I had meant to do this a week ago for the simple fact that 19 is my favorite number and the idea of issuing a monthly roundup on the nineteenth day of the month is too alluring for my nerd ass to resist.
Here’s what I’ve been thinking, reading, and doing for the past month or so.
Food and Drink
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day in the United States, which means the most eagerly anticipated turkey dinner in the country. You haven’t lived until you’ve had my green bean casserole, cornbread stuffing, and roast turkey.
As you can see in the image for this post, I was at Starbucks when I wrote it, and the Caffè Verona dark roast is an excellent dark-roast blend. The sourdough grilled cheese sandwich was also a pleasing choice.
Studying
As you can see from the above image, I’ve started Emil Artin’s monograph The Gamma Function, which goes deep into the properties of the gamma function (as you probably guessed). The gamma function is given by the improper integral $$\Gamma(x) = \int^\infty_0 e^{-t}t^{x-1}\,\text{d}x \equiv (n-1)!$$ for some integer n and some real number x that is neither zero nor a negative integer. This is, as you may have guessed, the analytic continuation of the factorial function (defined for some positive integer n as the product of positive integers from 1 to n) to the real line. This monograph shouldn’t take much more than an hour or two to read through and a little more time besides to really understand. I can’t comment on Artin’s original writing in German, but the translation by Michael Butler stands up admirably. (Emil Artin’s son Michael wrote the abstract algebra book most commonly seen in honors abstract algebra for undergrads as well as first-year graduate algebra. I am very much looking forward to digging into my copy next year.)
I’ve also picked back up on my seemingly interminable business studies, getting back to work with finance and accounting. More to come since that only resumed yesterday. I’m also planning my linguistics and literature study for the upcoming year. More on that in a future post.
Additionally, I’m working (slowly) through the HSK-1 study materials for Mandarin Chinese. 虽然我的中文不太好的，我真要会明白这种语言。我觉得普通话漂漂亮亮的啊！
Reading
The following are on my current reading list:
- The Republic (Plato; Jowett translation)
- The Gamma Function (Artin; Butler translation; discussed above)
- Advanced Calculus (R. Creighton Buck)
- Middlemarch (George Eliot) – starting after the Thanksgiving holiday
Thinking
A family member’s medical issue has had me thinking a lot about the fragility and impermanence of life. I don’t want to air their dirty laundry out on the internet, but if you read this, please – take care of yourself and be well, and remember to exercise moderation in all things. Remember that the dose makes the poison.
It’s far more important to know what person the disease has than what disease the person has.
Hippocrates
Listening
To end the post today, a classic from my favorite band of all time.
Coda
Remember to feed your mind, mind your feeds, be your own algorithm, and look both ways before trusting an opinion. Get plenty of water and sleep, don’t let the sun set on an argument, call your mom, and if you’re lucky enough to still have her in your life, call your grandma too.
And for my American readers, enjoy the day tomorrow, and if you don’t have anything to be thankful for, be thankful for your next breath.
This feature will return December 19.
为了现在，再见了。 (Bye for now.)