Al-Gebra

How nice is it to sit here this morning planning my day, wondering what I will do with it. Will I go down and do the much needed clearing up at my plot or will I paint. One thing I will certainly do is head out for a run. I may not be losing the weight as fast as I would like but I am at least getting a feeling of well being and fitness.


It is such a pleasure because I know that all my friends who are teachers are heading off back to the various schools where they teach. How I loved this day in the calendar.

Two in-service days and the students will arrive and all will be well. I always used to begin the first lesson of the new academic year with a reminder to all my students of the wonderful value of education. Not just to get a job, but to enlarge them and expand their horizons. To give them visions of how things could be. Education the doorway to enlightenment.

I remember on year a student saying to me, “You do not have to be clever to be in a position to change the world. Look at George Bush.” What could I say?

Reminded me of the really funny tale of the math teacher.

Headline from the national paper, New York – Man arrested boarding a plane a member of Al-Gebra.

A public school teacher was arrested today at John F. Kennedy International Airport as he attempted to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a set square, a slide rule and a calculator.

At a morning press conference, the Attorney General said he believes the man is a member of the notorious Al-Gebra movement.

He did not identify the man, who has been charged by the FBI with carrying weapons of math instruction. "Al-Gebra is a problem for us", the Attorney General said. "They desire solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents in search of absolute values."

They use secret code names like 'X' and 'Y' and refer to themselves as 'unknowns', but we have determined that they belong to a common denominator of the axis of medieval with coordinates in every country.

As the Greek philanderer Isosceles used to say, 'There are 3 sides to every triangle'.

When asked to comment on the arrest, President Bush said, "If God had wanted us to have better weapons of math instruction, he would have given us more fingers and toes."

White House aides told reporters they could not recall a more intelligent or profound statement by the President.

To all those math teachers who are packing their weapons of math destruction best use your hands fingers and toes.

Have a great day I will think of you as I enjoy the fresh air. To all my artists friends, rejoice we are free to use our hands to create.

This blog is linked to my other:   Hands

The Search for Happiness

There was a man who decided that life was not as it should be for him. In fact, truth to tell it was not good at all. He decided that his life was empty and shallow. He was surrounded by people who really did not care for him at all. He decided that he needed to find happiness. He had been told that if he really wanted happiness he had to find chi in his life. He decided that no matter how long this took he would not settle until he had found happiness, chi.


It seemed that the obvious place to beginning looking was in the temples and places of worship. At each place he stopped he was told that if he really wants to find this chi then he would have to travel to a temple further away in another place. He did just this, each time making the journey to a further place. After visiting more than one hundred such places he felt that he was not further forward in his search for happiness, for the chi, it was suggested that maybe he was searching in the wrong places. That rather than places of worship and temples he should go to the shrines and the places where in historical time’s great things and events had occurred. Once again he undertook many years of search and pilgrimage. The desire within him to find happiness was still very strong. Again after many years of such a pilgrimage he had not found what he was looking for.

It was suggested to him that what he was looking for would only be found in the mountains where there lived wise hermits. So he set off climbing many high mountains and speaking with many mountain hermits. Finally, with his hair gray with age he was told of an old hermit that lived in an isolated high mountain cave. He began the torturous climb with a determination. Finally he arrived where he found an old man, a solitary ascetic. He told the man of his goal and his search. The old man gave a wry chuckle. “If you want to find the chi and happiness,” he said “sit down and close your eyes.” He took hold of his hands and said again, “Chi is here within your grasp, it is within every being.

As the artist searches for the best painting, the best sculpture, the best piece of art. The search must begin within the artist. Others may be able to help bring it out to give tips and hints. But the search for happiness in the creative process begins in each artist own hands.