On Epic Awesomeness

What springs to your mind when you hear the word Myth?



This?

This?

Perhaps this?

Whenever most of us think the word "Myth" we envision any number of a great many fictional tales with timeless appeal and a message of courage, gallantry, and self-sacrifice in the face of insurmountable odds. These contain heros who are well-known to us: Hercules, Batman... Gerard Butler.

For the most part, such stories are inspirational. They provide a deeper understanding of the world around us as well as assurance - nay, downright proof - that Evil can always be conquered and Good will ultimately triumph. We love our myths. They comfort and amuse.

To me, Myth is anything whose purpose is to explain or encourage in an entertaining manner. Good myth will lend accessibility to those things which seem beyond our comprehension. It has the power to bring excitement to the humdrum and make the terrifying less so. It is an indispensible element in the development of any culture.

This semester I will be learning about a variety of different myths, some familiar, some less so. I will expand my understanding of the meaning and purpose behind such myths and in doing so recognize the truth within each. Most importantly, I will explore the many subtle myths which influence our daily lives in any number of ways.

On Mythical New Beginnings

Well, folks, I'm blogging again. (Woohoo! Go, me! Aren't I just so fabulously motivated? :)

Okay, okay. So, more precisely I'm fulfilling a course requirement while discovering a "more colorful and vibrant" world in the process. Awesomeness, no?

Believe me, an emphatic YES is most definitely the answer! Allow me to provide a brief orientation before the fun begins...

I have the marvelous good fortune of being a student at Montana State University and, this semester being my last, I chose to supplement my otherwise humdrum Mathematical/Statistical existence with a number of more 'imaginative' courses (in the interest of maintaining sanity, surviving Ansil's deployment, etc. etc.). Most notably, I enrolled myself in a Lit class on mythologies, for which I am required to maintain a blog.

Viola! Enter Danielle, blogger extraordinaire.

You may expect to find any number of potentially earth-shattering revelations on this page as the semester progresses: Class notes, reading responses, illustrations, paper drafts, and various other delights are sure to appear shortly.

Stay tuned. :)

On Silences, Radio Or Otherwise...

Well, between flakey internet and 100 degree weather precious little has been happening in the way of communication. I'm just too... lazy. Yep. Pathetic, I know. Doing my best to fight the heat, but holy cow this is so not my cup of tea. :\

Ahem. May I placate you with photos of our 4th of July getaway to OKC?

We really didn't want to waste the long weekend, so we drove up north, grabbed a hotel room (lovely military discount - thank you, Uncle Sam!), and ventured into the city early Saturday morning. Sort of like a mini honeymoon, complete with a super accommodating and elegantly clad husband.

I did my best not to embarrass him. :)

Oh, and I took far too many photos. Check it out: skyscrapers! (and awkward Ansil :)

Aww, isn't he cute? A tad sleepy still, yes. I'm a bit of an early bird and even with sleeping in got us there by 9am. Definitely had the city to ourselves. Awesome.

Some random guy even called us "A Beautiful Couple". Apparently, "no one holds hands anymore." How dreadfully sad. :(

I managed to find the library in under 5 minutes. Mad skilz. ;)

And Ansil found a random buffalo (turns out they're all over the city - kinda like all the painted pandas in DC a few years back).

"Listen, honey, there's no way on earth you're gonna get me to pose with this thing."

"Yes, dear." (See? He's learning. ;)

Not to be outdone, Ansil attempted to rival my rampant photographic genius.

I ever so love this shot. My goodness, I married a handsome man! :)

Oh yes, we are so mature.

More skyscrapers...

and epic water creations...

Whew! And oh look, that's why the place is so deserted. Here comes the rain!

And what do you do with rain? Why, dance, of course!

Not to be deterred, we continued our explorations.

There goes my love! (What? We're married. I'm allowed to be mushy. :)

Hey, cutie. ;)

Luckily, my camera is actually waterproof - as in underwater photography, etc. etc. So it may be ancient and take very poor quality shots, but hey, at least I didn't have to worry.

Isn't that beautiful? Ansil requested the shot.

Seriously cool backdrop. :)

And there I am: slightly damp, but happy. :)

Hmm... That's what happens when you give Ansil the camera...

The Kiss

(hehehe)

We ducked under an overhang to avoid a particularly aggressive downpour and were met by this oddity... and its description...

Umm... Oklahoma is so weird. (And that "underground" literally covers about 2 or 3 blocks of the city in its entirety. Mostly pointless. Huh.)

Yep. Like I said. Very strange.

We passed the time by posing moodily. (Ansil does this very well.)

I... tried.

And failed. So much for 'moody seductress'. :)

Classic rain scene.

We got incredibly drenched at one point.

So I amused myself with more photos. See Ansil's fancy new watch? It was a wedding gift from Uncle Jaime. Pretty nifty. :)

Aww he makes my heart cozy. :)

We rain into a parking garage for cover and found a skywalk. Whew! Very air-conditioned = very very cold when you're drenched to the skin.

But then the rain abated just enough to let us find Bricktown and the baseball stadium (and a very lovely little sports bar that served fantastic avocado burgers and let me ring out my soggy hair in their restroom).

The thing had Ansil enthralled.

I mean very enthralled.

We never did figure out the point of it. Hmm.

There's a quaint little canal and brick walkway (undoubtedly a huge tourist spot in more clement weather).

That struck me as a bit odd, but then it is Oklahoma after all...

Aww look: it's soggy Danielle on a bridge. :)

Ooo la la! A close up!

I loved the mural.

I think Ansil was getting just about funned-out. (Soggy socks will do that to a man.)

So we took one last photo...

and went back to our lovely dry hotel room. Isn't it pretty?