I got a new job today, plus I had a birthday earlier this week, plus Topper had a hot date in Doodle Land, so I've been noticeably in the bleachers of the latest debates about the mathtwitterblogosphere, what it is, what it means, what's good about it, what's not so good about it, and so on... and so on... and so on.
It's probably just as well. I don't find myself to be particularly constructive when I'm tired and strung out and stressed.
I have one of the TMC12 photos from last summer hanging over my desk, along with a number of quotes all around that remind me, among other things, what I value about the MTBoS. Today they feel wiser about the whole thing than I do:
"I was a late bloomer. But anyone who blooms at all, ever, is very lucky."
— Sharon Olds
"Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm."
— Winston Churchill
"Ancora imparo." ["I am still learning."]
— Michelangelo at age 87
"If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you."
— The Gospel of Thomas
"Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life."
— J.K. Rowling
Welcome difficulty.
Learn the alchemy
True human beings know.
The moment you accept what troubles you've been given,
The door opens.
— Rumi
My learning to swim drowns no one.
— Dr. Fred Joseph Orr
"There are years that ask the questions and years that answer."
— Zora Neale Hurston
"Continue under all circumstances.
Don't be tossed away.
Make positive effort for the good."
— Dainin Katagiri Roshi
"We're lost. But we are making good time."
— Yogi Berra
"Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?"
— Mary Oliver
