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And In This Corner...
Feb. 4th, 2007 10:25 amIn a recent Ramble, I mentioned Renaissance-era public exhibitions of mathematical skill. It seems that they are not entirely a thing of the past. (Hat tip to, of all sites, Language Log...)
Feb. 4th, 2007
It really is amazing what things turn up when you start clearing away the debris that accumulates in the home of a moderately lazy housekeeper.
I'm working on diminishing the piles of recyclable cardboard - mostly boxes, from Amazon and other such dealers - and the dinner table is beginning to be visible again. (I normally eat standing up in the kitchen.) So far, I've discovered the chopsticks that came with my wok, a number of books (including G. H. Hardy's A Mathematician's Apology and a Library of America volume of Ben Franklin's lesser-known works), and a solicitation from a charity, dated Feb. 16, 1999. There was also a CD-ROM drive that I never got around to installing; it was already creakingly slow by the standards of the day when it arrived, and would be an embarrassment to any self-respecting computer today. Old wall calendars, set-up instructions for computer games I haven't played in years, and an assortment of keepworthy magazines round things out.
If I can keep this up, I may have the chaff out of the house by the end of the year. The next step will be to get some more bookcases and storage for tapes and DVDs, to get all of those off the floor and tables. Then and only then will I be able to think about actually cleaning the place.
Five-Year Plan, anyone?
I'm working on diminishing the piles of recyclable cardboard - mostly boxes, from Amazon and other such dealers - and the dinner table is beginning to be visible again. (I normally eat standing up in the kitchen.) So far, I've discovered the chopsticks that came with my wok, a number of books (including G. H. Hardy's A Mathematician's Apology and a Library of America volume of Ben Franklin's lesser-known works), and a solicitation from a charity, dated Feb. 16, 1999. There was also a CD-ROM drive that I never got around to installing; it was already creakingly slow by the standards of the day when it arrived, and would be an embarrassment to any self-respecting computer today. Old wall calendars, set-up instructions for computer games I haven't played in years, and an assortment of keepworthy magazines round things out.
If I can keep this up, I may have the chaff out of the house by the end of the year. The next step will be to get some more bookcases and storage for tapes and DVDs, to get all of those off the floor and tables. Then and only then will I be able to think about actually cleaning the place.
Five-Year Plan, anyone?
