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Week 14 Reading - Inayat. Twenty Jataka Tales Part B: The Forest Fire

Two quails had 7 baby quails 6 of the babies ate worms and bugs and grass seeds, but the seventh ate only grass seeds. Because the baby only ate grass seeds, its wings did not grow as strong as the others, and thus it could not fly. One day a forest fire came and the mother and father quail as well as the 6 other quail children flew away. The Seventh stayed in the nest as it couldn't fly. As the fire approach the small one spoke saying it was weak and there was nothing there for the fire. The fire left, and the bird lived happily. Quail Chick Against the Fire Source References Inayat. Twenty Jataka Tales
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Week 14 Reading - Inayat. Twenty Jataka Tales Part A: The Monkey-Bridge

There was a group of monkeys that lived near a river with a great tree that bore fruit. The monkeys never let any fruit fall into the river as they were afraid that if fruit fell in, it would float down to a human city and the humans would come searching for the fruit, thus forcing the monkeys away. One fruit was hidden by an ant nest and fell into the river and floated to the city. A king found it and tasted it and then ordered the tree the fruit came from be found. The king ordered the monkeys killed. The monkey king leapt to another tree and tied a reed around his foot, then jumped back so that his people could cross to the other tree. The reed was only long enough to allow him to grab the tree. All of the monkeys fled, but one monkey jumped on the monkey king's back and broke it. Then, they left him behind. The human king brought him down and spoke to him, moved by what he saw. The monkey king spoke some wisdom to him, then died. The human king built a temple in the m

Week 13 Wikipedia Trails - From Durga to Toranas

I started with Durga on the recommendation of a classmate. She is a warrior goddess, and one of the most important forms of Devi. I was then led to Dashain . Dashain is a fifteen day Hindu festival. It represents Durga's triumph over a demon. Part of the ceremony traditionally took place at the Hanuman Dhoka  palace. The palace gets its name from a stone statue of Hanuman at its gates. Finally, I was led to what is called a Torana . It is basically just an ornate archway that is freestanding. Torana In Front of Sanchi Stupa Source

Week 13 Famous Last Words - Shock (Diamonds) and Awe!

This week has been busy, but in a very good way. I’ll start by talking about my capstone and that is likely the majority of what I will talk about in this Famous Last Words. So we finally got our system up and running. Our air compressor finally got wired up, we finally finished leak testing, and we finally go to actually test our system. And it works! Amazingly Well! I felt so much relief after our first successful test. We had a few bumps getting to that test, but they weren’t anything we couldn’t handle. So firstly we had to replace a line that burst way below it’s rated pressure. We ended up finding some steel tubing since that would be able to withstand the heat. We got that hooked up and leak tests were smooth from that point forward. Actual testing went super smoothly. We got air through the system with no problems, and out data acquisition is working well. I can’t put into words how excited and relieved I am that everything is working. The coolest part is we got out sch

Week 13 Story - Shaking the Hive

“We’re approaching the Queen’s chamber.” Schafer said calmly to Hill. The pair fought their way through the nest of Lisks. “What exactly are we lookin’ for again in the chamber?” Hill asked as he pulled a small Liskling off of his helmet. “We need a vile of whatever fluid is in their hatching pool.” Schafer replied, annoyed that Hill already forgot what they were supposed to be doing. “And what exactly is that supposed to do for us?” Hill replied snarkily. “I mean, I’m just tryin’ figure out why we’re playing errand boys and riskin’ our lives for a damn egghead. “That foundation scientist said that… hold on... I gotta reload.” Shafer said as he slammed a fresh magazine in to his pulse rifle. “That scientist said it could hold the key to reversing the infestation and turning people back to humans.” “Help me! Please! I can hear you! Please help me!” a voice echoed through the tunnels. “We better go check that out.” Schafer said. The pair fought their way towards the sound

Week 13 Reading Notes - Kincaid. Tales from the Indian Epics - The Tale of the Pole Star

There was a king with two wives. One was pretty and one had good character. Each had a son with a king that inherited the traits of their mother. The pretty mother and her son were very jealous and selfish. Eventually she caught the king with the other son on his knee. She pushed him off and told him to pray to the gods. The ugly boy then wen to his mother who told him to pray to krishna. He went into the forest for many years and prayed to krishna. Eventually krisha appeared and told him that he would be king of his fathers nation. The boy went back home. Upon hearing of his arrival, the king spared no expense welcoming him back. The pretty prince was jealous and asked to help conquer a tribe of revolting people. He went with cavalry, but since he was so arrogant he went ahead of the main group and was slaughtered. Then the other boy went in with the general and got revenge. He then came home and the king gave over his crown. He ruled prosperously for many years before giving up his c