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Phil
Supporter
Username: Barleyrooty
Post Number: 1002
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, January 21, 2006 - 10:33 am: | 
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Someone in another thread (shoshannah) asked someone about repeating themes. I love this stuff. Here are my two:
My birthday is July 31st, my (only sibling) brother's is July 18th. When we were kids, I only lived in two houses: 18 Stopples Lane, and 31 Stopples Lane.
My very first job was working in a plant on the Southampton (UK) waterside. I used to sit and have my lunch and sometimes watched the QE2 come and go.
My third job was working at Harborside, NJ. I used to sit and have my lunch and sometimes watched the QE2 come and go.
Then I got a two-year posting to Bermuda. Where I used to sit on my porch having my breakfast and dinner and sometimes watched the QE2 come and go.
These are its main 3 ports of call. Of course I've never been on it!
Anyone else?
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kmk
Supporter
Username: Kmk
Post Number: 927
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, January 21, 2006 - 10:45 am: |
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I have at least two:
My best friend and I met when we were six.
I had just moved from out-of-state.
Fast forward thirteen years. We were roomates in college and we decided to go together to the Add/Drop seesion mid-term to sign up for the next set of classes. You lined up according to School ID number which is was your Social Security number.
It was on that day that we dicovered our social security numbers are one number apart!
She got hers in Texas I got mine in Iowa eighteen years prior.
and
We just found out that my Great Aunt is turning 100. I don't know her at all.
We named our daughter Katherine O'Neil (a nice name from my family's past) OurLastName when whe was born almost nine years ago.
Her birthday is 1-25.
I just found out that my Great Aunt was Katherine O'Neil before her marriage and that she is turning 100 on 1-25! |
bill671
Citizen
Username: Bill671
Post Number: 319
Registered: 6-2002
| | Posted on Saturday, January 21, 2006 - 11:52 am: |
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My first home outside of Maplewood was in Whippany, which is part of Hanover Twsp, NJ.
Last year my wife and I left Whippany and migrated west to Pennsylvania - the Bethlehem area. We now live in Hanover Twsp, PA. |
BGS
Citizen
Username: Bgs
Post Number: 546
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, January 21, 2006 - 12:24 pm: |
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My mother and her twin sister each had a child born on November 27th (6 years apart).
My cousin Mary married a man named Joseph, the same name as her father.
I married a man named Frank, the same name as my father.
My favorite cousin (whose mother is my mother's twin) had two children, born in May and October.
I have two children born in May and October.
There are others that I cannot think of right now...
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SoOrLady
Citizen
Username: Soorlady
Post Number: 2915
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, January 21, 2006 - 12:52 pm: |
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My nephew, Jon was born on his grandfather's birthday. His son, Liam was born on Jon's fahter's birthday.
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ffof
Citizen
Username: Ffof
Post Number: 4389
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, January 21, 2006 - 1:10 pm: |
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My husband and I both have sisters named Meg. Each Meg has 3 girls.
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kathy
Citizen
Username: Kathy
Post Number: 1227
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, January 21, 2006 - 2:28 pm: |
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I was born on my grandmother's birthday, and she was born on her grandfather's birthday. Hardly anybody in my family has a birthday to him/herself. I don't know how much of a coincidence this is--statistics show that it takes a group of less than thirty people to make it more likely than not that two of them share a birthday. |
Twokitties
Citizen
Username: Twokitties
Post Number: 362
Registered: 8-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, January 21, 2006 - 2:36 pm: |
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Here are some great ones.
A woman in Alabama decided to visit her sister. Her sister, unbeknownst to her, decided the same. They hit each other head-on on a rural highway. Both died. And both drove Jeeps. That counts as a rare coincidence, although not as rare, perhaps, as the case of Roy Cleveland Sullivan, a Virginia forest ranger who was struck by lightning seven times, or the existence of an ice dealer named I. C. Shivers.
Joe Plimmer
Martin Plimmer
BEYOND COINCIDENCE
Amazing Stories of Coincidence and the Mystery and Mathematics Behind Them
By Martin Plimmer and Brian King
277 pages. Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press. $23.95.
Forum: Book News and Reviews
Joe Plimmer
Brian King
The laws of chance operate strangely. This is the main point in Martin Plimmer and Brian King's "Beyond Coincidence," a collection of stranger-than-fiction anecdotes wrapped loosely in colorful intellectual tissue paper. It is a superior example of the genre known as a toilet read, with a few halfhearted excursions into the psychology and mathematics behind the uncanny coincidences that the writer Arthur Koestler called "puns of destiny."
Just as nature abhors a vacuum, human beings resist the idea that events occur in random fashion. They are highly receptive to divine messages that suggest otherwise, as in the strange tale of Mrs. Willard Lowell of Berkeley, Calif., who discovered that she had locked herself out of her house when the postman arrived with a letter. In the letter was her spare front-door key, returned by her brother, who had taken it home with him by mistake after a recent visit.
Events like this send a shiver down the spine, but the math behind strange coincidences shows that most people simply have a poor grasp of statistics. The odds against meeting someone else at a party with your birthday are not 365 to 1. In a room with just 23 people, the chances that two of them will share the same birthday are better than even.
A world without a constant barrage of bizarre coincidences would be much more remarkable than the reverse. It is not all that unusual to have a dream that accurately predicts a future event, or for two golfers to achieve a hole in one on the same hole. On average, everyone should have a prophetic dream once every 19 years, and the odds of a double hole-in-one, although apparently staggering at 1.85 billion to 1, ensure that this occurs about once a year.
It is a very safe bet that more such coincidences are on the way, as the world becomes more populated, and the volume of information grows. As the authors put it, "The statistician's law of large numbers states that if the sample is very large, even extremely unlikely things become likely." That includes the perfect hand dealt out to the four members of a British whist club in 1998, who each received 13 cards of a single suit.
Something deep in the mind resists the explanations of the statisticians, however. Evolution may be to blame. "We have been so successful as a species precisely because we are good at making connections between events and spotting patterns and regularities in nature," explains Christopher French, a psychologist. "The price we have paid is a tendency to sometimes detect connections and patterns that are not really there."
That tendency would account for the discovery that playing the Pink Floyd album "Dark Side of the Moon" while watching "The Wizard of Oz" generates almost as many startling coincidences as the correspondences detailed in "The Bible Code," a numerological analysis of the Bible that uncovered, among many other things, a prediction of Yitzhak Rabin's assassination.
Mr. Plimmer and Mr. King, who first explored this territory in a series of shows for BBC Radio 4, scramble to fill their allotted pages. They spend far too much time with Richard Wiseman, author of "The Luck Factor," and his training programs designed to turn miserable, unlucky skeptics into lucky winners.
They stuff the book with several anecdotes that sound too good to be true, and even more that are too true to be good. George Frideric Handel and Jimi Hendrix lived at adjacent addresses in London. Nine women at a British supermarket, all working at the same cash register, became pregnant in a 10-month period. A man trying to console his next-door neighbor after a painful breakup put the former couple's favorite record on the turntable. Ooooh.
On the other hand, it is deeply satisfying to know that a Canadian farmer named McDonald has the postal code EIEIO, and there is at least half a screenplay in the tale of a bank robber who, hitting the same bank and the same teller a second time, escaped because the bank guard and the managers were in a back office reviewing videotapes of the first robbery.
The award for the most painful coincidence in recorded history must go to the poet Simon Armitage, who chanced upon a used copy of a book of his poems in a trash bin outside a thrift store. On the title page was the following inscription, in his own handwriting: "To Mum and Dad."
More Articles in Books > |
Cynicalgirl
Citizen
Username: Cynicalgirl
Post Number: 2241
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, January 21, 2006 - 2:55 pm: |
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My first and current/third husband both have the same birthdays - August 3rd
My second husband and long-term boyfriend, both awful, had the same birthday - October 13th.
I've met at least 4 people in my life with whom I had an immediate, ah ha! like rapport - They were all born on May 5th, like me.
My most devastating failed relationships were all with elusive, compelling Aquarius people.
I've known 3 schizophrenics (one my mother) and they were all Geminis.
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Lizziecat
Citizen
Username: Lizziecat
Post Number: 1032
Registered: 5-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, January 21, 2006 - 3:20 pm: |
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My father-in-law, an incorrigible old gambler, felt that 1 and 6 were his lucky numbers. He used to play 1 and 6, in various combinations at OTB, and when he moved to Florida, at the Jai Alai fronton and the dog track. He kept playing 1 and 6, even though he never won anything big because, he said, "You never know." He died, still without a big win, on June 1st. He has 1 and 6 on his tombstone. |
Hamandeggs
Citizen
Username: Hamandeggs
Post Number: 170
Registered: 8-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, January 21, 2006 - 3:45 pm: |
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My stepsister married a man who had been married before and had fraternal twin daughters. 19 years later to the day, my sis gave birth to a set of fraternal twin daughters. Then she discovered that she and the exwife have the same birthday.
My best friend and I share a birthday. Our husbands also share a birthday. Her twins and my first child share a birthday -- her twins were two months early and my kid was considerably later than her due date.
My brother-in-law lives in rural Alaska, where he met a man who grew up two blocks from him in the Bronx and graduated the same year from the same college (MIT -- big, so they didn't meet). My BIL is a carpenter; the other guy is a metalsmith. They both have daughters born on the same date, one is named Mara and one named Maia. They also named their cats the same name (BC for Big Cat). |
Morrisa da Silva
Citizen
Username: Mod
Post Number: 336
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, January 21, 2006 - 4:14 pm: |
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My childhood best friend and I lost touch with each other. When we came back in contact we discovered we each had a son in the same year. Her son was born 2 days after my birthday and my son was born 2 days after her birthday. My son was named Matthew and hers was named Matheus. |
kmk
Supporter
Username: Kmk
Post Number: 929
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, January 21, 2006 - 4:33 pm: |
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I forgot my Maplewood story:
My father-in-law attended a radiation oncology conference in the Philadelphia area. He was planning on visiting us in Maplewood after the conference.
He is in his 80's and doesn't drive so he asked a fellow sitting next to him for the name of a car service. The fellow asked, "How far into NJ are you headed?" "Essex County", my FIL replies.
"Where is Essex County?" "Maplewood", he answers.
"Maplewood! I know that town...", states the stranger. "Where in Maplewood?" FIL gives our street name.
"Good Lord! That's the street I grew up on!" the stranger says.
It turns out the guy grew up in THIS HOUSE!
It was great, my father-in-law arrived with story after story to tell us.
He forgot to write down the fellow's name however.... |
Arnomation
Citizen
Username: Arnomation
Post Number: 463
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, January 21, 2006 - 5:15 pm: |
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My wife and I went on our first date on May 11, 1993, we have two kids and the second child was born on May 11, 2000.
I'm not sure if this qualifies (it's sort of an opposite coincidence) but my wife's the youngest sibling with two sisters and a brother and I'm the oldest sibling with two brothers and a sister. |
Greeneyes
Citizen
Username: Greeneyes
Post Number: 711
Registered: 8-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, January 21, 2006 - 6:46 pm: |
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I have five sisters. All of our children were born in January. Several of our children share birthdays.
In 1985, '86, and '87, I was involved in automobile accidents on March 27. I no longer ride in or drive an automobile on that date.
Three of my siblings married three siblings. |
wendy
Supporter
Username: Wendy
Post Number: 1970
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, January 21, 2006 - 7:45 pm: |
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My husband and I quit smoking cigarettes on a particular day in 1990 ostensibly to try to have a kid. The kid was born two years later on the day we quit smoking. |
bklyntonj
Citizen
Username: Bklyntonj
Post Number: 585
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, January 21, 2006 - 8:13 pm: |
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My birthdate is the 13th. I turned 13 on Friday the 13th. |
kmk
Supporter
Username: Kmk
Post Number: 930
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, January 21, 2006 - 8:53 pm: |
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Bklyntonj - So did my Grandmother ....it was 1913! |
kathy
Citizen
Username: Kathy
Post Number: 1229
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, January 22, 2006 - 5:50 pm: |
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So did my mother (1929). |
Ms. Cooper
Citizen
Username: Ms_cooper
Post Number: 45
Registered: 4-2005
| | Posted on Monday, January 23, 2006 - 12:31 pm: |
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A bunch in my family:
*My father and his father share the same birthday (Aug. 9)
*My cousin's husband and my mother share the same birthday (Aug. 17)
*Same cousin & husband had a baby on (Jun. 28) same date as my parents' anniversary
*My aunt and uncle have the exact same birthday (Jun. 24 1945)
Fun! |
CLK
Supporter
Username: Clkelley
Post Number: 1834
Registered: 6-2002
| | Posted on Monday, January 23, 2006 - 12:46 pm: |
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My older sister and I were both born at 9:30 AM, about 18 months apart.
My younger sister was born at 9:31 PM, two years after me. My mom says she's been late for everything ever since ... :-)
My older sister shares a birthday with my grandmother. My grandmother was p-ed off because she was not given a saint's name (or maybe, her name?) - so when I was born, I was named after my grandmother.
My mom & dad's birthdays are one day apart. When I was little, I always thought there was something shameful about this, as I thought their birthdays should really have been on the SAME day.
My husband and my daughter's birthdays are two days apart, which is much more confusing than if they were on the same day, as I can never remember which one is the 24th and which one is the 26th. But then I remember that my daughter is the 24th, as my mum-in-law teased me at the time that I should've been able to hold out for another two days!
My husband's younger brother and my younger sister are exactly the same age - born on the same day of the same month and year.
My first "serious" boyfriend shared the year and date of birth with a later "serious" boyfriend. Both were born on Long Island. (neither one of them is my husband though). |
Pippi
Supporter
Username: Pippi
Post Number: 1673
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Monday, January 23, 2006 - 1:53 pm: |
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My mother recently realized that the address of every house she's lived in has had the number 3 and 5 in it.
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mjc
Citizen
Username: Mjc
Post Number: 1022
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 25, 2006 - 5:38 pm: |
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I grew up in Southern California, where my dad was in charge of the town electric power plant. Once when some new equipment was installed, someone took a bunch of 8x10 glossies and bound them for him. He died in 1961. When we moved to NJ in 1990, I still had the book of photos (don't ask why). We lived then at the corner of Kendal and Cedar in Maplewood. Looking around the basement one day, I opened the book of photos, and it turned out the photographer's address was at Cedar and Ridgewood, just a block away.
The studio was still there when we first moved in, with a sign that said "industrial photography" or something like that, but it seemed to be deserted. Soon it was replaced by Maplewood Hobby, home away from home to our boys for years. |
Tom Reingold
Supporter
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 12074
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 25, 2006 - 9:13 pm: |
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These are fun.
My mother married my father, named Harry. They divorced, and later, my mother married another man named Harry.
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