Fishing Guide to the Stars
By Kramer Wetzel
For the week starting: 7.16.2009
"She is too mean to have her name repeated."
Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well [III.v.60]
Cancer: Typically, when I see one of Shakespeare’s plays, on film or on stage, the production values vary, and there’s usually one outstanding performance. I don’t mean good, I mean a great delivery of a particular character. One actor or actress that outshines the rest of the cast.
Reminds me a slightly experimental version of Hamlet, with a female in the lead’s role. A stronger than usual character, a good surprise for a summer stock stage. I think that actress went on to make it big on stage or screen. From the humble beginnings as summer stock on stage to Broadway and Hollywood? Sure, it happens.
I’m not saying that this is a "for sure" occurrence in Cancer, but the way this starts to line up? The moon, especially, and pay attention to your moods? There’s a chance for a big break. Happens early next week. Look, it might seem like it’s not a big deal, and it might seem like you’re not really preparing for the role of your lifetime, and you might not even be getting on the summer’s stage. But you are getting ready to make a large stride forward. From humble beginnings? Sure.
Leo: It’s one of those sights, maybe sights and sounds, that I figure can only be experienced in the dead of the summer’s heat, in the middle of a Texas city. By July, late July, the cicadas are buzzing. Apparently, the little critters spend 17 years underground, emerge and then are annoying with their sounds for their lifespan of three days. But it’s more than just a cicada’s buzz, the incessant humming, a vibration, sort of, like a noisemaker.
Every so often, one of these bugs will get caught in the beak of predator. I’m thinking, like a Grackle or Blackbird, maybe a Jay. So on a still, hot summer afternoon when the heat is like a wool blanket, a wet, wool blanket, no breeze and the humidity just seeping into the bones, there will loud buzz, and a bird goes flying through the air with a cicada, still making its noise. The bird itself, that isn’t usually a loud animal. It’s the payload that makes the incessant noise.
It’s either disturbing and unsettling in its noise, or it’s an observation about the circle of life. That circle, if that’s what this is really about, that circle? It’s about to be completed. But I’d watch, just once, as in the next couple of days, one time, if you’re not careful, you’re going to feel like that cicada does, in the mouth of a predator.
Virgo: There was a Shakespeare quotation I didn’t recognize. From a play I’m passing familiar with, no less. I looked up the quote, couldn’t find it. I searched online. Couldn’t find it. I searched through my textbooks I’ve got, reference manuals, so to speak. No luck finding that quote. I did a search through my electronic versions of the works of Shakespeare. No hits.
I can’t remember the exact location where I first saw that quote, and its attribution. But I didn’t write it down, and I did go looking, trying to find a source. Character, act number, scene number, something. Nothing. I’m beginning to think it was a manufactured quote. Not that it’s unusual, I make stuff up all the time.
What’s the number? "37% of all experts are fake." Or 42% of all statistics are made up on the spot? Not that I would resort to anything like that, and I’ve had my chances. There are two points: one, my butt is covered because of what’s in the fine print, and two, just because there’s an attribution, that doesn’t mean it is factual.
Libra: One of my clients had a little heart problem. Older guy, so it wasn’t like this was such a big deal, but he was rushed to the hospital, his wife a frantic mess. He had, like, one artery almost completely blocked. They did that tube-thing-insertion-stint, I’m unsure of the details, I heard "balloon" and "stint," so maybe he got a stint at the hospital blowing up balloons. Anyway, he’s all better, by the third day, he was making bad jokes again. The staff was ready to get him out of there.
When trying to isolate the source of his trouble, it was simple. "My old family recipes, for, like, everything? Usually starts with ‘melt four sticks of butter,’ and I wonder." I’d wonder, too. This is about examining a portion of your life you never thought about looking at. For my buddy, it was delving into his family’s recipe books, finding the source for his current health problems. A little lifestyle change was all that was required for my buddy. He has changed his diet, walks more like I do, and, the real secret, he’s found joy again. I’m not sure if it’s the diet or the joy, but one of those two, that’s what this is about.
Or digging through your family’s cookbooks to discover the source of the problem.
Scorpio: It is always good to learn to discern between hype, hyperbole, marketing, and true fact. A real fact, that should, like, be etched in stone. Myth and metaphor have their places, like I’m anyone to comment on that, but this isn’t about me, this about Scorpio. And the facts. The hard facts. The hard, cold facts. Or the hard, hot facts.
Been a warm summer, but it usually is by now. The facts are simple. Straightforward and don’t make this an issue when it’s not. Stick to the facts. Not the suppositions, not the ideas, not the goals, but the facts. It’s all about where you actually are right now, as opposed to where you think you should be, or where you think you think you should be, and then this gets a little convoluted. With all that Gemini energy, there’s a push, and all I’m saying, figure out what’s what.
Facts? Etched in stone That simple. Anything that’s not a solid fact? That’s okay, but treat the unknown accordingly.
Sagittarius: Bookstore, chain bookstore, near me, that branch closed. Had a big going out "Closing this week" sale. I shopped a few times, trying to clean up on stuff that might be there. I got a few good deals. Then, when everything was marked at 75%, I picked up a few more deals. I was able to buy books that I wouldn’t normally buy. Junk reading, mostly, and with the sales sticker on the cover, I didn’t mind. 50% or 75% off cover price?
I could abandon one of those novels, like, hand it to friend with no expectation of every getting the novel back, and no worries, either. Hadn’t cost much, didn’t expect a lot out of the book. I could tell from the lurid cover art that it probably wasn’t my kind of a novel. Not that it matters. I have a stack of these, I call it "airport reading," although, I’m less in airports these days.
Still, there’s something appealing, in the middle of a hot summer, there’s something appealing about picking up discount deals. Might not be a bookstore that’s closing, could be something else. Although in my mind, as much as a hated to see the bookstore go, it was a chain, and there will be something else around here soon. I hope. It’s a good time to shop for deal, and, for that matter, make some excellent Sagittarius discoveries in the deals.
Capricorn: I’ve heard that putting two credit cards, or any cards with magnetic strips, back to back, like, in your wallet? I’ve heard that it transfers the data between the cards. Like the one card thinks it’s another card? This can effectively and completely scramble that magnetic strip. This only happens, so I’ve been assured, if the magnetic strips are either next to each other, like on opposite sides of the cards, or worse, next to each other, like the backs of the cards are facing.
The magnetic strip can erase the data from the other. Transfer, erase, or hopelessly mess up. Therefore, so I’ve been told, it’s better to carry cards in separate pockets. I’m unsure of how true this is. Sounds a lot like an Urban Myth. I haven’t bothered to check it out, though, but after hearing a tale about a friend who knew guy, who knew this girl, whose brother knew some dude, "And it really happened to him. No, I’m not just making this up."
However, this isn’t about how you carry credit cards. It’s about the source of the tale. The circuitous route for that sourc? Fact or fiction? Plausible, neat, maybe wrong? What is the actual source for the facts used to construct this information? That’s what is so important in Capricorn, for Capricorn, these days? Get to the bottom. Did you really know the guy this happened to? Did that really happen? The two credit cards erased each other?
Aquarius: Local place advertises a great breakfast menu. Wieners con Huevos and Frensh Toast. I am unsure of the source of the spelling for the second part of that and the first? The first actually makes a little historical sense, given the context.
Part of the original immigrants in the area were German settlers, fresh from the old country, and they brought the European ideals, tools, menu choices. Items like sausage. So the eggs and wieners makes sense. Sort of. I just thought it was an unusual combination to see on a placard outside a restaurant, but then, around here? Who’s going to notice weird? Not like it will stand out or anything. Which is good for Aquarius, because, for the time being, I’d look at not standing out.
I know that you are a separate breed unto your own selves, but that’s not the question. With the current ebb and flow of planetary influences, I’d just watch it. No need to draw undue attention to your Aquarius selves. I’m just saying, this isn’t the time to let the world know where you are. This isn’t a time to stand out. This is a time to blend in, like with the Wieners and Huevos.
Pisces: "Fish worship, is it wrong?" That’s the musical question. Or a T-shirt question. I found the question on a T-shirt, in the Pacific Northwest. I was thinking about Pisces, and I was wondering how a decent Pisces might react to that shirt. The reactions, in my mind, go from amused to alarmed, with a sprinkling of folks who really don’t have a sense of humor? Maybe one Pisces in that batch? Failing to see that it’s meant as a humorous caption, not as true worship.
Although, if you’ve ever seen me and my fishing buddies, you might think differently. Early part of next week is greeting a new moon. Seems like there are just an awful lot of people a little depressed by the current lunar cycle. It’s not really that much of an influence, it’s just that there are certain issues that have popped up. Stuff needs to be delat with. Instead of avoiding the material that needs your help? Wade right on in and lend a hand. Then, as the first of next week dawns bright and wonderful? See if there is a little fish worship going on. Not that it’s undeserved, either.
Aries: I was walking behind some tourists, on San Antonio’s famous River Walk. "Do you think there are fish in there?" Water’s pretty dirty, "I don’t know." I’m a fisherman, I do know. In the springs that bubble up near the convention center, there are two pools that hold fish, mostly black drum, some carp and really, I’ve seen them, black bass.
But that’s upstream from where we were. What I thought about saying, "You know that tilapia you had last night? Where do you think it came from?" I’ve found that such little comments are best kept to myself, though.
Like me, you’ve got a funny, perhaps a little sarcastic, comment running through your head these days. Probably several. I’d like to suggest, like me, you keep those to yourself.
Taurus: I tend to have a couple of Shakespeare reference tomes that I use. However, there is one that I use more frequently. Not because I’m particularly fond of it, it’s just that the material is the perfect blend, for me, a cross between high-brow academic and accessible for the rest of us. I’ll read a short section, maybe get a thumbnail sketch on a particular play, maybe do a tiny amount of background research before seeing a play. I’ve found that it helps, sort of highlights major themes, minor themes and gives me a background to build. Good stuff.
That one author, though, he has a bias. He’s a firm believer in his own words, and his own interpretation. He’s sure he is the ultimate authority and what that author states, I’m sure, he believes should be treated as gospel. I can live with that. He’s tenured and a senior, and I’m not even sure he’s still working. Although, I can’t imagine that he’d quit. Still, when I work with his material, I can plainly see his angle. His bend. His personal belief system shines right through.
Works for me. The other insights are valuable enough, and I know what he believes in, and it’s not like this is hidden. It’s in plain view, right out in the open. Not hidden. This is important when dealing with this week’s energy. Understand the bias, understand the other person’s point of origin. That helps. Like that one reference? Helps to know what the guy believes in. Makes it a lot easier to understand what’s extemporaneous, and what’s rooted in personal belief. Consider point of reference.
Gemini: There’s a line from a song, a Robert Earl Keen song. Local singer/songwriter, "It all comes down to living fast or dying slow." That was playing when I was looking at Mars and Venus, in Gemini, all week long. Actually, those planets will be here for longer than that. But at the very most, I’m concerned with Gemini for the next seven days.
Moon moves from Taurus, through Gemini, aligning briefly with the aforementioned planets, Mars and Venus, and them the Moon moves onto Cancer, and the Sun will, by the end of the scope, be headed into Leo. Along with the Moon. There are two parts to Gemini, the Twins. Well, really, there are a lot more parts to Gemini, but for this example, let’s do the two thing. And there are two points to the song’s lyric, "living fast or dying slow." In as much as you’re a typical Gemini, you’re part of the living fast crowd. However, for the duration of the Moon’s cycle? Ever think about the slow part? I’m just saying, until we get launched into Leo proper? Think about the slow part.
