That's the title of my favourite soul song from the seventies. I just performed another case of my recent habit - typing Ctrl-S after I finish each sentence, a habit picked up by typing for too long in word processors and a fear of sudden inexplicable shutdown, destroying each sentence I fought for so long to pluck from the minds of my betters.
Well, the Cable Saga is finally at an end. The letters have been literally pouring in demanding for a resolution, so I sent a little letter of my own...to Harry. Ha ha ha ha ha! Incidentally, I swapped round the final punctuation mark of those two sentences, after I read something recently demanding that exclamation marks be used only for actual exclamations, not just shocking or noteworthy sentences. I fully support this movement - the character of a sentence should be determined by its content and vocaculary, not by some little vertical upstart!!!
When writing about the overuse of exclamation marks irony is, of course, mandatory. Otherwise other clever and smug people won't be able to feel clever and smug, defeating the point of the internet as a whole. As a part, it would still stand, but forever unsaturated. Darn, just did Ctrl-S again. And again. Luckily it actually does save it on this blogging website, which is quite useful. In some other program, however, it may be a shortcut for Scouring Your Hard Drive, so I must be careful in the future.
That's enough, you greedy word goblins.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
Day 159 - Why capitALISe?
Website of the day: One Sentence
As the tag line goes, "True stories, told in one sentence"
Reading the one sentence stories is interesting, curious and fun. Even more engaging, however, is looking at the tags people add to their sentences, which sometimes make you read it an whole different light:
When it took me 40 minutes to get from Colorado to Iowa while zoomed in on Google Maps using the arrow keys, I realized biking there wouldn't be an option.
tags: traveling stupid long distance certain someone
I fell in love with her on a chat-site, but when she finally showed me her picture, I am ashamed to say, I dumped her immediately.
tags: dating chat sites beauty and the beast
Of course, sometimes the tags are pretty obvious:
There is a dead frog in my freezer.
tags: frogs death freezers
As the tag line goes, "True stories, told in one sentence"
Reading the one sentence stories is interesting, curious and fun. Even more engaging, however, is looking at the tags people add to their sentences, which sometimes make you read it an whole different light:
When it took me 40 minutes to get from Colorado to Iowa while zoomed in on Google Maps using the arrow keys, I realized biking there wouldn't be an option.
tags: traveling stupid long distance certain someone
I fell in love with her on a chat-site, but when she finally showed me her picture, I am ashamed to say, I dumped her immediately.
tags: dating chat sites beauty and the beast
Of course, sometimes the tags are pretty obvious:
There is a dead frog in my freezer.
tags: frogs death freezers
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Day 158 - Youth Folly
I watched Napoleon Dynamite tonight, and so (because films affect me a while afterwards) I feel in a quiet and slightly surreal move.
I'm not going to write any more, but I don't have to.
I'm not going to write any more, but I don't have to.
Saturday, May 09, 2009
Day 157 - Underlined for Emphasis
The revision goes well; I have actually started to learn what Knowledge and Reality is all about, and I have decided to make Proof Sheets for all my maths topics - I've already done the same for definitions and theorems, but reluctantly admit that in maths, proofs are important as well. Kay sera, sera, whatever shall be will be, must be.
If necessarily X, then necessarily necessarily X? If possibly X, then necessarily possibly X? Answer: it depends on how you like your accessibility relation between possible worlds. That's the semantic boys roll.
If necessarily X, then necessarily necessarily X? If possibly X, then necessarily possibly X? Answer: it depends on how you like your accessibility relation between possible worlds. That's the semantic boys roll.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Day 138 - Summary Dispatch
Back in Oxford today, after waking up at 7am, last minute checking, then a two hour drive to Oxford, nice brunch, new shirt, some food, unpacking, Frege, maths, iplayer, Pizza Hut, maths discussions, outside games, consequences.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Day 137 - Dorothea Hamilton Fyfe
Really, this is just too much. The jaw juts in an unbecoming fashion, and the Provost is never welcome where he treads too lightly. Let no man be your measure, while striking down that which shall measure too soon. For in these things we find the light, the laughter, and the wisdom which guides us over hillock and under dale.
Can four sights pierce the fog? Or must obfuscation ever cripple us.
Can four sights pierce the fog? Or must obfuscation ever cripple us.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Day 136 - The Ragman's House
My Easter vacation is nearly over - five weeks has gone past in an amount of time that appears to defy science as we understand it, yet still the physicists ignore my letters.
On Sunday I return to Oxford, and there are only five weeks until my exams start. I believe so, anyway, since the Examination Schools still have not released the exam timetables for any of the mathematics department. They appear to be mocking us cruelly, in a show of such brazen scorn that there can only be two possible explanations:
1) One hideously unfortunate afternoon, everybody involved in such things arrived home from work and then XXXXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXX beyond space and XXXXXX rending XXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXX horror.
2) One unfortunately hideous afternoon, everybody involved in such things was kidnapped and replaced by agents from the Anti-Mathematical Team, who have set about quietly dismantling all university mathematics departments, and are trying to deny they ever existed.
Continue to fight the good fight, my brothers and sisters. Hide that textbook under the floorboards, and let the No-Maths Police come knocking. Whisper axioms and laws of inference to your children when all written records have been burnt, so that the knowledge will not die. Shelter the Fields medallists in your attics, and supply them with paper and pencils. Though our freedom may be eroded, our morals corrupted, our children sold for air conditioning research, pure mathematics will live on.
Harry visited a couple of days ago - we went to Whipsnade with Julia. This was pretty cool, and deserves a proper blog post (Harry/Julia, I'm looking at you). He should also be very excited that he's been mentioned in my blog post.
I have not forgotten his request for a blog on what I was saying about philosophy and free will. I will, I promise, when I have time to think. Things are so hectic round here, I am literally rushed off my feet.
Ouch.
On Sunday I return to Oxford, and there are only five weeks until my exams start. I believe so, anyway, since the Examination Schools still have not released the exam timetables for any of the mathematics department. They appear to be mocking us cruelly, in a show of such brazen scorn that there can only be two possible explanations:
1) One hideously unfortunate afternoon, everybody involved in such things arrived home from work and then XXXXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXX beyond space and XXXXXX rending XXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXX horror.
2) One unfortunately hideous afternoon, everybody involved in such things was kidnapped and replaced by agents from the Anti-Mathematical Team, who have set about quietly dismantling all university mathematics departments, and are trying to deny they ever existed.
Continue to fight the good fight, my brothers and sisters. Hide that textbook under the floorboards, and let the No-Maths Police come knocking. Whisper axioms and laws of inference to your children when all written records have been burnt, so that the knowledge will not die. Shelter the Fields medallists in your attics, and supply them with paper and pencils. Though our freedom may be eroded, our morals corrupted, our children sold for air conditioning research, pure mathematics will live on.
Harry visited a couple of days ago - we went to Whipsnade with Julia. This was pretty cool, and deserves a proper blog post (Harry/Julia, I'm looking at you). He should also be very excited that he's been mentioned in my blog post.
I have not forgotten his request for a blog on what I was saying about philosophy and free will. I will, I promise, when I have time to think. Things are so hectic round here, I am literally rushed off my feet.
Ouch.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Day 133 - Ave Maria
I have been reading Michael Dummett's "Frege: Philosophy of Language" for the past...hour and a half, it seems, which has resulted in a sore neck and a contemplative mood. Part of my recent revision efforts has been a resolution to tackle Dummett's two mammoth works on Frege (the other is called Frege: Philosophy of Mathematics).
Considering Frege is only 2/3 of one of my six papers, this may be a poor balance of my priorities. I maintain, however, that thinking deeply about such issues makes me a better philosopher generally - indeed, a better thinker generally.
If anyone wants to think properly about Frege's work, I strongly recommend Dummett - though not, perhaps, as an introduction level book. Seriously, though, Dummett is a very clever and insightful chap. According to Wikipedia, he is also an emiment scholar on the history of Tarot. Cooooool.
I will now quote a bit from his Preface:
"There is also a quite different reason why I have taken so long [to write this book]...I conceived it my duty to involve myself actively in opposition to the racism which was becoming more and more manifest in English life...I make no apology for this decision, nor do I regret it. Bertrand Russell, in a television interview given shortly before his death, was asked whether he thought that the political work on which he was engaged at the end of his life was of more importance than the philosophical and mathematical work he had done earlier. He replied, 'It depends how successful the political work is: if it succeeds, it is of much more importance than the other; but, if it does not, it is just silly.'...It was only at the stage at which, outwitted by those who could, after all, draw on a long tradition of the tactics of handling subjugated populations, I felt that I no longer had any very significant contribution to make, that I thought myself justified in returning to writing about more abstract matters of much less importance to anyone's happiness or future."
and
"There is some irony for me in the fact that the man about whose philosophical views I have devoted, over years, a great deal of time to thinking, was, at least at the end of his life, a virulent racist, specifically an anti-semite. This fact is revealed by a fragment of a diary which survives among Frege's Nachlass...shows Frege to been a man of extreme right-wing political opinions, bitterly opposed to the parliamentary system, democrats, liberals, Catholics, the French and, above all, Jews, who he thought ought to be deprived of political rights and, preferably, expelled from Germany. When I first read that diary, many years ago, I was deeply shocked, because I had revered Frege as an absolutely rational man, if, perhaps, not a very likeable one. I regret that the editors of Frege's Nachlass chose to suppress that particular item. From it I learned something about human beings which I should be sorry not to know; perhaps something about Europe, also."
I agree. I too revere Frege as an absolutely rational man, and I was deeply shocked when I read that. I learnt something that I am sorry to be true; but I should be sorry not to know it.
Back to 'more abstract matters' now.
Considering Frege is only 2/3 of one of my six papers, this may be a poor balance of my priorities. I maintain, however, that thinking deeply about such issues makes me a better philosopher generally - indeed, a better thinker generally.
If anyone wants to think properly about Frege's work, I strongly recommend Dummett - though not, perhaps, as an introduction level book. Seriously, though, Dummett is a very clever and insightful chap. According to Wikipedia, he is also an emiment scholar on the history of Tarot. Cooooool.
I will now quote a bit from his Preface:
"There is also a quite different reason why I have taken so long [to write this book]...I conceived it my duty to involve myself actively in opposition to the racism which was becoming more and more manifest in English life...I make no apology for this decision, nor do I regret it. Bertrand Russell, in a television interview given shortly before his death, was asked whether he thought that the political work on which he was engaged at the end of his life was of more importance than the philosophical and mathematical work he had done earlier. He replied, 'It depends how successful the political work is: if it succeeds, it is of much more importance than the other; but, if it does not, it is just silly.'...It was only at the stage at which, outwitted by those who could, after all, draw on a long tradition of the tactics of handling subjugated populations, I felt that I no longer had any very significant contribution to make, that I thought myself justified in returning to writing about more abstract matters of much less importance to anyone's happiness or future."
and
"There is some irony for me in the fact that the man about whose philosophical views I have devoted, over years, a great deal of time to thinking, was, at least at the end of his life, a virulent racist, specifically an anti-semite. This fact is revealed by a fragment of a diary which survives among Frege's Nachlass...shows Frege to been a man of extreme right-wing political opinions, bitterly opposed to the parliamentary system, democrats, liberals, Catholics, the French and, above all, Jews, who he thought ought to be deprived of political rights and, preferably, expelled from Germany. When I first read that diary, many years ago, I was deeply shocked, because I had revered Frege as an absolutely rational man, if, perhaps, not a very likeable one. I regret that the editors of Frege's Nachlass chose to suppress that particular item. From it I learned something about human beings which I should be sorry not to know; perhaps something about Europe, also."
I agree. I too revere Frege as an absolutely rational man, and I was deeply shocked when I read that. I learnt something that I am sorry to be true; but I should be sorry not to know it.
Back to 'more abstract matters' now.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Day 129 - Towers and Blocks and Towers
A lot of rumours get bandied around about the time I wrestled a bear. Tempers get heated, minds get bored, and tongues begin to wag. Some of the more outrageous lies that I've heard about the night shock even me, Tom "the Unshockable" (my WWF alias). Let me just set the record straight, mohitos:
1) I was not drunk. Neither was the bear.
2) It was not started out of malice or a desire for random violence. It was an honest, honourable duel between two men of different species.
3) No weapons were involved.
4) While knuckling my forehead, the bear did not start expounding the work of the 19th century German philosophy and mathematician Gottlob Frege. He chose instead for a cheeky series of limericks, parodying the psychologistic approach of Husserl.
5) At no point were bodily gases used as a flotation aid.
6) I was technically dead for seven hours.
7) It was a draw, as all parties agreed.
8) The bear is currently alive and well, and running a small crepe stall in Berlin. We exchange letters on a regular basis, and now count each other as friends.
1) I was not drunk. Neither was the bear.
2) It was not started out of malice or a desire for random violence. It was an honest, honourable duel between two men of different species.
3) No weapons were involved.
4) While knuckling my forehead, the bear did not start expounding the work of the 19th century German philosophy and mathematician Gottlob Frege. He chose instead for a cheeky series of limericks, parodying the psychologistic approach of Husserl.
5) At no point were bodily gases used as a flotation aid.
6) I was technically dead for seven hours.
7) It was a draw, as all parties agreed.
8) The bear is currently alive and well, and running a small crepe stall in Berlin. We exchange letters on a regular basis, and now count each other as friends.
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Day 126 - Fit as a Fiddler
Did you get it right? That's right, the numbers were the Fighting Fantasy books which I don't own in the series. Pretty cunning, no? Still, if you tried hard enough, you would have figured it out. Any failure to do so reflects a sheer lack of integrity and dedication on your part. Frankly, I don't want somebody with such low moral fibre and backbone reading this blog. It's worth more than that, goshdarnit! Pay these jewelled words some respect, and go back to whatever stinking hole you crawled from, with your platitudes and your apologies. I will have none of it! Dry those tears with the harsh iron fist of my cruelty, then leave this sacred server, and take the stench of despair and misery along with you, you dry-mouthed tall-headed back-muchest cetacean. I want none of your lunacy; don't try to drag me down, back in the hellish miasma that you managed to haul your flabby bulk out of with one twisted claw, digging deep into the good clean earth of my dignity.
Now they're gone, we're left together, us people of intelligence and wit. Kudos!
Now they're gone, we're left together, us people of intelligence and wit. Kudos!
Day 125 - A Puzzling Outcome
Script writing continues, now with a partner. We have a plot. We have characters. We have a scene structure. We have five pages of solid gold. We have EPIC.
Now, a numerical puzzle:
21 22 26 30 34 36 43 44 47 50 52 53 55
Spot the pattern!
Now, a numerical puzzle:
21 22 26 30 34 36 43 44 47 50 52 53 55
Spot the pattern!
Sunday, April 05, 2009
Day 124 - Sequence marches on
Hogshine:
Read your blog? Only when drunk. I have it on good authority (an Oxford professor of theoretical physics) that string theory has fallen from its pedestal within physics circles as well - although, if I recall correctly, it hasn't been replaced by another theory, but rather by a trend towards more throw-things-together-and-see-what-happens kind of stuff (hence the big Higgs thing).
248 dimensions? Pah! I will not rest until we've modelled the universe in 196883 dimensions, so we can use the Monster group.
Also, hello Mr Gilbert! Always a pleasure to receive greetings/book recommendations/book plugs. I can't tell whether that's actually you, or some clever advertising automata (amazing what they can crank out in the labs, these days). Either way, your book sounds interesting, and I will check it out. Probably through some library, however, unless you care to send me a free publisher's copy...go on...
Read your blog? Only when drunk. I have it on good authority (an Oxford professor of theoretical physics) that string theory has fallen from its pedestal within physics circles as well - although, if I recall correctly, it hasn't been replaced by another theory, but rather by a trend towards more throw-things-together-and-see-what-happens kind of stuff (hence the big Higgs thing).
248 dimensions? Pah! I will not rest until we've modelled the universe in 196883 dimensions, so we can use the Monster group.
Also, hello Mr Gilbert! Always a pleasure to receive greetings/book recommendations/book plugs. I can't tell whether that's actually you, or some clever advertising automata (amazing what they can crank out in the labs, these days). Either way, your book sounds interesting, and I will check it out. Probably through some library, however, unless you care to send me a free publisher's copy...go on...
Saturday, April 04, 2009
Day 123 - That poor horse
My last EPIC post attracted some EPIC comments, so without further ado, let's get to it.
Haniff:
Thanks for your interesting comment! I don't think we've ever met, but I appreciate your readership. It warms the cockles of my heart to know that an actual internet person reads my blog.
About the primes thing - you're absolutely right, and it is by no means intended as any sort of convincing argument or proof, more as heuristic ramblings on why primes might crop up (though they do so disguised as the zeta function). I thought it was interesting about the taxis, etc - obviously, in this case, my rough remarks wouldn't apply to the taxis themselves, but perhaps to some factor determining their distribution (i.e. the preference of the drivers, or something). The 'objects' I spoke about can be anything, or any property, with some suitable 'force' and 'group' relation defined appropriately.
Or, if you think I'm chatting baloney, chuck it out with the rest of the processed meats. They contain unhealthy amounts of salt, you know.
Dimension thing - thanks for mentioning Charles Hinton. I've never heard of him, and after a brief dose of Wikipedia, I need to read his books. Again, my ramblings were primarily heuristic (goshdarnit, I love that word). My point was really that we can't exactly visualise a 4D cube, but we can quite easily imagine such a thing, taking into account non-visual factors.
Although, since I'm finding it hard to picture infinitely many coloured cubes, I need to modify that 'quite easily'. I'll get back to you after I read some Charles Hinton.
String theory sounds crazy, and I know almost nothing about it. I shy away from physics and applied mathematics, mostly because it scares me, and I can't do it. Apparently it's no longer the hot new theory among theoretical physicists, however. I can't remember what is.
I agree that mathematics can't answer everything, nor should it want to. Any discipline thinking it can answer everything is just asking for trouble. That's why, in mathematics, they generally pick a smaller problem they think they can solve. Then a smaller one, that they actually can solve. And so on.
Pointing to a creator...I'm not so sure, at least not how the mysteries of mathematics come into it. Then you have to go into the metaphysics of mathematics, and what kind of status the propositions really have, and so on. One big medieval mess, as Merlin would say.
Can of infinite worms in infinite universes? Great metaphor, if a bit demanding on the clean up afterwards. Yeah, I agree we'll never fully understand them. Some famous mathematician said something similar, but much better than I could.
Julia:
You missed out, but I still love you.
Harry:
Sadly, I have met you in real life, and was already aware that you read my blog, so the thrill of seeing your comment was dampened slightly. Next time, please adopt some cunning pseudonym, so that my life can abound with artificial mysteries once more.
Yes, I am a genius.
Thanks for the interesting occurrences of primes. I'd heard about the cicada thing before, and in that case, the primality is pretty important since, as you said, it reduces the risk of coinciding with predator cycles. I think other animals with similar sorts of cycles also tend to it in prime numbers...some sort of Australian frog, if I recall.
Discrete phenomena wise, primes themselves probably don't occur much more often, except in odd cases like that one, where primality is important. They do, however, occur surprisingly often in quantum physics (at least, in their zeta function disguise) - at least, so I have been led to believe, and why would they try to mislead me?
Primes in biology, I share your scepticism, but I would also love to be proved wrong. If everything ran on primes, my gut feeling tells me things would work out better. This bears further research, when I am less tired.
The dimension thing - I wasn't really thinking about physics use of higher dimensions at the time, pretty much just higher dimensional polyhedra. It might let me down when it comes to paths, etc - and certainly, intuition there is a lot harder than intuition in three dimensions, but I still suspect it to be achievable.
Even if there is space of four dimensions, or however many you feel like, it's not the space that we perceive visually, and hence we can't hope to visualise it...visually. Our intuition/imagination techniques, are more powerful than simple visual visualisation, so we're not so restricted as this would suggest.
Your question put to Mr Haniff, I am also interested in, and I eagerly await his comment reply.
Yes, I do see primes in my cereal. They scare the living bejeesus out of me.
Haniff:
Thanks for your interesting comment! I don't think we've ever met, but I appreciate your readership. It warms the cockles of my heart to know that an actual internet person reads my blog.
About the primes thing - you're absolutely right, and it is by no means intended as any sort of convincing argument or proof, more as heuristic ramblings on why primes might crop up (though they do so disguised as the zeta function). I thought it was interesting about the taxis, etc - obviously, in this case, my rough remarks wouldn't apply to the taxis themselves, but perhaps to some factor determining their distribution (i.e. the preference of the drivers, or something). The 'objects' I spoke about can be anything, or any property, with some suitable 'force' and 'group' relation defined appropriately.
Or, if you think I'm chatting baloney, chuck it out with the rest of the processed meats. They contain unhealthy amounts of salt, you know.
Dimension thing - thanks for mentioning Charles Hinton. I've never heard of him, and after a brief dose of Wikipedia, I need to read his books. Again, my ramblings were primarily heuristic (goshdarnit, I love that word). My point was really that we can't exactly visualise a 4D cube, but we can quite easily imagine such a thing, taking into account non-visual factors.
Although, since I'm finding it hard to picture infinitely many coloured cubes, I need to modify that 'quite easily'. I'll get back to you after I read some Charles Hinton.
String theory sounds crazy, and I know almost nothing about it. I shy away from physics and applied mathematics, mostly because it scares me, and I can't do it. Apparently it's no longer the hot new theory among theoretical physicists, however. I can't remember what is.
I agree that mathematics can't answer everything, nor should it want to. Any discipline thinking it can answer everything is just asking for trouble. That's why, in mathematics, they generally pick a smaller problem they think they can solve. Then a smaller one, that they actually can solve. And so on.
Pointing to a creator...I'm not so sure, at least not how the mysteries of mathematics come into it. Then you have to go into the metaphysics of mathematics, and what kind of status the propositions really have, and so on. One big medieval mess, as Merlin would say.
Can of infinite worms in infinite universes? Great metaphor, if a bit demanding on the clean up afterwards. Yeah, I agree we'll never fully understand them. Some famous mathematician said something similar, but much better than I could.
Julia:
You missed out, but I still love you.
Harry:
Sadly, I have met you in real life, and was already aware that you read my blog, so the thrill of seeing your comment was dampened slightly. Next time, please adopt some cunning pseudonym, so that my life can abound with artificial mysteries once more.
Yes, I am a genius.
Thanks for the interesting occurrences of primes. I'd heard about the cicada thing before, and in that case, the primality is pretty important since, as you said, it reduces the risk of coinciding with predator cycles. I think other animals with similar sorts of cycles also tend to it in prime numbers...some sort of Australian frog, if I recall.
Discrete phenomena wise, primes themselves probably don't occur much more often, except in odd cases like that one, where primality is important. They do, however, occur surprisingly often in quantum physics (at least, in their zeta function disguise) - at least, so I have been led to believe, and why would they try to mislead me?
Primes in biology, I share your scepticism, but I would also love to be proved wrong. If everything ran on primes, my gut feeling tells me things would work out better. This bears further research, when I am less tired.
The dimension thing - I wasn't really thinking about physics use of higher dimensions at the time, pretty much just higher dimensional polyhedra. It might let me down when it comes to paths, etc - and certainly, intuition there is a lot harder than intuition in three dimensions, but I still suspect it to be achievable.
Even if there is space of four dimensions, or however many you feel like, it's not the space that we perceive visually, and hence we can't hope to visualise it...visually. Our intuition/imagination techniques, are more powerful than simple visual visualisation, so we're not so restricted as this would suggest.
Your question put to Mr Haniff, I am also interested in, and I eagerly await his comment reply.
Yes, I do see primes in my cereal. They scare the living bejeesus out of me.
Thursday, April 02, 2009
Day 121 - Unexpected Retrievals
There were three things I intended to blog about today - here's what I wrote down to remind myself:
Primes occuring in nature
Visualising dimensions
Trivial when expressed properly
Now let's see how they turn out when I actually write them. Behind-the-scenes blogging, that is. Straight from my brainstorm to your brainwave (why does the brain have such weather-themed imagery?).
Today I watched, with Julia (under some duress), a one-off Horizon programme called Alan and Marcus Go Forth and Multiply. Basically, the comedian Alan Davies gets taken on a whirlwind tour of higher mathematics by Oxford professor Marcus Du Sautoy. The usual things come up - Monty Hall problem, dimensions, prime numbers, and it does prevent a couple of things (such as a potted description of what Perelman achieved) in interesting and original ways, helped along by Alan's charm and Marcus' obvious enthusiasm and intelligence. I highly recommend viewing it - on with the point, as they say in the pencil factory.
While discussing the Riemann zeta function and its relation to the prime numbers, they also demonstrated an interesting parallel in nature - the frequency of the vibrations of a quartz crystal correspond closely to (I presume) the modulus of a certain section of the zeta function.
This got me thinking about why prime numbers are so important in nature, and in particular, quantum physics, etc.
It's not that surprising.
Let's suppose we have a large group of objects of some kind, held together somehow. Further assume that these bonds are relatively weak - in other words, it won't take much to break up this big group into several smaller groups. Now, also suppose that the forces that act upon this group to break it up act pretty much symmetrically over the whole group. In other words, this breaking-up force will be distributed evenly. This suggests that the parts it is broken up into will be evenly sized as well.
For example, a group with 6 objects in it, broken up in a symmetric fashion, won't break up into a group of 5 objects and a group of 1 object. It will be broken up into groups of the same size, e.g. 2 groups of 3 objects.
See where I'm going with this? The size of groups of objects will tend towards factorisation, which in turns entails that they will tend towards sizes which are prime numbers, which can't be factored in a non-trivial way.
Now, this is a very general heuristic sketch - billiard balls, for example, don't naturally group into 2s or 3s. If, however, the bonds between objects in questions were sufficiently weak, and the breaking-up forces were sufficiently symmetrical, such a tendency towards primes would occur.
The objects may not be physical - they may be waves, or frequencies of waves, or properties of frequencies of waves, and so on. In any physical situation in which have some kinds of objects grouped together, and forces acting on them symmetrically, it would naturally tend towards primes.
Moreover, such weak bonds and symmetrical forces would be more likely to occur at very small scales, where there is simply less room for forces to act non-symmetrically. So, primes would crop up frequently in quantum physics. Since the zeta function generates the primes, in some fashion, it's also expected that it would generate, in some fashion, these quantum phenomena.
Alriiiiiiight, enough heuristics.
Another problem mentioned in this program was how to visualise in more than three dimensions. This is usually seen as some in built limitation of our brains, in that we can only visualise spacially in up to three dimensions - which is only natural, since we perceive things in three dimensions.
I think, however, that it's a lot easier than people think, and we're being held back by what think a dimension should be.
Take the paradigmatic cases: for 0-dimensions a point, 1 dimensions a line, 2 dimensions a square, 3 dimensions a cube, and 4 dimensions a hypercube, and so on.
Up to 3 dimensions, we can visualise these easily. We can build them from the previous one, by extending it in a different direction, in some sense.
We stretch out a point along a length, to get a line. We stretch out a line along a width, to get a square. We stretch out a square along a height, to get a cube. Then our minds hit a brick wall - where is the fourth direction in which to stretch our cube?
Take your pick! The fourth direction does not need to be spatial. Perhaps it can't be, since all the space we know and love only has three dimensions. A dimension is just another co-ordinate; another piece of information telling us where to look for a point.
Example. A point is 0 dimensions, because no co-ordinates need to be given, we don't need any information to locate any point within the point. Because there's only one point. We know where it is, we don't need to look.
Now, for a line, we need 1 number, to know how far along the line our point is, and then we're done. A line is 1-dimensional.
In a square, we need 1 number to tell us which line the point lies on - which cross-section of the square we need. Then another number to tell us how far along that line.
Similarly the cube - the first co-ordinate tells us the square, the second the line, the third which point on that line.
So! To make a fourth dimensional cube, a hypercube, watch carefully (I have nothing up my sleeves). Take time to be the fourth dimension. Suppose a cube suddenly springs into existence at time 0, and winks out at time 1. Now, if we searching through time as well as space, we have a 4-dimensional cube. The first co-ordinate tells us at which time we're looking - which cube we're searching in. The second which square within that cube, the third which line within that square, the fourth which point within that line.
Blam. A 4-dimensional cube, plain and simple. What's wrong with that? We can't hold it in our minds eye like the others, since our eyes can only see cross-sections of time. We are still, however, perfectly aware of time, and use duration in our visualisations, so we can easily visualise this magically appearing and disappearing cube. In a way, we already do when we visualise any cube. Now we're just taking notice of the time it's there for. Nothing mysterious or esoteric about the fourth dimension.
We can do something else, however. Instead of time, why not use colour as the fourth dimension? Let 0 be the colour white, 1 the colour black, and a continuous sliding scale of grey in between. Now let's have an infinite collection of cubes, one for each possible shade. Note we need infinite cubes, just as there are infinitely many squares in a cube, and infinitely many lines in a square, we need infinitely many cubes in a hypercube.
Now, to find any point, we specify the first co-ordinate - precisely which shade of grey we're looking at, then pick up that cube. The second gives us the cube, and...you've gotten the idea by now.
In fact, any continuous variable that can be applied to cubes could be used. How much that particular cube is adored by the media, on a scale from 0 to 1, taken continuously. The probability that cube will turn into a flying pig, ideally. They're not spatial things, but we can think about them, we can visualise them. We can visualise time, and colour, and billion other non-spatial things. Use them in your search for higher dimensions.
This can be carried out higher dimensions. Want a 5-dimensional hyperhypercube? No problem! Just take your infinitely many different shades of grey cubes, and have them existing over a duration as well (not hard - most things exist over some duration). 6 dimensions? Take our temporary coloured cubes and just factor the height that the mould on them grows to. Let your mind run free!
Phew, how exciting. The third thing: "trivial when expressed properly." Here's what I meant:
I believe that any mathematical proposition, when expressed in the right way, becomes obviously and trivially true. The difficulty in mathematics lies in working out exactly how to say what you want to prove; translate it into the right language, look at it in the right way, and there's nothing to it.
A quick example, till I think of some more: factorisation of integers into primes. Look at it one way, and it's pretty obvious - primes are, by definition, things which can't be divided anymore. Take any integer, and divide it into smaller bits, then those bits again, and so on, and eventually you'll have to stop, and all you'll have left are primes. Easy.
Now, however, think about the integers like this: you start with 0. Then add 1 to make 1. Then add 1 to make 2, and so on. The integers are everything you get proceeding in this way, adding 1 each time. Now work out analysis, then complex analysis, then the theory of the Riemann zeta function, then let the primes be defined by the sequence which satisfies a certain functional equation involving the zeros of the zeta function. Now try and prove factorisation into primes. A lot harder.
Better examples to follow!
Primes occuring in nature
Visualising dimensions
Trivial when expressed properly
Now let's see how they turn out when I actually write them. Behind-the-scenes blogging, that is. Straight from my brainstorm to your brainwave (why does the brain have such weather-themed imagery?).
Today I watched, with Julia (under some duress), a one-off Horizon programme called Alan and Marcus Go Forth and Multiply. Basically, the comedian Alan Davies gets taken on a whirlwind tour of higher mathematics by Oxford professor Marcus Du Sautoy. The usual things come up - Monty Hall problem, dimensions, prime numbers, and it does prevent a couple of things (such as a potted description of what Perelman achieved) in interesting and original ways, helped along by Alan's charm and Marcus' obvious enthusiasm and intelligence. I highly recommend viewing it - on with the point, as they say in the pencil factory.
While discussing the Riemann zeta function and its relation to the prime numbers, they also demonstrated an interesting parallel in nature - the frequency of the vibrations of a quartz crystal correspond closely to (I presume) the modulus of a certain section of the zeta function.
This got me thinking about why prime numbers are so important in nature, and in particular, quantum physics, etc.
It's not that surprising.
Let's suppose we have a large group of objects of some kind, held together somehow. Further assume that these bonds are relatively weak - in other words, it won't take much to break up this big group into several smaller groups. Now, also suppose that the forces that act upon this group to break it up act pretty much symmetrically over the whole group. In other words, this breaking-up force will be distributed evenly. This suggests that the parts it is broken up into will be evenly sized as well.
For example, a group with 6 objects in it, broken up in a symmetric fashion, won't break up into a group of 5 objects and a group of 1 object. It will be broken up into groups of the same size, e.g. 2 groups of 3 objects.
See where I'm going with this? The size of groups of objects will tend towards factorisation, which in turns entails that they will tend towards sizes which are prime numbers, which can't be factored in a non-trivial way.
Now, this is a very general heuristic sketch - billiard balls, for example, don't naturally group into 2s or 3s. If, however, the bonds between objects in questions were sufficiently weak, and the breaking-up forces were sufficiently symmetrical, such a tendency towards primes would occur.
The objects may not be physical - they may be waves, or frequencies of waves, or properties of frequencies of waves, and so on. In any physical situation in which have some kinds of objects grouped together, and forces acting on them symmetrically, it would naturally tend towards primes.
Moreover, such weak bonds and symmetrical forces would be more likely to occur at very small scales, where there is simply less room for forces to act non-symmetrically. So, primes would crop up frequently in quantum physics. Since the zeta function generates the primes, in some fashion, it's also expected that it would generate, in some fashion, these quantum phenomena.
Alriiiiiiight, enough heuristics.
Another problem mentioned in this program was how to visualise in more than three dimensions. This is usually seen as some in built limitation of our brains, in that we can only visualise spacially in up to three dimensions - which is only natural, since we perceive things in three dimensions.
I think, however, that it's a lot easier than people think, and we're being held back by what think a dimension should be.
Take the paradigmatic cases: for 0-dimensions a point, 1 dimensions a line, 2 dimensions a square, 3 dimensions a cube, and 4 dimensions a hypercube, and so on.
Up to 3 dimensions, we can visualise these easily. We can build them from the previous one, by extending it in a different direction, in some sense.
We stretch out a point along a length, to get a line. We stretch out a line along a width, to get a square. We stretch out a square along a height, to get a cube. Then our minds hit a brick wall - where is the fourth direction in which to stretch our cube?
Take your pick! The fourth direction does not need to be spatial. Perhaps it can't be, since all the space we know and love only has three dimensions. A dimension is just another co-ordinate; another piece of information telling us where to look for a point.
Example. A point is 0 dimensions, because no co-ordinates need to be given, we don't need any information to locate any point within the point. Because there's only one point. We know where it is, we don't need to look.
Now, for a line, we need 1 number, to know how far along the line our point is, and then we're done. A line is 1-dimensional.
In a square, we need 1 number to tell us which line the point lies on - which cross-section of the square we need. Then another number to tell us how far along that line.
Similarly the cube - the first co-ordinate tells us the square, the second the line, the third which point on that line.
So! To make a fourth dimensional cube, a hypercube, watch carefully (I have nothing up my sleeves). Take time to be the fourth dimension. Suppose a cube suddenly springs into existence at time 0, and winks out at time 1. Now, if we searching through time as well as space, we have a 4-dimensional cube. The first co-ordinate tells us at which time we're looking - which cube we're searching in. The second which square within that cube, the third which line within that square, the fourth which point within that line.
Blam. A 4-dimensional cube, plain and simple. What's wrong with that? We can't hold it in our minds eye like the others, since our eyes can only see cross-sections of time. We are still, however, perfectly aware of time, and use duration in our visualisations, so we can easily visualise this magically appearing and disappearing cube. In a way, we already do when we visualise any cube. Now we're just taking notice of the time it's there for. Nothing mysterious or esoteric about the fourth dimension.
We can do something else, however. Instead of time, why not use colour as the fourth dimension? Let 0 be the colour white, 1 the colour black, and a continuous sliding scale of grey in between. Now let's have an infinite collection of cubes, one for each possible shade. Note we need infinite cubes, just as there are infinitely many squares in a cube, and infinitely many lines in a square, we need infinitely many cubes in a hypercube.
Now, to find any point, we specify the first co-ordinate - precisely which shade of grey we're looking at, then pick up that cube. The second gives us the cube, and...you've gotten the idea by now.
In fact, any continuous variable that can be applied to cubes could be used. How much that particular cube is adored by the media, on a scale from 0 to 1, taken continuously. The probability that cube will turn into a flying pig, ideally. They're not spatial things, but we can think about them, we can visualise them. We can visualise time, and colour, and billion other non-spatial things. Use them in your search for higher dimensions.
This can be carried out higher dimensions. Want a 5-dimensional hyperhypercube? No problem! Just take your infinitely many different shades of grey cubes, and have them existing over a duration as well (not hard - most things exist over some duration). 6 dimensions? Take our temporary coloured cubes and just factor the height that the mould on them grows to. Let your mind run free!
Phew, how exciting. The third thing: "trivial when expressed properly." Here's what I meant:
I believe that any mathematical proposition, when expressed in the right way, becomes obviously and trivially true. The difficulty in mathematics lies in working out exactly how to say what you want to prove; translate it into the right language, look at it in the right way, and there's nothing to it.
A quick example, till I think of some more: factorisation of integers into primes. Look at it one way, and it's pretty obvious - primes are, by definition, things which can't be divided anymore. Take any integer, and divide it into smaller bits, then those bits again, and so on, and eventually you'll have to stop, and all you'll have left are primes. Easy.
Now, however, think about the integers like this: you start with 0. Then add 1 to make 1. Then add 1 to make 2, and so on. The integers are everything you get proceeding in this way, adding 1 each time. Now work out analysis, then complex analysis, then the theory of the Riemann zeta function, then let the primes be defined by the sequence which satisfies a certain functional equation involving the zeros of the zeta function. Now try and prove factorisation into primes. A lot harder.
Better examples to follow!
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Day 120 - Happiness runs in a circular motion
Happy April Fool's Day! I love my little japes, so in this blog post, there is one false fact. All the others are, as far as I know, true.
Start of Script Frenzy today! I stayed up until midnight last night, and on the bridge from the old day into the new, I paused to write a quick scene. I don't know what my script is about, or what scenes will be written, or who the characters are. I'll be thinking, however. Until then, don't ask about my script. I will write about somebody I just found out about today: Alexander Grothendieck.
Grothendieck (born 1928) is one of the leading mathematicians of the 20th century - described by one mathematician as the "Einstein of mathematics". He brought in not only new theorems, but entirely new ways of thinking about and doing mathematics. In the 50s, he pretty much reinvented algebraic geometry from the ground up, and attempted similarly ambitious schemes in many other areas of mathematics.
Since reality loves a stereotype, this brilliant mathematician is also a bit...fractured. A radical left-wing anarchist and ecological activist, he withdrew from mathematics in the 1970s to focus on his ecological and conservation interests. In 1991, he withdrew from life altogether, disappearing from his home one night, and his current whereabouts are unknown. He receives no visitors, and has withdrawn from not only the mathematical community, but the community in general, it seems.
He has written an incredible amount - many of his opuses stretch to the thousands of pages. He's written long philosophical and biographical accounts of a similar length. Seriously, look him up on Google/Wikipedia. Fascinating.
Start of Script Frenzy today! I stayed up until midnight last night, and on the bridge from the old day into the new, I paused to write a quick scene. I don't know what my script is about, or what scenes will be written, or who the characters are. I'll be thinking, however. Until then, don't ask about my script. I will write about somebody I just found out about today: Alexander Grothendieck.
Grothendieck (born 1928) is one of the leading mathematicians of the 20th century - described by one mathematician as the "Einstein of mathematics". He brought in not only new theorems, but entirely new ways of thinking about and doing mathematics. In the 50s, he pretty much reinvented algebraic geometry from the ground up, and attempted similarly ambitious schemes in many other areas of mathematics.
Since reality loves a stereotype, this brilliant mathematician is also a bit...fractured. A radical left-wing anarchist and ecological activist, he withdrew from mathematics in the 1970s to focus on his ecological and conservation interests. In 1991, he withdrew from life altogether, disappearing from his home one night, and his current whereabouts are unknown. He receives no visitors, and has withdrawn from not only the mathematical community, but the community in general, it seems.
He has written an incredible amount - many of his opuses stretch to the thousands of pages. He's written long philosophical and biographical accounts of a similar length. Seriously, look him up on Google/Wikipedia. Fascinating.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Day 119 - Sorry, I missed the question
31st of March! Tomorrow (in just 1 hour and 35 minutes, in fact) Script Frenzy begins!! The first tentative words of my 100 page script!!! How exciting!!!!
Today, much less exciting things. I played Warhammer Quest with Nick while Julia slept and read James Bond. The first foray was unsuccessful, resulting in the swift death of our entire party. Dungeoneering is a dangerous business. The second journey, after dispensing with the unhelpful Questing Knight, did much better, and everybody actually survived (give or take a limb or two).
Trivialities aside, IT'S SCRIPT FRENZY SOON. I don't know what to write.
Today, much less exciting things. I played Warhammer Quest with Nick while Julia slept and read James Bond. The first foray was unsuccessful, resulting in the swift death of our entire party. Dungeoneering is a dangerous business. The second journey, after dispensing with the unhelpful Questing Knight, did much better, and everybody actually survived (give or take a limb or two).
Trivialities aside, IT'S SCRIPT FRENZY SOON. I don't know what to write.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Day 118 - Old House up the attic
I spent the weekend in the dark, dank, damp, dimp crab-infested Fens of Norfolk, hence my absence. I had a great time! Eight of us, plus a giant dog, stayed in my Dad's caravan and enjoyed the bracing sea air. Contrary to what the numbers may suggest, nobody was viciously murdered (at least nobody that I'm aware of - we didn't do a head count when leaving).
As the Brachyurian reference above indicates (thanks Wikipedia!) we did indeed go crab fishing. This was clearly doomed from the start when my father, bravely poking a net into the murky waters, slipped on the wet path and nearly joined our prey. Muttering darkly, he declared the river banks totally unsafe for all of us, and said the bridge over the river would offer better chances. Our breathes baited with anticipation, our lines with bacon, we stared down at the water waiting for the bountiful bonanza. After a few minutes, me and Julia tired of this, and took the dog for a walk along the coast.
We returned just as they were leaving, my father darkly muttering something about 'the wrong season'.
On Wednesday, my Script Frenzy begins - I still have no idea what to write about. I placate myself that even thinking about it before April isn't in the spirit of the thing.
My mother pointed out that Wednesday was also April Fool's Day. I am undaunted by such remarks. The script will be completed. (Just you watch - soon it'll capitalise into The Script, and then who knows what else.)
As the Brachyurian reference above indicates (thanks Wikipedia!) we did indeed go crab fishing. This was clearly doomed from the start when my father, bravely poking a net into the murky waters, slipped on the wet path and nearly joined our prey. Muttering darkly, he declared the river banks totally unsafe for all of us, and said the bridge over the river would offer better chances. Our breathes baited with anticipation, our lines with bacon, we stared down at the water waiting for the bountiful bonanza. After a few minutes, me and Julia tired of this, and took the dog for a walk along the coast.
We returned just as they were leaving, my father darkly muttering something about 'the wrong season'.
On Wednesday, my Script Frenzy begins - I still have no idea what to write about. I placate myself that even thinking about it before April isn't in the spirit of the thing.
My mother pointed out that Wednesday was also April Fool's Day. I am undaunted by such remarks. The script will be completed. (Just you watch - soon it'll capitalise into The Script, and then who knows what else.)
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Day 114 - Turn it around before you judge
Phew! I missed day 112 because I was preparing for day 113, and I'm sure you already know what happened on day 113. Pretty crazy, huh? I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did. Sure, it has its ups and downs (and some of the scars are apparently permanent), but we love it all the same. Every year, just like clockwork (pun intended).
Still, life goes on. April is Script Frenzy month (see here for details). The goal is to write a 100 page script in a month, in return for which you get a certificate, a warm glow of satisfaction, and a 100 page script.
I'm doing it with one of my friends (Odd Bloke) - independently, both of us would probably lose motivation and/or get far too involved and found some kind of egocentric cult. In one of those sad quirks of geography, however, he is in Coventry, and I'm in Peterborough. We need to establish some kind of voice communication, but finding gaps in our busy schedules is proving to be pretty hard.
The biggest difficulty still lurks menacingly over the stormy horizon - what to actually write about. What to write, even. TV show? Film? Play? Comic book? Touring interpretive dance routine? Nuclear mimes? I don't know!
Still, life goes on. April is Script Frenzy month (see here for details). The goal is to write a 100 page script in a month, in return for which you get a certificate, a warm glow of satisfaction, and a 100 page script.
I'm doing it with one of my friends (Odd Bloke) - independently, both of us would probably lose motivation and/or get far too involved and found some kind of egocentric cult. In one of those sad quirks of geography, however, he is in Coventry, and I'm in Peterborough. We need to establish some kind of voice communication, but finding gaps in our busy schedules is proving to be pretty hard.
The biggest difficulty still lurks menacingly over the stormy horizon - what to actually write about. What to write, even. TV show? Film? Play? Comic book? Touring interpretive dance routine? Nuclear mimes? I don't know!
Monday, March 23, 2009
Day 111 - Repunits Unit(e)
A blog, as promised. Still bedtime though. My blog seems to often be meta-blogical. Now that I'm pointing this out, am I being meta-meta-blogical? And now meta-meta-meta-blogical? Are the number of prefixes only limited by my mental stamina? Let's just say I'm being meta-meta-meta-meta-meta-meta-blogical and leave it there, otherwise it just gets silly.
On Saturday, I looked after my little brother for the day, with the help of Julia. It started off by me playing Wall-E on the Wii (terrible game design, rushed out for the film), with Freddie's helpful suggestions, such as "You shouldn't have fallen off there," and some actually helpful ones, like "Don't fall off there." Then I got him dressed, and we watched the first half of Kung Fu Panda whilst eating banana sandwiches.
We had earlier mentioned driving to Central Park, but Freddie did not seem keen. Halfway through a dramatic scene, he paused the DVD, and announced that he was ready to leave. Not one to argue with the fickle interests of youth, I dramatically hurled my sandwich onto the table and we left.
Me, Julia and Freddie picked up Julia's dog, Scamp (hope you're keeping notes), on the way, and walked around the park. Several races took place, in which Freddie appeared to be the funder, rules arbiter, judge, crowd, and inevitable winner. This was helped by the fact that the finish post seemed to change mid-race, and sometimes even after the race had apparently ended. Sports today, can't keep up with them.
We had ice cream, then played a 'shooty game' at Julia's house, which Freddie much enjoyed. Needless to say, his first attempt was much better than mine. Well, they do say your hand eye co-ordination peaks at age 5. Can't argue with science.
Back home, watched the rest of Kung Fu Panda, acted out a bit in the kitchen, and Julia and Freddie attempted to make some sort of nuclear reactor (with working uranium!) out of cardboard, but this sadly proved far too difficult, so the energy crisis is still unresolved. Made spaghetti ate, Freddie went to bed. A good day.
It's my Dad's birthday today! Happy birthday Dad!
Revision continues. I shall start to blog about what I learn, so the two PAINFUL CHAINS THAT BIND MY LIFE can feed off each other in some kind of vicious symbiosis. Topics I am revising:
Logic
Set Theory
Topology and Groups
Group Theory
Galois Theory
Algebraic Number Theory
Knowledge and Reality
Frege and Russell
Philosophy of Mathematics
On Saturday, I looked after my little brother for the day, with the help of Julia. It started off by me playing Wall-E on the Wii (terrible game design, rushed out for the film), with Freddie's helpful suggestions, such as "You shouldn't have fallen off there," and some actually helpful ones, like "Don't fall off there." Then I got him dressed, and we watched the first half of Kung Fu Panda whilst eating banana sandwiches.
We had earlier mentioned driving to Central Park, but Freddie did not seem keen. Halfway through a dramatic scene, he paused the DVD, and announced that he was ready to leave. Not one to argue with the fickle interests of youth, I dramatically hurled my sandwich onto the table and we left.
Me, Julia and Freddie picked up Julia's dog, Scamp (hope you're keeping notes), on the way, and walked around the park. Several races took place, in which Freddie appeared to be the funder, rules arbiter, judge, crowd, and inevitable winner. This was helped by the fact that the finish post seemed to change mid-race, and sometimes even after the race had apparently ended. Sports today, can't keep up with them.
We had ice cream, then played a 'shooty game' at Julia's house, which Freddie much enjoyed. Needless to say, his first attempt was much better than mine. Well, they do say your hand eye co-ordination peaks at age 5. Can't argue with science.
Back home, watched the rest of Kung Fu Panda, acted out a bit in the kitchen, and Julia and Freddie attempted to make some sort of nuclear reactor (with working uranium!) out of cardboard, but this sadly proved far too difficult, so the energy crisis is still unresolved. Made spaghetti ate, Freddie went to bed. A good day.
It's my Dad's birthday today! Happy birthday Dad!
Revision continues. I shall start to blog about what I learn, so the two PAINFUL CHAINS THAT BIND MY LIFE can feed off each other in some kind of vicious symbiosis. Topics I am revising:
Logic
Set Theory
Topology and Groups
Group Theory
Galois Theory
Algebraic Number Theory
Knowledge and Reality
Frege and Russell
Philosophy of Mathematics
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Day 110 - Lined up like daisies
I am exhausted. This regular blogging isn't the fun it's supposed to be, because I leave it too late in the day - just when all I want to do is go to bed. I need to do during the day itself. OK, I shall tomorrow - during the day! I'll fill you in on what I did Friday/Saturday, and indeed today.
Happy Mother's Day, Mum!
Happy Mother's Day, Mum!
Friday, March 20, 2009
Day 107 - Stabbing through the words
I still need to do more revision. The best intentions are continually being scuppered by distractions, that distract and tempt me. Breakfast and bathtime alone seems to expand to take up three hours, and then it's time for lunch! Hard-working guys like me can't catch a break, it seems. Tomorrow will be different, though. I'm going to sit down at my desk by 10am, breakfast or not, covered in filth though I may be.
Sadly, one small unavoidable distraction is my new Discworld wizard (Yaztromo), who I'm trying to get the addicted achievements for. Unfortunately, I can't get them until he's five days old, which means I need to rack up 120 hours of playing time as quickly as possible. That means a lot of effort over the next couple of weeks. Or, of course, I play non-stop for five days. Probably not a good idea though.
Sadly, one small unavoidable distraction is my new Discworld wizard (Yaztromo), who I'm trying to get the addicted achievements for. Unfortunately, I can't get them until he's five days old, which means I need to rack up 120 hours of playing time as quickly as possible. That means a lot of effort over the next couple of weeks. Or, of course, I play non-stop for five days. Probably not a good idea though.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Day 106 - Representations
I'm blogging in bed! Luxury. Me, Julia, her sister and Mum and Mark went to the pub quiz this evening. We did not do well. I have, however, learnt that the Telly-Tubbies' home hill is called Home Hill, so the evening was not wasted.
My reflection in the mirror looks like a very fat man.
My reflection in the mirror looks like a very fat man.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Day 105 - Transmitting through your head
I just watched Intolerable Cruelty, a great film, just as all Coen brothers films are. Especially Coen brothers films with George Clooney. I had lasagne/sweet potato mash/burgers for supper, followed by tea. My eyes are feeling slightly scratchy. I had lunch with my father and Julia at Sundays. It cost £15.19 for the three of us. I had the pork.
This is a log of my life. On the web. A web-log. A "blog", if you will. Enjoy.
This is a log of my life. On the web. A web-log. A "blog", if you will. Enjoy.
Day 104 - Gerrofoutofit
It's 12:23 am. I meant to go to bed an hour ago. I just finished watching a video of a rabbit chasing a snake up a tree. This is the Curse of the Internet.
The desk has been working out well - I even did some revision on it this morning. I also helped make a collage this afternoon, of a dragon. Well, Julia made the dragon, and spurned my helpful suggestions of backgrounds and various props for the dragon to eat.
In a rebellious attempt to make a collage of my own, I carefully scribed some mathematical formulas onto some paper and cut them out. I am now at a loss with what to do with them. Please put your suggestions in a comment.
The desk has been working out well - I even did some revision on it this morning. I also helped make a collage this afternoon, of a dragon. Well, Julia made the dragon, and spurned my helpful suggestions of backgrounds and various props for the dragon to eat.
In a rebellious attempt to make a collage of my own, I carefully scribed some mathematical formulas onto some paper and cut them out. I am now at a loss with what to do with them. Please put your suggestions in a comment.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Day 103 - Triumphant Epistles
Only ten more days to go until Day 113. We all know what that means, don't we?
I've been slaving away for minutes getting my writing desk ready for tomorrow morning. That is when I shall start my revision, after many weeks of exhausting procrastination. The desk itself is an interesting one - an old piece of furniture, about five feet tall, with three drawers and a desk bit disguised (cunningly) as a drawer on the top.
It's made of some lovely...wood, probably oak. These things usually seem to be, I recall. This desk also has history. Apparently, during the Second World War, my great-grandfather's belongings were put into safe storage to escape the Blitz. Everything was stolen, except for this desk - I suspect it was too inconvenient to slip into one's pockets.
Well, the top of the desk is slightly too high for regular chairs, so the idea of actually using it as a desk (rather than, say, a repository of junk) never actually occurred to me. Necessity is the mother of efficiency, however, and I needed a desk area as my revision cubby hole. I call it: the RevisoHole! I may work on the name a little more.
While pondering the height question this morning, Julia pointed out that the chair I was sitting in had a variable height, solving my years old dilemma in one deft pull of a lever. These are sorts of things she excels at. The path towards RevisoHole (still thinking) was now clear! I just cleared the top from its various junk. Tomorrow morning I'll give the whole thing a good polish, then sit at it, and try to work how you're actually meant to revise.
What does 'revise' actually involve?
I've been slaving away for minutes getting my writing desk ready for tomorrow morning. That is when I shall start my revision, after many weeks of exhausting procrastination. The desk itself is an interesting one - an old piece of furniture, about five feet tall, with three drawers and a desk bit disguised (cunningly) as a drawer on the top.
It's made of some lovely...wood, probably oak. These things usually seem to be, I recall. This desk also has history. Apparently, during the Second World War, my great-grandfather's belongings were put into safe storage to escape the Blitz. Everything was stolen, except for this desk - I suspect it was too inconvenient to slip into one's pockets.
Well, the top of the desk is slightly too high for regular chairs, so the idea of actually using it as a desk (rather than, say, a repository of junk) never actually occurred to me. Necessity is the mother of efficiency, however, and I needed a desk area as my revision cubby hole. I call it: the RevisoHole! I may work on the name a little more.
While pondering the height question this morning, Julia pointed out that the chair I was sitting in had a variable height, solving my years old dilemma in one deft pull of a lever. These are sorts of things she excels at. The path towards RevisoHole (still thinking) was now clear! I just cleared the top from its various junk. Tomorrow morning I'll give the whole thing a good polish, then sit at it, and try to work how you're actually meant to revise.
What does 'revise' actually involve?
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Day 102 - Scalp pickin'
It's a very special day. And I don't mean Pi Day (though it is that, as well). I don't even mean Albert Einstein's 130th birthday (that is, if he hadn't died).
It is mine and Julia's 5 year anniversary. Five years ago today, she trapped me in a butterfly net, and has kept the drugs at a comfortable (but not disabling!) level ever since. For more details, I refer you to my alternative blog. It hasn't been updated in a while - but why bother, when nothing has changed?
I might have forgotten something.
It is mine and Julia's 5 year anniversary. Five years ago today, she trapped me in a butterfly net, and has kept the drugs at a comfortable (but not disabling!) level ever since. For more details, I refer you to my alternative blog. It hasn't been updated in a while - but why bother, when nothing has changed?
I might have forgotten something.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Day 101 - Sold at great expense
I just sent off my yearbook entry. That's the third time I've had to write a yearbook entry, and it never gets any easier. After weeks of soul searching and agonising composition, I lose all patience with the enterprise, sit down at my keyboard, and write a barrage of nonsensical words. This is at the expense of my reputation and my dignity, but at least it preserves my sanity.
Also, today is the last day of Hilary term. 60% of my possessions are packed in a neat pile in the middle of my room, and tomorrow I'm being driven back to Peterborough. After the Botanical Gardens, of course.
Also, today is the last day of Hilary term. 60% of my possessions are packed in a neat pile in the middle of my room, and tomorrow I'm being driven back to Peterborough. After the Botanical Gardens, of course.
Day 100 - Can it be sold without tiring?
Day 100! I made it! So, what's new?
It's pretty late now - I had a good night, however. I went to the Turf with Mike and {CLASSIFIED}, and we chatted about controversial issues (vegetarianism, abortion, the allure of tobacco...you know). Headed back, via some deeelicious Ahmed's, and then met up with other people and chatted about less serious stuff in my room for a while. Aah, man, s'all good, you know? People should just be chilled out and happy with one another. That's my philosophy on life.
Also, I've been reading this website - a collection of transcripts from Princeton graduates' mathematics oral exams. Yes, I do feel stupid because I don't know the answers to these questions. Yes, I am aware how stupid that itself makes me. No, I won't change.
It's pretty late now - I had a good night, however. I went to the Turf with Mike and {CLASSIFIED}, and we chatted about controversial issues (vegetarianism, abortion, the allure of tobacco...you know). Headed back, via some deeelicious Ahmed's, and then met up with other people and chatted about less serious stuff in my room for a while. Aah, man, s'all good, you know? People should just be chilled out and happy with one another. That's my philosophy on life.
Also, I've been reading this website - a collection of transcripts from Princeton graduates' mathematics oral exams. Yes, I do feel stupid because I don't know the answers to these questions. Yes, I am aware how stupid that itself makes me. No, I won't change.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Day 98 - What about when you can't notice the stripes?
Farm birds can smell the fear, according to the script writers of Friends. Ross is also paranoid. It's hard to write a blog post while watching Friends.
Much more exciting things happened today. Me and Julia signed the wotsit for the flat! Marlborough Road, Oxford - our very own little nook. We'll be moving in, 6 months tomorrow. Also, hopefully getting a kitten. Julia is, as you can expect, in fits of squealing excitement, and making all kinds of lists.
Heck, I'm pretty darn excited as well. Our own flat!!!
Much more exciting things happened today. Me and Julia signed the wotsit for the flat! Marlborough Road, Oxford - our very own little nook. We'll be moving in, 6 months tomorrow. Also, hopefully getting a kitten. Julia is, as you can expect, in fits of squealing excitement, and making all kinds of lists.
Heck, I'm pretty darn excited as well. Our own flat!!!
Monday, March 09, 2009
Day 97 - Framed by a miniscule amount
Ooh, largest prime smaller than a hundred! (A fun number fact, just for Nick.)
I've returned from Peterborough, without even a scar to show for my troubles, not that Archie didn't try his best, bless his little snapping jaws. A long train journey back, with the usual odd cross section of British society and their politeness and petty mutterings.
Since I got back, I've been looking for jobs with Julia again. Where are you, my web of contacts? It seems I must pull some more strings and scratch a few more backs before the greasy wheels of the jobs market start to grind the other direction in my favour. I have been fond of my metaphors lately. As fond as someone who really loves similes.
I've returned from Peterborough, without even a scar to show for my troubles, not that Archie didn't try his best, bless his little snapping jaws. A long train journey back, with the usual odd cross section of British society and their politeness and petty mutterings.
Since I got back, I've been looking for jobs with Julia again. Where are you, my web of contacts? It seems I must pull some more strings and scratch a few more backs before the greasy wheels of the jobs market start to grind the other direction in my favour. I have been fond of my metaphors lately. As fond as someone who really loves similes.
Sunday, March 08, 2009
Day 96 - The Erratic Poltergeist
Update on the Flat Situation. (Yeah, I'm using capitals. I have a Shift Button, and I'm Darn Well Going to Use It. It's My Language, and I'm Gonna Use It.) The brain trust seems agreed - we move at daybreak. Well, as soon as after daybreak as the estate agent will let us in, at least. That will, we hope, be early enough.
Aah, a message from Julia. I need to respond, and shut this infernal communication engine down. Any minute n
Aah, a message from Julia. I need to respond, and shut this infernal communication engine down. Any minute n
Day 95 - Nullstellensatz
The title of this blog post refers to the Nullstellensatz ('theorem of zeros') of David Hilbert, which I had never heard of before today, but have seen referred to in three different sources within the last 6 hours. Mathematical concepts are, as they say, like buses.
I have been distracted for the past half an hour by looking at websites advertising postdoctoral research positions in pure mathematics. I enjoy thinking about the future; especially when it becomes true - see this old blog post from 2004, for example. I understand this stuff now!
Well, I've forgotten what the Primary Decomposition Theorem says, but I'm sure I could learn it again very quickly indeed.
I'm back in Peterborough for the weekend, and just about to go to bed. I have played with Archie in the garden (his mouth apparently possesses unlimited destructive capabilities) and had shepherd's pie and rice pudding. Home things, you know. Lovely to be back. No more proper sentences. More words bad, less words good.
I have been distracted for the past half an hour by looking at websites advertising postdoctoral research positions in pure mathematics. I enjoy thinking about the future; especially when it becomes true - see this old blog post from 2004, for example. I understand this stuff now!
Well, I've forgotten what the Primary Decomposition Theorem says, but I'm sure I could learn it again very quickly indeed.
I'm back in Peterborough for the weekend, and just about to go to bed. I have played with Archie in the garden (his mouth apparently possesses unlimited destructive capabilities) and had shepherd's pie and rice pudding. Home things, you know. Lovely to be back. No more proper sentences. More words bad, less words good.
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Day 93 - Plug it to d' left
Real, exciting news! Me and Julia went to look at a flat this afternoon - for those woefully behind on our personal lives, we're going to move in together next year. I'll be doing my Master's year in Oxford, and she'll be working in Oxford, doing the wonderful job of her dreams (preferably something with animals - anybody involved in animal/conservation stuff in the Oxford area who might be able to give an amazingly intelligent, capable, enthusiastic and beautiful girl a job, just comment and I'll get in touch. conversation animal job vacancy jobseekers oxford oxfordshire nature rspb rspca tropical - take that Google!).
We found a good place, but it is expensive (though in Oxford, where isn't?). Now comes the agonising few days when we try and achieve the delicate balance between thinking-it-over-properly-and-making-sure-it's-the-right-decision and not-losing-out-on-a-great-thing-by-waiting-too-long.
I'm going home this weekend to consult the brain squad. Updates later!
We found a good place, but it is expensive (though in Oxford, where isn't?). Now comes the agonising few days when we try and achieve the delicate balance between thinking-it-over-properly-and-making-sure-it's-the-right-decision and not-losing-out-on-a-great-thing-by-waiting-too-long.
I'm going home this weekend to consult the brain squad. Updates later!
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Day 91 - Pig Slayin' Joe
Illness has struck me down. Not real illness, but there are enough vague hints of an illness for me to claim sympathy, relaxation time, and all the benefits of a serious illness without the icky side effects.
How much work should we be doing at university? How much is too much, how much is too little? The obvious answer is "enough", but this raises yet further questions. Enough for what? To pass your exams, or to ace them? To balance your social and work life, or to succeed academically no matter the cost? How much work should I putting in to resolving this question?
At least the last question is easy to answer - a lot. To this end, I will establish the Bloom Foundation of Study Studies, be the President, Secretary, Treasurer and Intern, and devote all of my time and resources to a final answer to this fundamental problem. The people need to know, and know they shall.
How much work should we be doing at university? How much is too much, how much is too little? The obvious answer is "enough", but this raises yet further questions. Enough for what? To pass your exams, or to ace them? To balance your social and work life, or to succeed academically no matter the cost? How much work should I putting in to resolving this question?
At least the last question is easy to answer - a lot. To this end, I will establish the Bloom Foundation of Study Studies, be the President, Secretary, Treasurer and Intern, and devote all of my time and resources to a final answer to this fundamental problem. The people need to know, and know they shall.
Monday, March 02, 2009
Day 90 - An Aquamarine Silk Vestment
Happy Day 90, everybody! That's right, since roughly the beginning of December, I have (roughly) blogged every day for the past 90 days. Except yesterday, of course - after four days with Nick, everybody needs a break from life for a while.
How does that look to you? These are the Froglets, from The Clangers. In under seven days, these happy little critters will have consumed half of the Earth's resources, in a desperate attempt to fuel their latest half-baked scheme - creating an Earth Machine, an automatic planet generator which will spit out a completely fresh, biodiverse, and lemony fresh world whenever the old one becomes a bit icky. Locked in their top hat, orbiting Earth at an implausibly slow speed, these disfigured madmen will surely be the doom of us all. Or, you know, it could work out and be pretty groovy. Why take the risk, though?
Watch out.
How does that look to you? These are the Froglets, from The Clangers. In under seven days, these happy little critters will have consumed half of the Earth's resources, in a desperate attempt to fuel their latest half-baked scheme - creating an Earth Machine, an automatic planet generator which will spit out a completely fresh, biodiverse, and lemony fresh world whenever the old one becomes a bit icky. Locked in their top hat, orbiting Earth at an implausibly slow speed, these disfigured madmen will surely be the doom of us all. Or, you know, it could work out and be pretty groovy. Why take the risk, though? Watch out.
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Day 88 - Deathiate or Niceify?
It was an evening of explosive FUN in all but name. And even the name was EXPLOSIVELY FUN. That's right, it was a party tonight, hence the EXCESSIVE CAPITALISATIOn.
The party was for {CLASSIFIED}'s 21st birthday party, even though it's not actually her birthday until Monday. We had INDIAN, and me and Nick dressed up as NINJAS, and I spilt some Diet COKE but it worked out fine.
We headed over to MARK's room, did some BHANGRA dancing, and finished (well, started, but you know what I mean) with me and Nick downing a can of whipped cream between us. This is what YOUTH is for, after all.
A great TIME was had by all, and the internet JOINS me in wishing {CLASSIFIED} a happy 21st birthday.
I miss CUPCAKE.
The party was for {CLASSIFIED}'s 21st birthday party, even though it's not actually her birthday until Monday. We had INDIAN, and me and Nick dressed up as NINJAS, and I spilt some Diet COKE but it worked out fine.
We headed over to MARK's room, did some BHANGRA dancing, and finished (well, started, but you know what I mean) with me and Nick downing a can of whipped cream between us. This is what YOUTH is for, after all.
A great TIME was had by all, and the internet JOINS me in wishing {CLASSIFIED} a happy 21st birthday.
I miss CUPCAKE.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Day 87 - Watch out for the grabbling trap
I just got back from London: me, Mike, Andrea, Raf and {CLASSIFIED} went to see Wicked for {CLASSIFIED}'s birthday. It was amaaaazing - the best musical I've ever seen. Great songs, plots, and set. I was too far away to see their faces, but their acting was probably stunning as well.
Oddly, the blonde was played by a brunette, and vice versa. Peculiar indeed.
We also ate food and had ice cream afterwards, when I either:
A) Was invited to an exclusive nightclub, or
B) Was invited to participate in some sexual activity by an odd man.
It's like a Choose Your Own Adventure.
I left Nick alone with Julia for the afternoon/evening, and they watched three films and ate junk food. Colour me surprised.
Oddly, the blonde was played by a brunette, and vice versa. Peculiar indeed.
We also ate food and had ice cream afterwards, when I either:
A) Was invited to an exclusive nightclub, or
B) Was invited to participate in some sexual activity by an odd man.
It's like a Choose Your Own Adventure.
I left Nick alone with Julia for the afternoon/evening, and they watched three films and ate junk food. Colour me surprised.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Day 86 - Never Foul a Fowl
2.43
Nick's here, and we just finished playing the longest game of Blood Bowl that has ever been played. It actually started in 2004, although neither of us realised at the time. Its true nature became apparent about an hour ago, when our ancient bond revealed itself in a shower of nlood and confusion.
I will not explain any part of that paragraph. Or anything from that past 27 bdays.
Nick's here, and we just finished playing the longest game of Blood Bowl that has ever been played. It actually started in 2004, although neither of us realised at the time. Its true nature became apparent about an hour ago, when our ancient bond revealed itself in a shower of nlood and confusion.
I will not explain any part of that paragraph. Or anything from that past 27 bdays.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Day 85 - Peculiar Factorisation
First of all, Happy Birthday Freddie! My little brother is five years old today. Sadly, I have no recent photos on my laptop, it seems, so here's one from July 2006 - add three years or so, and there he is.
It's cheating a bit, to use someone else's words in one of my own blog posts, I thought earlier. To redress the balance, here's an old piece of writing that I found on my laptop - I must've written this when I was about 15, probably. There are bits I love, bits I hate ("well hewn thighs"?!?), but here it is, in all of its erratic glory.
Nick's arriving tomorrow to stay in Oxford. God help us all.
Maze:
A lone figure stalked the labyrinth. Its long, twisting corridors stretched both ahead and behind of him without a break in the monotony, until they turned sharply away. They were broad but low, causing any tall explorers to bow their heads. Small globes, floating close to the ceiling, let off a dim glow, lighting up the passages for the wanderer as he strode along the stone floor. He was very short, not rising past the halfway mark of the low corridors. He was wearing just a pair of light, cotton shorts, tightened by a ragged rope belt. This left exposed his slightly chubby torso, and the surprisingly lean and well hewn thighs, ending in a pair of large, mangled feet. His arms were also well muscled, and extremely long, easily dragging on the ground if he let them rest. But instead they were in constant motion, tracing strange curves in the air with their wild flailing. His face was...portly, and drooped slightly, as if it had been let out to hang just a bit too long. A hint of stubble covered his rounded chin and bloated cheeks. His hair was black, greasy, and long, stretching down to his shoulders. He was also shouting at the top of his high pitched voice, screaming about some sort of 'black water'.
He continued in his peculiarly rolling gait along the never changing passage, arms almost blurring in the air. Behind him, the globes slowly dimmed, fading away to total darkness. Eventually, there was a break in the monotony. A small opening had appeared in smooth sandstone walls, the pitch black within revealing nothing of what lay beyond. The man stopped before it, and turned to gaze into it, his arms finally stopping, dropping to the ground. He fell silent, and the last echoes of his cries echoed away down the now darkened passageway. He peered cautiously into the darkness, and waved a hand through the opening. Instantly, the room beyond was lit up by another floating glow globe. It was extremely small, practically a cupboard, and all of its wall space, and much of its floor space, was covered by scraps of paper, attached with small pins. They were covered in untidy scribblings in an unfamiliar alphabet. Here and there was a well drawn charcoal sketch, sometimes of an attractive young person's face, both male and female, sometimes of a sleeping cat, some were more like blueprints, with curious angles and scrawled annotations. There was one of an old, torn teddy bear, and one of a bloody knife. Many were of strange beasts, and even more incomprehensible things. But most were of the same scene: an isolated lake in a wooded valley, surrounded by tall mountains. Although all were of the same scene, and none of the details had changed, each was subtly different. Some portrayed the lake as an unwelcoming bottomless pit, others as an idyllic watery paradise, and others still as a polluted sump. In some the mountains were gentle sentinels, or distant, indifferent giants, and in some jagged, threatening beasts who were about to consume the valley. But no two were the same. On the floor were many blank scraps of paper, in rough piles, and in a clear spot was a couple of sticks of charcoal and a stub of a pencil.
The man looked around, and frowned slightly. He peered at a couple of the nearest scribblings, and read them intently. Then he sat down in the lotus position, picked up a stick of charcoal and a blank scrap of paper from the nearest pile, and began to sketch rapidly, but with great control. Under his skilled hand, the image of a ruined stone tower soon began to take shape. He added a violent storm raging in the background, some ivy growing down the walls, and a dead tree protuding from the stony ground next to the tower. When he had finished, he lay the charcoal stick down gently, and peered critically at the drawing. He picked up the pencil, and scribbled a short note in the strange alphabet (similar to Hebrew) underneath the tower. He shouted out a word that sounded like "Kratoamain!" in his shrill voice, and burst out laughing. He laughed loudly for ages, tears rolling down his cheeks, but keeping his arms curiously still and folded across his chest. A couple of minutes later, he seemed to have recovered, and stood up shakily, looking around at the walls. He found a blank space near the top, and rummaged amongst the piles for a bent metal pin. Although it was far above his head height, his arms easily reached up and hammered the nail into the stone wall with his calloused thumb. He looked around at the walls again, and gave a short nod. One of the more hospitable lake scenes caught his eye, and he reached out with one slender finger to stroke it gently. His eyes welled up, and a lone tear trickled slowly through the grime and stubble.
He stood in silence for one long moment, then dropped his head, staring at the floor, and letting his arm fall back to his sides. He turned and crept quietly out of the room, and it fell dark behind him once again.
He began to stride along the corridor once again, and he was soon shouting and windmilling his limbs around frantically once again.
When the echoes of his ramblings had faded away, there was the hint of motion in the now darkened corridor outside the drawing room. Darker shapes in the gloom glided silently along the floor, turning through the small archway. The small globe still hovering just below the ceiling did not seem to notice the newcomers, or if it did, did not care enough about them to shed some light. The vague, serpentine figures halted once there were in there, and faded once more into the darkness. After a while though, they began making a series of loud clicks, first one starting, then the others clicking in harmony. It was uncertain how many of these there were-at least four though, and no more than ten. The vague shadows once again began their strange motion, gliding up the walls and over the scraps of parchment, continuing their sharp chorus. It rose in both volume and pitch, become rapid and frenzied. The individual sounds blurred together, rising into one singular scream of agony and discord. The rise in pitch did not stop, quickly rising past the human threshold, so that only the shadow of sound was left. There was one final burst of sound, sending the walls vibrating, before they fell silent.
They dropped down from the walls, and glided back out into the corridor, and in the direction the man had gone.
It's cheating a bit, to use someone else's words in one of my own blog posts, I thought earlier. To redress the balance, here's an old piece of writing that I found on my laptop - I must've written this when I was about 15, probably. There are bits I love, bits I hate ("well hewn thighs"?!?), but here it is, in all of its erratic glory.
Nick's arriving tomorrow to stay in Oxford. God help us all.
Maze:
A lone figure stalked the labyrinth. Its long, twisting corridors stretched both ahead and behind of him without a break in the monotony, until they turned sharply away. They were broad but low, causing any tall explorers to bow their heads. Small globes, floating close to the ceiling, let off a dim glow, lighting up the passages for the wanderer as he strode along the stone floor. He was very short, not rising past the halfway mark of the low corridors. He was wearing just a pair of light, cotton shorts, tightened by a ragged rope belt. This left exposed his slightly chubby torso, and the surprisingly lean and well hewn thighs, ending in a pair of large, mangled feet. His arms were also well muscled, and extremely long, easily dragging on the ground if he let them rest. But instead they were in constant motion, tracing strange curves in the air with their wild flailing. His face was...portly, and drooped slightly, as if it had been let out to hang just a bit too long. A hint of stubble covered his rounded chin and bloated cheeks. His hair was black, greasy, and long, stretching down to his shoulders. He was also shouting at the top of his high pitched voice, screaming about some sort of 'black water'.
He continued in his peculiarly rolling gait along the never changing passage, arms almost blurring in the air. Behind him, the globes slowly dimmed, fading away to total darkness. Eventually, there was a break in the monotony. A small opening had appeared in smooth sandstone walls, the pitch black within revealing nothing of what lay beyond. The man stopped before it, and turned to gaze into it, his arms finally stopping, dropping to the ground. He fell silent, and the last echoes of his cries echoed away down the now darkened passageway. He peered cautiously into the darkness, and waved a hand through the opening. Instantly, the room beyond was lit up by another floating glow globe. It was extremely small, practically a cupboard, and all of its wall space, and much of its floor space, was covered by scraps of paper, attached with small pins. They were covered in untidy scribblings in an unfamiliar alphabet. Here and there was a well drawn charcoal sketch, sometimes of an attractive young person's face, both male and female, sometimes of a sleeping cat, some were more like blueprints, with curious angles and scrawled annotations. There was one of an old, torn teddy bear, and one of a bloody knife. Many were of strange beasts, and even more incomprehensible things. But most were of the same scene: an isolated lake in a wooded valley, surrounded by tall mountains. Although all were of the same scene, and none of the details had changed, each was subtly different. Some portrayed the lake as an unwelcoming bottomless pit, others as an idyllic watery paradise, and others still as a polluted sump. In some the mountains were gentle sentinels, or distant, indifferent giants, and in some jagged, threatening beasts who were about to consume the valley. But no two were the same. On the floor were many blank scraps of paper, in rough piles, and in a clear spot was a couple of sticks of charcoal and a stub of a pencil.
The man looked around, and frowned slightly. He peered at a couple of the nearest scribblings, and read them intently. Then he sat down in the lotus position, picked up a stick of charcoal and a blank scrap of paper from the nearest pile, and began to sketch rapidly, but with great control. Under his skilled hand, the image of a ruined stone tower soon began to take shape. He added a violent storm raging in the background, some ivy growing down the walls, and a dead tree protuding from the stony ground next to the tower. When he had finished, he lay the charcoal stick down gently, and peered critically at the drawing. He picked up the pencil, and scribbled a short note in the strange alphabet (similar to Hebrew) underneath the tower. He shouted out a word that sounded like "Kratoamain!" in his shrill voice, and burst out laughing. He laughed loudly for ages, tears rolling down his cheeks, but keeping his arms curiously still and folded across his chest. A couple of minutes later, he seemed to have recovered, and stood up shakily, looking around at the walls. He found a blank space near the top, and rummaged amongst the piles for a bent metal pin. Although it was far above his head height, his arms easily reached up and hammered the nail into the stone wall with his calloused thumb. He looked around at the walls again, and gave a short nod. One of the more hospitable lake scenes caught his eye, and he reached out with one slender finger to stroke it gently. His eyes welled up, and a lone tear trickled slowly through the grime and stubble.
He stood in silence for one long moment, then dropped his head, staring at the floor, and letting his arm fall back to his sides. He turned and crept quietly out of the room, and it fell dark behind him once again.
He began to stride along the corridor once again, and he was soon shouting and windmilling his limbs around frantically once again.
When the echoes of his ramblings had faded away, there was the hint of motion in the now darkened corridor outside the drawing room. Darker shapes in the gloom glided silently along the floor, turning through the small archway. The small globe still hovering just below the ceiling did not seem to notice the newcomers, or if it did, did not care enough about them to shed some light. The vague, serpentine figures halted once there were in there, and faded once more into the darkness. After a while though, they began making a series of loud clicks, first one starting, then the others clicking in harmony. It was uncertain how many of these there were-at least four though, and no more than ten. The vague shadows once again began their strange motion, gliding up the walls and over the scraps of parchment, continuing their sharp chorus. It rose in both volume and pitch, become rapid and frenzied. The individual sounds blurred together, rising into one singular scream of agony and discord. The rise in pitch did not stop, quickly rising past the human threshold, so that only the shadow of sound was left. There was one final burst of sound, sending the walls vibrating, before they fell silent.
They dropped down from the walls, and glided back out into the corridor, and in the direction the man had gone.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Day 84 - Some people ain't got the vittals
As Mike described something entirely different, my blogging lately has been "erratic at best, more erratic at worst."
Events must have been happening in my life, but my mind cannot recall them now. Me and Julia just took advantage of one of the plethora of meal offers going around at the moment, and were rewarded by poor service (nobody likes an ancient death grudge settled while you just want to pay the bill) and deeeeelicious food.
We also just watched Four Weddings and a Funeral, the highlight of which (in a sad way, of course) was the funeral scene, with the reading of W. H. Auden's Funeral Blues:
Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.
Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,
Put crêpe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.
He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.
The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.
For nothing now can ever come to any good.
Events must have been happening in my life, but my mind cannot recall them now. Me and Julia just took advantage of one of the plethora of meal offers going around at the moment, and were rewarded by poor service (nobody likes an ancient death grudge settled while you just want to pay the bill) and deeeeelicious food.
We also just watched Four Weddings and a Funeral, the highlight of which (in a sad way, of course) was the funeral scene, with the reading of W. H. Auden's Funeral Blues:
Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.
Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,
Put crêpe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.
He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.
The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.
For nothing now can ever come to any good.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Day 81 - Grease is the word
I've just been watching Grease! The more observant of you will notice that this is the first blogpost title that has been relevant - something for future trivia books, I'm sure. We went out for dinner at Nando's tonight, but I did not have the whole chicken again - a comparatively tiny chicken breast fillet burger instead.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Day 80 - A fay, a fah
It's 22:43, and I think my body has fallen asleep. My mind's trying its best to struggle on valiantly nonetheless, but it's getting more and more difficult. Time to rally the troops with a cup o' the Hot Brown Stuff ("Tea" has recently been copyrighted by the McDisney corporation, so I can't use it here, hence the cheerful euphemism.
Julia's still nuzzling a cat somewhere, so I've been pootling around alone today. Not a lot to report - did some Algebraic Number Theory, got to level 9 on Talesworth Death Arena, and just watched the first Kill Bill.
Forgot to say yesterday - me, {CLASSIFIED}, Mark and Victor made a music video to Cream's I Feel Free, with crazy dancing and a very bemused {CLASSIFIED}. I might even post it on YouTube, when I get the sound synchronized properly. Oh, Kino, why do you punish me?
Edit: Interestingly, the above {CLASSIFIED}s were originally typed as < blank > (without the spaces), but HTML rendered them as blank spaces. Who'd have thought, eh? And no, you can't find out who {CLASSIFIED} is, you nosy Googler.
Julia's still nuzzling a cat somewhere, so I've been pootling around alone today. Not a lot to report - did some Algebraic Number Theory, got to level 9 on Talesworth Death Arena, and just watched the first Kill Bill.
Forgot to say yesterday - me, {CLASSIFIED}, Mark and Victor made a music video to Cream's I Feel Free, with crazy dancing and a very bemused {CLASSIFIED}. I might even post it on YouTube, when I get the sound synchronized properly. Oh, Kino, why do you punish me?
Edit: Interestingly, the above {CLASSIFIED}s were originally typed as < blank > (without the spaces), but HTML rendered them as blank spaces. Who'd have thought, eh? And no, you can't find out who {CLASSIFIED} is, you nosy Googler.
Day 79 - Shammooo It For the Young 'uns
Umm...so...yesterday, I was...being...eaten, by...myself. Yeah, that's it. That's why I didn't blog, I was too busy eating and being eaten. Have some sympathy, ye scurvy dogs.
Julia's left me today, back to Peterborough to be with her true loves (her pets, not her family, of course). This has left me at a loose end of my tether, so I've been pottering around my room this afternoon and evening, trying to do useful things, and getting distracted by INSANE things.
My attempt at revision this afternoon was to read through past exam papers, and reflect on how ignorant I am. Hopefully, this is the usual beginning to a long and painful process. After all what, exactly, did Benacerraf say, and is it right to care?
Horrible exam question: "Why are there no morals in logic?"
??!?"W>!>">!??!"?
Julia's left me today, back to Peterborough to be with her true loves (her pets, not her family, of course). This has left me at a loose end of my tether, so I've been pottering around my room this afternoon and evening, trying to do useful things, and getting distracted by INSANE things.
My attempt at revision this afternoon was to read through past exam papers, and reflect on how ignorant I am. Hopefully, this is the usual beginning to a long and painful process. After all what, exactly, did Benacerraf say, and is it right to care?
Horrible exam question: "Why are there no morals in logic?"
??!?"W>!>">!??!"?
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Day 77 - Zero is the earliest number
I have not blogged for five days, and I'm not entirely sure why. Most of them I just completely forgot, and last night, I couldn't be bothered. This is why I stop most things - a combination of forgetfulness and laziness. Still, I'm back. When we fall off the ladder, we must pick ourselves up and start again. Or possibly the horse.
Perhaps this is where I'm going wrong. It's very hard to put a saddle on a ladder, and climbing up a horse does not get you very far at all. I must choose a metaphor and stick to it like glue. That's a simile, it doesn't count.
What have I been up to? Many strange, terrible, and wonderful things. In particular, Saturday was Valentine's Day, which fell into the third category (and probably a little of the first). We had an indoor picnic, and ate vast quantities. Then we watched Laputa, played on the MUD, and chilled out, before going to have dinner at Giraffe. I am in love with Julia, especially right now - we just watched Pretty Woman, and I am a sucker for romantic chick flicks.
Ooh, shut up Nick. You know you are as well. Plus, you have stupid hair now, so you can't laugh at anybody.
Perhaps this is where I'm going wrong. It's very hard to put a saddle on a ladder, and climbing up a horse does not get you very far at all. I must choose a metaphor and stick to it like glue. That's a simile, it doesn't count.
What have I been up to? Many strange, terrible, and wonderful things. In particular, Saturday was Valentine's Day, which fell into the third category (and probably a little of the first). We had an indoor picnic, and ate vast quantities. Then we watched Laputa, played on the MUD, and chilled out, before going to have dinner at Giraffe. I am in love with Julia, especially right now - we just watched Pretty Woman, and I am a sucker for romantic chick flicks.
Ooh, shut up Nick. You know you are as well. Plus, you have stupid hair now, so you can't laugh at anybody.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Day 72 - Edit it forever!
2.2.2.3.3
Today, I have walked a total of seven miles. My day was: walk to the Maths Institute. Back to Merton. Somerville. St Hugh's. Somerville. Christ Church. Merton. Somerville. Too many colleges!
I have also discovered that my converses are not the most comfortable shoes for long distance walking. Tomorrow, I will try and strap pillows onto my feet, and see how they hold up. Then a succession of furry animals until I find the optimal comfort/cruelty ratio. For science!
Today, I have walked a total of seven miles. My day was: walk to the Maths Institute. Back to Merton. Somerville. St Hugh's. Somerville. Christ Church. Merton. Somerville. Too many colleges!
I have also discovered that my converses are not the most comfortable shoes for long distance walking. Tomorrow, I will try and strap pillows onto my feet, and see how they hold up. Then a succession of furry animals until I find the optimal comfort/cruelty ratio. For science!
Day 71 - Count them till you can't count no more
This is why I should do the lunchtime blogging thing - I'm just too tired to blog properly now, just before I go to bed.
Me, and Tom did intend on going out to see Frost/Nixon tonight, but when we got there we found that the cinema had been fully booked. Making the most of our trip out, we went for a walk instead. We encountered a very insistent club owner, a hidden shopping arcade, the Jungle Master of 62 Park Lane, an amusing hedge, and a Range Rover with a "SOV13T" licence plate.
Better than the film, no?
Me,
Better than the film, no?
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Day 70 - Mmmmmmmkay?
2.5.7
One whole chicken. Nando's. Foolish boy enters. Leaves a foolish man.
Free Abelian Groups rule, and Witches drool.
One whole chicken. Nando's. Foolish boy enters. Leaves a foolish man.
Free Abelian Groups rule, and Witches drool.
Monday, February 09, 2009
Day 69 - Captured Forever Between Sheets of Slight
My jaw is much better today, but I think I'll still go and see the nurse tomorrow morning.
Today has been a wet and miserable day - looking back, half of it seems to have been spent trudging through pouring rain in the dark, trying to avoid falling and breaking my neck on the glaciers that have replaced the pavements, and cursing the shoddy workmanship of my shoes.
Swings and roundabouts, apples and pears. I also watched two episodes of Hustle, and attended two very interesting talks by maths PhD students (one on algebraic geometry, and one on mathematical physics). It occurred to me that perhaps I have been too harsh in my judgment of physicists - they have to learn all the same maths, but the physics as well! It's doubly hard! I doff my metaphysical cap to them, and all the great work they do.
Today has been a wet and miserable day - looking back, half of it seems to have been spent trudging through pouring rain in the dark, trying to avoid falling and breaking my neck on the glaciers that have replaced the pavements, and cursing the shoddy workmanship of my shoes.
Swings and roundabouts, apples and pears. I also watched two episodes of Hustle, and attended two very interesting talks by maths PhD students (one on algebraic geometry, and one on mathematical physics). It occurred to me that perhaps I have been too harsh in my judgment of physicists - they have to learn all the same maths, but the physics as well! It's doubly hard! I doff my metaphysical cap to them, and all the great work they do.
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Day 68 - Orbits of a Certain Nature
My jaw still hurts. After an extensive 10 second research session on Google, I have concluded that I have Bruxism. What Bruxism actually is I'm too terrified to find out. I'm sure it'll be something terrible, which will need lots of surgery and tea. Turgery, as Julia points out. She's a walking dictionary.
I failed to blog at lunchtime, but I had good reason. I was fighting with a bear. No jokes, man. A bear - a really, proper bear-sized bear. With paws and everything. I'm pretty sure I now have fewer kidneys than I should have, but it's difficult to count.
I failed to blog at lunchtime, but I had good reason. I was fighting with a bear. No jokes, man. A bear - a really, proper bear-sized bear. With paws and everything. I'm pretty sure I now have fewer kidneys than I should have, but it's difficult to count.
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Day 67 - Chamford vs. Holmsford
Check it out, blog at lunchtime. Alright, new goal - blog every day, during the day. Madness, they cry. It shall be done.
I'm interested in religion, and having some Christian friends and it being the religion I've had the most exposure to, I wonder about Christianity the most. There are many big questions about it that I've yet to find a satisfactory answer to. I've borrowed a book from Raf - "If You Could Ask God One Question", by Paul Williams and Barry Cooper, which provides answers to some of these questions. I'll blog with one of these, their answer, and my evaluation of it, over the next few days.
Question 1: If You're Really There, God, Why On Earth Don't You Prove It?
Their (summarised) answer: He did prove it, by sending Jesus, his son, who performed plenty of amazing miracles and made it pretty clear that he was, in fact, the son of God/God himself. We have the Bible, which records these, and this is his proof.
My objections:
1) Why only then? In fact, why only once? There are plenty on Earth today who don't believe in God, probably far more than there were then. It seems that today is more in need of a healthy boost of God proof than was Palestine, 30 AD. What would be the problem with appearing every hundred, twenty years, or even every day? I'm sure there are good reasons that wouldn't work, but they didn't mention them in the book.
2) The answer's only as good as the word of the Gospels. If everything written about the Gospels is true, then it would be pretty compelling evidence that something very powerful was at work, maybe God. I'd need some good evidence that the Gospels were reliable, however, first. I've heard that there is such evidence - please let me know!
Comments, thoughts, answers, please comment.
I'm interested in religion, and having some Christian friends and it being the religion I've had the most exposure to, I wonder about Christianity the most. There are many big questions about it that I've yet to find a satisfactory answer to. I've borrowed a book from Raf - "If You Could Ask God One Question", by Paul Williams and Barry Cooper, which provides answers to some of these questions. I'll blog with one of these, their answer, and my evaluation of it, over the next few days.
Question 1: If You're Really There, God, Why On Earth Don't You Prove It?
Their (summarised) answer: He did prove it, by sending Jesus, his son, who performed plenty of amazing miracles and made it pretty clear that he was, in fact, the son of God/God himself. We have the Bible, which records these, and this is his proof.
My objections:
1) Why only then? In fact, why only once? There are plenty on Earth today who don't believe in God, probably far more than there were then. It seems that today is more in need of a healthy boost of God proof than was Palestine, 30 AD. What would be the problem with appearing every hundred, twenty years, or even every day? I'm sure there are good reasons that wouldn't work, but they didn't mention them in the book.
2) The answer's only as good as the word of the Gospels. If everything written about the Gospels is true, then it would be pretty compelling evidence that something very powerful was at work, maybe God. I'd need some good evidence that the Gospels were reliable, however, first. I've heard that there is such evidence - please let me know!
Comments, thoughts, answers, please comment.
Day 66 - Sweeeeeeeeep
I've just been watching Invader Zim with Victor and Mark, and my love - nay, fervour - for the show increases each time. Whether the first, fourth, or fifty-sixth viewing, it's still excellent. Awesome characters include Zim, Gir, Dib, Gaz, Tak, Professor Membrane, The Tallest, the Monkey, Mortos der Soul Stealer, Miss Bitters, and the various scum of humanity, who all act like they are suffering from constant migraines. It is a bleak view of the world, but a funny one. Watch some, today.
In other news, my left jaw hinge has been hurting for about a week now. I'm not sure why, and it's the weekend now, so I'll wait till Monday. If it's still hurting, I'll go and see the nurse. Hopefully she won't amputate again. I miss my torso.
In other news, my left jaw hinge has been hurting for about a week now. I'm not sure why, and it's the weekend now, so I'll wait till Monday. If it's still hurting, I'll go and see the nurse. Hopefully she won't amputate again. I miss my torso.
Friday, February 06, 2009
Day 65 - Through the Looking Holes
Stephen Fry has a twitter account, as do a few other celebrities. This is one of those facts which, when you think about it, is completely expected, and yet still utterly surprising.
A fact of the opposite sort is that the world continues to run each second pretty much as it did the second before.
A fact of the opposite sort is that the world continues to run each second pretty much as it did the second before.
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Day 64 - Mr Knowles, the Joyful Dancer
Any of the following would be terrifying to wake up to:
1) A meteor shower inside my room.
2) A flaming tsunami.
3) The Fourth Coming of the Prophet Tzatoomo, who last appeared 3,700 years ago, and is really annoyed that everyone's forgotten him since.
4) A pile of rotting fruit that speaks with the voices of the dead.
5) Girls Aloud. Live.
That is all.
1) A meteor shower inside my room.
2) A flaming tsunami.
3) The Fourth Coming of the Prophet Tzatoomo, who last appeared 3,700 years ago, and is really annoyed that everyone's forgotten him since.
4) A pile of rotting fruit that speaks with the voices of the dead.
5) Girls Aloud. Live.
That is all.
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Day 62 - Ravenous Overcomings
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=FQlgA68z_L4
OK, I really didn't want to use videos or photos in my blog posts. They are a sign of weakness and lack of creativity. This video is, however, an exception, being as funny as a clown in a hurricane. Also, hopefully your laughter will distract you from your murderous rage at my lack of updates over the weekend.
I didn't do anything exciting enough to justify this failure. Sure, some people died, and I lost ANOTHER ploughshare in the ensuing legal fallout, but that's just a regular Saturday morning. Seriously, nothing has happened, so move along. What gives you the right to peek into my life, eh?
OK, I really didn't want to use videos or photos in my blog posts. They are a sign of weakness and lack of creativity. This video is, however, an exception, being as funny as a clown in a hurricane. Also, hopefully your laughter will distract you from your murderous rage at my lack of updates over the weekend.
I didn't do anything exciting enough to justify this failure. Sure, some people died, and I lost ANOTHER ploughshare in the ensuing legal fallout, but that's just a regular Saturday morning. Seriously, nothing has happened, so move along. What gives you the right to peek into my life, eh?
Friday, January 30, 2009
Day 59 - Sammy "Three Times" Johnson Q.
I managed to get most of that group theory sheet done, and went to the class at 5pm. I also MUDded, ate lunch, and watched an Antonio Banderas film, where he taught ballroom dance.
[Through the electronic ether comes Daniel's cry of FAIL!]
[Through the electronic ether comes Daniel's cry of FAIL!]
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Day 58 - Some Things Stirring
After punching in some numbers and crunching some digits using my Secret SuperComputer (ssh, don't tell anyone), I can produce the following numerical analysis of my 24 hour MUDathon.
In 24 hours of MUDding, I...
Gained 42 quest points, 3 achievement points, 4 guild levels, 550 in rating, died once, gained a spare life, and shifted my alignment from Good to Neutral.
I gained 2 levels in stealth.inside, 3 in stealth.outside, 8 in manipulation.passing, and also in manipulation.palming. 1 level in casing.place, and 11 in covert.points.
8 levels in culinary.baking, 23 in instruments.wind, 29 in melee.dagger, 10 in ranged.thrown, and 38 in defence.dodging.
10 levels of valueing.gems, and another 10 in valueing.jewellery. 11 in climbing.rope, and a surprising 25 in acrobatics.balancing.
1 in other.perception, and 4 in other.points. Finally, 4 levels in spoken Djelian, and 1 in written Djelian and written Agatean.
I gained a total of 49 TMs, averaging to just over 2 per hour.
That shows just what you can do with 24 hours on the MUD. In fact, if you were more efficient and numberchased like crazy, you could do a heck of a lot more. I had fun though, and did plenty more quests!
In 24 hours of MUDding, I...
Gained 42 quest points, 3 achievement points, 4 guild levels, 550 in rating, died once, gained a spare life, and shifted my alignment from Good to Neutral.
I gained 2 levels in stealth.inside, 3 in stealth.outside, 8 in manipulation.passing, and also in manipulation.palming. 1 level in casing.place, and 11 in covert.points.
8 levels in culinary.baking, 23 in instruments.wind, 29 in melee.dagger, 10 in ranged.thrown, and 38 in defence.dodging.
10 levels of valueing.gems, and another 10 in valueing.jewellery. 11 in climbing.rope, and a surprising 25 in acrobatics.balancing.
1 in other.perception, and 4 in other.points. Finally, 4 levels in spoken Djelian, and 1 in written Djelian and written Agatean.
I gained a total of 49 TMs, averaging to just over 2 per hour.
That shows just what you can do with 24 hours on the MUD. In fact, if you were more efficient and numberchased like crazy, you could do a heck of a lot more. I had fun though, and did plenty more quests!
Day 57 - Tinned Avalanche
Dear, oh dear, oh dear. How can it get to my bedtime with me forgetting to blog? My carefully engineered plan, statistics, log of the MUDathon, all laid to waste by my prevarication.
I'm not even sure if that's a real word.
I've been struggling with my Group Theory problem sheet this evening, being distracted throughout by Brasseye, the Simpsons, and various constructions and games involving the buildup of Diet Coke cans in my room. Most of my mathematical energies have been spent trying to prove a formula. It's so annoying, that I now suspect that the question has a typo in it, since this can surely not be done by any mortal mathematician.
I'm not even sure if that's a real word.
I've been struggling with my Group Theory problem sheet this evening, being distracted throughout by Brasseye, the Simpsons, and various constructions and games involving the buildup of Diet Coke cans in my room. Most of my mathematical energies have been spent trying to prove a formula. It's so annoying, that I now suspect that the question has a typo in it, since this can surely not be done by any mortal mathematician.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Day 56 - Don't you think that you're a winner?
Sorry for not blogging over the weekend - my epic 24 hour MUDathon did take place, finally, after 8 years of waiting. Thinking about it, however, staying at my laptop for 24 hours means that I have even less of an excuse as usual for not blogging, so I shouldn't have told you that. Where's the delete key?
Never mind, can't be bothered. After the MUDathon, I slept for 3 hours, woke up for a very confused half an hour in which I ate some food and watched Zero Punctuation video game reviews, and then slept for the next 11 hours. Woke up this morning feeling very refreshed. Had a philosophy tutorial, played on the MUD some more (still love it!) and found out I have a problem sheet due for Wednesday.
Julia is fetching me cups of water and lemon squash. She's now back, glaring at me until I relinquish my metaphorical hold on her internet kingdom. I should go, before she stabs me. I'll post a detailed analysis of my MUDathon tomorrow.
Never mind, can't be bothered. After the MUDathon, I slept for 3 hours, woke up for a very confused half an hour in which I ate some food and watched Zero Punctuation video game reviews, and then slept for the next 11 hours. Woke up this morning feeling very refreshed. Had a philosophy tutorial, played on the MUD some more (still love it!) and found out I have a problem sheet due for Wednesday.
Julia is fetching me cups of water and lemon squash. She's now back, glaring at me until I relinquish my metaphorical hold on her internet kingdom. I should go, before she stabs me. I'll post a detailed analysis of my MUDathon tomorrow.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Day 53 - Cut by the Cards He Sought to Shuffle
Two very exciting events are looming (in a friendly way) over the horizon:
1) After this blog post is complete, I'm heading over to Mark's room for a crazy boy's night. This is a response to the girl's night that the girl's have organised, on the "Anything their gender can do, our gender can do better" principle. There will be beer, films, Gamecube gaming, and other male things. Like KICKING ASS.
2) Hopefully, tomorrow morning, I will begin an 8 year old ambition: to play the Discworld MUD for 24 hours solid. Surrounded by drinks and snack foods, I will revel in internet geeky luxury. Will it destroy my body? My mind? Looking forward to finding out! Plus, Julia is hopefully doing it as well! Julia = Best Girlfriend in the World.
I will chronicle this heroic feat, logging my thoughts and state every hour.
1) After this blog post is complete, I'm heading over to Mark's room for a crazy boy's night. This is a response to the girl's night that the girl's have organised, on the "Anything their gender can do, our gender can do better" principle. There will be beer, films, Gamecube gaming, and other male things. Like KICKING ASS.
2) Hopefully, tomorrow morning, I will begin an 8 year old ambition: to play the Discworld MUD for 24 hours solid. Surrounded by drinks and snack foods, I will revel in internet geeky luxury. Will it destroy my body? My mind? Looking forward to finding out! Plus, Julia is hopefully doing it as well! Julia = Best Girlfriend in the World.
I will chronicle this heroic feat, logging my thoughts and state every hour.
Day 52 - Would you like some tea in your milk?
Again, little was accomplished today. Whenever I have a lecture at nine, I feel that my work for the day is over by ten, and so spend the rest of day trying my best to avoid anything which would actually be useful.
I am currently watching an episode of the Simpsons featuring Homer in erotic photographs. Point proven. In these 52 days (ish) of blogging, what have I really said? What have I contributed to the world of words and ideas? Less than most, more than some. Every little counts, etc, etc. Something original?
"He grabbed the world by the hilt and stabbed at the stars."
Boo yeah.
I am currently watching an episode of the Simpsons featuring Homer in erotic photographs. Point proven. In these 52 days (ish) of blogging, what have I really said? What have I contributed to the world of words and ideas? Less than most, more than some. Every little counts, etc, etc. Something original?
"He grabbed the world by the hilt and stabbed at the stars."
Boo yeah.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Day 51 - Merry Propositions
Happy Prime Day, everybody!
Today, I have been ill. Women in my audience will be scoffing, and muttering cruel words under their breath at this point. "Ill? Ha! Try giving birth to a child!" The men, on the other hand, will be nodding wisely and sympathetically, fully aware of the special viruses that seem to target men to the exclusion of all other genders.
Sexist, inaccurate, and wrong though this portrayal is, it's still sadly all too true. Why, Julia barely pitied me at all, meaning that I had to make up the slack with a bucket load of self pity. And self pity shouldn't come in bucket sizes.
My nose is aching, and my joints are running. My throat is congested and my chest is sore. Oh, woe is me. Fear not, gentle reader, as you go into the dying of the light - my constitution is strong, and I shall overcome. Though my body be weak and shattered, a mere husk, a remnant of the proud man I once was, I will recover. I will replenish my strength, and avenge myself on those who mocked me in my weakened state.
Pity not me, but these poor fools. For it is they, not I, who shall rue the events of this day forever more.
Today, I have been ill. Women in my audience will be scoffing, and muttering cruel words under their breath at this point. "Ill? Ha! Try giving birth to a child!" The men, on the other hand, will be nodding wisely and sympathetically, fully aware of the special viruses that seem to target men to the exclusion of all other genders.
Sexist, inaccurate, and wrong though this portrayal is, it's still sadly all too true. Why, Julia barely pitied me at all, meaning that I had to make up the slack with a bucket load of self pity. And self pity shouldn't come in bucket sizes.
My nose is aching, and my joints are running. My throat is congested and my chest is sore. Oh, woe is me. Fear not, gentle reader, as you go into the dying of the light - my constitution is strong, and I shall overcome. Though my body be weak and shattered, a mere husk, a remnant of the proud man I once was, I will recover. I will replenish my strength, and avenge myself on those who mocked me in my weakened state.
Pity not me, but these poor fools. For it is they, not I, who shall rue the events of this day forever more.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Day 50 - Yes, Yes, Oh Yay
In celebration of this exciting landmark of my blogging spree (2.5.5!), I have retreated to my secret bunker, from where I am sending this blog over a secret location.
I am hiding from slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, and the laser rifles and nuclear warheads of curious fate. Send your scathing criticism, and it will bounce off the walls of my concrete fortress like so much badly written tapioca.
Today, I managed to finish my final Galois Theory sheet, and hand it in a mere 27 hours past the deadline. I scare myself sometimes (in a good way, obviously). I also attended the second of my Palin lectures on Algebraic Number Theory. It's scary (also in a good way) - they must be some sort of duplicate identical clones.
I am hiding from slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, and the laser rifles and nuclear warheads of curious fate. Send your scathing criticism, and it will bounce off the walls of my concrete fortress like so much badly written tapioca.
Today, I managed to finish my final Galois Theory sheet, and hand it in a mere 27 hours past the deadline. I scare myself sometimes (in a good way, obviously). I also attended the second of my Palin lectures on Algebraic Number Theory. It's scary (also in a good way) - they must be some sort of duplicate identical clones.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Day 49 - A Fare Gronde Attraction
Behold, the wonders of the two minute blog post.
I have had an extremely lazy day today - I had a bath at 8pm, and I'm still wearing my pyjama top. I went to an Algebraic Number Theory lecture at 9am, and used this as an excuse to do no work for the rest of the day.
I introduced Julia to the Discworld MUD last night, and she's played over 15 hours since then. She doesn't do things by halves. Or even wholes. There's at least 159% in her obsessions and crazes.
Finally, happy birthday to Daniel, my second oldest friend, and definitely the one with the best facial hair. "Best" being, of course, a subjective term.
I have had an extremely lazy day today - I had a bath at 8pm, and I'm still wearing my pyjama top. I went to an Algebraic Number Theory lecture at 9am, and used this as an excuse to do no work for the rest of the day.
I introduced Julia to the Discworld MUD last night, and she's played over 15 hours since then. She doesn't do things by halves. Or even wholes. There's at least 159% in her obsessions and crazes.
Finally, happy birthday to Daniel, my second oldest friend, and definitely the one with the best facial hair. "Best" being, of course, a subjective term.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Day 48 - Sensing Returns
Partially at the scornful derision from a friend over my last two blog posts, I feel ashamed. First I miss two days completely, and then I give two vomitings of words that probably never deserved to see the light of day.
Yet I have been doing quite exciting things recently; I stayed in Bristol for one night, then in Warwick (well, Coventry) for two nights with friends. I've walked the rough pavements of Gloucester Road, and eaten in the Greek pizzerias that glitter invitingly down its back passages.
I've slumbered in oddly placed beds, and watched Teachers TV while attempting to stack balloons neatly. I've been inside the Chaplaincy, and seen strange, wonderful and terrible sights within. I've met new, wonderful, terrifying people, and had exciting conversations in which I was labelled as "a boring man". I've toured the Warwick campus in both night and day, and left a trail of drool around its glistening (even more so, now) maths department. I've Mudded in odd places, and been to the birthday ball of a girl I've never met.
I've seen Nick in a sequined mask.
Oh, what things I've done.
Yet I have been doing quite exciting things recently; I stayed in Bristol for one night, then in Warwick (well, Coventry) for two nights with friends. I've walked the rough pavements of Gloucester Road, and eaten in the Greek pizzerias that glitter invitingly down its back passages.
I've slumbered in oddly placed beds, and watched Teachers TV while attempting to stack balloons neatly. I've been inside the Chaplaincy, and seen strange, wonderful and terrible sights within. I've met new, wonderful, terrifying people, and had exciting conversations in which I was labelled as "a boring man". I've toured the Warwick campus in both night and day, and left a trail of drool around its glistening (even more so, now) maths department. I've Mudded in odd places, and been to the birthday ball of a girl I've never met.
I've seen Nick in a sequined mask.
Oh, what things I've done.
Day 47 - Oops, Another Gone
Still ain't dead. This blog can serve more useful purposes than a mortality log, but what could be more important? I mean, really?
Friday, January 16, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Day 43 - Signs Within Signs
This blog comes from Bristol. That's right, for tonight and tonight only, I'm in that happy town of maths, slavery, pizzas and pens.
"That's a fair description" - Nick, typical Bristol 'studen'.
As I am about to say, "I always enjoy quoting myself." Wise, wise words.
I came down for a PhD open day, which was educational and entertaining. *thinking*...
Well, after all that thinking, this is a very disappointing sentence. More details on Bristol tomorrow.
"That's a fair description" - Nick, typical Bristol 'studen'.
As I am about to say, "I always enjoy quoting myself." Wise, wise words.
I came down for a PhD open day, which was educational and entertaining. *thinking*...
Well, after all that thinking, this is a very disappointing sentence. More details on Bristol tomorrow.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Day 41 - Grand and Terrible, Terrible Objects
My second day back in Oxford, and I really like Blues music. The two are not related, but I'm being conservative with my sentences. Blues is perfect both as background music when I'm doing something else, or when I actually want to listen to music. The refrain (melody? tune? I don't know the terms) is usually repetitive, but not in a boring way. More in a trance, relaxing way, that just opens you up more to the music.
Similarly with the lyrics. Most Blues lyrics are repeated often, but they're good. Some examples:
Robert Johnson:
I got ramblin
I got ramblin on my mind
I got ramblin
I got ramblin all on my mind
Hate to leave you my baby
but you treats me so unkind
BB King:
Everyday, everyday I have the blues
Ooh everyday, everyday I have the blues
When you see me worryin' baby, yeah, it's you I hate to lose
John Lee Hooker:
When I first thought to hobo'in, hobo'in,
I took a freight train to be my friend, oh Lord
You know I hobo'd, hobo'd, hobo'd, hobo'd,
Hobo'd a long, long way from home, oh Lord
OK, so they don't look great down on the screen. But you gotta listen, man, you gotta listen to the whole song. You gotta get the blues in the soul, in the gut. That's where you 'preciate it proper.
Similarly with the lyrics. Most Blues lyrics are repeated often, but they're good. Some examples:
Robert Johnson:
I got ramblin
I got ramblin on my mind
I got ramblin
I got ramblin all on my mind
Hate to leave you my baby
but you treats me so unkind
BB King:
Everyday, everyday I have the blues
Ooh everyday, everyday I have the blues
When you see me worryin' baby, yeah, it's you I hate to lose
John Lee Hooker:
When I first thought to hobo'in, hobo'in,
I took a freight train to be my friend, oh Lord
You know I hobo'd, hobo'd, hobo'd, hobo'd,
Hobo'd a long, long way from home, oh Lord
OK, so they don't look great down on the screen. But you gotta listen, man, you gotta listen to the whole song. You gotta get the blues in the soul, in the gut. That's where you 'preciate it proper.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Day 40 - Flying Through the Etherene
This really is quite disgraceful by now. What is the use of a daily blog that says nothing of value? I must be the only blogger who posts pointless posts at the moment. I look at brilliant posts like this one right here, and I feel miniscule.
I'm back in Oxford! We went to Nando's for some chicken, the bar for a drink, and my room for fun conversations. Now I must go.
I'm back in Oxford! We went to Nando's for some chicken, the bar for a drink, and my room for fun conversations. Now I must go.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Day 39 - Towering Over the Hummers
Sad news, first of all. My beloved scruffy tabby cat was just savagely killed by a stray dog on the streets of Sto Lat. Don't worry, though; I will soon find a helpful priest who can restore both my cat and my swamp dragon (who had exploded earlier) to a better state of mortality.
Tomorrow, I will be returning to Oxford. Tonight, I need to pack. Right now, I need to go to bed. Read tomorrow, for more exciting quandries.
Tomorrow, I will be returning to Oxford. Tonight, I need to pack. Right now, I need to go to bed. Read tomorrow, for more exciting quandries.
Friday, January 09, 2009
Day 38 - Sunshine and Tickle Gangs
My time is running short, and I don't have long left. The mission has gone disastrously wrong; I'm not sure whether or not I'll be able to complete the circuit. The spirit may remain unquiet, the elements unmodified. This can only mean bad things for us all.
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Day 36 - Create, Prosper, Collaborate
Today, I'm leaving on a secret mystery of great mystery. Hopefully I can get to the computer tomorrow, to do a cursory blog post. Is the proper phrase "blog", or "blog post"?
I'm in quite a rush now, getting everything together, anyway. The monkeys are acting up as usual, the death ray's in pieces on my laboratory floor, and I'm losing more and more henchmen by the minute. The mob is battering at the door, while the friars are mobbing the gates. The affairs of state are an intolerable state of affairs, and while I'm trying to attend to the matters at end, interfering heroes keep turning up and busting my drugs cartel - they're always rescuing the heroine.
Geddit?
I'm in quite a rush now, getting everything together, anyway. The monkeys are acting up as usual, the death ray's in pieces on my laboratory floor, and I'm losing more and more henchmen by the minute. The mob is battering at the door, while the friars are mobbing the gates. The affairs of state are an intolerable state of affairs, and while I'm trying to attend to the matters at end, interfering heroes keep turning up and busting my drugs cartel - they're always rescuing the heroine.
Geddit?
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Day 35 - Angled Towards Annuity
I'm currently watching Scrubs. Well, more accurately, I'm watching an advert for the current Double Showings season on Paramount Comedy, but you won't begrudge me some looseness in my speaking.
Scrubs is now back on, so I was distracted, explaining the temporal lag between this paragraph and the previous one. As the Assassins Guild has taught me, routine leads to death, so I'm going to make sure that I keep being unpred
Scrubs is now back on, so I was distracted, explaining the temporal lag between this paragraph and the previous one. As the Assassins Guild has taught me, routine leads to death, so I'm going to make sure that I keep being unpred
Monday, January 05, 2009
Day 34 - In with a chance?
It's Monday the 5th of January so, naturally, it's Reader's Request Day. Today's question comes from Mrs C. H. Greahams of Reading, Arizona:
"What do the titles of your blog posts actually mean? They never seem to be very relevant to the actual post. [Long, boring middle section cut out.] Please let me know."
Well, Mrs Greahams, that's a valuable question, and one I thought would be coming up around now (I'm sure you know why!) The answer is quite simple. When I was eight years old, I was visited by one of the travelling wise old sages that seemed to frequent my house a lot around that time. This one was different from most of them, however, since he was awake, and taking an interest in me.
For one blissful afternoon, he took me under his (figurative) wing and taught me many things - of sailing ships and sealing wax, and whether pigs have wings (turns out they don't). All too soon, however, it was my teatime, and he had to go and fight...something...or possibly stop somebody else from fighting something. To be honest, Power Rangers had just come on, so I was fading in and out.
As he left, he rummaged in his backpack and pulled out a crumbling tome; its bindings were loose and the pages moth-eaten, but I somehow felt that this was something very important. I reached out a trembling hand for this treasure trove of wisdom. He leaned forwards, and then suddenly pulled his hand back, holding the book close to his chest. He peered at me, and teared a couple of pages from the front.
Winking with both eyes, he gave me those pages, and tucked the tome back into his backpack. Looking down with disappointed eyes, I saw that he had only given me the table of contents. Five hundred chapters, and all I had were the titles. He smiled, said "Like the rolling monk, everything circles the sun," and left.
I was not sorry to see him go. Twelve years later, and converting these chapter titles into blog post titles is the best I've been able to come up with so far. Jerk.
"What do the titles of your blog posts actually mean? They never seem to be very relevant to the actual post. [Long, boring middle section cut out.] Please let me know."
Well, Mrs Greahams, that's a valuable question, and one I thought would be coming up around now (I'm sure you know why!) The answer is quite simple. When I was eight years old, I was visited by one of the travelling wise old sages that seemed to frequent my house a lot around that time. This one was different from most of them, however, since he was awake, and taking an interest in me.
For one blissful afternoon, he took me under his (figurative) wing and taught me many things - of sailing ships and sealing wax, and whether pigs have wings (turns out they don't). All too soon, however, it was my teatime, and he had to go and fight...something...or possibly stop somebody else from fighting something. To be honest, Power Rangers had just come on, so I was fading in and out.
As he left, he rummaged in his backpack and pulled out a crumbling tome; its bindings were loose and the pages moth-eaten, but I somehow felt that this was something very important. I reached out a trembling hand for this treasure trove of wisdom. He leaned forwards, and then suddenly pulled his hand back, holding the book close to his chest. He peered at me, and teared a couple of pages from the front.
Winking with both eyes, he gave me those pages, and tucked the tome back into his backpack. Looking down with disappointed eyes, I saw that he had only given me the table of contents. Five hundred chapters, and all I had were the titles. He smiled, said "Like the rolling monk, everything circles the sun," and left.
I was not sorry to see him go. Twelve years later, and converting these chapter titles into blog post titles is the best I've been able to come up with so far. Jerk.
Sunday, January 04, 2009
Day 33 - Granted, it never flies
Surf's up!
That was a subtle allusion to the fact that Julia and I (bodacious grammar there) just watched the film "Surf's Up", quite honestly one of the finest films I have seen in a long time. I loved the style it was filmed in, all of the characters, the writing, the jokes, the music, and the spectacular animation. Better than the Godfather.
As if that was not enough, there were even more activities in my day today. This afternoon, I began the laborious task of transferring our old home videos onto DVD. Thinking about it now, I'm not entirely sure why this should be done, but it is definitely a Good Thing. You know, one of Those Things Which Should Be Done (Julia is an expert on those sort of things, and reminds me of this often).
Unfortunately, I have no Universal Machine which can do this easily, efficiently, at the push of a button. Instead, I have to go to Julia's house (a trial in itself), play the video, while simultaneously recording it with the DVD HDD Recorder. This modern technology boggles me.
That was a subtle allusion to the fact that Julia and I (bodacious grammar there) just watched the film "Surf's Up", quite honestly one of the finest films I have seen in a long time. I loved the style it was filmed in, all of the characters, the writing, the jokes, the music, and the spectacular animation. Better than the Godfather.
As if that was not enough, there were even more activities in my day today. This afternoon, I began the laborious task of transferring our old home videos onto DVD. Thinking about it now, I'm not entirely sure why this should be done, but it is definitely a Good Thing. You know, one of Those Things Which Should Be Done (Julia is an expert on those sort of things, and reminds me of this often).
Unfortunately, I have no Universal Machine which can do this easily, efficiently, at the push of a button. Instead, I have to go to Julia's house (a trial in itself), play the video, while simultaneously recording it with the DVD HDD Recorder. This modern technology boggles me.
Saturday, January 03, 2009
Day 32 - They're Everywhere!
In just a few short minutes, I'll be leaving this house to drive to my father's. Pay close heed, for I tell you for several reasons:
1) If nobody hears from me in the next few days, and people start to worry, at least they know where to start looking.
2) I am fully aware how much more interesting than yours my life is. In your lonely existence, at least you can live vicariously through my exciting deeds.
3) My father's internet connection and computer were both engineered by incontinent squirrels, so I probably won't be able to blog this evening. In a fit of cunning so astounding I giggle girlishly whenever I think of it, I have reworked this warning about not being able to blog into an actual blog.
PS - This blogging website's spellcheck marks both "internet", "blog" and "blogging" as spelt incorrectly/not actually words. Go figure.
1) If nobody hears from me in the next few days, and people start to worry, at least they know where to start looking.
2) I am fully aware how much more interesting than yours my life is. In your lonely existence, at least you can live vicariously through my exciting deeds.
3) My father's internet connection and computer were both engineered by incontinent squirrels, so I probably won't be able to blog this evening. In a fit of cunning so astounding I giggle girlishly whenever I think of it, I have reworked this warning about not being able to blog into an actual blog.
PS - This blogging website's spellcheck marks both "internet", "blog" and "blogging" as spelt incorrectly/not actually words. Go figure.
Friday, January 02, 2009
Day 31 - Falling Through the Epsilons
Only seven minutes to go; I have no ideas of what to write right here. I have great ideas earlier in the day, but I can never be bothered I remember what they were by this point.
That sentence made sense, I promise. It's just your mind playing tricks on you/mugging you in the dark alleyways of your subconscious and the boardrooms of your conscious.
I just played another game of 40k against Nick; he still outnumbered me, albeit by a paltry 2:1 this time. He massacred me, but I put up a good fight. My Lootas were the men of the match, laying down a withering storm of fire at anything that moved, whether friend or foe. They're an enthusiastic bunch.
Discworld MUD has become even more addictive with the addition of achievements; they're pointless, time-consuming, and give a miniscule feeling of accomplishment. Yet still I struggle towards them.
That sentence made sense, I promise. It's just your mind playing tricks on you/mugging you in the dark alleyways of your subconscious and the boardrooms of your conscious.
I just played another game of 40k against Nick; he still outnumbered me, albeit by a paltry 2:1 this time. He massacred me, but I put up a good fight. My Lootas were the men of the match, laying down a withering storm of fire at anything that moved, whether friend or foe. They're an enthusiastic bunch.
Discworld MUD has become even more addictive with the addition of achievements; they're pointless, time-consuming, and give a miniscule feeling of accomplishment. Yet still I struggle towards them.
Thursday, January 01, 2009
Day 30 - Invention and Infection
Happy New Year!
2009 = 7x7x41
As promised, here is my current New Year's Resolution:
Blog Every Day. Come rain or shine, hail or sleet, volcano or riot, I'll struggle, bloodied but defiant, to a computer and hack out some words to please the silent infinite mass that stares back at me. A month ago, I would have secretly known that I would fail at this, very quickly. With my recent very near success at this blogging spree, however, I feel more confident. Perhaps it could actually be done. After all, I did write a diary almost every day for a year a few years ago.
After watching Starter for Ten, I also now want to learn more general knowledge trivia. I'll have to work out a more detailed target for that, however, as with a few other things. More New Years Resolutions to come, don't worry.
2009 = 7x7x41
As promised, here is my current New Year's Resolution:
Blog Every Day. Come rain or shine, hail or sleet, volcano or riot, I'll struggle, bloodied but defiant, to a computer and hack out some words to please the silent infinite mass that stares back at me. A month ago, I would have secretly known that I would fail at this, very quickly. With my recent very near success at this blogging spree, however, I feel more confident. Perhaps it could actually be done. After all, I did write a diary almost every day for a year a few years ago.
After watching Starter for Ten, I also now want to learn more general knowledge trivia. I'll have to work out a more detailed target for that, however, as with a few other things. More New Years Resolutions to come, don't worry.
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