Friggatriskaidekaphobia

It is a real word and it means the fear of Friday the thirteenth. Happy Friday 13th, I am not sure that Hallmark has a card for this occasion. Mathematically it works out that there is a Friday 13th in any month that begins on a Sunday. So... why is there no fear off Sunday the 1st, that would be the determining factor. Historically it was a Friday 13th in October 1307 when French King Philip sent his army to arrest the order of the Knights Templar. It was a mess and eventually led Dan Brown to write a novel about it in the first decade of the 21 Century that became a best seller and two movies. It did not seem to be so unlucky for Mr. Brown.
Johnny Carson used to take the opportunity to mention his own phobia every Friday the 13th on the Tonight Show. He said he had "gooseabackaphobia" which is the unhealthy fear of backing into a door knob.
As for me Mr. Superstition, it was a non issue for me. It was a relatively easy day setting the show up for a couple of performances tomorrow in Appleton, WI.. It is a luxury to get to set up a day a head. The theatre is great and the crew is as well. The theatre is just a couple of blocks away from the boutique hotel where we are staying. Very easy this run and Sunday we leave for a three week sit down in Rochester, New York. I hope it will go as well as it did last time in Rochester.
A friend of mine in New York last week asked me if I was still writing a blog. He said he used to follow it but doesn't anymore and then he asked, "aren't blogs a thing of the past now?" I wasn't sure how to answer, He said that it seemed to be all about tweets and texting now. I told him I thought blogs were just as popular as ever not that this one was ever "mainstream must read." It seems that every news cast I listen to talks about what the blogs are saying about certain world events, and they even quantify it by indicating what is "trending" on the web. Blogs seem to be even more relevant than ever before. I don't know. I'm not even sure why I write this one except it keeps me observing life around me in hopes some really funny story will come my way. It seems I have to look a lot harder for funny these days.
I think the economy has taken a toll on the humor quotient of the country for the last few years. Wall Street seems to have bounced back after having been the one to cause the problem in the first place. That doesn't seem right.
Here is Wisconsin it still looks tough. Downtown every other store front is vacant and available for rent. Signs as faded as the dreams of the retailers that occupied them seem to haunt main street. I am not an archeologist but it seems that it is not just new business that have closed, based upon the abandoned signage some look like they have been in business a long time. It is not isolated to this area. There are lots of empty store fronts down Ventura Blvd in my home town.
So I guess I am still looking for the funny happy stories even on Friday the 13th. Happy Friggatriskadecka.
As you were,
Jay