Elves should have mathematicians, too

But I wrote my lecture notes already, so I should be doing real math, which is hard to do when distracted. (I mean, most things become more difficult when in a distractable frame of mind, but calculus* requires less of my attention than figuring out the irreducible representations of D_n from those of B_n, for example.)

I'm not really sure what I'm intending to do until class. Babble at the internet until either it's class time or I start being able to concentrate? And then hope that teaching restores my concentration so that I can get something done this afternoon?

In grandiose plans for break, we have cleaning the apartment and accomplishing lots of math-things. And probably a bunch of other stuff that I haven't written down into anything like a list yet. Gardening, maybe. It's probably approaching time to do things with gardens**.

We'll see whether staying here actually makes me more productive over break than going home would.

In unrelated, we're almost done with the second draft of story one, even if we completely rearranged the second half enough that it's not ready to show people yet. (This means that my brilliant plan of giving my grandmother an audio version*** as a birthday present isn't going to work, and I'm going to have to come up with something else.)

In also unrelated, I had a dream last night that I was giving a talk, or supposed to be giving a talk, only there was some lady who was apparently also giving a talk at the same time, sharing the same time/space, only this was a last minute sort of thing so I was scrambling to figure out how I could cut my talk down. And also we didn't know who was going first. But it was decided that she was, after some confusion, and she went up to the podium and said about two sentences, which I don't remember, but I don't think they made very much sense. And everyone was very excited (maybe she was famous?).

Then I got to go up and talk, and before I even said anything I was asked a question about some computer/technology use policy thing? I don't remember exactly, but it had nothing to do with what I was supposed to be talking about, and it was somehow political-important, and there wasn't a way to avoid answering.

I also had a dream in which I ate too many chocolate chip cookies, even though I wanted to have something else for dessert.

And I also had a dream in which I was on a train, apparently going to visit Miriam, and I was standing around talking to the friendly conductor guy, who didn't seem to be actually doing conductor-things and also wasn't on the convenient framed picture of the train crew (which I looked at to see if I could figure out his name), and we came to a station and apparently everyone was supposed to go into the next car to exit the train, and maybe also just in general, so he said goodbye and I was a little confused, but went into the next car and found a seat . . . and then I realized that this was Philadelphia, and I should be getting off (but it seemed to be Philadelphia from the wrong direction, and not at all like actual Philadelphia, as it seemed much more slanted than train locations generally are, and somehow like a zoo and a playground and lots of bright sunlight and fun things, rather than a train station). I did manage to get off before the train left, and I went onto the not-actually-a-train-platform and found Emily and some people I definitely recognized, but I'm not sure who they were, and then after a minute or so Miriam came back from the bathroom (which is apparently where she had been), and there may have been more people I definitely recognized but can't name.

I seem to have done well on dreams that don't actually have endings last night.




*and it is calculus, now. We did the definition of the derivative on Tuesday, and derivative rules today. Possibly this being directly before break is not the best timing ever, but . . .

(Also, I'm ahead of where I was last year, because the dates on last year's lecture notes aren't for another two weeks. Which is good, since I totally ran out of time then.)

**yes, my garden is a bunch of houseplants and five of those plastic tubs for holding one's canned beverages and large amounts of ice, filled instead with styrofoam packing peanuts for drainage and dirt on top. But I still get to grow plants in it!

***my brother and I gave her a CD of us reading random short stories and poems that we'd written, that were vaguely presentable, for Christmas. I have no idea whether she'd appreciate the genre of the New Trenham stuff, but I'm pretty sure she'd enjoy that I was involved in writing it. (Also, possibly I am just amused by the idea of recruiting my grandmother as a potential beta reader.)