A place to catch a little fresh air after dancing, or thread your way through this year’s specially constructed Yin-Yang Maze:
Patience, Please
This site is under reconstruction and will look strange for a while. We regret the inconvenience.
Muse Academy May Day Ball — Rooftop Garden
“Hmm…” I wonder. “This maze seems more like a labyrinth to me. Oh, well. They’re cool also.” I get to the center in no time, where the light meets the dark. There, a small patch of flowers grow, and I pick a what petunia to place in my hair. The, I continue to explore the ‘maze,’ until I get out.
((First post?))
Yay, I did it.
I sprint up the staircase and gasp. The garden had been transformed into a huge maze of bushes and hedges and flowers and such, music wafting in from downstairs.
“Wow,” I breathe. “The GAPAs really outdid themselves this time.”
((I’m going to send in a few versions of the maze, edited so it looks somewhat real.))
“Wow!” I say as I behold the incredible maze. I start walking through, but get discouraged once I hit a dead end.
“Hmmm,” I think, “I wonder what happens when I climb up a hedge?” I decided to try and find a structural pillar hidden in the bush. I climb to the top with its support and look out upon the maze.
“It really isn’t that bad of a maze,” I say aloud, scorning myself for my ease of discouragement.
I look around some more and surprisingly see a bench sitting supposedly weighless on top of a hedge about thirty feet away. From my previous experience, I knew it was on top of a structural pilliar.
I re-enter the maze, meander over to the bench, climb up again, and sit watching others while absentmindedly shredding a hedge leaf.
Robert strides out into the rooftop garden. “I’m afraid we have to close the maze for maintenance. Would everybody who is in the maze please leave and return to the ballroom? You may return in 20 minutes, when I think I can safely promise you something worth seeing.”
((Some of you have noted that the maze is too simple and insufficiently mazelike, so I’ve whipped up a new version. Luna’s “right hand on the wall” trick still works, however. I think some MBers might feel more secure knowing that there’s an algorithm that can extricate them if they need it.))
Twenty minutes later, curious students flock back to the roof to find the maze transformed:
‘Wow, Robert,’ I say. ‘The maze is even better than it was before! Thanks!’
Taking a stroll up to the Rooftop Garden, I notice the maze. Running into it, I quickly get lost. And that’s how I like it.
I feel compelled to point out that the symbol is called a taijitu, not a yin-yang. Yin-yang is a concept in Chinese philosophy, especially Taoism.
I notice the maze and decide to explore it. Maybe I’ll get lost. Getting lost is fun.
I go up to the maze, and go part of the way through it, switching which hand is on the wall every once in a while, just to make sure I’m lost. I sit and wait until I see someone else.
I wander around in the maze, untill I find a bench. I am suddenly aware I don’t know where I am. I sit down on a stone bench and stare off into space. Then I climb back down into the party.
SWAT and I walk into the garden, when Fishy comes up behind us, saying “And how you are you two this evening?â€
“We’re fine, thanks,” I say, disentangling myself from his arm.
“And you?” SWAT asks politely.
I go to the rooftop garden and see the maze. “Wonderful!” I exclaim, then take my shoes off and throw them somewhere out-of-the-way that I will manage to find later. Then I dash into the maze and hope I get throughly lost. I find one of the benches on top of a hedge, climb up, and look around.
I walk into the garden and look around. It’s as splendid up here as down below. The maze is up ahead, indeed in the shape of a yin-yang, as far as I can see. I move up to the entrance and begin trying to find my way through.
“Hello, Daisy, SWAT, and Fishy,” I say, once finding my way through the ever-growing crowd. “How are you this fine twilight? It’s so cool and fresh out here.”
“Hello LBK! I’m quite fine thank you. You look amazing! As does everyone else. Although, fishy could use some socks and shoes…” *glares at fishy’s feet*
((Now covered with wungs.))
“Thank you. I saw this, and just had to wear it. You look very well, too.”
“Thank you very much, LBK! For some odd reason, I feel like dancing…anyone care to join me?” I replied.
“Sure,” I say.
((Uhh…you’re a dude, right? Or am I really confused? *awkward moment*))
((It’s okay, the name doesn’t say much and neither does the picture ^.^, I am a girl))
“Cool! Daisy? Fishy? Want to come and dance with us? We can start a conga line!”
((Though, I don’t think there is any conga music….Oh well))
I tiptoe into the garden, strapping my guitar over my shoulder and hoping that the music will attract other wanderers as I travel through the winding maze of flowering trees.
Do you hear me,
I’m talking to you
Across the water, across the deep blue ocean
Under the open sky, oh my, baby I’m trying…
I hear Agrrrfishi playing music. I follow the music to the bench she is sitting on.
“Hey, nice tune.” I comment.
” Thanks.” she beams back. She continues playing. I start walking around.
“Be right back.” I say as I dash off.( is going downstairs)
“Thanks,” I say happily to Bluestar, and continue to strum and sing ‘Lucky’ as I sit on the bench near the center of the maze, happy to provide the beautiful surroundings with light music.
I’m lucky I’m in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again…
I wander in the maze, still trying not to trip over my dress. I hear ‘Lucky’ being played softly in the background and hum along as I walk, hopelessly lost in the taijitu maze.
I make my way up to the roof, admiring the bright blue, late-afternoon sky all around us. I walk over to the balcony which is about level with the very tops of the cherry trees down below. The wind blows the pink-white blossoms in gentle swirls, away and down to the sea.
Quickly, I pull out a small camera from the folds of my kimono and take some photographs of the view in case the wind changes.
I enter the garden behind Daisy*Chain, SWAT, and Fishy, who for some reason seems to have wungs on his feet. I quietly slip past them and enter the maze. I find a bench somewhere near the center, sit down, and begin plucking the petals off a cherry blossom. I throw the petals up in the air and watch them float over the wall of the maze. I hear a sigh from the other side.
I sigh. A wung is gnawing on my new shoes. I pat it’s vague figure and place it securely on a less appetizing part of my foot. I go to sit next to Princess Magnolia on the bench, and notice a simple petal floating slowly to the ground.
“Do you like wungs?”
“Oh, yes, I love them,” I reply to Fishy. “My wung is named Squee. Do any wungs have you? I would advise trying to attract one to you. They make people happy.”
Wandering into the maze I sigh and look up at the sky. This is a perfect night! The air is still, the temperature is perfect and the sky is clear exposing many stars. Still looking at the sky I accidentally bump into a bush and quickly back away looking around to see if anyone was there to notice.
“It’s okay, I’ve done that a few times myself. My dad always says someday I’ll get run over by a car crossing the street because I was looking at the sky.” I say, trying not to embarass the newcomer who has accidentally walked into a bush. “The stars ARE very nice tonight.” I say.
((I don’t know if you’re a boy or a girl, so I didn’t go into much detail.))
I am slightly a newcomer. Actually I have been posting every once in a while since February.
P.S. I am a girl
I walk into the maze, and find my way out quite easily.
((25- I only said newcomer because you were new to the garden, not new to MB in general.))
I make my way up to the rooftop, getting out of the way of the stifling stairwell. Taking a deep breath of the fresh, cherry blossom-scented air, I walk over to the entrance of the maze, where I see my dear friend Kai.
‘Hello, there,’ I say. ‘Admiring the stars, I see? I’ve got a telescope if you’d be wanting one.’
((27- Ok, thanks I understand))
Wandering over to a bench I sigh and sit down. Resting my head on the hedge behind me I close my eyes and promptly fall asleep.
“Sure, if you don’t mind sharing.” I said. “Saturn’s up there by Leo, and we might see the rings if we hold the scope steady.” I pointed to the bright starlike object that I knew was Saturn.
I get up off my bench and begin to play a new song. This one should be much more familiar to the people who were–or perhaps were not–around the garden.
“You say yes, I say no,
You say stop and I say go, go, go
Oh, no,
You say goodbye and I say hello
Hello, hello,
I don’t know why you say goodbye, I say hello…”
‘Yes, it’s quite a powerful telescope,’ I say, and point the telescope towards where Kai is pointing, towards Saturn.
I look through Selinium’s telescope. Saturn appears clearly, even though the rings still appear thin, because we saw them edge-on back in the winter. I can even see a few bands of pastel yellow on the planet itself.
“Wow, this is really something. I always wanted to use a telescope like this under a clear sky like we have here at MA.”
‘I know, it’s quite a sight, isn’t it?’ I say, as we look through the telescope.
“Saturn’s my favorite planet to look at. Mars would be my favorite planet to visit, because I could actually walk on it and not just fly around it…” I ramble, trying to see if I can attach my camera to the telescope and take a halfway decent shot of Saturn.
I wander over, and find Kai at the telescope.
“Saturn’s your favorite planet to look at? I’d really like to go there. I mean, the gas is probably dense enough you could scuba dive in it. How amazing would that be?”
“Yeah, that’d be cool, it’s just the gravity I’m worried about. Would you like to use the telescope?”
“Sure!” I say. It’s a very powerful telescope. Saturn looks as beautiful as ever. I can just imagine Galileo looking through his telescope, awed at the beauty of Saturn. Then I remember he looked at Jupiter.
((He looked at Saturn, too. He couldn’t really see the rings that well, so he wrote that it looked as if the planet had “ears”.))
I wander out of the maze and spot Selenium, Enc, and Kai all peering through a telescope. I’ve never been able to even touch one of those without pointing it in the wrong direction, dropping it on a sharp, hard object, or breaking it in some other way, so I materialize a gel pen and my new sketchbook and begin to sketch the scene. There is someone asleep on a Roman-style stone bench, various people wandering around talking, and a fantastic sky with unbelievably bright stars and a cloud-free moon. As an amateur artist, I’m completely unable to capture it, but I do manage to hum a few notes of my own:
Good morning, starshine.
The earth says hello.
You twinkle below us,
we twinkle below.
Good morning, starshine.
You lead us along…
My love and me as we sing
Our early morning singing-song.
((I may send in an actual sketch of the ball later, despite the aforementioned inability to draw. What a great night!))
I hum “Good Morning Starshine” along with Cat’s Eye.
“Want to look at Saturn? We can hold the scope for you if you’re worried about it.” I ask.
“I think I want to pop down to the main party for some snacks. Anybody want me to get them anything while I’m down there?” I ask.
Quietly, I exit the maze and go back to the main ballroom. (( By the way, we can still send dress pictures in, right? ))
I walk over to the group huddled around the telescope, still strumming some Beatles as I go. I stop to ponder the rather large telescope that they are peering through.
“Whatcha looking at?” I ask quizzically, trying to follow their angle but seeing only twinkling specks of light.
“It’s Saturn.” I say, coming back up the stairs. “Want a cookie? I got some from the snack table.”
“Oh, a telescope. What are we looking at?” I wander up to the rooftop garden and notice a group of people around a telescope. “I like telescopes.”
“Sure!” I say happily to Kai. “What’s this, oatmeal raisin?” I take a bite of cookie and chew fitfully as we gather around the telescope. “Very good, the wungs did a spectacular job.”
“We’re looking at Saturn right now, but I think I have…” I withdrew my right arm into my sleeve, feeling for the interior pocket of my robe. “AHA!” I pulled out a thin book. “This is written for binoculars, but it should have a list of other objects we can look at after Saturn.”
“Anybody want to see the Summer Triangle? It’s just rising over the horizon.” I asked.
It’s a yin yang symbol with a line on it!