Geek alert! We celebrated Square Root Day this spring, and now the mathematical hi-jinks continue. Today, 5/7/09, is Odd Day, one of only six times this century that the date is made up of three consecutive odd numbers. Here is The Ode to Odd, from oddday.net:
- As Odd as it is, the day will be fine,
- You see, it’s the numbers 5,7, and 9.
- Three odds in a row to tell you the date,
- We’ve only three more, then a 90-year wait.
Ron Gordon, a math teacher from Redwood City, California, knows how to make numbers more fun for kids and adults. Here is some more fodder from his website (sorry, I couldn’t resist):
“Things to do on Odd Day: It’s a great day to do your odds ‘n ends, give a friend a high-five, root for the odds-on-favorite, read the Wizard of Odds, watch the Odd Couple, say aaaahd in the doctor’s office, look for sea odders, find that missing odd sock, and beat the odds.”
“These days are like calendar comets—you wait and wait and wait for them, then they brighten up your day—and poof—they’re gone!”
I celebrate people who celebrate things like Odd Day. It is astounding and discouraging how early in life kids become convinced that math is boring and hard. Can you imagine a more important time in history for kids to believe that math is cool? This teacher enthusiastically promotes these numerical holidays, and is even offering a contest (it pays $579). Indirectly, along the way, he also teaches one of my favorite mottoes:
Geek is the New Cool !
jane, candid 
Jane,
Occasionally I get the opportunity to peruse your blog and I always have a chuckle, about most everything you write. The odd day made me remember something that recently happened that I thought I would share with you. NHHS celebrated Pi day (3/14) recently. They actually took an afternoon and had an entire pep assembly….during which they had a pie eating contest. My son Cade took first place as his Mother, it was one of my finest moments. It is great when school (even high school) has fun with math. Thought you would enjoy! Looking forward to seeing you this summer at reunion.
Kathy, I am now so proud of our alma mater’s devotion to math! And your son taking first place has put a big smile on my face. Thanks for sharing the story!!
Ack! I missed this post! I hate it when that happens! I love stuff like this too. And though I find math-with-numbers a tricky adventure, I do think it’s cool. Yay you for promoting both obscure holidays and mathematics! You rock!
Thanks to you we did not miss the day. whew. I’ll alert my household geeks. Square root days are too infrequent.
Now that you mention it, there’s lots of cool dates if you just look for them! And I’m always looking for a new holiday to give me an excuse to celebrate!
Let’s see, I did take note a couple of months ago of Square Root Day – 3/3/09. And I can’t wait for 4/4/16.
How about my husband’s 40th birthday, which will be on 10/10/10!
And I hope to live long enough for 2/4/68. As in the old high school cheer:
Two, four, six, eight!
Who do we appreciate?
Keep up the good work thinking up ODD topics to entertain us all!