The circles under Tyler's eyes were dark as kohl, and he held himself stiffly as he plopped Smoochy's head on his desk, then turned to face the class.

"Gunpowder," he announced, changing the class topic because he knew he couldn't do nitroglycerin if he was less than at his best. "We're making it. We aren't in the Danger Shop today, so put your ( Read more... )

The class had been handwavily asked to meet in Danger Shop today, and the space was set up with a lab in the front and a replica of a chain coffee bar in the back ( Read more... )

There was a large TV in the front of the lab this week, and students who guessed it was movie week were correct.

"Hey," Tyler greeted the class as it assembled. "We were supposed to make aspirin this week, but we're out of salicylic acid. You get a movie instead. It's a biography of the scientist who discovered radium, so I'm actually giving you ( Read more... )

The costume shop had gotten Tyler's order wrong, and (after swearing at the box for a good ten minutes) he decided to go with it. That was why he was leading class today dressed as a large purple rhinoceros from a children's TV program. He'd even slung a guitar around his neck for verisimilitude ( Read more... )

Tyler seemed impatient as the students filed in today. No, not impatient; wary and watchful. Like he was waiting for something ( Read more... )

Tyler smiled slightly at his class as they assembled. No lab supplies were in evidence, just a TV at the front of the room. "Morning. I'm going to take a wild guess that most of you are thinking more about Homecoming, less about class today, so I hope I'm not going to make you suffer too much. We're just watching a video here and then we're going ( Read more... )

Tyler watched the students filing in, arms crossed before him and a covered Styrofoam chest with a slight curl of steam rising from it resting on the lab table at the front of the class. When it seemed like everyone who was going to come was there, he started to talk ( Read more... )

For some strange reason, Tyler seemed to be in an exceptionally good mood this morning. He all but bounced into the classroom, hair still damp from the shower, and smiled at the students as they took their seats ( Read more... )

The first unusual thing chemistry students would notice this morning was a scrawled sign on their classroom door, ordering them to the Danger Shop ( Read more... )

After waiting for the last students to arrive, Tyler shut the classroom door and briskly handed out copies of the syllabus. "Good morning, glad to see you all came back," he said. "First, that's your syllabus for the semester and the class rules. Don't get too attached to the syllabus part -- I might get bored and change it. But you might wanna ( Read more... )