Friday, January 19, 2007

From Ice to Ideas

Almost all of the ice has now disappeared.

But the funny wide doorhandles that you push to open the doors at the staircases at the math department still make the same loud sound, and the soap at the math departement bathrooms still smells the same, and the really bad tasting chocolate with almonds still tastes as bad and the earl grey from Espresso Royale still comes in paper mugs looking exactly the same as last year.

I don't think that I have yet realized that I'm here. It feels like being home. It will come though, the feeling of being far away from home. My hypothesis is that it will have something to do with cats. I realized too late that I picked my place to stay with all the wrong reasons. I should have picked a place that comes with a cat, or two cats prefarably.

Kevin asked me today if I have already solved the problem with rectifiable curves and doubling measures (he knew that it was still open when I came here on Tuesday). I had to admit that I have not solved it yet. But I do have an old/new idea for the conjecture of the blue cubes. I'd better not talk about it, though, since it will in all probability come to nothing in the end as most ideas do (you see, not so smart people have ideas as well as the really smart ones, just not as good ones).

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hugs from Helsinki!

Too bad that the pretty ice melted. Although there might be some dozens of electricians, some hunderds of policemen and some millions of ordinary citizens who it comes to as a relief...

Here in the north it seems like the day might become a sunny one, although there's still no sign of white snow to really light the city up. At the moment I'm sitting at my desk at work, looking at the day becoming slowly lighter outside. I should probably continue with my work and pay more attention to the blue of the computer screen than to the blue of the skies...

It's nice to hear that your journey went well and that you have already been to the department there - and had some nice tea. I hope you can do without the cats!

Love, V.B.

janus said...

really bad tasting chocolate with almonds still tastes as bad,

chocolate is our friend. how bad could it actually taste? (:

Saara said...

Well, I still bought it...:)

Kevin said...

Well, you never know - you could have solved it already!

Sorry about the lack of cats. I miss them too. I have a friend with a cat - I'll introduce you :)