Apologies in advance, there are some slightly ropey bits in this poem, although I hope that overall it get by okay.
The days last long when darkness brings not sleep.
No help from the warm drink or counted ewe.
Even resort to the bottle 'tis true,
Brings no cure. Soon one wishes to sit and weep.
Out of the window on the streets you peep:
Shrouded in slumber are all but the few;
Workers and those who stay wakeful, like you;
Knowing it will come slowly, at a creep.
And yet, we know, as with the rolling tide,
That when the future comes it all will cease
And we with joy unto our beds will fly:
Lifted up on soaring dreams to ride,
From the shackles of waking now released.
And so to the Future look you and I.
Mike, this is dedicated to you, not particularly because the content is anything I think is particularly relevant to you (although I think you know where I'm coming from), but as a thank-you: thanks for quoting me and thanks for your support with this.
It's also for all the people who found the last post a bit too geeky. Not that the people who liked the last post can't appreciate this as well or anything, in fact if you did want to be geeky about it, there are some interesting patterns here.
Friday 24 October 2008
Wednesday 15 October 2008
Beautiful Proof
Okay guys, if you're not a mathematician, bear with me. It's sad I know, but to try and convince myself that I was working earlier, I produced a lovely typed copy of the proof that the square root of two is irrational (cannot be written as a fraction). This is something that I know off by heart and really had no need to type up, but I really think it's rather elegant.If you have any interest in logical thinking/reasoning etc. (even without knowing/caring about maths itself), you will find that this does flow very logically, and is about as beautiful as this area of maths can get, I reckon. Anyway, I hope this will if nothing else give people who know my character an understanding of why I love maths so much, and even possibly get a few people a little bit excited by, or at least less hateful of, mathematics.
Assume: √2 = a/b such that a,b are two integers (whole numbers) which share no common factors.
Therefore: a = √2.b (multiplication by b)
Squaring: a2 = 2b2
Because a2 is a multiple of 2; a2 is an even number.
[Note at this point if x is an odd integer; x2 is also an odd integer:
If x is an odd integer, there exists some integer, n, such that x = 2n+1.
Therefore: x2 = (2n+1)2
= (2n+1)(2n+1)
= 4n2+4n+1
Taking a factor of 2 from the n components: x2 = 2(2n2+2n)+1.
If n is an integer, n2 is an integer. Likewise 2n is an integer.
Therefore: 2n2 is also an integer.
Therefore: 2n2+2n as a sum of integers is also an integer.
Thus: x2 = 2(some integer)+1
which is equivalent to 2n+1, as n is also 'some integer'.
Thus, x2 conforms with the initial condition defining odd numbers;
x2 is shown also to be an odd number.]
As: a2 is even, a must also be even (as an odd number squared is odd; see above).
Therefore: a = 2c (where c is some integer)
Squaring: a2 = 4c2
Using (a2 = 2b2):
4c2 = 2b2
Therefore: 2c2 = b2 (dividing by 2)
Because b2 is a multiple of 2; b2 is an even number.
As: b2 is even, b must also be even (as odd squares are odd; see above).
Therefore: a and b share at least one common factor, 2, thus contradicting the initial assumption such that a,b share no common factors.
Therefore: √2 cannot be expressed as a ratio of two factors a,b and is irrational.
QED
Friday 10 October 2008
The Feeling
I wake up with The Feeling, like I could cry,
Only crying doesn't come easily to me.
Hysteria and panic open the flood gates,
But even then only sometimes.
The Feeling makes my head spin,
Drowning in a salty ocean,
With nowhere to go.
So It travels to my stomach.
The nausea wrenches at me,
Telling me I'll faint or puke.
But nothing happens,
Just The Feeling,
Stagnating.
Only crying doesn't come easily to me.
Hysteria and panic open the flood gates,
But even then only sometimes.
The Feeling makes my head spin,
Drowning in a salty ocean,
With nowhere to go.
So It travels to my stomach.
The nausea wrenches at me,
Telling me I'll faint or puke.
But nothing happens,
Just The Feeling,
Stagnating.
A poem in recognition of National Poetry Day (Thurs 091008), addressing, in a roundabout fashion, my depression in recognition of World Mental Health Day (Fri 101008).
Apologies to any English students/lovers, it's very poorly written. I used free verse primarily because I'm lazy; I've never actually been a huge fan of it as a poetical form.
Apologies to any English students/lovers, it's very poorly written. I used free verse primarily because I'm lazy; I've never actually been a huge fan of it as a poetical form.
Sunday 5 October 2008
Request
Warning: Ramble alert (probably safest for those with ADHD or the like not to bother with this one)!!!
How-do folks,
It's been a tough year, and now it's going to start all over again. The new Uni term starts tomorrow, with me enrolled as an occasional student, retaking the first year (all bar two coursework-only units in which I actually did quite well: one of them being programming, yes I did well: 61%). I'm hoping that this year will progress somewhat less turbulently than last and that this time I will be able to do enough work to pass.
In two of my exams, I came close to passing and in the majority I was half-way to a pass: all of which sound quite feeble, but for the state I was in and the complete lack of any productive work I was able to do, these facts are (or should be) quite reassuring. If I can come close to a pass with virtually no useful knowledge of the subject, I should, in theory be able to do alright if I am able to put in the study hours this year.
So, I'm trying to stay positive about this, although right now, the knots in my stomach are doubling up on themselves and I am quite nervous. I guess what I have to try and remember is that this year there is comparatively little pressure. If I don't feel like I can go to lectures, I don't have to. I am hoping, that this philosphy will work for the best; knowing I don't have to go to lectures if I'm not well should hopefully take away the pressure and nervousness that causes me not to be well and therefore the knowledge of not having to go should in actual fact make it easier to go.
I'm not quite sure my Mum gets this, or even if I've explained it terribly well, but I know what I mean, and I also know that if this whole reverse psychology thing doesn't work, I can revert to the straight-forward stuff which shouldn't really leave me any worse off. Either I manage to make to the lectures and establish myself in the daily Uni routine (which will help me for next year); or I stay at home and study and go in just for the exams. Either way, although I may be slightly worse off with regards to next year, whatever happens I should at least gain enough knowledge to get me in a situation where a next year of study is possible. At this point, that's my aim.
If there is anyone out there reading this who hasn't given up and left by now; please spare a thought (just the one would be fine) for me, and wish me luck. "Finally," thinks the reader, "we see the eponymous request!" Yes it was a while coming and really turned out to be something of an anti-climax: apologies for that, and if you are still here, well done for your patience and determination to see this through to the end.
Well, that's a nice bumbling start into the new year, I guess we'll just see how it goes. Sorry for taking up web-space with meaningless ramble, I will now go and stick my head in a plastic bag or something (no, wait, that's Glous Uni not Bristol...) in order to make up to society for this worthless piece of Rhetoric.
Tchuss
How-do folks,
It's been a tough year, and now it's going to start all over again. The new Uni term starts tomorrow, with me enrolled as an occasional student, retaking the first year (all bar two coursework-only units in which I actually did quite well: one of them being programming, yes I did well: 61%). I'm hoping that this year will progress somewhat less turbulently than last and that this time I will be able to do enough work to pass.
In two of my exams, I came close to passing and in the majority I was half-way to a pass: all of which sound quite feeble, but for the state I was in and the complete lack of any productive work I was able to do, these facts are (or should be) quite reassuring. If I can come close to a pass with virtually no useful knowledge of the subject, I should, in theory be able to do alright if I am able to put in the study hours this year.
So, I'm trying to stay positive about this, although right now, the knots in my stomach are doubling up on themselves and I am quite nervous. I guess what I have to try and remember is that this year there is comparatively little pressure. If I don't feel like I can go to lectures, I don't have to. I am hoping, that this philosphy will work for the best; knowing I don't have to go to lectures if I'm not well should hopefully take away the pressure and nervousness that causes me not to be well and therefore the knowledge of not having to go should in actual fact make it easier to go.
I'm not quite sure my Mum gets this, or even if I've explained it terribly well, but I know what I mean, and I also know that if this whole reverse psychology thing doesn't work, I can revert to the straight-forward stuff which shouldn't really leave me any worse off. Either I manage to make to the lectures and establish myself in the daily Uni routine (which will help me for next year); or I stay at home and study and go in just for the exams. Either way, although I may be slightly worse off with regards to next year, whatever happens I should at least gain enough knowledge to get me in a situation where a next year of study is possible. At this point, that's my aim.
If there is anyone out there reading this who hasn't given up and left by now; please spare a thought (just the one would be fine) for me, and wish me luck. "Finally," thinks the reader, "we see the eponymous request!" Yes it was a while coming and really turned out to be something of an anti-climax: apologies for that, and if you are still here, well done for your patience and determination to see this through to the end.
Well, that's a nice bumbling start into the new year, I guess we'll just see how it goes. Sorry for taking up web-space with meaningless ramble, I will now go and stick my head in a plastic bag or something (no, wait, that's Glous Uni not Bristol...) in order to make up to society for this worthless piece of Rhetoric.
Tchuss
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