Surviving Life at Court, Friday, 6/01

[halfman-lion.livejournal.com]

As the students filed in today, Tyrion handed every second one a small bag of cookies, muttering not to eat any just yet as he did. Once everyone seemed to be as settled as they were likely to be, he began to speak.

"Typically, if you're at court and you don't have the misfortune of living there, it's because you want something," he began. "And if you do live there, typically everyone who talks to you wants something. It's just sorting out what the somethings are and whether they should have them that can cause headaches."

He paused there, looked over the class. "I simplified things, with the sweets. Half of you have them, and, presumably the other half want them. If you don't have cookies, your task today is to get some out of someone; if you do, your job is to decide whether the person asking you for them is worthy of the boon." His tone was just a bit dry on the last phrase.

"For those in need, one thing to consider," he added, "is who you are asking. In some cultures and with some people, a direct request is almost unthinkably rude. In other situations, being indirect can be seen as weakness or sneakiness. Knowing who you are dealing with can make the difference. If you don't know, talk to them for long enough and you'll figure it out."

"For those who already have cookies, it's perfectly acceptable to ask whoever's talking to you what they can do in return, whether it's gold or a particular favor or their youngest child's hand in marriage -- though the last thing may be a bit excessive for class."

"The give and take of all of this is called diplomacy. If you grab the cookies and run, that's called warfare and it s not what we are talking about today."

He pulled a cookie out of a bag he had held back, prepared to eat it. "And now, begin."

Practical Philosophy, Friday

[endsthegame]

"A friend of mine walked into a fight last weekend," Ender began. They were lucky - none of the storms had set in yet, and going by the available evidence, he was willing to bet they wouldn't until class was over. "My friend didn't walk out completely intact - though don't worry, they'll be fine."

( Our species has a peculiar knack for the fight. )

Art Therapy! [Friday, P2]

[flashesforinfo.livejournal.com]

With last week all about body decoration, today was... somewhat related. On the floor in the middle of the room was a veritable mountain of second hand clothes, material scraps, trash bags, newspaper, tinsel and just about anything else you could mod possibly fashion into or use to make a piece of clothing or an accessory.

Angela was looking particularly amused. “If any of you have ever tried to make your own clothes, you will already be well aware that it is nowhere near as easy as it looks.” She spoke from experience, she really did. “But modification? That’s pretty fun.”

Again, she hoped people took her ‘wear things you don’t mind destroying’ advice from the course description. “So I want you to come up with a way to make your clothing just a little more unique. Help yourself to fabric, or whatever else you can find in there. We’ve got pins, needles and thread and sewing machines, glue, spray paint... sequins and glitter.”

“If you’re going to duke it out over scraps, try to do it nicely!”

Library, Friday [06/01]

[selfhelphero]

Billy was feeling kind of bored in the library, and had run out of things to read at the moment. So, he was on the computer, hitting the random link on Wikipedia, and seeing what he could come across. It was a perfectly valid way to spend the day, as far as he was concerned.