Life {By the Signs}

Do you know what one of the most amazing parts of a bookstore is?

Well, besides the squashy leather armchairs and the books themselves. Those win hands down. Especially the overstuffed, sink-into-the-seat type of leather armchairs.

The stuff you find on bargain racks is pretty awesomely amusing. The horoscope ones tend to be the funniest by far--and just a little scary from time to time when they get something right.

So here's what I learned--My birthday's April 23rd, so I fall under the Taurus sign. I'm supposed to be grounded, tied to the physical, and very stubborn. Taurus corresponds most closely to the earth element. I'm supposed to be materialistic and prefer small amounts of genuine things to large amounts of substitutes (think a square of good Swiss chocolate over a brick of Hershey's) and I'm supposed to be pretty set in my ways.

Here's the other thing--I was born in 1988, the Chinese year of the dragon. According to this book, the Chinese also add elements to each year. 1988 had something to do with wood. Does the combination of a dragon and wood sound a little, well, flammable, to anyone else? Anyways, it seconds the whole stubborn thing and mentions stuff like having a temper, liking things a certain way, etc...

Not surprising. I am stubborn. Very stubborn. I'm also usually slow to be provoked, so it doesn't come out too much. Just when I'm being stupid and insisting that I'm right. The same goes for my temper. The book was also right about the grounded thing (I tend to be a dreamer, but I know how to pull my head out of the clouds long enough to live in the real world) and the temper (that one gets categorized with the stubborn thing). Materialistic though? I'm a pack-rat, I'll admit that, but I've never really been obsessed with having things. I just really like the things that I do have. :) And yeah, I'm a perfectionist--but I'm working on it! I promise!

I don't really believe in this astrology stuff. Horoscopes are so general that they could apply to anyone. Me or, I dunno, Hillary Clinton. (Trust me, we're talking opposite ends of the spectrum here!) And of course, I can't remember right now all the traits that it got really, really, wrong. But man, horoscopes are fun to read... especially when you're standing there in a book store with a best friend, laughing yourselves stupid as you're reading these passages that are supposed to guide the rest of your life....

I think I'll leave that to my fortune cookies ;)