my birthday
is coming up in about 17 days, on November 6th. I'm going to be 34. But I think the Spanish (and, as it turns out, Arabic) way of saying "I will *have* 34 years" is a lot more descriptive.
Thirty Four is kewl because it's the smallest number that has the property that it and both of it's neighbors have the same number of divisors.
What the hell does that mean? Well. 1*2*17=34. and 1*3*11=33. and 1*5*7=35.
That is, they all have 3 prime divisors.
Did you notice the misused apostrophe earlier in this post?
Last year for my birthday I wrote 17 of the best and/or hardest things in my story (you figure out which is which) (not necessarily in any particular order!) (and also not necessarily *not* in any particular order). (Maybe I'll do another 16 for my half birthday):
I never did the half birthday thing. So now I'm asking what you think. Shall I write another 17 best and hardest things for my 34th birthday? Or shall I write something else? Suggestions?
Today I decided that for my birthday I want a new phone. I wish I could get an I-phone, but ... it's not compatible with Verizon's network. Alas. And besides the fact that it would cost me a ton of money to get out of my contract, I rather like Verizon's network. I find I often have coverage when other people I'm with don't.
So instead, for my birthday I want the LG Dare. It looks pretty kewl. =) And they are going for about $300 on ebay.
I feel vaguely guilty for wanting one. I'm thinking--3 billion people on the planet live on $2/day or less. So I'm wanting a phone that's worth as much as half a year's wages to them? Is that right? Plus, there's also this: 426,000 cell phones are retired in the U.S. every single day. Where do they go? I mean--how many into landfills? Check out Chris Jordan's artwork with regards to 426,000 cell phones. This is part of his running the numbers exhibition. The actual piece is 60 by 100 inches. God, I'd love to see it sometime. It's currently on exhibit in Texas. Ah well.
426,000 cell phones, the number retired in the U.S. every day:
Partial Zoom
Detail at actual size
5 comments:
I'm jonesing for a Samsung Omnia (http://omnia.samsungmobile.com/), which could be thee LG Dare's evil twin. Hmmmm? Not feelin' guilty about it (though I can't exactly afford it soon either). Sorry, the planet can sustain a lot of cell phones (and frankly their ubiquity has brought communications to parts of the world that have never had phones before and couldn't afford the land-line luxury we've lived since our parents were babies) it just can't sustain the Walton family and their ilk, can't afford the mega-zillionnaires who're moving into the Chicago Spire, soon to be the America's tallest building but a luxury condo, a giant middle finger of conspicuous consumption. Dude, there are and remain real issues, don't sweat the cell phone.
its, not it's. And French says "I'll have 34 years." too.
buy the cell phone. you've had a rough year. at least you have a conscious about the phone - you get what it means - the vast majority of americans don't get what it means as a citizen of the world or a caretaker of the great mother. do something ridiculously selfish. heck, you may even inspire me to go and buy that darn nano i've been wanting.
re: i meant to say you have a conscience about it, or i could have said you have a conscious conscience about it. now you get what i mean.
yeah - go buy your phone. why? because right after i posted my comment i went to check our local mac store - to see if they had the pink (yes, pink, I LOVE PINK) ipod nano's in yet. well, i found that instead they had a sale on the 16GB touch, 239 rather than 299 (or, recently, 399). :P so, i bought one. so, go buy yourself a new toy, like i said - you've had a craptastic year, treat yourself.
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