Astrology Part Three - Gemini

Quick facts for Gemini:
You were born between May 21 and June 21
Your sign is the Twins
Your planet is Mercury
Your element is Air
Your metal is mercury
Your birthstone is the pearl
Your flower is the lily of the valley
Your color is bright yellow
Your body part is the arms
Your Tarot card is The Lovers

Strengths:
Gentle, affectionate, curious, adaptable, ability to learn quickly and exchange ideas

Weaknesses:
Nervous, inconsistent, indecisive

Likes:
Music, books, magazines, chats with nearly anyone, short trips around the town

Dislikes:
Being alone, being confined, repetition and routine

Your best matches are those born under the sign of Aquarius and Libra, and to a lesser degree those born under Aries and Leo.

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Gemini is often misrepresented as two-faced, however this is rarely true. They’re able to juggle a variety of passions, hobbies, careers, and friends. They’re social butterflies and love to talk to anyone about anything, often using their hands to communicate as well. They love texting and tweeting almost as much as talking face-to-face. It’s a good thing they recover quickly from embarrassing missteps because often they move to fast with their words to take care with them.

They are sociable, communicative and ready for fun, with a tendency to suddenly get serious, thoughtful and restless. Gemini needs excitement, variety, and passion, which makes them inquisitive and always ready to flirt. They often spend time with different lovers until they find just the right one. But once they do they’ll be faithful and always treasure their partner.

A fearless thinker, Gemini is always ready to try something new. Unfortunately, they have short attention spans and are happiest when they can move from one idea to another. They are expressive and quick witted, fascinated with the world around them, feeling there’s not enough time to see and do everything they want. With their changeable mind and fun loving ways, Gemini is never boring.

Famous Gemini include: Queen Victoria, John F. Kennedy, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Prince Philip of England, Kayne West, Chris Pratt, Colin Farrell, Marilyn Monroe, Angelina Jolie, Natalie Portman, Brooke Shields, and Bob Hope.

The Best of Both Worlds

Well, I figured out what was going on with my blog. And it wasn’t something I’d done, it was all Blogger’s fault. They have a new format which they sprang on my blog without any notice. I think they were having a couple of issues with it because there were no options for creating a new post or uploading photos.

Anyway, I fiddled around with it for a while and eventually I found a button that allowed me to return to the “legacy” version. Thank goodness! Now there’s a banner at the top of the composition page of both of my blogs that announces the new format and how we should try it out. Um, not thank you. Been there, done that, didn’t like it.

In other news . . . it’s hot as sin here in Ontario, and despite the thunderstorms lurking around there’s little relief in sight. Okay, so the storm fronts are going to bring the temperatures down out of the insanely hot bracket to the super hot bracket this week, but then they’re going to sky rocket again the following week.

You know, I like summer, but only to look at. I love the bright sun, the green, the flowers, the birds singing . . . but I don’t do well in excessive heat, and humidity? Forget it! If we could have the sun and the green in winter it would be perfect.

I like the cold. I would much rather be too cold than too hot – if you’re cold you can always put a sweater on, but if you’re too hot there’s only so much you can take off before people run screaming. This is why, when we had to replace our furnace in the winter, we spent the extra money to have central air included. It took me a while to embrace it – I hate having the doors and windows shut when there’s a breeze outside – but I’ve learned to love it.

I have my sun and my green, and I can look at it through the window while I enjoy the cool of the a/c. Truly the best of both worlds.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Wordage Report

Editing – unknown
Here’s the thing. I know I have some notes written down for Bone Moon, but I could not for the life of me remember where. All I remember is there were some changes, and they were really good changes. So I wasted a good 45 minutes looking for these notes before getting so frustrated that I pulled out a different story to work on. So now I’m working on Visitation Rites, which needs to be fleshed out to become a real story

Wandering Wizards – 0 words
*sigh* Maybe this week.

Blog Posts – includes the post for my regular blog, but not the prompt post.
639 + 487 + 320 = 1446 words total

Weekly Prompt – 555 words
I was kind of surprised I was almost dead on with the word count for last week’s prompt story – only five words over. And I think technically you could call it fantasy, although it had some science fiction aspects in it. But I included the prompt sentence ‘I’ll deal with you later,’ and the onion.

Total Words – 2001

New Prompt
Write a 650 word story in the crime genre. It's about a vampire and should include coloring pencils. Also use the sentence 'I can't see you.' Bonus prompt: The story takes place in space.

Goals From Last Week:
I totalled more words on my blog posts than I have in previous weeks, but my prompt story was fewer words than it’s been lately. Of course I stuck to the word limit of the prompt, so that should give me a bonus point. As far as the kanban board goes . . . oops! I forgot all about it.

Again I managed to get all my blog posts up on time, and I’m moving forward with the editing, but once again I got zero words done on Wandering Wizards. I don’t know why I have such a problem when it comes to this book, but it’s getting tiresome.

Goals For This Week:
1. New words on Wandering Wizards. Maybe if I keep putting it at the top of my list I’ll actually do it one of these days.
2. New prompt story – this week’s prompt actually looks like it might be fun.
3. Finish setting up my kanban board so the projects are staring me in the face.
4. Dive into the edits on Visitation Rites.

And there’s what I’ll be up to this week. How about you?

True Believer

Corvis Three was small, as colony planets went, and fairly new having only been established fifty years ago. There was the subsistent farming, of course, and a large mining operation that was the main focus of the settlement. It boasted two spaceports, one for travelers and one for shipping only, and one city which contained the bulk of the population.

It was a minor colony, in the grand scheme of things, but a great deal of time, effort, and money had gone into its creation. So when an asteroid appeared to be on a collision course with it, there was a bit of concern.

There was plenty of time for debate on how to handle the impending disaster. The arguments went on for days, but in the end it was decided that the most fiscally responsible action would be to abandon Corvis Three and let nature take its course.

Once the course of action was decided on, the evacuation was done in a timely and orderly fashion. Cargo ships carried away the equipment deemed too valuable to leave behind, and transport ships collected the disgruntled colonists. All but one.

The archivist refused to leave. As far as importance went the archives was at the bottom of the list. The colony hadn’t been established long enough for there to be any significant historical records. All of its noteworthy information had been digitalized. But the archivist refused to leave his post.

“This is my life’s work,” he told them. “I’ll not leave it behind.”

“The archives have been obsolete for ages,” they told them. “Nobody cares about it anyway.”

“I care,” he said, leveling them a look. “I’m staying and that’s the end of it.”

Sitting on the steps of the archives, he watched the last of the ships leave. When they were no more than a speck in the sky he got up, dusted himself off, and went back inside with a sigh of satisfaction.

“They’re all gone,” he called out. “It’s safe to come out now.”

There was a scuffling noise, then a short, squat figure pushed its way out from behind the file cabinet in the corner. Several slender figures with gossamer wings swooped down from the light fixture. Several diminutive figures sporting red caps sidled out from behind the bookcase.

“You sure that’s the last of ‘em?” the gnome asked.

The archivist gave a shrug. “You would know better than I. You’re the ones that orchestrated this exodus.”

“Aye, and a long and hard campaign it was.”

“We’re safe! We’re free!” the fairies chorused, swooping around the gnome’s head.

“Go away now,” the gnome said irritably. “I’ll deal with you later.”

“They don’t mean any harm,” the archivist said mildly. “They’re just excited.”

“They’re an excitable bunch, ‘tis true,” the gnome agreed. “What will you do now?”

“Me? What do you mean?”

“You’re the only human left here and as such we decided you should be in charge.”

“In charge? Of all of you Fae? I wouldn’t know where to start.”

“Here,” the gnome said, reaching into his pocket. “Have an onion.”

Astrology Part Two – Taurus

Quick facts for Taurus:
You were born between April 21 and May 20
Your sign is the Bull
Your planet is Venus
Your element is Earth
Your metal is Copper
Your birthstone is the emerald
Your flower is lily-of-the-valley or rose
Your color is deep yellow
Your body part is the neck and throat
Your Tarot card is The Hierophant

Strengths:
Reliable, patient, practical, devoted, responsible, stable

Weaknesses:
Stubborn, possessive, uncompromising

Likes:
Gardening, cooking, music, romance, high quality clothes, working with hands

Dislikes:
Sudden changes, complications, insecurity of any kind, synthetic fabrics

Your best matches are those born under the sign of Capricorn or Virgo, and sometimes Pisces or Cancer

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

The second sign of the Zodiac, Taurus enjoys the good life - both physical pleasure and material goods. But although like the bull they can be somewhat bull-headed and stubborn, sometimes that stubbornness is simply commitment, their desire to finish a task no matter what. Taurus isn’t afraid to roll up his sleeves and work hard to earn big rewards. They find it easy to make money and they’ll stay on the same project for years until it’s completed.

Taurus is modest and doesn’t seek popularity. They’re sensitive, keen witted, and humble by nature. Their truthfulness makes them good-natured, reliable, and faithful friends. They’re always there for the people they love. The influence of Venus ensures they enjoy being surrounded by beauty and love, comfort and luxury.

As an earth sign, Taurus has the ability to see things from a grounded, practical, and realistic perspective. They tend to be overprotective, conservative, and devoted to both people and ideals. They’re patient, loyal, dependable, and often somewhat conservative. However, they don’t like sudden changes or criticism.

Famous Taurus include: Queen Elizabeth II, William Shakespeare, Robert Browning, Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Sigmund Freud, Kelly Clarkson, Barbara Streisand, Renee Zellweger, Dwayne Johnson, and Audrey Hepburn.

The Post That Almost Wasn’t

If you caught my prompt story on Friday, consider yourself lucky. And I’m not just talking about the length of time it took for me to write that story. When I went to post the story I found the composition window of my blogging platform had changed. I had no clue what was going on, but it was a miracle I managed to get the story up there. And you might also have noticed that the image that went with it was not centered either. That was a whole other issue.

Naturally, at first I thought it was Blogger’s fault. After all, I’d already had Facebook pull a fast one on me by changing their format earlier this week. Fortunately, with Facebook I was able to change it back so it looked the way it used. My blog account . . . not so much.

I thought maybe if I signed out and back in again it might reset itself, only when I tried that it wouldn’t take my password and I had to reset it, which messed with the Google accounts on my other devices. I don’t even remember linking them – maybe it did that on its own?

And not only did it mess up my other devices, it didn’t even help. On a whim I checked my other blog and lo and behold, it looked normal. So now I’m thinking I inadvertently did something to the settings at some point. So that’s going to go on my list for the week – figuring out how to get my blogging account back to normal. Or at least to a format that doesn’t give me hives when I try to use it.

So if you check back during the week and see this space in chaos, you’ll know why.

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Wordage Report

Editing – just under 2 hours
The story I picked was The Bone Moon. I would have got more done on it but the time I slotted for editing kept getting usurped for other things.

Wandering Wizards – 0 words
*sigh* Maybe this week.

Blog Posts – includes the post for my regular blog, but not the prompt post.
568 + 475 + 298 = 1341 words total

Weekly Prompt – 826 words
I actually cut this story down from over 900 words. I wasn’t quite sure where I was going with it, hence the kind of abrupt ending. However, it also gave me an idea for a kind of cute, romantic short story, so it was worth the effort I put into it.

Total Words – 2167

New Prompt
Write a 550 word story in the fantasy genre. It's about an archivist and should include an onion. Also use the sentence 'I'll deal with you later.' Bonus prompt: There seems to be no one left on the planet.

Goals From Last Week:
Well, I got all my blog posts done and I got my new prompt story written (eventually). I got a start on editing a story but didn’t get it finished, and once again I got zero words added to Wandering Wizards. Still, I’m pretty happy with last week considering there was some babysitting thrown into the mix too.

Goals For This Week:
I proved I could (sort of) do it once, let’s see if I can do it again.
1. New words on Wandering Wizards. For real this time – just pick a spot and start writing.
2. New prompt story – and hopefully it’ll get written in less time than it took to pick out the prompt.
3. Finish setting up my kanban board so the projects are staring me in the face.
4. Finish editing Bone Moon, maybe even pick out another story to edit.

And that’s what I’ll be up to this week. How about you?

Lost and Found

Prompt: One evening in the forest, a boy, an old widow, and a fortune teller find an old man.

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Gertrude hadn’t planned on attending the fair. She and Henry had loved the yearly fair with its vendors and side shows. They would make a whole day of it, filling up on fair food and trying their hand at the games. Henry had been gone for more than ten years now, and when she found the advertising flyer in her mail box she started feeling nostalgic.

One of the few perks of getting older, she decided when she got there, was the hefty senior’s discount on the admission ticket. Once inside the fairgrounds she stopped to look around. It looked almost the same as she remembered. There was the Ferris wheel and the carousel, the cotton candy and hotdog vendors, the target shooting heading up the whole row of games of skill.

It was noisy and crowded, but as Gertrude made her way slowly through the mob she felt her spirits lift. She worked her way to the edge, thinking to circle around as she and Henry used to do, when she was suddenly shoved from behind and fell to the ground.

“You should watch where you’re going granny,” the teen that knocked her down said.

“You should mind your elders,” she snapped back.

“Get stuffed, granny,” he laughed, and ran off to join his friends.

“Here, let me help you,” said a voice beside her as she struggled to get up.

Strong young hands helped her to her feet and then handed her the cane she’d only recently started using. If Gertrude had been quick thinking she could have used that cane to trip one of those hooligans.

“Thank you, young man.”

“You’re welcome ma’am. If you’re okay, I should get going.”

“Aren’t you a mite young to be wandering the fair by yourself?” Gertrude asked, peering closer at him.

“I’m not alone,” he told her. “I’m here with my grandpa.”

“Maybe I could escort you back to him,” Gertrude suggested. “I’d like to tell him what a fine grandson he’s got.”

“Oh! Thank you ma’am, but it’s not necessary.”

“Nonsense. I’m sure he’ll be tickled pink.”

The boy sighed. “The fact is ma’am, I’m not too sure where my grandpa is. We kind of got separated.”

“What’s your name boy?”

“It’s Joseph, ma’am.”

“I’m Gertrude, Joseph. Seeing as we’re both on our own right now, why don’t I help you look for your grandpa?”

They searched for the better part of an hour and Gertrude could see that Joseph was starting to get discouraged. Then a familiar sign caught her eye. It was a drawing of a large hand facing palm outward with an all-seeing eye in the center. The fortune teller was always one of her favourite stops at the fair.

“I have an idea young Joseph,” she said leading the way.

To the boy’s credit, though he looked a little puzzled at where they were headed he didn’t ask any questions. The fortune teller, however, seemed unsurprised at the odd couple who approached her.

“What will it be?” she asked in her heavily accented voice. “Your future? Your love life?”

“We were hoping you could help us find a missing person,” Gertrude began.

“This is not usual for me,” the fortune teller said, intrigued. She spread her hands wide. “I can but try.”

First she asked them several questions and consulted the Tarot cards, then she peered intently into a crystal ball. “I see . . . the one you seek is close by. I see . . . trees. Many trees. Come. I can show you the way.”

Gertrude and Joseph looked at each other in surprise as the fortune teller put a “Back in 15 Minutes” sign on the table and left her stall. She led them to the woods directly behind the row her stall was on and they had to hurry to keep up. Several yards into the woods she suddenly stopped.

“Here,” she said. “He is close to here.”

“Grandpa?” Joseph called. “Are you here?”

“Listen!” Gertrude said. She moved a short way off the path and found the old man sitting on the ground, one hand to his head.

“Grandpa!” Joseph exclaimed, rushing over to him.

“Easy now, Joseph,” Gertrude told him. “It looks like your grandpa’s been hurt.”

“It was my own fault,” the old man said. “Some teenager lured me out here, told me someone was hurt. Next thing I know there was a bunch of them surrounding me. One of them grabbed my cane and hit me with it.”

“Probably the same bunch that knocked me down,” Gertrude said grimly. “You’ve got a cut on your head – let’s get that seen to and then we can report them.”

“I can see the future unfold,” the fortune teller said. “Justice will be done.”

Astrology Part One - Aries

Quick facts for Aries:
You were born between March 21 and April 20.
Your sign is the Ram
Your planet is Mars
Your element is Fire
Your metal is Iron
Your birthstone is the diamond
Your flower is honeysuckle
Your color is deep red
Your body part is the head
Your Tarot Card: The Emperor

Strengths:
Courageous, determined, confident, enthusiastic, optimistic, honest, passionate

Weaknesses:
Impatient, moody, short-tempered, impulsive, aggressive

Likes:
Comfortable clothes, taking on leadership roles, physical challenges, individual sports

Dislikes:
Inactivity, delays, work that does not use one's talents

Your best matches are those born under the sign of Sagittarius or Leo, and sometimes Aquarius or Gemini.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Being the first sign of the zodiac, it’s no surprise that Aries loves to be number one. Aries rules the head and often literally walks head first, leaning forward for speed and focus. They tend to be brave, bold, and ambitious. They’ll dive headfirst into a challenge and like to throw their weight around.

They like to be the first in everything - from work to social gatherings. They make good leaders and managers and have excellent organizational skills, but they don’t usually like working for other people. Often they don’t finish what they start, preferring to leave it to others.

The ram symbolizes energy, initiative, and aggression; Aries can be blunt and to the point, often ramming their ideas down other people’s throats. As well, they’re known for their tempers, which can be explosive, although an outburst will likely fizzle out as quickly as it starts.

Famous Aries include: Adolph Hitler, Vincent van Gogh, Leonardo da Vinci, Charlie Chaplin, Sigmund Freud, Niccolo Machiavelli, Elton John, Mathew Broderick, Robert Downey Jr., Heath Ledger, and Quentin Tarantino.