Word of the Day: Triskaidekaphobia

Hello everyone!  Well, it is a beautiful day outside and I am so very envious of all the people who will be able to spend the day outdoors and enjoy this sunny day.  I really need to get out there and join them, but duty calls and work is beginning to pile up.  So I will tighten my belt and get busy.  Maybe if I am diligent I will complete what needs to be done right away and get to spend some time in the sun.

With that being said, let’s get today’s word of the day out of the way.  Ooooh!!! I am such a Dr. Seuss wanna be… Alright, enough of that; it is serious business time.  Well, as much as I can hope to be serious…

Today’s word of the day comes to us from one of my younger readers.  Hadley P has submitted the word triskaidekaphobia.  Whew!...  Is that a mouth full or what?  Well, it is pretty obvious that Hadley has stumped me with this one.  I have no idea what the definition of this word is.  I can speculate that it is a fear of some sort because of the phobia on the end, but I will have to defer to the online source to get a true understanding of the word.

Today’s definition of the word triskaidekaphobia comes to us from the online source- www.dictionary.reference.com

tris-kai-dek-a-pho-bi-a   [tris-kahy-dek-uh-foh-bee-uh, tris-kuh-]

-noun
fear or a phobia concerning the number 13.

Okay!  That is just a little strange.  I can honestly say that I have never heard of such a fear. Then again, I am sure that there are several fears that I am unaware of.  Yet, who takes the time to name them?  Why not just say I have a fear of the number 13?  How do we get these strange words and who is making them?  If anyone has the answer, let me know.  I really would be interested in hearing how one comes to the determination that the letters placed together for this word gives us that specific definition.  It is probably something as simple as triskaideka being the Latin word for thirteen.  Anyhow, give me your thoughts.

That is all for now and I would like to say thank you to Hadley for such a great word.  Until next time, remember to Read On!!!

H.R. Phillips

Contagion Outbreak!

Contagion Outbreak is a convention with some very interesting and wonderful creatures. It was exactly what this Sci-fi author, Treky lover and other worldly believer needed to fill her weekend.  

Those who walked among us fall into the most creative of categories.  Not only could you see Starfleet Officer Captain Janeway walking among the horde of zombies that continually passed by in search of lord knows what, but you could also see a copious number of Star Wars Storm Troopers as well.  Darth Vader made an appearance, along with Han Solo and, of course, you could not have a Sci-fi convention without the infamous Captain Kirk… It was quite an event and I have to say for a first in the Midwest, it was done rather well.  Kudos to the staff and the Contagion Outbreak Hosts; you did a great job.  I look forward to attending next year…

Since we are talking about staff, I have to say a heartfelt thank you to Miss Hannah D and Shelby B for their great assistance during the Con.  You girls made it fun for everyone who came to the booth.  Both the young and old found you entertaining and fun to be around.  I do believe that is why we always had such a large crowd surrounding our booth.  Or could it be that I am just that good?  Yeah, it is a great book and I have the best fans out there.  Thanks to you all.

So that I don’t forget one of the other very important staff who attended the con with me, I have to say once again thank you to my son, Dylan.  When he found out that we would be attending a Sci-Fi Con for a book signing, he was very excited to help out.  Being his mother and knowing exactly how his mind works most of the time, I did not delude myself into thinking that he would really be there to help.  Yet, he proved me wrong.  He was a huge help.  Sure he would suddenly go missing in the middle of a growing crowd and would not show up for some time, but in retrospect I think it all worked out well.  He was in heaven with the Game Stop and Game On booths that were participating in the event.  He also was able to learn how to make his own Halo Spartan soldier costume from scratch.  Which is exactly what the mother of a dedicated gamer wants to see; activity other than sitting in front of the TV screen with the option of possibly getting a little dirty.

Did I mention there were several gamers there as well?  Along with a few Halo characters like the Spartan Soldiers, there was also a few Castle Crashers who joined in the fun.  And for the older Sci-Fi generation, even the table top Dungeons and Dragons game was represented though out the Con.  

All in all, it was a wonderful time and I was honored to say I participated in the first and almost assuredly to be annual event.  

Make sure you check out the pictures that I will be posting shortly on the website and you can see for yourself just how impressive this Con was…

That is all for now tomorrow we will be back on track with the word of the day.  So until then remember to pick up a book and Read On!!!  

H.R. Phillips