Vellarimala

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep. 
  • Robert Frost - `Stopping by the woods on a snowy evening.


  • You don't understand. I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let's face it.


  • The face was drawn, the eyes haggard, the general appearance that of one who has searched for the leak in life's gaspipe with a lighted candle.

    
    He's sure got a lotta gall 
    to be so useless and all
    Muttering small talk at the wall 
    while I'm in the hall
    
    -Bob Dylan - `Visions of Johanna' or `Students perception of my class'.
     
    
    


  • A few verses from a poem in progress

    The Mad Mathematician's Song

    
    He thought he'd prov'd the Hodge Conjecture 
    Which would have made him great.
    He looked again and saw there was 
    The cruel twist of Tate.
    `Alas, it is these things' he said,
    ` 'have made me a philosopher of late.'
    
    He thought he'd found a vanishing point
    Which would have made him a real hero,
    He looked again and saw it was
    another trivial zero. 
    `This hypothesis of Riemann's' he said,
    `doesn't seem to be getting any nearer'.
    
    He thought he'd found a product formula
    Which noone had seen or heard
    He looked again and saw it was
    A special case of Borcherd.
    `@$#%& !' he yelled, 
    not finding  a suitable word. 
    
    He thought he had a sphere
    Which contradicted Poincare'
    He looked again and saw it was 
    A three dimensional  tori
    `No more false claims', he said,
    `Or they'll take my tenure away'.
    
    He thought he'd classified 3-folds,
    That would have broug't him fame and glory.
    He looked again and saw it was
    A Lemma, due to Mori.
    `The time has come,' he cried,
    `to end this silly story.'
    
     To be continued...
    
    

    With apologies to Lewis Carroll


    A random Wodehouse quote courtesy of the Drones Club


    The web page of the erstwhile Do Not Erase


    Comments and criticisms ? Send mail to

  • ramesh@math.toronto.edu


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