“You heedless joltheads and unmanner’d slaves!
What, do you grumble? I’ll be with you straight.”
Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew (IV.i.94-6)
Horoscopes for 8-6-2024
- Mercury RX 4° Virgo
- 8/7 Mercury (RX) conjoin Venus 3° Virgo
The Leo
I was driving through Austin, on the way to points north. I had the route-finder voice (Siri) speaking in a female British accent, giving me directions, and I started to argue with her. She kept suggesting alternate routing, and the traffic in Austin can be legendary, and I kept telling her, I knew where I was going, and I was going to go the way I know. Turns out there was massive snarl on the freeway, just a few miles up and then I sat in traffic for what seemed like hours. I listened to most of a Shakespeare play, evocatively read my amateurs. Just fun, the play, not the traffic. Inch forward. Change lanes, inch forward. Stall, then change lanes back to where I was, and then? Eventually, I got out of the mess, it was a wreck that looked horrific but no fatalities, and the clean-up was underway. So was I. The lesson? Listen to the helper, in this case, the disembodied voice of Siri giving me suggestions that I ignored. I would’ve been a lot happier if I had followed her instructions. Leo: listen to the directions. We’re trying to save you some headache.
Virgo
Started as a meme. Really, if you must know, me and a couple of buddies would use this exact line, grin, and proceed with plans, long before it was an internet sensation. Before this was a T-shirt slogan. Before this was a label slapped on any number of amusing but possibly painful images. It’s easy to see me and my buddies, old Austin crowd, current fishing crew, just about anyone I know, we can easily repeat the line. There are variations on a theme, but essentially, it’s the same message, over and over.
“That’s a terrible idea! When do we start?” One variant is “that’s a terrible idea; I’m in!” These are my friends, what did you expect? Now, as we get through these next couple of days, think about that expression or any variation of it, “That’s a terrible idea,” or, “that’s so wrong,” or, “we really shouldn’t, but…” The fleeting influences that push for this? The temporary burst of insanity that suggests it might be wrong but a lot of fun — at the time? That’s over, and I would suggest, in better Virgo fashion, listen to the quiet, inner voice saying not to do it. “But it looks like fun!”
Libra
There’s a singleness of purpose in others, and sometimes that’s a very attractive quality. That single, driving force that pushes those people ever onward and upward. A solitary pursuit, a tangible (usually) goal, and just one direction with no questions, no detours, and no other interests. While I admire that driving force, and that one direction? As a Libra, yes, you admire it as well, correct? How does this serve us in the next few days? It doesn’t, simply put. That one goal, one direction, one item, one thing, one (something) as the Libra destination? That doesn’t work. Great idea. Wonderful idea, and realize that there are factors beyond our Libra ken that play into this, and we must be willing to adopt, adapt, adjust, and re-align that destination, goal, process, routing, or whatever it is. Be willing to change if one direction doesn’t seem to be working. We can get back that, later.
Scorpio
What do you add to your coffee? Or tea, whatever it is, what do you add? When I first started drinking coffee, I added cream and sugar. From there I entered a phase, as a young man, where I would had sugar, like, two packets in a single cup of coffee, and remember, I’m old, so that was Mr. Coffee coffee, not anything refined or tasty. Think: one step different from battery acid. Maybe not even a step different. Just sweetened with sugar went on for a spell, and then, I got around to better coffee. It was a Hawaiian roast that I liked, and its distinctive flavor, when I made the coffee strong, I added “fake sugar” sweetener, and milk, most frequently over ice in a tall glass (ice tea style). Eventually, I graduated to just coffee black. For a while, all the rage was MCT oil in coffee, and I tried that. The oily slick didn’t do much for me. I prefer cocoanut oil pills, myself (heart healthy). Finally, there was Extra-Virgin Olive-Oil in coffee, and I liked that with certain coffee blends, some of the Africa-origin beans seem to compliment and accentuate the olive oil flavors; they work well together. However you like your coffee? Black, no additives, is good. Might be best. What works for Scorpio, black, bitter coffee?
Sagittarius
It’s about a simple form of Sagittarius restructuring. It’s not a major rebuild, and not even small overhaul. It’s just way of looking at what’s there, and making it all fit in a better position. Frequently, this equates to a major overhaul. What I’m afraid of is the typical Sagittarius problem resolution where we start with one problem, then find a subsidiary issue, and work that, only to get distracted by a tertiary component, and realize that it is no way connected with anything else, but that doesn’t matter, and then, look, over there, another item we should address, which means the original problem, and some of its comment pieces are now scattered across the floor, and there is no hope in sight. Back at the top, I was talking about “restricting,” and Sagittarius restructuring. Pause. One task at a time, and while our lager-than-life eagle-eye over-view is admirable? It leads to far too many items under construction and nothing getting done. In the current-crop of Sagittarius restructuring? One at a time.
Capricorn
Over the years, I’ve accumulated a number of pendants, necklaces, and charms. They vary in efficacy and purpose. Some are supposed to ward off evil. Others are frankly Christian in symbolism, and some of purely metaphysical in origins. I’ve even got a few Eastern Mysticism pieces, and I can’t recall, on most days, what’s supposed to perform a particular function. I know they all do something. At the time I acquired each piece, though, I knew its specific attribution and purpose. Maybe I should have better notes. The only piece I tend to carry that I recall? A St. Benedict medallion, and it’s special because the first was a gift, and after that., subsequent research just proved that I was correct in its purported symbols, uses, and purposes. All about intentions, I guess, one way to see it, and St. Benedict was OK, all about not serving the (supposedly) evil masters, I think. Your mileage might vary. As I was looking, I realized I had small canister that had some — basically — cayenne pepper to help problems hotfoot themselves away from me. Does it work? Given the way things are — at the moment — for courageous Capricorn? Whatever token, balm, pendant, or other good-luck charm works? If it works?
Aquarius
I’m not sure what it was, some kind seasoning, perhaps, spilled on the kitchen counter top. From one angle, it could’ve been a mysterious white powder, but I think there was a little orange in its coloring, maybe red, not sure, paprika or cayenne be a good guess. I also found some “orange salt” not long ago, a knock-off of a knock-off, and yet, good stuff because it was basically a blend salt, garlic powder, cayenne, paprika, and some other stuff. I don’t know, I didn’t analyze it. Really good sprinkled on a slice of a tomato. The trick, though, and it doesn’t matter what that spilled stuff is, can I wait until I’m done with what is important before I obsessively have to go over and clean up that counter top? Despite the evil machinations and perturbations in the planets’ trajectories? What’s the first thing an Aquarius should do? “Clean up that mess.” No, first things first.
Pisces
Simple way to see this one: Promise, dream, promise of the dream, hard work to achieve that dream’s promise, and then? It all comes true. But it takes work. Hard work. Between now and the end of this mercurial period when nothing seems to fit correctly? Nothing works quite right? That’s the measure of the Pisces person as a human. Indignity heaped upon problematic crap, layered with stupid stuff? One right after another? Mercury starts its errant path opposite from Pisces and that means there’s a lot of this. Gets easier, and I don’t want to dissuade you from the dream, but the planets themselves spell out missed goals, missed opportunities, and mistakes. Buckets of mistakes. Not usually yours, but someone has to deal with the consequences, and that looks like it is you, more than any other person. Here’s the deal: keep that dream, and the promise of hope alive. Keep it as a your long-range target, the goal you’re shooting for. Keep looking at that dream, and thinking, to your Pisces self, “this can happen, I know it, I feel it.”
Aries
Deviate from the standard Aries routine. Doesn’t have to be much, and I’m not suggesting anything illegal, immoral, or outside of the bounds of the internal Aries operating system. No, none of that, but deviate from the Aries routine. To arrive at the shop in Austin, on time, I used to leave by about 8:30 in the morning. Under a similar influence, I started leaving just a touch before 8. Made a huge difference in the amount of traffic I would face, and this is a simple example that shows the immediate and expedient results from changing a simple Aries routine. As an independent contractor, I call my own hours, and I’ve been doing a version of this commute for years, so I’m familiar with it. I understand the ebb and flow of the stars, the tides, and the traffic. A simple shift in routine, an adjustment of the smallest type, mere minutes in the example, resulted in huge savings for me. For now, just deviate from the standard Aries routine.
Taurus
“What are you doing right now?”
I answered, “Research.”
“Looks like you’re just messing around on the web.” To me, that is research. I get ideas. I find cool stuff. I see material that answers a question I didn’t pose. I look for material in the great works of the Western Canons of Literature, and I dabble in Eastern Mysticism materials. I toy with the intransitive problem of exotic esoterica, and the basic questions. Or? I must look at cat videos, and I stand amused. I guess it all depends. There’s a frankly serendipitous route that I take to construct my material, and none of this proceeds in anything Iike a straight line. To me, in my twisted mind, I see it as a straight line from that starting point to point whatever, but that’s me, and I was there as this unfolded. I know each step, and how I got there from here. Seems clear enough to me. With the planets like this? “What are you doing right now?”
Taurus: “Research.”
Gemini
I watched a quick, online video about “How to.” It was informative, casual, marginally interesting, and the production values were OK. Wasn’t too slick, but wasn’t bad, and we can all do amazing short clips with phone cameras. Ultimately, though, what I learned, from watching that video, the person speaking didn’t know a lot about a certain topic wherein I have some depth. The technical information was good. The conclusions were not all factual, and the outcome, based upon what was suggested? Highly unlikely. Good stuff, just not all correct, and the self-proclaimed expert isn’t always the best source, with me, as an exception. However, I point out I have years of data to support my thesis. The biggest challenge as the next weeks unfold, the biggest hassle for dear Gemini? Taking a single point of data, or “I watched an online video, so I can do this now,” taking a single piece of data and extrapolating an entire data set from that one point. Careful. More sources, less conclusions.
Cancer
An internet feed tagline read, “the proper water to whiskey ratio.” For every setting, for specific whiskeys, and I’m not sure. When I was a bartender, I had one customer who liked a special bourbon on the rocks with a splash, and in the example? It was no more than a teaspoon of water over a heavy-pour shot of liquor. Thought about that when I saw the question, and I rang up an Irish buddy to confer, as I don’t know the answer. According to my buddy? The correct amount of water is “none,” or whatever is left over as the ice melts. Did I mention Catholic Irish? Always a good source of data for liquor questions; he knows his stuff. We don’t want watered down. We don’t want weak. We don’t want something too strong to drink. I think in terms of my shots of espresso on ice, too, just ice and espresso. As the morning wears on, the ice melts and waters down the liquor or the coffee, and I think that’s the right amount. You’ll know when you get there.
- Aperture: ƒ/1.8
- Camera: iPad Pro (11-inch) (3rd generation)
- Flash fired: no
- Focal length: 3mm
- ISO: 50
- Shutter speed: 1/60s
