1.  My aunt Colleen, drives around shooting pictures of the number 13.  There is a tract of land between my house and Sami's school that has a big "Tract 13" sign.  I drove by many times thinking I should photograph it for one of my 13's but when my aunt picked Samantha up at school and took her home, she saw it too, and stole it before I could use it.....  You can read about it here.  

2.  The 13th page of my book starts like this: She shrugged and looked out the window and said "Phil was drinking."   and the 13th chapter of my book starts like this:  Simone Angeline's eyes were ringed with red on the other side of the chain and fresh tears welled in her sockets.  Oh and If you haven're read a Dennis Lehane book, you need to.... they are great!

3. There are traditionally thirteen steps leading up to a gallows.  However it's an urban myth that there are thirteen turns in a hangman's noose(there are most commonly eight turns.)

4. Thirteen is the Atomic number of aluminum.

5. Some theories of relativity state that there are 13 dimensions.

6.  The Thirteenth moon of Jupiter is called Elara.

7.  The Universe is thought to be 13.7 billion years old.

8.  The number 13 on a Hell's Angels biker patch or tattoo refers to the thirteenth letter of the alphabet, M, which signified their link with a motorcycle club (13th letter is M), not marajuana as many suspect.

9.  13 is considered so unlucky that the stalls at some racetracks don't have a 13, buildings often skip the 13th floor and go from 12 to 14 and in Scotland, there is no such thing as Terminal 13 in any of their airports.

10.  In Tarot decks the 13th card of the Major Arcana is Death.

11. According to Egytian Lore, 13 is the number of steps between life and death.

12. The Great Seal of the United States has:

• 13 levels of the truncated pyramid,
• 13 letters in "E Pluribus Unum", which appears in the banner running through the eagle's beak on the right side of the bill's reverse.
• 13 letters in the phrase "Annuit Coeptis", which appears over the pyramid on the left side of the bill's reverse.
• 13 stars above the Eagle,
• 13 leaves on the olive branch,
• 13 olives on the olive branch,
• 13 arrows held by the Eagle, and
• 13 bars on the shield.

13.  Friday the 13th!