Today I went with my wife and son to the Cincinnati Museum Center for its Asian Festival. If memory serves me right, there were tables representing China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and India.

Since the festival was in the auditoreum of the Musuem Center, non-Museum Center members didn't have to purchase tickets to enjoy the festival. But they did need tickets if they wanted to visit one or more of the Museum Center's three musuems. We are members, so it didn't affect us.

Most of the booths sold decorations and clothes from their native countries. However, Japan didn't sell a thing. It did, however, offer free tea. No other booth offered beverages and none of them sold food. How can one have an ethnic festival without ethnic food???

We enjoyed the Japanese Taiko drum demonstration - in which I volunteered, an Akido presentation, a trio of Japanese musicians, an Indian meditation display, and I paid to have my Taiwanese fortune told.

The fortune teller told me to grab a stick, drop two stones to verify the stick, I was assigned a number (38), and then I was told that this was a bad year for me and to be conservative with my money. Specifically, the fortune teller told me not to make any stock investments, purchase a house, or take international trips. IRONY!!!! I was laid off from my job with a severance package in January, watched 1/7 of my net worth disappear due to bad investments, and I've been temping for the last month. How did this fortune teller know all that?

Best regards,

Italian Chef

Union Terminal? I was there today-my friend tried to get me to visit the fortune teller-no way...really, I don't want to know.

It will be ok. I lost everything in 2001-its not so bad once you get through it. The other speed bumps are not a big deal. You still have your family.