Life + Comic Con + Jokes = Math

Hello all.  I am ashamed at my latest sabbatical...but obviously not so ashamed as to make something happen before now. 

I promised you some Comic Convention action so here it is:  Austin attended San Diego Comic-Con International in July.  I know what your first question is so no, he does not dress up.  But, that doesn't mean he isn't in full participation mode.  He took pictures of lots of "toys" (as they are lovingingly deemed at our house) and texted them to me daily.  He got Stan Lee's autograph of two comic books that were carefully prepared (ya know so the signature would be in the ideal place).  He sat through some previews, he particularly liked the preview for the CW's new show about Green Arrow (see Wikipedia for further definitions of vocabulary and characters...I am a frequent visitor after conversations with Austin).  He took peanut butter and honey sandwiches each day so he didn't have to waste his precious funds on food.  He attended three days and estimates say that he was one of 130,000+ to do so.  He saw lots of panels (stars come to talk about their TV shows or upcoming movies).  Its not just cheese ball cartoons either.  If you've ever watched an episode of Bones, Burn Notice, Castle, Chuck, Grimm, Mythbusters, Nikita, Once Upon a Time, Psych, Supernatural, The Big Bang Theory, and The Vampire Diaries, Being Human, Eureka, Fringe, Lost Girl, Sanctuary, Torchwood, Doctor Who and Warehouse 13, Dexter, Shameless or True Blood then you might want to think about attending next year.  :)

A few nights ago I was telling Austin some of my favorite jokes:
Two muffins in an oven
Two pretzels walking down the street
Two olives on a table
(my jokes follow a very predictable theme)
About half way through he said, "No, no, no.  No more jokes.  I don't like jokes."
"What?  Who doesn't like jokes?"
"I don't."
"Why?"
"Because I don't know any."
I paused for a minute, "you don't know any jokes?  What kind of a person doesn't know any jokes?"
"Me."
"Well finish listening, and then you'll know some!"
(Covering ears), "No, no more jokes."
So please send all your best jokes his way...I mean seriously.

I have a little brother who struggles with math.  He studies really hard and my mom help him with his homework every night,  (she was a math major, and the sole reason I can do anything resembling math.), but it just won't come easily for him.  When little brother gets frustrated and begins to despair that his lack of math skills will doom him to unemployment my mother channels...Austin.  Austin is a brilliant conductor and he is very good at many things, but math isn't one of them.  He never did do well with it in school and he still doesn't do so well with it.  "See! (says my mother) Austin couldn't get math either and he has a job and is very successful!"  This seems to give my brother hope for the future, and the strength to mathematize (you probably won't find that on wikipedia) another day. 
Case in point: Last week we were determining which lot to purchase for our new home.  Austin desperately wanted one of the three lots that comes with a full driveway and no across the street neighbors (see hermit crab post HERE).  After giving in to the extra fee that came with that driveway glory and neighbor freedom Austin was asking me how to calculate the percentage of lots with these features. 
"Its 3 out of the 51 lots, so how do I do that...is that 51 x .03?"
"No, honey, its 3 OF 51, so you just divide 3 by 51 (thanks mom)."
"Oh...(calculating)...6%!!  We are in the 6% of homes with full driveways.  This was absolutely worth it!"
Maybe I should've told him that 3 out of 51 sounds more impressive than 6%, but NOT as impressive as his original calculation would have been: 1.53%.....or something.