Unless we can call this a case study of the challenges faced in mid-western education, or unless it's about how to map intellectual curiosity over redneck space I'm probably near 100% off-topic here. Humor in any event. Your post reminded me of something.
One evening as a TV show called "dirty jobs" was showing a fellow who's family business (multi-generational) had been charcoal production. My wife is from Missouri originally, and the cadences and intonations caused her suddenly to perk up and pay closer attention to the show.
The interviewer asked the current patriarch running the family business how it was that charcoal burned at all given that it was burned wood in the first place. It was clear that he was uncertain and the interviewer pressed a little.
In that particular unmistakable twang (which my wife was able to place with astounding geographic precision) he muttered words that so perfectly captured a subtly textured wisdom that I've become certain that there exists some universe in which his utterance might merit immortality: "Jus pud a liddle lider-fluid on it."
After years of being unable to find a market for my blend of oddball, down-home humor and mathematics, I've adopted a suggestion from a referee at the Mathematics Teacher: "Start a blog."
Here it is. I plan to feed this blog with mathematical tidbits from time to time. I hope to keep it non-technical. Spread the word. There must be people out there who like to laugh and like math too or who would like math if given a chance.
I am a mathematics professor, administrator, sometime-preacher who writes a weekly column that is run in the Pittsburg Morning Sun and the Ada Evening News.
1 comment:
Unless we can call this a case study of the challenges faced in mid-western education, or unless it's about how to map intellectual curiosity over redneck space I'm probably near 100% off-topic here. Humor in any event. Your post reminded me of something.
One evening as a TV show called "dirty jobs" was showing a fellow who's family business (multi-generational) had been charcoal production. My wife is from Missouri originally, and the cadences and intonations caused her suddenly to perk up and pay closer attention to the show.
The interviewer asked the current patriarch running the family business how it was that charcoal burned at all given that it was burned wood in the first place. It was clear that he was uncertain and the interviewer pressed a little.
In that particular unmistakable twang (which my wife was able to place with astounding geographic precision) he muttered words that so perfectly captured a subtly textured wisdom that I've become certain that there exists some universe in which his utterance might merit immortality: "Jus pud a liddle lider-fluid on it."
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