docs: def read_file(self):
          '''if this is stored in a file, read it into self.column'''
          column_selector = r'(.*)\[(\d+)\]$'
          if self.column_file:
              column = None
              m = re.match(column_selector,self.column_file)
              file = self.column_file
              if m:
                  file = m.group(1)
                  column = int(m.group(2))
              with open(file) as f:
                  lines = f.read().split('\n')
                  if column!=None:
                      lines = [x.split()[column] for x in lines]
                  self.column = [nl.numberize(x) for x in lines]
              self.column_file = None
          if self.times_file:
              with open(self.times_file) as f:
                  self.times = [[nl.numberize(x) for x in y.split()] for y in f.read().split('\n')]
              self.times_file = None