Impressions from this weekend

[cjsmith]

1. A Piper Saratoga drops like a hot rock if you dump the gear and the flaps, pull power back, etc.
2. I'm getting better at dancing C4. (I know I keep saying this. I really am still learning! There's a lot of it to learn.)
3. There's a cat in Sacramento named Mr. Beasley who is one of the most affectionate, sweet cats alive.
4. Wrote a good six thousand words this weekend. Phew, I needed that. I'm somewhere between 22K and 25K now.
5. If you tell people you are writing a novel, they will want nothing more than to chat with you about why you're doing it and what the book is about and are you published yet. They won't wanna just let you WRITE. If you tell people (square dancers) that you're writing square dance choreo, though, they nod and move on.
6. Feeding three kitties tuna packed in oil is a very smelly operation.
7. But the smell is worse the next morning when one of 'em decides to lose last night's dinner.
8. You folks write a LOT. I got up to skip=375 this morning. Yi.

Comments

[lkeele.livejournal.com]

Especially annoying is the "have you been published" question, as though one is not a 'serious' writer unless one's writings have been purchased. And even if they have, it doesn't count unless it's a book.

And I hate the 'selective interest' thing. Rondo always gets lots of questions about his philosophical interests (mainly, religion). I tell people I do logic and phil. of math and they either say "oh" or they scream. OK, the scream only actually happened once. I would bet it's the same as your choreo responses -- what you're doing there is FUN and INTERESTING and HARD -- yet who cares, eh?

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I don't mind the "have you been published" very much, partly because I don't consider myself a serious writer at all. I'm a dabbler, a dilettante, a person with aspirations and not much else except the ability to spell. So far that's okay with me. I don't mind people dismissing my writing efforts when they hear this. For you I can imagine it's a good bit different!

OK, the scream only actually happened once.

I bet that once is funny looking back on it! What a reaction!

One of the reasons I don't strike up a conversation with either you or Rondo about philosophical stuff is I don't even know where to start. I don't know what philosophy of math even is. I can ask semi-intelligent questions about stuff like the search for an academic position... that's about it. (Speaking of which, I haven't heard you gripe about your thesis in a while. What's going on with that?)

I would bet it's the same as your choreo responses -- what you're doing there is FUN and INTERESTING and HARD -- yet who cares, eh?

Or "who actually wants to have a conversation about it", which is maybe even more what you're getting at. The square dancers definitely care and are appreciative. They know it's hard enough that *they* don't want to do it, and they're glad folks like me will do it because the dancers like to dance. But they don't need to -- or sometimes even know how to -- talk about it.

[lkeele.livejournal.com]

The scream was funny at the time. I was purposely trying to avoid my specific topic, but she pushed. "What is your dissertation on?" "Uh, philosophy." "Philosophy of WHAT?" "Uh -- math." "Eeeeeee!' ;)

You can talk to me anytime about philosophy, as long as I can talk to you about programming and you won't think me a complete moron.

Nothing is happening on my diss. Absolutely nothing. I'm going to make December nanodissmo and crank out the Dedekind chapter -- think I can do it? Five pages a week?

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

You can talk to me anytime about philosophy, as long as I can talk to you about programming and you won't think me a complete moron.

Maybe you could make a post saying what "philosophy of math" is, and how it differs from purely mathematical (non-philosophical) ruminations.

Nothing is happening on my diss. Absolutely nothing. I'm going to make December nanodissmo and crank out the Dedekind chapter -- think I can do it? Five pages a week?

Urrr, five fully-edited cleaned-up pages or five draft pages?

[lkeele.livejournal.com]

Five draft pages, of course! I've got to do all the accompanying reading, you know. Dedekind. Tough stuff.

I'll work on the phil of math post for you, darling.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Absolutely, I think you can do five draft pages a week. Six, even. How long do you want the Dedekind chapter?

Ooo, I get a post just for me! ;-) Thanks - I'm looking forward to reading it.