Joe's Myths

D.R.U.M. D - Don't R -Remember U -Useless M -Mantras I had a tendency to memorize the most random, useless things in high school. This acronym should help me stay focused on the most important things in my life. This should be easy for me to remember since I've been a percussionist since 6th grade. DRUM Picture Link

I've been using the Canvas App for a while now, originally it was so I would know when my professors posted exam scores. I have since begun using more of its features, like looking at messages, checking announcements, and I've even submitted a few assignments right from the app. It is a very useful innovation and I will continue to try to use it better every day.

 Dealing with failure can be difficult. Picture Link 6 Mental Habits That Sabotage Your Scores  A few of these points really hit home for me. I love to make excuses. It's my favorite pastime. Seeing it explicitly stated like that made me realize how destructive of a habit it is, and I'm going to try to work on it. The other thing that made me think was when it talked about second guessing yourself. Whenever I'm not 100 percent sure about something, it's going to grind any progress I was making to a halt. I let that affect me way too much and will try to have more confidence even if I'm not entirely sure if I like what I'm doing. 8 Things to Do When You Make a Mistake  One of the major things this list brought to my attention was my need to be able to adjust to new situations. I tried very hard my first semester to treat college like high school. I did very little work or studying outside of class and just enjoyed all my downtime. This didn'...

Topic 1: Tricksters. I like the idea of working with tricksters because I think I would enjoy the deception and tricky nature of the stories. This type of behavior seems to line up with my sense of humor quite nicely, and I think it would be an interesting topic to work with. Till Eulenspiegel is a famous trickster who originated from German folklore, first recorded in the early 1500's. He seems like he could be an interesting character to follow and perhaps I could find one of his tales to retell. Eulenspiegel Story A picture of Till, looking very similar to a court jester.   Topic 2: Dragons . Dragons are always an interesting topic. I attribute this to the fact that anything that can spew fire is amazing, especially if it's sentient and is often associated with treasure. I don't know very much about dragon stories, and what I do know is probably not very accurate, so I'd be interested in learning more about the topic. I found a book titled "A Natural His...

Note: I have added this story to my portfolio here: Link Pym's Gal Pym Malachi Ian was tired of being alone. He blamed some of his lonely nature on the name his parents gave him, supposedly he was descended from some famous Greek sculptor, but he just thought it was lame. Not that he wanted to be popular, everything about the idea disgusted him, specifically the other people. He wasn’t cynical, he just couldn’t stand the rest of his generation, specifically the girls. All they cared about was how they looked and what parties they went to and every other aspect of their appearance. If something didn’t directly affect how they were seen, either literally or in a social sense, those girls couldn’t be bothered by it. But Gal A. T., she was the exception. Everything about her was perfect, from her looks, to her brains, to her slightly shy personality. Everything that could be perfect about her, was in Pym’s eyes. The only problem was that she wasn’t exactly real. Pym was ...

I chose to focus mostly on the story of Pygmalion, a sculptor who fell in love with his creation. He becomes so attached to his ivory statue, that he asks the gods to grant him a bride like her. Venus hears him, grants his prayer, and brings his statue to life. He makes out with it for a while before it becomes fully human, then they eventually get married and have a son, Paphos. This story uses a lot of repetition. Every time Pygmalion is interacting with his statue, or eventual wife, his action is repeated several times. This helps to describe his attachment to his creation and confirm how much he loves her. This could be a useful method when I write that makes sure I emphasize my points enough. Biography: Ovid, Metamorphosis: Pygmalion Link Pygmalion and his wife Link

While looking over the reading options, I noticed the Bible Women option. I've been in the church since I was little, so I'm interested to see if there will be a new perspective on stories that I've heard about my whole life. Delilah Delilah is a no good liar who wants Samson to die. I've liked this story because, despite the several repeated coincidences, Samson continues to trust her. This makes for an interesting story. Esther The story of Esther is interesting because it involves lots of secret planning and trickery. There are also several parties, one specifically to gain the favor of the king so that he will come to the next party that she plans. It's just a crazy story overall. Eve Eve is one of the most well known stories, but still I haven't ever looked at it in significant depth. It would be interesting to get a new, deeper understanding of this story. Delilah cutting Samson's hair Picture Link