who what where when why wednesday.

q:

what lesson did you miss in school?

what day were you absent that you really wished you weren't?

a:

the day i learned about radical numbers.

sounds complex, i knoooow. {it is!} do you know what i'm talking about? it's more than your simple square root sitch.

it's the {number - square root sign - number} thang.

where was i the day my teacher taught everyone else how to dissect {square root sign} 72 and widdle it down until it equaled 6 {square root sign} 2?

what the heck?!

i {didn't} learned about it in geometry when i was a freshman in high school. i was totally absent that day, and it ruined me for the rest of they year.

thankfully, i've never needed it since that horrible day in fall of '95, but the constant frustration and empty brain feeling for the rest of the year put me on the i-hate-math-path for the rest of my academic career.

and... when i was in college, i had a roommate who was absent the day her 2nd grade class learned how to tell time on a clock. she really did. when the rest of us could glance at the clock as we walked out the door, she'd have to stop, stare, point at the clock and wind her finger around in a circle as she counted the hours and minutes and their apparent place around the dial.

i think lara said she missed the day her class learned the difference between dimes and nickels... so, i know i'm not the only one who missed out in school. what about you?