One day, years ago, my family and I were in New Orleans. It was a nice night out, pleasant weather and the like. My brother would have been... what, mid Junior High? I'm four years younger than him, so I would have still been in elementary. But anyway-

Mom and pop had gone into a liquor store, leaving us alone outside. Tourists walked by. My brother and I were having a nice little old time, just standing around, enjoying the weather. Suddenly, out of nowhere, my brother began to sing. My brother never sang, unless he was in a choir. My brother still never sings. Why he began singing, I'll never know, but this was what he sang.

Prime factorization of the numbers one through ten
Prime factorization 'cause this song will never end

Prime factorization of the neurons in your brain
Prime factorization because nothing stays the same

This was all in some bizarre melody that he'd made up. I didn't even know what prime factorization was. And thusly I started laughing. Couldn't stop. It was crazy. People looked at us. He kept singing. It was beautiful.

Yeah, when the parents came out with their booze, they gave us some funny looks, but then we just continued down the road to our hotel.


I never forgot.

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