“Although it is possible to construct Penrose patterns with a high degree of symmetry (an infinity of patterns have bilateral symmetry), [] [Penrose] patterns, like the universe, are a mystifying mixture of order and unexpected deviations from order. As the patterns expand, they seem to be always striving to repeat themselves but never quite managing it. G. K. Chesterton once suggested that an extraterrestrial being, observing how many features of a human body are duplicated on the left and the right, would reasonably deduce that we have a heart on each side. The world, [Chesterton] said, “looks just a little more mathematical and regular than it is; its exactitude is obvious, but its inexactitude is hidden; its wildness lies in wait.” Everywhere there is a “silent swerving from accuracy by an inch that is the uncanny element in everything . . . a sort of secret treason in the universe.” The passage is a nice description of Penrose’s planar worlds.”"

Parallel Lines

Possibly, tired of game-spotting, dotting and dashing,
Painter-Creator had a longing for lines, elegantly unbroken.
Pure without rendezvous, their unrequited love eternally unspoken.
``A change from Cheetah with his collection of marks
All nature needs is a set of stripes - symbolic of healing forever,
And I`ll lay them all on you, Monsieur Zebra!"
Roguishly, almost, that creature
roams the wild, although wearing
rigor in the design of his hide.
Always imprisoned in black and white. Imperial parallel lines.
And, tamely, a convict looks out from the severest of bars
Across his cell- window. ``Wish one were skew, I`d escape to the stars!"
L and double ll, the word itself contains the concept -
line-like letters, side by side. Though is it para-lell or -llel? Goodness, I forget!
La-di-da, linguistic laws! You are laboriously legalistic.
Let`s have gentle guidelines, almost-parallels, which have the grace to bend.
Every now and then, two fools, bent on comedy, find each other`s antics
equally funny. ``Ha-ha, Clown, you`re ludicrous!" ``Nay, Elf, merely
eccentric!" Jesters, unaware that the very laughter lines on their faces are matched.
Lovers, ha! - on the other hand, keep a cool fixed distance apart, initially. Then -
legit-and-intimate, approach a limit, and come to
lie closeclose together. Who can tell whether they form one life, or two, parallel?
``Long ago, in Liverpool ... " my mother-in-law tells stories of her boy, now my beloved.
``Look - these pointed iron railings are rare today." Neat, spearlike, in a row. Vectors!
``Let`s turn these parallels into bullets! Para-shoot in self-defence!" came the call
In the Wars, I and II. Weapons, not hedges, were needed in a hurry.
Indeed, the metal-melting worked. Line upon line, homely fencing was ripped out
In sacrifice. Woeful women turned into widows, and a few men, sta-sta-mmering victors!
Nowadays, well-organized fiery darts attack the family in more subtle ways.
Newspapers no longer carry the cruelest lines of all.
Nailed with His back to us, it`s easy to forget, at
Easter, that thirty-ah! nine-ah! parallel strokes were part of the torture.
Even a child playing choo-choo is fascinated by tracks which nevernever meet -
``Except at infinity" the sage adds, cryptically.
So, terrible lashes free us from selfish cells, forever.
Someone, sing of this escape from slavery. Guitar`s six lines, unplucked, lie
Silently parallel. Musicians! Wake up! Make those strings meet, as we dance 'til Eternity!

- Ysabel Perkins

The twenty-first letter of the alef-beis is the shin.

The shin comprises three vertical lines representing three columns. The letter itself looks like a crown.

The three lines of the shin may be interpreted as three gen­eral dimensions of a human being: Kesser (will and pleasure), the intellect, and the emotions. In addition, the entire shin can represent just one of these dimensions, with each of the three lines symbolizing a subdivision of that dimension. In the case of Kesser, Kesser is that which exists beyond the intellect—the dimension of the suprarational; the will and pleasure of the King. The gematria of Kesser is 620. When the shin is repre­sented as Kesser, 620 rays of light are imparted to the world through the three literal lines—or channels—of the shin. These rays are bestowed on the world through the right line, which is kindness; the left line, which is justice; and the center­line, mercy.

When the shin is representative of the intellectual dimension, the three lines stand for the three intellectual faculties of the Sefiros: the right line being Chochmah, the flash of an idea; the left line being Binah, understanding; and the centerline Daas, application of knowledge.

Finally, there is the dimension of the emotions, or middos. Here the shin’s right line represents Chessed, kindness; the left line represents Gevurah, severity or discipline; and the center­line represents Tiferes, mercy or compassion.

Furthermore, the three lines of the shin can signify the three pillars upon which the world stands: the study of Torah, prayer and good deeds.

Yet another dimensionof the shin’s columns is reflected by the three Patriarchs. Abraham is represented by the right line, Chessed (loving-kindness), as he personified absolute kindness, an outward focus through connection to others, and the per­formance of good deeds. Isaac is represented by the left line, Gevurah (discipline and severity), indicative of his being intro­spective and demanding of himself; concentrating on self-refinement and intense prayer. Jacob is the centerline. This is Tiferes, or harmony, because he took the qualities of Abraham and Isaac, kindness and severity, and synthesized them into mercy. Jacob also represents Torah study, because the Torah blends the positive and negative commandments into a harmo­nious whole.

The letter shin actually has four different forms. There’s a shin with a dot above the right column,a shin with a dot above the left column, a shin with four columns instead of three, and finally a silent shin. When the dot is on the right, the shin emphasizes Chessed, the concept of kindness. When the dot is on the left, the shin (pronounced “sin”) emphasizes the aspect of judgment or severity. These two forms are illustrated by the words shaar and sei’ar. The shin of the word shaar (gate) has its point on the right, שׁער,as a gate allows people to pass in and out, an aspect of openness or chessed. This shin is full of energy, potential and benevolence.

If we switch the shin’s dot to the left side, which is Gevurah (i.e., contraction), the resulting word is sei’ar, שׂער,or hair. Hair has the properties of life, but a life-force that is tremendously diminished or weak. One can pull out or cut a strand of hair and not feel any pain, unlike when one cuts a finger or other part of the body. A hair is rooted in a follicle, a concentrated, restricted opening. We thus say that the shin with a point on the left side represents severity and constraint.

The shin with four columns is found on the tefillin that is worn on the head. One side of the head tefillin has a shin with three lines and the other has one with four lines. In his personal notes the Rebbe offers two reasons for this. First, the four-lined shin is the shin of the Luchos, the Tablets of the Ten Commandments. The four lines represent the awesomeness and holiness of the engraving of G-d’s word into physical stone. To visualize this, imagine the three lines of the shin etched into stone. If you focus on the stone that remains around the shin, there will be four columns. These are the four lines of this form of the shin. They are the wake, the reflected light of the Luchos.

Did you notice that on the white car it says 91 1 st AVE? That and the WE3-spinners make it quite a synch!
I'd love to go to New York on synchwalks, seems nice. Looks like spring time over there.. Here we read in the paper that the local governments snow budget is too small, because of all the snow we've got this winter..