Crossing her fingers.

Earlier this week, I thought to myself, "Stephanie is crossing her fingers." Maybe grad school really is making me think more critically, because that thought led to these:

1. I think in [third person] Facebook statuses. I've done this for a long time now, but every once in awhile, the ridiculousness of it hits me. Really? Facebook has changed the way I think? That's a little scary to me.

Stephanie is really tired but she is watching Annie on ABC Family instead of going to sleep.

Stephanie thinks singing angry girl songs on Wii karaoke can right many wrongs.

Stephanie hopes her group won't wait until 11:48 pm Sunday night to complete and submit their project.

Stephanie made a big mistake by seriously overcommitting herself this fall.

2. What does it mean to cross your fingers? Where did that expression come from? When you think about it, it's kind of silly. How is crossing my fingers going to make something happen - or not happen? To further investigate this phenomenon, I turned to Wikipedia. [I know, I know. Wikipedia is NOT an acceptable source for scholarly work. But this blog is far from scholarly.] Here's what I learned:

To cross one's fingers is a hand gesture used to superstitiously wish for good luck or to nullify a promise. The supposed loophole of crossing one's fingers whilst making a promise is usually exploited by school-aged children. So you're saying I think like a school-aged child? Thanks, Wikipedia.

Crossing one's fingers, by curling the middle finger over the index, is thought to bring good luck. Sure glad you clarified how one crosses her fingers. This dates back to when crossed fingers were used as a gesture to ward off witches and others considered to be or possess evil spirits. It is also seen as bad luck to cross your fingers on both hands.

Some believe that the gesture originates from pre-Christian times and, in many early European cultures, two people were required to use their index fingers to form the sign, one to make a wish and the other to support it. It was believed that the cross was a symbol of unity and that benign spirits dwelt at its intersecting point—to wish on a cross was a figurative way of securing the wish at the intersection until it came true. Over the years, the custom was modified so one person could make a wish on his/her own. I found this interesting. It used to be a two-person activity, and now it's just one. Yeah, I'm an independent woman.