Reading Notes: Zorro, Milady, Carmen, Neronomicon, Johanna

If I decide to continue my storybook after class ends, I would write a story for each of the remaining Persona 5 characters: Mona (you got a Mona introduction, but no Mona story), Noir, Panther, Oracle and Queen. I decided to start doing some research and reading about their personas. I also located a few sources that might be useful for writing their stories. 

Mona: Zorro -  (Spanish for "fox" and "sly") is a fictional character created in 1919 by New York–based pulp writer Johnston McCulley. His true name is Don Diego de la Vega. Zorro is a Californio nobleman of Spanish and Native Californian descent, living in Los Angeles during the era of Mexican rule. He is a masked outlaw who defends commoners and the indigenous people of the land against tyrannical officials and other villains.

Noir: Milady - Milady de Winter, more commonly referred to as "Milady" is a fictional character created by Alexandre Dumas for his seminal novel The Three Musketeers. Her main relation with the novel's titular heroes is her personal vendettas first against the novel's hero d'Artagnan after he discovered she was branded as a criminal with a fleur-de-lis, then against his mentor Athos who was her former husband. Her conflict with them ends in her death by beheading for her crimes. In both the book and subsequent adaptations, Milady is depicted as a fiercely independent and manipulative villain: despite acting as an agent of Cardinal Richelieu in his machinations against Louis XIII and the Duke of Buckingham, she is also a force on her own account, bringing others to ruin for personal gain. Her moniker of "Milady" is a title inherited from one of her husbands, whom she married under a false name, leaving her true identity a mystery.

Panther: Carmen - a fictive female gypsy created by Prosper Mérimée. She first appeared in Mérimée's eponymous novella that was first written and published in 1845. The novella was adapted into a variety of different genres, most notably the opera Carmen by French composer Georges Bizet which diverges in significant points from Mérimée's original story. Whatever the version, Carmen is generally depicted as a classic femme fatale who would take advantage of her beauty and charm to make men fall for her but quickly break the relationship once she is bored of her wooer and then looks for the next victim. Carmen is also usually seen smoking tobacco because she had once been working in a tobacco factory. She is later slain by a spurned ex-lover driven to a jealous rage after she leaves him. Though she knew he would be fated to kill her, she declares that she would rather die than allow herself to be bound to the will of another and that "Carmen will always be free".

Oracle: Necronomicon - a fictional grimoire (tome of magic). It was first mentioned in the short story The Hound written by H. P. Lovecraft, but its exact origin is the subject of debate. The book subsequently also appeared in stories of Lovecraft's followers. The Necronomicon has since gained a cult following and various fake "replicas" of the book are circulating. In the context of Lovecraft's works, the Necronomicon is a tome detailing the truth behind the various ancient cosmic beings that have inhabited Earth and continue to influence humans for their own ends. Written in the 8th century by the "mad Arab" Abdul Alhazred, it both functions as a means of imparting the forbidden knowledge of the ancient ones, and a source of danger as those who read it risk going mad from its knowledge.

Queen: Johanna - based on Pope Joan, a legendary Medieval woman who reigned as pope for a short period, going against the Catholic Church's ingrained tradition of male popes. Though the story was widely believed for centuries, modern historians have found no evidence of her existence and believe the legend to be a work of fiction meant to discredit the church. Most versions of her story describe her as a talented and learned woman who disguised herself as a man, often at the behest of a lover. In the most common accounts, due to her abilities, she rose through the church hierarchy and was eventually elected pope. Her sex was revealed when she gave birth during a procession, and she died shortly after, either through murder or natural causes. The accounts state that later church processions avoided this spot, and that the Vatican removed the female pope from its official lists and crafted a ritual to ensure that future popes were male.

Possible Sources:

1. Zorro : The Curse of Capistrano
2. Milady de Winter : The Three Musketeers
3. Carmen : Carmen (free on kindle)
4. Necronomicon : The Hound
5. Pope Joan

(Photos from Megami Tensei Wiki)

Tech Tip: Reverse Image Search

(Photo from Wordpress)

The Bishop of Hereford is a character from the legend of Robin Hood. In The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, he is the bishop who was supposed to marry Allen a Dale and his true love.

Reading Notes: Robin Hood Part B

(Photo from Pinterest)

Robin Hood and Maid Marian - Robin and Marian meet and fall for each other, sharing sweet kisses. Robin then has to go back to the forrest, and Marian was sad. She went into the forrest with a bow of her own to find him. When they encounter each other, she is dressed strangely and he is in disguise, so they draw their swords to fight, not recognizing each other. She cuts his face, and then he finally speaks. When she hears his voice recognizes that it's Robin, and she kisses him. Little John kills a deer and the merry men throw them a banquet. 

Robin Hood’s Death - When Robin is ill and decides he is near death, he asks Little John to take him to his cousin who will bleed him, so that he can die. So he takes him to the cousin who agrees to bleed him. She cuts his vein and locks him in a room. He bled until the next day, then, too weak to move, he blew on his bugle. Little John heard it and feared that Robin must be close to death. He went back for him and broke the locks to get to him. Robin tells him to take him outside and put his bow in his hand. He shoots an arrow and asks to be buried wherever it lands.


The English and Scottish Popular Ballads by Francis James Child.

Reading Notes: Robin Hood Part A

(Photo from Pinterest)

Robin Hood and Little John - Robin Hood meets a stranger on a narrow bridge. Neither will move aside for the other. They each find a staff and decide that whoever falls off the bridge first loses. Robin ends up in the water, then asks the stranger to be his right-hand man. His name was John Little and he was 7 feet tall, so the merry men though it would be funny to rename him Little John. (Crow and Joker)

Allen a Dale - Robin Hood meets Allen a Dale and asks him to give money to the merry men. Allen says he doesn't have any to spare. Robin asks what he'll give him if he reunites Allen with his true love and makes a wedding happen for him. Robin pretends to be a harpist, and tells the bishop that he bride should choose her husband. He calls in 20 men, the first is Allen, her true love. Robin says they should be married. The bishop objects and says they have to be asked 3 times in church. Robin takes the bishop's coat and puts it on Little John who marries them, asking 7 times to be sure.

The English and Scottish Popular Ballads by Francis James Child.

Famous Last Words: I Tend To Overshare, Sorry.

(Photo from my personal collection. Sunrise this morning.)

This week for class I wrote my third storybook story. It was easier to write than the last one, so hopefully it turned out well. I had absolutely no inspiration for a regular story post this week, so I did some other things instead. I'm getting close to the end. I'm excited about finishing my project soon (Just one more story to write!) but I think I'm also going to miss it. I have five more characters that I could write a story for. If I ever get that kind of free time, I might come back and complete it. It was hard choosing only four of them.

I had to present in one of my classes this week. A couple nights before, I met with my partner for it and we made our powerpoint quickly, then spent hours in the library coffee shop just having a conversation about all kinds of stuff. I have to tell you, it was pretty rad. (And yeah, no one says that anymore.) Meeting people almost half my age that I can connect with like that doesn't happen often, and it was really great. When we presented on Tuesday, my teacher wasn't even there, but one of the grad students from our lab was there in her place. It went really well. I thought I'd start freaking out and get too nervous. Instead I got up there and did my typical oversharing of weird stuff. The chapter we had to cover talked about evidence-based treatments for mental disorders, then it briefly mentioned lobotomies before talking about some current treatments that are more experimental. So I got up there and told them about my great uncle who had a lobotomy. Sometimes sharing stuff like that backfires on me, but it worked out this time, and I felt really good for the rest of the day, instead of having to slowly come down from fight-or-flight mode like I usually experience after a presentation like that.

Last week at the Veterans Center was pretty boring. I helped a man put together bookends while he took a nap. So, I put together bookends. It took forever to figure out how they went together. And their woodworking projects all use glue, so making them hold together was a nightmare. Would have been much easier with a hammer and nails. After that it was pretty quiet. I asked the art lady if she's thought about downloading some simple adult coloring pages online since there are some great free ones. She shot the idea down, telling me they only like things that are easy. I'm not sure what's not easy about easy coloring sheets, but whatever. She seems really set in her ways and thinks they will only like the art projects she brings for them. I can tell they're bored and hate them. It's likely why I never see the same people twice. The paper pumpkins were there for the third week in a row, and no one touched them. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about it. Either start bringing some new stuff for them anyway, or just going with it. I don't really want to make art lady angry, because I think she's a nice person and great at talking with the residents, and I like talking to her, but I think they would like it if they had something different to do for a change. I guess I'll see how today goes.

I caught the sun a few times this week, so that's an improvement. I have some exciting plans for the weekend that I'll make you wait until next time to hear about, and we're looking forward to Halloween. I'm not sure if Mario will be wearing a bowtie like usual, or his yellow bandana so he can be Mona. Maybe both for a little while. I also need to help my daughter finish her costume before then, yikes. It isn't too complicated, but we need to buy some material and do a little sewing.

Learning Challenge Week 11: Happiness Jar Part 1

(Photo from Pinterest)

This week I am going to do the Happiness Jar Challenge and report back on how it went next week. I have been making origami lucky stars and filling jars with them as gifts. My own jar is completely empty since I want to fill the others in time for the holidays, and mine is just for me. So for this week, I am going to fill it with things that make me happy each day. I think this will be a fun challenge. Hopefully I won't get too busy and forget, because that would skew the results. So long as everything goes according to plan, I think it will work out well.

Tech Tip: Pinterest Sidebar

(Photo from Hello Giggles)

This week I added a Pinterest sidebar to my blog. I decided to use my Persona 5 board since it's the one I end up using the most saved images from in my blog posts. I regularly search Pinterest for images that are relevant to my stories and other posts, and save them so I can easily find and use them later.  Sometimes when I'm bored and already planning a story in my head, I just spend a half hour on Pinterest looking for images that I think will work well with it. Some of them get used and some don't. I think having the sidebar right on my blog will make it even easier to work with both sites together.

Reading Notes: Japanese and other mythological and literary characters

Japanese:

Yatagarasu - 

- three-legged crow, inhabits and represents the sun. In Japan, a raven, Yatagarasu, "evidence of the will of Heaven or divine intervention in human affairs." 

- the crow is a mark of rebirth and rejuvenation

- as a crow-god is a symbol specifically of guidance

Nue - 

- face of a monkey, legs of a tiger, body of a tanuki (raccoon dog) and the front half of a snake for a tail. 

- OR back of a tiger, the legs of a tanuki, the tail of a fox, the head of a cat, and the torso of a chicken

- sometimes referred to as a Japanese chimera

- makes cries at night

Ame-no-Uzume - 

- goddess of dawn

- lured Amaterasu out of her hiding place in a cave when she refused to come out, by dancing

Not Japanese:

Oberon - 

- king of the fairies

- a character in William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream

- consort to Titania, queen of the fairies

- a trickster

Alice -

- based on Alice in Wonderland

- the strongest persona in the Death arcana

- very strong dark spell called "Die for me!" that instakills all enemies on screen

(Photo from Pinterest)

Reading Notes: British North America Part B

(Photo from Pinterest)

Origin of the Pleiades - A young man hears voices singing by a lake., and they are coming from the sky. He went down to the beach and saw 7 maidens dancing in the starlight. When he slipped on a pebble, the maidens sprang into a basket and vanished in the sky. He went back to his lodge and heard distant voices, and snuck to the beach again. He saw the basket descend and the maidens again danced and sang together, one more beautiful than the others. The man made a noise and again they vanished. They came every night, and one night he rushed them and seized the most beautiful sister. The others vanished. The maiden told him they are seven sisters that live in the sky and they come down to dance in the starlight, and that she can't marry him until he comes to live with her in the sky. So he did, and in the sky you can clearly see the 6 sisters, with one fainter in the back with her husband.

I'm not sure how I would use this story, but I love astronomy and the Pleiades are beautiful.


Myths and Legends of British North America by Katharine Berry Judson. Web Source.

Reading Notes: British North America Part A

Creation of Light - An old chief owned all the light, fire and water. Everywhere else was darkness. The other people were all animal people. and they decided to trick him into giving them some light. They put on their masks and dancing aprons and showed up at the chief's house for a dance uninvited.
"Fox kept singing, 'Khain, khain, khain' because he thought in that way he would gain light. Therefore the animals call him Khain, which means, 'He cries for daylight.'"

Each animal persona sang their own song, and sang "Light, light, light, light." 

Light began to creep into the sky like the dawn. The chief said "Let there not be" and the light went away. The animal people sang again and the light "began to steal into the sky."

The chief saw it, became excited and confused by all the noise, and said "Let there be light", and the light came into the sky to stay.

I can see Fox and the others in their masks singing, Joker wearing his apron from the cafe.

(Photo from Pinterest)

Why the Sun is Bright - An entire village moved away because they didn't like a boy. They left him and his grandma alone there and they expected them to starve. The grandma told the boy to go spear animals and fish. She made him a very large, bright robe from the skins of the birds he caught. The sun saw it and offered to trade his robe that was dull and had fringe at the ends. He showed the boy that each fringe would catch a fish if he laid it on the water. The boy traded, and the sun started wearing the bright robe which was so bright that no one could look at him.

Myths and Legends of British North America by Katharine Berry Judson. Web Source.

Famous Last Words: My Plans Change Every Second

I had finally convinced myself that I should be applying to the three graduate programs that seem like a good fit for me, and this week I found out that you can only apply to one program at OU per term. So I can only apply to one, and if I don't get in, I will have to wait 6 months to a year longer to start school, depending on what program I try to get into next. So now I'm questioning everything all over again. I feel like I have to try for the PhD program, but it may not be a perfect fit for me, and they might not accept me. But there's a master's program that feels like a better fit. It used to have a companion PhD program, but that's on hiatus. So if I do the master's and the PhD program isn't reinstated, will the other completely different program accept me? Or have I prepared for the totally wrong thing?

I was thinking about asking my teacher some questions and for some advice when I ask for a letter of recommendation, and I still think that's a good idea. But my husband suggested last night that I should talk to the head of the master's program and see what he thinks about where I would fit better, and if he knows anything about the PhD program's future. I didn't even think of that. So I'll be sending him an email today. I want my PhD, but if it comes down to it, I would rather start a relevant master's program in the fall than get rejected from a PhD program that wasn't entirely right for me to begin with, and having to wait another whole year to start. I'm too old to keep waiting, I need to finish my education so I can make use of it.

In mythology this week, I finished revising my second story. Two more to go, and I think they will be a little easier to write than this one was. The next one will be set at the beach, and I think it's going to be really fun to write. I'm getting close to the end of the course, so I'm only taking so many points per week so I can finish up the project. As for other writing stuff, a group of people I collaborated with on some fan fiction over the summer asked me to do so again, so I'm starting to think about what I want to write for that. We're all writing the same characters, and there will be a theme, and then we'll each write our own unique short story and publish them all as chapters. It was ra great experience last time, and the topic sounds fun.

(Photo from my personal collection. Happy Mario.)

Mario has been really content most of the week. I took this photo the other day and he looked so happy. This morning he's the grumpiest cat that ever lived, and I haven't found a solution. He's finally napping, but he growls in his sleep every once in awhile. Having a hyperthyroid cat is hard sometimes.

(Photo from my personal collection. Folding paper again.)

I started making origami lucky stars at the end of last week. My new obsession. I'm filling jars as gifts for some of my family for the holidays, because I always have to add some kind of ridiculous deadline of pressure to my hobbies. My daughter is on her fall break this week, so we spent yesterday at the mall looking for things she might want for her upcoming birthday, and drinking yummy coffees. Wish I could spend all of today with her, too, but I'll be off to the Veteran's Center in the afternoon as usual. Last week was better than the first, but you never know what you're going to get there, so it makes me anxious every single time. Last week I made some weird pasta art to entertain the group we had there. The art lady keeps making them decorate paper pumpkins and none of them seem into it. I have a feeling it will be two more weeks of paper pumpkins. I would bring some things in to give them something new to do, but I don't want to overstep. I'm just there to help. I had a great talk with my supervisor on my way out last week, so that relationship feels really good, and I like the art lady and other volunteers, so hopefully it gets more fun and less stressful over time.

Google Define Tech Tip

(Screen Shot from Google Define)

I already knew what aesthetics means, but I was curious about the origin. I think it's fascinating that it had nothing to do with beauty until the early 19th century, and was controversial until the end of the 19th century.  The way word meanings change over time is really interesting. 

I use google to look up words pretty frequently when I'm not sure what they mean, or I need to explain the meaning to my daughter and realize I can't put it into words even though I know how to use it. Another thing I use often if thesaurus.com when I am writing. It makes it much either to not keep repeating the same words over and over, especially descriptive words. 

Wikipedia Trails: From buried treasure to witchcraft

1. Buried Treasure - It's a popular belief that pirates bury treasure. From what I have read, William Kidd is the only pirate known to actually have done it. His was found, and it is suspected that be buried even more in other places, but since those have never been found he probably didn't. Lots of fiction has been written about pirates burying treasure, including The Gold-Bug by Edgar Allan Poe.

2. Edgar Allan Poe - American write best known for writing creepy stories. Influenced not only literature, but cosmology and cryptography. May have died from alcoholism, "delirium tremens, heart disease, epilepsy, syphilis, meningeal inflammation, cholera, and rabies."

3. The Black Cat - a short story by Poe in which the narrator becomes an alcoholic and harms his beloved cat. It's sad and very mean to cats so I won't go into more detail. My daughter has read it in the past and remembered it was a one-eyed cat, but had forgotten how it happened. Symbolically, Pluto the cat becomes a witch that haunts him.

4. Witchcraft - the practice or belief in magic. Can also be a religion (Wicca). In Japan, witches are people who employ either foxes or snakes. The kitsune-mochi makes a deal with a fox, to provide food and shelter in exchange for it doing the person's bidding. The Tsukimono-suji is a family of hereditary witches that employ foxes. Employing snakes is much less common than foxes.

(Photo from Yōkai wiki)

Reading Notes: Captain Kidd

(Photo from Pinterest)

Chapter IV - Kidd claimed his men were the pirates and that they locked him in his cabin to perform acts of piracy. He claimed to be afraid to go back to New York because of the false stories about him, so he instead headed to Boston. Along the way he stopped at Block Island, then stopped at Gardiner's Island leaving its proprietor, Mr. Gardiner, with most of his treasures for safe keeping. It is suspected that when Kidd traveled through Long Island Sound, he buried gold and jewels at Thimble Island and all along the coast before reaching Boson and his arrest.

Chapter I - A fortune teller told some men where to find Captain Kidd's treasure - Young woman with a sacred stone - Chihaya and the holy stones.

Kidd took notes that would enable him to find the treasure again later.

Fortune tellers continually told people where to find the treasure and to work in complete darkness and be completely silent, or else natural disasters would come and prevent them from taking the treasure (torrential rains and thunderstorms, lightning, shrieks of laughter heard, swarms of bats).



The buccaneer chiefs; or, Captain Kidd and the pirates of America by John Stevens C. Abbott. Web Source.

Week 10 Story: Return of The Sun

(Photo from Pinterest)

The Phantom Thieves were in a strange part of the Metaverse where the sun didn’t shine. All they had was starlight.

“What are we supposed to do about this?” Noir asked. “We can barely see anything.”

“Maybe there’s something we can do to restore the light,” Mona, the cat, said.

“I will take care of it,” Joker said.

“What are you planning to do,” Noir asked with wide eyes.

Joker smirked. “I’m going to steal it back.”

“Hey, can I come with?” Skull asked. “I’m bored.”

Joker shrugged, and the two went off in search of the light. They glimpsed some rays on a hilltop near a cabin. A man was shoveling snow out front. Each heap of snow he threw into the air completely blocked out the sun. Joker noticed a ball of light by the cabin’s door, and smiled. “Excuse me, sir,” he said. Can we trouble you for a cup of coffee? It’s very cold outside and we’d love to warm up.”

“What? You’re thinking about coffee of all things in a place like this?” Skull asked.

Joker held a finger to his lips, then turned back to the man.

“Oh, I suppose,” he replied. “Come into the cabin.” He dropped the shovel and walked to the door. Joker snatched the ball of light and started running back down the hill.

“Ohhhh, now I get it,” Skull said. He started to run after Joker, then stopped and grabbed the shovel. “Hey, we’re gonna borrow this, mister, thanks!”

The two thieves ran all the way down the hill, breaking off pieces of the light ball and dropping them every so often. When they reached the others, they had created days and nights in the palace.

“Oh, thank you! That’s so much better!” Noir said happily.

“I think we should leave, though,” Mona said. “I’m pretty sure that shovel Skull took was the treasure, this place is about the crumble!”

They ran as fast as they could, escaping to the real world just in time. “That light thing you did was really cool, Joker, but I guess it was for nothing since the palace doesn’t exist anymore,” said Mona.

Skull smiled sheepishly. “Oops. That was my bad.”

(Photo from Pinterest)

Author’s note:

This story is based on The Bringing of the Light by Raven from Myths and Legends of Alaska, edited by Katharine Berry Judson. In the original, the sun stops shining in a village. A boy says he can get it back, and turns into Raven. He finds a man at the top of a hill shoveling snow, which is blocking the light. He tells the man he wants to live with him since his village is too dark. When the man agrees and invites him in, he steals the ball of light by the porch and the shovels and runs back towards the village, breaking off pieces of light every so often, creating days and nights. The man chases after him, but because he is Raven, the boy quickly flies away. I have used characters from the game Persona 5 in my retelling. In the game, a group called the Phantom Thieves can enter a cognitive world in people’s minds called the Metaverse. A particular person’s cognitive world is referred to as a palace. To create a change of heart in a person who has gone astray, the thieves have to steal the core of the palace, called its treasure. I thought it would be fun to set this story in the Metaverse where the sun could go missing. The thieves end up stealing the light back, but also take the shovel, which turns out to be the treasure. When the treasure is taken, the palace crumbles and ceases to exist.

The Bringing of the Light by Raven from Myths and Legends of Alaska, edited by Katharine Berry Judson. Web Source.

Reading Notes: Alaskan Legends Part B

The Ghost Land - when the chief's son's wife died, he was too sad to sleep. One morning he got dressed and walked all day/night, he was walking the Death Trail. He called to people on the other side of the lake to come get him, but they couldn't hear him. A man was paddling in a canoe. The people finally heard shouting and said that someone was coming up from Dreamland and to bring him over. The chief's son saw his wife and he was happy. She told him he couldn't stay long, and took him back in the Ghost Canoe. They landed at Ghost's Rock, at the end of the Death Trail. They walked back home, and he went inside and told his father that he brought his wife home. He told him to bring her inside, but no one else could see her. She wrapped a cloak around her, and ate, but all they could see was the cloak and the spoon. After, the chief's son died, and they both went back to Ghost Land.

(Photo from Pinterest)

The Boy in the Moon - a lazy boy in a village fell in love with a girl. He sees her climbing a ladder to the sky with a plate of meat and berries. She grabbed hold of a line hanging down as she climbed. Her brothers scolded the boy, and he rushed to get dressed and ran outside, climbing the ladder to get to her. She was floating away, and he did too. The girl became the sun and the boy the moon. 

"When the sun sinks in the west, the moon rises in the east, but always too late. The moon has no food, and sometimes almost fades away. Then the sun reaches out the dish of meat and berries and the moon becomes fat again." (Explains the phases of the moon).



Myths and Legends of Alaska, edited by Katharine Berry Judson. Web Source.

Reading Notes: Alaskan Legends Part A

(Photo from Pinterest)

The Bringing of the Light by Raven - The sun and moon were taken away; people only had the stars for light. An orphan boy that everyone hated said he could bring it back, put on a raven coat and became Raven. He asks his aunt where the sun and moon are and she doesn't know. He insists she wouldn't sew so well if she didn't know where it was, so she told him to go south on snowshoes and that he'll know it when he gets there. So he goes, and days later he sees a ray of light, but every time he gets closer to it, it disappears. He comes to a hill and one side is full of lights, the other black as night. There was a hut with a man shoveling snow out front. When he tossed snow in the air, you couldn't see the light until it fell. There was a ball of fire near the house and the boy plotted to steal it. He asks the man why he keeps throwing the snow, because it's hiding the light. The man tells him he's not hiding the light, he's shoveling snow. He asks the boy who is is, and he tells him his village is so dark that he came to live with the man. He invites the boy in, and the boy takes the ball of light, grabs the shovel and runs north. The man chased him, but the boy was Raven and could fly fast. As he flew, he broke off a piece of the light, which made day. Then he let it stay dark, then broke another piece, and kept doing so, creating days and nights. Sometimes nights were longer, because he traveled through the dark longer.


Myths and Legends of Alaska, edited by Katharine Berry Judson. Web Source.

Tech Tip: Embedding YouTube, Persona 5 Opening

Persona 5 Opening Cinematic and Song

Wikipedia Trails: From The Boy Who Drew Cats to Pitchy Patchy

1. The Boy Who Drew Cats - (other versions known as The Painter of Cats). Translated by Lafcadio Hearn in 1898. Original manuscript was called The Artist of Cats. The book was printed on crepe paper.

2. Crêpe Paper - paper coated with sizing, a protective, glue-like substance. Made with a paper machine that has a steam-heated drying cylinder called a yankee. Used for party streamers, costume making, soaked in water to make paper crafts, and has had some other really weird uses like toilet paper in the former Soviet Union, in place of corn husks when making tamales, and can be used for lipstick and hair color.

3. Junkanoo - street parade in the Bahamas every Boxing Day and New Year's Day. A parade, music, dancing, and costumes. Many of the costumes are made with crepe paper.

4. Pitchy Patchy - a character from the Junkanoo festival. Wears clothes made of "tattered cloth" which is typically crepe paper. Cracks a whip to keep the crowd and the masqueraders in line during the festival.

(Photo from Pinterest)

Famous Last Words: The Clock is Ticking

We're halfway through the semester. My grad school application deadlines are much closer than they were the last time I gave it serious thought. It's hard to work on those while also working on my classes. I know who I will ask to write two of my letters of recommendation, but I still need a third. And then I have to get my things together and ask them. My research assistant job is about to get rolling. I really thought I'd be knee deep in that before midterms, but it's alright. I'm sure we'll make up for lost time.

In mythology this week, I wrote a story based on one of the extra readings I did last week, a Japanese folktale called The Painter of Cats. My version wasn't the greatest, but the original was so much fun. I also wrote my second story this week. It was definitely not as good as my first. I think the rest will be better, but this one was harder to write.

I'm getting ready to head to the veteran's center for my second week of volunteering. I have been there a couple time this week taking care of business. My heart speeds up when I walk through the front doors, every single time, no matter how relaxed I feel beforehand. I hope I adjust soon, because I'm tired of feeling nervous about it.

Yesterday I had a "mental health day" which for me just means I didn't do any homework. I walked around craft stores looking for ideas and didn't buy anything. I read for fun instead of for school. I probably won't get too many more days like that before the semester ends. I thought it was going to be weird to have a semester in between graduation and grad school, but I am honestly looking forward to it.

(Photo from my personal collection)

My daughter and a friend went to a concert this week, and neither of them are driving yet, so we dropped them off in Bricktown. My reward was a stunning sunset. I really need to start getting out for sunrise and sunset again, as often as possible. I spent a couple of years doing it and it brought me a lot of peace. You can see many, many of the shots I took on flickr. Maybe I need to bring back the sunshine project next semester when I don't have nearly as large of a to do list.

Week 9 Story: The Thief Who Drew Cats

(Photo from Persona Central)

Yusuke Kitagawa had been drawing since he was a young boy. He could barely remember his mother, as she passed away when he was just three years old. Raised by his art teacher, he was rarely without a paintbrush in his hand.

When he became Fox of the Phantom Thieves, he found that he could only draw cats. Black cats, orange cats, striped cats, fat cats, cats in bowties, cats wearing bandanas. The last he attributed to his teammate Morgana’s influence. Morgana was cute both in cat form and in the Metaverse where he walked on two legs, with his adorable yellow bandana.

Yusuke became frustrated with his inability to draw anything else. He decided to ask his friends for advice. “What should I draw? It must be something aesthetically pleasing.”

“You should draw Morgana,” Akira said with a smile.

“What?! Why the hell would he want to draw Mona?” Ryuji asked. “You’re really strange, dude.”

“I think a sunrise would be really beautiful,” Ann contributed.

“Aha! I know what to do now! I have to go, I must paint!” And with that, Yusuke was gone. The next morning he was the proud craftsman of a lovely painting… of Morgana watching the sun rise.

He stopped by the cafe to show Akira his painting. “I don’t understand,” he said. “I can’t seem to stop drawing cats.”

“What’s wrong with cats?” Akira asked. “I think it’s a great painting, don’t you Morgana?”

“Yes, well he did paint my good side, that’s for sure!” Morgana said with a wink.

(Photo by Candra at Deviantart)

Depressed by his strange art slump, Yusuke visited the church for inspiration. He told the priest of his troubles while he was there. “Why don’t you stay with me at the church for a while,” the priest offered. “I can teach you to paint the angels and the sun and all of the prophets.” Yusuke agreed. He packed a bag and spent a week living with the priest. He learned to draw all of the things he was promised, and more, but also still couldn’t stop drawing cats. When the week was up, the priest frowned. “I think you will make a fine artist someday, but for now, maybe you should go draw cat portraits or something."

This put Yusuke in an even more gloomy mood. He was afraid to go back home. What if the others were ashamed of his failure? No, he wouldn’t go back until he succeeded in creating art that didn’t have cats in it.

As he walked aimlessly, he came across another church. This one was strange, full of cobwebs and dust and empty of people. “I wonder where the priest has gone?” Yusuke thought. “Perhaps I will clean up for him while I wait.” He spent hours cleaning the church, sweeping away the dust and the webs. When he finished, he was very tired. “I think I will lay down for awhile. I want to feel rested when the priest comes back, so I can ask him to teach me to paint something besides cats.” Before he went to sleep, he drew one more cat picture, a lovely portrait of Morgana in his yellow bandana on the wall.

(Photo by blazpu on Deviantart)

Yusuke heard terrible screams in the night. It sounded like animals fighting. He rushed out to see what was going on. He found a huge, dead rat in the middle of the floor, and noticed that his portrait of Morgana was now covered in blood. “My god! The drawing must have come to life and killed the rat!” Yusuke exclaimed.

Just then, Morgana popped off the wall, solid and made of flesh and blood. “What are you doing, you idiot! Why did you summon me here? And why are you in the Metaverse alone?” Morgana asked.

“Summon you? Metaverse? Wait…” Yusuke felt confused as he tried to absorb what had happened. “I accidentally activated the MetaNav and entered the Metaverse?” he asked the cat.

“Yep. Then I guess you drew me on the wall, and I ended up here, too. Just in time, that huge rat monster was about to eat you.”

“Forgive me, Morgana, and thank you for saving me.”

“Anytime. But we should probably go home, now. Akira will be worried.”

On the way out of the church, they ran into the priest Yusuke had been waiting for, and he paid Yusuke 100 yen for his cat drawing that saved the church from the rat monster.

When they returned to the real world, Yusuke told his friends the tale of how he got paid 100 yen for his portrait of Morgana. From then on, the Phantom Thieves referred to him as the Thief Who Drew Cats.

Author’s Note:

This story is a retelling of The Painter of Cats from Japanese folk stories and fairy tales, by Mary F. Nixon-Roulet. In the original story, a young boy drives his parents crazy by doing nothing but draw cats. When he draws a cat on his mother’s sash for her kimono, they get angry and send him to live with a priest. He studies and learns from the priest, and enjoys the work, but he still draws cats. The priest becomes angry when he draws cats on the walls of the temple and sends him away. The boy is afraid to face his parents, so he decides to look for another temple. He finds one that is dirty and empty. He cleans it up, draws cats on the wall, and goes to sleep. In the night, he hears animals fighting. A huge rat goblin is dead on the floor in the morning, and his cat pictures are covered in blood. He assumes they must have killed the rat. The priests are grateful and pay him 20 yen for saving their church from the rat goblin. In the future, he tells his art students that the first piece of art he sold was a picture of cats for 20 yen, and they call him the Painter of Cats. In this retelling, I have used characters from the game Persona 5. Yusuke is an artist who is having a slump and asks his friends what he should paint. One of the options for Akira (the main protagonist of the game) to answer with is that he should paint the cat, Morgana. In the game, their group called the Phantom Thieves have the ability to enter a cognitive world called the Metaverse. I thought it would be fun if Yusuke accidentally entered that world, and his drawing lured Morgana the cat in as well, to fight with the rat.

The Painter of Cats from Japanese folk stories and fairy tales, by Mary F. Nixon-Roulet. Web Source.

Reading Notes: Goemon film

(Photo from Pinterest)

Goemon (film) - Goemon's entire family is assassinated in front of him. He is saved by Nobunaga Oda, who has Goemon trained in ninjitsu. He is assigned to protect Princess Chacha, Oda's niece and falls in love with her, but due to having very different status, they don't end up together. Years later Goemon becomes a master thief. He steals a mysterious box, and is pursued by a samurai working for Lord Hideyoshi. He escapes with it, leaving behind a calling card. Goemon gives the gold inside the box to the poor, and throws the box away. A young thief named Koheita finds the box and takes it home. Goemon learns the box was valuable and goes to find it. He hears screams and saves Koheita from a samurai who has just murdered his mother. Goemon takes Koheita in as one of his band of thieves. Another ninja trained at the same time as Goemon, Saizo, confronts him about the box and tells him it is referred to as Pandora's Box. When Goemon is about to be defeated by Saizo, their teacher Hattori Hanzo appeared and saved him. Goemon finds a map in the box that leads him to a contract on Hideyoshi. Hanzo reappears and offers him gold to murder Hideyoshi. Goemon goes to his home and kills him, then hides in the ceiling of ChaCha's room. The real Hideyoshi walks in and Goemon is surprised to learn he killed his fake double. Goemon is shot by a guard trying to escape, and Saizo rescues him from the moat. Both Goemon and Saizo are asked by different people to assassinate Hideyoshi. Goemon deides not to. The guy who paid Saizo think it is done and shoots him. Saizo's child is taken and Hideyoshi decrees he should be boiled to death as a public execution. He tells him his name is Goemon. Hideyoshi kicked him innto the cauldron and threw the child in after him. Goemon confronts Hideyoshi about why he betrayed Nobunaga, and ends up killing Hideyoshi. Tokugawa and Mitsunari fight over who should rule Japan, Goemon charges in wearing Nonbunga and fights them during a solar eclipse. Mitsunari's army is superstitious about the eclipse so they leave. Goemon approaches Tokugawa and everyone assumes he intends to kill him, but he isn't holding a sword, just Chacha's fan. One of his emn stabs Goemon. Goemon admires the fireflies and stars and then dies.

Summary of the 2009 film Goemon. Web Source. 

Reading Notes: Japanese Fairy Tales - Lang Part B

(Photo from Mother Nature Network)

Schippeitaro - This is a different version of The Phantom Cats story that I read last week. It is similar, except instead of a samurai in the forrest, it is a Japanese boy who has reached adulthood, and they called the cat monster The Spirit of The Mountain.

The Magic Kettle - A man living in the mountains finds an old iron kettle that he hadn't seen in years, cleaned it and decided to replace his falling apart kettle with it. When he boils water, the kettle changes shape and becomes a tanuki (a Japanese raccoon dog). It ran around his house, climbing the walls and the ceiling, making the old man crazy, so he had his neighbor come over to help him catch it. They locked it in a trunk and try to sell it to a tradesman, Jimmu, but the trunk is empty, so the old man sells him the kettle instead. In the night, Jimmu hears noises and finds a tanuki running around. In the morning only the kettle is there. His neighbor tells him he should travel with it and show it off to get rich. None of it brought him any happiness, so he returned the kettle and gave some of the money to the old man. 

It might be fun if Akira had a magic coffee pot.

Uraschimataro - a young fisherman catches a small turtle. The turtle begs for its life and promises to repay him someday. Years later, Uraschimataro's boat gets destroyed and he is swimming for shore when he sees a huge turtle. It tells him it's the one he saved and offers to take him the rest of the way back to land. He saw on the turtle's back for 3 days and then they reached the palace of the sea god. The turtle tells him she's the first waiting maid of the sea princes Otohime. The princess fell in love with him instantly and begged him to stay. Eventually he misses his parents and wants to visit them. Otohime says if he goes he will never come back. She gives him a golden box and tells him never to open it, and if he doesn't the turtle will bring him back to her. While he was gone, his parents had died. He opens the box, and purple mist comes out and turns him into an old man. He tries to call the turtle, but it doesn't come, and he dies.



Japanese Fairy Tales from The Violet Fairy Book by Andrew Lang. Web Source.

Reading Notes: Japanese Fairy Tales - Lang Part A

(Photo from Pinterest)

The Two Frogs - Japan - 1 frog lived in a ditch in Osaka, the other by a stream in Kioto. Both wanted to explore the world, set off in each other's direction. They had to climb a mountain and they met at the top. They hit it off and decide that if they stand on their hind legs and hold onto each other they can see each other's town from there. They pointed their noses towards each other's city, but forgot that their eyes are on the side of their heads, so they thought the cities looked exactly like each other. They decided to go home, and spent their lives thinking two completely different places looked just alike.

The Maiden With the Wooden Helmet - A beautiful girl's father becomes ill and dies, and it is only her and her mother left. When her mother gets older she begins to worry about how beautiful her daughter is and begs her to wear a wooden helmet when she goes out to hide her beauty. She promises, and her mother passes away. She gets a job working in the fields. Her master sees her and sees how hard she works and offers her a job as maid to his sick wife. When their son moves back home, he thinks it's curious and laughs when they tell him she won't take it off. He catches a glimpse of her beauty when she washes her face in the stream, and begins asking her daily to marry him. She always says no, until she has a dream of her mother telling her to marry him. On their wedding day, the helmet won't come off, so she gets married in it. After, they share wine and the helmet cracks, breaking into jewels, and everyone is captivated by her beauty.

Made me think of Futaba wearing her mask and everyone finding it startling and weird that she would hide behind it.

The Cat's Elopement - A beautiful cat named Gon lives with a music master, and a lady nearby owns a lovely female cat named Koma. One night the cats both went out for a stroll and met under a cherry tree and fell in love. Gon asks his master to buy Koma so he can marry her, but the lady won't sell her. They ran off together and ended up in a large park. A big dog showed up and scared Koma up a tree, and Gon stood up to it. Koma screamed for help and one of the princess who owned the park's servants came, scared the dog off and took Gon home with him. Koma was left alone and the princess became Gon's new owner. Everyone loved her because she was so nice, and a serpent fell in love with her and she was annoyed by him so the servants kept driving him away. It was sly and would sneak in to scare the princess. It snuck in and tried to kiss her and Gon grabbed it and killed it. She gave Gon love and pets and yummy food and a comfy bed. One morning he was sunbathing in front of the house, and saw a big cat messing with a little one and chased it away. The little cat turned out to be Koma. They were happy to be reunited and told the princess their story, and she said they should stay with her forever.



Japanese Fairy Tales from The Violet Fairy Book by Andrew Lang. Web Source.

Famous Last Words: Hot Chocolate Parties Are The Best

This week went pretty well. I'm still a week ahead in this class, so I had the week 8 review assignments instead of new reading. I used some of the free time that made to do some extra Japan readings, which were incredibly fun. I might have to use one of the books I found for my story this week as they were so fun, there were at least three different stories I would love to retell. I'll also be working on my second story for the project this week. I'm pretty afraid of this one, it's going to be harder to write than the first.

My other classes were fine this week, and I finally started my internship at the Veteran's Center. It's going to take some getting used to because it was a little awkward for me, but it was all around quite an experience. I helped with art class while one of my classmates played the piano, and then I got to go help in the dementia unit. You'd think that would have been the hard part but I felt more relaxed in there. No one cared if I was awkward.

My daughter took her first college test this week. She was really nervous about it but studied hard and felt good about it afterwards. We spent the evening before sitting in her room while she told me all about the topics she was going to have to write essays about. I sure don't miss taking tests this semester. I felt weird about not having tests in any of my classes, but I have to say my life is better without having to worry about them. After her test, we had a hot chocolate party (something we've been doing for her whole life), with Halloween colored sprinkles and ghost shaped marshmallows. Mario was mad that I wouldn't give him the jar of sprinkles. I'm not sure what he planned to do with them, but he was really annoyed with me.

(Photo of Mario from my personal collection)

I also got to go purchase my cap and gown this week. It's getting really close, and I have a lot to do before then. It feels much more real now after bringing that stuff home with me, though. I guess it's time to get back to those grad school applications before time gets away from me.

Wikipedia Trail: From Henry V to The Raven Cycle

1. Henry V - When I did my extra reading today, one of the books I read compared Japan's Yoshitsune to Henry V. I couldn't remember who he was, so I looked him up, and by the end of my trail I ended up at one of my favorite series' of books which has absolutely nothing to do with Henry V. He became the King of England after gaining experience in the military fighting against Welsh King Owain Glyndŵr. After conquering framce, he married Charles VI's daughter. He died two years later, and his infant son became the successor to the throne.

2. Owain Glyndŵr, anglicised as Owen Glendower, was the last Prince of Wales, and considered an unofficial king. He revolted against the rule of Henry the IV of England. He avoided capture, and ignored offers to pardon him from Henry V. He disappeared mysteriously in 1412 and was assumed dead. Because of the mystery surrounding his death, he gained mythical status.

3. Maggie Stiefvater - One of my favorite authors. She writes YA novels, including a series called The Raven Cycle about teens searching for a Welsh King named Glendower. She also loves cookies, races cars, and has goats. She;s also an artist and musician. Before The Raven Cycle she wrote a series called The Wolves of mercy Falls, about teens that turn into wolves.

(Photo from maggiestiefvater.com)

4. The Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater's novels about a boy named Gansey and his friends who are searching for the sleeping Welsh king Owen Glendower. Blue Sargent, daughter of a psychic, accompanies her aunt to the churchyard on St. Mark's Eve where the spirits of people from Henrietta, VA who will die that year appear. She sees Gansey's spirit there, before she meets him. Her psychic family had prophesied that she would kiss her true love and then he would die, so Blue is opposed to ever kissing anyone at all. They are really fantastic books, you should check them out if you haven't read them already.