tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-196518282011-04-21T19:33:54.601-07:00watchwrkwatchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.comBlogger471100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-60266005322134334432008-01-03T00:02:00.000-08:002008-01-03T00:18:35.758-08:00i am sickened by the self righteous animal lovers of San Francisco who rail against the young men recently attacked by a tiger at our city zoo. i feel as though i'm surrounded by a pack of savage primitives, with a perverted sense of justice that involves feeding our delinquent youth to wild animals. apparently the two survivors escaped, sought help, were ignored, and were attacked a second watchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-40243202472443488282007-08-19T02:09:00.000-07:002007-08-19T02:31:56.322-07:00woring in teams to build real things. talking with people about problems that matter. getting things to work that need to work. i'm back where i started, and back where i belong. i love pondering angels on the head of a pin- but it can't compete with the frenzied focus of a high stakes discussion on how to fix something that *must* be fixed. it can perhaps, but not according to my current setwatchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-42488433364211861582007-07-07T22:08:00.000-07:002007-08-19T02:09:49.753-07:00Several exciting things have happened to me recently, and I've been meaning to record them:In jamba juice two days ago I received a free smoothy for being able to juggle!! Years of practice have finally yielded a financial reward. Today, I survived an attempted poisoning on my flight from San Diego to Oakland. I definitely asked for orange juice, but instead was surprised by a mouthful of watchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-81936935008373299282007-04-11T14:23:00.000-07:002008-12-11T23:31:17.354-08:00Having fun above yosemite falls: watchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-12823932868316826282007-04-03T12:01:00.000-07:002008-12-11T23:31:17.484-08:00My leisurely walk home from lab last night (at 4 in the morning) was interrupted by an exciting robbery in progress. The hip-hop clothing store right under my apartment had its lights on, and a cop was in front of it talking to people inside. Suddenly, he pulled out his gun and started yelling at them to get on the ground. This made it impossible for me to enter my front door, and when I asked watchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-32309676024050909492007-03-14T01:22:00.000-07:002008-12-11T23:31:17.817-08:00Art class, final project:Each person draws one twelfth of a Georgia O'Keeffe flower.Here we are in front of the masterpiece:watchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-56804049828573274212006-12-11T21:21:00.000-08:002008-12-11T23:31:18.010-08:00The Audacity of Hope is great! Barack Obama has given me a perspective on politics that I've never known before. He is thoughtful, impassioned, and truly engaged in the entire process. His book left me with the same feeling I had after reading Franklin's autobiography- that real change is possible, and within my reach. My favorite part is where he explains the workings of constitutional law in a watchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-1163403817364129152006-11-12T23:42:00.000-08:002006-11-15T00:13:24.202-08:00i comes before e except in weird proteins.watchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-1163221324444316442006-11-10T20:09:00.000-08:002006-11-15T00:13:24.121-08:00I keep running into people who've been permanently disabled by massive head injuries. They're friendly and coherent, but something's obviously wrong. For instance their speach is slurred, or they walk strangely. After a bit of conversation comes the inevitable story about the biking or climbing accident, followed by coma and months spent in a hospital re-learning everything from talking to watchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-1163193100784055962006-11-10T12:55:00.000-08:002006-11-15T00:13:24.045-08:00I know people who know people in Iraq, but I've never known anyone there myself. My cozy academic circle is fully insulated from the peril and danger that are daily facts of life for members of our armed forces in the middle east. I read about the deteriorating situation *over there* as though it's happening on the moon, or in a history book. And when I'm bored, I read about something else.My watchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-1162973843526859922006-11-07T23:40:00.000-08:002007-05-20T18:42:42.412-07:00Suddenly I like politics again; my faith in the American people is making a cautious return.Today around 2:30 I finally succumbed and jogged up to LBL. Of course it felt absolutely wonderful. The weather was great, and my resolution to never run again went out the window. I think that if I only run once or twice a week, and only on dirt or grass, it'll be fine. If Lance Armstrong can run a watchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-1162761275073983392006-11-05T13:11:00.000-08:002006-11-15T00:13:23.892-08:00The publication of the Saddam trial verdict two days before U.S. elections is purely coincidental.watchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-1161849000714486082006-10-26T00:25:00.000-07:002006-11-15T00:13:23.796-08:00busy without thinking. going without pausing to consider where. life filled with activity, but really just an empty bustle that hides a vacume. only by intentionally depriving myself of routine, by breaking it and plunging into foreign continents, do i actually awaken, and only then for the briefest time. stuck in some bus depot with nothing to do. no music to listen to. nothing to read. watchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-1161462663595787462006-10-21T13:25:00.000-07:002006-11-15T00:13:23.716-08:00If x is the world, and Ax=b is what someone can see, then the null space of A is invisibile! I never really thought about it like this before. As John pointed out, every failed inverse problem is an opportunity in disguise, (for instance if you're interested in making Harry Potter cloaks or stealth airplanes).Swiming was difficult for me the first time because I was forgetting to breath. I waswatchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-1161059646908619212006-10-16T21:15:00.000-07:002006-11-15T00:13:23.650-08:00I've switched from running to swimming. A confluence of factors conspired against the daily pounding I'd gotten into the habit of delivering to my knees and other joints. The main reason I indulged in this masochism was the excellent shape it left most of my body in (everything that is except my knees). Or rather, the excellent shape it made me THINK I was in. Today after only one lap in the watchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-1160553983335477102006-10-11T00:28:00.000-07:002006-11-15T00:13:23.563-08:00Japanese Snacks is closing. My restaurant of at least five years has been sold to someone who will turn it into a sushi house. I'm shocked. Change is forced upon me and everything seems in flux.Most everyone there tonight was unaware of this titanic shift in the arrangement of things, especially the cooing couple who sat groping each other one table down. I tuned them out with ear plugs and watchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-1159159818255459762006-09-24T21:44:00.000-07:002007-05-20T18:45:22.664-07:00The new corner store guy just tried to sell me a stale bagel that was covered with mold. When I pointed this out to him he apologized, returned my money, and put the bagel back on the shelf!! The camel's back is now officially broken, (it had been under mounting strain because of a week long absence of chocolate flavored power bars). Looks like I'll be finding myself a new corner store.I was watchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-1158220482768438462006-09-14T00:24:00.000-07:002006-11-15T00:13:23.400-08:00The real value of a tool is often in uses that are totally unimagined by its inventor. Someone creates something, and then someone else discovers a wonderful way to use it differently.This natural evolution is obviously good for everyone, even the inventor! How ironic then that inventors often stymie change by piling on restrictions and rules to *help* people use their creations correctly, (i.ewatchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-1156017811081734192006-08-19T13:01:00.000-07:002006-11-15T00:13:23.336-08:00This is my favorite hairy cow from Germany! I was afraid it was going to gore me with one of its horns, but it just stood there in the middle of the trail looking confused.watchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-1155421583827002332006-08-12T15:10:00.000-07:002006-11-15T00:13:23.261-08:00Yesterday evening a bump came out of nowhere and knocked me off my unicycle. Instead of landing on my feet, I belly flopped onto pavement- my unicycle flipped through the air and landed some distance away. I was going fast, and I hit the ground hard, sliding to a stop like marshmellow on sandpaper. Little pebbles and dirt broke through my flesh and became embedded in my skin. I remember watchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-1153938302295241762006-07-26T11:21:00.000-07:002006-11-15T00:13:23.171-08:00This German lady totally ate it on her bicycle right in front of me. Thump.In related news, it is extremely hot in Munich, and the Deutches Museum doesn't have air-conditioning. Tomorrow we take the train to Frankfurt, and then it's back to Berkeley! I'm rather looking forward to my terriaki chicken.watchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-1153674411336921792006-07-23T09:34:00.000-07:002006-11-15T00:13:23.095-08:00Highlights one week in:-discussing the calculus of variations for hours -staying up all night preparing a presentation on virtual work-hiking the austrian alps: breathtaking scenes in every direction-hairy cows are so cute!!-swarms of flies that materialize from nowhere and attack from every diretion.-german food, german deserts, and german soft-drinks-mein lieber schwan-talking about watchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-1152687546109659772006-07-11T23:56:00.000-07:002006-11-15T00:13:22.978-08:00Deutschland here I come! watchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-1152524370708717222006-07-10T02:30:00.000-07:002006-11-15T00:13:22.899-08:00What could Zidane have been thinking? And why did he even bother arguing with the ref? Delibrate self destruction. Ugly and human.watchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-1152387678754820722006-07-08T11:48:00.000-07:002006-11-15T00:13:22.777-08:00Asymmetry vanquished! For an entire YEAR my unicycle had been mysteriously listing to the left; that beautiful rhythmic pumping nirvana that usually sets in after about half an hour was constantly interrupted by a nagging twist. I checked alignment, I checked dimensions, but my unicycle was entirely even! Totally symmetric. Perfectly balanced. I began to suspect it was me. That one leg was watchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-1152310388279982692006-07-07T14:57:00.000-07:002007-05-20T18:47:47.588-07:00Darwin and Bryan have died and gone to heaven. They met their maker in flesh and full technicolor. I'm not religious, but I feel so moved- I imagine the ecstatic convulsions of the possessed, the raw spirituality of the encounter: according to Bryan, they could even see her sweat!watchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-1151389946705000072006-06-26T22:31:00.000-07:002006-11-15T00:13:22.584-08:00Wow- the photos in Thomas' blog are SPECTACULAR. Out of a museum exhibit or something. Amazing pictures, amazing colors, and fascinating stories. A picture counts for a thousand words, and he has thousands of beautiful pictures. Enough gushing. I admit I'm slightly jealous. Slightly upset that my tenacity in academia has cut me down a dimension or two. My interests are as varied and deep watchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-1149485949904882892006-06-04T22:17:00.000-07:002006-11-15T00:13:22.488-08:00Hooray for watches! (And also for clocks and steam engines.)Real machines give me true joy; there is nothing else in the world that can hold my interest for days on end. I can walk the length of San Francisco, oblivious to everything, save the picture in my mind's eye of a perfect double three-legged gravity escapement. I see the parts and pieces that I plan to build, swining back and forth...watchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-1147162949480620592006-05-08T23:37:00.000-07:002006-11-15T00:13:22.371-08:00They approach tentatively, as if asking for directions; religion sold with smiles and friendliness, with tacit offers of companionship. I think it would be nice I say. And it would be. I've always loved churches and organs, and to truly believe in a majestic almighty God? How magnificent! The only problem is that I don't believe at all. My faith is in what I can touch and feel. My watchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-1144910518084760842006-04-12T23:07:00.000-07:002006-11-15T00:13:22.248-08:00Every other night I make my way through noise and singing beggers to my table in Japanese Snacks, and I give the lady there a ten dollar bill. She gives me my change and my terriaki chicken, and always agrees to my comments regarding the weather. I only eat half of what I order, saving the rest for the next day. Week after week and year after year, like the harsh scraping clicks of a metronomewatchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-1140594424928772442006-02-21T23:31:00.000-08:002006-11-15T00:13:22.074-08:00there is no there there, but several people in my section don't know this yet. they bask in the glory of formalism, seduced by their first encounters with proof. nothing can convince them that momentous ideas are often OBSCURED by the trappings of language. you use epsilons and deltas to verify the big ideas, not to come up with them in the first place. the tail doesn't wag the dog! i'll tellwatchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-1140158495256966192006-02-16T21:27:00.000-08:002006-11-15T00:13:21.781-08:00My city is wonderful. I'm so proud that we have mass pillow fights as well as dedicated groups of anti-consumers. I've always been distressed by spending as a social activity; my friends buy not what they need, but what they can talk about. That's important but it still seems wrong to pay $200 for an electric gadget when children are starving in Boliva. I know that if everyone stopped buying watchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-1136866510514051082006-01-09T19:52:00.000-08:002006-11-15T00:13:21.682-08:00Machu Picchu was more impressive! But the surrounding mountains totally stole the show. They ring the site, creating a massive expanse of space that's beyond anything I've ever experienced. They're huge on all sides, several times bigger than one's field of vision. And they're completely covered with lush vegitation. Peaks and entire hillsides are shrouded in mist that periodically melts watchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-1136680689108983872006-01-07T16:16:00.000-08:002006-11-15T00:13:21.574-08:00Posting from Peru.The weather in Cusco is spectacular, and having suffered in Puno (which is much higher), Brad and I are now comfortable with the altitude. This afternoon we walked up the hill to a massive complex of Incan ruins (Sacsayhuaman), and on the way I played soccer with some kids. What a relief to see friendly children playing and having fun. And what a contrast to kids in the US. watchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-1136021247332039592005-12-31T01:10:00.000-08:002006-11-15T00:13:21.499-08:00a bad hit and run happened right in front of me just now on the bay bridge. it was raining and very windy, and so most everyone was driving slowly and responsibly. i'm in the middle lane, and there's a car immediately in front of me on my left. and then some idiot in a large white pickup comes out of nowhere in the far left lane. i remember thinking that perhaps pickups drive better in rain watchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-1135933282516578842005-12-30T01:00:00.000-08:002006-11-15T00:13:21.436-08:00Machu Pichu, here I come!My resolution for the new year is to bring only one math book with me on my trip to Peru. Hmmm, but which one will it be?Hasta La Vista, Berkeley!watchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-1135892991783332982005-12-29T11:58:00.000-08:002007-05-20T18:52:29.531-07:00Yesterday I fired a gun for the very first time. It was totally easy. Not only pulling the trigger, but gaining access to it in the first place. You go to a shooting range, sign a bunch of papers, and with no instruction whatsoever you're given a gun, some bullets and a shooting lane. (Okay, maybe it's not that easy: I went with Ricky who does this sort of thing all the time. Without him I watchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-1135620119045283702005-12-26T09:58:00.000-08:002006-11-15T00:13:21.253-08:00I saw Narnia with Zach. In case anyone didn't know, evil queens are no good. Weaver:information is different from meaning.My dad has been insisting this to me as well. I agree, but I argue that the power of google makes the distinction irrelevant. The issues are subtle and shifting; he responds that google has an anglo-centric bias that's squashing other cultures and points of view. I'm not watchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-1135152587347317342005-12-20T23:05:00.000-08:002006-11-15T00:13:21.170-08:00Book that I don't need about waveletts, you are mine! The thrill of incipient knowledge courses through my veins. These mysteries now belong to me! treasure is inches away, in pages filled with pictures and graphs that i'll digest over rice cakes and chocolate milk. Waveletts are totally unrelated to what I do, but a good life is slightly illogical, and so I'm satisfied with my purchase. I watchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-1135020866361793342005-12-19T09:14:00.000-08:002006-11-15T00:13:21.106-08:00my head is never so clear as when i'm hiking through downtown, buffeted by people and cars, surrounded by noise. the chatter in a cafe, the pulsing music in a club, the lights in a bar. i am alone in the middle of chaos, and i love it. i feel like a fish floating in a strange ocean with a magnificent view of strange worlds all around.POD (Principle of Distraction):That mild distractions give watchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-1134599521148482402005-12-14T14:16:00.000-08:002007-05-20T18:54:02.523-07:00Syriana was slow and painful, and some guy sitting two rows in front of me snored loudly during the entire film, even during scenes with explosions and shooting.watchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-1134457953120349732005-12-12T22:59:00.000-08:002006-11-15T00:13:20.957-08:00only savages kill people. how eerie and sad that i can concern myself with reading email while accross the bay a man is concerning himself with the last hour of his life. and though i might ignore it, i am party to his death. government is BY the people.watchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-1134408081801056972005-12-12T09:21:00.000-08:002006-11-15T00:13:20.895-08:00after spending an hour or so navigating food and people at my department's christmas party, my conversation with friends was interrupted by the door prize raffle. of course i wanted an ipod nano, but considering the hundreds of people present i didn't give it a chance. before i knew what was happening though, my number was called, and i found myself standing on a chair, in front of gobs of watchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-1134105218715288442005-12-08T20:26:00.000-08:002007-05-20T18:55:50.622-07:00Here is my cross between Escher's tower of babel and Dhali's corpus hypercubus. How I love to make things! I dub this image "multitubus cube". It reminds me of math proofs, in which various parts interlock to form something bigger and more beautiful than merely their sum. My current project is a clock in which the hand tips trace out ellipses. Red hands, black dial, and no numbers at all!Machineswatchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-1133947300063576462005-12-07T00:37:00.000-08:002006-11-15T00:13:20.680-08:00i realized recently that proper salutations and sign offs in email are a waste of space. what a shock, that these things accomplish nothing at all. i'd been clinging to relics from a past age out of habit and rigid intolerance, like the poor souls who refuse to enjoy anything but classical music. freedom! i'm liberated for my discovery, and closer to that time several centuries ago when it was a watchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-1133943809530196652005-12-07T00:23:00.000-08:002007-05-20T18:58:17.522-07:00my fall ended with a hard crash onto the foundation of who i am. i called some friends i hadn't spoken with in a while, and i spent several hours reading about wavelets in Cody's. i've developed a completely new and useful representation for knots and links, and i've been having fun trying to tease invariants out of it. i'm going to Peru in a month, and several great movies are coming out on watchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19651828.post-1133943451642515592005-12-07T00:00:00.001-08:002006-11-15T00:13:20.463-08:00Having a blog appeals to me because I value good writing. The idea is that having my thoughts out in public will scare me into expressing them well. Also, I'm starting a blog because I wanna experience modern culture; if an earthquake sends us back to the dark ages tomorrow, there will have been a brief strange moment in time when a world full of people was magically connected. Wouldn't want to watchwrkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974291902797368167noreply@blogger.com0