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Community Corner

Friday the 13th Superstition Survival Guide

Today is the lone Friday the 13th of 2011, so we wanted to help ensure the safety of Encino residents with this handy guide to surviving common superstitions.

Friday the 13th is considered one of the unluckiest days on the calendar. We want to hear about your superstitions and ! Tell us in the comments.

Look in a broken mirror and get 7 years of bad luck
You probably have at least one crafty friend. Tell her you have a great reflective surface in plenty of small pieces that she can use for mosaics and jewelry—all free—as long as she gathers up the shattered pieces herself. Once the broken mirror is safely out of your house, stop by or the to pick up a lucky new one.

Avoid black cats
If you happen to own a black cat, you could either lock it in a closet all day and accept the destruction of everything inside or take your pet to . Keep your kitty out of the house while she gets a cut, trim and cleaning.

Don’t walk under a ladder
This superstition seems fairly practical. Who wants to be responsible for knocking a painter off his perch anyway? Instead of walking under the ladder, perhaps you should go to and buy yourself a new pair of sneakers to help you run around the ladder.

Step on a crack and break your mother’s back
If you really love your mom, this spring you’ll stop by the Home Depot in Van Nuys for some caulk and cement to repair the broken sidewalk leading to your front door.

Stay in bed all day and have good luck for a year
If you want to hedge your bets, you can always call in sick to work on Friday the 13th and spend the day in bed watching a Friday the 13th movie marathon. Beware: changing sheets on Friday the 13th is supposed to bring bad luck. So maybe you should spend the night on your futon instead. New mattresses are supposed to bring good luck, so bring home something new to sleep on from .

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