We're going to a party party

My Birthday Post

At first I thought 34 was a terrible age to turn. It's so boring. Nothing happens at 34, except that I guess I am in my mid-thirties now . . . No, I will still claim early-thirties.

But then I learned all of the exciting facts about the number 34:

• 34 is a biprime, also known as a semiprime.
• 34 is the smallest number to be surrounded by numbers with the same number of divisors as it has.
• 34 is a Markov number. (Yeah, I don't understand this one either.)
• 34 is the international calling code for Spain.
• 34 was the uniform number of Walter Payton and Kirby Puckett.
• 34 is the atomic number of selenium

OK, so maybe most of those are not so exciting. I am intrigued by the idea of living each year in alignment with the corresponding element on the Periodic Table though. I just finished my arsenic year, and next year I have my bromine period to look forward to.
But for now, I am selenium, which is essential to life but toxic in large doses. Much like me.

Other nonsense:

• The 34th artist (alphabetically) on my iPod is Broken Social Scene.
• The 34th album is "Blinking Lights and Other Revelations" by Eels.
• The 34th song is "1963" by New Order.
• The 34th song to come up on shuffle is "Suffer Well" by Depeche Mode.

Strangely, I have six songs in my iTunes that contain the word "birthday":

• "Birthday" by The Beatles
• "Birthday" by Blur
• "Sunday (The Day Before My Birthday)" by Moby
• "Birthday Boy" by Pet Shop Boys
• "Unhappy Birthday" by The Smiths
• "Happy Birthday" by Stevie Wonder

That's all. I am looking forward to fun with friends tonight, and then fun in Chicago tomorrow.

My First Birthday