When I realized this was my Thirteenth Thursday Thirteen, I was a little bit concerned, because thirteen is not a lucky number. Then I thought, “Hey, I’m not superstitious!”
Or, am I?

1. Garlic is used to keep blood-thirsty vampires away. I eat it profusely to keep the front row of kindergarten urchins in the audience at bay!




2. Storytellers, like actors, are stage performers. You probably know that actors are a superstitious lot, and you’ve probably heard the expression “BREAK A LEG.” It’s supposed to be wishing another actor good luck, not wishing that they would really break their leg. There are several theories about where the phrase originated. Some say because the audience used to throw money on stage when a performance pleased them, and the actors knelt to pick up the tip. Others say that it’s used as a way of wishing someone good luck without fear of cosmic retaliation. Storytellers don’t say that; we say “BITE YOUR TONGUE.” If no one is there to tell me that before I perform, I whisper it to myself.

3. I’m not superstitious about black cats, but I don’t want any to cross my path. I might have to take them home. I’ve already got five cats (aren’t I the lucky one?). I don’t need any more, thank you very much! This is the closest thing to “black” that we have. This is how she sleeps. Her name is Roz Purro, because when we brought her home she was “all ears.” Get it? Huh? Ross Perot? I hate it when I have to explain my jokes.

4. For the longest time I had a purple rabbit’s foot on my key chain. My youngest son had given it to me as a gift. He was devastated to tears when he realized that a real rabbit had lost its foot so I could have that talisman. I don’t know what he thought it was. Once, at a storytelling festival, I had to “use the facilities,” which were just those nasty old Porta-Potties. As I pulled down my jeans, my keys fell out of the pocket and fell into the toilet! I caught them just in the nick of time—by the tip of that lucky rabbit’s foot. I don’t have it anymore. The cats ate it.

5. I have a circular amulet that my husband gave me years ago. Supposedly it is a Celtic symbol to keep evil away. I like to wear it when I am speaking to eighth grade students. Invariably they ask what it means. I tell them and say, “See, it doesn’t work…does it? You’re still here!”

6. When I am telling a story on stage for the first time, I carry a copy of it in my back pocket. No, I can’t refer to it! I figure that having it there will cause it to transfer to my brain through osmosis. My husband claims it’s “ass-mosis.” I resemble that remark!

7. I keep this St. Christopher in my car. I travel all the time, and think it has protected me. I went on a harrowing trip to Beaumont, TX in driving rain. During the trip, I ran over a traffic cone and got it stuck under my car, almost hit a deer but landed in the ditch instead, and got caught in a flood. If I hadn’t been carrying this medal, just imagine how bad my luck might have been! Remind me to put it back in my car.

8. When I go to trade shows, I wear this “medicine bag.” Somehow I imagine it will get me work. Probably, the librarians just look at it and think I’m strange. I read a book about Sacagawea when I was a little girl and was fascinated by her medicine bag.


It has quite a few little good luck trinkets in it. A petrified clam (so I won’t “clam up”), a figurine of a storyteller doll, a tiny paper crane a child gave me after storytelling, shark’s teeth for strength, and more. Yeah. I know I’m weird.

9. This lucky coin is one that my Uncle Fritz used to keep in his pocket. You might be able to see the swastika on it. DON’T think that means he was a Nazi! The swastika was a religious symbol, and Uncle Fritzie got this long before Hitler corrupted its meaning. I keep it on the nightstand by my bed, because you never know when I might get lucky.

10. I always eat dessert before a meal when I can. I mean, you never know if you will live to the end of the meal, after all life is so uncertain. I want to be sure I get the good part first. So far, it’s been a good luck charm—unless you consider my waistline, which I’d rather not do.

11. When I was a nursing home administrator, a resident carved this monkey for me from a peach pit. I wore it around my neck for the longest time, believing it to be lucky. I don’t know if it really was. My great-grandmother collected monkey figurines (I inherited her collection) to remind herself that people can act just as silly as those little critters.

12. When I was little, my big brother told me that there were “things” under the bed waiting to eat a tattletale like me. I looked, but all I saw was a bunch of trash (parts of the monopoly game, dirty underwear, candy wrappers, and Barbie’s head). He said, “That’s what they look like in the daytime. At night they become what they really are.” To this day, I can’t sleep with my foot over the side of the bed. If I wake up in the night and realize I’ve accidentally put my foot over the edge, I go into full panic mode. All that is under the bed are cats and guitars—but that’s what they look like in the daytime.

13. There is no Number Thirteen, because that is waaaay too unlucky.

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So, probably none of YOU are superstitious. If you are, what’s the one that gets to you the most? Leave a comment and you will be magically linked on this post. Then go visit other Thursday Thirteen participants. Come back another day and “set a spell” on the porch with me.

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Don’t forget to enter your funny post in This Eclectic Life’s This Blog Blows My Dress Up Contest!

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As I get the opportunity to visit around, I’ll making a list of other 13s I’ve enjoyed and linking to them here {but I have to get the carpet stretched and cleaned today, so I don’t know how much opportunity I will get}. Y’all have a happy Thursday!

• J’s Thoughts and Musings has a Thursday Thirteen about Limericks…and a contest! Write a limerick about your blog…you can do it!
• Jessica the Rock chick did it again! A super TT about Paris Hilton
• Harlekwin at Boho Rhap asks Am I getting older or better? It’s priceless.
• Susan Helene Gottfried has a list of things her fictional character (Trevor) told her this week.
• Journeywoman has a list of 13 mentors that rocks.
• Fat Bloke Thin has an excellent list of ways to make the world a better place.
• Tea Time Ramblings has some delightful Thursday Thirteen Headers that she created to share.
• Thomma Lyn at Tennessee Text Wrestling is celebrating her blog’s anniversay today. Give her a shout.
• Scrungy’s Creator has her very first TT posted. I hope you give her a warm welcome.

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