Today is Friday the 13th... Considered to be a day of bad luck in many cultures. To counteract any thoughts of "bad luck", I thought I'd post about GOOD LUCK.

A good friend, Michelle Jorge (who lived in Rochester while attending RIT), wrote a gorgeous little book all about good luck charms, "O Livro Dos Amuletos".

Small problem, it is in Portuguese - she is from Brazil - but her photography breaks the language barrier. (Since visiting her last in Brazil, she has also done more books - including "O Livro das Crendices" - about omens and superstitions, which is also very fitting for today).

She gave me a copy as a Christmas present back when I was visiting Brazil for her sister Daniela's wedding (my very good friend, also an RIT grad, and a former Kodak employee). Mikha gave me the book along with some "Fitinha do Bonfim" - Brazilian good luck ribbons (as seen in the picture above) used to make wishes come true. You tie the ribbon around your wrist (or ankle) with three knots, making a wish for each knot. When the ribbon falls off, the wishes will come true. I tied one, but am saving the other two. I don't remember my wishes or if they came true, but I can tell you this - that trip to Brazil was a dream come true!

I also recently received a similar gift from Jenny, an adorable bracelet, that I tied on and it promptly fell off later that day. She, meanwhile, still has hers on a month later... pieces are falling off, but not the bracelet. We believe that her wishes might come true in phases...

So back to the book... it has amulets from many different cultures, including one I am very familiar with and may or may not have had one tied to my rollerskates back in 7th grade - the Rabbit's Foot-

Back then I was oblivious to the true horror behind the idea of a severed animal foot... now, older and wiser, I do not, nor would I ever again, own a Rabbit's Foot. I love the commercial where the rabbits get their feet back. If only-

I also have a Japanese good luck charm sitting on my desk - a Maneki Neko, or "Beckoning Cat" - believed to bring good luck to the owner.

I am afraid to say if it is working because I fear that if I say it out loud, it will be enough to jinx the luck away in an instant. Kind of like the Sports Announcer's Curse, where moments after they say, "[insert athlete's name here] is on his way to a perfect 10 routine", the guy falls off the Pommel Horse and his Olympic dreams are shattered- This happens too often to be coincidence (oops, my superstitions are showing).

So today, may a ladybug land on your shoulder while you are finding a four leaf clover just as a Boeing 777 flies overhead and a shooting star shines behind it.

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