Here's a pic of C with our seed packets!
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Gardening
I have decided to take the plunge and start gardening. My neighbors are planning to build some raised beds in a couple of weeks, so I am going to get ready by starting some seedlings before the big project. I want to plant some edible perennials too. Any suggestions?
Here's a pic of C with our seed packets!
Here's a pic of C with our seed packets!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
144
A biography of the number 144, by K:
144 was a very special number. It had grown up on a farm and was very hard-working. It was very square and was often considered gross*. It was close friends with 12, being 12 squared and the 12th number in the Fibonacci sequence. It was the smallest number with exactly 15 divisors and was a Harshad number. All this fame was making 12 jealous, and he decided to think up of a way to get some of its own.
12 started writing 144 as 12^2, and pretty soon everyone was doing the same thing. This made 144 furious, for 12 and 2 were getting all the credit for things that it had worked hard to obtain. It had had to work hard to get into the Fibonacci sequence, and the test for entrance into the Harshad Academy was one of the hardest in the world. It had also had to spend a lot of hard-earned money in bribes to have its 5th power be the sum of 5 other 5th powers (27^5+84^5+110^5+133^5=144^5)
Once best of friends, 144 and 12 parted bitter enemies. To this day, they both hate each other and will not speak when they meet. 144 went on to found the Anti-square Foundation and led many anti-square rallies in which there were both square and non- square numbers. 144 also became a partner in the Anti-Powers Foundation. 12 became a leading politician for the Powers Party and was in second place for leading number several times (1, 0,i,or the square root of 2 always won). He set all of his weight against 144 and the things he supported. This made him very popular among his own party, but not as much among the other parties. To them 144 seemed like a martyr, having worked hard for his achievements only to have them stolen by 12 and 2. 144 gained support, and in the end the Powers Party was toppled as its members went to the Composite Party to save their political cases. In the year 4075 F#**, 144 was elected chief number. All of his hard work had payed off.
*gross is a mathematical term for 144
** F#=first number
(I know that I am also way overdue for posting pictures and updates about H. Whoever said that three is not much different than two was totally lying! There are pictures on Flickr for those who are interested.)
144 was a very special number. It had grown up on a farm and was very hard-working. It was very square and was often considered gross*. It was close friends with 12, being 12 squared and the 12th number in the Fibonacci sequence. It was the smallest number with exactly 15 divisors and was a Harshad number. All this fame was making 12 jealous, and he decided to think up of a way to get some of its own.
12 started writing 144 as 12^2, and pretty soon everyone was doing the same thing. This made 144 furious, for 12 and 2 were getting all the credit for things that it had worked hard to obtain. It had had to work hard to get into the Fibonacci sequence, and the test for entrance into the Harshad Academy was one of the hardest in the world. It had also had to spend a lot of hard-earned money in bribes to have its 5th power be the sum of 5 other 5th powers (27^5+84^5+110^5+133^5=144^5)
Once best of friends, 144 and 12 parted bitter enemies. To this day, they both hate each other and will not speak when they meet. 144 went on to found the Anti-square Foundation and led many anti-square rallies in which there were both square and non- square numbers. 144 also became a partner in the Anti-Powers Foundation. 12 became a leading politician for the Powers Party and was in second place for leading number several times (1, 0,i,or the square root of 2 always won). He set all of his weight against 144 and the things he supported. This made him very popular among his own party, but not as much among the other parties. To them 144 seemed like a martyr, having worked hard for his achievements only to have them stolen by 12 and 2. 144 gained support, and in the end the Powers Party was toppled as its members went to the Composite Party to save their political cases. In the year 4075 F#**, 144 was elected chief number. All of his hard work had payed off.
*gross is a mathematical term for 144
** F#=first number
(I know that I am also way overdue for posting pictures and updates about H. Whoever said that three is not much different than two was totally lying! There are pictures on Flickr for those who are interested.)
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Recent Events
We have had a number of notable events over the past several weeks.
C turned 2, and really enjoyed her first birthday party. We had pizza, ice cream cake, and painted t-shirts, but the biggest hit by far was the balloons.
K started fifth grade. As you can see, he was in quite a hurry to get to school this year, even forgetting his backpack the first time out the door!
Fok celebrated his 35th birthday with homemade mac and cheese and a walnut torte.
And we are gearing up to welcome our newest addition very soon!
C turned 2, and really enjoyed her first birthday party. We had pizza, ice cream cake, and painted t-shirts, but the biggest hit by far was the balloons.
K started fifth grade. As you can see, he was in quite a hurry to get to school this year, even forgetting his backpack the first time out the door!
Fok celebrated his 35th birthday with homemade mac and cheese and a walnut torte.
And we are gearing up to welcome our newest addition very soon!
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Changes
I am feeling a little overwhelmed today. There are many changes happening in our family and in the lives of our friends. We welcome two new nephews!! This month, WSJ was born to Jeremy and Amber, and XKL was born to Fok-Jee and Meaghan. We also say goodbye to a friend and colleague. Dora Bialostocki passed away yesterday after a long battle with cancer. I will miss her smile. Finally, we are moving into our first house today...the third time that I have moved while expecting a new baby. So many emotions. I will try to honor each of them in their turn and accept the changes with humility and gratitude.
Friday, June 26, 2009
The passing of genius
I know that many people have already written many things about Michael Jackson in the last 24 hours, but I have been surprised at my own strong reaction to his death. While it's true that Thriller was my very first cassette tape received as a gift at my very first sleepover party, that was the high point of Michael Jackson's influence on my life. Over the last several months, I have been revisiting his work, as Fok likes to give the kids their pop culture education from youtube on a regular basis. (Just ask K about Amish Paradise.) Watching him dance, you can see that he was one of those gifted (cursed even?) with the rare burden of true genius. Take the Scream video, where he dances with his sister Janet. Now Janet Jackson is no slouch, but compared to Michael's natural ease, she looks stiff and rehearsed. As a mathematician, there are many stories of genius snuffed out or gone insane, or just gone strange (Galois, Abel, Cantor, Nash, Grothendieck). People so talented, that without them some ideas would not have come into being. I remember sometimes feeling grateful that they had left some work for the rest of us mortals. So I guess that is why the passing of MJ has me sitting with some malaise on a beautiful Friday afternoon. We have lost a genius, and worse a genius that didn't ripen, but went strange. And maybe, like with Cantor, we carry some blame for the strangeness.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
We are having a good summer so far. K has been out of school for a little over a week, and seems to be enjoying his free time. He had a piano recital last weekend that went pretty well. He got to play on the grand piano in the recital hall at the music school on campus.
C has been having fun taking pictures. Here is one that she took of Daddy trying to steal a little nap. Fok has been going to jujitsu practice at 5:30 in the morning for the last couple of weeks, and is really liking his naps!
C also loves to dress up in mommy's clothes. This usually means trying on my shoes, but yesterday she put on one of my shirts, and mugged for the camera.
We have been having some great weather lately. Generally sunny and not too hot...pretty much no humidity (much better than Boston in the summer, I have to say!) Fok took this photo on our way off to work/school a few days ago. I think that may be one of the last appearances of the belt until sometime in October. A friend a church today told me that I had finally "popped" like the button on a Thanksgiving turkey :). Well, I'm not sure I am thrilled about being compared to a turkey at this point, but at 24 weeks, at least I look pregnant!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)