On "Applied Algebra" by Harbeer Sandhu (916 words) ****

To what extent this qualifies as a story, I'm not sure. But certainly, Sandhu conveys a life, a situation--a series of situations--in unique terms that add up to more than just their singular parts (in this case, 1 + 1 does not equal 2). I would have never thought I'd enjoy reading math problems quite so much. And the story has me thinking about the way in which our lives really are in every single decision we make, as those economics professors like to spout, about economic choices. On just what do we put our priorities? How much money could I have earned had I copyedited a page of someone's textbook rather than read this story? Was it worth it. As Sarah Palin would put it, you betcha. Read the story here at Switchback.