Tech Tip: Blogger Template

Well it took me six weeks...but I finally changed the background on my blog! It is now a way better representation of my personality. It is bright and fun and remind me a bit of a childhood wallpaper. But hey, that is okay because I am not ready to grow up quite yet! It is also my favorite color. Pretty much anything on the blue/green spectrum is my favorite color honestly. Let me know what you think!

Storytelling Week Six: Bad First Date

Bad First Date

{Radio Hosts} “Hey man, this is Cash and Bradley’s Second Date on K 95.5 Tulsa. What can we do for you?”

{Skull} “Hey y'all, my name is Skull and I went on what I thought was a really great date with this beautiful girl named Afiong. I thought we had a great time and now she isn’t returning my calls. I would really like to know why she doesn’t want to go on a second date. “

{Radio Hosts} “Yeah man, let’s give her a call and see what she has to say.”

[Phone rings.]

{Female voice} “Hello?”

{Radio Hosts} “Hello! Is this Afiong?"

{Female voice} "Yeah?"

{Radio Hosts} "Hey Afiong, it is Cash and Bradley and we have a mutual friend, Skull - remember him?”

{Afiong nervously} “Yeah, hey, I remember him - we went out once.”

{Radio Hosts} “Yeah, we heard! We also heard you weren’t returning his calls. We were just curious about what went wrong on that first date to make you not call him back.”

{Afiong} “Well, it was all going great at first. He was a very handsome man. I saw him at the market and just knew I wanted to talk to him. Almost a love at first sight kind of deal.

Well, I decided to invite him home with me. He met my parents and made a great impression. We talked into the wee hours of the night and loved every second of it. In the morning he asked me to come with him to meet his mother back in his town. Of course, I was so infatuated with him I could think of nothing else to say but OMG YES! I was thinking maybe it was finally my turn to find true love and get married. So that evening we went over to his mom’s place - everything was going fine at first. But then, he just up and left me. He left me alone with his old, decrepit mother for the rest of the night! He didn’t even say where he was going or when he would be back. At first it wasn’t a big deal but then she kept asking me to do all these chores for her. And what was I supposed to say? I couldn’t tell this poor old lady no. So I cleaned her house, mowed her lawn, did her laundry and even gave her a pedicure. All before he ever came home. And then, he came home drunk! He left me with his mother to go get drunk with friends. Of course I was done at this point. I vowed never to answer his calls. He is not handsome enough to deal with all that drama.”

[The radio hosts were silent, struck with disbelief at this wild story.]

{Radio Hosts} “Wow. That is probably the best reason to not call back we have ever heard on this show. Sorry to spring this on you, but Skull is actually on the line listening. Skull, do you have anything to say for yourself?”

{Skull} “You and my mother were getting along so well. I got a text from my buddies to go out since I was in town and I figured you could manage alone for a bit.”

{Afiong}” Six hours! You were gone for six hours!”

{Skull} “Hey! We weren’t in a serious relationship. I didn’t feel like I needed to check in with you or tell you what I was doing. I can do whatever I want and be gone for as long as I want! I am my own person.”

{Afiong} “Yeah, you’re right. We weren’t in a serious relationship, which is even more of a reason to not leave me alone with your mother! Gosh, my parents were so right about you! You are a selfish jerk!”

{Skull} “Whatever, you weren’t that hot anyways!”

[Phone clicks.]

{Radio Hosts} “Wow… well, that got a bit more heated than we anticipated. Usually we offer a free meal to a couple who agree to try out a second date. But after that fiasco, it sounds like you need a dinner for one. So we will send you some free dinner coupons to try and help you forget that awful date.”

{Afiong} “OMG thank you guys so much! As awful as it was, it was a great learning experience. I now know that my parents' instincts have been around a lot longer than mine and are actually pretty reliable.”

Author’s Note: This retelling is based off a Nigerian tale about a girl who marries a skull from the spirit world. She is blinded by his false beauty and marries him against her parents' wishes. He then takes her home with him, which turns out to be the spirit world. He turns back into his ugly self and she is left to care for his old mother. In the original story the mother is actually pretty nice. She keeps the girl from being hurt by all the cannibals in the spirit world and then eventually helps her make an escape to her home town. When I read this story it got me thinking about this radio show I have heard where the radio hosts call people who went on a blind date to see what went wrong and try to hook them back up again. It is out of Tulsa, Oklahoma. I decided this Nigerian tale could make a good bad first date story, so I retold it as the radio show. I changed the ending a bit and didn’t use Skull’s mother as her escape from him. I just made it into a public fight instead. I kept all the names the same and the overarching lesson of trusting your parents the same as well because I feel like that is a great lesson to be learned. 

Bibliography: Folk Stories From Southern Nigeria by Elphinstone Dayrell (1910). The Disobedient Daughter Who Married a Skull

The Actual Hosts of Second Date

Reading Diary Week Six cont: Nigeria

Folk Stories From Southern Nigeria by Elphinstone Dayrell (1910).

Eagle, King of the Birds

The Story of the Lightning and the Thunder

• Whenever lightning is mad he becomes destructive and burns and destroys land and homes
• Thunder is lightnings mother and she yells at him when he becomes destructive but it usually doesn't make him stop

The Bush Cow and the Elephant

• They did not like each other and were fighting for domaninance 
• They fought in the middle of town and were scaring the people
• a monkey sees the fight and goes to get someone to stop it but forgets on the way
• eventually he remembers and the towns king kills the two animals

The Cock Who Caused a Fight Between Two Towns

• Another story about jealousy
• A man was jealous of two brothers so he started a fight between them by claiming one stole the others pet to kill
• the two brothers and their towns fought and then the king stopped it and found that the third man had started the fight out of jealousy and he was sentenced to death

The Affair of the Hippopotamus and the Tortoise

• The hippo always served all the animals dinner
• He then started saying if you did not know his name you could not eat
• One tortoise said what happens if I know your name and the hippo says he will go down to the water in shame
• The tortoise finds out his name from one of his wives and the hippos then live in the water from then on. 

Why Dead People are Buried

• A king sent a dog out with a message on how to revive people after death
• He got distracted and forgot to spread the message
• So the king sent a sheep to do it but he spread the wrong messages, that people should just be buried at death and it just stuck

Of the Fat Woman Who Melted Away

• More jealousy stories
• The fat wife could not go out in the sun but the other wife nagged her until she did
• She melted outside but her toe was saved so she could be reborn
• The husband returned the other wife to her parents who sold her as a slave to repay him his dowry for their daughters jealous behaviors

Why the Moon Waxes and Wanes

• The moon used to provide for an old woman and the people got mad because the moon was getting thin
• They stopped the woman from taking from the moon and she eventually died
• the moon was scared and stayed in the sky from here on out getting fat and thin over and over

How the Tortoise Overcame the Elephant and the Hippopotamus

• the tortoise tricked them into thinking he was strong by tying a rope to a rock and a tree and pretending it was him 
• They both wanted to befriend him after that thinking he was strong
• So he went to the water and his son went to land with the elephant 
• this is why tortoises live on land and water

The King and the 'Nsiat Bird

• The king wanted to marry this beautiful bird but she had a curse of having twins which is not allowed
• when she had her twins she and her family ran away to the tree tops to avoid being killed for having twins

Concerning the Hawk and the Owl

• The hawk took a baby owl to eat but since the parents were so quiet when he took the child he became nervous of what they were going to plot as revenge
• He decided to return the baby owl and get a baby chicken instead
• the chickens were very loud and crazy so he knew they would not plan revenge over the night so he continues to feed on chicks forever

The 'Nsasak Bird and the Odudu Bird

• These birds are competing to see who can go the longest without eating
• The Nsasak bird sneaks out of his cage at night and eats while the other bird eventually dies
• The Nsasak bird wins the title of the best bird in the land

The Election of the King Bird

• The birds had a fight to establish dominance and the eagle won
• now eagles are seen as a sign of good or bad luck depending on their flight patterns and help with hunting when you wear their feathers

Reading Diary Week Six: Nigeria

Folk Stories From Southern Nigeria by Elphinstone Dayrell (1910).

Angry but Cute Cat 

Of the Pretty Stranger Who Killed the King

• Moral of the story is do not trust strangers
• A shape shiftier changed into a young girl to get close to the awful king then kill him in his sleep
• This king was a awful person who rampaged other countries and took many prisoners and made them slave

Why the Bat Flies by Night

• The bat tricks his "friend" the bush rat into killing himself
• Once they realized the bat caused the incident they tried to kill him
• He hid out while they looked all day and had to adjust his habits and only come out for food at night so he didn't get caught

The Disobedient Daughter Who Married a Skull

• The daughter was more interesting in looks when searching for a husband
• When she finally found a man handsome enough for her he takes her to his homeland which is really the spirit world where she could be eaten by the cannibals
• She befriends and old lady who hides her and eventually sneaks her out of the spirit world and returns her home
• The girl then starts listening to her parents and not marrying just for looks

The King Who Married the Cock's Daughter

• This story was really strange, I think the king married an animal, but I am a little unsure. 
• The kings other wives were jealous of his most recent one (the possible hen) and made her look stupid so the king would get rid of her
• When the king found out of this plan he kicked out the woman who headed the plan and she was left on the street
• Moral of the story, do not let jealousy overcome you

The Woman, the Ape, and the Child

• This was a bit of a confusing story
• Basically the moral is to not trust what everyone says because alot of people ended up dying because a jealous man made up a story
• A jealous man basically told another man his wife was being unfaithful and the man killed his wife and since they were from different towns the two towns started fighting over it and a good chunk of people died

The Fish and the Leopard's Wife

• The fish was an adulterer and was sentenced to life underwater as punishment for his bad deeds

Why the Worms Live Underneath the Ground

• Ants tried to fight the worms to establish dominance so the worms hid out underground and have stayed there always fearful for their lives

The Elephant and the Tortoise

• A jealous tortoise tricked the elephant into losing his eyes
• a generous worm loaned the elephant his eyes but the elephant could never give them back
• this is why the elephant has small eyes and worms are blind

Why a Hawk Kills Chickens

• The hawk married a hen and paid her parents a dowry for her
• The hen left the hawk and her parents could not repay the dowry so the hawk takes chicks when he sees them as a repayment.

Why the Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky

• They invited water over to visit but the water was too big and drove them out into the sky

Why the Cat Kills Rats

• The rat was stealing from the cat to give presents to his sweetheart
• When the rat was found out the girl was beaten (which is dumb, I doubt she knew they were stolen) and the rat was given to the Cat
• The cat lost his job so he ate the rat out of anger and has hated rats ever since

Thoughts about Comments

In my opinion, the comments that are the most useful for me are the ones that ask questions. When they ask questions about my stories it helps me know where I was unclear in my writing. I know I have a tendency in my writing to leave items out because I know them in my head but I forget that other's cannot read my mind. So when they ask questions I can go back through and elaborate on the sections I did not give enough information. I also love all the compliments. It makes me feel very proud of my writing and makes me want to reciprocate that positive energy to the other stories I comment on.

As for my comments, I have not been doing very great with them. I missed a week of commenting. But for the other weeks I try to really analyze the stories and comment well. I need to slow down when reading the stories sometimes so I can give the most productive comments.

Storytelling Week Five: The Nightmares

Carried Away

Dear Diary,
The dreams have started again. Tonight I was sailing across the ocean. It was a beautiful deep blue. The air smelt like a combination of salt and fish guts. It was both amazing and disgusting at the same time. The crew was large, between our merchandise and our persons the ship barely stayed afloat. We stopped at many ports trading for goods and hoping to be profitable at the end of the trip. We ended up stopped at an island to explore some the large trees onshore we saw all the way from the ship. We discovered many delicious fruits and nuts. I ate myself full and laid down to tan in the warm sun. That is when I woke up. I am glad this one was a good dream, I was getting tired of all the nightmares. It makes me nervous to go to sleep tonight. I just never know what is going to happen. Wish me luck Diary!

Dear Diary,
Well, tonight it turned into a nightmare. I hope this doesn't become a trend again. I cannot afford to lose more sleep. In tonight's dream, I found myself alone on the beach. I looked all around and couldn't find any of my shipmates. At this point, my only option was to explore the island inward to try and find some help. As I was trekking my way through the thick brush I came to a massive nest with a single egg in it. Quickly I realized my only way to escape was to ride the massive bird who owns this egg off of this deserted island. When the bird returned I jumped on her, strapping myself to her leg. After a while she took off in search of food. When she came to her next resting spot I jumped off to take a look around. At this point I woke up sweating and my heart pounding. How scary, to be alone like that? Hopefully I won't have another dream, and if I do I hope it ends well. Dreaming about being left all alone on an island is not the best way to sleep at night.

Dear Diary,
It happened again. Another dream. Tonight I was back on the second piece of land. I had wandered upon a valley full of massive and beautiful diamonds. I started to gather all the ones I could carry in my pack. I figured they may come in handy later. I then started over the far hill to see what I could find. I came across a small village and after much negotiation and trading of my diamonds I found someone to take me home! I then woke up and was so thankful that this set of dreams had a happy ending!

Author's Note: This retelling is based off of one of Sindbad's voyages. In his voyage he gets forgotten on the island and had to ride a Roc to the next island. He then gathers diamonds there that he finds and rides an eagle to civilization. He then happens across the original ship that left him being reunited with all his goods and a trip home. For my retelling I wanted to write from the point of a diary and this voyage taking place in dreams over a couple nights. I tried to stick to the original plot for the most part because it is such an interesting story.

Bibliography: The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898).

Week Five Reading Diary cont: Voyages of Sindbad

Fifth Voyage: He built his own ship that ended up being destroyed by Rocs who dropped boulders on it. He swam ashore and was made captive by a crazy old man. He escaped by getting him drunk and running away eventually finding his way back with riches.
Sixth Voyage: He set off again getting caught in a current that crashed the ship into a mountain. To escape the deserted area he rode a raft down a stream that went underground when he emerged he was taken care of and helped home.
Seventh Voyage: He did not want to leave since all of his troubles at sea but his king wants him to run an errand and he couldn't say no. The voyage there went smoothly but on the way back he was kidnapped by pirates and sold in the slave trade. He worked as a slave killing elephants for months until he found their burial ground and made his owner very rich. He was then granted freedom to return home.

The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898).

I just love elephant images

Week Five Reading Diary: Voyages of Sindbad

First Voyage: It started out making me think about the biblical story Jonah and the whale
he floated to shore and met some men who took him inland to the king who kept him safe until his original ship passed back through and he sailed home to buy a new place to live.
Second Voyage: He gets left on a deserted island because he isn't smart enough to tell someone he is setting down for a nap so they don't leave him. Then a bird takes him to diamonds which he smartly gathers many off then meets some merchants and finds his way home. he then gives money to the poor which is pretty cool
Third Voyage: this is the one that is like the Greek legend where they stab the one eyed giant in the eye to blind of their escape. This man has great luck that he keeps finding the ships that he was originally lost from so he never really loses his money or merchandise. Also is surprises me that him and the captain do not recognize each other at first. For someone you are stuck on a ship with you would think you would recognize them
Fourth Voyage: This is probably the most wild one yet. He is shipwrecked and survived and was saved and taken to another king who then decided he wanted Sindbad to stay on his land so he married Sindbad off. Then Sindbad learns that when his wife dies it is customary to be buried alive with her. His wife eventually falls ill and dies and he is buried alive. He find a hole to sneak out of and finds a valley full of jewels. He was down a ship who then carries him home.

The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898).

Roc carrying an elephant

Storytelling for Week Four: Prince Charles

Prince Charles

There once was a prince named Charles. He had to take the throne at the ripe age of sixteen due to the untimely death of his great father King Bradley. As with any young man in his position, he let the power go to his head. He started making absurd laws and not serving his people in a just way. Mobs began forming outside the castle everyday growing in rage and violence. They were so displeased with the performance of the prince and wanted him removed from the thrown instantly.

The prince’s advisors told him the only way to save his throne was to marry a woman to help him justly rule the country. The prince eventually obliged and started seeking out women. He had many problems finding a wife due to his unpopularity within the country. Eventually he found three women who were willing to be his wife. To decide which one to marry he gave them the task of quieting the growing mob outside the castle. The first woman made him some wonderful earplugs that could silence all the noises of the mob and let him lay in peace. The second woman started making large and delicious meals in an effort to keep the crowd’s mouths full so they could not yell. The third woman took charge and stood before the people calming them down with her kind words and wisdom.

After much deliberation the prince finally decided on the third woman. The third woman was the most take charge and he felt she could help him run this country justly. She was very proud to have been picked and they were quickly married.

All was well for a while. Then the prince started reverting back to his old ways. He started partying too much and having no regard for the country he was supposed to be running. Again the mobs were formed. Naturally, the prince decided to send his wife out to calm then mob since she did such a wonderful job the first time around. Unfortunately, this times things did not go as planned. The wife went out to the courtyard to try and reason with the people and promise she will get the prince back on the right track. The people were outraged claiming he had already used up all of his chances and they were done waiting on him to grow up. Her efforts at reasoning were failing but she was not keen to giving up. She trying day and night to calm the angry mob with no success. And while she was out there the prince was just dragging the country further and further downhill with debt at its all-time high along with massive crime rates and deaths around the country.

After a few days the crowd became fed up and decided that if the wife would not let them in to the prince they would just go through her. The wife was trampled dead by the angry mob as they rushed into the castle. Once inside they grabbed the prince from his sleeping chambers and carried him to the furthest border of their country. Out of respect for his great father (may he rest in peace) they decided to spare his life but ban him from their country for the rest of his days. 

Author's Note: My tale is a combination of the overarching story from Tales of a Parrot and one of the parrot's nightly tales. The overarching story is of a wife wanting to cheat on her husband while he is out of town. The parrot distracts her from leaving each night by telling her these lengthy tales. When the husband returns the parrot tells him of her thoughts of cheating and he kills her for her unfaithfulness. The tale I mashed with the overarching story is called The Merchant whose Daughter was Lost. This tale is of three gentleman callers fighting over a woman. One day she is taken in the night and the three men use their skills to find her and bring her home. Then she must decide which one to marry based off of what they did to save her. She chooses the third one who actually came and picked her up. 

My thoughts for this tale was to take the small story and change the roles and make it a male with three females after his affection since this is not usually the case in old tales. I thought it would make the story a bit more dynamic. I then combined it with the main story by adding the sad ending which is in line with the sad ending of Tales of a Parrot. I wanted to keep some elements of the reading while still making it new and interesting. 

Bibliography:  The Tooti Nameh or Tales of a Parrot, by Ziya'al-Din Nakhshabi (1801).

the young prince

Week Four Reading Diary Cont.: Tales of a Parrot

The Tooti Nameh or Tales of a Parrot, by Ziya'al-Din Nakhshabi (1801).

• The first story in this section the parrot tells about friendship and how a snake and a frog repayed a prince for his kindness to them but once they had repayed their service they went back to their homes. I also like how he took his money to charity and did not become rich from it. 
• The main woman starts to question her new lover's personality
• The next story was probably the best so far it is of three men fighting over a young woman trying to win her over with their skills. She is captured and all their skills were used to save her but only one was willing to actually go in and rescue her with no regard to his own life. 
• A princess runs off with a man of no status and takes enough gold from her father so they can live in peace outside his territory for the rest of their lives
• This was another tale about who deserved the woman in this one her husbands head and body got displaced so which one was the rightful husband? head or body? the head because of the thoughts, memories and wisdom kept there
• Now the main woman feels like she is shameful for even thinking of going and is questioning her "lover"
• The next story is actually one that is about not committing adultery. It is about wanting to and realizing the wrongs but then dying without their one true love. 
• The next story a man tries to help a snake then the snake goes to bite him so the man tricks the snake and ends up killing him
• This story basically tells that no secret is truly safe unless it is only in your mind. Once he confided in his wife he was busted.
• The lesson of the next story is not to always follow other's actions because it may not have the same outcome for you. Like hitting a man and him turning to gold because of a phrophecy 
• this story was awful, the elephant just had a scratch he was not trying to harm the eggs it is awful that he had to die for it. especially in such a cruel and suffering way
• Now the main woman wants to be completely single
• This story was weird, basically some animals came into the garden and got caught because the donkey started singing poorly
• HOLY COW! The ending was entirely unexpected. Not just with the last tale but also with the original characters. As for the tale I am glad the son was not killed and that family could rejoin. As for the main story I am so surprised as the parrot for telling everything, and I am surprised she was killed considering she never actually went out to meet the man.

Elephant from one of the tales, I really enjoy elephant pictures

Week Four Reading Diary: Tales of a Parrot

The Tooti Nameh or Tales of a Parrot, by Ziya'al-Din Nakhshabi (1801).

• The female seems a bit crazy, like she has anger issues. When the parrot told her cheating was bad she just killed it with no thought
• This parrot is very clever telling his first story like that of what reality could soon be looking like
• the next story is of men fighting over a woman and then the woman disappearing and none of the men getting what they want
• Next is of giving your livelihood for someone "lesser" than you
• The next is about saying your kids even if you have to be decitful to others
• The next is about a cheating wife catching her husband trying to cheat and making him out to be the bad guy
• The next is about playing your card right to keep your job then going away and not telling your replacement how to do the job properly
• the next story is of a frog who asks for help from the wrong person and has to run away to save his own life
• The mistress complains that the parrot is keeping her from her lover with all his stories but everynight she wants to hear more
• the next story tells how if you do not listen to your friends you will end up lonely
• The final story tells of more women cheating on their husbands this one she finds someone to be her replacement and the replacement gets beaten for not speaking to the husband while trying to conceal her identity

The elephant from The King of Kinoje and his Daughter

Storytelling for Week Three: The Ambitious Granddaughter

The Ambitious Granddaughter 

Lilith is what most would call a "power woman." She spends all of her time working and reading, trying to climb her way to the top of her advertising firm. She dreams of becoming the CEO and paving the way for future women to come to power at the firm. All of the extra hours she spends working on projects for work take away from any social life she could have. She still has the occasional girl’s night and some drinks after work with office friends. But she does not leave much time for family or even dating for that matter. On her trips home to see her family everyone always harasses her asking when she will get married. She always shrugs them off but has a bit of a harder time with her grandmother. Her grandmother is pushier than the rest of her family, always making snide remarks about Lilith regretting her choice to focus on her career. Usually these remarks would mean nothing to Lilith, but her grandmother is a little crazy. Family rumors say she used to practice witchcraft and has always had it out for women who seem more powerful than her. So, as much as Lilith loved her grandmother she was always a bit wary of her.

One evening, she was walking home from work and bumped into the most handsome gentleman she had ever seen. All of her papers fell to the ground and they both scrambled to gather them before the wind took them down the street.

Being the gentleman he was, he quickly said, "I am so sorry! I didn't see you there. How can I possibly make it up to you?"

In a flirtatious tone Lilith replied, "Oh, it is okay! I did not see you either, but knowing your name would be nice." She added in her signature grin just for good measure.

The gentleman, looking flustered, said, "Of course, how silly of me. I am Adam. Pleased to meet you, Miss."

"It is lovely to meet you as well. I'm Lilith," she said thrusting out her hand.

Adam shook it, replying, "What a lovely name to match those beautiful eyes of yours. Let me take you to dinner, to make up for spilling your things." Lilith blushed but was unsure at first whether or not to say yes.

After some hesitation Adam said with a wink, "Don't worry, we can make it quick and I don't bite." She slowly nodded her head in agreement, conflicted between the reports she had to do and the handsomeness of this gentleman. They went down the street to a small café and ended up talking and laughing for hours, up until the café was shutting down for the night. Afterwards he kindly walked her home and they exchanged numbers. As she ascended the stairs to her apartment she thought to herself, “Wow, what a coincidence, this perfect man falls into my lap just after grandmother’s threats.”

The two went on dating for a few months but never getting very serious due to Lilith's lack of free time. During one of their quick dinners Adam worked up the courage to ask her to become more serious with him.

He said, "Lilith, these last few months have been wonderful. I am ready to take things to the next level, start planning our future together. Maybe even having you move in with me!"

She was a bit surprised at his forwardness and quickly replied, "Adam, it has been very fun for me too. But I am not ready yet. I have a goal of becoming the CEO of my company and I will not settle down until I have met that goal. Work is too important in my life right now to be thinking about marriage and family." He seemed angry at first and then a look of disappointment flashed in his eyes.

He said quietly, "I understand. I come from a background of women as keeper of the home and I can see you are not ready for that and probably never will be. Maybe it is best not to drag this on." Lilith's eyes started to water but she knew it was for the best.

She blinked the tears away and said, "I agree, thank you for dinner. I will see you around." She got up and hid her tears as she walked away.

Although Lilith was upset, she was not completely surprised. She knew that was the social norm but she also knew how important it was for her to lead the way to changing it. She went on about her life as usual. On her next visit home her grandmother called her aside for a chat. Lilith approached with caution sensing the anger in her tone. Once in the other room, her grandmother started lecturing her.

She said, "Lilith, I sent you that handsome young man to add structure to your life! You need someone to settle down with before you get any older. You are ruining your future!" Lilith was furious when she realized that her grandmother had set that boy up for her.

She started lecturing back, "Grandmother! I cannot believe you would do that. Stop interfering in my life, I know what I am doing and what I want!" The debate got pretty heated.

The grandmother said, "Child, you will listen to your elders, I know what is best for you!"

Lilith screamed back, "No! You have no idea what I need!"

Suddenly the grandmother started shouting in words that Lilith did not understand and a flash of smoke engulfed them. When the smoke had cleared and the family had come to check on them, the grandmother had recovered her normal composure.

She simply looked at Lilith and said, "The next one hundred babies you have will die at birth." Everyone stood in shock at these words and the grandmother swiftly left the room and disappeared from the house.

On her way home, Lilith convinced herself that it was an empty threat. Her grandmother could not possibly be a witch and Lilith would be fine if and when she decided to conceive. She went about her normal life but never visited her grandmother again.

{Flash forward 5 years}

Lilith is now a successful CEO with a very handsome and supportive husband. She has everything she wants in life except children. She and her husband have tried many times all ending by miscarriage or by still birth. She has been to many doctors wondering why she cannot have a child and no one can seem to find the answer. She always has that threat from her grandmother in the back of her mind but continues not to believe and is too prideful to ever ask.

Author's Note: After reading the full tale of Adam and Eve, I found the most interesting section to be about his first wife Lilith. According to this Jewish legend, she wanted to be Adam's equal because God made them both from the Earth so since they were made the same she felt they deserved equal treatment and power. Adam insisted she was simply there for his companionship and only he had rule over the animals and their relationship. She felt this was an unfair arrangement and fled. The angels went to find her and bring her back but she refused and in turn was punished. The angels sentenced for one hundred of her children to die. In revenge, she vowed to haunt all the little boys and girls, their only solace being a pendant of the angels kept around the child's neck. I kept her name and the general plot line including the punishment for my retelling. I changed the setting up to make it a bit more modern day and instead of using God I used a witch. I felt these changes gave more relation to the reader while still having a "power" (the witch) being involved. The idea of her being a powerful CEO came from the many fights women have had over the years to be at the top of their organizations. 

Bibliography:The Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg (1909).

Lilith, Adam's First Wife

Week 3 Reading Diary cont.: Adam and Eve

I did not enjoy the second half of the reading. It was very repetitive and Adam's whining was very irritating to me. Also the amount of suicide I have read about in these past few readings has been alarming. I did not realize how much there was in the story of Adam and Eve. Every page Adam was complaining about something he had lost and praying to get his punishment revoked and killing himself when it was not. It was very frustrating.
The Forgotten Books of Eden, edited by Rutherford H. Platt, Jr. (1926): The First Book of Adam and Eve.

Adam and Eve Upset 

Week 3 Reading Diary: Adam and Eve

Adam and Eve Unit The Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg

This reading was more in depth than previous readings so far. The most interesting part for me was the story of Adam's first wife and her desire to be an equal and her banishment when refusing to be his secondary. That could make an interesting modern day story. I was also amused by the snake's punishment especially that of always being hated by humans and facing alot of death. Also I had never read the part about the punishments to the moon and earth so I thought that was really interesting especially how the moon is made out to be basically evil because he laughed instead of grieving.

Adam and Eve being removed from Paradise