Quotes

"I'm off to class to watch kids cry."

Student Quotes

"Trinomial times Trinomial! Hold on. Better turn my paper to landscape." 

 

"Monomial? I thought you said Malt-o-Meal." 

"Someone left their fingernail on my keyboard. I'm not going to touch it - it isn't on a key I use much anyway."

Have a merry dead week and a happy finals week, too!

Quote

"I wouldn't want to get a concussion on the way to school."

"Neither would I - it's not conducive to learning."

Quotes from Class

More quotes from my Abstract Algebra class. Remember the German accent.

"This is an example of a bad proof. The best thing I can say about this proof is that it is probably correct."



"There should be a law: after 1000 times you shouldn't have to write square root of 2 or one half plus two thirds ever again. It would be illegal to write it after that."



"If you're lucky by the end of the course half your students know what you're talking about."



"Anything beyond x = 2/3 is too much."



"We always b**** about the bad students because they are always in your face, but there are many good students. I have to remind myself of this often or I'd shoot myself... but... I also have to consider my dog."

Quotes from Class

"While slavery was in full swing here in the US, Gauss was thinking about UFDs."


He wrote 'Same Natter' on the board and we call laughed. He said "Same Natter. Isn't 'natter' a word? I played scrabble with someone and they used it... it's famous... you can google it."

Sometimes he writes funny things when he is feeling too laid back to write all the details.

The funny part here is the "p divides this" statement.

Quotes from Class

Other Professor: (This professor says some funny things, but not as many as the other one. This professor teaches my Linear Algebra class and these should be read with thick Latino accent.)

(Speaking of America's history) "In this country you have New York. Other than that you don't have cities- you have trains."

"If we squint a little bit, then it looks like the two dimensional complex number space."

"Whenever you have an equivalence you feel compelled to make a collection."

"If you choose carefully, then lots of good things will happen."

"I was young and happy doing homework and watching X-files on Sundays, I remember."

Quotes from Class

I've needed some good laughs lately and so I gathered all the quotes I haven't had time to post. I will post these today and some more (from a different professor) are scheduled for next week while I am on spring break!

Student Quote:

"I have to self intersect... that always makes me uncomfortable."



Professor Quotes: (This is the same professor as previous Quotes from Class posts. He teaches Abstract Algebra and is also my thesis advisor. These should be read with a thick German accent.)

"So Gauss probably took out his ipod and his headphones were tangled for the thousandth time and he got fed up so he developed knot theory."

"Oh that's bad notation but I can't help it because it's in the book."

"We have five more minutes so we might as well go on. On the other hand we might as well quit."

"Here's a cute little theorem for you."

"And all of this is sort of bean counting."

"I'm 90% sure but I could be 10% wrong."

"You caught me on a pretty bad lie."

"...which is what you want, because all we have to do is factor, so we are done. At this point your calc students yell out 'But that's not what it says in the back of the book!' to which I say, 'Oh well!'"

"There's an annoying lemma coming up."

"Plus, I lost one of my contacts so I'm down on one eye."

Written on the board: "45 + 24 = too much"

"It's a good group but way too special."

"Who cares about small numbers? Screw 1, 2, 3, 4, 5."

"If this doesn't smell like free to you, then I don't know what does."

"I'm wearing sweaters with holes in protest of teacher salary cuts."

Defend Thy Thesis or Else!

"Why is it called a 'defense'? Are they going to attack?" ~ Frank


My paper doesn't have a title yet because we reorganized the paper and it has a new focus. It is about Carter surfaces, virtual knots, and the genus problem.

The whole idea of presenting my work in front of professors stresses me out even though most of my audience will be people who care about me and want me to succeed. I also think that half of the audience will get lost after the second slide (which is a good thing, because people who don't get it usually don't ask hard questions).

My thesis (master's in mathematics) defense is scheduled for April 7, 2010. If you are in the Boise area (or not), then you are welcome to come! I love support from friends and family. You may now leave me well wishes and encouragement. :)

Quotes from Class

More math class quotes by same professor:


"You can also play with these things quietly in your room."


"I feel like I'm kicking a dead horse now."


(He walks to other part of the chalkboard.) "Let me do this on scratch paper."


"What now? There are probably a bunch of definitions and horrible lemmas I don't even want to prove."

Quotes from Class

Olympic Edition:

"The Jordan-Holder Theorem deserves a medal. It's just as important, if not more so, than skiing."



"I should get a medal- Fastest Proposition 5.57 Prover. Now let me go on TV and drag bits of my private life out."



"You brush your teeth as a warm up for your math course."



"Let's prove this- I might run out of patience, but then I only get the silver medal."

Quotes from Class

My math professor is hilarious. We all agree he isn't trying to be funny.


"I wouldn't know how to define 'theorem.' Theorems are just statements, like, 'All cats are gray,' except theorems are supposed to be true, and this one isn't- (pause) by counterexample."


"Criminal things always pay off - so that's always an option."



"The devil would have to do a lot of screwing to make this not isomorphic to that."

My Husband Can Be Funny

So I am posting a couple of remarks that appeared on twitter recently. This is a warm up for his guest post coming soon to... well... right here.

• You should hang out with me often, then you'll have something to say (on twitter) all the time.

• ME: "I'm having fun. Aren't you?" HIM: "Yeah, In a SAW kind of way."

The Difference Between Red and Green

I almost died laughing during Abstract Algebra today:

Teacher: "...one is green and the other is red so there isn't much difference"

Important observation: Teacher is COMPLETELY colorblind.

My thoughts: "I know what he means, but to him, there is NO difference, and to me, those colors seem completely different... either way, the analogy doesn't work."

(I knew he meant very there is very little difference. And on another note...)



In your opinion: Is there a big difference between red and green? What if there is another context, like there are two cars exactly the same except one is red and the other is green, then is there a big difference?