At the end of every semester, I find myself amazed, impressed, and grateful seeing amazingly uplifting comments from my students. This gives me the power to move on. Some excerpts from evaluations for my Discrete Mathematics class - Fall 2023:
"I think this course is a great introduction to higher level
math, its related language, terminology, as well as higher-level working logic.
I enjoyed this class as it dove into many of the mysterious, hidden patterns
that I have seen in math for several years. It is interesting to learn all of
these things and finally learn the "secrets" behind math."
"The materials in discrete math reminded me a lot of the
materials in the digital logic class I took the semester prior. I enjoy all
things math and I also enjoyed that digital logic class as well. It was nice to
be able to build upon that knowledge and become more familiar with the theory
behind topics such as k-maps, modules, and decryption. Decryption and it's
multiple theories was one topic that I think interested me the most."
Aurelia Caragiu (11/27/1932 - 2/2/2022), quick notes to self, thinking about the early years:
In grade school, she taught me calligraphy, encouraged me to write summaries (I liked that, so I moved on recursively, writing summaries of summaries and so on in a convergent process to the essential - if any), bought me popular Science books on Christmas, pretended not to notice that I stole some old physical chemistry textbooks from the cellar - writing summaries in the fashionable student notebooks that I loved, but most importantly she progressively pretty much allowed me to do whatever I wanted (including me going with other kids in the neighborhood to walk in the park, play football, or catch tiny fish in the central lake - even if that resulted in some cuts on my feet).
Her letting me go was an act of both love, pragmatism, and sacrifice since I was not the only child and the others had really pressing needs at times (about that, later - anyway it could have gotten really complicated).
In the middle school, again, she gave me lots of freedom - and I greedily took it all - so I went to various clubs, museums, movies, walks, stayed late in the municipal library, etc. There was no turning back, but her love and sacrifice for all of us will not be forgotten. In a sense I am still processing this at a deeper level.
Not to be forgotten: our summer group listening sessions in the early 80's - Music For Zen Meditation And Other Joys (1964 by Tony Scott, Shinichi Yuize, and Hōzan Yamamoto) at Razvan's home; we were five high school students living in an oppressive dictatorship; after those sessions ended we departed free and in meaningful silence. Particularly fond of After The Snow The Fragrance...
In
one of my classes, this past week we discussed Kozyrev-Grinberg theory
(for me it brought back ideas that I felt passionate about 42 years ago -
it felt good to resuscitate them, and my students apparently liked it).
Star Trek TNG's episode "The Inner Light" (Season 5, Episode 25 - June 1, 1992) was aired today on Heroes and Icons HD. It is a masterpiece, arguably the best Star Trek TNG episode. For the record, I paste here the plot from Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Inner_Light_(Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation) alongside George Harrison's "The Inner Light"
On stardate 45944.1, the Enterprise-D finishes a magnetic wave survey of the Parvenium system and finds an unknown probe. The device rapidly scans the ship and directs an energy beam at Captain Picard, who wakes up to find himself on Kataan, a non-Federation planet. A woman, Eline, tells Picard that he is Kamin, an iron weaver recovering from a fever, and that she is his wife. Picard speaks of his life on the Enterprise but Eline and their close friend Batai try to convince Picard that his memories were only dreams and incorporate him into their society as Kamin. Picard begins living his life as Kamin in his village, Ressik, having children with Eline and learning to play the flute. Kamin spends much time outdoors and with his Dobsonian telescope studying nature. As years pass, he begins to notice that the drought is caused by increased radiation from the planet's sun. He sends reports to the planet's leaders, who seem to ignore his concerns.
On Enterprise, the crew continues attempts to revive Picard. They try to block the influence of the probe but Picard nearly dies, so they are forced to let it continue. They trace the rocket's trajectory to a system whose sun went nova 1,000 years before, rendering life extinct in the system.
Years pass and Kamin outlives Eline and Batai. Kamin and his daughter Meribor continue their study of the drought. They find that it is not temporary; the extinction of life on the planet is inevitable. Kamin confronts a government official who privately admits to him that they already know this but keep it secret to avoid panic. The official gravely points out to Kamin that they have only recently launched artificial satellites using primitive rockets: their race simply does not possess the technology to evacuate people before their planet is rendered uninhabitable.
One day, while playing with his grandson, Kamin is summoned by his adult children to watch the launch of a rocket, which everyone seems to know about except him. As he walks outside into the glaring nova light, Kamin sees Eline and Batai, as young as when he first saw them. They explain that he has already seen the rocket, just before he came there. Knowing that their planet was doomed, the planet's leaders placed memories of their society into a probe and launched it into space, in the hope that it would find someone who could tell others about their species. Picard realizes the context: "Oh, it's me, isn't it?", he says, "I'm the someone... I'm the one it finds", realizing that Kamin was the avatar they chose to represent their race.
Picard wakes up on the bridge of the Enterprise to discover that while he perceived many decades to have transpired, only 25 minutes have passed. The probe terminates and is brought aboard the Enterprise. Inside, the crew finds a small box. Riker gives the box to Picard, who opens it to find Kamin's flute. Picard, now adept at the instrument, plays a melody he learned during his life as Kamin.
On 9/30/2023 I
really enjoyed a multicultural fair in Lima, OH, featuring Indian,
Nigerian, and other cultures.
For India, a Lima young lady danced a
wonderful dance of Siva (afterwards she told us that she learned the
dance online - she was from Lima OH), and a boy (I suppose less than 8
years old) presented the activities of the latest Moon landing of the
India space program.
Then a team of African American ladies (I
understood they came from Chicago) performed a really professional
series of amazingly athletic team dances.
I am including some photos and recordings (two Nigerian dances) from the event.
