people say ignorance is bliss

Not too long ago, I made a solemn promise to stay away from any form of prediction of the future - horoscopes, tarot cards, crystal balls, tea leaves or tok bomoh. Not that I had any inclination to try the latter, but you know what I mean. I owe this to an incident about a year ago, where I, out of sheer idiocy, agreed to have my future be prescribed by a deck of cards. I had a lady, who, now that I recall, resembled an eerie similarity to Amy Winehouse - gave me a spiel on what it's gonna be like and what to watch out for. And if I was honest, it was all downhill from there.

Granted - what I did was wrong, and to be swayed by the outcome, was even more wrong. I realise that - but that wasn't after I spent months deliberating on the choices I made, the path I led, and the risks I took, some of which the wise would dub foolish. It could be fun and games all this. But not for someone like me. Someone who takes everything out of context, and gives everything meaning even though they're not meant to bear any - someone who puts everything on a specimen slide and then magnifies it at 10x. I can never get the 'humour' in all this.

But for someone who looked like a junkie, the tarot card reader was pretty spot-on. She said things that she could not have possibly known. But then again, one may argue that they were generic. I mean, who isn't slightly neurotic at times and who doesn't secretly yearn for the unattainable?

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I was out having dinner with people from work the other night. I think we were running out of things to talk about when the partner turned to me and said, "I took palmistry in university." Word in the office has it that he uses that as an ammo to pick up ladies on a Friday night, and that he's actually pretty damn good at it. He took my palm and looked at it as if he was reviewing a set of financial statements. With so much scrutiny, he read that line and read the other line and said what it means when this line meets that line.

All I could say was, damn. And that was when I remembered why I took that solemn promise in the beginning.

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Ok promise or no promise, I make an exception for my magic 8 ball. I can't live without my magic 8 ball. My decision maker, my prop on my night stand, my best friend. Especially at times when I wake up in the morning and I give it a shake and ask, "Should I go to work today?" and its response is: "My sources say no."