Physics, 101

physics at 101 cafeIt’s been one of those days. I just got back home, at 2:30am, after a very pleasant bit of work in a cafe. I was writing up my thoughts of the day into my notebook (I’m old-fashioned that way) and crafting new ones. Where was I? The 101 Coffee Shop, of course, an LA landmark – with those lovely booths, the counter, the lighting, all classics – over near the Capital Records building (another LA landmark) just where you join the 101 heading up to North Hollywood – hence the name, and hence the title of this post.

It’s been one of those days in a good sense. After a long couple of weeks of muddling and being rather down about a project I’m working on that had run into problems, things suddenly made sense today over the course of a long IM conversation (six hours) with one of my collaborators, Jeff Pennington. Things just started to fall into place during the brainstorming… we’d exchange facts and observations, explain thing to each other….muddle along for a while… ask questions… calculate separately for a bit…. suggest computations to each other…report results…get confused… and then it all broke open quite nicely and every single fact seemed to fit into place by the end. A lot to do still, but it seems rather robust and tantalizing.

After taking a break after the long brainstorm to do a bit of gardening work, this evening I thought it through some more, strengthened some parts, and then decided to go out to see a movie for a couple of hours (don’t ask) and then hung out in the 101 for a couple more (with a hot chocolate and an apple cobbler), summarizing progress and thinking of more questions to ask myself to work on next, eventually filling several pages with scribblings (you’re seeing a page before it was promptly filled). Very long day indeed.

Details aside, one thing that never ceases to amaze me in all of this is how closely tied one’s emotional state is to the progress of a project in which one is deeply immersed. When I’m stuck and not making progress, I can be quite down, relatively speaking. When I’ve found a nice open avenue of progress, I’m more upbeat, and the world is a brighter place. If I make a real breakthrough, I’m on the verge of hugging random people on the street. Bit odd, really.

Is it like that with you?

-cvj

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4 Responses to Physics, 101

  1. CM theorist says:

    I suspect it’s a variant of the “imposter syndrome” – perhaps I’ll never have another idea again, and I’ll be found out for the fraud I am, and so on…perhaps it will dull in time. On the bright side, at least it means that *I* think I’m doing something interesting at the time.

  2. Clifford says:

    Hi,

    astromcnaught:- I can’t discuss details until it is done and “out there”. I will try once that it is the case. Wow! an adventure book! what a wonderful present! Perhaps it will grow, and later form the basis for a larger work.. a trilogy, then lots of further works of note.

    CM theorist:- That’s interesting indeed, about the paper submission! Quite surprising!

    -cvj

  3. astromcnaught says:

    It’s the same for me in a way, but the projects are different. In this case it’s my nephew’s Christmas present in the form of a book. It stars him and yours truly in some hair-raising adventures. The ‘breakthrough’ this morning was dreaming up the next few linking scenes. Can’t wait to get home and start typing. I’ve started to whistle tunes…

    Any chance, Clifford, of explaining what your computations are about?

  4. CM theorist says:

    I am the same way. More surprisingly, I also feel down after I submit a paper – I’m not sure if I can explain why. It usually takes me a couple days to recover and get back to work.