Week 8 Reading and Writing

Overall, how well are the reading and writing assignments working for you?

Existence is pain. Nothing is worth living for.

Are you happy with your blog? With your project website?

Considering how poorly I react to significant quantities  of attention, my poorly regulated ego, and my tendency to make incriminating and idiotic statements, I intend to never publish anything online again without complete anonymity. I wouldn't be happy with my blog if it contained the solutions to the Navier-Stokes equations, and I want nothing to do with blogging ever again. 

Are you satisfied with how the writing is going for your project? How about your story posts?

Considering that my writing cannot even be considered competent, I am not happy with any of the stories. However, I do seem to be improving, so that's something to be happy about I guess.

What do you consider to be your biggest accomplishment(s) in your writing for this class? 

Restraining myself from not posting memes for the image for every assignment. That cow with antlers on the telephone pole was the most basic and normal image that I consider to be entertaining, and I am constantly tempted to post much more outrageous and daring things. 

It asks for writing specifically. Good job moron.

Shut up.

I would consider giving Ravana 20 desert eagles to be my greatest achievement yet. Unfortunately I could not quite capture the power of the GAU-8 Avenger with mere words, I'll have to work better next time. 

What has been your favorite reading so far?

I find all of the readings frustrating, as they are so divorced from their cultural significance. Something that outsiders (and religious converts) never seem to understand is that whatever religion they are studying is more concerned about the individual behavior of its members than the mythology of that religion. In fact, I'm willing to bet that a significant number of devout Hindus are less familiar with the events of the Ramayana and Mahabharata than you professor, because to those devout individuals, those stories are merely narratives that demonstrate the veracity of Hindu values. However, if I had to pick a favorite story, it would be the Jataka tales, their simplicity allows for more accurate and useful translation. 

Are your reading notes helping you each week with your story post? (Remember, the goal is to "read like a writer" and take notes that will directly lead to your own stories; you might re-read these assignment instructions if you are not happy with your reading notes.)

No, although I am willing to concede that may be because my story ideas are very simple and because I am trying to focus on execution, so the notes that I take on the events in a story aren't very helpful.

Have you discovered any new reading/research strategies? (There's a long list of different reading/research strategies here.)

No, although I am wiling to conceded that may simply be because I am illiterate. 

Figure 1: Statue of Man Killing a Snake Pixabay

I chose this image because it depicts a man killing a monster, and my story was about confronting monsters. Some will argue that snakes are not monsters, to which I would agree, but the snake in this photograph is an idea, and for much of the evolutionary history of our species, snakes were monsters that were to be confronted. 

I would like for the blog comments to be more openly critical, especially towards the mechanics of storytelling, such as grammar and clarity. I would also like to be told a basic set of goals to optimize for, even if that would restrict my stories, it would give me a set of skills to improve at, which could then be turned to more creative stories.