It's Actually Not That Complicated; Tuesday, Second Period, 09/13.

[died8yearsago]

"Unfortunately," never one for too much preamble or even more talking than was strictly necessary, despite what the lectures in this particular class may suggest, Rosa was apparently going to get right into it today, "we don't have the time to cover every entry in the Nancy Meyers filmography for this class, which is fine. It'll give you some lesser known gems to discover in your free time. We're mostly going to be hitting the highlights. 1987's Baby Boom was not directed by Meyers, but it was directed by her then-husband and co-writer Charles Shyer, and it's the horror story," Rosa, no, "of a woman whose life is completely upended by one of her cousins dying and leave her kid to her."

And therefor there reason why so many of Rosa's family members have received death threats if they even so much as think about dying.

"But she makes the most of it, and she makes it work, in a charmingly humorous way. This particular movie can be seen as the first big example of what many Nancy Meyers movies to follow would feature: you have your career-woman protagonist that doesn't have to settle for giving up her ambitions and talents, as well as the start of the lush, New England inspired interiors that she became known for. It also sparked a professional relationship between Meyers and the film's star, Diane Keaton, who would then go on to be in four more of Meyers' movie. The message itself, of finding that work-like balance, was a very popular theme in the time period as well, and many critics, right so, mark this movie as turning point in the way this particular balance was portrayed.

"And," she added, "like Private Benjamin that we watched last week, it, too, spawned a television series. So....we're going to watch some of it, and then we're going to discuss: career and family. Can you have both? And also, should it be illegal for cousins to die and leave you with your babies?"

That last one, of course, what rhetorical. Everyone knew the answer was clearly yes.

But Rosa did have a lot of cousins. It was a legitimate fear.

American Inventions, Tuesday, September 13, 2022

[heroic_jawline]

"Welcome back," Tony said to the class with a grin. "We have another inventor who people as a whole probably know nothing about, but his work has definitely been part of your lives here on the island at the very least. His name is Frederick McKinley Jones, and he is the inventor of mobile refrigeration."

"And he was largely self-taught," Steve said, looking impressed. "He was born in 1893 and stopped his formal education by sixth grade. He started working in garages and ended up in an all-Black engineering division during World War I."

"After the first world war, he developed what was called the Thermo Control Model A, which was a device that could withstand the vibrations and bouncing of a vehicle on the road. And this may not sound like a huge achievement," Tony said. "But being able to keep food, medicine, and even blood cool and safe for transport across long distances changed a great deal in this country. It meant mobile hospitals didn't have to rely on a supply of those things at hand. It meant that you could easily have your products transported cross-country to sell far from the location of your company."

Steve nodded. "It meant meat could be transported longer distances, vegetables didn't have to just come in cans, and food in general didn't have to stay extremely local. Transporting fish without refrigeration? No."

"So, let's think on what other big changes we can imagine came from this, or if you're from a place without it, what could happen back home with it," Tony suggested.

Libraries and Books: Highlights and Dangers, Tuesday

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

Class today was meeting at school, and Jon had come early to make sure he could get the equipment hooked up to his laptop. Call it prior bad experiences, but he didn't entirely trust technology to work around him.

He waited until everyone was in, then gestured at the screen. "Today we're going over the Dewey Decimal system. It's a method a lot of libraries around the world use to classify books based on subject and organise them on the shelves. The current guidelines take up multiple volumes, so we obviously won't be covering every last part today."

He pulled up a list of the numbers. "This system uses three-digit numbers for the main classes, then decimals to show further detail. That way they can add any books and subsections they need to without having to renumber the rest of them, and a collection can expand to more shelves without losing coherence. But I'm sure you can spot a few problems with the classifications."

He let them look at it for a minute. "So let's discuss some of those issues, and talk about where books you might want to find should be."

How to Deal with your Dark Side, Tuesday - Fourth Period

[trigons_child]

"Good afternoon," Raven greeted the class as they arrived. "I apologize for class last week -- I was called back to Glacia suddenly without warning. But I remain hopeful that will not happen again." Maybe. Glacia was unpredictable at times.

"Today for class we are going to talk about a basic technique to calm anxiety," she went on. "Many of us have powers that may be tied to their feelings, and being able to calm themselves is essential for maintaining control. As an empath I may absorb anxiety from others to release them from it, but it is a temporary solution at best. Fortunately, there is a very simple way to help settle yourself. It is called the 5-4-3-2-1 Technique."

She sat down in a comfy beanbag in front of her desk. "The first step is to take several deep breaths and let them out slowly," she said. "It may seem silly, I know, but it is important when it comes to grounding yourself. Then create anchors to your reality. Look around and acknowledge five things around you that you can see. This can be anything, a cushion, a pen, a notebook, a spot on the ceiling, or one of your classmates. Then, acknowledge four things that you can touch, such as your hair, the carpet, your own hand, or the clothes that you are wearing. Next, bring your focus to three things you can hear -- be it voices from outside in the hall, or the wind, or your own breathing. Two things that you can smell follow this, like incense or flowers or even the scent of your own clothes. And lastly, one thing that you can taste. Perhaps you can still taste the coffee you drank earlier, or a snack that you've brought with you. If nothing else, you can always lick your own hand to see what it tastes like." She paused a moment, then added, "Please do not lick any of your classmates without their consent, however."


[OOC: sorry about last week -- I realized it was Tuesday very late in the day. You can see the exact moment I realized it in Discord! Holiday weekends, a blessing and also a curse. Also, work has been insane with the systems change to our ERP setup, and I'm slowly losing my mind. Wheee!]