Showing posts with label humor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label humor. Show all posts

Sunday, October 15, 2017

Scorpio for a Day






Time for a break from the PsychKicks posts to replay some seasonal favorites. Enjoy!



A Little Halloween Humor

© 2009 - 2017 by Joyce Mason. All Rights Reserved

Back when I was growing up boomer in the 1950s and ‘60s, there was this schmaltzy show called Queen for a Day. On its nostalgic website, Queen is described as an early rags-to-riches reality show. Broadcasting live from the historic theatre-restaurant, Moulin Rouge, in Hollywood, each episode would consist of three to four women competing to become Queen for a Day. The women revealed their most personal stories to the American public. Audience members then decided which woman’s story was most heart wrenching (by use of the applause-o-meter) and the winner was crowned Queen for a Day.


Well, that may be fine for a Leo down on her luck who actually managed to swallow her pride, but it gave me an idea about Halloween. Halloween is the one day a year we can all be Scorpios for a day! It’s even expected of us! Then I got to thinking: How would each sign of the zodiac “do Scorpio?” Naturally, some signs might be more predisposed to Scorpio’s well-known darkness, power tripping, and sex mania. (OK, to be fair, their extreme depth and natural abilities to transform themselves.) Here’s my best guess on what this masquerade party would look like. I’d call it my Halloween Scorp-Off. You’re invited. Please comment if you have other costume ideas!


Aries: Rams love sharp objects. Combine their ruler Mars with Scorpio’s, Pluto, and you have a recipe for torture and death by knives and other sharp objects. Since they are so often attracted to their opposite, Libra, this is your chance to impersonate a carnival knife thrower with the quaking Libra as the “hope-he’ll-Miss.” It would even be more hilarious and astrologically pointed if in a traditional role reversal with a female Aries throwing knives at a male Libra. The juxtaposition of it just makes me tingle! If you’d rather fly solo and very much on the dark side, you can go as Dexter, the CSI turned serial thrill killer who loves to implement comeuppance on the “bad” serial killers. Not to forget, its star, Michael C. Hall, got a lot of experience at death’s door playing an undertaker in Six Feet Under. Don’t forget your CSI kit or medical bag, especially the scalpels and other "possibilities."

Taurus: To be creepy yet pretty for their Venus sensibilities, I suggest a wartless, high-fashion witch or wizard, the kind that eats little children. After all, we know how those Tauri like their snacks. (Heads-up and no Bull! You can still find nostalgic chocolate babies candy—still a sick idea to me today—to carry in your portable cauldron to sink your sweet tooth into and add to the full effect.)

Gemini: Women, dress as Sybil or any other multi-personality maniac and morph dramatically all night. Men might wear a dark cape and one of those creepy masks that has a face on both the back and front. To be witty and symbolic, perhaps the faces are comedy and tragedy—or any pair of opposites, like Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker or George Bush and Barack Obama.

Cancer: It’s difficult for any Cancer, male or female, to play an anti-nurturer, but do it s/he must. It’s Halloween! A women Cancer can bring her date to play her adult son and come as the domineering, evil mom in The Manchurian Candidate. (I love the original version with Angela Lansbury and have not yet seen the more recent, Meryl Streep version. These normally nice ladies prove anyone can be diabolical when acting.) There are many potential characters in the mean mother genre, including Mommy Dearest, Fay Dunaway’s portrayal of Joan Crawford who apparently would not get the normal Cancer’s Mom of the Year Award. Men Cancers might play the evil nurturer more literally and come with various candy pills or powders to slip into people’s drinks, while having ready a string of statements said straight-faced and kindly, such as, “Drink this, my friend. It’ll take any pressure off for being the life of the party.” Or carry fake poisons carried in a Halloween bucket; position the bucket near someone’s foot before saying, “I made this just for you. You’ll get such a kick out of it.” Or you could come smeared in fake blood and grease, carry a skillet and a carving knife, look mean, and be a contestant on Iron Chef (especially good for those who also have a dose of Aries in their charts). For the mother/child relationship gone bad, a couple could play Norman in Psycho and his deceased mom.

Leo: Since both Leo and Scorpio tend to be high-drama signs, this is a natural. Except for the part where sunny Leo has to be “made in the shade.” Since that has a Tony Soprano ring to it, a thug and/or his moll would be the perfect get-up. Leos like to be the center of attention, so he or she could also choose a very limelighty model of mayhem, like Bonnie or Clyde or maybe Al Capone. Girl Lions: How about some real juicy historical murderer like Lucretia Borgia? You’re so fiery; a pyromaniac would be a good choice, too. (Watch those matches.)

Virgo: Poor Virgo would only come to this party with a gun pointed at her head. Not a bad idea. Virgo brings a partner to play the nutcase. As Virgos live to serve, she’s glad to be his victim and knows she also simply must agree to be his sex slave. She arrives at the party in a tasteful, but somewhat revealing submissive costume—preferably, one of those little maid outfits. You know how Virgos love to clean! She will be handcuffed to the perpetrator who will wave his gun around makes her say witty, suggestive things at his direction about what he plans to do with her later. (Anyone who reads The Radical Virgo should be onto the fact that Virgos are really earthy babes with big libidos looking for the right person to do it with.) Guy Virgos: Come as Adrian Monk and try to solve the cases of murder and mayhem rampant in this den of iniquity. Your date can play your assistant, either Natalie or Sharona, depending on personality type. Don’t forget the wipes!

Libra: This sign may have the most difficulty of anyone at this party, because it’s so hard to be nice all the time and be Scorpio. (Sorry, Scorps.) Since they rarely function solo, Libras should attend this “do” with a Scorpio bent on luring them out of their comfort zone. This will not be difficult, as we know Libras are the “yes, dears” of the zodiac. Other partygoers can let out their inner Scorpio as we watch this poor thing become more and more embarrassed and humiliated by her next-door neighbor in the zodiacal pie. (Diabolical laugh.) If she has a costume, she should play someone from a wholesome, nice era of history, like Mrs. C. on Happy Days.

Scorpio: Well, you could come as yourself, of course. Or you could come as a Double Scorpio. After all, being a Scorpio playing a Scorpio—imagine the possibilities! You could impersonate countless famous, fictitious killers, menaces, or sexpots. (Stay away from criminals still living or too recent to avoid turning fun into something truly chilling.) Ideas: Jack the Ripper (give it a playful twist and rip rags near the ear of women you’re trying to seduce), King Kong in an ape costume with a sexy little doll he can menace while not jumping on furniture or threatening to abduct the actual women at the party. (“Wanna come back to my skyscraper and see my etchings?”) Or how ‘bout the ultimate Scorpionic character, Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Female Scorpios can do the Scorpio overdose as a dominatrix politician, who runs around the party with a ballot box, forcing you to vote for her in the costume contest on penalty of painful consequences, if you dare resist. Then there’s my favorite, a running pun. Dress in black with white body paint or any washable liquid resembling milk splashed all over yourself. (Don’t forget your milk mustache.) Carry a big bowl of shredded wheat and give it manic stabs every few minutes with a butcher knife. Yep, a Cereal Killer.

Sagittarius: Take the Sag love of travel. Add a little Scorpio. Voilà! Come as a travel agent to dark places: any one of several global torture device museums or traveling displays; the creepy, abandoned Alcatraz whose walls still quiver with the bad vibes of its criminal inhabitants past; or kinky sex cruises. (I refuse to provide links. Go Google yourself.) Be sure to have plenty of flyers as take-homes to distribute at this gala. Dress in black with old-fashioned luggage labels plastered on your shirt, advertising your ports of crawl. Or make your get-up look like the typical tourist with a twist: loud Hawaiian shirt in blood red with people-eating plants, à la Little Shop of Horrors, rounded off with a lei of bones.

Capricorn: Given Capricorn’s well-known issues with control, the consummate Halloween job for this executive type playing Scorpio is Inquisitor or chief torturer from the Inquisition. (Get with Sag for details and that museum link for the easiest medieval torture devices you can replicate as props. There are even more gory ones to Google, but my Libra planets can’t bear it.) It’d be good to bring a date whose head and hands are locked in homemade stocks to drag around and threaten. Or you could live on the edge of life and death with your money as a cruel mogul or greedy financier. (Caps do love dough!). How ‘bout plastering money—play or real--all over you, and saying often, “My money? Not on your life.” It could get playfully nasty if someone tries to nab one of your greenbacks.

Aquarius: Scorpio and Aquarius both can be kinky in their own way. Leave it to Aquarius to do Scorpio to the most outrageous degree. Since Aquarius rules electricity, s/he might come as the executioner, ready to place a hood over the other party-goers, then “juice” him with one of those gag buzzer devices, the kind you shock someone with when you shake hands. (You should have at least two, one for each hand to make the shock worth your time.) Anything that gives them a good jolt will do without doing any real harm. Aquarius can camp it up with frizzed hair and a Doctor Death t-shirt. In terms of live astrodrama, s/he could offer frequently throughout the night to put Libra out of her misery.

Pisces: This act must involve drugs—or, at minimum, lots of smoke and mirrors. The first character that comes to mind is The Gypsy Queen from the rock opera, Tommy. (Can’t lose. Substances and music, blending a Pisces theme with a Scorpio character. Whee!) Here are the Tina Turner visuals on the ultimate version! Suggestion: find the biggest, fattest calking syringe at Home Depot (or several) and insert the longest nail you can find on the end. Maybe supplement it with candy “acid.” Carry paraphernalia and fake drugs in a little medicine pouch. Alternatively, if you’re clever and handy enough to execute making an “acid chamber,” as in this video, you’ll win the costume contest, hands and hypodermics down! (Men, it can be a Gypsy King just as easily, barely changing a word of the lyrics. Carry your iPod/ speakers and dance around the party to this diabolically Scorpio ditty, injecting some spirit into it!)

Happy Halloween!

Although my tongue is planted so far into my cheek in this article I’m sure I’ve sprained it (good thing I’m typing not talking), I think there are still some seriously good costume ideas in this Scorpio for a Day (make that Night) Show. Don’t forget to make voting for the best costume part of the party, complete with applause-o-meter! Let me know if you try it. Disclaimer: The Radical Virgo will not be held responsible for any results. Play a Scorpio at your own risk!


~~~

Photo credit: Halloween falls... © James Thew | Fotolia.com



Want more costume fun? I love Halloween and costumes. For more inspiration, read Incognito: Costumes and Other Cheap Thrills on my other blog, Hot Flashbacks, Cool Insights.

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Humor: How the Signs Get Ready for the 2014 Cardinal Grand Cross




© 2014 by Joyce Mason
All Rights Reserved




The first two articles of the year on the Radical Virgo speak to the winter retrogrades and how they help prepare us for the spring Cardinal Grand Cross. In capsule, the winter retrogrades are for reviewing relationships, desires and direction. The Cardinal Grand Cross is an opportunity to give birth to what you want to create and leave behind. The crossroads are Big Change Boulevard and Same Old Street.

My alter ego, Auntie Joyce, could not resist putting in her two cents about how each sign will fare this winter and spring during these Astro-energetics. Auntie also offers her “cure” for what “needs improvement.” Remember, her advice is free—and you get what you pay for. On the other hand, there’s usually a lot of wise in her wisecracking.

ARIES

Winter Retrogrades:  Falls and hits head rushing backwards.

Spring Cardinal Cross: Dives head first into new things and runs around until s/he hits a wall.

Auntie’s Cure: Use head first to think and plan. Remember that creations have consequences. Lots of creations, lots of consequences.

TAURUS

Winter Retrogrades: Strolls slowly into a life review, stopping to smell the flowers along the way.

Spring Cardinal Cross: Review is hardly started by April. Digs heels into the ground at the thought of major change.

Auntie’s Cure:  Drink some coffee, speed it up, and hang out with Uranians to your desensitize resistance to what’s new and different.

GEMINI

Winter Retrogrades: Talks about his or her life review till blue in the face.

Spring Cardinal Cross: By spring, there’s been a lot of talk and little action—and a lot of people are either: (1) scared of this blue alien, or (2) think s/he’s  an A’vi from the movie Avatar and sits down to watch the flick. How to focus a butterfly on a few creations is left up in the air.

Auntie’s Cure:  Life reviews are a form of talking to yourself. Aren’t the two of you always doing that in your head, anyway? Get it on paper and choose a new creative direction. May the best Twin win.

CANCER

Winter Retrogrades: Worries incessantly that her kids’ and other loved ones won’t reconsider everything they’re doing to screw up their lives.

Spring Cardinal Cross: When the Cardinal Cross hits home, one point being in Cancer, the poor Moon Person is taken by complete surprise. What happened to winter? You mean I might have to move or do something equally uprooting? (Stop trembling, dear.)

Auntie’s Cure:  Mind your own business. That means to thine own self, review.


LEO

Winter Retrogrades: Spends most of winter reviewing his or her good looks in the mirror.

Spring Cardinal Cross: Wonders why his or her fans are too busy to play or lavish their usual admiration.

Auntie’s Cure:  Review how you look and the many qualities you have to admire. Start with what you know and love. Then take it to you how act, relate to others, etc. If you pay more attention to others, they may involve you in their new Grand Cross creations. Play dates restored.


VIRGO

Winter Retrogrades: Analyzes self so thoroughly, is not done by spring.

Spring Cardinal Cross: Likes deadlines and tries to create a new universe during the few days the Grand Cross is closest to exact. You like exact.

Auntie’s Cure:  Lighten up. Hit the highlights when reviewing, and know the Grand Cross configuration waxes in and waxes out over a period of months in its effects. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither are major life changes. Drink some Tension Tamer tea. Dare to be imperfect—and embrace it.



Kindling a Valentine’s Spark! 

The Kindle version of The Crystal Ball has been reduced to $2.99 as a Valentine’s gift to my friends and readers who haven't yet arrived at the party between the pages of my debut novel. Sample or purchase on this link. Enjoy!

LIBRA

Winter Retrogrades: “I’ll go over my relationship, desires and direction if my honey does it with me. Do we even need to? (We’re doing fine, aren’t we, sweetheart?)”

Spring Cardinal Cross: What do you mean “needs improvement?”

Auntie’s Cure:  As my Libra mom used to say, “It takes two to tangle.” With Mars being in Libra on one point of this Cross, you could be cross and there could be fights, which I know you hate. Try to make something productive out of them, like taking time-outs. Go to your own corners and find out who you really are. Then come back together to see if you belong there or the blow-ups could lead to a split instead of a new and improved relationship.

SCORPIO

Winter Retrogrades: Shutters all the windows, unplugs the phone, and only uses the computer with an anonymous avatar when desperate. Does not quit ruminating till after the spring equinox.

Spring Cardinal Cross: Change? Make me.

Auntie’s Cure:  Lighten up, Scorpie. Did you review your tendency for high drama? As for the change resistance, there could be hot new lovers somewhere besides the trench you’ve dug for yourself. Take a chance! You’ve got a great cave to retreat to if New doesn’t work out.


SAGITTARIUS

Winter Retrogrades: Reviews own life for 10 minutes, is fine with it, and then spends the next three months offering his or her unsolicited opinion about how you should fix yours. (Sag’s self-review wasn’t nearly as blunt or as pointed.)

Spring Cardinal Cross: Likes this change thing, especially if it involves traveling and new people. Pretty soon is coming and going so much, Sag doesn’t know what’s what, what is, or what used to be.

Auntie’s Cure:  Dear Archer, consider using that point on your arrow—not to point out others’ shortcomings—but to point toward your new goals and bull’s eyes the Cardinal Grand Cross could portend for you. You have so much fun with others, it’s easy to forget that the inner journey is the most exciting one of all. Auntie suggests you settle down, tend to your own knitting (done with another pointed object), and regroup for this cosmic event. You may discover new worlds!


CAPRICORN

Winter Retrogrades: Works self into a frazzle reviewing how to make his or her life better and how to profit from it—literally.

Spring Cardinal Cross: When the Cardinal Cross hits, it really hits this Cardinal Goat where s/he lives. There is so much to do differently, and s/he hasn’t figured out how to organize and monetize it.

Auntie’s Cure:  I know you’ve always found it hard to believe, but money isn’t everything. Play is as important as work in climbing new mountains. Take yourself and your staff on a retreat. To work smart, not hard—build in plenty of fun. Trust me, your payday will depend on your playday.


AQUARIUS

Winter Retrogrades: Creates group review parties where people discuss the changes they think they have to make in their lives. Encourages originality and gives big points those that with the most cutting-edge ideas.

Spring Cardinal Cross: Wants to handle the effects of the Grand Cross by committee, but realizes a bit late that change starts from the inside out and this giant rebirth is a solo gig. To keep from getting bummed out about his or her lack of preparation, s/he parties a lot.

Auntie’s Cure: You know those voices in your head? They can be your committee and provide as much input as friends. This is how you fool yourself into self-review. Then rely on your penchant for sudden change, the gift of your ruling planet Uranus. Go forth and morph.


PISCES

Winter Retrogrades: Is overwhelmed by the concept of review. To avoid depression, gets high or goes to sleep—meditates or gets lost in music or artwork. In a lucid moment, s/he wonders what is this world coming to—next?

Spring Cardinal Cross: Loves the creative potential of the Cardinal Big Bang. Gets swept up in the waves of change, and when the tide peaks, rides them like a surfer. However, Pisces wonders how did I get on this particular shore?

Auntie’s Cure: Latch onto a Taurus, Virgo or Capricorn for a little grounding. Ask them how they’re doing their winter review. Follow suit. If you have your own plan, your spring new creations will be what you want, not what everybody else wants around you.  Don’t you feel better already? Your earthy friends will help you keep your feet on the ground now and later, when the Big Bang comes, too.

~~~

Photo Credit: © Michael Brown - Fotolia.com



Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Auntie Joyce: “Love Thy Astrological Neighbor—You’re Alike!"



© 2011 by Joyce Mason
All Rights Reserved

Most of us learned “love thy neighbor” as the Golden Rule at our mother’s knee. It was repeated to us at Sunday school or catechism and/or by other relatives and teachers till our ears burned with boredom. “Do unto others as you would have others to unto you.” As kids, many of us couldn’t figure out what doing unto meant, but eventually, we deciphered that we were supposed to be nice to others … and at least not sock someone just because they pissed us off on the playground.

Then many of us grew up and took up astrological, metaphysical, New Age, or some combo of new-fangled spiritual beliefs. (This must be true, otherwise we would not be meeting like this on The Radical Virgo.) We still have our Golden Rule. We’re told we are each other! Life is supposed to be some big Pisces picnic.

Auntie Joyce was driving her car the other day, paying attention to the voices in her head more than the road, for which she is ashamed but grateful she was Touched by an Angel and didn’t drive into a ditch. Or, God forbid, cause someone else to swerve because she was wool gathering.

Auntie was musing on the old “we are each other” thing when the truth of it came to her like a direct pipeline from the Divine. She realized how similar we are to our preceding, next-door neighbor in the zodiac! Since this is The Radical Virgo, this revelation starts with Virgo and spins around the circle of twelve. Enjoy this new way to love thy astrological neighbor!

Virgo -  A Virgo is just a Leo with stage fright.

Libra A Libra is just a Virgo who wants the perfect relationship.

Scorpio -  A Scorpio is just a Libra who wants the perfect relationship all to him- or herselfor else.

Sagittarius A Sagittarius is just a Scorpio who wants to learn and blab about the mysteries of life, not keep them secret.

Capricorn A Capricorn is just a Sag who wants to make money, corporations and/or institutions out of everything s/he has learned.

Aquarius – An Aquarius is just a Capricorn who wants to tear down the walls of the corporations or institutions and let everyone make the money and make a difference.

Pisces – A Pisces is just an Aquarius who lives in the world without walls and doesn’t know the difference.

Aries – An Aries is just a Pisces who got fed up living with everyone and took off on his or her own.

Taurus A Taurus is just an Aries who’s tired of pioneering, crusading, and getting there first who just wants a lazy, luxurious sit.

Gemini A Gemini is just a Taurus who luxuriates in yakking and is too fidgety to sit.

Cancer -  A Cancer is just a Gemini who only wants to talk to family.

Leo A Leo is just a Cancer who’s sick of talking to family and has taken his or her act to the stage where s/he can be admired and actually listened to.


We all know Leos fancy themselves kings and are connected with the color gold, so what better place to end this love-in on The Golden Rule. (Should we sing Kumbaya?)

Now go love your neighbor. Just be sure his or her partner doesn’t find out!

~~~

Auntie Joyce is the alter ego of astrologer Joyce Mason. Auntie comes out of mothballs or trance any time Joyce has to write something too goofy or mean for her Virgo/Libra sensibilities.


Photo Credit: Fortune Cookie © Terrance Emerson | Dreamstime.com


Sunday, July 18, 2010

Auntie Joyce Talks Turkey About How to Tone Your Mercury


© 2010 by Joyce Mason
All Rights Reserved

Auntie Joyce, known for her funny and pointed astro-aphorisms, just arrived at the door of The Radical Virgo in her gym shorts to talk about Mercury. She thinks we could use the equivalent of a Pilates class to get our Mercs in better shape for this crazy cyber sprint we’re all signed up for, this marathon of Mercurial madness called the Virtual World. (Not to be confused with the Virtuous World.) Auntie says:

Your Mercury has never been more important. If you’re past your midlife transits, chances are you digest more information in a week than you did, as a kid, in a year. This can lead to Information Indigestion and near-permanent dizziness, like you just got off a fast spinning merry-go-round. My theory is that the Information Revolution has required us to morph faster than our physical vehicles can keep up with … but each Mercury sign, if tweaked and toned like your body during a good workout, can work in your favor. Your enhanced Mercury muscles can help you navigate the chaos of a bazillion websites, social networking communities, Skype, e-mail, YouTube, and an onslaught of images groping for your attention at all times. (Whew! Just writing about it wore me out.)

Let’s take a spin around the zodiac and talk about how you can tone up and tune up your Merc.


Tune-Up Your Mercury Every 3,000 Keyboard Miles

(Will someone with Mercury in Aquarius hurry up and invent the keyboard odometer?)


Mercury in Aries - Full speed ahead, your mind is on fire. You read, write, and communicate in all ways quickly. You’ll be the first to try out a new technology or widget. You leave others in your wake. That’s the problem. To make meaningful cyber connections, you need to pick up your head from the Ram “horns down” position and let some of your fiery energy sink to your heart chakra. This means slowing down a little. No problem surfing the Net in overdrive, but when it comes to those people connections on Facebook, Twitter, and My Space, be sure you take the time to make thoughtful comments, to help your fellow cyber buds, and to think of others. You may garner thousands of followers, but if you only give them a glancing hello on the run, do you think they’ll buy your friendship, much less your products or services?



Mercury in Taurus - If Mercury in Aries is Speedy, you’re Pokey. You mull things over. Pretty and luxurious stuff attracts your attention, along with moneymaking schemes. You need a motto or affirmation that commits to a single sentence why you use the internet. Example: I use the Internet to make friends, make sales, and make it with men (or women). Keep coming back to your goals. You’re likely to get lost looking at your Cousin Joe’s vacation photos from a lush, tropical island. You like to click through on those alluring promises of making millions on the Internet. Since you click at the speed of dirt, like most Mercury in Earth signs, you don’t have as much time to waste. Focus! Use the “5 things a day” rule of thumb. Do five things every day that further your goals. Uh, Mercury in Taurus? Get out of that art gallery site. I’m talking to you!

Mercury in Gemini – The Brave New World of Constant Communication was made for you, which is both your blessing and curse. You flit here, there, and everywhere. With your curious mind and tendency to bore easily, you’re in hog heaven on the wide cyber turf of nearly 27 billion websites. But what about depth? To have true knowledge, you have to dig deep into some things to glean the archeology of how they work and to unearth their wisdom. Similarly, if you do dating sites, you probably have wondered how such great mind connections sometimes flop when taken a step further to coffee or another form of in-person meeting. It’s not how much or well you talk or on how many subjects; it’s how well you reach your “subject.” Your quicksilver mind can become easily obsessed with games, chats, and that made-for-Gemini phenomenon, the tweet. Choose one thing in your huge chain of multi-interests and get to know it well. Maybe it’s one social networking site. Maybe Facebook will become your community and ground your lively Mercury, enhancing its greatest gifts--but only if you offer your friends more than chitchat.


Mercury in Cancer – You’re a touchy-feely communicator, and this bodes will for the potential to make deep friendships on the Internet. One thing about cyber connections. When made between mature adults who know how to sense a kindred spirit, this form of “sight unseen” relationship can be among the deepest you’ll ever know. Without physical or cultural context, we communicate online heart to heart and mind to mind. There’s no interference of the unconscious stereotyping we all do but hate to admit. Mercury in Cancer can enjoy that kind of deep friendship if she pays close attention to necessary safety factors: don’t disclose too much, too soon. Be sure your new friend is trustworthy, someone you got to know because of a shared interest or friends. Above all, don’t crab, cry, or mother-hen people on the public wall. Monitor your public persona and don’t reveal too much where everyone can see, even if they are your chosen Facebook friends. Certain levels of intimacy belong in one-on-one e-mails. Don’t cry, Mercury in Cancer. I know you wish you’d have read this sooner. Better late than never!


Mercury in Leo – Like the MGM lion at the beginning of that studio’s movies, your communications come in with a big roar and lots of spotlights on—YOU! Like Gemini, there’s a certain sync between how you naturally communicate and what social networking sites are all about. They make us all stars in our own constellations. However, it’s important to know when enough is enough. After you’ve gleefully seen who has left messages or tweets for you today, take time to remember your Leo generosity and do at least as many back. Yes, it’s All About You here—but it’s All About You for everyone! Your warm way of expressing yourself, your humor, and your command of a crowd will keep your followers in the thousands. Just be sure the applause goes both ways. Applause sends waves of appreciation from heart to heart. (See Getting the Clap.)

Mercury in Virgo - Here’s the thing. I know that many social networking sites with their short status lines were originally set up for close friends and family to catalog their every move. But do you have any concept how boring that is? No one uses the status line for its original purpose, or at least not often. No one cares that you ate Earth-Friendly Granola for breakfast, a scant half cup with skim milk. Not even your mother. Keep details down to a minimum and boring unnecessary ones down to none. Now to open Merc in Virgo’s gift in today’s 24/7 worldwide Internet Café—research! You find things no one else can, and you’re both thorough and accurate. There is precious little of that going around. You’re a blessing and counterbalance to Internet rumors that take on lives of their own. Keep finding the facts. Keep us honest. Keep being right—in a nice way. But, of course, I don’t have to tell Mercury in Virgo to be polite. Virgo must be the Mercury sign of Miss Manners!



In the Little Prince by Saint-Exupery, the fox defines taming as “establishing ties,” that once tamed, two beings need each other. Isn’t that what the Internet and interdependence are ultimately all about?

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Humor: Auntie Joyce’s Astro-Aphorisms




© 2010 by Joyce Mason


I channeled these original aphorisms for you! Unless otherwise noted, they are original quotes by yours truly. Please be sure to credit me, if you share them. That means miming quote marks by crooking two fingers on each side of your mouth before saying.

Speaking of saying, I say if you can’t have wisdom, have fun!


~Auntie Joyce


Aries: Dive in head second. Use first.

Taurus: Find the sense in sensuality.

Gemini: If at first you don’t succeed, change personalities.

Cancer: Look before you weep.

Leo: It’s nice to be king, but you'll get crowned.

Virgo: You, de-serve more.


Cultural Dictionary
aphorism [(af-uh-riz-uhm)]
A concise and often witty statement of wisdom or opinion, such as “Children should be seen and not heard,” or “People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.”
Libra: “It takes two to tangle.” ~ Mary Mason, my mom (a Libra)

Scorpio: Just once in awhile, pass-shun.

Sagittarius: Only God and Google know it all.

Capricorn: Let Goat and let got.

Aquarius: Spare the lightning rod and spoil the riled.

Pisces: Pack a first aid kit in case of mergency.

~~~
Photo Credit: USE YOUR HEAD   Danabeth55... Dreamstime.com

Want more of Auntie's Aphorisms? Visit #2 and #3.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Humor: How the Signs Tweet


If I say Twitter, do you think I’m giggling at you like a goofy schoolgirl—or do you start talking in a bunch of birdie buzz words like tweet, tweeps, or twoosh?

For those of you not already a part of this Internet communication craze, here’s the Wiki, straight from the source (
Wikipedia, of course!):

Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read other users' updates known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length which are displayed on the user's profile page and delivered to other users who have subscribed to them
(known as followers).

Unlike some of the other social networking formats like Facebook, MySpace or LinkedIn, on Twitter less is more. As a Wordgo, at first I found the tiny word count more than a bit restrictive. However, before long, I not just improved my writing to a degree of conciseness never before imagined; I found myself a twitterholic in no time. See my
six-word memoir on the subject, if you don’t believe me. (I never thought I could say hello in 140 characters, much less write memoirs in six words.)

Late last night, I decided to send a series of six tweets where I described how the signs do this Twitter thing. (That’s what you do when you can’t fit it all into one tweet. You hog the stream with a tidal wave of sequential tweets, something I personally detest but occasionally do.) I figured The Radical Virgo readers might get a bang out of this birdie business, especially if you already tweet. And if you don’t, maybe it’ll be enough to make trying it irresistable. Terms decoded for newbies:

Tweet Signatures

Aries - Short, rapid fire, outta there.

Taurus – Slowly betwn snacks.

Gemini – All day, night, in sleep.

Cancer – Can’t nurture tweeps enuf (friends/followers) in 140 chars.

Leo – Big, bold, look-at-me tweets, backgrounds.

Virgo – Precise, planned in advance, hates to shorten words.

Libra – RTs (return tweets or forwards) lots of others’ tweets, own are nice ‘n’ sweet.

Scorpio – Watches tweet stream intensely in silence, then tweets alone late at night with mysterious phrasing.

Sag – Jokes, fun, big statements in spurts then off on adventures.

Capricorn – Biz-related and biz-building.

Aquarius – The odder the better. Loves e-communities.

Pisces – Merges, becomes one w/tweet stream. Often goes missing.


How to Take/Tweet it From Here

Sign up for
Twitter.

Follow me on Twitter. Or once you've got your account, go to the Find People tab and enter my screen name, JoyceMason (no space--grounded!).

See my tweets anytime by clicking this
link of my RSS feed.

To learn more Twitter terms, consult the
twictionary.

Want more Twitter humor? Read Humor: The 10 (Actually, 11) Commandments of Twitter on Hot Flashbacks, Cool Insights.


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Photo credit: ASTROLOGER BIRD ©
Thefinalmi...
Dreamstime.com

Photo description: A parrot perches on some wires with the moon in clear blue skies in its backdrop. A parrot is normally used by fortunetellers in India to tell the fate of a person and the moon is definitely an influencing factor in astrology. Both of these elements in the image make it very much related to the concept of future.