imminent death of the net predicted

this keypad causes the cursor to jump at random;
typing (rightly so-called) is essentially impossible.
this will be a short post.
the “we deliberately sell you stuff that won’t work
to incentivise you to upgrade to more expensive stuff
that also won’t work” thing is getting pretty old.
meanwhile legion (the macbook) is miles away.
just the same. i’ve begun work on a book.
“foundations of college mathematics” looks
like a pretty good working title since i intend
to present mostly material covered in the classes
i’ve actually been teaching all these years.
i’ve downloaded a free copy of …
so whenever i’ve schlepped across town
to barclay (sometime this weekend) i can start
figuring out all over again how tables work
and stuff like that. goodlooking graphics will
be out of the question. but then…
our medium is handwriting.
i’ll need one of those pads you draw direct to digital with.
of course it won’t work right. suggestions?

occupy everything

discussion of communique from an absent future.

i just got an email dated november first.
this is very troubling. that is all.

remember remember

i voted on tuesday weirdly enough.
happened to be walking past the
polling place and there was a guy
waiting for somebody to give
a flier to. what the heck, there’s
no two-hour line like there was
when i gave up all faith in the
here’s-something-to-do-while-
-we-take-all-your-stuff process.
i’ll go see if i’ve been purged.
and i hadn’t. so i went.

never again. what but an
electronic interface that
doesn’t fucking explain itself
and you’ve marked your ballot
and it won’t let you go.
i tried to leave but of course
that’s illegal. the guy
who comes around and
*looks right at* what you’ve
been doing isn’t allowed
to actually push the fucking
buttons. naturally he can’t
work it either and has to
try several times just to
record the transaction.

it’s over. we lost.

the clouds are weeping

now that i’ve got the scale of the thing
i’ll probably be walking back & forth
between barclay and country club
quite a bit. anyhow yesterday i did
a oneway and stopped along the way
for this swell new jean jacket
(at a catering-to-spanish-speakers
western themed deal with some
pretty cool periodicals and weird
softdrinks & stuff where i talked
with the cashier a little even)
and a few, get this, paperbacks
at a newish thrift. where i’ll soon
drop off some consignment items.
i put out a few books for sale in the
coffeehouse i’m sitting in now
(no internet connection at barclay)
last spring but
this is practically a done deal.
pat… running the place… sez
the books have been moving fast.
wouldn’t be surprised if i end up doing
some shelving and stuff. any luck who knows
meet a few more book people into
doing stuff on the cheap. looks like
potentially a Real Good Thing.
of course there’s no coffeehouse or
even restaurant or any other such
streetlife-building enterprises.
and main street evidently couldn’t
support a used bookstore
right across the friggin street
from capital friggin university
so don’t get your hopes up.
anyhow, now for back home.
ten mystery novels into the pack.
on to east livingston slowly.
weather permitting.

the octopus

louis menand on the ph.d. problem

“demand an overturning of this vicious policy”

demonstration in rochester (10/7/09).
watch this please. the kids are alright.

you only have to watch this one
if you’ve somehow never heard tracy chapman
talkin bout a revolution.
but it’s worth repeating. as often as necessary.

off in the distance

i walked about eleven miles yesterday.
clear across whitehall twice
the short way and up and down
most of the height of bexley
(once each). i had to feed the cat.
while i was there (my apartment;
i claimed a little bit ago to
be living here at madeline’s
and indeed i feel it to be so
but there *is* this other place
[and this *cat*]), i got the
guitar i’d left over there
and strapped it on and so for
half the trip i was strumming away
(you’ve gotta play *loud* sometimes
even to hear yourself at all
out on main street–the national road
for hecksake—so i did little
enough picking).

no running though. but
the day before *that* i added on
a little distance to the basic
half-mile loop along the “service road”
and its nearest parallel, the route
i’d by then run a whopping total
of three times already. so that’ll be
the new standard for a while:
just under a mile. i’m snapping back
into shape at a pretty good pace.
i always have so far so i’m not amazed
(as i *was* amazed when i first started
roadwork in 79: i’d worked with weights
for months before progress became obvious
but it only took weeks with running before
i got *way* better)… i’d set
my expectations low what with the
“being fifty-some” thing.

anyhow i haven’t looked this good
in years and everything’s getting
real good and solid. main steet is
even more barren of streetlife
at street level than it appears
from the middle of the road
out car windows but you see
a few people waiting for
the bus and whatnot; mostly
they’re glad to see you.
guitars are great.

what others call a play you call a work

math teachers at play number… um…

t. tao on displaying math on WWW.