Friday, March 01, 2013

So, Mercury

I used to take notice of astrology stuff years ago, when I had crushes on people and wouldn't have minded having some sort of romance in my life. Also when things were difficult personally, with my marriage and the aftermath of that implosion. Also when my mum was sick in the early days, and Princess was little and every day I felt I was running a marathon. I would look at my star sign and look at other ones and how they combined, how they supposedly attracted and repelled. Once my life became better, I wasn't interested in astrology. Kind of how I see religion.

But the one thing I retain from those long-ago years was that when Mercury goes into retrograde, shit gets weird. And when I started 'feeling' things, for example not getting replies to emails from three different places where I expected a response, I thought:

I wonder if Mercury is in retrograde.

And google told me that yes it is.

So anything to do with things working, mechanically, technologically, communications, phones, emails, fax machines (if people still use those), negotiations - things slow right down, things don't work, things misfire, things get lost, things don't happen for whatever reason.

So I'm keeping this in mind as I reach for even more patience than my innately stoic nature gives me.

IT. WILL. ALL. BE. FINE.

But the funny thing is, I went to a few websites and of course all the start and end dates of the retrograde periods for 2013 were different which means that while we are in retrograde now there is not clarity about when it will end. Funny. Hilarious.


10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't know anything about astrology, but this has a nice little overview of what apparent retrograde motion actually entails. And as per usual with Wikipedia, the best bits are the links at the bottom.

Interestingly, there seems to be quite a bit of serious chatter these days about things in outer space messing up electronic devices here on Earth. The general idea is that the components in electronics have gotten so small that they're susceptable to cosmic radiation. Which sounds a bit wierd and sci-fi, but is pretty interesting.

Mr E said...

Fortunately, I'm a Virgo and we don't believe in Astrology.

Mr E said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Melba said...

I get on terrifically with Virgos, Mr E. And other Saggs. I don't really know any other star signs which is kind of weird, I seem to collect Virgos and Saggitarians it seems.

Alex thanks for linkages, I will check tomorrow I have to go to bed now, I am very tired. But I have known about Mercury and retrograde for more than 10 years and have noticed, anecdotally,the supposed effects and things do seem to have just dropped out communication-wise right now. So much so that it made me wonder and I checked. I haven't checked whether it's been in retrograde for probably more than 10 years. Weird. Just watched Mississippi Burning too (for the first time, I can't believe it) and fuck that's a heavy, depressing film. So if you'll excuse me...

Anonymous said...

Well, if you need something to lighten the mood a bit, I happen to have more links.

I just watched this. It's a documentary about Mills & Boon novels. Well, as it turns out, not really. There's no narration, information or real point. They've basically just documented a slice from the lives of a few people connected to the books (an author, a cover model, and three readers from different countries) and woven it together in a kind of loose story. Not educational at all, but strangely beautiful and the feeling I got watching it reminded me a little bit of your book; so I thought you might dig it.

I also heard this today. It's a short radio thing about investigating nature vs nurture when it comes to gender roles. Kind of interesting.

Melba said...

Oops the video had expired, Alex. Now I'm intrigued as to how anything to do with Mills & Boon could in any way be connected to my book. Hahaha. Well, there are those bodice-ripping kisses I've got in there, and men called Blair and Walton. I'm just bullshitting, I've never read an MAB in my loife!

Anonymous said...

Well, that's the thing; it wasn't about MAB books; it was about people who have MAB books in their lives. And it's the way they were presented so beautifully in their funny, fragile, tragic, sometimes-absurd, sometimes-almost-pathetic, everyday, averageness that reminded me of your stuff. It wasn't the content at all.

You might be able to catch it here or here if you're keen.

Melba said...

Oh Alex I just watched it now. It was delightful. And surprisingly touching, and I see what you meant now. I should have just trusted you and not questioned you - you do know good film when you see it and I take it as a compliment that you saw a connection with my thing. Thank you.

I loved how things changed, and I loved how we saw the different characters, eg Sanjay and the male model's new friend at the end. And him cleaning was so telling and surprising yet not. The Japanese couple were the best, especially the husband at the end. I loved him and loved that ending. Thanks for linking!

Anonymous said...

Yes, it was sort of strange in that there was no educational point to it at all. It was more like they'd made a dramatic movie out of real life footage. But it certainly worked.

I liked all the characters. When the English woman was talking about the spontaneous "adventures" her husband takes her on, I thought it sounded a bit odd; but then when he's in his funk towards the end and they talk about bi-polar disorder it clicked into place.

And seeing the bloke that the Indian woman was trying to win back was such a jolt.

And yes, there was something very special about the story of the Japanese couple. I can't put my finger on what exactly, but I was quite moved, especially when you consider it was such a simple "nothing" story. The power was definitely in the telling. Which is why I thought it'd interest you. You being a story teller who tells those kinds of stories and all. I'm glad you got something out of it.

Melba said...

Yes I agree with the point about seeing the guy the Indian woman was wanting to get back, a real jolt. What a dick. The whole thing was lovely and unexpected. So goes to show that I can enjoy movies that don't have spunks in them.

I'll address that more fully on the other thread because I think you've got the wrong idea but the reason why is because I've given you the wrong idea, or more accurately probably just half the story...