Interactive poetry & computer programming
Saturday night Dan was showing me some of his very interesting sketches made with processing.js. Some of my favorites are:
- love me don't love me (a clever interactive poem about their cat)
- death of my mother (My father died 3 years ago so this one really struck a chord with me.)
- a tool for discovering your favorite letter and another tool for discovering your favorite letter. (This reminded me of the design principle behind the Museum of Math Logo. Dan's tools are monochrome and focus on movement while Wolfram's are colored and static. It would be interesting to see the two combined.)
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| Dan's letter explorer (letter d) |
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| Wolfram's letter explorer (letter d) |
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| Wolfram's letter explorer ( letter j) |
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| Dan's other letter explorer (letter j) |
- the blurbinator (hilarious tool that constructs a blub about your own book of poetry, example below)
Non-math books
Their bookshelves were lined with all sorts of interesting titles. Here are a few which I either read while there or are presently reading:
Delicious, delicious food
I had one of the most delicious dinners I've ever eaten at Maison. I felt like this was the first time in my life I finally understood, on a sensory level, what exactly people mean when they talk about the importance of natural ingredients of high-quality food. Every single meal was a gustatory delight. Dan is a highly skilled chef. He showed me how to spatchcock a chicken and even makes his own cereal. Every dish was made from entirely fresh ingredients -- from the earth to the table without processing beyond preparation in the kitchen.
I had one of the most delicious dinners I've ever eaten at Maison. I felt like this was the first time in my life I finally understood, on a sensory level, what exactly people mean when they talk about the importance of natural ingredients of high-quality food. Every single meal was a gustatory delight. Dan is a highly skilled chef. He showed me how to spatchcock a chicken and even makes his own cereal. Every dish was made from entirely fresh ingredients -- from the earth to the table without processing beyond preparation in the kitchen.
Juggling, Hooping, Poi!
Walking around on First Friday after dinner at Maison I visited a handful of art galleries and even had the chance to witness some lovely glow-in-the-dark poi swinging (and try my hand at it).
Pianos were scattered about town for people to play and the whole place felt very alive. I went to a yoga class on Saturday that really tested my limits. I do like a challenge, but I wasn't quite up for trying to stand on my head just yet... I got to juggle in and around town http://www.tellus360.com/ is juggler-friendly. The Marriott... not so much. While waiting for Jenn's friend to check out, I was politely asked to stop juggling by the security, the rest of the staff didn't seem to mind, though.
There were lots of great parks in and around town and everywhere I juggled and Jen hooped, people would stop by and watch, sometimes even trying out juggling and/or hooping. Jenn's mother visited on Sunday afternoon and had a show with dinner, as we demonstrated some of the new moves we were developing over the weekend.
Here are a few quick juggling clips.
Last but not least, their cat Steve has the quirky habit of jumping up on the sink so that he can dip his head under the tap and sip up water.
I feel very fortunate to have such friends and I hope that I can return the hospitality some day when they visit Baltimore.
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| All the cool kids were swinging poi, so I thought I'd try. |
Pianos were scattered about town for people to play and the whole place felt very alive. I went to a yoga class on Saturday that really tested my limits. I do like a challenge, but I wasn't quite up for trying to stand on my head just yet... I got to juggle in and around town http://www.tellus360.com/ is juggler-friendly. The Marriott... not so much. While waiting for Jenn's friend to check out, I was politely asked to stop juggling by the security, the rest of the staff didn't seem to mind, though.
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| Juggling in Tellus 360 which hosts rooftop yoga on Saturdays! |
There were lots of great parks in and around town and everywhere I juggled and Jen hooped, people would stop by and watch, sometimes even trying out juggling and/or hooping. Jenn's mother visited on Sunday afternoon and had a show with dinner, as we demonstrated some of the new moves we were developing over the weekend.
Here are a few quick juggling clips.
contact juggling with one ball
three club backcrosses
four club singles
Last but not least, their cat Steve has the quirky habit of jumping up on the sink so that he can dip his head under the tap and sip up water.
I feel very fortunate to have such friends and I hope that I can return the hospitality some day when they visit Baltimore.
