In order to progress beyond simple derivatives, I am faced with a review of trigonometry. The Calculus Scripture that I follow, that is, Professor Anton's book, helpfully provides a quick review of trig (plus problem sets) in one of the appendices of the book. So there I am, reliving the struggle of 2004, a year I spent mostly on trigonometry. How much do I remember? I certainly remember the basics, that is, sines, cosines, and tangents, and how to solve a triangle and so forth. I could probably derive a vector with a bit of reviewing. The unit circle is still familiar ground to me. But calculus works with radians, which I didn't do very much with back in the trigonometric year. I must get more familiar with them, until I know my 2Pi from my Pi/2.

As longtime readers know, I always feel as though I am not doing enough. I should be much further along in my calculus studies than I am. My progress has been so slow that at the present rate, it would take me at least five years just to get through first year calculus. I can offer the excuses of having a day job as well as my other art work, and the pressure of my upcoming gallery show. But that isn't really an excuse if I were a True Scientist/Mathematician. I read about those scientists and mathematicians who are able to do incredible amounts of everything in the same twenty-four hours that I spend scrubbing sludge off plastic sign clips. How do they do it? How do they get the energy to pursue an academic career involving both teaching and administration, work on grant proposals, do research and publish papers, go to conferences all over the world, as well as run marathons, climb mountains, go to jazz concerts, see movies, write novels, play the saxophone, and even raise a family and possibly do the laundry? If they don't sleep and still stay alert enough to get all this done, then I want their drugs.

So all I can offer to my Friendly Mathematicians and Scientists is that I am still applying myself to the work, even if I could only do one problem or contemplate one page of text per day. At least I don't have to apply for grants to do it. Meanwhile, I am now working on the last of my series of architectural portraits for the Falls Church show. This is the largest of the portraits (though still small by artistic standards) and it depicts the whole story I am trying to tell. A recent but traditionally designed house, used as a business building, flanked by a large tulip poplar tree, is squeezed in by two massive construction projects. The owners of the house and the business refused to sell out to the developers, so they are stuck there in between. The fate of the tree is in doubt. You will see this current project when it is done.

I look longingly at the colorful splotches of rain and storms in other parts of the country. Here in MetroDC we have not had rain for quite a while, and the air has become a barely breathable pollen soup. I actually have to clear pollen dust off my windshield with the sprayer and wipers. But it's all "natural," so we can't complain, just sniffle and wait for it to disperse.

Posted at 2:30 am | link