It's Actually Not That Complicated; Tuesday, Second Period, 10/25.

[died8yearsago]

"I know this is going to come to a shock to all of you," said Rosa, at the start of class, "but today, we're going to watch and discuss another Nancy Meyers film, and this one's actually probably up there as one of my favorites, because we get not just one amazing kitchen design, but two, both of them very different and with their own distinct charms. Now, the movie itself, both written and directed by the woman herself, involve two women, Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet, from opposite sides of the pond dealing with some stupid heartbreak right before the holidays, so they work out a situation where they'll swap houses for the season, before Air BnB was even a thing: British journalist goes to America, American movie trailer producer ships off to England. Anyway, they meet people, they fall in love, there's emotional release and connection, and the women and their newfound romantic interests all meet together at the end for New Years, where....they probably won't live happily ever after, it's a Nancy Meyers film and her protagonists are younger, so they're probably due for another romantic or professional crisis again in about twenty years or so.

"Honestly, it's charming, and the fish-out-of-water elements are a big factor in it, but it's kind of hokey and predictable, even if Meyers tends to keep it away from being too saccharine. It's also long, especially for this kind of movie. But the houses are gorgeous, and the main take-aways are, I feel, the importance of letting go, loving yourself, and how much different a little chance of scenery can make. But I'd be interested to hear what you end up taking away from it."

Unless that take was negative, in which case, you could just GTFO.

American Inventions, Tuesday - October 25th

[imafuturist]

When students arrived, they'd find Steve deep in conversation with a black cat perched up on the desk and looking extremely bored.

"I know you're not doing this on purpose," he was muttering, "but it's starting to feel a little like you're trying to get out of talking to me."

Which was when, of course, their other teacher showed up with dark sunglasses on and a very large coffee in hand. He cleared his throat to get Steve's attention away from the cat that wasn't him this time.

Steve turned an absolutely charming shade of crimson. "Um."

"Welcome back to class," Tony said, letting Steve linger in that embarrassment. "Today we'll be covering one of the greats, Nikola Tesla. Not to be confused with the terrible car company."

"Or the terrible non-Tesla person running it," Steve added, still a little too pink.

"Now, there is a lot about him, so we'll allow you to decide what you personally find the most fascinating about his life and work," Tony said. "He never electrocuted a poor animal to demonstrate his product, so I think that means he automatically wins over Thomas Edison there."

"He also wasn't based out of New Jersey," Steve said.

"That too." Even when the teachers were being weird, on that, they could agree.

Steve's involuntarily smile turned a little awkward and sickly as he glanced at Tony, then took a step away. Behind them, the black cat yawned loudly, completely over the drama.

Libraries and Books: Highlights and Dangers, Tuesday

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

The classroom today was teeming with black cats, one white fluffy cat watching them all disdainfully from her perch on the desk.

"Well," Jon said, looking around, "I did actually have a lesson plan for today, but I'm disinclined to fight the island. This one," he indicated the white cat, "is Issa. I don't know if the others have names they'll tell us.

"There's actually a proud tradition of library cats, dating back to ancient Egypt. Mice, other rodents, and vermin can be destructive to texts, and cats keep the rodent and vermin population down. There are currently about three hundred known library cats around the world, though these days many of them are more used to help calm and entertain customers than they are as mousers. Cats, as some other pets, are known to decrease stress, which also helps in retaining information."

A cat came up and rubbed on his leg, and Jon reached down to pet it. Issa huffed. "Black cats were seen as good luck until the Middle Ages, when they started to be associated with evil and disease. To this day, black cats stand a worse chance of getting adopted in shelters, which is entirely unfair to these beautiful things."

He cleared his throat. "Anyway, I doubt we'll be getting much done today, so enjoy the cats, and I'll answer any questions about them or their relationship to books and libraries that you have."