Fortune Cookie

After eating Wonton soup and crackers or whatever you prefer in your Chinese food meal, you look around for the FORTUNE COOKIE. Everyone knows that the pick of the cookie is at random and any of the fortunes you receive are by luck of the draw. In spite of this, that’s not to say that we don’t look into the fortune and try and find its meaning. We try and put its significance to our own recent life experiences or our hopes for the near future. But… did you ever wonder who came up with the ideas of a fortune cookie? Who decided that they should put a tiny fortune telling inside the “crispy, bow-shaped sugar cookies served in restaurants as the finale of a Chinese meal?” Americans would automatically give credit to the Chinese. That is not the case however. One legend of the fortune cookie was introduced in the Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park and the idea pirated by a local Chinese restauranteur. A Japanese American heritage is said that the cookie is a descendent of the sembet; a flat, round, rice cracker. The Chinese believe the fortune cookie is a modern Chinese American interpretation of the moon cake. Legends proclaim that moon cakes were used in the fourteenth century as a means of critical communication. Soldiers communicated strategies by stuffing messages into moon cakes. The concept of message-stuffed pastry has supposedly endured through ages and now uses fortunes within. Perhaps the most plausible and conceivable story dates back to 1918 when David Jung, founder of the Hong Kong Noodle Co., invented the fortune cookie as a sweet treat and encouraging word for unemployed men who gathered on the streets. Today, fortune cookies are mass produced and widely distributed; the fortune cookie is exported to China and Hong Kong with fortunes written in English. Most popular in the United States, the cookies continue to lift spirits with promises of great success, hope, love and harmony, and of course; good fortune.

My Favorite Book

Off on another tangent to luck, I wanted to write about my favorite book. The books I have enjoyed have greatly impacted my outlooks on life. This in a metaphorical sense has "brought me luck." I always enjoyed reading but it had to be of my personal interests. There were many books in school that seemed to take an eternity to get through because of the dull topics or lack of descriptions and details. I would read and reread sentences and pages over and over again because I could not get into the books. There was one book that I was required to read in my senior year of high school that I remember enjoying the most. Khaled Hosseini, the author of the Kite Runner, strives to help Americans and those in forty-two other countries by using language that is understood to describe the feelings of men and women, poor and wealthy, and weak and strong in Afghanistan across three periods in history. His details throughout the book allowed my interest to be caught and kept. The tale is vividly descriptive and, although it is a fictitious novel, the authentic political events paint almost reality-based stories. I could not put the book down. The narrator of The Kite Runner is Amir. He starts off the novel with a foreshadowing of what is to come yet he is speaking of the past. “I looked up at those twin kites. I thought about Hassan. I thought about Baba. Ali. Kabul. I thought of the life I had lived until the winter of 1975 came along and changed everything. And made me what I am today.” We are taken on an adventurous journey full of twists and turns through his life from the time he is twelve years old and then twenty-six years later when he “has a chance to be good again.” The Kite Runner is set in Kabul, Afghanistan and holds the story in the peaceful days of the monarchy before General Khan was overthrown in 1973 and in America after Baba and Amir fled the country. The Kite Runner surrounds the tales of two boys, Amir and Hassan, and the friendship, brotherhood and family evolved between two class systems and worlds. “…Then he would remind us that there is a brotherhood between people who had fed from the same breast, a kinship that not even time could break. Hassan and I fed from the same breasts. We took our first steps on the same lawn in the same yard. And, under the same roof, we spoke our first words. Mine was Baba. His was Amir. My name. Looking back on it now, I think the foundation for what happened in the winter of 1975-and all the followed-was already laid in those first words…” One is the son of a wealthy merchant in Kabul and the other, his servant. The rape of Hassan and Amir’s sin to not save his friend becomes the focal point to all the sequences that follow. Afghanistan is changed internally and externally. In The Kite Runner, Amir says after returning back to his home twenty six years later “I stood outside the gates of my father’s house, feeling like a stranger. I remembered things that mattered not at all now and yet had seemed so important then. Most of the poplar trees had been chopped down-the trees Hassan and I used to climb to shine our mirrors into the neighbor’s homes. The Wall of Ailing Corn was still there, though I saw no corn, ailing or otherwise. The lawn was dotted by patches of dirt where nothing grew at all…The house itself is far from the sprawling white mansion I remembered from my childhood. It looked smaller. The roof sagged and the plaster cracked. The windows were broken and the paint, once sparkling white, had faded to ghostly gray and eroded in parts. Like so much else in Kabul, my father’s house was the picture of fallen splendor.” Afghanistan was changed and destroyed in every way possible by the Taliban control, even in a physical approach. Aristotle would name how we feel when reading The Kite Runner as catharses. USA Today says “…Hosseini’s writings make our hearts ache, our stomachs clench and our emotions reel…” Through his bewitching narrative, the struggle of life is captured and we feel one with each of the characters. Our sense of empathy, sympathy and love goes out to them all. Both books are intimate accounts of love and friendship and we are shown the reality of a culture unlike our own. To read about another culture's sufferings and substantial differences with my own, it was an eye-opener and greatly influenced my acceptances and opinions on other religions, cultures and countries.

Literature Genre

On a slight tangent, we were allowed to post our definitions of creative nonfiction. This has nothing to do with my topic on luck but I want to post it anyways. My favorite genre to read is fiction. I would rather read a fictional tale that incorporates nonfictional events than to read an autobiography or a mystery book. Here is my definition . . .
A genre is a type of literature or writing style. Some of the genres we have been most exposed to include Fiction, Nonfiction, Mystery, and Tragedy. When we are trying to understand a work in literature, it is easier retained in our memories when we have a better comprehension of the writing style it is written in. Every genre has a unique and individual flare. The components and literary elements included allow for a further success of a novel in its particular genre. One genre that many have attempted to term a general consensus of what it is composed of is Creative Nonfiction.
Within this genre, literary elements and techniques are combined with legitimate truths and are given to the readers in a different approach. Facts, based on prior knowledge and research, are merged with literary elements in this style of writing in order to let the pages come alive. Some literary elements that are featured in creative nonfiction and are used to add essence to straightforward facts include plot, setting, mood, irony, characterization as well as others. This genre is a more interesting way of providing real facts without seeming to allow the book to drag on. It also seems to be giving an appeal that lures the readers in and forces them to be urged to continue to the following page. Creative nonfiction gives a sense of suspense and anticipation to a nonfiction piece of literature. The critical point of creative nonfiction is to establish a clear, vivid differentiation between it and both fiction and nonfiction. Creative Nonfiction writers present the information with the tools used in fictional stories while upholding their loyalty to the actual facts.
Creative Nonfiction was not the original title to this writing technique. In fact, this term was not established until 1983 by Lee Gutkind at a meeting established by the National Endowment of the Arts in an effort to name it. Gutkind was “a motorcyclist, a medical insider, a sailor, a college professor, a mid-life father and a literary whipping boy” and what 1997 Vanity Fair magazine declared as the “the Godfather” behind the creative nonfiction movement—an indisputable force whose efforts have helped make the genre the fastest growing in the publishing industry.” According to the Creative Nonfiction website, the definition of creative nonfiction lies right within its title. This is perhaps why a title like essay, journalism or literary journalism could not credit this approach in literature any justice. The site established primarily to the genre itself describes it as “‘creative nonfiction’ precisely describes what the form is all about. The word “creative” refers simply to the use of literary craft in presenting nonfiction—that is, factually accurate prose about real people and events—in a compelling, vivid manner. To put it another way, creative nonfiction writers do not make things up; they make ideas and information that already exist more interesting and, often, more accessible.”
Two of the works in literature that we covered in this semester fall under the genre of creative nonfiction. Both The Curve of Binding Energy, written by John McPhee, and All Around the Town, written by Herbert Asbury, portray a narrative rather than a timeline or retelling of the events in history. McPhee writes about the life and career of theoretical physicist and scientist, Theodore B. Taylor, who was responsible for scientific inventions regarding nuclear energy. Asbury writes about the riots, murder, scandal and pandemonium in Manhattan, New York City. Both novels combine research with experience in an effort to add flavor to the events.
What makes the genre stand out among the rest and gives it originality is the lacking of limitations to a single specific structure or writing form in literature. Well written creative nonfiction takes information, facts, events and ideas that might seem uninteresting when first looked at and crafts them into a fascinating and riveting tale. A genre can have a plethora or surplus of definitions in an effort to better understand the novels that fall under its category. From Writing Creative Nonfiction, by Carolyn Forche and Philip Gerard, Creative Nonfiction can only be described with “"It's very literariness distinguishes this writing from deadline reportage, daily journalism, academic criticism, and critical biography. It is storytelling of a very high order through the revelation of character and the suspense of plot, the subtle braiding of themes, rhythms and resonance, memory and imaginative research, precise and original language.”

Acrophobia & Aviaphobia

Everyone fears something... whether it be small spaces, spiders, heights or any of the others which make it t0 the list classified as a "phobia." Some phobias are taken to the extreme and the individual in fear will make changes to their lifestyle in order to avoid coming face-to-face with it. And then there are the other people who tend to make the best of it and deal with their phobia while still being afraid. I am that kind of person. I have a few phobias but thankfully nothing serious enough that I am limited from them. I have a fear of heights and a slight fear of flying because of it. Fear of heights is called acrophobia and fear of flying is called aviaphobia. Despite my fears, I still go on roller coasts and amusement park ride of any height. I would prefer to not take an elevator or even a high escalator if it was my choice. When I went on my cruise, I walked up and down the stairs of a 9 floor cruise ship as often as I could to avoid the elevators. My fear of flying can be directly related to my fear of how high I am in the sky when you go on an airplane. The new media on plane crashed and the horrifying events of terrorist attacks like September 11th, 2001 definitely add to my fear that was less prominent when I was younger. This however has not affected me to not travel or to ride in airplanes. I have traveled to many places and I have taken many planes to get there. This is the basis on why I say that although I have these phobias, I refuse to put limitations and restrictions in my life as a result of them.

Pure Bad Luck

Hmm... have you ever seen the comic skit, Delirious, by Eddie Murphy? It was released in 1983 and was one his earlier performances. He does a standup about icecream and I could remember the skit perfectly the other night. Everyone acts like a little child when the ice cream man is coming. You can hear the music from blocks away and you wish on anything it will come up your block as soon as possible. Your ear perk up like that a little puppy dog and your eyes brighten with excitement. Well the other night, I heard it. My back door was opened and it sounded like it was coming around the block. I ran to the front window two minutes later and realized he was already passing the h0use. I was thinking "oh my god!!" and I ran down the stairs as fast as my legs could carry me. I ran out the door with no money, no orders for what anyone in the house wanted from the truck and no shoes on my feet, just socks. He stopped for me halfway down the block but when I ran back for the money, he was starting to pull away. I tried so hard to run after him but he was driving too fast. I then did something I never had done before. I got into my car and started to follow the icecream man. With my sister in the passenger seat, I could not stop from laughing. Everytime he had stopped, I threw the car into park and started running down the block. Unfortunately, he never stopped. I couldn't tell if he hadn't seen me or if he was ignoring my persistence and was laughing at my expense. I looked like such a heffer running after this truck. It was as if I had never was going to have ice cream again. My sister and I were hysterica laughing the entire time. Thank god for my self esteem because anyone else would be mortified to admit the possibility of someone else watching this juvenile and insane act. I looked like a crazy person but I was determined. All i wanted was a screwball ice. My mouth was watering everytime I got out of the car to run. My last attempt while completely out of breath was when the truck was stopped at a red light. Even with my running abilities and screaming for the ice cream man, I was shit down. The light turned green and he did not hesistate. I will always wonder whether or not he had seen me. I basically ran around my entire development and what a disappointment I was left with; no icecream screwball. Now that is what I call bad luck!!!

Sweeter Side of Superstition Spectrum

On the opposite side of “superstition spectrum,” there tends to be a sweeter side. Those who are superstitious believe in tales to bring bad luck as much as they bring good luck. The most widespread symbols of good luck are clovers. Four leaf clovers and shamrocks are believed to bring good luck. If you see a coin with the heads side up, you are supposed to pick it up to have good luck for the day. You should wear a new outfit on Easter to have good luck for the following year. When you spill the salt, you will regain your good luck if you throw a pinch over your left shoulder. If the palm of your right hand itches, you will soon be coming into money. Some ways to bring good luck are said to be spilling wine while proposing a toast, finding 9 individual peas in a pea pod, picking up a pencil in the street, looking at the new moon over your right shoulder, finding a ladybug on yourself, dolphins swimming near a ship or a spider spinning in the morning. A horseshoe should be hung above the doorway to bring good luck in the house and hung in the bedroom to keep the nightmares away. Knocking on wood tends to protect us against misfortune. Symbols of good luck that is even carried around on a day to day basis include a rabbit’s foot, a clover and a horseshoe. With all of the superstitions and bad luck in the world, it is nice to see that some beliefs end in a better fortune of the day, month or even year. It gives an easier perspective to those in the “glass half full” mind set.

Old Wives Tale

As if some of us don’t have enough bad luck as it, there are those who believe that some of our own actions cause ever worse luck. Superstitions or "old wives tales" go from one extreme to the next. They are beliefs or notions that are not based upon reason or knowledge. The most widely spread superstition in America and in other parts of the world are of Friday the 13th. It is said to be bad luck when the 13th of the month lands on a Friday. Bad luck is also believed to be brought when you put a hat on a bed. If a black cat walks away from you, it takes the luck with it. If you say goodbye to a friend on a bridge, it is believed you will never see each other again. If someone sweeps across your feet, you will never get married. It is a belief that you shouldn’t walk on the crack of a sidewalk, walk under a ladder or to open an umbrella inside. A picture falling or getting out of bed with the left foot first is said to be bad luck. It is also bad luck when a bat flies into the house, an owl hoots 3 times, three butterflies together or hearing a rooster crowing at night. When you break a mirror, it will bring 7 years of bad luck. Bad luck will follow the spilling of salt or placing shoes on the table. There are also many old wives tales and superstitions within dreams, regarding weddings and many more other than the ones I’ve mentioned above. The only thing I wonder is where they started from. Where did the origin of a broken mirror foreshadowing 7 years of bad luck stem from? I won’t be able to get the answer for all of the superstitions in the world but perhaps some of them were researched by someone else with the same wonderings and questions.

"I see in your future..."

Luck and fortune walk hand in hand on the pathways in life. When we see a magical or abstract movie, a fortune teller will say the words “I see ________ in your future…” and the customer looks amazed, mystified and bewildered all at the same time. A puzzled look along with either a smile or a frown depending on the future telling immediately forms after. I may not believe in a fortune teller at the nearest circus but I wonder if one day I would opt to attending a psychic’s session. If someone could tell me what was in my future, would I want to hear it? I wonder if I would really want to know what decisions will cause what effects. If so, will some of my decisions and choices be altered knowing an outcome I want to change. Would I want to know whether or not I will be married to the man of my dreams or an unexpected guy who won’t arrive for years into my future? Would I want to know where I will live and who will always be a part of my life; friends, family and loved ones? Will she tell me if I am going have three or four children or won’t be able to bear any children at all? Will she tell me if the profession I am in is the right one for me? Did I always do what my heart told me to in life or did I do at times what was right for other people? Stories of heard of friends and family who have visited psychics say they were contacted with people they lost years before. Will anyone I’ve lost come to say a message to me? I guess a psychic in my point of view is like a genie in a bottle. Instead of him or her granting me 3 wishes in life, they tell me what wishes will apparently come true in the future. Only time will tell if I ever decide to go along with something like this later on. As for now, it is a mystery to me.

Lucky Clovers

Clovers have been considered a lucky symbol since long ago in Celtic cultures, particularly the four-leaf clover being seen as powerful. Today, both three-leaf clovers (Shamrocks) in Ireland and four-leaf clovers in the United States and Europe are seen as good luck charms. It is unknown the exact time the belief in its luck started but it is said that it was “a favorite forage” or search of domesticated animals like cattle, sheep and horses. Since clovers fed these animals well and made their owners wealthy, the plant was thought to do good and bring good luck for people. The four-leaf clover was important and significance for its scarcity and rarity and it was powerful since it was used in spells. It was believed to represent the four seasons of the year and/or the four elements of alchemy (Water, Earth, Air and Fire). The three-leaf clover was special in the beliefs of Catholics due to its believed representation of the trinity of God, the song and the Holy Spirit. The rare fourth leaf was added for God’s grace. Even in present times, the four-leaf clover is assumed to grant powers in detecting witches, recognizing evil spirits and seeing fairies and mystical creatures. With the rare findings of a four-leaf clover in a patch, it is said to give the discoverer enhanced luck-bearing properties which may be of good assistance and good luck in life.

An Aquarian... mostly

According to one of the astrology websites posted on the internet, there are certain characteristics that Aquarians fall under. I have come to find that almost all of the characteristics fit my personality. My dominating characteristics are said to be “honesty, tolerance, respectful for other’s beliefs, always thinking ahead, keeping one’s word and prefers independence.” On “my side of the spectrum,” I tend to at times be a procrastinator and although I am independent on my opinions and principles, I am very dependent on those close to me for support, love, advice and just in a general sense. Many of the websites drew together the same characteristics. Aquarians are “interesting, attractive, extroverted people. They are outspoken, refined and idealistic, romantic but practical, personable and likable. They are generous, independent, communicative, fair, idealist, thoughtful, loyal, open-minded, selfless, individualistic and dependable. Characteristics less appealing includes being unpredictable, unemotional, detached, rebellious, dogmatic and aloof.” I am a very attached person and my emotions are “worn on my sleeves” at all times. The characteristics of being unemotional and detached are far from being a part of me. My personality traits are very close to the general framework of the Aquarius zodiac sign. I generally don’t rely upon astrology and horoscopes, yet it is interesting to see how my life experiences either allowed me to remain under the characteristics of my sign or alter towards different traits.

What’s Your Zodiac?

Females normally look into their horoscopes and zodiac signs more than males do. When opening a newspaper, the sports section looks much more enticing to a guy than what his day might require to be successful and have a happy ending to it. I live in this fantasy bubble where the glass is always half-full and I am said to always be smiling. I think that I am always optimistic with the simple knowledge that there is always someone else out there who is having a worse day or who has worse luck than I do. Sometimes reading a horoscope gives you an uplifted and temporary fantasy on that day. The word horoscope is derived from the Greek word horoskopos meaning “a look at the hours.” Your horoscope or zodiac sign is determined by the month and day you were born. The zodiac signs include Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. I fall under the sign of the water bearer, Aquarius. My horoscope for today reads… “The upbeat energy in your life is given a shot of joy, encouraging you to pick up your pace and get more accomplished. You probably won't need to wait a long time to know if you're on the right track. Although you're not usually one to shy away from new experiences, now your enthusiasm could be quickly rewarded.” Horoscopes are also used in terms of yearly and monthly predictions, love compatibilities, and general characteristics. I enjoy reading my horoscope just as much as reading the Chinese fortune cookies, whether or not they are at times farfetched and/or unrealistic.

Chinese Zodiac

We live under the International or Gregorian calendar. Our years are determined by the months. The Chinese calendar is based upon astronomical observations and begins on the second new moon of the Winter Solstice. This normally falls between January and February of our year. The meaning behind the 12 animals designated to the Chinese years dates back to Lord Buddha. When he summoned all the animals to bed him farewell before departing from earth, only 12 animals arrived. These animals include Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. He honored them by naming a year after them in the order of their arrival. I was always under the assumption that I was born during the Chinese year of the snake since I was born in 1989. I recently found out that the year of the snake did not start until the day after my birthday, February 6th, 1989. I was born in the year of the dragon. According to the Chinese traditions and zodiac signs, the season and time of day in which you are born have just as much of a major influence on the aspects in your life as the animal that is said to “hide in your heart” does. The animal tends to give a general horoscope. My characteristics as someone born in the year of the dragon are said (also in the link below) to be “Strong-willed, emotional, eccentric, born leader, great ability and high achiever. Lucky, successful, attracts wealth, full of pride, showman, confident, sincere, warm, demanding, high expectations.” My influential element traits of Earth are sociable, conventional and stable. And my compatibility rate with other animal signs (from best to worst) is as follows: Rat, Pig, Rabbit, Monkey, Tiger, Rooster, Sheep, Snake, Horse, Dog, Ox, and Dragon. I think it would be interesting and a little confusing if we lived by this calendar.

My Birth-DAY in History

I was born on Sunday, February 5th, 1989 at 12:44 in the afternoon at Staten Island’s University Hospital. The day obviously has special meaning to my life because it is when I celebrate my birthday year after year. However, there have to have been a handful of events in history with much significance that happened on February 5th as well. I looked up the day and it had many events that occurred. On my actual birthday and year, the last of the Russian troops withdrew from the capital city of Kabul in Afghanistan. All the following events, as well as others that I have not learned, fell on February 5th of different years. An immigration act was passed in 1917. In 1931, Sir Malcolm Campbell set a new race car record of 245MPH with his racing machine, the Bluebird, in Daytona Beach. The first “Don’t Walk” sign was installed in 1952. Children ran for sweets in 1953 after 13 years of sweet rationing in Great Britain since the commencement of WWII. The commander of Apollo 14 (Alan B. Shepard Jr.) became the fifth man to walk on the moon. Panama leader and 16 other associates were charged for drug smuggling and money laundering in 1988. In 1994 in Sarajevo, Bosnia, there was a mortar bomb that exploded in the central market square which killed 68 people and wounded another 200. And in 2008, what was reported to be the worst tornadoes in 2 decades swept across the 5 states of Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, Kansas and Alabama, killing 54 people. Some of the events were happy and others were sad. All I know is that my birthday has had a lot more meaning in history than I could have ever imagined.

Happy New Year

New Years Eve in the year 2000… I can remember like it was yesterday. It was referred to as “Y2K.” There was this superstition that all of our technology was going to fail on us once the clock struck 12. Computers and cell phones and all the materials we had grown so dependent upon were not going to be in use as of 12:00AM on January 1st, 2000. The panic and hysteria left even those who were not superstitious to begin to believe in it in some way, shape or form. When we normally count down to a New Year, we are happy and celebrating the year that passed and excited about the year that will soon follow. It wasn’t until we were sure that we were able to wish our loved ones a Happy New Year over the cell phones that the world was at ease. Superstitions like this have been going on since ancient times and they will continue to live as long as people like us grow the slightest doubt in their own certainties.

Isn’t it Ironic?

Our days always seem to have some touch of irony in them. It appears to be the determination of how our luck unfolds and how that day will unravel. Irony can be defined as what can seem coincidental. Maike Oergel from the Encyclopaedia of German Literature writes that “Irony is a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects...” A song was written by Alanis Morissette entitled “Ironic.” The song goes into some extremes but the lyrics can be understood depending on what kind of day you are having and what you’re doing on that particular day. She says lines like “it’s like ten thousand spoons, when all you need is a knife,” “it’s like rain on your wedding day,” “a traffic jam when you’re already late,” and “a no smoking sign on your cigarette break.” The lines of the song are pieces of a bad day that just keeps getting worse. It defines how you feel before you say the words “this is just my luck,” or “this could only happen to me.”

“13” Precautions

In many countries around the world, in order to help citizens cope with their fears of the number 13, authorities take certain actions they consider necessary to keep everyone happy. For instance, in Scotland, there is no gate at any airport numbered 13. Instead, it is referred to as Gate 12B. In many airplanes, they tend to skip row 13 altogether. Many cultures tend to discourage getting married on the 13th of a month. A race car has never won the Indianapolis 500 or NASCAR Nextel Cup, causing most race car drivers to shy away from having 13 in their number. There is no 13th law in the Code of Hammurabi. According to a superstition, when 13 individuals sit around a table for a meal, one is presumed to die within the following year. There is no sound stage number 13 in Universal Studios, California and no Microsoft Office 13. Bill Gates lost his title of being the richest man in the world after 13 years, according to the 2008 list of world billionaires in Forbes’ magazine. And to reiterate why these superstitions are taken into such account, it was on April 13th that the Apollo 13 spacecraft broke down forcing a return to Earth without reaching the moon and jeopardizing the entire crew.