The title refers to the “average daily loop” I traverse, these days anyway, when the weather’s agreeable. “Agreeable” might be a slippery term, to me, anything under 100 really isn’t very hot. Don’t get confused, I was sweating just like a stuck pig.
First Part:
The phone kept ringing all morning, and I finally got around to answering it, “Kramer, you little shit, you know, on your voice mail you sound just like you’re full of bull-shit. Anyway, I did do as well as you predicted, so I just thought I’d let you know, and can you do a reading for me tonight?”
Second Part:
Saw a drum circle, while I was loping on my five mile loop. Shambling, trudging, something-along. Anyway, it wasn’t what I normally expect to see, no, see, a drum circle in the park is no big deal, but drum majors doing marching or marital rhythm, that’s a whole different kettle of fish. Or kettle drums. The sight brought new meaning to “drum circle.”
Third Part:
I’ve got this one client, and just about everyone on the trail has seen her, the skinny, smiling running woman. With her headphones on, she usually shouts a “hello” as we tend to go in opposite directions. She stopped, Friday afternoon, yelled out me, then popped her earphones out, and told me, “Remember what you said in the last reading? It’s true!”
Fourth Part:
Heading towards the springs, I saw someone modified the sign on the bridge. Worked for me.
Fifth Part:
One final piece of signage, as I was headed to help celebrate a Gemini birthday. I’ve been meaning to get a picture of this, it’s around the corner from the ole trailer park, it’s just a weird one. With, or maybe without, the bumper sticker.
(These images are from a camera phone, old school camera-on-the-phone.)
Cherchez les poissons:
“It’s always about the fishing, isn’t it?” As opposed to more mundane matters? A ton of “fighting perch” and one tiny bass.
I imagine the world would be a better place if we spent more time watching fish in the lake, and less time tending to other folks’ business.
Introductions?
The problem is the way I work. And the problem goes back more than ten years now.
First part of the problem is I discovered that I was most eloquent, freshest, as it were, first thing in the morning. Which is why, when Mercury isn’t in apparent retrograde motion, I consider the time that I write horoscopes to be sacred. I rarely, if ever, book morning consultations. There are exceptions, as with anyone who is self-employed, but mornings? Time to work. (Or fish. After working. Usually.)
I woke up early Friday morning with a great idea running through my head. It was lost by the time I stumbled to the keyboard, coffee in hand, cat food in the dish.
I scanned the upcoming weeks and I thought about it, and I needed to add some material to introduction. But the way I work, I leave the introduction for last. I’ve typed it up in advance, what with a publication schedule, but sometimes, I can go in, and I’ve modified the introduction minutes before publication, on more than one occasion. It happens. Never can tell when the muse will hit.
I stumbled, inadvertently, onto another set of horoscopes by an author who is obviously – from the syndication notice – making a lot more money than I am. I looked at the introduction, I looked at the chart for the time being covered, and I realized that there was wildly inaccurate material there. Then there was a brief bit of “this means that” sort chatter, which, in the long run, was also – this part is scientific – not accurate. Close, but not quite right.
But as an introduction, I was wondering, is that what the readership wants? I’m not sure. Some people who read the scopes are well-versed in astrology concepts. Other folks barely know their own sign. Either way, I’ve got to shoot for the middle. Can’t be too technical, but then, if it’s all about deep-myth and metaphor? Where’s the practical application?
I was trying to gauge from the site’s stats, what way works best. I couldn’t discern a noticeable pattern. Part of the trouble, though, I tend to wander all over the place, and single column that is devoured in minutes can take several hours, or even several days, to write.
It’s not that easy. To be sure, I’ve had days when material just leaps from the fingertips, but those aren’t particularly common these days. Still, a work-man-like approach serves me well.
The part I was unsure of, and I’m still unsure about, is what to do with introductions? I can mention planet placements and angles, impact and meaning, or I can, as I’ve done so far, include that data in the scope itself.
More introduction? less introduction? More news? Less news? What’s the paying public want?
