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     This class has been one of the most thought provoking and interesting classes I've taken in all my 4 years at MSU. I took a Literature 101 class my freshman year from Dr. Sexson, and when the opportunity came to take this class, I knew that I had to do it. It's a decision that I don't regret at all. I've learned so many things that related to my life in this class. Some of the most important things I learned were that there is a story behind everything, there is no such things as an ordinary day, and that everything comes back to mythology. Thank you Dr. Sexson for everything you've taught me! Mythology is now something I'll carry with me everyday.

Another Coincidence

     It seems like all these things having to do with mythology are happening at the end of the semester. I just wanted to tell you about a little coincidence that happened this weekend. I wrote last week about a nightmare that I had in which my boyfriend tried to kill me with his object of choice- a screwdriver.
    On Sunday, we went on a Walmart trip to pick up a few random things. We picked up some laundry stuff, some dish soap, new speakers for the truck, and then my boyfriend said he needed to go pick up one more thing. We headed over to the tool section and he began to search for the one thing I hoped he wouldn't- a set of screwdrivers. I thought to myself "Oh hell no! Why today out of all days does he choose to buy a screwdriver?" It's almost like it was fated to happen this way. Of course I told him about my dream and he thought it was funny, and now jokingly pretends like he might attack me with a screwdriver.
    Anyways, it was interesting how one of our assignments was to have a dream and the other was to have a coincidence, and both of these became related for me.

Heart Attack

     The other day I was driving around in my car, mindlessly listening to the radio. I was listening to the top hits today for some reason, i'm not sure why because I usually listen to country. I often think that alot of the popular music today has meaningless lyrics and is basically just dance music. I was listening to another one of those catchy songs, and was about to change the channel when I heard a couple lines of lyrics that struck me.

    I googled it later and the song is called heart attack. It's basically about her not wanting to fall in love with this guy because she knows she'll just end up getting hurt. One of the verses is:

The feelings are lost in my lungs
They’re burning, I’d rather be numb
And there’s no one else to blame
So instead I’ll take off in a run
I’m flying too close to the sun
And I’ll burst into flames

  At first I wasn't sure if I had heard correctly. Was this popular pop song actually referencing Greek mythology?! I believe that it actually was. The reference of flying too close to the sun clearly has to do with the story of deadalus and icarus. Icarus was told to not fly too close to the sun, but he did and burst into flames. I think that in this song, rather than being a literal reference to it, is a metaphorical reference to the myth. I figure that in the song, this girl knows that she should not be with this boy, yet she is still tempted, just as icarus was tempted to fly near the sun. She has probably been told not to be with him, but yet she still has that desire. It appears in this song that the girl does not give into her temptations. In mythology, there is a common theme of people doing what they are told not to do, and that theme seems to also be in this song.I was just surprised that this reference to mythology showed up in current pop music!

Music

    In this class, music has been a big theme. It seems like music can be related to almost anything. I'm a huge fan of country music, and I don't know what I would do without it. There are so many songs that I can relate to, and you grow to have a personal connection with some of them. This just shows how great the power of music is.

    I've often found it interesting how you learn something random one day, and then suddenly it is relevant. For example, this happened alot in high school. I would learn a random fact that I thought would never be useful and then later that night it would be a question on jeopardy. This happened multiple times and each time I was just as amazed. I've noticed that something similar happens with music. When I'm feeling in a certain mood, I turn on the radio and somehow the radio seems to know exactly what i'm going through and is playing the perfect song. Sometimes when I'm sad and I turn the radio on, I have to change the channel because the song playing just makes it worse. I guess like Ovid knowing that I would be in this class in 2013, the radio knows what I'm going through in my life each moment.

    Its also interesting how there is no such thing as originality, and surely every note of music has been played before, yet people keep on making more music. Its all about your unique interpretation of the music I guess. Overall, music seems to be a force so strong that it unites people. Everyone can relate to a certain song and put their own spin on the lyrics to make it personal to them, just like you can make nearly every Ovid story personal to you.
   

Annabel Lee

   Last week in class we talked about the poem "Annabel Lee" by Edgar Allen Poe. I happen to love this poem and never thought that it would be a topic of discussion in mythology class. The poem goes as follows:
      

It was many and many a year ago,

   In a kingdom by the sea,

That a maiden there lived whom you may know

   By the name of Annabel Lee;

And this maiden she lived with no other thought

   Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,

   In this kingdom by the sea,

But we loved with a love that was more than love—

   I and my Annabel Lee—

With a love that the wingèd seraphs of Heaven

   Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,

   In this kingdom by the sea,

A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling

   My beautiful Annabel Lee;

So that her highborn kinsmen came

   And bore her away from me,

To shut her up in a sepulchre

   In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,

   Went envying her and me—

Yes!—that was the reason (as all men know,

   In this kingdom by the sea)

That the wind came out of the cloud by night,

   Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love

   Of those who were older than we—

   Of many far wiser than we—

And neither the angels in Heaven above

   Nor the demons down under the sea

Can ever dissever my soul from the soul

   Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams

   Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes

   Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side

   Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,

   In her sepulchre there by the sea—

   In her tomb by the sounding sea.

          The poem is just so beautiful it takes my breath away to read it. The way it flows when you read it is amazing. Aside from that, there is a deep meaning behind it. It is about a man mourning the death of his wife, who died far too young. I'm sure many people can relate to the death of someone young. Death in itself is tragic, but the thought of a life cut too short may be even more so. If you've lived a full life and died of old age, death seems logical. However, a life cut short is left with so may open ended questions like "Why?" and "What if?".

         A couple of years ago in my photography class we had to choose a poem and do a series of photos interpreting it. Coincidentally, I chose Annabel Lee and my photos portrayed a feeling of solitude and loneliness and overall sorrow.

       I must admit when I first heard this poem at a young age, I didn't understand the meaning behind it, but I still knew it was beautiful. Now that I know the meaning behind it, it is still beautiful. I guess tragedy can have some kind of beauty behind it too. 

Pygmalion

      The story of Pygmalion was very interesting to me. I feel like it can relate to many peoples lives . Alot of times, when people are in a relationship, they try to change the other person somehow. In the story, Pygmalion constructed his idea of the perfect women into a statue and fell in love with her. He had all the control in creating her. Many times in relationships it seems like one person thinks that they can change the other somehow. So, they spend time trying to change them and are often times disappointed that they can't. As humans, we are not pygmalion and cannot completely change another person.

   I found a quote from the book "No Man Is a Island" that says "The beginning of love is the will to let those we love be perfectly themselves, the resolution not to twist them to fit our own image. If in loving them we do not love what they are, but only their potential likeness to ourselves, then we do not love them: we only love the reflection of ourselves we find in them."To me, this quote is relevant to the idea of people trying to mold others to fit their own image of the perfect person. Its true that often times in love people change and they change each other just by being together, but i'm not so sure if the complete essence of a person can change in a relationship. For example, my sister and her boyfriend have an agreement. They each have an issue that the other is not so fond of. My sister is a vegetarian and her boyfriend smokes. So, they have the agreement that is he stops smoking, then she will start eating meat. This doesn't seem like a drastic change in what defines them, but rather just a little something that might help their lives in someway.

     I've often heard that people put the ones that they love on a pedestal and sometimes refuse to see their flaws. If you're in a bad relationship, somethings you might be the only one who doesn't see it. You may be so in love that it blurs your vision and it takes all the people around you telling you how bad it is for you to finally realize it. Love is tricky.

    I find the quote that I said earlier to even be relevant in my life. When people start dating, its usually a happy beginning and you only see the good things about the other person. However, as time goes on, you start to see the negatives. If you try to change all the negatives to fit your idea of the perfect person, the other person may begin to resent you and then they are not themselves anymore- they are just the person that you created. Sometimes this can be good, like if they have a bad addiction or something, but other times its best to let the person be themselves and love them for them.

    Anyways, I feel like the story of pygmalion, even as old as it is, can still be extremely relevant to everyones lives today.

Improbable Life

      The presentation that Tyler gave in class today really got me thinking about how each decision effects your life so drastically. Sometimes its just a coincidence meeting people, and sometimes that coincidence can change your life. All of these small changes in life provoke larger changes that effect the course of our lives. Dr. Sexson said that life is improbable and that "all chances are against it". I could be so many other places right now, in the company of so many other people, yet here I am. Every choice i've made in life so far has led me here, and if I'd made even the slightest different choice in the past, everything could be different. That's such an interesting thought to me. How if I'd said hello to a different person or not gotten to know somebody, or made a different choice, how different would my life be? I guess it's true that the smallest choices add up to big changes.

     It was also interesting to me how Dr. Sexson spoke about how improbable it was that we are even alive and in this class. If my parents had made different choices and never met, I would not even exist. All chances were against me not existing, and yet here I am. This got me thinking about my life, and all the people who've come and gone and how my life has changed with each person i've known. There are millions of people out there who I don't know, but I'm sure i've had the chance to get to know alot of them and that chance just slipped away. John Steinbeck once said "I wonder how many people I've looked at all my life and never seen". This quote speaks to me so much because the important people I have in my life now, I met by chance. There are so many people who i've walked by, and just by saying hello or giving them a smile I could've gotten to know them better, but I didn't. And it was choices like these that make all the difference in my life.

    Dr. Sexson said that there are 4 things we need to learn, and those things are "memory, miracle, music, and myth." I thought about this and realized how perfect these 4 things fit in with my current relationship. About two years ago, my old boyfriend and I broke up. In the months that followed, I could only think about him and did everything in my power to forget him, but his memory kept haunting me. This is where the first M comes in. Then one day in August, after the sweet pea festival, my friends wanted me to go country dancing at the SOB barn. I wasn't going to go at first, but it was my friends birthday and so I was convinced to go. See, fate was already fighting against me. I got to the dance, and to be honest there were a bunch of strange people there. Then, the second M (Miracle) came into play. This handsome cowboy came up and asked me to dance. We danced and he was a bit drunk and one of the worst country dancers ever, but it was so much fun dancing with him. In my past relationships, music has been a huge point of conflict. See, I love country music and need to be with someone who also loves it. So as we were dancing, this boy starts singing along with the song, and then we begin to test each other on country song lyrics and turns out he knows just as much country as me. I'd never met someone like that. It seemed to be a miracle! So as we're dancing, we're both singing the song "Dust on the Bottle", and sadly the dance ends and we go our seperate ways. I walk over to my best friend, and she points to the boy and says,"Amber, I have a feeling thats your future boyfriend." A few songs go by, and suddenly "Dust on the bottle" comes on. This is where the third M (Music) comes into play. So this boy rushes over to me and asks me to dance again, and the rest is history. We've been together ever since. It seems like everything and all the powers of the world were working against us meeting that night. I almost didn't come to the barn, and he said he almost didn't come either, and that it was just by chance. I'd been dwelling over the memory of my past boyfriend and needed a new beginning, and I found it in a place I never expected. It was a miracle I met him that night. Our love of country music brought us together. All of these things combined are myth. Now everytime I hear "Dust on the Bottle", I think of our meeting. Myth is the precedent behind action, and I believe it played a part in bringing us together. If I hadn't of gone to the barn that night and made a different choice, my life would be on a completely different path right now. It really is true that life is so improbable.

    To end things, I have a quote that I love by William Shakespeare. It goes "When I saw you I fell in love. And you smiled because you knew". I don't know if I could fall in love with someone at first sight, but in all reality a look and a smile is all it takes to start to get to know someone. How many people could I have loved if I had just smiled at them and gotten to know them? I'll never know and I don't think it matters at this point. It was by fate that I met Aaron at the dance that night. All it took was his smile and him asking me to dance. At that moment I was skeptical of it becoming anything more than a dance, but maybe, just maybe, deep inside I smiled back because I knew I just might fall in love too.

My Name

      This weekend I went to a Dining Out dinner for the Air Force with my boyfriend. On the table we each had a namecard on our spot. Mine read "Amber E. Hoppel". Well, thats pretty close, but my middle name is actually Lee. After dating my boyfriend for about 2 years, I was a little shocked that he got my middle name wrong. In his defense, his sisters and I have very similar names and I guess it might be hard to keep them all straight. I still think he should know my middle name, but here's the story behind all of it.

     My boyfriend Aaron has two sisters, Amber Elizabeth and Amanda Lee. When I was born, my parents were planning on naming me either Amber Lee or Amanda Lee. They had their minds set on Amanda Lee, but when I was born they changed their minds for some reason. If I had been born Amanda Lee, and Aaron and I someday got married, I would have the same exact name as his sister. We've talked about that a bit, and he says he's glad that I wasn't named Amanda because that would be too strange. So I guess with all the Amber and Amanda's in the family, it might be hard to remember whose middle name is Lee and whose is not.

     Anyways, my parents didn't really have a reason for naming me Amber besides the fact that they liked the name. Growing up I would always see my name on beer bottles and cans, and would think, "Oh my gosh, my parents named me after beer!". Also, there's a stone called Amber. It's fosilized tree sap and has an orangeish color. Because my name is Amber, I've collected Amber jewelery for awhile and often wear it. Even though its just my name, I feel a connection with the stone because it seems like a part of me.

     It's interesting how much a name can mean. I always wished I had a girlier name, something that ended in a vowel instead of "er", but there's nothing I can do about that. My name doesn't say anything about who I am as a person, but it's still a huge identifying part of me. I feel a connection with it even though it's just a word.

      I've also noticed alot of families name all their kids with names that begin with the same letter. My boyfriends family is Aaron, Amber, Amanda, and Andrew. My dad's siblings are Marty, Monty, Matt, Mark, and Mike. Even though they are just names, they obviously chose them beginning with the same letter on purpose. Funny how something as simple as a name can have such interesting origins.

Dreams

     I remember getting the "Have a Dream" assignment at the beginning of the semester. Remembering my dreams has always been difficult for me. I'll remember then for a couple minutes after I wake up, but if I don't write them down they soon fade from my mind. That was the problem i've had all semester, up until this past week. For some reason, this past week, I've remembered two dreams, while all semester I haven't managed to remember a single one. They are extremely strange dreams, and I don't remember every detail, but here's a little summary of what I do remember.

    In my first dream, my boyfriend was trying to kill me. I know, scary stuff right?!! Anyways, it was more of a nightmare. I was with him out on the street, and for some reason he wanted to kill me. He had a screw driver in his hand and told me he was going to stab it through my rib cage up into my heart. I know that this is probably disturbing, but I figure I can't control my dreams :/ Anyways, he began to push the screw driver through my skin and it drew some blood before I could escape. I ran to the nearest police station, and there was nobody there except a woman at the desk. I began to tell her about my murderous boyfriend, but then we heard a knock on the back door. I knew it must be him, so I hid while she answered the door. It was him, and he killed her. I was terrified so I ran and somehow ended up in the top floor of north hedges. I've heard that the top floor of the hedges sway a little bit in the wind, but it my dream it was super exaggerated. It was very windy, and the building was swaying back and forth, and being on the top floor was like being on a roller coaster. I was dizzy and confused and tried to get back down the stairs, and thats where my dream ended. I woke up still in a panic and could kind of feel the mark near my rib cage where Aaron tried to kill me in my dream. In fact, I woke up next to him and was kinda pissed off at him because he had tried to kill me. I told him that and he just thought I was crazy. I don't quite know what this dream means, but I know that it was terrifying and hopefully my subconscious was just having a bad day.

    My next dream was about twisters. It was in Bozeman, and there was a storm full of twisters. I was inside a building with alot of people, and we were all hiding inside trying to avoid the twisters. Looking outside the window was terrifying because there were twisters everywhere,  but luckily we managed to avoid them. Something similar between the two dreams was that in the twister dream also, the house was swaying and I was dizzy.

    Hopefully these dreams don't mean anything. They were both more of nightmares than dreams. Now because of these nightmares I have a huge fear of being killed with a screw driver. Wouldn't that be a horrible way to die. Both of these dreams seem to represent that a storm is coming. Hopefully i'm just stressed with the end of the semester and finals and that is what is causing these nightmares, and its not an omen of things to come!

   Funny how it's at the very end of the semester when I can manage to remember my dreams. Well, here's hoping for more sweet dreams and no more nightmares.

"Ordinary"

        Today I stumbled upon another quote by C.S. Lewis. This quote stated "Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny..". I first noticed this quote because of the use of the word "ordinary". In this class , I've learned that there is no such thing as an ordinary day. So I got to thinking, is there such thing as an ordinary person? I've decided that the answer is no. That's because on the outside someone may seem ordinary with nothing special, but thats all a matter of consciousness. Once you get to know someone, you realize what was hidden under the surface and that everyone has a story if you give them the chance to show you. I feel like this relates to mythology because there is so much under the surface of each story.

     The quote states that hardships prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny. I feel that if you pursue challenges in your life, that counts as experiencing hardships. So, if you challenge yourself there will be a higher chance of you succeeding later in life, which is something that I believe.

    Overall, because of this class I don't think i'll look at people or events in the same way again. I'll realize that nobody is ordinary and that there is so much more under the surface of each person that I don't know from just seeing them. Ordinary is now a word that i'll probably rarely use.

Photography

        I spoke about this a bit yesterday in my presentation, but now I would like to delve a little deeper into it. I'm a photography major and always have the hardest time coming up with final project ideas. Don't get me wrong, I love photography and take pictures nearly every day. However, there's something about being forced to choose a project idea that stresses me out and I always have difficulties with it. This semester i've just realized that I need to look at what it in front of me. So, this semester my final project was portraits of my mom, dad, and sister. 

       I feel that photographs express somethings that words cannot, and behind every photo is a story, which relates to mythology. I'm sure many people have taken similar photos as me, but no one has taken them with the same exact people and at the same time as me. You might say that there is no such thing as originality, but the way I see it, you just have to do things in your own way. Taking photos is kind of like the displacement stories we wrote. The stories were based off previous stories and were a remake of them, and photography can be seen as a re-taking or re-interpretation of what's already been done.

        To me, photography is a way of expressing myself. I love portraits because when you look at them, you develop a relationship with the subject and the images portray meaning that words cannot. There is a very powerful quote by Ansel Adams that says "When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence." I love this quote because it relates to my life. I'm a quiet person, and so I often use photography as a means of communication and to show people how I see things. It's also true that i'm content with silence. I don't need constant noise or company to be happy. Of course I love the company of certain people, but there are some times when being alone with my thoughts is something i'm completely content with. 

     Below I posted some of the photographs of my family. I know that nobody knows them in the exact way that I do, but when you look at these photographs you get some sense of who they are. 

My Life as Mythic Detective

At the beginning of this class, I was unaware of how much it would impact me. When I thought of mythology, I’ll admit that I only thought of ancient fictitious stories that had nothing to do with my life. Mythology, to me, was perceived as something ancient that had no relevance to me personally. If you would have told me that after this semester there would be a huge change in the way I see things and what they mean to me, and that I could relate everyday things to mythology, I would have thought you were crazy. However, despite my skepticism, my eyes were soon opened to the world of mythology and I realized how much it has to do with my life. It was not something distant from me, but rather something personal to me. Everything I do has some reasoning behind it. Myth is the precedent behind every action, no matter how insignificant that action may seem.

            There are so many concepts in this class that it’s hard to wrap my head around all of them and put them all together in a cohesive way, but I’ll try my best. Being a mythic detective this semester is a concept that I’ve struggled with. What exactly is a mythic detective? At first I thought that I was supposed to go out and have these great epiphanies about mythology and discover great things about the world. That’s why at first I was having a rough time connecting mythology to my life. However, as the class progressed, I realized that I didn’t need to look far from my everyday life to find mythology. It was all around me to begin with and I didn’t even realize it. It was all a matter of consciousness. This idea struck me with our first assignment of hugging a tree. I thought about what tree I wanted to hug, and was having a hard time deciding which one to hug because there were so many options. At last, I ended up hugging a tree right outside my apartment. I pass by this tree everyday but had never really given it a second thought. But when I gave it a second look I saw its true beauty. It’s amazing how you can walk past something every single day, but never really see the beauty behind it until you start examining your surroundings more closely. Now every day when I walk to school I see that white birch and it reminds me of mythology, about Daphne turning into a tree, and how I should pay more attention to my immediate surroundings and see the true beauty in things.

            This concept of paying attention to things close to you reminds me of my photography. I’m a photography major and one of the lessons that has stuck with me is that you don’t have to take pictures of grand, extravagant things to make great photos. Sometimes the best photos come from things that you find at home and close to you. It’s all up to you to choose how to take the photograph and make it your own and interesting to the viewer. If you see things in a certain way, you have to find a way to show that through the way you photograph them. So, if you see things beautifully and show that through your photographs, then the viewer will likely see it that way too. It’s all about consciousness and perception and the way you choose to view things. For my final project in my photo class, I was having an extremely difficult time trying to come up with an idea for my project. I went through about five ideas before finally choosing the one that meant the most to me. I notice that I always try to complicate things and think that I have to come up with an amazing concept to have a successful photo series, when in reality that is not the case. My final project now is portraits of my mom, dad, and sister. I take photographs of these three people all the time, but it never occurred to me that I could make a project out of it. I guess I thought that a final on my family might be boring, but I now realize how wrong I was. These three people are the people that mean the most to me in the world, and if I photograph them in a way that shows that, then my project will be successful. If I would have only thought about the idea of what I’m looking for being right in front of me, it would have made choosing a final idea much easier, but I’m glad that I went through this experience and realized that it all goes back to mythology.

            Another important concept I learned was the idea of a circle and transformation. At the beginning of the class, it was said that there are three parts to mythology- a beginning, middle, and end. This can also be described as creation, initiation, and apocalypse. I liked the idea of mythology being a circle. It shows that life is a cycle and you always end up back where you started after going thought many trials and adventures that develop you as a person. You might end up exactly where you started from, but everything has changed. This idea really impacted me. I love quotes and when we learned about this idea in class, a certain quote immediately came to mind. This quote, by C.S. Lewis states “Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back everything is different.” I feel like this quote really describes how mythology is directly related to life. Mythology involves a circle transformation, and so does life. This semester, in fact, can be described as mythology. At the beginning of the class, I was sitting in my seat knowing nearly nothing about how mythology relates to me. Now, twelve weeks later, I’m back in the same exact seat, but my whole mind set is changed. I’m now more aware of the things around me, and I feel like my life has been changed for the better.

            There are no ordinary days, and also no ordinary people. Even in the most boring actions, there are reasons and stories behind them. Most likely, everything you do, someone else has done before. Therefore, there can be no originality. At first I found this realization sad, but as I think about it I realized that it just gives us the ability to interpret things in our own unique way. Someone else has likely taken photos very similar to me, but it’s all about interpretation. It’s up to me to take that photo in a way that says something about me, and it will be worthwhile. Also because of this class, everyday things that were normally boring to me are now becoming much more intriguing. Before, when I looked at the big and little dipper, they were nothing more than constellations. Now, however, I think of Callisto and Arcas up in the sky and that makes it all the more intriguing. Before, when I saw a spider all I did was scream and run for my life, begging for someone to kill it. I can never seem to kill spiders by myself, or even watch one being killed. Now I’m realizing there might be a reason behind that. Now when I see a spider, I think of Arachnea. Even though I still run and freak out about them, I’m now aware of the myth behind the spider. Now whenever I see a peacock I will be reminded of the eyes of Argus and where its tail feathers come from. Every time I see men eat m and m’s now, all I can think of is Saturn devouring his children. Even the most boring days have meaning. Brushing my teeth, showering, going to school, and studying are now all a part of mythology because they are daily rituals. Even though they are not painful rituals like sticking my hand in a glove full of bullet ants, or cutting my skin to look like a crocodile, they are rituals nonetheless. A great lesson I’ve taken from this class is that everything can be extraordinary if I choose to make it that way. I might think that my life is boring now, but if I choose to look at my surroundings and see the beauty in everything and the stories behind everything, then it won’t be boring anymore. It’s all about consciousness.

            Finally, the last important lesson I learned from Ovid’s stories is the idea of doing something you shouldn’t. In most of these stories, someone does something they shouldn’t. Icarus is told not to fly to close to the sun, yet he does and is killed because of it. Many characters challenge the gods, such as Arachnea, and things normally don’t go too well for them. These storied seem to tell us to be careful what you wish for. Midas wanted all the riches in the world, but his life is not what he expected when he gets the golden touch. Most of the mortals in these stories defy the gods, and it never turns out well for them. This could be a sign to us to not push our limits. Life as mortals is finite, and can end at any moment. I agree that we shouldn’t be reckless, but not sure if I agree that we shouldn’t take risks. After all, where is the enjoyment in life is we don’t take risks every so often? I’ve also learned how amazing being mortal is. It seems that the gods in a lot of these storied envy the mortals, because they don’t get to experience the entire beginning, middle and end of life. However, as humans we get to experience the entire circle and transformation in life from beginning to end. I like to think that my life is still in its beginning stages, but I know that I’ve experienced many trials that have to do with the middle of my life. I’m hoping that I’ll learn enough and experience enough in my life so that I have no regrets at the end of it. I now know that after this class, all I have to do is have a higher consciousness of the things around me and that this should be possible. On a closing note, I feel that the poem “Happy Endings?” by Shel Silverstein sums up endings, middles and beginnings quite nicely. “There are no happy endings. Endings are the saddest part. So just give me a happy middle. And a very happy start.” I’ve learned so much about mythology and my life in this class, and it’s something that will hopefully stick with me forever. I’m thankful to have had the opportunity to have learned so much and can now say that in addition to being a student, I’m now also a mythic detective.

Scorpions

         So right now i'm sitting at home watching this TV show  "One Tree Hill", and something that was said in the show reminded me of mythology class. In the show, two sisters are talking about a tattoo. One of the sisters, Taylor, has a tattoo of a Scorpion. She tells her sister "You wanna know why I really got the tattoo? When the scorpion's caught in a fire, it stings itself to death." The other sister, Haley, replies "That's a myth, actually." Taylor then responds, "Not in my life. When things get bad, I always find a way to make them worse."

        When I heard this, I almost thought that I heard it wrong. Even though it shouldn't surprise me at this point, I was amazed that something about mythology just fell into my lap. The idea of the scorpion stinging itself to death was intriguing, so I did a bit of research on it. It turns out that when scorpions react to severe heat, their metabolic process malfunctions and causes the scorpion to spasm, which can make it appear like the scorpion is stinging itself, while in reality it has just lost all control. Nevertheless, its still an interesting concept. I found it interesting how in the TV show, Haley says that its a myth, and acts as if it couldn't possibly be true just because its a myth. When looking online, I also found a few websites that said that the scorpion stinging itself was a myth, which meant it was absolutely false. I found it interesting how all of these people and Haley in the show thought that just because it was a myth, it meant that there was no truth behind it. I've learned from this class that there is truth behind mythology, and that every action has mythological truth behind it. It was also interesting how Taylor said when things get bad she always finds a way to make them worse. I've found that alot of Ovids stories have this theme. People challenge the gods or get into a sticky situation, and almost always things get worse. I think Taylor was right to realize that mythology could relate to her own life and she was right to make the comparison between a scorpion and herself. I guess she's a mythic detective without even realizing it.

       Also, when I began to think about scorpions, I thought about the constellation Scorpio. I began to research Scorpio, and realized that there are a few versions of the myth of the scorpion. On of the versions is that Orion boasted to Artemis and Leto that he could kill every animal on earth. So Artemis and Leto sent a Scorpion to deal with Orion. The two battled and Orion was killed by the scorpion. The battle caught the attention of Zeus, and he raised Scorpio into the heavens, and then later did the same to Artemis. So this is why Orion and Scorpio are both constellations in the sky, and it appears as if Scorpio is chasing Orion or vice versa depending on the time of year. In this way, the myth of Scorpio lives on whenever we see that constellation in the sky.

New Beginnings

      A big idea that has been enforced in this class is the idea of beginnings and endings. I've learned that endings are often new beginnings, even if we don't realize it at the time. When I think of this, a certain quote comes to mind. The quote, by C.S. Lewis states "Isn't it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back everything is different." The idea of mythology as a circle is seen here. At the end we end up where we started and everything is different.
     I find this quote to be extremely true. When I look back on my life these past few years, everything has changed. Freshman year I didn't know what I wanted to major in and then decided randomly on elementary education. Sophomore year I went to Spain for a semester and then decided that maybe elementary ed was not my thing. The end of my sophomore year I went through a rough break-up and didn't really know what direction I was headed in. All summer I tried to reconnect with myself and find out what I really wanted to do with life. I met my current boyfriend right before school started, and to be honest, I had low expectations and wasn't took optimistic from being hurt before. Despite all of that, I'm actually happier than i've ever been with him and he was a blessing in disguise. I guess that the ending of my other relationship led to the great beginning of my current one. Anyways, Junior year I switched my major to photography and made it through the gate to the program. Now in my senior year, I feel confident with my choice to switch to photo, and plan on graduating sometime next year. I've found it true though that day by day, not much seems to change. But there are defining moments on certain days or weeks that change everything, even if we don't realize it. I believe that small changes really add up. For me, it's difficult to make sudden changes all at once. I often think of how I can improve myself, and if I go all in at once, theres a higher chance of me failing. However, if I make small changes, they eventually add up. Every year I look back and see how things have changed- in particular my relationships with certain people and my relationship with myself. Every year there are people who i've fallen out of touch with, some for the better and others not. Also each year I see how i've changed and how I perceive myself. I had a rough time in high school with my relationship with myself. I only focused on getting good grades, and my relationships with others wasn't really developed. I'm glad to say that coming to college changed alot of that, and i'm more confident in myself and my relationships with others. I find that relationships with people are constantly changing. There are some people that will always be in your life, and others will come and go, and I have to learn to be ok with that. Thinking that life will stay the same is something that won't happen. Every year some things improve, and others need to be worked on. I guess thats what life is for me - constantly trying to be a better person even though I have many flaws. I recognize what my problems are and try to make things better, even if its in the smallest way. So overall, I find the idea of the circle and ending up back where you started but everything being totally different very true. A year from now who knows where I could be. I hope to be getting ready to graduate, and hopefully have plans with my boyfriend involving the air force. But who knows, life has a funny way of changing things. I might not even be in Montana, and maybe I will be just as happy. It's all mythology. Endings and new beginnings. I'm looking forward to what this mythological circle of life has in store for me next.

M and M's

    In class on Friday, Professor Sexson said something that stuck with me. We were talking about Saturn devouring his children, and how he swallowed them rather than chewed them. Then he made the comparison of Saturn devouring his children being like men eating m and m's. It went something like "Have you ever seen men eat m and m's? Absolutely horrifying!".

   Now after he said that, this idea popped into my mind. I would do an experiment on my boyfriend. So this weekend I bought a bag of peanut butter m and m's (his favorite), and told him I was going to take some pictures of him while he ate them. Turns out professor Sexson was right. It was absolutely horrifying! He piled them into his mouth by the handful and devoured those poor little m and m's. The following pictures are a few that I believe best exemplify the devouring of m and m's being just like Saturn devouring his children.

Evil Dead

    So I just went and saw the movie "Evil Dead" with my sister (If you like gory and disturbing movies this is definitely one for you). I personally enjoy going to scary movies for some reason. I am an easily startled person, and will admit that I'm actually that person who screams out loud in movie theaters. However, despite my fear, I always have the urge to see them. Even if I'm curled up in my seat watching the movie from behind my hands, I always feel the need to continue watching. I also have this problem with roller coasters. I will freak out for the entire time before I ride it, but while riding it feels amazing and like the best time of my life. I guess there's something with me about overcoming fears despite being terrified.
   Anyways, the point that I wanted to make was that horror movies have alot in common with mythology. In mythology, I've noticed that a common theme is that when a character is told not to do something, they often do it and suffer consequences. For example, Daedalus tells Icarus not to fly too close to the sun, but he does it anyways and falls to his death. This theme is also found in horror movies. In "Evil Dead", there are 5 friends who go to a cabin and in the basement they discover a bunch of witchcraft things, mainly a creepy book wrapped in barbed wire. One of the friends is curious and opens the book. I mean, come on the book is wrapped in barbed wire. I would personally leave it alone. On the inside of the book there is writing in blood saying "Do not read out loud", but this guy decides to so just that and reads out loud the words. While he was doing this, all I could think was "Noooooo! What an idiot!". Anyways, he reads the words and all hell breaks loose. People dying, limbs being cutt off, people being possessed by evil, and lots and lots of blood. All because this idiot decided to read the words out loud. I notice this alot in horror movies, that there is always that one person who does something wrong even though all the signs point against it. But then again, if this person didn't defy what they were told, there would be no horror movie, so its all a circle. Who knew this movie could have so much in common with mythology!

Fairy Tales

    As I was browsing the internet today, I stumbled upon this quote. Its by Albert Einstein and says "If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales". I know that fairy tales do not exactly fit the definition of mythology, but I believe that they are a part of it as a whole. There have been so many re-tellings of fairy tales, and many different versions of the same story. Some seemingly innocent children's stories actually contained incredible amounts of violence and disturbing content. The same goes for myths. Myths can be retold and tamed and made to contain much less violence, but at their core they are generally gruesome and disturbing, containing violence and often rape.

   This quote really struck me especially while taking this class. I feel like Professor Sexson is constantly  reminding us to keep reading and re-reading Ovid, as we will discover something new each time and each story will enrich us. This quote is basically portraying the same idea. If you are read fairy tales as a child, your mind will become enriched and whether or not you know it, there are valuable lessons in each story.  Maybe people should start reading Ovid to their children....well on second thought maybe not, with all that mature content....but maybe a rewritten children-friendly version of Ovid :)

Becoming my Mom

       In class last Wednesday, there was an interesting discussion about becoming your mother. Professor Sexson always says that myth is the precedent behind every action. I had never thought that this concept could be so connected to my life. He mentioned that this can even be connected to the concept of becoming just like your mother.

       I had never thought that I was like my mom until these past few years. Before I came to college, in my childhood years, my mom and I had a complicated relationship. At times we were like best friends, but when we argued it was terrible. Our arguments involved alot of yelling and it seemed like we could never work things out without hurting each other. As much as we tried, during our arguments we would never seem to let the other person speak, so it just ended up being a screaming match. I often thought it was strange how we could go from getting along so well to fighting so much, sometimes even within the same day.

      It wasn't until after I moved out of my parents house that my mom and I started to get along much better. Sure we argued sometimes, but not nearly as much. Now we have much more of a best friend relationship, and she's the person who is always there for me. A few years ago, my aunt said something to me which has stuck with me to this day. She told me that my mother and I used to fight so much because we were essentially the same. She said we were both so stubborn with each other and set in our ways that we fought alot. With non-family members, my mom and I are both timid and rarely start arguments with others. However, we know each other so well that when we clash, it ends badly. I had never thought of it this way. But when I look at it now, I can see that my mom and I are extremely similar.

      This idea was enforced this weekend when my boyfriend was talking about my mother and the way she talks to me on the phone. He has this silly sarcastic voice for her. He told me that in twenty years he can picture me talking the same exact way and has already seen signs of me talking on the phone like my mom.

      When I was younger, I had always noticed how jumpy my mom was. The littlest movement scared her and she always let out this startled gasp every time something frightened her. This was especially terrifying when she was teaching me to drive and every time I took a corner too fast she would grasp the overhead handle and gasp like we were going to get in a wreck. As a young driver, this terrified me and I always thought it was annoying. However, I now notice that I am super easy to frighten. I live in an apartment with my boyfriend and another male roomate. I often sit on the couch, which is right beside the door, and every time anyone suddenly opens the door, I gasp and just about have a heart attack. My roomates make fun of me because even the opening of a door can make my heart beat faster. I guess I am becoming like my mom more than I thought.

     Myth is the precedent behind every action. What I've learned is that my actions today are highly influenced by my mother. Many of the traits that define me today are traits that my mom possesses. As much as I refused to believe this as a child, I am surely becoming just like my mother, and now I have come to realize that I something to be proud of.

Mom and I back in the day

     

Frederick Turner

      I thought that the Frederick Turner event was very interesting. I must admit that I've never been to a poetry reading, so I didn't know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised with what he had to say. I often have a hard time following long poems and the ideas behind them, but there were a few things that caught my attention. A lot of his poems I felt dealt with the sense of looking back on life and pondering the past. I also enjoyed that he wrote from real life experiences it seemed in many cases.

     His first poem was intriguing to my because I didn't exactly know what was happening. He said there are many ways to interpret it, so it seems I was not alone. In my perspective, it was about a lonely traveler, or perhaps a ghost. I liked the part at the end about him wanting to pursue the dark haired woman he had seen long ago. Oftentimes, I look at people and wonder "what is their story?". Everyone has a story, and there are so many people in this world that I don't know. All it takes is a simple hello, and I could begin an everlasting friendship, but yet I often just pass people by, never knowing what kind of friendship I have missed out on. That is the sense that I got from this poem.

     His next poem about the Galapagos interested me because of the idea of travel. People often say "travel while you're young because later you won't have the chance". I try to live by this saying, because I don't want to be at the end of my life and regret all the things I could have done. If I were rich, I would certainly travel to as many places as possible. This reminds me of the time I wanted to study abroad in Spain. My mom has a fear of travel and didn't want me to go, but I had to defy her, follow my heart, and go to Europe. While there, I visited Spain, England, Portugal, France, and Italy. I must say that going against what my mom wanted was one of the best decisions I've made and if I didn't go, I know I would have regretted it. Also, I find it interesting how Mr. Turner combines scientific information with poetry. At times it felt like I was listening to a scientific study, and yet the words were still so beautiful.

     Next, when he read his free verse poem about the pear tree, it was so different from his previous two poems. He read it with such fiery passion that I couldn't help but be captivated by it, and I'm sure the rest of the audience felt the same way because of the loud applause following it.

    Finally, being a hopeless romantic, I loved his final two love poems. The Romeo and Juliet inspired one was funny and charming, showing the difference behind how men and women think. There was a line in it that went something like "You know I've given up so much to live with you." The Juliet figure says this line and it reminded me of my relationship. My significant otter and I are moving in together, and I could honestly picture myself saying this to him to prove a point.

   Overall, the Frederick Turner even was very enlightening and entertaining. Besides writing thought-provoking work, he seemed like a genuinely nice and funny guy. I'm glad I got the chance to attend his poetry reading :)