24

Today (Nov. 10th) is my little sister's 24th birthday! For many years, on our birthdays, our dad has written a letter telling us the story of our age in biblical terms. He goes through the Bible and finds where our number is mentioned, and then "interprets" (quite loosely, I may add) what our age means. For example, when I was 8, I might have been told that I would be given power and responsibility in the coming year--after all, Josiah became KING when he turned 8! I'll leave the concordance-sifting to the professional, but I felt inspired to add my 24 cents on the matter. Here's what I came up with!

Wed, November 10

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Dearest Maria, As Dad has dibs on the Bible-themed numerology, please allow me to expound on some secular references to your new age. I have included links to enhance your learning experience. "24" is a popular (apparently) television drama. I don't know what it's about and have never seen it, but have heard that many people love it. And it fits because, well, you know you have a relationship with the dramatic arts! Plus, a certain Freddie Prinze, Jr. is one of the stars of the show... hubba hubba! He was all the rage when I was a teen! 24 is the atomic number of the element Chromium, which is a steely-gray, lustrous hard metal that takes a high polish and has a high melting point. It is odorless, tasteless and malleable. Most chromium deposits are found in southern Africa and Kazakhstan. File that under "pretty, shiny things!" 24 major and minor keys in Western tonal music! Therefore, for collections of pieces written in each key, it is the number of pieces in the collection, such as Chopin's 24 Preludes! Enjoy part of them now... and I chose this particular player because of his fabulous hair (something you have in common, haha!) 24 is the number you'd see on the following sports stars' uniforms: Willie Mays (baseball), Kobe Bryant (basketball), and the uh, car number of Jeff Gordon (Nascar). Not that you're into sports, but you perhaps have an affinity for the Nascar crowd? They listen to country, right?? 24 is the number of letters in the Greek alphabet. Here are two adorable kids reciting the alphabet for you! A little girl (2 years old) and then a boy (2 1/5 years old). 24 in mathematics is complex and ahem, fascinating. It's the factorial of 4 and the first number of the form 23q, where q is an odd prime. It's the smallest number with exactly 8 divisors. 24 is a highly totient number, having ten solutions to the equation φ(x) = 24. 24 is also a Harshad number and a semi-meandric number. Together with the number one, 24 is one of the few numbers n for which the sum of μ(d)d2 over the divisors d of n is equal to itself. And now I am about to either throw up, or make an urgent call to see a psychiatrist to help me overcome several years of math-class torture. So if you want to learn more about 24's mathematical glory, please do your own research. Twentyfour Wines is a vineyard in Napa Valley, California. Not only do they boast some excellent-sounding cabernet, they also donate $10 of every bottle purchased to a children's hospital (so I'm guessing the wine is... pricey!) Additionally, they have joined the fight against breast cancer by producing 200 pink-label bottles to be sold at $200 apiece with 100% of the profits to be donated to a research hospital! Now that's a hangover with a heart! "24" is a song by Switchfoot. The lyrics point to feelings of desperation and also, to hope, and a surrender to Spirit. 24 is, of course, the number of hours in a day...while we often wish we could have more than that (yet other days seem way too long), it is the perfect amount of time for one rotation of the Earth (see this peaceful and enlightening movie). Remember that only so much can fit inside one day. A day can represent a life cycle, too--we wake up fresh every morning, like babies--with things to learn, opportunities for growth and a world to discover. We finish our business toward the end of the day, pause for reflection, and then return to the darkness. Be grateful for every moment. So there you have it--a brief look at the relevance of the number 24 in the world around us! I hope you learned more about your number for the year. (I also hope you were taking notes--the quiz is on Friday. I'm giving you a few extra days to come down from a cake-sugar high) Scholastically, Elly