The Art of Ma; Thursday, Second Period [11/12].

[sake_shinigami]

The Danger Shop for the class that day would look a bit like a furniture store showroom, with a series of individual rooms with one wall missing to see inside: a kitchen, a bathroom, a bedroom, living room, and a study. The aesthetics tended to lean toward an amalgamation of a certain ubiquitous modern Swedish standard and sleek modern Japanese, but the thing these otherwise wholly moddable rooms had in common was that they were all a complete and total mess. Not necessarily in the way that that current state of the back room at Turtle & Canary might be a mess, but rather that they were filled with too much stuff, as whoever put them together wanted to incorperate everything at their disposal together, a cluster of furniture, a clash of art, a jumble of knick-knacks and a variety of mismatched things and incomplete ideas.

"We have spent a good deal of time in this class," Shunsui started with a faint smile, "exploring the concept of Ma through many of the things we look at: art, the natural world, delightful little bonsai trees and even the world of film. But, today, we are going to explore the concept of Ma through the things we live in, that is, our personal spaces, our homes, places where we eat and sleep and spending hours both waking and sleeping to embrace the potential of nothingness in the worlds we make our own, to explore that crucial space that exists in-between our personal and private lives ♥.

"As you can see," he gestured toward the rooms on display, "these rooms are in considerable need of an interior design make-over ♥. So your task today is to see what you can do to make these living spaces far more pleasant, relaxing, and liveable, with a keen eye for the Ma of it ♥. A few things to keep in mind, then, as you explore the spaces and utilize its potential emptiness:

"Movement is key; one should be able to flow as freely as the energy surrounding them ♥. Relax your mind to create those moments of quiet and awareness in your design ♥. And don't be afraid to live in the now ♥."

How exactly that was supposed to translate into how to redecorate a room was, apparently, up for them to decide.

"And before you begin, ducklings, a small poem from Saikontan to keep in mind:

Length of time depends upon our ideas.
Size of space hangs upon our sentiments.

For one whose mind is free from care,
A day will outlast the millennium.

For one whose heart is large,
A tiny room is as the space between heaven and earth."

It mentioned a room, you see, so it was clearly related!

"Now, let's see what you can do with these horribly cluttered and claustrophobic rooms, neh ♥?"

Intro to PE, Thursday Period One

[magnusrushesin]

There was a field set up in the danger shop today. And there were an unusual number of segways at the ready.

Unusual being more than one.

"It's time for polo!" Magnus said gleefully.

"It involves trying to hit a ball with a stick while trying to steer those things." For her part, Cara sounded far too pleased with the idea.

"If you crash... well, don't crash, okay? Just don't do it," Magnus suggested. "It's a pain."

Cara just smirked more and didn't look at that one segway that looked somewhat misshapen.

Functioning Governments, Thursday

[imafuturist]

"We got into the basics of the electoral college back in September," Steve said, "but now that you know way more about Maricopa County, Arizona, DeKalb County, Georgia, and Bucks County, Pennsylvania, we're going to revisit it--should, essentially, five counties in the United States have this kind of power?"

"Is it really just those counties that hold power or is the system itself flawed?" Tony added.

"Keep in mind that, because it's a pandemic that led to voting by mail and were have hundreds of millions of voters in the United States, many states are still counting ballots," Steve said, "and that the popular vote across the nation has one candidate five million votes ahead of the other."

"Twice in recent memory has the popular vote been won and the electoral vote been lost." Which was a thing, wasn't it? "Because of how the system is both set up and maintained."

Steve nodded. "The electoral college can make it seem like a bigger win than it actually was because of how the numbers of different states add up," he added. "Many nations have followed the US's lead in becoming a representative democracy. Not one has also adopted the electoral college. Can you think of why?"

"It's terrible?" Tony, no.

Steve snickered. "Can anyone prove Mr. Stark wrong?"