I'm Back!

Wow! I am sorry to anyone who feels this blog has been neglected! It has! I will make a post now to try to catch up on things.
First, I have been to so many conferences since my last post. I traveled greatly between Feb and April. Some highlights:
Brain Camp was wonderful. I met many from the kids entertainment industry. Cartoon Network, National Geographic Kids, Disney, DiC, etc... I really enjoyed meeting Steve from Feld Entertainment (B&B Circus and Disney on Ice) as we sat and did puzzles over the lunch hour. Amanda and Rick from PintSize Art I finally met as well. They are wonderful and I enjoy working with them!
I also attended the large annual NCTM (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics)Conference in Salt Lake City. Bill and I did a presentation that was incredibly received. We were thrilled!
Toy Fair in February in New York was incredible too! What a thrill to be there to talk about ThinkFun and Game Club in our beautiful booth! I also went to a small dinner party of puzzle, toy and magic people. At this dinner of about 20 people, who should show up? David Blaine! It was really cool to meet him. He did one trick that night, and I was his guinea pig! I wrote my name on one of his cards and then he found it again. It was incredible. I have a photo, but I'll add it later.

Also, one of the biggest thrills was to meet Ivan Moscovich. I met him in New York but then again at the Gathering for Gardner. He is the kindest person and we spent lots of time just talking! It was a thrill for me. Here is a photo of us!




I met many other greats at the GAthering as well! Here is John Conway and I. It was a real honor to meet him and it was really cool to meet these people on a personal level. It's hard to explain but these are people that I have admired and known in mathematics and I just can't believe that I'm meeting them! I had Elwyn Berlekamp, John Conway and Richard Guy all sign my new copies of Winning Ways!



So my life continues to amaze me! I am truly blessed! One of these days I should really journal some of these great experiences!

Tanya

Tanya's Update

It's been too long! I apologize, I doubt anyone checks this anymore since it's never updated. However, I'll post anyhow.
I'm excited to say I've taken a few lovely trips since my last post. I travel about every 6 weeks to ThinkFun Headquarters in Virginia. It's always wonderful and extremely busy. Since I go without the family, it just makes sense to work 16 hour days while I'm there. It always seems like a ton gets accomplished but there's always a ton more to do!
I was also invited to Halifax to speak at a conference for Independent Schools. Our good friends are associated with Armbrae Academy and they were hosting a conference. They asked me to speak about ThinkFun Game Club. It was spectacular! Out of the 5 schools in attendance, I'm proud to say that 4 are now doing Game Club. I'm so honored to be a part of their community now!
I also got to stay with my wonderful family Sandra and Allan. Dinner with cousins too which is such a pleasure! And always love seeing my aunts and uncles!
This Friday I'm traveling to U of Waterloo for my math contest writing weekend. So excited to be seeing all my friends again!
I'm traveling next week to New York. Both for a puzzle party (so excited about this) as well as for my first NY Toy Fair. I'm honored to be there as a part of ThinkFun. Not sure what to expect, but expecting big and wonderful things! I'm also going to see Rent on Broadway too!
In March, I've a wonderful conference to attend called Brain Camp. It's a high level executive conference for people in the Kid's Entertainment Industry. It's a small numbers conference with round table discussions. I'll be excited to meet these high level people in the business.
March also includes a trip to New Orleans to the ASCD Annual Conference. We have a booth there and hoping to talk with many supervisors who attend this conference.
And then at the end of March is the Gathering for Gardner! I'm excited to say that I received an invitation for this event this year. It, like IPP, is very exclusive so I'm thrilled to be included. It's in Atlanta and people from all over the world come to attend this event. It's in honor of Martin and is it's 8th gathering. It's for mathematicians, magicians and puzzlers, all three of Martin's passion.

So you can see that I'm just always busy! But I'm loving life! I feel I'm the most fortunate girl in the world!

Make a postcard - it's easy!

Conversation with Martin (Gardner)

I spoke with Martin (Gardner) a couple of weeks ago. First, I wanted to wish Martin a happy birthday! He turned a young 93 on Oct 21st. He does not like birthdays but I was so pleased when he told me that since he's made it to 93, he's decided to go for 100! This is very special news indeed!
When Martin and I talk, he always shares with me new book news, both his personally or others he's read. First, Sterling is publishing a new kid's book of Martin's called Optical Illusion Kit. As many of you know, Martin loves magic and this sort of thing. This book willl have an envelope of punch outs at the back. He started writing this a few years ago and there were special artists hired to design the punch outs. He told me he will send me one of his advance copies when he receives them from Sterling. I'm looking forward to seeing it and sharing it with my kids!
Also, he told me about a great book that amazon just put on a reduced price list. It turns out I already have this book, and I agreed with Martin, it is fantastic. I used to use it as a reference in my classroom all the time. I love this book. I paid $60 for it at Chapters and really love it. It has recreational math in it as well as definitions, history, etc... I used it a lot to look up stuff when my students' asked wonderfully quirky questions about things in math they heard about.
Anyway, amazon reduced it to $9.99! The book is called The Universal Book of Mathematics (from Abracadabra to Zeno's Paradoxes) by David Darling published by John Wiley & Sons. A GREAT buy!
Well, Martin is doing well and it is still a thrill to talk with him! I call him every 4-6 weeks and he is gracious every time. In fact, he enjoys our conversations and always seems so appreciative of my calls.
I've discovered that the real great minds that I've met thus far (I've been blessed now to have met many in the mathematics community) the ones so far out of my league and are so scary smart, so above my capabilities, these great ones are actually the most gracious. The really great ones I've met, talk to me, have no pretense or snobbery, they are just so gracious and genuine. Martin is one of these. Happy Birthday my friend! Thank you for enriching my life and I hope to share many more years and memories with you!

Jerry Slocum's Dreams Come True

Bill and I traveled to Indiana University to meet with Jerry Slocum. Then the three of us and Jillian Hinchcliffe and a world renowned professor who is an expert in Problem Solving in Mathematics Education met to discuss research in the area of puzzles and their benefits. It was a ground breaking meeting and it was extremely exciting. Jerry called it a "dream come true" and I was honoured to be a part of one of Jerry's dream. Wonderful news and exciting times!

Also that evening, Bill and I were guests of Jerry's at a wonderful dinner where Jerry was given a medal from the Friends of the Lily Library for his outstanding contributions. This was a high honour as Jerry is one of only two recipients of these medals that have ever been given out. I was so proud to be a part of this event. Congratulations Jerry!

Visit with Jerry Slocum

I'm in Indiana right now. Bill and I met Jerry at the airport. Had a wonderful dinner and just enjoying their wonderful company. Can't wait to visit the Slocum Puzzle room tomorrow. Was here in 2006 for the official opening. Am excited to see it again now. Jillian Hinchclife is the puzzle curator for the Slocum Room at the Lily Library. We'll see her tomorrow.
The conversation we had on the way to Bloomington and at dinner is very exciting. I described it to Bill as one of those times you wished you could be a fly on the wall, well I get to be the fly on the wall! Amazing conversation and stories! Jerry is an amazing individual and he has so many great stories not only about puzzles, but also about when he was an egineer involved in so many aviation advances! He had an amazing career!
I'm a lucky girl!

Vacation in Nova Scotia

Went to Nova Scotia for a conference at the end of October. I presented on SNAP Math Fairs and it was a great experience. It was wonderful to see some familar faces there, other presenters and participators! SNAP is going EAST!
Also took a week long vacation with my family there. They flew out after the conference (and the hockey schedule) and joined me. It was so nice to catch up with family we have there. All my aunts, uncles, cousins, friends and Rich. We love going to NS. Lots of family get togethers and sightseeing with the kids. It was cool also because I normally can't travel in October, but now working for ThinkFun, we can travel outside the normal school holidays!
Some highlights!

• visiting Armbrae Academy where I presented SNAP and got to see where Barb and John's school
• family get-togethers and seeing all my amazing family and eating lots of Lobster!
• staying at Sandra and Allan's
• hiking at Blomiden (sp?)
• corn maze at Nobbins
• our museum visits
• Point Pleasant Park
• Hallowe'en with the Mitchel's! Halifax people are very generous at Hallowe'en!
• and many more great memories! (Spa visit not included)

It was great!