Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

"The level of violence from assaults in America has risen dramatically over the past 40 to 50 years at the same time that guns have become more lethal and available. But because of the vast improvements in the nation's access to and quality of emergency medical care -- particularly since the Vietnam War -- the outcome of these assaults is far less likely to be lethal. [...] People who would have ended up in morgues 20 years ago, are now simply treated and released by a hospital, often in a matter of a few days. And people who would have faced the death penalty 20 years ago are now simply guilty of felonious assault, treated and released by prisons, often in a matter of a few years." -- Anthony R. Harris, quoted in a press release announcing publication of a study in 2002

After rehearsal, justgus37 and I grabbed a bite to eat. And we chatted about number systems and computers. A tangential comment led to musing about the meaning of a base with a non-integer radix. So we spent a while trying to figure out how to count in base-two-and-a-half.

It had been a while since I played with math (as opposed to using it or teaching it). I'd remembered it was fun, but I'd forgotten how intoxicating it can be. That giddy feeling as something surprising suddenly clicks into sense. "Drunk on math". We were entertained by the discovery that in a non-integer base there will numbers with lower values than shorter numbers -- that is, a number N digits long that is less than a number N-1 digits long (for example, 100_{two-and-a-half} < 22_{two-and-a-half} ... note that 100_{two-and-a-half} = 6.25_ten, and 22_{two-and-a-half} = 7_ten). Once I've closed a few of the too-many open browser windows, I'm going to have to ask Google what's already been written on this subject.

It seems somehow fitting that the place where we were discussing this is called Plato's.

A food note I'd forgotten to write about ... At the Thai restaurant we went to last weekend, I tried the chive dumplings. They smelled like boiled lawn clippings, not very appealing, but they tasted good. In addition to finding the taste both pleasant and interesting, I found the disconnect between smell and taste fascinating.

And ... I wrote this down while it was baking in case it turned out to be a variation especially worth repeating (I'm trying to learn a new habit, of taking notes before I forget what I did). It came out well, but it's not the best version of this dish that I've made so far ... but since I've already typed it in, I may as well share it (and make sure I can find it again):

I'd hoped that enough of the flavour from the red peppers would work its way down, but they dried out too quickly. I'll try putting them between the squash and another topping before giving up on using them in this dish.

A question for those of you who "do it in the dark":

How many rolls do you have to develop before you stop wanting to squee, "THERE'S PICTURES ON IT!" and bounce around the room when you open the tank and look at the film?

Oh, my preciousss little 24mm X 36mm snippetsses of ssscenery in black and white and shadessss of grey. Dry for a while, and then let me look at you more closeley, yessss.