Home for a minute

Back in Philly now after about a month away. I was in Colorado and Wyoming mostly, with a few days up to Ontario for the Computational Number Theory session at the AMMCS-CAIMS meeting. I’m heading out for another trip in a couple days. I’ve been in Philadelphia for about two weeks since the semester ended, and I spent most of that moving from one apartment to another. In the spring and fall I traveled a lot, too; conferences and trips to visit my family and friends, (friends that are spread out all over the world now!). This is great, in a way, but I’m sad to be missing out on my still-kind-of-new home. I want to settle in and look out the same window every day for a few months straight, to find a rhythm of working and feel like I have a routine (if only so I can deviate from it sometimes). I want to practice my accordion! I am dying for what some people think is boring.

Not to say I don’t want to go on any one of these trips. I feel really lucky to have freedom in the summer, not to mention so much flexibility during my school year. And from some perspective my life fits together really well—I can go work on math in Colorado, see my family and friends, then head out for GREAT conference, constantly going from thing that I like to thing that I like. Even the actual transportation has some good points. I read a ton in the airports (twelve Patrick O’Brian books down, nine to go…) and got to take a three-day road trip back to Philadelphia with my parents.

So what is this longing to stay home? Is it just another kind of FOMO (fear of missing out has earned its own wikipedia page)? I don’t know exactly how to reconcile this with all the things I am excited about.

Instead of addressing that difficult question, how about some pictures!?

Did I mention that I learned to solve the cube this spring?! I am still VERY SLOW. This is what I did on the train for a while, and boy did the other passengers look at me strangely.

Did I mention that I spend a huge amount of time on the train? Here’s my platform at Villanova, looking kind of cold and lonesome this spring.

Did I mention that I ran the Pi-K (actually a pi mile race) at Villanova this March? Here are the student organizers and a few of my competitors. I almost beat them on the home stretch!

A window in the library at UPenn. I have had a great time attending the Math Department seminars there (and even gave one, very nervously!).

Spring in Philadelphia was so damn lovely.

Ben Franklin is my hero these days. Best founding father, hands down.

Dr. Katie Haymaker and I, on our way to commencement at Villanova. It was SOOOOO HOT in those robes!

Waterloo, Ontario had a jackalope-themed coffeeshop and whiskey bar called Death Valley’s Little Brother. Did I mention it was really great? Oh wait, it was obviously great given that it was full of JACKALOPE art.

Crossing the Mississippi at St. Louis on my road trip back to Philadelphia with my mom and dad. Yes, those are dead bugs smeared not the windshield but I actually liked the effect–almost like a sunset!

My parents at Rodin’s Gates of Hell in Philadelphia.

My craze of the summer, the Aubrey/Maturin novels.