Thursday, January 10, 2013

idle thoughts, during work.

// originally written: 9 jan 2013.

despite all my talk of wanting more work-time during the holidays [1], somehow i still feel in "holiday mode" and it's hard to concentrate for a full workday.

it's not like i have a shortage of things to do either, and most of these tasks are things that i really do want to sink my teeth into and finish off. somehow, though, i feel like i just don't have the energy to do so.



is it strange to make a distinction between tubes and cylinders?

somehow i can imagine a tube to be unbounded (like a neighborhood of a line) whereas a cylinder is necessarily bounded (as the formula for its volume, taught in school, requires a radius and a height).

opinions?
// added: 10 jan 2013.

as a change of pace, i decided to use the chalkboard even though it wasn't necessary to do so [2]. this improved matters. for one thing, i was standing while working and my lower back felt better. then there are the aesthetic parts:
the tap-tap of chalk striking slate has a primordial element. we take minerals and press them to form roughly-shaped symbols of meaning, like early humans painting out animal spirits in caves.

there's also something soothing about how easily one can erase on a chalkboard, like waves sweeping clean the sandy shores of beaches .. but more deliberately so.

.. the sea erases, so the sea forgives ..
working out details on scratch paper is different. for some reason i can't allow myself to be a complete blockhead while writing on actual paper. i can't get over the suggestion of paper being something that should preserve information of any kind, and that my efforts will not be forgotten.

whereas on the chalkboard, i feel free to write the most inane things (if only as intermediate steps to better and better ideas).





[1] visiting family shouldn't be considered a vacation/holiday by default. to be honest, these kinds of visits cause me more stress than anything else ..

[2] come to think of it, is there ever a time when using a chalkboard is actually necessary?

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