Mask maker, mask maker, make me a mask! This chorus keeps playing on a loop through my mind lately. Much in the same way, it seems like my days are perpetual cycles of batched tasks. Sewing, sorting, packing, and shipping masks have been occupying a large percentage of my time and focus for the last […]
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Puzzles by the Numbers
My memories of putting complex jigsaw puzzles together as a family predate the current puzzle craze of corona days. I still remember holiday getaways as a teenager where my parents, sister, and I would sit around a table in a mountain cabin and collectively tackle the piece by piece assembly of folk art and nature […]
Theatrical Math
Math is used everyday in a wide range of professions, and the theater industry is no exception. Set designers make frequent use of geometry to calculate angles, lengths, and area of common shapes, which are then translated into large scale painted or constructed components of the stage. The DCPA (Denver Center for the Performing Arts) […]
Mass Masking
Hello readers! Just taking a quick break from the scramble of sewing and processing orders for face masks to let you know that I’ve been swamped for the past week and haven’t had time to write much in the way of math related metaphors. I’d already been working with several groups in Colorado in the […]
The Calculus of Time in a Tunnel
Our perception of time is challenged by two opposing forces, and thus we are experiencing a phenomenon where our world has changed rapidly, yet many of us are sequestered to our homes in a perpetual pattern of isolation routines with no definitive end in sight. We’ve been forced to adjust to a tsunami of massive […]
Steven Strogatz Simplifies Math from a Bird’s Eye View
If you listen to popular podcasts like Radiolab or read publications like the New York Times, chances are you’ve been exposed to the work of Steven Strogatz, author and professor of Applied Mathematics at Cornell University. His groundbreaking research in the 90’s uncovered how networks synchronize; by utilizing abstract math thinking, he formulated a concrete […]
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Mathematical Models and Timelines of a Pandemic
Not even 10 days ago, I was making comments to a friend about the surge of emails I was receiving related to a potential pandemic and questioning how serious this viral threat truly was. Were the cancellations and concerns largely fear and hype-based, or actually evidence of prudent proactivity? I pondered how much time and […]
The Pareto Principle
I’ve been exploring a variety of mental models over the past few months as I study tools to improve decision making and strategies to increase the odds of achieving desired results. It turns out that many linear thought processes that come naturally to us are, in fact, inaccurate representations of how the world actually behaves. […]
One Percent Better
Do you ever feel paralyzed by your aspirations for a better life, or overwhelmed by how far your future goals are from your current reality? It may be an inspiring exercise to dream big and ponder the sort of life we want to be living in 5-10 years, but in order to turn dreams into […]
A Beautiful Mind
Over the weekend I watched A Beautiful Mind, the Oscar winning film from 2001 about the brilliant mathematician and Nobel laureate John Nash, who was plagued by paranoid schizophrenia for decades before eventually learning how to manage his delusions without medications. Stepping back a few weeks, I read a great book at the beginning of […]