I was really good about posting an entry there at the beginning of the semester. But now I have started to get all muddled with things. To be honest - sometimes I am amazed at the amount of random thoughts I have floating around in that gray matter. It is a wonder that I can even manage to string more than three words together while writing my thesis.
I will admit that I am getting bogged down by the details - for lots of things. As I have been told by many helpful camps - there really is not anything I can do about some situations. I can not get a hold of the forces of nature and bend space and time to get me the answers I need when I want them, which incidentally is right after I ask for them. Needless to say, I have been very cranky over the most annoyingly tiny things. I feel bad because I know that Andy has been taking the brunt of my "cranky attacks". Now let me clarify this a bit - I am not cranky about colors of flowers, table linens, silverware, or lighting. The actual practical aspects of the getting married - transportation, moving self and stuff to Texas, getting all the correct forms processed with the right agencies - all doing this in a very short time. Stupid math brain is having a battle of logistics - but there is not one single thing I can do about it. At least not now. Silly me, I can't have a problem like this and not be able to come up with some sort of solution that makes me happy. But I must say things are coming around rather well - wedding wise. So outside of stressing about silly things I have no control over - it is going great.
In the thesis arena - I have written about 12 solid pages of mathematics (even some full-fledged paragraphs too!). Current total pdf number of pages: 19. I am somewhat worried though. I spent the past 2 weeks or so on my own. Little to no adviser guidance. I feel like when we finally get to start meeting again - he will have ripped my 12 pages to half of that, or what is worse, try to make me expand on the little bit of information I have already written. But I guess I have to do it though - if it sounds reasonable. Flashback to when I wrote my honors math research at Dickinson. This work was 29 pages long - but a lion's share of the space was filled with happy triangle pictures. I guess I am on a good track. At Dickinson, it was like pulling teeth to get me to sit down and write that paper. I suppose it didn't help that I had a physics research project and paper to work on at the same time. I intend on spending the rest of February and most of March filling in the 3 chapters I have yet to even touch - and make little adjustments to the ones that I have started.
Teaching: oddly enough, going really well. I am surprised how well the students seem to be taking in the information that I am giving them. The class isn't anything near rigorous math - but every conceptual question I ask (that I would get no reply or blank stares from students when I ta-ed for the 141-142 calculus classes) the students seem to be able to answer without much prodding. More importantly, they respond with the correct ideas. So it is probably the best 50 minute class I have had. I would have more stories - except it is at 8 am and for some reason I breeze right through it and then have difficulty remembering the lecture afterwards.
Other news, Andy is coming for a the long weekend. Do I have off? No - no President's day for me. But it is nice that he gets off.
I think I deserve some cookies and milk. Catch you later.
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