American Cultural Icons

I have always loved things that have become cultural icons, typically American cultural icons presumably due to the fact that I live in the US.  But I love particular ones. Rock-n-Roll culture for example, I love what The Doors have become as a symbol, not who they are as people. (More about this on my other blog). But I love other less obvious things as well.

Case in point: Fortune cookies.

I have always loved American Chinese food, I love takeout, cheap dark Hunan restaurants and I will even admit that I sometimes go for the mall food court version. I can't help it, it is delicious. And, something I love that goes along with it: fortune cookies. This purely American cultural item has captivated my soul. For years I have collected my fortunes. Much to Dave's dismay, I do in fact keep a vase full of my past fortunes, and a few extra cookies I haven't gotten to yet. I do not take the fortunes seriously, but do believe you must eat the cookie for it to come true.

My obsession with fortune cookies began when I lived in Columbus. For a period of 3 or so months whenever I would eat Chinese food (which was frequent), regardless of if I had takeout from the closest place, dinner with friends at the dive down the street, buffet or nice dinner with family-- I got the same fortune.

That fortune was: "keep on charging the enemy so long as there is life". I got it so many times, from so many different places, I decided the universe was trying to tell me something, though I was not sure what. I decided I had better hang on to these little slips of paper.

And I have done so ever since. I have the vase on our counter as I previously mentioned, but at any moment in time I probably have pockets full of fortunes, or the bottom of my purse is lined with slips of paper.

I like them so much that for my birthday one year Dave got me a giant personalized chocolate covered fortune cookie  (isn't he the best?!)

This week, another strange cookie occurrence. In both my evening graduate classes, which take place on different nights, in different rooms, involving different people-- I found a fortune. A single slip of paper suspiciously lying in the middle of the floor or table. And I am apparently the only one who noticed.  I love when the universe gives me something fun to enjoy.

Favorite fortune ever? "ignore last cookie"

Throwback..

Enjoy Andrea!

2011 One More Year until the World Ends

Since the world is scheduled to end in 2012, we decided we had better make the most of 2011. Thus, big changes are in store this year. But, let me begin with what we did and did not accomplish in 2010.



Our 2010 Goals included the addition of travel to our lives. We began the 50 state challenge and thus far have accomplished the visitation of 9 states, not including Indiana (only driven through, or stayed in separately) and Texas (only crashed one night on the way to Mexico).  We also managed a fantastic winter vacation in Mexico, beginning our international travel plans. Check out pictures and details of our travels and other items at Fauxtopgraphy.

2010 also brought us the 100 Books list-- remember that?

With an amazing amount of help from friends and (mostly) family, we are just 21 books short of our goal. The remaining list below:

Number	Author	Title
1.	Arthur Conan Doyle	The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
2.	Boris Pasternak	Dr Zhivago
3.	Dashiell Hammett	The Maltese Falcon
4.	George Bernard Shaw	Pygmalion
5.	H.G. Wells	The Time Machine
6.	Hunter S. Thompson	Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
7.	Johann David Wyss	Swiss Family Robinson
8.	John Milton	Paradise Lost
9.	Malcolm Lowry	Under the Volcano
10.	Marcel Proust	Remembrance of Things Past
11.	Margaret Mitchell	Gone with the Wind
12.	Nathanael West	The Day of the Locust
13.	Nathaniel Hawthorne	The House of the Seven Gables
14.	Oscar Wilde	The Importance of Being Earnest
15.	Robert Ludlum	The Bourne Identity
16.	Stephen King	The Shining
17.	Sun Tzu	The Art of War
18.	Sylvia Plath	The Bell Jar
19.	T.S. Eliot	The Waste Land
20.	Tennessee Williams	Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; A Streetcar Named Desire

In 2010 we purchased a car suitable for our great dane, 2 iphones  and a macbook air proving once and for all that apple reigns victorious in the apple vs. pc debate, became lifelong Blackhawks fans, Dave took up golfing and we got engaged.

As I mentioned before, 2011 is going to be a year of big changes. We are trying to get more healthy, Dave has been running and Andrea is in the midst of the 30 day shred. We are getting married in July and Andrea has begun graduate school.

Our honeymoon will add to our travels, and hopefully we get enough time off this year to get a few more of the 50 states completed. We are looking forward to a great year!  Hopefully this year will provide us with some much needed new (local) friendships.