Random Thoughts

Random thoughts #1:


Punctuation is simply amazing. As I sit here writing this, wrapped in a blanket, a book next to me, and a piece of half-eaten dark chocolate nearby, this thought runs through my head. The book I have with me, "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" by Lynne Truss, has just reiterated one of the truest things in the punctuation world.  In the chapter on commas:


'Thurber was once asked by a correspondent: "Why did you have a comma in the sentence, 'After dinner, the men went into the living-room.'?" And his answer was probably one of the loveliest things ever said about punctuation. "This particular comma," Thurber explained, "was Ross's way of giving the men time to push back their chairs and stand up."


That is so indescribably true. The sentence would have worked just fine without the comma, but that short pause makes the prose more believable, more unique. Really, one of the finest things about punctuation is that you don't always have to follow the rules.  I have seen many an example of master writers using the colon to make hardships and cruel things seem no more relevant than items in a list.
Ah, the beauty of prose and punctuation!



Random thoughts #2:
If you take any number, as long as it is composed entirely of nines, and add one to it, it makes a number completely and totally different from the original. Here's what I mean:


You take a number of nines:


99


Plus 1


99+1=


 And you get a number totally unrelated to nines, just a one and zeroes.


100


It's obvious, really, but it's still fun to think about.


Random thoughts #3:


This isn't really a thought, it's just something I saw on a shirt in Books-A-Million.


MAY THE MASS TIMES ACCELERATION BE WITH YOU.


For all the geeks out there who understand this and have to explain it to others, you are truly amazing.


Random Thoughts #4:


Does it bother anyone else that "The Los Angeles Angels" translates to "The The Angels Angels"?

Random Thoughts #5:

One of my favorite math questions: If John has 30 chocolate bars and eats 25 of them, what does he have?
And the best answer in the world: Oh, I don't know, diabetes maybe?!? :-)