Yes. Thank you for speaking the only truth in this thread.
The number 1024 is my favourite, it feels like a smooth slippery ice skating rink, with lots of room for activities.
12 is another good number, it feels like a sharp 12 pointed knife, very good at slicing things up evenly.
I did Gentoo from stage 1 too back in the day, it's was a valuable learning experience for me, and those skills helped me to fix things when they went wrong down the track.