Fair warning: controversial views ahead (but when has that ever stopped me before?).

Oh, I tried. Lord knows I tried. I’ve made my feelings pretty clear on Twitter (here, here and here), but I wasn’t really planning on writing anything on this blog. And yet, now I am. Why? Because it’s the story that just won’t die, the campaign of misinformation that won’t go away, no matter how much logic and knowledge is thrown at it.

We’re a week away from the ninth anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks and we’re still fighting over Ground Zero. So let’s just clear up a couple of things: the “Ground Zero mosque” isn’t a mosque and it isn’t at Ground Zero.

(And, for the record, even it the Park 51 community center did somehow manage to move a few blocks and miraculously show at Ground Zero proper, at least then something would be there, instead of a barren hole that politicians have been fighting over nearly a decade. It’s been far too long – something needs to be built there.)

But my issue isn’t with the Park 51 community center or even the lack of any progress at Ground Zero itself. No, my issue is with the community center opponents, who have deliberately engaged in spreading false information, willfully ignored facts, and stoked the flames of fear with their frightening ability to justify their own actions, while condemning the actions of others – even when there’s very little difference between the two.

Terrorism breeds on fear and ignorance: fear of the unknown, of the “other;” ignorance of the fact that we’re more alike than we are different. Throughout history, wars were successful because some people were good at whipping the people into a frenzy and getting them to turn on each other. Opponents of Park 51 think they’re doing the country a favor, when all they’re really doing is making it easier for others to tear us apart.

It is so frustrating to me to hear people – otherwise reasonable, intelligent people – fall for the tricks and gimmicks of Glen Beck or Sarah Palin. I think there was a part of me that thought we were honestly past all of the fear-mongering of the Bush-Cheney-Rove trifecta. Instead, it’s just the same message coming from someone else’s mouth.

Imagine my surprise to find out that one of the bright spots in this debate – one of the few people willing to speak up – is New York’s Mayor Bloomberg. All things considered, I’m not wild about some of his politics, but on this issue, he has been spot-on. At an annual Ramadan dinner last week in NYC, he gave a speech in which he echoed the words of Iman Rauf, one of the men sponsoring the Park 51 development:

At an interfaith memorial service for the martyred journalist Daniel Pearl, Imam Rauf said, quote, If to be a Jew means to say with all one’s heart, mind, and soul: Shma Yisrael, Adonai Elohenu Adonai Ehad; Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One, not only today I am a Jew, I have always been one.

He then continued to say, If to be a Christian is to love the Lord our God with all of my heart, mind and soul, and to love for my fellow human being what I love for myself, then not only am I a Christian, but I have always been one.

Mayor Bloomberg concluded his speech with a reminder that we are all more alike that maybe we realize and we all have the right to worship how and where we choose. If we continue to let fear and ignorance rule our lives, if we let our differences divide us to an irrevocable point, then the terrorists really needn’t bother with us – we seem perfectly capable of destroying ourselves if we’re not careful.

The Park 51 community center needs to be built – not because it’s the right thing to do, not because it’s not really a mosque or not really at Ground Zero, but because making a decision based on fear and ignorance will only breed more fear and ignorance and will ultimately only end up hurting the very people we’re trying to help.

“Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.” – Yoda (don’t laugh – he may be a 900-year-old green alien, but he knew what he was talking about)

[Photo Credit: Google Image Search]

You know, one of these days, I’m going to run out of clever, pithy blog post titles for my 15 Before 30 update posts. And that will be a sad, sad day.

In the meantime, I wish I had more news to report, but as always, it seems I take two steps forward, two steps back when it comes to making any sort of real progress on my 15 Before 30 list (why yes, that was a Paula Abdul reference). I wish I had unlimited financial resources and vacation time because then I might actually be able to cross some items off.

However, I am really pleased to say that I am more than three-fourths of the way towards making my $1,000 goal for the Making Strides breast cancer walk in October. My family and friends have really stepped up and helped me out and, for that, I am so very, very grateful.

But…

I still have about 25% left to raise – really, just $240 left before I make my goal. And it’s only just September! So, this is where I beg and plead: PLEASE! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE – will you consider making a donation towards my goal? Will you PLEASE help me make sure there are more survivors like my aunt Carol? Pretty please with a cherry on top?

As for those other goals, I’ve decided to make some sub-deadlines in order to give myself a little push. So, I hereby declare that, by the start of 2011, I will have (a) made my Making Strides fund-raising goal, (b) gotten my tattoo, (c) gone snowboarding or at least made concrete, definitive plans to go snowboard, and (d) registered for a 5k race in the spring. Oh, and I will have started saving up the money I know I’ll need for those trips.

I’m counting on you, faithful readers, to hold me to my goals.

P.S. PLEASE??!?!?!

[Photo Credit: Getty Images]

Happy Monday, all. Hope you had a good weekend. Oh, me? What did I do this weekend? Well, I went to the gym, cleaned my apartment, mini-golfed with a friend. Oh, and I totally watched the Emmy Awards last night.

That’s right, folks. It is time to once again start up the most wonderful time of the year. Forget the start of school – it’s awards show season! I adore awards shows. I make a point to watch as many as I can and, as God as my witness, one day I will actually attend one in person - preferably as a nominee and/or winner for writing, direction, producing or generally just being awesome (because you know I totally already have my acceptance speech written).

But, Meredith (you may ask), aren’t award shows just an excuse for Hollywood to congratulate itself on being fantastic? YES. And that’s what’s awesome about them. Awards shows are like a special version of a reality competition, in which the pretty people are finally pitted against each other while us regular folk get to watch with glee – and mock.

Some people watch the ceremonies for the winners or to support their favorite actor / writer / singer-songwriter. Others watch for the fashion. Me? I watch for the acceptance speeches.

There’s nothing quite like a good acceptance speech: the faux look of surprise on the winner’s face, the struggle of the losers to hide their disappointment. The inevitable mention of God / spouse / dead parent, without whom they wouldn’t be here. Acceptance speeches have given us classic pop culture moments, like when crazy Italian Robert Benigni went wild and jumped on chairs, when Cuba Gooding Jr. freaked the frak out, or when Kayne totally ruined Taylor Swift’s day, oh the drama!

So in honor of this most holy awards show season, I present my favorite acceptance speeches:

• My Boston boys, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, who won for their screenplay for Good Will Hunting. It’s not as flashy as some of the others, but it’s hometown boys make good.
• Hugh Laurie – in 2006, when faced with the prospect of having to thank 100+ people in a short amount of time, he came up with a clever idea: pick three at random. Genius.
• Meryl Streep – oh, Meryl. She could read the phone book on a bare stage and I’d give her an award. She’s always delightful when she wins – and she wins a lot – but in 2007, she won for The Devil Wears Prada and gave won of my favorite speeches.
• Steve Carell - I think it’s shocking Michael Scott hasn’t won more awards, because when he does, he comes out with great stuff like this – a speech, “written” by his wife. Just brilliant. (Here’s the text because the video kind of sucks.)
• Speaking of Steve Carell, how about pairing him with Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert for sheer and total awesomeness? This is why they make awards shows. (And while we’re at it, let’s just put Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert together as default, since they’re so good together.)
• Any time Ricky Gervais gets on stage. Most of the time, he’s not winning an award. But he should – for best awards show appearances. Like this one at the Golden Globes. Or last year at the Emmys. Or when he made Steve Carell give his Emmy back.
• Lastly, all hail Tina Fey, Queen of the Awards Show Acceptances! Pretty much any time she wins, she comes up with something brilliant to say, but my absolute favorite was at the 2009 Golden Globes when she gloated about winning to all her haters. (She’s also really good at presenting awards too, especially when paired with Steve Martin.)

What are your favorite awards show speeches? Emmys, Oscars, or Golden Globes? Who do you root for?

[Photo Credit: Google Image Search]

It’s been just about three months since I started this crazy adventure and while I’ve certainly learned a lot, as this post will demonstrate, I honestly don’t know what to make of it.

Lesson #1 – I’m really bad at dating. Really bad.

I’m not good at playing little games or flirting or even pretending to have more interest in a subject or topic than I do. I’m not good at hiding what I feel, good or bad. I worry unnecessarily about everything and over-analyze things way too much. I have a tendency to be too honest and sometimes I catch myself right before I say something that might be construed the wrong way. Sometimes I wonder if maybe I’m too picky or that I’m staying involved longer than I should because I’m trying to make myself feel something that isn’t there. I don’t always have faith in my own instincts, when I’ve always trusted them before.

Lesson #2 – I’m too good at being independent.

I’m so used to doing things for myself and by myself that it’s harder than I realized to think of myself as part of a couple. I don’t think I ever truly realized how hard it is to be vulnerable, to open yourself up to another person. I’m much more private that I first thought, which is kind of ironic since I write a pretty personal blog. I also realized how inherently selfish I am, because it’s sometimes difficult for me to give up my time and my own schedule. Of course, this doesn’t mean I’m not willing or wanting to do it, especially when I know I really like someone and I have fun with him. It just surprised me to learn that I’m much more attached to my routine than I thought I was.

Lesson #3 – Online or off, it’s still all about first impressions.

Whether you meet in person or glance at a dating profile, you’re still making snap judgments about someone. I’ve met some really great people. I’ve also wanted to meet even more really great people but, for whatever reasons, they don’t respond to my messages. Maybe they don’t like my profile. Maybe they think my profile picture is goofy. I don’t know. Either way, they’re still judging me before they’ve even met me. I thought online dating would be different, but it’s really not. And the online brush-off hurts just as much as the real life one.

Lesson #4 – I am awesome.

The greatest thing to come from this adventure is a new-found confidence in myself and a greater desire to live my life the way I want. I’m so much better at expressing what it is I want now and I’m not apologizing for it anymore. Yeah, it sucks when guys won’t respond to my emails, but it’s their loss, not mine. In so many ways, I’ve never felt better about myself than I do now. And taking this chance is what led me there.

I still have three more months on my subscription, so I figure I’ll just see where things go. It can be an incredibly frustrating and glacially slow process, but I owe it to myself to let things happen as they’re supposed to. At the same time, I’m not stopping my life either. I’m not giving up anyone and anything to be available 24/7 and I’m not forgoing other activities with friends that may lead to meeting someone offline. I’m living, for what feels like the first time in a very long time.

[Photo Credit: Google Image Search]

I know I don’t have a large number of blog readers, but the ones I do have are smart, so I’m not even going to pretend: today’s post is a “Random Thoughts” post (an idea I stole from my blogging friend Kim) because my brain is currently on overload and I couldn’t think of anything thought-provoking or entertaining to post. I hope you’ll find these bits of information interesting nonetheless.

• This summer movie season has been a barren wasteland of exciting movies. I haven’t seen a movie since Eclipse, which doesn’t really mean much, but most of the time, I’ve found myself saying, “eh” every time I see a trailer. (In the interest of full disclosure, however, I haven’t seen Inception and I did want to see Despicable Me and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.) A handful of good movies in a long summer is bad news for Hollywood.
• I realized last week that it has been ten years this month since I started college. 10 years – that’s a long time. That’s a decade. It makes me feel incredibly old. If you had asked the 18-year-old me where I would be in 10 years, I gotta say, I probably wouldn’t have picked here. I don’t think I’m in the wrong place, but it’s kind of crazy to think about all that’s happened to get me here.
• I’ve been reading a couple of books that involve Greek mythology, so of course I’ve been thinking about what it would have been like to be a Greek god. I’ve decided that if I were a descendant of one of the Olympians, I’d want it to be Athena or Poseidon. But probably not both, obviously.
• Sometimes I watch the news or read the headlines online and I think to myself, “how can people be so stupid? How can they honestly listen to all that bullshit from people like Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck?” I try to understand, but that just usually makes my head hurt. I literally cannot comprehend how people can totally and completely lack any kind of common sense or awareness whatsoever. It’s mind-boggling to me.
• I’m over summer. I’m ready for autumn – falling leaves, cooler weather, an excuse to buy new clothes, the smell of fires burning in the air, everything apples, pumpkin carving, Thanksgiving. There is literally nothing I don’t love about the fall and though I don’t necessarily want time to speed up (it does just fine on its own), I’m really looking forward to getting rid of all this heat and humidity. (I’m a snow kind of girl, personally.)
• The reason my brain is on overload: Mockingjay! The book officially came out yesterday, but my pre-ordered copy miraculously arrived on Monday afternoon (I don’t know how or why, I don’t care how or why.) This is not the kind of book you can read and then put down. It stays with you. My mind is still trying to make sense of all that happened and I doubt I’m come to clarity any time soon. In fact, given my obsessive nature when it comes to things I am passionate about – like truly amazing books – I’ll probably pick a time and go back and re-read and entire series, start to end, even though I’ve technically already done that once this year. Go ahead, you can laugh at me.
• In my defense, I do realize how ridiculous, crazy and maybe even pathetic I sound sometimes.

What random thoughts are on your mind today? Any suggestions for helping me be more “normal”?

[Photo Credit: Google Image Search]

Tomorrow is a big day for me. I’m really excited about it. I’ve been looking forward to it for a long time. Tomorrow is the release day for Mockingjay, the third and final book in the wildly popular Hunger Games series.

Oh, what, you haven’t heard of The Hunger Games? Either I haven’t been doing my job as a literary evangelist or you’ve been living under a rock. The Hunger Games is one of – if not the – biggest book series since Harry Potter (yes, it’s even bigger than Twilight). It’s a thrilling and exciting dystopian adventure that has gained a lot of fans, including Stephen King himself. Oh yeah, and it’s technically a “YA” or “teen” book.

Just like Harry Potter, The Hunger Games transcends the limited, narrow age range determined, mostly arbitrarily, by publishers for the sake of marketing. It’s a huge publishing success with everyone ages 12 to 80. While I’m admittedly biased because I’m already a fan, it’s a book anyone can like, regardless of where it’s shelved in the bookstore or library.

One of my biggest pet peeves is getting stuck on or caught up with “age appropriateness.” I’ve written about this a lot more on my book blog, but it applies to more than just books. Suggested age ranges – for books, toys, activities, major life events, etc. – are there for a reason: to offer an approximation of the people who might get the most out of something.

But that doesn’t mean other people – those of us who fall outside the suggested age range – can’t also enjoy those things. Why should we be limited in what we can or “should” do simply based on age alone?

Somewhere along the way, for example, someone decided that older people can’t or wouldn’t enjoy swinging on a swing set. Well, screw that. Swings are fun. They make you feel like you’re flying. So what if I’m 28? I still like them, thankyouverymuch. I also still like board games just as much as I did when I was a kid – and, bonus! I have a lot more useless knowledge now, so I’m even better at the trivia games.

This defying of age ranges goes both ways, too. I know a lot of adults who tend to shy away from discussing “the tough stuff” with kids, when there are a lot of kids who could probably handle an in-depth philosophical or political discussion and might even really like it. My own parents never shied away from including me in so-called “big idea” topics, even when I didn’t always understand what was being said. As a result, I grew up with the ability to enjoy these kinds of discussions and with a greater awareness of the world around me. If my parents had stuck to “age appropriate” conversations, I might not be writing this post right now.

Yes, there are obviously some things that should be restricted based on age. But there are also a lot of gray areas in the world and we only do ourselves a disservice by limiting our chosen activities to those that are “age appropriate.” George Bush the Elder proves that every time he jumps out of an airplane on his birthday. (Hey, I may not like the guy’s politics, but you have to respect any octogenarian who willingly goes skydiving.)

People – most people, anyway – were given this wonderful gift known as common sense. Age ranges and/or limits may be helpful guidelines but I think we’re all a lot better off when we take those ranges/limits into consideration and then ultimately use our own common sense to decide what’s best for us, our friends and our families. Because I have a lot of fun playing tag with my nephews and talking theology with friends online – age appropriate or not.

[Photo Credit: Getty Images]

The time has come, my few and faithful readers, to make a confession.

*deep breath*

Hello, my name is Meredith and I’m a long-winded write-aholic.

Okay, so maybe that’s not a technical term, but the affliction is very, very real. Even after 18 months of graduate school with professors shouting “BE CONCISE” at every turn, it seems I still cannot write a short blog post. Sure, when my grades depended on it, I cut and slashed words and paragraphs with no mercy. When left to my own devices, I become long-winded and wordy.

I blame my father (sorry, dad). He’s the same way, maybe even more so, and has never written a short email, letter or academic paper in his life (and I have the emails to prove it). And since it does appear that I am genetically predisposed to being circumlocutory and verbose, I fear I will always be inclined to write more than a normal person should.

There are probably a lot of reasons why I’m so wordy. I know it’s partly because I best express myself through written words. More often than not, my fingers just fly across the keyboard and what’s there is there, wordy or not. It’s also partly because I have this obsession with making sure people know what I mean. I’m not fond of confusion and misunderstanding, so I write more to make sure everyone knows exactly where I’m coming from (kind of like right now). I try to anticipate criticisms or holes in my arguments and preemptively address them – it’s a control freak sort of thing. (How I ever got hooked on Twitter, I’ll never know because 140 characters is pretty much the antithesis of what I’m usually all about.)

But I’m going to try to be better from now on, starting with this post. Before I end up writing too much, I’m just going to stop.

(But just let me know if you need clarification on anything, because I can totally write more if you need it. Obviously.)

[Photo Credit: Getty Images]

At the end of Monday’s post,  I questioned the idea of changing and whether or not I really needed to change at all. My online friend Kim offered up this comment:

Maybe “change” just isn’t the right word for what you feel you have to do. Maybe it’s more like “evolve.”

And, of course, I knew she was right. It’s not necessarily about changing, but about evolving: I’m not becoming a different person or changing my original nature. I’m simply developing and gaining through experience. We’re nearly nine months into this year and when I look back on all that has happened so far, I see that it hasn’t been about changing myself or my life, but rather about taking control and becoming the person I want to be.

In a lot of ways, I’m still complaining, still worrying, still freaking out as much as I always have, but instead of just leaving things like that, now I’m also doing something to make things better.

While I’m sure there are plenty of people who might disagree, I’m actually a pretty passive person. For a very long time, I just waited for life to happen to me. For awhile, just the thought of the life I wanted was enough – but it’s not anymore. Dreams aren’t enough; now I feel the need to actually do something to try to make those dreams come true, even if I end up failing spectacularly.

It’s not just about the 15 Before 30 list or even the online dating adventures (though those do play a part). It’s about being an active participant in my own life.

If left my my own devices, I could easily curl up with a thousand books and never want to leave my apartment. But as idyllic as that may be, the realist-pragmatist part of me knows that I can’t do that. Life won’t magically give me what I want on my doorstep. I have to walk out that door myself and go chasing after it.

I can complain, worry, or freak out about something (as I am wont to do) or I can try to change it and find a solution. Even if it terrifies me, even when I know it will terrify me, I have to force myself to do it because the only other option is to not do anything at all. I’ve already done that for so much of my life. I’m tired of being passive.

I’m still the same person, at my core. I just think I’m starting to become a better version of the old me – a stronger Mer, a more self-confident Mer, a Mer who spends more time focusing on what’s good (in life and within myself) and does more to try to eliminate the negative and the doubts. A Mer who’s trying to be a better person for myself and myself alone – not for anyone else.

And so, Darwin (and Kim) were right – I’m evolving. I mean, yes, evolution does involve change to some degree. But I’m not becoming this radically different person. I’m just evolving into a better me – adapting over time to the world around me.

[Photo Credit: Getty Images]

A week or so ago, I wrote about the things I learned about myself as a direct result of meeting new people. I found it fascinating partly because I always assumed I knew myself very well, and partly because sometimes, it can be difficult to see yourself clearly. Other people can offer you a perspective that you alone can’t see no matter how hard you try. It occurred to me later: what about my family and friends? What, I wondered, do the people who know me the best see in me? Would they see the same things a stranger sees? Or would they see something else entirely?

So I asked them. I emailed about 15 or so friends and family, people I interact with a regular basis, and tasked them with choosing four descriptors to describe me; 11 people ultimately participated. I gave them a pool of 32 descriptors to choose from, to give some structure and limit options (making it easier to draw conclusions). I also only included positive attributes, because let’s face it – if you’re going to ask family and close friends to describe you in four words, do you really want to know what negative things they might say? Yeah, I didn’t either.

The descriptors with the highest modes were intelligent (7), perceptive (6) and thoughtful (5). There were also three responses each for: articulate, caring, creative, good listener, hard working and passionate. (As a side note, many people did express some frustration with having to choose only four; in some cases, they felt more than four descriptors could easily describe me, but since they had to limit their choices, they said they picked the four most dominant character traits.)

I sincerely doubt it comes as a shock to learn that some of the results surprised me. It was intriguing to see which people selected which descriptors – in some cases, I think I was surprised that Person X or Person Y saw me in a certain way. It was also truly fascinating to see how other people’s perceptions of me compare to my own self-perceptions.

One person selected “ambitious” as a choice and while I know (s)he didn’t mean it in a negative way, I did still have a strong gut reaction. My initial thought was, “Ambitious sounds so cut-throat. I’m not like that.” And therein lies the lesson of this experiment. The whole point of this little exercise was to learn more about myself. While I don’t think of myself as ambitious, someone else obvious does. And that’s okay. Besides, just because I perceive ambition in a negative way doesn’t mean it actually is a negative trait. Isn’t saying I’m ambitious just another way of saying I have goals and I go after them?

Interestingly, only two people consider me loyal, which is a trait I’ve always associated with myself and one I’ve actually been quite proud of. As I mentioned above, limiting the choices to four determined the final results, so it’s possible other people considered loyal as an option, but then chose a different (stronger?) trait in the end. Since it is a trait I always self-identified with, however, I did think it noteworthy that only two of 11 people ultimately chose it.

One of the most revealing aspects of this experiment was seeing which character traits my family and friends did not choose. While I had no expectation of being considered optimistic or easy-going (and would probably have laughed if someone chose either of those two), I’ll admit to being a little disappointed that no one chose funny or affectionate. I’m not criticizing the choices that were made, but there’s an interesting push and pull between how I want to come across to other people and how I actually come across. Despite all the good qualities other people see, it seems I’m still hoping or wishing that other parts of my personality were more visible – or existent at all.

I did this experiment on a whim, inspired in the moment. I could drive myself crazy, analyzing the results over and over until they no longer hold any meaning. Instead, I think maybe the lesson I need to take away from all of this is that people already like me as I am, for who I am. Maybe it’s only me who thinks I need to change. And, at the end of the day, if I do go changing at all, it shouldn’t be because I’m trying to please someone else or fit into another person’s ideal. I should only change if and when I decide I want to and only for myself.

Many thanks to everyone who participated. You can see all of the results here.

[Photo Credit: Getty Images]

Maybe you’ve heard, but the economy, it’s not so great these days and it’s about to get even worse. No, I’m not some sort of economic savant (numbers and me don’t get along so well); I’m just a trivia fiend, so you’ll just have to believe me when I say that today is one of those days that will end up costing the U.S. close to a billion dollars, due to absenteeism, travel cancellations, reduced retail therapy and even a few “sick” days.

It’s Friday the 13th and, for some people, that scares the bejesus out of them. If you got out of bed this morning, then you’re already doing better than those people who suffer from friggatriskaidekaphobia or even plain old triskaidekaphobia – fear of Friday the 13th or simply the fear of 13.

Maybe it’s because I’m one of the lucky ones, but I never saw much sense in being afraid of 13. It’s just a number, after all. One more than 12, one less than 14. I survived my 13th year of life just fine and nothing bad has ever happened to me on a 13th day. (Of course, what do I know? I may not be afraid of 13, but I’m terrified of clowns, needles and Republicans.) There are, however, people who literally will not leave their homes on the 13th day of the month, especially if it happens to fall on a Friday. So I decided to do a little research and figure out just what it is about 13 that freaks people out.

The superstition of Friday the 13th didn’t really exist before the 19th century and it is mostly thought to be a combination of two other superstitions: fear of 13 and fear of Friday. Both the number 13 and Friday were considered unlucky things and, when combined, created a day that is doubly unlucky.

There isn’t a lot of evidence to illuminate why Fridays, of all the days of the week, are supposedly more unlucky than other days, but that hasn’t stopped people from being superstitious. Travelers are warned not to start their journey on a Friday nor should sailors begin a voyage on a Friday. Christian Scripture suggests that Jesus was crucified on a Friday (hence, “Good” Friday) and, perhaps merely by coincidence, a number of national disasters have occurred on Fridays (Black Friday, anyone?).

The fear of 13 is more completely documented and may actually make more sense. In numerology, the number 12 represents completeness or wholeness, as indicated by the prevalence of 12 in society: months in a year, signs of the Zodiac, hours on a clock, Apostles of Jesus, Gods of Olympus, and many more. As a result, 13 is considered irregular, an aberration and therefore something to fear.

And, like all good superstitions, there are myths to back it up. In Norse mythology, there is a story that says Odin, a god, invited 11 friends to a party when Loki, the god of evil and turmoil, showed up, bringing the number to 13. Given Loki’s nature, the party did not go well. Meanwhile, in Christianity, there were 13 people at the Last Supper and one of those 13 diners (Judas) betrayed another, which led to his death (Jesus). In fact, Christianity was one of the driving forces behind the creation of the fear of 13. For many pagans, 13 is actually a lucky number (since there are 13 lunar cycles in a year); when Christian leaders set out to eradicate paganism, they portrayed pagan customs, including the popularity of the number 13, as evil and unlucky.

Fear of 13 is so widespread that many people find reasons to be scared when there actually are none. If you’re especially superstitious and find yourself in Paris for dinner, you can hire a quartorzieme, or a professional 14th guest so your party won’t be uneven (presumably, you could also kick someone out, but that just seems mean). Ever wonder why a “baker’s dozen” includes 13 bagels? It’s a dozen, plus one extra to offer the devil so he won’t spoil the other 12.

Unfortunately, fear of Friday and fear of 13 is kind of hard to escape. For starters, Fridays come around every seven days and, in most of the world, are working days. As for 13, well, it is all around us: cards in a suit, original U.S. colonies (and number of stripes on the U.S. flag), players on a rugby team, the age of adolescence, etc.

No matter how hard you try, you can’t avoid 13. If you don’t believe me, open your wallet, find a dollar bill, and start counting: 13 steps on the pyramid, 13 stars above the eagle, 13 arrows in one claw, 13 leaves on the olive branch in the other. Now that’s pretty creepy.

[Photo Credit: Getty Images]