Week 3 Story: Manifested Mice Taste Better Than Nothing

(Photo by Aosora Aoi)

Morgana had been living happily in the attic above the cafe with Akira for some time now. Despite how much he wished to be a human, living as Akira’s companion made being a cat not so bad. The only problem was the food situation. Meals were already somewhat scarce, with Sojiro only providing two plates of cat food for Morgana and a plate of curry at breakfast for Akira. As the Phantom Thieves had been taking on more difficult targets, most of their money went to better weapons and armor, and higher quality healing items. Also as time went on, the cafe saw less customers come through the door. They eventually were reduced to one plate of cat food and a smaller plate of curry each day.

“Do you think the chief will get some more customers soon?” Morgana asked one night as his stomach rumbled in hunger.

“No idea,” Akira responded. “Do you want me to find some extra time to work? That way we can buy some more food?”

“You already spend all of your time working when we’re not busy with the Phantom Thieves. I don’t know how you could possibly work any more than that.”

A few weeks later, Morgana was so hungry and tired from trying to scavenge for food that he couldn’t take it anymore. “I think it would be best if we ended our arrangement. There just isn’t enough food here for the both of us.”

“Mona, if you leave, this cat food will just go to waste. I’m… probably not going to eat it. And you’ll be even hungrier if you don’t eat it. It’s already nearly impossible to scavenge food around here, so you’ll be eating even less if you go.”

“The chief can save the money he would have spent on cat food, and use it to make more curry. Then you’ll be able to fight better because you’ll have more energy. I’ll just go somewhere where I can scavenge better. I am a cat after all! There must be a part of Tokyo that has plenty of mice for me to hunt!”

So Morgana left the next morning, after the breakfast that Akira insisted he eat. He wandered the districts of Tokyo in search of mice and scraps, be he was hardly able to find anything. It became apparent that the life of a stray cat was not good for Morgana. After about a week with little more than some water from a drainpipe, he had a brilliant idea! Morgana headed back to Shibuya, and pawed at the door to the Velvet Room. He had seen Akira go inside many times, and when he asked, Akira had told him about Igor. It was a magical place, so it was sure to have plenty of food, right? If not, it was possible it had a mouse problem. After a few minutes of pawing and meowing at the door, it was flung open.

“Please help, I’m so hungry!” Morgana whined.

“Welcome back to the Velvet Room,” the long-nosed man who must have been Igor said.

“Welcome… back?” Morgana asked.

Igor just shook his head. “You will understand in time. Is there something that I can help you with?”

“I.. I am starving and I can’t find food anywhere. I was hoping we could make a deal.”

“A deal?”

“Yes. I was actually hoping that you might be having a problem with mice. I’m a… cat, so I could help you with that.”

“I see. And what would you get in exchange?”

“I would get nourishment from the mice, and perhaps you could spare a warm place to sleep?”

“Hmm… I believe I would find this agreeable,” Igor replied. “You can sleep on the bed in that cell.”

“Is that - I mean, that’s where Akira visits, isn’t it? He and I have ended our deal. I should probably try not to see him outside of our work as the Phantom Thieves,” Morgana said reluctantly.

“Then I will alert you before he enters the room, so you may hide in the back.”

Morgana nodded and walked into the cell. He curled up on the bed to take a nap. He was hungry, but the journey here left him feeling completely exhausted. Once Morgana was asleep, Igor quickly manifested a few mice for him to catch when he woke from his slumber.

Meanwhile, Akira was absolutely miserable without him. While he didn’t think of Morgana as a pet, he was his closest friend and Akira felt lonely without him. He continued to put a plate of cat food outside the shop each morning in case he was close by and hungry. Akira’s world no longer sparkled without his favorite companion at his side.

One day before a mission, he entered the Velvet Room. To his surprise, Morgana was curled up in a ball, sleeping on the bed in his cell. “Mona!” he shouted excitedly.

Morgana woke, startled. “Joker? What are you doing here?! I told you our arrangement is over! You should be home regaining your strength!”

“I don’t want to be home without you, Morgana. It’s just not the same. I have sold some of my armor and gotten some less expensive pieces. We’ll be able to afford more food now. Please come home?”

Morgana sighed. He had a hard time saying no to his best friend, especially when he looked all sad like that. “Fine! But as soon as we have enough extra, you’re buying me some sushi!” He talked tough, but on the inside he was touched that Akira would risk his safety to provide for him. They went home together, both happy to resume their arrangement.



Author's Note:

This story is based on a Jewish fairy tale called "The Quarrel of the Cat and Dog." In the original story, the dog and cat were named by Adam and get along like the best of friends, even sharing food with one another. When food becomes scarce, the cat insists they go their separate ways and agree to never meet again. This makes the dog sad, but he honors the cat's wishes. The cat ends up living in the house of Adam, hunting mice and is happy, forgetting all about the dog. The dog has a harder time finding food and shelter without harm coming to himself other animals. He eventually meets Adam, who insists he come live with him. When the cat sees him there he is angry and the two fight. This story is an explanation of why cats and dogs don't get along. In my retelling, I have again based my story on characters from the game Persona 5. Akira, the main character, and Morgana, the talking cat have made an arrangement to live together. For this story, I have exaggerated the fact that the cafe is low on customers, making food scarce. I thought it would be fun for Morgana to look for a home in the Velvet Room, a magical place where Akira goes for aid throughout the game. Igor, the magical man who is in charge of the Velvet Room, would have to manifest the mice to help Morgana, because there wouldn't be real mice running around a place that doesn't exist in reality. I changed the ending to get Akira and Morgana back together as they should be.


"The Quarrel of the Cat and Dog" from Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends by Gertrude Landa. Web Source.

Reading Notes: Jewish Fairy Tales Part B

(Photo from Pexels)

The Sleep of One Hundred Years -

Rabbi Onias is saddened by the sight of Jerusalem destroyed. He falls asleep and sleeps for 100 years. When he waked, Jerusalem is not destroyed, because it has been rebuilt. He meets his grandson who is now 80 years old. In the end, he asks to be taken back to the place he had slept because he isn't of this world. He goes back to sleep and passes away.

**Notes for me: Futaba is saddened (even though she's also relieved) about her pyramid being destroyed. Drained of all energy, she falls asleep. She doesn't wake up for 100 years. She finds Morgana who is not of this world either, therefore still alive. He takes her to see Akira, who has waited all this time for her to wake. That would make him 116 years old. I'm not sure how well this will turn out for them.

The Higgledy-Piggledy Palace

This is pretty similar to the real plot, so I'm going to skip writing a brief summary.

**Notes for me: Joker and Skull try to hide Panther from Kamoshida when she enters their castle. She is caught and he wishes to make her his Queen. Skull and Mona hide in the shadows and clock Kamoshida over the head with a a couple of lamps they found in the hall repeatedly. He locks her in a cell for the night. Joker hides in the shadows and interferes with his evening. The next morning, Panther is released and he begs her to go home and not come back.



Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends by Gertrude Landa. Web Source.

Reading Notes: Jewish Fairy Tales Part A

(Photo from Pexels)

The Quarrel of the Cat and Dog -

Adam named the cat and the dog and they were close friends, shared food. When food became scare in winter, dog was sad, cat had a temper. Cat thinks they should "dissolve the partnership". Dog thinks he can help because of his strength, and is sad to see cat go. Cat goes to Adam's house to eat mice. 

Cat: "We must each take an oath never to cross the other's path. That is the proper way to terminate a business agreement."

Adam takes the cat in, it eats mice and is happy and fat, forgets about dog.

Dog has a hard time finding food, moves in with wolves that share scraps with him, almost gets killed defending the lair from wild animals. Monkey won't take him in (throws coconuts), sheep say he can stay if he watches for wolves while they sleep; some run the wrong way and get eaten when he warns them. Dog decides to stay away from animals. He ends up begging at Adam's house and Adam makes him stay, even though he knows he shouldn't because of his oath with the cat. Cat is angry, which makes dog sad. They fight. Adam can't get them to agree. Dogs and cats all fight from then on.

** Notes for me: Morgana leaves Leblanc and Akira behind, goes to the Velvet Room and asks Igor if he can stay if he hunts the mice. The Velvet Room has no mice, so Igor creates them for him. Akira is sad and can't live without Morgana. Food doesn't taste the same and life doesn't have that same sparkle without his beloved cat. He ends up at the Velvet Room to seek advice and finds Morgana there. They fight, but in the end he convinces Morgana to come home.

The Magic Palace -

Ibrahim goes from rags to riches when an Arab insists he sell him as a slave and keep the money. The Arab builds a palace for the merchant he is sold to, and everyone is surprised after it is built that the Arab was actually the prophet, Elijah.

The name of this story is perfect, but after reading I'm not sure if I would use it. Keeping the link and brief summary anyway, in case I want to revisit.

Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends by Gertrude Landa. Web Source.

Famous Last Words: Surviving the First Week

The readings this week went well for me. I expect them to be longer next week, as they were a little bit short this week since we mostly searched through the text on our own and read an anthology to introduce us to the different types of stories. I found it easy to read like a writer, I'm not sure why that is, but I spent most of my reading time looking for things that might have been useful for writing my story.

I actually wrote my story for the week in the art building at OCCC while my daughter was on the other side of the building in her History class. I found a quiet place to sit, and just went for it. I did some minor revisions at home the next morning, but I was able to write easily there. I think this is good information, as I will be able to make good use of the two days a week I need to hang out and wait for her. On Tuesdays she has to go to her school library and wait an extra hour for me. I'm hoping she either learns to use the time well, or it makes her want to work harder at learning to drive, because at this point she really has very little interest in it. It makes our schedules a little more complicated, but we are finding ways to make it work the best we can for now.

Since blog comments aren't open yet until Tuesday and I'm way ahead, I haven't really looked at anyone else's writing yet. I'm looking forward to looking at some of the story posts next week when I work on the comments. I spent some time doing a little extra credit today, partly because I just didn't want to do the reading for my other class. Since I'll be doing that all day tomorrow, I figured I should fit in some extra credit today. I really had fun doing the Wikipedia Trail.

My other classes are all going to be somewhat challenging this semester. I am taking advanced personality, my psychology capstone, and working in the personality lab on campus for credit. Those classes are all with the same teacher, and all very discussion based or hands on. Something they have in common with this class is that there are no quizzes or tests. Not at all, in any of my classes this semester. It feels weird to think about, but it's also sort of cool that I'll be mostly graded on my own thoughts, with a presentation and a couple of papers thrown in there. And I'll be doing an internship for my capstone class, and working in a research lab. So I will be working more than studying I think. It will definitely be a different kind of semester for me.

Next week I'm looking forward to new readings and more research for my project. In my other classes I hope to survive getting used to class discussions, and I will learn more about my internship. The lab I will be working for should be having a first meeting to talk about what we will be doing this semester as well.

(Photo from my personal collection. Mario helping with my assignments.)

Wikipedia Trail: Arsene Lupin to anthropomorphic dogs

1. Arsène Lupin, Gentleman Burglar. This is a French book by author Maurice Leblanc. It is a collection of short stories about a Sherlock Holmes type character who becomes a thief over time. Sherlock Holmes becomes a character, but then Leblanc got in trouble for using him, so in the second  collection of stories, he changed his name to Herlock Sholmes. 

2. Maurice Leblanc. Author of the Arsene Lupin books, as well as a couple of science fiction books. He dropped out of law school and moved to Paris to write. One of his sci fi books was about an earthquake. His character Lupin may have been based on French anarchist Marius Jacob.

3. Sherlock Holmes. Character created by author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. He's a detective that uses logic, observation and forensic science to solve crimes no one else can. Because fans believe the character to be based on a real person, he gained immense popularity and is the most famous fictional detective. In the 80's, an anime show was made in Japan called Sherlock Hound that used anthropomorphic dogs to represent the characters from Sherlock Holmes.

4. Anthropomorphism. Refers to attributing human characteristics and emotions to things that are not human. Can be animals, or inanimate objects, or concepts like the seasons or weather. It is used often in storytelling. 

(Photo of Sherlock Hound from Wikipedia)

Learning Challenge: Empathy

(Photo from Pexels)

The article on empathy I read was 3 Little Tricks to Deal With People Who Offend You. Something they brought up that I hadn't really considered before is that getting angry when someone offends you is like having a 2-year-old fit because you are only thinking about your own feelings and not the other person's. This is funny (I think everything just seems funny to me today), but makes a lot of sense.

The section on giving them a mental hug is similar to something I already do (except for me there's no hugging involved). I try to calm down and think about what other people are thinking and what they are going through that leads to their behavior. I try to just let as much of it go as I can. When someone is being ridiculous in line at a store in front of me and taking way more time than it should to make a purchase, I try to think about the fact that I'm not in a hurry and they likely have a need for whatever it is they are doing.

Something I plan to try is to pretend I'm floating down a stream when driving. I thought it was really interesting that pretending the other cars were twigs and leaves in a stream made them not get angry. I could use more peace when I drive. Sometimes I do a breathing meditation if I get too stressed out while driving.

Growth Mindset Challenge: Make a Mindset Motto

(Photo made with imgflip)

I think this quote from Mahatma Gandhi is a good one for growth mindset. If you think you can do something, you aren't afraid of failure and typically it gets done. If you're too afraid to try, you may never even get your foot out the door.

I picked these cats because they've clearly become what they thought, which is I guess space ships shooting lasers? Either way, I thought it was funny.

Feedback Thoughts: How to Still Write When Comments Freak You Out

(Photo from Pexels)

The first article I read was 5 Tips For Taking Feedback Like a Champ. They had some good advice, but I think this part was the most important take-away for me: "Use mindfulness and self-compassion to react in a productive way." In this section, they went on to say, "When we can treat ourselves with empathy, compassion, and believe we are "good enough" amidst or flaws and weaknesses--while still desiring growth and development--we make space for the painful feelings that come up when someone gives us feedback."

I think this is my biggest problem right now. I have mentioned that I write fan fiction and have a follower for my current story that gives criticism that is usually not constructive. Some of the things she says just plain hurt, because I feel like she is trying to force me to head in the direction she wants me to write in, to the point where she seems angry if I don't take her suggestions. In the end, I am the one writing the story, and I will write it how I want to. It's a community, and there is nothing wrong with making comments and suggestions. I need to learn how to handle the negative ones better, and learn how to respond better to them. There have been times when she has made good suggestions and we had a healthy discussion, and there have been times when I have had to say "this is how I see it for this story, and it's fine if you don't agree." The ongoing problem for me is that it's draining, and it makes me not want to write the story anymore. So while I have been trying to have more empathy for her and to see her and other people's perspectives, maybe I need to be showing myself more empathy and compassion as well, so that I can respond better to others without feeling overwhelmed.

The second article I read was Overcoming the Fear of Feedback. They listed the following steps as a good strategy for dealing with feedback.

1. Analyze the feedback,

2. Ask questions to better understand

3. Thank them

4. Strategize ways to improve based on your feedback

5. Set goals for yourself based on these strategies

I think they made some good points in this article. I especially agree with thanking the person for the feedback, even if it didn't feel positive. Maybe especially then, because if anything, making the effort to appreciate getting feedback and spending some time thinking about it can help you sort through what changes you may or may not need to make. It also shows the person that you are open and willing to consider other perspectives besides your own.

Topic Brainstorm

I actually came up with a topic last week while we were looking through the storybooks. In this post I am going to outline that and propose four different variations that I will choose from.

Diary of a Phantom Thief

The idea is that I will have the Phantom Thieves from the game Persona 5 write journal entries. Each story will be an entry in Joker's probation diary that was given to him by his guardian, Sojiro. There are nine Phantom Thieves: Joker, Mona, Skull, Panther, Fox, Queen, Oracle, Noir, and Crow.

Option 1: Source: Japanese Fairy Tales - Lang

I will choose 4 thieves and each will retell a story as if it were one of their own adventures as a Phantom Thief. For this option, four different characters will each write a journal entry. Some stories I think may work for this are The Two Frogs, The Cat's Elopement, Schippeitaro, and The Magic Kettle.

Option 2: Source: Japanese Mythology

This option is very similar to option 1, except the source material will be Japanese myths instead of fairy tales. Four characters will each retell a myth as if it were their own adventure. A few stories I am considering are The Eight Forked Serpent of Koshi, The Labors of Yamato, and The Quest of the Jewel.

Option 3: Source: either Japanese Fairy Tales - Lang or Japanese Mythology

This option is again very similar to the others, except this time Joker will write all of the journal entries himself. The other characters will be incorporated into his retold stories. I am considering some of the same stories listed for options 1 and 2.

(Photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Option 4: "Chivalrous Robbers"

I don't have a source for this yet as it will take some digging and there will be a variety of different sources. The game's basic premise is that most people have a dark side they are afraid to accept, called the shadow, and those able to accept it gain a persona. This is a real psychological concept from Carl Jung, but in the game, those with a persona actually gain some sort of mythical creature that helps them fight shadows, save the world, and so on. The Phantom Thieves have personas that are all what would be considered "chivalrous robbers". For this option I would find stories about four of them and retell them from the character's perspective.

Example:
Story 1: Joker, Arsene Lupin
Story 2: Fox, Ishikawa Goemon
Story 3: Crow, Robin Hood
Story 4: Skull, Captain Kidd

At this point, I am leaning towards option 1 and 4. They sound the most fun since I would be writing from the point of view of several characters instead of one. This also may make it easier to find stories that are a good fit. Option 1 sounds potentially more fun than option 2 simply because fairy tales are fun! Who doesn't like fairy tales?

I took a look at Freebookapalooza and found a few books that look like they may be useful:

Myths & Legends of Japan - Davis

Legends of Japan - Green

Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan

Week 2 Story: The cat, the leader, and the blonde monkey

(Photo: screenshot from YouTube)

Once upon a time, a cat was stuck in a jail cell in the basement of a castle. He was angry and afraid and felt foolish for being caught. By chance, two boys walked by.

“Hey, hey!” called the cat. “Help! Please open the cell, the key is right there!”

The boys came to a stop, and gaped at the cat. He wasn’t your typical house cat. He was more of a “cat-like creature”. His head was rather round and large, and he stood on two feet.

“What the heck is that?!” exclaimed the blonde one. The dark haired one just shrugged. He seemed unbothered by the entire situation. It was clear from his behavior that he was the leader. He appeared collected and confident even though he was inside this dangerous world in someone’s mind.

“I think we should get going, man,” the blonde said to the leader. “They’re going to catch us if we don’t get out of here!”

The leader nodded, and they started to walk away. The cat began to panic. “W-Wait!” he shouted. He calmed himself, knowing that the only way to freedom was to trick the boys into letting him out. When he spoke again, his tone was smug. “You’re looking for the way out, right? I can show you if you let me out of here.”

The leader stopped, casually raising an eyebrow. “Is that so?”

“Yes!” the cat said eagerly. “I’d be happy to help you escape. I know my way all around this palace.”

“Hmm,” the leader said quietly. “How do we know you aren’t the enemy as well?”

“Of course I’m not! The enemy locked me up in this jail cell!”

“That’s true… although it’s also true that you’re locked up in a jail cell… “

“Huh?” asked the blonde. “Oh, right, and it’s some cat monster, so who knows what it’ll do if we let it out. It might even try to eat us for dinner!”

The cat rolled it’s eyes. “Why on earth would I eat you for dinner? And I am not a cat!”

The blonde began to walk away. “He totally looks like a cat, am I right? Come on man, let’s get out of here while we still can.”

“Wait! I can help. I promise you, I’m not a monster, and I’m not going to eat you. Please, open the cell and I’ll show you the way out.”

“I’m.. not sure what I should do,” the leader admitted quietly to the blonde. “But I think setting it free is the best way to go.” The leader picked the key up and opened the lock. The door swung open, and the cat pranced out.

“Mrowhowhowhow!” said the cat. “All that’s left now is to decide how best to have you two for dinner!”

“Wait, what?!” the blonde said incredulously. “I thought it said it didn’t want to eat us? And seriously, don’t cats eat fish or something?”

“For the millionth time, I am not a cat!” said the cat.

The blonde replied loudly. “I told you it’s just some stupid cat! It can’t help us escape, and now it wants to eat us!”

“What did you say, you stupid blonde monkey?!” the cat exclaimed angrily.

The leader stood back, quietly observing as the cat creature schooled the blonde. He seemed to have a desire to set the record straight, whether any of it made sense to the boys or not.

“I am no cat. I am a human! And I was going to help you escape, but because you’re such an idiot, now I’m going to eat you!”

“Wait, run that by me again? You’re totally not a human, you stupid monster cat,” said the blonde.

The cat took a deep breath, trying to calm itself before it spoke again. “I am not a cat. My name is Morgana. I am a human.”

“So wait, lemme get this straight,” the blonde said to the leader. “This cat came walking by, and you were in a cell, and..”

“No, you imbecile!” said the cat. “I am the cat!”

“Right, you’re a cat…”

“No, a human! I’m not a cat, I’m a human! And I was in the cell!”

“Right, you were in the cell,” the blonde said, nodding his head.

“And I was put in this cell -”

“How did you get in the cell, anyway?” the blonde asked.

“What?” said the cat. “The same way anyone does.”

“Sorry, I still don’t get it, what’s the same way anyone gets in the cell?” the blonde asked innocently.

The cat walked into the cell. “Like this! I walked in! Now do you get it?!”

The blonde pushed the cell door shut, smiling in satisfaction as it locked. “Ohhhhh, I get it now. Well, it’s been fun, cat. Let’s go, man.” He high fived the leader who smirked as the two boys turned and walked away.

“That’ll teach that stupid cat to call me an idiot,” the blonde mumbled.

“True. We should probably go back for him, though. He did say he knew the way out,” said the leader.

“Eh, let’s let him sweat it out for awhile. I kind of wanted to check this place out a little more before we leave, anyway.”

Author’s Note:

This story is based on The Tiger, The Brahman, and the Jackal. In the original story, a tiger is trapped in a cage, and persuades a Brahman who walks by into letting him out. The tiger promises not to eat him, and to be his servant. The Brahman asks for advice on how to handle the situation after letting the tiger out and finding out he does intend to eat the Brahman. The jackal says he can’t understand the situation, so he goes to see for himself and asks questions. The tiger becomes frustrated by the jackal’s stupidity, and demonstrates how he got in the cage by stepping into it. The jackal outsmarts the tiger by closing the cage, and no one gets eaten. The setting of my story takes place in the game Persona 5, where the main character and his brand new friend Ryuji meet the cat Morgana in a cognitive world. Morgana is trapped in a jail cell and promises to help them escape if they let him out of the cell. In the game, they let him out, and he helps as promised. Throughout the game, Morgana picks on Ryuji for his lack of intelligence, so I thought it would be fun to see Ryuji outsmart the cat for a change. Morgana often refers to Ryuji as a "stupid, blonde monkey" when he doesn't understand something. Also, Morgana prefers sushi and cat food, and would not have eaten the boys.


“The Tiger, The Brahman, and the Jackal” from Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten. Web Source.

Reading Notes: Susanoo and Tiger

(Photo by Bachstelze, Wikimedia Commons)

The Eight-Forked Serpent of Koshi - 

Susanoo - god of seas and storms. Agrees to slay the eight forked serpent Orochi in exchange for princess Kushinada-hime's hand in marriage (also to save her life). Turns her into a comb which he puts in his hair. Brews sake of eightfold strength. Made 8 portals, put a vat of the sake at each door. The serpent got drunk on the sake, and then Susanoo killed it, turned Kushinada-hime back into a princess and married her.

Kushinada-hime - (Wondrous-fair Princess), daughter of Ashinadzuchi (Foot-stroke Elder), son of the Mountain-God and Tenadzuchi (Hand-stroke Elder).

Note for me: This could be Sojiro asking Akira to save Futaba. He would use coffee instead of sake.

The Tiger, The Brahman, and the Jackal -

A tiger behind bars tries to get a Brahman to open the cage - tiger says he won't eat him, he'll serve as his slave. When the Brahman lets him out, the tiger says he will eat the Brahman for dinner. The Brahman goes and asks others for their opinion. The Jackal is slow of wit and goes back with him so he can explain the situation to him. The jackal can't keep track of the details and says he gives up and the tiger should eat the Brahman as planned. Tiger is angry at the jackal's stupidity and insist he stay while he explains it to him. The jackal then tricks the tiger into getting back in the cage and shuts it.

Note for me: The cat, the leader and the blonde monkey.

Reading Options: Japanese Myths and Fairy Tales & More

(Photo of Izanami and Izanagi from Wikimedia Commons)

After looking through the reading options, I found quite a few things that interest me. I mentioned before that I was hoping to use Japanese myths in my project, so I will be reading plenty of those. In particular, I would like to read about Izanagi and Izanami, because I have seen this myth used and have never read the original. The Quest of the Jewel sounds like it might be something my band of thieves could be involved in.

Japanese Fairy Tales - Lang - These sound great, and there were mentions of tricksters and animals/magical creatures/cats that will be useful for a certain feline thief I know. 

Japanese Fairy Tales - Ozaki - I would like to read these as well. They look different than the others which just adds to my potential source material, and should be interesting.

Italian Popular Tales - I'm Italian, have spent some time trying to learn the language, and I'm just plain curious as to what these are like.

I would also like to take a look at the sections on Alice and Wonderland and Buddha. Completely nothing like each other, but I think both would be great to read. I'm sure I will also find other things that interest me as we go. There are so many options!

Time Strategies

(Photo from Vimeo)

The schedule we agreed will likely work best for me is as follows:

Monday: Reading A & B

Wednesday: Storytelling & Blog comments

Friday: Project & Project Feedback

I will work for 2 hours on each of these days. With how my schedule looks at the moment, I will work in the mornings, which is usually when I think the most clearly anyway. If my internship interferes with those times, I'll shift it to later in the day, or change days if I have to. Right now my schedule is pretty open since I only have 2 classes on campus, so I will be available to do work much of the time. 

I read The Psychology of Checklists, because I love making them, and I like that other people think it's a good strategy. A couple of years into college, I started having breakdowns about how much work I had to do for my classes and how overwhelming it was to figure out when to do what, and my husband talked me into using a checklist. I use Google Keep, which is pictured in the image above. I keep a list of homework with due dates, so that I can cross off assignments as I finish them. I have had people ask if I want to work on an assignment together, and we plan on it, but if they procrastinate too much I end up doing the assignment alone, because crossing things off the list reduces my stress level. I also keep my grocery list, a list of days my daughter has off from school and important appointments, and other little notes of things I need to remember in Google Keep.

Last semester I used Keep less for homework and started writing all of the important due dates for papers, test dates, etc on the calendar on my laptop. It's a Mac and I don't have an iPhone so I can't sync them, which is disappointing, but I usually have my laptop with me in class and other meetings, and when I don't I can just jot things down in Keep. Then I enter those things on my calendar when I get home. Before using these techniques, my entire desk was covered in post it notes, which worked well unless I forgot to bring the grocery post it with me. I think keeping a list in my phone and/or on my laptop is a bit more efficient. I still love post its, though.

Technology Tools

I was not familiar with Blogger until this week, so it's been a slight learning experience. I have used Wordpress in the past, but this works a little differently. I had an awful time getting the text in one of my posts to format correctly. After a couple of hours of not being able to fix it, I got it close enough, and published it. I'm still kind of mad about it, because it looks so different from the rest of my posts.
I'm a current Tumblr user, so I am probably going to use it for my project. I think it would make a neat little site for it.

I avoided Pinterest for years, but finally had to make one to find art therapy ideas for my projects last year. So many things you search on google come up as Pinterest results and you can't browse that stuff without an account. I find that irritating, but I finally made one, so I might use it for this. Not really sure. Most often I would just make a bookmarks folder for the class/project/topic, and keep everything together in there.

I have a piece of image editing software called Affinity Photo. It's been difficult to learn to use it because it works pretty differently from other programs like Photoshop. I spent some time this summer working with some images and got fairly comfortable with that basics, like cropping and resizing, so I feel a little better about that.I haven't used any of those web-based programs to create graphics, but I have done similar things in Photoshop and Affinity.

I have never had a class that published all of its assignments on a blog before. I think it will be fun, but it is way different from any other class I have taken.

My art brain immediately thought of art supplies when you said "tools", so here are some of what I think of as tools.

(Photo from Wikimedia)

Thoughts About Class Assignments

I think that the readings will be interesting and hopefully useful for project ideas, and the project both terrifies and intrigues me. Writing stories every week sounds both fun and scary. I worry I'll have a hard time doing the actual writing, so I'll have to build in extra time for it in case I can't come up with an idea right away. It's probably also good that I started the course early, because that will give me a little extra time if I get behind on it. The blog comments and feedback don't really excite me, although I see how they can be really useful.

Out of the extra credit assignments, the ones I find most interesting from the descriptions are H.E.A.R.T. and Famous Last Words. They sound kind of fun, so I may have to make time for those. I'm also still curious to see how growth mindset can fit into my semester, so I will probably take a look at that as well.

(Photo from Also Into Cats)

Growth Mindset: I love cats!

(Image Information: Photo from Pinterest)

I found the videos about growth mindset to be very interesting. I agree that we teach our kids all wrong. I wish I had thought of this sooner before mine was halfway through high school, but she has plenty of school left. I can always start encouraging some of this now. To be honest, I think it will be more difficult to apply to myself. I'm sure there are ways that I can, but it's hard to look at things so differently after this many years of school, and when most people in this country praise good grades over how much effort went into it. You also tend to get praised at work for higher number of sales and so on. I think our society would be better with this mindset, but I think it might be difficult to adapt to it. I am interested in learning more about growth mindset this semester even if I'm not sure how it fits in for me yet.

A class I'm a little worried about this semester is my psychology capstone experience. I'll have some kind of internship, but I have heard really conflicting things about what that is. Some have said they interned at Griffin Memorial Hospital, which I think would be fantastic. Others said they volunteered at the boys and girls club and it was like a babysitting job. I think that would be really lame and not tell me if I'll like working in the field or not. I'm also concerned about how time consuming it will be, because I want to work in another psych lab this semester. Hopefully I can make both work at the same time without going crazy and while still being able to accommodate my daughter's schedule.

That said, I love cats and really like the growth mindset cat pictures. I think they can be incorporated into my life pretty easily. Maybe I can have Mario pose and make some of my own, too. I chose the cat above for two reasons. One, I think that's a good motto for this class since we will be writing a lot this semester. And two, I have been writing fan fiction and most of my readers are in their teens and early 20's. They tend to be critical in not very constructive ways. I try to remember that they are much younger than I am, and that some of the things they say and do make sense for their age group and aren't necessarily meant to be harsh or hurtful. But some days it just plain hurts, and I feel really discouraged from writing at all. I think the only way I'm going to get through the rest of the long story I've been writing is to write without fear, and not worry about what anyone else thinks or wishes I did instead. 

My Introduction and What I Did This Summer

I always feel like a boring person when I write these kinds of posts, but here we go. This will be my final semester at OU as a psychology major. I spent the majority of my summer working at the Connelly research lab on campus, helping run an I/O psych study on workplace behavior. I/O is not a part of psychology that I'm particularly fond of. There's nothing wrong with it, but it isn't my thing. Even so, I really enjoyed the people who work there, and the students that participated were all really nice. I am trying to get a position in a lab that focuses on personality psychology for the fall, because that's where I feel the most connection. The best thing about psych is probably that there are so many different aspects to it, so you can choose all kinds of things to do with your degree.

I also spent quite a bit of time with my teenage daughter this summer. It makes me happy that she still likes to hang out with me. I didn't spend this much time with my mom at her age, so I take it as a complement that she enjoys doing things with me. I think my favorite night this summer was when we sent my husband to a late movie with his friends. My daughter and I went to the store for snacks, then played games together until he got home around midnight. We also have a very cute cat named Mario. He's 18 years old and has some health problems. He has a bit of an attitude, but he's so cute that it's impossible not to love him. He likes to wear bow ties for Halloween every year. This year he also wore one on his birthday.

(Photo from my personal collection. Mario, April 2017)

I'm a grown up, I guess, but I really love playing video games. My husband plays them more than I do usually, but I have certain ones that I really like. This spring and summer I spent much of my free time playing Persona 5. It's so fun. I also write fan fiction for Persona 4 and Persona 5. I plan to bring some of those characters into my project for this class. I think it will be really fun if it all works out.

I'm sad that summer is just about over. My daughter goes back to high school tomorrow, and on Monday she starts as a concurrent student in college. I was hoping I would graduate before she got there, but she started early, and I was a bit late. I am studying for my GRE and working on an application for the psychology PhD program. I'm not sure how that will turn out, yet, but I'm going to do the best I can to make it happen. Most of my other classes this fall are psychology courses, which is good because it's why I'm here. The best class I took last semester, and maybe ever, was studio art therapy. There were a couple of papers, but other than that we just picked art projects and sat in a big room making art for the entire semester. It was relaxing and fun, and I loved having to buy art supplies and have ongoing art projects with deadlines. I don't make enough time for it when it isn't for a class, and that just makes me sad. The last project I did for that class, I folded about 300 paper cranes, then assembled some hoops that I strung lights on and hung the birds from. I nicknamed it the bird chandelier. I intended to make 1000 cranes but couldn't finish in the time I had. I plan to someday come back to it and finish them all.

(Photo from my Personal Collection. Paper Cranes, April 2017)

**Note: Thank you so much to everyone who has left me comments. I appreciate all of your kind words. I may not get a chance to reply to all of you but I do read them and every one of them makes me smile!

Storybook Favorites

I was a little afraid of this project, but now I'm kind of excited. I barely scratched the surface of the list of storybooks in around an hour's time, but I have ideas now, and that makes me happy. Here are a few that I liked.

Storybook 1: Stories of the Shadow People

What I like about this site is how mysterious it is. The author clearly was all in on making the reader feel curious, and they were committed to their role as narrator. I really enjoyed how instead of introducing themselves as a student, their introduction already had you deep into a story. I also like the black and white aesthetic of the blog, and how mysterious the images are. They really go well with the stories. This was my favorite image on the site, which was included in the introduction.

(Photo by Pexels)

Storybook 2: The Villains' Side

Again, on this site I liked that the introduction was about a character. I felt like I was already reading the stories even though I wasn't yet. I liked that they told their stories from the perspective of the villains. It was unique and creative. I think the choice to use dark colors on the site really worked with the villain theme as well. My own storybook will likely also be dark if I go with the idea I am considering.

Storybook 3: Diaries of the Late and Great Imposters

I absolutely loved some of the ideas used in this site. I love that they wrote journal entries from the perspective of the characters. They used real con artists for this site, and I think that was very cool. I didn't think the look of the site matched the content very well. It wasn't unattractive but it felt unrelated to the stories.

I think for my own storybook I may have some thieves telling stories by writing journal entries. I think I will need to read plenty of myths about tricksters and thieves to put this idea together. I would like to base my stories in mythology, Japanese most likely. I'd like to use characters from a game I have been playing as my characters, but tie them together with mythological tricksters and thieves. 

Favorite Place: The Wichita Mountains

One of my favorite places in Oklahoma is the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. I didn't grow up in this part of the country, so when my husband suggested we go camp there to take pictures of the stars for my daughter's science fair project on light pollution, I had no idea what to expect. It turns out to be not only beautiful, but one of the only places where I can completely relax and leave everything behind me.

(Photo by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Having no Internet connection doesn't bother me in the slightest when we're in the mountains, hiking, spending time by a campfire, and looking at the stars. 

(Photo from my personal collection. Stars over Camp Doris, October 2012.)

(Photo from my personal collection. The Wichita Mountains, May 2013.)

Someday I hope to have more time to spend in the mountains, and other great camping and stargazing sites around our state. We have crossed Robber's Cave State Park off our list, but there are many more places I would like to visit in the future.

Test Post

My cat is hungry and keeps screaming in my face. This makes it hard to concentrate.