Earlier this month, I got the bad news that our city library hours are being cut again, with Mondays dark, and Fridays only open for half a day. But as I hear the news of shortfalls at all levels of government, not just city, but county, state, and federal, as well, due to a weak [...]
Recently, Peter and I got a Costco membership despite my assertion that Costco is a rip-off. As it turns out, the truth is nuanced–you can save some money by joining their club, but you have to know the value of things, since not everything is cheaper, and some is even more expensive. And the deals [...]
Like most citizens, I don’t like paying taxes, and as a sole proprietor, I’m acutely aware of what I pay in income tax, because I have to pay it directly in big chunks (rather than having it taken out of my paycheck bit by bit.) But a weekend helping out a friend in the rugged [...]
I’ve heard The Internationale in French, Russian, and English, but I have to say this version’s so groovy it made me laugh, even though I’m not a communist. Tony Bambino the Internationale (via YouTube)
I felt like I was witnessing the end of an era (or at least a phase of Kelly’s life) when her favorite storytime presenter, Andrew, announced he would be moving on to other things. In perspective, the timing was right: we’ve been going to see him almost every week for over 3 years, from when [...]
One of the nice things about having my daughter at a Christian school is that we have to learn more about Christianity. And this learning, in turn, has given me a bigger picture on customs, traditions, and allusions in western civilization. Today, Kelly sang with her class during the early Good Friday service at the [...]
By Sunday, things were beginning to slow down, though Neil was still disappointed that we’d overslept so he missed the first 20 minutes of Sunday’s talks. During the first break, we went to the exhibition room, where the artists and puzzlers were taking down their exhibits. I’d admired Jenine Mosley’s clever shapes, made completely out [...]
One thing I discovered at Gathering 4 Gardner is that mathematicians (not to mention magicians) really love playing with space and time. I had barely gotten there when I met a Swiss person who is actually Japanese; and a Japanese person who is actually Irish. To my knowledge, Neil is (probably) the only child who [...]
On Saturday afternoon, we loaded ourselves onto several buses which went over to Tom and Sarah’s house, where we could see the mathematical art, and participate in building some new sculptures. Soon enough Neil got to work on what he called a “Hilbert Curve,” a sculpture which eventually ended up looking like this: Julian came [...]
On Friday at G4G9, magician Derek Hughes asked Neil to come on stage with him for his act. Unfortunately for Derek, Neil has spent the morning listening to talks from illusionists on perspective and misdirection. My video is just awful, but the dialogue between the two of them is great: Derek has made Neil promise [...]
