The Quickies

Haven't posted for far too long, but, I have been writing other stuff; stories about things and places and people and issues and trying to ooze out some personal philosophies (rationales?) for existing that make at least some sense (to me). I'm getting on and keepin' on eh. And yes I'm a lucky one who still can and wants to. 

Thoughts pop into thought regularly. I think; "That's a great idea; live with it for a while; a few minutes, a day or much, much longer. See whether it's sticky enough to dance with and even merit preservation". 

So I'm going to try this little section. Calling it  the Quickie. Gonna post those popup thoughts. And look at them. And cogitate. And try. And...who knows?. So....here we go...starting Dec 023, newest/most recent at the top.

Right? Wrong? You never get anyone to change by telling them they're wrong!!??

Who's Story? Tell your stories with passion as factually as you can or as creatively as you might imagine, but... it's the readers and listeners who will complete them.

Balance. If life is in perfect balance does anything/anyone move or change? And if not, why would anyone want to be perfectly balanced? Swinging, ups and downs are good, yes?

A Road Trip of the Body and Mind. Road trips are great because every day you chose a starting time, a new place for breakfast,  new food, meet new people, decide how far you're going to take life today, where you're going to sleep tonight and in more than one way, "Fill your (Gas) Tank" every...single...day...and sometimes...more.  

No Word has a single meaning to all people. They exist to convey notion or ideas. They are not singularly effective; they need perspective. Perspective - yours and the who and where and what you are tofday...at this moment - change them. Try to be clear, but don't get hung up on them. Use them, create new ideas with them. Reinvent and expand their possibilities.

Tell your stories with passion as factually as you can or as creatively as you might imagine, but... it's the readers and listeners who will complete them. Balance If life is in perfect balance does anything/anyone move or change? And if not, why would anyone want to be perfectly balanced? Swinging, ups and downs are good, yes? A Road Trip of the Body and Mind. Road trips are great because every day you chose a starting time, a new place for breakfast, new food, meet new people, decide how far you're going to take life today, where you're going to sleep tonight and in more than one way, "Fill your (Gas) Tank" every...single...day...and sometimes...more. No Word has a single meaning to all people. They exist to convey notion or ideas. They are not singularly effective; they need perspective. Perspective - yours and the who and where and what you are tofday...at this moment - change them. Try to be clear, but don't get hung up on them. Use them, create new ideas with them. Reinvent and expand their possibilities.

Canadian Student Service Grant Program and It's Failures

RE: The now ill-fated CSSG program:

1. The PM blew it by - at the very least - not loudly and publicly recusing himself from the WE decision before any contract was awarded. Politics 101 would suggest it was dumb that he didn't. Minister of Finance tooo.

2. I am part of a small non-profit that tries to help some inner city high school kids, primarily through improving their access to sports and athletics. We have no staff; just volunteer our time. The idea of getting a student "from the hood" to help plan and coordinate further outreach initiatives, including database development was very appealing. That they would be able to receive some income to recognize their work made it practical for them and us. Our group did post a job to the CSSG site. Then the whole program got whacked. Regardless of the issues with WE, the idea made a lot of sense. Now it's potential and benefits have been drowned in the deadly sea of politics. Sad.

To the Minister of Heritage re; The National CBC News

Dear Mr. Minister

While I regularly access several online and print news sources, I want to believe that the CBC - specifically

The National- should be my main source of topical, trusted, real news. This important nightly broadcast to the entire nation could be more contentful, more analytical, more relevant, more helpful and become a world-leading News Purveyor that will make Canadians and your Government very proud. How? Make it more strategic and more watchable. 

1. First by making some watcher-friendly "technical" changes to the the broadcast. I recently made a few specific suggestions to senior executives at the National dealing with such matters as screen and logo display, the use of teasers, the At Issue Panel, COVID coverage and even re-branding the show to The CBC World News. I was favoured by a prompt return phone call and meaningful discussion. So through you, a compliment to The National staff. 

2. Then, there's the Elephant... the overwhelming amount of time taken by advertising during the one hour nightly broadcast. This is a function of the current mandate of CBC (News) and the fiscal policies of the Government/your Ministry. I ask, not naively, that you make whatever financial investment is required to allow The National to deliver its products - Real News and Best in the World Issue Analysis - ad free. *

Fourteen +/-  minutes of each hour's reporting and analysis potential are now stolen by advertising; this is an abomination.** I I believe our national news broadcast is one of the heaviest ad - infested broadcast News shows in North America. Canadians need and deserve more. The News is The Thing. The CBC is The News. Free the National! 

Why?

Removal of the requirement to sell and broadcast so many ads would mean....

• 25% more time to report and provide in-depth analysis of current affairs important to Canadians.
• Less need to play and replay redundant teasers of upcoming items resulting in...
• Another 3 or 4% more reporting and in-depth analysis time which means...
• More informed "clients" and  improved viewership. People will be more engaged, thus less likely to channel surf 
• Improved Branding for the CBC, the Government and improved (Inter) national acclaim

Having the precious minutes gained could also open up broader social opportunities. Let's consider, for example:

• More crucial, consistent expert advice on living with Covid and other topical challenges 
• A strategic focus on the country's non profit and charitable organizations which are so crucial to this country. CBC could use some of the free time to  "report on" charity and non profit successes as news and educational items. It would provide exposure to socially important groups without sucking up their ad dollars. Seeing the investment in free time as leveraging investment in the NGO world would be a pretty justifiable rationale. For smaller NGOs, their brand recognition would be established and for larger ones, extended. This in turn would encourage future donations...yet another level of leverage. 

Anyway...that's it Mr. Minister. Let's Free The National, improve its content, improve its watchability, it's loyalty and support amongst Canadians. Let's make The National Great(er)! 

Thanks in advance for taking the time to consider these ideas (and pitch!). I look forward to your thoughts and trust they will come from your most creative self.

Brian Caldwell 705 444 6268

73 Niagara St Collingwood On L9Y3X4

*Given all the pandemic money that your Government is spending to help Canadians, surely maximizing the amount, quality and conveyance of true and accurate data and expert advice to Canadians everywhere should be part of the pandemic effort. 

**That there seems to be no governing policy regarding the type or quality or strategic purpose to the ads is a concomitant problem/opportunity. Enough of the Pizza delivery ads etc. They detract from the gravitas of the broadcast and make customer loyalty far less likely.
 

 If there must be some ads (albeit far fewer) accept and promote only those with useful, educational information on themes of relevance to Canadians. See earlier comments regarding NGOs.

CBC National TV News

Jerry Dias wrote a piece recently for my local paper. His thesis was that the big internet companies have an advantage in attracting advertising; that is unfair because they use (steal/borrow/expropriate content often created by others; and, there are very negative consequences for our traditional (print) news organizations as a result. I agree.

But that (and a growing nightly frustration) got me thinking of news organizations...why -  particularly during the pandemic when the public is starving for good, deep information on so many matters  - does the CBC - the broadcaster and news generator that we own - kill us with advertising on The National News broadcast?  Ad time limits severely reporting and analysis potential.The government is spending billions on helping Canadians. Free up The National from advertising every night and use the time to inform. The ad breaks are so pervasive I am prone to give up on The National. And that's pretty sad. It is a vital, far reaching, publicly owned vehicle that can touch so many Canadians. Tell us more about the country and the world we are dying to understand. Forget selling products. Sell some ideas and knowledge. Please.

Charlie is an Inspiration in the midst of....everything!

I have long been bewildered by the world, its order, its disorder, its beauty and its power and am even more so now, in these pandemic days that is. I have seen deeds, read words and heard songs of love that serve to perspectivize the pandemic and life itself; many are creative and inspiring. The source of inspiration seems at first to be the words and deeds themselves but it may rather be the thought that there are people who are capable of such writing and songs and deeds – and that some are my friends. Always knew they were gifted.

But I’m a pretty simple guy. My recent night time reading was Volume 1 of Charlie Brown’s ‘Cyclopedia...Featuring Your Body” (1980). It took maybe 4 nights to get through its 54 pages. The section on “What is a Virus” was notable but there was no mention of the current beast of course. Many of the other sections could form a good Trivia game for all of us as we look for stuff to do and think about. How about these gnarly questions...

• What is a Funny Bone?
• Why do you shiver on a cold day?
• What actually are “Goose Bumps”
• Why do you drop a hot potato?
• Why are some people ticklish and others not?
• What is an Adam’s Apple?
• What is the process of sneezing?

And here’s a few facts I gleaned from Charlie. (I trust him and did not fact check any).

• Hair grows faster in summer and averages about 3/4 inches / month
• The longest sneezing fit (in 1980) was 155 days!
• People have about 100,000 hairs on their heads. (Those were the days my friend).
• We have 206 bones, 1/2 of which are in hands and feet.
• H2O is =~ 60% of body weight.
• We breath about 11,000 litres of air in and out a day.
• Our skin weighs twice as much as our brain.

So, thanks again to Charles and Charlie, Snoopy, Woodstock and all the others...you are all continuing lights in the middle of a dark tunnel.

Keep on keeping on eh!

Short Poem of the Month...Jan 2020

I asked a friend a friend about a one act play that my diary tells me he wrote in 1964. I commented in review that I found it quite humorous and pertinent. About our love lives, I think.

He sadly recounted he'd both forgotten ever writing it and regardless, had no manuscripts anywhere. He allowed though, that he used to write the odd ditty-poem (yes,"ditty"). He was good enough to share one and, here it is: Put your self in the Rockies on a lovely Summer Day and then...read on eh, and appreciate our art.

Asinine Alliteration

"The majestic moose meandered down the darkened dawn participating perceptively in a yodeling yawn."

.

No Meat Diets Will Not Solve Environmental problems

A piece in my semi-local newspaper (yes I still get one delivered!) posited: "If we all did it (i.e. switch to a plant based diet), it could save us" and even if we "just befriend them" (cows are her main focus), we're part of the problem."  That argument is naive.

The negative environmental impacts associated with meat are caused not by the act of eating it, but by the animals themselves...think cows, yes, but all ruminants. I get the simplistic idea of a demand-supply solution but this is a much more complicated scientific, social and economic issue. 

If we all stopped eating cows what would happen to the estimated 1-1.5 billion cows that are alive today? Do we just kill them and make the species endangered if not extinct? The naturalists wouldn't much like that!. And, I doubt that Hindu folks would tolerate a world cull as cows are held to be sacred by many.  If we don't kill them all - and more particularly all the bulls -  then surely they'll have even more cows over time...unless we sterilize them all or let them all have abortions. And if cow families are still around, do we continue to feed and care for them? And if we do,won't there will still be the land use, water and methane gas producing belching and pooping problems? 

Canada has about 12 million cows. Brazil and India are of order, 200 million each! And if we were to go 100% plant based, what about the 22 billion chickens, and the 2 billion pigs and the 1+ billion sheep that share our world? We surely can't adopt them all, and they'd still graze the land, eat, drink, be merry...burping and pooping and emitting tons of methane all the while.

There are many other initiatives being tried that we don't seem to read about. Only the loudest lobby seems to get the ink. There are several different experiments  aimed at decreasing the amount of methane the ruminant actually produces and many others which attempt to harvest the methane and put it to good uses. 

Eating less meat sounds like a good idea, but it won't "SAVE us".

"Baaa (Moo or Oink) Humbug" to the exaggeration proffered by the Stop Meat Eaters Movement. It is full of methane.

Affordability. Life and THE BIG URBAN BOX (BUB)

 Talking about the ever-so-hot subject of "Affordability" (in Toronto and other Ontario (/Canadian/International communities in the western  world),  Rick Salutin said in the Toronto Star Aug 30 that there isn't an affordability crises at all, rather there is  a "class"conflict. I agree to a point. He went on to say the solution is "a redistribution of wealth...not (a redistribution) of population (to Belleville (Ontario) e.g.)" as a colleague had written about recently.  

Well, that's only part of the consideration. 

An aggressive, multi stakeholder (governments and businesses) initiative to redistribute (i.e."decentralize") population and jobs would solve a bunch of problems. Cheaper land and therefore living prices, would be one a beneficial outcome.

More deeply, a better life style and humanity would be enabled. 

The growing and debilitating stress that so many people are under (see G Wayne Miller's article in the Star the same day), could be lessened.  The data referred to by Miller documenting the seriousness of the rise in stress didn't identify where the folks surveyed lived or what they did for a living... 

So I'll posit with some confidence that the stress epidemic is largely a BIG URBAN BOX (BUB) caused phenomenon. Whilst big cities certainly have a VIBE you just can't just shove more and more people into a BIG URBAN BOX without causing a host of problems. And we are witnessing them. And we can't deal with them; affordability, class differentiation, homelessness and toxic stress. Just can't keeping doing the same thing...doesn't work. One big box, all kinds of sweating, stressed people running around to stay the same, terrible traffic and commutes, frustration, violence, stress, gangs, drugs, pollution, destructed infrastructure and de-humanization. 

Time for a new vision. If we are to Keep On, we need to Get On... with a new vision. Let's move the jobs, let the people follow and beat the life-inhibiting epidemic we face.  

Jarvis Collegiate: The School, the Building, the Legends

There was an article in my newspaper the other day that posited there has been spotty and inconsistent development around the Jarvis and Wellesley intersection in Toronto and that more should be done city-wide to respect, protect and showcase old iconic homes like the Massey mansion. I agree.

Notwithstanding some uncoordinated and appealing buildings in the area, there is one structure at the intersection that is very special, viz. the Jarvis Collegiate Institute building on the south east corner. Jarvis the school is over 210 years old. It is the second oldest high school in Ontario and the oldest in Toronto. The current building was built in 1924 and exudes the elegance of Gothic Revival architecture. It has seen two major renovations/additions since then but the beautiful facade and halls of the building have been maintained. The impressive front stairs from Jarvis Street lead into a grand, welcoming foyer. The famous George Reid historical murals in the auditorium have survived and are to be treasured. The walls still speak of the thousands who have studied within them over nearly a century. The school and the building are sources of great pride for former and present students and staff. They should be celebrated by everyone. We should not allow the building to be tarnished by criticisms of other area developments. JCI will continue to anchor that corner proudly and share its personality with the City. It will keep on keeping on eh. Stop and look at it next time you're in the area. It's OK to stare. 

Testing in shools

A fine writer (Mr. Rick Salutin) recently wrote about several issues facing teachers, students and school administrators. Among them was the regular debate about whether standardized testing in our schools was a good thing or a bad thing.

The conclusion of his December 7th article regarding standardized testing posited that: "What you've truly learned (as a student faced with an exam) counts zero..." I disagree. 

My colleagues and I grew up facing regular standardized testing, departmental FINAL exams at the end of high school and annual exams in University. This encouraged/demanded full and thoughtful review of the year's material - no one really knew what would be on the exam. Material review deepened fact retention and thinking about the subject. In some cases, the "forced" study led to a eureka moment when I finally came to understand something in the material that I had not really fathomed during the course. Writing exams taught us how to prepare and study for a big event, meet deadlines and deal with the related pressure. Good traits as one goes out in the real world. How else is one to learn how to prepare for the test of a job interview, how to research, write and deliver a speech, make a sales pitch, craft a policy proposal to government? Life is a series of exams; some are harder than others and some have more significance...but  you can't avoid them. Learning how to synthesize and evaluate the information that may be needed to pass them and actually delivering it is a very valuable skill. Get used to doing it early and often is what I suggest. Even if you fail the odd one; learning to deal with that is another great talent. You may even turn out to be a successful entrepreneur! 

Driving (Miss) Canada

I read a good article about some car journalists driving some Mercedes Benz vehicles in each province for a Canada 150 "event". (See: Oh Canada, What a Road Trip by Norris McDonald. Saturday July 1, in Wheels section of the Toronto Star). Made me think about my own experiences, hence a comment or two... 

I agree with Norris. Seeing the country by car is the way to “do” the country and doing it with the top down is extraordinary. For 3 years when in Vancouver on business, I bought an old car (MGB, VW Beetle and TR8, each a convertible with many kms and standard transmission) so that I could drive home (to Toronto) rather than fly.  The convertible opens the experience. It allows you to be swallowed up by the majesty of our mountains and awed by the Living Skies (as they say in Saskatchewan). You just feel and smell the air in a way that puts you at one with the country. (And in the older car, you drive a bit more slowly allowing you to see more while hoping that it won’t give up the ghost somewhere north of Superior!).

Norris’ story also reminded me of a contest my association* ran some years ago, called Test Drive Canada. We represented the manufacturers and dealers of the 6 Japanese car brands. There were 5 winning families. They were flown to Victoria where they met a 6^th family (the wagon masters for the trip) and were introduced to 6 different Japanese cars. Each family was to drive each car as they tripped across the country to St. John’s. A thorough itinerary set out hotels, car switch points, and several special presentations to the group by local dignitaries along the way. They were Hatted, Screeched, feted and entertained. More importantly, they met 5 other families from different parts of Canada, with whom they shared a pretty unique experience. I am in periodic touch with them still. I feel good that we helped them see Canada in a special way.

As I continue to contemplate another X Canada trip, I hope the car industry will do more to promote trips like this for individual Canadians and families and respectfully, let the scribes and pundits find their own wheels.  

* The Canadian Association of Japanese Automobile Dealers aka CAJAD)

The Incredible Dandelion; Canada's national Flower?

Read the other day (in the Toronto Star; article by Sonia Day) that the Master Gardeners of Ontario are holding a vote to name "Canada's National Flower" in this, our 150th year. They have narrowed their acceptable /recommended choice to three; "Hooded Ladies Tresses"; Twin Flower"; and "Bunchberry". Wow! 

It's Hard for me to vote for any of the three finalists, not being sure I have seen any of them! 

Rather in my corner ladies, gentlemen and others, we have the Incredible Dandelion. Most Canadians (at least in the southern parts) have a love-hate relationship with these little asexual plants. I know they’re not proprietary to Canada, but then, most Canadians are transplants from somewhere. Like Canadians, they’re resilient beyond belief; you just can’t keep them down; they’re extremely practical ‘cause you can eat the whole thing; better still you can make some wine from them along the way making it a medicinal Plant not needing Government regulation*. They come to life every year in the spring after a long Canadian winter and it seems like every one of them has survived!  They spread their seeds in the wind like we spread our ideas of multi-culturalism, peace and hockey around the world. Maybe best of all, they’re bi-lingual! The name “Dandelion” comes from the French “dent-de-lion” meaning “Lion’s Tooth”. My thought: make The Incredible Dandelion a write-in candidate in the Master Gardeners of Ontario’s vote for Canada’s National Flower. It should win hands down.

* For one take on the good parts check out https://altnature.com/gallery/dandelion.htm  Dr. G will turn up lots more! 

                                             

Be The River!

There was a report in my local paper recently saying that a High Court in India has ruled that two historic and socially significant rivers have the status of living human entities.

The law henceforth would treat anyone who harmed or polluted the waters the same as if they had harmed a person. Rather a good idea, but I doubt we’re ready to do it here in Canada. Instead though, we might do well to take note of the great movie Caddyshack's  line "...just 'Be the Ball'" (see clip below*). 

I adopted the notion a while back. As an example when my kids would slam a door; a few “Be the Door” exhortations and they’d get the idea! 

The concept could be applied to a new Canadian Environmental/Natural Resources Program. It would urge all Canadians to “Be the River (or Lake or Tree). If you really think that way, why would you ever want to harm them? You wouldn't. And there you have it, eh.

*Caddyshack Clip; Be the Ball

Changes of Government...Lets Look at them Differently

The recent Inauguration of the US President and his subsequent speech were pretty interesting events. Apart from parsing his remarks, a couple of things occurred to me.

Trump and his supporters have criticized what they refer to as the political elites. It seems true that  governments do assume - more and more over time -  that they are totally "in charge" of policy and the mechanisms of government. If  government is “by the people” and “for the people” and people are theoretically able to control government and if there are concerns that the current political system really controls itself, why is the inauguration event and swearing in process always referred to as a “Transfer of Power”?  Referring to the turn as a  “Transfer of Leadership and Management” would change perceptions of government and its role in society for the better, in the US and Canada.

If one thought of government organization in business terms,  Citizens are of course the shareholders. Every few years they elect a (new/somewhat new) Board of Directors (MPs) to Lead. The Board appoints officers (Ministers of Cabinet), who appoint Executives (Deputy Ministers etc.) who run Departments (Ministries) and  hire staff (civil servants).  

As a quick thought on Trump's comments if -  as Trump reminded everyone -   Americans want “great schools, safe neighborhoods...and good jobs...(and better infrastructure)” seems to me he could start by paying his taxes to help underwrite the necessary initiatives. And, henceforth only involve himself with hotels and golf courses built in America by Americans. Think of it; a new hotel and resort for every town in America!

Some Friends

First snow today. Hmm. Haven't written to the blog for a while but certainly have written to friends who have, over the last few months, been faced with troubles and challenges. In several cases I have signed off letters with "Keep On" which readers will know is part expression of hope that life and health and happiness and fulfillment will indeed keep on, and part exhortation/encouragement to the receiver to keep up the good fight. To friend who's seen a loved one seriously injured, another who is faced with cancer treatments and another who suffered a miscarriage, I have said - and say again now and into the future - "Keep On."

On the subject of sign offs I read a humorous letter from a noted Canadian writer to an Uncle of mine back some many years ago and he signed it off with the words: " To the deep end" which I rather liked.

Can we change people? Can they change themselves?

I’ve said many times - that I don’t think people change. Some good friends disagree with me. So, I’ve tried to think about it some more. 

When I say that people don’t change, I guess I’m really talking and thinking about their inner essence, their soul, their spirit so-to-speak. It is clear that our bodies evolve over time. Muscles, brain cells, joints etc. all age …but does that change who we are? Maybe we can’t do the same things, but we are likely the same person inside. If we were competitive, we likely still are; our inner competitiveness just manifests itself in different ways.

If we change jobs and learn to use new and different software techniques, adopt different ways of doing things or handling issues or dealing with people…have we changed?  I think our perspective and some aspects of behaviour might have changed…but we are not fundamentally different people. We have the same brain and senses and belief about human beings that we always did: we just apply them differently.

If I stop smoking, certainly my habits and behaviour have changed, but I have not. I may still crave the idea and I still love the same things and the same people. If a person quits drinking, what is it that changes? It’s his or her behaviour. The weakness or character trait that lead to (or enabled) the smoking and/or drinking is still there; its how we deal with them that has changed.

Which brings me a related thought; I often say that “You don’t have to ask people what they like to do you just have to watch them!” They will consistently do what they want to do, and that I think reflects a great deal about who they are. Sometimes, we are annoyed or displeased with what others do. Does that mean we don’t like who they are? And in such cases, do we think we can get the other person to change that behaviour? And if they actually do restrain themselves or adopt a different behaviour in a given situation, have they really changed? Likely not, I posit. They may change behaviour but their essence has not changed. And as a note, we cannot – in my view – change someone else’s behaviour or attitudes…people will only change when – and if – they decide to. It is always their choice.

So, I think that people’s behaviours can change, but that doesn’t change the essence of the person. Changes in behaviour they do make are because they (decide to) make them. Our inner self, personality orientations and belief system about other people and relationships just keeps on keeping on.  We cannot change others. Once a cynic, always a cynic; once a conspiracist, always a conspiracist; once open or  loving or  trusting or accepting of others, always open or  loving or  trusting or accepting of others. And, that’s the last word (for now at least)!         So...Keep On Eh.

Ah, What's in a Fortune Cookie?

Some of you may have wondered over the years, “Who put the ‘Ding’ in ‘Ding - a ding- a ding dong’” and in the same spirit I’ll bet you – like I - have long anguished over the questions of:  

• “Who puts the fortunes in fortune cookies?”
• “How do the fortunes get into the cookies?”  
• “Who are the seers and fortune tellers who conjure up and ordain the true fortunes that make it into the cookies that reach millions every day?  (I was going to say “who” reach ….” because the cookies can be personified can’t they? Each speaks a personally developed and personally targeted message)
• “How many fortunes are in the Great Fortune (Cookie) Library?” (If there is a”Great Pumpkin Patch” as postulated by Linus, there must be a “Great Fortune (Cookie) Library”.  Am I right, or am I right?
• And, just what are those numbers at the bottom of some fortunes and why are there always (usually?) six numbers? 

These have been important questions for me. Regardless, they’ve evolved into today’s purveyors of meaningful personal commentaries.  I open each cookie I’m gifted with a mix of trepidation and excitement and always, with an unbridled sense of hopefulness. I’ve saved a few of my fortunes to provide inspiration on rainy days, and sunny days and just about any other time. I even put a few in my wallet so they’re available for inspiration anywhere, anytime. And I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one! 

So I went to the internet - the source of all truths (everything on the web is true, isn’t it?) -  to discover, inter alia, the following:  

• The cookie – with – a - message has a history dating back to the 13th century when they were used to pass secret messages during timed of war. Well, that’s one view anyway. Others think was actually a Japanese product and that the fortune orientation was created in the US. 

• There are reported to be about 5 Billion cookies sold worldwide each year. The biggest player seems to be Wonton Food Inc., originally from New York, but now with plants in Texas and Tennessee as well. The info I read suggests they produce some 5 million cookies per day which are sold in the US, Canada, Latin America and Europe.  See www.wontonfood.co

• In my neck of the Wings Food Products seems to own the fortune cookie market.  It is a family owned business in the Toronto area with a plant in Edmonton as well. It started making and distributing noodles, but has added a full range of Asian products including fortune cookies which have become an important part of the business. “Its people” make/bake the cookies and write the fortunes in the cookies.  See www.wings.ca . I am informed they have many thousands of fortunes in their library…each one itching to be a match with you. 

I intend to do some work on this subject, but until then, you can some more yourself. A couple of obvious sites are: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortune_cook   and

https://www.google.ca/?gws_rd=ssl#q=who+writes+the+fortunes+in+fortune+cookies  

And as to some of my favs, here's a few, in no particular order or sequence….read deeply, breathe deeply, meditate with and without thought and just imagine a better “me” and a better world too, one that will indeed “Keep on Eh”!

• You tune in intuitively to people and situations immediately and intensely
• You have keen intuition and emotional sensitivity
• Be your yourself and you will always be in fashion
• You are sociable and entertaining
• Good health will be yours for a long time
• Your magnetic personality will draw people to you
• You have keen intuition and emotional sensitivity
• You have a slow and unhurried natural rhythm
• Think long term
• Smiling will take away your worries
• You are demonstrative with those you love
• Firm friendships will prove to be the foundation of your success in life 
• Sometimes travel to new places leads to great transformation
• You are heading to a land of great sunshine (Manchu Wok)
• Friends long absent are coming back to you
• Keep it up…success is on its way
• You will manufacture a phenomenon
• You will always have good luck in your personal affairs
• Your artistic talent will win the approval and applause of others
• You are very grateful for the small pleasures of life
• This is really a lovely day….congratulations!
• A large sum of money will come to you (shortly)
• You will be recognized for your great achievements
• Enjoy Life! It is better to be happy than wise.

Let me know what your All Time Fortune Cookie Fortunes are! All fodder I think for long conversations, meditations and personal enlightenment. Let's all Keep on (getting better) eh.