Week 13 Reading Notes: Celtic Fairy Tales (1) Part B

King O’Toole and his Goose
- King O’Toole is obviously very self-centered, because the narrator thinks I should have heard of him and I never have.
- I like that the narrator addresses the reader, making the story more personal. By referencing back to the reader every so often, you make sure that the reader is paying attention.
- How the story is written/told is exactly how I would imagine an Irish person speaking. I even dabbled reading some lines with an Irish accent for authenticity.
- Honestly, the plot wasn’t that good and I was focused more on practicing my accent than paying attention.

The Shee an Gannon and the Gruagach Gaire
- The explanation of words at the beginning of this section was thoughtful, because the title had a bunch of words with which had no meaning to me.
- “… put a stop to the laughing of the Gruagach Gaire, who before this, laughed always and laughed so loud that the whole world heard him.” Use the word “laugh” one more time. I don’t think there was enough.
- The subtitles that tell the readers when the settings have changed through me off a little. Just describe it???
- I thought cowboys only existed in the Old West. 

Cowboy hat with a three-leaf clover on it. Found on Celtic Cowboy.

- I know that this is too much to ask, but can’t the daughter have a say in the marriage, like just this once? 

Beth Gellert
- Llewelyn is a weird name and I don't even know how to pronounce it.
- Also, KILLING THE DOG WAS SO UNNECESSARY AND I HATED EVERY BIT OF THIS STORY.

The Tale of Ivan
- Ivan, honey, you should have definitely taken the wag and not the advice. Money is better.
- Okay, I guess in this case it was okay to get advice, because it helped him in the end, but if an old man decided to take my money that I earned working for an entire year and gave me some cliché advice instead, I would have been angry. 

Andrew Coffey
- I had a teacher in middle school with this same last name.
- I’m pretty sure that this entire story was just Andrew Coffey having a severe reaction to smoking weed, but that’s just me.

Brewery of Eggshells
- Creepy picture of kids. Fun.
- I just really wish there was more dialogue in these types of stories, because it moves the story along so much quicker.
- Also, don’t throw your children into lakes. Goblins will get them.

Bibliography: Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1892). Link to online reading.

Week 13 Reading Notes: Celtic Fairy Tales (1) Part A

Connla and the Fairy Maiden

- Okay, but like, Connla of the Fiery Hair? Really? We couldn’t think of a better name? The language in the story is already bad enough. I understand that it’s supposed to be Celtic and old fashioned, but honestly, gross. I also want to know what the maiden’s “strange attire looks like.
- This fairy maiden just loves Connla out of nowhere? Sounds fake, but okay.
- I’m glad that the King’s characterization allows him to admit that he has his shortcomings.
- The apple reminds me of the evil witch’s apple in Snow White, which would make a great twist in the story if the fairy maiden ended up being evil.
- I’m glad that the Druid has a name, compared to the maiden, who should also have a maiden considering that she is a main character. This might be a little sexist.
- Basically, this story is really dramatic and I didn’t like it.

The Field of Boliauns
- The picture at the beginning creeped me out.
- I’m glad that neither of the stories that I’ve read started with “Once upon a time…”
- There’s a lot more dialogue in this than in the first story, which moves it along quicker, but the dialogue is hard to follow because I cannot seem to imagine people speaking like they do in the story.
- Leprechauns are not nice. That is all.

The Horned Woman
- Okay, if a lady with a horn on her head came barging into my apartment, I would most definitely be appalled and slightly terrified. What is wrong with this woman?
- Why does no one have names in stories like this? I’m calling the police.
- “The mistress felt herself obliged…” Oh, I get it now. She’s being compelled.
- I have no idea what went on in this story, plot wise. All I know is that there was a lot of screaming.

The Sheperd of Myddvai
- A guy that gives me his food without me asking? Sign me up.
- Kinda of puzzled why all these farm animals came out of the lake. That’s not really where they belong.
- I like the maiden only because she knows when to leave a man who is “abusive to her.” Power to you, sis.
- I would have liked the ending to be different, simply because I was expecting more out of the characters in this story compared to the others.

The Sprightly Tailor
- Again, the picture at the beginning creeped me out.
- Wishing that the main character had a name, simply because it would be easier to relate back to him.
- There is more description in this story compared to the others, allowing me to have a better understanding of setting.
- The giant reacted in the same way I would if I didn’t get attention I wanted: by stamping my feet and whining.

Munachar and Manachar
- These two already remind me of Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee from Alice in Wonderland.
- No descriptions = Sad Cassidy

Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree
- SNOW WHITE.
- The names are a little iffy, but at least they have names!
- Wishing I got descriptions of what everyone looks like. Or even just descriptions. There is too much dialogue.
- “I left them there.” SUCH A GOOD ENDING, despite the fact that the prince has two wives. Greedy bastard.

Square Celtic Knot. Found on Wikipedia Commons.

Bibliography: Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1892). Link to online reading.

Growth Mindset plus CATS

Photo at cheezburger.

I chose this image because it reminds of what I need to do to help myself move forward: I need to listen. I don't like being criticized, and a lot of the time, it makes me angry when people try to tell me to change something. Most of the time, however, they're only trying to help, and I need to understand that they are trying to help me better myself in the long run.

Found on cheezburger.

Everybody makes mistakes (everybody has those days). Errors, especially if someone points them out to me, make me anxious, but I need to understand that those errors are going to help me build on what I've already done and they're going to make me and my work better.

Found on cheezburger.

Now I just have to learn how to take the feedback that I get and think about where I can go from there. I don't want to plateau and continue on the path that I've been walking, I want to change it up and make sure that I'm on a better path to being, well, better! Taking critiques and feedback from others is going to help me in the long run.

Learning Challenge: DESKERCISE!!!!

I realized as I was working on these deskercises that I do a lot of them when I’m sitting in class or at my desk anyway, so it was easy to work them into my homework routine anyway. I read an article from the Harvard Business Review, which gives you six different yoga exercises to try. 

The hardest one to do was definitely the reverse prayer pose, simply because my body is not as flexible as it used to be (I probably need to start stretching more than just when I’m doing my homework), and my wrists protested when I tried twisting them. Since I didn’t want to push my body too much, I stopped this exercise and moved to the next one. I’ll try to go back to this exercise each day to see if there are any changes in the flexibility of my wrists/arms. 

Not only did this stretching make me feel good physically, but mentally, because yoga makes you focus on your breathing, which directly correlates to your brain. It helped me to relax and really focus on what I was working on, which was, of course, reading the article and focusing on the poses all at once. 

I would definitely recommend trying the neck and shoulder poses, because I don’t think people truly realize how much tension they are holding there when they are stressed or focused, or in my case, both. 

What I hoped for from this article that I didn’t get was leg exercises, since your feet are usually on the floor and that is where all the blood is going. I’m definitely going to look into some of those to see if there are any that I can do while just sitting down at my desk or in class or something. This was a lot more enlightening than I thought it was going to be.  

Paws and Reflect. Found on Bare Feet Power Yoga.

Reading Notes: Beowulf (Extra Credit)

- It was interesting to read about Beowulf from before what I usually have read, which is when Grendal attacks. The intro was a good way to lay out the story and provide the audience an understanding of the world that they are about to enter.

- I don’t like the “Once Upon a Time” though. It only works when the main character is not a tool, which Beowulf is. He thinks he’s all high and mighty. If he were a girl, well, people would think she was a bitch.

- There is a lot of descriptions about the land, which is good, because I usually have no idea where I am when it comes to folklore/fairy tales.

- Sorry, but Beowulf = Hercules. Except Beowulf doesn’t go crazy and murder his wife and children, nor does he have thousands of spawns.

- I like the illustrations, simply because they’re funny but also black and white, KIND OF LIKE THE CHARACTERIZATION IN THIS DANG STORY.

- The dialogue in this is exactly how I believed people in this time period would have spoken. Crisp and to the point.

- I wish that they would give certain characters names, especially like “The Wanderer,” since there is an entire chapter about him in this unit. Was he so unimportant to them? Does this not make sense to anyone else besides me?

- I think we should all introduce ourselves the way that they do in this story. “I am Cassidy, daughter of Michael and Jodi, Mikayla and Madison’s sister, all hail!” It would make introductions so much more interesting, plus we wouldn’t have to do the weird “getting to know your family life” thing because you would already know most of it.

- I don’t like Beowulf and I don’t think I ever will. Sorry, you guys.

Beowulf is Wyrd meme. Found on WeKnowMemes.

Bibliography: The Story of Beowulf by Strafford Riggs with illustrations by Henry Pitz (1933). Link to online reading.

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