El Perro Milonguero: February Round-Up

El Perro Milonguero has his own page at https://elperromilonguero.wordpress.com/

But in case you haven’t been keeping up with his latest adventures, here’s a quick round-up

Art Forms

This series of sketches is dedicated to my favorite art forms:

 

Art form – Culinary art

Art form – song writing and performing

Art form – dance, Argentine tango

Art form – Music

Art form – floristics

 

Art form – Architecture

El Perro Milonguero – January 2017 Round up

El Perro Milonguero is a stylish dog born and raised in Argentine Tango community.  He is always ready to cheer everyone up by being positive and resolving any misunderstandings.

At the same time, El Perro is a RESEARCHER. He is always ready to learn more about tango, tangueros and their ways of interacting with each other. Understanding people is El Perro’s first priority!

El Perro has his own web page here: https://elperromilonguero.wordpress.com/

But this is a quick roundup of his adventures in January 2017:

Hi, January 2017!

Hope you’re getting back on track with your work or school after the winter break! My January started off at a tango party. The morning of January 1st was calm, cozy and fun. It started off with coffee and favorite movies from childhood and finished off with sitting next to the first live Christmas tree I ever had.

Quick Ricotta Pumpkin Pie Recipe

I love pumpkin pies but I never have time to make them. Here is a super quick recipe that requires minimal effort and preparation. I shared it on Lifehack.Org here:

http://www.lifehack.org/502458/quick-ricotta-pumpkin-pie-recipe

All you will need is a pie crust, pumpkin puree, creamy ricotta and sugar.

Let me know if you are planning to try it out!

Have a great weekend!

4.5 Ways to “Keep Calm And __[incert anything]”

How to manage grad school, a part-time job (or jobS), a relationship (or a family) and not to go crazy? If you’ve been to grad school for over 6 month you have probably figured out that it’s a rhetorical question. However, we c

an always brainstorm strategies to “Keep calm and ______”.

The next question is HOW do we keep calm?

1. Put it in perspective

We might be constantly broke, criticized for our life choices or academic performance, etc., etc., etc BUT most of us have a roof above our head, we are not starving, not terminally ill… Hence, we can’t complain TOO much.

Of course there are tons of things that we can complain about such as problems within academia, complicated family dynamics, other less-than-perfect living arrangements, and we continue this list forever. However, it’s OUR choice which list we’ll focus on: the list of complaints, or the list of blessings.

2. Focus on the list of blessings instead on the list of complaints

Of course, a good complaint session might be therapeutic once in a while, however, it’s in our best interest to focus on the list of our blessings and make it as lengthy as possible.

Think your life sucks? Watch The Theory of Everything (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUayjO_KgsQ), or Leviath ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpawdA34HNk )

… still think your life sucks as much as the main characters’?

3. Life is more than just grad school

That’s the hardest one to keep in mind at times. We get so immersed in our research or just everyday motions and routines of reading, going to seminars, keeping up with employment, etc, that it is difficult to forget that our personalities are not confined within our theses.  Have you ever had a hobby? Who did you want to become as a kid? What did you friend and relatives think you’ll become? Where is your favorite spot in the city? When was the last time you tasted your favorite ice cream?  Our personalities are somplex and we have so many roles (students, children of our parents, partners, parents, etc).  It is true that we might have chosen the role of a ‘graduate student’ to be the main one at this time, but it is TEMPORARY.

Grad school is not a permanent state of being (although most of the time it feels like one), and if things become unbearable, it’s a great point to keep in mind.

4. Grad school is TEMPORARY, but this fact should not be a panic-trigger

Most of us are worried about employment after obtaining our degree, and we should definitely work towards obtaining experience and keeping our ears and eyes open for relevant possibilities. However, even if you are not 100% sure what kind of employment you wish to take up after graduation, it should not trigger a panic-attack while you are still working on your thesis.

Imagine that you went for a hike up a mountain. The higher you are getting, the more you can see.  Similarly, with your graduate studies: the more you know and the more experience you get, the better is your ‘view’ of other possibilities. You are NOT a horse. You don’t have to wear blinkers or follow a stricter-than-necessary route.

4.5 But really, what all of us need at times to keep calm is a nice friendly hug, so walk over to the nearest human and exchange hugs (if socially acceptable, of course 😉 )

Assorted Stereotypes About Grads

Some people perceive millennials as a generation of spoiled coffee-drinking infantile youngsters with hyper-extended childhood who take about 30 years to ‘find themselves’ only to find themselves working as baristas while pretending to be engaged in ‘vaguely creative activities’.   Misconceptions about graduate students, especially the ones in humanities go even further.

Just for laughs – here are some stereotypes about graduate students that my fellow grad-school mates and I have heard:

Graduate students ___

• are trying to extend their childhood into their 30’s
• are not ready to face the ‘real world’
• use light illegal substances on regular basis
• are trying to put away major life decision out of emotional immaturity
• are incapable of creating serious relationships
• are selfish by definition (as in “you would not go to grad school if you cared about anything else)
• stay unemployed into their 30’s
• drink way too much coffee
• are either vegans, OR junk-food monsters (or even vegan-junk-food monsters)
• are antisocial OR too social, to the determent of their academic careers
• are too promiscuous OR celibate (with nothing in-between these extremes)

… the list can go on, but let’s look at some assumptions that are sometimes made about women in graduate school:

Women in graduate school ________

• are all tomboys (with a negative connotation)
• have low chances of getting into long-term relationships
• don’t care about creating families
• have hard time socially adjusting in male-dominated academic departments

… again, the list can go on

BUT as millennials, we are also resilient, ambitions and determined to succeed in whatever that is we do :).

So instead of taking offence at any of the listed stereotypes that may linger in our society – as some young people do – we can either debunk those myths, or laugh at ourselves for consciously or unconsciously reinforcing them.  Grad-school is a lifestyle that some of us chose to lead for 1-7 years (depending on your program), so, let’s not take ourselves too seriously, embrace our life-style choice and discuss things like creativity, relationships, and other relevant topics (but – in the next posts :))

What kind of stereotypes about graduate students have you heard?

Sketch Roundup: Fall 2016

I took a sketching course this fall and here is a quick roundup of what I’ve done. I learned a lot and had tons of fun!

 

Canadian Mathematical Society Winter Meeting 2016 – Niagara!

This weekend was really mathematical for me!

I went to Canadian Mathematical Society Annual Winter Meeting! This year it was held in Niagara falls. We didn’t get to see the falls and the fire alarm nearly chased us out of the conference halls, but overall the trip was incredibly productive and fun. I also met up with friends who I haven’t seen in such a long time!

Hi, December!

YEY, December! My favorite month of the year!

This year December started off for me with an allnighter. I was trying to finish up my slides for a talk at Canada Math Society. But other than that the first day of December was slightly foggy and very cozy.

BTW, if you happen to speak Russian, see my video about December and holiday mood at… In he video I accidentally said “January 31st” instead of “December 31st” … sorry!!! lol!

Jumping off the Complain-Train

This Monday my piece about alternatives to complaining was published at That First Year Blog! I am honored and excited to be a part of this project!

See the piece here:

http://www.thatfirstyearblog.com/from-the-trenches/2016/11/21/the-alternatives-to-complaining

How not to have a ‘teenage debate’

I work with teens and most of them love arguments and debates [i love debates as well!] But debating is a form of art.  Some of my students have not mastered it yet, so they often end up having a ‘teenage debate’. A ‘teenage debate’ is a discussion where participants criticize each other instead of each others’ ideas, blame each other for not understanding their points of view, and  – most importantly – everyone is very poorly informed about the topic of discussion. Another characteristic of a ‘teenage debate’ is that it gets started to procrastinate on some real tasks that the students have to do at a given moment.

Essentials for a freelancing math teacher

I’m a math teacher and a graduate student. I don’t teach at a public school. Instead I teach at special programs for gifted children, or work with children individually. I guess that makes me a freelancing math teacher.

First Impressions of November!

This November started off with the Fields Medal Symposium (read more about how it went over here).

4 ideas to spice up your cup of green tea – just in time for the dropping temps

I’m a huge fan of green tea and I am constantly on the outlook for new tea flavors. I also love spices (but not spicy food :)). Actually tea and spices make a perfect combo, especially as the temperatures start to drop and all of us need a little extra help warming up.

Fields Medal Symposium 2016

There’s no Nobel Prize in math but there’s a Fields Medal which is given to mathematicians under the age of 40 for their outstanding achievements. Every year Toronto’s Fields Institute hosts an annual Fields Medal Symposium to honor one of the medalists. This time we have Prof. Manjul Bhargava  – a number theorist born in Hamilton – is the honored guest.

Prof. Bhargava is the first Canadian born mathematician who received the Fields Medal! This makes this year’s symposium even more special. There were no empty seats in the Isabel Bader Theatre where the Public Opening of the Symposium was taking place yesterday evening. The audience was composed of professionals from a variety of fields and students. Prof. Bhargava’s talk was engaging and accessible for everyone in the audience.  Colorful diagrams and interesting facts about nature that he mentioned were especially appreciated.

We brought our Math Circles class from UTM to the public opening. This was their first time attending such a large event.  Luckily, they enjoyed the talk and the festive atmosphere around the Public Opening night.  Moreover, they even had a chance to take a picture with Prof. Bhargava!

Prof. Bhargava will be giving a special lecture for high school students this evening at the Fields Institute, but unfortunately I will not be able to attend it, cause I’ll be teaching my own students.

If you want to find out more information about the Fileds Medal Symposium, click here:

http://www.fields.utoronto.ca/activities/16-17/fieldsmedalsym

 

October’s Portrait

 

Yesterday we painted October’s portrait at the 4 Cats Studio at the Toronto Junction Triangle (1615 Dupont St.). The studio is pretty easy to get to by TTC. It’s full of samples of previous students’ work. There’s lots of light, but the place still has an ambient feel to it.

Why I Teach Math to Gifted Kids

“Why do you teach math to gifted kids?” – I’ve been hearing this question from a lot of my friends lately, so I decided to answer this question in a form of a video.

If you speak Russian – watch the video here:

 

If you aren’t a Russian speaker, here’s a quick summary:

I broke up my answer into three parts:

Cut-Mix-Heat Slow-Cooker Apple Spice Chicken

If I had to summarize my cooking strategy, it would fit into 3 words: Cut-Mix-Heat (where the last step is optional).

I’m a graduate student working at a couple of jobs. I don’t have time or energy to dedicate to complicated recipes. But I love eating at home, and the comfort of having a fridge full of yummy stuff.

I’m going to share some of my favorite Cut-Mix-Heat recipes. Please let me know if you try them out!

Cut-Mix-Heat Slow Cooker Apple Spice Chicken

Photo Etude 3: Profile

I’ve been meaning to post this one for a while. It’s my mom reading a concert program at Casa Loma. It was a chilly and rainy evening. Both of us were tired.