seth: by the numbers

Number of stars gazed, with the naked eye: 1,118, with the mind’s eye: 10^¹⁰.

Number of books read, by Card: 23, Pratchett: 20, Palahniuk: 11, Gaiman: 8, Rowling: 7, Bryson: 5, Salinger: 1.

Number of books written: 0.

Number of Theatre Ink sweatshirts: 8, t-shirts:, 3.

Number of years of Hebrew School attended: 7.  Number of times kicked out: 1.

Number of Bar Mitzvahs, attended: 15, had: 0.

Number of birds watched, bald eagles: 18, red-tailed hawks: 148, sharp-shinned hawks: 32, peregrine falcons: 10, broad-winged hawks: 1,354.

Number of weeks spent in Australia: 6, Caribbean: 2, Continental United States: 891.396.

Number of days lost to the International Date Line: 2.

Number of ambitions, realized: 8, squashed: 4,257.  Pounds of chocolate, eaten: 10, fully appreciated: 6.

Number of cell phones owned: 5.  Number of cell phones it was truly practical to own at that point in my life: 2.

Number of lilacs appreciated, up close: 84, from afar: 3,760.  Kilometers of tissues used: 3.

Number of emails, in inbox: 854, sent: 2,876, archived: 8,333.

Number of coincidences that were too coincidental: 911.

Number of socks lost: 153.

Number of times perplexed as to where my socks went: 153.

Number of haircuts: 68.  Number of hairs cut: 6,500,500.

Number of pizzas ordered: 40, denied because I was not of age: 1.

Number of college essays written about this experience: 1.

Number of Star Trek references in that essay, subtle: 2, explicit: 1, shameless: 3.

Number of times Star Trek 2009 watched: 8, appreciated: 8, quoted: 693.

Number of close encounters, with death: 13, with love: 1, with raw terror: 6, of the Third Kind: 9.

Number of plays, seen: 46, enjoyed: 38, directed: 3.

Number of times Kant read: 2, reread: 4, understood: 0, quoted: 24.

Number of laughs, forced: 4,582, genuine: 10^¹⁰.