grannies rockin' it.

This was a finalist in the Eurovision contest.

For my wife

You see!

I told you it was possible...

timewaster

But it makes me laugh so hard!
http://whatshouldwecallgradschool.tumblr.com/

In honor of Johnnie, the graduate

From XKCD:

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/every_majors_terrible.png

I'm memorizing this poem at the beach this summer!

Felis Catus is your taxonomic nomenclature,
an endothermic quadruped carnivorous by nature.
Your visual, olfactory and auditory senses
contribute to your hunting skills, and natural defenses.

I find myself intrigued by your subvocal oscillations,
a singular development of cat communications
that obviates your basic hedonistic predilection
for a rhythmic stroking of your fur, to demonstrate affection.

A tail is quite essential for your acrobatic talents;
you would not be so agile if you lacked its counterbalance.
And when not being utilized to aide in locomotion,
it often serves to illustrate the state of your emotion.

O Spot, the complex levels of behaviour you display
connote a fairly well-developed cognitive array.
And though you are not sentient, Spot, and do not comprehend,
I nonetheless consider you a true and valued friend.

Data, "Ode to Spot"

this is for annie

Ok Its been a while but....

So I was grading today when I realized a paradox.  It is possible to give your students a paradoxical grade!  This is how it works:


The week before your final exam ask your student to guess what grade they will receive in your class.  If they guess correctly promise you will give them 'X' points.  If a student has an 89% and guess a 'B' You give them the ten points which bumps them up to an 'A' meaning they did not guess their final grade in the class correctly which means the deserve a 'B' which means they get points for guessing correctly and have an 'A'.  You have effectively given them a paradoxical grade that is neither 'A', 'B', in between or both.  This is a real world application of something like Russel's paradox (see: "a set of all sets that do not contain themselves").  

I would think it would be funny to put a 'P' on their transcript for paradoxical but then I realized it would look like a 'pass' so instead they get an Ouroboros (see below).  The Ouroborus is how alchemists expressed one of there paradox and I think it is fitting.  What do you think?
  




I think I am the worlds worst TA and I would hate me if I were my own student...wait what?