me, the morning misanthrope [from 4 Sept '07]

in the last year, fall and spring terms, some have pointed out to me that i am difficult to find and never in my office. but recently, my bedroom desk is a mess.

saying that is not quite a non-sequitur.
let me explain.

---

right now, my bedroom is in disarray. my desk is cluttered with moving-apartment debris (like old newspaper), knickknacks, airplane ticket stubs and receipts, and pocket change in a few currencies.

this is no good for the "up-and-at-em" morning mathematician, whom i strive to be. after years of suspicion, i am convinced: mornings are great for getting things done, especially mathematical research things and especially over a cup of coffee or three.

so it doesn't matter that the morning was a dental appointment; seeing such a desk, i'd have biked to the department in hopes of more productive environs and getting a little work done .. well, after visiting the espresso royale first.

but after all, i have an office: personal space, right?
"surely i can work there?"

8am - noon:

i faced queues at the dentist and horrid drilling because of my bad teeth. eventually, they fix what they can, and i slink away, a nonexample to proper dental hygiene.

1-2:30pm:

a postdoc friend peers wisely through the crack between door hinges, spies me at my desk, and asks, "lunch?" [1] and hungrily, i say yes. coffee follows, with another postdoc and a member of my committee. the weather is good, but we complain about it anyway.

3:15-5pm:

fellow student analysts arrive at the office; my officemate betrays my secret, and points behind the door. we are three and we plan an organizational meeting for a student seminar. one asks me what i know about this and that, and i rant without order or purpose for a while.

5-6pm:

there is a welcome back reception, 2nd floor of east hall [2]. i pretend to be a person, and exhibit something resembling normal conversation. apparently i am terrible at remembering female first-year students' names, and when reminded, either suspect incorrectly that they are german or ask strange spelling questions.

7ish-..

i realise i haven't gone to the gym for a while, so i go ..

.. blah blah blah, yakity schmakity:
the rest isn't worth telling.

so i must seize back my effective mathematical mornings, at ANY cost. maybe i am a misanthrope at times, but sometimes one needs peace and quiet to do something on paper that one won't immediately throw away, the next day.

i already miss the caribou coffee, near my former apartment; it was always there if my apartment wasn't quite right for mathematics in the morning, and none of my colleagues were ever there ..

.. well, except for one, when he was visiting for a month. but we ended up talking math then, so it doesn't count.


i've been told that my department is a rare find, that it is social and people actually talk kindly to one another. that's good: i agree, and my colleagues are fine people.

but i hope they are not dismayed if i'm not there, in the mornings.



[1] well, technically his question was longer, but it amounts to the same thing.

[2] i.e. free food and wine. also, there is the phenomenon of cliques, so being social is actually an option.