have to create your own bliss. 

Bibliography:

Narayan, R. K. (1972) The Ramayana

Week 2: Internet Assignment- Learning About Blogger

Blogger Terms:
Blog- short for "web log"- a website where content is sorted by date with the most recent at the top
Post- the items you put on your blog- the individual bits of content
Timestamp-the date and time the post was created
Sidebar- a smaller bar along the sides of the main (usually centered) bar that contain additional content
Widget- The dynamic content- interactive parts of the blog that are small and usually connected to social networking
Javascript- computer programming language used to create dynamic content
Template- the blog's overall design
Label- tags that allow for blog content to be filtered
Archive- the whole of all the blog's posts, a way to search through every post based on time
Comments- People can leave feedback on posts in the form of comments
Feed- a list of the most recent posts by date and a small preview of the post

Also, i've been playing around with blogger and I like the ability to really personalize it, but I like the simplicity of my original layout.

Youtube Tech Tip

Seth Green Loves to Decorate with Googly Eyes 

So, for my tech tip this week, I learned how to embed Youtube videos. The above video gave me a great laugh, I hope it does the same for you!

Also, I absolutely LOVE dance.. all kinds of dance. As such, I decided to share a type of dance that I learned about that got me interested in Indian culture, religion, and arts. The dance shown in the video below is calla Bharatanatyam. It is a traditional Indian dance that represents the coming together of expression, rhythm of the beat, music and dance to embody the movements of fire. It is definitely different than what most Westerners think of when they think of dance, but it is impressive and beautiful.The video is short, but I thought it might be of interest to others. Enjoy!

Bharatanatyam- Traditional Indian Dance Performed by an Accomplished Dancer

Week 2: Reading Diary A- The Journey Begins

Reading Notes (p. 1-53)

The Ramayana by R.K. Narayan

Ch. 1: Rama's Initiation

Setting: Ayodhya- capital of Kosala and home to Dasaratha (the king)

Dasarath

• Beloved King- compassionate, courageous, loved, and honored
• 1 big problem: he has no kids

Dasaratha summons his mentor (Sage Vasishtha) who suggested he pray to the Supreme God Vishnu for his help. A sacrifice was held and performed by Sage Rishya Sringa. This sacrifice went on for a year before a supernatural being stepped out of the fire bearing a plate of sacramental rice on it. This rice was to be given to Dasaratha’s wives so that they would have children (which they did).

The Royal Family

My image, created on Microsoft Paint (2014)

Rama

• Son of Dasaratha, an avatar of Vishnu
• Sent to accompany Sage Viswamithra to Sidhasrama (a holy ground just beyond the Ganges river) where he plans to do a yagna (sacrifice)- Rama is to protect the sage and defeat the evil creatures that inhabit Sidhasrama, preventing any religious ceremonies from being done there.

Lakshmana accompanies Rama and Viswamithra.

Sage Viswamithra 

• Used to be a ruthless king and conqueror 
• Takes the boys to a forsaken desert inhabited by a demon named Thataka.

Thataka 

• Was once a yaksha (demigod) who married a chieftan and had two sons (Mareecha and Subahu- both have supernatural powers and great physical strength). Her husband and sons destroyed the surrounding woods and as a result, Sunda (the husband) was cursed to die by Agasthya (a saint whose hermitage is located in the destroyed forest. When Thataka found out, she and her sons went to avenge their fallen family member but were themselves cursed to become asuras (demons).
• Breathes fire and wishes ill will on all those she meets
• Eats anything that moves & harasses hermits when they pray for fun
• Rama killed her with an arrow to the throat

Mahabali

• Took over heaven and Earth while Vishnu meditated 
• Was pushed down into the underworld by Vishnu 

The sage and the saints began their sacrifice while the two boys protected them from the many asuras (including the two sons of Thataka) who hovered above, trying to ruin the yagna. The boys successfully defeated the demons and the yagna was performed. 

Then, they headed toward Mithila City- King Janaka planned to have a great yagna. They stopped near the Ganges. 

Ganga

• The River Ganges is considered holy and was brought down to Earth by Bhagiratha after consulting Brahma (the great creator) and Shiva (who agreed to help tame the destructive and wild Ganga so that she could flow down peacefully to the Earth

"Thus Bhagiratha helped not only his ancestors, but all mankind, as the Ganges bears a countless number of holy shrines on its banks, and nourishes millions of acres of land and people along its course." (Narayan, 19)

The trio arrived at Mithilia City where Rama brushed past an odd piece of stone that turned into a beautiful woman named Ahalya.

Ahalya

• a woman created by Brahma out of absolute beauty
• God Indra wanted her for himself, but Brahma gave her to Sage Gautama to raise and eventually marry
• One day, Indra (a shapeshifter) took the form of the Sage and made love to Ahalya who realized something wasn't right but was too late. The Sage came home, found the two, and punished Indra by covering his entire body in female organs so that everyone would know where his mind really rested. The Sage then turned Ahalya into stone as punishment for her sins, saying that she would be free when Rama crossed her path. 

Eventually, the Sage no longer harbored ill will toward Indra and turned the thousand vaginae into a thousand eyes so that he could carry out his duties once more. 

"Rama said to Ahalya, 'May you seek and join your revered husband, and live in his service again. Let not your heart be burdened with what is past and gone.'" (Narayan, 21)

Chapter 2: The Wedding 

Setting: Mithila City- a city of color, gold, jewels, happiness, love, and activity. 

Sita

• an avatar of Lakshmi (Vishnu's wife)
• adopted daughter of King Janaka 
• An incredible beauty that many suitors sought after- The king decided that any man who can bend Shiva's great bow (a nearly impossible feat) can have Sita's hand in marriage 
• Rama gives it a shot and BREAKS the bow- gods and mortals alike rejoice

Rama and Sita are wed in Mithila with the majority of the kingdom there to watch. Rama's 3 brothers also find wives and are wed at the same time. Viswamithra told King Dasaratha of his sons' achievements before giving his leave and retiring to the Himalayas for the rest of his days. 

Chapter 3: Two Promises Revived 

King Dasaratha, realizing his age, decides to crown Rama as his successor. He announces this to his subjects and they take the news with great happiness and excitement. 

Kaikeyi (favorite wife of Dasaratha) heard the news of Rama's impending coronation and rejoiced until her maid told her of impending doom and reminded her of two promises that were made. She told Kaikeyi to demand that Rama be exiled to the forest for 14 years and that Bharata (her son) be crowned instead. The king knew he had to keep his promise, and allowed his wife to speak for him as he wallowed in silenced grief. 

In a moment of despair, the king cries out against the inhuman way his wife has attacked him. The king and his mentor pleaded with her but to no avail. The people of the town cried out in agony and anger at the news of Rama's banishment. When Lakshmana, his brother, found out about his exile he dressed in his battle gear and exclaimed that Rama shall be crowned! He tries to convince Rama to stay and claim his place at the throne. Rama remains calm and continues on. He is joined by his wife who refuses to leave his side. 

The mentor and the rest of the town tried to convince Rama to stay, then had to watch as the trio rode off slowly on a chariot. 

Narayan, R. K. (1972) The Ramayana