Today's fortune: February 11, 2011

Today's fortune: Soon someone new in your life will become a very good friend.
Since starting my new job in November, and since starting this blog on Jan. 1, I've had the opportunity to meet tons of new people. And I've been able to make a lot of close friends out of that group.

You might think this fortune means I'll meet someone soon, and that person will be a good friend. But read the fortune closely: "Soon someone new in your life" - that implies the person is already in my life - "will become a very good friend."

So it's someone I already know.

Let's look at the candidates. For the sake of their privacy, I'm not going to use names here, only first initials.

L constantly has a smile on his face. Or is it a smirk? Either way, L is a very likeable guy with an understated sense of humor. He's definitely someone I can relate to.

M is a very quiet young woman who is a little hard to get to know. But once you know her, watch out - she'll be a fast friend. M also has a great sense of humor (which will probably be a common thread in this post), and a quick laugh.

K is the girlfriend of one of my best friends. We've gotten to know her very well in recent months, and the four of us have done some really fun couple activities. We're even planning an upcoming road trip.

S has a very odd and unique sense of humor. It's always difficult to know whether you're laughing with him or at him, but I think S understands that, and embraces it. A laugh is a laugh in his book, and I respect that. Laughs are hard to come by.

K2 is intelligent and witty, and she's a person I can always turn to for advice about work matters. She is a newlywed and still has that newlywed glow, which takes me back to my newlywed days - even though I feel like my love for my wife has never been stronger.

Q is very quiet and reserved, except when she's watching game shows. I've seen her scream at a breakroom TV screen with very little concern for anyone else in the room. It's quite hilarious. Like all the others, Q also has a great sense of humor.

K3 is someone I've written about on this blog a few times before. She has a terrific laugh, and she gets all of my jokes, which is rare. She's also been very helpful at work; in fact, I wouldn't be where I am as a widget maker without her.

T is from Texas, and he has that Texas attitude - but, you know, in a likeable way. T also happens to date a woman from the very small central Missouri town where most of my relatives live, proving once and for all that it's a small world. I love joking around with T, even though he quite frequently makes fun of my age.

D also makes fun of my age, but in a more subtle, respectable way. Today, for example, I was talking about cars back when I was a kid, and she said, "I didn't think they had cars back then." Ha. Ha. But seriously, D may very well be the funniest of all of the new people I know.

M2 is a helpful fellow who sits close to me at the office. He's an expert widget-maker and I often lean on his wisdom. He's also a great guy with an interesting backstory, about which I am just beginning to learn.

There are many, many more I could name here, as well.

So where does that leave us? Who among this group will become a "very good friend?"

I think it will be LMKSK2QK3TDM2.

By which I mean, any one of these folks could become a "very good friend." In fact, I believe some of them have already achieved that status.

I'm fortunate to be surrounded by so many wonderful people.