7.07.2009

Okay, Ms. Fate, I admit that was pretty funny --


Sort of.

Funny and
a little painful,
like the funniest things
usually are.





If you've read the previous post, you'll understand.

I was having Chinese food for lunch with two of my daughters yesterday. When the meal was over one daughter opened her fortune cookie and then got a funny look on her face.

"Oh!" she said. "I'm sorry Mom, I'm pretty sure this was
supposed to be yours."


We all had a little laugh about it.

Then the other daughter opened her cookie and pulled out the slip and the laughing started for real. The fall off the chair snorting kind. In fact, it's a good thing we were done eating or there might have been an unfortunate laughter-induced rice incident of some kind.



Well.

Of course we immediately decided that if my cookie contained the same message, it was an obvious fortune-cookie-malfunction and the whole episode would have to be declared null and void.

So I opened it . . .

and . . .



Seriously?
Who cares about beauty and virtue?


"Bummer," one daughter said.

"That sucks," said the other. "You could make money off the 'beauty', but the 'virtue' would probably somehow get in the way of that."

My first thought was that I should of course take the message about possessing great beauty to be an indication that fortune cookies are inherently flawed as a predictor of actual lifetime achievements.

Or perhaps I should apologize to Ms. Fate for screwing things up by still missing the boat when she gave me two out of three odds for picking the right cookie.

"It's okay," I said. "I'm afraid that ship has sailed."

"Really?" observed my daughter. "Because I don't think it has. It seems like you're still looking for your ticket."

My girls are pretty smart cookies.

The funny thing is, I'd be just as delighted for either of them to become an accomplished writer as I would to become one myself.

That says something about being a mother, I guess.

And on that note (drumroll . . . )

here's the still-in-progress "Stay at Home Mom No. 3"





The central motif is finished, but I've been a little slow completing the piece because the words I planned on initially no longer fit once the characters actually landed.

It happens.

And when it does, I just sit on it for awhile. And I pay close attention.

Because the piece always tells me what it's trying to say eventually.

Henry J. Kaiser said:

When your work
speaks for itself,
don't interrupt.


I've found in my work that if I get out of the way and let things develop at their own pace, they usually grow up to be what they were meant to be.



I imagine Ms. Fate would probably say the same thing.

9 comments:

luanne said...

so how do you decide who picks the first fortune cookie -- as a mom, do you let the others pick first? to me that's always the big fortune cookie dilemma, but kind of a parallel for the rest of momlife too.

love your newest stay at home mom! your mom pieces always hit the soft spot in my heart. now i'm trying to think what clever words i'd put with her. whatever eventually comes will surely be your typical susan-genius!

p.s. you already are an accomplished writer, that's why you didn't get those cookies.

susan m hinckley said...

Thanks, LuAnne -- I already have the words -- BAM! This morning there they were. We have yet to see whether they're genius or not . . .

Usually I let whoever I'm with pick first, but yesterday Hannah just grabbed one and ripped it before I was quite finished eating. Anyway, it was a fun silly finish for our lunch.

Have a great trip!

april said...

first off, loved, loved, loved the patriotic quilts; (and yes, i realize i'm late to the party on that one).

secondly, i don't know about my dream prophecy stats as I HARDLY EVER REMEMBER THEM!!! so i think it counts for something that this one stuck!! i can't tell you the glee that filled me when i saw the fortune BEFORE reading it wasn't YOUR fortune!! but i do so hope you go back to that dream at some point in your life. (your daughters can be great writers too BTW - maybe there great recognition will help you get published?)

lastly, loved the upside down green guy with glasses. didn't you have him in a previous post? i love hearing how your art can find its own words and path. thanks for sharing.

Allie said...

Hahahahahahaha - your girls get their sense of humor from you! I laughed so hard at this post!

VO said...

I'm with Luanne, you're already an accomplishee writer so the fortune cookie gods reminded you of virtue and beauty.

susan m hinckley said...

But VO, should I be worried if the virtue and beauty have yet to materialize at my age?

What are the chances of those things descending out of the blue at this point in my life?

Any experience with this?

IS THERE ANYONE OUT THERE, AGE 40+, WHO HAS RECENTLY WOKEN UP TO FIND THAT THEY ARE THE BEST THEY'VE EVER BEEN IN TERMS OF LOOKS AND OVERALL GOODNESS? PLEASE LET ME KNOW . . .

Even anecdotal evidence would make me feel much more hopeful.

VO said...

I am soooo willing to bet if you were to ask your family they'd say: She is filled with beauty, she is beauty personified. She is virtuous; she chooses what is right over what is wrong.

Can you deny that? I bet not.

Each moment we do something right is beauty and virtue by definition.

So haha! (bwhahaha,I never let my kids do Ha ha's but I can do it when I know I'm right.)

Cami said...

I need to thank you for our famous girl in print -- Congrats on the magazine spread! It is FABULOUS! Sorry this thank you comes so delayed.
I had to comment on this post because one of those two fortunes should have been yours. My friend from Korea instructed me that the etiquette for fortunes is as follows: Everyone picks a cookie and passes it the the left, that way if your fortune is bad, it is not REALLY yours and if it is good, then so be it. Claim it! I like the idea of increasing my odds of a good fortune -- ancient Korean secret or not.

susan m hinckley said...

So good to hear from you, Cami -- her picture was a little dark, I know, but I was delighted with it none the less.

We will definitely be adopting your fortune cookie suggestion in Hinckleyville. If that rule had been in force during the lunch in question, I would have been assured of receiving the correct message, right? Lesson learned!

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