First Annual Meyer MTG Cube Tournament

The table is set:

 The cube is ready for drafting:

 The lands are available:

And the gaming begins:

I won my first round game (sorry Tim!).  This is my winning board.  The Restoration Angel paired with Wolfir Silverheart was the secret to my success!

With a trophy on the line Caleb and Anthony proceed to the final round: 

 And, with his four-color deck (all but red), Anthony emerges victorious - proud winner of the Magic Cube Tournament trophy (at least until next year!)

CMC^3 2013

I had a good weekend of mixing business with pleasure - mathematics, family, friends, teaching, and natural beauty! The weekend after finals week was sure a great time to get away and get renewed vocationally and spiritually!

Charting Progress with Pachelbel

Planarity

A colleague shared this site with me today - pretty interesting to explore:

http://planarity.net/#

A Good Teaching Day

Well, I was just hitting the slump I usually do a few weeks in to the fall semester when I realize summer is truly over - and when the adrenaline of the first couple of weeks of the semester wears off - and when some class management issues start to pop up.  Yesterday I was not a happy camper, but today was a whole different story!

After teaching one of my favorite topics (which is not always a favorite for students, especially at this level), three students stayed after the 2-hour lecture and talked with me for another 45 minutes about the topic at hand - set theory - particularly the continuum hypothesis and different "sizes" of infinity.  They were very excited - had lots of questions - lots of thoughts.

THIS is what it's all about!  THIS is what I live for!
THIS is what makes teaching worthwhile and exciting!

If I Won the Lottery

I don't know where this place is, but if I won the lottery, this is what I would buy. It has a pipe organ, a library with a fireplace, and game room - all the elements of my dream home!

Craftsman of Destruction

“Just because something isn't a lie does not mean that it isn't deceptive. A liar knows that he is a liar, but one who speaks mere portions of truth in order to deceive is a craftsman of destruction.” 

― Criss Jami

Summer Games

King of Tokyo (expansion)

Dominion

Cribbage

Magic

Card Pictionary

Flash Point: Fire Rescue

Tic

Cities and Knights of Catan

Catch Phrase

Chess

Agricola

Wits and Wagers

 Rook

Pandemic

Say Anything

Bang

Dr. Mario

Quirkle

Starfarers of Catan

Pinochle

Super Tic Tac Toe

YEA SUMMER!!

Those Great Goddesses of Peace

LORELEI It is no night to drown in: A full moon, river lapsing Black beneath bland mirror-sheen, The blue water-mists dropping Scrim after scrim like fishnets Though fishermen are sleeping, The massive castle turrets Doubling themselves in a glass All stillness. Yet these shapes float Up toward me, troubling the face Of quiet. From the nadir They rise, their limbs ponderous With richness, hair heavier Than sculptured marble. They sing Of a world more full and clear Than can be. Sisters, your song Bears a burden too weighty For the whorled ear's listening Here, in a well-steered country, Under a balanced ruler. Deranging by harmony Beyond the mundane order, Your voices lay siege. You lodge On the pitched reefs of nightmare, Promising sure harborage; By day, descant from borders Of hebetude, from the ledge Also of high windows. Worse Even than your maddening Song, your silence. At the source Of your ice-hearted calling- Drunkenness of the great depths. O river, I see drifting Deep in your flux of silver Those great goddesses of peace. Stone, stone, ferry me down there.

Sylvia Plath (1932-1963)

The Fly

Little Fly
Thy summer's play,
My thoughtless hand
Has brush'd away.

Am not I
A fly like thee?
Or art not thou
A man like me?

For I dance
And drink & sing;
Till some blind hand
Shall brush my wing.

If thought is life
And strength & breath;
And the want
Of thought is death;

Then am I
A happy fly,
If I live,
Or if I die.

William Blake (1794)