Swine Flu

I guess I never really understood flu viruses ... though we get our annual flu shots. Now the news is filled with reports of a "new" swine flu. Anyway, I figure it's time to learn something about this type of influenza. So I wrote up: stuff on influenza viruses

In other news:

Having left behind tutorial activity on financial topics, I've been happy to return to "other" topics in math. It was always a pleasure to teach calculus to first-year students ... they even laughed at my jokes. There's this calculus forum where high school teachers discuss problems and solutions (among other things). For some time now I've been writing stuff on topics that seem to crop up: Topics. It carries me back to the good ol' days when I taught at the University of Waterloo ... except, with tutorials, nobuddy laughs at my jokes. Anyway, here's a sample of the kind of problem that arises: Then you guess what the graph of the second derivative looks like. To play this game click here.

More Susan!!

Okay, so I'm fascinated by the Susan Boyle phenomenon. I keep adding to that web page, here I had thought that, maybe -- just maybe -- she was a one-song wonder. But her 1999 rendition of "Cry me a river" is very sexy. It ain't easy to imagine that gal singing that song. It'll be interesting (and sad) to see her being "made over" for the TV audience that'll be waiting for her next performance:

the Ugly Duckling ??

My favourite children's story is the Ugly Duckling, by Hans Christian Andersen (published in 1844). I guess it's the notion that one should not judge a book by its cover, that one should carefully consider consequences before rushing to judgement, that no one should be ridiculed ... that an ugly duckling may become a beautiful swan. Indeed, a beautiful swan lives within most people ... if there were only the opportunity to see it. I was reminded of the story when I saw this video. On April 11, 2009, the opportunity arose for Susan Boyle: Click on the picture Susan Boyle: the swan It brought tears to my eyes ... and that's a rare occurrence for me.

Tina gets hitched!!

For years I've been teasing my niece, Tina. Well, she used to be "Tina" -- then "Christina" -- now "Christin". Having called her Tina since she was in diapers, she's still Tina to me. I've been saying that, unless she gets married, she'll become an old maid. In order to make me a liar (or for reasons of love?) she just got married!! Indeed, she runs off to Las Vegas and marries Marty, a really neat guy. Here's the ceremony ... in living colour. (Just click on the pretty picture to see the video.)

Life after gummy-stuff

After returning from the Caribbean in March, I had dozens of e-mails asking about things financial. It often takes hours to respond to these, generating formulas, charts, tutorials, spreadsheets etc. etc. I suddenly felt my age ... namely, 75-going-on-90. gummy-stuff was great fun while it lasted (over ten years!), but I was determined to finish some novels and get back to my other passion: painting.

In need of a rest: Although we just returned from a cruise and plan another and have a cottage reserved for the Fall, we figure we should really spend a few days at Woodhaven Lodge ... where Heidi needn't cook. I may even bring my paints, eh?