Week 2 Story. The Crane: A Hunter

THE CRANE: A HUNTER

Father smacked me upside the head. It hurt. It usually hurts, but I'm used to it. I didn't bring enough food home and we were 3 fish shy of having the most in the village, which meant honor for our family. I wouldn't say my childhood was hard, it just had its ups and downs. Father was loving, in his own way, and mother was eaten by an alligator before I even hatched, so I never knew her. It's a thankless job, being a crane. Everyone blames us for depleting the lakes of fish, but how else are we supposed to survive. It's a crane-eat-fish world, and the only way to win is to play the game. Because I wasn't the fastest or biggest crane in the family, I resorted to different tactics in order to fill my stomach for the day and bring home enough food to honor my family. I began to talk to the fish, I gained their trust, and just when they think I'm not a threat, they're already in my mouth. I knew it wasn't the most "ethical" way to hunt, but it did its job and I don't go hungry. With this method of hunting, our village became the fattest and most powerful in the crane kingdom, and I was their star hunter. No matter how fast or big the other cranes were, they couldn't gain the fish' trust like I could. I was invincible. Until one fateful day... I was making my rounds around the local ponds and lakes and I came across a dried-up pool with many fish, barely submerged, dreaming of the nearby lake. I, like always, saw an easy way to satisfy my hunger without even making an effort. One by one I promised each fish a trip to the lake, only to devour them in my nearby eating tree. It was all going well until I got greedy and wanted something more: a crab. I had never eaten crab and was curious to see how the little shelled creature would taste. He seemed to be falling for my ruse, but held onto my neck as we traveled, rather than my mouth. I found it odd, but knew I'd get my meal soon. All of that changed when I felt a sharp pain in my neck and heard the words that chilled my spine: "If you try anything, I'll kill you, Crane." He knew. I had to choose my next moves very carefully or they could be my last. I gave him the waterworks. It was the last thing I had. He spared my life as I let him in the lake. I thought I was free, I thought I would go on to hunt and gather and live my life as I had been, but his claw to my neck cut all of it short...

Author note and bibliography: Story inspired by The Cunning Crane and Crab by W. H. D. Rouse

Crane eating a fish (Dina's Wildlife Adventures)

Reading Notes: Crane and Crab

Wow what a story. I knew that Indian folklore usually involves a moral lesson, but this story had a great payoff. The story involves a cunning, deceitful and particularly evil crane. This crane lives on the bank of a lake and spends his days hunting and eating fish. There is a pool nearby that has all but dried up and is filled with fish. The crane hatches a plan that involves tricking the fish into thinking they're being helped, only to eat them when he gains their trust. He tells each fish that he will take them to the lake so that they can live more comfortably and then takes them to his tree to eat them. Once he's eaten all the fish in the pool, he's so desperate for food that he resorts to trying to trick a crab into trusting him. However, this crab is smarter than the fish and is suspicious of the crane's motives. He makes a deal that the crane is to allow him to hold onto the crane's neck as he transports the crab to the lake. The crab makes it known to the crane that he can kill him at any moment and the crane spares his life. But at the last moment before the crab reaches the lake, he uses his claw to cut the crane's head off, stopping his trickery for good.

The Crane and the Crab (Mom Junction)

The Cunning Crane and Crab by W. H. D. Rouse

Reading Options

The first reading option that grabbed my attention was the animated film Sita Sings the Blues. This is the animated retelling of the Ramayana. I enjoy different methods of storytelling and I think that an animated version of this story is very creative.

The second reading I was interested in was the comic book version of the Mahabharata. An illustrated version of the epic battle seems very cool to read because I like to see what the writers visualize as they think of the story.

The last thing I was interested in was the opportunity to learn more about Indian music. I have a musical background and love finding and listening to new music, so I'm excited for the opportunity to listen to some Indian artists and learn more about their style of music.

Arjuna statue in Bali (Source)

Time Strategies

The White Rabbit (Disney Wiki)

To help me with my time management strategies, I read the article 11 Ways Unsuccessful People Manage Their Time. I discovered that I am guilty of a lot of these things and I figured that is the reason my time management isn't what it could be. The 3 main things I do that are not letting me live up to my full potential are procrastination, getting distracted easily and not keeping good records. I'm sitting here doing this assignment an hour before the grace period is over. That is an obvious indicator that I am a huge procrastinator. That also indicates that I get distracted easily. This is an online class, so I'm obviously doing it on my computer. But with a computer comes a world of distractions. Facebook, Reddit, Instagram and so many other sites can and have distracted me more times than I can count from completing my work. The final thing that keeps me from being successful is not keeping good records. I don't have a planner, heck, I hardly put important dates in my calendar. However, I find that when I keep important dates and due dates in a calendar or written down somewhere, they get done, as opposed to not writing them down and trying to remember to do them. I hope that I can get better at these 3 things and, in turn, become more successful in my schoolwork and life.

Technology

Computer Nerd (Know Your Meme)

I am excited for the technological aspect of this class. I always like the opportunity to further my knowledge of different computer programs and apps. Because this class is online, technology and different programs and websites seem to be the focus of the class, so I'm ready to learn more about the stuff we will be using. Also, this semester, I'm even taking a class that is teaching me Adobe Photoshop and InDesign, so by the end of the semester, my tech knowledge will have grown a lot!

Assignments

This is the second online class that I have taken in college and I am very excited to learn more and see what this class has to offer. I know it's easy to get off task and get behind on online classes, so I am determined to not fall behind and to keep up with this class as if it was an in-person class.

As for extra credit, the Wikipedia Trails intrigues me. It's so cool to go on Wikipedia because one minute you can be looking up an actor and then, 4 clicks later, you're looking up the world's rarest ants or something. So I'm excited for this extra credit. 

I like the way this class is set up because it allows you to work on assignments at your own pace throughout the week and even work ahead. 

Flag of India (Wikipedia)

Introduction: About Me

My name is Chandler Tibiletti Stovall, but I go by Tib for short. I don't know why my parents named me Chandler only to call me Tib from the day I was born. But never mind that. I am a senior graduating in December of this year. I am an Advertising major with a minor in General Business. The coolest thing about advertising is that there are so many aspects to it. There's the business and administrative side of it and there's the creative side of it. There is so much you can do in advertising, it will never get boring. I love coming up with new ways to sell and market a product. The reason I'm graduating in December is because I changed my major from Marketing my junior year, and that put me a semester behind in my coursework.

My Scandals cast from 2017

A young Tib at his first time on stage

Other than school, I am very interested in music. I have played guitar since the age of 11 and have loved every minute of it. I've played in several bands and have even professionally recorded in studios. While I don't plan on pursuing music as a career, I try to keep it as prevalent in my life as possible. A way I do this in college is participate in University Sing and Sooner Scandals, a competition in which students write and direct their own mini-musicals and perform them in Holmberg Hall. 

As far as TV shows go, I think I've watched the entire series of The Office more than I can count, and it still never gets old. I love funny shows and movies because I like to think of myself as a generally happy person, so why not watch TV shows that make me happy. However, I also enjoy the show Black Mirror, which is about as far from happy and funny as a show can get. It's basically a modern-day Twilight Zone, but a little darker. And by a little, I mean a lot. While the Twilight Zone consists of stories that focus on the weirdness of the situation the characters are in, Black Mirror has you get to know the main character of the episode, throw them into the worst situation you can think of, and just when you think it's over, the writer gut-punches you at the end of the episode with a devastating twist. Rinse and repeat that method for 4 seasons. 

So.. that was a little bit about me. I look forward to all this class has to offer and what I will learn!

Storybook Favorites

How I Met Your Mother

The first storybook I am choosing is "How I Met Your Mother." The stories revolve around three different ancient Indian fathers telling their children how they met the children's mother. I enjoyed the television show withe the same name, so I am excited to see the spin that these stories put on it. They all seem like funny, entertaining and feel-good stories that seem to put a modern twist on the Mahabharata. The site was easy to navigate with each story in a different tab on the side of the page. 

King Shantanu Meets Ganga (Vintage Fine Arts Prints)

Vishnu's Bedtime Stories

This storybook is a collection of bedtimes stories told to the baby version of the Hindu god, Vishnu. He is being told three different stories about who he was in his past lives because he is about to be reborn for the final time into his most important life ever. These stories tell Vishnu what he did in his past lives and show him what he's learned so that he can truly accomplish his goal in his next life. These stories seem interesting and the design of the page is easy to navigate with each bedtime story in its own tab on the side of the page.

Krishna as a Child ( Maruthoorkonam Mahadeva Temple)

Rate My Rishi 
The final storybook that sparked my interest was "Rate My Rishi". The storybook is set up like the website "Rate My Professor". This storybook is definitely a comedic one and has fake ratings of different sage, gurus and rishis. I enjoyed the navigation of this one and liked the pictures on the tabs of each different spiritual leader. It was easy to navigate. The comments on each leader were really funny too, it even included a "hotness" option.

Maharishi (blog de la klavaza)

My Favorite Place

One of, if not my favorite, favorite places is Laity Lodge Youth Camp, a summer camp that I attended as a kid and worked at as a counselor in college. This faith-based summer camp was where I learned to let loose, break out of my shell and make my faith my own. I've formed many relationships with people I've worked with and attended camp with and learned to work with and lead cabins of my own. Not to mention, Laity Lodge is in the beautiful Texas Hill Country, located in a valley miles from any internet access or cellphone service.

(Laity Lodge HEB Family Foundation)

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