Schadenfreude

I like birthdays.

Someone I love very drearily celebrated his 30th birthday just two days ago! Having passed that milestone myself a few years back, I take great pleasure in his misfortune. Ha ha ha.

Just imagine being THIS guy:

Tagline: It'll be a killer party!

The best thing about birthdays isn't the eating, the drinking, nor is it even being scary (or merry if you prefer that), it's the trivial coincidences. You know, like who else was born (or died) on the same day. Now that's fun!

My lovely friend shares his day of birth, August 6th, with numerous (in)famous folks: Alfred Lord Tennyson (& he died the day before MY birthday!), Edith Roosevelt, Dutch Shultz (American gangster & bootlegger), Andy Warhol, Vinnie Vincent, Elliott Smith, Geri (Ginger Spice) Halliwell, JonBenét Ramsay, a whole slew of sporty folks (particularly cricket players) & Punky Brewster (Soleil Moon Frye)!

And, I'll bet you didn't know, four Pope's died on August 6th, as did Ben Johnson, Shakespeare's wife, Anne Hathaway, Diego Velasquez, Rick James, & John Hughes.

Pretty uncanny, right?

Nope.

Blame it on the Birthday Paradox.

What's that you say? Well, it's got a lot to do with Probability Theory. The Birthday Paradox states that you only need a group of 23 people for there to be a 50% chance that at least one random pair of said people will share the same birthday. I'm a bit lost when it comes to the actual mathematics behind the Birthday Paradox, but I do understand the implications.

We are often surprised to learn that we share our birth day with someone else (particularly when that person is a complete stranger we have just met), yet there is actually a pretty good chance that it can happen. A much better chance than we intuit. By the time you reach about 57 people or so, the chances are 99%! Holy coincidence! For further reading, this guy puts it nicely (and with comic flair & only a smidgen of math): http://www.damninteresting.com/the-birthday-paradox

There is nothing supernatural (uncanny) about sharing your birthday with someone else. It's completely probable & predictable.

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All Things Will Die
Alfred Lord Tennyson

Clearly the blue river chimes in its flowing
Under my eye;
Warmly and broadly the south winds are blowing
Over the sky.
One after another the white clouds are fleeting;
Every heart this May morning in joyance is beating
Full merrily;
Yet all things must die.
The stream will cease to flow;
The wind will cease to blow;
The clouds will cease to fleet;
The heart will cease to beat;
For all things must die.
All things must die.
Spring will come never more.
O, vanity!
Death waits at the door.
See! our friends are all forsaking
The wine and the merrymaking.
We are call’d–we must go.
Laid low, very low,
In the dark we must lie.
The merry glees are still;
The voice of the bird
Shall no more be heard,
Nor the wind on the hill.
O, misery!
Hark! death is calling
While I speak to ye,
The jaw is falling,
The red cheek paling,
The strong limbs failing;
Ice with the warm blood mixing;
The eyeballs fixing.
Nine times goes the passing bell:
Ye merry souls, farewell.
The old earth
Had a birth,
As all men know,
Long ago.
And the old earth must die.
So let the warm winds range,
And the blue wave beat the shore;
For even and morn
Ye will never see
Thro’ eternity.
All things were born.
Ye will come never more,
For all things must die.

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Happy Birthday, Devin. You may be OLD, but at least you're not dead!

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