Thoughts About Comments

Overall, the comments that have been left on my blog have been helpful but I would also like a little more criticism or suggestions of stuff that I am doing wrong and stuff that I could do to help my stories, reading diaries, various blog posts, etc. Criticism is welcome and I will not take it personally if someone doesn't like my writing or the way I write it. I am always up for suggestions. In terms of my commenting on other peoples blogs, I also feel like I could be better. I feel like I often tend to focus more on the positive stuff rather than the negative. I think what makes a good blog post is commenting on something positive AND negative and making at least one suggestion as to how someone can improve their posts. I also love commenting on peoples blogs and being able to relate to them or find something in common with them. I am sure everyone, including myself will continue to improve their blog comments as the semester goes on!

Week 5 Storytelling: The King D-Bo

The King D-Bo

The King's Palace

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Once upon a time, there was a King named David Boren, also known as "DBo" who was the King of the University of Oklahoma. Although DBo was very successful at what he did, one thing had been haunting him for years and years, causing DBo to lose sleep at night and even drive himself to insanity trying to figure it out. 

There was a grade goblin somewhere around this University and DBo had spent over ten years trying to find him until one night, the grade goblin approaches DBo. The grade goblin was a goblin who at night, would fly around campus, able to get into any building and get into any room and any teachers computers and adjust grades and get test files. 

DBo knew of this grade goblin but was never able to catch him and finally, on a foggy, rainy night, the grade goblin felt so sorry for DBo and thought he was so pathetic for not being able to find him for so long, he approached DBo's palace (pictured above). He said "DBo, I know I have haunted you for years and years and years and I am to the point where I feel more guilt than pleasure with all the good I am doing your students but all the pain and insanity I am causing you. Each night I will come by your palace and ask you a question, if the question is answered correctly, I will leave you and this place alone forever. If the answers are not answered correctly, I will continue to haunt you until you get the answer right." These questions consisted of just about anything, historical questions about the university, questions about the goblin himself, questions about DBo's staff and students and even athletics. 

DBo accepted this challenge, as he was just ready to get rid of this goblin once and for all and stop all this craziness going on at his University. Keep in mind, this goblin was slick, he could fly, he could hide just about anywhere imaginable but you could never see him long enough to know what he really looked like in detail. On the other hand, DBo had nothing but knowledge. DBo was the smartest King in the world but did not have any powers, such as flying or hiding so he knew he had to rely on his knowledge to stop this grade goblin. DBo was so anxious and angry and wanted this grade goblin gone immediately that he studied every possible question that may come across him. 

The goblin did not come by for at least a week, making DBo impatient and even more angry until finally after the eighth night of not showing up, the grade goblin shows up and flies on top of DBo's castle. The goblin says "The first question and only question of the night I will ask you is HOW MANY CASTLES ARE THERE ON THIS CAMPUS?" DBo didn't know the exact number so he started to panic, as he did not want to deal with the grade goblin much longer and wanted to get rid of him immediately. DBo did know one thing though and that was if the goblin was around you for more than 5 minutes, his powers would rub off on you. DBo started to make conversation by asking "well what do you classify as castles? Can you be more specific with your question? I would also like a few seconds to think" as DBo was saying anything at this point to try and pass time so he could get to that 5 minute mark. 

The grade goblin knew everything but one thing and that one thing was that his powers could spread if he was around the King longer than 5 minutes. Eventually 5 minutes goes by and the goblin is still lingering around DBo's castle as all of a sudden DBo bursts into the air on track to catch the goblin. DBo flies around chasing the goblin for about an hour until the goblin eventually runs into the football stadium light pole and falls. DBo approaches the grade goblin and pulls of his mask only to discover Greg Fenves, the president of the University of Texas. DBo had finally caught the man who had been driving him to insanity over the last ten years. The grade goblin, identified as Greg Fenves was hacking into all of OU's computer systems to adapt everything that OU was doing so that he could bring it back to Texas. In the meantime, he would hack into professors' computers to adjust students grades and reported that the teachers were the ones adjusting the grades and that DBo was signing off on it. All this time, all this horror, all this pain, all this insanity, DBo had finally found the villain..... only fitting that that villain came from the University of Texas. 

Author's Note: The Twenty Two Goblins is based on tales told by goblins, or "vetala" in Sanskrit, a supernatural creature that inhabits human corpses. The stories are told to the King Vikram. King Vikram faces many difficulties bringing the vetala to the tantric. Each time the king tries to stop the goblins, they tell stories that eventually end with a riddling question that the King is forced to answer. If the King is unable to answer, the vampire will remain in captivity. If the King answered it correctly, the vampire would escape and run back to his home, which was a tree. They are very interesting tales and told in 22 sections, hince the title "Twenty Two Goblins." I will admit I was not crazy about the overall story itself and I couldn't find myself getting really interested in it but I took the plot idea and kind of had some fun with it as I made a story involving David Boren and the University of Oklahoma student body. I thought involving the University of Texas might add even a little more spark to it and an ending that no one was expecting. The whole goblin and king thing really got me thinking and I have been meaning and wanting to write a story involving OU's campus and even David Boren as a "king" because i think it allows the students to really relate to the story a lot better and makes it much more interesting to read.

Bibliography: Twenty Two Goblins by Arthur Ryder (1917)

Week 5 Reading Diary, continued: Twenty-Two Goblins

Twenty Two Goblins, Arthur W. Ryder

City on the Ganges

This is one of my favorite pictures, it looks so surreal and I couldn't even imagine actually being there in person!

"Oh beautiful, my darling! Fair as the moon! White as the moonlight! Was the night jealous of your beauty? Did she carry you away?..." -Hariswami when he saw his wife was gone when he awoke. I love the detail of him describing his wife and her beauty and the emotion he had when he couldn't find her, later on they describe him "sobbing" and in "great pain."

"In this city lived a strong armed king named Hero-banner, who protected the world as a wall protects a city.." This was a cool quote because it somewhat described the power of this King... it will be interesting to learn more about the king throughout the next few sections.

^The picture below is a city called Golden City, which was on the bank of the Ganges. It describes the city and says "where a quarter of the old perfect virtue still lingers in these evil days." There was a king named Glorious and was thought to definitely deserve the name because of how brave he was. He "kept the world from being overflowed,  like the shore of the sea."

This section discusses a group of four brothers and what they do after their father dies. They took all the money and felt like they had nothing else to do where they were now and felt they needed to move onto somewhere else and went on long journey only to end up at their grandfathers house. They also brought a lion back to life, who ends up killing them eventually.

There is a city called Beautiful and in this city, people lived as happily as they did in heaven. I thought this section was interesting because earlier in the semester, I basically wrote about a world of happiness and no sin and living in a perfect world, which basically what the city Beautiful was.

"In the morning, the blessed sun arose in the east, stretching out his rays like hands to warn the king not to go in the forest where robbers lived." This was a really cool quote as it referred to the sun as being the one to guide the king where to NOT go. This is an interesting type of writing that I might look into when writing my next story.



"My son, you did well to kill this sham monk who tried by force to become the king of fairies." In the conclusion, Shiva gives his son the sword, passing along the torch in a way, and he goes off with all the gods.

Week 5 Reading Diary: Twenty-Two Goblins

Twenty-Two Gobblins, Arthur W. Ryder

Goblin in the Tree

"And as the monkey ate the fruit, he split it open and priceless, magnificent gem came out."

I think is a good way to start the story because it makes people wanting to keep reading to find out exactly what the gem is and what is going to happen.

(Talking of the mother's kid) "So his mother took him on her arm and angrily threw him into the blazing fire. And being tender, he was reduced to ashes in a moment."

This was a rather shocking turn of events that I was definitely not expecting... Once again, a very good way to keep the readers interested. This section had a lot of emotion in it too such as anger, hostility, shock, etc.

Praying to the Goddess.... "It was not right, for I was always devoted to you! Then, be my refuge when I pray to you..." There is so much death and emotion in this story, that it is kind of depressing... But it also makes the story interesting as well. This is when Lovely found her husband and brother in the condition that they were in and she wanted to kill herself after what she had seen.

"And after long prayer, he heard a voice from heaven, for at last Shiva was pleased with his devotion. "Oh King there shall be born to you a brave son to continue your dynasty, and a daughter more beautiful than the mymphs of heaven."

"One day at the spring festival, the king went to the garden to play with his three wives." I thought this was funny and very different. Its crazy that its completely normal for them to say "the king went to play with his three wives" and the fact that the King has 3 wives.