Sappho Speaks: 2009 - It’s Just The End Of A Year, No Decade

What Would Sappho Say?

Lectori Salutem! or L.S. (Greetings to the Reader!)

As with every turn of a new year, and for some who don’t buy into the mathematical formula that a decade does not end until the year ending with the zero ends, there will be lots of those reviews as well. Since I am logical by nature and although I have previously given you guys my arguments about decades, let me give it one more shot on the NON-EVE of the new MILLENNIUM and the NON-EVE of the new DECADE and the ACTUAL EVE of just 2009.

Do we ever start to count anything from zero? We always start 1, 2, 3, ... and the same is true for years so let’s look at the 1st decade of the new millennium. Prince’s song “1999” with its talk about the partying like it is the turn of a new millennium has been the largest obstacle for mathematicians and scientists alike of the last 25 years or so to make any headway in shifting the cultural partying community to start celebrating on the correct days. Now seeing as this shift would also impact major corporations and their businesses, party planners, and whole industries that revolve around the changing of decades, hundreds of years, and the rare millennia as it did in our lifetime, no one is really interested in the easy science behind the truth of how decades and thus millennia work. Therefore, the ”town crier” (in this case a well-versed mathematician) is treated like “chicken little.”


In the research I have done and according to these brave “criers” and to my own knowledge on the subject, the completion of a year was never signified by the number zero. We can assume from the introduction of a calendar, time had to start somewhere or a zero hour, but that would be like a day of a child’s birth – while much celebrated, a cake with no candles is not part of the ritual. NO, we start celebrating birthdays at their completion. A child is rewarded for his first year of life upon completion of that year, not at the beginning of that year. Time is counted in the same way – year one was the completion of the first year AD. Continuing our logic a child is not considered ten years old until he or she completes his or her tenth birthday; and a decade is not complete until ten years have passed or at midnight on the last night of the tenth year in that decade. Therefore, using our counting skills for the 21st century and it’s first decade, it would not be until the very end of the 10th year, or December 31st, 2010 if we are talking the beginning of Anno Domini calendars and all calendars that followed that made a year with 365 days except every forth to celebrate leap year, starting with the Julian Calendar and moving to the Gregorian Calendar we use today.

In both of these cases, the ending of a millennium and the ending of a decade have always been celebrated incorrectly according to these calendars. Just as we celebrated the 21st century on January 1st, 2000, if you think of it mathematically you will see that the year 2000 is only the beginning of the 1000th year of the previous millennium. It is January 1, 2001 that is the true beginning of the 21st century. The same is true for decades and hundreds of years and scientists are just unable to influence the incorrect social norms of an entire culture. I mean after Prince wrote the song, “1999” with the words to make it perfectly clear that the new millennium was 2000, it made the job of the scientist even harder. However, after a simple look at the example from 1 – 10 AD, you have to see by merely counting on your fingers that the decade is not done until the year 10 AD is finished or December 31st, 11 AD.

So, the same is true this year. It is just another New Year that the big box corporations and the “why change what isn’t broken” model. I mean, are we just too stupid to understand simple mathematics correctly? Of course not!!!! Again it is a NUMBERS game but it’s not the numbers of DATES but the numbers of MONEY!!! I’m not here to burst anyone’s bubble only to start a conversation. Don’t believe me? Search google for when a decade begins.

SO, tonight go out and party like it’s 2009!!! For tomorrow it will be a new year and that is always something to look forward to – a chance for renewed hope, better luck, New Year’s Resolutions and all the faith and good tidings the beginning of a New Year bring.

Tomorrow I plan to compile a unique list of the memories of 2009. I will be published by noon and left up for the weekend for you to read, comment on, add to please, and shape a year of immeasurable hardship for so many into some fun facts for all.

Much Love.


Inspired by Sappho’s Muse.

MUSIC OF THE DAY
Since it seems today was a talk all about numbers, why not reflect the same in the music. One of my favorite love songs of the year was 1,2,3,4 by the Plain White T’s so we’ll start out with it. Then another song by upstart musician Kate Voegele (I love this girl) called 99 Times.

1,2,3,4        Plain White T's
99 Times     Kate Voegele

QUOTE OF THE DAY
Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.
Benjamin Franklin