“He’s grown a very land-fish, languageless, a monster.”
Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida [III.iii.262]
Aries: Did you know that, in the state of Illinois, it’s illegal to give a lighted cigar to a cat? It’s been many years since I was last in Illinois, and it’ll probably be many more years before I get back there. It’s a little too far north for my tastes and temperament. No, I don’t have anything against the state, in fact, I’m kind of glad to find that they — allegedly — still have a law on the books about giving lit cigars to cats. Only makes good sense. Personally, I don’t even think about taunting my cat when I’ve got a lit cigar, but between me and the cat, we have an understanding about smoldering, smoking tubes of tobacco products. I stay out of her catnip and she stays out of my humidor. I don’t roll in her nip, and she doesn’t try to partake of my cigars. It’s a good understanding, if you ask me. A time honored relationship built on mutual trust. We understand each other about this. That’s what this next few days is all about, understanding where the boundaries are. What’s acceptable, what’s not acceptable. What you can do, what you can’t do. In some cases, there are laws on the books to help make sure that this kind of common sense is observed. Your Aries self might not know about all the laws, but a little common sense, like not giving a lit cigar to cat, that might help some, particularly in the next few days.
Taurus: One of my clients, a big-time executive, was showing me around her office. She had more computer horsepower than NASA had in the early 1970’s. She had files, receptionists, secretaries, flunkies, underlings and gophers running all over the place. None of this really impressed me. Tucked in a corner of her corner office, though, there was something that did impress me. There were a couple of tubes of acrylic paint, a broad brush for doing trim work, and canvas with some vaguely geometric forms on them. She was working, as a side project, on getting in touch with her creativity. I found the painting itself to be rather engaging. Then, too, was the fact that it was a picture, abstract, done with a broad brush. Not just “broad brush strokes,” but the actual paint brush was a house-painting, buy-it-at-the-hardware-store kind of a brush. While it’s not exactly a pointillist’s tool, the feelings evoked by that image were so perfect for a Taurus. Under these conditions. Use a broader, wider, more liberal application of paint when covering whatever it is that you’re covering. Think big. Think “why should I use a little brush when I want to cover a lot of area?”
Gemini: Due to the way this trailer is situated, and its relative proximity to the community dumpster, plus the noxious substances sometimes abandoned therein, plus the somewhat lackluster performance of the “waste removal” truck, I get flies in here. Doesn’t happen too often, and it’s not too bad, not usually. But on cool nights, I love to open up the front door and let the breeze go wafting through. I have options for dealing with flies. I can chase them out, sometimes. I can hunt them down and kill them, sometimes. Or, I can live a life of relative ease and luxury, pointedly ignoring the pesky little vermin, when, due to the weather’s acceptable condition, those guys manage to find their way inside. I’ve got many tasks that are more important than just huntin’ down flies and swattin’ ’em. Pesky vermin are a fact of life. Little, minor annoyances are a fact of life. How I deal with these — how your Gemini self deals with these — that’s what’s important. I’m not suggesting that you always stand by and let these problems accumulate, but there are days, weeks, even, when just passively co-existing with the problem is sometimes a better solution. Most of those flies? They accumulate, get trapped, really, by one window. Once they’re moribund, it makes dealing with the annoyance a much simpler — and easier — task.
Cancer: There’s a look of grim determination that I see from time to time. There’s this old boy, cane pole fishing guy, inhabits a favorite haunt over in East Austin, along a little inlet on the lake. River. Call it what you want. Drainage ditch and holding pond both come to mind, if you must know the awful truth. He gets this look, as he surveys his poles, the little bobbers bobbing in the stream, his wary eye keeping track of the current’s movement, the way the breeze ripples the surface, the way he watches with his steady eye and grim determination. We’re back to that term. It’s a look, a sense, that what he’s doing is very, very important. I can almost see him willing some big flathead to chomp and swallow that nasty catfish bait. Is catfish bait really that bad? Yes. I’ve seen this same gentleman pull some fairly impressive fish out that one creek bed. How does he do it? Stinky bait and that look of grim determination. So as your Cancer week starts to pick up speed, or slow down, remember that the furrowed brow, the look of grim determination is sometimes what it takes to get through the task at hand. Works for him. Rewards? Sure. Just because you don’t look like you’re having fun, that doesn’t mean that it’s not fun.
Leo: I took it upon myself to rearrange my furniture. Again. I’ve got a space that’s maybe, at best, perhaps, 10 feet by 10 feet — the “living” room. Or the office, at tax time. It’s where I do the most of my work. It’s the home to astrofish.net, Bubba’s Bait Barn, Custom Trucks and who knows what else I’ll call it, on any given day. On more than one occasion, I’ve dreamed that the best centerpiece for a living room — any living room — the best object to display would be a motorcycle, up on a coffee table, with tools and so forth scattered around it. Works in progress, on display. I’ve long since given up on the motorcycle display piece. And I’ve given up on the idea of living in a garage, too, although, that does have some appeal. So I’m stuck in this tiny space, and I was busy trying to figure out how to arrange items so that there was a more orderly flow. Why is this important to a mighty Leo, the very, very best of the Fixed Fire Signs? You’re going through a little period when you want to get rid of a few items, rearrange some of the things that you’ve got, and maybe work on that flow problem you’ve been having with your space. I eventually just scooted the desk up against the wall, just moved that oak monstrosity closer to the shell of the dwelling unit. That was about it. But I did examine the problem, and I did make an effort to sort out some of the details before hand. Perhaps a little Fang Sway is in order for the Leo household, as well.
Virgo: I was out the other evening, well after the sun had set. It had been one of those killer Texas sunsets, too, with the sky all purple and orange. As I was wandering along, just as I was getting towards the north end of one of the bridges, I came encountered a guy pushing a bicycle up the hill. He was one of those typical, urban bicyclists, too, headlamp and headlight, one for the bicycle, one for him. He was pushing the bike up the steep incline of the river’s bank. Tough way to go. Some days, no matter how cool the technology, some days, or nights, as it was after dark, the hill wins. To be fair, there was an easier route. Maybe a 100 meters to the west, there’s a gentle incline, paved the whole way up. Easy enough in a low gear, and easy enough to see in daylight. But it was dark, and he was working his way up that hill, and like I’ve said, sometimes, the hill wins. Not much we can do about that. These days, you can be like that lone urban bicyclist, struggling up the hill, or you can be like me, casually thinking, “There’s a much easier route, just over yonder.” It’s your call, but remember, there are evenings when the hill wins.
Libra: I wasn’t even awake yet, just sorting through the morning mail, and I popped up this week’s chart. The very thing that caught my eyes was the Sun moves into Libra after noon on the 22nd. My first comment? “Wow, how cool is that.” Then, I stopped. I realize it’s not terrible fashionable to talk to one’s computer. I’m sure there’s a notation in the reference manuals about mental health and people who talk to their computers. Due to the vagaries of publishing, and the demands of time, not everyone will think that the way Libra starts out is cool. I do, but I’ve got somewhat strange sense of humor. That’s the problem, too. I’m not sure anyone else in the universe will be able to keep with my — or your Libra — strange sense of humor. We are bemused. The rest of the folks you’re going to encounter? They’re going to be befuddled, not bemused. Now, you can try and behave like I do, and try to make a your very valid Libra point, or you can try a more taciturn tack, and just be quietly amused, all by yourself. You can make the call on this, but until that point in the wheel hits, until next Wednesday (9/22/04) arrives, I’d suggest holding those cards close to your chest.
Scorpio: One of my dear, sweet Scorpio buddies was hammering on me because she’d gotten a call from her boyfriend, and he’d been rather short with her. I mean, that boyfriend is well over 6 feet tall, but he was — apparently — rather short with my Scorpio friend on the phone. One of those guy things, you know, a simple yes and no answer to a horribly important question that really did require a degree of finesse that the boyfriend decided not to display at the time. Bad call. The Scorpio was distraught. Deal is, the Moon was moving through Scorpio at the very instant that call came through, in fact. Ms. Moon was lined up exactly with her Natal Sun, and she was frazzled. Inclined to take something wrong. A little more fractious. A little hyper-sensitive. Looks like Friday and Saturday, maybe even some of Sunday is going to be like that for you. Then there’s actually a reprieve on Monday morning, and those hyper-sensitive feelings aren’t so hyper anymore. By then, you will either dissolve, or make pact with your Scorpio self to be tougher and meaner. All I’m warning you about is something that I’ve actually observed. So if your boyfriend calls, and he’s rather short when a few sweet words would be better served? Take it all in stride and consider that maybe, just maybe, your sweet Scorpio self is being a little thin-skinned.
Sagittarius: A client promised to pay me with a check. The client promised the check was in the mail. My simple reply, based on years of hard-won experience, is that no services are rendered until that check actually catches up with me, and I get to deposit it. “Can’t you just do this before the check gets there? Please? Just for me? You know I mailed that check….” Right. I believe. And I’ve fallen for that story too many times, too. Sorry, I know that this is a pressing matter, but until I get notice, until I have the cash in hand, until I have some kind of confirmation that I’ve actually been paid for the services, no services will be performed. It’s the waiting, that’s what bothers the client. Doesn’t bother me much, not anymore. It’s a tough line, but I have to stick to it. I’ve waited on those check too roll in one too many times to spend any more of my precious time waiting on a check — after I’ve invested several hours of my time into a reading. Some folks don’t get that concept. I’m tempted to fire back a response, “Hey, do you walk into the grocery store, and go to the check out line, then tell the checker that you’ll mail them a check?” But such snappy, snarky responses aren’t called for. Especially not called from our Sagittarius type, and that’s one temptation we’re both going to have to fight this week. My suggestion? To avoid the sarcastic comments? Sit on your hands. I will.
Capricorn: A marginally famous Scorpio of some ill-repute used to sign all of his newsletters with a simple term, “Rock on.” The guy — that Scorpio lad — in question? He’s a writer who wants to be a rock star. I’m borrowing directly from him to address the Capricorn week that is approaching. Rock on. Life is good for the next seven days. After that? You’re on your own, as there will a few little details that need your Capricorn attention. But until then? Like for right now? Rock on. Life is good. Sure, at least one Capricorn I know, she’ll be rather like a critter foaming at the mouth, rabid with an anger issue, but the rest of you? Besides that one? There are a series of events that that make your life work the way it supposed to work. The most difficult and daunting task that you face? Taking advantage of the “good energy” coursing its way throw the Capricorn chart. Jump on it. Grab it with both hands. Do something. Have some fun. Engage. Or, like that one kid used to say, “Rock on.”
Aquarius: Last week, I got sidetracked working through emotional relationship issues in the Aquarius chart. Man, those issues are still floating around. But there’s other stuff, better stuff, that’s kicking and moving these days. Other issues that need to be addressed. I was trying to come up with a single expression for this energy, too, a simple word that would encompass the energy present in your chart. Grandiloquent. I liked the way the word rolled off my tongue, I loved the sound of it. Then I looked it up in a dictionary, as I’ve discovered something that sounds grandiloquent might not be the precise word that I’m looking for. It’s not. It means pompous language. Or something akin to that. Nope, that’s not what I was looking for. However, I really did like the noise it made, the way it sounds, the echo in the tin (aluminum) walls of this humble abode. Sounded good. Didn’t fit, but sounded very good. That’s what you’ve got to watch out for, trying to fit something that sounds good into a space where the actual meaning of the word doesn’t fit. Watch the high-blown, high-falutin’ language. Although, it has been my experience, that sometimes, a big, gaudy word can help fill in the spaces. Especially if you’re trying to deal with those relationship questions.
Pisces: One of my darling Pisces friends shed about 30 pounds of weight. Put that kind of number into a published source, and I can look forward to not hearing anything nice from that corner of the sky for a long time. But the deal is, she looks wonderful. Better yet, she feels wonderful. She has a new spring to her step, she’s ever so much more lively, and life is better all the way around. Boys who wouldn’t pay attention to her before? Those boys are falling all over themselves, acting like fools, trying to desperately catch her eye now. What’s even better? She can’t be bothered. Along with her little “self improvement program,” she’s adopted a new attitude that worrying about what other people think about her isn’t nearly as important as it used to be. Is this important? Yes. The reason the Pisces self help plan worked is because she did it for herself — not for anyone else. And in doing so, there was an epiphany, a gradual dawning of awareness, that gentle waking up and feeling good about herself. What’s with the touching stories from the land of Pisces? It can happen. But remember what the motivations are. Remember why you’re doing whatever it is that you’re doing.
