The Birthday Countdown

If there is one thing I regret, it's that I didn't start my unique countdown from March 1.

I could've had 25 pieces of interesting trivia, but the idea came to me late in the game. In any case, I've been updating my Facebook profile with a daily bit of trivia about numbers as a way of counting down the days to my 27th birthday. Some are cool, some are witty, some I just really made fun of. And on the days when I couldn't find any interesting bits to share, I shared my disappointment and counted down nonetheless.

Here, a compilation of my status updates since March 5:

20
Sabi sa Wikipedia, "Twenty is the third composite number comprising the product of a squared prime and a prime." Wala akong naintindihan dun. Basta ang alam ko, 20 days na lang, tatanda na ako ulit!

19
Tried to look for interesting trivia about the number 19, but couldn't find any. Oh well! 19 days to go!

18
Wikipedia's trivia about the number 18: "The Hebrew word for "alive" is חי (chai), which has a numerical value of 18. Consequently, the custom has arisen in Jewish circles to give donations and monetary gifts in multiples of 18 as an expression of blessing for long life." 18 days to go! :)

17
Did you know that the number 17 is considered unlucky in Italy? When you rearrange the Roman numerals XVII into VIXI, it means "My life is over" in Italian. At least, sabi ng Wikipedia. :O 17 days to go!

16
did not find interesting trivia about the Number 16, but is counting down anyway. 16 days to go!

15
What do the words "uncopyrightable", "dermatoglyphics", "misconjugatedly", and "hydropneumatics" have in common? They are the longest words in the dictionary that don't repeat a single letter, and they have 15 letters each! 15 days to go! :)

14
There are 14 lines in a sonnet, and 14 days to go before my birthday! :)

13
The fear of the number 13 is called triskaidekaphobia. 13 days to go! :)

12
There are 12 signs in the zodiac, 12 people in a jury, 12 pairs of ribs in the human body, and 12 days to go before my birthday! :D

11
is disappointed that there aren't any interesting facts about the number 11 that don't involve math. Oh well, 11 days to go! :)

10
Trivia from Wikipedia: "There are ten cents in a U.S. or Canadian dime, itself one tenth of a dollar. The word was shortened from decime." 10 days to go! :)

9
Trivia: If you multiply 9 by any number and add the digits of the answer until it is just one digit, that final digit will always be 9. Try it! :) 9 days to go!

8
Wikipedia says that in Chinese, "The word for 'eight' sounds similar to the word which means 'prosper' or 'wealth'." I hope that's a good sign for Year 27! :) 8 days to go!

7
Found on blogniinday.com: "Why is the number 7 God’s perfect number? There are 7 days a week, 7 wonders of the world. In the Bible, you must forgive a person 70 X 7 times. Even the word FORGIVE has 7 letters, and so do the words PROMISE and MYSTERY. Maybe God designed it… And now, use Olay Total Effects to fight the 7 signs of skin aging!” -nag-apply si Inday bilang endorser ng Olay Total Effects :)) One week to go!

6
Found on a random blog: "In numerology, 6 is the number of cooperation and the number of love and romance." I'm lucky to be loved! ♥ 6 days to go!

5
did not know that the four basic elements (water, air, fire, and earth) need a fifth element to complete them all. Some say the fifth element is spirit, some say quintessence, but I say... it's CAPTAIN PLANET!!! :D 5 days to go! :)

4
In the game Tetris, each shape is made up of four blocks each. The game was named after "tetra", the Greek word for four. Also, in the English language, four is the only number with the same number of letters as its value. :) 4 days to go! :)

3
I never noticed that the letters A F H K N Y Z are all made up of three lines. Now I know! :) 3 days to go! :)

2
There are actually two places on Earth called "Hell": one is a village in Norway and the other is a group of black limestone formations in the Grand Cayman islands. How cool is that?! :) 2 days to go! :)

I'm down to my last two posts, and I must say that this has made counting down to my birthday so much more interesting than in previous years! Many have told me that 27 is a good age, and this countdown has made me look forward to turning older and entering a good year.

I'll put my last two posts when I blog on my birthday. :)