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Heh. Once again, Leensy’s daily horoscope was spot-freaking-on.

Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Your communication could be easily misconstrued today if you are not careful.

This seems like a theme for me in these quickie horoscopes…which works, really, since I would probably be well-advised to get the above tattooed directly onto the back of my hands.

As I pointed out yesterday, horoscopes are sometimes wildly, fantastically inaccurate. Today’s, however (sent as usual by the ever-helpful Leensy, was right back to be spot-on.

Friday, March 27, 2009
You might say things you regret today, but that just means you’re living on the edge, at least a little. It’s not so bad that you need to stay home, but you should be prepared to backpedal a bit.

Me? Say things I’ll regret? No! Never! I’m the very model of thoughtful, considerate reserve. And that’s me, all right…a total edge-liver. EXTREEEEEME!

On a totally unrelated note, a Twitter friend of mine posted a link to a truly…well, amazing video of a Ukrainian oompah-oompah band covering a moderately disposable Katy Perry song.

You change your mind like a girl changes clothes.
Yeah, you PMS like a bitch…I would know.
And you always think — always speak — critically.
I should know that you’re no good for me.

‘Cause you’re hot then you’re cold,
You’re “yes” then you’re “no”,
You’re in and you’re out,
You’re up and you’re down.
You’re wrong when it’s right,
It’s black and it’s white,
We fight, we break up,
We kiss, we make up…

If you’re interested in the original song/video, you can find it HERE. The best part is probably when the dancing chorus of brides with smeared makeup and baseball bats start menacing the subject of the song.

Just kidding! It was only a matter of time, but Leensy finally sent me a horoscope that I’m not really identifying with.

Thursday, March 26, 2009
You feel just a bit too easy to anger today, so you should try to avoid situations that you know will just provoke you. When it does happen, try your best to keep a level head, but don’t back down!

I met with both my boss and a manager directly above me today, and both meetings were not only pleasant (!), but also enjoyable (!!). I don’t have much planned for the night, and I haven’t felt irritable in the slightest.

Take that, horoscopist!

Some would call it “ambitious”, others “pretentious”, but The Decemberists’ new album, a “rock opera” by the name of The Hazards of Love, is a pretty striking project, no matter how you look at it. I’ve heard it described as a “a musical, yes, albeit a very twee musical”, and I can’t really argue that. Still, this number, “The Wanting Comes In Waves / Repaid”, is already a favorite of mine. Overwrought lyrics? Check. Ethereal female chorusing? Got it. Harpsichord? Hell yes.

And you delivered me from danger, then.
Tore my cradle from the reedy glen,
Swore save me from the world of men.
Still, the wanting comes in waves… in waves… and waves!

(Ooo!) And the wanting comes in waves!
(Ooo!) And the wanting comes in waves!
(Ooo!) And I want this night!
And I want this night! Ohhh!

Perhaps it’s appropriate for a musical, but — at least to me — the lurching musical arrangement of “The Wanting Comes In Waves / Repaid” seems perfectly suited to a song invoking the image and symbolism of waves. Quite beyond the suitability of the instrumentation and such, I guess suppose I’m in a place that is pretty receptive to a song about duty, conflict, and the uncertain — yet powerful — nature of desire.

As is quickly becoming part of an engaging morning ritual, Aleena has sent me my daily “quickie” horoscope.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Your mental and spiritual energy are flowing together and turning you toward larger philosophical questions. You may not get all the answers, but you’re asking the right questions and that’s what counts.

It’s very odd how these recent horoscopes, so brief and vague (as horoscopes are wont to be), seem to fall in line so closely with what is on my mind. This seems to indicate a sort of readiness on my part to see meaning in things, despite my lifelong suspicion that the machinery of the universe is essentially arbitrary, governed by no discernible framework of meaning.

Thinking on this particular horoscope, I’m put in mind of Rainer Maria Rilke’s fourth “Letter to a Young Poet”, an excerpt of which follows. Bromidic it may be, but it still has a pleasingly relaxing and reassuring tone to it.

…have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.

So…uhhhh…remember how I said that I knew I was obsessed with wordles, indicating that I should probably stop making/posting them so much?

Well, here’s just one more. This is it. I swear. I can stop anytime I want. Really.

What’s so cool about this one, you ask? What makes it different from the others? Well, instead of being cobbled together from my Twitter, this wordle was made from your replies to me. That’s right; this one is constructed exclusively from posts starting with “@naporeon“. I’ve left your usernames as well, with the exception of poor @smarthero, whose truly immense number of replies to me made his name so large that practically nothing else could be read.

Here’s what you had to say…

Back at work, Leensy has once again graced me with an oddly well-timed horoscope.

Friday, March 20, 2009
Communication is a bit more difficult today, especially with those who think they know you well. Their assumptions are off base, but you can’t read their minds to let them know how they’re wrong.

It’s funny how a totally arbitrary, coincidental piece of fluff can sometimes help to right your perspective on things.

As you probably already know, Twitter is often the last, delicate thread, suspending my precious, precarious sanity over the gaping maw of workplace ennui. A minute or two here and there spent browsing #6ws/#sixwordstory, @stephenfry, or @THE_REAL_SHAQ (in addition to my many actual friends who tweet) is often enough to pull me from my narcoleptic reverie, and refocus my energies on what really matters…curing the hell out of AIDS.

But I jest! (Mostly.)

So…Twitter. I’ve found some cool web apps devoted to it, recently. One, TweetStats, gives you all sorts of cool, nerdy graphs, describing your tweeting habits in precise, chronological detail. And another, Wordle, the subject of this very tweet, arranges your most commonly used words (default = 150), sized by frequency of use, into a…well, something. A piece of word-art? I’m not sure. Either way, you can see mine by clicking HERE, or — if you haven’t done it already — by clicking on the embedded image above.

Or, if you’d like to create your own, you can head to their website. There are many cool options, as far as color, font, and layout go, and it’s a pleasant diversion from whatever you’d be more properly focusing on right now.

Happy tweeting, folks, and I’ll have an actual post — though possibly private — sometime in the next little while.

Once again, my workday has started with a horoscope IM from Leensy. Considering my last couple weeks, especially at work, I find this to be yet another amusing prediction.

Monday, March 16, 2009
You may have quite a few requests for assistance or for tasks to do for others, but you need to put your own needs first today. That could mean anything from taking the day off to just sneaking a few games of solitaire.

I wonder if Cat with Bow Golf is an acceptable stand-in. Can any of you astrological experts give me some guidance on this?

I used to be your favorite drunk
Good for one more laugh
Then we both ran out of luck
And luck was all we had

You put on a uniform
To fight the Civil War
I tried to join but no one liked
The side I’m fighting for

So let’s drink to when it’s over
And let’s drink to when we meet
I’ll be standing on this corner
Where there used to be a street

You left me with the dishes
And a baby in the bath
And you’re tight with the militias
You wear their camouflage

I guess that makes us equal
But I want to march with you
An extra in the sequel
To the old red-white-and-blue

So let’s drink to when it’s over
And let’s drink to when we meet
I’ll be standing on this corner
Where there used to be a street

I cried for you this morning
And I’ll cry for you again
But I’m not in charge of sorrow
So please don’t ask me when

I know the burden’s heavy
As you bear it through the night
Some people say it’s empty
But that doesn’t mean it’s light

So let’s drink to when it’s over
And let’s drink to when we meet
I’ll be standing on this corner
Where there used to be a street

It’s going to be September now
For many years to come
Every heart adjusting
To that strict September drum

I see the Ghost of Culture
With numbers on his wrist
Salute some new conclusion
Which all of us have missed

So let’s drink to when it’s over
And let’s drink to when we meet
I’ll be standing on this corner
Where there used to be a street

– Leonard Cohen