knock wood

Michael Morrow: "At 70 I've buried everyone in my and my wife's family older than we are, and while I get to the gym four times a week (ran a couple marathons decades ago - including Eugene and Portland, and probably 100 10k's), and regular check-ups come back OK (knock wood), it is inevitable that I'll find myself in Luetzinger's shoes some day.

In this follow-up to Knock Wood, Bergen reveals the glorious days of her long and passionate love for French filmmaker Louis Malle, their frenetic and full marriage, the birth of their daughter, Chloe, and the success of her Emmy-winning sitcom, "Murphy Brown."

"The global economy is looking like it's doing relatively well, and I knock wood certainly, but the indications are that hopefully we'll see a continuation of the past couple quarters and that we'll continue to see that going forward.

In more than 33 years, I have had only one repair fail (knock wood!).

As I was saying: I believe in a logical, empirical approach to life, which is why I'm so healthy (knock wood), why I carry an umbrella (which I avoid opening indoors, because my mom always said that's unlucky) and why I drink lots of water (though I'd rather not toast you with a glass of it, because I might jinx you).

I haven't had a lot of pain in my life (knock wood), but on those occasions when I've been seen in an emergency room, such as a year ago for a gallbladder blow-up, I've had trouble answering the question, "On a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being just a little and 10 being agony, how would you rate the pain you're feeling?" If I say 2, I'm afraid they'll switch their attention to somebody else, but if I say 9, I fear they'll wheel me off to the OR.

For the kid who will be a doctor when she grows up, knock wood The You Explore It: Human Body science kit includes a model of the human body, tweezers, forceps, and 21 squishy, squeezable internal organs (you'll love the bladder!), bones, and muscles.

"I'd better knock wood having said that, 'coz otherwise I'll probably drop dead tomorrow you see," he laughs.

And referring to someone who has "a chip on their shoulder" harks back to the 1800s when boys would start fights by challenging each other to knock wood chips off of each other's shoulders.

Then one day, happiness like the sea at the depths of the sea, you touch the window, knock wood, to settle blood you thought gone for good with the old horse grazing the horizon, and the grass's green cry from beneath the frozen damper; you touch what isn't there yet what's coming: the promised life but you've too many legs, too many arms, and your heart's in knots -- sit down, soul, sit down, let the child lost in the creases undo the net of the poor old salt who's caught only water.

I "Have" six new raised beds in a new location that, knock wood, are doing nicely.

"I knock wood that I won't have to wait tables any more," he says.

As a result he's hungrier than ever for titles - and he'd love to knock Woods off the top of the world pile.

McIlory can knock Woods off his perch before Augusta if he wins the Texas Open today.

Phil Mickelson, with an opportunity to knock Woods off top spot if he can win, kept that possibility alive with an outward 34 to reach five under, but he bogeyed the 10th and 11th before bouncing back with birdies on 13 and 15.