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Man, is it April already? It's time for a new month, a new quarter, the ushering in of Spring, and the latest installment of my 9x9 Greek alphabet puzzle series. Enjoy!

Preparation

From today's Pisces horoscope from Rob Brezsny's Free Will Astrology:

In horticulture, “hardening off” is the process of gradually exposing seedlings started indoors to outdoor conditions before transplanting them. Too much exposure too fast will shock them; no exposure at all will leave them unprepared. Let's invoke this as a useful metaphor for you. I believe you are being hardened off, Pisces. Life is making small, increasing demands on your tender self. Though this may sometimes feel uncomfortable, I assure you that it's preparation, not cruelty. You're being readied for a shift from protected space to open ground. My advice is twofold: 1. Don't retreat back into the ultra-safe greenhouse. 2. Don't let yourself be thrown into full exposure all at once.

Sunday Asides #88

• It’s the last full week of the month and of the quarter, and I have been busy trying to close things out strong. I had a phone screen for another contract role this week, and I had a job interview for a director-level role. It’s the first bit of activity I’ve had in over a month, so hopefully things are starting to look up in this dismal ass job market.

• I'm so tired of working for companies that want me to pull off million dollar results with little to no resources or budget. At one of my gigs, they actually told me to "use my imagination" after I presented them with the exact solution they needed (except they don’t want to cut the check). Are we in Mister Rogers' Neighborhood? Is this the Land of Make-Believe? How about we use some MONEY to make things happen?

• Speaking of money, Trump's about to have his signature on future U.S. currency, making him the first sitting President to do so. Meanwhile, the U.S. is fiscally insolvent, and 92,000 jobs were lost last month based on the latest government report. Are we great yet?

• As a child of the 80s, I was really into spy stuff. Secret messages, invisible ink, hidden cameras...all of that. I knew Morse code, semaphore, the alphabet in ASL, and used to mess around with all kinds of ciphers and codes. Keep in mind that I grew up in the Deep South before the Internet. All we had were encyclopedias and the outside.

• If you have a decently sized Plex library, I highly recommend downloading the Bunny Ears TV app on Apple TV. I’m a part of the beta test, and it’s been so much fun being able to navigate my media library like old school television with channels and a guide. Oh, and there’s Channel Surfer, a site which turns your YouTube Watch Later queue into a similar experience. And on the music front, I recently downloaded the Pandora Apple TV and Roku apps and rediscovering some of my old stations I hadn’t touched in well over a decade. I’ll put on my D’Nell station, get a little stoned, and have a good ol’ time. Gotta love technology…sometimes.

• How do you know that you like to get fisted? Like...how do you get to that point? Not judging, just immensely curious. I don’t even like a finger going up there, let alone a whole damn hand. I’m intrigued. Don’t try it on me though.

• Quotes for the week:

  • "We can choose to experience the pain of growth or the pain of decay. It is a choice you make daily."
  • "I don't argue with people who aren't qualified enough to be in the conversation."
  • "Having feelings does not make you irrational. Believing that the world must be a certain way because of your feelings does."

Imagination

From today's Pisces horoscope from Rob Brezsny's Free Will Astrology:

Piscean physicist Albert Einstein said, “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” In the spirit of his genius, I recommend that you abandon logic completely! Never think rationally again! Make all decisions based on fantasy and feelings! APRIL FOOL! Einstein was advocating for the creative power of imagination, not the abandonment of reason. What you truly need is a marriage of visionary thinking and practical logic. Ask your imagination to show you possibilities, then call on lucid logic to help you manifest them.

Sunday Asides #87

• I’m 45 years old now, and I’ve officially crossed over from unc to O.G. status. I haven’t been in a festive or celebratory mood for months now though. I’m just going through the motions, y’all. Keep me lifted.

• I talked earlier about Sinners and their record number of Oscar nominations. They walked away with four wins, including Michael B. Jordan for Best Actor and Ryan Coogler for Best Original Screenplay. Outside of that, I couldn’t tell you what else happened at the Oscars or who won what. I didn’t watch.

• No quotes for the week. Your boy is tired.