At Wesleyan's 2009 commencement, Anna Quindlen reminded graduates of Samuel Beckett's bold proclamation, "To find a form that accommodates the mess, that is the task of the artist now." Instead of tidying the mess, or assuring graduates that things were not as messy as they appeared in the chaos of that May, she simply said,

We leave you a mess. And I won’t apologize for that. Instead I want you to see it for what it is: an engraved invitation to transformation. Certainty is dead. Long live the flying leap.

A long-time fan of Anna Quindlen's, I especially loved that last declarative: long live the flying leap.

And so, here goes my flying leap. As I travel to Japan, back home to run my first math camp for middle-school girls, and then to France, I will be flying in more ways than one.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

A+

When I studied in Grenoble, our program director always finished emails with "A +." I thought, for the longest time, that she was exhorting us to shoot for 20/20 (almost unheard of in the typical French grading system, where a 17/20 indicates exceptional work). Actually, this is a tricky French shortcut for saying "A plus tard," or "(See you) later."

So, A+. My math camp is finished, with great success, including a discussion of infinity based on an article you can find here. I'm flying to France tomorrow, with a very dear friend from college. She and I will spend our first nights in Nice, and I am definitely looking forward to Bastille Day in l'Hexagone. Last year, I popped French champagne on the hill at Wes. I have no idea what to look forward to, this year, but can't wait to see what is in store for us.
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