O, the Weather Outside is...

Yes! Lookie up there and finish the song lyric correctly by singing: "really really CRAZY!?!?!?!"

I'm not exactly a fan of mathematics (if you follow this blog at all, you already know this fact) but I figured the most recent weather pattern deserved a bit o' math anyway.

The "highest" high was 75 degrees. The "lowest" low was 12 degrees.

*that's a difference of 63 in less than a week*

Does anyone know what happens when it swings hot/cold/cold/cold/ hot/warm/cold? (such a big changed over a short amount of time)

People get *sick*...people go to the doctor (or don't go to the doctor)... People (in their miserable state) go to the Pharmacy... AND being as I work in a PHARMACY...

Imagine it all.

"All of a sudden I'm congested and achy..."
*cough snot cough*
"It feels like my head is going to explode..."
*cut in front of people*
"Where's the green shiny pills I took 5 years ago..."
*sneeze*

"Why is my doctor's office closed, I might die?"

"Leave me alone! I want out of here!"
*that one's ME!*

Next Stop: The Matrix

So last Wednesday night we were brought into the lovely world of Matrices. Essentially this is a world I'd perfer to NEVER to visit again.

a rectangular table of elements (or entries), which may be numbers or, more generally, any abstract quantities that can be added and multiplied.

Matrices are used to describe linear equations, keep track of the coefficients of linear transformations and to record data that depend on multiple parameters.

WHAT? I will play the game and do some simple operations with them (addition, subtraction, multiplication) but that's where I STOP.

I was too busy NOT even trying to understand because it was:

a) dumb
b) too much
c) our instructor said if we "couldn't get it" NOT to worry about it because we could use any method we'd like to solve the problems
d) did you read what I just wrote?
e) & I kept waiting for Neo to sail through the room, long black coat floating behind him.

Matrix. Har har har! So, there we have it. Super genius, I AM NOT! I'm practical (and maybe just a bit bull-headed).

~~J

Break out the Abaci:

nataliedee.com

Honest to Blog:

So much time, so little blog.

*Although I have completed my Spring semester & have "nothing but" work to worry about, I have given you so little of my free time, and I hope you forgive me--Blog.

(but apparently I've had time to catch up on some movies, JUNO, hence the witty title)

*We are actually in the middle of a record-setting, drug-counting, volume-splitting week in the Pharmacy. I've already donated extra hours of my time to the cause and it's only Thursday.

*Back (back back) to the Spring Semester for a moment. The grades were posted and I actually ended up with a 4.0 semester. *shocked face* (remember though, I only took 2 classes) I didn't realize it was mathematically possible to get an A in Math 1410 until our professor offered up an extra credit assignment.

(the photo is actually a skylight in Patterson Hall<---the English building, I looked up & snapped it with my cell while looking for my Adviser's office last week)

Random list of Current Favorite Songs:
The Verve -- "Sonnet"
Toad the Wet Sprocket -- "Fall Down"
The Weepies -- "Painting by Chagall"
The Pretenders -- "Brass in Pocket"
Death Cab for Cutie -- "Crooked Teeth"
Antsy Pants -- "Tree Hugger"
Rachael Yamagata -- "Letter Read"
The Police -- "Message in a Bottle"

~~J

Basic Bracket Mathematics:

Essentially I am showing you THIS little snippet from my bracket because all the other little snippets are pretty embarrassing.

Sienna? San Diego?

Okay, I don't know TOO many people who had that right (unless you attend those schools or like the number 13).

But I went with a "feeling" on a couple and basically picked the "wrong" upsets. (But I got K-State right!)

Oh well.

I guess officially I can say my Math homework will be easier to figure out than the NCAA Brackets (which I actually KNOW something about as opposed to the Math).

Observe: Decimal notation is the writing of numbers in the base-ten numeral system, which uses various symbols (called digits) for no more than ten distinct values (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9) to represent any numbers, no matter how large.

We do this EVERY day. It might sound scary to read, but you know HOW to handle it, I promise. 75= 7x10 + 5

Now we're converting from different bases and using a lot of paper to figure out problems. It took several sheets to be able to say:

342 converted to base 3 is 110,200(3)
323 to base 5 is 2,243(5)
243 to base 6 is 1,043(6)

(I don't know the point to this either, so don't ask me what I can do with this information aside from passing the appropriate exam!)

Somehow the Brackets are a lot more FUN (even though I've only "guessed" 62% of the games correctly and everyone knows that a D is completely unacceptable)!

~~J

5 x 4:

1. Tonight at the end of Math class,
2. we got our second exams back.
3. Just as I assumed I got another
4. B! But I didn't miss any of the expected problems.
5. WHY do I always flub the easy ones?

1. I found out this evening/night,
2. that my History exam was moved to April 1st--
3. while my next Math exam was revealed to be
4. scheduled for April 1st.
5. Let the STRESS begin!

1. On a whim I put ATONEMENT on the top
2. of my darling Netflix Que.
3. Guess what is scheduled to arrive tomorrow?
4. ATONEMENT!
5. Did someone say James McAvoy?

1. Have you filled out your Tournament Bracket yet?
2. I've entered TWO separate online pools
3. (with somewhat similar choices).
4. In my imagined life, I win lots of $$$!
5. Should I share my bracket?

~~J

Math, The Musical!

1. ~(P ^ Q) = (~P) or (~Q) to be sung: not P and Q equals not P or not Q
2. ~(P or Q) = (~P) ^ (~Q) to be sung: not P or Q equals not P and not Q

I'm picturing Julie Andrews circa
The Sound of Music or Mary Poppins...anybody? anybody?

Okay, so it doesn't really work. But it's De Morgan's Laws and now I have to add this STUFF (or another S word) to my mathematical repertoire.

I'm sure Augustus De Morgan was a wonderful guy. BUT he is really driving me nuts (not in a good way) right about now. I sat in class (after our second exam, of course) for at least an hour, with a perpetual gaze of frustration.

Basically, in logic, De Morgan's laws are rules in formal logic relating pairs of dual logical operators in a systematic manner expressed in terms of negation. (Yeah, sure, okay, whatever!)

Speaking of the Second Exam...I think I handled the Truth Tables (pun intended) rather well. I won't know for sure until next week, and you know what I think about multiple choice math exams. Who knows what will happen.

I guess I'll have to make up a song about it later.

~~J

Conjunction (dis) Junction:

What's your function?

In GRAMMAR:

a conjunction is a PART OF SPEECH that connects two words, phrases or clauses together. In general, a conjunction is an invariable grammatical particle, and it may or may not stand between the items it conjoins.

Hey, that's clever!

But here's some NEW ones I need to memorize for a certain Exam next week...

In LOGIC and/or MATHEMATICS:
logical conjunction "and" is a two-place logical operator that results in a value of true if both of its operands are true, otherwise a value of false.

True AND True = True
True AND False = False

logical disjunction "or" is a two-place logical operator that results in true whenever one or more of its operands are true.

True OR False = True
False OR False = False

Okay. Now add in Conditional (-->) and Bi-Conditional (<-->) to the mix.

I like tying up words and phrases and clauses.

A conditional is a compound statement formed by combining two sentences (or facts) using the words "if ... then." A conditional can also be called an implication.

if True then False = False
if True then True = True

A bi-conditional is a compound statement formed by combining two conditionals under "if and only if." Biconditionals are true when both statements (facts) have the exact same truth value.

if True and only if True = True
if False and only if False = True

I'm going to get you there if you're very careful.

Conjunction (dis)Junction, what's your function?

I'm going to get you there if you're very careful!

~~J

p.s. thanks for the help, School House Rock!

Logically Speaking:

or what in the world am I talking about & what combination of mathematicians am I cursing at this very moment...

This is a Truth Table. A Table of Truth (or really an explanation of the four different possible outcomes depending on negation, disjunction, conjunction or implication).

We started with 'sentences' in Math last week and since I enjoy English (way too much), I was pretty excited. The excitement didn't last long enough. Welcome to Logic (or part of the Logic I have to learn this semester in order to rock my class).

I still have two sections of Homework to complete and not an extremely long amount of time to complete them (especially since I'll have to take Tennis Update breaks and such).

Thankfully this is a "beginning" course so I won't end up like John Nash, masterfully solving problems & writing proofs across numerous blackboards and notebooks.

I'd rather use words instead of symbols to solve all the problems in the world. (Although if you think about it strings of letters are really symbols and so...) I'm giving myself a headache.

~~J

{Results 1}

So close to 9pm last night we got our first {Math Exam} back...

*drumroll*

I passed. I passed with relative "flying colors"...a respectable high B. BUT (and there is always a BUT) if I would've paid attention and not flubbed the last VERY easy problem, it would've been a respectable low A.

Does anyone know where "flying colors" came from? Maybe it has something to do with flying your Flag? Something patriotic? Planting your "colors" when you claim victory?

I can't dwell too much...now I'll move on to my next battle (so to speak)...

About 170 years of early U.S. History...circa 1600-1775

This includes a few Kings & Queens, Prime Ministers and FOUR Wars (known by both the "European" name and the "Colonial" name) plus their treaties & provisions...this stuff is absolutely fascinating and was NEVER this exciting in high school.

*fingers crossed*

~~J

p.s. I am waiting for the University of Memphis "accept" me...they responded to my application and requested transcripts...which were sent a couple weeks ago. When I type my name into the "search" field on the school site, I DO come up...but I'm not listed as a student yet. I have 2 weeks to complete a scholarship application, but I have to be accepted first!

{Math Exam 1}

(creative title, yes?)

So last night I took my first Math exam of {the new year, the new class}. It was 25 questions long (4 points a piece) & MULTIPLE CHOICE!

Multiple Choice Math tests should be banned for life. "But the answer is right there..." Spare me! This also means that at least 3 of the WRONG answers are there too & they always try to be tricky and include answers from different parts of the problem.

So if you think you're done and SEE that answer--But WAIT! Is it a trick?!?

Also, the problems were phrased completely different than the textbook (class & homework). So I don't know if the professor is using a standardized form or problems from a different book. I'm a little bit worried about this...

BUT there were only TWO problems that made me want to cry (because I wasn't coming up with ANY of the possible "answers and or not answers"). So I took a deep breath and continued--finishing the rest of the exam with a lot of time to spare (we had an hour).

So I went back and started OVER on the "problems" (pun intended)... VICTORY! (Or at least I think so--remember? multiple choice!)

We won't know until next week.

*big sigh of relief here anyway*

~~J

So Much To Say (x4):

(like the Dave Matthews Band cira 1995)

Since there have been about 10,000 things to write about, notice my complete silence. I apologize.

Super Tornado Tuesday has thrown me for a loop (and I wasn’t even affected) so I can hardly imagine what it would be like to be without a home. The pictures and stories keep trickling in and not only can they be found on local news programs, but national news channels as well.

If you want to help out be sure to check out the Union University Recovery site as well as the Midsouth chapter of the American Red Cross.

Just so you know, I've learned I am a "Political News Junkie" according to CNN. This means I like to watch programs like "Ballot Bowl 08" and all the Primary Results come in--while following along ONLINE on my laptop! For shame, for shame!

I have re-applied to the University of Memphis and they have replied with requests for official Transcripts containing all my college course work. EVERYTHING has been sent now and I am just waiting for word on my status!

I have my first Math exam tomorrow (instead of last week, since classes were cancelled) AND my first History exam NEXT week. Oy!

~~J

Sets & Abstract Relationships:

A is a subset of B.

But really, it looks more like A C B to my mind...maybe to yours as well?

So begins all the new little symbols I have to learn in my Foundations of Mathematics class. It truly is like learning a new language, although I don't get to go on a fancy trip to "Math Land" and attempt to use { }, ⊂, and ∈ correctly for another two weeks (our first exam).

I'll always have to put these things into terms I understand!

{Memphis > Gonzaga} or Memphis is Greater than Gonzaga and should win the game this morning.

&

They are both part of the same set (basketball teams) so I guess I could actually say that Memphis ∈ Gonzaga.

*whew*

I almost forgot to mention that my textbook arrived 3 hours before class on Tuesday! I decided to race home between Work & History and saw it jammed in the mailbox. How is that for perfect timing?

Also, Preston was born Monday morning. He is the first child of one of my friends--and her family are big U of M supporters. Don't worry, it's not lost on me that Monday the Tigers were ranked NUMBER 1 (for the first time in a long time) in a couple national basketball polls.

So goes Preston, so goes the Tigers.

And Preston is doing JUST FINE!

~~J

The Good, The Bad & Super Cold:

So I have survived the first week of class (Spring Semester) & a Super Cold.

*insert cheers here*

History Class > Math Class = Super Cold

Which basically means:

I love my History Class (US History to 1877)...we've met twice and I can tell you this much already. It felt like "story time" almost, "story time" with note taking. My professor is both fair and knowledgeable. Lovely qualities to have as a professor (as opposed to disorganized and flighty).

I really really fear Math (Math Foundations aka really crazy stuff like Set Theory). Where did this branch of Mathematics come from and really, what is the point? This is making me yearn for Algebra. I'll give the first person $$ who has proof (in writing) I would ever miss algebra. YEARN for Algebra? REALLY?

Also, I ordered the textbook online (to save $30) and it might not arrive until Wednesday. I have class on Tuesday night. OY!

Super Cold came into my life around 1am on Tuesday morning. We've been fighting one another ever since. I finally caved this evening and left work early. The Pharmacy has become a breeding ground for such sickness! I've personally handled 10+ people this week with Tamiflu perscriptions.

Super Cold and Math are pretty much the same as far as I'm concerned.

Oddly enough, Super Cold seems to be on the way out while Math is just beginning.

*le sigh*

~~J