The Nothing that is: A Nature History of Zero

Titile: The Nothing that is: A Nature History of Zero

Author: Robert Kaplan

Publisher: Oxford University Press

When I was a senior undergraduate, in class the professor once told us his classmate in John Hopkins spent one hour explaining why one and one is two. 

“Is it possible to prove 1+1=2?”

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D

"The flow of time is always cruel... A thing that doesn't change with time is a memory of younger days... "  --- Shiek (Zelda)

There were three things that happened in 1998 of which I always remember- my entrance to the university, the passed-away of my grandfather, and the release of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (OoT).

暑假2011

Fri. June 3
訪師

今天去拜見已五年未見的前指導教授。這些年來不是沒有機會，但是總感到有點畏懼。他氣勢旺盛；我作風低調。兩隻巨蟹碰頭，他的大鉗能輕易地夾碎我的軟殼。現在身兼院長、處長和教授數職，要見面還得和秘書敲定行程。一進到研究室，感覺就和當年一樣。基於傳統師生關係，大部分都是他問我答。提到日後工作，我開門見山就說想走業界。

Call of Duty

Before I went home for the summer vacation, my home received a notice sent from the government. It said I could be called upon to return to the army for reviewing my martial skills for one week. I had heard some friends of mine had returned to the army twice or even three times. I thought I am waived because of my absence but it seems it is not true. Fortunately I hadn’t received the formal call-up so far or my precious summer vacation would be destroyed.

Charlotte的傍晚

到達Charlotte時已是傍晚。天色仍然明亮，卻可見人群逐漸散出市中心，或往郊區住家，或往餐館。此時正是適合參觀的時刻。

      Charlotte東岸的金融中心，美國銀行和美聯銀行總部所在地，幾年前就該前來朝聖了。市中心不大，大約一個小時內即可走完。除了公寓之外，所有的高樓幾乎都是銀行辦公處。我一向對美國市區內的公寓很有興趣。高大的前門，精緻的內裝，一小座陽台，以及昂貴的租金，在在顯示要多少外在物質，才能建造一座避風港，填補內心的徬徨或空虛。

Headquarter of Bank of America

A Corner of Charlotte

Bechtler Museum of Modern Art

      街道上，車來人往，但有點不尋常地安靜。穿著正式的銀行員工，快步且無聲地行走。在這個由金錢和借貸所堆積起來的城市，似乎沒有人想久留。咖啡店早已關門。天色漸暗，在即將打烊的McDonald's買瓶汽水，到廣場上找張桌椅坐下。遠處傳來黑人嘹亮的清唱，大概是街頭藝人吧。在這個時候，他能有多少共鳴？

Wachovia Plaza

    我想留在這個城市，或是NY，或是Seattle，只要沒有牽掛在太平洋另一端。

Dining Hall Dying

The walk-in price and meal plan fee go up every year. I recognized the operative costs are increasing and the budget is tight to the university so I was still loyal to the two dining halls in the university.

I feel something was wrong in these two months. Some foods used to be on the menu disappears! I haven’t seen barley and mushroom soup for one year. Salmon is out this semester. Fresh strawberry is provided in special events only. What bothers me the most is pork rib is no more since two years ago.

Look at these cases carefully, I find there is one thing in common. These foods that disappear are relatively expensive ones compared with their close substitutes. Cheap foods are not necessarily tasteless. My favorite fries, fried chicken and cheeseburger are all cheap. However, our benefits decline when some of our choices are deprived. The dining halls should either lower food quality or increase the price, but not do both.

A corner of Clark Dining Hall. Thanks to its cleanness and friendly workers, the small cafeteria keeps its value.

Fountain Dining Hall, a big cafeteria with two dining rooms

Plain Meal

Apple ice cream, cool whip (cream), pound cake, strawberry cut.  I prefer fresh strawberry to frozen sweetened strawberry cut.

Umstead Keeps Visitors Unsteady

      What a week. I have turned in two problem sets on Tuesday, completed one midterm and one referee report on Thursday and gone to a meeting on Friday. I decided to give myself one day off on Saturday. I had heard Umstead State Park so much so it was a good time to enjoy hiking in the forest.

      The large park located in the suburb worthy the name of the oasis of tranquility. But that’s it. Hiking in the monotonous woods bored me in minutes; boating on the lake is not allowed until April; Exhibit Hall closed on the weekend. Quite disappointed. While hiking, I though why do I bother going so far to here similar to Lake Johnson Park in my neighborhood.
     

      Finish the hiking and drive to leave. No far away lies Crabtree Valley Shopping Mall. Different from the park with only few visitors, the mall was too crowed. Cars and people jammed into the entrance of the mall. They must have known which one is more interesting.

William B. Umstead State Park

The woods is really like a maze

 

......



Visitor Center, the only spot looks nice here