my eigenvectors are aching

Yesterday was a shitty day for math. In December I was well ahead of schedule, but over the holidays I got behind in less time than it takes to say 'couch potato'. Last week I banged at it as hard as I know how to catch up...until yesterday.  The math books stayed open on the table all day and I got nowhere with them.  I kept bouncing off the text. I'd read a couple of lines and be all why should I care about you, invariant lines? And why can't I just get this stuff squirted effortlessly into my brain?

Bring me your brain-squirters, scientists!



Could it be that the word 'eigenvector' was psyching me out? Maybe. It sounds scary, like the kind of thing that will chase you around with a battle-axe.


 image from http://musketswordpaint.wordpress.com/2010/07/03/vikings/

But see how small the guy is compared to the axe! Even if he is carrying somebody's head like a packed lunch. Luckily I remembered You Tube!  Thankfully I found this brief and clear introduction to eigenvectors by Zheng Hao Chen from Stanford. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Good People Who Put Things on the Internet as a general service to humanity. I don't know why it's so much easier to understand math when someone puts it on a board and explains as they are writing, but it is.

It's 5:30 am and I've already been up a couple hours thanks to a small person who is much cuter than our Viking. I am a little zzzzhhhaaauuuughhhhh and since today is Thursday and Thursday is martial arts day I will be expected to do other difficult things later. Please to have the forgiveness for my punchdrunkenliness.