On forgetting to close parentheses.

 November 22, 2006 personal

\newcommand{\N}{\mathbb{N}} \newcommand{\Z}{\mathbb{Z}} \newcommand{\Q}{\mathbb{Q}} \newcommand{\R}{\mathbb{R}} \newcommand{\C}{\mathbb{C}}

\newenvironment{question}[1][]{\par\textbf{Question (#1).}}{} \newenvironment{theorem}[1][]{\par\textbf{Theorem (#1).}}{} \newenvironment{lemma}[1][]{\par\textbf{Lemma (#1).}}{} \newenvironment{proof}{\textit{Proof.}}{}

Sometimes I’m scared that, at some point in my past, I opened a pair of parentheses without closing them. Even worse, I’m sure I’ve feared this very thing in the past.

Then again, maybe this is the common fear of all schemers: that our whole lives might now be a parenthetical comment.