Pi Day Is Extra-Special This Year. Please Celebrate Responsibly, With At Least One Slice Of Pie

Get Set For A Very Special Pi Day
Almost missed the end of the day today, not watching the clock (although I actually consider my day from wake up time to bedtime, not strictly the date. I suppose I'd have to reconsider that if I still pulled all-nighters.)Every year for the last few years, I've been celebrating Pi Day with the kids, which is tomorrow (OK, today, as I post this) - 3/14 as we write it in the US. And, as is our tradition, we baked some Pi Day Pie. On the left is an apple pie, which the girls will be bringing to school in the morning for their teachers; on the right is a Nutella pie (like a peanut butter pie, substituting Nutella); and right up front is a chocolate pecan pie. The apple and pecan pies are using recipes from the folks at Cooks Illustrated; the Nutella pie recipe is my own. I also made almost two dozen mini whoopie pies and a chocolate silk pie (not pictured, since it won't be done until tomorrow night when I apply whipped cream). The pecan, Nutella, and whoopie pies are headed into my office to share (Pi Day just happens to be my anniversary at my current workplace). Set up some quick lighting that I know usually looks reasonable: halogen worklight camera right behind a diffuser, white bounce card camera left, with the room lights on above acting as fill. To get everything in focus, I had to really close up the aperture. I'll probably take a few more shots in the morning when I have some natural light to work with.Very likely that tomorrow's shot will involve Pi Day in some way, too.Nikon D7000 w/Nikkor 18-200 @ 55mm, 6s @ Æ/22, ISO100, lighting as described above.
Almost missed the end of the day today, not watching the clock (although I actually consider my day from wake up time to bedtime, not strictly the date. I suppose I'd have to reconsider that if I still pulled all-nighters.)Every year for the last few years, I've been celebrating Pi Day with the kids, which is tomorrow (OK, today, as I post this) - 3/14 as we write it in the US. And, as is our tradition, we baked some Pi Day Pie. On the left is an apple pie, which the girls will be bringing to school in the morning for their teachers; on the right is a Nutella pie (like a peanut butter pie, substituting Nutella); and right up front is a chocolate pecan pie. The apple and pecan pies are using recipes from the folks at Cooks Illustrated; the Nutella pie recipe is my own. I also made almost two dozen mini whoopie pies and a chocolate silk pie (not pictured, since it won't be done until tomorrow night when I apply whipped cream). The pecan, Nutella, and whoopie pies are headed into my office to share (Pi Day just happens to be my anniversary at my current workplace). Set up some quick lighting that I know usually looks reasonable: halogen worklight camera right behind a diffuser, white bounce card camera left, with the room lights on above acting as fill. To get everything in focus, I had to really close up the aperture. I'll probably take a few more shots in the morning when I have some natural light to work with.Very likely that tomorrow's shot will involve Pi Day in some way, too.Nikon D7000 w/Nikkor 18-200 @ 55mm, 6s @ Æ/22, ISO100, lighting as described above.

Pi Day, Pi Day, gotta get down on Pi Day.

Saturday marks "Pi Day," the one day each year the calendar's digits match up with "pi" or "π," the irrational number that expresses the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. In other words, March 14 (or 3/14) matches 3.14, the shortened number for pi.

The date is particularly exciting this time around, as the digits in the year (2015) line up with the next two digits of pi, "15."

Those looking to kick their veneration up a notch should be especially rowdy at 9:26 (a.m. or p.m.), which would correspond with the next three digits of pi (3.1415926), which has an infinite number of non-repeating digits.

If you're looking to celebrate with other revelers, fear not: Pi Day celebrations span the globe. There are events all across the U.S., some of which we've listed here:

San Francisco:
Ring in Pi Day with free admission to The Exploratorium, which the Los Angeles Times says first celebrated (and therefore may have "invented") the holiday 27 years ago.

Los Angeles:
Hit up Delicious Pizza for a free slice of pie at 9:26 p.m.

Denver:
Run 3.14 miles around beautiful Washington Park. The park is only 2.35 miles around, so you'll need to complete an extra third of a lap to pay appropriate homage to the math Gods.

Chicago:
Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry will give a free slice of pie or pizza to the first 314 visitors. Those who follow will be eligible to buy slices of both at a discounted rate of -- you guessed it -- $3.14.

New York:
Join hundreds of other revelers in Madison Square Park at 9:26 p.m. to watch -- and perhaps even take part in -- a glow-in-the-dark demonstration on the meaning of pi coordinated by the National Museum of Mathematics.

You can always celebrate responsibly at home with a slice of your favorite pie, be it one topped with cheese, or the kind filled with apples -- or perhaps both. (Hey, it's Pi Day, go crazy!) Oh, and wish Albert Einstein a happy birthday while you're at it. The celebrated physicist was born on March 14, 1879.

Before You Go

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