Not for the faint of art. |
Complex Numbers A complex number is expressed in the standard form a + bi, where a and b are real numbers and i is defined by i^2 = -1 (that is, i is the square root of -1). For example, 3 + 2i is a complex number. The bi term is often referred to as an imaginary number (though this may be misleading, as it is no more "imaginary" than the symbolic abstractions we know as the "real" numbers). Thus, every complex number has a real part, a, and an imaginary part, bi. Complex numbers are often represented on a graph known as the "complex plane," where the horizontal axis represents the infinity of real numbers, and the vertical axis represents the infinity of imaginary numbers. Thus, each complex number has a unique representation on the complex plane: some closer to real; others, more imaginary. If a = b, the number is equal parts real and imaginary. Very simple transformations applied to numbers in the complex plane can lead to fractal structures of enormous intricacy and astonishing beauty. |
Reaching deep, deep into the past today, this entry comes to us from January of 2008: "Exercise" It's just a short personal update from a previous incarnation of myself that I can't recognize today. I went to the gym today for the first time in over a year. Younger Me had no good excuse other than "working too much" and "playing video games." Me? I haven't been to a gym since March of 2020. Mostly, I hate the gym because I never quite know what to do there. Yeah, "excercise," I know, but on what? It has been pointed out to me since then that many people don't actually go to the gym to exercise, but to socialize. This makes no sense to me, like going to the movies to do something other than watch a movie, visiting a bar for any purpose other than drinking, or going to school for some reason other than learning. While it is true that I almost never do anything for only one reason, I always had this thought in my head that the primary purpose of a gym was to work out. Apparently not. Also, note the embarrassing typo. I spelled exercise wrong in the entry but not in the entry's title. Blame it on the pain. But with my back the way it is, it was pretty much "swimming." At some point after this entry, I went to a doctor and got one of those steroid epidural shots. I don't have the greatest memory, but I remember pain quite vividly, and that was incredibly painful, for a few days. After that, my back pain lessened to the point where I could usually live with it. Made my leg so parts of it couldn't feel anything, but hey, less pain. |