i shit a piece of π

This morning over breakfast, I said to my wife, “Happy π day!”
“Happy pie day? What the hell are you talking about?”
“No, not ‘pie’,” I said. “‘π’.”
“Not ‘pie,’ but ‘pie.'” She was clearly not amused. “Isn’t it a little early to be drinking?”
“Anne, look at the date on the calendar.”
“Yes it’s march 14th, and you’re going to watch WrestleMania dos equis* with your brother.” She frowned. “Are you trying to tell me that you’re taking a pie to Jeremy’s house? Because if you expect me to make you a pie . . .”
“No, I don’t expect you to make me a pie.” I said, well into that area where you’ve explained the joke so much, it’s never going to be funny.
“Today is March fourteenth. That makes it 3.14 on the calendar. 3.14 is also known as π.”
She blinked a few times.
“Oh. It’s π day.”
“Yes!” I said. “And at 1:59 pm, it will be even more &#960 day. Isn’t that cool!?”
She took a long, thoughtful drink from her coffee mug, carefully set it down and said, “You are such a nerd.”

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126 thoughts on “i shit a piece of π”

  1. *It’s actually Wrestlemania XX, as in Wrestlemania Twenty, but we’ve been cracking ourselves up by calling it Wrestlemania dos equis all week.

  4. Wow.
    I have never heard of anyone try to celebrate pi day. Have you rented Aranofsky’s Pi for the evening? That would make sense.
    Truly, the Nerd is strong with you.

  7. Its my Birthday today. Happy birthday to me. I was born on pie day, bu id rather have cake and hold off on the candles, i dont want a fire hazard. So everybody have a good pie day, while i enjoy my B-day.

  9. I would have to agree with your wife there, Wil… Who actually thinks about things like ‘pi’ day– that is just odd…

  13. but it’s not really ‘pi’ day, 3/14 (and 3/14 1:59p) really are approximations of ‘pi’ to a given amount of precision, not the true value ‘pi’.
    So, happy approximate ‘pi’ day.
    I knew that college math would come in handy someday, but I never thought it would be for this.

  14. My high school pre-calc teacher celebrated his children’s pi birthdays. He would have a cake and everything. One of his poor kids had to be up at like 2am so they could celebrate him turning 3.141592… years old.
    He even showed us the home movie.

  15. I never knew of this, and I’m a math teacher! I wish today was a school day! On a schoolday I have a freshman class at 1:59 and I could have really gone all nerd on them, they love busting me about that!!!

  17. I don’t get it. “n” is the 14th letter in the alphabet. Is that what you mean? What about “m” or even “o”, they’re also good letters. I think it unfair that you just pick out one letter and ignore all the rest of the letters in the alphabet. That’s 23 other letters that don’t have a day. What’s going to happen to them? Don’t you have a sense of compassion? What would we do without all those other letters?
    Aren’t those guys real big on Wrestlemania? Bulging muscles, like the Hulk. Can you imagine getting on a bus and sitting next to one of those guys? You wouldn’t have as much room in your seat, sort of squeezed in between the bus window and the Hulk next too you – as you try to write on your laptop. And then the Wrestlemania guy would start looking over your shoulder to see what you’re writing – and make some comment, like, dude that’s an “awkward sentence” – get rid of it. Or use the ACTIVE VOICE. Then of course you would be friendly about it and agree.
    Wil, you might just be better off taking up Pro Wrestling. Start going to the gym. That’s my advice! And all these letter days – “n” day, “b” day “D” day – where is it going to get you?

  19. far and away the nerdiest thing you’ve ‘bragged’ about on your log.
    The extensive D & D talk was pushing the limit, but….
    wow.

  21. Ah, I get it! I had to struggle through Calculus in college, and then never found a use for it after I left college. It’s good to see that Wil is making some use of it.

  25. Ha ha My friends and I have been celebrating pi day for years! The awesome thing is that now we’re in college and there are more nerds to celebrate with us! Nerds abound in my dorm. Every hall is named after a location or character from Lord of the Rings.

  28. As a 6th grade math teacher, we take pi day very seriously in my class. There are some great websites about pi day and ways to celebrate. My personal favorite is getting some of my 6th graders to sing pi day songs.
    Happy Pi Day to you
    Happy Pi Day to you
    Happy Pi Day dear Wil (and all WWDN)
    Happy Pi Day to you!

  29. Do you also celebrate Avogandro’s Day (Oct. 23 at 6:02)? I used to have a chemistry teacher who thought it was a Big Deal.
    Happy Pi Day to all, and to all a good night…

  30. When I was in fourth grade math class (a disconcertingly long time ago), we were learned about pi for the first time, and I pointed out, “Hey, today is pi!” ..It was March 14, and my teacher looked at me like I was some sort of mutant, but one without cool superpowers, just an extra set of eyebrows or something.
    Anyway, ever since then I’ve celebrated Pi Day. I didn’t know anybody else even noticed things like that.

  31. Damn.
    Anne must be wondering by now if your warranty is still good.
    Dude, Wil… Wesley has really screwed you up. I mean…
    Damn.

  33. Oh…my…God. You truly are the King of Geeks. I must run that by my math-geek hubby; unfortunately, his sense of humor isn’t as finely tuned as yours.
    Hey Anne! Next year have a pie made and ready, when he wishes you a Happy Pi Day, throw the pie in his face.
    Now THAT would be funny!

  37. See, I’ve had an aversion to 314 for so many years. I’ll just randomly look at a clock, and it’ll say 3:14. Or I see it used in movies when people wake up in the middle of the night and look at their clocks. 3:14 into an mp3. 314 hitpoints in a game. 3 1/4 miles to the next freeway exit. Turn to page 314 in your book. Pi. It happens so much, and so randomly, it’s scary. Not that I expect anyone to believe me. But it makes me fear March 14th. Bad things always happen. I just got done mopping my kitchen floor because I dropped a jar of apple juice and it spilled everywhere. Bad things, I tell you.
    Oh, and Nick: Sucks to be Australian. There is no 31/4. April only has 30 days in it. 😉

  38. Nerd!
    I give you a virtual weggie now!
    All through High School I quietly celebrated 12:34:56 PM on my digital watch.
    I’m eagerly awaiting 04/04/04 next month. If I can see the time at 04/04/04 04:04:04, I’ll be a disgustingly smug little fellow.
    I give myself a virtual wedgie now.

  40. It was almost exactly pi day at 1:59.26535 8979323846 2643383279 5028841971 6939937510 5820974944 5923078164 0628620899 8628034825 3421170679 8214808651 3282306647 0938446095 5058223172 5359408128 4811174502 8410270193 8521105559 6446229489 5493038196 4428810975 6659334461 2847564823 3786783165 2712019091 4564856692 3460348610 4543266482 1339360726 0249141273 7245870066 0631558817 4881520920 9628292540 9171536436 7892590360 0113305305 4882046652 1384146951 9415116094 3305727036 5759591953 0921861173 8193261179 3105118548 0744623799 6274956735 1885752724 8912279381 8301194912 9833673362 4406566430 8602139494 6395224737 1907021798 6094370277 0539217176 2931767523 8467481846 7669405132 0005681271 4526356082 7785771342 7577896091 7363717872 1468440901 2249534301 4654958537 1050792279 6892589235 4201995611 2129021960 8640344181 5981362977 4771309960 5187072113 4999999837 2978049951 0597317328 1609631859 5024459455 3469083026 4252230825 3344685035 2619311881 7101000313 7838752886 5875332083 8142061717 7669147303 5982534904 2875546873 1159562863 8823537875 9375195778 1857780532 1712268066 1300192787 6611195909 2164201989 3809525720 1065485863 2788659361 5338182796 8230301952 0353018529 6899577362 2599413891 2497217752 8347913151 5574857242 4541506959 5082953311 6861727855 8890750983 8175463746 4939319255 0604009277 0167113900 9848824012 8583616035 6370766010 4710181942 9555961989 4676783744 9448255379 7747268471 0404753464 6208046684 2590694912 9331367702 8989152104 7521620569 6602405803 8150193511 2533824300 3558764024 7496473263 9141992726 0426992279 6782354781 6360093417 2164121992 4586315030…? I missed e day altogether.

  42. And i thought I was the only one!
    Well atleast I know i’m the only one to celebrate ‘e’ day on the 7th Feb at 6:28pm.
    I’ll let the super-uber-nerds figure that one out.

  44. hey wil,
    you are SUCH a nerd! but its one of the reasons we all love you!!!
    had never thought about pi day before, but now, i think i will have to celebrate it! And lael, i think i’ll be right there with you at 04/04/04 04:04:04!! how cool is that gonna be!!!???
    take care
    rach

  45. Wil, what the hell was the true intention of this post? How in all sanity is this relevant? You have really got way too much time on your hands to know something as insignificant as “N” day.
    Man, I hope you get that pilot you auditioned for because if Anne has to put up with more of these inane topics of discussion she will surely lose it.

  50. I didn’t notice the subject until after I’d read the post (LJ feed), and it totally cracked me up. I love that skit! 🙂

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