will you read about this guy?! unbelievable... the real life Good Will Hunting but better

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grigori_Perelman

he solved one of the seven hardest problems in math ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Prize_Problems ) , The Poincare Conjecture, which was proposed in 1904, turned down the fields medal, the most prestigious medal in math, and just turned down the 1 million dollar prize money and medal for solving a Millennium Prize Problem.

he proposed his solution in 2002, it was verified in 2006! a quote, "It has taken us some time to examine Perelman's work. This is partly due to the originality of Perelman's work and partly to the technical sophistication of his arguments. All indications are that his arguments are correct."

He had previously turned down a prestigious prize from the European Mathematical Society,^[19] allegedly saying that he felt the prize committee was unqualified to assess his work, even positively.^[15]

haha i love this guy...

currently, he has quit math, and

According to a 2006 interview, Perelman is currently jobless, living with his mother in Saint Petersburg^[5] where he plays table tennis against the wall^[25].

real life is stranger than fiction,

John

music that i want to come home to

Having given up music (under most circumstances) for Lent has made me think a lot more about what I listen to. As I've thought about music that I actually get excited to be able to hear, I've found a playlist shaping itself over these weeks. I figured I'd post it, so that you can validate my interior life, and also because I'd love to hear what music excites you right now. I charge anyone who reads this to respond with at least one song that fills you with joy, be it profound, silly, or shamelessly boogie-inducing. All categories are included here.

Sufjan Stevens- "Vito's Ordination Song"
Ryan Adams- "Sylvia Plath"
Bon Iver- "Blood Bank"
Beirut- "Scenic World" (Lon Gisland EP version)
Animal Collective- "My Girls"
Paper Route- "Gutter"
Radiohead- "Reckoner"
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists- "Me and Mia"
Josh Ritter- "Good Man"
Arcade Fire- "Wake Up"
Common Market- "Tobacco Road"
Neutral Milk Hotel- "The King of Carrot Flowers, pt. 1"
Iron & Wine- "Sodom, South Georgia"
Freelance Whales- "Location"
Sufjan Stevens- "The Dress Looks Nice on You"
Josh Ritter- "Kathleen"
Freelance Whales- "Broken Horse"
Old Crow Medicine Show- "Down Home Girl"
Andrew Bird- "Anonanimal"
Common Market- "Nothin' At All"
William Cowper (performed by Matt Francisco, Alyson Snow, Judson Mallory)- "God Moves in a Mysterious Way"

when you're right, you're right

and me? i'm kind of maybe rarely right.

but about this, i feel pretty good.

man, i miss you guys. blessings from the cold north.

will

xkcd (intellectually silly humor)

This one struck me as particularly funny, but I'm still not sure why. My thanks to John for pointing me to the comic.

Your Newest Birmingham Celebrity

boom.

short story

I've talked with some of you about my recent efforts at writing stories, and it's been a lot of fun to do it. Here's a link to one I've finished and of which I'm pretty proud. I'd love for anyone to read it and let me know what they think (don't worry Matt; this one's not a fantasy story). It's called "The Show Must Go On," and is about 3500 words. Peace!

Joseph

wild things have hearts too...

I'm sorry that I missed two weekends ago and that I am late for this past one. As you can tell, Elaine wears the "blogging" pants in our marriage.

So I hope everyone knows that I have a new friend that lives outside our appartment. Toby is a beagle. One of my favorite things about being friends with Toby is how encouraging he is when I come home or leave in the morning. It's so great to have this great dog who is so glad to see me. He sort of looks like this...

Most Saturday mornings I take him for a walk to Crestwood park. We are working on playing catch. He can't really look up well so if I throw it up he won't chase it. We're working on it. Anyways when I put him back up after the walk is over he goes through this routine where he howls nonstop for 15 minutes. It's really pathetic but it sort of makes me feel good inside. I feel like he's saying, "I had so much fun and I don't want it to end." I appreciate that.

So that's where Where the Wild Things Are comes in. I LOVED the part at the end when the wild things howled for Max. It communicated so much that words would have left out. There is just this deep groaning that needs to get out.

All this to say that if I start howling when you say you have to go home after an evening of hanging out, know that I'm not angry at you but it's my way of telling you I think you're awesome.

Killer Bunnies.

I just played this game:

and we would all love it. It looks ridiculous... and it is. Wonderfully (and morbidly) so. All I'm saying is... it might be more enjoyable than Settlers. Big words, I know. So think about trying it out, do some research here, and pray about how you feel about inflicting unspeakable acts of violence against little bunnies. That's all.

Why soccer is better,

A typical broadcast (185 min.) of a football game on TV consists of:

-65 minutes of commercials
- 75 minutes of players huddling, standing at the line of scrimmage, or just milling around.
- 34 minutes of random stuff (ref, injury, or coaching shots, other games, etc.)

and...

11 minutes of action.

I'd hate to see the stats on a baseball game.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704281204575002852055561406.html

Vulcan Family New Year's

So... the quality of these tracks leaves a lot to be desired (my apologies), but, for anyone who wants the sweet music we made (pun intended) ringing in the new year, go here & download the zip.