Photo Fortune

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This is another fortune that I discovered while reading some different blogs today.  As with the previous entry, this particular blogger posted the photo of a fortune as part of the entry.  This fortune read:

"Do not give up, the beginning is always the hardest."

I'm beginning to wonder if I will be stumbling across photos of fortunes on a regular basis now.

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Random Browsing Fortune

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I was doing some random Internet browsing a short time ago, and was reading the latest entry of a blog I regularly peruse.  The blogger had posted some photos she found while cleaning out her hard drive, and one of them was a photo of a fortune from a fortune cookie.  I took it as a sign that I should share what the fortune said:

"In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity."

This reminds me of when I discover fortunes buried in various places in my condo, now that I think about it.

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Something Old, Something New

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Not long after April Fools Day, I decided to delve into the bag of fortune cookies -- something I haven't done for a while.  Actually, I grabbed a couple of cookies on two different days, and I just haven't written about the fortunes until now.

I have had the fortunes with me for over a week now.  Make that over two weeks, now that I think about it.  Today was the first time I haven't let myself get distracted from writing.

Once I dug the fortunes out of the dark corner into which they had retreated, I compared them to some of my previous entries.  I thought had seen one of them once before.  As it turns out, I had seen it before -- not once, but twice:

"You have a deep interest in all that is artistic."

For the record, this is my second triplicate fortune.  And as was the case with the previous encounters with this fortune, the "lucky numbers" and Chinese phrase were identical.

The other fortune was one that I had not seen before.  At least, I hadn't seen it on a fortune cookie before.  I have seen the same idea expressed elsewhere, although possibly in slightly different wording:

"Success is a journey, not a destination."

In an earlier entry, I wondered how many duplicates I would encounter while going through this bag.  Now, I'm finding myself wondering how may triplicates (or more) are still lurking in the bag.

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Not As Bookish As I Thought

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As I related in my last entry, I snagged a couple of additional "fortune cookies" from the bowl that one of the librarians at Bon Air made in conjunction with the Chinese New Year. As I also mentioned last time, the fortunes have been buried at the bottom of a pocket in my backpack since then. I had already extracted them from the mini-muffin cups, but at least the muffin cups would not have been crushed to crumbs if they had been buried in my backpack.

(I should also point out that being in my backpack would be an improvement over being hermetically sealed and kept in a mayonnaise jar on Funk & Wagnall's porch. Don't ask me how much of an improvement, though.)

When I read the first fortune, I thought that Trish (the librarian who had created the "cookies") had created fortunes related to books and reading. That did not prove to be the case when I read the subsequent fortunes. In fact, the third and final fortune that I obtained could have easily come out of a cookie that came with my shrimp lo mein:

"Your conscience will guide you in making a big decision."

All that is missing are the lottery numbers and the mini lesson in Chinese.

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Book Him, Cooko!

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The Chinese New Year may have come and gone, but I've been holding on to a reminder of that event for a few weeks now. As you may remember, when I went by the Bon Air library just before the Chinese New Year, I spotted a bowl of "fortune cookies" at the circulation desk. These "cookies" were actually made from mini-muffin cups, and the fortunes were ones created by the staff.

On my next visit, I made a point of finding the branch manager, and I told her that I had thought that the "cookies" were a cute idea. She told me which librarian had thought of the idea, and said that she was the one to whom I should be addressing the feedback. And I did, which was on yet another visit.

I also picked up a couple of other "cookies" while there still some in the bowl. They've been buried at the bottom of my one of my backpack's pockets . . . probably ever since I grabbed those other "cookies." Here's what the second library fortune said:

"The Tooth Fairy will visit you before summer's end."

Not likely -- not unless I'm going to be meeting a very strange dentist by then.

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Fortunezord!

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Happy New Year! (Again.)

Today is the Chinese New Year. I have to admit, I was a little surprised when I looked at the calendar a couple of weeks ago, and saw that it was today. This may be the earliest I can remember the Chinese New Year occurring.

I'm writing this in Mall St. Matthews. About the time I walked into the mall, I began hearing this rumbling in my stomach, one that was saying quite plaintively, "FEED me, Seymour!" (Which is a little surprising, since my name isn't Seymour.) That was about the time I realized that I had not eaten very much today, and that getting something to eat might not be a bad idea. And the sooner, the better.

The mall's food court meant that I had a dozen or so different choices. And since today is the Chinese New Year, I quickly narrowed my choices to Chinese Gourmet Express.

From what I have seen, Chinese Gourmet Express is about the same as most mall food court Chinese restaurants. They have a dozen or so different selections, which are served with your choice of noodles or rice. This time, I chose the sesame chicken with noodles. (I almost always get noodles over rice.)

The food was nothing I haven't had before. It tasted great, and more importantly, it stopped that rumbling in my stomach. And of course, it also came with a fortune cookie. The fortune read as follows:

"You have a deep appreciation of the arts and music."

Okay, I suppose that does describe me somewhat.

Today is the beginning of The Year Of The Dragon. Unfortunately, this year, the closest thing I have to a dragon joke is an early Power Rangers reference in the title.

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A Fortune "Bookie"?

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The Chinese New Year comes early this year, and my local library branch is getting into the spirit of things. When I went by the Bon Air branch earlier today, there was a big bowl at the circulation desk, and a sign inviting patrons to take a fortune cookie.

I'm never one to pass up material for an entry, so I walked over to the bowl. The "fortune cookies" weren't edible. They were made from mini muffin cups that had been folded into the proper shape. And it looks as though the fortunes were printed by the library's staff. If the one I got is any indication, all of these fortunes have to do with books and reading:

"The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense."

Oh, yeah. I've definitely heard that one before, with a slight variation. And I find myself wondering what some of the other fortunes say.

Now that I think about it, wouldn't a better name for these be fortune book-ies?

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A Fortune-ate Beginning To The Year

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Happy New Year, everyone!

Early this morning, I decided to start 2012 by diving into the bag of fortune cookies for a little bit of inspiration. And what I got was my first duplicate of the year:

"You have a friendly heart and are well admired."

I took this as a sign that I should try again. The second time I pulled out a cookie, the fortune was something I had not yet encountered:

"A thrilling time is in your immediate future."

Hmmm . . . that sounds like an auspicious start for the year. Here's hoping that I'm right.

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Not Much Of A Difference

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With the holiday craziness finally over, I went by Mid-City Super Buffet for lunch today. I was curious to see what changes, if any, had been made since #1 Asian Buffet had closed several months ago.

In a word -- not much. As I noted when I went in to pick up one of their takeout menus, the decor looked the same. The arrangement of the booths and tables, the location of the sushi bar and buffet tables -- same places. I'm guessing that the new owners/management didn't feel the need to make any sweeping changes to the place that were not necessary.

After being shown to a booth, I shed my jacket, backpack, and helmet, and went to the buffet. My first stop at any Asian buffet is usually the sushi bar. I was a little disappointed by the sushi selection. Now, it may have been because the restaurant had not been open too long when I arrived, or it may be that the selection may be more limited at lunch, but the only choices available were various rolls -- including a very good cream cheese roll. I was hoping for some nigiri sushi, but they didn't have any at the time.

The food was your typical Asian buffet fare, including such exotic Chinese dishes as French fries. (Okay, I'm guessing that most of these places have fries because it will be something that keeps the younger kids happy.) I made several trips to the buffet, eating until I was pleasantly full. I think I found the secret to avoid that feeling of having a lump of spent uranium in your stomach -- take your time to enjoy the food. Don't be in a rush.

And of course, the meal ended with a fortune cookie. My fortune read as follows:

"Your wealth is where your friends are."

Okay, this makes it sound like my friends are picking my pocket.

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MoreThan A Pattern

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I decided to pull another couple of cookies out of the bag from GFS today. I've been on the road over the weekend visiting my family, and for whatever reason, I decided that I was in the mood for a fortune cookie.

This time, I finally pulled my first triplicate fortune from the bag. I had a feeling it would happen eventually; I was just curious as to when. On the other hand, the other cookie was a fortune I had not seen before now.

The duplicate -- excuse me, triplicate -- fortune was:

"All your hard work will soon pay off."

And the numbers and mini-Chinese lesson was the same on this one as it was on the other two bearing the fortune.

The fortune I was seeing for the first time read as follows:

"You have a friendly heart and are well admired."

This is where I want to start borrowing a line from Bugs Bunny: "He don't know me very well, do he?"

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Cookie-Less Fortunes

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While I was reaching in the bag of fortune cookies a couple of days ago, I happened to notice something. I saw a couple of fortunes that weren't inside cookies.

I have no idea how how these fortunes became separated from their cookies. I'm guessing that the most likely explanation is that some of the cookies have been broken from the bag being handled at various times, and the jostling separated the fortunes from the cookie fragments. I'm not particularly in the mood to think of alternative suggestions, in any case.

I plucked the orphaned fortunes out of the bag, and thought I might as well use them in an entry of their own. And it turned out that this pair is split -- I've pulled out one fortune before, but for the other, it was the first time I've encountered it. (At least so far.)

"If you wish to, you will have an opportunity."
(This was the second time I've seen this fortune.)

"The reward of a thing done well is to have done it."

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Double Double

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It has been a while since I pulled a fortune cookie out of the big bag I bought early this year. Last night, I pulled a cookie out of the bag. It was yet another duplicate fortune. So, I decided to try again, and pulled a second cookie out of the bag. You guessed it; it, too, was a duplicate.

I don't have the original fortunes readily at hand, so I can't compare the lottery numbers to see if they are true duplicates. But based on previous experience with this bag, it's a pretty safe bet to guess that they are. Here are the duplicate fortunes:

"Soon you will be sitting on the top of the world."
"Your future brings cheerful company and merry times."

Well, the latter does seem to be appropriate, seeing as how Christmas is just around the corner.

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A Cookie-Less Fortune

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I found this fortune entirely by accident. I was in the library today, and I happened to be looking down when I noticed a tiny slip of paper on the floor. It was the fortune from a fortune cookie -- and there wasn't a cookie anywhere to be seen.

At first, I thought it might have been one of mine. I usually stick fortunes in the neck pouch that I use to keep my TARC pass handy. They usually stay there until I write about them here. But after a quick look at said neck pouch, it didn't look as though anything had fallen out of it. And I strongly suspect that more than just a single fortune would have fallen out if anything did.

I logged on here, and I did a quick scroll through some of my most recent entries. The fortune did not appear in any of those entries, so I am fairly safe in stating that I had not written about it -- until now, that is. Here's my unexpected discovery:

"Be cautious while walking in darkness alone."

You know, that's pretty good advice most of the time. Of course, if you're Batman, or a ninja, this probably doesn't apply to you.

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Here A Double . . .

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As I said yesterday, I mentioned that I had pulled another fortune cookie from the big bag. I also mentioned that I didn't have the fortune with me when I was writing the entry. Well, today I remembered to bring the fortune with me. And I quickly noticed that I had another duplicate on my hands:

"You have a deep interest in all that is artistic."

And once again, everything was duplicated. The lucky numbers on both fortunes were as follows:

07 11 12 15 20 24

And on the back of both fortunes was the same Chinese word/phrase. It was "baseball," which according to this fortune, is "bong cho" in Chinese.

You know, I really hope that I am not going to be running into only a dozen or so fortunes over and over again throughout the bag. For one thing, it would kind of ruin the whole purpose of my buying the bag of fortune cookies. For another, it would get a little boring after a while. And for yet another, after a while, it's going to get a little difficult thinking up new ways to write about the same fortune yet again.

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Just Long Isn't Enough

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I just realized that it has been a month since I last posted something. Well, I can say that I have been busy. In any event, it looks like it's time to go back to the big bag of fortune cookies. And this time, the fortune says:

"Long life is in store for you."

Just as long as I will be able to properly enjoy that long life; that's all I'm asking.

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I'm Beginning To Sense A Pattern Here

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A few days ago, I reached into the bag of fortune cookies, and once again, I encountered a fortune for the second time:

"All your hard work will soon pay off."

And as on the previous occasions, this one was a true duplicate. Here are the lucky numbers from both fortunes:

02 06 09 19 26 33

The Chinese word on the back of both was "Gift/Present," which translates (at least on the fortune) as "li woo."

Now I'm beginning to wonder. Just how many different fortunes does this bag contain? And how many duplicates will I be running into while I go through this bag of fortune cookies?

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That's A Little Reassuring

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Today, we return to the bag of fortune cookies from GFS. Here's what the latest fortune had to say:

"You should be able to make money and hold on to it."

Not if the Democrats have anything to say about it. The holding on part, anyway. They seem to think that we exist solely to fuel their fantasies of redistributing wealth.

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Interested In Art, Yes

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Earlier today, I decided that it was time to reach into the big bag of fortune cookies once again. Instead of just grabbing a cookie from the top of the bag, I reached down a little for today's fortune:

"You have a deep interest in all that is artistic."

That rather depends on how you define art. A crucifix in a bottle of urine isn't art; it's just someone's calculated attempt to see if he can get some people really, really irritated. And a really piss-poor one at that.

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It Did Wish More Than Once

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I dipped into the big bag of fortune cookies earlier today, and I pulled out another fortune that I previously encountered:

"If you wish to, you will have an opportunity."

And as was the case with the last duplicate I pulled out of this bag, it was a true duplicate. The lucky numbers on both fortunes were:

20 21 32 33 45 51

And this time, the mini-lesson in Chinese was a phrase. The phrase was "Have you any question?", which was transliterated as "NI you wenti ma?"

As for the fortune, yes, I would really wish to have an opportunity. Please have it shipped to my condo by UPS. Thank you very much.

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Get Back To Where You Once Belong

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As I've mentioned in the last couple of entries, I had been cleaning my condo in a semi-mad frenzied rush. I've been taking a break since last Thursday, mainly because I was just a little burned out, and I was needing something to restore what I laughingly refer to as my sanity.

Early this morning, I walked by the big bag of fortune cookies, and decided that it was time to pull out another cookie. I saw one on top that was partially broken, and further decided that it would be the cookie of the day. (For some reason, these cookies are not individually wrapped. I suspect that by the time I reach the end of the bag, I will be faced with a layer of fortune cookie fragments.)

Here is the fortune from today's cookie:

"You should be able to undertake and complete anything."

Hmmmm . . . I think the cookie is telling me that it's time to get back to cleaning.

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