Taurus Mercury Retrograde in April and May 2010

Oh, here we go again...Yes indeed, another round of Mercury retrograde. This time Mercury will sit in station (or spend a slightly longer time at a certain degree as it changes direction), on April 16th when it arrived at 12 degrees Taurus (and some odd minutes), It went retrograde on April 18th and will go direct again on May 11th, but will actually still be at station (and working up some steam for the move) at 2 degrees...until the 13th. This all happens in the sign of Taurus this period and having your chart in front of you to see how it will effect you personally can be a great big help in how to deal with the potential tricky spots that might arise now.

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For me, being a Gemini rising, that puts the sign of Taurus (at 12 degrees) in my 12th house when it begins this whole adventure. The 12th house rules things that are hidden....I started having some strange experiences with water as our old buddy Mercury sat stationary at 12 degrees and exactly opposed to my Neptune in Scorpio, these experiences all involved hidden (12th house influence) sources of water and fluids (the neptune/scorpio influence). They did not do what they normally do and CERTAINLY not what was expected....ummm...Yeah...yikes!

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Toilets overflowed, because (inside, hidden) flapper valves didn't close, a hidden pipe (NOT easily accessed, hidden inside a wall) began leaking....Even a still 'factory sealed', unblemished gallon container of water decided to spring not one, but TWO pinpoint leaks after weeks of being safe sound and solid...and started leaking inside a closed (hidden away) cupboard.....and then a trigger spray bottle of that pretty blue window cleaner that had been used for weeks with nary a problem at all... suddenly decided to purge its contents out the spout on the top shelf...drip, drip, drip....all this in 3 days of mercury at 12 degrees Taurus...wheee!

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Mercury retrograde usually fouls up the mercury 'ruled' things like communication, and the vehicles for communication like the Internet, mail, phone signals, fax signals and printouts (or the lack thereof), answering machines and all manner (spoken, printed, written or read) of communications in general...even to the point of our misreading menus and notes from friends. It also can mess with our short trips around our little day-to-day worlds, our cars (or whatever we use to take those trips, like bikes, buses, taxi's etc)...

But that's just a start! If you know what house you have it visiting and the planets (like my Neptune) that it aspects you can have a better idea of the potential impact that mercury retrograde might have in your life.

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Under the sign of Taurus we might also expect to see some odd happenings with money or things of value in general, so don't be totally surprised if your ATM machine suddenly does some wacky stuff, or the bank statement is a little off...You'll need to double check everything! Also, take care of things that mean security to you in general, how you use your credit cards and passwords, remember to lock doors when leaving and then double check to be sure they engaged. You may find yourself dealing with odd food cravings and could even find yourself falling "out-of-love with a favorite flavor or snack during this time. How your greedy or generous could be tested now as well.

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Mercury retrograde might be best seen as a little poke from the universe to get our attention back on what we've been taking for granted...A little 'wake up call' to pull us out of our daily haze and make us better appreciate all the times when things DO run well and smoothly. I know I'm just that little bit more appreciative of fluids and the things that carry them in my life, so I guess mercury accomplished THAT mission!

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Until next time....Good luck to you and I'm going to hope it's just a 'little' poke from mischievous mercury for you...

Returned To Sender

It seems some lives are meant to be lived fraught with pain and troubles. An 8-year-old Russian boy was adopted last September by a single American woman. Now I know that's not all that remarkable in and of itself, except for the fact that this month (April), she decided to return that 8-year-old child...Alone and unaided, back to Russia, with nothing more than a piece of paper in his possession as his support, explaining that he has psychological troubles and she no longer 'wants' him.

Now Russia is having misgivings about their and the United States shared methods of 'out of the country' adoptions...And well they should! It seems apparent to me that the screening process leaves much to be desired if a woman, who clearly has little to no common sense, (returning an 8-year-old boy, on a plane, ALONE!..) can adopt a child. Where was the testing to see if this woman was capable, sentient and cognizant of what was required to adopt a child? Proper testing might have given the adoption agents 'powers that be' a better indication that clearly she was not 'fit' as an adoptive parent.

As you can see, I am biased in favor of the child and I am quite sure that there WERE psychological problems as the basis that caused the return of the child...But sadly, it appears to my thinking, that it was NOT the child who suffered from them. I hope this is the last of his problems. I hope because of the attention he is getting as a result of this horribly foolish fiasco, he winds up a winner... With parents who will love, support and nurture him. This poor fellow has already suffered more in his eight years than a lot of people do in 80 or more...

Oh yes, when you watch a news report and hear YOURSELF saying..."Who in their right mind would do that"?!! Well, there's the clue...pretty much helps to explain it all...And its really just further proof that we inherently know a lot more than we think we do, about a whole lot of things.

Until we meet again....

See No Evil, Internet Filtering Or Censorship...

I'm strange! I think strange things....I admit it, (By now, that probably comes as no great shock). I like that I can be a little 'different' and get away with it. Yep....I'm 'Strange As I Wanna Be' and some times I'm even more odd than others.... letting my personal Freak flag fly high and proud. Of course, I do try to keep things within the bounds (of my own sense) of 'good taste.' And yes, I do try to be considerate of others. I guess it's working pretty well so far, for all parties involved. No complaints have been registered lately...at least not officially...heh.

I'm American, (and weirdly, sometimes I'm even kind of proud of that fact). So I look at it as my PERSONAL RIGHT to be as odd as I am, not just a freedom. Heck, I even like the fact that YOU can be strange, odd or different too....thats your right. And I like having the option to check out your personal, one-of-a-kind, 'brand of strange' at my own discretion. I like being able to make my OWN choices on whether or not your 'brand of strange' is acceptable to me. As an American, I've grown up being able to do that. Fellow Americans have fought hard and some have given up limbs and lives for me to be able to do that. Because of those sacrifices, I've spent my whole life being able to make my own choices on what is good and bad for me, seeing what fits and discarding the rest at my own pace, in my own way.

Oh yes, even at this age, I still fully exercise my Freedom Of Choice. (Hey, what can I say, it still has urges and it just likes being out and about, getting the fresh air and a good stretch now and again. heh, heh)... I like that something called Freedom Of Expression exists....it gives me the chance to USE my Freedom Of Choice. Its synergistic, they work together, one thing helps keep the other in really 'buff', healthy, usable condition.

What I don't like is the whisper that is currently circulating on the web from country to country about the potential for 'governmental intervention'....Otherwise known as WEB FILTERING. I know that certain carriers (most in fact, to some degree), already impose their own sanctions of what is allowed and what's not via owned networks and adjunct subsidiaries under their control. Google is one who imposes their will and restrictions, AOL was well known in their glory days to prohibit loads of stuff... And now, countries (thats right, I said countries not companies)....are threatening to impose their own governmental versions of "moderation", "filtering" and control. They will add to the restrictions already in place on the carrier channels...(your Internet service provider networks). THEY (the governments), will decide content, what goes on the web and then again, what will be "allowed" to be seen. They will decide what, where, how, when and ultimately... IF.

Now ask yourself this....With filtering how much information will be denied to us? How much WONT we know? How much stuff will no longer get To WE, US...The grownups, ('the people' who pay the bills)? How much entertainment will we never even know exists. How many new discoveries won't be disclosed to us because some big cartel has a vested interest to cover it up and big enough bucks to 'buy out' or otherwise influence the governmental "filtering" process? I suspect lots more than anyone could ever even guess. Gee, Thanks Gov...but really, I don't need you to clean and sanitize my Internet feed, but golly, thanks for offering.... How bout you work on world peace and hunger problems instead?

Internet Filtering is the first step in being able to charge "We The Sheeple" big bucks for content, in other words....If you want more information your gonna pay for it. Byte by byte and bit by bit, its going to cost you. (Remember when some stuff was free kids? Free for the listening radio or hmmm.. how about television? ohhhh yeah, we USED to get that for free!!) Oh, but don't worry! you wont get anything that the big money cartels don't want you to see..no matter how much you pay!

The whole idea of filtering must be stopped! It just smacks so completely of 'wrong' all the way through, inside out, from start to finish and side to side...its WRONG! I suggest we, the people, (rather than adopting that famous "wait and see" attitude that humans are soooo fond of), actually START TO TALK about this! How about starting to exercise our Freedom To Choose right here, right now what we WILL and WONT allow to be taken away from us?

Sounds like this one's got the potential be a real 'battle royal' between US and THEM. And to get to the end of this one, to the last inning, to that final win scoring run....its got to start somewhere.... Because if you don't get in this game and start swinging that bat (and do it with a SERIOUS intent to win), you wont get the chance to do it again later, kids. When this game is finally over, when its all played out and the dust settles...Are you going to be on the team of the gritty, grinning winners? ...Yeah? Then you better hunker down there kiddo and get ready to swing-batta-batta-SWING!

Me? I'll have my lucky socks, my good glove and fresh cleats for this game...and you?
Until next time...

Epiphany moment at two am...

Ah HA! Shaa-zzam! The truth has revealed itself to me at last. Too bad the truth has simply no respect at all for a poor, tired body needing sleep! Thats right, oh yeah. I had yet another "epiphany moment" at two am. Frankly, I have to say there could (and really should), be a better time for the shining light of wisdom to dawn upon this thick marble head but so far, no....not happening.

Nature must think (in it's infinite wisdom), that somehow I might not be paying enough attention during the day. Or perhaps maybe, I wont be able to handle the burst of wise truth during normal business hours. It does'nt really matter what brought it on. The subject matter choices have been many and myriad over the years and without fail, that wrenching, 'lightning stroke' of brilliance always seems to happen when I should sleeping like a babe in arms, one who is dead to the world or at the very least one that would appear to the average layperson to be in a semi-comatose state of rest.

See, I think. Yep, I do it all the time...Its another one of those things I DO. Its sort of like a J.O.B. (job) since I started writing. One cannot write without having things to write ABOUT. And yes, this is a requirement of the job. Theres no sidestepping it. No pawning it off on a pimple faced underling or letting it sit in some dusty, forsaken inbox somewhere until the boss notices. Nope, to write (even fairly well), you have to think about subjects, then endure even more weird off-shoot thoughts, then consider feelings and their results and the list goes on and on...yada, yada yada. Sorry aspiring writers, yeah, that part came as a bit of a shock to me too....

That having been said, I have to tell you again, I do this thinking 'stuff' pretty much all the time. Yup, every waking moment. Some of it just happens, some of it I actually designate a special time and a place to do. The walk time on the treadmill is really a preferred spot. Somehow my mind limbers up and moves more easily through and across even the darkest, stickiest and most viscus of subjects when my body is in motion too. Another highly valued spot I've got to do the bullwork in is deep inside my comfortable, slightly overstuffed chair (although the cat might argueably say it's his), which sits in front of my computer. I get 'rifle-fire-quick rounds of thoughts and determinations there for some reason. Hmm...I suppose I've got twitter to thank for that painless course in speed thinking...heh heh...But hey, 'thanks' really! I mean, who knew?

So now I've said it, I do believe its now been clearly stated, outright and plain as day. I THINK! Oh yes, I do....I say it here and declare it to the whole world at large, to the entire universe and to any nooks and crannies of places that may exist beyond. Are you listening Mother Nature? You cruel, mind bending, epiphany rending, intelligence wi-fi sending wench you....AND let me also state, I can be best be reached between the hours of 9 am and 5 pm, month in and month out, seven days a week....

Thanks for reading. Oh, until we meet again....At the tone, please leave your name and number, I'll get back to you, hopefully between 9 and 5.....

Of Womanly Wiles and Feminine Ways...

Oh my, YES it has happened yet again. Silly me, I have once again been the hapless victim of another woman (and I use that term 'woman' loosely). One who uses her wiles to hook, snare or otherwise 'catch' a man. I say I was a victim again because obviously I was only good enough to bother with right up until she successfully captured the attentions of my male friend. Once her objective had been achieved my purpose in her life had apparently been served and now she does not bother with me. hmm...mission accomplished!

Oddly, I dont feel at all badly for myself. Heh, heh, No indeed! Far from it.... I would rather be shed of the type of woman who does such things that than be associated with such ungracious and dishonerable types, be they woman or man alike. I have seen this special female 'skill' being used all my life and no doubt this (disgraceful, duplicitous female behaviour) will continue to be used long after I have passed away and turned to dust.

I have seen it done FAR better mind you, than this latest episode....For I had the very good blessing to grow up watching a true 'Master' of the feminine wiles. You see I was born a people watcher, Its my favorite sport and all other sports come a wan, pale second to surveying the entertaining antics of humans.

I had seen it done by a master indeed and I have also seen the results of the use of these feminine wiles, they are never pretty! Why is it that women who use these tactics are SO suprised to find that they have 'caught' a stupid, male egotist on the end of their hook? Why also is it, that they are never happy to have that foolish man once they have finally got him right where they want him? Seems to me that if you go fishing for an egotist dim enough to be caught using the bait specific to that type of 'fish' you shouldnt be surprised when all your casts of duplicity eventually wind up with that brand wriggling on the banks of love and simply thrilled to be yours! heh, yep, yours and yours alone girlies...Alas, sadly those man fishies wont stay 'hooked and caught for long, you see for those type of men, there is always another prettier, younger, more gently tittering and sparklie hook just dangling in the corner of that male fishie field of vision.

As you can tell, I dont employ such measures myself, I am the odd kind of woman who finds the use of such easy tricks distasteful, hurtful and and pretty much an outright waste of everyones time. I also enjoy the TRUE skill required to make friends by JUST being myself. I find comfort in knowing if and when we ever arrive at the stage when our social masks are removed and we must face each other without any concealment of veils, trickery, or through smoke and mirrors the person who looks at me will see exactly what they have always seen...and if we've gotten that far, its highly likely that the person I'll see looking back will be very intelligent, somewhat funny and have quiet a bit more than their ego driving them through life.

Indeed, the upshot of this whole thing is, those female fishers, those womanly 'weavers of wiles' and users of girlie guile deserve exactly what they catch. I'll happily take the wiser, more realistic and (very likely) genetically superior male left overs...Thank you very much! :)

Ladies, try to keep your 'worm' on the hook and your waders dry....Heh, heh..till we meet again.

4030lisa

I am currently.....News dieting

I've decided as of the mercury retrograde of last month, (Mercury rules communication, news and information), to go on a news diet. Yup, to actively choose to decrease the amount of 'negative' information flowing into my life.....I figure we're only here for a short while, (and YES, I DO think that 80 or so years is a relatively short time span)....So why gum it all up with that negativity when so much of it seems to be opinion, echo and reverb?

I'm not saying we should collectively stick our heads in the sand and just let the wickedness of the world just mount up, nor pretend that it doesnt exist.....It does, it always has and likely will continue until the end of time, to some degree. I have just chosen to limit my exposure to the constant deluge available to us all twenty four hours a day, week in and week out...rather than be drowned by it.

I noticed that I felt better about "things" in general as of the first week, I didnt mind talking to strangers at all.....(because I didnt know what horrible stuff people all over the world had been doing to each other).
I started to feel like maybe things might start getting better economically...(because I didnt hear about all the layoffs and unemployment levels).
I actually put money in the bank....(because I didnt hear about the latest banking dillemma or gouging C.E.O).

Then I found I had time...yup, "extra" time (who could have seen THAT one coming)? I average about 100 minutes of "extra" time per day on this NEWS diet, thats enough time to walk 5 miles! and so I do......and have better muscle tone which has led to yet another discovery, (get THIS).....
My brain works better when I walk, I guess the endophins fly around in the system much more freely while you're moving and those little neurons and synaps just love it....things really "click" in your head alot faster and surer with daily movment.

I wasnt quite sure what would come of this 'diet'.....yup, I'm one of those who need to have a constant inflow of information, (Gemini rising). A real 'dyed in the wool' informational "junkie"as it were, always on the lookout for more, more, more and newer and better bytes to add to the brain bank. I wasnt really sure if I could do it, figured I'd just begin and then start to 'jones' for CNN, CNBC or somesuch, but no.....with mercury in retrograde that didnt happen. I didnt crash and burn the very next day with my morning coffee and no Good Morning America or Today Show to fill my eyes and ears, nor did I start to tremble uncontrollably without that latest edition of the Sun Times clutched in my greedy hands at the breakfast table. Nope, I just lived, really tasted the coffee, really saw the sun dancing across the windowsill and actually paid attention to the birds singing right outside the window......

It's now october and mercury has gone direct again. I've decided to 'stay the course' and stick to my limits on news. I like whats happening to me and what's happening around me now I am in a better position to do more for my enviroment and the people in it. A slightly better, more mindful me has come of this.......but I'm pretty sure you wont hear about it on the news.

Thanks for taking a moment to spend with me.....

Still trying to fathom and suss out.....

Yup, I'm still trying to work out the new sites I've joined, Twitter seems to be the easiest so far of all I've seen, but the limited space allowed per post seems weird....but hey, I guess that can be a blessing as well too! the only other real problem I had with twitter is every once in a while they are 'flooded' with tweets and it takes forever to load!

So, I'm still in search of a more perfected place to spam mah wares and catch up with folks I like..... I did also just join Thrifty Vault.

I'll see ya when I see ya!

Official "First post"...

O.k.....ebay has decided to terminate the blogs, ah well....all things must end at some point I suppose, the old gives way to the new, when one door closes a window opens and all that sort of drivel....

I am looking forward to new places to try new things, and here looks like as good a spot as just about anything else, so I'm gonna give them all a fair shake and see what falls....

Looking forward to others stumbling about the web looking for a place to be as well, I'm pretty sure I'll run into who I am supposed to...all in good time

wishing you peace,
4030lisa