the truth about the Higgs boson

Recently read:
Philip Pullman, The Golden Compass
Lewis Carroll (w/ Martin Gardner), The Annotated Hunting of the Snark
Seneca, On Benefits
Michael Pollan, Unhappy Meals (NYT article)

Recently heard:
The Shins, Wincing the Night Away
Wagner (via Placido Domingo), Parsifal

Recently sick with:
Evil Disease, Yuck

Recently Played:
Set
Go
Apples to Apples
Carcassonne

disbanding the party with Ramsey theory

Movies I've seen recently:
Children of Men: the best I've seen in several months, in a few ways
Pan's Labyrinth: visually amazing and satisfyingly gruesome but I can't decipher the allegory
Smokin' Aces: silly and fun assassin flick

Things I'm working on:
implications of the Axiom of Constructibility and dual Ellentuck theorems.

Recent notable events included a fantastic Andrew Bird concert, I started making kombucha again, I went out dancing Skully's, and I'm putting up a lot of old math books of mine on eBay this week.

Also noteworthy, my good friend Gina Prodan is aiming to complete the Ironman triathlon in 2015: 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, 26.2-mile run. She's made a blog of her training and it's enjoyable to read. Give her some support while you're there; a task that big demands commensurate encouragement.

as is your wont

いななくや馬も夜寒は同じ事
inanaku ya uma mo yozamu wa onaji koto

for the neighing horse
the cold night
same as for me
-Issa, 1808

I finally won a go game! It's been months since I've won any games, mostly because I'm not very good and thus everyone I play is better than me and has to give me a handicap. You can view the game HERE, if you're into punishing yourself. Even though it's full of me screwing up at the beginning, since these games take so long sometimes, you can watch me learning enough in the course of it to win.



I'm racing up 40 flights of stairs, as is becoming a habit of mine in February.