video; un: prometheus

[jolting]

I don't know how many people celebrate this, but today is Pi Day. Pi is a mathematical constant, with the first three numbers being three, one and four. Most people just celebrate by baking or eating pies. I made one for my daughter's math class.

Pi itself is actually very fascinating, though. It was originally defined as the ratio of a circle's circumference, but now it's used in many formulas in math and physics. Its decimal presentation never settles into a permanent repeating pattern.

But, ah... I'm sure most people just care about the pie.

Comments

video; un: kirk

[winscenario]

I like Pi. The number and the food both.

[ What a nerd though, Jim is so endeared. ]

You know what would be fun? A Pi-shaped pie. That’d look neat.

[jolting]

[a fond little smile touches his lips]

Are you hinting at something, James?

[winscenario]

I don't know. I do remember someone mentioning us cooking together. I mean, I'll probably only be good enough to pass ingredients along, but still.

[ He does make for an excellent taste tester though. ]

[jolting]

What flavor were you thinking?

[winscenario]

Depends. Were you thinking of sweet or savoury?

video @L.Mills

[thestoriesarereal]

[Finally, after a few days, Lucy is starting to smile again.]

Everyone in class says thank you for the pie. I don't think the teacher was expecting it either...

[Just...give her a moment because she wants to ask something.]

...You really think of me as your daughter?

[jolting]

Glad they liked it.

[he hesitates] Is that all right? I don’t want to seem like I want to replace Henry.

[thestoriesarereal]

Can you teach me to bake a pie next time? Maybe apple?

It's fine! No...I know you're not replacing Henry...or my mom or anyone. You're my family...and I wanted to know..if maybe I could call you by something else? Cause...I do see you as my dad...if that's okay?

[jolting]

I think I still have enough apples left that we can bake another pie.

[that gets his attention] When I first met Regina, I told her to call me whatever made her comfortable. So I'll say the same to you.

audio, @whatever

[kievs]

(ya don't say)

If I wanted to learn more maths today I'd just go back to school.

[jolting]

Or you could celebrate by eating pie. Your choice.

[kievs]

So this isn't some sort of trick to make me learn something before I get any pie?

(Sounds fake.)

[jolting]

I just shared something I thought was interesting. Didn't expect anyone to listen.

video; @cphantom

[sweetlies]

[Yawn from a small boy.]

As fascinating as that was, you might get more attention if you had actually used a pie in your explanation.

[He's... not that great at the helping thing yet.]

[jolting]

Maybe so.

[sweetlies]

It would certainly get people excited for both. You might even have been able to cut a deal with a bakery for a demonstration, teach people something and they get business. You get some kind of discount.

[jolting]

I'm not usually the kind of person to organize things like that.

video; un: sparkly

[floatier]

So it just goes on forever?

[ It's a young woman, sitting in mid-air as if she was born floating, apparently genuinely interested in pi. ]

But it's a number, right? Can a number just not end..?

[jolting]

That's right. It's an irrational number as well, so it can't be represented by a common fraction.

[floatier]

Geez...

[ She blinks, clearly trying to get it, but there are a lot of questions. This is definitely more than the basic math she knows. ]

I didn't even know there were numbers like that. No wonder there's a whole day for it.

[ She laughs, gives a kind of shrug that says pretty clearly I'm definitely not gonna get this without a lot more explanation so it's probably easier to just leave it there, and changes tack. ]

How old's your daughter?

[jolting]

[chuckles] It's pretty unique, though honestly people will make a holiday out of anything.

She's eight years old. Very intelligent and mature for her age.

video; un: lifewillchange

[phantomqueen]

Why do I get the feeling pie is the only reason Pi Day was invented in the first place?

[It's not something she tends to pay so much attention to when most of the excitement for this particular date is for White Day. Which she also tends to blank out for the most part; it's really only recently she's put any real thought into it at all.]

Then again, most things seem to be celebrated with food. I suppose there's no reason this can't be as well.

[jolting]

It was a physicist who organized the first Pi Day, actually. Still, you're right: most holidays and celebrations include food.

[phantomqueen]

You say that like physicists don't like pies. Still, if it's a means towards education then I suppose it doesn't really matter why it really started.

[jolting]

They do, but I just think his intention was more toward the number, and used the food as a sort of play on words.