Triskaidekaphilia.: seanan

Triskaidekaphilia.

As a kid, I was totally fascinated by numbers. Especially odd numbers (a fascination that would later translate into an obsession with primes, but that's another story, and one that doesn't really factor today -- except to note that 'February 13,' or '2/13' is a pair of primes -- the next prime-numbered year isn't until 2011). And, as I began my lifelong obsession with horror movies, especially the number thirteen.

It's an interesting fact that most people will give their lucky number as two, three, or seven, all of which are primes (and all of which are odd). Nine is also a common lucky number, and while it isn't prime, it's the result of squaring a prime. And yes, I actually sit around thinking about this stuff, which is why I have several books on my 'get around to writing this someday' list that feature mathematicians to one degree or another. Math is hard, but it makes me happy. Anyway, after examining the concept of the lucky number, and the numbers of those around me, I settled on my own lucky number: thirteen. As my horror movie education continued, I decided that Friday the thirteenth was obviously the luckiest day of all for me, because everybody else was creating a good luck void as they sucked up the world's supply of bad luck.

I never claimed that my logic made sense.

I love Friday the thirteenth. I love the doom-crows flocking around crying that we're all going to walk under ladders, break our mothers' backs by stepping on cracks, and have our paths crossed by spontaneously-generated black cats. (I don't love that people with black cats need to keep them indoors or risk losing them -- much like on Halloween -- but that's another issue.) I love the Halloween air that falls over the day, no matter when it comes along. I love that I get Halloween and then Valentine's Day this year, bam-bam, like a double-scoop of awesome.

I love Friday the 13th: The Series, and Friday the 13th the film series, and Thirteen by Vixy and Tony, and writing rondeaus, and Scott Westerfield's Midnighters trilogy. I love Baker's Dozens, and bouquets with thirteen flowers, and watching hotels pretend that they don't have thirteen floors, and everything else about the number thirteen.

What's your position?

scholarinexile

February 13 2009, 20:48:20 UTC 8 years ago

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Edit: I've decided that you bring good Friday the 13th luck. Your CD arrived today, which is good luck in and of itself, as well as a refund check from my car insurance company (apparently it's a "safe driving bonus"), my parents are coming for dinner (unexpected and good), and my wife has just discovered in the course of her genealogical research that we're related to Linus Pauling. Add that to the premiere of Dollhouse tonight, and it's working out to be the best Friday the 13th in awhile. Thanks!

seanan_mcguire

February 14 2009, 02:04:47 UTC 8 years ago

Oh, awesome! You're super-welcome.

February 14 2009, 06:14:24 UTC 8 years ago

Further genealogy update: I've now traced my ancestors, through just one of several branches of the rather extensive Davis family tree, that my ancestors have deep and well-documented roots in English nobility dating back to at least the 1200s, and I've not even gone as far back as the online records go. I'm also apparently Isaac Newton's second cousin. My head is sort of reeling.

February 15 2009, 15:42:11 UTC 8 years ago

...wow. Okay, you win this week's surreal Olympics.

0k1tten

February 13 2009, 21:04:43 UTC 8 years ago

It fascinates me that so many people have positive and/or negative connotations with numbers. Personally, I like 2 and 3 and (even) multiples thereof (4, 6, 24...) but I've always suspected that had to do with a fondness for my birthdate: 6/4/68.

There are people who will go far out of their way to avoid certain numbers (13 being only perhaps the most extreme Western example) that they have uneasy feelings about, and I find that very intriguing.

February 14 2009, 02:05:01 UTC 8 years ago

People are definitely interesting. Also crazy.

redrob

February 13 2009, 21:44:11 UTC 8 years ago

their lucky number as two, three, or seven, all of which are primes (and all of which are odd)

Two is the only prime number that is even, which makes it very odd indeed.

There are 3 Friday the 13th's this year. Feb. March, and November.

Math geek R me.

Alex

February 14 2009, 02:05:30 UTC 8 years ago

I approve your math geekness.

Also, Nyssa killed a really big bug in the kitchen. Like, PALM-SIZED. It was epic.

miintikwa

February 13 2009, 22:44:29 UTC 8 years ago

I was born on the thirteenth, so it is very lucky for me, indeed.

February 14 2009, 02:05:39 UTC 8 years ago

Hooray!

dornbeast

February 13 2009, 23:56:31 UTC 8 years ago

I think that it's bad luck to be excessively superstitious.

That said, I like 13, and Friday the 13th. I'm not so fond of the films or the series, but there's something fun about occasionally looking at the superstitions people hold and metaphorically spitting at them.

February 14 2009, 02:05:55 UTC 8 years ago

I can agree with that.

Deleted comment

February 14 2009, 02:06:04 UTC 8 years ago

High-five!

threeparts

February 14 2009, 01:58:46 UTC 8 years ago

23 is a good number for me, one I feel "comfortable" with. Seven, eight and nine are numbers that make me uneasy. I don't know why, but I have a tendency to anthropomorphise numbers and letters (C is a nagging aunt, Ls like to have a rollicking good time) and it could be related to that.

I'm curious as to why you think people believe prime numbers are lucky.

February 14 2009, 02:07:00 UTC 8 years ago

I don't think most people consciously think 'primes are lucky,' but I've found that if I ask five people for their lucky numbers, four of them will choose a prime. No idea why this is. (And it wouldn't work here, because everyone's aware of the bias, and will thus feed or avoid it depending on impulse.)

supersniffles

February 14 2009, 02:38:28 UTC 8 years ago

I enjoy Friday the 13th.

besspeacetime sucks up the good luck that flows our way.
My Valentine's Day plan for this year is to go see Friday the 13th (Dean!! Squee!) with my new horror-movie buddy.

February 15 2009, 15:43:27 UTC 8 years ago

I'm gonna see that tomorrow, and I'm gonna wear my 'Camp Crystal Lake Councilor' shirt.

jacylrin

February 17 2009, 18:46:15 UTC 8 years ago

I tend to like Friday the 13ths just because so many people are being stupid about them. I hardly thought about it Friday - we were heading to a con (FarPoint, near Baltimore), so I was a bit busy :-)

February 22 2009, 05:09:18 UTC 8 years ago

That makes a lot of sense.

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