Lily Tomlin | 03/12/2009 11:00 pm

Lily Tomlin's Numbers Obsession

In response to: It's Friday the 13th. Does this date spook you?

I like to think I’m not superstitious; yet, I almost always reflexively toss spilled salt over my shoulder. I snatch hats off the bed. I used to be obsessive about the numbers 11 or 22. Years ago, I wouldn’t book a flight if the numbers added up to 11 or 22 or 33. I know, I know; if a flight should add up to these numbers, they ultimately add up to single digits: 2, 4 and 6. But that wasn’t my method of computation. I’ve even jumped up and pushed my way past the flight attendant and out the door of the plane because some series of numbers somewhere in the cabin or on the plane’s exterior added up to 11 or its multiple. Then, of course, I had to face all the friends and family who used to be allowed to the gate to see people off. "What’s wrong, Lily?" "Is something wrong with the plane?" Ay yi yi!

Anyway, adding up to a single digit as your final computation doesn’t wash for me. If the penultimate total before going to a single digit adds up to some form of 11, that’s where I stop: For instance, 9/11 adds up to 11 — 9 plus 1 plus 1 equals 11 — before it adds up to 1 plus 1 equals 2. If you’re obsessive, you make up your own reasons and rules. Imagine my reaction when 9/11 DID happen. Friday the 13th isn’t the spooky one here; it is I who am the spooky one. (Note: the nominative use of the pronoun ‘I’ for pleasure of the grammarians.)

I did pretty much get over this obsession with the number 11, even though one friend used to call me "Missus Elebens" and the name still pops up now and then. Years later, when I had to obtain a copy of my birth certificate, the copy was numbered 1122. Does anyone know if that would be the original number or not?

Let me add just for the record: Did anyone else learn the use of the nominative case of "I" by reciting the children’s ditty, "Barnacle Bill the Sailor"? Ditty to come.

33 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

Dear Lily - I had a little, teeny bit of trouble following your logic about the number thing, but, as a grammarian, I loved your correct use of the pronoun "I". Of course… if you put two "I’s" side by side, the result is "II". Oh, dear.

By Maurine H on 03/13/2009 12:59 am

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Hi Maurine! LOL, it’s "my" turn to return the compliment about your writing… you cracked me up with your math of the two "I’s" resulting in an "11", then saying "Oh, dear." Reminded me of that commercial for Geico with Mrs. Butterworth who says, "Oh, dear…" Good Job! I think, if Lily has this issue with the numbers, she must get awfully panicky when she’s about to fly. If I were her flying companion, I would be a nervous wreck because I’d never know if we were or were not going to take that flight. Whew! Nerrrrvvvous!

By Murphy Mac on 03/13/2009 8:59 am

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A) I love you!

B) Yes, numbers and loved ones/friends names seem to go in hand. Example: Drunken Uncle Dewey ranks a zero and kewl Aunt Nora from the west coast gets a hang "ten" man …

C) Numbers represent order or a "tracking" of life … if "Eleben" is your number then be glad you are in the top twenty …

D) Yes, I did read about the pleasure of the grammarians … we should consult Mrs. Beasly about that …

E) I too have an obsessive compulsive need to list my thoughts in alpha order …

CONGRATS! YOU ARE ONE OF US … and we knew it and love you for it! We are so "lucky" to be with you on the numbers game wheel of fortune we call LIFE!

By Blue Circle Girl on 03/13/2009 1:11 am

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For some reason 7; 2; 3; 5; - all combinations of those numbers 7235 keep coming up. If I look at a clock it is usually 7:23 or 3:55. The license plate ahead of me will more often than not have these numbers. It is spooky.

By Kay Sara on 03/15/2009 5:40 am

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Ah, ha! Unlike Lily, I think 11 (or the 22, 33, etc. variations) is lucky for me, and when I look at the clock, it’s often 8:11 or … etc. I’m happy to find someone else who finds the clock numbers spooky—or sometimes reassuring.

By Karen Gast on 03/15/2009 8:12 am

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Yes, you are right - it is somehow reassuring. A book mentioned in one of these posts talks about "angels - gaurdian angels- using this to reassure us they are here . I like that!

By Kay Sara on 03/16/2009 5:15 am

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Ms. Lily

To understand the reasoning behind the reason is not unreasonable, LOL. Although, I hate to admit it, but Friday the 13th is my lucky day. So 1 and 3 add up to 4. Now 4 is the number of builders. Builders who love to build organizations, movements, but most of all solid and secure squares.

Besides Friday the 13th being lucky, the number 7 has always had special meaning for me. The year I was born in is a 7; in my birth family, I am one of 7 sisters; in my adopted family I was the 7th child; the numbers in my name add up to 7; I have been invited to serve on a couple of boards and oddly, I was always the 7th member; and there are more 7 oddities that are only special to me, but I don’t know if it is my lucky number, a guiding number or just a little funny puzzle in my life.

I don’t think I am superstitious, but certainly suspicious at times of my own mind and all the 7’s floating around in there. They float, arc and rotate and I wonder are they Ls or 7s? What do it mean, what do it mean? Keeps me guessing.

By Frannie Em on 03/13/2009 1:29 am

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Hi Frannie Em. I looked up the number of your posts so far: 5194. If you add 5+ 19 +4 = 28 / 4 (the number of numerals in total posts) = 7. What does that mean?????

By rocky rocky on 03/13/2009 12:18 pm

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Rocky LOL

But wait, 2+8+10, 1+0=1 So it comes out to a one. The number of numerals in my total posts means I love to post on Wow. LOL

By Frannie Em on 03/13/2009 1:03 pm

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So then I went to my total number. 1533 = 1 + 53 + 3 = 57 / 4 = 14.25 and 14 + 25 = 39 reduced to its lowest prime number = 13

That’s today! What does THAT mean?

By rocky rocky on 03/13/2009 12:23 pm

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Rocky,

LOL It means today is Friday the 13th, your lucky day!

By Frannie Em on 03/13/2009 1:04 pm

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Only funnin’ — I love you, Frannie Em! And always loved/love Lily!

By rocky rocky on 03/13/2009 12:26 pm

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Love you back kiddo ;-)

By Frannie Em on 03/13/2009 1:05 pm

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Ah, Lily. I can breathe a little easier now. I’m not the only one with OCD. Thanks for the lift!

By Serena . on 03/13/2009 4:55 am

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Been missing you around here, Ms. Lily. Long time no alert! I have a thing about numbers too, and the way numbers of things should be arranged. Numbers are paradox: as absolute or as mystical as we choose to experience them. I like 5…..arranged as it is on a domino.

+~~

By ~ countrywoman ~ on 03/13/2009 5:07 am