One More Excuse for Eating a Pie!

From May 5, 2007 edition of Austin American Statesman.

Get ready for 2-3-4-5-6-7 early Sunday morning

On Sunday, for a second, time will get a little freaky. At 02:03:04 a.m. on 05/06/07, clock and calendar will align in a perfect pattern: 2-3-4-5-6-7. May be 2-3-4-5-6-7 doesn't have the glitz of June 6, 2006, (6-6-6) or even the upcoming July 7, 2007 (7-7-7). But how often does time get so interesting?

Quite often, actually. Take it from University of Texas math professor Lorenzo Sadun, who celebrated the mathematical concept pi — 3.14159 — with pumpkin pie on March 14 at 1:59 p.m.

"You find these fun little patterns all through the calendar, and they're fun to play with," Sadun said. "None of this has any deep significance."

Au contraire! All numbers mean something, Hutto numerologist Diane Parma says.

Add up 2-3-4-5-6-7 and you get 27. And 2 plus 7 is 9. And nine signifies humanity's global need for healing and understanding, Parma said.

"It means that we as a whole need to be more compassionate with each other," she said.

So, is it time to buy a lottery ticket? Or should we all hide under our beds and keep our trash cans inside?

"I would take your trash out," Sadun said. "Especially if it's smelly."