O never say I was false of heart

Virgo:: Lieutenant General Ricardo S. Sanchez, who was the supreme commander of U.S. troops in Iraq from June 2003 to July 2004, thinks his government has made tragic mistakes. Citing "a catastrophically flawed war plan," he said, "There has been a glaring display of incompetent strategic leadership from our national leaders." Sanchez is your role model for the coming week, Virgo. I hope he inspires you to do one of three things: (1) raise a critique of a group or institution you've been an instrumental part of; (2) rebel against the faulty execution of an idea you support; (3) put your service to moral truth above blind loyalty.

I find this horoscope pretty interesting. The role described above is one that I often find myself in. I have found myself in the "bad guy" role of sorts more than once because the more I grow, the less I seem to be able to tolerate stagnation, bullshit, and willful ignorance. I've lost relationships because I dared to point out hypocrisies and backsliding instead of sweeping it under the rug and begging forgiveness to hold on to the illusion that everything was okay. I've felt once-close relationships drift because I couldn't continue the enabling behavior that was the norm. But the thing about real growth is that you start to realize that seeing more clearly doesn't just go one way, or it would simply be projection and ego. The challenge, for me, is separating righteous dissent from whatever charge or emotional baggage I might have connected to that dissent-- essentially, making sure the dissent is for the right reasons and not for selfish ones. We all fall into the trap of wanting to feel morally superior from time to time, me included. But I'm learning that positive change takes time, and requires a lion's share of compassion and compromise. Balancing that-- true compassion and moral dissent-- is very much a valuable tool I'm developing in my life.

Aside from that, things are going pretty damn well right now. My coworkers keep poking me and telling me to stop smiling so damn much. The checkout guy at Trader Joe's told me he likes having me in his line because I always seem so happy. What can I say? I'm in a good place. No big dramas at work, lots of quality time with my nearest and dearest, counseling is both challenging and rewarding, dancing is going well, there are interesting opportunities on the horizon, and dating is going extraordinarily well. Holy moly-- I'm starting to think I need a flow chart, possibly illustrated, or maybe one of those charts like Alice's on The L Word. I'm heading up to NYC twice before the year is out, I'm reconnecting with old friends, I'm meeting new friends. My social calendar is booked solid 'til the third week in December. A lot of beauty, a lot of laughter, a lot of good things happening. A lot for me to smile about. I just have to be careful to make enough downtime for myself so I don't burn out.

Other things... ANTM: Tyra, you suck. A lot. You brought Sarah in as your "real size" model, then cut her because she's neither anorexic nor plus-sized? WTF? You do realize that most women fall in the middle range between those two categories, right? Even women like, say, you? So you cut the girl who took consistently good pictures and was, IMNSHO, fucking hot, just because she didn't gain weight to become a plus-sized model when she was never plus sized to begin with?? Aaaagh, DIAF. Reality TV, man. It blows. Which brings me to my next thought-- I'm going to donate to the "buy striking writers pizzas" fund. Yeah, it irks me that all my favorite shows have/are about to shut down production. But the strike is important, and I'm really proud of Joss Whedon, Ron Moore, and a bunch of my favorite writers/showrunners for standing their ground so eloquently.

And in conclusion, I met a man on the metro this morning. His name is Aloe. What a cool name, great imagery. Very healing and soothing. As it turns out, he also went to School For the Arts, and we had a great conversation about it. I like little moments of serendipity like that.