Love

Whole cities have burned
in flames like these. Cold scattered
ashes in the breeze.

Einstein

I finished listening to Einstein: His Life and Universe (Unabridged) by Walter Isaacson, narrated by Edward Herrmann on my Audible app. Try Audible and get it free: https://www.audible.com/pd?asin=B002V1A1YQ&source_code=AFAORWS04241590G4

It's definitely worth pondering the universe with Einstein as a guide. What initially shocked me was how Einstein did not allow limitations of available data to prevent him from overturning thought limiting dogma. Einstein's application of thought experiments and postulates of essential principles allowed him to work backwards & propose experiments that would later confirm his revolutionary intuitions that explained relationships between light, energy, and gravitation.

Today, essential principles of scientific thought are being assailed by men who lack conviction or common decency, who disregard evidence as alternative facts, but who hold vast political power. Amidst these confusing times, it's worth using attributes that explain what made Einstein unique & his life experiences, especially his stubborn individualism & freedom of thought, as guides for resisting pathologies that threaten American democracy.

For Einstein, it was never who's right, but what's right. That's what I love about mathematics. That passion for truth seeking is the one essential quality I hope to pass on to my math students.

The King of Second Chances

The King of Second Chances

January 21, 2017

To the King of Second Chances a loss is just a loss, a lesson to be learned, not a reason to be blue.

If a lesson’s learned, the pain becomes a sting, another way to remember not to do that thing.

Mistakes are going to happen, mistakes are part of life.

If what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, but quicker and more precise, the moxie you will gain will well be worth the price.

It’s okay to cry, but not okay to quit.

When you know there're second chances you always find a lift.

If you fail don’t fall apart, I’m here to help you up,

I’m the King of Second Chances, I’ll help you fill your cup.

If at first you don’t succeed you haven’t let me down.

As long as you keep trying, I get to keep my crown.

So if you see me laughing I’m not laughing at your pain,

I laugh partly to encourage, partly since I’m insane.

You need to be partly crazy to always expect to win.

When winning seems impossible, expect a silly grin.

I laugh because I’ve lost, I laugh because I’ve won.

As long as I am laughing, you know that I’m not done.

Laugh with me. We’re in this together.

Your 6^th Grade Math Teacher,

Mr. Kurland

Lost echoes of a baby boom ...

Dreams were made of nights like these:
stale tobacco blowing in the breeze,
beer spills left from the night before,
giggling faces flowing out the door,

cigarettes, whiskey, and wild crazy women
through the purple haze ever dancing and singing --
singing "Sex, and Drugs, and Rock and Roll."
We kept on dancing so we'd never grow old.

We were dancing shadows against the wall --
dark shadows in a flashing hall
where crimson and horizon blue,
pressed against a starker view,

We were pulsing beats that shook the floor
and rattled the windows ever more.
The ceiling ached from our refrain --
shrieking echoes of a primal brain.

We were disembodied troglodytes,
walking fish, stromatolites.

We were carbonated fire and ice,
permutations from the roll of the dice.

November Morning

Gold punctuates dawn.

Bird bursts in celebration

no Ragnarok song.

Detritus pools gold.

The bite of winter’s herald

blasts  two minds at war.

Pace punctuation:

4 dog trudges, 2 human,

breeds conversation.

Crimson spectrum bleeds

pastel blues, brightening moods.

Heartbeats crescendo.

Hot water, cold air

condenses Lake Accotink.

Smoke on the water.

Marching 2:1,

pace quickens after squirrels.

Odors tighten leash.

Breakfast beckons home:

bacon and eggs and coffee

with Crashing the Net.

Millionaire Rap

What do I care if you’re a millionaire?

You don’t breathe my common air

What do I care about the shoes you wear?

You don’t follow my footsteps.

What do you care about the neighborhood?

You don’t feel the child who can’t read,

Who can’t compute without a calculator,

Who refuses to eat the free lunch

Not because he isn’t hungry

Not because he feels entitled,

But because you wouldn’t feed it to your dog.

What do I care about the car you drive?

I’m not showing up in your arena.

#TrumptheTyrant