post no. 800

800 is not a particularly great number. I'd much rather stare at 888 or 867. Yeah baby! But this is post number 800.

As a nation we seem to prefer certain numbers. Fifth year anniversaries seem more important than sixth year ones. Then come the zeros. Anything with a zero at the end of it is more important than something with a five at the end. There are two notable exceptions in 25 and 75. Yet nobody gives a rat's ass about 33 1/3 or 66 2/3. But if you throw two zeros at the end, everybody goes nuts and throws a huge party. Few of us can ever forget the fear and anticipation caused by the dread triple aught just seven short years ago.

Today I received an e-mail announcing the planning of my 15 year high school reunion. The five means it is only kind of special. Instead of going to my five year reunion, I went and got married. That means my 15 year reunion is completely overshadowed by a 10 year anniversary. Zeros trump most fives. And as I told them in my reply e-mail, the surf in Minnesota in the summer sucks. I'll stick with my California plans.

Why do we so obsess over fives and tens? We have seven days in our current week, why not kick out the jams using base seven? Why stick to a solar cycle? A Jupiterean cycle is about 12 years, why not just wait until Jupiter is back where he started? Need more excuses to celebrate? Count Lunar cycles. Sick of partying? Wait for Eris to complete a full orbit around the Sun.

If fives and tens are so great, why does most beer come in six packs and Guinness pub draught cans come in a four or eight pack? Why does seven always seem like the perfect number of bananas in a bunch? Try to find someone who can tell you about James Monroe or John Tyler then ask around about the 32nd president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He was also elected in 1932. I like the number 32. Very beautiful compared to 800.