I'm listening to a GREAT book right now by one of my favorite authors - Richard Preston. It's called Panic in Level 4. He writes gripping, page-turning non-fiction about various scientific topics, among them - ebola and apparently, pi.
Now as the daughter of a mathematician, the sister of an equally gifted mathematician, the aunt of a physicist, I do understand the consequences of a statement like pi is stupid.
But seriously.
In this book, Preston describes his conversations with these two completely fascinating Russian brothers who set records in their search to decode pi. They built their own supercomputer inside an apartment in NYC and broke records by calculating pi to 2 billion digits and beyond. I'm not done with the book, so don't tell me if you know what happens. I'm sure there are tons of pi fans in my audience!
Anyway, there's all this crazy talk about transcendental numbers and imaginary numbers and how elusive pi is and all I can say is that if I made something up out of thin air it would be a LOT cooler than 2 billion decimal points of non-repeating nonsense. I mean really - solving pi? When you get to the end of pi, what are you expecting? Does a unicorn jump out? Are there kittens?
Give me algebra any day. Or stamping. Or REAL pie. Sheesh they didn't even SPELL it right.
Or, give me gorgeous blue ribbon from a friend.
I got this stunning blue ribbon I used on this card from my sweet, talented friend America. I hoarded it for a long time, but it belongs on a card.
Stamps: Set Sail (Retired), Ink: Basic Black, Early Espresso, Cool Caribbean
Paper: Basic Grey Whites Collection DSP, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla Accessories: Ribbon, Sponges
I just love that boat image. This may not be the weekend to go sailing, what with Hurricane Irene getting all crabby over on the right side of the country, but you can enjoy a peaceful sail right here on my card.
I made this card for our May Virtual Stamp Night and I don't know where the time has gone, because tonight is the kickoff for VSN - and the challenges are AWESOME. :) Yes, I peeked. :) I'm hosting one tonight as a matter of fact, so I hope you'll come over and play along. I think you'll like what I have cooked up.
Here are some random things I've liked lately.
Yummy spaghetti sauce.
A great, moving and unforgettable book.
This light box that I got for my birfday.
A video of my lazy cat chattering at birds without getting up. (Turn the volume way up)
Have a great weekend - I hope I see you in the challenge forum tonight! :)
Once they get "Pi" decoded, they're going to make it into a TV series, a reality show directed by Mark Burnett, and each week they will reveal another 10 digits. They're planning on a long run. A *voyone* of epic proportions.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you; give me some PIE!!
ReplyDeleteThis card is beautiful! The ribbon really makes it. This from a fellow ribbon hoarder...
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm PIE!!!
ReplyDeleteGreat card!!
beautiful card, and i needed a dose of serenity after the day i had at work. whew--glad that's done!
ReplyDeletei'm making cherry pie this weekend for my only child's 17th (gasp) birthday. he doesn't eat cake.
and i really liked unbroken too. would like to hear more book suggestions. one i'd recommend is 1000 gifts.
hugs!
My brain hurts when i think of math. That's why I stick to paper and rubber. Also, Splotchy cuteness makes me want to kick my husband in the nards for not letting me get a cat.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful card, lady.
xo B.
Great card and beautiful ribbon definately hoard worthy. Splotchy is sooo adoarable and what beautiful green eyes she has.
ReplyDeleteOMG! I love the video!! My cat does the same thing!! I want to video her too! The card is fabulous as well!
ReplyDeleteI wOnder if those Russian brothers would faint knowing that a certain crafter in NJ only knows pi to two decimals... Lol. But that is not to say that I'm not a fan of pi. I am. Especially lemon and cherry. Lovely card, missy. *smile*
ReplyDeleteWV: dituanie
Dit u have anie Sugar Mama's for your birthday? Dit u? Dit u? Dit u anie?
Splotchy cracks me up! I love how she rolls completely over but doesn't even shift off the sill. :) (By the way, I think that was a "you need to scratch my belly because I'm so adorable" roll, wasn't it?) And Webster makes the EXACT same sound. He rarely meows. We call it his "chattering".
ReplyDeleteOh yeah. I love pie too (cherry's mah favorite!) and I love your card. But I always do... :D
When my son was in high school, he memorized pi out to some record-setting number of digits, for his class. I think his record might still be intact. I don't even pretend to understand it....or how he could possibly do it. He even has a pi t-shirt. But then he is studying EE/computer engineering at UT so maybe he is in the right field!
ReplyDeletePi what the heck is that? Now show me an iron and I can tell you all about that and my love of it.
ReplyDeleteNow pie yea I love that and my rear end shows it. Give me coconut cream in the summer and any berry pie in the winter with a bit of vanilla bean ice cream
Your blue ribbon in the perfect touch to such a wonderful and relaxing card.
Love splotchy and please give him a kiss from Auntie M until Jan when i can do it in person.
And I think that I wll be laughing for a week because of what Brandi wrote.
bwahhahahwhahha
Hmmm... Pi, very interesting. Could it be a bit like time, never ending, and always now?
ReplyDeleteAnd from pondering on pi to a chirping cat video!!! You are amazing.
That is the laziest cat I have ever seen. He is almost as lazy as mine. At least your cat moves. My cat will chatter and drool until he is laying in a puddle. Lazy, lazy.
ReplyDeletethe pi book sounds like good reading! the card is wonderful! i have a piece or ribbon like that looking for a project! my cat sounds like a little machine gun when he is watching birds! he is also very camera shy so it has been hard to get him to do it! i have really enjoyed perusing your blog! thinking abizing (antispam) is one of those great obscure words that garner extra points in word with friends! lol
ReplyDeleteI thought Pi was stupid because it is designated in relation to diameter, which is NEVER, EVER, EVER used for anything else in math. EVERYTHING ELSE is described in terms of radius. Pi SHOULD BE circumference/radius, or twice it's assigned value.
ReplyDeleteThis is also better because the unit circle is 2Pi. Wouldn't it make better sense if 360degrees = ONE pi? A butt-ton of other common equations are also a lot more clear if pi is set to 2pi. We can't say pi = 2pi, so let's call it 2pi "tau", because it looks a little like pi and isn't used too often already.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jG7vhMMXagQ