Damn, I got some knowledge from my fortune cookie

[sasquatch]

"Listen to what you know instead of what you fear."

[Left Is Write]

1. Sounds like Jedi advice.

[sasquatch]

2. It sounds like something from Sun Tzu or some shit like that

[bhunt70]

3. my favorite of all time...

"Everyone agrees you are the best"

[Heidi]

4. That's a keeper! I collect almost _all_ the fortunes I get . . .

and use them for my work. I only reject fortunes that say stuff like, "You appreciate good Chinese food." Here's how I use them:

[joneschick]

5. I've been taught that fortune cookies should be read with the suffix

.....in bed. ymmv

[nuxvomica]

6. Lately, I've been getting some really boring ones

Like "You enjoy participating in competitive sports," which is not only boring but untrue. I need to switch to a different Chinese restaurant. My favorite was "You have a secret admirer at work." I tried to figure out who that might be and finally it dawned on me that I was taking a fortune cookie seriously. :-)

[swag]

7. A recent New Yorker story about an author of fortune cookies

http://www.newyorker.com/talk/content/articles/050606ta_talk_olshan

by Jeremy Olshan in Talk of the Town

. . .

At first, the writing came easily. Finding inspiration in sources ranging from the I Ching to the Post, Lau cranked out three or four maxims a day, between scrutinizing spreadsheets and monitoring the company’s inventory of chow mein. “I’d be on the subway and look up at the signs and think, Hey, that would make a great fortune,” he said. (One such adage: “Beware of odors from unfamiliar sources.”) “I’d keep a small notebook and jot down whatever came to me. I don’t think I ever sat in front of the computer and said, ‘I am going to write ten fortunes right now.’ It has to come naturally.”

Love, riches, power: there is a limited range of experience that can be expressed in one sentence, and, about eleven years into his tenure, Lau began to run out of ideas. He leaned increasingly on traditional Chinese sayings, which offer insight (along the lines of “True gold fears no fire”) but not foresight (“Your income will increase”), and in 1995 he gave up altogether. “I’ve written thousands of fortunes, but the inspiration is gone,” Lau said. “Have you heard of writer’s block? That is what happened to me.”

These days, he cycles selections from his vast oeuvre in and out of circulation. He is worried that readers will notice that the cookies are in reruns, which might result in Wonton’s losing its edge on the competition. (This is unlikely. Although there are about forty fortune-cookie companies in the United States, few have Wonton’s manufacturing capabilities.) So Lau has decided to bring in new blood. The company will soon advertise for a new fortune writer, and Lau will make the transition to editor. “Maybe when I retire I’ll write again—perhaps a book about writing fortunes,” he said. Returning to form, he summarized the thrust of the book with two simple axioms. “Don’t have too complicated a mind,” he said. “Think in ten-word sentences.”