CARD SHARKS IN DENVER ...?

                             

Divination was in the cards last night as I stumbled across "Thakiti the Card Reader" while waiting for some colleagues to join me for dinner.  Thakiti spends his days sitting at a card table on 16th Street in Denver, plotting people's futures with a deck of cards and a laptop computer.  For a small donation, he'll plot your birthchart and present you with a confusing printout that will only make sense if you purchase his book for $19.99.  Anyway, I had some time to kill, so I thought I'd give it a whirl.  "Welcome," said Thakiti.  "The future is not as mysterious as you might think."  He went on to explain that everyone has a "birth card" based on their birthdate.  The suit of your card -- hearts, clubs, diamonds or spades -- also reveals your strong suit as a person.  Hearts are emotional;  Clubs are mental;  Diamonds are financial;  and Spades are spiritual.  I gave Thakiti my birthdate and he entered it in his computer.  "Ahhhhhhh," he said after several minutes.  "Very interesting ...!"  At that point, my phone rang.  My colleagues were looking for me.  "Sorry, Thakiti, but I have to run," I said.  "Can you just give me a quick overview?"  "Well," he said ominously, "You are the King of Clubs.  That means you are the most intelligent man in the deck.  You have quite an interesting year ahead!"  He then handed me a printout of my future which looked a lot like a messy hand of poker and tried to sell me a decoder book that would bring it all into focus.  "Thakiti," I said, handing him a modest donation, "You've just told me that I'm the smartest man in the deck.  I think I'll take a pass on the book ...!"