Style Brain Storming: Beauty Shop of the Gods

Topic: My storybook will be about drama in a beauty salon and spa for the Greek gods and goddeses. I want the stories to be told from all the character's point of view. I'd like for it to be a drama with all of them gossiping. I want to use characters like Psyche from Apuleius: Psyche's Beauty. Her story is the drama that my story is going to need. I would like to have the story to be based around the goddess Aphrodite, and her love affairs in the story of Aphrodite. I'll use the story of Adonis and Aphrodite to incorporate a mortals from Ovid's Metamorphoses. I want the story to be like if the reader was watching a reality television show. I believe I will be able to find enough stories on love and drama to fit in my story book.

1. Bibiliography:Apuleius: Psyche's Beauty , from The Golden Asse, Lucius Apuleius, Late 2nd century AD.
2. Bibilography: Ovid's Metamorphoses, from the Ovid's Metamorphoses, translated by Tony Kline, 2000.

Possible Styles:
Character point of view: I like the idea of the story being told completely from the characters. From experience I connect to the story much better when I read. I feel like a lot more detail is going to coming directly from the characters. I want as much drama as possible while still making the story seem believable.
Television show: I can make this story seem like they are on a television show. The characters can begin in the beauty shop but end up taking it further to settler their drama on a show like Maury. Maury is all about drama, which is exactly what my story is going to need. The show can be told from Maury's point of view then it will end on his show.
The point of view of an observer: I think making this story come from someone who is unbiased and telling what they see would be classic. Being a sassy and smart mouth kind of person, the person or object speaking would have very sarcastic way of retelling what everyone is saying.
Commentators: I spend almost everyday watching sports. So why not have all the drama unfold in the beauty shop being told by two sport commentators. This will differ from the object point of view because that will be an insider of the shop that sees it every day. The commentator will be giving play by plays completely from the outside. As opposed to the insider in the shop that will just be adding in their comments to the characters.

A beauty shop. Source: Wikipedia

Extra Reading Diary Post: Europa's Fairy Book

The Swan Maidens

• A hunter saw 7 maidens swimming in a river
• Each maiden had  a robe of feathers
• The youngest appeased the hunter the most
• Made her marry him by seizing the robe.
• 2 children
• The hidden robe was found and the mother flew off with it
• She flew East O' the sun and West O' the Moon
• He consulted the king of the beast, birds and fishes, until the fishes knew it was on Crystal Mountain
• He tricked 2 men out of getting their invisibility had and their fast shoes
• He finds the land and speaks with the king.
• He took each maiden by the hand until he found his wife
• Then they went back home and lived happily ever after

Androcles and the Lion

• Androcles is a slave
• He has escaped his master and grown tired and weary with hunger
• A lion's roar caused him to get and try to run away in what he thought was the opposite direction of the lion.
• He tripped in a bush and saw the lion limping on 3 paws
• He pulled the large thorn out of the lion's paw
• The lion was grateful and would bring food to Androcles as a thank you
• They became friends
• Androcles was captured and taken back to his master
• To punish the slave he was going to be thrown into a lion's pit
• Rather than eating Androcles, the lion jumped on him and licked him
• The lion was the lion that was his friend
• The emperor excused them both back to be free after Androcles explained to him how they became friends

A Visitor from Paradise

• A woman has been married twice
• A man knocks on her door asking for a drink, who is from Paris
• The woman who is slightly deaf thought the man said Paradise
• Her first husband has died, and she is on her 2nd
• She asks if the man can take back some goods to her 1st husband John in paradise
• The husband didn't like the man took the donkey, so he took his horse to find him
• The man from paradise hid the stuff in the bushes
• The man never brought back the donkey the next day as promised
• The man and wife removed the front door from its hinges before setting off to find the man with the stolen donkey
• They used the door to sleep on in a tree
• Under them was a group of robbers
•  The couple dropped the door on top of thieves frightening them
• The couple took all of the goods the robbers had stolen and lived happily ever after

Inside Again

• A man lifted a rock in the woods and found a big black snake
• The snake wants to eat the man
• They argue about what is more important, self preservation or gratitude
• The first to walk by was a horse who sided with the snake
• The next was an old dog who agreed with the snake
• Finally a fox walks by, the man convinces the fox that if he helps him he will give him a pair of chickens
• The fox tricked the snake into getting back under the rock
• The man ran home to give the fox its chickens
• The man's wife didn't agree with the deal so she put their dog in a bag gave it to the fox
• The dog jumped out of the bad and ate the fox

A candy house. Source: Wikipedia

Johnnie and Grizzle

• 2 kids whose names are Johnnie and Grizzle
• Their father is a poor farmer who has no money for food
• The father wants to leave the children in the forest in hopes someone will find them
• The next day Johnnie went out and collected a lot of brightly colored stones
• The father took them into the forest claiming he forgot something and that he would comeback
• Along the walk Johnnie dropped the stone leaving a trail from the house
• The kids found their way back to the house
• The farmer took the kids into the woods the next day again
• The kids once again found their way home
• The next day the farmer took them out to the woods again but he had locked the doors so Johnnie was not able to pick up pebbles
• That morning Johnnie used bread crumbs from the bread he was supposed to have eaten for breakfast
• The birds ate all the bread leaving the kids without a trail.
• The kids found a house in the woods made of candy

Johnnie and Grizzle (cont.)

• The children began to eat the house
• A woman opened the door and scolded the children for not asking before eating her house
• She invites them inside to feed them
• When they get inside she takes Johnnie and locks him in a room
• The lady was a witch that like to fatten up children and eat them
• Grizzle would do all the housework while Johnnie got fed very well every meal
• The witch was nearly blind and would feel Johnnie's finger to determine how big he was
• In fear of being eaten, Johnnie found a stick about the size of his finger that he would use instead
• He did this day after day until one day the stick dropped. The witch became enraged and had Grizzle turn on the oven to eat Johnnie
• Grizzle tricked the witch and pushed her into the oven
• The kids fled the house to a river that was too deep for them to wade in only to see the witch had gotten out and was chasing them
• A duck was in the river and helped the kids swim across
• The witch sucked all the water out of the river until she burst
• The kids made it to the other side and ran all the way home
• The farmer had made a lot of money and had been looking for his kids.

Thumbkin

• A woman wished to have a little boy the size of her thumb
• When suddenly all the beans in her lap turned into baby boys
• She dumped them in a bowl of water. All sunk but 1
• He never grew any bigger than their thumbs, his name was Thumbkin
• Thumbkin  wants the responsibility of taking the donkey down to his father
• He led the horse and cart successfully to his father
• 2 men saw a horse and cart moving with no driver so they followed it and saw Thumbkin being taken out of the horse's ear
• The men bought Thumbkin for a fortune
• They put him on his hat and for dinner Thumbkin hid in the crevice of a tree
• They gave up on finding him and left
• Three robbers sat where they had dinner and Thumbkin over heard their plans to rob the squire
• Thumbkin agreed to help them rob the squire but the butler heard them and they ran off
• Thumbkin went to the stable and laid in the hay where he was eaten by a cow
• The cow was butchered and the farmer threw the stomach out
• A wolf ate the stomach and now Thumbkin was in the wolf
• Thumbkin led the wolf to his fathers farm where he could eat the chickens if he would let him out
• The wolf refused to let him, he over ate and couldn't fit back threw the hole he came
• His mother and father killed the wolf an took Thumbkin out and they lived happily ever after

Storytelling for week 3: Highschool is hard

Common balls used in sports. Source: Wikimedia

As a 15 year old boy, Drake found out that trying to figure out who are is hard. That doesn’t include going to class, playing in sports, and having a girlfriend. He thought only girls had this much trouble figuring out who they were. On top of all of this he just wants to be happy.

Drake was a straight A student, he played football during the fall and baseball during the spring. Though both sports teams, the teams acted different. The football team was a bunch of goofy guys always looking to have a good time, while the baseball team was a group of pretty boys but bad boys. Drake had a girlfriend who was on the volleyball team names, Claire. He was raised to treat women with respect and always made her feel beautiful.

One day Drake decided that he was going to act more like the football players. He goofed off, didn’t do his class work, and was being ornery as ever. He liked it, but the baseball team pushed him away. They did not approve of his new person. They told him to go “grow up” or they would make his baseball season a living nightmare. So the next day Drake acted more like the baseball team. The baseball team were a group of trouble makers. They cheated on tests, on their girlfriends and could’ve been considered bullies. Drake cheated on his test that day and helped the team bully an 8^th grader. What he couldn’t do was cheat on Claire. The team tried to set up Drake by making girls flirt with him and having Claire walk in on it. Drake finally threw his hands in the air and quit both teams.

Now lost as ever Drake mended his relationship with Claire, got his grades back up, and had a lot of free time to figure out what to do next. He tried the band, but realized he couldn’t keep a beat to save his life. He gave theater a try but hated the thought of speaking in front of people. Finally he went to find some sport. He knew he was good at that. A basketball rolled and his foot while he sat in the gym contemplating where to go next. The basketball team was just showing up for practice. He picked up the ball, shot it and made it. The coach had him do it until he missed. He made 12 in a row. The coach asked him to join the team right on the spot. The basketball team turned out to be just what Drake was looking for. They did well in school but goofed off and respected their girlfriends and peers. The basketball team also helped stop the baseball team from bulling anymore kids.

By the end of the year Drake realized he found out who he was without even knowing he was doing it and found a group of people he wanted to be around that made him a good person. He was a positive example to others but most of all he was happy.

Author's Note: I used The Jay and the Peacock for the basis of my story. I twisted my story to the point of it being different from the fable yet still similar. The jay is unhappy with who he is and tries to find new identity. He goes from his own group to the peacocks, who notice he is not one of them and pluck his feathers away.While in the fable the jay was rejected from both groups, I liked the idea of this story ending nicely as opposed to the original. The positive ending gives hope to those that may be going through a situation similar to this one. This is a struggle many teens and young adults have to face daily. I wanted the setting to be in a high school because it is fits with the character being human. It also has a more modern setting. I chose the image of all the different sports balls' to give a visual of what was going to be taking place in the story. I don't know anyone who had this struggle but I'm positive someone could relate to this story. Allowing a story to be relatable gives the reader a better chance of connecting to the story.

Bibliography:
Book title: The Fables of Aesop
Author: Joseph Jacobs
Publication Date: 1884

Reading Diary Post B: Aesop's Fables

Aesop's Fable; Birds, Part 1

• A Crow has a piece of cheese that a fox wants
• The fox convinces the crow to caw causing the cheese to fall out of the crows mouth for the fox to eat
• A crow dying from thirst figured out that if he put a small rocks into an almost empty pitcher of water, the water level would rise high enough to reach his beak in and drink
• A tortoise asked an eagle to help him find a new place to live
• A crow convinced an eagle to drop the tortoise so they could eat him
• A jay put the molted feathers of a peacock on his tail.
• The peacocks plucked the imposter of his feathers and the Jay was ashamed
• A peacock asked Juno if he can have the voice of a nightingale.
• Juno refused claiming he should be pleased with what he has.

Aesop's Fable; Birds, Part 2

• A swallow warned the other birds to ensure that they are collecting all the hemp seeds the farmer was sowing
• The birds did not take heed and the farmer made nests out of the uncollected hemp
• A man captured a nightingale so it could sing to him forever
• Trapped Nightingale don't sing. The bird tricked the man to free him
• An eagle who was soaring was shot out of the sky by an arrow made with its own feathers
• A rooster found a pearl among the hay in the yard
• The lion king has declared universal peace between all animals and birds
• The bat couldn't decide to join the beasts or the birds.
• Both groups rejected the bat since he was indecisive

Aesop's Fable; Insects, Snakes, Crabs

• The ants collected food during the summer for the winter while the grasshopper played
• When winter came aroud, the grasshopper was dying from starvation while the ants had plenty to eat
• A country man lost his son a snake that had stung him
• The man cut off the snakes tail and the snack sought revenge on the farmers cows
• The man offered a truce but the snake refused
• A man found a frozen snake in the snow.
• He took him home to thaw out where the snake was killed for trying to bite the mans child.
• A snake slithered into an armorer, he was stuck and tried to strike at the iron.
• A mother crab tried to teach her baby crab to walk with grace by setting an example

Aesop's Fable; Frogs and Fish

• A group of frogs desired a leader
• They were given a log as a leader but were not happy with it
• A crane was sent that ate all of them
• A baby frog was frightened when he saw an ox.
• The father inflated himself to be the size of the ox to show the child to not be afraid. But before the father, could achieve the size he exploded.
• A fishman thought if he played his bag pipes for the fish they would be easier to catch. The fish did not jump
• He threw the net in, caught the fish, and then played again. The fish jumped that time because they were not In charge anymore
• After a long night of catching no fish, a fisherman caught a tiny fish.
• The fish tried to convince the man to let him go but the man would rather have a tiny fish than nothing at all

The frogs desiring a king. Wikimedia

Aesop's Fable; Nature and inanimate objects

• A man asked the trees for a small branch for a project
• The trees give the man the branch for him to use it to make an ax and cut down the trees
• A tree laughed at a reed for being so tiny
• A hurricane blew the tree away while the little reed survived
• The sun and the wind argued over who was stronger and placed a bet
• The sun won the bet by getting the man to take his cloak off
• Two pots were taken by the river one brass the other earthenware.
• One pot was stronger than the other
• The parts of the body were frustrated that the belly was doing no work but got the food
• They decided to stop giving the belly food but grew weak and realized that how the body was working is right.

Aesop's Fable; Humans and Gods

• Man used to worship idols in the old days, stone, wooden and clay
• A mans wooden god was not working, so it flew on the ground, busted open and coins flew out of it
• Two men asked Jupiter to grant their wishes,
• Jupiter agreed that he would if the one who was avaricious and the envious man would agree to having the neighbor having twice as much as him
• The avaricious man asked for a room full of gold. The envious man, asked for sight in only one eye so his neighbor will be blind
• A wagoner was pulling a heavy wagon when it began to sink in the mud.
• He prayed to Hercules to help him and Hercules told him to get up and push the wheel

Aesop's Fable; The Family and Friends

• A man is being sent to execution for stealing.
• He requests to see his mother, who he bites her ear off
• He is mad at her for being the example of why he steals
• A man with 2 wives lost all of his hair because both of wives didn't like it so they picked them out
• A father on his death bed teaches his sons about unity using sticks
• 2 men were about to be attacked by a bear.
• 1 man ran up a tree while the other played dead
• The bear told the one on the ground don't trust the friend that leaves you in a pinch

Aesop's Fable; Wise and Foolish, Part 1

• The people in a village became scared when a volcano was erupting.
• The boy who cried wolf
• A man was imitating the sound of animals. The people applauded his pink impression.
• Another man brought a real pig and made it squeal and everyone thought it was fake and hated it
• Women love wine( Amen).
• A jar of wine was found but it was empty
• A trumpeter was captured by the enemy in a battle.
• They refused to let him go because he leads his army into battle rather even though he was unarmed

Aesop's Fable; People Wise and Foolish, Part 2

• A man, his son, and their donkey went to the market
• Trying to please everyone they came across they killed their donkey
• A bald man was being attacked by a fly
• He injured himself trying to attack the enemy back
• A milkmaid was carrying a pail of milk on her head
• In an attempt to make someone jealous she tossed her head and spilled all milk
• An old man hid his gold that he would gloat over in his garden
• The gold was stolen and he learned unused wealth might not even exist
• A farmer had a chicken that would lay golden eggs.
• He became greedy selling this eggs and ended up killing his chicken to find nothing inside

More Fables not in Jacobs

• Having fears that have been imagined are terrible
• Being lazy is a punishment
• Pride has its own place
• Brains are more important than looks
• The weak may avenge the strong
• Hard work pays off
• Don't be selfish with taking credit. Share the accomplishment

Reading Post A: Classical Stories

Aesop's Fable; Lions Part 1

• The lion is the alpha male.
• The fox is bitter of the lion's alpha status
• The lion became sick, and the animals took revenge out on him
• The ass took a hit once the lion was already injured
• A slave, named Androcles found the lion injured in the forest
• The lion would bring meat to the slave in his cave
• They were both captured. The slave was sentenced to be eaten by the lion after several days without food.
• The lion couldn't eat the slave.
• The story depends on the story teller

Aesop's Fable; Lions Part 2

• The oxen would stand together to fight the lion.
• They were killed when they were separated
• United we stand, separated we fall.
• A lion fell in love with a maiden.
• The lion made himself presentable
• Love can tame a wild beast
• Animals were going in to see the Lion king wince he said he was sick.
• Animals went in, the fox figured out that they were not coming out

Aesop's Fable; Foxes, Part 1

• The fox and the stork are friends
• The fox likes to play tricks
• But the stork seeks revenge on the fox at dinner
• The fox and the crane is almost identical to the fox and the stork
• The fox finds a mask that scares him. He laughs at it for not having a brain.
• A fox tried to get grapes from a high branch. H misses and calls them sour for he can not have them.

Aesop's Fable; Foxes, Part 2

• The fox ran from the lion, then he observed him the next time, to finally speak to him
• The fox gets his tail stuck in the bushes. Mosquitos feast on him. He allows it so new ones will not come and help.
• The fox gets his tail stuck in a trap.
• He proposes that all the foxes cut their tails off because they are inconvenient
• Other foxes say it is a good point but they say no
• A fox fell into a well and a goat wondered by
• The fox tricks the goat to get out of the well.

Aesop's Fable; Wolves

• The wolf sees a sheep drinking water, and he uses a bad excuse to eat the sheep.
• The wolf was eating an animal when a bone got stuck in his throat
• The crane was the only animal to agree to take the bone out by reaching into his throat
• The wolf doesn't reward the crane for his help
• It is easy to be brave from a safe distance
• A wolf was dying from hunger when a house dog passes him
• The dog tries to give the wolf a home to be fed but the wolf passes on the chance after learning the dog is chained up.
• The wolf would rather be free and starving
• A wolf finds a sheep pellet and shrouds himself in it
• The lamb followed the wolf, the wolf ate the lamb
• Appearances are deceptive
• A nurse threatens to throw a loud child to a wolf
• The child cried. The wolf waits to eat the child only to be chased off by the family's dog.

Aesop's Fable; Dogs and Cats

• A dog had a piece of meat
• He saw his reflection, he snapped at it, losing his original meat
• A dog laid in the hay for the ox. The ox wanted to eat the hay but the dog barked at him for waking him from his afternoon nap
• A cat jumped in a tree to hide at the sounds of dogs approaching.
• The fox boasted about having many ways of hiding. He grew confused on which was the best way and was killed
• Venus and Jupiter were arguing if it were possible for a human to change it's nature.
• Jupiter changed a cat into a human to prove his point
• Venus tossed a mouse in front of her and she jumped on it, proving she is right

Aesop's Fable; Mice

• A mouse proposes the idea of putting a bell around the cats neck
• No one volunteered to do the job
• A snooty town mouse turned his nose up at the offerings his country cousin provided
• The meal at the town mouse's house ended in them being chased off by dogs in fear
• A mouse is running on a sleeping lion
• The lion tried to eat the mouse, the mouse begged for his life, and offered to help the lion in the future.
• The lion was trapped by hunters, when the little mouse was walking by and could help
• A female lion was going to marry a mouse. She stepped on the mouse and killed him

Aesop's Fable; Asses

• An ass found a lion skin that had been left out. He wore into the village
• The ass brayed and everyone knew that he was really now a lion
• A fox and lion were hunting for food.
• They convinced the ass to come join their alliance, the ass went
• The fox ate the ass's brains claiming he had none or he wouldn't have come
• The ass tried to act like the farmer's dog.
• An ass struggled with the weight of the bags it carried, while the horse pranced along. He wished evil upon the horse
• The horse died in battle the next day and the donkey was wrong

Aesop's Fable; Deer

• A horse wants revenge on a deer.
• Horse asks a hunter for help. The hunter agrees to help if the horse will agree to be saddled
• The deer is killed but the hunter doesn't let the horse go after
• The deer boasted about having great antlers but tiny legs
• His legs save his life but his antlers get him killed
• A deer being chased by dogs hid in the hay of the oxen leaving only the tips of his horns to be seen
• The deer was safe until the master of the stable saw him. Then he was killed.
• A deer was blind in one eye.
• She lived by the sea with her good eye facing the land to escape hunters
• The hunters killed her from the sea. You can't escape your fate.

Aesop's Fable: Hares

• The hare boasted about his speed and challenged anyone to a race
• The tortoise agreed.
• The hare became over confident, took a nap in the middle of the race, the turtle passed him and the Hare lost the race
• The hare thought she had many friends.
• None would help her when time of trouble arose.
• She escaped on her own

A bust of Aesop. Source: Wikimedia