First day of spring

Ah, today was the first day that felt like spring. We last had snow on Friday (quite a bit, but nothing like this, Garret!), but today it was sunny and up to 14°C! A great day to go to the zoo (Zoo Neuwied, German), which coincidentally I did today with my fifth-graders. They are all looking forward to spring, and I’m especially looking forward to two weeks of easter break, starting on Saturday.

Am I crazy?

This afternoon, it being all sunny and almost warm, I had to try the new inline skates I bought last weekend. I’ve been skating for the past nine years or so, but my old skates were a bit too small and not up to date any more. The new ones have bigger wheels and are more comfortable all around.

I went down to the Rhine because it’s too hilly around where we live, but in order to get onto the bike/walk/inline path next to the river, I had to skate up a small incline with a sharp bend. Unfortunately I didn’t take into consideration that I had to come back down somehown… I tried to brake, but ended up on my behind. Ouch! But it’s a good thing I also purchased protective gear for wrists, elbows and knees, so at least I didn’t scrape my hands in the process.

It was the first time I ever fell down while inline-skating, too, so I guess my ego is hurt even more than my derrière.

I guess I’ll have to look around for a good area to inline-skate some more. Bonn is much less hilly than the area we now live in, but there have to be some good paved paths around here somewhere, probably near the Rhine. And meanwhile, I’m going to start jogging again, as it is much less dangerous and can also be done around here.

My goal? I’m going to participate in the Mittelrhein-Marathon (available in English and German) this year as an inline-skater, on the day after my 30th birthday. I mulled over posting about it here, but figured that I could well use all the encouragement I can get. (Here’s my registration info, in case you’re interested.)

The marathon is being held here in the upper middle Rhine valley for the first time, and I think it’s a wonderful idea to have a marathon in a beautiful landscape like this. The start is near the Loreley, and the finish line is at the Deutsches Eck in Koblenz. The Mittelrheintal is an UNESCO World Heritage Site, by the way (siehe auch Mittelrheintal, deutschsprachig, Flash).

Mathematik

Mal wieder auf Suche nach Themen für Facharbeiten o. ä., habe mich dabei an die hyperbolische Geometrie und andere schöne Dinge erinnert. Beim Rückert-Gymnasium Düsseldorf (bzw. auf deren alter Site) findet man eine wunderschöne Arbeit zum Thema Von der Perspektive in der Kunst zur Relativitätstheorie, u. a. mit Ausführungen zur projektiven und zur hyperbolischen Geometrie. (Und letztere ist mir aus meiner ersten Staatsexamensarbeit noch in guter Erinnerung…)

Ergänzend gibt es hier noch eine schöne Seite zu hyperbolischen Pflasterungen.

Außerdem hatte der Schockwellenreiter mal wieder ein paar schöne Mathematiklinks, die ich mir nicht entgehen lassen konnte.

Cooking

Well, not cooking exactly, but this Ask MeFi thread contains lots of yummy-sounding recipes for dips. Now I’m hungry!