Monday November 27, 2006 7:40 am Lethbridge Sunrise 8:01 Sunset 16:37 Hours of daylight: 8:36

A. Morning Musings

7:40 am It is -22 C at the moment with a high of -20 C forecast.

From rear window	South patio
Both images taken at 11:20 am

B. Plan

Immediate
Health	Walk & exercise (snow shovelling)	1 hr
Mathematics	Read "Fearless Symmetry" chap 9: Elliptic Curves	1 hr
	Make notes on the beginnings of number theory	1 hr
History	Continue reading & making notes for "Citizens"	1 hr
GO	Continue reading "Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go"	2 hr
Literature	Complete reading "The Southern Gates of Arabia " by Freya Stark	1 hr
Later
Chores	Investigate water softeners for home
Technology	Read manual for cell phone
	Make notes for chap. 4 of "Switching to the Mac"
	Begin reading "iPhoto"
	digital photography - learn about using the various manual settings
Philosophy	Read "The Art of Living" by Epictetus
Mathematics	Larson "Calculus"
	Read "Symmetry" by Hermann Weyl
	Read "The Computational Beauty of Nature" Chap 3
	Gardner "The Colossal Book of Short Puzzles"
History	Watson "Ideas"
Model Trains	Build oil refinery diorama: add ground cover
	Assemble second oil platform kit
	Assembly of CN 5930, an SD40-2 with a NAFTA logo
Puzzles	The Orange Puzzle Cube: puzzle #9

C. Actual/Notes

11:45 am Here are a few quotes from Freya Stark's "The Southern Gates of Arabia":

• "I have often wondered why a ship appears on the whole a more satisfactory possession than a woman. It is probably because, being so frail an object, precariously and visibly balanced between the elements, even the most obtuse of men realize the necessity of attention and tact at the helm. But women, though quite as fragile, perched on edges more razor-like, though intangible, amid eternities even more momentous, must evidently give a false impression of stability, since belated and absent-minded jerks so often take the place of that gentle hand upon the tiller which keeps both ships and human beings along their course." [p. 10]
  
  
• "They looked very much the masters of the situation, for our Captain was in a hurry, and they were not, and that is always a strong position in diplomacy." [p. 16]
  
  
• "... by my friends in Makalla, who hold that the sufferings of the poor are part of the necessary furniture of the world, a sort of perpetual gymnasium where the rich can practise virtue when they feel so inclined." [p. 35]
  
  
• " 'You have studied, and your life - where is it?' he asked." [p. 37]
  
  
• "And it is pleasant too, to sit on a donkey pack, when you know how to do it, without rigidity, meeting the jolts and caprices of your companion with an elastic temper and a capacity for balance; riding, in fact, as one rides through life, with a calm eye for accidents and a taste for enjoyment in the meantime." [p. 59]
  
  
• "The routine of our journey had begun, unexpected in its small incidents, immutable in its unchanging lines: this interplay of accident and law, the surprises of every day worked into a constant pattern by physical necessities, compelling people along the same paths for one century after the other - this surely is the charm of travel in the open: and when our human methods of transport are so perfect that physical laws no longer regulate our journeys by land or sea or air, why, then we shall have outgrown our planet: and that delightful feeling of oneness with its animals and plants ans stones, oneness in the grip of the same compulsion, will have gone from our wanderings for ever." [p. 61]
  
  
• "If I were asked the most agreeable thing in life, I should say it is the pleasure of contrast. ... The ordinary human being needs a change. This is the secret charm of the oasis, usually an indifferent paatch of greenery made precious solely by surrounding sands." [p. 94]
  
  
• " 'It is good to know the truth and speak it, but it is better to know the truth and speak of palm trees.' " [p. 144]
  
  
• "With muscles good, and a high courage, we like to pit ourselves against the powers of the universe. ... What we suffer from now is that we are usually given ignoble motives to fight for." [p. 144]
  
  
• "I always think that the compliments we often pay the East are in rather doubtful taste, when we praise only what they have copies from ourselves." [p. 163]
  
  
• "And what is wrong with the human race, that, having bought at so high a price the fruit of the tree of knowledge, it cannot even use it to tell what it likes from what it doesn't? Not ignorance, but laziness and cowardice prevent us from knowing what we like. ... we think the thoughts of other people, too indolent or too fearful to discover our own." [p. 165]
  
  
• "The love of learning is, indeed, a pleasant and universal bond, since it deals with what one is and not with what has." [p. 180]
  
  
• "The end of a speech makes one realize that the Cessation of Pain is one form of Pleasure." [p. 180]
  
  
• "A learned ghost of a smile hovered on his lips. I was sorry I had to go, for he would soon have become human." [p. 182]

	GO 08 November 27
GO Chronology
Notes for Learning to play the strategy game of GO. 4:05 PM Earlier this afternoon I continued reading "Lessons in the Fundamentals of GO" by Kageyama Toshiro (1978). The first section of chapter 1 is about ladders. The second section is about nets. This is more than simply jargon. Both terms refer to a specific pattern of stones and to the importance of each pattern within the overall strategy of Go. Chapter 1 Ladders and Nets "When it looks as if you can capture something, hold up two fingers and ask yourself two questions: (1) Can I catch it in a ladder? (2) Can I catch it in a net?" [p. 22] "Faithfulness to the fundamentals is something that becomes second nature to a professional." [p. 28] "When there are two ways to capture with one move, the firmer way is correct." [p. 31] "... who play through the whole game with a sullen expression." [p. 34] This last quote is a gem. There is no point in playing the game unless you are enjoying yourself. This completes the first chapter. I then played 3 games of 9x9 GO++, using my conventional parameters of level 2, I take black and white has a 6.5 komi. Here are the results of my 3 games of GO++: Game 1: I win by 1.5 points. Game 2: I win by 3.5 points. I am playing better. I begin with strong corners and then attack down the sides. Game 3: I lose by 11.5 points. A good game, but it was able to penetrate one of my sides. Now to continue "Graded GO Problems For Beginners" "Graded GO problems for Beginners Volume One Introductory Problems" Level Three Section 2 Killing Groups. Problems 147 - 167. I missed 150, 155, 159, 161, 164 Section 3 Life and Death. Problems 168 - 170. All easy. Section 4 Seki. Problems 171 - 174. All easy. SUMMARY of the session: This was an encouraging day. I am making progress on all fronts: I am playing the 9x9 games much better, the book is enjoyable, and I understand it, and the problems are not causing me to much trouble.

D. Reflection