Category: Opine

Yes my dear friends, I’ve been quiet, again. And yes, it is as frustrating to me as it may be to you. I didn’t mean to be away yet again, but I had a side project that demanded my attention; deadlines will do that to you and as silly as this may sound, I’ve spent the last few weeks studying math.

I know what you may be thinking, “why would someone who holds a Master’s in Arts need to study math?” My sarcastic reply includes an eye roll. Duh, my degree is in fine arts, not mathematics. But seriously, I am not good at math. Never have been most likely never will be.

Number one on the top of my list of irritations about government work is the amount of testing one goes through in order to advance. We are evaluated not on our job skills, but on how well we test. In order to advance in my current field, I had to take a very hard fiscal accounting test. The irony is that I don’t work in the fiscal field, but it is the next test to the next step.

Knowing that math is not my strong suite I decided to forgo my usual panic then fail route, I decided to apply a skill I learned as an undergraduate; I studied my ass off! I even pulled out my old UNCG mug (go Spartans) for the late night coffee high I would need in order to study. Luckily for me our local state library and archives keeps copies of older tests. I took a few home and over the course of three weeks, studied and tested, studied and tested. I even woke up two days before the actual test to my mind going over simple algebra problems. The old me would have considers this a nightmare, but I knew I turned a corner when I sat up and solved the problem.

Now, to be honest, I have studied math before. I could not have finished college without taking a couple of courses. But for some mysterious reason I cannot explain, I never could retain the rules for algebra or even how to turn fractions into decimals. In case you are wondering, you divide the top number into the bottom number. And why I now retain it is a new mystery to me.

Anyway, to make a long boring story short, I passed the test. Which it turns out is so hard that some of my math savvy friends had to take twice. And to make this whole silly story even more astonishing (at least to me) I was asked to interview for a promotional position, which included, you guessed it, a math test! I aced that too.

You know what I think? I think studying Shakespeare makes you smarter. Just saying…

I don’t know if I will get the job. There were several qualified candidates so it’s anyone’s guess at this point. All I know is that even if I don’t get the position, I’ve taken quiet a bit away from the experience. And now I am back.

I recently picked up two books by Aristotle I hope we can talk about soon; De Anima, and Poetics. One is on the study of understanding the philosophical differences between the living and the dead, and the other is a criticism on drama, specifically on tragedy, which may help us explore Shakespeare’s own dramatic works as we know he was heavily influenced by Greek drama.

I plan on doing a catch up blog as there as been some interesting Shakespeare related news I have neglected of late. We will talk about Will this weekend.

 

Carpe Mathematica!