In One Week.

I am already getting very excited about my cousin from Berkeley coming to check out the Columbia and Yale Engineering schools next week. First of all, have just lost her second grandparent in one year, I want to see how she is and spend some time with her. Second of all, I really hope she comes our way for college. Her parents were especially generous to me in graduate school, but besides returning the favor, I just think it would be great fun to have her in New York. I teach in the same school she would attend, so we could have lunch once in a while, Amber and I could treat her and her friends to some non-college food from time to time, once in a while we could catch a show, plus she could come over to enjoy some regular home life and do laundry. It would be nice to get to be there for her the way her parents were for me. Plus, we miss her and her family terribly after the years we spent together in Berkeley, so having her close would keep them close too. Of course, she needs to pick the school that will give her the best chance for success, but hopefully that will be relatively near us ... if not in the same building. Ha.

Austin City Limits.

So, last night I arrived safely in Austin and stayed at my cousin D's house right in the heart of downtown. Unfortunately she has to travel for work today, so I only get to hang out with her for one night. It was also nice to meet her Beagle named Barney, who I had never had the pleasure of knowing until last night when we shared a bit of my late dinner.

Speaking of which, if you will allow me to digress ... if a flight goes from 7:00 PM until 11:00 PM, give us something more than some tiny pretzels. I had thought I saw Continental adds saying they still served food on flights, but I must have been wrong. Oh, and also, if you are someone who puts on an eye cover and brings 2 fluffy pillows to sleep on for an entire flight ... get a window seat. Some people on the interior might need a kleenex or glass of water at some point people.

But I digress. Today I will have breakfast with my cousin, then hang out at the UT math department before giving my talk at 3:30 PM. Then, tonight I get to have some good Austin Mexican food with some friends and colleagues before heading to Waco in the morning. Plus, I have my camera and hope to take some good photos of the city to post sometime soon.

It seems I will have an old friend and true Cretan to keep me company on my drive, which I will certainly appreciate given that I have not really driven a car very much over the last 2 years and there will be many insane college students heading to the OU-Texas game on the same road. Speaking of which, I was thinking of thanking the organizers for inviting me so deep into enemy territory to give a talk, but feel like the joke could work better. Any suggestions?

Regarding my budding illness, I still feel fine physically, but definitely have some nasty stuff happening in my sinuses. This worries me a bit about visiting my great aunt in Dallas, who is undergoing chemo. I do not want her to get sick with her weakened immune system. I will have to play it by ear I suppose, but hopefully the warmer, drier air here will help clear out my problem. Of course, that could be the medical practices from the Makioka Sisters talking.

The Makioka Sisters.

So, I started this book just a bit before I left Germany and shamefully it has taken me this long to get through this 500+ page slog of a novel. On the plus side, it definitely gave me a glimpse into some very traditional aspects of Japanese culture (I particularly enjoyed the haikus written or quoted throughout) and particularly portrayed interestingly how regular citizens in the Axis felt leading up to World War II. However, though at times I liked the characters, I had a hard time connecting with them deeply. For instance, just after we found out Taeko had escaped the massive flood, I put the book down for 3 or 4 days without really being bothered by how she had survived that whole time. Perhaps this is a cultural issue, perhaps it is a class issue, perhaps it is a generational issue, but the problems they felt most difficult in their lives were a challenge to care about towards the end. In truth, if there had been one more miai gone wrong, I would have just not finished the book. Still, I did appreciate the insight into another culture, which is why a friend recommended it in the first place, so in that regard it was a success. But come on, can we at least agree the ending is rather unsatisfying. After all that, Taeko's baby dies and we do not even see Yukiko through being married?? I was both glad it was over and a bit angry we did not get at least to know if all the failed attempts had been worth it at finding a successful match. Not to mention, the war was just escalating and transitioning into the way it impacted the family and Japan as a whole would be a rather fascinating sequel.

Well Howdy.

Tonight, I hop on a plane for my first trip of the semester. Tomorrow I give a talk at UT-Austin, then head to Waco for an AMS Session. Though I have never been to either place, I am really only looking forward to visiting Austin. However, I will have a few good friends to see since I am close enough to home to know a relatively large number of people. To look presentable, I got a haircut today from a somewhat overpriced, though competent and talkative Brazilian man on the upper west side. My life as it stands is completely dominated by work. On top of my usual load of work, this weekend I had a collaborator in town and talked in depth about some rather complex mathematics for 4 days in a row. I learned something new about the Quantum Hall Effect and some Riemannian Geometry. As a result, I am exhausted, slightly ill and nervous about making a good impression during my talk tomorrow. In any case ... wish me luck.

Oh, and Happy Birthday Emily!!!

Time.

If I am honest, it is hard to believe I have been back in the US for an entire month. I miss everyone and my life in Europe terribly, though hopefully I'll have a semblance of that here soon as well. There has been so much going on around me, the last several weeks have all blurred together. To be honest, I have a hard time distinguishing the chronological order of several events. Now that I am settled once more, time seems to be progressing linearly again, which is a great relief. However, it was one of my favorite parts of Slaughterhouse 5 when the protagonist described his ability to travel through the time dimension of his life and becoming accustomed to seeing in 4 dimensions. In any case, in all this time, I have reacquainted myself with my surroundings, made love to my wife, argued with my wife, walked my dog, actually made a few dinners, had a few beers, sent in my passport for renewal, begun teaching, given two research talks, established a routine, set up a home office, had a paper accepted, made serious headway on two drafts near completion, started thinking and discussing seriously a few exciting new projects, begun the process of learning some mathematical biology, figured out how to use a cell phone again, missed using German and strolled longingly passed a Brooks Brothers in search of a new umbrella. This weekend I will host my first visitor of the semester and next week I make my first trip to a conference. Needless to say, it has been a full month and seems to be a full year ahead of me. I will be sending out some job applications to see if I can get a permanent position this year, which is both exciting and overwhelming. All I can do through all this is try to keep my head above water, get some work done and try to become the man I hope to be by 30, which may be here before I know it at this pace.

On a side note, an opportunity has arisen to go see The Marriage of Figaro at the Met with an old friend for her 30th birthday in November, which makes me incredibly excited. With all the poverty and podcasting in my life the last couple years, there has not been nearly enough music.

Hello Again.

Well, the internet has finally arrived at Marzuola Manor here in New York, so I will start writing new posts here very soon, hopefully tonight in fact. So much has happened in the last month I am a bit intimidated at finding where to start. Unfortunately, the last month has been quite a blur, but writing about it should help me find some clarity. However, I cannot start right now, as I am off to continue writing lecture material for my class.

Talk to you soon.