1 + 3 = 4
4 + 5 = 9
9 + 7 = 16
16 + 9 = 25
Adding odd numbers yields perfect squares.
It's one of my favorite surprising math facts, partly because I noticed it myself while doodling in the margins of my middle school math notebook. These patterns fascinate me.
Today is my 36th birthday---a perfect square. It's been 11 years since the last one, and it'll be another 13 years until the next.
Math facts are my favorite way to celebrate birthdays, because both have arbitrary significance. Birthdays, odd numbers, and perfect squares are all human concepts. They don't matter, they simply exist.
Celebrating a birthday seems forced anyhow; being born wasn't my accomplishment. Maybe staying alive is the real feat. Isn't every day significant in that way?
For whatever reason, I'm always excited by number theory. So it gives me a little extra joy to muse on the pretend significance of the number.
I'm a perfect square. Perhaps in the 50's slang sense of an old-fashioned person? Maybe I'm just in good shape. Or it could be a commentary on the balance of factors in my life.
It also happens to be the first perfect square that is the product of two other perfect squares (9 x 4). That feels powerful, somehow.
I promise I won't let it go to my head.
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