Apr

21

Horoscopes and progress

April 21, 2007 |

I’m not exactly a believer, but I do subscribe to the Tarot.com’s “horoscopes of the day.” 6 times out of 10, they give me generic good advice that it seems prudent to remember no matter what kind of day I’m really going to have. 3-5 times out of 10 (and this overlaps with the six once in a while), they come across as condescending, overcautious and annoying. And once in a very great while, they’re so dead-spot-on that it’s actually a little bit weird.

Like this week. This week, the general trend of my daily advice has been to keep up the pace, but don’t overdo it–things are going to fall into place. And that’s exactly what happened. I worked myself into a frenzy–excluding Thursday, when some kind of mystery bug knocked me out of the ring–and got a ton of stuff done, at work and in general. And then some nice things just came to me out of the blue. Totally kept my goals in order, too:

  • - I went to the gym twice, once for cycling and once for kickboxing (my legs are still not speaking to me), and just took a walk all around Ft. Tryon park, which is quickly turning into a weekend routine of mine. I’ve been trying to figure out roughly how long that walk is. It takes me a while to circle it, but there are lots of hills and I’m not exactly in a rush (and even if I was, I’ve got short legs and I’m pretty slow), so who knows.
  • - I got a very promising voicemail regarding goal #1.
  • - I got a reasonably interesting query email regarding goal #16
  • - I did some creative writing. Just a little bit, a snippet of what might be a short story, but it’s on the list so it does count for something.
  • - In spite of the long hours and sickness, I did get to spend time with people.

I went and saw a late-night showing of Grindhouse with a few folks yesterday. It was a lot of fun. Have I mentioned here yet how much I love Robert Rodriguez? If not, he’s one of my favorites. I hear (and IMDB supports the rumor) that he actually got the backing to make his “fake trailer” for Planet Terror, “Machete,” into an actual film. It looks like pure borderland kitsch, which is what he does best. You’d better believe I’ll be there opening night. You are all invited to come.

I’ve got no real beef with Tarantino, either. I like the Kill Bill movies and Pulp Fiction of course, and even Reservoir Dogs if I’m in a certain mood. But Rodriguez is definitely my favorite.

In other entertainment news, one of my current books is The Emperor’s Children by Claire Messud, which tracks the halting progress of a band of obliviously spoiled and self-absorbed late 20’s/early 30’s culture junkies in New York over the early part of 2001. I didn’t spend much time in the city before the world she’s talking about effectively imploded, between the economy’s downturn and the strong cultural catalyst of 9/11. But that world didn’t entirely die, and it’s all so familiar. I’m very much enjoying the book, and I guiltily despise all of the characters to different degrees. Not because they’re overtly bad people–coddled and arrogant and exasperating, maybe, but too familiar to me to be outside of my sympathy. Really, I think I react so strongly to these characters because I recognize the very worst of myself and my friends in each of them. I’m rooting for them even as my patience with all of them is running below empty. It’s a lot like life in this town, actually. So on that score, the book definitely gets points for realism.

On that note, I’m going to be busy tomorrow, so today is an off day. I took my walk in the park, I bought groceries, I talked to my sister, I read a bit and now I’m going to make empanadas. I can never make anything with a crust turn out well for me, but I keep trying because I’m stupid or stubborn or both. Wish me luck.


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