Advanced Cultural Studies, Monday, Fourth Period

[jedigrammarians]

"Technology is great!" This was not a particularly revelatory statement, given that there were pieces of tech Aphra would marry if she could. "Movies made by people with only the slightest understanding of the technology they're making it about? Are usually hilariously, astrally bad."

She pulled her goggles down over her eyes. "So let's enjoy the badness."

Shop Class; Tuesday, Second Period [10/19].

[special_rabbit]

"Well," Amaya greeted the class with a grin and a pump of her fist to rally them into shop=-class-mode, "welcome back! Hope you all had a good time on the trip, but now, it's time to get back to business, back to the workshop, and into making some stuff! Now, we're not handling with much heavy equipment today, but what we're working on will be heavy, so I hope you haven't been skipping your arm days! And, since we're in the spooky month, with all the Halloween things, lots of people are in the mood for pumpkins, and that is what we'll be working with today. But not just any regular old pumpkins, but...."

( Concrete Pumpkins! )

But that was all she was going to say about that.

"Might be a bit overkill, too," she added, with a faint grin, "but this could also be a good chance to get in some practice with those handheld jigsaws, right? Let's get to work!"

Fear in Literature, Tuesday 4th period

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

"Welcome back," Jon said to the students. Despite having just come off holiday, he looked more tired than anything. The board read, The Eye: Fear of being watched, having secrets exposed. The drive to know, even if it destroys you.

"In Borges' story, the titular book is infinite, and can thus be inferred to hold all knowledge, all stories, everything known to man. It engenders in its owner the intense desire to understand it, and the fear of it being stolen. Fortunately, the narrator is able to let go of it, although..." Jon stopped, sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Look, I really hope this goes without saying, but should you ever find a cursed book, please don't put it in a library somewhere! Destroy it if you can, although at least the narrator has a reasonable fear of how to do that in this case, and if you can't, encase it in cement and drop it in the sea or a volcano or...or a deep hole, or something, so you don't simply pass on the curse!"

He stopped and took a deep breath. "So, a book that has everything in it, but you can never find the same page twice. Possibly cursed to make you need to understand it, or possibly just in the hands of an insatiably curious man. How does this reflect the Eye, how does it make you feel, and do you think the protagonist has actually escaped at the end?"


After their discussion, he wrote the next assignment on the board. "For next week, please read Swift's "A Modest Proposal".

Ethics, Tuesday, October 19, 2021

[sith_happened]

"Welcome back from vacation," Anakin began. "I trust you enjoyed your trip up to Boston. Christianity, one of this planet's major religions, takes a group of behaviors or habits that lead to other immoralities and call them, slightly melodramatically, the 'Seven Deadly Sins.' The seven sins are pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony, and sloth."

He smiled a little ruefully. "I know I've fallen victim to...most of them...over the course of my life, the emotions that can overwhelm you and lead to some monumentally stupid life choices."

And Anakin Skywalker knew from monumentally stupid life choices.

"There are some instincts that call to us more strongly than others, though: a favorite vice, if you would. There's a saying here that is as probably as old as this list of deadly sins: 'pride goes before a fall'. In my world, we put it slightly differently: 'Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.'"

He passed out a sheet of paper that gave links to that wiki article up there summaries of the deadly sins. "Now, which of these is your go-to? Where do you gravitate when you are angry or stressed? Do you think these behaviors are even all that negative? Can they be channeled into a positive direction?"

Fixin Stuff- Monday- 2nd period

[gotyoucookie]

No Danger Shop today! Instead there was a TV rolled out in front of the classroom.

"We're having a movie day," Nick greeted them. "I tried to keep it on theme and I probably barely did that but I also ended up watching like six episodes in a row so this should keep your attention."

Well. Enjoy a class watching Iyanla Fix My Life.

It counted as fixing stuff.

Really.