Friday, October 13, 2006

Paraskevidekatriaphobia - Friday the 13th!!

Have any of you heard of that term before? Paraskevidekatriaphobia.
Apparently it means "a fear of the day Friday the 13". ha ha ha

These kind of fears, where a person is completely scared of something are called "phobias". Like for example many people are scared of heights. Thats called acrophobia.

This is for all of you who dont know what friday the 13 is all about:

Friday the 13th is considered a "bad luck" day in many countries around the world. According to many people, everything that should not happen, will happen on Friday the 13th.

On Wikipedia it states that:

"Strangely, there is evidence to suggest that Friday the 13th really is actually unlucky.
Psychologists have found that some people are especially likely to have accidents or fall ill on Friday the 13th. This has been attributed to such people feeling a heightened state of anxiety on that day. The Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in Asheville, North Carolina estimates that in the United States alone, $800 or $900 million is lost in business each Friday the 13th because people will not fly or do business they would normally do.

The date is also well-known in the
motorcycle (biker) community: since 1981, motorcycle enthusiasts and vendors gather every Friday the 13th in Port Dover, Ontario, Canada. This tradition started on November 13, 1981 by Chris Simons as a gathering of approximately 25 friends. The event has grown substantially, with an estimated 100,000 people attending in August 2004, as well as music bands, vendors, a bike show, etc.

In the
Spanish-speaking world, it is Tuesday the 13th (as well as Tuesdays in general) that brings bad luck; a proverb runs En martes, ni te cases ni te embarques (on Tuesday, neither get married nor start a journey)."

Interesting eh?
Anyways here's a list of other phobias u might find interesting:

Top 5 phobias
Fear of snakes (ophidiophobia)


Fear of giving a speech (glossophobia)


Fear of heights (acrophobia)


Fear of rodents (musophobia)


Fear of flying (aviophobia)


Others
Papaphobia—fear of the pope (hah yea right)

Scorodophobia—fear of garlic

Pteronophobia—fear of being tickled with feathers (huh?)

Ranidaphobia—fear of frogs

Philematophobia—fear of kissing (damn that must really suck)

Aulophobia—fear of flutes

Ostraconophobia—fear of shellfish

Graphophobia—fear of handwriting

Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia—fear of long words (seriously)

Blennophobia—fear of slime

Triskaidekaphobia- a phobia of the number thirteen (oh cmon now thats pathetic)

Gerontophobia—fear of old people

Peladophobia—fear of bald people

Geropeladophobia—fear of old, bald people (the best of both worlds!)

Phobophobia—fear of developing a fear (ure on your own on that one pal)

Well there ya go. Hope u have a great Friday the 13th!

Saturday, October 07, 2006

Big brother

I'm sure all those people who read my blog have brothers and sisters too. And I'm sure there always is some sibling fighting or rivalry of some sort. And I'm sure u always say it was "her fault" or "his fault".

But I'm gonna admit something. Its usually "my fault". Bwahahahahaha

Yes I have siblings too. I'm the eldest of three kids. The other two being my younger brother and sister. Now all of u who are first-born like me understand that we are given the power of greater age and experience over our younger siblings. Which gives us the privelige to mess around with them.

For example, I remember long ago when me and my brother were kids, I decided to tell him his "true origins":

Me: "Hey come here, u wanna know a secret?"
Him: "Ok what is it?"
Me: "You're not really human"
Him: "Huh?"
Me: "Yep. You heard me. You're not a real human like me"
Him: "But if I'm not human than what am I?"
Me: "You're..........................................a horse-mutant"
Him: "Horse-mutant?"
Me: "Thats right. You were born to a horse on this farm. The farmer went into the stable to see the new baby horse, but instead he saw you. You were all mutated and freaky. He got so disgusted that he took you and threw you up as hard as he could. You flew up far into the sky. Then you started falling down down down, until you finally landed in a hospital, and somehow got mistaken for my brother."
Him: "...................................Yeah right"
Me: "Right. I know I'm right"
Him: "Well if thats true then why hasnt mom told me anything about it?"
Me: "Thats 'cuz she doesnt want you to know anything about it. Go ahead and try asking her. She won't tell you"
Him: "Well......if I'm like a horse-mutant then how come I don't look like one"
Me: "Thats because you had plastic surgery"
Him: "Oh. Oh man."

Needless to say that kept him wondering for a couple of years until he grew mature enough to understand that his hands actually do not look like hooves.

Ahh fun years:p