30 Days of Creativity - #13

Song Writing

I have had a few lines of a song floating around in my head for, oh, I'm guessing probably about a year now. I decided (not having any other ideas at the moment) to sit down and try to use that kernel of an idea to write a full fledged lyric. You know saying, attributed to Chuck Close —"Inspiration is for amateurs. I just show up and get to work." The name of the song is "Non-Linear Dude".

Non-Linear Dude

Sitting in a corner, staring at lines on a page
Sitting in a corner, staring at lines on a page
Does it go up? Does it go down?
Why don't it ever, com back around?
I wish I woulda' payed attention that day

Rise over run, or is it run over rise?
Rise over run, or is it run over rise?
Δy over Δx, all they said was "follow the steps"
They said it's  easy but ...
Might as well be fighting a T. rex

                    (bridge)
Some day soon, I'll be on a job interview
The manager will shake my hand, say "how do you do?"
She'll ask about my future plans, what I wish for and hope
Pretty sure she won't ask me, if I can calculate a slope
                    (end bridge)

The world keeps on turnin', there's  a constant rate of change
The world keeps on turnin', there's  a constant rate of change
y = mx + b, I can count to ten, I can't count to b
What the hell is m?
Not sure what quadrant I'm in

They say I got to understand, the equation, table and graph
They say I got to understand, the equation, table and graph
Been' tryin' to find the y-intercept, try as might, ain't found it yet
I might as well go out and play
Cuz I ain't never gonna' use this anyway


Sitting in a corner, staring at lines on a page
Sitting in a corner, staring at lines on a page
Sitting in a corner, staring at lines on a page
                    (fade)

Yeah I'm a math teacher. I guess this song reflects my frustration about the disconnect between what kids need to learn  (invention, creation, and "how to learn"), instead of what is usually taught, which is to be rule and procedure followers.


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30 Days of Creativity - #12

Paper Crafts

Figure1. Starting an origami triangle

Today was a day to try some paper crafts. I had recently gotten a couple of books from the library—one on paper tessellations and one on origami. It was time to try something from each. It ended up being  a family affair, with my daughters trying their hands as well.

Origami Triangle, Origami Pyramid

Not being in an overly ambitious mood, I made a simple triangle out of a square piece of paper (Figure 1). Big whoop. Realizing that was not very impressive, I proceeded to a three sided pyramid. Big Whoop!

Tessellated Paper

Figure 2. Old and interesting gummed paper

This was actually more interesting, and was tackled by the girls. I had recently obtained some very interesting gummed paper at an estate sale and hadn't come up with a legitimate gummy use for it yet, so we figured, "what the heck." It has an interesting fuzzy texture, but turned out not to be ideal for the purpose (Figure 2). It does not hold a crisp edge, which is necessary to get a large number of precise folds into it. I also tears too easily.

But, somehow they got it to work and produces the attractive curved shape shown in the middle of figure 3. Figure three also shows the origami pyramid.

Figure 3. Triangle, tessellation, and pyramid

The tessellation book recommends mulberry paper, which apparently is very tough and holds a crease well. It also happens to be fairly expensive (although you can get a deal on some on eBay). If we ever decide to get seriously into tessellating paper (not likely) it would be worth the investment. Some of the creations shown in the book are pretty amazing though.

References

Montroll, John; Origami Polyhedra Design; Wellesley, MA: A K Peters, 2009

Gjerde, Eric; Origmi Tessellations: Awe-inspiring Geometric Designs; Wellesley, MA: A K Peters, 2009

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