Today is Pi Day, if you're into that kind of thing and use the US form of dating, but whatever; it's a nice day to eat pastry and think math thoughts. Me, I ate pastry last night, because I am contrary. I finally went to Nerd Nite at the Tranzac Club, which I've been meaning to do since I heard about it last September. Community meeting of nerdy folk. It was a tonne of fun.
I feel that my reflections for the errandonée have so far been too full of complaints about the state of the road and the wet and the weather and just in general, which is weird because I love biking and I'm generally really happy when I'm biking from place to place. I was going to make an effort to be positive for the second half of the Errandonée, but the weather is making it so hard. From Spring on Tuesday right back to Winter. Yes, the windrow is back.
Stay positive. Positive thinking. Okay. I love how biking places, even with cold and slippery streets and having to wear the face mask, gets me most places faster than any other mode of transportation. And at least it's easier to find a free bike ring in the Annex when it's been snowing.
So, Nerd Nite. When I got to the Transac Club, I ran into Andie, Dale, and Alan (aka the Dandies), who I haven't seen in too long. I also ran
Pie acquired and caught up on gossip, it was time for some nerdy goodness. The first talk by Dr. Carolyn Harris was about the relationship between royalty and the media, and how popular media has affected royal behaviour going back to at least the wedding of Charles I. The second talk by Craig Fay was about fire: is it a solid, liquid, or gas, and how at first he thought that was a stupid question, but it turns out to be not nearly so simple. His powerpoint included some epic animation of the element punk rock.
After the talks, Dale and Andie left, but Alan and I stuck around for the trivia portion. Sadly, we did not acquit ourselves very well, getting only 19/40. We're putting it down to only having two team members instead of the recommended four or five. And to not getting part marks. And to not knowing much about political scandals. Or Ireland.
Nerd Nite is the second Thursday of every month. There are two more nights before they break for the summer. You should go. As the sign says...
As a counterpoint to the pi love, here is Vi Hart's 2014 rant against pi. As I have said before, I don't have a vested interest in the pi-tau debate, other than I think it's good that "ordinary" people learn about different useful constants. I think she's reaching a bit in this video, though. I don't think anyone thinks pi is special because it's infinite, or at least infinitely non-repeating. It's special because it's a constant that shows up everywhere and sounds like food.
Errandonée tally
Community meeting: Nerd Nite (6 km/3.8 mi)
Mileage left: 17.7 km/11.0 mi
Categories left: 2 (6 for my personal goal of hitting every category at least once)
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