Why Friday the 13th is a Special Day for Me

I love Friday the 13th. I always have. I was born very late at night on Thursday the 12th of January, just about 15 minutes shy of Friday the 13th. My family was so worried that I would come on Friday the 13th, part of me wishes that I had.

Tradition holds the number 13 as an unlucky number. Friday the 13th is supposed to be a very unlucky day. I however, LOVE it. It goes back to the first Friday the 13th that I can remember, in high school. I recognized that it was Friday the 13th, and wondered if I would have a bad day, so I went into the day with the intention of observing what kind of day it would be. It turned out to be an amazing day, where everything went my way. Absolutely everything. I was amazed at what a great day I had. Since that time, I continued to observe what kind of day I would have on Friday the 13th, and the result has always been the same: on Fridays the 13th, I have amazing luck. It is as if I have drunk that potion from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (Felix Felicis or something like that). Everything just always goes my way. Maybe there is something to that, and maybe not. Maybe it is just my attitude about the day that make things so grand. When asked about it, I often joke that “there must be balance in the universe” so when there is so much bad luck on that day, all of the good luck comes to me.

I love that my Mom knows this about me too. She alone is the person who wishes me a happy Friday the 13th whenever it happens. It really is like a holiday for me, and I always try to make it a great day.

Today is no different. I am headed home after a long, but fantastic week in Detroit, Michigan, to see my family and get some rest. I will stop at the airport before leaving it to apply for my TSA pre check, to expedite the trip through security in the future, then the Lamb family is coming into town tonight, so it should be a good time.

Happy Friday the 13th everyone!

So far I got window seats on both flights home, the tradition continues...

Halloween Memes

Those picture memes on the internet are a guilty pleasure of mine. I love seeing what witty thing someone will throw up on a picture of Willy Wonka, or that poor crying lady. I'll admit that the payout is small. Usually it takes about 100 pictures to find 1 or 2 that will make me laugh, but at least 50 that make me regret looking. Like I said GUITLY PLEASURE.

Anywho... I decided to break one of my rules, to not jump on the "I'm going to make a meme" bandwagon, and I'm going to put my own words on 3 of my favorite, played-out, picture memes. It's ok this time though, because I'm dressing them up for Halloween. Enjoy nerds!

You Have Chosen... Wisely.

The votes are in, and you have chosen what I will look like for the next 24 hours. That's Right, I'm gonna go shave right now. So let's run through the choices. I'm going to leave out any choice that didn't get any votes, and just show the ones that got 1 or more votes. Here are the choices:

And Here are the results:

The winner is "Friendly Mutton Chops." Thank you voters, I am so glad that "Rap Industry Standard didn't win.

Vote On My Face!!!

Let me present you with exhibit A:

I call him: Josh With a Beard.

Well, Josh With a Beard must leave us now. He and his Beard have had some great times this winter (a future blog post will discuss that), but circumstances have come along that require the removal of the Beard. I'm totally cool with that, a Beard should be enjoyed sporadically. How can you know the joy of having a beard, if you are never asked to not have one? You can't. Thankfully the beard trimmer that my wife bought me for Christmas converts to a nose hair trimmer, so I will still get PLENTY of use from it.

Now on to the point of this post. My Beard is leaving, and half the fun of growing a beard is doing something fun with it as you shave it off. So I offer you the opportunity to decide what I'm going to do to my face. I will be shaving my beard off on Thursday night, which is also the night I will be going out to eat with my family for my birthday. Below there is a link to a vote on my face. Whichever beard style gets the most votes will determine what I look like when I go out to eat with my family, and will become my profile pic on facebook. So click THIS LINK, vote, determine my fate! Oh, and please keep it honest, don't go vote more than once, both my Beard and I would be extremely disappointed in you for that.

Mirror, Mirror

Show of hands, how many of you have ever stood in front of a mirror and given yourself a little pep talk? Maybe it went a little something like this:


Do they work for you guys? Maybe mine do a little. Mostly, I just look at my reflection, get geared up, and laugh at myself. That makes me feel loads better. As much as I could stand there and say, "Yeah man, you got this," or "You DA MAN brah. You. DA. MAN." Praise is always more effective when it comes from someone else. A friend of mine will soon move across the country, this prompted me to make a parting gift that would serve as a constant reminder of what I thought of said friend.

I call it, "Mirror, Mirror."

Behold the making thereof:

First, you take a mirror:

The you cut a stencil out of vinyl to stick to the mirror, I practiced on paper first to get it right:

Next, apply the vinyl stencils to the mirror, then cover the stencil area generously with glass etching cream. Do not get it anywhere else, or it will etch any glass it touches:

Wait about 5 minutes, then wash the cream off quickly with flowing water, peal off the stencils, and voila:

Here's an action shot, enjoy: