POSTED: Friday, July 23, 2010, 2:29 PM
Critical Mass welcomes devoted poet/avid concert-goer/nerd-grrrl extraordinaire Jane Cassady to the fold; her weekly horoscopes will run in this space every Friday morning.
A Little St. Teresa, Some Cross-Dressing, and a Lot of Sarah Silverman
Leo (July 24-Aug. 23): Well, it's summer, which means that we are now a little bit sucked into
Big Brother 12. I admire the set artists who set up elaborate games in the jerktestants' backyard. Be the kind of evil genius who'd make people crawl through caramel and then dig through popcorn for the prize of running the house.
Virgo (Aug. 24-Sept. 23): In her wonderful memoir,
The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee, Sarah Silverman described her childhood depression as "I felt homesick, but I was home." Love the things that mean home to you. Kiss your vintage pitchers and cuddle the couch pillows. Don't be in a hurry to clean up after parties.
Libra (Sept. 24-Oct. 21): Yesterday I spent the better part of a day trying to track down a lost library book. Last night, when the house cooled off enough to think, I sat down for a nice long session of bill-paying, paper-shredding and checkbook-balancing. Cross-dress as a Virgo this week. Have my kind of fun!
Scorpio (Oct. 22-Nov. 22): Write a love song to your résumé. Praise your font choice, your years of experience concisely listed, your leaving off the phone numbers of mean people. Holy crap, you've accomplished some stuff.
Sagittarius (Nov. 23-Dec. 22): St. Teresa of Avila wrote: "All concepts of God are like a jar we break, because only the infinite can contain our perfect love." Prepare for everything you love to come streaming through the windows like sunlight, scattering prisms.
Capricorn (Dec. 23-Jan. 20) Ride the buses for their air-conditioning. See the whole city grid, the theater production of public transportation. Let your guard down and get chatty. Ride to the end of the line.
Aquarius (Jan. 21-Feb. 19): I had a dance party last weekend and my friend's band played. I can't even put into words how happy I was when he revealed a Lady Gaga costume and sang "Paparazzi." Not only did I appreciate the work that went into learning one of my favorite songs, but he'd been hiding tights and gold Spanx underneath his jeans through half a set, in a sweltering apartment. Have that much commitment to your art — and your friends!
Pisces (Feb. 20-March 20): Start collecting envelopes of all sizes, stamps of every denomination. Be as mail-prolific as semi-outsider artist Ray Johnson. List off your garden. Send stickers and music. We're all waiting like mail slots.
Aries (March 21-April 18): I read somewhere that if you leave your stuff with someone, you are trying to make sure you see that person again. Leave important belongings everywhere: your camera in strange living rooms, your car on little side streets, your shoes in mysterious doorways. Almost anything could happen.
Taurus (April 19-May 18): Be beautifully, snugglishly silly this week. Listen to the funny things that people say and say them louder. Tell your whole arsenal of jokes. Stage competitive dramatic readings of pop songs. Flip a coin to see who wins.
Gemini (May 19-June 21): Enjoy this quote from my memoir-crush of the week, Sarah Silverman: "A lot of comics think the real threat of mental blockage lies in being happy. They fear that happiness or just dealing with their shit might make them not funny anymore. To me, that's a bunch of romanticized bullshit." Let's do it, Gemini. Let's get what we want and take our art with us.
Cancer (June 22-July 23): (Again with the Sarah Silverman!) She says that her overarching philosophy of life is "Make it a treat." She tries not to overindulge in things she loves, so she won't get sick of them. She's talking about marijuana and fart jokes, but I believe it could be applied to anything.
PREVIOUSLY >> July 16-22: Lady Gaga, William Carlos Williams and Band of Horses
