November begins... the 3pm coffee crash...

We're almost there.

It's Thursday night, nearly midnight. I have a fever and my throat feels like it has needles through it, and is on fire simultaneously. I sit in front of my computer screen, staring blankly at the CSC165 website calendar. I find the energy to print out some lecture slides... They are all out of order and confused. My head begins to hurt, contemplating whether to ditch the test which is now less than 12 hours away. It's now 1am. Still haven't done anything. I grab my coat and go out to meet a friend for a time-out at the 24 hour Tim Hortons. Sit and chat till 2:30am. Complain about how nothing ever works out the right way in life.

Get back home by 3am. Decide to sleep for a couple of hours. Wake up at 10am, 3 hours later than I intended to. Feeling terrible. Contemplate ditching the test again. Somehow find the courage to scribble down a cheat sheet and think about induction. 11:30am, pack my bag and cycle to the Health Services office. Book an appointment for the afternoon. Get a cup of tea from MB, and head to BA1180.

So glad I decided to do the test, even though I can hardly hold up my pencil. All of the proofs are on my cheat sheet. Thank god!! What a fun morning.

Assignment 2 wasn't very interesting. Don't really feel like reflecting on it. Something about universal and existential claims and proof structures. Got the gist of it. Keep looking back to see if the marks are up. Why does it take so long?

Seems like I haven't been for a lecture in the longest time. Perfect comeback lecture - open problems. Feels like my mind wants to explode. I consciously shut down when Prof. Heap starts talking about paradoxes. The last thing I need on my mind right now is a mathematical paradox. I feel good about my position going into the last 1/3rd of the course, grades wise. Still a little lost about what I'm trying to gain from this class though.

Seems like we are learning about a hopeless battle with confusion. Way to crush clarity. I think I need a messiah... anyone?

October Ends

There are times when you are fortunate enough that you take a course that you can see happen in the real world. A few weeks ago, I was walking to the Koffler Building, through the BA walkway, and at the top door to the entrance of Koffler was a bright red sign that read "DO NOT ENTER BUILDING IN ALARM".

We had spoken about linguistic ambiguity in class and I couldn't help but chuckle and wonder. How can ambiguity be so prominent in our communications, even though we believe ourselves to be an intellectually clear-headed being. How much of what we say actually gets interpreted the way we want it to. So often, we display who we are by what we say, and what if that persona has been lost in translation? Food for thought...

Meanwhile, we have started doing proofs in class. The most recent being an Epsilon-Delta proof, which completely mystified me. The assignment will definitely be a challenge.

I have also been thinking about the kind of problem that I want to tackle on this blog. I came across a video of a very interesting method of multiplication, and I have to say, it completely baffled me. It got me to think, could there be a way to prove the method through structured steps like the ones we have learned. Here is the video. If anyone out there knows how it's done, do comment and explain. I'm stumped.

Logic

Aah, so this is my first post, and I'm late. But I guess losing 1 mark is better than losing 8.

So being forced to blog is definitely unusual, and I'm wondering how it will affect the blogging nature that I've created for myself, but I guess time will tell. So let's talk logic.

It might seem logical that if you go to class, and do the homework, and go to tutorial, and read the material, that you would be doing well at the course. I just read my first grade for Assignment 1 and realized that it was all a comfortable illusion. I guess getting bad marks should be commonplace now, being at UofT for over two years, and I wonder now, if I would react the same way to my first assignment in my first year.

It's a subconscious blow to your motivation I guess and being the sentimental type to begin with, I've let that hurt my entire outlook on Uni. Oh well, I guess being stoic is the only way to turn. I've got to keep on moving and loosen up those tight mind muscles.

So first post of hopefully many more, with some insight into CSC165 to follow.