In the spirit of modernist poets and artists such as Marianne Moore and Joseph Cornell who juxtaposed the stuff and substance of high culture with pop cultural treasure, I offer you all of the fortune cookie fortunes that I am currently carrying in my wallet:
Take the advice of a faithful friend.
You find what you're looking for; just open your eyes!
Look forward to great fortune and a new lease on life!
Do not mistake temptation for opportunity.
Opportunity always ahead if you look and think.
You will always be surrounded by true firends. [sic]
Although a few of these fortunes sound a bit ominous, on the whole they offer solid advice and generous predictions about my future. Few things are as reassuring as a good fortune, or as disappointing as an unfavorable one. While some might place the fortune cookie in the realm of superstition, it is uncanny that so many people look for assurance, confirmation, and validation in material signs, whether from a beneficent sky, a successful shake of the Magic 8 Ball, or the serendipitous find of a four-leafed clover. Perhaps my favorite example is that of Mary Baker Eddy's reassurance during a troubling time upon opening a drawer and finding a rubber band that had curled into the shape of a heart. (Mary Ann Caws refers to this in her fabulous book on Joseph Cornell)
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