I wrote an essay at the end of my junior year in college. I had just read one of the nerd bibles: Godel, Escher, Bach; and was taking all these wacky physics classes. With all these ideas in my head about philosophy and science I felt the need to organize them. So, for the fun of it, I busted out a 20 page essay. Its target audience was for math undergrads who were interested in physics and philosophy. Since I was president of the math club (I can hear you snickering) I put it on the math club website, and by some lack of foresight, no one has taken it down…

The essay’s permanence grandfathered it into Google’s search. Search “math and reality” or its variants and you’ll see I’m either #1 or #2. Suck it Wikipedia. As much as I think this is cool…I only now have discovered this is also dangerous…

Sometimes I wonder where this essay has popped up so I work some google-fu magic. It was a big ego boost to see it make cameos in some random places. But then I found this one (large pdf file, click on own risk!!).

It turns out there’s a “journal” in which my essay has been referenced at length. This is no ordinary journal, however, but The Journal of Transfigural Mathematics (JTM) Volume 1. First, I don’t even think transfigural is a word….Second, there is no volume 2. I’m guessing the distribution of this journal depends on how hard the wind was blowing them out of the editor’s pickup’s trunk. However, the journal claims its circulation

goes far and wide. The journal… covers the university libraries, libraries of research centres, libraries of writers guilds and associations, arts council libraries and private libraries of lovers and beloved of the muse around the world.

What, you didn’t get a copy?

The first few pages of JTM begins with its “purpose”:

“Original ideas. Innovative ideas. Elaborate account. Creation. Innovation. Elaboration. One is new and strange. One enriches the strange that is no longer new. One adds to what enriches the new that is no longer strange…”

You really can’t make this stuff up…

So what does this have to do with my essay?

The first article is entitled “SUPERCHANNEL: Inside and Beyond Superstring. The Natural Inclusion of One in All” [capitalization, not mine]. It is a 53-page trailblazer of modern mathematics. What is the SUPERCHANNEL? Unfortunately, no one can be told what the SUPERCHANNEL is. You’ll have to see it for yourself.

The writers of the paper quote my several times. Each time makes less and less sense. Things don’t start off too well, either. The first passage is on page 12, where I talk a bit about graphs and functions - a distinction never made clear to most high school students. What does the SUPERCHANNEL have to say about it?

The parabola made of points is one of  the realities of mathematics. But this reality only exists on the condition that its foundations are valid. In other words, the reality of anything cannot be discussed in isolation from the conditions under which it arises.

Uh huh…

Then I talk about how the number 1 doesn’t really exist. To which SUPERCHANNEL says

That is 1 which like every other so-called natural number is isolated from the space that it both includes and inhabits. With 1 detached from its environment which is the space into which it flows and from which others flow into it, as we have in the fluid logic numbers of this work. So, it, 1 has no place to stand and can simply be nowhere, a singularity all alone with no possibility of spatial neighbourhood because the infinity and zero of space has been abstracted from its material content and vice versa.

Later it is mentioned

In transfigural mathematics, as we shall get to see, mathematical, scientific and human reality, what Valdman calls the heart of what it means to exist, are brought into natural communion.

Oops! maybe I should have been paying attention…

The next version of the pyronado will be this scale.

Since making the pyronado I’ve been itching to make another fire sculpture, this time with propane. I also wanted something a bit more artistic, so I signed up for a pottery class at UCSB this quarter. While everyone was making plenty of nice cups and bowls, I’ve been working on this baby. It’s been 2 months but she’s finally going into the kiln and I’m totally stoked. Hopefully I don’t ruin it with a crappy glaze job.

The final design will have fire coming out of the two top spouts, and two lines of fire coming from the sweeping curves on the sides.

By the way, I don’t yet have a name for it. Suggestions?

I think I forgot how much fun Santa Barbara can be. I’ve definitely realized I spend far too much time stuck in the same routine. I always thought it was just Santa Barbara that was boring. But really it was me the whole time haha.

Enter Mish and Jennie. They decided to visit me for the weekend, and this proved to be the perfect excuse to do something new.

I had seduced them to come promising I would take them sailing, and was now shitting my pants. Before being able to rent the boat you have to take a quiz, which I categorically failed. With some pleading though they decided it would be alright for me to take the boat out. I will never understand why. After a rusty start though we were cruisin! It was a beautiful day with great wind. We saw sea lions chillin on a big buoy and sailed a bit up the coast. I didn’t make for the best conversation since I was freakin out about not capsizing, but it was still a blast. I’ll definitely go out again.

That night we decided to have an impromptu bonfire with some friends of mine. And I was just really happy that I have cool enough friends that we can just do that spontaneously. We made smores, spun fire, smoked hookah, took cool photos and drank a lot. Can’t go wrong.

I felt challenged by Jennie’s appetite, so a lot of what we did revolved around food. We went to some favorite restaurants of mine, the farmer’s market for some awesome santa ynez pies. Introduced Jennie to cheramoyas, which she’ll certainly see in Hawaii. We went to the fish market and Mish bought shark jerky, freakin awesome. We ate it on the beach and watched a kite surfer and explored a washed up sailboat.

All in all, it just made me glad to know I have great friends, even if some of us are separated by large distances. Before they came I was beginning to feel very lonely here. But I think when that feeling crops up, you should battle it by creating adventures with the people around you. Small talk, casual appearances are one thing, but it’s adventures that really develop friendships. I forget that I have strong bonds with people not because of an instant connection, but because of what we’ve been through together.