“Thou sham’st the music of sweet news/By playing it to me with so sour a face.”
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (II.v.23-4)
Aries: There is a late degree “Aries trigger” in the heavens. Astrology triggers, to me, are points where action gets started, action gets stopped, directions can change, and obstacles masquerade as insurmountable problems instead of being seen as stepping-stones to a new way of approaching the same old situation. So there’s this astrology trigger you run into at the beginning of this week, and it’s hitting you just as this scope rolls out. The good news is that the influence passes rather quickly. The better news is that it’s all good now. You have a chance to change directions. You have a brilliant opportunity to make one, small, seemingly insignificant change, and that change makes a world of difference. I’m suggesting that you go for. I kept trying a dark purple type of bait. Never worked for me. From various sources, I’d heard, read and seen this bait for other guys. Never worked for me. Never. I switched to a “pumpkin seed” color, and presto, instant hit (fish on the end of the hook). Wasn’t much of change, but it was enough of a change to make all the difference. Try one little change.
Taurus: I was on my way to the “fashionable, retro-chic, fast-food, drive-in” place, a little off the beaten path for me. I detoured by Sonic for a burger. Loath as I am to offer product endorsement, I’m just not sure there’s any other way to say it. So I ambled in the back gate, had myself a fill of chili-cheese things, mystery substances covered in gooey stuff that resembles a cheese product, and lumpy gravy that resembles a chili product, and strange products that are allegedly derived from farm animals. Some days, tater tots and chili-cheese dogs just do the trick. It was one of those nice days last week, when the sun was out. Suggestions of spring were in the air. Then it gets cold at night, and the whole illusion is shattered. Cheap, drive-in food isn’t for everyone. But on some occasions, like a fine winter’s day, a little relief — some kind of comfort food — is the key. Cheap, low-brow comfort food. Maybe a detour by Sonic (Chisolm Trail) doesn’t work for your fine Taurus self. It varies from person to person, but there’s a guilty pleasure that is relatively harmless. Sure, it’ll spike your (whatever) levels, but it’s only for a quick afternoon rest. There’s a certain degree of tension floating around, and while none of this can be blamed on Taurus, you’re still going to need a little relief. Plan on some side-track to take care of whatever it is that’s been bothering you. Won’t sure everything, but you’ll feel better for a spell.
Gemini: I was talking a Travel Agent (client), who was booking a trip to Hawaii — actual (purported) question — “How do I get around if I don’t speak the language?” For over 40 years? Hawaii has been a state? While there is a movement to return Hawaii to more native state, and there is an indigenous population that, I suppose, speaks a native tongue, last time I checked, except in parts of South Texas, southern-most Arizona and New Mexico, American English was the dominate language. What everyone is supposed to speak, more or less. The highway signs are in English. The hotel clerks speak English. I would think that the Gemini need for communication would be answered in English. But this does point to the problem with Mars opposite your lovely Gemini sign, over here in Sagittarius, questions that might be held up as a form of ridicule. Or, if you stop and think before you open your mouth, you might realize that the question was a little off, like, if you’d just think about it, you’d realize that Hawaii was a state. And so on. Now, the question came from a Gemini travel agent, so I’m not sure that it applies to all Gemini. However, what with Mars and all, you might also wait to answer those questions after you’ve consulted an astrologer. Might save the deal.
Cancer: Culinary considerations. Just as a thought, I was wandering around in a specialty food shop, and — at least in theory — I was doing research. I stumbled on a section that had a huge selection of Hot Sauces. I’ve often wondered about marketing my own brand of hot sauce, unfortunately, a brand that I would be comfortable with would be a too hot for the general public, and as such, it would wind up being commercial nightmare. It’s not like I have a lot storage space to begin with, and I can’t imagine having two or three crates of unused hot sauce underfoot. It would take years for folks to discover my hot sauce, its piquant interplay of the only the hottest peppers. The delicate way the sauce and its metaphysical properties, “That which burns the lips frees the mind….” Great idea, but, in order to be true to myself, this has to be some fairly radioactive sauce, and I’m not sure there are enough food masochists and connoisseurs to truly appreciate my type of concoction. Alternatively, I could just slap my label on someone else’s sauce, but that’s not being true, either. So it’s another great idea, headed into the trash bucket, all spurred by a momentary lapse in judgment while shopping for dinner supplies. However, the idea bears further examination — at a later date. You’re going to run into a situation — might not be hot sauce — but something will tweak an idea. For the time being, like my hot sauce idea, maybe this isn’t the time to swing into action trying to pursue that goal. But think about it, as there’s still an idea left over than you can do something with.
Leo: (Warning: strong language ahead) With my circle of friends, there was a running joke, “Get in the truck, bitch (wench).” I’ve been thusly addressed on numerous occasions. I’m not offended — it’s humor. It goes back to an old joke, and the antecedents are buried and mired in times past. It’s rather amusing, all in all. I’ve been greeted in trailer parks, hotel parking lots, airports, and a time or two, in a casino parking lot. Now let’s jump ahead to the present. Mars is in Sagittarius, Jupiter is in Leo, the Sun just got done opposing Saturn. We’d stopped at a local coffee stand, more of stand rather than a coffee shop proper, and I’d grabbed handful of muffin and a big old cup of high-octane coffee. My friendly Leo, leaned out of the trucks window (she was riding shotgun), and she growled, just loud enough for everyone to hear, “Get in the truck, bitch.” I laughed. The folks milling around the coffee spot were shocked. Their shock was even more amusing. You’re going to get a chance to lighten a Sagittarius’s — or some sign’s — day by invoking a similar expression. Might not be the same one. Might be a completely different expression. Whatever passes for an in-joke. Doesn’t matter. Do it. Make that comment. You’re going to be an inadvertent center of attention. Well, you should always be in the spotlight, but this one isn’t exactly planned.
Virgo: “Well, that’s certainly one way to do it,” one of my friends (not named “bubba”) casually observed, “but it does strike me as the hard way to do it.” Seeing as how this particular individual isn’t known for taking the easy way out, why do a project in two steps when seventeen steps is more interesting, I found his comment amusing. And I’m not even describing the situation we observed, either. I’ll leave that for your own imagination. But his comment bears merit as we all look at the week ahead for Virgo. It starts with you pushing on a fixed object that is clearly labeled as “pull.” Maybe it’s not really a fixed object, might be a certain set of computer instructions, or like my endless efforts to emulate the little knots in fishing line, which, invariably, end in a snarled mess of monofilament line. To certain folks, myself included, following the instructions is not something I’m good at. But it’s something you should try, just for the next couple of days. I’m pretty convinced, even though I have several friends who are actually tech writers, that most computer instructions are written by machines, or the instruction sets are badly translated from some foreign language. Still, if you will just take the time figure out where “Tab A” is supposed to fit, and I don’t mean just look at the images, but really sit down and read the manual, I think you’ll find that the images make a lot more sense. And you won’t be hearing my friend (not named “bubba”) say, “Certainly is an interesting way to do that.”
Libra: I was discussing a point about the color of certain plastic lures used in a local lake, how a certain shade didn’t resemble anything that occurs in nature, and as such, this one color shouldn’t work. But it does, on some occasions. Which then prompted a discussion about whether or not fish are color-blind. My best estimate was that fish don’t seem to pass certain visual acuity tests whereas some other fish seem to pass the tests (with flying colors). A third party was listening to our conversation, and the animated points being made for chartreuse, watermelon, pumpkin seed, and chrome blue. Plus there’s “Texas Red,” as well. The Libra listening in to our conversation suggested that the colors and flavors of bass lures obviously worked rather well. “They do? You got proof?” I challenged the answer. “You bought it, didn’t you? Caught you?” Good answer, nice riposte. Excellent answer. You might not be looking for lures, baits, or similar pieces of tackle, but I’m sure you might want to do a little research before the marketing hype catches your Libra self, too.
Scorpio: Wacky ideas sometimes pay off. I had this Great Idea. I took a Carolina-Rigged pole I’ve got, means there’s some fairly heavy weights on the line, then about three feet of light leader and floating bait on the end, and I tied a topwater lure onto the end, instead of a floating bait. The theory, and I’ve proven this one in a lake or two, with a Caroline Rig, is that the weight bounces on the bottom of the lake while the bait itself floats up to where the target fish are. So it was a weird idea, and I was just messing around at the river’s edge, I didn’t expect a hit, I just wanted to see if it would work. I never figured that a topwater lure, about 18 inches from the bottom, would ever really work. I think I’ve got a picture, someplace, of the fish that it caught. Weird arrangement, highly “experimental,” and maybe it qualifies as a wacky rig. Might qualify me for a nut house, for trying to hobble together such disparate elements, and I’m sure the idea is a laughing point in the more serious groups of fishermen. But as an idea, combining two elements that just really don’t belong together? Might want to give that try. How it happens, you’re sitting at home one night, in your Scorpio trailer, and you see a lure you like, and you see a pole you like, and you think, “Rig a topwater so that it gets a little closer to the bottom, now that’s an idea….” Who knows? Maybe, like me, you catch something.
Sagittarius: When I was last in San Francisco, riding on one of the cute, downtown trams, I asked the driver what the best stupid tourist question was. Now, this was the “something letter” tram — runs on rails right down Market Street. Or one of those. But this could’ve been a cable, car, too. I just liked the idea of the rail car, myself, I prefer it to a bus because there’s a certain aura it has, sentimental, and yet, modern, too. Moving people from one place to another. Best tourist question? Remember, it was a rail car, right? “Are you going to turn at the next light?” Kind of hard for rail car to turn at the next light. Mars has a lot to do with travel and how us Sagittarius types get from Point A to Point B. Deal is, Mars has saddled us up and put us on a rail line. That’s not bad, just the way it is. However, if we’re not too careful, we’re going to be asking stupid questions, like, “Does this train turn at the next light? I thought I needed to go up the hill from here….” Mars and cars, Mars and travel, Mars and our will versus the way the train runs. The train doesn’t turn at the next light.
Capricorn: I was fiddling around the chart for your week, and I got sidetracked looking at something in the accounting program, tax time, you know, my annual Texas State Sales Tax is due, which then led to a quick examination of certain priorities, and that led to checking something on the web and I almost completely forgot about the deal with your planets. Venus, Mercury, Sun (Happy Birthday), and then, Saturn, just getting past a trigger point in Cancer, sort of setting up this situation where, just like me, you’re easily distracted. That’s the problem, too. Focus. Pay attention. Maybe even pay bills. Maybe just figure out who you owe, and how much, like the State of Texas comptroller. But it’s all a matter of paying attention. I can tune into a Capricorn portion of my chart and understand. It was my Capricorn side that was getting so easily distracted. Have to remember that there are certain items that are coming due. I figured up the State Sales Tax number a couple of weeks ago, it’s just getting around to the “timely filing” part that’s becoming problematic. Don’t let distractions hamper forward momentum.
Aquarius: I was in another town, I suppose, a few weeks ago. I saw something I haven’t seen in along time. Just after Xmas, there was an outdoor chess tournament of some sort. There were card tables, about a half-dozen, three-foot square, with chessboards and the requisite black & white player-pieces. In the weak, winter sunlight, it was an inspiring sight. Perhaps a dozen players were hunched over the tables, competing, matching wits, planning strategy, oblivious to the cold, winter wind. I didn’t stop to inquire, but it was heady battle. Silent and yet, and there was a lot of activity. Mental activity. Planning, sorting through the opponents moves, figuring the next move. Like those guys playing chess, seemed to be pretty much older men, you’re doing a bit of strategy brainstorming these days. Plot a course, plan an endgame, but remember: you have to allow for certain changes that might occur. Never can tell where that other guy might move his Knight, and how that one move might pose a different problem. I realize you feel like Pawn in this game, especially these days, but even a lowly Pawn can be a pretty important player. Plan. Use strategy — it’s a game of wits.
Pisces: I was finishing up a meal in an Asian restaurant. The evening shift was just showing up and the two females exchanged pleasantries in a language not of European descent. That lyrical, musical, sing-song quality. While I admire the language and its beautiful calligraphy, single characters that can tell a whole story, I can’t make heads or tails of what was being said. “We talk about boss,” the cashier/waitress explained. Some topics are universal and translate well across many barriers. Even if it’s in a language I don’t actually understand, the sentiments come across. There’s the usual litany of complaints, observations, praise, and ruminations about the approaching shift, plus an analysis of the boss’s mood. While I understood not one single word, I sure got a good glimpse of what business and daily transactions were like at that one restaurant. Even if the transactions you overhear are not in a native tongue, perhaps there’s something that patient, attentive, and careful observation can reveal. It’s a matter of putting yourself in the right place, and then, at the most correct moment, just pausing to listen and watch. There’s whole volumes being said, even if it’s a language you don’t’ understand you can tell a lot by watching the body language.
