Famous Last Words:Week 14

Well this week has absolutely flown by and thanksgiving was no exception. I had a great time being home and spending some much needed time with my family and new niece. It was also wonderful to catch back up with all of my high school friends and see what their plans are following graduation at the end of the year. It is crazy to think that 4 years in college have almost been completed and that we will all be moving on. Hopefully I will be able to continue putting off entering the real world and will get accepted into the dental school program at OU. This decision has yet to be announced and has been placing a lot of stress into my life as I await the outcome. However, at least we only have 2 more weeks of school remaining and then will be off for a month. When I was home for thanksgiving I found out that I will be working at the Container store over winter break which will be an interesting experience. I really just needed some sort of job and didn't care to be overly picky when it came to finding one. I plan on working as much as I can over the break so I can continue saving money for my graduation trip to Europe. I am still trying to find a new job in Norman for next semester since I will only be in class two days a week. Not exactly sure how I managed to make it happen but my only classes next semester are on Monday and Wednesday from 8-3 with breaks in between. I haven't had a full day of classes since my sophomore year so it will be interesting to see how it goes. Hopefully I will be able to finish the semester strong and head out for break with a 4.0.

Jubilee and Santa 

Image taken by: Emily Reynosa

Tech Tip: Google Presence

It is quite intriguing to google your own name and see what you can find. My name is not necessarily original, however, the spelling of my last name is. Vaughan (how my family spells it) is often seen without the final a, Vaughn. This spelling is from the specific area of Ireland that my family is from and is still quite common there today. When I googled myself my Facebook and Linkedin profiles are all that appeared initially. When I added Texas to the end of the search I actually found the Facebook of another Austin Vaughan who spelled his name exactly the same as I do. I tinkered with a few other keywords but I couldn't find any additional information on myself. I guess I have a positive online presence which is beneficial when applying to graduate programs and job positions in the future.

Reading Diary B: Week 14: Khasi Folktales

What Makes the Lightning- 

• The animals watched the yearly festival of the humans and decide to create their own 
• The thunder giant summons all the animals with his drum
• Each animal came playing some role in the festival 
• A lynx danced around holding a silver sword 
• The thunder giant asks if he may borrow the sword so he too can dance, the lynx doesn't like this idea
• He is shamed by the others to give the thunder giant the sword since he is a guest and has gathered them all 
• The giant swings the sword wildly creating flashes of light while also beating his drum
• The animals scatter in fear
• The thunder giant leaps into the sky with the sword and can often be seen brandishing them both creating thunder and lightning
• The lynx never forgot his loss and builds a mound daily in hopes of reaching the sky to take back his sword

What Makes the Lightning

Ka Panshandi, The Lazy Tortoise-

• There lived a ugly, lazy tortoise by a large pool
• The pool was so clear that many stars came to look at their beauty in it
• One star in particular came very often and always noticed the playfulness of the tortoise
• He was far away and couldn't see her ugliness or her habits
• This star planned to marry her and come down to earth to be with her
• He went against the advice of others going down to Earth and taking her as his bride
• Having married one of the wealthiest grooms she became more lazy than ever
• The house was a disaster and she would be covered in mud
• After many attempts to fix her the star became discontent and left his wife
• She begged for him to come back, promising change but her never did return 
• The Khasi's refer to expectant wives waiting for their husbands return as Ka Pranshandi

Ka Panshandi, The Lazy Tortoise

How the Cat Came to live with Man-

• Ka Miaw, the cat lived with her brother the tiger
• Their household was to be great and lavish due to their standing but the tiger often only worried of himself
• She attempts to speak to the tiger about his uncaring nature but this only angers him
• He grows sick on day and is visited by friends, he requests that his sister light the hookah
• She says there is no fire and the tiger orders her to go to a village of men to get some
• When she arrives some children come and pet her and play with her which she greatly enjoys
• She forgets her task and plays with the children for a long while
• The tiger grows impatient and goes looking for her
• She hears him coming and remembers what she is to be doing and gets the fire and heads home
• She runs into her brother and he threatens her
• She returns to man and has stayed ever since for fear of her brother

How the Cat Came to live with Man

How the Ox Came to be the Servant of Man-

• When mankind was first on earth they didn't know how to live and were wasteful 
• The gods noticed this and sent an Ox as their messenger to help teach them the ways
• The Ox travels a long way and is covered in bugs
• A crow lands on him and helps remove all of the insects and the Ox is grateful'
• He tells the crow of his mission and what he is to teach the men
• This upsets the crow for its food source is the waste of men
• The crow asks the Ox that since she removed all the bugs would he teach men to cook lots of rice and leave it for the gods so that the crows may always have food to eat
• The Ox delivers parts of the original message while also adding in what the crow requested he say
• The gods were very displeased with what the Ox had done and he was banished after being struck in both the mouth and ribs
• He returns to mankind and requests to serve them and they accept him
• To this day the Ox has no upper teeth and a hollow in his stomach that may never be filled no matter how much he eats, this is the punishment of the gods

How the Ox Came to be the Servant of Man

Khasi Folktales

Reading Diary A: Week 14: Khasi Folktales

The Tiger and the Monkeys-

• Animals running wild, decided to pick a king to rule them
• Chose a tiger because of his great strength 
• He was self-centered and foolish towards the ways of others
• The tiger one day hears the singing of a small bug 
• Its so small he can't see it, all he sees is monkeys in the tree
• The monkey tells the tiger the singing is coming from his sister
• The king vows to marry her because of her voice
• The monkeys try to come up with excuses of why he cannot marry her
• Finally the give in and tell the tiger they can marry in a week so they can prepare
• The whole monkey tribe decide to make a clay women to present as his bride
• The tiger tries to talk to his bride but she is unresponsive
• The monkeys tell him to wake her by pulling a string on her neck
• When he does so her head falls to the ground
• The monkeys then attack the tiger saying he killed their sister
• The king is almost killed and now forever fears the monkeys because they are the only creatures to ever challenge him

The Tiger and the Monkeys

Hunting the Stag Lapalang-

• The most gorgeous stag lived in a forest with his mother
• He began to grow bored within the small confines of his home
• He decided he would go to the Khasi hills despite his mothers begging
• At first all was well but then he was seen and all began to hunt him
• He is finally surrounded and killed
• The mother goes after him and hears the news of his death
• She cried for her son and all returned to their work, not daring to face the grieving mother
• The Khasis realized that their lamentations for their dead were inferior to this mothers devotion and they adopted her ways 

Hunting the Stag Lapalang

How the Dog Came to live with Man-

• The dog looks for an item that he can bring to the fair
• The dog is hungry from searching and follows his nose into a village
• He is invited in by a woman and eats with the family
• He gets a jar of food to take to the fair from the family
• All the animals were enthralled with his item but when he opened it a putrid smell erupted
• The dog was ridiculed and scorned by all the animals at the fair
• He went back to the village and the man said he would protect him patting his head
• The dog did no work unlike the other tamed animals and they got fed up by his idleness
• The dog would however run all over the field after the work was done
• This made it look like he had done lots of work and was falsely accused by the pigs 
• Man punished the pig by making him live outside by himself and eat only the scrapes of mans table
• The dog was granted to live inside with man 

How the Dog Came to live with Man

The Leap of Ka Likai-

• Name given to a waterfall with an unfortunate story behind it  
• There was a young married women named Ka Likai who had a daughter
• The husband died while the child was very young
• Ka Likai does everything she can to support them but must marry again
• Her new husband was very selfish and hated the child because of the attention she received from Ka Likai 
• He made Ka Likai work while he stayed home and abused the girl
• One day while Ka Likai is gone the step father kills the child and cuts her into pieces
• He cooks her into a soup 
• Ka Likai returns home to find her husband in a good mood 
• They have dinner together and at the end she reaches in a basket only to find her daughters hand
• She runs away and throws herself off the waterfall thus giving it its name
• This story warns women from marrying a second time 

The Leap of Ka Likai

Khasi Folktales