Famous Last Words: Week 5!

It has been such a busy week for me! I've been sick and trying to deal with a few family matters, which is always such fun, but I'm making it through. I really enjoyed the readings for this week especially. I chose to read the section on Egypt and it was probably my favorite thing that I've read this semester so far. I've always enjoyed the legends and myths surrounding Egypt, so I loved getting to read it more in depth. I chose to do my story about Isis and Osiris, which I think turned out okay.

I haven't been doing as many stories lately because I've been feeling creatively drained, but I'm really going to try pushing myself to get more of them done! We really do get such a unique opportunity to rewrite these stories in whatever way we want, so I should take advantage of that more often. I do tend to favor reading though. That will always be my one true love.

Speaking of writing, project intros were due this week, which was fun. I had a good time with my storybook last semester, so I'd like to keep that energy strong! I ended up deviating from my original plan. Originally, I had wanted it to be more dark and sad, but I don't think that about the story at all. There's many opportunities for humor and growth. Putting Gawain as a narrator was my best chance to give the reader a way to relate to his struggles of crippling perfectionism and having being your own worst critic. I wasn't a huge fan of how it turned out, but I'll fix it. It's fine for now.

In other Gawain related news, there's a new A24 film coming out "The Green Knight." A Dev Patel Gawain is exactly what I want in life. I would watch him do anything. I'm not playing, I love him endlessly. I'm interested to see how they make this story scary because it really isn't, but I'm very excited!

I want to be this cozy

Extra Credit Reading Notes: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland B

Source: The Queen's Croquet Ground (End) from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol

I wasn't going to do the other half of this at all, but I had nothing to do today and thought it would be fun to finish this up! I feel like the notable part of this reading selection is the tea party, but for the purpose of my own sanity and thinking about potential stories that I could do with it, I'm opting to do notes on a different section. I've always really enjoyed the croquet game. It's just the right amount of whimsical silliness and I feel like it's fun while still being able to be kind of understood. I also like the hedgehogs. Poor guys.

Cheshire makes its grand return to have a little chat with Alice about her current situation. Alice makes note that she's not going to begin the conversation until its ears have appeared because it won't hear her anyway. The head of the cat appeared and Alice, feeling grateful to finally have someone to talk to, tells the cat all that's been going on with her.

Alice sort of just complains about the game and the queen, neither of which she likes that much. I mean, who can blame her? There's a lot happening to her at the current moment. She doesn't even feel like it's worth playing because it's so rigged in her favor.

Then the king asks who she's talking to. He says that it's allowed to kiss its hand and the cat is like no thanks. The king is sort of timid and nervous around the cat, again, who can blame him? He wants the cat beheaded, so he gets that done. Not really though? Alice goes back to the game and she's confused and has no idea if it's her turn or not and she does not want to ask. Her flamingo tries to fly away but she catches it.

She goes back to find that there's a problem with the execution. There's always problems. Because the cat didn't have a body, it couldn't be beheaded. This angered the king. The queen wanted the problem dealt with or everyone would be beheaded... no one liked that part. There's a lot of chaos at this moment and they go get the Duchess because of Alice and it ends with the cat fading away again.

Cheshire Cat makes an appearance (Wikimedia Commons)

WEEK 5 Story: Other Half

Isis stood alone, head towards the heavens, arms outstretched. Tears fell from her eyes freely. The darkness she was faced with and the stillness of the night sky only seemed to mock her cries. She was normally one to wear a brave face in the midst of disorder, but this feeling transcended anything she had felt in her life. Though she was no stranger to despair or grief, she had never expected to lose her beloved, her Osiris, to an usurper no less. There were many emotions and thoughts spiraling around in her mind, but most of all, she wanted to see him again. That was all. Pain can be that simple. She wept for him, but she also wept for her own heart as well.

            The details surrounding her husband’s death were burned into her memory. Though she hadn’t been there, she may as well have been. She almost wished that she hadn't been told everything. Being nailed into a coffin and left to rot in the sea was a particularly gruesome way to pass. He needed her now more than ever. Isis knew that she needed to reach in and bring out some of the strength that was left in the reserves of her soul.

            She wiped away her tears with the backs of her palms and exhaled deeply through her nose, hoping to regain some composure. She had other worries stirring within as well. What was going to happen to her now that Set had taken the throne? She wasn’t safe here and needed to leave. It was time to do something.

            Isis, despite all of the uncertainty surrounding her at the moment, was consumed with the desire to do one thing. She walked back inside to her empty chamber. It was normally filled with doting and adoring servants. She had sent them away, refusing the joy of company. Isis took a strand of hair into her hand and cut a chunk of it out with the nearest sharp object that she could find. She whispered secret words, a vow to Osiris, that only she knew. Isis held the piece of hair close to her chest, tightly. It was time to start looking for the other half of her heart.

Source:  The Death of Osiris from Egyptian Myth & Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie

Author's Note: This week, I chose to read the section of Egypt. I was particularly taken with Osiris and Isis and found their journey to be sad/interesting. In the source, it details Osiris returning home from his journey to a celebration. The evil bad Set shows up with a coffin the size of Osiris and basically throws a contest to see who can fit the ""box"" and they'll get to keep it. Obviously it's a huge trap and when Osiris gets into it, the lid is shut and nailed and he's sent to the sea to die. Isis, his wife, takes this horribly. That's the section I chose to rewrite. There's a line in there that's like "she refused to be comforted" or something and I loved that. I felt very bad for her and wanted to expand on her grief and mourning. Isis then sets out on her own journey to look for Osiris, which is where mine ends. I just think she's neat and wanted to give her some love.

Osiris, Horus, and Isis (Wikimedia Commons)

Reading Notes: Mackenzie's Egyptian Myth & Legend B

Source: Egyptian Myth & Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie

My favorite section from this reading was the very first part from The Two Brothers. I didn't know what to expect from the story. It seemed to be going a different direction than the way that it went, so I really ended up liking it a lot. I think that the dramatic ending was so shocking, to me at least! I never would have seen it coming. Every time I see a story with two brothers, I assume it's going to do something similar to Cain and Abel and I guess I was kind of right? Anyway, very cool.

Anpu is the older brother and Bata is the younger. They coexisted in the same house happily. Anpu had a wife and Bata acted like his son and did some of the yard work for him. Bata brought herbs for Anpu and his wife sometimes. He would sleep with the cattle. It was a good system.

It's important to know that Bata could understand what the animals were saying kind of. They would tell him important things sometimes. Basically, most of the story is Bata running errands and doing farm work. One night, Bata came back from his errands to find Anpu's wife sitting, braiding her hair. He asks her to get him corn and she refuses because her hair would be ruined. They talk of barley after he goes to the storehouse. Then she kind of comes onto him. Bata is not pleased. He sees her as a mother and respects his brother. He tells her to not do this again and goes back to work.

Later, when Anpu gets home, we see her strung out and upset. She lies about what happens and says that he was the one who did this to her, which understandably makes Anpu angry. The boys begin fighting! Anpu sharpens a dagger and goes to find his brother... obviously with the intention to kill him. It's all very dramatic.

An Egyptian Harvest (Wikimedia Commons)

Reading Notes: Mackenzie's Egyptian Myth & Legend A

Source: Egyptian Myth & Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie

I particularly enjoyed reading about Isis and Osiris. Their life together was incredibly interesting, but what was even more compelling was what came after the death of Osiris. The death itself is incredibly pivotal to the journey that Isis has to go on. I found this section to be quite sad, but I enjoyed it because it made me want to know what became of Isis.

The setting is a royal celebration after Osiris has returned from his own journey. Set came to this lively celebration, bringing along a chest that fit the measurements of Osiris perfectly. He said that it would belong to the person whose body it fit. He's a sneaky fellow. Many tried to see if they were a match, but obviously none were. It was a trap. When Osiris finally got into it, the lid was slammed shut by Set's conspirators. Other things happened that weren't great. He was dead pretty fast.

The fun celebration turned sour pretty quickly as well. Set told his people to hide the body in secret. They did so by tossing it into the Nile. Isis, after hearing this awful news, cut off a piece of her hair, put on her best mourning clothes, and wandered the lands looking for her husband. She never did find it, but she did hear from a group of kids that the coffin was seen entering the sea by the delta mouth. While this was happening, the followers of Osiris were getting treated terribly by Set and his tyrannical ways. No one was having a good time.

Isis traveled around with seven scorpions that protected her. Ra saw her efforts and sent Anubis along to help her out. Isis then comes to the house of a woman and when she enters, the scorpion stings the woman's child and the child dies. The mother is understandably upset and upon seeing her grief, Isis is moved and is able to bring her child back to life once more. This leads to the journey of Isis.

Isis mourning (Wikimedia Commons)