sometimes we run away from problems, other times we run towards them.

i spent most of yesterday (tuesday) trying to finish writing one paper. at some point, i couldn't write any longer, so i went out for a road run.

around mile 2 i started thinking about this one research problem that i had set aside, about a year ago.

it's one of those obsessions, the kind that saps away your weekends, if given half a chance.

[as posted in 2009]

(in fact, i had promised that i wouldn't publish anything in the field of geοmetric measure theory until i had solved this problem.)

when it came time to the end of my usual route, i slowed down.

the paper's already behind schedule;
i promised my co-authors already.
if i go home now, i'd have to start writing again.

so i ran another 2 miles, just so i could think about this problem a little longer.