In Case You Were Wondering...

One of my readers sent me an email asking why I chose the title Mixed Number and asked me what my mixed number, in mathematical terms, actually was. He was the first to ask me this, and there is a solid reason behind my choice. So in case the rest of you were wondering, I thought I would share my answer.

The name actually came about while I was taking an advanced math class that my job required of me. I hate math, I’m not too good at it, so I had to do some back up study to successfully reach the point of mathematical understanding my job required. While doing this, I had to cover a basic chapter on mixed numbers.

Now, my brother is the one that always bothers me to write (blogs especially, for some reason). Before this particular blog, I'd tried my hand at a couple others (Pandora's Payday Loan was one and All Addictions Allowed was another). Neither of the previous blogs got very far. They had a consistent theme running through them, which turned out to be somewhat of a frustration because it limited my ability to write freely (I was forced to focus on one topic), and given the irregularity of my writing (or my desire to do so) it was sometimes difficult to get excited about that one topic. But running across the words Mixed Number, the mathematical term being a whole number with a fraction attached to it (like 7 3/4), made me think of music.

Music can have (particularly in classical music) three different movements in one song: the first movement being something soft and slow, the second being more playful and upbeat, and the third being something exciting or even somewhat zealous or angry sounding (like the three movements of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, for example). It also made me think of talent shows and the various acts that would come up on stage: some music, some drama, and some comedy -- all equally entertaining to the audience. So why not do this for a blog? This is why I'll have some poetry thrown into the mix of some social, political or religious commentary, reflective personal thoughts, as well as perhaps a few comical rants that are meant to do nothing but entertain myself and hopefully my reader. My blog then is, like the talent show or the sonata, a show with various acts or a single piece with many movements: a mixed number.

As far as an actual mathematical number, I never really thought about it. I suppose I would like 7 and 3/4. Why? Because I associate 7 with God, completion, perfection, and the three fourths I would associate with myself -- almost whole but 1/4 seems to still be missing; we'll just call this room for human error. ;-)