A New Look

I recently changed my hairdo so it’s appropriate that my erstwhile blog should get a facelift. The new WordPress theme is called Blix. One reason I like it is that the date is not at the top of the post. Since I’ve been blogging only sporadically, having the date at the top of the post was a dramatic announcement to the world that I’ve been slacking off. Now, you have to look a little harder to see the last time I posted.

I’ve also dropped the traffic meter. I still haven’t recovered from the time I lost 50,000 hits in a single day. Now I’ve decided that I don’t want to be motivated by traffic.

Gone Apple Pickin’

The Saturn/Uranus opposition has been wreaking havoc on my life. As a result, I’ve been finding it hard to focus on astrology and this blog. Thanks to all those who have inquired about my welfare and who have also commented on other blogs that I contribute to. I miss you guys, too!

My plan is to get back on track when Saturn goes into Libra on Nov. 1. I’m hoping that planetary shift will provide me with the focus and discipline needed to write a blog. See you soon!

The Internet Giveth and the Internet Taketh

I would assume that Gian Paul, our Brazil bureau chief, would have better things to look at down in Brazil than the stats on Astrology Mundo. But perhaps it isn’t bathing suit season right now.

In any event, Gian Paul has correctly observed that about 12,000 of my “hits” have disappeared from the site meter. I was getting pretty excited about hitting 150,000, but now it appears that will take a little longer than I expected.

Who knows? Maybe I’ll go back up to 148,000 and change after Mercury goes direct. I don’t have the energy to complain to WordPress about this, that’s for sure.

Thanks, as always, Gian Paul, for your observations.

Happy Birthday, Astrology Mundo!

It was one year ago today that I decided to join the blogosphere by launching Astrology Mundo. Now, 422 posts, 1,353 (approved) comments, and 136,901 hits later, Astrology Mundo is celebrating its first birthday.

My output has varied since I fired up the blog for the first time, courtesy of WordPress, on Mar. 17, 2008, but my love of the astrological and blogging community hasn’t.

There have been two contributors who have kept this blog afloat over the past year when my energy flagged — Regina at Gastriques and Gian Paul, who has given us The View from Brazil. Thanks to both of you!

Also, thanks to the astrobloggers who have taken the time to comment on my posts and to link to them. I can’t name them all, but I’m thinking of Jude Cowell at Stars Over Washington and Jude’s Threshold, Comet at Out the Comet’s Ass, Julie Demboski, Beth Turnage at Astrology Explored, and ElsaElsa of blog aggregator AstroDispatch, to name a few. I couldn’t have done it without you. (More links later!)

Away from the cosmos, SFMike of Civic Center and Susan DeMark of Mindful Walker have helped keep my feet firmly on the ground while I’m looking up at the stars.

Last but not least, a big shout-out to Pamela Cucinell, my roommate at last year’s United Astrology Conference and the host of AstroChatter Radio, where I put my two astro cents in on a (mostly) regular basis.

Thanks everybody! I love all of you, especially my readers!

The Feb. 9 Eclipse: Everything Seems Possible

I haven’t been blogging as much lately because I’ve been wrapped up in a demanding project that’s keeping me away from Astrology Mundo. I also don’t want to seem like the spoiler for the Obama party.

With Jupiter in Aquarius traveling close to the North Node, there are a lot of good vibes out there. I can feel them in my neighborhood. The Community Organizer-in-Chief is helping folks feel connected and empowered.

Yesterday, my next-door neighbors, whom I’ve known for four years, invited me to a family buffet, and I went. No big deal, I know, but a barrier was broken. A hand was extended across a fence and it was embraced.

There’s been a lot of snow in Upstate New York this winter, and the neighbors on the other side have been shoveling my sidewalk and driveway before I can even get out of the house. People seem to want to help each other these days for the first time in a long time. It truly is a blessing!

That’s the good news — friendly neighbors. The bad news is that today’s eclipse at 21 degrees of Leo opposed the Sun and Neptune. The whole lineup is squaring the New York Stock Exchange incorporation chart, so I’m looking for a further evaporation of U.S. equities over the next six months. I’m not optimistic the stimulus bill, even if it is approved by the Senate, can do much to prevent the economy’s descent.

It wasn’t Obama who got us here, but “we’re waist-deep in the big muddy,” to quote Pete Seeger’s famous anti-war anthem. We’re waist-deep in Iraq and Afghanistan and we’re just keeping our heads above the quicksand of the financial crisis.

I believe that Obama will ultimately be forced to take some drastic steps to get our nation’s economy back on course (cutbacks in the civil service, perhaps), and because of his rock-star persona, people may accept the news with a smile.

When President Jimmy Carter tried to trim the federal workforce about one Saturn revolution ago, he got lots of pushback. It will be interesting to see what happens this time around (assuming I’m right, of course).

And you wonder why I haven’t written lately.

On the Road Again

Some Astrology Mundo readers may wonder if I’m running out of steam after nine months of frenetic blogging. The truth is that I’ve been distracted by a death in the family and am on the road again. Spending seven hours a day driving doesn’t leave much time for blogging, especially as I’ve got a day job to handle.

I have a stellium of Venus/Jupiter/Mars in Sagittarius and it’s being activated by the Sun, Mercury, and Mars, which are all transiting Sag right now. I have a feeling that once Mars is in Capricorn, I’ll be furiously pounding the keyboard again. Thanks for your patience and support.

I’m also learning my way around the new WordPress release.

Introducing the AstroWiki

I’ve just stumbled upon Astrodienst’s latest innovation: the AstroWiki. It’s a place to learn about astrology and to educate others. You can find out more about the AstroWiki here.

Rather than starting from scratch, Zurich-based Astrodienst acquired the right to republish the content of two astrological encyclopedias published in Germany. They have been translated into English by the astrological services firm.

This is a fantastic resource for the astrological community. Thanks, Astrodienst!

What Astrology Can Tell Us About the Closed Session of Congress

About a week ago, I got a little freaked out when I discovered an article from an Australian Web site about a closed meeting of Congress on Mar. 13. Billed as a secret discussion of a surveillance bill, the session also included references to a “September 2008” stock market crisis, according to foreign media articles.

Now, the inimitable Jude Cowell, who blogs at both Stars Over Washington and Jude’s Threshold, has done the astrology of this closed debate of Congress. Don’t miss this post on what was cooking beneath the Capitol dome on Mar. 13, 2008.

Mom, I Came In 78th!

This is a big day for me. Astrology Mundo’s post on the full Moon in Taurus ranked No. 78 among WordPress blogs today.

Thanks to Gian Paul for pointing out that I got the time of the full Moon wrong, so I was able to correct it. Even though he predicted John McCain was going to win the Presidential election, we’re still keeping Gian Paul on staff as Brazil bureau chief, mostly because we don’t know anybody else in Brazil. 🙂

Kudos to Jude at Stars Over Washington for highlighting the mystic rectangle; my full Moon analysis was nowhere near as detailed as hers. My excuse? Too much focus on the corner of Broad and Wall streets.

Seriously, though, thanks to everybody who keeps me on my toes.

Jeffrey Kishner’s Got a Groovy New Pad!

Lots of technical difficulties today on the AstroChatter Radio podcast that I do each Tuesday at noon with Pamela Cucinell on BlogTalkRadio. We started 40 minutes late because Pamela changed her Internet service provider and didn’t get her normal e-mail reminder. I didn’t call her either, the way I normally do because I was afraid I was becoming a pest.

I was scouring my e-mail to see if Pamela had tried to contact me to tell me something was wrong and I discovered an e-mail from Jeffrey Kishner, who used to host Seduction Central.

Kishner recently launched Sassastrology.com, which has a fabulous lineup of articles about sex, relationships, and celebrities, not to mention a knockout design. Kudos to you, Jeffrey. Sorry it took me a while to get to this.