I could be well mov’d, if I were as you;
If I could pray to move, prayers would move me;
But I am constant as the northern star,
Of whose true-fix’d and resting quality
There is no fellow in the firmament.
Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar (3.1.58)
Horoscopes for 1-16-2024
- Sun enters Aquarius 1/20
- Pluto enters Aquarius 1/20
Horoscopes for 1-16-2024 by the Fishing Guide to the Stars…
Capricorn
A dozen years back, maybe further, an Austin police officer helped clarify my beliefs, and understanding, of the legal systems. He looked at me under the old Austin night’s sky, made calculated assumption, and took an off-the-record stance. “As soon as it’s legal? I’m going to fire one up and see what the big deal is,” he said, then took a sip of beer, “but until then? As long as it is considered illegal, it’s my job to bust them if they got it.” He shrugged. I nodded back. I can’t partake, legal or not, because I have such a tenuous grip on reality as it is, but the statement, and its sentiments, encapsulates a belief system, about respect, respect the rules of the road, respect the laws of the land, and stay within one’s own lane, so to speak. As this applies to Capricorn? The same applies.
Aquarius
Having been through this myself, several times, and understanding that this isn’t the biggest of deals that some will prevaricate and prognosticate about? Understanding that I’ve been in your very Aquarius shoes before, so I get it. Problem, Aquarius problem — not everyone else does gets it, nor the pressing sense of urgency. The planets incline but do not dictate. Should remember that.
The planets, the gods, the outside influences that push us all around? To some, the Fates and the Furies? What it really means is that those outside forces really don’t care, one way, or another, what happens. That doesn’t mean the influence, the pressure, the insistent voice in the back of the Aquarius mind suggesting this or that? Doesn’t mean the voices aren’t there, but how our Aquarius selves, individually and collectively, how we decode information to deal with that pressure is what is so vital, moving us all forward. Happy birthday and happy hunting.
Pisces
The goal to banish all clichés from my written form? To achieve that goal, I will leave no stone unturned. Will get on this right way, and by the same token, leave no one behind. There is no end to what I will do to stop this misuse of the language. As a man who has to put his pants on one leg at time, I’m not different from a long-tailed cat in a room filled of rocking chairs. Always remember: a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Wait, what does that really mean? The goal, simple enough for gentle Pisces? Eschew the over-used, sometimes trite expressions. I can’t say I’m any kind of a paragon of virtue about this myself. It is a virtue of necessity.
Aries
Local place, Kerby Lane, long with its roots in old Austin? Stopping in one afternoon, I had a “(sweet) potato hash with jalapeño sausage” scramble dish. Plate. Essentially, two ingredients, cubed sweet potato and similar jalapeño sausage of some variation. Simple enough? Two ingredients, listed in the menu item’s name? Sure, simple enough until I tried to replicate this at home, and so far, I’ve been less than successful with my own results. Part of it is just the sausage, as the chain uses a good quality smoked sausage and I was using store-bought pork stuff that might not be the same, but the results, while no way matching the restaurant’s version? Certainly palatable, and good enough. There is an array of spices that I was missing, and gradual experimentation has helped me get closer. Still not there, though, but the research continues. The Aries goal looks simple enough, two-ingredient name, right? It’s the tell-tale spices, the salt, pepper, other stuff, and then, the experimentation. Teaspoon of garlic? Maybe a little less? Perhaps a dash of red pepper? And just how much is a dash? But first? Start with the two ingredients and test the idea — before adding any Aries thing else.
Taurus
Amusing meme surfaced, “I lost my car chapstick so my purse chapstick is in the car, and my room chapstick is in my purse, and now the whole world is totally screwed up.” There’s a lot to unpack in a simple, humorous meme. But for a good Taurus? These days, losing a car chapstick and following the rest of it? Yes, that can totally screw up an otherwise OK day. Can mess up a whole week. I get it. I don’t have a car lipstick, but I do have purse, bedside, and pocket chapsticks. One buddy insisted it was a man-bag, but look: call it what it is. It is a purse. Manly, but purse, as I carry a tablet, cables, charging block, reading glasses, and chapstick. I won’t have my world turned upside down when this happens. I’m not Taurus. For the gentle Taurus? When the little things upset your world? Is there an easy fix? I stopped and overpaid for a new type of lipstick, worked fine.
Gemini
Buddy was ordering online. Seemed like his transaction didn’t go through. Back at the order page, there was a link, “If you need to contact us, please use our contact page.” He showed it to me, and then clicked on the link, and that resulted in a dreaded 404, with a slightly humorous — to me — page that said, “Oops, something went wrong.” No contact information. No phone, no e-mail, nothing. That is a problem. I favored a strictly textual version myself, and unless you’ve hired me, not much of a chance I’ll answer a phone, but I do read, and mostly answer e-mail. I was amused that there was such a blatant dead end. Over the years, I’ve learned to set up and leave legacy pointers in place. It’s that dead end, and there might be one ahead. What do you do? Me? Legacy pointers. Gemini? Legacy pointers.
Cancer
Last summer, I was at the Gulf Coast, and I wore nothing but board shorts, jogging the last few feet of liminal space between the end of the boardwalk and the wet sand that was cool enough for my bare feet. A recent winter trip, same Gulf Coast port town, and I never shirked my heavy winter woolens because the weather never shifted from cold, overcast, and gray. Not quite freezing, but never very warm. It’s OK: it’s a wet cold. I cancelled on the fishing trips we had planned because — I’m tired, old and cranky: I don’t need an excuse, but I’ll use the weather as a simple example. Cold and wet, and while, as a much younger person, I would fish in that situation, not so much anymore. I’m a fair-weather fisher-person. What can Cancer, the Moon-Children learn from my choices? If the cold, gray weather suits you, then, by all means go forth but like me? If that weather doesn’t suit you? Then don’t. It’s that simple.
The Leo
I tend to think of The Leo as a constant. A stable influence, a guiding star, not unlike the North Star alluded to in the opening passage from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, a fated tragedy. But this isn’t about tragedy, not really, it’s about how, the best example? In a time-lapse image of that North Star, and over the course of the night, all the other pinpricks of light describe circles and around that single point? It remains firm and its place, almost unmoved at all. The “Of whose true-fix’d and resting quality” we all speak. Yeah, and that’s The Leo in normal times. These aren’t normal time, and despite that “true-fix’d” quality we all associate with The Leo, there is some room to fudge. There are changes brewing on the horizon, and our magnificent Leo selves are going to find a need to be adaptable. Listen to others. Listen to your minions and servants, and listen to their suggestions, the suggestions, emendations, and possible edification from others. I didn’t say The mighty Leo had to embrace all of what is said, but listening is a great way forward.
Virgo
What was your first luxury item? For me, I was living in a trailer park in South Austin, along the shores of the river there, fishing almost every day, and at the time, a typical bag of hooks was less than a dollar, while the plastic stick baits weren’t more than two dollars. Brand-name top-water lures ran about three bucks. Along came a killer lure, a device that was supposed catch fish, and make the laundry smell fresher. Almost came with a fish-catching guarantee. Not quite, but almost. I recall because I was working out-of-town, and wandering in a specialty fishing store, I found that lure, but it was expensive, like $20, or roughly 3 to 5 times the cost of anything else I used on the end of the fishing line. That was my first luxury purchase, and here, dozens of years later, I think I still have that expensive toy I was almost too afraid to use for fear of losing it. Might’ve caught elusive bass in Austin, back in its day. What was your first Virgo luxury item, and do you still have it? Was it worth it, or was it worth it at the time? Mine was.
Libra
I got one buddy, always looking for the perfect fishing gear. Pole and reel combinations, with a favored casting rod with a spinning reel or bait-caster with a trigger pole, never can tell what his latest arrangement might be. It’s always something new. To me, his bass boat looks like a floating storage unit with a long succession of failed combinations. Or maybe, since it’s not me, he just shows up with a different set-up for certain conditions, when the lake’s water is a constant 67° and the bass are not quite yet bedding. But if there is a freak storm and the water temp varies from that? He’s got another set of gear, all conveniently stowed, and I guess he spends more time looking at data and what “experts” say online than just spending time with a line in the water. Seems to me, he spends an inordinate amount of time fussing with gear, and less time actually fishing, but then, maybe his target is different from mine. I like fish. I like to fish. He might like the hunt for better gear than the actual fish. Celebrate our differences, and don’t judge; we are both happy that way. For Libra? Celebrate the differences, and for that one Libra buddy, still looking for the perfect gear?
Scorpio
“Mesh” networks became really popular. I think of it more as a marketing ploy rather than an actual home mesh network, but the idea has merit. Long before the term was used, though, in the last place I lived, I had a normal home wireless network with a couple of “range extenders,” and in essence? It was that same kind of mesh network. Because mine was built over time, often as not, using the cheapest equipment available, it’s more patchwork rather than a solid and seamless construction. That patchwork, seemingly random array of equipment performs just as well, if not better, and there are remnants of the hardware still in use as I write and post this. The Scorpio lesson and the Scorpio trick that works? We go with what we’ve got. It might be a patchwork, hobbled together set of left-over band-aid instruments, but if it works?
Sagittarius
Sagittarius interpretations? In a dream? See a face you don’t recognize? It’s probably an unfamiliar ghost, watching you sleep. That pretty effectively crosses several lines and to me, it seems a bit spooky, but not really that strange. The notion of seeing a face in dream, and that face being a familiar ghost showed just before Halloween, and it’s been in my Sagittarius pocket until now. It’s just a wonderful unfolding of new, different, weird, strange, not-so-strange, but still off-kilter material that starts floating up in our collective (sub) conscious. Material does demand a fair examination in the light of the day. Embrace? Totally embrace that new material, as it arises? That’s up to our own Sagittarius discernment, and subject to individual approval. Or not. If you see a face you don’t recognize in a precognition dream-state? It is probably an unfamiliar ghost watching you sleep.
- Aperture: ƒ/1.8
- Camera: iPad Pro (11-inch) (3rd generation)
- Flash fired: no
- Focal length: 3mm
- ISO: 64
- Shutter speed: 1/60s
