Stupid Pervasive Annoying Mischief

RETROGRADE MERCURY TAURUS/GEMINI
Mercury, perceived to be spinning backwards, straddles the fence between Taurus and Gemini, creating an odd energy across the monetary/technology cusp. Ebay, Amazon...all shopping online should be carefully considered for there is a great possibility for mixup and mayhem. Mercury is, after all, a trickster planet and when retrograde, anything can happen.

Today, I opened my email to see that a new person had commented on the Guestbook on my website: www.starchildtrilogy.com. Imagine my surprise to see the following message:

Interested in Brunette celebritys? Right place for it! [and proceeded to list a website]

Besides the obvious spelling error (shudder), who in the world thought to spam a guestbook? I had no idea that this spamdemic had reached the guestbook world. Can you imagine if this happened in the physical world? You're at a wedding and you look down at the guestbook to see that someone had written a note inviting the bride and groom to visit a site that boasts shemale pornography. Unless that's a theme of the wedding (and seriously, what flowers would go with that theme?), most would consider it highly inappropriate.

"But Jared," you say, "your website is hardly a wedding. It's barely an event, let alone a formalized black-tie affair." Well, reader, you're right. Though hardly the momentous occasion that heralds the incipience of matrimonial bliss (can you think of a more cumbersome way to describe a wedding ceremony?), my website is dear to me and holds great importance in my mind. After all, it's a way for me to communicate an aspect of my being in the form of a novel, which, by the way, has absolutely nothing to do with brunette women with extra appendages (just in case you were wondering).

Curious, I decided to take a look at that infamous "spam" folder in my various email accounts. Within one email, I had pharmacy news (i don't take any medication, although those of you reading my blog probably think i should; member enlargement pills (yeah, thanks for the self-esteem blow) that brag about the pleasure I'll be able to give a woman (check the demographic); an ad to lose weight (again, thanks for the therapy session); and the offer of a relationship from someone named Wendy who claims to be the best thing that could ever happen to me.

It pervades other areas. Twitter has it (in fact, spam has its own profile - www.twitter.com/spam). Myspace has it. Some would consider the numerous quizzes that are found on Facebook to be spam. Even cell phones have spam nowadays. I've received calls from phone numbers that I didn't know and I let them go to voicemail and it's just gibberish. It's amazing to think that spam has moved in and shares a common law marriage with technology.

Ah, but it started long before that. Remember chain letters? That's old school spam. Not even emailed chain letters (although those are a high annoyance as well); snail mail chains. "Count the number of letters in your last name. You must send this letter to that many people within the number of days that equals number of letters in your first name or else you will ripped apart by a purple bear in an overcoat." Oh, please. Like the real chain letters were any less ridiculous? At least Internet spam is ecofriendly.

Bottom line: Spam is annoyingly pervasive and seems unavoidable.

Or perhaps it's just Mercury's sense of humor.

New Beginnings

SUN in ARIES
Aries is the first sign of the zodiac, from March 21 to April 20th (approximately). It's a sign of youth, of initiative, of drive, of sexuality, of courage and it starts on the vernal equinox (beginning of spring). And the sun is a planet of vitality, of energy, of our basic natures. So Aries is roaring high with the Sun's support.

Are you an Aries? Learn more about having your Sun in Aries here!

Makes me think about new beginnings, especially since I'm starting this blog. Why not? This year has been a year of new projects and it's only April. There are so many things I feel that I can write about with a generalized topic like beginnings, but this blog is probably the best focus for a first entry. And not just blogging, but expression in general.

Who knew that blogging would become such a trend? I used to have a blog back when we called them LiveJournals. I was doing a 9 month gig at Amish Acres, a national historic site in a one-light town in Indiana. I would write all about the adventures I was having so that people back home could see what I was up to without having to constantly call each person and update them. Needless to say, I didn't have a great deal to write about, but hey, the family liked it.

Nowadays, it seems like everyone has a blog. Whether it's on Facebook, Myspace, IMVU, or here on Blogger, blogging is the new black. With everything that's going on in the world, it seems like a lot of people are able to express themselves; a vital outlet for frustrations, excitement, and opinions. Journaling has been taken to a new level. The difference is that many of these are public and if you're entertaining enough, you develop a following. People rely on you for entertainment. Some people have a gimmick, like Aaron Karo's RUMINATIONS or pinkisthenewblog.com. Others are able to offer advice or insight to those who might be searching for information on certain subjects, such as Kristin Nelson's PUB RANTS. Some people just want to express themselves, and I think it's a great idea.

For those who prefer something more immediate (and let's face it, in today's society, who doesn't want immediacy), we've got Facebook, Twitter, Myspace (if people still remember Myspace), and, going back to the Jurassic period, Friendster. It started back at Friendster as a networking tool. That moved to Myspace where we added backgrounds and the like. Twitter is a new site for me. I'm "following" a few people on there with their "tweets" but I still don't understand the importance of learning that my friend is showering or eating eggs or dancing around their room naked. I don't really need the constant updates on the lives of my friends, but I can't help reading them.

Facebook opened a whole new world and now that they've updated, you can not only find out the status of your friends, but you can find out what Musical they are, what their inner Animal is, even what their power Color is and what that means. I'll admit that I enjoy the quizzes, even though they clog my live feed, but when I found out what type of BACON my friend was, that was almost enough to make me quit cold turkey. On top of that, Facebook has a million apps, complete with those that cost money. Then there are the Notes with surveys. It's a full time job to keep up with Facebook. A few weeks ago, a friend asked me if I was attending her birthday party and I asked her if she had emailed me about it. Scandalized, she responded, "No, I Facebooked you!" This is what life has become. If you're not on Facebook, you might as well not exist. And yet, somehow, my sister managers to work and have a social life and a healthy relationship without a FB account. I admire that. I don't know that I have the strength to give it up. Besides, there are so many wonderful addictions to play with on FB. Similar to Twitter, FB offers the status update, though people tend to post slightly more abstract ideas instead of what they are doing at that moment. Depending on the post, each status update my be a Rorschach Test of your friend's emotions based on your interpretation and how well you know them. But of course, you know every one of your FB friends intimately, yes?

Recently, I discovered LinkedIn, a networking site for professionals. I've worked in two major fields - Writing and Theatre. Both rely on who you know, so sistes such as this are essential for my professions. I don't know of many fields that don't consider networking a vital tool. Perhaps taxidermy, but then, not many animals are Twittering about their deaths. I'm still discovering the secrets of LinkedIn, but I have to admit that there's an excitement to see my network grow.

IMVU takes it one step further. You have a profile there, but it's for a virtual self that can then explore a virtual world and chat with other people. You create an avatar and shop and earn badges. It's Myspace or Facebook meets SecondLife. Definitely takes profiling, blogging, and networking to a new level.

Now, with the iPhone and its colleagues, we can stay in touch at all times. There are many benefits to these connections - our world is getting smaller by the day - but I remember the days when you had to wait until you got home before you heard a message from someone. And then, there's AIM, the precursor to the FB status, with its away messages. It's still there, but I don't see as many friends there anymore. As more and more networking systems emerge, we leap to keep up. It's exciting and frustrating and addicting.

And as Aquarius is the sign of innovation and technology, one might say that we are truly experiencing the Age of Aquarius. :)

Stop back to check out what's happening in the stars and what that might bring up for discussion!