in which a \newtheοrem appears.

i always thought of the icm as a conference where only "big shots" go. then i learned about satellite meetings, as a graduate student.

i didn't go when it was in madrid in 2006. there were too many student things to do, like sit down and think of a new thesis [1]. plus, i don't think i'd have gotten much out of it .. well, except for chorizo and rioja and all those other tasty things .. q-:

this time it's india, and my betters are organising themselves in madras [2].

my budget is already tight enough as it is;
i'm already slated to visit helsinki this june ..

.. so i still can't afford it.
[sighs]

all that tasty south indian food ..
i even have this dream of drinking an IPA in india .. [3]

..
there is, though, one last play to make:

\begin{vow} \label{solemn_vow}
if i somehow get the NSF grant,
then i will go to india.
\end{vow}

[1] my first thesis problem fell through, after 2 years or so of work. in some sense, the advisor and i "proved" that the program of proof couldn't possibly work.

what i later worked on was in a wholly different field. little would i know that it was only the beginning of a mathematιcal magιcal mystery tour .. 1-:

[2] then again, google lists the city as "chennai." names of cities in india are as confusing as names of cities in china and japan.

[3] to my credit, however; while on holiday, i did drink a guinness in dublin last year!