“There’s not a minute of our lives should stretch
Without some pleasure now.”
Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra [I.i.54-5]
Themes and dreams.
Scorpio: I was eating some Tex-Mex. It was sort of trendy place, and the advertising suggested it was “New Mexico-style” food. Sort of. I asked the waiter, a Scorpio, if the food was hot.
He drawled. A laconic, sardonic language, accented and southern. “I’m Cajun, it’s not that hot, not really.” I sampled the hot sauce. To my mind, he was completely correct. My date didn’t concur, as to her more refined palate, I’m sure the food was hot and spicy. All depends on the point of reference.
I inquired further because that Scorpio lad’s accent intrigued me. “I’m from Southern Mississippi, really, but close enough. Cajun.” I’d call it close enough to count, as if a boundary line between two states is really a hard and fast rule. More like a gray area, sort of where the lines are drawn, not always observed.
Is Southern Mississippi truly Cajun? Purist might argue, but from the lad’s accent, it was abundantly clear he was of the ilk. What’s hot this week: To me? Is it really that hot? Happy birthday, anyway.
- Venus is Retrograde special: Order a half-hour reading and get a full hour (year overview) reading for the half-hour price. Valid only if your birthday is this week – some restrictions may apply.
Sagittarius: I looked at the guy’s business card, read the last name out loud, and I asked, “You got kin in Louisiana?” “Yeah, but not by that name, I’m related to Thibaddeaux,” he replied. That’s like saying “Smith” in most places.
It’s a very common name. Which led to some discussion about his kin folks and family ties in “Lower Arkansas.” My own, personal experiences with Louisiana natives are colorful and magical, sometimes tinged with excess. The food is generally better, more spices, more fun. As rule, however, I found it impossible to drink more, or otherwise consume more, than a native. Don’t even try. That’s not a hard and fast rule, but as guidelines go, especially for our usually resilient Sagittarius selves?
Think about those limits. Consider what limits we have, and then? Maybe, for a change, respect the limits. I don’t look at these as hard and fast rules, more like guidelines, which, in turn, makes it easier for me to watch that I don’t overstep the guidelines.
Capricorn: Friend of mine has a cat. Several, really but one in particular has made a name for himself. He’s a killer.
Stray, showed up, begged food, won my friend’s heart, and he moved right on in, the cat. He’s turned out to be quite the killer with over two-dozen confirmed bird kills.
I thought the cat should start his own blog, too. Just a suggestion. My friend? She could help author it, with the details of the kills, the confirmed, and occasionally unconfirmed. I thought it would be funny. Imagine, from the cat’s point of view, he brought home a trophy dead bird, only to have my friend freak out at a partial kill. Not quite dead. What’s up with that?
Here’s a guy, bringing home the meal ticket, fresh meat, couldn’t be any better, right? Fresh, free-range animals, caught in the wild inner-city. Backyard. What that cat does, he’s attempting to help put food on the table, in some cases, quite literally. Freak out? Hardly. Like I suggested, I think the cat should start a blog. Get worked up over it? Hardly, I think you should publicize it.
Aquarius: I was in the airport, and I looked up. There was a guy, alongside a woman, and he was toting a diaper bag. The woman had a newborn, or not very old child, not quite at her breast but almost. This little slice of life vignette is topped with the guy’s t-shirt, icons for marriage and the words “Game Over,” emblazoned beneath the symbols.
Whatever works. The imagery and symbolism, plus the newborn child, all made it more poignant. This is a very Aquarius scene. Brought to you by Jupiter (in Pisces), Uranus (in Pisces), and Neptune (in Aquarius).
In my mind, airports are the train stations of the previous era, and for that matter, train stations were the stagecoach stops from the era before that. Just one of those observable items at a transit point.
Made me think about Aquarius. Made me think about an awkward element, or maybe it’s not awkward, but to me, it seems like it is. Aquarius, how do you deal with these awkward situation? The uncomfortable silence. The weird stares? Or, like that guy in the airport, the other day? He was smiling, pushing the empty stroller while his (supposedly) wife had the babe in arms. Game over? Game afoot?
Pisces: A few years ago, a band released a song that was recorded, mixed and originally distributed on an iPhone. I can’t make this stuff up.
The first question is, “Why?” It’s not the first example where a digital phone was the main tool for an artistic endeavor. That’s not the question.
A half dozen years ago, Apple released a piece of software that was the functional equivalent 16-track studio, in a laptop. In theory, just plug a guitar into the old laptop and make an album. While it’s technically possible, like the band who cut a real song on an iPhone, while it’s all technically possible, that doesn’t mean it’s the most expedient method to get from here to there.
Likewise, in Pisces, there’s a good way to get there and a not good way to get there. Just because you can? Does that mean you should? While I admire — you, too, Pisces — you admire the drive and ingenuity required to make an album on phone? Does that means it’s the easiest route for you?
Aries: “Ten ways to improve…” The list goes on. “12 Proven Methods for better,” and “The one rule you have to obey for…” whatever. The only person who really seems to benefit from these rules and guides? The numbers, the bulleted points? The author seems to do really well by whatever it is, be that a get-rich-quick scam or a get-skinny-overnight, or how to have a more healthy relationship, or better yet, how to find love and happiness in six easy pieces.
Right. I’m not saying that it’s impossible, but there’s a whole section in most bookstores dedicated to hawking just such texts.
Careful. Each one promises a quick and easy route to happiness, enlightenment, weight loss, weight gain, fabulous riches, or just a route out of the poorhouse.
Do they really, really work? I don’t know, I haven’t hit the lottery I was promised. If I thought enough positive thoughts, it was supposed to happen. It’s okay to dream big, but we all have to take practical steps. Instead of buying someone else’s plan? Why not develop a quick say, two-step plan for Aries, just for this week?
Taurus: I didn’t think that seeing the “love planets” split up would make much of a difference. For some signs, this won’t matter, however, in Taurus? Matters a lot. Venus is heading one way, back from Scorpio, into Libra. Mars is moving along in Sagittarius. Makes your life feel, oddly enough, easier.
There are some questions, then the answers? The answers come more facile, now that the love planets are separating. That’s what I’m sticking to. Plain and simple.
You’ve got questions and as the next few days begin to unfold, as the moon begins to get a little fuller, the right answers start to emerge.
This is a gradual process, and I’d wait until after the weekend — this has a lot to do with “active patience.” New term, applies this next couple of days. I’m not sure how it works, but I’m guessing, as the Taurus that you are, with this kind of influence, you can figure it out. That’s the way to answer the immediate questions.
Gemini: Willie Nelson (Taurus) is usually invoked in Texas circles. I was thinking about this, since, on my most recent play list, some Techno-Trance (electronica) was followed by a local singer-songwriter, covering one of Willie’s tunes. I thought about that, how just about every local band or solo artist has to have a certain amount of “Willie” in their repertoire. Not that there’s a shortage of material or, for that matter, is there material to suit a range of musical styles and tastes.
Old Willie? I think he did duets with just about every available star. This isn’t about country music, or better yet, the original antecedent that was Techno-Trance (electronica). This is about having something in the Gemini repertoire that can connect with the audience.
Locally, that’s Willie Nelson songs. How you want to connect? I’m not sure that busting out a verse or three of “On the Road,” or “Don’t let your babies grow up to be cowboys,” or any one of his other hits, I’m not sure that’s the most expedient route. I’m sure that there’s local favorite and you have a way to hum a few bars, to get this started. Might have to pause and think about it, but connect with a cover song.
Cancer: “We aim to constantly exceed expectations.” What the tag line read. How it read. What they said.
I couldn’t be happier to go the other way. I strive to constantly come up short. I aim to disappoint. Lowered expectation? Means it’s a lot easier for me to rise above the low points. Always come up short. After a while, folks get to the point to where they don’t expect too much. Makes it a lot easier. After all, isn’t that what this is all about? Making it easier for Cancer folks?
Mars is heating up Sagittarius, sort of a work issue for you.
Maybe. Venus, backwards in Libra, could turn this into a relationship issue.
Maybe. Saturn in Libra, again, a karmic issue.
Maybe. Sun in a compatible water sign, Scorpio. Could be good.
Maybe. Jupiter and Uranus, close in another water sign, again, could be good.
Maybe. From thinest sliver to dark to thinest sliver to half a moon, the phase of our Cancer mistress, the Moon? That’s what I’d watch and there’s too much applied pressure for this to be great. All about lowered expectations, and that way? No one gets his or her feelings hurt.
Aim low. Tell others not to expect greatness, not this week. Makes it easier to surprise them with some of your stunning brilliance that will show through.
Maybe.
Leo: Computers, aren’t they wonderful? Connected to the inner-tubes on the inter-web thing? Can go anywhere and see all kinds of stuff, read material that may, or may not be, factual?
Guaranteed, someone out there will toady up to the Leo camp with words that are soothing, smooth, and completely devoid of sensible Leo advice. “Your majesty,” is how I’d start that out. However, there’s a warning or two, first off, Scorpio time. Water sign, them Scorpio’s. Means that they want to extinguish your Leo fire. Not a good choice, if you ask me, but the Scorpio’s seldom ask me anything, so that’s not the point.
So here’s what your majesty should do: shut up. Be quiet. Realize that some lesser sign, I’m not naming names, but a certain Scorpio-type looks to be the culprit, and then, that Scorpio is trying to run all over your fine Leo self. Doesn’t work. Let the little Scorpio loudmouth, the party person, the “oh it’s my birthday and I think I’m so special,” let that person appear to run all over you.
Give them enough slack to get way out there at the very end of the tether. See how this is going? If you shut up long enough for them to become “over committed”? You can yank that tether, once, and set the whole mess straight.
I’ll agree, it would just be a lot easier if they listened to you in the first place, but that’s not going to happen.
So? Hold on loosely and let that tether out as far as need be. Wait before you give it a good yank. And most important? Keep quiet.
Virgo: Austin is the Capital of Texas. The Texas Flag can fly at the same height as the US Flag, a silly quirk (according to some) in the annexation and federal process. What I was working on, though, wasn’t the flag flying at the same level as the US flag, it was about why the flag was at half-mast.
Traditionally, that happens when it’s the royalty or military. In some cases, those two distinctions aren’t separated, either. In other cases, though, like football heroes, there is separation of church and state.
Still, I was wondering, who, or what, caused the flag to be half mast? It was couple of weeks back, now that I think about it. I was riding shotgun, and I asked, why the flag was at the half-mast. Never got an answer. I’m not sure if this is local or if it was a larger, grander scale. I completely forgot about it, too, so I couldn’t just come home and access the information on the inter-web.
Completely slipped my mind. Where was this going, for Virgo? Completely slipped my mind. It will happen to you, too, this week.
Libra: ASMuT — Apocryphal Story Much Told — it’s how tales — myths — get spread. “I heard it from a guy who knew a guy,” and “my good friend swore it was true,” and my all-time favorite? “Bubba told me about this….”
However, “they said” isn’t a reliable source of information. That’s up there with my favorite, “I looked it up on the inter-web.” Can’t trust everything even a supposedly reliable source like wikipedia. Or other online, (allegedly) peer-reviewed “scholarly” journal.
That’s the same as “I read it on a web page.” However, as a gentle Libra, you know that you can generally trust my page for accurate guidance, as long as it involves the stars.
Saturn is in your sign. Saturn is on top of you. Saturn demands a little fact checking. Grudgingly give it a spin. Try to look a little deeper than just a simple web page, or I know a guy who knew guy whose cousin knew this girl who dated the guy in the story. Don’t become ASMuT.
