Every kid who's ever struggled through a math class has hit that wall of rebellion — you know, the one where you adamantly proclaim that you'll never use this skill in the real world. There's this nifty new invention called the calculator, and that will be enough to get you through all the math you'll need in your day-to-day life. Computer programs now automatically tally spreadsheets, and electronic cash registers mean that we no longer even have to count out change.

I wonder sometimes if we haven't gone too far in the opposite direction, and that the adage "absence makes the heart grow fonder" applies even in the case of the dreaded mathematics. The Sudoku mania that's currently sweeping the United States has to come from somewhere, and this nation has never struck me as one that's particularly fond of math as a rule. Yet, suddenly we're all numbers-obsessed, and even better if we can work them as a logic problem.

I was thinking about that today as I was struggling over my own numbers-based logic problem, also known as the "issue planning sheet." This is the point in the magazine's schedule when we sit down with the other departments and figure out how  many pages we actually have for editorial space — once I know that, we can make sure the stories fit, and rework ones that need to go up or down a page, or need to start on a spread instead of a single page. It's like a crossword puzzle, but with numbers. And it's fun. Or, as a former coworker of mine once said, "It's fun. It's tear-your-hair-out fun, but it's fun."

Roughly stated, the rules to the game as follows: Each page can be broken up into three separate columns, or taken as a half page or a whole page (unless you have a strangely shaped ad or a particularly weird piece of editorial, and you need a half-column — then you have to start adding again). Some advertisements are guaranteed a particular spot and can't be moved. Editorial departments can vary in size from two columns to two pages, depending on how much space you have. Editorial features need to appear in an unbroken chain, or "well," in roughly the center of the magazine, and must be arranged so that there are no breaks, so that a story that ends on a left-hand page is followed by a story that leads from a right-hand page. Classified ads have their own page definition and requirements. Special ad sections — such as our Classes & Workshops section or the new special Tucson section — need special placement with an unbroken well of their own.

So, what happens when you have roughly 29.25 pages of advertisements sold, 17.32 pages of editorial departments, and 71 pages of editorial features? All of which is supposed to fit into a 92-page issue? I'll wait while you do the math.