Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Storytelling for Week 6: De Tale A'Da Lollipops





Hello Chiren!

Gatha around, fa de story of de lollipops. I'm gan' tell ya 'bout de lollipop field in Candyland. 

Once upon a time, dere was a little boy, bout your age, da lu'da candy, all type a candy. 

Er'day walkin' to school, de lil boy would pass a field fill wit candy an' a gran' lollipop tree. Na dis tree wa' so big dat it could be seen miles awhey. Each time, dere seem to be more an' more lollipops on de tree. 

One day, de little boy wanted a candy so bad that he went to go get it. But to his su'prise, dere was a guard. Although this guard couldn't read not one word, he took his job v'ry serious. 

The liddle boy, bein' turn down, went to school, but n'eh stop thinkin' bout a way to get de candy from da tree. 

De next day, de boy brought a telegram dat say de guard 'pose to let him get all de lollipops he wan' to eat. The guard, to the boy surprised, say "Ya, you go get all da lollipop you wan' yun'man!"

De lil boy, although surprised, started to get all the candy he wan. But lil did he know, de tree was made to catch de little kids dat try to trick de guard. 

As de lil boy climb de tree, de guard started to laugh because he knew what was going to happen. 

Wit each climb, de lil boy ate a lollipop, and once he got to the top, he was too sticky to get back down de tree, and de tree began to engulf de boy. 

He hollered down at de guard say, "Le'me dahwn nah!" 

The guard acted as though he didn't hear the lil boy, and the boy spent the rest of his childhood in dis tree. 

The next week, anahda lil boy walk past de tree an wan the lollipops. He could'n believe how many lollipops were on de tree! "Gee, I really wan de candy! I gotta get it!" 

Wit'out known de truth about de tree, de little boy went to de guard and say he supposed to eat de lollipops. 

With a suspicious smile, the guard say "ya lil boy, get you some lollipops from da tree!" 

The boy start climb de tree, an eat all de lollipops. When he got to de top, he wa too sticky to get down. When he look to his left, he see his classmate, stuck in the tree, green from all da lollipops he ate. 

De boys talk to each other and find out that they would be stuck dere forever. Each of de lollipops in de tree were kids that over time, changed colors, and eventually transformed into lollipops.  


Author's Note:

This story was based upon the story of the The Gub-Gub Peas by Martha Warren Beckwith (1924), where the main character tricked the guard of the peanut tree into letting him eat all of the peanuts that he wanted. Once the owner of the peanut farm found out that this person was eating the peanuts, he told the guard to hold him there so that he could get punished for stealing the peanuts. I tied this concept in with the thought of one of my favorite childhood games, Candyland! In the game of Candyland, the game is a forrest of candy. With those two things combined, this is how the De Tale A'Da Lollipops came about. 

Reading Diary: Week SIX

Hello there Diary, 

This week, I am reading stories from the African unit. Today I started reading in the Jamaican stories and these stories are a tad bit different than other stories, but in a good way. I like these stories because of the type of language that is used. The speak that is used in Jamaica comes to life in this unit. Each word has a different spelling, encouraging the reader to reader to read the stories with a newly adopted accent. I love it. I think it's interesting to get a sense, in some manner, of how others speak across the world. A character that stuck out to me was Anansi. Anansi is a character that is very manipulative in order to get his way and to get out of tight situations, especially in the story of The Gub-Gub Peas

Friday, February 19, 2016

Thoughts About Comments, Week 5

I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you.. yes YOU.

This post is dedicated to the comments that are posted on my blog posts. There are different types of comments that can be left on posts, and each type of comment leaves me with a different feeling. 

Some comments can contain critiquing information, in order to make my material better over all. Of course, when you release something, it is your baby so sometimes I feel a little defensive Then I realize that the majority of things said are meant to help me improve as a writer, so I am all for that. 

I've learned a lot of difference skills that I am trying to implement when I write. 

There is also another type of comment that can be left, this type of commenting is what I like to call "active commenting." When active commenting is being practiced, it is almost as though the person commenting is right there in the story with me. This type of commenting is my personal favorite because it allows me to see what stuck out to the reader and which pieces they took away with them.

Over time, as i've left comments, I like to give a combination of both types of comments. Although, the majority of the time, my comments end up being heavier on the "active commenting" side. 

All in all, this is a great opportunity to grow. To grow and be great...er. 

Thursday, February 18, 2016

Reading Diary, Week 5

Hello beauties,

This reading diary is about covering the story that I chose to base my story on. In the story of the
Santal: The Killing of the Tiger. In this story, there were some great points that stuck out to me.

"...So the Raja called together all his soldiers and promised to give half his kingdom to any one of them who would kill the tiger, but not one of them was brave enough to make the attempt; they said that their business was to fight men, and not tigers and leopards. Then the Raja extended his offer to all his subjects, and the petitioners went home to consult about it, and the news was published that the Raja would give half his kingdom to the slayer of the tiger."

This excerpt gives a basic back story as to what was going on in this story. After this point, there was one brave soul that stepped up to the plate to kill this dangerous tiger. Once the man set out to find the tiger, he decided that he wasn't going to kill the tiger, instead, he ended up cutting off the claws, tips of his ears and tongue to serve as proof of the kill. 

The man did the with the intention of sparing the tiger's life, however, the tiger died from the pain of the injuries he suffered. 

I decided to take this story, flip it around, and make it into something that was a little out there, but still had undertones of this original story line. 

- Bri.

Storytelling Week 5: The broken hearted...

The Broken Hearted...

Jazmine.

Jazmine!

Jaz, it’s time to wake up, sweetheart! 

--Mom, just five more minutes, please!

Nope! 


Shuffling the curtains she says, you know once you take your “five more minutes,” it’s harder for you to get up, so come on, baby. Besides, I don’t want you to be late for your first day, this is a really important day for you. 


Still wiping the sleepy from her eyes, Jaz sits up in her bed and says to her mom, “You know I really don’t even want to do this. I just don’t know why we have to start these classes right away once we turn 16.”


Jaz, you know how this works, don’t look at this in a negative way, look at it as a coming of age right. How about that?


I just don’t know how it got to this point, I remember all those stories you would tell me about when you were my age back in the early 2000’s and y’all never had to do anything like this. 


Oh sweetheart, reaching in for a hug, I know times are different, but learning these skills are vital to your survival in the real world… the new real world. Things are so much different from when I was your age, but these beings that have come to our planet aren’t like you and I. 


Yes, they have feelings, yes they have families, but their brains are like machines, once the sun goes down, something terrible comes out of them. That’s why you have to take these classes, so that you’ll be able to defend yourself. You understand, don’t you?


Yeah, I understand, but didn’t they come to this planet to help us? Why are we trying to get rid of them now?



With obvious nervousness, her mom began to explain to her the history of these beings that were up for discussion. 


Honey, years ago, around 2034, the United States discovered another life source on a different planet called Uniktion and after conversing with the Uniki’s, they were invited to come live on our planet. We gave them the experience of living on Earth for the exchange of taking away global warming. It sounded like a pretty decent trade to us, until about 2040. 


What happened in 2040, ma?


Well in 2040 it was almost like a switch turned in their minds. The Uniki’s just started killing random humans, and then the next day, they woke up and didn’t remember what had happened the night before. 


After a few more murders, we decided we had to do something in return, something to let them know that this is OUR planet and that we were afraid and tired of them killing us every night. 


That’s when we decided that we were going to start a class that taught our youth how to defend themselves at night. 


Patting Jaz on the head, so that is why it’s important for you to go to this class and learn how to defend yourself. 


--- 

So, after Jaz had completed her course, she was sent out to perform her first task; exterminate the first Uniki she saw out that night. She was told to bring back the EmoShield on it’s neck in order to officially graduate from the program. 


Jaz set out to find her a Uniki, but was shocked to discover what she found. The Uniki she found looked just like her, it looked like they were around the same age. There was no way she could kill this girl. So she made a deal with the Uniki…


“I was sent out here to kill you, but I can’t bring myself to do it, but I’ll get in trouble if I come home empty handed. How about I take your EmoShield and that will be that?”


The Uniki responded with a grateful heart saying, “thank you for your mercy because I definitely don’t want to die tonight. I’ll let you have my EmoShield and I’ll just go and get another one.”


Jaz left with the EmoShield, and thought that everything would be settled. Little did she know, the Uniki couldn’t get a replacement EmoShield in time and died from feeling all of the disparities of the world.





Author's Note:
The inspiration behind this post was the story of the Santal: The Killing of the Tiger. In this story, there is a tiger that had been killing travelers in the village, so someone was sent to kill this tiger, in order for traveler to safely get through the village. Once the person found the tiger they were supposed to kill, and had a brief conversation with the tiger, they decided to only cut off its claws, tips of its ears and the tip of its tongue as proof of death. After the person cut these items off, the tiger ended up dying the next day. 
I chose to use that story as my base and then added a bit of a futuristic twist to the story I wrote, with some undertones of some popular movies we've more than likely all seen, such as iRobot. Hope you enjoy! 

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Week 4 Reading Diary: India

Hey beauties and gents, 

Silly Rabbit, Tricks are for Kids...



That's the first thing that came to mind after reading this particular story. The story of 
Bidpai: Poor Man, Rich Man, Young Man really stuck out to me because within each of the three mini stories, there were many life lessons that we should all try to keep in mind. 

This story reminds me of a quote by George Washington Carver, which states, "How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these."

That quote can be very powerful if you take the time to truly let it sink in. 

Some of the parts from each story that really stuck out to me are below. Click the link above if you want to read the pieces for yourself. As always, enjoy.(:

THE POOR MAN AND THE FLASK OF OIL 

A poor man received a flask of oil from his rick and kind neighbor. The poor man began to think of the things that he could do with this oil, in order to improve his living situation. "I can sell the oil, by 5 sheep, they breed more sheep, I'll find me a good wife, and we will have a son that we will love dearly!" 

- Now this is where it gets a little funky-

The man goes on to say, "if our son disobeys us, I'll punish him with this very rod in my hand," as he song the rod swiftly through the air.

IT WAS AT THE MOMENT, THE POOR MAN KNEW HE MESSED UP

The poor man ended up knocking the flask of oil from off the shelf, breaking it and spilling all of the contents. 

This story spoke to me by saying, malicious thoughts can turn your blessings into mere memories. The types of thoughts we have really can determine the future we have. 


THE RICH MAN AND THE BUNDLE OF WOOD

In the story of the rick man, he was so inconsiderate of the lives that people less fortunate than him lived. He demonstrated his lack of consideration by giving a poor woodsman only a fraction of the price for the wood he was selling. 

When a priest saw this treatment and called the rich man out for his wrong doing, the rich man said, "Why should I are about this poor man's life?"

That same night, the rich man's house burned from a fire started by the very wood the poor man sold to him.

Karma's a mean one, isn't it? The rich man is now as poor as the poorest in the town.

That stories pretty self explanatory.


THE YOUTH, THE HAWK, AND THE RAVEN 

This story basically discussed the woes that people experience at some point in time of their youth. A young boy is walking in the woods and sees a Hawk feeding a Raven that had fallen in his nest. The boy thought that the Raven was just so lazy and if that bird could be lazy and still be taken care of, so could he.

So he decided to stay in his house and wait for someone to come and take care of him. So he waited, and he waited, steadily growing weaker as the days went by. Finally, he realized that no one was going to come take care of him. 

Then finally, it dawned on him, he would have been so much better off if he imitated the Hawk instead of the Raven. This goes to show, that in life, there are roles that each person is meant to play. Some, the Raven, while others are meant to be the Hawk. 

Know your role and play it well. 

Alrighty, that's all, folks! 

-Bri. 

(Silly rabbit photo found here)

Sunday, February 7, 2016

Storytelling Week 3, #InspirationalSONday Edition.

Hello There, Dearly Beloved!


Thanks so much for tuning into the first edition of #InspirationalSONday! So,  I am going to give you a little bit of background as to why I chose to feature inspirational posts, (which don't necessarily have to be posted on Sunday) just so you can feel like you're in the "know" of what's going on with the management around here. Here are the first things you should know about me, my name is Briana and I am a Christian, a believer of Jesus Christ and God above, and I attend church every Sunday faithfully. Now, me saying this doesn't make me any better than the next person, I am just as flawed and in need of improvement. With that being said, I receive small nuggets from the messages I receive each Sunday at church; what I like to call SoulFOOD. This food for the soul is what I use to get me through the day, and to reflect upon when I, or someone else,  needs it the most.



This #InspirationalSONday post will be discussing John the Baptist and Jesus and The Followers of Jesus. In each of these stories, coming from the second chapter of Mark, there is the continuation of the story of Jesus and the ways individuals were starting to see just what He was capable of. In the story of John the Baptist, we read about a wise, well respected man that knew that Jesus was coming and that  Jesus was greater and more  powerful than he could ever be. In the next story, there is the vision of Jesus traveling into a small town, and healing people of their ailments, both large and small. 




After reading these two stories and pulling out key points that stuck with me, I found myself interpreting the stories in a way that people living in today's world can understand. Too often we find ourselves looking down at others or sticking our nose up at things that may be going on in their lives, or simply looking down at the exterior, not understanding the interior that created it. Sometimes we find ourselves having that little thought in our minds saying, "great, that's one thing that puts me ahead of that person." Through all of these thoughts, does it ever dawn on us that this world God created and all of these people that Jesus bled and died for... is enough? That this world is big enough to have all of the success that each of us needs without tearing the other person down, or thinking that we're better than someone else. In the story of Jesus and his Followers, after healing so many people and being such a popular man in town, he still had the mind to show compassion and sit down and eat with the publicans and sinners like you and me. When asked why he was doing this, he simply responded by saying, "They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."


Wow. And just like that, it is all made clear. Focusing on those that truly aren't in need and then excluding those desperate for love doesn't fix the problem(s) at hand. We have to share love, uplift our neighbors and support one another. 

Motto of the day: Love thy neighbor as thy loves thyself. 



John the Baptist and Jesus, Mark 2, KJV (1611)
The Followers of Jesus, Mark 2, KJV (1611)

Dear Diary, It's Week 3

Hello there, beauties!

Well, I'm sure you're excited to see what this weeks #ReadingDiary is about. As you may have picked up, a large portion of my posts are centered either around black stories or biblical stories, well this particular study will be surrounding a biblical story about John the Baptist, and Jesus and His followers. In my story, you can look forward to a bit of a twist, instead of telling a story, this post will be the first of my occasional, #InspirationalSONday posts. Enjoy!

Look below to see quotes from each story, or click on the titles to read the story in its entirety. These particular stories come from the second chapter according to the Gospel of Mark, KJV (1611).

John the Baptist and Jesus

 "There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost."

Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And Jesus said unto them, "Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men." And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him.

And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils. And all the city was gathered together at the door. And he healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him.

And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, "If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean."

And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, "I will; be thou clean." And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.

The Followers of Jesus

And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, "How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?"

When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, "They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles."


                                       (Jesus Calls Levi)

Monday, February 1, 2016

You Get A Topic, You Get A Topic, We All Get A Topic!

You Get A Topic, You Get A Topic, We All Get A Topic!

Do you know what time it is? It is time to choose a topic, but don’t fret, we don’t have to narrow it down to the final decision quite yet, just the top four contenders. My top four choices are South Africa folktales, Jamaican stories, Bible stories and religious topics, and fairytales and nursery rhymes. 

I chose South Africa folktales because after first looking over the different unit topics in the UNtextbook, I knew that I wanted to give a lot of attention to stories and story lines that incorporate Black backgrounds and characters because I feel like that is lacking in a lot of areas. Although my blogs aren’t reaching a mass audience, it is still vitally important that the audience I do reach sees the representation of the beautiful black heritage and all branches of it. 

The next unit I chose, as a possible topic choice, was Jamaican stories for a combination of the reasons I choice the South Africa folktales. I also though that it would be a great source of inspiration to use Jamaican stories as a topic because that’s just an exciting culture. When I read that the dialect in the stories would be of the common speech in Jamaica, that’s what really sparked my interest. Can you think of all of the cool characters that could be born from these stories and the speech used?! I can. (: 

Next up, Bible stories. You’ve probably guessed that I have an appreciation for Biblical stories and the history there of. Growing up in the church house, I remember some of these stories but now that I am older, I’d like to gain a better understanding and see how my feelings of the stories now compare to my past sentiments. I also want to look at it from an unbiased viewpoint. I feel too often that individuals with a strong traditional religious background view everything in the Bible as the only way, or acceptable. I want to look at these stories from a slightly less biased viewpoint and appreciate them for what they are and how I presently interpret them. 

My last choice was Fairytales and Nursery Rhymes. I chose this topic as a final candidate because I thought it would be interesting to turn these childhood nursery rhymes into a story that progresses with age, as if the character have grown up. For instance, if the main character is about a little lamb attempting to conquer a task, in the story, the lamb will now be a teenager or a young adult. Regardless of the story, this principle can be applied and will make for an interesting story line, in my opinion. Also, although some may be common, I know that some of these stories I have yet to hear throughout my life so this will be a good way for me to learn a little more about the nursery rhymes and fairytales that are out there in the book of the world.

Buckle your seat belts and get ready for the #StorybookRidewithBri!

Image: Storytelling photo, creator unknown, found on the Lehman College site

Storytelling, Week 3: Diary, Can You Keep A Secret?


Dear Diary...

This particular story is a mixture of the biblical stories of Sarah and Abraham, Hagar, as well as Susannah. I wanted to create a story that incorporated all of their life lessons and struggles into one that would be presented in a more layman’s terms, in a fashion that would be more applicable to today’s society. Now I present to you the first few entries of Rohtua’s diary. I hope you enjoy!




Dear Diary, 

3.5.29

This isn’t fair! All I wanted was a child! I can remember now as if it was yesterday, all of my classmates talking about the type of lives that they wanted to live once they graduated from college and got their careers and personal lives situated like they wanted. Never in a million years did I think that my same thoughts I shared about my hopes and dreams wouldn’t become a reality. I mean some of the things that I wanted for myself did come to fruition, just not the pieces that I really wanted for myself. For instance, I have been very successful throughout my life, I’ve created my own Public Relations firm, I’ve been married to the love of my life for the past 40 years, but the one thing that I think would have made life so much better, so much more worthwhile, I wasn’t able to obtain that one; children. My husband Marc and I have tried for soo long until we finally decided that it just wasn’t meant to be for us. 


So here we are, 60 and 72 years old, no children, no grand children and I hear so much about these young girls that are having kids left and right with this whole PartnrLife program that has been around for about the past decade now. This PartnrLife program is something that was crafted to give partners the opportunity to welcome additional spouses into their households. I just heard on the news about this couple, Keith and Sasha who brought in two other girls into their lives to have more children. I’ll have to look more into that and see what I really think about this type of stuff. 


5.3.29


On the news today, I heard a report about a prominent young girl that was accused of having an affair with the gardener. Everyone knew that this couldn’t be the case, she and her husband were so happy together. They had just had their second child a year ago and were excited about trying for their third. 

Not only is this going on in their lives, I have a big confession to make right now. No one else knows but I have to share it somehow and since you’re my diary, you are my best bet. 

I’m not sure if I shared this with you, but Marc and I decided to try out this new PartnrLife program and we got two young ladies to come help around the house. There was one young lady that I suggested my husband try to have a baby with, ya know, so we could have someone that could pass along our family name. Gizzie got pregnant and had a son named Eli. At first, I was so happy that this little bundle of joy came into the world, but after a couple of weeks, I started to get so jealous and angry. So angry that SHE was the one that had the child with such ease and I had been trying for YEARS. 

Can you keep a secret? I don’t know what I should do, or what I even want to do, but I really think I just want to tell them to leave. Just pack up and leave! I know I should have thought this whole thing through before I made this decision but I just can’t stand for this anymore. I feel like my husband loves Gizzie and their child more than he loves me. 


6.3.29


Hello there again… I know you were just waiting for an update and I totally have one for you. Gizzie and her son… They. Are. Gone! I had too. It took Marc a while to get over it, but he did because I am his wife, his love. I’m so glad we could work this situation out for now. 


You remember that other situation with that prominent girl accused of having an affair with the gardener? Well she was one step away from being locked up, but this kid named Daniel came forward out of nowhere, said that he knew what really happened and could prove it! Turns out, she was innocent the whole entire time and the gardener had been lying since the beginning. That sounds like a miracle or the work of God to me. Well, until next time. 





Peace, love and blessings.



Rohtua.


(Photo of diary, from Squire of Cydonia)
Bibliography
"BibleGateway." .com: A Searchable Online Bible in over 100 Versions and 50 Languages. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Feb. 2016. https://www.biblegateway.com