A Fitting Fortune From A Far-Off Friend

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I have mentioned once or twice that some of my friends know about my penchant for collecting fortunes. And occasionally, they will remember to save their fortunes for me.

Last week, though, I received a fortune from an entirely unexpected friendly source. Said fortune arrived with a regular mailing from John Hertz.

Like me, John Hertz is a science fiction fan. He is a wonderful gentleman, and the recipient of one of SF fandom's highest honors, the Big Heart Award. (And trust me, it is well deserved.) Since he lives in Los Angeles, we usually run into each other at the occasional convention. Most of our communication is conducted through the mail.

One of Mr. Hertz's (many) fannish activities is Vanamonde, his contribution to the amateur press association APA-L. Every so often, I will receive an envelope containing several past installments of Vanamonde; usually 10 or so. I always find them interesting, if sometimes a little tricky follow. I once told Mr. Hertz that reading Vanamonde was like listening to a phone conversation where you couldn't hear the other side. (I presume that the other half of those conversations are taking place in the pages of other contributors' apa-zines.)

As I said, last week I received the latest bundle of Vanamonde. "Latest" is relatively speaking; the issues are from several months previous, and I suspect are from what are left over after APA-L is collated. As I was reading issue #845, I noticed at the bottom what could only be the fortune from a fortune cookie. It was in a different typeface than what he normally uses, and there were a series of numbers that looked like "lucky numbers" under the line:

"Listen to friends with an ear to the future."

Mr. Hertz commented that he planned to seek out such friends at Anticipation, 2009's World Science Fiction Convention.

Definitely one of those occasions when someone got precisely the right fortune.

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Evening With Friends And Fortunes

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A few weeks ago, I had dinner with some friends at 8 China Buffet. This was the first time I had gone to dinner with a group since I started The Janus Files 2. When the end of the meal came, everyone read the fortunes in their fortune cookies.

I tried to collect all of the fortunes afterward. Unfortunately, some of my friends decided to hang on to their fortunes. Those in the group who know about this site were more than happy to let me have their fortunes. So, I think I got about half of the fortunes, which I now present for your entertainment and enjoyment:

"A family reunion in the coming months will be a tremendous success!"
"A great man never ignores the simplicity of a child."
"A smooth long journey! Great Expectations."
"Be Careful! Bees with honey in their mouths, have stings in their tails."
"Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness."
"You are cautious in showing your true self to others."
"You are offered the dream of a lifetime. Say yes!"
"You're transforming yourself into someone who is certain to succeed."

The funny thing is, I'm trying to remember which of these fortunes was mine. At the moment, I can't.

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With A Little Help

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Not long after I created this site, I got a phone call from a friend. He was rather amused by the whole concept I had for this particular online journal. A few days ago, I received an email from him. He and some other friends had eaten at a favorite Asian restaurant a few days earlier. He had saved the fortunes from everyone's fortune cookies, and sent them to me:

"Your principles mean more to you than any money or success."
"It tastes sweet."
"You would make a good lawyer."
"You are working hard."

In a second email, he sent a fortune that an acquaintance uses as an email signature, because it "sounds Zen to him."

"There are more to everything than its appearance."

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