Sunday, August 5, 2012

If third time’s a charm, I need to get myself to the nearest (Native American) casino

 

Y’know, I don’t consider myself a superstitious person (after all, it’s the 21st century and my downstairs neighbor & her mean black cat moved out over a year ago and I avoid ladders like the plague) but sometimes you can’t help but wonder if there’s something going on that science or Google can’t explain.

This morning (after looking outside and seeing all that rain and deciding I don’t want to go anywhere or do anything) I made some coffee & turned on my computer.  I was surprised to find an email from Pam at ‘Go Retro’ (a popular blogsite that focuses on our pop culture past, I’ve long been a fan; click here to see it); she let me know I won the “Mad Men Giveaway”!

Mad Men Cookbook

 

Soon, I’ll be making Chicken Tetrazzini, jello salad molds and martinis with the best of ‘em!

I know you’re probably shaking your head or rolling your eyes or both, and thinking “you won a lousy cookbook so what” but what makes this exciting (to me at least) is that I’ve never entered a contest until this past summer, when I entered two of ‘em, and just so happened to win that first one as well. 

386538e

 

 

The other contest was held by the good folks at Jacob Bromwell, who had a Summer BBQ Giveaway.  I won a fancy pair of barbecue tools, which I gave to my sister Shawn and her husband Jim.  They do a lot of backyard cooking, and feed me plenty  

 

So of course it’s just a random (but fortunate) coincidence, but at the same time, I can’t help but wonder if there’s more to it than that.  Y’see, I won that first contest not one week after I got myself a good luck talisman, I kid you not.

Shortly after the demise of my next-door neighbor in 404, the guy in 408 joked that someone must’ve put a curse on the floor of our building.  (In the past year alone, the guy in 401 set his arm on fire while cooking, the woman who lives in 402 passed away in her sleep, and the cute Afro-American girl in 403 ran out of here screaming when her computer monitor exploded.  And then there’s my neighbor’s heart attack in 404, and the bouncer in 405 who got carted off to jail for selling drugs--well, that was in 2010, but still).  Seeing how I’m in 406 & next in line apparently, I thought it wouldn’t hurt to hang a good luck charm on my front door.

But maybe this dream-catcher is doing more than stopping the bad spirits & other negatory juju from getting in here—for all I know, it’s sending some good luck my way too!

I think the next contest I enter will be the HGTV Dream House Giveaway, or anything that involves a truckload of cash.  In the meantime, thanks again Pam!

10 comments:

  1. Congrats on the win Doug! :) And you make sure that dream catcher stays on that door young man or move to another floor! I love reading your blog and need you intact to ensure that my blog reading enjoyment continues. :P

    I love dream catchers. I have one too. And yes, keep entering those contests. Lots of fun, especially when you win. My most treasured win from a contest entry was a Brady Bunch calendar—with lots of lovely pics.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey, thanks Chelly! Haha, you're very kind, yes I plan on leaving that dreamcatcher there for a LONG time :)

    As for that Brady Bunch calendar you won, I can't imagine a person more deserving--I sure would love to see some pics of it on YOUR blog sometime. Did you hear that CBS just recently gave the go-ahead for a revamp of the Bradys?

    Well, thanks again for your warm words Chelly!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Glad I could make you chuckle Doug! Thanks for your kind words. :) I did indeed hear about that Brady revamp. I'm not sure how I feel about it, to be honest. I love anything Brady but I wonder if tinkering with a pop culture phenomenon will make it just as fun or worse. The Bradys are a brand that will never fade it seems. Then again, I wasn't sure about a modern Sherlock Holmes series but goodness after watching it (BBC), am I ever addicted to it. I guess I could give a Brady redo a shot. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm surprised you've had no solicitations for an Apachedug Cookbook, Doug.

    Maybe you could could hang a machete next to that dream catcher...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hahahaha!! Andrew, glad to hear from you, bite and all--and yes, I know I'm a big-time carniwhore, I have no shame :)

    Thanks for the chuckle, sir!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Congrats again and thanks for the blog mention, Doug! As the old saying goes, you can't win if you don't play! I agree with Chelly that the dreamcatcher should stay within your site. Just so you know, not all black cats are mean. My parents and I took in a black stray cat once that would have been considered feral--he'd never had a home and was pretty much a wild man at first...but once he realized he was in a safe place with people who thought the world of him and we got him taken care of at the vet, he turned into the sweetest, friendliest cat you could ever imagine! Also, one of the kittens we're keeping is black. I was disheartened to recently learn that black and tuxedo cats are the least likely to get adopted--some people still believe the stigma that they cause bad luck.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hey Pam, thanks for your response here (and for the cool giveaway)! As for what you recently learned about black cats being rejected from adoption because of silly superstitions, what a real shame. (I'm a cat lover too, the only reason I don't have one now is because the rules in my apt building about pets.) That one I mentioned in my blog here belonged to a former resident on the floor below me (no one had the heart to report the older lady who owned her) and Mr.Blackwell (the cat's name) must've been about 100 years old & cranky as hell; but I still had a soft spot in my heart for him. Thanks again Pam!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ha ha, cute name, Mr. Blackwell! I'm glad that no one snitched on the old lady.

    ReplyDelete
  9. P.S. UGH--they're remaking The Brady Bunch?? That's just nuts. I predict it'll flop. Part of the reason TBB was a hit and enduring pop culture classic is because it aired during the 70s. Will the new Brady Bunch be listening to hip hop/rap instead of Davy Jones, and texting/tweeting? Like I said, ugh!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Haha--I heard about that remake too, a couple weeks ago. Well Pam, nothing will ever replace the magic of the original Bunch but I plan to give it a shot--maybe they'll have some of the original cast as guest stars :)

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by. I'm glad to hear from you and appreciate the time you take to comment.