Friday, November 04, 2016

The Physics of Torque :: Three Hundred Nine

I wish I could remember everything Max was telling me about the physics of torque, about wrenches, and the two different ways of multiplying vectors. The dot product. The cross product... mathematical functions that apply to physics. The physics of circular motion, angular velocity, angular acceleration, angular momentum, and torque... these are the subjects Max explained to me over breakfast. He's a good teacher, patient, consistent, and he knows his subject thoroughly enough to make it applicable, to rephrase elaborate concepts into simple ideas. Fridays are breakfast with Max, and physics, Calculus, philosophy, humanities, driving home. I love Fridays. I love that Max has broadened my understanding and, by far more, my appreciation of subjects I'd always believed were impossible for me.

Thursday was assembling an Ikea piece. Do you ever find yourself in disagreement over a generalized joke? What I mean is... I get the humor around the challenges of assembling furniture, the frustration, the failures. It's one of those gimmicks that is supposed to be universally recognized and laughed over... that it won't work, the instructions are confusing, parts are missing, it will take all day... etc. But I can only half laugh at that joke, because I really love assembling Ikea furniture. Love. It. Sure, some pieces are harder than others, and I once did get an end table that was finally proven to be impossible to construct. But. Eh... no biggie. Most times, I find the tools I need, and the parts match the descriptive pictures. I wrestle a bit with large pieces, or have to rethink how to follow the next step, but I like it. Some of the designs are clever, even ingenious, and I feel challenged, then accomplished, when the job is done.

This morning, over eggs and potatoes, sitting outside the common, I was happy to have just worked with a wrench, so that Max's lesson was relevant, and I could picture it in my mind (practically literally, since I did take a picture, the day before, of my wrench at work.) Max always makes me feel free to ask questions, and he meets my 'real world analogies' with an open mind, ready to connect my way of understanding to the facts and specifics of the concepts and equations he's teaching me. He's never dismissed my whys and how-comes, the way some teachers have, and the extra time he allows and information he offers, helps me to get a grasp, is reassuring. He builds my confidence.


It might do me right to remember these things, to see some evidence of accomplishments and adventures, of pleasures. Dear, silly blog. Dear pictures, and memories, ideas, feelings.

I love Fridays, kittens, tools, assembling thoughtfully designed kits, taking apart my mom's sewing machine, solving packing problems, hammering nails, baking bread, hitting a birdie with a badminton racket, swimming underwater, making an itinerary, reading maps. I love seeing when William is designing, what Alex is painting, when Maria is programming, how Max is navigating new challenges, the way Geoff conquers any task. I love taking pictures, and telling stories, making relevant links in the text, and making friends. I love introducing friends to other friends, who I think might share similar interests, and I love being here, seeing, hearing, feeling, thinking. Silly, blogger. So effusive.

If I ever had to edit, or write rough drafts before publishing to the blog, I think it would have finished me years ago. I seem destined to scratch the surface of deep thoughts and other musings, and cluck over just about anything that crosses my path.

With Infinity More Monkeys, a picture a day.

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