I'm all about the numbers!

One thing about me is that I am a big numbers person. I’m not fanatical about numerology and I actually suck at math, but I am interested in numbers. (And I MAY suck at math, but I still try to do math in my head!) Maybe it’s because my birthday is 5/25 (I once told someone that and he said, “Five squared is twenty-five”). I definitely pay attention to number patterns and even use them in my writing from time to time. In fact, there is a secret number pattern in my poetry book, Touched by Fire. As a kid, I was crazy about codes. Cracking codes, especially number codes, was a hobby of mine. And I actually find the number patterns and codes hidden in the Bible to be quite fascinating.

Numbers have been known to show up in my life a lot. For a while, after we moved into this house, I kept seeing the number “13” everywhere (even on a nearby street!). After 9/11, I’d often look at the time to see that it was exactly “9:11” and it would make me shudder. The number “11” itself also popped up a lot. (I once lived on West 11th!)

On a personal level, I have certain favorite numbers. The number “3” has been one of my favorite numbers for a long time. I don’t know why. I’ve just always liked the number 3. And I’ve tried to incorporate “3” into my life somehow, either by reading 3 books at a time, working on 3 books at a time or even by being on the computer at 3 different times during the day.

But I have noticed recently that the number “2” is popping up quite a lot. It’s starting to become a pattern for me. I try something and fail, then I try again and succeed. It’s like I have to try to do something twice in order to get it right. I failed the first time I tried to self-publish a book, and I succeeded the second time I gave it another go. I failed at this one writing gig that I had, then when I tried my hand at it a second time, not only did I succeed but I made 100 times more than what I originally made the first time. I failed as an editor for one book, then succeeded the next time I tried editing another writer’s book. (This is what made me decide to return to editing.)

And there’s other things, too. I have 2 kids. I have 2 jobs. I have a husband that I married two times. (I kinda wonder if, following that, we’ll end up being divorced twice!)

You know, the number 2 is really prominent right now. And it’s a number that is growing on me. I still like the number 3, but I am starting to like the number 2, as well.

I hope the number 2 will continue to work for me. I once failed when I ran a race so I am going to run a race again and I hope this time, this second time, I will succeed. I have to rewrite a book that was submitted to my publisher, and I hope this second time I submit it, this one will work better. 

This numbers thing may not be so much of a big deal to most people, but for me, it’s something that has actually played quite a role in my life. I have always been interested in numbers and have paid attention to the patterns. I don’t like the thought of my life, my future, my habits being at the mercy of some kind of bizarre number pattern, but I have definitely noticed how the numbers have affected me and the things that happen in my life in a very big way. 


Update: OMG! This blog post was posted on 3/29 and at 9:23. 9:23 backwards is 3:29! See!!

Lucky number 13?

Today is the 13th day of February. When I pointed out to my daughter that today was 2-13-13, she said that it was appropriate to start with the number “2,” because there were TWO thirteens in today's date!

Now, for some, the number “13’ is unlucky. I don’t really subscribe to that belief and always shrugged it off when people mentioned that it was Friday the 13th. Well, maybe for some people, 13 IS unlucky, but it hasn’t really been all that unlucky for me.

Especially after today, because three awesome things happened for me today.

The first thing that happened is that I wrote and submitted an article this morning. Big deal, you might be thinking. But it IS a big deal for me. It has been so long since I have written an article, let alone submit it somewhere! I have been sooo busy working on books and the PR gig. It was nice to write an article again. Even nicer to send it off to a market!

The second good thing that happened today is that I signed and sent off the contract for a new poetry book. Yay! I talked about this book on my writing blog so no need to get into details about it here. But now it has OFFICIALLY been accepted.

The third awesome thing that happened today is that I am now a ghostwriter for books. Woo-hoo! Thus far, I have ghostwritten blog posts and articles, and now I’m going to ghostwrite books! Today I learned it’s going to happen after all and I have my very first client. Sooo happy about this! It has been my dream to ghostwrite books!

As for my daughter, she had a so-so day. She lost the art contest her drawing had been entered in and she was pretty bummed about that. I told her that no matter what happened, I still thought she was a winner! 

And she had three awesome things happen for her today, as well.  She made a short film with her little brother, she landed an opportunity to be interviewed about her book, AND ... she got a contract for her next book BEFORE the publisher even saw it! I was blown away when that happened. I told her that in all my years writing books, I have NEVER seen that happen. She is THAT good! Yay, Jen!

So she had some good things happen for her today.

So, with us, do we think a 13th day is bad luck? Hmm, nah, not really. Today actually wasn’t such a bad day after all, even despite getting hit with the number 13 two times on this day!

Happy 2012!

A new year is finally here. Yay! And while some good things happened in 2011, there were some sucky things, too. I hope there will be a lot MORE good things in 2012 and not so many sucky things.

I have to pause, though, and think about one thing: Now that it’s 2012, people have just one more year to go all number-crazy. I read about some people who went ALL OUT on 11-11-11. And now we’ll have 12-12-12 this year. We’ve seen people go a bit number-crazy for the past 11 years. In fact, one of my sisters had a baby due on 6-6-6, but she asked her doctor to induce labor so that she could have her baby before 6-6-6. And speaking of that particular date, there is a business here in Eugene that has “666” in its address. That address is on a big sign in front of the building. On June 6, 2006, somebody spray-painted “HELL HERE” underneath the “666” on that sign.

The interesting thing about this being 2012 is that, not too long ago, I read about how some people were suggesting a change to our Gregorian calendar, to add another 13th month. That way, we’ll also get to have 13-13-13 when it’s 2013!

Am I the only one who thinks this numbers craze has gone on long enough?? Good riddance! Please, please don’t add a 13th month just for the sake of having a 13-13-13 next year. That’s just crazy. (And think of all the people who are scared to death of the number 13!) What’s next, adding a 14th month for 2014? And a 15th month for 2015? How far will this insanity go?

Not only did that idea strike me as odd, but think about all of the changes that will have to be made if we did indeed have a 13th month. All the new calendars that would have to be created. Plus all the old 12-month calendars people will then have to get rid of – and while we’d all like to think they’ll be recycled, they could very well end up in the trash. That’s more trash to worry about right there!

Nope, I think we should stick with 12 months. And here we are, at 2012. The very last year of the new millennium we’ll all get to go number-crazy.

But this year, we’ll also see some folks go a little bit “end of the world” crazy, too. After all, there is that popular doomsday date of 12-21-12. The Mayans beat Harold Camp to the punch long ago in scaring up a lot of people to think this year will be the very last for all mankind. And planet Earth.

Should be interesting stuff to watch, and poke fun at.

Happy New Year.

The number 11

Happy New Year! So here we are, in 2011. I can't help but be a little suspicious about that number "11." Why? Because I'm one of those people who is haunted by numbers. Seriously. You know how there are people who see one particular number everywhere they go? Yep, that's me. I'm one of them. Sometimes it'd get as bad as me always ending up with THAT particular amount of money in my pocket!

And for the longest time, I was haunted by the number "11." I kid you not. It's not so much that I used to live on West 11th. But I'd see that number EVERYWHERE. Of course, I started to think there must be a reason why I saw That. Particular. Number...EVERYWHERE! Then OTHER numbers started to haunt me, too. So maybe it's just the whole "numbers haunting a person" thing, and not so much some reason for the number itself.

Still, I had to think, there must be a reason. Why the number 11? And, after I moved, it was the number 13! So I started asking...why the number 13?

Could it have anything to do with those years coming up? 2011? 2013?

Only time will tell.

Anyway, in honor of 2011, I will now list 11 of my favorite blog posts from last year....

Sunday, January 03, 2010
Save the Earth! And maybe the sun, too


Thursday, January 28, 2010
Special moments


Sunday, February 07, 2010
Meeting W.S. Merwin


Friday, February 12, 2010
Remembering Toby


Friday, May 21, 2010
Pictures from first baseball practice


Sunday, June 27, 2010
The second time around


Sunday, September 05, 2010
And when he was bad


Sunday, September 19, 2010
Living life ugly in a beautiful world


Thursday, November 04, 2010
YOU again!


Saturday, November 20, 2010
Counting on your fingers


Sunday, December 05, 2010
Weekend warrior