Libra 12° (October 4)

Last night was something of a shit show. I’d been feeling something brewing for the last several days—both personally and globally, as ever the twain now meet. I want to articulate some thoughts that could translate into a plea to people and corporations vis a vis the tour. I guess that dovetails with the Newsletter idea which I will put out there this week as well. I don’t know if it’s all the traveling but I don’t feel that well or rested—this cold I caught after New York has lingered now for over a week. I need to let it all go (tension) and lean into health now more than ever. Though as it nears 5 PM it’s so hard not to reach for some medium bodied solace. But I am attempting to reel it all in. I need to prepare for my good as they say.

It was a fairly decent day. One client who is very nice and very good always brightens my mood to be honest. We have some very tony characters in our roster and sometimes it does wear on me that the consultancy isn’t really scalable, which is why we are working our way into other means of making do-re-mi. I’m fairly happy getting things underway. I know that I have to work on the show coming up but it is so hard to get motivated when so many tasks and things are constantly hanging in the balance. I know we are working as hard as we can to plow through all the loose ends that are dangling everywhere. And we really do the best we can in the circumstances. I have pretty much everything where I need it to be. I just have to find the motivation to get more accomplished in the days given. Everything takes forever—or at least it feels that way sometimes.

David who moved to D.C. spent some time on the phone sith S about the biz plan which we are waiting on to take root. I’m really hoping for something of a score on this front. When last I stayed at the Eliot in August we were heading to Alaska and I had this joint I hadn’t smoked. So I hid it in my hotel room (we often stay in same room at hotel) and sure enough it was still there when I returned last week. This is something I can’t typically tell anyone, so I thought I’d tell all of you. It feels really hard to be funny right now doesn’t it. I want so much to feel jolly but western civilization is going to shite and this orange douchebag is leading the charge. He was such a joke for decades living in NYC; and now he’s president. And it’s almost been two years of this terrible depression and the GOP using it as a shield to get whatever they need done done. I really hope they all come to a painful end—isn’t that terrible to say. But really I do. Where is Valerie Solanas (is that her name?) when we most need her.

Anyway I decided to just see what kind of stuff and nonsense would come to my brain after a very busy day. I have spent the last few days catching up on all things to do with creating this new tour—now what needs happen, starting on Monday, is to truly start putting my words into place. I have to get all my finances and press clips up to date. I have to go over everything the lawyer sent me. But mainly I have to get right back into this book writing and somehow make it fun. And also dovetail it with work on the show. These are the most important things. We will let the publisher materialize. We will let the agent do likewise. We will let anyone who says they want to fund our business really do it. And I am going to parlay all of my sucesses into a great tour with great artists. And I’m going to get my self into shape and get that Tru show up on running. I also have to get back to the fellows on that Midnight at the Whatever show. To be honest I don’t think it stuck with me.

I’m rather going to focus my attention on Lumos. Which reminds me I do want to be in touch with Georgette.

To view the original Sabian Symbol themed 2015 Blague corresponding to this day: Flashback! The degree of the Sabian Symbol may be higher than the one listed here  as the symbols cluminate in the next degree. There are 360  degrees spread over 365 days.

 Typos happen—I don’t have time or an intern to edit.*
Copyright 2018 Wheel Atelier Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Get your HAUTE ASTROLOGY 2018 Weekly Horoscope ebooks by Starsky + Cox

Libra 11° (October 3)

We were so happy to be a part of the Lumos event and to contribute, even, in our small way. We have of course been to a few of these events now, but there was something particularly resonant about the message this time. So kudos on that score because I think Lumos/U.S.’s mission is really sinking in! The HBO documentary will be huge; and the articulation of how sweeping this all is, via G and J and yourself and your colleague was that much more piercing. (You really deserved a major thumbs up!) What struck us, in particular, was the grass roots element that should be part of the Lumos outreach; and we had some very specific ideas about that.

The bigger donors that you reach with your events comprise a world that we ourselves don’t inhabit for the most part. And it occurs to us that the world in which we do live is peopled by those who have either never heard of Lumos or know very little about it. Not to say that our community isn’t populated by many people of means, because it is; but given our New York – Provincetown connection, the folks we rub up against are more bohemian in spirit, surely, and might not be obvious targets for outreach. That said, these same folks, many of whom are very rich and successful, are more personally activist in nature than they are, say, philanthropic.

So I feel there is a demographic that can be reached via the more grass roots means that you prescribe. As an experiment, for instance, I brought up Lumos to MH (married to TK) and he had never heard of it. So even within the theater community where you are making some inroads, there may be a bit of a disconnect that can be bridged. I can’t tell you how many producers and showrunners (from HBO alone) we hang out with in Provincetown, in summer. Given the fact that Lumos is about so much more than orphanages, that it is about human trafficking and addiction and human development and systemic greed, I feel that the organization could find a sponsor-based foothold among this population I speak of, which includes many artists and performers who are grass-roots activists themselves with varying causes—I feel Lumos could easily become one of them. 

So what am I trying to say here—I’m not exactly sure. But, whereas S and I don’t have the means ourselves to make that big a difference to Lumos’ cause, financially; I do feel that we could help in the grass-roots efforts that you described; and that we could specifically infiltrate the hearts and minds of some real influencers as we do tend to know a great many of them. And I’m just wondering if you would welcome this; and what tools we could be provided in so doing. Let’s use Mark and Tony as an example: I said something like Stella and I were in NYC for a Lumos event; you probably know about Lumos…but if you don’t it’s about creating alternatives to the orphanage system which is really rife with corruption and actually does a great deal of harm to children and families and communities and even nations, feeding into human trafficking and addiction…..you know the message. The reponse was NO! We have no idea with that is. To which I replied, Oh, okay. I’m going to send you some links and information. “Please do!” That type of thing. Just making it personal and getting in there. Of course mentioned Jo and Georgette and how it all happens—that Jo pays for the entire operation so that all donations go directly to the mission—that type of thing.

So I feel if we kind of always planted those seeds with people we know who might then become donors themselves to Lumos, of course; but more than that: Making Lumos a real cause for people who do take up real causes already, and also, dare I say, make the cause something important to be a part of. I can see, even, doing a different brand of event, say, at Joe’s Pub where we perform and other such places around the country which wouldn’t actually cost anything for Lumos, and surely wouldn’t bring in the big dosh that your events already do, but would get the word out to this more bohemian, monied or not, crowd. Is this making any sense? I’ll stop here and see what you have to say before I muse any further! In any case, S and I do want to be of any help we can and I hope we can find a way to be so, increasingly.

To view the original Sabian Symbol themed 2015 Blague corresponding to this day: Flashback! The degree of the Sabian Symbol may be higher than the one listed here  as the symbols cluminate in the next degree. There are 360  degrees spread over 365 days.

 Typos happen—I don’t have time or an intern to edit.*
Copyright 2018 Wheel Atelier Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Get your HAUTE ASTROLOGY 2018 Weekly Horoscope ebooks by Starsky + Cox

Libra 10° (October 2)

Some thoughts on grants and Gravitational Fool deal I need to articulate.

On first glance that looks like a lot to me considering what I remember the grant comprised; but, again, the first thing we are going to do is tackle the grants topic itself and review NEFA specifically. I remember your doing a great deal of work on it yourself (and me doing clean-up at the end). But whatever the case, as I said a year ago: all should be reimbursed.

 We applied for $10K, $1500 of which would go to the artists. We received total $6K and just $4500 up front. When you consider that Anna made 10% of what we’ve received so far and that the lion’s share of work is still ahead of us, her fee seems like a lot; but let’s get on the same page. The way I see it is that the Endicott payment helped round out the grant to potentially $9K, which made the artists fee of $1500 easily possible so we ticked that box. I was thinking you would disperse that and use the other $1500 to pay yourself back for expenses (like anna, photographer, costume) to date. 

Given the hours  and the task ahead over the next several months the remaining amount will soon be eaten but as  I said I will continue working beyond that because i want to exceed the goal outlined by the grant, to create tour(s) that include multi venues. If I were just some guy cold-calling places to get tour dates I don’t think it would work. The fact that the grant is for a non-profit with some standing, and that Afterglow has 8 years experience in Ptown and 4 years in partnership with Harvard, should allow me to get dialogues and meetings going with venues that are desirable and with budgets to start bringing in cash sooner than later.

So as far as Afterglow goes: It will be giving you $1500 for artists fees and $1500 for expenses to date. If it were me, I would divide $1500 (not $3K) amongst the band and use the other half to pay yourself back and keep the remainder on hand for new expenses coming down the pike. I know you won’t do that and that you’ll divide the $3K amongst the band which means waiting until the next shot of cash for doing the job at hand. So you need to keep a list (as I do) of your expenses including the Anna payment and you may (depending on grant stipulation) need to have an invoice from her. 

In any case the focus should now be on getting that next cash infusion as soon as possible. But we need to know when, according to the grant, that can be. Otherwise it’s just me booking gigs in the meantime. So we just need to be clear about what the grant’s expectations are of us. If we can’t start touring until 2020 then we will be booking GF (or the band for music gigs) NOT under the NEFA auspice to get some dough in pockets.

To view the original Sabian Symbol themed 2015 Blague corresponding to this day: Flashback! The degree of the Sabian Symbol may be higher than the one listed here  as the symbols cluminate in the next degree. There are 360  degrees spread over 365 days.

 Typos happen—I don’t have time or an intern to edit.*
Copyright 2018 Wheel Atelier Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Get your HAUTE ASTROLOGY 2018 Weekly Horoscope ebooks by Starsky + Cox

Libra 9° (October 1)

Had dinner last night with a client and her new husband. Doing double duty here today because I have to prepare some blocks of text for a grant. So I’m afraid you’ll have to read my grant language or just move on. I do love staying at the Eliot, meanwhile, they make me feel so much at home. And I get to eat at Myers + Chang once again!

Afterglow is Provincetown’s Live Performance Arts Festival. The 9th annual Afterglow will be presented September 9-15, 2019 at the Art House. Afterglow brings to Provincetown engaged audiences from the region, country, and abroad to see its award-winning artists, who typically only appear in festival capitals like New York, Los Angeles, Sydney, London, Berlin, San Francisco, Manchester, Dublin, Edinburgh, et al. Afterglow has earned Provincetown a star on the international festival map, opening dialogues with directors of other festivals world-wide. Afterglow’s artists make headlines as social icons and activists; and range from the newly emerging to Grammy-, Tony-, Sundance-, Obie- and Academy- award- winners innovating live performance as we know it. Afterglow presents solo plays, neo cabaret, progressive sketch, performance art, multimedia, dance, electronica, poetic/rap, rock opera, musical comedy and other forms, fostering Provincetown’s reputation as a important live-arts center and incubator, not just a commercial/resort entertainment town. Afterglow cultivates local talent—performers, designers, costumers, choreographers, composers, playwrights —in festival, and with ancillary productions. The festival launched a “playwright’s initiative” and produces work at major venues/theaters under the “Afterglow of Provincetown” aegis. Afterglow reclaims Provincetown’s birthright as the birth place of the modern American stage, receiving support and promotion from Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater and Dixon Place in NYC, and from the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge where Afterglow produces the successful Afterglow-at-Oberon series, now in its fourth expanded season. Works originated at Afterglow have moved Off-Broadway, to NYC, and to London, Los Angeles, Paris and other major cities around the globe.

Afterglow directly promotes Provincetown as a perfect destination spot for travelers during festival week and all year long. Afterglow draws upwards of 85% of its audience from Off-Cape—mainly New England, the mid-Atlantic and the West Coast. Attendees stay in inns and hotels, frequent restaurants, bars, lounges and nightclubs and partake of the many shops, museums and galleries and services. Business owners cite an economic boon during festival week—audiences and artists not only eat, drink and shop, but also take tours, rent bikes, ride ferries and sample all the town has on offer. Afterglow advertises town businesses via its website, programs and social media. Festival artists also promote businesses they frequent via Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Afterglow disseminates information on town businesses to its artists and showgoers. Afterglow’s audience are well-heeled travelers and influencers who spend generously, tip freely, support local commerce and enrich the Provincetown’s economy. The festival has partnered with other non-profits, donating proceeds of its shows to such organizations as The Trevor Project, Camp Lightbulb, the AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod and Helping Our Women (HOW). Afterglow tries to raise funds to produce work, increasingly, in the off-season and has planned ancillary programs, workshops and lab productions that attract participants year-round.

Unlike last year, our first at the Art House, when we presented more well-known artists resulting in more audience numbers per show, this year we planned to take more loss at the box office in presenting six artists we’ve never presented before, three we only presented once, years ago, and just one returning popular artist. So while we typically measure attendance in ticket sales, success this year was marked by our ability to foster this roster of new talent to Provincetown. Success also stemmed from an increase in Sponsors (complimentary passholders) who are not reflected in box office sales. And this year, for a small donation, we offered festival “Sparklers” pairs of half-price tickets, instead of just single tickets in the past. So our houses were fuller despite the dip in ticket sales. We doubled our Missionary Sponsors—local businesses whose owners and staff also receive free passes. This further augmented audiences. Afterglow’s hosting venue keeps precise records of paid and complimentary tickets year. All told our shows and events brought hundreds of additional audience members to Afterglow’s attention. To date, the festival has brought to Provincetown upwards of 80 artists, many of whom have become beloved fixtures. Though returning artists command bigger sold-out houses, the festival mission is dedicated to presenting new artists and acts never before seen in Provincetown.

In various ways, each year of Afterglow has been more successful than the previous one. We do not only measure success in sales as much as exposure. And presenting many unknown artists this year, we fundraised vigorously this year so we could offer complimentary and discounted tickets to our most avid supporters. Showgoers must trust our curation—and feedback on our programming this year was more favorable than ever, despite artists being unfamiliar. Success is measured by further increase in press coverage. We have established steady coverage from radio and television and have enjoyed a slew of features, now, from Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Cape Cod Times, Playbill, The Huffington Post, The Dig, Edge, Boston Spirit, as well as Provincetown Magazine and The Banner. Success is measured in increased awareness and attendance and in the uptick in local audience and sponsorship. Collaborations with the Public Theater and American Repertory Theater mean more scope and exposure. As works premiered and developed by Afterglow move to other stages—from Off-Broadway to London’s Soho Theater and beyond, our program credits are duly noted. More grants and sponsorships spell success: The Nelson Trust and the Mass Cultural Council continued their support along with successful artists and entertainment figures like Jim Hodges, Ken Fulk, Alan Poul, Dan Minahan and David Bowd & Kevin O’Shea. Success is more international artists seeking participation; and raising more money for other charitable causes via collaboration. Success is in the growth of subscribers and in the expansion of social media. Success mainly derives from supporters, far and wide, visiting Provincetown expressly during festival week.

We have yet, in eight years, been alloted the funds necessary for a print and broadcast advertising budget. We leave no stone unturned with editorial and other media, but we requiree the support of the VSB and other sources to create an ad campaign. We could advertise in other festival towns around the world and draw, largely LGBTQ, audiences from abroade. We want more local audience, too. And we hope to further increase our ability to provide complimentary and discounted tickets to students and seniors in particular. We do “gift” Sparklerships (donations of $100), from donors not using them to those who need such assists to see our shows. This boosts attendance and good will among locals. We learned that social media like Instagram is essential for consciousness raising and we have expanded that. We increased private and business funding and have created a Concierge service on our website that promotes these businesses. We have engaged local artists more this year and seek to create a residency environment whereby visiting artists can collaborate with locals. We strive to move works we’ve premiered to other venues stamped with a “Made in Provincetown” Afterglow seal. We want coverage on our work to preserve Provincetown’s little known stage heritage.

We secured highly visible TV and print coverage. (PBS WGBH, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, others) Our PR-marketing plan focusses on editorial, broadcast, promotional events, posters, postcards, e-blasts, newsletters, web campaigns, new media and social networking, vehicle advertising, staged events, tours and cross-promotion with Dixon Place and The Public Theater in NYC, ART in Cambridge, UnCabaret in L.A.. We print programs touting our sponsors, but fail to afford advertising. Our celebrated branding includes a classy, bold logo, identity and collateral and eye-catching posters. We hope advertising will be a new line of offense; with support from PR, shifting more to the national and international level. The impact of local coverage is arguable, while social media among local people and businesses is impactful. We launched a Playbill-Instagram initiative, via a photoblog led by our participating artists. We’ve had coverage from the Boston Globe (circulation 232,432 daily) Huffington Post ( 4-11 million readers, daily) New York Magazine (circulation: 600K ); Media targets include The New York Times, (1,150,589 weekday; 1,645,152 Sunday, Online: 30 million/month);); Style.com, the Daily Beast (3-10 million daily);; DailyCandy.com (600,000 daily). Travel, in-flight and arts magazines. Web support includes NYPress.com, BroadwayWorld.com, TheNewYorker.com, Culturebot.com, Vogue.com, www.Out.com, www.Playbill.com Ads would appear in Provincetown Magazine, Provincetown Banner, Cape Cod Times, Boston Globe; Providence Phoenix (80K); Time Out NY (86K); Boston Magazine (92K) , others.

To view the original Sabian Symbol themed 2015 Blague corresponding to this day: Flashback! The degree of the Sabian Symbol may be higher than the one listed here  as the symbols cluminate in the next degree. There are 360  degrees spread over 365 days.

 Typos happen—I don’t have time or an intern to edit.*
Copyright 2018 Wheel Atelier Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Get your HAUTE ASTROLOGY 2018 Weekly Horoscope ebooks by Starsky + Cox

Libra 8° (September 30)

I needed to get some clarification going for the touring grant we are doing. So I’m going to write the NEFA people and ask some questions and see what I get back:

Sorry to bother you but I just had a few questions as we make headway with the planning grant for Gravitational Fool. I know that the tour must consist of three New England bookings/venues—we plan to have a good deal more in the end. We just staged the showcase for GF at Endicott College which was great and we are speaking with a nice roster of interested venues for the tour. I have a few questions:

First, when is the earliest we can schedule a tour date — does it have to be after June 2019? Can it be before that time? Yes, all dates must be after June 1, 2019 in order to be eligible for Expeditions.

At what point can we ask for the remaining $1500 of the grant and what do we need to have accomplished to get that next infusion? Aside from the expenses incurred, we project that we will “use up” the money on administrative hours alone and the paying out of the artist fee well before reaching our goal of putting together what we hope will be a comprehensive tour (of course we anticipated that the grant would never fully cover the work entailed in booking a tour for GF but of course it surely helps and incentivizes the project). The balance of the grant will be paid once the planning has been completed and you have submitted a final report.

We will want to apply for the actual (separate) tour grant which I assume is due also in April for Gravitational Fool. In order to do so do we simply need to have  (at least) the 3 bookings made? The application for touring support is in February 2019. You will need to have at least three engagements confirmed and each of those organizations will need to submit an Expeditions Touring application.

Can we simultaneously apply for the planning grant again for another New England artist such that we have two artists at any given time being awarded each of these grants? Is it even limited to just the two? Yes, this is fine.

As we failed to receive the full $10K for which we applied, can you help us pinpoint why that was so that we have a better chance of being awarded full amount(s) in future? It was a clear and thorough application, but I think the panel just didn’t find your application quite as compelling as some others and that combined with unusually high demand resulted in your award being less than the request. The panelists change each year so it can be hard to predict the future. Continuing to stay in touch throughout the process will help strengthen your application next time.

To view the original Sabian Symbol themed 2015 Blague corresponding to this day: Flashback! The degree of the Sabian Symbol may be higher than the one listed here  as the symbols cluminate in the next degree. There are 360  degrees spread over 365 days.

 Typos happen—I don’t have time or an intern to edit.*
Copyright 2018 Wheel Atelier Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Get your HAUTE ASTROLOGY 2018 Weekly Horoscope ebooks by Starsky + Cox

Libra 7° (September 29)

The Dobens plus one went to Worcester of al places to get ear piercings. I stayed back. Two landscapers lodged themselves in the back yard trying to figure out how to negotiate the debris from the party yesterday. I came upon this tiny bit of writing as I sorted through my stuff. My start up disk is full and my computer is making all sorts of weirdy machinations.

The word nemisis is literally from the goddess Nem-Isis, who was the shadow twin of Isis. An archeytpal Debby Downer if you will.

In my life, I believe, that I have had one nemisis, which is different from an enemy. A nemesis might be closer to a frenemy but one of the two people in the equation might be bordering on restraining order. My nemesis has actually tried to kill me, oh so subtly, but I don’t take it personally as he tries to kill everyone he “loves”, oh so subtly, because he has this weird worship/destroy attitude toward people he suspects are smarter, more fortunate or talented than s/he. This nemesis is no longer a nemesis in that I am in no way any longer emotionally involved with this character. Someone close to me probably warned me by saying something like: Anyone that wants to get that close to you so fast is probably not someone you want to know (or probably will know in the longr un because they are going to assert some narcissistic agenda). True dat. Funny thing about narcissists: They stage things like farewell tours and then they don’t go away.

To view the original Sabian Symbol themed 2015 Blague corresponding to this day: Flashback! The degree of the Sabian Symbol may be higher than the one listed here  as the symbols cluminate in the next degree. There are 360  degrees spread over 365 days.

 Typos happen—I don’t have time or an intern to edit.*
Copyright 2018 Wheel Atelier Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Get your HAUTE ASTROLOGY 2018 Weekly Horoscope ebooks by Starsky + Cox

Libra 6° (September 28)

Woke to Stella not feeling stellar. We were meant to go to Maine but we stayed put. I did work in bed setting up a Boston Globe article which worked out well, timing wise for the journalist. Speaking of journalism:

I was talking about being a journalist. I started at Passion magazine in Paris in 1986 than moved to New York in 1987 where I worked at an Avenue magazine offshoot called On The Avenue; at the same time I became managing editor then editor of DV8* which was a downtown music, fashion and art magazine that club kids like James St. James and Michael Alig would circulate for us at clubs like the Tunnel, Limelight, Palladium and The World. I then became managing editor of The New York Social Calendar which was a hip rag that was put in the new breed of luxury hotels like the Royalton and the Paramount where Where magazine wouldn’t fit. I freelanced for a number of magazines and newspapers including Paper, The New York Observer, Stop, In-Style, where I was a party reporter and Detour, where I wrote big celebrity features, The New York Times and the Boston Globe. I also was a field producer of a television show called Ooh La La made in Canada by the people who produced Fashion Television with Jeannie Becker. I did fashion pieces for youthy magazines like YM, Mademoiselle and Teen People. Soon, though, people got wind of Starsky + Cox and we/they began writing horoscope columns and features for seemingly every publication from Paris Vogue, Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle and Teen People, Star, Glamour and ultimately the Daily Beast (if you can believe we had a short-lived column there which ultimately became our own brand of Haute Astrology). Meanwhile under my real name and also under Stella’s real name I wrote for Neimann Marcus “The Book” which was pretty prestigious and allowed for more creativity than journalistic outlets, even though it was considered advertorial

To view the original Sabian Symbol themed 2015 Blague corresponding to this day: Flashback! The degree of the Sabian Symbol may be higher than the one listed here  as the symbols cluminate in the next degree. There are 360  degrees spread over 365 days.

 Typos happen—I don’t have time or an intern to edit.*
Copyright 2018 Wheel Atelier Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Get your HAUTE ASTROLOGY 2018 Weekly Horoscope ebooks by Starsky + Cox

Libra 5° (September 27)

Drove to Lexington this morning for lunch and for a birthday ice cream with the birthday girl. We had a quick bite at the parents and then set off to Beverly to see the showcase of Gravitational Fool at Endicott. I need to articulate some thoughts regarding this show and what it needs but I guess i just need things to percolate in my brain a bit. I will otherwise re-muse myself:

Why do I do what it is I do in regard to the half of each year, I spend, putting together performing arts festivals and series. Well, the simple answer is that Ed Sullivan and I share more than a birthday. Like Ed, I was a journalist from the age of 22 to about 40. IN fact the main reason I thought to adopt the pseudonym of Quinn Cox was because I wanted to keep my journalistic world—editors and publishers and the subjects I wrote about—separate from what might or not be a success as an astrological duo which has affectionately come to be known as Starsky + Cox. But you see paradoxes began to spring up. Like my Libran brother Oscar Wilde said, and I paraphrase because I’m too lazy to look this shit up: Give a man a mask and he’ll reveal his truths to you. Okay I’m going to look it up and see how close I got. What he actually said was: “Give him a mask and he will tell you the truth.” Which is much simpler and better but I was close.

 People do not know me and that’s been okay. I think I’m getting ready to reveal myself in teaspoonfuls. The fact is that back around 2005 I thought Stella and I needed to take to a stage, something we had only done together, rarely, in acting classes where, at HB Studios, we were labelled “the Lunts” which, I won’t lie, I loved. I had a sort of rock-bottom epiphany where I thought, hang on, our book Sextrology came out last year and it has been a success, so we should take to the stage and somehow combine comedy and astrology with some music thrown in. At a place called (under) Elmo in Chelsea, which one tried to convince oneself was a boutique version of Fez under Time Cafe which had recently closed down, we launched our first “Cosmic Cabaret” to a full house of wonderful people we knew personally and periferally. Lots of fashion people—Zaldy and Ruben and Isabel Toledo and John Bartlett—as opposed to performer folks. And, I have to say, after another decade or so “being” with performer folk, I much prefer the people in the fashion and design world, despite the fact I was so utterly convinced, in 2005, that I wanted to stop hanging around with fashion folks whom I did at the time find fatuous and enter the “real” world of performing artists who were down, dirty, honest and true.

Performing artists, who had been down, dirty, honesty and true for the whole time I dipped in and out of their circles, for the past 20 years since I made my way to NYC, but when, in 2006, I began to seek their company, they were on their last gasp of genuine experience. Now, first, let me say, there is no downtown. And I say this as both a journalist and a downtown denizen who more dabbles in performance. I have said this for a decade now: Round about 2007, “downtown artists” began emulating some hybrid breed of Upper East Side Socialite and opera, indie-movie and/or rock star. Quite a leap, I know; but one felt, downtown, that one should speak in a mid-Atlantic accent previously reserved for Rosiland Russell and garb oneself from head to toe in outfits that were spontaneously ready to pass, if pressured, at a Met or Whitney Event.

Suddenly the creme de la creme of the downtown scene used words like creme de la creme. Though they might still live in apartments where the bath tub was recently or still, in the kitchen, they thought they should no longer have to pay for meals or makeup or plastic surgery because they were iconic, and they were. Some still are although that particular brand of enchantment is wearing off and, dare I say, thin.

And I started to miss my friends that worked at magazines that no longer existed. I started to miss the art directors and fellow writers, like myself, who live such solitary lives that it takes a proper poking or, at the very least, a more gregarious partner to stap you into interaction. But what I missed most about living life as a more anonymous character was the ability to move on a dime, to travel, undetected, without needing to be any one place on any certain date….

To view the original Sabian Symbol themed 2015 Blague corresponding to this day: Flashback! The degree of the Sabian Symbol may be higher than the one listed here  as the symbols cluminate in the next degree. There are 360  degrees spread over 365 days.

 Typos happen—I don’t have time or an intern to edit.*
Copyright 2018 Wheel Atelier Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Get your HAUTE ASTROLOGY 2018 Weekly Horoscope ebooks by Starsky + Cox

Libra 4° (September 26)

I slept somewhat better. But still this cold is kicking my behind. I don’t feel much like writing today to be honest. So I will do another cut and paste:

As we often are, we were approached by an event planner to do readings for guest at a private party. But there was something mysterious about this whole affair as the planner didn’t seem to be someone who threw a lot of parties, and we came to learn she worked for just a few clients helping them with their private and corporate events which kept her busy. This event was to be at a private home in Rhode Island and we took it as an opportunity to see a new part of New England. Only was there did we realize the island was where much of Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom was filmed. So we drove around to visit location spots, most notably, the “cove” of the place that serves as the film’s title.

 The party itself only had about forty people in attendance but it was pretty elaborate and the grounds on which it was held, a private home on the water with multiple acres and buildings, was something the likes of which I’ve never seen; and I’ve spent a lot of time around rich people. We were set up in a sort of tower structure from which we could look down on the partygoers whom one couldn’t help imagine lived very privileged lives. One never knows exactly on which side of the political equation people might be in this position but, we were in short order led to assume that these people here assembled were on the right side of politics and history. How did we know this? Because they were all incredibly nice and unassuming people. In a world where the biblical adage that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of the needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven often rings so true, this party of people was to prove twrong that saying.

We had no idea the name of the hosts all the while we were at the party. Only by doing a bit of Google detective work the next day were our assumtions corrobarated. The host of the party was indeed a well-known, celebrated, very wealthy man of the Warren Buffet school of philanthropy where he was determined to give a great deal of his wealth away and to put it in service of others. We’ve always said that when it comes to private clients the best people in the world seem to find us and to be genuintely interested in raising their consciousness, making it a joy to help them in that aim. What we realize is that the same holds true for those who come to hire us for events. In either case we have never solicited interest but allow word of mouth and, I’d like to say, some good karma, make the referrals for us.

To view the original Sabian Symbol themed 2015 Blague corresponding to this day: Flashback! The degree of the Sabian Symbol may be higher than the one listed here  as the symbols cluminate in the next degree. There are 360  degrees spread over 365 days.

 Typos happen—I don’t have time or an intern to edit.*
Copyright 2018 Wheel Atelier Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Get your HAUTE ASTROLOGY 2018 Weekly Horoscope ebooks by Starsky + Cox

Libra 3° (September 25)

Last evening I really didn’t sleep at all, my cold keeping my up for most the night. We had to move two of our clients, one to tomorrow and one to next week. We had an exact repeat of our food intake today as yesterday—cauliflower crust pizza for lunch and a lovely salad with chicken breast for dinner. I watched a pretty cool documentary about settlers on the Galapagos Islands in the early 20th century and otherwise lay low, trying to sweat this cold out, in bed for most of the day. In the evening we watched the Jane Fonda doc but didn’t finish watching. Will do so tomorrow. Going through some writing:

I love Julia Child. Who doesn’t, I know, but she has always held a special fascination for me. When I was a waiter in 1986 at the Harvest in Harvard Square, she and her husband Paul would come in for lunch. You would here “Bonjour Roger” in that booming unmistakeable tenor as she greeted the tiny alcoholic nicotine sodden maitre d’ whose name she properly prounced in French, ro-jay. Paul, a curled shrimp of a man who had already suffered his series of small strokes, followed hist towering wife into the dining room where she would always order the same thing: a burger, rare, no bun. She is a Leo and I’ve often remarked on the similarity between her choice of lunch and the bloody meat one would throw into a lion cage. 

Before the book and movies about her during the last decades, I always thought she would make a great subject for a work of art. I won’t go any further into that thought lest I actually end up pursuing this instinct myself. At the very least I think she and her husband would make great costumes for Stella and me, come Halloween. But, obviously, there’s more to it. Here was a couple who worked together (even though you didn’t know he was behind the scenes), who had no kids and were rather late bloomers. They were also obsessed with France and had an affinity for Cambridge, Massachusetts and Maine. All of this I can relate to.

She described herself “as the cat looking at the king” when she was a student of Le Cordon Bleu—what can be more Leo an expression than that. And what person from any other sign could turn what was for her a personal passion into an entire movement, changing the way Americans cooked, forever. What other sign could see a chef superstar embodied in the form of a fifties something woman. I’m happy I had the few opportunities I did to wait on Mrs. Child whose name couldn’t be more fitting for someone who lived life with a childlike exuberance and who gave so much to the world.

To view the original Sabian Symbol themed 2015 Blague corresponding to this day: Flashback! The degree of the Sabian Symbol may be higher than the one listed here  as the symbols cluminate in the next degree. There are 360  degrees spread over 365 days.

 Typos happen—I don’t have time or an intern to edit.*
Copyright 2018 Wheel Atelier Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Get your HAUTE ASTROLOGY 2018 Weekly Horoscope ebooks by Starsky + Cox