According to an article in this morning’s Boston Globe, the average annual income in Dorchester 02124 (where I live) is $34,556. The average annual income in Weston 02493 (where I teach) is $531,374. That’s a ratio of slightly more than… Read More ›
Dorchester/Boston
An evening in Jamaica Plain
Barbara and I spent a few hours yesterday evening in Jamaica Plain. First we walked to the Axiom Gallery, which is hosting an intriguing Math and Art exhibit through April 27 right next to the Green Street T station (confusingly… Read More ›
Math is hard, let’s go shopping, says Barbie (and others)
Remember the big kerfuffle in 1992 when Mattel released a Teen Talk Barbie that said “Math is hard, let’s go shopping”? (Actually, if you look it up, you’ll find some references that quote it that way, and others that quote… Read More ›
JP Seafood
Last night Barbara and I ate at JP Seafood, one of our favorite restaurants for times when she works late in Jamaica Plain. (You’ll note that I’ve included the Dorchester label for this post, even though Jamaica Plain is not… Read More ›
Listen to the kids? Or listen to the adults?
In Universal Hub this morning, Adam Gaffin quotes Cara Lisa Powers on the subject of the Boston Globe’s coverage of a protest at the John D. O’Bryant High School of Mathematics and Science. The Globe ignored the kids. In this… Read More ›
Applying Yourself
I’ve been catching up on some back reading over vacation, so I just now got to my copy of the January issue of Harvard Magazine. After reading “Applying Yourself,” by college senior Liz Godwin, I am convinced that this essay… Read More ›
The Proper Ladies in Dorchester
Yesterday’s special program at the Dorchester Historical Society was a performance by Anabel Graetz and Deborah Anne Goss, singing as The Proper Ladies, featuring a Valentine’s Day history. In some ways they remind me of Bolcom and Morris, especially in… Read More ›
dBar
Barbara and I had a first-rate Valentine’s Day dinner at dBar last night. I had reviewed it two years ago right after it opened, we’ve been there once in the interim, and I am pleased to report that it continues… Read More ›
The Globe corrects a small error about Dorchester
As I observed on January 27, that day’s Boston Globe erred in calling the Paul Revere House the oldest building in Boston. Today they corrected their error: Because of a reporting error, a Jan. 27 story on the Paul Revere… Read More ›
Is Prisoner's Dilemma still teachable?
For over three decades I’ve been teaching the Prisoner’s Dilemma. This is a classic problem — perhaps the classic problem — of game theory, the misleadingly named field that lies at the intersection of mathematics and economics (with a dash… Read More ›
Maybe Yelp knows…finally…that Dorchester is part of Boston
Like many people, I occasionally visit Yelp to see what people are saying about local restaurants and other businesses. More often, I visit it to find out about out-of-town restaurants when I need that information. So Chris and Erin immediately… Read More ›
Surely the Globe can't be wrong! But the oldest house in Boston is actually in Dorchester, not in the North End
It’s simple logic: A sentence begins this way in today’s Boston Globe: The grounds of the Paul Revere House, Boston’s oldest building and a historic Colonial landmark,… The Paul Revere House was built in 1680 (plus or minus a year… Read More ›
Stay off the main drag
“Please if possible stay off Dorchester ave until the community gets more information,” writes a well-known Dorchester community activist with an incendiary temperament. This sentence was part of a mass email sent out in response to a targeted killing on… Read More ›
Quadratic equations will help Dorchester!
Sounds unlikely, doesn’t it? How could quadratic equations possibly help Dorchester? Well, I should first note that we’re talking about quadratic relations —in particular, those represented by hyperbolas — not about quadratic functions in the familiar form of f(x)=ax2 + bx + c, represented… Read More ›
Dorchester Open Studios
Delayed post (originally written 10/28): I highly recommend visiting Dorchester Open Studios when it comes around again next year. This year’s event was well worth seeing, though Barbara and I only got to visit a fraction of the over-100 studios… Read More ›
Gardner at the dealership
So I’m waiting at the car dealership in Dorchester while my car is being serviced, and I don’t want to stay in the Service Department’s waiting room because the television is blaring some stupid show and I would like to… Read More ›
Visiting Pittsfield (…Who would visit Pittsfield?)
Delayed post (originally written 9/10): If you say you’re going to the Berkshires for vacation, nobody bats an eye. But say that you’re going to Pittsfield, you get some very odd looks. Who ever vacations in Pittsfield? It can simply… Read More ›
Cross at the green
“Cross at the green, not in between.” Didn’t we all learn that rule as children? Dorchester is inner-city: a very urban environment. It’s dangerous to cross against the light! It’s dangerous to walk across Dot Ave right in front of… Read More ›
Milton K-12
I recommend reading the website of MiltonK–12.org, a new organization committed to preserving Milton Academy as a school that runs from kindergarten through grade 12. “Why is this an issue?” you may well ask. Here’s why: Periodically, rumors surface that… Read More ›
OFD or DBC?
There’s something faintly annoying about those “OFD: Originally from Dorchester” medallions and bumper stickers. Yes, it’s nice that people are proud of coming from Dorchester, but the word ‘originally’ sticks in the craw. It implies something like, “Yes, I was… Read More ›
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