I recently switched to Pages and while it's beautiful, it doesn't have the embedded equation editor that Microsoft Word had. I used the free LaTeX Equation Editor and I was happy for a time.
Then it crashed one night and I couldn't get it to work again. To cut a long story short, what was a simple application crash turned into a Quest for the Ultimate Equation Editor.
Snatching spare moments here and there over a day and half, I investigated practically every equation editor for the Mac until I finally settled on MathType. MathType is heart-stoppingly beautiful. I normally do an equations/formulae index for my courses and this used to be a chore with Microsoft Word's equation editor. Now, it's another form of procrastination as I lovingly craft each equation in Pages.
Perfect little equations with crisp serifs. Can STM typesetting get any better than this?
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Monday, September 3, 2007
Distance learning
My dear mother lives in another country. She's getting rather along in her years and I delayed telling her about my Condition for as long as I could. She's a worrier and I figured she didn't need something else to obsessively worry about. Our family's like that - we spread good news fast but tend to hold back the bad news. So there was precedence and I made peace with my conscience.
I ran out of time around Christmas of last year when she surprised me during one of our semi-regular phone calls with the announcement that she was going to come a-visiting with one of my cousins. I would have welcomed her into my home with open arms. My ultra-religious cousin is another matter altogether - we got along quite fine when we were younger but our circumstances have changed significantly as we became adults.
So I told her what was going on through my brother; after nearly two decades away from home, I was no longer fluent in her native tongue and given the complicated medical nature of my Condition, the last thing I wished to do was to flub up the details due to bad translation.
It went over reasonably well, I guess. My brother, who was also hearing about the details for the first time, coped surprisingly well. I was quite relieved that he didn't overreact and eternally grateful for his assistance in translating the situation to my mother. And so it sat, like the proverbial white elephant in the centre of the room for the past 8 months.
My brother has been unstinting in his love and support. My mother had a tougher time dealing with it, given the extreme nature of the treatment. It has taken months but over the last 3 calls or so, she's started to ask questions about my Condition. She's trying to learn more, which is something that my late, cold and unforgiving father wouldn't have bothered trying. It's hard, given the distance both geographically and generationally - the medical world of her generation was far simpler than the scary complex one today.
There is an unspoken gap between us still, one where she attempts to cope with the Condition that her child has. It makes my heart ache that I had to put her in this position. My sis has been a great comfort but what I yearn for is the closeness that used to exist between us. I can only hope that love, time and understanding will help my mother heal.
I ran out of time around Christmas of last year when she surprised me during one of our semi-regular phone calls with the announcement that she was going to come a-visiting with one of my cousins. I would have welcomed her into my home with open arms. My ultra-religious cousin is another matter altogether - we got along quite fine when we were younger but our circumstances have changed significantly as we became adults.
So I told her what was going on through my brother; after nearly two decades away from home, I was no longer fluent in her native tongue and given the complicated medical nature of my Condition, the last thing I wished to do was to flub up the details due to bad translation.
It went over reasonably well, I guess. My brother, who was also hearing about the details for the first time, coped surprisingly well. I was quite relieved that he didn't overreact and eternally grateful for his assistance in translating the situation to my mother. And so it sat, like the proverbial white elephant in the centre of the room for the past 8 months.
My brother has been unstinting in his love and support. My mother had a tougher time dealing with it, given the extreme nature of the treatment. It has taken months but over the last 3 calls or so, she's started to ask questions about my Condition. She's trying to learn more, which is something that my late, cold and unforgiving father wouldn't have bothered trying. It's hard, given the distance both geographically and generationally - the medical world of her generation was far simpler than the scary complex one today.
There is an unspoken gap between us still, one where she attempts to cope with the Condition that her child has. It makes my heart ache that I had to put her in this position. My sis has been a great comfort but what I yearn for is the closeness that used to exist between us. I can only hope that love, time and understanding will help my mother heal.
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Cocoa-Baconic Divide
I ran across the Vosges Chocolate Bacon Bar just now. As the blurb says, it's a bar of milk chocolate with bits of bacon in it.
I suspect this would immediately elicit one of two major responses from anyone encountering it, either "Ewww!" or "Bacon! Yum!". I further suspect that one's initial position won't change until one has actually tasted the chocolate bar. I, myself, fall under the first category. I'm quite liberal about what I'll taste but this just seems....wrong. I like chocolate and I like bacon within the constraints of my waistline. I'm just thinking the two of them together isn't such a good idea.
Postulate: gals will strongly respond with "Eww!" and guys will weakly respond with "Bacon! Yum!".
Corollary to postulate above: guys will overwhelmingly respond with "To heck with the chocolate, just give me the bacon!"
Thoughts/votes? Comments now open...
I suspect this would immediately elicit one of two major responses from anyone encountering it, either "Ewww!" or "Bacon! Yum!". I further suspect that one's initial position won't change until one has actually tasted the chocolate bar. I, myself, fall under the first category. I'm quite liberal about what I'll taste but this just seems....wrong. I like chocolate and I like bacon within the constraints of my waistline. I'm just thinking the two of them together isn't such a good idea.
Postulate: gals will strongly respond with "Eww!" and guys will weakly respond with "Bacon! Yum!".
Corollary to postulate above: guys will overwhelmingly respond with "To heck with the chocolate, just give me the bacon!"
Thoughts/votes? Comments now open...
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