Things have been a little slow here on the blog lately, with fewer and shorter posts than usual — the reason, I’m happy to announce, is that I’m finishing up my time as a visitor here in Minnesota and this summer we’re moving to Connecticut! I’m starting a tenure-track position at Southern Connecticut State University. I’m thrilled … More Moving to Connecticut!
I’m ending this year with another roundup of some books I read this year. I like to give out awards to my favorites, sometimes in made-up categories (see my distinction between “hard” and “tender” sci fi below). So without further ado:
Part of my job as an academic is to write up and share my research results with the rest of the mathematical community, but while I moderately enjoy writing, I don’t enjoy how long it takes me: I spend a lot of time rewriting whole sections to make a point slightly better, or having to … More Writing an academic paper with Scrum
This month Clara and I welcomed our first child, a daughter, into the world. She is unbelievably wonderful and it already feels like she’s been with us forever. Here are some thoughts on life with a newborn (sometimes, on life with this newborn specifically), in no particular order: When she cries, it’s often just sad … More Welcome to the world!
When I think about the different aspects of my life, I keep coming back to this list of goal types Gretchen Rubin collected for her book Better than Before: Eating healthfully Exercising regularly Spending wisely Enjoying rest Accomplishment Simplifying one’s environment Deepening relationships I’ve been astonished how much this pandemic has disrupted every one of … More Quarantine Knits
This past week I completed a full year of writing weekly posts for this blog. To celebrate, I’m taking a break! I might write some more when I feel like it, but for now I’m just going to enjoy summer vacation and see if I can catch up on friendships and outdoor activities. I also … More Summer break!
In the ten years or so that I was taking piano lessons, I caused my teachers a lot of frustration by how slow I was to learn new pieces—one even called me the bane of her existence. It wasn’t that I didn’t practice; I was all too happy to practice a piece once I’d figured … More Practice and overfitting
This week, Clara and I and two friends of ours went on a two-day trip to Minnesota’s North Shore, on Lake Superior. The town where we stayed is epically named “Castle Danger,” despite its lack of castles or (apparent) danger, and, according to Wikipedia, The exact origin of the name is unknown, although it might have come … More Vacation in Castle Danger!
This is not the blog post I planned to write this week, but for a happy reason: our piano came today! This piano is the one I played on when I was taking lessons in high school, and it’s been living with my parents ever since I moved out. Until now! Finally choosing to bring … More We have a piano!
Since deciding to renew our lease for a second year, we’ve been trying to improve our apartment in several small ways: getting fabric for curtains, moving the recycling from a paper bag in the coat closet to a bin under the sink, re-gluing sections of doors that have warped apart, etc. One project we’ve had in mind … More Spice Blendoku
Owen Biesel 