fortune cookie of the week: "Your biggest virtue is your modesty."

Then again, what sort of modesty do the guys at Fortune Cookie Central mean in this context?

Do they mean sexual modesty? Well, we can throw that one out the window. Can't remember when I was "modest" about my sexuality--although in certain circumstances, where it might compromise me, I am rather reserved about it. I may tell people that I enjoy certain proclivities because I like to clue in the clueless--and the clueless usually appreciate it. But I never feel the need to walk around with a guy on a leash just to demonstrate to the world that, in the bedroom, on occasion, I actually like to have a guy on a leash.

Or do they mean modesty regarding my abilities and accomplishments? To a degree, this is true, but I wouldn't consider it a virtue to be modest about these things. Frankly, it's a misplaced modesty. In our world, where there are a million voices desperately wanting to be heard, the shameless art of self-promotion is a far bigger virtue than modesty.

So, perhaps modesty is a virtue that, while possibly my biggest, isn't necessarily the best managed.