I am finding the conversation about math hilarious because I found stats particularly confusing, but was pretty darn good at differential equations. (Also, count me in the grown up geek girl crowd.)

We did go to the zoo! I'm glad I took the day off. The orangutan exhibit was packed so it was a little hard to get close, but we did see several orangutans....including a big male who decided to pee right on the window everyone was looking through. In any case we didn't see too many other exhibits because we were trying to get it in between naps, but the girls had a good day in the morning before we went. They spent about 20 minutes straight chasing each other around their little play house and giggling hysterically. One would be inside the house and the other would crawl around the outside, and every time they saw each other through a window or door they would squeal and giggle. Super cute!

Count me as a geek who is comfortable with differential equations and statistics but was usually first eliminated in a Spelling Bee. Spellcheck was invented for the likes of me.

I fail miserably at math. I quit math in high school when trig was too confusing. I managed to get a B in class but I'm sure it was just for attending. I couldn't do the homework and failed every test. After my 30th high school reunion I found out that the whole class felt the same way! I ended up having to take a test in college to get out of taking remedial math! I ended up in Algebra (which I aced) but hated it because I had taken it in 7th grade!

My kids are whizzes at math and statistics. DH, too. I'm the one that excels in English which my kids detest.

I love the statistics side but suffered horribly through calculus and all the rotten advanced math. Which, I might add, I have not used for one single nanosecond in my career. I am convinced that basic statistics should be a required class, simply because it's necessary these days to understand how much politicians and news media use/abuse it to lie to us and fuel "shocking" headlines. Yeah, right.

Jessica, it just gets sillier and cuter from here, for about another 8 or 9 years.

I bought my son an xkcd t-shirt that had a statistics comic on it. On Mother's Day my daughter said I needed to buy one for her, too.

xkcd

I'm laughing at the orangutan, Jessica! Fun times at the zoo, right?

For what it is worth I am enjoying math much more now as an adult than I ever did as a kid. Poor teaching methods made it very difficult for me, but now that I'm relearning it from the ground up math is my favorite subject.

And alas, I was a spelling bee finalist for not the winner. That honor went to another in the little group of friends I always competed with.

I won the spelling bee 3 out of 4 years in middle school, but once I got to regionals those pesky home-schooled kids always won :P

I didn't know how to change a tire until last week, though!

I at this, particularly the last part, when I went to the link.

Warning: this comic occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors).

Dagmar

I don't think I'd seen that before! Too funny! This is one of his favorite comics. I think the year I got him the shirt I also got him a book of the comics.

Love all math except geometry! Love the xkcd website! I'm off shopping there now!
DD leaves Vegas in the morning. Seems like it's been a fun trip but she's ready to leave. She goes to Portland to visit my sister for a few days next.

Morning all,
I had a full week of field work out in the sun here. I've dealt better with it since Monday. I marked my first sea turtle nests on Monday, so my field season has officially begun. I've worked late and gotten home late every day and feel bad that the dog hasn't gotten her exercise. I tried to make up for that last night & this morning. I think tonight we're going to a wedding reception for some friends of friends and tomorrow evening a yard party. Today I got up early to walk the dog and do a JM video, and will clean the house. Oh, and I promise I will crack open my study guides too (see below). Pfffft. The JM workout sounds easier and like more fun than studying. BF is rebuilding the front end of his truck today (again JM sounds like fun. In what world is JM that much fun?). I'm actually feeling really good physically with all this activity after a long winter of not making/having time for more intense workouts. It feels good to feel strong. And fit in my summer shorts!

Another grown-up geek here. I did well on both sides of the liberal arts to math and sciences spectrum, but always enjoyed the arts most. I had a really inspiring AP Biology teacher senior year of high school, which is how I ended up in the marine sciences. I laugh when the "liberal arts" crowd shrinks away from science or vice versa. It's good to be well rounded and appreciate both! A few weeks ago I took a practice test because I need to take my GRE this summer. Ouch. I did well on verbal (bookworm and English teacher's daughter here). Math needs to come up. It is frustrating because I think if I brushed up on my algebra skills I would be ok, but keep running out of time on the timed GRE. The practice guides try to teach you tricks. It doesn't seem to test my math skills. I guess the point is to test my reasoning skills, but still. I'm going to have a rough summer.

Krampus, way to learn a new skill! The ability to change a tire, put a plug in a tire with a hole, and jump a dead car battery are not to be underestimated.

Jessica, your zoo trip sounds fun and your girls in their playhouse sounds even more fun! It's so nice they are a bit older and are starting to play with each other.

Dagmar, your class sounds interesting. If my program works out as planned I'll be taking grad level biological stats in a few years. Even though I won't be able to claim credit for it, I'm hoping to find an intro/undergrad stats class to take before the grad one. I haven't taken stats since high school but it's really really important in biology. (Thank you for not telling me that college bio advisor.)

I hope everyone has a nice weekend, long weekend for those who have it. Thank you for your service, Granddad.

Megan, I've actually developed fondness for a turtle that I see nearly every day while walking to the gym, but it's not a sea turtle, of course. It's a red-eared slider (I think) which suns itself on top of a rock protruding out of the Bronx River, and I look for this turtle whenever I cross the walkway on the stone bridge that arches over this river, built back in the 1920s, when the Bronx River Parkway that runs alongside the river was one of the first scenic routes created in the U.S. People in Manhattan would drive up these parkways on weekend day trips and picnic on the side of the road. Of course they don't do that now, but there are interesting specimen trees and bushes still planted there, like Osage orange, which you don't see much around here, and weeping cherry trees.

I'm so relieved to have made it to Memorial Day, with a three-day weekend. Of course, I have to catch up on some work, and am about to do that now, but if I finish, I will have two whole days for doing whatever I please.

I've got a friend visiting next weekend. She wants to see the 9/11 Memorial, and I don't really want to go there. I just don't feel ready yet. But I will be a good hostess and take her, if she really wants to go. I mean, what's the worst that could happen? I could cry while walking through the exhibits, as if we were at the movies, but maybe that won't look weird to other people, even if most of them are probably from out of town and relate somewhat differently to that day. Probably while we're down there, we'll also go to Ellis Island, which I do enjoy taking people to see, as that was a place where people landed with a lot of hopes for the future. My great-grandmother Parascevia landed there. I can barely remember her, but I'll try to think of her and thank her for leaving her country and taking a big chance on America.

saef~a few years back I found myself in Oklahoma and went to the bombing memorial there. I cried through the entire thing. A docent pulled me aside and asked if I had lost a loved one there. No. But the memories were still fresh and its was really painful. I doubt you'll be the only crying if you go.

I still remember the exact details of when I found out 911 had happened.I drove around all day working while fighting back tears and started crying and couldn't stop after I got home. And I'm not even an American.

I think the memorials of such tragic events are places where people can share their grief. This is a violent world we live in and I think everyone has something/someone they are grieving for or about.

If I ever get to NYC I will go to the memorial. Not to cry, though I may do that, but to think about what happened and to honour those innocent people who died.

Dagmar

My clients made their connection and are on time - scheduled to arrive this afternoon. I'm finally going home.

Dagmar