Instead of playing frisbee today, we ended up playing basketball. There were only four people there when I arrived, which is too few for a good game of ultimate. It felt good to run around on the court a little bit (and I really mean a LITTLE bit). We probably played for all of a half-hour. It was one game to 11 by ones, which we won despite me missing 3 layups. This is an indicator of the level of play that was out there. I decided to keep shooting around for another 30 minutes or so after everyone else left. I think I'll probably do this every Friday because I need to get back to some regular exercise.
I played backgammon again this week, and lost my first match again. Despite the loss, I got a favorable endorsement from my opponent (who is also the tournament director), which is encouraging. However, I know that I still have a long way to go. Jason left me another book to read, and even though I've only barely cracked it open, I think this will be an extremely helpful book for me to read.
Daniel was there, and he went 0-2. His matches were against two of the best players there, which is really just an unfortunate draw. It was harder for him because he was at the end of a very long work day and his mind wasn't completely there for the second match. Afterward, we went to a bar and just hung out for a while. It was the night before his birthday, and it was good to just hang out.
The board games arrived. Daniel and I played "Race for the Galaxy" on Thursday, and the depth of complexity is going to keep this one interesting for quite a while. I also have "Scotland Yard" but I'm not sure whether Daniel will take to it. It's a little bit heavy on spatial orientation, and I don't know whether he'll enjoy that. I got "Ticket to Ride" for the weekly games day on campus. It's simple enough that everyone can make sense of it. We've played Bohnanza the last couple weeks with good results (though I already had Bohnanza before).
My application for funding for going to DC for the AMS-MAA Joint Meetings was approved. Most of the money will go to my student who is planning to present a poster project (assuming it gets approved -- and I expect that it will). That's really the only reason I'm going. It will be good to try to stay somewhat connected to active mathematics. I've been considering an idea for an expository paper, but I probably won't be able to put a lot of time into it for another couple months. I've got some midterms coming up, which consume time and energy. I also need to look for a suitable place to attempt to publish (though I have an idea).
