Happy New Year to all my Chinese relatives, friends and Chinese culture sympathizers. May the Year of the Monkey energize us all with energy, creativity and ingenuity. And now, to start the New Year right, an idea for a monthly blog theme, “who is,” a short eulogy to one of my endlessly fascinating friends.

The brilliant and brainy Beverly Tang was born on June 18th. Her vedic sign is Taurus, though earthy she’s not. Beverly’s ideas and visions are stellar and she often occupies her time perusing artistic subject matter that veers in the direction of out-there and utopian. She’s an immensely talented jewelry, lighting and web designer. One of her greatest attributes is her ability to excavate poignant creative and scientific material that touches on metaphysical and/or avant garde themes and throw it out there on her photo blog (or phlog) for all to enjoy. Her unsung talent is that she’s an amazing assembler of people and ideas. She’s able to accurately suss out which people you need to talk to or whose stories you need to hear about. In a way, she’s a social alchemist.

I first met Beverly roughly a year ago when I serendipitously found her lighting design web site and promptly called her for a last-minute interview. She was added into my article, “Age of Enlightenment.” The piece was certain better after that inclusion.

Lastly, if you haven’t noticed by her name, Beverly is paysane with me. So, Happy New Year to her too! (she’s not a Monkey though, but a Tiger, don’t you all forget that).

Here it comes, the typical coastal debate comparing fraternal twin cities New York and LA. This time the approach comes from the standpoint of the miserable and angst-ridden.

When you’re miserable and angst-ridden in LA, a group of people(we do have a group mentality here after all) will sweep in to make sure that you either join a religious cult (i.e. get a guru), get on meds or become a twelve-stepper (I myself have always been a two-stepper). It is excruciatingly painful for the veneer-inspired Angeleno to see too much misery so he/she must immediately find a way of drawing over it or erasing it. “Stop blaming others and take control of your life,” the Friend of Bill’s would say. “You’ve got to meet Swami Shamananda, he’ll change your life,” the cult follower would suggest. “I’ll tell you what’s really helped me…[fill in the blank…Zoloft or some other pharmaceutical opiate of the masses).”

When you’re miserable and angst-ridden in New York, you’ll be the subject of many adjectives (if that’s grammatically possible). She’s so…”sardonic,” “biting” “darkly humorous,” “self-deprecating,” “morbid,” “neurotic,” “intense.” And after all is said and done: “She’s great. We should have her over for dinner.”

Ultimately, the miserable and angst-ridden are stuck between a rock and a hard place–and that doesn’t mean the proverbial Midwest. Do they want to eternally be the life of the party Larry David style? Or would they prefer some immediate relief and a lobotomy? I answer these questions with another question. What ever happened to accepting the human condition, summoning the power in yourself as a “freelance spirit,” and ameliorating your situation solo? That’s a proverbial question by the way and it might be described as “biting.”

Thanks to Kira F. Citron for the conversation and inspiration for these darkly humorous thoughts.

A beautiful poem by Rumi, sent to me by my friend Joost in Amsterdam, to remind me of the true meaning of love–it’s about letting go and diving in:

Love comes with a knife,
Not some shy question,
And not with fears
For its reputation.

I say these things disinterestedly.
Accept them in kind.
Love is a madman,
Working his wild wiles,

Tearing off his clothes,
Running through the mountains,
Drinking poison, and now
Quietly choosing annihilation.

A tiny spider tries to wrap an enormous wasp.
Think of the spiderweb woven across
The cave where Muhammed slept!
There are love stories, and there is
An obliteration into love!

You’ve been walking the ocean’s edge,
Holding up your robes to keep them dry!
You must dive naked under, and deeper under,
A thousand times deeper. Love flows down.

The ground submits to the sky
And suffers whatever comes.
Tell me, is the earth worse
For giving in like that?

Don’t put blankets over the drum!
Open completely
And let your spirit-ear
Listen to the green dome’s passionate murmur.

Let the cords of your robe be united.
Shiver in this new love,
Beyond all above and below.

The sun rises, but which way
Does the night go?

I have no more words.
Let the soul speak
With the silent articulation
Of a face.

Happy New Year! Here are your Hangover Horoscopes for the new year. Sorry if they are a little incoherant; I’m not exactly myself today. Check which reading falls under your birthday. And if you’re an astrology buff, here are some general astro conditions below. Cheers, STL

General conditions in the skies:

Mercury retrograde periods:
Mercury goes direct: January 6th
April 8-30
August 11-September 3rd
December 1-20
Venus retrograde: May 19-June 30
Saturn moves into sidereal Cancer: September 6th
Jupiter moves into sideral Virgo: August 28th
Eclipses:
April 19th Solar Eclipse 13:38 05°Aries55′
May 4th Lunar Eclipse 20:30 20°Libra47′
October 14th Solar Eclipse 02:56 27°Virgo11′
October 28th Lunar Eclipse 03:04 11°Aries07′

(January 15th-February 12th)
You’ve just got one more baby step or hurdle to overcome in the first half of the year before you’re ready to conquer the world in the second half. Jupiter is challenging you to continue to go inward, facing and mating with the mysteries of life. This could be a year full of spiritual epiphanies, leading to (in the second half of the year) a new approach to life that sees you greatly broadening your horizons. First some more earthly mundane things need to be handled. Your domestic situation will fluctuate throughout the year. You might move, renovate or change something about your living set-up (roommates, partners, etc.). If this doesn’t sound right, then perhaps the fluctuations will have more to do with your family life (most in the spotlight: your mother). Issues from your early childhood will likely come up either way and be resolved by the end of the year. A career/job change also seems unavoidable after October. It will definitely be a change for the better and will open you up to a new way of working that does not involve drudgery. Venus in your fifth house in the spring gives you a light-hearted and romantic flair. Try to bottle this up because partnership issues will be the theme in late fall through the following year.

(February 13th-March 13th)
Partnerships have been highlighted since the second part of 2003 and will continue to take the spotlight in 2004. You seem to be able to work things through with another with the greatest of ease. That makes for good working relationships as well as romantic ones. Still, despite your effortless luck, deep down, you probably sense that there’s a tiny thing missing. In love relationships this could be that childlike, playful spontaneity. In work related partnerships there’s been too much of an emphasis on hammering out the deals and logistics, and little mind paid to the creative enthusiasm behind the process. This will all change in the second part of the year. Watch the ante get upped significantly. For affairs of the heart, domestic issues will definitely surface from April through July. These could pertain to moving in together, a pushy family member who has made it difficult for the two of you to live together in peace. Again, don’t worry because in the fall Jupiter, planet of expansion moves into your house of intimacies and joint finances, launched via an eclipse in October. Your efforts to combine lives or bank accounts in either arena will be rewarded in the late Fall/Winter. Basically, at the core of all of these experiences is one thread tying them all together: ideology. By the winter you will have formulated your own philosophy on life that is guaranteed to fluidly join forces.

(March 14th-April 13th)
Venus is cruising along at breakneck speed towards your house of cohabitation and suddenly it makes a U-turn. It’s quite possible that if there’s a relationship in your life, it needs to be rehashed before you make the big move. Quite frankly, it’s going to be tough to live with a partner until at least the fall when Saturn moves out of your 4th house. If not partnership, another scenario is that so anal retentive and into routines and regimens lately that 2004 is going to rock your world so that you understand how to rebuild what you so carefully put together. Eclipses will make it so you feel you can hardly count on that which was once thought of as ‘always readily available.’ Security issues will certainly come up. You have to build a deeper, inner security before you can proceed unfazed by life’s great obstacles. Once you’ve finally learned this lesson, the second half of the year ushers in a new phase where partnerships are concerned, just in time for the winter. You’re, quite simply, going to have to cut loose because someone else is not going to put up with your rigidity. However, this is not going to be easy because once Saturn moves into your 5th house in the fall, your whimsical side is going to seem pretty calcified. Ah, such are the life’s oxymorons. What can one do but try to learn from their chaos?

(April 14-May 14)
In many ways 2004 is your year. Before you run to the mirror, bat your eyes and smile coyly, you must understand the responsibilities and work that come with that proclamation. This is the year that you will die and be reborn. This is the year where you must shatter that mirror and compose a new you with your eyes closed and your heart open. The first half of the year will be the less taxing part of the transformation process. Your creativity and exuberance for life will begin to invigorate and inspire you in February and March. This is the fun part of the process and the people and experiences you encounter on this part of your trek will bring out your childlike need to ‘play.’ It doesn’t matter whether this manifests itself romantically, creatively or in a whimsical social way, your inner baby will be glowing because of these discoveries. In the second half of the year, late fall and winter, you will need to focus on the practical nuts and bolts of creating a new routine and lifestyle for yourself. Along the way from late this year through 2005, some of your greatest challenges will be to undo the fixed notions from your early childhood and to create a home for yourself in your new image. Rise to the challenge!

(May 15-June 14)
You haven’t exactly been the earthy yet garrulous creature you usually are. Throughout most of 2004 you’re content to put up your feet and sit in front of the TV, or garden until your leaf blower gives out. Eclipses occurring in the very dreamy and inward 12th house will further stuff you in your domestic box. These eclipses are powerful though. They’ll completely shift the way you deal with all that subconscious gunk in your head. And if you manage to clear things up by year’s end, you’ll be golden. Poor baby, you’ve also been plagued by your ultimate nightmare: security issues. Financially and emotionally, you’re not as strong and grounded as you usually are. But once the first half of the year is over you’ll be ready to start fresh in your true inspiring fashion. As of October/November things return to the earthly realm, and you’re ready to have fun again. Your creativity and your romantic side will be powerfully moving you forward. It may sound like this year is all work but it’s not. Be sure to mark down April and July as great months for YOU time. You’ll be at your most charming and delectable with Venus in your very sign. Then you can actually leave the house (or better yet, invite people over so you don’t have to leave your comfortable cave).

(June 15-July 15)
With Jupiter in your house of communications throughout most of the year and a series of eclipses occurring in your house of friendships, be ready to face the world. You may have had an inward time of it last year but 2004 is about getting out there and seeing people and exchanging ideas with them. This in turn will begin to reshape your perception of yourself and cause a great deal of changes in who you thought you were, as opposed to who you are. Each day, with each encounter you’ll explore a different side of yourself that you perhaps thought dormant or nonexistent. By the fall, your once black and white television set will be operating in Technicolor. At year’s end news on the domestic arena will set the tone for the following year. It’s all good news because Venus is entering that part of your chart a couple of months before the eclipse. By winter, you’ll know what I’m talking about and plans will probably already be underway for a move or change in that area. If you never really fashioned yourself a homebody, get ready to see a whole different side of yourself emerge by year’s end.

(July 16-August 16)
As a result of the final eclipse of 2003, you found yourself catapulted onto a whole other creative level. Whether this was inspired by a loved one or simply by an inner calling, this force drives you in 2004. The next piece of the puzzle revolves around two eclipses (one in spring, the other in fall) that will occur in your house of careers. It’s time to put that creativity to work. You will see many changes in your career this year, as the concepts you have garnered in secrecy, in your dreams, begin to manifest themselves outwardly. This all sounds fine and dandy until you come to the realization, at the end of the year, that these career changes have ramifications on you personally. Late 2004 (and 2005) will see you groping at a new identity that is being shaped through your creative drives. Still, have no fear, light-heartedness beckons on the social front. As Venus touches your house of friendships and social circles for a whopping four months from March through July. Partially as a result of this, you will have a slew of new contacts to look forward to in the second half of the year. Chances are they will be witty, intellectual folks who sprinkle their magic pixie dust on you and teach you about a whole new realm of communication. You can choose to take this one or both of two ways. You can put this to work in your career–as a sort of networking machine or you can emphasize the social aspects of this by finally getting out there and communicating with people.

(August 17-September 16)
Welcome to your personal power year. With Jupiter shining brightly in the house of Y-O-U through September, and eclipses gracing your house of illumination and expansion throughout the year, you’re bursting at the seams to express yourself in any and every way. One of the best ways you can make use of this energy is to hone in on a certain career possibility during the period from April through July. April and July are the best months for initiating new projects. May and June would be times to reflect on past endeavors that never quite reached fruition. Not to make your head swell too much, but I’m also going to suggest that you involve yourself in career projects that are only contingent on your creative juices. This is because Saturn is still occupying your house of group associations and friendships, until the fall. So, group efforts may not go over as well as solo projects. It is virtually guaranteed that if you plant these seeds in the first half of the year, they will yield financial gains by year’s end. This is because an eclipse will grace your house of finances in late October while Jupiter planet of expansion settles in for its one year stay in that very same house. You certainly can’t EXPECT financial gain but if you take the right measures it will be likely. If you’re thinking, “ooh, how boring, finance schminance,” ease up, this can also affect your romantic partnerships. Start undertakings in the first half of the year and expect your relationship to grow into something stable and secure in the second half.

(September 17-October 17)
You’ve had some epiphanies this year. Certainly some longstanding personally archetypal dreams have come to the surface. You remember what you once wanted and hold on to those goals with optimism. The personal growth year that started in late 2003 continues full throttle into the new year. Unfortunately this is not necessarily true when it comes to your career, which has been a source of displeasure for you as of late. You’ll start to make some headway in the fall when a personal identity crisis forces you to face what it is you really want to do with your life. Venus’ tour of your ninth house from April through July will prove invaluable in this arena. It will expand your horizons, show you that the tried and true is not necessarily going to help you in the long run, and give you a new set of values to grow through in 2004. You will be transforming so much this year that you’ll hardly recognize yourself by the end of it. Just remember that the only way to make room for new concepts and experiences is to let go of the old. Being earthy and analytical, this is not going to be an easy task. It might feel something akin to pulling teeth with no anesthesia. Just take a deep breath and trust that whatever you let go of will be replaced by something glimmering and new.

(October 18-November 15)
Your greatest luck and lessons have been in the social arena in the past six months. In 2004 you’ll continue to be a jubilant party-crasher surrounded by your cronies and then some, but the brakes are about to cut out and you’re about to go crashing into a tree. It isn’t as bad as it sounds, and this shift in directions is the natural progression to your outward dance. Now it’s time to go inward and beyond. You’ve been having trouble diving into new experiences that would otherwise change you, and this stoic nature will plague you until the second half of the year. You’re about to get a crash course intimacy. Venus will stay in this house in your chart for four months in the spring. Eclipses will jolt your romantic partnerships until ultimately, in October you pass Go, and collect the proverbial 200 bucks, (which in your case means a complete identity makeover). By the end of the year you’ll be poised to explore more of your subconscious as an eclipse in the 12th house (along with Jupiter moving into that house in September) bring you to an about-face, facing your inner self. It may sound horrifying right now but by the time you’ve gone through intimacy boot camp you’ll be in a much different place and be well equipped to handle accelerated training.

(November 16-December 15)
If you suffered at all last year due to a series of jolts in the life of your partnership, the middle of 2004 will be the time to finally let go and learn the lessons inherent in these experiences. In 2003 you were struggling with two concepts: you and them. How can you be intimate with another and still retain your sense of self? That is just one of the questions that may have surfaced. The last eclipse of the year fell in your ascendant and planted a seed for a new you. You will begin to understand its course of growth in the first couple of months of the year. But part of its maturation process is contingent on this notion of ‘the other.’ Venus will camp out an extra long time, four months in your house of partnerships, with a short 20-day stop-over in-between in your house of intimacy because it will go retrograde in May and June. Two scenarios: 1/ a whirlwind romance that takes off like gangbusters in April will need a little chill-out time to readjust or 2/ And old romantic situation could be thrown in your face again in order for you to fully resolve it. A rollercoaster ride is promised for the first half of the year where all intimacies are concerned. But starting October all partnerships, social, romantic, work-related will greatly change for the better.

(December 16th-January 14th)
Something has started to stir inside you. An eclipse in your 12th house at the end of last year was one contributing factor. You’ve also had Jupiter in your 9th house, an extra powerful position since it is your ruling planet and rules that house. In 2004, let the games continue and go onto the next level. Your personal exuberance and creative are the elements that will help you grow and expand your horizons in 2004. If you look to outside influence (especially partners) you will be disappointed. Because it is in many ways your power year, it is conducive to you activating the energy solo. Any attempts to integrate someone else into the plan will be thwarted by the cosmos. At least through the fall. You will likely want to take a trip to some place exotic and go exploring alone. This may be the last chance you have for a while to do something so spontaneous as your career and obligations will take center stage next year. With eclipses in your house of fun, it is there that you will transform the most…Perhaps you will go away and have unusual experiences, meet special people (the above does not exclude a romance from blossoming spontaneously “on the road,” but nothing can be sustained long term at the moment and existing partnerships will need to go through a struggling period before emerging onto a different level or dissolving completely). A Particularly challenging patch on the romantic front occurs from April to July, so be prepared not to fight it out but to listen. Venus will be at times in your sixth house (a detrimental position) and at others in your 7th (normally a good position but it will be in retrograde making it a time for rehashing old issues, not moving on).