Black Cats, Broken Mirrors and Ladders! Oh My!

Posted on June 13, 2014 by Crashing Nightingale

If you’re a superstitious person, I would imagine today is the day you are avoiding black cats walking in front of your path, ladders, umbrellas indoors and a myriad of other superstitious things we avoid on Friday the 13th. Or maybe you’re not but you’d partake in a Friday the 13th marathon with Mr. Voorhies just to get your kicks for the day.

I do admit, I am a little superstitious. But I’m into the strange and weird so I enjoy the fun of it mostly. I use to be a waitress and if I was cleaning a table and a salt shaker spilled over, I had to throw a little bit over my shoulder. I still do it today but it occurred, as expected, much more often working in the restaurant industry. I’m also a horror movie fan and the Friday the 13th films have always been my favorite classic horror slasher flicks.

There is only one day in the calendar year in 2014 the 13th falls on and it’s today, June 13th. In 2015 it will occur three times. So make sure you stock up on your luck for next year 🙂

For those that fear the date, they are considered Paraskevidekatriaphobic (Go to NPR’s link for pronunciation). Then there are those that consider the fear of this date to be quite ridiculous and so silly that there was a group of Chicago businessmen that formed the Anti-Superstition Society of Chicago in the early 1940s. These gentlemen had more of a fun time with Friday the 13th instead of fearing it. Life magazine documented their jolly event to show the world these men were not afraid of any black cats or crossing under any ladders.

Below is how Life magazine explained the meeting in their January 6, 1941 issue:

At 6:13 p.m. on Friday, the 13th of December, 169 audacious and irreverent gentlemen sat down to dine at 13 tables in Room 13 of the Merchants & Manufacturers Club of Chicago. Each table seated 13. Upon each rested an open umbrella, a bottle of bourbon and 13 copies of a poem called The Harlot. The speaker’s table was strewn with horseshoes, old keys, old shoes, mirrors and cardboard black cats. Before it reposed an open coffin with 13 candles. The occasion was the 13th Anniversary Jinx-Jabbing Jamboree and Dinner of the Anti-Superstition Society of Chicago … [which] meets regularly on Friday the 13th. (There have been 13 Friday the 13th’s in the last eight years.) Behind the ribaldry of its recurrent dinners lies the very sound thesis that superstition annually costs this country an inexcusable sum of time and money. People postpone trips because of mirrors and cats. Businessmen defer decisions because of calendrical coincidences.

To combat these persistent bogies, the Society has assembled much counter-evidence. According to mathematical laws of probability, one of 13 guests of different ages at any dinner party may very well die within a year. But the ratio of probability will soar even higher if 14 guests attend. One corpse out of 18 is a 50-to-50 bet.

Happy Friday the 13th Readers and remember…don’t go swimming in the lake, don’t have sex, don’t do drugs, don’t go out, don’t slip and fall in front of the killer and certainly don’t say, “I’ll be right back!” 😉

Sweet Chum O’ Mine

Posted on June 6, 2014 by Crashing Nightingale

They say laughter is the best medicine. Well I believe best friends are the fountain of youth because I can’t help but have the best time when I’m around my friends.

June 8th is National Best Friends day and what a wonderful day it is. Buddy, pal, chum, girlfriend, gal pal, “brother from another mother,” whatever you call your best friend, celebrate the day that is dedicated to your friendship. I don’t know about you but I consider my close friends like family. They know just as much, if not more, about me than a family member.

Best friends come in all forms: male, female and let’s not forget our furry friends. Sometimes we even marry our best friends, which is how I feel about my husband. A best friend can be someone you’re related to or not; as sometimes those that aren’t are just as much blood-related as those that are. They are our “partners in crime,” the one that stands by our sides through thick-and-thin. We acquire friends in various ways and times in our lives. At times I have met someone who then becomes my friend and I think, “Where have you been all this time?” I feel as though I’ve known them all my life.

I hold my friendships dear to my heart and don’t know how I’ve gotten through life without them. They’ve been there when I needed someone to listen, give me advice or just let me vent. Through the fun times and the tough times they’ve held my hand. We experience life with them, sometimes doing things we’d never do on our own. They bring out the best in us. Time just flies when you’re hanging out with your best friend or friends. They put a smile on our face and define the phrase, “good times.” They make our hearts swell with love and delight.

I’ve had many great adventures with friends and some great conversations. Pondering and questioning life or pushing the limits that we encounter. I can’t wait to look back at the end of my life and reminiscence on the fun times I’ve had with all my best friends. They pick us up when we’re down, keep a smile on our face and are usually our saving grace from any madness we encounter. We share our lives with them and they share theirs. They are the instant cure for the blues. Don’t you just love hanging out with your best pal and saying, “Remember when…..”

They are in hundreds of photos as we capture the moments that have brought us closer together and what made us best buddies in the first place. They celebrate with us our milestones and are by our side during our setbacks. They are our therapist and sometimes we must think they hold telepathic powers as it seems you can just look at your best friend and you both know what each other are thinking. Even our pups are called “man’s best friend.”

So celebrate the day, June 8th, that is dedicated to a person or animal that brings joy into your life. I know I will be 🙂

It is the friends you can call up at 4 a.m. that matter. ~Marlene Dietrich

What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies. ~Aristotle

Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive. ~Anaïs Nin

Motherly Love

Posted on May 11, 2014 by Crashing Nightingale

Today is the day we celebrate the women that brought us into this world and/or raised us to be who we are. Whether the lady in your life is your biological mother, stepmother, a friend that has been like a mother, today is the day we think about them.

I’m fortunate that my mom is here as I know some do not have their mothers with them today. My mom is one of those people because her mother passed away when she was 25. It dawned on me today that my mom has spent 36 mother’s days without her her. It made me cherish the fact that I have celebrated 31 mother’s days with my mom and hope to spend many more.

This year we celebrate 100 years of giving thanks to the mothers in our lives. Mother’s Day was proclaimed on May 9, 1914 by President Woodrow Wilson. He asked Americans to give a public “thank you” on that day to their mothers and all mothers. See President Wilson below with his wife and daughters in 1912.

Recently I helped my mom clean out her garage and one would think this was a daunting chore that no one wants to volunteer for. But fortunately for me, my mom’s garage was filled with so much of my family history. I found so many family photos that it was somewhat overwhelming. So many pictures of family members captured in those brief moments of time. I took home with me many of them which I am sharing here. I truly cherish family photos. They are my most prized possession.

Below are some of the photos I found:

My great-grandmother, Kate, with my grandfather. Words cannot describe how much this photo warms my heart.

My grandmother, Sue, holding my mother when she was a baby in 1952.

My paternal grandmother, also named Sue. She is my only living grandparent.

My mother is pregnant with me in the two top photos. My mom holding me on New Year’s Day in 1983 in the last photo.

I hope you enjoyed your mother’s day whether you are a mother of a two-legged or four-legged being 🙂 Happy Mother’s Day to you!

The Saint & Sinner: A vintage-inspired photo shoot with And How! Imaging

Posted on March 15, 2014 by Crashing Nightingale

I love photography. I love admiring the images others create and I enjoy creating images in front of the camera. I think the camera is one the best inventions. To capture our moments in time is such a beautiful thing to me.

Last month my husband and I had the pleasure of creating a vintage-inspired photo shoot with the lovely folks of And How! Imaging. And How! Imaging is Amy and Charles Rouyer who are two very creative people. Their work ranges from pin ups, portraits, conceptual, events, bands and musicians, girls + cars and weddings. They create some great photo shoots and capture the subjects of their photo shoots well. Our inspiration was the 1920s and we just took it from there. When we arrived they had many props and a great setting for us to come up with a theme. I wore a black dress from the 1920s that I had picked up on our trip to Virginia. My husband wore his jazz age-inspired suit. We sat on a church pew, picked up an old, old bible and posed in front of many items that hark back to this time. My husband, being the silly person he normally is, took a few naughty shots. It reminded me of the purity and conservative facade people gave during this time in history, yet, underneath it all, something else could be lurking. Me looking like a saint and him looking like a sinner. 😉 It was a lot of fun and I definitely recommend booking a photo shoot with them. They are great people to work with. Go ahead, check out what I’m talking about ☞ And How! Imaging.

Below are the photos from our photo shoot.

Farewell 2013

Posted on December 31, 2013 by Crashing Nightingale

It’s here, it’s here! One of my favorite times of the year! I get excited about New Year’s Eve. Why, you say? Not because I want to kick the previous year to the curb and not because I’m armed and ready with tons of resolutions that I could have started any time during the year. Because I’ve never been shy to embrace something new. A new year signals just that, a new year. Another year in my life and another year to spend it exploring life.

Change and embracing something new has never been a stranger to me. I’ve lived in two different states, several different cities, attended two elementary schools, a separate middle school, two different high schools and three colleges. I was never afraid to face what was ahead during each stage of my life. I’m not afraid of getting older, I’m just afraid I’ll get older and regret all the opporunities I allowed to slip by. I’m big on self-reflection too. Which this time of year seems to invoke that as well. I think it’s good to reflect on what I’ve done, what I haven’t done and what I want to do. Doing this helps me see what is working and what isn’t working in my life. I’ve never been someone that held on to dead weight. Whatever that may be. And once I realized it was dead weight, I politely walked away from it, not causing a scene, and didn’t look back. Why continue to allow things in your life that make you unhappy? Life is way too precious and there are so many things or people in the world that will bring happiness.

So I hope you let go of 2013 and close this year’s chapter in your life. Don’t reflect on what was bad or didn’t work, just learn from it and take what you learn into 2014.

~ * Best wishes for a happy new year! * ~ CN