Grow Your Own Garden, Tuesday, Period 6

[sailor_meshi]

"Now, you all seem pretty smart," Senshi said in his usual soft rumble, "so you already know that waterin' your garden is important, especially in weather this hot." He mopped his forehead with a hanky and then tucked it away somewhere under his beard. "But knowin' that it's important to water doesn't mean you know how to water. Like, waterin' this late in the day isn't the best idea. The soil's had a chance to get real warm and warmth plus damp is a great way to get fungus to grow and insects to swarm. The best time to water is in the mornin's, usually before 10am, while the soil is at its coolest. Which doesn't mean much in this weather, but every little bit counts and it's a good habit to get into. The worst time to water your vegetables is in the afternoons; most of that water will just evaporate before it does anythin' at all.

"Now, because we've got a layer of mulch down, our soil's a little bit cooler and has better water retention, which cuts down a little on how often we need to water them, but we still have to. Plants in the ground need one inch of water per week and even more when they're seedlings. I've been handlin' that for you, but from now on, it's gonna be your responsibility to keep your plants watered correctly - you may wanna come back another day in the week and check on the soil--what we'll cover today should be enough, but a little extra care, won't hurt. So, the first question is when should you water? While we have a rough idea how often different plants need waterin', there's a real easy way to test: if the soil sticks to your palm and you can form it into a ball, it's damp enough. But, if it barely holds together in the palm of your hand, or if the surface looks hard, baked, or cracked, it is probably dry, and it's time to water. See if the soil is dry an inch below the surface; that means it needs water, too. Once you've determined if your plants need water, the next thing to figure out is how to water."

He shook his head. "Most folks think you can just pour some water over the top of the plants and that'll be fine. They're wrong. Most of what you get from that is leaf disease. What you want in a healthy plant is deep root penetration, and the only way that you're goin' to get deep roots is if there is water down deep. So you're gonna wanna get down and pour water on the soil around the base of the plant directly, so you know it's goin' down where you want it to. You wanna try to get that water to go down about five or six inches to encourage deep root growth - it's not great if you water too quickly and the water doesn't penetrate far enough. Encourages the roots to grow thin and shallow. For best results, pour your water right at the base and let it soak all the way down. Feel free to stick a finger in there to see how far it got. It'll take longer than you think, but this is gardenin'. Bein' patient is what it's about."

Nightmare Party Planning from the Mid-Century; Tuesday, Third Period [07/23].

[somethingwithturquoise]

"Everyone loves pie," Summer stated, matter-of-factly, from the front of the classroom that week, with an apologetic look toward a certain student who probably had a sinking feeling in his stomach about what terrors she was about to unleash on poor, innocent, otherwise lovely pies, "right? Although, when most people think of pie, they think apple. Key lime. Lemon meringue. Maybe meat pies or shepherd's pie. And pies are great for parties, too, right? Well, today, we're going to explore some dishes that really test the meaning of the word pie, and also tie them into some great themes for your mid-century party!

"We'll start," she said, moving to the first cloche and lifting it, "with a trip below the waves for an Under the Sea party, focused around our coral reef pie, a nice pink meringue blend over canned crushed pineapple, which the advertisement told me is ideal for school lunches, but I think this bad boy's really got shine at your oceanic event! Naturally, there are plenty of great tuna-mold jello recipes you could explore to populate your waters with all sorts of treats to talk about, too. There's a lot to work with in this theme.

"Moving on to our next example, the nightmarishness of this one all depends on how much you like to stick to tradition, or if you're okay with really pushing the boundaries of how things are done and presented. Because we've got ourselves a nice potato salad pie for your next summer cookout! But, you could also present your potato salad in a nice loaf as well! And since we're talking about salads in a pie for the summer, I've got one of those, too.

"Cool idea: a pie eating contest, but with these instead of your traditional whipped cream ones. I'm sure that'll be a hit!

"And, finally, with the end of our examples, we move the end of the year holidays. They'll be here before you know it, so now you'll be nice and prepared with a pie that combines two Christmastime favorites: eggnog and fruitcake! I'd recommend serving this with a nice tuna-based Christmas tree, but there are so many great Christmas options that we might do a whole day on it later in the session.

"These are, of course, only a small sample of things one could do to pies to make a person really appreciate the classic simplicity of a nice apple pie, but I'm sure you guys can come up with some other stuff, too! What sort of themes can you build a horrible pie around? What horrible pies do you know of that you can build a theme around? Also, for the record, I made one of these wild cracker-based mock apple pies for everyone to try if you haven't already, because there's no way I can do a class on pies and not pull it out because this thing is an example of a bizarre idea that actually works. I could probably do a whole theme around Depression-era recipes, actually, and feature this bad boy, but I had to reign myself in at some point.

"So! Let's try some weird pies and talk about pie parties."

The Wonderful World of Pizza, Tuesday Second Period

[carbsliftthespirit]

"All right," Raiden told his students once they'd stepped through this week's portal and were standing on a street outside--you guessed it--a pizzeria. "Today we're in Chicago, home to the deep dish pizza, which is baked in a high-sided pan like a cake tin, with layers and layers of cheese and yummy ingredients. Some people will tell you this isn't pizza. Those people are snobs. Don't listen to them. You're probably gonna want to eat this pizza with a knife and fork, since you can't really pick up a slice without making a giant mess, but hey, you do you. And after we eat, if you have some time left over, you can explore the neighborhood of Lincoln Park! But first..." He held open the door to Lou Malnati's for them. "Let's get some pizza."

Self Defense for Shinies 2: Mind Games, Tuesday, July 23, 2024

[sith_happened]

Anakin, back to himself, was at the front of the Danger Shop. The Danger Shop was set up to look like an upscale yoga studio, complete with the soothing sound of water coming through the speakers and some slightly unplaceable scent in the air.

"Hello," he said.

"As you can see, today's class is considerably less cat focused," Ahsoka said, as if this was a deep and terrible tragedy.

"There's also no sand," Anakin added, shooting Ahsoka a look. He'd been covered with the stuff when he'd turned back.

"Meditation is rising above the small distractions." Did Ahsoka's cadence sound just like Anakin's then? Yes.

"You're hilarious," he said dryly, then tilted his head. Why did he hear cat sounds over the fake water?

It was probably just the beanie cat draped over one of the students shoulders like a very inconvenient scarf. Probably.

Anakin, being the direct sort, turned to Ahsoka. "Master Tano, why do I continue to sense cats?"

Ahsoka considered the question. "Because the ways of the Force are mysterious?" And the Danger Shop was conveniently glitchy.

Anakin looked unimpressed as cats emerged to take up residence next to the students. "They truly are. Clear your mind. Ignore the cats."

Which may be harder than they thought, because the cats definitely weren't ignoring them.

Practical Philosophy, Tuesday

[endsthegame]

"From the ancient Greeks all the way to the future of this world," Ender said, wry smile firmly in place, his legs folded underneath him. "My own time saw my people facing an alien species they did not understand, committing an act of destruction against them they came to regret. It has led to a great deal of thinking on the topic of the 'Other', and how we define it."

He reached for his bottle of water. "A philosopher called Demosthenes developed something they call the 'hierarchy of foreignness'," he said. "First, there is the utlänning, the stranger who is recognizably human but from another place on the same world. Second, främling, a stranger recognized as human from another world. Third, raman, the stranger we recognize as human who is of a different species to our own. And finally, varelse, the truly alien, so foreign in their thinking we cannot understand it."

The class didn't need to know Valentine hadn't published her book yet.

He took a sip of his water. "Hence, Demosthenes defines the other by our ease of recognizing something within them that we understand and see in ourselves," he said. "Through such similarities we can find a common language between ourselves. If we do, then both parties can acknowledge each other's 'humanness' - or whatever, less human-centric word you choose to use for it."

And the bottle went back down. "'The difference between raman and varelse is not in the creature judged, but in the creature judging', Demosthenes writes. 'When we declare an alien species to be raman, it does not mean that they have passed a threshold of moral maturity. It means that we have.' It is easy to decide another is not human, that it can only be destroyed or pushed aside. Consciously or unconsciously; after all, when the alien stands at our door with jaws parted and torch lit, it generally does not occur to us to ask why."

Like his humanity had, once upon a time. Ender noticed his voice had grown somewhat louder, and he cautioned it back down into a more even tone, subtle as the difference might have been. "It is very hard to do the opposite: to stop and search for those similarities within the other that allow us to establish a common language, even when we instinctively feel the other is doing a great evil. Yet Demosthenes feels that we only prove ourselves worthy of being called 'human' if we put in this effort. Otherwise we, ourselves, might just as well be the slavering beasts."

Or the angry bugs, as it might be.

"But how to put in such effort? We'll spend the rest of the semester on that," Ender said. "For now, feel free to discuss how you feel about Demosthenes' proposed order. Or speak to anything at all that comes to mind. I have no questions."

This topics was too... specific, for him.

More Earth Tourism, Tuesday

[unusual_sith]

Lana greeted them cheerfully when they showed up to Portalocity. Hopefully they had all dressed for swimming as she had handwavily emailed them to.

"As land dwellers, we undoubtedly have a bias toward that, but seventy-one percent of the Earth is covered in water, and some of it has quite lovely scenery of its own."

She led them through the portal and onto a dock on a gorgeous beach. "Today we'll be taking a boat out to dive on what's called the Rainbow Reef. Coral reefs are colorful and full of many different life forms, so this should be quite fun!"

She led them onto the boat. "If you're not inclined to go underwater, you're welcome to stay on the boat. If you'd rather not do that, either, you can stay here on the beach, and the resort probably has a restaurant you can grab a bite to eat in."

But she was excited for snorkeling, herself.