Clara's Blog

Hanuman, the monkey god, disguises himself as a beggar. Once he finds Rama and Lakshmana, he is excited they can be an ally and takes them to see Sugriva. Once there,  Sugriva tells Rama and Lakshmana the story of how Sugriva lost his wife because of his older brother, Vali. Sugriva goes with Rama to fight Vali. Vali's wife, Tara, begs Vali not to fight Sugriva, but he doesn't listen. Sugriva and Vali flight, but Rama delivers the arrow that ultimately kills Vali. Sugriva and Tara mourn Vali's death and Sugriva is made king. Sugriva promises to help Rama once the month of Kartik passes, but Rama isn't able to stay in cities, so he remains in the jungle waiting for Sugriva. Sugriva is slow to help Rama once the rainy season passes, so Rama sends Lakshmana to threaten him. Shortly after, Sugriva sends armies out to search for Sita. During their search, the armies were unable to find Sita, but they met Jatayu's brother, Sampati. Sampati informed the monkeys that Sita w...

Rama and Bharata.  Indian Myth and Legend by Donald Mackenzie -Bharata is upset that Rama was exiled to the jungle and goes to find him. -Rama refuses to leave the jungle because he wasn't to fulfill his father's wish, which shows the amount of respect Rama had for his father. -Bharata offered to take Rama's place in exile. It seems like Bharata feels guilty for his mother's actions and wants to take responsibility for her actions and make things right. Viradha. The Ramayana by Manmatha Dutt -A rakshasa named Viradha takes Sita to be his wife -Viradha had a special power that he couldn't be killed by any weapon. -Rama and Lakshamana are quick to work together and defeat the rakshasa by throwing him into a pit after noticing his power. -As the rakshasa dies, it says that it was cursed by Kubera and would only be freed once it was slain by Rama. Battle with Khara. Indian Myth and Legend by Donald Mackenzie -Rama prioritizes Sita's safety throughout...

For the week 2 Learning Challenge I read the “Deskercise: 17Exercises You Can Do at or Near Your Desk” by JoAnn McFarland. This article confirmed that adding movement, even small ones like fidgeting, to your workday can be beneficial. I have trouble sitting still when I work for long periods of time, but I’ve learned that fidgeting helps me maintain focus. From this article I learned there are many ways to work your muscles while at work, like seated bicycle pedal or butt crunches. I have a huge problem with grinding my teeth or clenching my jaw when I’m concentrating which leads to jaw pain. I’m excited to try the bruxism and TMJ exercises to see if it relieves any of my pain. Office exercises ( Wikimedia Commons )

For this week’s Growth Mindset I read the article “Why Understanding These Four Types of Mistakes Can Help Us Learn” by MindShift. This article confirmed that mistakes can be positive and are essential for us to learn and improve ourselves. I had never thought about the different types of mistakes. The four different types of mistakes the article mentions are stretch mistakes, aha-moment mistakes, sloppy mistakes, and high-stakes mistakes. After reading this article, I want to be more aware of the types of mistakes I’m making and reflect on them so I can prevent the same mistake in the future. Making mistakes ( Flickr )

For my week 3 tech tip I did a typing test. I did the type test on KeyHero.com and had about 65 words per minute. I was slowed down a lot because I had poor accuracy. The only time I’ve tried to improve my typing speed was in middle school when we were required to take a keyboarding class. I think I will continue to do typing tests to try to improve my typing speed. Typing in office ( Flickr )

In King Dasharatha, we are introduced to Dashartha, the king of Koshala. Despite Dashartha's success, he was filled with sorrow since none of his three wives, Kaushalya, Kaikeyi, and Sumitra, had given him a son. Dasharatha decides to perform a horse sacrificed to the gods, so he would be given a son. The gods came and promised Dasharatha four sons. In Rama: Avatar of Vishnu, we discover all three of the wives have sons. Kaushalya with Rama, Kaikeyi with Bharata, and Sumitra with Lakshmana and Shatrughna. Rama is actually the god Vishnu as a human avatar on earth to defeat Ravana. Once they have grown, Vishvamitra leads Rama and Lakshmana to defeat two rakshasas, Maricha and Subahu. Eventually, Rama meets Sita, daughter of Janaka. Janaka, King of Mithila, holds a challenge for men who want to win Sita. Rama wins the challenge and wins Sita as his bride. In Parashurama, Rama is given the bow of Vishnu by Parashurama. Rama marries Sita and all of his brothers marry women from Jan...

I have backed up my blog and checked on my grades to make sure I didn't miss any assignments. My favorite graphic for this week was this mindset cat. Mindset cat Source:  cheezburger I enjoyed this graphic because of the attached articles and information about neuroplasticity. After reading about the brain for the graphic, I became interested in the video over the neurobiology of storytelling. The video was called  Future of Storytelling by Paul Zak. The video talked about the human reaction to stories they hear by the chemicals released in the brain.