Monday, October 20, 2008

Of mice and fortuitous men


Before you start freaking out that I'm posting about rats, it won't be that bad. I promise!! As I continue to write posts, I find myself getting re-educated about lots of stuff/junk/crap that I thought I used to know.

So today it's rats/rodents/mice - at least to start. We all love Tom and Jerry, right? That is we like to think lightly of rodents in their animated form rather than their grotesque, scary and nasty manifestation as house/yard pests.

You're probably asking if maybe I'm in need of some cheese and some of Deb's traps. Not yet. But my mother is and that's another story. Let's just say one surprised her while she was indisposed in the bathroom. That has to be the last place anybody wants to see an unwanted houseguest!

I'm actually talking about The Year of the Rat.

What were the Chinese thinking, I asked of Wikipedia?


"The rat was welcomed in ancient times as a protector and bringer of material prosperity. It is an animal associated with aggression, wealth, charm, and order, yet also associated with death, war, the occult, pestilence, and atrocities."


At least they seem to touch on that little issue of THE PLAGUE.

There's more:

"People born in the Year of the Rat are noted for their charm and attraction for the opposite sex. They work hard to achieve their goals, acquire possessions, and are likely to be perfectionists. They are basically thrifty with money. Rat people are easily angered and love to gossip. Their ambitions are big, and they are usually very successful. They are most compatible with people born in the years of the Dragon, Monkey, and Ox.

You are imaginative.
You are generous. You can be quick tempered. You will be happy as a writer, critic or publicist."

Hum....sounds like blogger me but I wasn't born in a RAT year. I'm a TIGER. I'm happy about that as it means I roar rather than squeak.

Back to the Chinese and more thinking. So what's the story on Fortune Cookies, I again ask of Wikipedia? To summarize, there is a legend that indicates that they were a way to pass secret messages. They were also brought to the U.S. by the Japanese, not the Chinese.

I always liked the little game where you say "in bed" after reading your fortune. I know. Yawn. We've all heard it but it can be really funny.

This is what was in my fortune cookie recently:

"Your genuine talent will find its way to success."

Hum.....I'm so talented. Which one are they talking about?

Just kidding. I'll probably have more luck with the 6 numbers on the back.

Hubby got this one:
"The evening promises romantic interests".

He was giving me a look. Maybe I should be glad he wasn't looking around.

Adding "in bed" takes this post somewhere else entirely so let's just leave it at that.

You know how every so often you'll get one and it hits home? Hubby has several of those in a drawer. If you've got one handy, I'd love to read about it in the comments. Or if it's a good one for "in bed" at the end, I'll take those too.

Yeah. My weekend was real exciting and yes I had Chinese Food. I almost forgot. I watched Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I liked it. Yeah. I know. I'm living up to the Geek part of my name. I also spent some time sleeping and organizing a Halloween costume. Yippee. I think I now have a plan. Hint: Wigs

Catch Deb and many other funny folks at Humor Bloggers.com.

4 comments:

Chat Blanc said...

your poor mom! wild mice and rats definitely creep me out! According to the chinese zodiac I'm a rooster. I suppose that's marginally better than a rodent! ;)

Anonymous said...

Instead of Deb's traps I would say to make fortune cookies out of d-CON. Just grind up some pellets, a little butter and sugar. Roll it out and put a fortune in there.

Now, what kind of fortune should be in there? Squeek, Squeek just doesn't sound right. How about, "you are about to take a long journey"?

Deb said...

RATS! There is nothing cute about a rat. The bad thing is, I think I was born in the year of the rat. Oh lucky me.

Love Marvel Goose's fortune cookie recipe. There's a few people I'd like to try that out that I'd say were of the rat species.

I'm a little sad as I have yet to catch a mouse in any of the 632 traps in the garage.

Oh yeah, you shocked me with that fortune cookie thing, adding 'in bed'! My dad says you add 'with no pants on'! Is this some American folk lore thing? I thought he was the only sick one.

Funny post, RG, rats and all!

ReformingGeek said...

@chat blanc - A rooster? Cool. We'll use you for wake-up calls ;-)

@marvel goose - I like the recipe. thanks.

@deb - Thanks! For all the folks born in the rat year, I'll think of all those positive qualities!

I'm thinking the "in bed" was made-up by bored Chinese-Americans in their restaurants. Around here Chinese restaurants are rarely ever busy so they needed something to do. ;-)


"1.00s, 1.50s, 1.75s for the short arms. If you know what I'm talking about, you're probably old, too."

"Boomer brain fog: What was the last, middle, and first part of what you just said to me?"