23

[davidn]

I don't know if I ever mentioned this here before, but around the end of school and the end of university, I was convinced that the number 23 was following me around. Several significant dates in my life added up in some way to 23, I had locker number 23 in the Purdie building, I found one morning that someone had stuck a "23p" label to my doorframe, and so on. Yes, exactly like that film, so mentioning this would probably have had a greater impact if I'd mentioned it years ago. I was shocked enough to discover that that was what it was about yesterday. And now I am 23, so either it's going to be very good or utterly terrible.

As it happens, today I was honoured with the entirely new experience of receiving absolutely no presents on my birthday. Work was hectic (and because of the wonder of the Internet, still continues to be hectic, seeing as I'm sitting on the sofa with the laptop and debugging things from home) because catastrophic faults in the system always emerge 24 hours before we send it off to the client, and the weather outside was drearier than Scotland has ever managed, so it was quite hilariously gloomy all round. Still, let's look on the bright side - tomorrow I'll have a six-hour flight, followed by a cocktail party for the over 80s the next day, then a six-hour drive through a featureless barren desert to get to Whitney's parents' house.

Happy birthday, sleigh82. Happy birthday, Glenn Barry from Kamelot. Happy birthday, Mrs Hill who was my teacher in fifth year of primary school. Happy birthday, me.

Comments

[kjorteo]

From my experience, being stalked by numbers is equal parts remembering hits/forgetting misses, and using math to stretch the misses until they turn into hits. Actually, I have a stalker number, too: 108. Now, if I wanted, I could make the case that we're somehow bound by destiny or something by pointing out that 10 - 8 = 2, 108 = 12 * 9, and 12 - 9 = 3, but in reality that was just me thinking for a good ten minutes on how I could possibly turn 108 into 23.

Oh, and happy birthday!

[davidn]

Absolutely - the same reason that the Hebrews had 616 as an evil number because all their enemies could be somehow code-numbered into 616. Until they found someone who didn't fit, so they changed it to 666 instead. At least, that's what I heard, and I've found no evidence to back it up but it makes a good story.

[pookatimes.livejournal.com]

Six is one less than seven, which is the most powerful magical number, so 666 fits that bill too. But I still think 616 works better as an evil number.

[whinknee.livejournal.com]

you forgot about happy fun time at disneyland.

[thackary.livejournal.com]

Sounds like it might not have been the best birthday ever. But the cocktail party sounds like a blast.

Belated as it is, Happy Birthday!

(PS - don't expect many presents from here on in. People now consider you a grown up, and grown ups don't get birthday presents) :(

[davidn]

I can't complain about that - Whitney did get me a rather expensive guitar two weeks ago and my parents have things being sent over, but this is definitely the first year that I've felt the significance of the day completely lost.

[shoe--gal.livejournal.com]

Happy birthday! Enjoy your trip!

[diarytypething.livejournal.com]

Happy Birthday! You know, the over 80s cocktail party might not be that bad, it could even be entertaining once people start to forget their inhibitions (or perhaps their zimmer frames).

The number of people who share one's birthday always seems statistically unlikely. I know at least 6 people (actual people who I have met, not celebrities or fictional characters) whose birthdays are the same day as mine, but for this to represent an even distribution it would mean I would have to know about 1800 people well enough to know when it was their birthday. It's quite strange and there are probably some good crackpot theories to explain why this happens.

[davidn]

There are! The Birthday Paradox says that even though it seems like you would need about 300 people before finding double birthdays, the chance is almost certain with only around 30. Then a page down it threw some deadly maths at me (including the number 23) so I had to run off.

[billyhicks.livejournal.com]

I'm not 23 but I was born on the 24th Sep, which is a number I like because it's 42 backwards.

Happy birthday!

[mossop.livejournal.com]

Happy birthday. I got no presents on my 22nd birthday. I was living in Germany at the time, and my relatives ALL misjudged the time it would take for parcels and cards and things to get from the UK to Germany. I was really upset about it at the time.