Really?!

Friday the 13th Prompts Some Americans Not to Get Out of Bed

Today is the only Friday the 13th of 2008, a day whose ties to bad luck prompts some Americans not to get out of bed or leave home.

Fear of Friday the 13th, known as paraskevidekatriaphobia, affects 17 million to 21 million Americans, according to Donald Dossey, author of "Holiday Folklore, Phobias and Fun." Symptoms range from mild anxiety and a nagging sense of doom to full blown panic attacks, Dossey said.

Some believe the Friday the 13th superstition has its origin in Norse mythology. In one story, the evil god Loki is said to have crashed a party with 12 guests and tricked the blind god Hod into killing his brother Balder, the god of light, joy and reconciliation.

Also according to Norse mythology, it was the Vikings who decided a hangman's noose should have 13 loops.

Others believe Friday the 13th has origins in Christianity. Jesus was supposedly crucified on a Friday, and there were 13 men at the Last Supper, Jesus and his 12 disciples.

More here.

Comeback Kids

Wow. Great second half showing Celtics! Down by 22 in 1st quarter, down by 24 in 2nd quarter, down by 20 in the 3rd and COMING BACK TO WIN! Celtics up 3-1!!

Inspired Celtics storm back to push Lakers to brink of elimination

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- This was how the Boston Celtics of yesteryear -- Cous and Russell and Bird and Hondo and the Chief -- would do it. Digging deep, they fought for every loose ball, scrapping with grit and guts, champions clad in green.

These Celtics are no different.

And they are just one win from another NBA title.

"Yeah," Kevin Garnett said. "I can taste it."

In their comeback season, Boston saved its biggest one of all for the finals.

The Celtics rallied from a 24-point deficit and beat the Los Angeles Lakers 97-91 on Thursday night to take a commanding 3-1 lead in this history-rich series and move within one victory of a 17th championship that seemed impossible a year ago.

More on the game here.

Ouch

Surgeons: Man's 'Tumor' Turned Out to Be 25-Year-Old Towel

Surgeons in Japan thought they were removing a tumor from a 49-year-old man who was suffering from abdominal pain in late May.

Instead, they found a 25-year-old surgical towel that had crumpled into what looked like a softball-shaped tumor, Agence France-Presse reported.

The patient apparently had been carrying the cloth since 1983, when surgeons left it in him after minor ulcer surgery.

He went to Asahi General Hospital in late May after suffering pain. Doctors, at the time, found what they believed to be an 8-centimeter tumor.

According to an Asahi General Hospital spokesman: "The towel was greenish-blue although we are not sure about its original color."

If I ever have surgery, I am going to make sure the doctors take inventory of everything and make sure all of their stuff is OUT of me before they close me up...

21%

I'm 21% of the way to my goal... Would you like to help??

Dear Friends,

Last year I participated in the AFSP's 2007 Out of the Darkness Community Walk and once this year's information was announced I made sure to be one of the first to sign up. I hope to raise even more funds for AFSP this year and hopefully with your help will be able to meet my higher goal.

I will be joining with thousands of people nationwide this fall to walk in AFSP's 2008 Out of the Darkness Community Walk to benefit the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. I would appreciate any support that you give me for this worthwhile cause.

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is at the forefront of research, education and prevention initiatives designed to reduce loss of life from suicide. With more than 32,000 lives lost each year in the U.S. and over one million worldwide, the importance of AFSP's mission has never been greater, nor our work more urgent.

I hope you will consider supporting my participation in this event. Any contribution will help the work of AFSP, and all donations are 100% tax deductible.

Donating online is safe and easy! To make an online donation please go to the AFSP Community Walk site here (http://www.outofthedarkness.org/) and search for my name(Carlee Padot) in the Participant field on the left hand side of the page. You can then click the "Support This Participant" button on the page.

Thank you for considering donating to this wonderful cause!

Carlee

Support Me!

Repairing the Ocean

Artificial Reef is Built After San Onofre Nuclear Plant Damages Kelp Beds

A $40 million, 150-acre artificial reef being built off San Clemente is one of the most advanced anywhere, thanks to Southern California Edison, which is bankrolling the work to replace kelp beds damaged by the San Onofre nuclear plant, it was reported Friday.

Crews have begun carefully dumping boulders into about 50 feet of water to anchor what marine biologists hope will grow into a kelp forest, which would shelter fish and other creatures just south of the oceanfront nuclear-powered electricity generating station, the Los Angeles Times reported.

"You're creating an . . . entire, complex marine ecosystem simply by laying down the foundation for the primary producers, the giant kelp," said David Kay, Edison's manager of environmental projects, told the newspaper.

More info here.

Unicorns!

'Unicorn' deer is found in Italian preserve
1-year-old Roe 'Unicorn' was born in captivity in research center's park

ROME - A deer with a single horn in the center of its head — much like the fabled, mythical unicorn — has been spotted in a nature preserve in Italy, park officials said Wednesday.

"This is fantasy becoming reality," Gilberto Tozzi, director of the Center of Natural Sciences in Prato, told The Associated Press. "The unicorn has always been a mythological animal."

The 1-year-old Roe Deer — nicknamed "Unicorn" — was born in captivity in the research center's park in the Tuscan town of Prato, near Florence, Tozzi said.

More of the article here.

Scrumptious Salad

So last night I went to pick up groceries. I have been getting pretty sick on my menu. Normally I will have a cup of yogurt in the morning (around 930 or so), a PB&J for lunch (around noon) and then about a cup of carrots (I love carrots) (around 2:30 or so). I will switch up my dinners or course, but my lunches have pretty much been the same for about 6 months now. I looked in my cupboard and noticed I had a lot of canned veggies (corn, peas, beans, etc) and figured that I would get some spring mix and make myself a couple big salads for lunch this week.

Boy did I hit the jackpot! So last night when I got home I made sure to get everything ready (draining the corn, rinsing the kidney beans, chopping the carrots, etc) so this morning all I had to do with throw it in a Tupperware container and go. It was SCRUM-DIDDLY-UMPTIOUS!!

Today my salad had: Spring mix, Mushrooms, Corn, Kidney Beans, Baby Carrots and some American Cheese. I bought I new bottle of Honey Mustard Dressing (that can also be used as a marinade). YUM-MY! I think tomorrow I will add in some peas, maybe some garbanzo beans, who knows... Guess we will just go back in the pantry and see what else I can find :). Anyway, all that to say that it doesn't need to take a lot of money, prep time, or work to make a HUGE, TASTY salad. (PS I don't like tomatoes in the first place, but even if I did most places, including TACO BELL, hehe, are taking them off the shelves because of the salmonella problems).