It is in the spirit of my present manic enthusiasm that I hereby christen this blog. *smashes wine bottle over server (ok not really)*

Today is the first day I’m really in the blogosphere and it is also my first day of getting serious about passing ODE for the *last* time. I met with my tutor Alok, a PhD student and an experienced TA at Rensselaer (where the two roles are nearly synonymous), this afternoon at the Student Union. I’d forgotten how much I like being on RPI campus – the congenial geek-friendliness of its atmosphere is like a fresh scented deodorant that blankets the campus, making one forget that there was ever a single reason *not* to want to embrace one’s inner geek. As for Alok, his Indian accent presents almost no trouble in communication, which is more than I can say for some of the Rensselaer faculty I’ve met. He has worked with some learning disabled students in the past, whose difficulties were worse than my own, judging from the sound of it. His enthusiasm for math, and his conviction that ODEs are easy, are pleasingly contagious, and I have returned from this first session with a bit of that long-lost desire to tackle the hard things rekindled in my heart of geek hearts.

Now as I settle down to work through the last of the reading, so that I can retake quiz 1, the only obstacle in my way is an equally strong enthusiasm to return to work on all my shelved projects! I’ve got some ideas for Mel’s book, some ideas for my own, and tunes in my head that these fingers are aching to recompile into sweet sweet music. And of course mom wants me to help run some errands in Latham. And call the neighbors about lawn work. And call the doctor about how he fucked up my scripts again. And the list goes on. Having ADD is amusing like that – I go through mini-cycles like somebody with manic depression. First I’m filled with enthusiasm, and then enthusiasm bleeds out into confusion as its spread too thin after recalling too many tasks at once, and before you know it, the knowledge of what lies ahead can become a total buzzkill. But I’m not thinking about that now, except possibly in terms of how it will affect Paul, the young bipolar genius from “The World Is Too Much With Us” and how it affects his own pattern of activities. As I’ve often said, and as Alok was kind enough to point out to me this afternoon, *everything* is connected. You just have to figure out how. Then it all becomes plug ‘n’ chug – the very nature of the algorithm. Of the world, if you’re a geek.

This, as my mom sits down by the TV and tunes in to – what else – Numb3rs. Normally I hate the show (terribly inaccurate depiction of the field), but it seems fairly appropriate.

*Late edit: before I go any further I must remember to thank Nikkie tremendously for the use of her Dreamhost space. While I’m not officially a member, I have been impressed every step of the way by the convenience and professionalism of their Unix hosting (I set this all up via SSH but they offer much more user-friendly interfaces as well). If you’re looking for a real host (not to mention an accredited source for domain registration that won’t scare you into paying for options you don’t need), look no further.