Ce soir

Happy Birthday, Blog!

Tenez-moi

cachez-moi

dans ton abri

car il pleut

sur ma ville

ce soir

Que faire?

Change of plan.

Going 'to see the queen', er...rather the new baby in London, and that old cutie pie nephew of mine! Spur of the moment decision of course, the tickets can vouch for that haha...but oh all the fun we shall be having! You can't put a price on that.

Mr. jones will be hiking in the Andes with his usual group...shhh...the pack has been infiltrated by some female partners, thus losing its all male charm, tsk-tsk,what can i say, such is the repercussion of getting older! Me, now i can completely understand a trip just with your own gender :-p call me old-fashioned, but it's a whole different kind of fun that merits a chance. Try it!

Of course i would be mixing it up with the chosen other gender pretty soon before i jump on that pond crossing plane next week. One more day before my visit to mr jones; which by the way was also a spur of the moment decision, given how he just visited me this last weekend! But this time the spur was his.

Wow, all of a sudden i feel pensive.

C'est pourquoi, mon amie?

Tu sais.

Oui, je sais. Mais que faire?

I feel like a fish who can't run any more and is about to be reeled in...

Dites-moi

Wow, finished grading two days early, talk about a paradigm shift in my work ideology!

Also, i did a kick-ass job on the french composition course, ah oui, even tho i missed quite a few classes, (going to Paris mid-quarter and nursing mini-me back to health, one after the other), making me think at one point that i was falling behind my standards. Hey what can i say i proved myself wrong! So watch me beam! :-D

Hmm...

Sigh1.

I was supposed to leave country for a few weeks but my travel agent ate my ticket, so now i can't go. Hmm, no worry, you see, i believe in karma, so the man shall pay one way or the other, but malheurusement pour moi now i have to see the inside of a small claims court ...bleugh!

On the plus side, i get to see mr jones before he leaves for his trip to le continent plus bas qu'Etas-Unis...in addition, i can take it easy for a few days before the grinding starts anew. Perhaps ponder here and pick up some unfinished research stuff i pushed off to the back burner (which was subsequently switched off haha eek!) I am also designing a webpage for my new grant, so i am hoping to be very creative this break!

Sigh2.

More than 60% flunked the college algebra course. In that lucky (able?) 40% there were 1 A, 4 Bs, 6 Cs. The A and Bs went to students of a certain race, and I knew it was coming. Nevertheless, this always gives me a pause. And I can't attribute it to good study habits of a certain race, because there were some very hard working students in the 60% that didn't make it. Hmm. Je ne sais pas c'est quoi! Truly it makes no sense, but it's a pattern i see over and over, and as mathematicians we are trained to trust patterns. Patterns repeated lead to rules. Of course in maths it has to be 100% true before it can be called a rule, but allowing some error tolerance for human subjects, this is no short of a rule. So far.

What does it take to be successful in math? Let's analyse. LOL. Sorry, i am just laughing thinking of the upcoming pun, but seriously i think that it's very important that one has an analytical brain, first and foremost. Reflecting on what is done is no less important than the doing part itself. Students who get bogged down in the how part and leaves the why to bite the dust will not succeed. Secondly, knowing a new concept is not enough, one must connect it continuously with the old. It's a language where there is a logical structure, singing out of tune will only make for cacophony. Thirdly, make no assumptions, be creative and cognizing enough to cook from scratch on a blink's notice. It's a fine balancing act. One cannot drop one ball and carry another like it's possible in some other subjects, hehe, no disrespect. Lastly, math is art, not science, let the beauty of its highly abstract nature dazzle you without baffling. :-P C'est comment? Seulement celles qui tombent amoureux de la langue ce savent!

So yeah. Tall order, i know, but if one race can continue to succeed at it then why can't the rest? Tell me?

Mmm

Getting ready to write that final paper in french...so here i am, to get my writing engine going!

My crazy quarter is slowly coming to a semi-halt, still many things to be done, including grading, but that's that. Whine i shall not.

It has been really cold since yesterday, tonight we shall even enjoy some freezing temperature, runaway leaves continue to adorn every street and structure, mountains are graced by unprecedented fresh snow causing merry snow-boarders to call in sick. I am on the phone with my gas company. My goal is simple; i have a desperate need of my fireplace to crackle up those logs (faux, oui, mais c'est ça!) -keep me warm.

Ah, warmth!

Reminds me of our days in Paris. Some day i will sit down and recount, from the food to the places to the people to the man i was with. Someday. When i can breathe free and not have to count the beats.

For now, i will just think and smile.

S, my friend and younger colleague said something interesting the other day, on our usual walk back to the parking lot after a day or work. It's a boon, she said, to not have the blessing of mini me when it comes to mr jones. Makes us that much more appealing. Funny, huh? Now don't ask me what it means. That's what she said, with that trademark wink of hers, that i grew to love.

I wonder.

But no matter what, i am sitting here on a cold afternoon, alone and smiling away. Mmm...