翾昱斋——端木佩仪的小屋

头一回在米国过劳动节。不过正好是暑假期间，没有深切体会到大周末的气氛。乐颠颠地跑去Pullman骚扰了我家婷姐和她室友菁菁。生活还是很美好的~

周五上午十点出发。本来没打算借GPS的，但鉴于自己拙劣的驾驶技术还是拿上了。I-90: Exit. 11 → Exit. 137. Hwy 26上开了133英里。转到195，然后在GPS的耐心指导下到了婷婷家。我的小破车还比较争气，没有跟我闹什么脾气。虽然中间莫名其妙熄火一次，好在有惊无险。路边大片大片的农场和牧场，经过了一些城市，让我感觉Spokane异常繁华。回来的时候居然在I-90 Exit 84那里堵车，真是让人崩溃，耽搁了四十分钟。可能是大周末西雅图人民出城玩去了，那个点正好是往回返。

住了三个晚上。谢谢婷婷和菁菁的热心款待 *^^* 三个女生凑在一起逛街可以逛很久，一起做饭，一起重温FRIENDS。我们仨及马同学断断续续包了一天的饺子，中场休息的时候玩牌，输了的就去洗碗，嘻嘻。晚上又有小龙、芳芳及庄同学的加入。呃，没有那么多碗可以刷，就改成在脸上画画了。小小的poker tournament以大家都“挂彩”而告终。喜欢一帮朋友热热闹闹的，很是温馨。

从华盛顿州的左上角开到了右下角，一个人的旅行，看看风景，听听歌，想想心事，优哉游哉。抵达，出发，这一程的终点也是下一程的起点。Life is piecewise continuous.

哪一首歌伴你走过了这十几年或几十年？旋律、歌词如旧，但听歌唱歌的心境已然不同。
Simon & Garfunkel 这一首The Sound of Silence唱了四十几年，从意气风发到白发苍苍，物是人非。

“hello darkness, my old friend”

#1. 1966, #3. 1967, 其余不知年代

Hyperlinked Lists of U.S. Doctoral Departments and Programs in Mathematics

Applying to Graduate School in the Mathematical Sciences
[虽然是写给美国学生的，但还有些东西是普遍适用的。有些link可以下载文件]
http://www.haverford.edu/math/lbutler/GradSchool.html

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US math departments plus links, provided by PSU Math Dept.
http://www.math.psu.edu/MathLists/DeptUSA.html

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http://www.toroidalsnark.net/gradschoolinfo.html

一个很有用的网页，分了四大类，MATH, APPLIED MATH/ OPERATIONS RESEARCH, STAT/BIOSTAT, & MATH EDUCATION。给出了学校名称及departmental链接，对于初期收集信息还是满有用的。学校名单不一定全，仅供参考。

http://www.toroidalsnark.net/gradschools.html

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several of the top graduate programs inmathematics in the U.S., in ranked order according to the NationalResearch Council's Research-Doctorate Programs in the UnitedStates, published in 1995：
http://www.math.hmc.edu/misc/gradschools.html

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感谢制作上述网页的人～

在大家热烈讨论奥运会的时刻，我为自己是中国人而骄傲^^

NO MONEY, NO HONEY。当年在NH跟他们学的话。我还是挺怀念在NQC的日子的。我什么都没有，不论中间有无因果关系。后面是把英文字母翻译成希腊文，根据希腊字母翻译成拉丁字母的惯例，反着用的，不是真正的希腊文。
还有两周就结课了，oyeah～ 那门A-term的课的成绩比我预计的要低。不过已经听说了Prof. Hamm给分偏低。余下三门，呃，祈祷吧。第一个quarter的成绩也不要太难看嘛。
美 国的课本很贵很贵很贵，每次买课本的时候我都很心疼。看了一下下一年度要的课都能找到影印版的，就是不知道能不能买到了。可惜今年的就只能买原版的了， 唉。原版一百左右的图书[NEW]，影印版最多六七十，算上人民币升值美元贬值，这个差价也是暴利了。Ebay上有人在卖影印版的图书。 TECHNICALLY，这样做是违法的，影印版图书只准在引进国销售。但是买书卖书的人都有好处，也没什么管太过。那本FIRST COURSE IN PROBABILITY，我在AMAZON上买近六十刀，我一同学花了二十多刀在EBAY买的中国影印版，那本书标价￥69. 真是吐血。。。
从 家开到PARK & RIDE, Google Maps告诉我“1.4 mi – about 3 mins”，但实际上用时五分钟到十分钟不等，最崩溃的时候用了半个小时。一路上8个红绿灯，又是两条INTERSTATE HWY的交接处，下午五点左右就开始狂堵。珍爱生命，远离RUSH HOUR.
推荐一啤酒，REDHOOK ESB，不比青岛差。价格不清楚，一朋友送的。韩国的CASS也不错。夏天啊，呼唤冰镇啤酒和烧烤的完美组合。
写完流水账，继续看着graduate school的list发呆。

∆±≡∩∀∃∴⊥∞∇⇔⊂ σαμε σίτ, διαφορετικός δαυ ⊃⇔∇∞⊥∴Ε∀∩≡±∆

前段日子看到的一本书中提及THE EAGELS的DESPERADO，那人在New Year's Eve不断听到的歌。喜欢上这首歌也许是因为类似的经历吧。只是当时并没有任何的背景音乐，陪伴我的是疲惫，以及与我无关的喧嚣热闹。一些想法，一些计划，为了远处那个飘渺的目标，却又感觉无力。还处于聚沙的阶段。
总是把周末的任务都堆到周日这一天。一如既往地拖延，一如既往地为考试操心过度。虽然有着各种理由，却只是江山易改本性难移罢了。还好这个周末可以喘口气。虽然很不喜欢任务繁重的summer quarter，A-term更是变本加厉地忙碌，但还是很喜欢Prof. Hamm。他办公室里的那些书很是壮观。
今天去听了于丹在UW的讲座，也算是见了一回名人。谢谢Z同学。

小日子不咸不淡地过着，不时地瞄瞄周围美丽的风景。目前为止，喜欢这里的夏天。

照片比较多，请点击标题进入查看～
I love SEATTLE! I love HUSKY~

[端木小猪：请大家自动忽略语法错误。。。]


Book Review
Dummy Up And Deal: Inside The Culture Of Casino Dealing
by H. Lee Barnes

Paperback: 176 pages
Publisher: University of Nevada Press (August 9, 2005)
ISBN-13: 978-0874176223

There are tons of books with the keyword of GAMBLING. Basic strategies of blackjack, so-called beating systems, compulsive/pathological gamblers, legalization of gambling, Indian tribal casinos, sports betting, and so forth. Just pick up one you like. However, the point of view is either of players or of some bystanders. The real persons who know the gambling industry- table game dealers- are always in the scene, but only a part of background. This is why this book Dummy Up And Deal is so special. It tells you the real Las Vegas, viewing the gambling industry from the other side of the layout.
The author Barnes is a faculty of the Community College of Southern Nevada. He has worked as a dealer for several years. As Barnes states "this book is narrative nonfiction"(1), it contains short stories of various length. Although there is no footnote or any reference book, they are "the interpretive data of daily life and express humanity in a way that cannot be rendered in cold numbers"(1).
Dealers are in a weird position.On one hand, they are treated as the representation of the abstract HOUSE. The house is neither the fancy building nor the cheques(chips). When someone is losing and tries to find out the house to blame, he/she will ask the dealer, "How could you do this to me?" Dealers are just the medium of the chance, which is set up in the favor of the house. They have no control over the cards, the roulette ball, or the dice. On the other hand, dealers are paid by the minimum wage plus tips. Whether they can pay the bills really depends on the players. They are hoping players to win in order to earn toke while dealing the games in favor of the house, in which no player can win in long run.
A good dealer can "make the cards perform ballet in the air", "spin a roulette ball at speeds approaching the sound barrier", or "pay twelve bets on a layout [craps] faster than a car salesman can calculate his commission"(5). The criteria of their job performance are pace and accuracy. However, both the house and players are more concerned about the money rather than how well the dealer deals. No matter the house is hot or cold, "the dealer's job is to dummy up and deal"(2).
Like other uniform jobs, dealing is sometimes boring. But there are way too many things happening in the casino. "A casino is itself a microcosm of a society that desires immediate gratification, risk without danger, reward without labor, recognition without earned respect"(6). Each table is a stage, on which everyone is both performer and audience. Human beings are complicated. A dealer doesn't need too much time to meet all kinds of persons, especially freaks.
Dealers are at the bottom of the casino structure. Some are juiced, whereas some are abused. Female dealers had a hard time in the seventies and eighties. How about nowadays? Maybe better, maybe not. Mattress politics is pretty common. Moreover, there is a chapter titled "You're Fired, Have a Nice Day". Funny yet sad.
"In those days we used to work six days a week at the Showboat. This one kid was getting married, and he went up to Pete Amante, who ran the schedule, and told him that he was getting married and needed three days off. When the next schedule came out, Pete had given the kid three days off- Monday, Wednesday, and Friday"(82). What can you do as a dealer? Dummy up and deal.

Some other words:
I'm interested in gambling. I have read several books and some academic journals in this subject. Sociological surveys mostly express moral concerns, and movies depict casinos or Las Vegas as adult's Disneyland. This is an amazing book about the crude reality.


I hope you will like it. 


[All quotations are from Dummy Up And Deal by H. Lee Barnes.]