From CO

Camera

I was given a camera for Christmas, and so the postings will start consisting more of "original work." To start, there is a joke about how every burgeoning photo student will find their own feet much too interesting--so, here you go.

The tree is fake but the face is real?

But who cares about any of this, anyway, as long as the consumer spending is REAL? Merry holiday eve--Happy festivalizations....more to come.

p.s. We made it to D-town. notice the incessant, continual, ever-penetrating sunshine?

The Coming Days

M. and I (with great trepidation) will be flying to D-town tomorrow. I am always scared of something of the following:

Should this not occur, (oh please!) we will arrive tomorrow night.

Then, we will enjoy food and drinks with friends an family. So if you are near, let's get together (I'll be the rabbit).

Ok, I am sure that most (I guess I could be everyone) reading this has long forgotten the crash. Not me, it's pathological, my muscles are becoming tense just at the thought. To end on a better note (sorry to all those with road travel plans),

Side Effects May Occur. No, Really.

Wait for it...

God Wears Victoria's Secret

On Saturday M. and I went to our favorite/only independent movie rental store to find out that they are closing. While this is upsetting news, it did give us a chance to buy some favorite films (they were selling off their whole collection). Among those now on my bookshelf are "Sleeper"(above) and "Deconstructing Harry" by the great W. Allen. Here is a bit from the latter: 

"Remember how we discussed Freud once?

Freud said the two most important things in life...are the work that you chose and sex.

Those two things. Women...are God."

  
"God's a woman?"

"No. I'm not saying that. We don't know if there's a God...but there are women.

Not in some imaginary heaven, but right here on earth.

And some of them...some of them...shop at Victoria's Secret..."

Nerd Alert!!

Ok, I think everyone (who?) can agree I have done a good job of not talking about math. I am about to fail, now, though in very non-technical way, so click away if you can't stand a touch of nerdiness (and not in the chic-hipster-nerd way).

One of the most hilarious things in math are the names that we give things. Sometimes they are awesome, like "annihilator", which actually represents what the thing does, i.e. annihilators really do annihilate or kill things. Sometimes they are just suggestive, like "homomorphism" and "bump function"--say this one ten times fast. Sometimes they are downright ridiculous, so ridiculous you never want to say the name to a professor, like the "Hairy Ball Theorem". Of course there is a logical explanation for this name--but still.

When you are working with these things on a daily basis, you just have to stop and laugh at yourself from time to time (that's what this post is). For example, there is a surface (geometric shape) called the "saddle":

This name makes sense, as it looks like enough like a saddle. The next one, though, is called a "monkey saddle". It gets its name because it's almost a saddle, but allows a space at the back for the tail of whoever or whatever is sitting in it, and not just any tail, a monkey's tail. Who says mathematicians aren't complete lunatics?

walk in my mind, walk in my day

Which one goes where?

Sometimes, "Hello" Is Enough, Sometimes....

Running a Country is Harder Than Teaching Calculus

In the wake of an election, I have to express one thought. To all those who like the idea of "someone just like me" running things in Washington, chew on this: running a country is (much) harder than teaching calculus. In fact, running a country is harder than teaching the fundamentals of geometric invariants for manifolds in arbitrary dimension--whatever that means, but you get the point.

While most would recoil at the thought of having to teach their own children, or someone else's kid calculus, (most people simply recoil at the word "calculus"), they love the idea of someone equally ill-prepared-for-the-job running the country.

I have a suggestion. Just like we tend to ask those who understand calculus teach calculus, let's let those that understand diplomacy, economics, history, civics, etc., run the country.

Incognito and The Phantom

Happy Halloween!

Quite Frankly

A breath of fresh air, this clip takes place at the end of Modern Times, which I suggest anyone see in full if they haven't. If you are familiar with any romance languages you might be tempted to translate/understand the lyrics--good luck. It is mostly gibberish. I hope you enjoy this as much as I do:

McCoy Next Door

Since I still have no camera, I cannot quite bring to you the moments of my current days. Instead, I thought I would share something of the recent past. Since moving to Chapel Hill, M. and I have worried about the lack of arts and culture in small town life. Much to our pleasant surprise there is a lot of access, especially in conjunction with the university. In particular, memorial hall (pictured below) on campus brings some remarkable acts.

Tickets cost $10 for students (+1).  We have already been twice, most notably to see McCoy Tyner (again, below).

If you don't know who this man is, look him up and more importantly find some of his music to listen to. Of course, the performance was phenomenal, but the opportunity to see one of the jazz greats (he is former member of the John Coltrane Quartet), well....In the coming months we are looking forward to seeing Jazz at Lincoln Center with Wynton Marsalis, the St. Petersburg Orchestra, and others. Not bad for a small southern town.

A Dash of Humility

 This man, 50 year old Jurgen Mennel (unknown to me before today), has just completed a 2,200 km run from Germany to Athens to commemorate the 2,500 year anniversary of the battle of marathon (at the end of which the marathon origin story took place). Granted, he is a professional ultra-marathoner, but still. By the way, he did this run in 30 days.

Here we go,,,,(or at least I)

"Hmm..." was N's cordial response to the reverend's suggestion. "I suppose I could start a blog." Three weeks and some difficult template choices, later, we (or I) cut the ribbon.

Until I am convinced that at least one viewer exists, I will continue to have a very difficult time knowing what pronouns to use.

Anyway, upon some hasty consideration I decided that the reverend's suggestion was worth action, and here we are. As all mediocre things, we (or I) should begin with an introduction:
My intention is to allow others (maybe), especially friends and family, a view into my life and thoughts (and perhaps some of M's too). This could be disastrous--did I mention my decision to begin blogging was hasty? Some of what is to come will likely appear banal to everyone,,,except me. So I ask for your forgiveness for such postings in advance. 

Anyway, my inner voice is telling me to shut up now. Here are some photos from the end of August, when N and M went up to the Smokies with M's parents. enjoy:

sad little waterfall

wild blueberries are delicious

apparently, these are mountains??

some people never change

sure, I am being self indulgent.