MATHEMATICS

Today's USA Unilingo online word game introduced me to a new word:  RHOMBUS.  I struggled my way through Algebra I and II, and didn't dare to tackle geometry cuz that would've derailed my chances of getting on the honor roll.  If there's anyone out there who also lacks this knowledge, rhombus is defined as a quadrilateral with both pairs of opposite sides parallel and all sides the same length....i.e., an equilateral parallelogram.  A rhombus is sometimes also called a diamond. 

My brain quickly picked up on the idea of writing about mathematics.....a topic I've never written about in all my 16 years of blogging.  

Did you know?

• Every odd number has an e in it.
• Eleven plus two is an anagram (a word, phrase or name formed by rearranging the letters of another) of twelve plus one.  The answer to both equations is 13.
• Roman Numerals have no sign to represent zero.
• If you shuffle a deck of cards properly, there's a greater chance than not that the exact sequence in the deck has never been seen before in all of recorded history.
•  When two even numbers are added, the sum is always an even number.
•  The number 4 is associated with death in Japanese and Chinese cultures.  Many Chinese hospitals do not have a 4th floor.)
•  At sixes and nines, the result of the sum (6 x 9) + (6+9) is...69.
•  One way to remember the shortened value of PI (3.1415926) is to count the letters in each word of the question:  May I have a large container of coffee.
• Math is as important as language.  Math is sometimes described as a kind of language.  Math is a system of communication that must have vocabulary, grammar, arranged order and people who use and understand it. 
• It was Galileo Galilei who said, "Mathematics is the language God has written the universe in."

Needless to say, I'm whelmed-over by those who are mathematically gifted.  There's actually a word for not understanding mathematics.  Dyscalculia is a condition that makes it hard to do math.  Unlike other subjects that are more concrete, math deals with numbers, symbols and what I call confusing equations that can be difficult to grasp.  

When we were kids, the learning institutions separated us into classes of smart and dumb.  It would have been wonderful if our individual abilities would have been praised, rather than compared.  Those who are gifted with good old-fashioned common sense may be the most gifted of all.  When I think about it, the honor roll separates kids and puts them in jars.  Kids on the A honor roll are put in the great gallon jar, kids on the B honor roll are put in the pretty good pint jar.   Those who earn C-F grades are tossed aside and placed in thimbles.  Can vividly remember 'cramming' the night before a test.  It mattered not to me if I'd retain what I crammed to learn, cuz the only thing that mattered to me was the grade.  To me, a C was no better than an F, and I did not want to live in a thimble.

My brain is starting to hurt.  Think we're going to get in the Subee and go for a trolley today.  We're in mid-September....the most gorgeous time of the year.  Gotta make the most of every day.  

Ta-ta.