Several Fascinating Finds in the UnTextbook

The four stories I've stumbled upon that pique my interest are:

Alice's Looking-Glass:
This is a classic reference for imagination for many, and no less so for me. I am extremely interested in the story of the Jabberwocky, primarily because this creature must be a manifestation of something terrible for Alice. I would be interested in seeing that idea explored further.

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(I decided to use the above image because it portrays much of Wonderland as a chessboard, which could be thought of as a metaphor of how Alice attempts to navigate the illogical Wonderland, and perhaps her own mind?)

Arabian Nights: The Story of the Fisherman:
I also like the idea of mortals being able to beat gods (or god-like monsters) at their own games, and that's exactly what this story shows when a lowly fisherman faces-down a genie. I think the genie could very well be considered a monster, and it takes a special kind of human to beat one. Stories in which mortals overcome immortals has been done many times over (Bram Stoker's Dracula, for example), but it is

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Grimm: Briar Rose:
The lesson that fate is always absolute, but not necessarily all that it seems is a fantastic theme that plays out in the tale of Briar Rose (also known as Sleeping Beauty). It's the classic case of "the twist ending", but without the reliance on cheesy spectacle. Instead, this tale implores readers to think more of what role prophesy actually plays in a fantasy: how far does its influence reach? And how true will it remain?

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Ovid's Metamorphosis: Semele:
I think I will enjoy recounting the various unfortunate ways that powerful beings interfere in the lives of mortals, especially in the matter of affairs and love as the story of princess Semele is. I often wonder: what do the gods get out of all this? A good laugh? Maybe this is their form of entertainment? It's moments like these when we're reminded how "human" the deities of legend really behave.

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I definitely count on expanding and deepening my search for good stories. But I will stick with these until then!

Storybook Favorites from the Myth-Folklore Storybook List

     It was interesting looking through this list: I wanted to search for stories that modeled the way I ultimately wanted to write my final project. Even though some of the stories I looked through were funny, well-paced, among other catchy qualities, I only found myself really interested in the stories that were "well-grounded". What I mean by that is that these stories and the myths surrounding them were well researched by the authors, OR at least thoroughly imagined: the writing in the tales I list below made it evident that there was plenty of background and subtle information about the plot and characters without being bogged down. It seemed the authors to each of these stories made sure to conceive the entire world of the story, and they were therefore able to draw on the multiple layers of events, characters, and places forged from that. These stories all seem to be "well-cultured" too: the audience is thrown into the flow of the world in the story, so you have to do your best to understand the social and personal influences driving the story. This makes for compelling reading that I would like to emulate.

1) Story: Heroes Revealed, link

    This is the first story that really kind of hooked me, primarily because it opened with how various heroes of legend met their ends. The reader visits the heroes in their society's version of the afterlife, and the heroes give personal backgrounds about themselves. Reading the subtle details about differing perspectives of the tales the heroes were famous for really added to the universe that the story was taking place in.

2) Story: Lost in Wonderland, link

Wonderland's world has been visited many times, various spin-off tales in popular culture. However, most of these popular interpretations of Alice's world commonly become more dark in their content, whereas Lewis Carroll's source material toed more of a gray area between dream and nightmare. This story in particular is a more light continuation of the story in Alice in Wonderland, and yet it doesn't deny its more disturbing past.


3) Story: The Dark Side of Fairy Tales, link

I like to see fresh, deeper interpretations of fairy tales that may have been made more superficial in the wake of popular culture, even if the motif is "dark" (as it's commonly been known as). This compilation adds many anguishing aspects to the most famous of the Grimm stories, making the characters more raw and their problems that guide the story even murkier.


4) Story: Tales of Beauty and the Beast, link

Again, this is a rendition of a classic story, and the author has chosen to elaborate on the circumstances surrounding  it. In particular, the author has chosen to enrich the back-stories of the characters, Beauty and Beast, leading up to their fateful meeting. This makes the interactions further on in the story resonate with more meaning than the traditional telling, which doesn't lend much to either character's history other than what is necessary to set up the main plot. In the end, there's so much evident, hard-thought concepts interwoven into the story that it makes a totally new tale all together.

My Introduction

Bonjour mes amis!

Well I hardly know you yet, and you hardly know me, so I guess I'll just have to meet you somewhere in between! My name is Andres Gomez, and I'm only remotely French, but I still like the language and the culture fondly. I am a Film and Media Studies major, Biology minor, pre-medical student attending OU for my last year whooo! I'm currently involved in a neuroscience lab and the OU Student Government Association. I'm currently aiming to go to medical school and specialize in neuropsychiatry.
      I plan on taking the MCAT soon, and I'm talking about the 2015 MCAT. So, I'm also taking a prep course to make sure I'm not surprised by what the test can throw at me. I have heard some of my pre-med fellows are planning on "winging" the new MCAT. Well, that'll be fantastic for me if it's true: scores that stand out get noticed. The MCAT questions aren't actually all that difficult, but the new MCAT requires so much integration across different subjects to do well, and thankfully the prep course is helping me get used to that.
      I've actually enjoyed my last semesters at OU, granted them being my most difficult: some of my the upper div sciences (especially Neurobiology and Psychopharmacology) have given me a real run for my money, yet I've done exceptionally well in all those classes. Unlike the basic science classes (gen chem, orgo, physics, etc.) required by all premed students, I've felt so much more like a future doctor in my neurobiology and psychopharmacology courses. And as a result, I found it so much easier to do very well in those courses despite them being upper division.
      Even though I do like doing films, I've had to shy away from them in my last few semesters and focus on my biology minor/pre-med coursework. I have had films submitted to film festivals local and abroad, and I've been able to remain active in my states' respective film communities  (got my first paid position when I was in high school). I plan on taking a year off between graduation and medical school, and devote that time to making films locally and in LA.
      I also regularly do hand-drawn sketches so I might post some of those here as well. However, until then, enjoy this (this is NOT my work in any way, all credit to the original creator)-

Picture: "Down for the Count" (2014)

by poopbear

from their deviant art page

Storytelling Week 1: The Wolf and His Shadow Redone

The Wolf and His Shadow

Starvation was temporarily out of view as the wolf gulped down his most recent quarry. But as he looked over the snowy barrens of the mountain he solely ruled, he knew this would happen again. His eyes fell over his own shadow against the snow. He liked looking at himself as a shadow, always had. It always made him look so great and strong. Yet now, he lamented and grieved: at first, he just wanted to be the leader of a pack. Even when he did right by dethroning a previous alpha, he realized that he didn't know where enough food could be found for an entire pack, where the best caves were for them to stay during the winter. They didn't make it, none of them. They didn't make it because of him, and now his was alone. Except with his shadow. He picked up the stripped skull of his prey in his maw and turned towards the east of the darkening day.

He started toward his favorite resting spot on the mountain, the blue pond under the mountain’s overhang. But as he navigated that direction, he became more and more mesmerized by his shadow. Out of instinct, he started stalking it, like he used to with his own pups. But he wasn’t stalking for play: he was hungry again.  His shadow was long now, stretching from the hill he was atop of to the blue pond. He charged into the snow, barking and snarling, and dropping the skull. He soon grew tired, and found that he was bleeding. “Did I do that?” he thought, licking the blood from his own leg and lips. Retrieving the skull, he came to rest near the blue pond, now frozen, and put the skull in a hole he had dug under the great oak tree that stood nearby. Peering into the hole and settling for sleep, he thought to himself, glancing back at his shadow, “This is not so bad,” now looking at his raw limb madly, “I’ve gotten used to that taste anyway.” He stares into the hole, which reveals a collection of canine skulls like the one he just deposited.

Bibliography:
"The Wolf and His Shadow" by  ÆSOP from THE ÆSOP FOR CHILDREN (2006). Websource: The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Æsop for Children

Image by: abysswolf666 (2014)
From: their Deviant Art page

Author's note:
The original fable "The Wolf and His Shadow" is about how a wolf perceives his physical superiority based on the enlarged form his shadow, saying that not even a lion could be called king compared to him. Consequently, he is almost immediately waylaid by a lion and killed. The moral of this story is not to let fantasies about yourself fog your perception about reality.
       While I thought that was a good lesson to follow on, the message seemed a little too simply portrayed and ended too abruptly. I thought it would be more fascinating to explore the consequences of disillusionment, particularly that of people who want to be superior to others for the mere satisfaction of accomplishment. My wolf wanted to be the leader of a pack, so he started by driving out or killing the previous alpha member. But he was totally unprepared for leading the pack through winter. As a result of his frustration of not being able to lead properly, he turned his aggression towards the members of the pack he adopted. Ultimately, he becomes a cannibal wolf, and alone except for his shadow: his one and only friend.

Favorite Place

Photo of Ann Arbor, Michigan used by Cityworks

Source: Cityworks

I've always found Michigan very therapeutic to visit: there's definitely an ebb and flow to the whole place. You can find an ambiance for every kind of mood, my preference being that of overcast-cloudy-day calmness.