Happy Pi Day!!!

Well, the day has finally come! I hope you have all been looking forward to it as much as I have!

Is anybody wearing π Day clothing? I am! Every year on π Day, I wear a white tee-shirt (homemade, of course), that says "qtπ" in black lettering accross the chest! It's my own special way to celebrate :) As Meredyth suggested, you could also wear your hair in πg-tails! Heck, you could even wear your hair like ππ Longstocking! Maybe you could wear a πll-box hat, or a π-rate costume... or if you're more understated than that but still want to celebrate the sπrit of π Day, then do something simpler, like wearing your favorite πn.

I love all of the great ideas you've come up with for our π Day menu! I also bought a πg to roast on a sπt... but we still, in my oπnion, could use some more. If somebody wouldn't mind πcking up some sπnach πs, that would be great... and since sπnach always sticks in your teeth, we'll definitely need toothπcks. And maybe some rice krisπ treats? And I LOVE reese's πeces, if you happen to come accross those! Anything else we should add to our comπlation?

We need more entertainment stuff too... in addition to our current activities, we can always go duckπn bowling, toss around the πgskin, or if we get totally bored (Brendan's favorite), "πg π-le!" If it rains, we'll have to go inside... but we could watch cartoons (πnky & the Brain, or Pop-π?) or movies - is Eπc Movie out on DVD yet? I wasn't a big fan of "Star Wars" when I finally saw it, but maybe Em-π-re Strikes Back is better. I dunno... I'm up for suggestions.

ANYWAY...

When I was on my way to work thismorning, I had to stop for gas. I was half-delighted and half-disgusted to see that gas costs $π/gallon now, and yes, I did actually buy gas at that price! I decided that in celebration of π, the oil companies can get away with it for today... but come tomorrow, I'll be complaining again!

Let's get back to the artistic realm of π. It seems the whole idea of π Day Poetry wasn't as big of a hit as I was expecting. I thought it was kinda fun and challenging, personally, but we all know I'm far too nerdy for my own good! Perhaps this OTHER type of π poem will better suit your fancy! They're called "π-ku"! They're kind of like haiku (in which the first line has 5 syllables, the second line has 7, and the third line has 5), except that instead of the 5-7-5 pattern of haiku, the π-ku pattern is 3-1-4-1-5-9-2-6-5-3-5-8-9-7-9... well, you get the point. For example, I found this amusing π-ku online:

Three point one.
Four.
Et cetera.

More π Day poetry is, of course, still being graciously submitted on Wednesday's blog :) But okay, maybe you aren't a poetry buff. Perhaps you'll be a bigger fan of π Day music! If you haven't checked out the song Nicki found, you definitely should:


There's also this little gem:


And my personal favorite (in originality, anyway... it gets old/repetitive quickly!):


Graham also found this fantastic π Quiz! I aced it :) But I'll be honest... it took me 5 tries. I only got a 19 out of 25 on my first attempt... but still, I think getting a 19 on the first try is pretty decent! Try it, it's fun :)

The last little tidbit I give you this π Day is a website at which I've wasted several hours over the years. It's the π Search Page, and it allows you to search for strings of digits within the first 200 million digits of π. I know, I know, it's almost too exciting to bear, isn't it!? On this site, you can do fun things like find your birthday, phone number, or even initials in π! For example, my birthday is July 15th, 1982... so I type in "07151982", and the page tells me that my birthday appears starting at the 38,497,974th decimal place of π! Eight-digit numbers (like birthdays) have a 63% chance of being found within those first 200,000,000 digits of π, so not everybody will be able to find theirs. The Kaleidoscope Office telephone number is "9423637", which is found at the 16,451,196th decimal. Seven-digit numbers (like phone numbers) have a 99.995% chance of appearing, so you're more likely to find your phone number than your birthday. If you try it with your zip code, the resultant ten-digit number will only have a 0.995% chance of being found! For your initials, just convert each letter to its corresponding number in the alphabet (A=01, B=02, C=03,... Z=26). "T. J. I." would be "201009", and can be found at the 61,411st decimal. Heck, try your whole name, if your name is short enough! "Tommy" (2015131325) is, sadly, not found within those first 200m digits :(

Well, I hope you have all had a wonderful π Day, everybody! I'd love to hear stories... if you have anything you'd like to share about your π Day 2008 (including any exciting discoveries on the Pi Search!), please leave them in response to this post!

Please feel free to keep responding to the other posts as well! Comments you may leave are:
**Today, 3/14: π Day stories, π search results
**Yesterday, 3/13: more π foods, π games/entertainment, and special π guests to our π Day Party
**Wednesday, 3/12: π Poems (including π-ku!)
**Tuesday 3/11: Keep the chain of decimals going!

Hapπly celebrating the magic of π,
~tommy