evolution

it’s the holiday break, and i am certainly on break. i have slept until 10 nearly every morning, although today it was because i had painful stomach cramps last night. for christmas from my family i got a number of gift certificates (which i like), some math books i’d been trying to find, and an abacus (totally unexpected, but intriguing). i’m going to walk in on the first day of my classes this spring, plunk my abacus down on the table, and tell my students that it will be required for the course.

this weekend is my brother keith’s wedding. he is marrying his long-time girlfriend amie, the mother of his two-year-old daughter. i am putting forth a casual spectator’s attitude; but in reality, i couldn’t be happier about it. i am a groomsman in the wedding, which suits my preferred role of standing and watching. i should have my digital camera at the ready, watch this space for pictures.

i am almost to wrap up the paperwork part of the ph.d. application process. i took this weekend off to blow off some serious steam, something i’ve been needing to do for some time now.

i took the gre math subject test on saturday morning. i answered two-thirds to three-fourths of the questions, and if they are all correct that will make for a good score. i was pretty confident about most of my answers, though. i think it went okay.

then, i went out with my roommate and his friends from studio to see a band that they really like - and i really like them now too. the band’s name is sun cured red, and they put on a hell of a show. they are a jam band in the truest sense of the word, a la the grateful dead, but they have a much different style than the dead. they mix a bit of jazz, caribbean and latin, and even bluegrass into their music. never have i seen a band in this town have the effect on a place that these guys did - the place was full, and no one was sitting down - not even me. they are really something else, and i think they have a bright future in the music world.

i have been working very hard on my ph.d. program applications. i hope to have the lion’s share of it finished this weekend, so i can focus like a laser beam on taking the gre math subject test in two weeks. i have taken some practice tests in a preparation book, and i have not done very well, so i am a bit nervous now.