Fishing Guide to the Stars starting 6.28.2012

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“I’ll pray a thousands prayers for thy death;
No word to save thee.”
Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure [III.i.146-7]

Claudio’s sister’s response to Claudio’s idea that his sister sleep with the Duke to get Claudio out of jail (family, huh).

Cancer: Tension on the spool, the reel. “Keeping it Reel.” Buddy, a fishing guide, reached over to tighten the drag. OK, that doesn’t make sense. I was fishing, and the pole was bent over, like a horseshoe. Light line, maybe 10-12 lbs mono test.

Something big took the bait. I’ve landed big fish on light line, sure is fun. I was struggling and the line was gradually spooling off the reel, the high, keening noise of the drag, starting to smoke. My buddy got concerned, and in an effort to help, he reached over and tightened the drag on the reel. Barely half a spin and it was too tight, line snapped, and I’ll never know what it was. Shark? Whale? Probably a mature drum, red or black. The pull was along the lines of a black drum, but again, we’ll never know. Tension on the line is good. Help is almost always welcome. There are times, though, when a little assistance is too much. I’d suggest you let someone else drive the boat, but you can attend to your own fishing line when that big one hits your Moon Child bait.

Leo: Solstice is always a turning point in the calendar, at least, for me it is. The problem is the Sun enters Cancer, and that’s the sign before the mighty Leo. That’s kind of a problem. To add a little heat to this scenario, Sun being in Cancer? There’s Mercury scooting along in Leo. Mars, too, as Mars will shift signs early next week, long before the new scopes roll out, and that adds a further dimension.

Pause. Write it down. Got a great idea? Jot that note in your phone. Tweet it. Or whatever they are doing these days, Tumbler, FaceBook, whatever the latest little idea shooter is. You can post the idea, but don’t expect a lot of traction, not yet.

Virgo: After more than six months, you can easily breath a huge sigh of relief. You’ll feel it before the weekend is over. Life will be better. I will, singlehandedly, improved your life of Virgo. Mars moves into another sign. Mars is done, for the time being, and next time? You’ll listen more closely when I start the Mars lecture.

But enough of that.

Mercury is in Leo, and Venus is still cooking in Gemini, and this spells out residual tension for Virgo. Not direct tension, but lingering, like the aroma of girl who has just passed while her perfume lingers on? Lingering tension. The Mars hue and cry, the pitched Mars battles are over, but the lingering sense is that there’s still something left unattended. It’s tension, and for now, it resides in other signs. Be cautious with celebratory comments.

Libra: Mars is going to amp you up, some. Mars is all about restless summer nights when the sheets are hot and sticky, and the fan just doesn’t seem to do enough to cool you off. There’s a sense that there will be some late nights combined with early mornings. That spells not enough Libra sleep. You can sure use your beauty rest — don’t plan on enough of it. I got a cure for those tepid, sleepless nights in Libra land: books. A good, potboiler, mystery-romance-fiction paperback. A big, fat one. A huge one. At one time, we all have guilty pleasures and at one time I was into Clancy novels. One of those would be perfect. Action, adventure, intrigue, guns blazing, international arms, all the good stuff. Enough plot to keep things moving, enough technical details so it feels real, and the covers of the books are far enough apart. Estimated time to finish the book? Twelve hours or more. Not a single night’s read. Perfect. “But I hate Clancy books!” Then find something from your favorite genre. Doesn’t matter. I’m not picky, myself.

Scorpio: Things are going so smoothly at the moment, just keep quiet. “But I just have to tell you how I feel!” No, no you don’t. It’s not that I don’t care, it’s that the feeling, whatever it is, sadness, remorse, scorn, derision, bile, or just a sarcastic Scorpio comment? Doesn’t matter. Don’t share it. Great idea, and the therapist would normally tell you to open up, and here I am, telling you to shut up. That would be right. I read stars, not clinical psychology black arts. Whatever that feeling is, whatever it is that you makes your Scorpio self so compelled to share? Tone if down this week. This week, next week? Let someone else blow your horn. Don’t do that yourself, it just aggravates an already aggravated crowd. We will get to your turn for a shot in the hot seat. But we’re not there, not yet.

Sagittarius: I was thinking of way to put this to our Sagittarius selves. Bedside, for me, there are a couple of books. There are two novels that have to do with Shakespeare, one is historical, the other is fiction, there’s a murder-mystery, a crime novel, and a “graphic novel.” Plus one self-help title. An old, out-of-date Science Fiction from its golden age. All stacked up, at the Sagittarius bedside. And that’s just my short list. With the way the planets toy and play with us, in the next couple of days, pick one. Pick one title out of that list and finish the damn book. Stick with it until it’s done. Simple message, we usually juggle many items.

Stop juggling. Pick one.

In my example? I’m going to pick the historical one. No, the mystery. No, Golden Age of Science Fiction. Wait, just one? Yes. Pick one book. Finish one book, first. One item, one project. A single task.

Capricorn: It’s time for a summer sampler. I was thinking, it used to be mixed tapes. I used to mix CDs, but that’s not it, not really. Although, sure, you even have a CD player in your car? Boom box? Something? Personally, I have all the music streaming on the computer, through them inter-webs thing. It’s time for a summer sampler for Capricorn. Pull together a CD, a playlist, a collection of tunes, show tunes, musicals, or any other material that might properly evoke your summer attitude. Goes without saying that this should include some tropical tunage, like something coastal and western, but what you want, from Beach Music to Surf Punk? Tastes vary. Pull together a list of tunes you want. Something summer breeze-like. Whatever works for you. It’s about adding some musical notations to your experience.

Aquarius: The last bay boat I was on, a shallow water craft, the outboard motor had three adjustments, up and down, tilt and speed. The trick is to hit all the adjustments correctly. Coming out of the hole, like, from dead stop, the motor revs up and digs in, but then, as the boat starts to move, got to ease off on the throttle, ease up on the plane, and get the little tilt thing balanced.

An outboard boat that can be fairly complicated. The problem is that boat has to maneuver in “skinny water,” as well as provide a stable platform for drifting while also being capable of navigating wide open bays at high speed. Relatively high speed. Many schools of thought about this design. Still, the basic point is simple, throttle back. Once you get up to speed, once that Aquarius speed is correct, be prepared to throttle back a small amount. Going to be a long run, get the tilt and motor height adjusted.

Pisces: Neptune turns retrograde this week. No big deal. Well, it is a big planet and big influence, but seriously? No big deal. You know what the standardized lines are for that, right? If not, see me after class. There’s another shift, smaller, less of an impact, but potentially a bigger deal for you. It’s the way Mars is going to treat you. Getting smoother Less combative. More gentle. Less likely to hit the wall, or the partner, or bang the partner into the wall. Usually a non-Pisces partner who probably deserved that. Still, less irritations. The summer full moon, oh what is it called, anyway, that just adds a touch of fun to the whole mess. Might be messy, of that I am sure, but it’s not a big deal.

If, and I’m not sure you will, but if you encounter irritations? Gloss over them. Let it go. “Karma, man, you know, they’ll get theirs.”

Aries: I’ve passed this one boat several times, big, off-shore boat. Name is “Pier Pressure.” I always liked the not-so-subtle play-on-words with her name. Boats are all “hers.” I don’t make the rules, just report them as best I can. The boat’s name was important, as an Aries, there’s a certain pressure that’s approaching and you’ll be feeling it, before too long. Not so much peer pressure, but the other kind. Like a longing to be any place that’s “not here.” Away, preferably, far, far away. Don’t know if we can pull that off. I can explain that the planet that you like best is moving into a position opposite from you and that’s a good thing. Or not. As long as you have an offshore boat, like Pier Pressure, then you don’t have to succumb to peer pressure.

Taurus: “Rain on tin roof, on a hot summer’s night?” Taurus performer, local singer/song writer/rockstar fellow. Taurus. Not that it matter, this is about what summer rain sounds like on a tin roof. Persistent and drumming, setting a pace, and this next few days? We got a pace going in Taurus. We got the beat. Question is, can you maintain that pace? There’s a hot and steamy sensation with summer rain. In some places, it might have a cooling effect, but around my parts? Not so much. It’s not cooling so much as it’s wet and damp. Sort of like a wet, cotton blanket, the parts heavy with moisture are wet and the rest isn’t so much cold as it’s sort of warm, kind of clammy, and heavy, like an extra burden. Summer’s rain on tin roof, you catch a little break, but all my Taurus friends? There’s a hint that the rain means you can stay inside and get caught up on whatever it was that needed catching up.

Gemini: The rain on the tin roof, see Taurus above, it triggered a memory. Donald Judd (Gemini) has an installation in West Texas, mostly in and around Marfa. The item I was thinking of? Tin roof on one of the display buildings. The roof itself was chosen, designed, to flex in such a way as to sound like rain, or something, in the summer’s heat. Hot afternoons? That one metal roof flexes and creates a cacophony of noises. Delicate sounds, like wind rustling leaves, or the way a Rocky Mountain stream might sound, cascading down the hill. Still Summer around here. The tin roof is just noise.

Stop for a minute in the Gemini haste and pause. Hear it? That momentary pause is what this about, long enough to discern the tiniest of noises. Poetic, melodic sounds. Just the roof, expanding in the summer heat. Expansion.