WOW - Many Thanks!

David and I are so humbled and grateful for the prayers that continue to be said for him and us. Our prayer pager has been going off more in the last few days - since his one-year anniversary - than it had in a while (although we had still typically been getting one or two pages a day). It's been buzzing like crazy! More people must read our blog than I had realized! It brings tears to our eyes to be upheld in this way. It also challenges us to be as faithful in prayer for others as we are seeing done for us.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

Aside: This is going to be an all-male household for a few days. I leave tomorrow immediately after work for a math conference in Reno, Nevada. I'm kind of shocked that a gambling town like Reno would welcome a huge math conference. I would think they'd be worried about people being too good with probablility and statistics in that sort of group. Hmm . . .

Anyway, for those of you that are used to hearing from me regularly by email, don't worry when you don't see anything from me in your inbox for a few days (or if I don't reply right away as usual). I'm OK - just out of town and learning more math! :-)

I'm hoping there won't be snow issues in the Sierra Nevada as I make the trek over the mountains there and back. I'm not so fond of driving with chains - or in the snow for that matter.

Year of Thanks

Today is the one year anniversary of David's stroke. Before saying anything else, I want to thank all those who have prayed for him and our family this past year and to thank those who continue praying as he continues to work hard at therapy and to hold out hope for full recovery.

We have so much to be thankful for! We had so many reminders this morning. Last year I was driving David's grey van - following an ambulance on a damp early morning - not knowing how to turn on the lights or the windshield wipers and not having enough light to figure it out! Thankfully that morning not many vehicles were on the road yet as I drove without lights and with my head stuck out the window to see! This morning David was driving the van on a bright morning as we all set out for church dressed up in our Sunday best - very different scenes!!

I hope to write more later, and David is planning to write on his page too, but right now we are busy with the normal things of everyday life - getting the Sunday noon meal ready. It's a miracle that we are in a position to be busy with the normal things of everyday life!

As I get on to write again, it is the end of the day - actually it is technically "tomorrow." Rather than writing more of my words about how David is doing, I will let the words David wrote of his own experience on his page stand for themselves - what it is like to be him one year after a major stroke. Tomorrow night - I mean later today! - he and I will go out to eat at Johnny Carino's to celebrate life! Today we celebrated with a game of Settlers of Catan. David's favorite way to celebrate is playing games.

Forever Friends

We are having a special reunion today with friends who moved across the country about a year ago. It's like the kids were never apart. Two of the boys (the two in the middle) were born about an hour apart on the same day in the same hospital, so we call them twins. I interrupted their "Lava Monster" game for a quick pose (click on images to enlarge).And then for a hearty meal of pizza after a long day of outdoor play:

Astronomical Hope

Interestingly, according to modern astronomers, space is finite. This is a very comforting thought-- particularly for people who can never remember where they have left things.

Woody Allen (b. 1935)

I am yet seeking to find this hope and comfort, as although the volume of my house is "trivial" (as we say in mathematics) we can still never find the remote! What's up with that?!

Seasons of Life

This has always been one of my favorite seasons. I love autumn, the crunch of the leaves, the colors of the trees, the crisp coolness in the air. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and it is soon approaching, and Reformation Day (which was this past Sunday) is one of my favorite church services, because it contains such powerful, meaningful music - often accompanied by brass or organ.

As life goes on, seasons keep having more meaning and memories added to them - happy and sad. We soon will mark the one year point after David's stroke (November 2). What has become part of this season now too is that it is also the time of year when we remember Dad going home to be with Jesus, October 28, 2004 - the joy he is experiencing there and the fact that we will be reunited with him someday, but the sadness of all that he and his family are missing out on by not getting to be here together anymore. Sixty-seven is far too young to lose a husband, dad and grandpa - so many years and events yet to come that we'd sure love him to be here for - high school graduations, college graduations, weddings, great-grandkids, family times. We were so privileged to be able to have him perform our wedding ceremony and the baptisms of all our children.

It's hard to believe it's been 4 years. It's VERY hard to believe it's been 4 years.

Dad was a pastor and had a pastor's heart. Next to that he was most well known for his sense of humor, which you can see in the picture I'm including, and which I hear (for better or for worse) in my husband and my children multiple times EVERY day. The humor gene must run deep (the pun-humor gene). In that way, as in many others he certainly lives on!!Dad always had something to teach us - like hanging spoons off our noses!The Michigan grandkids at Dad's gravesite 2 years ago.The California grandkids.

it Must be your

"though your sorrows not
any tongue may name,
three i'll give you sweet
joys for each of them
But it must be your"
whispers that flower

murmurs eager this
"i will give you five
hopes for any fear,
but it Must be your"
perfectly alive
blossom of a bliss

"seven heavens for
just one dying,i'll
give you" silently
cries the(whom we call
rose a)mystery
"but it must be Your"

e. e. cummings (1894-1962)

Getting The Word Out!

POST SCRIPT: You night want to bring a calculator to try to beat him at calculations - or to do some tricks along with him.

DON'T MISS OUT!!

If you live in my area, this is for you! (If you don't but ever hear this is coming to your area, don't miss it!) There is a REALLY COOL thing happening in town THIS FRIDAY NIGHT, but it was published incorrectly in the paper today - making it sound like it was for tonight.

The performer is SO GOOD that the last time he was in town late-comers to the event had to watch from another room via live video feed because there was no seating left. He has presented his high energy talk on over a thousand occasions to audiences throughout the world. He has appeared on many television and radio programs, including: The Today Show, CNN, Amazing Discoveries!, and National Public Radio. He has been profiled in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Scientific American, Discover Magazine, Omni Magazine, Esquire Magazine, People Magazine, and Reader's Digest. That's quite a diverse set of periodicals! And yet, this performance is FREE!

Dr. Arthur Benjamin is a mathemagician, but don't let the first four letters of that word turn you off. (Yes, it has been point out to me that "math" is a 4-letter word.)

This man is AMAZING! He talks about how ADHD actually helped him as a student, and he is certainly STILL ADHD - and amazing just to watch perform - very high energy. It's fun. It's entertaining. And you might just learn something if you're not careful - but it won't be painful, I promise!

This show is for people of all ages, so come on out and bring the fam! If you can't make it but know someone who might enjoy it, please send on the info. I'd hate for people to miss out due to a newspaper error. It is taking place at MJC WEST Campus - the campus by the highway and Briggsmore - in the Mary Stuart Rogers building (the space-age-lookin' building with a flag pole on top.) Just follow the crowds if you're not sure where that is. It starts at 7:30 and should last until about 8:45. You'll be glad you came!

I'm hesitant to do the following, because it does not do justice to what he is like in person nor the wide variety of things he does, but if you cannot make it due to time or distance, you can see a clip of him performing here. For more mathemagic fun, click here or here!

After initially posting this I found a map of campus. The Mary Stuart Rogers Building is number 33.

PB

Anthony has been achieving a new personal best meet after meet in cross country. That's his goal each time he goes out. Today his time was 19:40 for the 3-mile, each mile being pretty consistent today right around 6:30. These are pictures from his season. When I get a chance I hope to post a few more pictures below these three of things relating to the meets. Yea Anthony! I'm a proud momma!

Immortality 2

I don't want to achieve immortality through my work . . . I want to achieve it through not dying.

-Woody Allen (b. 1935)

Immortality 1

Archimedes will be remembered when Aeschylus is forgotten, because languages die and mathematical ideas do not. "Immortality" may be a silly word, but probably a mathematician has the best chance of whatever it may mean.

G. H. Hardy (1877-1947)

Favorite Organ Pieces (Top 3)

1) Fanfare (Allegro non troppo) in D major
by J.N. Lemmens (1823-1881)

2) Nun danket alle Gott (Now Thank We All Our God)
by J.S. Bach (1685-1750)

3) Toccata and Fugue in D minor
by J.S. Bach (1685-1750)

RUNNERS UP:

Sinfonia Cantata 29
by J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
Salmo XVIII (I've always heard this called Psalm 19)
by Benedetto Marcello (1686-1739)

MOST Frequently Asked Question

A few years back Mattel got in big trouble for one of the statements its "Teen Talk Barbie" made: "Math class is tough."

Historically women are under-represented in mathematical fields. Often I've heard female students of mine who are coming back to school in their 30's say that when they were in high school a counselor told them not to worry about math - that girls aren't good at it and don't need it. That comment terrified them and kept them from taking math, which barred them from many professions and put their lives on hold to some degree until they were able to overcome that fear and return to school (and nearly all of these women did very well - typically scoring at or near the top of the class.)

So, anyway, of course Barbie's message is not the one we want to send out. This is not just a problem for females, though. I have found through 22 years of teaching mathematics that many (or most) people, BOTH male and female DO think "math class is tough." When things get particularly tough the following INVARIABLY happens. A hand goes up; I call on the person; the question comes: "Why do we have to learn math; when am I going to use this in my real life?" as if on cue.

This is so predictable I can almost tell what week of the semester we are in by when this question comes up. It is interesting to me that it never comes up at the beginning when we are doing review, and the material is relatively easy. It seems people don't care how something is going to be useful to them as long as it is not too hard, but when it gets hard that is the MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION. (I have actually begun addressing that question during the first week of class since I know it is going to come up, but I'm finding people seem to forget by week 7 what I said during week 1). What I share with them is this FANTASTIC one-page article written by a middle-school math teacher.

SO, after 22 years, I have finally decided to handle this (M)FAQ by WRITING the answer and putting it up on the internet rather than answering it on the fly each time I get the question.

Please check in again soon. I will have MY answer up and hyperlinked within the next couple of days as to WHY IT IS IMPORTANT TO LEARN MATH. (I'm not being sarcastic. I do see it as a legitimate question, and it makes sense that people would ask this of something into which they are investing a lot of time and effort. And it is because I see this as a legitimate question that I want to give a substantial legitimate answer.)

Synonym

God is a distant -- stately Lover --
Woos, as He states us -- by His Son --
Verily, a Vicarious Courtship --
"Miles", and "Priscilla", were such an One --

But, lest the Soul -- like fair "Priscilla"
Choose the Envoy -- and spurn the Groom --
Vouches, with hyperbolic archness --
"Miles", and "John Alden" were Synonym --

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

There is an update on DAVID at his link at right.

Bedside Books

Here is a list of some of the books by the side of my bed - within easy reach in case I get time to read! - and the reason each book is there.

Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged is ON TOP of the stack. Although I don't have time right now to read this 1168-page tome, I must have it at my bedside right now to at least dip into. It is a voice of clarity and reason amid the economic craziness in the US and now the world. If I could make one book mandatory reading for every politician and everyone involved in finance, this would be it. Had they all read it, we would not be in the mess we are in right now!!

I always have a book about math or a mathematician nearby- because like Pascal I find math clears my mind and heals me with its purity and logic. This one I am currently reading because it is light and fun and because I am giving a conference talk at the end of the month on making math fun for elementary students, and this book contains material that will tie into my talk really well.

The Shack too I have already read, but it, like Atlas Shrugged, is one I need to go back to and will go back to over and over again. I know there is a big hoopla over this book right now - pro and con. I'm thankful I read it the first time before hearing any of that. I don't use the phrase "life changing" lightly, but I put this book in that category for myself.

The reading for my next Inklings Book Club meeting is in here: Leaf by Niggle - a shorter work by Tolkien than the familiar Hobbit and Lord of the Rings trilogy. Tolkien is ALWAYS good.

I have this one by the side of my bed because a good friend is a fan of John Piper and recommended this book to me. I haven't made much progress, but it remains by the side of my bed.

I chose to post this today because I LOVE books AND because in my first post I wrote that my blog would probably consist of lots of lists (I like lists), but it turns out it hasn't, so there you have it - a list!

The Mother's (or Teacher's) Curse

There’s something called The Mother’s Curse, which goes like this, “When you grow up, I hope you get children just like you!” This is typically said by a mother when a child is having a temper tantrum in the grocery store.

I don’t think my mom cursed me. I don’t remember ever hearing those words. In fact, I think I’ve been very blessed in terms of my children. Of course, I may find out about things later in life as my parents are finding out about now - at times when their adult children sit around and reminisce!

No, it wasn’t my mom.

I think it was my piano teacher who cursed me.

I love to play pieces on the piano that I know well and that sound beautiful, but I hated practicing. This is really sad to be admitting as a math teacher, but I particularly resisted learning to count. Oh, I know how – I know HOW to count in music (one-ee-and-a-two-ee-and-a-three-ee-and-a . . .). I just never did it. I would ask my teacher to play the new piece for me before I went home so I could hear it. I had a very good ear, and I would piece together the notes I saw with what I’d heard, and I’d basically play by ear.

That made life easy.

That also crippled me.

Now I would like to play the piano really well, and I can play, but I sound just like I did in junior high, and I am limited in that I can only play songs that I’ve heard before and can play partly by ear. (I do plan to rectify this soon and begin lessons again and break my bad habits, which is going to be harder than it would have been to put in the work and do it right the first time around!)

OK, here’s where I lose all my readers, I fear.

TODAY AS I WAS TEACHING MATH . . .

(Anybody still with me?)

I was trying with all my heart, soul and guts to impress upon my students how important it is to learn the MEANING rather than a random assortment of rules. Some (though not all) want to say to me, “Just give me the steps; just show me how (and leave me alone).”

We are working with adding and subtracting positive and negative numbers. As I’ve walked around the class over the last few days checking their work, I see that some of them know just enough to be dangerous (kind of like me on the piano). They’ve learned a random assortment of steps but not what they mean or when to apply them.

I am there ready, willing AND ABLE to make sense of this WITH them. I’m basically doing gymnastics and turning myself inside out in front of the class to explain WHY, but I can see in their eyes and body language that they (SOME - not all! - of them) just want to be left alone to stumble through with what they’ve got - hoping that a random guess, like a roll of the die, is going to miraculously be correct (and possibly fearing that digging deeper will make it more confusing instead of less - I understand that).

I DO understand that math is something that many people fear more than public speaking, snakes or death. I DO understand the aversion. I just wish I could have gotten them sooner before they got enough tricks to feel they can (should?) tune out now and hang onto the patchwork they've got and be OK.

The thing is, this is college, and they are in my class because they have a goal, whether it is graduation, transfer, a specific vocation . . . by their own choice of direction in life at this point they HAVE TO get through not only this class but 2 or 3 succeeding math classes that all BUILD on THIS material before they can get to their goal, and I want to help them reach those goals! BUT I can't want it FOR them and make it happen any more than my parents could want piano skills FOR me and make it happen.

Today I shared with them my story of piano lessons (and 2 other similar stories). I'm not a teacher who tells personal stories in class, so this was WAY out the ordinary. I shared that learning STEPS is easy, but steps are just as easy to forget as they are to learn. Learning meaning is hard, but once you have it, it stays with you, and you can even apply it to new concepts you hadn’t seen before (just like I would be able to play piano pieces I’d never heard before if I’d taken the right route instead of the easy route as a piano student).

So, now I'm the "adult" saying, "PLEASE believe me. I know what is in front of you." As you can imagine, this is going over as well with SOME of my students now as it did with me 30+ years ago to be told that if I quit taking piano I would regret it later. (I do). I didn’t believe the adults then; what child does?! SOME of my adult students don’t believe me now either – but SOME do. Kudos to them‼ They are going to make it!

(The first time!!)

And now back to me and fixing the error of MY ways:

"One-ee-and-a-two-ee-and-a-"

Notice of Correction

I am told Saturday Evening Post (Part 2) contains an error.
This has now been corrected.

Billboards vs. Trees

"I think that I shall never see a billboard lovely as a tree.
Perhaps, unless the billboards fall, I'll never see a tree at all."

-Ogden Nash (1902-1971)

With obvious apologies to Joyce Kilmer

Sanctus Real

It's time for healing time to move on
It's time to fix what's been broken too long
Time make right what has been wrong
It's time to find my way to where I belong
There's a wave that's crashing over me
All I can do is surrender

Whatever you're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos somehow there's peace
It's hard to surrender to what I can't see
but I'm giving in to something heavenly

Time for a milestone
Time to begin again
Re-evaluate who I really am
Am I doing everything to follow your will
or just climbing aimlessly over these hills
So show me what it is you want from me
I give everything I surrender...

Time to face up
Clean this old house
Time to breathe in and let everything out
That I've wanted to say for so many years
Time to release all my held back tears

Whatever you're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but I believe
You're up to something bigger than me
Larger than life something heavenly

Whatever you're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but now I can see
This something bigger than me
Larger than life something heavenly
Something heavenly

It's time to face up
Clean this old house
Time breathe in and let everything out

(lyrics of WHATEVER YOU'RE DOING by Sanctus Real)

PS Happy Birthday Dad! :-)

Saturday Evening Post (Part 1)

Today was major geek day for me and Anthony. We played in our first ever PRE-release Magic Tournament. This was for the Shards of Alara set. You can't even buy these cards yet. The release is scheduled for next Friday night. I finally had the inaugural wearing of my totally awesome geek-shirt birthday present (see above).Here we are - candy and dice nearby - decks built - ready to GO!!Clearly things are not going my way right now. I've mentally blocked out exactly what happened, but I see when I enlarge the picture that my life total was at 3, so I think he had just made the killing move. This guy is REALLY good, though, so it's respectable to be beaten by him. I won 2 of 4 rounds overall and felt pretty good about that for an old lady! (Do you notice any other women in any of these photos? No. I alone am upholding the honor of womanhood in the domain of Magic the Gathering!)

Here is Anthony in action. He totally "owned." He won 3 of 4 rounds, 2 of them 2-0, so he won prizes - 4 boosters of these cards you can't buy yet! He was jazzed! (I'm so proud!)

I played red, green, white - and pulled an Ajani (Plainswalker), which was also the promo card, so I got to play it - worked well for me. I also had a Battlegrace Angel, which was what won me my games - exalted, lifelink, and flying - hard to beat. Anthony played red, black, green - and had a nice combo: Hellkite Overlord and Dragon Herald, which can allow him to search for the first card.

Saturday Evening Post (Part 2)

CORRECTION OF ERROR: Caleb read this post and told me his team name is NOT "Cheetah Girls." Hmm . . . funny, because that's what he told me his team name was, so, this is what he gets for yanking his mom's chain! Weeks into the season they do not yet have a team name. While it is the case that one of the mothers suggested the name Cheetah Girls, and it is being considered(?), another name being considered is Barcelona. I hope they come up with a name before the end of the season, and I hope having had this up for all the world to see teaches my son not to mess with me!

Although geekdom has replaced the world of sports in MY life, we also have a win to celebrate in that other arena today. Caleb's soccer team, Cheetah Girls (?????), won 3-0.

Don't even ask me. I had no vote when it came to choosing the team name!It was a hot, hot day, and the game was at 2pm.

Caleb has come a LONG way in his 4 years of play. He has gone from standing back kicking gopher holes to playing really good defense with excellent footwork and a strong kick.

When did he get so grown up?

Cognitive Dissonance

In terms of keeping up with the times, this church puts me to shame!! Holy Trinity Church in Coventry, England was established in the 12th century (even though its sign says it was built in the 14th). The first written record of it is from 1113. To put this in perspective, that means that this church was already 379 years old way back in 1492 when "Columbus sailed the ocean blue." The United States has not been a country for 379 years yet, and this church was already that old when Columbus sailed.
You can get a sense of the history when you look at the second picture here and see the wear on the stone steps from feet traversing them for centuries. Of course this is not entirely the same building that was there in 1113 - renovations have been done over the years, but still . . .I say this church puts me to shame; it does! I showed up in the 20th century, but I don't yet know how to text, and I don't have a MySpace or FaceBook page, but this church whose history goes back to at least 1113 has a WEBSITE!!! I guess I'd better get with it! Yes, I realize a lot of things have websites, but seeing the sign below just . . . . . . well was just such an experience of cognitive dissonance after coming around the corner from the other stately looking sign. Not only do they have a website, but they have this modern-looking sign out front ADVERTISING the website!

In Honor of Autumn

Today is the first day of autumn.
I love this season, and I love this poem.

The Leaf and the Tree

When will you learn, myself, to be
a dying leaf on a living tree?
Budding, swelling, growing strong,
Wearing green, but not for long,
Drawing sustenance from air,
That other leaves, and you not there,
May bud, and at the autumn's call
Wearing russet, ready to fall?
Has not this trunk a deed to do
Unguessed by small and tremulous you?
Shall not these branches in the end
To wisdom and the truth ascend?
And the great lightning plunging by
Look sidewise with a golden eye
To glimpse a tree so tall and proud
It sheds its leaves upon a cloud?

Here, I think, is the heart's grief:
The tree, no mightier than the leaf,
Makes firm its root and spreads it crown
And stands; but in the end comes down.
That airy top no boy could climb
Is trodden in a little time
By cattle on their way to drink.
The fluttering thoughts a leaf can think,
That hears the wind and waits its turn,
Have taught it all a tree can learn.
Time can make soft that iron wood.
The tallest trunk that ever stood,
In time, without a dream to keep,
Crawls in beside the root to sleep.

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950)

Posted in honor of autumn, but also of Martha Postma whose funeral I attended today, which made me think many "fluttering thoughts" such as those mentioned in this poem, as I too, leaf that I am, hear the wind and wait my turn.

Was There Ever Any Real Question?

On NPR's show Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me this week, the question was asked:

"What is stronger than the human will?"

The answer:

"The Little Debbie Snack Cake."

An article in A Level Psychology Resources reported: "In an article in the September/October 2008 issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, Dutch researchers found that there is a substantial inconsistency between participants' good intentions to choose a healthy snack and their actual behaviour. Participants were asked about their intentions in choosing among four snacks: an apple, a banana, a candy bar and a molasses waffle. About half of the participants indicated they would choose the apple or banana—a "healthy" snack. But when presented, one week later, with the actual snacks, 27% switched to the candy bar or waffle. Over 90% of the unhealthy-choice participants stuck with their intentions and chose the unhealthy snack. The study included 585 participants who were office employees recruited in their worksite cafeterias. Although intentions are often tightly linked to what people really do, it doesn't always work that way. One explanation is that intentions are usually under cognitive control while actual choices are often made impulsively, even unconsciously."

They had to do RESEARCH to figure this out?! I could have told them that and saved them the time and effort! It was, however, funny as presented in Q&A form on NPR (Listen to the portion of the show that contains this piece (4min)).

photo by Micky on flickr

Science with a View

from the novel Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (1997):

And so he struggled on. As he did he saw it anew, as fresh as in his undergraduate days: the structure of science was so beautiful. It was surely one of the greatest achievements of the human spirit, a kind of stupendous parthenon of the mind, constantly a work in progress, like a symphonic epic poem of thousands of stanzas, being composed by them all in a giant ongoing collaboration. The language of the poem was mathematics, because this appeared to be the language of nature itself....[It was a] dialogic process in which thousands of minds had participated over the previous hundreds of years; so that figures like Newton or Einstein....were not the isolate giants of public perception, but the tallest peaks of a great mountain range....In truth the work of science was a communal thing, extending back even beyond the birth of modern science, back all the way into prehistory....Now of course it was highly structured, articulated beyond the ability of any single individual to fully grasp. But this was only because of the sheer quantity of it; the spectacular efflorescence of structure was not in any particular incomprehsible, one could still walk around anywhere inside the parthenon, so to speak, and thus comprehend at least the shape of the whole, and make choices as to where to study, where to learn the current surface, where to contribute.

CancunWorld

By putting up a new post, I lost my favorite picture off of the bottom of this page: "I'm Telling You It's Not Straight!" by Seb Przd. (Click on the title to see it.) I love this artist's work, so I tried to create some like his. For my first attempt I chose to work with a picture of Cancun. Having been there, I figure if anything is going to be the center of the world, it should be. This technique is trickier than I had thought. If you'd like to see some really good examples, go to this link to see more of Seb Przd's excellent work.

Little Things

I love teaching at the college level - for many reasons, but I used to do child-care, and I student taught in a third-grade classroom. There are things I do miss about that (and a LOT of things I really don't miss about that!). I got a neat reminder today of what I do miss. One of my students had his young daughter with him in class today. While he was taking notes, she was drawing and came up to me after class to give me what she drew - ME! - teaching. This has been one crazy busy week, but that one little thing just made my whole week. I've been smiling all day!

PS I'm glad I dressed up for class today! I didn't know ahead of time I was going to have my portrait done and had considered a casual-dress Thursday! She even noticed my necklace - wow!

Glad and Young

you shall above all things be glad and young
For if you're young,whatever life you wear


it will become you;and if you are glad
whatever's living will yourself become.
Girlboys may nothing more than boygirls need:
i can entirely her only love


whose any mystery makes every man's
flesh put space on;and his mind take off time


that you should ever think,may god forbid
and (in his mercy) your true lover spare:
for that way knowledge lies,the foetal grave
called progress,and negation's dead undoom.


I'd rather learn from one bird how to sing
than teach ten thousand stars how not to dance

- e e cummings (1894-1962)

Never Grow Old

People like you and me never grow old. We never cease to stand like curious children before the great mystery into which we were born.

-Albert Einstein (in a letter to Otto Juliusburger, 1942)

As Promised

In my post for June 1 I promised a post for September 1, and that day has arrived. I was hoping to be able to put up a picture that looks somewhat more like the one above (taken during one of our recent trips to Monterery) than what it is I am going to post, but c'est la vie.
Yes, I am wearing more flattering clothing than in the June 1 pictures, but I'm quite sure I weigh the same. This summer I went down then back up. I had 3 weeks in the middle of the summer where I was home and there weren't special celebrations going on (yes, that's no excuse, I know, but I can't pass up birthday cake and other celebratory desserts - just wouldn't be right). During those 3 weeks I lost 10 pounds by exercising daily (45 min - swimming or elliptical and nautilaus) and altering my eating a bit. I am sure I have gained it all back - haven't gotten on a scale to check, so, although I'm not where I'd hoped to be I have found that it is possible, and that's the good thing that came from this experiment. I'm hoping that now that we're back into the school year and have a regular routine and I'm in my own home and can determine my own foods and meal times that I'll be able to take the summer "trial run" and make it more of a long-term pattern. The struggle right now that I'm back to work will be to find time to get to the gym. Perhaps I'll do a follow-up post on January 1.