I am Soooooooooo Behind

The further I progress in algebra, the harder it is to blog about my progress. Not because I don't understand what I'm doing -- I do! The further I go the more complicated the notation gets, which means either lots of sloppy computer shortcuts (I hate the look of x^2) or tedious html coding. Type polynomial. Go into html editor. Add <sup> tags. Find out I didn't close half of them. Go back and close them. Rinse, lather, repeat. I don't think I can begin to handle a post on matrices without going into Photoshop, drawing one, then using it as a template for all the steps.

I can hear you now. "Laura, for reals. No one reads this blog. Why put yourself through all this?"

1. Blogging reinforces my understanding of the material. It makes me organize my thought process.
2. Consider this a public copy of my notebook, which is already beginning to fray at the ends. And fill up. Seriously, I'm almost out of paper, and I haven't finished the book!
3. Laugh at the crazy woman who fills her spare time with algebra. And then one day your kid will come home with that terrifying textbook filled with x, y, polynomials, and WORD PROBLEMS. 

And then you'll remember that nutty friend of yours on Facebook who posted about algebra and feel (only a little) bad about mocking her nerdiness while you're frantically looking for her blog. All the while your kid is sitting there with a page of unfactored polynomials.

So yes, I am going to get all these posts done and up. Eventually. I'm taking a breather before I start complex numbers. As I vaguely recall that's where Algebra II hit the fan for me. Or maybe it was functions. The point is I'm going to use this pause time to catch up the blog. There's also a large divergence starting between Idiot's Guide and Everything. I'm not yet sure if it's simply different sequencing or if they're going in completely different mathematical directions. I think it's a good place to rest. The books are due February 8, and if I don't finish there's no rule saying I can't check them out again. Well, unless there's a hold on them.

COMING SOON!!!!

See...MATRICES!

Adding, subtracting, multiplying,

and introducing

DETERMINANTS

See...POLYNOMIALS!

Adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing,

with special guest star

FACTORING

See...RADICALS!

Adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing,

and FRACTIONAL EXPONENTS!