Tech Tip: Text to Voice

I find this tech tip extremely, extremely useful! I just recently got a laptop, so I am lacking on these tools, and I feel as though this is very useful for assignments such as reading notes. I feel like I can take notes much more smoothly and efficiently with this method, and will use it in the future. I just started an audiobook, actually, "As Breath Becomes Air," so I hope to get more immersed into audiobooks in the future! I hope to also be able to use this tech tip more, as well! :)

Week 5 Story: Truth or Dare

There is posted version on my site!

Sometimes when you are in the moment, you just get too ahead of yourself. When there's something that you want right in front of you - so very close to you, everything becomes a blur and you do everything it takes to get it.

It all happened during Jessica's Halloween party, the party everyone looks forward to all year. Super sweet girl, and also very rich. She's got a four story mansion with several pools, maids, and everything she ever wants. Even chill parents, who are letting her throw this party while they go out to dinner.  My parents didn't know I was going, but it was okay, I had the watch to keep me safe.

The watch I mean is one my grandpa gave me; it had the ability to do lots of things actually, including read minds, go invisible, and even super strength. I could use it if necessary.

The party went as usual; people got drunk, people played some "pong," people went swimming, blah, blah. The friend group was getting bored of the usual so we thought of something else fun.

Josh, Jessica, Paul, Maria, and me decided it was time for some Truth or Dare. Maria ended up picking dare and kissed Paul, even though she has a boyfriend. Paul wussed out and picked true, and he quickly revealed that he had been cheating on all his exams this year. Josh took a dive into a pool after daring himself, and Jessica, being the daredevil she is, took a round at the beer keg.

It was my turn, and all eyes were on me. Wanting to impress the crowd, I went for dare; I guess they were running out of ideas, because they chose me for the beer keg, as Jessica had just finished.

"Come on! Don't be scared, you chose dare you HAVE to do it. It was tons of fun, too!" said Jessica, wiping the beer residue off her own lips, clearly very drunk.

I have never drank before. How would this affect me? I'm not even 21, this could be so bad for me.

I went for it anyway, and took the biggest swig of my life. How did it go? Terrible. I puked everywhere and passed out, to keep it short. Things only got worse, however. The cops showed up at the door, demanding to be let in; they had come back for the fourth time after telling everyone to keep it down, this was their limit. Too dazed to use my watch for safety, I just let everything overwhelm me. This was the end.

Everyone scurried like cockroaches, as I was still too dazed to get up. This was it for me, I was underage drinking, my parents thought I was at a friend's house studying, and I was not feeling so good. I was going to get caught. Suddenly, Jessica came to the rescue; I tried to make out as much as I could, but all I remember is her, very tired herself, carrying me over a fence and taking me to her car where she kept me hidden and safe.

After I got to my senses, I thanked her again, and again.

"It's no big deal, a friend is a friend," she said.

I told her I owed her ANYTHING, anything at all. Whatever she wanted, she can have. I said this because I knew she already had everything, there wasn't anything she could possibly want, right?

"Okay. I want your watch," she quickly replied. I told her I couldn't give it to her, it was special to me.

"You said anything! You're not a liar are you? Not after I just saved your butt?" She angrily replied.

She was never like this. She was clearly very drunk, but I had to give her what I promised. I had to fulfill it. So I handed it over. It was clearly a stupid mistake, but we were both drunk and I suppose I forgot not only the power value, but the generational value of it, as it was in my family for decades.

And that's all I can remember. I'm laying in my bed wondering how the hell I managed myself to do that last night. Now, I need to get that watch back. But how?


--- Author's Note ---

I took my own story from the beginning story of Rama, where Rama's mother and taken care of Dasharatha one day and he, in return, said he would do anything she wanted after she had taken care of him while he was very ill. She requested that Rama be sent to exile for 14 years, and this was all just before he was going to get crowned as king. but in order to fulfill his promise on doing anything. This caused Rama to be exiled, all because Dasharatha had promised something and fulfilled it. I took a more modern approach to my rendition, and wanted it to make it more daring.

Everyone was having fun at Jessica's party

Story based on an online story of Rama: Sita Singles the Blues

More Ramayana Reading Notes: Online Film

Sita Sings the Blues

Couple is sleeping, while a cat hops around looking for food in the kitchen. It wakes up the couple until the wife feeds him, and the husband welcomes him back into bed lovingly. They fall asleep. The next day they are relaxing in the living room, and the husband gets a job in India.

Narrators appear, who are Indian characters who are confused about how dating works. They seem to be important religious figures. Background about some religious figures are given. A lineage between them is also established. Rama was about to be crowned and Kaikeyt took care of Dashratha while he had been sick. This caused Dashratha to give her any wish she desired, and she chose to have Rama exiled for 14 years. This lines up with the story of Rama (obviously, as it is)

He fulfills her wish, and exiles Rama. He does this by saying there was a tradition where he needed to be exiled for him to receive the crown. He is banished to the jungle then. He sends him lovingly, however, and told him to be strong. The wife, however, had no remorse for it all, as she clearly wanted him to be gone. Dashratha mourns over this, as he stayed true to his wish to Kaikeyt. He eventually passes away. Stories are different however, as some stories of Rama say that Dashratha died from a heart attack after having to do this deed, while others mention that he died over time, or he died because he was already in poor health. This goes back once again to how these stories can different renditions.

It was also importantly mentioned that when Rama was exiled by his father, he obeyed his wish and did as his father told him to without questioning or complaining about it. This is highlighted by the narrators as a good sense of character.

0:00 - 11:00

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Bibliography
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzTg7YXuy34
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