Taking This Blog on the Road

I did math from 9 am to 4 pm today. I like doing math. A lot. And that was too much. And it's only the first of 4 days of the workshop. As much as I'd like to write something coherent, I'm not sure that it's possible, so how about a list?

1. I'm being put up in a dorm. Know what that means? No falling asleep watching television. Nope. This is the Spartanest of Spartan rooms. Don't believe me? Here's one half.



I'd have cropped the picture, but I think that big bare white wall really exemplifies my situation. If only I had a Bob Marley poster, or that poster of Kramer from Seinfeld that everyone had up when I was in college. I'd totally tack it to the wall and use toothpaste to fill the holes when I leave. That toothpaste trick? It really works. Really.

Oh, and the bed? It's got one of those sanitary matress covers made of rustling plastic or maybe rubber. Either way, it's really hot, and I'd take it off (and promise not to wet the bed) but I knew a guy in college who got scabies from his mattress. Scabies. In his bed.

But maybe my room is bigger, and you're just looking at the one part of it? Nope. Here's the view from the doorway.



2. See that giant tome on the desk? I'm supposed to read through chapter six tomorrow. It has lots of pictures, though.

3. Last time I came to Minnesota, it was April. I brought wool sweaters and slacks and boots and thick socks. It was 70 degrees and sunny, and I ended up at the Mall of America, buying clothes that I wouldn't boil in. Good thing that Mall of America was there, I tell you. Well, this time, the forecast was 70-75, possible showers.I wore khakis on the plane and brought knee-length skirts to wear during the conference. This seemed reasonable, given the forecast.

Today it was about 55 and pouring rain.

The same tomorrow, probably.

I only have the one pair of pants.

4. This isn't really a problem, since it's a math conference. I was at a three-week one in July in Park City, Utah, where it's like 100 degrees in the summer. There was a sign that said, "Put off doing your laundry for three more days: Buy a conference T-shirt!" Needless to say, wearing clothes more than once (or five times) without laundering them isn't frowned upon so much.

5. There are 12 people here. There are 2 women, including me. There is never a bathroom line for women at a math conference.

6. Isn't this a great opportunity to do some knitting? I mean, it's a long flight, and then with the no TV thing, shouldn't I have planned something that would take some real time? You'd think so. You'd think I'd have time, except there's that two hundred pages of reading that I need to do by 9 am.

And the flight? It would have been an ideal time to knit, except that the plane was full and the guy next to me was not at all deterred by the fact that I do math for a living. It's pretty much (but not certainly) a guarantee that folks will not speak to me once I let them know what I do. This guy was intrigued. Also, he likes math. Lots. And he knows someone who used to teach math at my university (the world is very very very small). But then he started talking about his work and there really wasn't any stopping him. You'd think you could only talk for a few minutes about selling adhesives, but no. It was a 3 1/2 hour flight. I'm pretty sure he could have talked for longer, but I called John when we deplaned. He did tell me the full story about the invention of Post-It Notes, and I managed not to say, "I already know this story. It's called Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion."

I did knit some. A hem. About an inch. In 3 1/2 hours.



7. The campus is very beautiful. The nearest yarn store, though, it about 5 miles away. Rats.