Aquarius 19° (February 9)

Paris, Day Seventeen of Sixty. For the most part today I am staying put and setting things to right. I will get a handle on where I am in my book planning process for 2021. Meanwhile there are forty-seven weeks of 2020 left. That’s 21¢ per week. I will ask if we are doing some kind of major promotion for Sextrology, which it seems we are. I’m feeling a bit dodgy and dehydrated and I’m going to pretty much fast today and drink Badoit and otherwise get my brain in a good place. I will go out and (try to) get a chicken from the butchers, only to realize they chose at one o’clock on Sundays. I had a feeling. I did get some needed things from the produce shop and wine from our back-up caviste which carries a delicious light wine we often order at Uni in Boston. We are not not foodies and winos these days which has been super great but, to everything, there is a season, and it is indeed time to turn, turn, turn. I decide to go for a walk with my notebook as sitting in the same position typing onto my laptop has really begun to take its toll. I draft many notes in tiny boxxes in my notebook and that is as it should be. Not much happens to give me pause. I am supposedly somewhere in the eleventh but not even sure I’ve left the third. By the time it’s time to stroll home I realize I’m super hungry and the notion of eating a little gravlax isn’t as appealing as downing a huge meal of take-away items from the Greek trattoria which, miraculously, is open. I will reopen that dialogue with SP who never wrote me back after I went the extra mile to transcend whatever kind of bullshit his tweaked mind is cooking up and dishing out. What a shame that people lose their noodles, and so young to. Oh well, I have to realize it is not my problem. I cannot be co-dependent about this. It will serve nobody. I have reached out to our agent to see if they can scare up our contract as there is interested in optioning the other sister book. She will write back that only the agent who brokered the book originally can do that. And so I will put word out tomorrow and see what comes back (in fact they come right back with the contract electronically which is fantastic!). I love efficiency. It is in fact one of my favorite things. No word back yet from Y. which is good. I feel I need a little me-time this week and don’t want to jump directly into a new bond; but it will happen. S. has also scheduled me a massage for this coming week which is great. The gods know I need it.

I am going to muse for the next ten minutes on the transition from Aquarius to Pisces. (As I set my mind to do this I feel an incredible fatigue in my body that I don’t quite understand giving the fact I have been sleep many more hours per night than I ever have in my life. I might have to have a coffee this afternoon to push through this feeling. I think that if I focus my energy this week on total recuperation, which will mean not overdoing work and making myself sick on that score, I might be able to start the work of true healing. So the transition: The move from Aquarius to Pisces is a journey beyond the veil. The former sign of the Waterbearer is represented by the biblcial archetypes of John the Baptist, and by extension, Salome, whose dance of the seven veils, one for each color of the rainbow, marries to the sign’s classical figures such as Iris, goddess of the rainbow, who, like John, was there to deliver the “good news” to humanity. As we move to Pisces, we travel somewhere over the rainbow, to a transcendence beyond time and space, a Nirvana (Kurt Cobain was a Pisces), of dream space. But the parodox of those opposite facing fish tell us that reality is illusion and vice versa. The fixed-air sign of Aquarius, ruled by Uranus, god of the Universe, the motto of which is “I know” is represented by a star (or an infinite cosmos made up of innumerable ones). It is about utter conviction and revelation. This revelation gives way to another dimension, another universe, the mutable-water sign of Pisces, ruled by Neptune, god of the sea or primordial ooze (the non-material essential from which everything emanates and to which all returns, the proverbial womb-tomb). Uranus, the energy of revolution and revelation, representing Aquarian conviction and full-knowingness gives way to Neptune, whose energy is that of dissolution, that disintegrates and washes away all that can be known, and bring us into the oneness state with the all that is the sign of Pisces, the motto of which is “I believe.” Belief is the magical power with which we can create future realities—our imagination, which shares an etymology with magic, is the primordial soup of all being from which all knowable realities ultimately emerge. John the Baptist, lost in Aquarius revelation, presages the coming of Christ, the premier archetype of Pisces—the Jesus fish?. The embodiment of Pisces energy, he is of course a miracle worker, an agent of the power of belief.

To view the original Sabian Symbol themed 2015 Cosmic Blague corresponding to this day: Flashback! The degree pointof the Sabian Symbol will be one degree higher than the one listed for today. The Blague portrays the starting degree of for this day ( 0°,  for instance), as I typically post in the morning, while the Sabian number corresponds to the end point (1°) of that same 0°-1° period. There are 360  degrees spread over 365 or 6 days per year—so they near but not exactly correlate.

Typos happen. I don’t have a proofreader. And I like to just write, post and go!
Copyright 2020 Wheel Atelier Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Get your HAUTE ASTROLOGY 2019 Weekly Horoscope ebooks by Starsky + Cox

Aquarius 18° (February 8)

Paris, Day Sixteen of Sixty. There is so much going on we are very busy. S. is going out on an appointment and I will sortir with her and get some food in. We are going to have caviar and crème fraiche omelettes for lunch with a delicious mache salad. And I will make a spinach soup for dinner. I will take a walk into the first and have a little bit of fun and then come back and make lunch and we will go to the museum of the chasse and find it closed and then I will end up sleeping for three hours. What is that about? I have been sleeping so much in Paris it is ridiculous. We had a really fun night. We had that spinach soup and watched Wanda Sykes who really is a master—I learn so much watching her. I miss performing. Still no word from the friends I wrote to regarding French contacts—it’s all information. We then watched a terrible film starring Jennifer Aniston: Dumplin. Which should be renamed el stinko. Anyway I have a list a mile long of stuff that needs doing. And first on it today is putting some thoughts together for J.C.. So here goes nothing on that score.

You are TK and TK is you. The story of JTK is your story. The company and collection are the culmination of all you’ve done and all you’ve been. The collection is the manifestation of your expertiseand experience, personal and professional, as ever the ‘twain have met over the years. We will discuss what elements—web content, mailer (real or virtual), promotional material, press release, brand book, etc—you want to have written; but your biography should be an important part of the whole of the content and not necessarily a separate piece of writing. There may be specific bullet points that can remain separate, otherwise your story should drive the narrative. The company and the collection are the result of your continued success in the business which combines your purely creative side with your keen business acumen and your understanding of brands and the building thereof. T. You also have this rarified position as fashion director of PKS which is a kind of appointment (if not an anointment) of note in the international fashion and retail landscape. JL, and TK, by extension, is thus greater than the sum of the parts you play in the business.

I know you know this: that the words accompanying the imagery you sent are nowhere near where the narrative needs to be. Otherwise we wouldn’t be having this conversation. The words must always be as good if not better than the images, which are invaluable to illustrating the brand. Good wording can go unnoticed while bad wording never does. A great narrative that is honed to a sparkle and is more powerful, still, than pictures. This was always the work involved in writing for (Neiman Marcus) The Book, especially. The writing has to rise to the level of the subject and beyond. It has to dazzle and inspire as much as it informs. And there should never be a vague or unnecessary or frivolous word or phrase in the copy. The words should be set like precious stones into a clear, concise and creative composition; because, when it comes to fashion, art or any form of design, the words don’t just describe the subject, they reflect it. And they must portray intelligence, confidence and certain artistry, sprinkled with some levity and humility, too.

Besides experience and expertise, among other attributes, JL and TK stand for stand for knowledge, ease in elegance, expansiveness, personal expression, efficiency and freedom. As the designer and fashion business veteran, you uniquely know what women want and what sells. The collection is hinged on quality and value; and you are both creator of the collection and curator of the collective of other items and objects and accessories that are presented in the store. Everything in the collection and in the shop is integral and there are no spare parts or throwaways. Care has been put into every decision. You’ve created a world where you’ve done all the thinking for your customer. Each piece in the collection is carefully conceived and fulfills a sartorial need that women have. It is the same with work from other creatives—they are like artists in your gallery—which fit the clear and directional criteria that you set forth. And so we get to one of the most important elements to communicate in words: That of your vision. The two mottos of Sagittarius, remember are “I see” and “I understand.” And so you are the visionary who saw this entire enterprise into being; at the same time you are the seasoned expert creative who understands what women want and need and you’re simply now giving it to them, letting them in on the secrets you’ve discovered over the years. And here is another keystone of TK that we will put forth into the narrative: The company, collection and curation (store) is the expression of Jimin Lee’s philosophy of fashion and what it means and how it applies to women in their lives. You are expediting other women’s own understanding and liberating them through your philosophy as represented by your clothing and accessories (and objects and decorative items and textiles and wherever you allow your beautiful philosophy to take you!).

What strikes me most about the TK collection itself is the emerging philosophy. The pieces have a strong point of view and are clearly designed (and engineered!) to empower and to free/liberate the wearer and send them places, really and figuratively. It is a blend of sheer beauty and clear purpose that makes the collection unique. More than a blending of hard and soft elements, or a fluid, feminine aesthetic with a sense utility and function, the collection seeks to outfit women for the adventure of life that includes travel, versatility in moving between worlds of career and social experience, and providing the wearer a sense of expedition, in every sense of the word. This is a collection for women citizens of the world who want to look amazing but aren’t living in ivory towers or existing in bubbles. This is an engaging and energetic collection that prepares women for any number of inevitabilities and synchronicities, providing them comfort and beauty and security in meeting the challenges and demands and whimsies of life. The customer is readied for anything in owning numerous pieces in this collection; and they get to express their own creativity in the way they pair and otherwise put the pieces together. There is a practicality but it is never prosaic—au contraire, there is a poetry and a romance to the collection that contributes to a celebration of self through color and movement. One can be as subtle or bold as they care to be wearing TK and it thus fits a woman’s many mindsets. There is room for her to be many versions of herself and yet there is a consistency in the styling which makes the collection easily recognizable. I can hear others readily asking the wearer: is that TK, being pleased with themselves for guessing—yes!—correctly.

To view the original Sabian Symbol themed 2015 Cosmic Blague corresponding to this day: Flashback! The degree pointof the Sabian Symbol will be one degree higher than the one listed for today. The Blague portrays the starting degree of for this day ( 0°,  for instance), as I typically post in the morning, while the Sabian number corresponds to the end point (1°) of that same 0°-1° period. There are 360  degrees spread over 365 or 6 days per year—so they near but not exactly correlate.

Typos happen. I don’t have a proofreader. And I like to just write, post and go!
Copyright 2020 Wheel Atelier Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Get your HAUTE ASTROLOGY 2019 Weekly Horoscope ebooks by Starsky + Cox

Aquarius 17° (February 7)

Paris, Day Fifteen of Sixty.I wish I could remember. And I wish I could say why or how it is I came to be where I am. I am totally disgruntled. And I learn over these last few days that it isn’t me. I awoke to a dream of destruction. I was at some sort of party-reunion of people from Wyckoff and Franklin Lakes. Lisa Dibsie was the defacto host and she was, for the most part, as far as I could tell, happy to see me. Then she introduced me to her family, which was made up of a bunch of male thugs. I was shaking their hands and then it became increasingly hostile and they began to call me names and now they were outright harassing me. And I tried to get away and they were chasing me. We were along a river like the Hudson and I started shouting for the police and a police barge then came down the river and they started firing bombs and I was wondering who they knew who their target was. It became clear they weren’t firing at us safely and so I was dodging the bombs along with everybody else and trying to avoid the enemy of thugs. Anyway it was all incredibly apocalyptic. I woke up late as I have been doing and I sent into the living room for coffee and LLB had written S. with some tarot cards he spied on the interweb. They looked familiar and in an instant I realized he had copied in samples from the tarot deck by Nick Khan with whom I grew up and went to school. The deck is called The End of the World Tarot which, hello, was fitting considering the dream from which I had just awoken.

We did some shopping and had some fennel-tomato soup I had made and did some laundry and all that sort of thing. And then we had a new client which was a breath of fresh air, actually. I had a rendezvous with my earliest childhood friend Bonnie Sip. Indeed Bonnie is probably the first friend I ever had. We went to nursery school together and my memories of her, taking the short bus to the Jewish Community Center in Jersey City, are my earliest beside those involving my immediate family. We had a wonderful time. She was in town with her step daughter, scattering the ashes of her second husband who died two years ago. It was all so happy-sad, which apparently is a term he used all the time. I never met him. She wrote to say meeting made her heart happy and I couldn’t agree more. We had shopped earlier for salmon and avocado and salad and cheese and wine and good thing because our plans didn’t include dinner just hors d’oeuvres. Anyway we had a late meal and some lovely organic red from the cheese lady and we watched the unwatchable Grace and Frankie. Sorry Jane and Lily but I am not going to make it through this season. It’s fine when you’re on screen but the other actors are just awful, especially those playing the daughters, and I cannot stomach Martin Sheen and anyway the writing is just terrible anyway. Speaking of television we did receive word that the office in London wants to option our second book and we will see them again when we are back in town, which is now turning out to be highly necessary.

I need to write to Jackie. Bonjour Roger! Sorry it has taken me so long to put down in words how much we loved seeing you and how grateful we are for taking time out of your busy lives to meet and show us your Venice. It feels as if I dreamed it. But the mime in me says that it was real and no illusion. I tell you what: I cannot remember when I’ve had more fun and laughed so much. It is very rare to be able to consistently enjoy the company of even the closest of friends and to be on the same page with likes and dislikes of activities and such; but I could have easily spent a lot more time together exploring and otherwise tearing up the town. It was very inspiring as well and I came away feeling quite different about our business and the roles we play in our career. And thank you for urging us to take the taxi on the way back to the train station because it was in itself a highlight of the trip. Unfortunately, our train did not originate from Santa Lucia but from Mestre but it wasn’t a hassle to get there. And the train took a different route than the one going to Venice, taking us passed Lake Garda which was really nice. I managed to get a a lot of work done on the train, and not drink as much red wine, as I did on the journey to Venice. Just writing the word transports me there. I feel such a strong pull to go back, which isn’t reality I realize. I do so hope I get to go every year—the gods willing.

I am returning to Bikram yoga (where I hope I won’t drop dead and thus never see Venice again) despite your warnings of it loosening my ear crystals. I’m determined to get some of my weight off in the next couple months; and also, it can be too, too easy to just keep eating and drinking my way through the rest of our stay in Paris. We started our French classes which are really fun. And after our first class we went to our favorite Café/Wine Bar which is near Pantheon and our French agent, whom we haven’t seen in fourteen years, popped in for a solo meal. Which was very cool. Did we tell you too that we saw Yvan Attal (director husband to Charlotte Gainsbourg) at our hotel restaurant in New York City in November and, S. being a huge fan, I went up and introduced ourselves. I went on to tell him that he (and Charlotte, but I didn’t mention her) are on our fantasy-dinner-party invite list. And he said well we should have dinner then. We said we would be in Paris and he gave us his email. S. wrote him yesterday and he wrote right back so we are having dinner with him (and who knows if he’ll bring Charlotte)! It’s funny because in our original Starsky + Cox live show party of Stella’s story is that she was the au pair for Charlotte and had a fling with Serge and Jane held back Stella’s pay for “safe keeping” and was supposed to give her it all at the end—but then refused to pay her in the end. To which Stella says: “It’s okay. I found a way to compensate myself. Let’s just say that I have the original Birkin bag.” So yeah that’s happening. Weird right? We also heard back from the TV folks and they want to option our Cosmic Coupling book in the process of working together, so I am giving our agent a chance to get a copy of our contract from our publisher and first crack at brokering it. But if she declines or drags her feet I’m going to find someone else. Which reminds me: If you think (I forget her name) at Fresh would want to chat again, we are in London March 24-30. That week is already getting super packed schedule-wise so maybe sound her out sooner than later. Only if you want to. Honestly there is no pressure about this.

To view the original Sabian Symbol themed 2015 Cosmic Blague corresponding to this day: Flashback! The degree pointof the Sabian Symbol will be one degree higher than the one listed for today. The Blague portrays the starting degree of for this day ( 0°,  for instance), as I typically post in the morning, while the Sabian number corresponds to the end point (1°) of that same 0°-1° period. There are 360  degrees spread over 365 or 6 days per year—so they near but not exactly correlate.

Typos happen. I don’t have a proofreader. And I like to just write, post and go!
Copyright 2020 Wheel Atelier Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Get your HAUTE ASTROLOGY 2019 Weekly Horoscope ebooks by Starsky + Cox

Aquarius 16° (February 6)

Paris, Day Fourteen of Sixty: So I think I slept okay, it’s hard to tell. I did wake to a dream about Gwyneth Paltrow who was coming for dinner which I was making at a friends’ place, presumably, in Paris. The friends had a family with one annoying little chunky boy in a striped shirt like Pugsly or Danny Partridge—you know, big rib cage. I had made this sautéed zucchini which I knew was Gwynnie’s favorite (she was our friend in the dream); and she came over and she was weird and narcissistic and faux self-deprecating (you know, like most actresses you meet) and it suddenly came to light that the boy had eaten all the zucchini I made and she was evidently pissed off, despite her attempts to brush it off. One got the feeling she was slumming it because she was that over the moon for my zucchini (interpret that anyway you like). The dream went on. We bonded over our choice in neighborhood to live. I do think this dream is about success and wanting that kind of goopy version of it on some level which is all fine and good. Now that we are settled back in Paris for the next six weeks, though happy for this amazing trip to Venice, which gave me so, so much on so, so many levels (surtout friendship with the wonderful LLBs), I’m really ready to for a major re-start and looking forward to getting much of the busy work (2021 books in February, all of the festival stuff in March) completely out of the way. April will be focused on Spring cleaning and the selling of household objects, with all the proceeds going to the festival. People can park across at Dunkin Donuts and carefully cross the highway. Starsky + Cox operation will be at this address. We might get a Wellfleet box for the jewels. I am getting all my personal belongings down to a nub. We will see if Tim wants to buy all our books. We will put objects out for free. This is what April will be all about. We will get a ride back to the Cape from the driver. I will get the car inspected and then fixed. I am off on a tangent about things on my mind but that is not a bad thing. It is because I am ready now to shift the energy. We will take a drive to the Hovey in May and visit the people in Portland and so forth. We will stay in Wellfleet as long as we can because we shall continue to make Paris the city. Soon I will not be writing these things but reworking the Sabian symbols each day into my “blue project” which will be gratifying indeed.

Okay so after this trip I am getting a very slow start and yet I am managing to sit here and write this Blague without really being behind. I got a big chunk of work done on the ten-hour train ride that’s for sure. And I will be able to finish up all the prep work on the weekend, no doubt. There is no need for breakfast after last evening’s burger, and we will have some arugula with palm hearts and parmesan for lunch with Badoit. I get a jump start on the Kareem show at Oberon which is happening in a fortnight—and I feel a bit more depressed than I had felt about my series there ending, but I will do what I do and turn it all around. I am nothing if not resilient and I am experiencing so many synchronicities as it is, t’would be impossible to deny them their ability to provide faith in the unfolding. I am allowing for repair foremost; meanwhile I am taking no prisoners in the process. I am mindful of the rush of experience that we have endured and embodied these past several weeks; and am thus so grateful for this time to land in a place that I know it is destined I am to truly call home. I don’t know how it will happen, but I know it will happen; and that there are signs everywhere. So right. After lunch we sat down to try to make sense of our lesson plan for classes at the Alliance Française. Seemed difficult but straightforward enough and we set off for the fifty minute walk to school. En route we passed the bookstalls on the quai and one of them in particular had some wonderful astrology books so we will be checking them out next Tuesday, leaving some time to make some purchases. We got to Raspail with some time to spare and found our classroom where a smiley young blond teacher was waiting with just a few students already seated. One of the students is this terribly annoying woman who will sit herself down right next to S. and keep poking her and asking her questions to which S. has no answers. I can see her skin crawling.

At first it was tough. We missed the first class. We are sharing a book, which is fine, but I can’t actually see very well with my lame readers so I need to get some stronger glasses. S. whispered she thought the class would be too easy for her as the other students weren’t really speaking all that well. To our right, here is a girl from Italy, one from Pakistan, a Russian girl and a guy who is either Irlandais (Irish) or Hollandais (Dutch) but I couldn’t tell which he said. The lady to Stella’s left was asked where she was from but she didn’t answer the question. In fact whenever the teacher asks a question she is the first to chime in but with something that in no way resembles an answer to the question being asked, which is making the teacher make that sort of dubious lip pucker and emittance of air that French people do when they are like “no” but they are trying to be nice and find a way to understand the mental connection you are making. She is failing miserably. Then there is a guy from Egypt and a girl from Spain. That is our class. We are very old. But I’m doing better than I thought, despite the fact I am concerened with S.’s annoyance at the lady and her misplacement in the class as a whole. Things are starting to gel though. And the last exercise of the day is breaking up into groups to create travel-agency brochures for various places. We are assigned/choose Hawaiia. Ours is less a brochure than it is a television ad, but it doesn’t start of well. La Capricorne, who is way more proficient than I am, is being super type A and my simple suggestions aren’t landing. Also, she is stuck on the fact that the teacher said that we can use our phones to get an idea of the types of things French travel brouchures actually contain. S. thinks we are meant to overthink this and do something more difficult and specific than simply make this fun, easy and engaging. I finally will out and we write some snappy copy and I draw a poster of a lady in a beret and grass skirt doing the hula. We name our brochure (or rather our ad campaign) “Dites Aloha!” and invite imaginary French people to Venez and Voyez and Visitez and Surfez and Plongez and it is very funny and we name our agency 11 Bis Paris. We get applause.

Take a very small advance for Sextrologiejust to get it out there. Have someone clean up the translation and update the celebrity sidebars and find someone to publish it who will do right by the project and not hold their nose while they speak to us. That was what I couldn’t abide last time out. That and the fact that nobody listened to me when I said there were glaring issues about the translation. For instance the English title of the Virgo chapter is The Vessel, which was translated to Verseau which is the French word for Aquarius so the Virgo chapter title ended up being The Aquarius. That type of thing. Some nuance was lost for sure. All of this will be put into a strategy plan in the coming days in any case.

To view the original Sabian Symbol themed 2015 Cosmic Blague corresponding to this day: Flashback! The degree pointof the Sabian Symbol will be one degree higher than the one listed for today. The Blague portrays the starting degree of for this day ( 0°,  for instance), as I typically post in the morning, while the Sabian number corresponds to the end point (1°) of that same 0°-1° period. There are 360  degrees spread over 365 or 6 days per year—so they near but not exactly correlate.

Typos happen. I don’t have a proofreader. And I like to just write, post and go!
Copyright 2020 Wheel Atelier Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Get your HAUTE ASTROLOGY 2019 Weekly Horoscope ebooks by Starsky + Cox

Aquarius 15° (February 5)

Paris, Day Thirteen of Sixty. The day started off a bit tense. S. noticed that our train tickets back don’t go from Santa Lucia. I am summoned downstairs and she’s obviously upset and trying to communicate with the desk clerk who is, on the other extreme, making everything seem like not at all a big deal. He said Mama Mia several times in a condescending way while not understanding S.’s questions about whether the train actually originates at Santa Lucia and at what time. He and thus she decides that it does looking at the train schedule I am not convinced. We finish packing and have breakfast with Lars and Jax and she isn’t at all well. Apparently we poisoned her and it had nothing to do with all the gins they drank and the fact he took a bottle of wine up to the room and promptly fell asleep—ha! Anyway I feel bad she feels bad. We have a lovely last few moments with them and it was so nice of them to get up and dressed and everything (when I know they are going back to bed). We decided to splurge on a Riva taxi and we get picked up at the hotel and led down a small alley to wear the boat awaits, passing the most perfect pink house. The ride is exceptional and it only takes ten minutes as opposed to the water bus which takes a half hour. We get there and of course our train does not originate at this station. S. is incredulous. I am aware that this train listed going to Milan and the one going from the Mestre station are just one digit off being the same number train. So she and the clerk thought it was the same train. No harm no foul we will buy cheapo tickets for a euro and a half each to get to Mestre which is ten minutes away. And we’ll still have fifty minutes to spare. Still she is incredulous. I am trying to ignore this. We get to Mestre and the train isn’t posted—yet. And then it finally is and we are seated in first class and on our way. Soon, much to S.’s delight, we realize that this isn’t the same path we took coming, which was quite ugly and industrial. This journey takes us passed lake Garda—which S. has always wanted to see (and plans to visit)—and we are now in Milan and switch stations there as well, as we did on the journey to Venice. Soon we are on the TGV on which nobody ever checked our ticket, not once, the whole way to Paris. And even when we got to Modane, nobody checked my passport!

I was standing in the café car when we stopped at the frontier. The barman shut his shutters and jumped outside to smoke, presumably. A tall thin man holding just a plastic bag got on the train and went straight for the toilet. There was already a smelly young guy installed in one of the booths of the café car who had been stopped by one of the train staff, a sort of chef du train, and ushered out of first class—I overhead the chef du train say that he didn’t have a ticket. I got freaked out by the guy in the bathroom and headed back to my seat. On the way I saw the team of border control agents checking everyone’s passports, pretty aggressively at that. As I passed one I said in English hoping to be understood—you should check on the guy in the bathroom, not understanding the irony of the situation that would soon ensue. I got back to our seats and S. said that she had been grilled by these agents, as many were, that they checked every page of her passport. I told her about the guy in the bathroom and that I said something to an agent in passing but that the agent just stared at me for a second and I wasn’t sure he even understood me. S. said and I agreed that I should go back and say it again with feeling. As I retraced my steps toward the café car I could see the team of agents swarming on someone, sort of corralling him, and I got a glimpse of a hand holding that same plastic bag. He was being ushered off the train along with the smellier guy that was already stationed in the café car booth. I took up my position at the standing table in the café car and back came the barman and I told him what happened and he had the opposite reaction to what I would have expected. He said he hates these people. I asked did he mean the agents and he did. He said they are so unnecessarily mean to these people who are refugees. And this same thing happens every day. They say things like “where is the black” and other racist remarks and (get this) the mainly white customers laugh. They grilled a black man who had a ticket and all the necessary papers for hours he tells me. They are just awful. So I say, well, I passed them twice back and forth and never once did any of this team even ask to see my passport. That’s how white I am, apparently. I felt awful that I would have tipped them off to the guy in the bathroom but le barman assured me they would have found him anyway.

I need to write to Jax and Lars and tell them what a fantastic time we had and thank them. I will do that in the next couple of days. We got a taxi back pretty easily after the first driver told us he wouldn’t take us to Rambuteau (I guess it wasn’t far enough to make it worth the fare?—who knows). We take the next one and that’s fine. We come up to the flat, newly cleaned, and I completely unpack before we descend for a bite. S. isn’t hungry and doesn’t want to go. I say I’ll go on my own. She seems not to trust this—maybe because I already had a bunch of train wine as I always do in the end. So she comes with me “if it’s going to be short” which I intend it to be. I have some more wine and a weird burger and she eats all the French fries which I’m never all that interested in. The maître d’ is this woman and she’s very fun and funny and has a great laugh. The young Asian guy who always wears a jaunty scarf was there and of course recognized me. The food isn’t great but it is a fun place to be. I’m glad it’s in the building as it is. I feel safe having it just downstairs. We are on the second floor supposedly only it is, in American terms, on the fourth floor. Things are already about to start happening.

To view the original Sabian Symbol themed 2015 Cosmic Blague corresponding to this day: Flashback! The degree pointof the Sabian Symbol will be one degree higher than the one listed for today. The Blague portrays the starting degree of for this day ( 0°,  for instance), as I typically post in the morning, while the Sabian number corresponds to the end point (1°) of that same 0°-1° period. There are 360  degrees spread over 365 or 6 days per year—so they near but not exactly correlate.

Typos happen. I don’t have a proofreader. And I like to just write, post and go!
Copyright 2020 Wheel Atelier Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Get your HAUTE ASTROLOGY 2019 Weekly Horoscope ebooks by Starsky + Cox

Aquarius 14° (February 4)

Europe, Day Twelve of Sixty: This was probably my favorite day in Venice thus far. Jax actually joined us for breakfast the first time, though barely, and at the very tale end. And only after Lars had brought her up a coffee. It seemed potentially a bit colder out today so I wore my large Commes jacket under my coat and we set off for San Marco and, though I realized you’re not supposed to take photos a bit late in the game—two guard-attendants got onto me—I did take a lot of snaps of the floor especially. When you look closely at the structure it really is a bit weird and wacky and wonderful and it has many Arabic traits, the more whimsical of which are these kind of flourishes, like little twirly bits, on top of the roof and spires. Lars says all the columns are different from each other as the whole structure was basically salvaged. San Marco’s relics, which, legend has it, were stolen (back) from the Egyptians, are lodged here. And inside the church you see signs for these “treasures,” which we didn’t pay to see. We did pay to go behind the alther and witness this sort of gold wall depicting saintly figures punctuated with giant precious stones of all sorts which was pretty mind blowing.

I am feeling so full. My Commes coat used to hang on me but not it is tight to button. Another uh-oh. When I get back to Parigi I have to immediately start making changes. After the church we head back through the neighborhood S. and I enjoyed strolling through yesterday morning. It is very stop start. The girls (and Lars) are stopping to buy things—gloves, hats, glasses—but eventually we make it up and over the Rialto bridge. I am thinking that it is going to be super touristy, this bit; but once on the other side it seems more authentic. I know Lars is jonesing because it is six minutes after noon, and we come to this little square where there is this place called Bar Al Marca’, this little wine bar where locals are  drinking their “ombra” (so named for when Venetians pop out for a quick glass of wine in hottest summer, in the shade). This place is heaven: a cross between a biologique wine bar and a kind of ballsy place catering to a macho mix of marketeers, gondaliers and other workers. They look to have the best chiacetti here as well. We order four Aperol spritzes and this time I don’t believe they put any prosecco in it at all, just soda water (unless the gun the water comes out with is mixed with prosecco but I’m going to say no). Next door was the best cheese shop in the world. We press on and S. and I take detours to look at the fish market and the spice shop and taking atmospheric photos. We are are world away from our hotel neighborhood with it’s Chanel, Prada and Gucci. And soon we are at J. and L.’s favorite lunch spot.

Just when I thought they were diehard unfoodies (admittedly, on their part) they surprise us with this spot that disproves this theory about themselves. We started with baccala and another Aperol. I then had spaghettini with a spider crab sauce and the grilled fish, which was seabass. S. had a crab salad and john dory. I don’t recall if we had dessert. Lars over ate. From there we walked to the Danielli for, you guessed it, more drinks and then on to Harry’s for, yep, even more. I was now alternating Aperol spritzes with Negronis–honestly this has got to stop. I suddenly get the idea to open my own bar called Il Betty Ford. We are doing a great deal of laughing now that I recall. We take naps (not me) and then meet back in the Flora bar for even more drinks and then off we go to a church, of all places, to see a concert of Vivaldi which was stupendous. Although there was this young couple—the girl was the instigator—who were really distracting because they were talking and laughing through it. At half time I gave them what for and the managed to behave. We went back to Vino Vino where we went the first night and I had a bowl of pasta with muscles and clams and a curry sauce. Why? And I think I had some kind of cake. And more red wine. Oh god, what must I weigh. Jax and I are soul siblings for sure. We have all the same ailments, even, it’s crazy. I really have to get these appetites in check. We go back to the hotel and Lars orders another bottle to take up to the room, although he promptly falls asleep, and the three of us try to sing harmonies.

To view the original Sabian Symbol themed 2015 Cosmic Blague corresponding to this day: Flashback! The degree pointof the Sabian Symbol will be one degree higher than the one listed for today. The Blague portrays the starting degree of for this day ( 0°,  for instance), as I typically post in the morning, while the Sabian number corresponds to the end point (1°) of that same 0°-1° period. There are 360  degrees spread over 365 or 6 days per year—so they near but not exactly correlate.

Typos happen. I don’t have a proofreader. And I like to just write, post and go!
Copyright 2020 Wheel Atelier Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Get your HAUTE ASTROLOGY 2019 Weekly Horoscope ebooks by Starsky + Cox

Aquarius 13° (February 3)

Europe, Day Eleven of Sixty:  Went to breakfast and then I changed rooms and fully unpacked S. and I went for a nice long walk this morning into the area near San Marco. The we came back and headed to the Accademia with LLB. It was fascinating. He’s like Sister Wendy on speed. I keep making fun of the fact that he walks really fast ahead of us giving us art-historic information we can never hear. We then met in the Campo Stefano (ironic given the character that has been annoying me lately) it was barely noon but someone was already ordering Aperol spritzes. I had another coffee and went back to fetch my sunglasses as it was getting really glare-y. We did some shopping. S. bought a nice orange leather bag. We then went to the Rialto bridge but didn’t cross it, after trying to make contact with jewelry artist who works with beads whose shop looked like she was just there a minute ago. Being foodies, which the LLBs admittedly are not, we were a little bummed at first at our choice of lunch space which felt like the tourist equivalent of a rest-stop cafeteria. It wasn’t great but it was clean and it didn’t much matter in the end. I had pasta fagioli and a ham and cheese sandwich—the former was egg noodles floating in a sort of gravy, the latter was exactly as it sounds on white bread. After lunch we went to the department store, which was called something Tedeschi, and then we took a gondola which was really fun and funny. When we were dropped off the gondola there was a lady in her window whom we waved at—she then opened the window ant talked to us and asked about where we lived in America. We went back to the jewelry lady and en route S. bought some shirts at a gorgeous shop. (Even though this was only yesterday I might have the sequence of all these events completely out of whack). They were inside the shop of jewelry lady, who mainly works in beads, so I went for a short walk in the area and it was incredibly sympa with artists studios and workshops. They were headed to the American Bar, said the text S. sent me, when they couldn’t find me. But there I was and as we headed back we decided not to go to the American Bar but to the Café Florian instead.

The Café Florian was actually a bit bizarre. First of all the girls had to pee and when we got there we were ushered to a table in a far room, and it was crowded, the wait staff all in formal attire; but S. and J. tried to go to the ladies’ room and there was a crazy line. We were seated next to the corona virus set and quickly moved to the window once a table freed up. S. tried again but no dice, this time alerting the maître d’ to what might be a problem with the ladies. I had a Spritz Florian (a more bitter version of the Spritzes I’m already o.d. on) and the LLBs had Gin Fizzes and Stella had some Barolo. There was a couple nearby and the man, who was much older than his partner, came over with an apologetic air and asked if S. was an actress. She said, no but I wanted to be one. Because, he said, my wife is convinced that you are an actress, so please, “are you Nicole Kidman.” So funny. Because, although Stella does look beautiful and famous she doesn’t really look anything like Nicole Kidman. After Florian we went for a little stroll and happened upon a couple of restaurants, Osteria San Marco, one of which looked quite trendy with sort of Saarinen table which a giant dome light. J and L. told me today they thought it was just okay. I thought it was amazing. I had this truffle carbonara and pork cheeks which was divine. I don’t even know what L. ordered for wine but it was delicious. We had three bottles I know that much. And then we went back to the hotel lounge and had another one. The LLBs went up to bed and S. soon followed suit. So I took the opportunity to take another stroll out of doors and soak up some local color.

I heard this singing once I crossed over the tiny bridge en route to San Marco. It was an amazing female voice so I followed it into the hotel bar lounge which was like a tiny Joe’s Pub and this young woman really was singing like a bird. I was fairly in my cups at this point but got the feeling that the tiny bit of house she had was comprised of close friends who were there to cheer her on, including this young male couple. I spoke with her and talked about how interesting it would be if she could add some story to her show and maybe use the space. Because she really lacked any kind of sparkle other than what came out in song. I gurued her a bit more than I probably would have had the night not been so preloaded but I do think I might have made a tiny difference in her thinking about what she’s doing. And I did give her my email address and invite her to be in touch with me. You never know. She was South American and didn’t speak much English and barely spoke Italian, but she sang perfectly in English so there was that. When I got back to the hotel there was a locked metal gate in front of the door and for a moment there I was like uh-oh. But an older man I haven’t seen before was the front desk man, which is a funny thing to be at such an old age.

To view the original Sabian Symbol themed 2015 Cosmic Blague corresponding to this day: Flashback! The degree pointof the Sabian Symbol will be one degree higher than the one listed for today. The Blague portrays the starting degree of for this day ( 0°,  for instance), as I typically post in the morning, while the Sabian number corresponds to the end point (1°) of that same 0°-1° period. There are 360  degrees spread over 365 or 6 days per year—so they near but not exactly correlate.

Typos happen. I don’t have a proofreader. And I like to just write, post and go!
Copyright 2020 Wheel Atelier Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Get your HAUTE ASTROLOGY 2019 Weekly Horoscope ebooks by Starsky + Cox

Aquarius 12° (February 2)

Europe, Day Ten of Sixty: I woke up way to early and was still wearing some of my clothes. I sent S. an email to say I’m awake and that I needed the charger as my phone is dead. She popped by on her way downstairs and I followed suit and we had a coffee together and chatted before she decided to head upstairs to do some work. I went up tool, after a few bites of egg and sausage, and went for a walk to the piazza San Marco where I thought maybe I could find something fun. Took some pictures of the Café Florian and otherwise bopped around, came back, showered and worked for another hour, sending all I needed to send to our agent before we all headed out for the day. We went for a stroll across the grand canal, stopping at a few paper and glass stores, and we had an Aperol spritz at some hotel bar (I will write it in here once the LLB’s tell me where, S. thinks maybe it was called the Sina Hotel); then we headed to the contemporary art museum, which was closed, and ended up at the Peggy Guggenheim, which was simply amazing—what a great body of work. After that we had a very interesting pizza lunch. I have never not finished a pizza in my life. I think it was called Pizzoke or something, on the other side of the other Island. What was incredible was the theme of the thing. Two things came to light, the first being that we really are going to make this collaboration with Eve work. For sure. The other thing that came up was the commitment to the characters and the brand. I definitely want to make that the main thrust of things in the coming days. As the brand grows these sorts of collaborations can be really great. We then went at four-thirty to Ca’ Rezzonico which was only opened for another half hour but we got to breeze through none the less. We then headed off to the Gritti for a pricey couple of rounds of drinks. I’m now sitting back in the lobby of the Flora and catching up a bit. We will head to the St. Regis in a bit for more cocktails then onto some weird restaurant where I will have liver and polenta. I was seriously concerned that this would come back to bite me, but so far so good.

I have a grand todo list on my mind. I have to painstakingly go through all the process of the jewel-making. I have to slow things down a bit. I have to find a way to fill the coffers and need to touch base on the cricket stuff. I want to go through every person I know and let them know what’s happening. I should do a little news letter perhaps on that score, which would include the consultancy (card). I should probably go through my entire list of contacts. And now begins the real process of putting together press release, all the “speak” for all the pendants, what everything means. I also need to follow up on seeing Fresh and write down the minutes from our meetings in Paddington and Venice on that score. I also told Tim that I would be sending him a note and that is somewhere in here. I sent a draft to S. of that so that is underway. I will make a list of press people coming through Paris and contact them about the jewelry, consult and also let them know about their book (or offer to send them one). I also want to put it out there on the Czars page that we are looking for someone great who does jewelry PR. I also need to get this Sabian Symbol thing going and make a list of all our book ideas that we could next put out there. Also we need to get the massage therapist information from Jimin. And I need a way to find out my Seaman’s balance online. Or maybe I can do that from an ATM. I’ll try that first. I will put together a list of viable acts for festival. I will write Jesse with a color story. I will check in on the budget for doing this sort of thing. I will find out from April E. what her show might be about. I will take inventory of who I am as a writer. I will reach out to Peter Davis. I will find a way to contact Tim Blanks. I will put that consultancy card on Instagram. I have such a list. I need to schedule a time to put the document together for Marilyn. The list keeps growing and growing.

To view the original Sabian Symbol themed 2015 Cosmic Blague corresponding to this day: Flashback! The degree pointof the Sabian Symbol will be one degree higher than the one listed for today. The Blague portrays the starting degree of for this day ( 0°,  for instance), as I typically post in the morning, while the Sabian number corresponds to the end point (1°) of that same 0°-1° period. There are 360  degrees spread over 365 or 6 days per year—so they near but not exactly correlate.

Typos happen. I don’t have a proofreader. And I like to just write, post and go!
Copyright 2020 Wheel Atelier Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Get your HAUTE ASTROLOGY 2019 Weekly Horoscope ebooks by Starsky + Cox

Aquarius 11° (February 1)

Paris, Day Nine of Sixty. Didn’t hear my alarm go off. Luckily S. had hers on. We had just about half an hour to throw some kiwis down with a cup of coffee. I took a quick bath and don’t even remember now if I emptied the tub. Uber took no time to Gare de Lyon and we didn’t have to wait more than a few minutes before we could board the train, which is where I am right now, for the next ten hours, heading to Venice. As I type I see the Rhone and Lyon rising from the fog. I need to write a couple of completed text boxes So here they go:

Mother Myself: The Sixth Astrological House of Virgo is associated with our habits and behaviors, health and healing, how we “work”, that is to say how we operate and function, and the ways in which we best “serve” ourselves, and by extension, our environment and humanity as a whole. This goes a long way toward explaining why it is that, of all the signs, Virgo woman, especially, is the most interested, if not obsessed, with Self Help on every level—by contrast, Virgo man tends to be downright hypochondriacal. The sign’s symbol Virgin, holding that spicaof grain, may well be considering its gluten content and what effect it might have on her. It is a snapshot of the many ways in which Virgo overthinks, analyzes and navel gazes. As a native of this sign, you have read more than enough personal-development books, attended more than your fair share of workshops and seminars, and visited enough healing practitioners, psychics and sages, to last you a lifetime. So, we are shutting you down. You must take at least three months off from any form of self-help other than this book, your regular exercise, and maintaining a balanced diet. And with all that time and energy this will save you, we prescribe an actionable challenge: You are going to take all your self-help experience to date and create your own mini (or maxi) self-help treatise, weaving together all the myriad modes you have explored over the years, either through study or practice. We don’t want you to cut and paste your influences but to synthesize all you’ve gleaned over the years into a clear and concise composition of your own making. In the process you will foster self-reliance and keep in-check any surplus outsourcing of authority.

Solo Silo: Gray is the color attributed to the sign of Virgo, a nod to the sign’s mutable-earth assignation, which translates to clay. This is in keeping with the archetypes of the sign who include the potter god, Hephaestus, and the idealized Pandora (with her own ceramic jar or box) whom he sculpted from that gray matter. As a Virgo woman, you embody the potential to patiently mold yourself into the best version of yourself. However, on the flipside, another interpretation of your sign’s signature color speaks to your propensity to get stuck in neutral, lost in the gray area of inertia. This is less an issue of indecision than it is of reluctance, if not fear of making the wrong move—dread at being hurt, rejected or disappointed. So you will deliberate, and not bedeliberate, considering every angle and possible outcome. And you do go on: sounding others out, sometimes ad nauseum, in the process; just as, if you do meet with disappointment, you will beat that dead horse, complaining and lamenting, feeling perpetually, and near pathologically, wronged by people. But you can turn this trademark Virgo pitfall into empowerment: We propose you make an inventory of all your litanies, arguments, complaints, grouses and grudges—write them down on separate bits of paper and then put them into a (preferably ceramic) jar or box, and then bury them somewhere. This ritualizes letting go, getting heavy weights off your mind, and out of your emotional body; and whenever old, stuck feelings arise, you can visualize them in their darkened container, lodged in the earth. Knowing you, you might need a number of jars and boxes.

To view the original Sabian Symbol themed 2015 Cosmic Blague corresponding to this day: Flashback! The degree pointof the Sabian Symbol will be one degree higher than the one listed for today. The Blague portrays the starting degree of for this day ( 0°,  for instance), as I typically post in the morning, while the Sabian number corresponds to the end point (1°) of that same 0°-1° period. There are 360  degrees spread over 365 or 6 days per year—so they near but not exactly correlate.

Typos happen. I don’t have a proofreader. And I like to just write, post and go!
Copyright 2020 Wheel Atelier Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Get your HAUTE ASTROLOGY 2019 Weekly Horoscope ebooks by Starsky + Cox

Aquarius 10° (January 31)

Paris, Day Eight of Sixty. I didn’t wake up in time to see A. off but I did manage to shout goodbye from the bedroom. Apparently they were up for at least an hour this morning rumbling around but I heard nothing. I’m loving earplugs. We had a little coffee and set off to the Alliance Francaise for placement tests. I thought it would be a quick affair but it took hours. I thought I was doing fantastically but actually I wasn’t being viewed as proficient at all. S. thought she was doing terribly and yet (of course) she was testing way better. She was even given a harder test than I took. I basically told the lady testers that if I didn’t get to be in the same class with her that I wasn’t going to take a class at all. So they let me go into the same class which is going to be difficult for me and probably too easy for S. My body feels strangely loose and strong and I’m trying, even on the walk across the river, to have a more athletic stance. There is a huge line to register, then, after we get through the sorting hat process. They might not be quick in France but they are thorough. Because we have given over to the length of time things take, and because I do have a soup waiting at home, we decide to take our lunch at the Café de la Nouvelle Mairee. I have oysters and steak tartare and S. has a radicchio salad and a quiche. We have a little pot of red. And then we walk back and touch down in the apartment for a bit before heading back out to visit the hotel Nancy wants us to check out and we grab some wine and some ziplocks and such and then sit at La Fronde, which, it turns out, has organic wine—I had only had beer there before—along with having a diverse and attractive wait staff. We nearly literally bumped into Diane Pernet, which is fantastic because she was first on my list of folks to contact.

To view the original Sabian Symbol themed 2015 Cosmic Blague corresponding to this day: Flashback! The degree pointof the Sabian Symbol will be one degree higher than the one listed for today. The Blague portrays the starting degree of for this day ( 0°,  for instance), as I typically post in the morning, while the Sabian number corresponds to the end point (1°) of that same 0°-1° period. There are 360  degrees spread over 365 or 6 days per year—so they near but not exactly correlate.

Typos happen. I don’t have a proofreader. And I like to just write, post and go!
Copyright 2020 Wheel Atelier Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Get your HAUTE ASTROLOGY 2019 Weekly Horoscope ebooks by Starsky + Cox