Aries: Before the great age of digital music, there was analog music. There were tapes (perfect for making mixes for crushes), CDs (the absolute worst of the sorts), and there were records. My friends and I used to listen to music together all the time. Music was so exciting, and we would play full albums. That’s right – the whole damn album. We knew the words to every song, and we’d even sing along together. Now, it’s the way of song for song, artist for artist, and to be real, a lot of mainstream musicians are good for only a few hits, and the albums are pretty much crap. Yet there are still so many new, good, full albums. However, whenever I hear someone playing music, it’s some Spotify mix or something. My name is Sharon. I like to make art, I like to laugh, I love my friends, and I like listening to full albums. Aries, nestle in with your favorite album tonight. As you fall asleep, play that favorite album, and love every damn song. That’s what they’re made for.

  Taurus: On a recent trip to my best friend Amanda’s house, she had her wood-burning stove on, and on top of it, she had a pot of water to keep the air fresh. I adopted this practice. I put a pot of water on my wood-burning stove. Except I added some lavender oil to my pot of water. In just a few short minutes, the entire house smelled of a fresh lavender scent. It felt so pure and right. Suddenly, the dusty old house I’m calling mine for now was so serene. Taurus, get inspired by someone around you to purify your life. Buy a plant if you see one, go to a yoga class at MotherHeart Studio, or just see the way someone you know loves and go around loving as they do. Spring is here, and changes are necessary.

  Gemini:  In 2013, the City Of Brotherly Love recognized August 28 as Kurt Vile Day. How cool is that? I saw Kurt Vile play a solo set in the early 2000s at the Fire with my ex’s band. Every song was perfect, as he sat on the stage, hair in his face, strumming his guitar, and playing some of the best music I’d heard to date. The music of Kurt Vile still resonates with me. That early era of all these musicians getting their starts was an epic moment in Philly rock and roll heaven. So many great shows at the Fire, and then came Johnny Brenda’s, then KFN, etc. Back then, these people were trying so hard to get it down, and yet, I think everyone in the audience was there on some guest list. I know I didn’t pay for a show for about 10 years. Yet, now that we are all grown up with money, we choose to spend it on other stuff. We don’t drink those cheap beers anymore, and we pretend it’s some crazy expense, and how dare we stay out late on a work night? Gemini, the weather is going to get you soon, and you’re going to want to get out of the  house. Do it by going to one of our local joints and seeing a concert. What was once $5 is now $20 no matter how you look at it, so at least get some fulfilment for once.

  Cancer: Okay, I said it before, and I will say it again. What is up with the Acme on Girard constantly changing their ways? I went again this week, as I do weekly, and again I had no idea where to find anything outside of the frozen section. The flowers were put in some wild spot in the middle of the store, and there were giant pieces of plastic hanging all over. I see the plan of the hot bar, but for heaven’s sake, can they at least keep the seltzer in the same aisle? As you know, Cancer, change is good. If you change too much, though, you’re going to be like a little chameleon. Don’t ride on some high horse just because if your tail is ripped off you have the ability to grow a new one. Change needs to make sense or you’re going to make those around you struggle with who you really are. Baby steps, Cancer. Get into the elevator and realize how scary it is.

  Leo: My life has taken a full turn lately, and I’ve been really blessed with spending time with women. I love being around other women and feeling their energy. I grew up in a small house with three brothers, on a street where most of the kids my age were boys. In my adult life, my housemates have been men (most of them have been lovers). I don’t mind the male energy, as it’s all too familiar. Yet the peaceful and gentle nature of a woman inspires me in a whole other way. For me, being around other women is like taking a deep breath of the purest air. Leo, I urge you to find something as pleasant as I have. Let it be soft, like a woman. Let it be subtle, like the smell of sweetgrass. Let it look you in the eyes and bat its pretty little eyelashes in envy of your inner beauty.

  Virgo: I have seen professional boxer Tex Cobb, best known (to me) for his role in Raising Arizona, on the streets of West Philadelphia. He was so familiar to me, because I remember watching that movie as a child on a taped-from-TV VHS cassette. Also included on that cassette, right after the end of the movie, is the episode of the Bozo the Clown show on which I’d made an appearance. I was always pleased to watch that movie, and see it end with me dancing in hot pink spandex in pure joy, hogging the screen. I always thought it would be funny to tell the former heavyweight that every time I saw him, I thought of Bozo, and my friend winning a Nintendo right there in front of my eyes. There’s something so sweet about associating things with other random memories. Virgo, this is a great time for you to give this a try. Dig into your past and find some memory and see how it makes you feel. See what other memories are brought up. Play the association game and cherish those memories. If you have trouble, I recommend listening to the song “Cherish” by the band The Association for the perfect amount of inspiration.

  Libra: Last week, after a shower, I had an itch on my leg. I scratched it so much that I began to bleed. Even after I’d scratched it so much, it was still itchy, except now it hurt and I couldn’t scratch it anymore. Sometimes we refer to things in our life as itches that need scratching. Maybe this is making a dream of traveling somewhere come true. The problem is, if you’re dreaming of traveling to Greece and sitting naked on the beach for a week, and then you go and it doesn’t meet your expectations, you’re still going to feel itchy. Libra, if you’ve got the itch for something, I say go ahead and scratch it, but not too much. Ride out the human feeling of desire and wallow in it for a bit.

  Scorpio: In 1983, Cyndi Lauper released “She’s So Unusual.” I was only three when she released this album, but I remember my father buying me the cassette tape a few years later. It was life-changing. This crazy adult lady was flailing around in costume on the cover, and song after song amazed little me like crazy. I had a little white boombox at the time, and I remember being so small, and putting on my tap-dancing costumes and dancing in my room with Cyndi at full volume. Had I known then that in 2017 I’d still be dressing in costume and dancing to Cyndi Lauper music, I would have never believed it. I bet there’s some part of your past that you think of as odd that you’re still doing. Maybe you had dreamed of being Mark Howe, and maybe you’re still playing ice hockey. Whatever it is, I want you take it in – really take it in – and laugh about it. Feel the true amount of joy for achieving a lifelong pleasure.

  Sagittarius: I think finding old artwork I’ve made is one of my favorite things. I recently found an old drawing I made of a youthful Japanese boy diving into a stone wall. Under the drawing, I wrote, “Only the battle in your dreams can be broken / and only with the strength gained by / diving through Andy Goldsworthy’s wall.” I have no idea what I was thinking when I wrote that, but I think I made this piece of art after visiting Storm King way back when. I was pretty impressed with that wall. A shirt ripped that day, and I sewed up and now wear that shirt myself. It was an epic day full of young art kids, cartwheels, and that wall. Man, that wall. I wish I had kept all of my art from high school, but when I was 19, I decided to get rid of everything, and I guess I sort of regret that now. C’est la vie, Sagittarius. Memories and moments of the purest kind will always fill you.

  Capricorn: I want a bunny so badly that I look up Holland Lop bunnies all day long and feel like I am going to cry and explode. I guess first I need a house of my own before I can make a house for a bunny, but let me tell you: this is my goal. I’m going get a male and name him something cool like Cornelius Cornelius or Reginald Bing Bong. He will be the baby that I want but no one wants to give me. I am going to love little CC or RBB like I’ve never loved anything. I guess the real goal here is to love something. All I really want to do is to love something in life. All I really want is to love and to be loved. I feel lucky for the moments when this happens. It feels so good when someone loves you back. A bunny, however, will have no option but to love me, and maybe then my goal is really to be loved. Capricorn, this is a perfect day and a perfect time to feel true love in your heart. It’s a good day to realize the love from someone else and to feel how nice it is to be filled up. Tell this person how you feel about them. Let them know you love them to. Love and be loved, my friend. I love you.

  Aquarius: Well, I did it. I went and saw Trainspotting 2. On it’s own, it was a terrible movie. Yet, full of nostalgia from my 16-year-old self, reading the book, seeing the original movie, crushing on the cast, and experimenting with drugs, I enjoyed seeing these guys together again. I was quickly put back into crush mode, and I left the movie theater remembering some intense moments in experimentation in my teen years. Afterwards, I went dancing at W/N W/N, because my friend Emil was DJing. Here, I ran into another friend, who mentioned he had recently taken acid for the first time ever. Again, I went to 15-year-old Sharon and remembered one of the most beautiful moments in my life, which occurred while on LSD. It was a strange night to remember all of these times in my life, and to romanticize my history, before more memories set in. These memories included friends who have died, friends who went to jail. I am not ashamed of my past, but it wasn’t until about a year ago that I learned to say no. Not to drugs, but just to say no, and to stop being a yes man. Aquarius, you’re a born pleaser, but sometimes you have to please yourself. It feels good to turn things down, and to know it will benefit you. Instead of self-medicating in whatever way you may, just say no.

  Pisces: There are so many changes happening so quickly in Fishtown. Another damn boutique, another damn bar, and more and more houses are popping up. In other words, lots of competition and nothing practical. Where’s the fish market? Where’s the local hardware store? Where’s the movie theater? The hip movie theater that serves dinner and booze- where is it? Instead of another hair salon (if you’re not going to Danger Salon, you’re making a mistake), why won’t someone open one of those cool laundromats that offers video games and beer or pizza? If I had money, I’d offer these things. I would put an end to the unaffordable loft spaces and build a practical affordable simple apartment building, so people like me, who want to live in the neighborhood and enjoy all of the newness, could afford to live here. Pisces, if you’ve got an idea (or if you’ve got money, contact me about mine!), go out and express it. Gather people together to make it happen. You’ll get the support you need. •