The Globetrotting Meghan

The Globetrotting Meghan

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

As forced by my sister...

I absolutely refuse to perpetuate this ridiculous tag, but Jenny absolutely demanded that I at least post seven things about myself. So to appease her...


1. The first thing about me is that I absolutely adore my kitten, Inkling Erdos (named after a very famous mathematician who happens to share her birthday). I cannot tell you how amazing it is to have her around. And I love that she can be both playful and cuddly. She tends to get very playful at night, and seeing as how that tends to be when I am home we play a lot. And she has developed the adorable habit of vertical pounces. But when she is in a cuddly mood I just love it. She is even getting into the habit of cuddling with me while I knit without eating the yarn.



2. I am absolutely addicted to books. I go through these moods where I only like to read certain kinds of books. Sometimes it is fantasy and science fiction. Sometimes it is classics or Jane Austen. And sometimes it is sappy romances. Sometimes I even go on fanfiction crazes. I put on my iPod, curl up in my big chair, try and coax Inkling into my lap, and read for hours.



3. I love to write, even if I'm not very good at. I gave up on the idea that I could write poetry when I was 15, but writing stories has stuck with me. I have three stories (one finished) posted on a Harry Potter fanfic site, one story (or almost 80 pages of it) that I have given up for my sanity, and one that I recently started and am quite excited about. It has long been a secret ambition of mine to have a book published. As a side note, I also have begun work on a math book, but I figured most of you would not think that qualified.



4. I am addicted to movies and certain television shows. I have so far been able to prevent myself from actually buying a TV. I do this because I don't want the temptation of getting cable. But this hasn't stopped me from owning a rather large amount of movies that I watch on my computer (though I do try to shop the previewed movies at the video store so that they are much cheaper). I also regularly watch several TV shows that are posted online (namely, Numb3rs, Heroes, and Life) and re watch Charmed (of which I own all the seasons on DVD). I like watching these shows because most of them I have seen and I tend to either work on math or knit while watching them.



5. I am sickeningly addicted to weird weather. Well, weird from the Arizonan point of view. I love snow and thoroughly enjoy walking in it. Which means I nearly freeze to death, but at least I'm happy. I also love fog. Yesterday was an extreme fog advisory and I loved it. It was like walking in a cloud. And it is one of my dearest wishes to get lost in a forest when there is a lot of fog. I also love thunderstorms. In this respect, at least, I sometimes miss Arizona. No other place has storms that even compare. I get really excited when there is even a little lightning here. But generally I really like the weather here. And I am very excited that tomorrow is supposed to be the first big snowfall. I plan on taking Inkling out to play in it (she's going to freak out, but I'll be sure to take pictures).



6. I love spending time with family and friends, and it kills me that I don't get to see my family all that much anymore. In fact, it has been so long since I have seen Jenny and her family that I'm going to skip out next semester to go visit them (don't worry Mom, I'm going during spring break, not skiping classes). I also spend an inordinate amount of time on the phone with them. And as for keeping up with friends, I pretty much have something almost every night during the week because I love them all so much. Even if it is just sitting at home and watching Charmed (for some reason that tends to cheer a lot of my friends up). But I love my friends here. And the ones from the department are really great about respecting my standards. You should have seen their faces the one time I got a daiquiri (virgin, of course). I got many cries of "Meghan, it's not worth it!" before they figured out it was virgin. I also really miss my friend Beki. She just started her mission in Canada last month. But at least I finally get to write to a missionary (something I really need to do today, come to think of it).



7. Am I done yet? Okay, one more thing... have I mentioned that I really like Math yet? I even read pop math books (books about math in the real world that are written to be accessible to the general populace). Often I have been questioned about what I wanted to do with math in the world. The short answer is that I want to teach. I love helping people finally get a difficult concept. But I like math for itself, not for what I can do with it. The best way I can put it is to quote a great mathematician, G.H. Hardy. "No discovery of mine has made, or is likely to make, directly or indirectly, for good or ill, the least difference to the amenity of the world." But lest you thing my life's work will be completely useless, I offer one more quote, this one from John Tierney. "This is the remarkable paradox of mathematics. No matter how determinedly its practitioners ignore the world, they consistently produce the best tools for understanding it." As examples, the math that Einstein used to formulate the Theory of Relativity was produced 50 years before with no concept of the uses it would be put to, and the math that enabled to computer to be built was produced beginning several hundred years before to answer as simply question with no apparent value outside itself.

2 comments:

Jennifer said...

Hey meghan you did it!!!!!
First I think it's funny you like weird weather becasue so do I. I love storms and fog but I mostly just like to look at snow:-)

Tell me how to access your Harry Potter fanfic book so I can check it out.

Happy snow fall!

Anonymous said...

Meghan,
Did I tell you how much I love you (even with all your weird tastes and cravings). At least everyone konws what my one addiction is.... Can't wait to see you.
Love
Dad