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Z is for Zero

Apr 302012

When it came to Z-day, I immediately knew the word would be zero. The problem is, I’m not sure what I want to say about it. (I wish I could say, “I got nothing,” but that’s not true.)

Between its significance as a number and the shape of its symbol, zero is a pretty rich topic. A few years ago, a conversation with a friend got me thinking about zero as a concept. That led me to do a free-flow list of terms that come to mind when I think of the word:

Zip naught aught nada nothing goose-egg false no none circle infinity
Japanese fighter plane skunk new origin start neutral center point dot
nowhere never impossible lose loser blank empty wheel anomaly
spent ring eye Oh! opening binary close bagel doughnut okay love

The conversation also led me to read the book* Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea by Charles Seife. Prior to coming across the book, I never would have dreamed the humble zero could warrant an entire book. Maybe I shouldn’t be so surprised considering that, mathematically speaking, zero is only a reciprocal away from infinity.

Is it any wonder, then, that I’m uncertain how to do this amazing critter justice?

Rather than sweat it, I’ll do what I’ve been doing. I’ll punt. Here are a few zero-inspired tidbits.

The Fool, Rider-Waite tarot In many tarot decks, 0 is the number associated with The Fool. It’s the only card connected with zero. The Fool usually has the flavor of beginning anew. You math lovers will remember that 0,0 is the origin in the Cartesian coordinate system. That fits in that The Fool is associated with innocence, starting a journey, or even being born. (Of course, there’s much more to the card than that.)

Now that I think about it, this all reminds me of the idea of beginner’s mind from Zen Buddhism. The state of zero can be that of a clearing or space into which something might come into being. I almost want to say that zero contains within it the space of infinite potential, but I haven’t thought that one through. Maybe it just sounds cool.

Finally, when I consider zero as a number, I remember how people used to refer to the first years of the twentieth century like “back in aught-nine.” (No, I’m not old enough to have actually used that, though I guess it could apply to 2009, right?)

It turns out aught is kind of interesting. In my trusty American Heritage Dictionary, there are two separate entries for aught. The first defines aught as “anything whatever.” The second entry defines aught as “A cipher; zero” but also contains an archaic definition, “nothing.”

How cool is that? Aught is anything or nothing. Okay, I’m taking major liberties here, but it’s Z-day, so maybe you can cut me some slack.

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* I recommend checking out the book. It’s fairly short, and it’s a fascinating history of this number we take for granted.

Y is for Yes!

Blogging from A to Z, Improv 4 Responses »

Apr 292012

Yes! You may go.

Saying yes may be the most fundamental “principle” in improv.

In beginning classes students are often taught to always say yes, suggesting that to say no is to keep a scene from moving forward. As with many “rules” in any art form, that isn’t strictly true, but saying “yes” is an excellent practice.

After doing improv for years, I’ve seen there are multiple levels of “yes” going on all the time. One level involves literally saying “yes” or at least giving a positive response to my partner. For example:

A: Honey, I quit my job today. I thought you should know.

B: That’s great dear! Now you can work on your writing full-time.

Another level involves saying yes to myself and all that implies. Saying “yes” is about having the confidence or courage to step onto the stage. This internal “yes” encompasses trust in myself, my partner, the audience, and the wellspring of ideas just waiting for me to tap into it.

Then there’s saying yes to my partner, but at a deeper level than the literal sense I mentioned at the beginning. This yes is about being there for my partner. That means listening to them, and trusting them and their ideas.

It also means saying yes to the reality created by their offers. Let me give a couple of examples where this isn’t done.

A: Janet, I’m really excited about this whole bank robbery scheme.

B: What bank robbery scheme? Have you been daydreaming again?

Or,

A: I’ve got the picnic basket packed and suntan lotion on. Let’s get to the beach!

B: In this rain? No way.

In each case, B has stomped on A’s offer by saying “no” to it and essentially negating everything to that point. Compare those responses to these:

A: Janet, I’m really excited about this whole bank robbery scheme.

B: I know! And guess what? We got Nelson on board. Best getaway driver in the biz!

Or,

A: I’ve got the picnic basket packed and suntan lotion on. Let’s get to the beach!

B: Awesome! I read that it’s going to be the lowest tide in fifty years!

Lame examples though these may be, I hope you can see how these second versions have more energy and are already on their way somewhere. The first versions are essentially still at square one.

I think it’s this level of “yes” that is the key to the magic that is possible in improv. By the simple act of agreeing with an offer, we validate it and say, “yeah, let’s play with that and see where it takes us.” It might not fit what we preconceived, and it may not seem very promising, but two players saying “yes” to each other almost always leads somewhere interesting.

When we say no, whether to ourselves or our partners, it’s our fears working to make sure nothing happens. It’s a way of keeping ourselves from jumping into the unknown, the uncomfortable. To me the practice of saying “yes” in improv is deeply cool.

In what ways do you say yes?

X is for X and XXIV

Blogging from A to Z 4 Responses »

Apr 272012

X in a box X must be the hardest letter to work with in this challenge.

So few words start with X, it’s tempting to cheat and pick a word that starts with the sound of X, like exit. But, I don’t want to do that. Instead of using an actual X-word, though, I find myself thinking of other ways X is used (beyond marking the spot on a treasure map).

X is commonly used in algebra as an independent variable. One way of looking at that is X is a stand-in for a number that we get to choose. Or, it’s a stand-in for something unknown or undetermined. The tagline for this blog was “Something about X” (as in, Random Says…something about X) which means the topic I, Random, write about is whatever I decide to plug into X.

The point is, X seems to have a sort of undefined quality about it. Even mystery. Mr. X evokes an image of a mystery man, someone who wants to remain hidden.

Then we have X as a sort of blocking or crossing out. I remember on “The Family Feud,” a wrong answer resulted in a big red X being flashed along with an annoying buzzing sound. X is a bit like a big symbolic No! Could that be where X-rated comes from?

X looks a lot like Redrum

Finally, X is used as a sort of odd shorthand for groupings of letters. It may make some sense to replace crossing with x-ing since x is a sort of cross. And maybe that helps explain how Christmas is sometimes shortened to Xmas. But what about Rx (prescription or recipe, receive), Dx (diagnosis, distance) and Tx (transmit)?

Seems as if we’re back to X as a variable. Maybe from now on I’ll just start writing the first letter of a word and then use X to replace the rest of it. Dx yx tx tx wx wx? Maybe not.

X may not play a big role in starting words, but it makes up for that by being versatile in all sorts of other ways. I for one am glad X exists.

I’ll leave you with this. X is letter number XXIV. And that means only II letters left!

W is for What?

Blogging from A to Z 5 Responses »

Apr 262012

Which word would warrant writing, er, about?

Who cares? What does it matter? When will I choose? Where am I? Why is W so key in questions?

Since I’ve already written about questions, I guess I ought to go with something else this time.

When I was a kid, I accidentally made a wind harp out of a fishing pole. I forgot about it until I heard Garrison Keillor tell a story on Prairie Home Companion where a young harpist put an electric harp on an outdoor stage and let the wind play it.

That prompted me to do some research and I found that wind harps (or aeolian harps) have been around for a long time. They come in all shapes and sizes and for whatever reason, the sound they make fascinates me.

So, W is for Wind Harps. I’ll write more about them another day. For now I’ll leave you with a short recording of a wind harp, and a video shot at A Sound Garden* in Seattle.

* A Sound Garden does not use wind harps for the sounds, but rather pipes. There’s a similar quality to the sound, though. And yes, A Sound Garden was the inspiration for the name of the band, Soundgarden.

T, U and V: An apology

Blogging from A to Z 4 Responses »

Apr 262012

Dear T, U and V,

I must apologize for missing your days. You all are perfectly wonderful letters and I do not want to sell you short. Sadly, I’m afraid I must.

Each day that I fall another letter behind, the pressure to catch up increases. Then I do what I often do. I imagine how much time it will take to write so many posts, I become overwhelmed, and I freeze because I haven’t even decided which of your aspects I want to write about.

So, I’m sorry that you three in particular must suffer because of my shortcomings. All I can do is hope you see it in your hearts to forgive me.

For what it’s worth, I intend to honor each of you in time. Please know you are all special letters who deserve so much more than what follows. I trust that you will remain strong through this difficult time.

Love,

Random

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T is for The

The. It’s a tremendously useful word, yet so easy to take for granted.

Sometimes ‘the’ is small, as when designating a specific one of a group. “Man is strange.” “The man is strange.” “Bill went hunting deer.” “Bill went hunting the deer.”

Then there’s the big ‘The’ as in The Hulk. That has much more oomph than just Hulk, which sounds like an odd first name. “Hi, my name is Hulk. Hulk Johnson.” It even outdoes a Hulk because The says that this Hulk is not just one of a kind. He’s the one and only.

(T is also for Time, which I’m running out of.)

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U is for Un-

Un is a a fun prefix. Sometimes it means not, as in unfaithful. Other times it means to reverse, as in undo. Still other times it can be confusing.

What’s the difference between uninterested and disinterested* as in, “Have you ever read a post you were more uninterested/disinterested in?”

(U is also for Urgent, which this post is rapidly becoming.)

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V is for Vague

I’m sure I could write lots of stuff about this useful word, but I have some things to get to so maybe I’ll have to get back to it sometime later.

(V is also for Vivace, used in music to indicate a fast and lively tempo, which I need to get caught up, which I nearly am, and which has led me to this vile violation of a sentence that I’ll put out of our misery right now.)

—–

* If you have a copy of Garner’s Modern American Usage, I encourage you to read about this under the “disinterested; uninterested” entry. The gist is that common usage has blurred the distinction between the two words so that many use them interchangeably.

But Garner says, “…the distinction is still best recognized and followed because disinterested captures a nuance that no other word quite does.”

My take on his point is that ‘disinterested’ speaks less to an attitude (as in lack of interest) and more to being unaffected by. As Garner says, “A disinterested observer is not merely ‘impartial,’ but has nothing to gain from taking a stand on the issue in question.”

This may be one of those times when I feel sad that our use of language appears to be making ‘disinterested’ at best obsolete and at worst, redundant.

S is for Esses

Blogging from A to Z 2 Responses »

Apr 222012

Sadly, I’m a day behind, so I should get something up for S-day. Not surprisingly, I saw many suitable possibilities for S-words. So many that I opted to sell the word short and simply post a bunch of photos of S-things.

I have very few sunset or sunrise pictures that I’ve kept because so many of them turn out to be disappointing. I did find a handful though.