The Mad Hatter's Watch

The Hatter was the first to break the silence. 'What day of the month is it?' he said, turning to Alice: he had taken his watch out of his pocket, and was looking at it uneasily, shaking it every now and then, and holding it to his ear.

Alice considered a little, and then said 'The fourth.'

'Two days wrong!' sighed the Hatter.

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Alice had been looking over his shoulder with some curiosity. 'What a funny watch!' she remarked. 'It tells the day of the month, and doesn't tell what o'clock it is!'

'Why should it?' muttered the Hatter. 'Does your watch tell you what year it is?'

'Of course not,' Alice replied very readily: 'but that's because it stays the same year for such a long time together.'

'Which is just the case with mine,' said the Hatter.


As long as I can remember, I've pictured myself going 'round and 'round these two cycles. It's how I keep track of where I am in the year and in the week. But not in the month—months are linear for me.

And, yes, they go counterclockwise.

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Notes

'Two days wrong!'
Due to a programming bug, the watch on this page is sometimes off by a day or two. I considered fixing it, but then I remembered that it's the Mad Hatter's watch, so it meets spec as it is...

Steven W. McDougall / resume / swmcd@theworld.com / 2006 Feb 03