"With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility"

Today is the birthday of Ernest Lindelöf born 1870 in Helsinki, Finland. He worked on topology and differential equations. He also wrote the history on Scandinavian mathematics.

Today's quote is "The best car safety device is the rear view mirror with a cop in it."
- Dudley Moore

I have a t-shirt that I wear on teacher workshop days. It reads, "I teach MATH, what's your superpower?" I find the shirt funny because many people believe I have a super power in regards to mathematical instruction. I don't. I just love what I do and work hard at it. There are many people who work hard every day and are passionate about their jobs. They should probably get their own super power t-shirt.

My super power is a gift that I have nurtured and practiced since I was a child. I like to daydream. When I daydream, I imagine. I focus. I remove all nonessentials. I can sit in a chair and enter my room. This room contains books, music, movies, and mathematics. This room provides for a solitary existence. To enter my room, I transport myself across the time-space continuum and reside in the lone outpost of my mind. I usually travel quicker when I am reading or doing mathematics.

As a child, I found out I was able to gain access to my room during church services, family reunions, and authoritarian lectures. Boredom was the equivalent of a "radioactive spider bite."

As I have progressed through the teaching vocation, I have been given ample opportunities to practice and hone my exceptional power. My most prolific and intense work in my room has happened at meetings where the discussion centers around the proper syntax in a strategic planning document, a curriculum document, a staff development document, a student handbook, a teacher handbook, a coaching handbook, and a manual on the proper grammatical structure for work related forms.

I have also known to be inattentive during faculty meetings. I have been able to sneak by with my lack of attention by "taking notes" during the meeting. Some of my best mathematics has happened during these meetings.

This bingo card, given to me by colleague, illustrates other opportunities for me to "do math." 

I now have ability to gain access to my sanctuary on demand. I am able to look someone in the eye, nod my head, even carry on a conversation, and not be there. Where am I? Usually, I am sitting in a corner of my burrow, knees folded under my chin, thinking of my beautiful mistress and her most recent gift.

As I have become older, I have noticed that at times my power has become unwieldy. I sometimes slide to my vestibule and not know that I am there. This lack of self-awareness can be troublesome and cause some tense moments with colleagues as I described at the end of "Point A Began in the Shop."

My most recent excursion was both embarrassing and expensive. I was on the way to work early one morning prior to the weekend of Super Bowl LI. I have only two stoplights that I encounter on my particular path to school and between the two of them I noticed a highway patrol car coming up on me fast with lights flashing and siren blaring. "Holy crap," I thought, "there must be a severe accident up ahead!" However, I soon realized the urgent highway patrol officer was indicating to me to "pull over." Confused, I found my driver's license and insurance card and waited for the officer. I rolled down my window and he surveyed the interior of my car. He seemed somewhat confused that there was no cell phone, no coffee container, no breakfast sandwich, or any other item that may have caused the error of my ways.

"Did you see me next to you at the stoplight?" he inquired.  By this time, I left my room and returned to a state of coherent conversion.

"No, I didn't," I replied, still bewildered why I was stopped.

"Did you see that the stoplight was red?" he probed.

"No officer, and I am extremely sorry," I responded, though I now know that I had been preoccupied with a difficult math problem concerning the requirements needed to determine the convergence of a particular infinite series. Her majesty had led me to the room to be charmed by this problem. Due to this distraction, I had tuned out the entire experience of driving to work.

"Well," he chuckled, "you were stopped, but when the left turn signal turned green, you drove straight ahead." He went to his car and returned after an agonizing few minutes and handed me a ticket for $138.

I tweeted this experience and many, including my wife, were concerned that I was texting while driving. No, worse, much worse, I was doing mathematics!