Hayley's Scrunchie

(Two women walking in the park, from Flickr ) Two coworkers were on their lunch break and had some extra time so they decided to take a walk through the park next to their building. It was bright, pleasant, and breezy outside as the two decided to start down the trail. They talked about their friends, family, the weather, and about life in general. "I think I'm going to ask him about that big promotion," said Jane. "What's the point? You know he's just going to give it to one of the guys, anyways," said the other woman, Jess. "You may be right, but I have to at least try, just to say I did it," Jane said confidently. They continued walking down the path and looked at street performers, a pond filled with paddle-boats and ducks, and various statues of historical figures. Jess kept walking and didn't even notice that Jane had stopped and was standing in front of a statue. "What are you doing, Jane? Let's keep walking

Tricksters: Tiger, Brahman, and Jackal Story is easy to read, good paragraph lengths The tiger wants to be let out of the cage, but the brahman lets him out knowing the nature of a tiger is to eat people The tree is also bitter about people using it, same with the buffalo and road The overall theme is that people do not care about the things they use and treat them badly even though they might be essential to life I like the personification of all the elements and how casual it is that these animals and roads will talk to a brahman. Jackal is unique and different somehow He manipulates the tiger by pretending he is the dumb one and tricks the tiger into getting back in his own cage. Pretty cool surprising ending. I really enjoyed this story. (A jackal looking pleased with itself, Wikipedia ) Lion Stories The first lion story was about the lion splitting his kill into four parts, and declaring them all for himself. It's a commentary on society and how sometim

One of the units I am looking forward to reading is the Czech folktales . My last name, Bezdek, is Czech and I think it would be really cool to learn about stories that my ancestors grew up listening to. I like that these stories are similar to other European stories I've heard before, so they will be familiar to me but with a little twist or two. Another unit that looks fun is the Faerie Queene  epic poem. I am all about women empowerment, and a story about a lady knight seems really cool and exciting.  I also love Shakespearean dramas and comedies, and if this prose is similar to his I'm sure I'll love it. Lastly, I really want to read some stories from Nursery Rhymes . Even though rhyming books are considered childish by some, it's actually really impressive to be able to tell a story that rhymes. I think it will be nostalgic to read some rhymes I used to hear as a kid, and maybe I'll find some new ones I'll want to share with my own family in the future.

(A cat sleeping while reading from  Wikimedia Commons ) I am absolutely horrible at procrastinating (or good at it I guess?) Time management is not my best skill, but even if I'm up til 2 a.m. I will finish what I start. I read the article  3 Steps to Recapture Time  and I really liked how it talked about how it's okay to say no to things that don't fit into your plans. I have a hard time saying no, but I know that sometimes I have to put myself first in order to thrive later on. The second article,  How to build a realistic study plan , helped me think about the importance of writing down your goals and schedules. I have a bad habit of telling myself I'll do something, then just kind of putting it off until later that night. If I write it down somewhere like in my planner, it will be harder to avoid because it is on paper that I am going to be doing something at that time. I have struggled with procrastinating in the past, but this semester I will really need t

I am sort of familiar with blogging websites as I made one for my media class last fall. I also use Pinterest and Tumblr fairly often so I am pretty up to date with a lot of the technology mentioned. This class is way more interactive however than my other blogging class, because none of my peers really read each others blogs and it was all pretty impersonal. No one even saw my blog besides my professor and my parents because they wanted the link. This semester will be interesting because other classmates will not only be reading my blog but commenting on it too. I'm excited to see what other people have to say and share about this class. (Image of a dog with a blog from  Public Domain Pictures )

The thing I am most looking forward to about this class is the reading and storytelling. I have always liked writing stories, and I did theatre in high school which is basically just a different way of telling a story. I am also looking forward to the semester long storybook because I enjoyed reading some from the past semesters earlier this week. I think it will be a good challenge to take ancient stories and find a new exciting way to retell them. Also I think the extra credit opportunities are really cool and I especially like the Wikipedia one. I love clicking on random articles and I do the same thing with Youtube videos too, it's so fun to jump from topic to topic! (Personal photo of my dog Zak, for National Dog Day)

(Cat meme from  Growth Mindset  cat blog) I hate failure. It's very easy for me to cry or breakdown when I'm struggling, and most of the time I just want to call my mom so she can do whatever I failed at for me. High school was easy for me, and I never really understood growth mindset until I came to college and had to try new things. I am currently on my third major, and that's kind of freaking me out. At this point if I don't like what I'm doing I think I'll stick with it anyways because I don't want to fail and try a different career path. This year I'm in four advertising classes, and I'm really nervous that they might be hard and that this major is not for me. Watching the growth mindset videos helped me realize that it's okay if I struggle with something I'm supposed to be good at. Even if my major is perfect for me I still need to learn and grow and challenge myself. This semester is going to be challenging for me, I can a

Hello & welcome to Hayley's scrunchie!!! My scrunchie holds all my hair together and this blog will hold all my thoughts together. (Personal photo of me at Camp Crimson wearing  one of about a dozen scrunchies I have) This summer I was a Small Group Leader at Camp Crimson, and our name tags say "Ask me about ___"  You can put whatever you want on there, like campus involvement or favorite animals but mine said ask me about my spotify playlists . I am a huge music lover and switching to Spotify Premium a year and a half ago truly changed my life. I really love alternative and indie music, and there are so many bands out there it kinda freaks me out how much good music there is out in the world I've never even heard before. (Personal photo of when my best friend (left) and I (right) met  the lead singer of Walk the Moon, one of my favorite bands) One of my favorite playlists is called  Night Drive . There is such a specific feeling that come

I have always loved greek mythology, so naturally  Real Housewives of Greek Mythology  caught my eye. The title is funny and a good mix of present and past. I already know a lot about greek myths, but I like how the introduction on each character is written in a modern day way while describing ancient characters. The layout is fairly simple, but I like that it's not super distracting or difficult to read. I really love how all of the images are similar in style and are all traditional paintings, it really helps with the flow. The second story I chose was  A Kingdom of Love in a Lion Pride  because lions are my favorite animals. I personally would have chosen a shorter or more interesting title, because the only reason I clicked on it was for the lions. The introduction was very thorough and gave a great description on why the story was chosen and what to expect. I really did not know a lot about the origins of Cupid besides Valentine's Day, and I think it's cool that the

I love to travel and I really struggled with picking only one place to talk about, but I then realized that most of my favorite places are National Parks. I am by no means a nature person, you will never find me camping, BUT there is something so cool about seeing a massive canyon or waterfall that has existed for thousands of years. One of my favorite places I've been is Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah. Not too far from the Grand Canyon, it is a beautiful mix of red rocks and green trees that perfectly complement the blue sky. (Picture of Thor's Hammer in Bryce Canyon,  taken by Tobias Alt. 2007. Source:  Wikimedia Commons ) These rocks form little stacks called hoodoos, and are a unique feature of Bryce. My grandparents took the whole family on a trip here and it was my last vacation with my grandpa before he died. We visited multiple national parks in the Utah/Arizona area, but this one was my favorite.  (Personal photo of horseback riding in Bryce

The 90s are coming back and I am a huge fan of scrunchies . I decided to call this blog Hayley's Scrunchie because a scrunchie holds all my hair together and this blog will hold all my thoughts together.