Insomnia

This time it's seasonal ... hi TJ, my dearest friend, who lives much too far away. So far away that the time zone is convenient both for an insomniac and for one who has trouble remembering time zones.

My grandfather, Wei Liang Chow, was a mathematician and fellow insomniac. I've long assumed that it was on one of these nights, while pacing the house in his slippers, efficient pajamas and dark blue robe, that he discovered what became the Chow Theorem of Algebra.

I've read this theorem, have had it explained to me (by an exceptionally quiet man), have spoken it aloud, and I have absolutely no idea what it means. I completed my formal mathematical education early in college, in a course widely referred to as "Math for Morons". It involved arranging match sticks in patterns. So I love and appreciate Tara for finding such an efficient time zone, one that eliminates the need for any calculation whatsoever, and for a slew of other reasons. We're coming up on 25 years of knowing one another, having met as infants. Give or take 12 years. I can't do the math.

Which brings me in a roundabout way to my next point: for a few days I'll be communicating the old-fashioned way, via Skype and Blackberry, as I will be taking a slight hiatus. Due to the unfortunate union of my laptop and the floor, I will be on a rented machine for a couple of days. And I don't have all my extras, so I can't post the photo of my Papa (Chow) that I otherwise would and so on and so forth, and I'm taking a few days off.

Until we meet again -- the nice fellows at Tekserve promise by Monday -- enjoy the waning days of summer.