Friends

The other day, these guys showed up.

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Still bundled in my outside clothes, my room is acceptably warm.

I have been cold proofing my room. The windows are sealed with plastic, the closet is confined to itself, a new spaced aged looking heater runs steadily. A scarf holds back the chill that thermodynamics require rush under the door. In gloves and a down vest I’ve been working. My room is library, study, sanctuary, and studio.

Next week the fall semester is over. I’ve learned a lot in the past three months. American Sign Language has begun edging in upon the way I think. A good sign for a second language. This relatively new shift towards greater fluency has proved exciting and sometimes confusing. Shaking lose the linguistic constructs I use to explain and understand the world, including how I communicate myself to other people, is a rewarding albeit disorienting experience. I feel a space in between language and reality that wasn’t tangible before I learned ASL. This space is fascinating. I want to learn Japanese, French, German… more.

Another lens with which to view the world is mathematics. I’m completing precalculus next week. After three years of studying from the start, I’m proud to realize that I know a significant chunk of math (at least for a non-mathematician). I was looking forward to taking calculus next semester, but instead, I’ll be taking statistics. That is what I get for changing my major to psychology. Math has affected my ability to think and reason — even the complexity of a closed eye visual hallucination I had while sick with a fever. I wish I would have thought to get some neuroscientists in on my “late” learning of math. I would love to know how my brain was affected.

NOT to mention WRITING! Man, writing is awesome. It’s an amazing way to craft thoughts and transmit them elsewhere. The way writing can clarify and then solidify thoughts and concepts into reality is magic. Writing is a way to capture a stream of thought and then, over the course of time, craft it into work of creativity. Awesome. I continue to become a better writer. This course of work is one that will never finish.

To conclude:

My room is pretty good. I like having a couch.

How are you staying warm?

I’ve said reality a lot in this post. For a tidbit and possible interest starter take a gander at –> David Deutsch (TED talk. 2:58 min.)

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