Dramatis persona*

helenhead Helen Chick

I've always wanted a bumper sticker that said "I'm a female, LDS/Mormon, Scout leading, geocaching, piano-playing, bicycling, mathematics educator with a PhD in maths ... and I VOTE"!

I think this makes me a minority group of cardinality 1!

* Since there's only one of me and "personae" is plural (I think), I've gone with dramatis persona.
January 2012
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50th wedding anniversary

Four days after Christmas my parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. Their children (including me) organised a low-key casual barbecue for family and special friends to mark the occasion, held at the Waterworks Reserve which is a lovely bushy picnic area located on the boundary of Hobart as it turns into the mountain. After some initial […]

Christmas Day 2012

My siblings and I managed to organise things so that my Adelaide brother and his family arrived at our traditional Christmas day gathering as a complete surprise for my parents (which came as no small relief to me, as I had been rather fearful about being the one to let it slip!). The look on my […]

23 visits to the hospital

A little checking of my records this evening revealed that tonight’s carolling session at the Royal Hobart Hospital with TUMS was my 23rd: I’ve been there every year since 1989 except for 1998 (when I was overseas). Although I stopped singing formally with TUMS in 1999 when I moved to Melbourne, doing “the hospital gig” is […]

Santa in triplicate

[Should any “victim” chance upon this account and put 2 and 2 together, I hereby swear you to secrecy.]

This year it was time to induct two of my older nephews into the ancient family tradition of the Secret Santa Cookie Drop Run (it didn’t have capitals when I was a kid; in fact I don’t think […]

Happy Christmas 2012

Another year has flown by, and it’s nearly Christmas again. In keeping with tradition (see 2009, 2010, and 2011) I am presenting this year’s Christmas card design. The design idea was an extension of an earlier whimsical creation, where I’d designed a set of those “My Family” rear window stickers which have been all the rage […]

Just in case the Mayans get it right

I hereby declare that I do not think the world will end on 21/12/2012.

I am, however, prepared to admit my error afterwards if I […]

12 of 12, December 2012

It was 12/12/12, which meant that I was trying to think of a special set of 12 photos to celebrate.

I wanted some significant things, and some personally historical things (in the sense of capturing some aspects of my life right at this moment in time), and some nice photograph-type things.

To find out if I achieved this […]

Life’s little mysteries #7a and #7b

#7a: Why do the cleaners fold a pointy end on the toilet paper in hotel bathrooms?

#7b: Are there really people who would be bothered if […]

Sustainable maths

I have just spent a day attending a conference on sustainability in education.

This is not an issue for us mathsy folk as there is an infinite supply of numbers.

And we can […]

Early morning Scout campsite

Every Scout campsite I have been to has its own atmosphere and special features, but I think I might have found a new all-time all-around favourite location. This weekend’s statewide Clark Trophy competition camp was held at Fulton Park, near the tiny town of Forth on Tassie’s northwest coast (about 280km from Hobart). There are lovely […]