---

On Friday - wasn't that the 23rd? - Jim Carrey's movie "The Number 23" came out, but I didn't rush right out and see it.

I'm not an accountant type, but I do have a lot of numbers running around inside my head. On the other hand, I'm also not likely to write numbers all over my face ala Mr. Carrey.

I think 9 is a great number, for example, and always have. The best. Anyone with a passing interest in mathematics can tell you why.

I've been telling everyone this will be a momentous year because both the numbers of the year and my age add up to 9. Of course, for me that happens every ninth year because the numbers of my birth year add up to 9.

And almost as much as I abhor things that go counter-clockwise and thus do no good, I dislike even numbers, which means I always indulge in one or at least three of a something, which fits my personality. I'd never take six gulps of water at the bubbler, or make four cups of coffee in the morning, or make a list of 1 to 10.

For those interested in numbers in fiction, I would recommend "Against the Day," the new tome by Thomas Pynchon, and the forever-charming "The Hawkline Monster" by Richard Brautigan.

My non-fiction shelf contains volumes like "Cheiro's Book of Numbers," "The Connolly Book of Numbers," "Numbers and You" by Lloyd Strayhorn, "The Universal History of Numbers" by Georges Ifrah and, my favorite, "Zero, The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife.

Not that I've read them cover to cover, of course. Time is short when every even-numbered day is a sabbatical from certain pursuits.

23 is a biggie

The number 23 has everyone excited because, among other things, it's the number of chromosomes each parent contributes to the DNA of their child, it takes 23 seconds for blood to circulate throughout the entire human body, the Knights Templar had 23 grand masters, the years Kurt Cobain was born and died each add up to 23, 230 people died on TWA Flight 800, the distance from the center of Mars to its nearest moon is 23,000 kilometers, give or take 500, William Shakespeare was born and died on the same day, April 23, the Mayans believed that the world will end on Dec. 23, 2012 ... Need I go on?

If you don't believe in the validity of numerology by now, you never will. Especially after so many people, who are obviously not taking every even-numbered day off, have gone to so much trouble.

I'm sure everybody has their favorite number or numbers, but I really felt driven to write about this today.

What's the date again, Feb. 25, 2007? (2-2-5-2-0-0-7=18=9)

Thanks for the cuddlers Thanks to the Serak sisters for three teddy bears for the Bears on Board program.

Two more were also dropped off anonymously, making our teddy bear total to date 4,914.

(Wait a minute - doesn't that add up to 9?)

The bears go to the Attleboro Area Council for Children and then to local police officers, firefighters and ambulance crews who in turn give them to children in crises.

See you next week.

ORESTE P. D'ARCONTE is publisher of The Sun Chronicle. Reach him at 508.236.0394 or at darconte@thesunchronicle.com.