Tao of a Silly Old Bear, Monday, Period Two

[uncertain_dume]

It really was a good thing today's class was second period, because the moment Kanan had told Stance, "We're going to be gathering some sticks for class," Stance had been a dog on a mission. They just barely finished trotting to meet the class at the front doors to the school today when the bell rang for the lesson to start.

"Today," Kanan said, "we're going to walk while I give the lecture, otherwise we'll never get to do our class activity. But first, take a stick. Stance spent a lot of time this morning making sure they're all the best stick ever."

"They are! I made sure!" And that would be Stance, who was sitting like a good boy next to Kanan, letting him talk. "I looked really really hard for all the best sticks ever!"

"So no worrying about which is which," Kanan said, not terribly concerned that they would, no. He nodded toward the preserve and started walking, and Stance immediately bounded up and started trotting along. "Today, we'll be talking about the principle of Wu Wei, which basically means, 'without doing, causing, or making.'" A beat. "Yes, I know. Half of you already hate it before I've even explained it. What it means, practically speaking, is to go about life without combative or egotistical effort. To respect and follow the nature of things, like water flowing over and around the rocks in its path. It still gets to the place it's going. Hell, it still affects change along the way- erosion is a mighty force enacted with patience over time. But when we follow our own inner nature and respect the natural laws that govern the world around us, things are meant to work--"

"Stick! This one's mine!"

"Uh." Kanan glanced at Stance as he trotted a big, happy circle around the entire group, making sure all their sticks were still perfect ones too. "Anyway, the rest of this lecture was supposed to be about square pegs and round holes, but we're coming up on a stream now, so I'm going to have us just play a game that was in the book, instead. We're going to be racing our sticks."

Stance stopped in his tracks, staring up at Kanan with wide eyes and a small branch in his mouth.

Kanan just kind of grinned back. "We drop the sticks into the stream all at once, and the person whose stick passes a certain point is the winner. No cheating - this all has to be done using the natural force of the water's flow. There are two fallen logs over the stream, we'll use those as our markers, drop the sticks on one side of the first log, and then wait for the sticks to pass by under the second. Any questions?"

"Cahn ahh kee mai thick?"

"Yeah, buddy. You don't have to drop yours."

Cutthroat Games- Monday- 1st period

[can_be_more]

The class was notified to meet outside today, where there were chalk marks on the ground to establish boundaries, and that was it.

"So far, it appears that nothing is trying to kill us today, so we've decided to have class here," Aeryn began. "If it turns out we were wrong, then at least you'll already be running."

"You can thank us after class," Anakin told them benevolently. "This class was inspired by our children, who play this until we are entirely sick of it."

So...ten minutes.

"It's called freeze tag, and does not involve freeze rays."

Around here, it's good to be specific.

"One person will be designated 'it.' That person will have to chase the rest of you," Aeryn continued. "If you are tagged, you must stay frozen in place until someone who is still unfrozen tags you again. 'It's goal is to tag everyone so they are all frozen and a new person becomes 'it.'"

You might be able to tell already why they were over it in ten minutes.

"And if any of you get tagged and then lie and say you didn't feel it, I will ground you like I ground Juliet, Christopher and Talyn," Anakin threatened.

Aeryn was not going to comment on how well grounding worked when the other parents were Rory and John. "My co-teacher here will be playing with you, powers are not allowed in this game-" Probably good, considering Freeze Tag with Bobby. "-and we're going to declare… you it."

Congratulations, person Aeryn pointed to.

Philosophy of Food | Monday, 4th period

[sharp_man]

The room was back to normal this week, and Hannibal was grateful for it. After one week of swimming out his windows to get anywhere, and another of trying not to smell anything, he would easily take being grumped at by his cat.

This time the front of the room featured a table with a number of identical silver cloches over dishes.

When everyone was settled and listening, Hannibal stood behind the table and spoke.

"While I like to think that food can truly be an art form and a beautiful thing, I am well aware that not everybody shares that opinion. Nor does everybody have that option. Art, preference, culture - many things affect how we think of food. One of those is economics. Availability." He looked at them all seriously. "Not everybody gets the best food. Not everybody gets food they can eat. Some people are lucky if they get anything."

He gestured at the dishes. "So. Each of you gets one of these. No peeking. When you each have your own, we'll uncover them all. If you don't like what you have, feel free to try to get something else. Barter, bargain, trade, give away, or steal, whatever you like, remembering that you may still need to see each other later. Consider this a hands-on experience."


[OOC: If you play and want to do it randomly, just click a dish below and see what you get. But feel free to check them all out and mod your results for the most interesting playing. :) ]

Working Together - Monday, 3rd Period

[biotic_psychotic]

The room was set up with the confidence course down the middle.

On one of the other walls was a projected list:

DANDELION
NERF
GRAVE DIRT
NATTO
JOYSTICK
TRAIN

"Welcome back. Your team captains so far have been Lana, Prompto, and Norman. You've walked past the confidence course, thrown it aside, and gone over it. Time for a new captain and a new way to do the course.

Today's exercise might take more than today. You have until next class to complete it because it will take you outside this room. It's a scavenger hunt with a twist. The rules:

If you know what the word is, you aren't allowed to be the person who retrieves the item. Nor are you allowed to lead others to the item or tell them where to find it or what it is. You are only allowed to answer yes or no questions about it and you may only answer with yes or no. Internet searches are not allowed.

The team captain is responsible for collecting all the items - and it can be the actual item or a photo representation of the item as long as you first went out and found the item first.

Happy hunting."

[OCD is up!]

Library, Monday

[intotheout]

So class had been adorable today, what with Stance running around making sure everyone had the best sticks! and then enthusiastically breaking their stick race because he wanted to make sure they all got their sticks back. Really, class had been adorable today, what with Stance. Tip was all set to just call this week the cutest week ever -- until she got to work and the quiet of the Library and after about twenty minutes realized she could hear singing.

Just barely, mind you. It was muffled and slightly echo-y, like she was hearing someone talking in another room through the ventilation system. Which she supposed was exactly what she was hearing. Whether it was gremlins or maybe mice living in the walls, she couldn't be sure. It wasn't like she knew what gremlin or mouse voices were meant to sound like.

At first it was just one voice, rather lovely for all that she was pretty sure it was coming from an animal classified as "vermin", singing a song she couldn't quite recognize. Then more and more joined in, until it reached a rousing chorus. Tip madly looked up the lyrics she could hear on her phone.

"Take a look at this, Bill," she said. Bill (who was not blessed with human speech, what with being a robot) buzzed over, trailing curious bubbles. "It's a union song." She looked over at the nearest grate. ". . . I can't decide if that's awesome or really, really creepy."

[open!]