Asparagus

I love asparagus. The other day I decided to try it raw and surprisingly it was yummy. So I am going to try to create an asparagus salad recipe with the asparagus either raw or blanched. I'll keep you posted.

Mountain Climbing

I miss mountain climbing. maybe when Esh is at UVA we can visit him and all go climbing.

Property Taxes

Wow! It's amazing on what you can find out about properties. https://is.bsasoftware.com/bsa.is/AssessingServices/ServiceAssessingDetails.aspx?dp=09-09-09-400-030&i=1&sna=woodhaven+&snf=2252&appid=0&actSn=2252&actSna=WOODHAVEN+CT&unit=283

Goodbye Cars

Well, with the price of gas the way it is, my husband and I are thinking of selling all five of our cars (four are mine), and replacing them all with a single Mini-Cooper that we would all have to share. Hubby could only go to his clients when my son's school schedule allowed this summer, but my son goes to college so then hubby would have to work around my schedule. But it could all work and we would save a ton of money!

Paradoxes

I love thinking about paradoxes. Which came first questions or answers? Or "This sentence is false." Is the answer to this question "No."? Which actually did come first, the chicken or the egg? If I traveled into the past, what would happen when I stared at myself? If you shoot an arrow from point A to point B it never gets there because to get there it has to at first cover half of the distance and then another half distance...but there are an infinite number of half-distances so you never get there. I just love these things!

Triangular Intrigue

We all know that the angles on a triangle sum to 180 degrees. Think about mapping a triangle to the surface of a sphere -- the angles spread. the no longer sum to 180 but to some larger amount!

Beautiful Rectangle

Beautiful definition of a rectangle:

If all angles of a quadrilateral are congruent then the quadrilateral is a rectangle.

Imagine a rectangle mapped to a sphere. This definition still holds. Beautiful.

Who I Am

I am pattern sensitive. I see patterns everywhere; patterns in behavior, visual patterns, movement patterns. Where there are patterns, there are mathematical opportunities.

I am a genius. I figured out how to add, subtract, multiply and divide by the age of five. No one taught me, I just figured it out. I am a mathematician.

I am an artist. I notice and think of so many paintings and drawings, I will never run out. Life will stop before I do all of the art work in my head.

I am crappy at being sick. I hate the disruption to the energy of life so I get grumpy. It has taken 50 years for me to figure that when I am sick I have to stay in bed. Yuck.

I am a terrible victim. I fight back if attacked; otherwise I am fine. I will not allow anyone to mistreat me in any way. I say stop. If I say this several times and they don't stop, I walk away. I believe that quiet suffering is stupid and pointless; it can perpetuate a person being a victim for a lifetime.

I believe that love is not a casual thing. It is forever and deep; and it is for a limited few.

I walk through life with open eyes. I am a realist with optimistic tending. I prize honesty and truth. I think deception is despicable. Two-faced behavior is an act of cowardice. Trust is one of the most important things in life.

I believe that life is a gift and every day should be treasured. The Earth is one big living entity and we are connected to it. We are a part of it. We are one. All forms of life are on the same plain of importance. We are all equal.

I am not a housewife. It is not my calling. I was meant to walk the path most men follow; one of participating actively and fearlessly with the world -- utilizing the gifts I was born with not picking up after other who can do it for themselves.

I am independent. I am strong.

Feeling Good and Dentistry

My teeth feel so good. I love getting them professionally cleaned. As I have it done every three months, it is also so completely painless and fast. I never have any cavities or gum problems. So glad I have made this age appropriate choice. My son sees the dentist every six months and has had one cavity in his entire life. He does not dread going to the dentist because there is nothing to fear.

Taking responsibility for self by maintaining good health habits like going to the dentist often is not only an expression of loving self but also others. When you take care of yourself, you are less likely to be a burden on others. Yes, you reduce your ability to fear and complain about your teeth or going to the dentist because it is all so pain-free; and it's the adult thing to do. I am glad that my husband and I have taught this attitude to our son. Then, someday, he can propagate this attitude with his children. Passing on good habits and attitudes is the right thing to do.

Al Roker

The weatherman on NBC, Al Roker is such a sunny day person; it is delightful! Part of what's so nice about him is the sincerity; probably no back-stabbing anyone.

Headache Relief

Last night, we watch a National Geographic program on a Brit who climbed Mt. Everest. He got altitude sickness from his brain swelling due to the decreased atmospheric pressure. So next time you get a really bad headache just think of him and you will feel fortunate.

Home Schooling

In order for my son to get his science education at the level that the public schools thought he should be at, I home schooled my son part-time for one year. It worked and it has made a huge difference on his life. During the process, I met with the county curriculum specialists multiple times a year. This was to make sure my instruction was synchronized with the county instruction to my son would be aligned properly when he entered the public school system again as a full-time student. The curriculum specialist who reviewed my science instruction gave me accolades; and in fact, told me that I thought more proficiently than most of the science teacher actually out the schools. She asked if I would be interested in teaching home schooled students as their science instruction was usually extremely poor to non-existent. I said "N0." and the main reason is that I think home schooling is wrong.

The wrong people typically do the home schooling and for the wrong reasons. If home schooling i done then it should be by parents who at least have college degrees, and never by anyone who does not even have high school degree or a GED. the thought that they could instruct a child past elementary school is ludicrous.

The primary reason as expressed by home schooling blogs is parents want complete control over their children, and the reasons why they want such extremely levels of control is due to problems they had in their childhood. This is a self-centered (nothing to do with the actual child but instead the irrational fears of the parent) and control-freak approach to raising children and to life in general. Children are individuals separate from their parents. They may make some of the same choices in life but chances are they will make different ones. Parents should guide, not control. I even read where one parent's attitude was so immature as to blame the public school system and her school peers for getting into trouble! My guess is that she is raising her children to view the decision they make in the same manner; that if their decisions end up being incorrect it has to be due to someone other than themselves. Her children will never fully mature just like the mother has been unable to do.

Nothing in life is perfect and the public school system falls into this category just like everything else. But it exposing children to multiple teaching styles. As the children are away from the parents, it allows children to find out better who they are not just who the parents want them to be. Different clubs and after-school activities facilitate this. It allows the children to develop appropriate social skills; and yes, this is sometimes through failure and difficult situations, but they learn and grow and mature. They make their own decisions and must learn to accept these as their decisions no matter what the consequences are. Home schooled children tend to have all of their decisions made for them by their parents as they are constantly sheltered from life, and all that comes with it. A protecting parent is always in their lives. No risk, always safe, and totally unreal. Home schooling is wrong.

Mobius Strip

A mobius strip is delightfully fun. An intrigue to the mind. Chiral depending on which way you do the half-twist, two completely separte surfaces become one. Fascinating. Geometry and topology and impetus to knot theory.

Triangles

• Equilateral triangles are always similar triangles.
  
• Isosceles right triangles are always similar triangles.

Hug A Tree

Hug a tree today. They give us fresh air and they will out live us all. My son and I have been hugging trees for years. Give it a try and feel it hug you back.

Friends

Friends are so important to life. Sharing with them in good times is so important and they emotionally support you in rough times. I love my friends.

Some people can consider family as friends. Unfortunately, I can not. When I tell my friends about either my birth family or my in-laws, I usually get the response "You can pick your friends but you can't pick your family." This is SO true! Even by marrying, you can pick your spouse but their family is not a matter of choice.

Thank goodness I have my friends, They are dear people with whom I can share anything. They have similar ways of looking at life that allows closeness; and we learn from each other through our differences. And they are all great huggers! Hugs to all of them!!!

Sum of N-gon Angles

All n-gons can be broken down into triangles by creating line segments from a single angle to the points located at other angles (Theorem 3.25). The number of triangles formed can be determined by identifying the number of interior angles and subtracting the two angles located next to the chosen angle (line segments from the chosen angle to these angles would trace the two sides of the chosen angle). The number of sides on an n-gon equals the number of angles; so you can also use the number of sides less two. In other words, the number of interior triangles that can be formed in any n-gon equals the number of sides on the n-gon less two sides.

According to Theorem 4.53, all of the interior angles of a triangle sum to a linear angle which, as shown in earlier problems, is 180. The measure of the angles can be determined by multiplying 180 (per triangle) times the number of sides on the n-gon less two (number of interior triangles). Therefore, if n is the number of sides the following applies:

Number of angle degrees = (n-2)(180)

Comfort Zone

My entire life I have had to worry about other people's comfort zones -- myself and others need to change.

I have abilities that cross many areas. As a young child I figured out on my own, prior to kindergarten, how to add and subtract. Recommended by my math teachers to tutor others, I was a math prodigy; but I was also a girl. As I got older, I also showed artistic abilities. People who were not comfortable with my math ability steered me towards the artistic side in order to increase their comfort zone when they were around me. Unfortunately, although being an artist is suitably feminine, it is not considered a serious occupation.

The truth is that I have allowed others' thoughts to influence me too much. I am brilliant in both math and art. I am determined to pursue both, and not let others' opinions of what I can and can not do influence me. They need to deal with their comfort zones on their own and stop expecting me to change myself so they can be comfortable.

Questions or Answers

Today I was speaking with a friend about questions and answers. To her, questions and answers are equally important. In fact, she likes to have a question arise in her mind, then delve and search for an answer until she gets one; and she likes getting an answer.

To me, I love have questions come up in my mind, to search for an answer but I an happy to never get one. To me, the question and the journey or quest following the question is the most interesting part! I am as happy to either get an answer or not.

BTW have you ever noticed that the word question begins with "quest"? Differences are great!

Fear

I am not sure which is more terrible -- the fear of failure or the fear of success. Both stifle a person from becoming all that they can be.

I think what both boil down to is a fear of not being loved because of either failure or success. Love seems to be the key, the driving force for most humans. I think it even drives many religions -- love and fear. Hmmm. A wrap-around thought.

The thing to fear the most is probably fear tiself.