Ballet

Fifty years ago this month, I began studying ballet, inspired by my sister who had been taking classes for years. All through the rest of high school and college (I was in ninth grade at the time) I was passionate and even obsessed with dance. It was difficult beyond anything I had ever imagined. I just lacked the basic musical education and musicality that was required, and what I now recognize as a bit of ADD made it more difficult.

An operation to remove a bone tumor in my left leg, at the beginning of my senior year in college, gave me a break which afforded some perspective. I faced up to the fact that I would never be successful as a dancer and begin to work seriously on mathematics, which before I had done just for fun. It has been wonderful having a career in mathematics, and I have achieved more than I would ever have dreamed in the pursuit.

Sometimes I wonder whether/how I should take this experience to heart in teaching my students in elementary courses who will never be mathematicians. I keep coming back to the conclusion that if they take math courses, whether for fun or as a requirement for graduation, they need to approach the discipline with the same single-minded passion with which I approached ballet. If they do not, I feel no responsibility for any less than stellar grades they earn. On the other hand, if they do so, I am willing to spend inordinate amounts of time to help them succeed if they still have difficulty.

Topology Conference

Two weeks ago, the Spring Topology and Dynamics conference was held in Milwaukee. Topology conferences, like sf cons, are places where I feel truly at home. It is wonderful to see so much exciting new work being done in topology, and some young people beginning to work in the area. It seems that my particular field is most popular in Mexico now, so I get to visit there often. This is a bonus, since I enjoy visiting there.

Over the years, some Topology conferences have been better than others. This one was really exciting. I am hopeful about the field.

Ralph Nader

Ralph Nader announced his candidacy for President this morning. I agree with Nader on almost everything, except for nuclear power. Nuclear power, along with wind and solar, needs to be the future of our energy use. What needs to be off the table is biofuels which will lead to deforestation, use of land needed for food production, and further soil depletion. This is not to say that a few people cannot heat their homes with woodstoves, but on a large scale this is a very bad idea. What needs to be stopped completely is the use of fossil fuels. They will continue to worsen the state of our atmosphere more and more the longer we use them.

Birth of Black America II

The people brought to Jamestown in 1619 from Angola, having been taken off a slave ship by a pirate ship, apparently all ended up free one way or another, although some of their descendants remained enslaved. The English settlers over the next eight or nine decades gradually made it harder for black people to gain freedom, although slavery did not reach its full legal status until 1705.

I do not fully understand this whole process, even after finishing the book. The authour writes only what can be documented, and sometimes people's motives are not clear from the written records. I can only say that the book is well worth reading, even if, like a lot of history, it is often depressing. The hope that the Angolan people in Virginia might have developed was gradually taken away by changes in laws and customs during the course of the 1600's.

Birth of Black America

I am reading a fascinating book entitled The Birth of Black America which I am going to recommend to anyone interested. It is by Tim Hashaw, whom I first heard discussing it some time ago on NPR. It details what can be documented about the Angolans brought to Jamestown in 1619 by pirate ships. They had been captured from a slave ship in the Caribbean.

I almost never read history; generally I prefer to read sf and fantasy, especially set in cultures as different from my own as possible.

I expect to post more when I finish the book.

Maiden Goddess and "sexy" photos of women

I want to post a link to a discussion from a year or so ago on the role that assorted media may have played in the rebirth of Goddess consciousness, specifically the Maiden aspect. The discussion is in the comments to an entry in Nalo Hopkinson's blog.

http://nalohopkinson.com/2006/01/must_be_the_season.html

The book that Nalo mentions here is worth reading, also, if like me you enjoy short, subtle erotic fiction.

Mathematical discovery

A few days ago, I submitted an abstract for an invited talk at a conference this summer. Then, within twenty four hours, I learned something that made the title I had submitted seem completely misleading. The deadline to submit a revised abstract has passed, so the title stands. I suppose my talk will be a surprise to the audience.