Shop Class; Tuesday, Fourth Period [03/12].

[special_rabbit]

"Now, last week," said Amaya, grinning faintly as she got started with the lesson for the week, "we worked with our little mini-forges to melt down some metal and fill previously made molds to make little metal biscuits, right? But those molds had to come from somewhere, which means that there's someone who made those, too! Now, of course, these days, in this world, you've got a lot of big factories pumping out a ton of these things, but, where I'm from, there was someone making these things by scratch and by hand, and there's a variety of different methods, but, today, we're going to learn how to do a method called sand casting so that you can know how to make your own mold of pretty much near anything you'd like!

"So take a moment," she said, "to go through some of the miscellaneous items we've got on hand here in the shop until you find something you'd like to make a mold out of, and then we'll all go through the process together and see what we come up with! Me? I've got this here wooden shamrock, because, well, that's a holiday coming up here soon so why not? But you can make a mold about almost anything, though simpler shapes will always be better than something with too much detail. Anyway, enough about that, find something you'd like to make a mold out of and then we'll get started."

In the Cupcake of Good and Evil, Tuesday 2nd Period [3/12]

[stykera]

"Usually," said Summer, as she got things started with her usual peaceful smile that suggested choppier waters up ahead, "we talk in this class about putting things into cupcakes that you might not normally find there, but in a way that hides them and makes them a little bit of a surprise. Today, I want to propose the question to you of what to do when the cupcake itself is hiding.”

Stark, somewhat shockingly, didn’t look very concerned at all this week. He looked rather relaxed. Did that make any of the students concerned? Maybe it should have.

"Today," she explained further, "we're talking about cupcakes that look like other things. LIke, here, I've got Spaghetti and Meatballs, Peas and Carrots, Mashed Potatoes, Popcorn…Those still kind of look like cupcakes if you look below the surface, so I'm also a big fan of these cheeseburger ones where they legit look like little sliders if you're not looking too closely, and these ones that look like succulents."

"And herein," Summer said, "lies the real fun of it, because you see, I may have been a little untruthful."

GASP. SHOCK. DISMAY.

"Only some of these are cupcakes. Some of them are actually what they look like. Are you willing find out which by taste alone? I dare you to try! And then, for the rest of the class, it's up to you to decide: are you going to make your cupcakes look like something else, or are you going to make something else that looks like cupcakes looking like something else but are actually what they are?"

Stark shook his head a little. “I’ve had cupcakes that looked like spaghetti before. That doesn’t mean these ones are cupcakes but it doesn’t mean they aren’t. Any of them might be or they might not. You’ll have to see for yourselves. Or…Summer, I could give a hint?” He was not going to give any hints.

Good, because Summer's response to that? "No. No hints. Only pain."

Art in STEM - Tuesday, March 12th

[imafuturist]

"We've been very restrained," Steve began, "about pointing out the flaws, both engineering and aesthetic, in Tesla cars and trucks since our first class together. But Tony can't hold it in any longer."

He grinned.

"It's just so poorly made!" Tony didn't shout, but it was a near thing. Because Steve was still keeping him from going in on the full rant. Mostly because it involved a lot of cursing once he got near the end of it. "It's already rusting after less than a year!"

"Are you going to tell them about the tent?" Steve, who enjoyed poking the bear, asked.

"Three thousand dollars for a cheap tent?!" Oh, class. Tony would apologize later, but he was being egged on now.

He was also pulling up images to rage design a better one.

Of course he was. "Today, class, we want you to design car or truck accessories that would actually make sense. Not ones, say, that pretend to make your truck bulletproof or into a boat."

Diplomacy, Relationships & Tactics: the Art of War [Tuesday, Period 1]

[atreideslioness]

When the students came in this week, there was a passage from the eighth p'ien written on the chalk board.

There are roads which must not be followed,
armies which must be not attacked, towns which must
be besieged, positions which must not be contested,
commands of the sovereign which must not be obeyed.

"Sometimes, we must allow the distasteful thing to happen to make way for a greater victory." Ghanima was leaning against the wall, watching them from behind her glowing eyes as she balanced a sleeping Trebor on her hip. "Sacrifices must be made. This is most easily seen in war; sacking an innocent town for supplies, or killing civilians to prevent your position from being discovered."

"However, it doesn't just apply to physical combat." She shifted Trebor to her other hip as she pushed off the wall to pace between the various piles of cushions or groups of chairs, looking at each of them. "What do you do when your boss, or 'sovereign' tells you to lie about something that happened at work? Or if reporting a crime implicates someone dear to you? Today, we discuss those choices, and how we know which battles must be fought, and which ones we must let pass us by. Sometimes it is a matter of personal conscience, while other times it is the good of one against well-being of the many."