Thursday, April 13, 2006

Fibs are fab!

Mom?
Mom?
WAKE UP!
Fibs are fab!
Open the paper:
Your son is in the New York Times!

The Times is quite an exciting thing for Fibbery, I must say. For those of you visiting for the first time, there's all sorts of links off to the right that will lead you to Fib fun and more. Or you can just scroll down below and poke around. Also, there are tons of fantastic Fibs in these two posts: The Fib and More Fibbery.

Most of all, I hope you'll join the fun and put some Fibs in the comments here and/or anywhere and everywhere.

(A later edit: head on up to here for news of a Fib-related book!)

91 comments:

Anonymous said...

First.
First.
Ha ha!
First time first!
Quickly, I dash off.
Must buy a lottery ticket.

Anonymous said...

Nice
just try
another
form of poem
try...

This is called an "Elfchen", because of it´s eleven siyllables. In german elemantary school´s Elfchen are tought in the 4th grade.

Paul Schwartz said...

what
a
bloody
waste of time
counting syllables
should be left to the japanese

Anonymous said...

Mar-
i-
-o Merz
created
powerful artwork
visualizing Fibonacci


as
a
junior
curator
I applied
Fibonacci to
sequencing arrangements of art


as
I
peer out
the window
countless birds gather
on bushes brightening my day


Dan Mills

Goofball said...

Congratulations on your newfound fame and fortune. This fib thing is kinda clever. And it works unusually well for a mathematical sequence.

The square
grows too quickly
for a good poetry meter.

Or ...

Perhaps square roots can serve as acceptable poetic meters.
You begin with sixteen syllables.
End with nine, four,
one.

Anonymous said...

I
kvell
shep nachas
One Brown boy writes as
another eats matzah brie

Anonymous said...

ok, so nachas is probably technically two syllables, but yiddish is fungible.

Who can concentrate with Bob the Builder going in the background?

Liz B said...

Am
I
clever
enough to
do a fib congrats
(counting on fingers, does it work?)


congrats! when I told my Mom she misunderstood and thought each line had to be one word & has been frantically trying to find an 8 syllable word for her "extreme fib". Alas, nothing so far.

Lizzy Wednesday said...

I've loved Fibonnacci sequences ever since they were featured in a 'Math Net' sketch on the now-defunct PBS series "Square One" and I am SO thrilled to see maths and literature coming together this way!

I
hope
you don't
mind that I've
linked your blog to mine:
ChicksOnLit(dot)BlogSpot(dot)Com

Anonymous said...

Wow!
Man!
That's so
Amazing!
The New York Times
Can't even write a
piece about poetry
without making anti-Bush
references. Bias? Says Who?

Sorry, couldn't help myself! Seriously dude! Congratulations!! That is too cool!

Anonymous said...

You may have been clued in on this yet but in case not, you might enjoy the song "Lateralus" by Tool. Entire verses of it are done to the Fibonacci Sequence. It really is quite neat to hear.

Anonymous said...

Wow!
Fibs?
Who knew?
I just thought
They were little lies.
I think you're on to something here.

From a fellow SCBWI member who just read about you in the NYT--congratulations!

Anonymous said...

Well,
Yes.
Okay.
This seems good.
Thinking about words
is better than watching TV.

Anonymous said...

What?
Bush
Bias?
Not a chance.
They were quoting her.
It’s not their fault she has a brain.

Anonymous said...

Oh
My
The day
Before me
Keeps on wandering
To a place I do not know of

Anonymous said...

Congratulations, Greg!

Marvelous news for you and the Fibbery.

Anonymous said...

MORE....

Oh
My
The day
Before me
Keeps on wandering
To a place I do not know of.
Where has all the time gone that told of what would happen?

Anonymous said...

My
Mom
Wants me
To be mad
With love for these fibs,
But, sorry mom, I sure am not.

Zack Newick

Anonymous said...

Hi Greg,

Congratulations on making the New York times! That's SO cool!

I have a book recommendation for you, too. In Justine Larbalestier's book "Magic or Madness", the main character, a 15-year-old girl named reason, uses Fibs (the numbers, not the poems) to comfort herself when she's stressed out. She repeatedly refers back to Fibonnaci numbers in nature, and notices when she runs across one. I kept thinking of your Fibs as I was reading the book. Little did I know that so many others were thinking about Fibs at the same time.

Don Tate II said...

Congrats, I just read! How cool is that?

Anonymous said...

eye
and
other
masonic
signs point to our first
prized president George Washington.

young Cardozo said...

Fun
with
numbers
twisted 'round
a Fibonnaci
sequence of syllables and sound

Wouldn't it be fun to write a fib poem about the Shakespearian sonnet form and a Shakespearian sonnet about the fib form?

Anonymous said...

so
much
depends
upon a
red wheel barrow glazed
with rain water beside the end.

Karl said...

Say
Your
Fellow
Lib'rians:
"Well done thou good and
Faithful media specialist!"

Anonymous said...

just so it's out there...

ron silliman's book, Tjanting, was written using this method back in 1977-1980...

also, the Oulipo poets (from France & elsewhere...founded by a group of poets & mathematicians), have been composing works using mathematical restrictions / formulas, for almost 50 years...

Anonymous said...

Verse
and
numbers.
Opposites?
Hardly. Close your eyes
and dream of spiral nautiloids.

Greg Pincus said...

Yes, anonymous, Ron Silliman has done more than a few things with the Fibonacci form. He also hosts a blog where there's tons of serious, rigorous and intelligent conversation about poetry. This blog surely doesn't fulfill that purpose!

Keep on Fibbin'....

Esther Altshul Helfgott said...

1) I
2) will not
3)try too hard
4)to make a fib
5)but all work and no
6)play makes the scholar dim-
7)witted, I’ll say. So let me
8)now think awhile on how to jug-
9)gle words and style with rhyme and placement.
10)And numbers, you say? Wait! I need to straigh-
11)ten up my desk and put my essay away.

Esther Altshul Helfgott said...

Miriam

She
is from
a place of
long ago where
women held timbrels
and danced beside the sea.

Anonymous said...

Please stop the violence

Becky said...

What
great
good fun!
April Fib
Fools. New York Times too!
Tee hee and congratulations...

Thought I should send in something official : )

Anonymous said...

"At Work Today"

Sit
Chilled
Into
Headache and
Desperate exit
Strategy involving freckles
That rise up to the sun waiting opposite the door

Cat Herself said...

Excellent! I've shared your poetry fun with the WordCraft board . . . http://wordcraft.infopop.cc/groupee/forums?a=tpc&s=441607094&f=332607094&m=7491079813&r=8301089813#8301089813

as well as my first Fib. :-)

I just read about the Fibonacci Sequence in the kids' book _The Wright 3_ by Blue Balliett. Fun (if predictable) book!

Anonymous said...

Well, somebody had to start making them somber, darn it:

last
year
at this
time, you loved
me and you said so.
Twelve months later: loud, loud, silence.

Anonymous said...

Cute?
Ugh.
Because
I've never
Thought mealworms to be
Exceptionally beautiful.

Dad.
He
Tells me,
'Beautiful'
Has four syllables.
I still consider it as three.

Gail.
Sleep.
You think
Fun only
Comes during the night?
The sun ain't really all that bad.


And my father's rap-fib poem:

Fib
Fib
Fibo
Fibonac
Fib Fib Fibo Fibonacci


I attempt fibs again:

French
Class.
I try.
There's so much
To remember but
I think I'm getting there, slowly.

Boy.
Keep
Talking.
Me, near you-
I can't stop smiling.
Wish I could say something funny.

Stand.
Straight.
Pull up.
Point your toe.
Stretch your leg further.
Should ballet have this many rules?

Geek.
Nerd.
I've heard
These two terms
Are similar, yet
Only geeks may join circuses.

Why?
How?
Poems
Are not hard
For me to write, so
Why don't I sound poetic yet?

Fib.
Wow.
Today
Was good. I
Have been accepted
Into a world of webber's words.

Moon.
Light.
Cherry
Blossoms float
Downward,spiraling
As I tell my tenth 'fib' poem.

Dark.
Night.
Vision.
Must let go
The waves of dreams
Wash over me, effervescent.

Math.
Good.
Teacher,
It was fine,
But geometry
Really isn't my thing, you know?

Greg
K.
Thank you
For thinking
Up the fib method.
It's really rather amusing.

Well,
Now.
Fourteen
Poems for
Fourteen days- April's
Just halfway through. I've still got time.

Anonymous said...

"Shrove Tuesday"

Milk.
Egg.
Plain flour.
Pinch of salt.
Whisk them together.
Have the treacle tin standing by.

Anonymous said...

Fish
Swim
Coral reef
Mouth breathing
Fins as a motor
The sea gives a private showing.

George Myers said...

A
plate
combed
trailed slipware
was in olden days
based on Fibonacci made square.

Source: British Museum oversize book.

Anonymous said...

Po
ems
are not
novelties.
Art's too important
to leave to the professionals.

Anonymous said...

Amanda French said...
so
much
depends
upon a
red wheel barrow glazed
with rain water beside the end.

11:45 AM


I
crack
me up,
but I think
Amanda wins, on
this page, anyway: no chickens!

Deeplip said...

What's a Fibonacci And Why Should I Care?


My
phone
rings and
wakes me up.
Who the fuck is it?
My nutty brother in Texas!

Anonymous said...

so
the
cliches
come true; my
children have sucked out
my brain; no straw involved, just whines.

I
won't
regret
my time here,
but what have I done
with my best-laid plans? Crap, they're gone.

I
ask
again:
How come I
can't find my cell phone?
I know I left it here somewhere.

Esther Altshul Helfgott said...

i
rene I
love yours. thanks
for the somber
note. the truth rules all
unfortunately. darn.

zade said...

Here
is
your chai.
Was green tea
frapuccino with
madeleines what you really wanted?

Anonymous said...

I'm
with
that girl
(or woman)
Ms. Judith Roitman
because, like the Haiku poem,
it's just too easy. Write some syllables. Then add more.

Anonymous said...

Read
Write
Series
Much to do
Poetry numbers
Challenge the brain with signs anew

Deeplip said...

If
it's
only
six lines, then
how hard can it be
to write a Fibonacci? Duh!

Anonymous said...

All
hues.
Peeking
from beneath
red tulips' petals,
eggs. For you, Little One. Find them...

Plish.
Plat.
Rainy
days are true
beauty, I devise.
A silver symphony revealed.

Anonymous said...

I
Do not
Like to hear
About new things that
Challenge the status quo my friend.

Anonymous said...

Uh
oh.
No fibs
for some time.
Looks like I'll have to
spill my precious seed someplace else.

buckinghampalace said...

Si!
son
super
bacanes
todos estos fibs

sí,
más
los más
sólo son
frases cortadas
pedazos de versos así

I cant read so many! do the posts grow in fib porportion too? greetings from Chile!

tom said...

link
each
'n'ev'
ry
syllable
and don't stop at eight, beginners!

Anonymous said...

how
many
colors would
it take for you to
paint me a picture of the sky?

Anonymous said...

First
second
third, here
and then feelings
wishes, were so near
may I hasten to listen so close
should i wonder where all the love has gone..
as then I'd begin counting once again, and these words would give life to a song

Anonymous said...

"Twenty Breaths"
(not a fib but a ping!)


One
Deep
Breath and
You’ll exhale
This insubstantial
Verse out and into the mad world.

*

Sing!
Sing
Of old
Pingala
Whose ancient name comes
From Indian antiquity.

**

Strange
But
True: those
Uncanny
Pythagoreans
Who loved the ‘Golden Ratio’,

Just
As
Master
Pingala
Anticipated
Fibonacci’s rabbits and bees.

***

See
His
Chanda-
Sūtra. That’s
One name for Ping’s work
Of prosody and crazy maths.

This
Old
Treatise
Contains the
Earliest extant
Written form of binary code.

One
Or
Zero,
Denoted
By syllabic length,
Twenty centuries pre-Leibniz!

*****

One
More
Famous
Misnomer
And European
Vanity to be rectified.

One
Name,
Pascal,
Cannot stand
At the apex of
The old "staircase of Mount Meru".

Such
Was
The name
Pingala
Selected from the
Upanishads for his vision.

See,
Ping
Wanted
To explore
Combinatorics
Of rhythm and phonology.

His
Thoughts
Shine on,
But is it
Synchronicity
That links him to Pythagoras?

********

Both
Men,
Concerned
Intimates
Of this
Ratio, shared other interests.

The
Soul
Is what
They sought to
Fathom - if it’s real
Or not. They seem to have concurred

That
It
Really
Transmigrates
From one to the next
And cannot die as bodies will.

One
From
Orphic
Songs took his
Conviction, while his
Peer perused Vedic texts for it.

Like
A
Helix
Twinned and spun
From unreachable
Shores of time, names and numbers dance.

One
More
Name, then.
Can’t hurt, no?
Theano divined
That ratio Euclid would love.

And,
Boys
And girls,
Here lies the
Love interest, since this
Gal was Pythagoras’ missus!

One
Last
Deep breath
And you’ll be
Free of this folly.
That’s it: just intone: ‘Ping-a-la’.

Anonymous said...

Risk
Pain
It's hard
It's part of life
And then we learn a lesson
and slowly we shed our layers of strife

Anonymous said...

shades
colors
darkness gone
the colors begin to shine
and the rainbow in the distance
tastes like the finest of wine

Anonymous said...

My soul it sits so simple it is,
I miss the days we shared..
and into the sun
my glasses protect
as life is a reflection of what is..

Anonymous said...

My eyes i close,
I recall the warmth
the special way you made me feel..
and open they are, to the love that we shared,
while my life, it has become surreal..

Anonymous said...

Who reads, we only write,
we open our minds to our past..
and on it goes,
day by day,
and the nights, they seem to last, and last..

Anonymous said...

I fill this page,
with irons I've fanned,
the flames they have become too hot..
And as the fire it dies,
the coals still warm,
as I share, my life of NOT.

Anonymous said...

One
two
three now
i count how I'm feeling
and it comes together somehow

Anonymous said...

Matricies,
Pixcels..
my screen..
I share life's frailties,
without problems in between

Anonymous said...

anonymous
quietly
sharing is a treat..
at the end of the tunnel,
2 souls are able to meet..

Anonymous said...

cold
mud
squishes
under toes.
April poetry.
Vermont spring is the cruelest time.

Anonymous said...

Sun
glasses
shade time
A light that's gone
Into the darkness sublime

Anonymous said...

Yellow
Red
Rain bows
And then sun
as the day's beauty shines

Anonymous said...

Weak
Week
The days
fall like rain
We do what we are able
And soon we are whole again

Anonymous said...

Sad
quiet
Unilaterally shared
I wonder where the communication went
Life here seems uncared

Anonymous said...

WE all have a passion
we all have a dream..
as likeley as it passes,
as uncommonly it is to be seen..

Share what you gather,
share it with a friend..
and soon you'll have passion,
to share with your greatest friend

Anonymous said...

If
You
Want to
Make a wish
Why not wish for peace
Instead of for pieces of gold?

Anonymous said...

Dirt
Hurt
Football
Injuries
Have to get first down
Game winning thirty yard touchdown

Anonymous said...

mouth
hurt
all week
makes me sad
i hAte color blue
braces are no fun for poor me

Anonymous said...

Dogs
Sit
Sleepong
On the porch
With sunglasses on
Warm sun shinning down on their eyes

Anonymous said...

sun
now
shinning
have much fun
swimming playing fun
summer is coming now have fun

Anonymous said...

Fire
Rain
Light Dark
Scary and Good
How Wonderful But
Bad in The Sense of Destruction

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

I
Don't
Like Fibs
But I Am
Typing One Now So
I Guess I Like Them Anyway

Anonymous said...

i'm
bored
all day
until it's
time to go home soon
so i have a few hours left great!

Anonymous said...

bad
now
this time
drugs and beer
help us with our self
we need you to change our judgment

Anonymous said...

time
rushed
never
what to do
im in a big pinch
what will i have to do today

Anonymous said...

Life.
Dreams.
Leading.
Following.
Lasting through hard times.
Loving every minute of it.

Anonymous said...

fibs
Are
Really
Extremely
Lame and Odd and Wierd
Yes Its True This Is No Lie Bye!

Anonymous said...

pie
in
the sky
so very high
i did not lie, please
zip up your fly so i dont die

Anonymous said...

write,
draw'
scribble on,
writting a story,
loose leaf construction scrap paper.

Anonymous said...

pie
in
the sky
hold on!wait!
didnt i just do this?
i am so very confused about this!

Anonymous said...

The
best
letters
of the gree-
k alphabet is
Omega and Sigma right?

Anonymous said...

Friends.
Fun.
Laughing.
Playing games.
Best friends forever.
Forever lasting memorys.

Anonymous said...

i
am
so shy
because i
live in the sky, where
i always get high eating pie

Anonymous said...

Fibs?
Fab!
Frothy!
Fine for fun!
Focus fresh forces
Fully forward for Fibbery!

Anonymous said...

Not
First.
Not last.
For right now
Merely the latest.
Behold: it's comment 100.