Statistically Significant

Another week in the life of Hoxie. I’m finding myself quite busy these days, although that’s certainly better than being quite bored.

With the Mathematics GRE on October 10, I’m in full-scale test prep mode. I whipped through the highlights of univariate calculus this week, visiting such old friends as implicit differentiation, max/min and related rates problems, integration by parts, the FToC, areas between curves, volumes of solids of rotation, arc length, and various power series. I’m still planning to do a lot of practice problems in the next month, but these topics all seem so much easier than they did in 10th grade. I didn’t understand most of calculus when I saw it for the first time, instead just memorizing the procedures for problem-solving and praying that I’d apply the correct algorithm to the appropriate problem. After seeing these topics mentioned and alluded to in various regards over the last ~5 years, though, they’re starting to fit together more coherently.

I also discovered a great source of entertainment this week. For years now, people have extolled the virtues of audiobooks as an easy way to consume useful, relevant information. I love reading and learning but thought I would be frustrated by the slow narration, so I never got into them. Until now. Finding myself with a fair amount of going-through-the-motions time while making food, doing dishes and laundry, cleaning, and walking around the neighborhood, I acquired the Harry Potter audiobooks and loaded HP5 onto the iPod. And Merlin’s beard, it’s great!

I feel pretty comfortable with what happened in Books 1-4. Starting with Book 5, though, the combination of quickly reading borrowed copies at band camp when I probably should have been practicing and having not-refreshed my memory beforehand meant that I didn’t follow most of it. (This became apparent the other day when a girl was telling me about the things left out of the sixth movie and I didn’t remember a single one. Even important main characters had slipped away. Voldemort? Who’s that?) But no longer. With Stephen Fry’s excellent narration on my side, I’ll be up to speed in no time!

I think that Harry Potter is probably the perfect audiobook, though, and that others might not be as good. I know most of the characters in the stories already, as well as the major plot points. It has a higher entertainment value and a lower educational value than most of the books on my Amazon wish list, so I probably don’t need to concentrate as hard. And although I’m sure most audiobook narrators are good, Stephen Fry really is great. The characters are really well-voiced, and hearing the story with an English accent is such a great touch. After I finish the Harry Potter series, I’m sure I’ll be trying others… I just hope they’re as good.