Dear Gentlemen and Goddesses,

  I send you my warm summer greetings from Washington. The humid days
and rainy nights have arrived, though it is not all that hot yet. Last
night I was sitting outside a Whole Foods store in Alexandria, waiting
out the pouring rain. A scraggly fellow joined me on the bench,
complaining about the non-stop rain. He looked quite like one of those
quirky characters that are introduced in movies, just to add some whimsy
to the story or throw in an interesting piece of dialogue. And he showed
me something that I hadn't noticed before: "Look at the purple sky near the horizon," he said,
"Maybe it is the lights. Never seen it like that." At first, I couldn't
see any purpleness. It just looked black to me. But on closer
inspection, I could see that it was a little purple. Maybe he is one of
those people with a heightened awareness of colour. Scientists have
found interesting connections between the ability to perceive colour and
certain types of intelligence. Apparently some people associate a colour
with each number. Anyway, I got to see the purple sky for the first time
in my life :-)

  As you can see, I myself am in a whimsical mood. For some reason
(maybe it is the rain) life feels more interesting, full of strange
wonders. Maybe it is the flambe'd berries I had at the Foxfire grill in
the same strip mall last night. Maybe it is seeing all those goslings
wandering with their mother geese around the reservoir near my house,
ready to flap their fledgeling wings and fly away to colder weather.
Maybe it is the effect of not having a fixed routine and regular
work-hours for the past month. Maybe it is the lowly (sic) Detroit Pistons beating, in fact totally dominating and utterly humiliating, the mighty Lakers.

  Whatever it is, this collection of random thoughts will also be
whimsical and strange. (It is also brief). Hope you all enjoy it! 
 Sankar

Random thoughts (33)
6/12/04

1. Since the dawn of the new millennium, we have had several numerically
elegant dates: 1/1/1, 2/2/2, 3/3/3, 4/4/4...Of course, we also had
9/9/99, 8/8/88, and so on, but this is all single digits. Stricly
speaking, it should be 1/1/01 and so on, but so what? 

2. Someone had put a Hitler style moustache on Steve Martin in a movie
poster. He looked exactly like Charlie Chaplin, except with white hair.

3. I visited Banff, Canada for a conference last summer. Felt more like
being in a movie. The beauty is unreal. But what impressed me was the
great sense of humour that all Canadians seem to have, almost as a
genetic trait, and also the bear-proof (as in grizzly and black bear)
garbage cans in town. Canadian mathematicians seem to be more interested
in having fun with math than proving great theorems. Bless their hearts.

4. Georgetown area of DC, the abode of ambassadors and senators (saw the
house of John Kerry!), is not as prettified as one would expect such a
posh locale to be. Only now the park service is planning a big
waterfront park. I like it as it is. Maybe these people are too busy to
engage in gardening and landscaping. Or maybe it is because of all the
waterfront condos and office buildings that have been built recently.

5. I have written before about how the western part of this country
seems to have more energy, building more things, showing more
creativity, dreaming up grand projects...maybe it is because a lot of
westerners are descendents of the hardy and adventurous pioneers.

6. I think one trait that westerners (as in white people) have that
might have helped them to advance so much, materially, is having fun.
There is no such thing in eastern countries. Hiking, running, tourism,
exploration and adventure are all mostly western creations. In the east
we have fun as a group, in comunities and festivals, etc., but somehow
individuals are too shy or duty-bound to just have fun and enjoy
themselves. 

7. One problem of the future, that no one seems to talk about: too many
thinkers. Forget the physical environment, the mental environment is
going to become un-navigable with all the icebergs of ego and thought
floating around.

8. Paper money makes it difficult to appreciate the worth of people and
their work. During the days of bartering, people had to somehow interact
and put a value on the work done and things produced by other people.
But now it is all about getting your hands on as many currency notes as
you can.

9. There is no sight as tranquil and evocative of the sublime as that of
a lone swan floating in a lake on a bright sunny day. 

10. Ben Wallace went back to his tall Afro hairstyle for the third game.
It made him look more aggressive and dominating. And dominate he did,
along with the rest of the Detroit Pistons. I hope he doesn't change it
again. I think he won't. He is too much of the anti-Dennis Rodman.