Tag: astrology

by jad

Just Be Real

There’s a benefit to going through Instagram’s “shared on this day” feature every morning, as I do. I begin to notice things I wouldn’t otherwise. Like how I seem to go through different phases or micro-“eras” with the photos I take or the looks I gravitate towards, depending on how I’m feeling or where I am or what I’m interested in at the time. You might be noticing that too. I don’t know what to make of the set I took yesterday. It’s minimal, for a start. Militantly minimal. A year from now, I might have words to articulate why. … Continue reading “Just Be Real” →

by jad

Let My Mouth Be Ever-Fresh With Praise

“Each morning newEach day shot throughWith all the sharp, small shards of shrapnelThat seem to burst out of me and you. Head down toward KansasWe will get there when we get there,don’t you worryFeel bad about the things we do along the wayBut not really that badWe inhaledthe frozen airLord, send me a mechanicif I’m not beyond repair.“ I wrote copy in the recent past that evoked the notion of “Seattle nice.” Maybe you’ve seen it. The idea was to grab the attention of the connection and community starved in this city and invite them to a thing that would … Continue reading “Let My Mouth Be Ever-Fresh With Praise” →

by jad

Year of the Dragon

It’s almost the Lunar New Year of the Dragon, which means that this year is gon’ be Christine’s year (it’s her year, it’s gon’ be her year) in more ways than one. And, apparently, it’s also going to be our year – every one of us: “Dragon years are considered the most auspicious years of any in the Chinese Zodiac. As the only mythical creature of the zodiac, the Dragon is considered to be both powerful and benevolent. Because the rules of the earthly realm don’t apply to dragons (think about it: dragons can fly), this year has infinite possibilities. … Continue reading “Year of the Dragon” →

by jad

Black History Month

There’s a lot of talk right now in astrology circles about stepping into our most future-forward selves with the turning of the plutonic clock towards an age of Aquarius, and the best advice has been to figure out what that means by looking at how far we’ve come. There are certain dates they suggest to help mark these shifts, but I’m less interested in the details of the plot than I am in the overall shape of the story being told: that our tomorrow is forged in yesterday’s fire and quenched today. I had the honor of being invited into … Continue reading “Black History Month” →

by jad

Aquarian Eye

“Many people, when writing about photography say that it always shows what we already know—that which is common knowledge. I think this assertion should be corrected to say instead: photography always shows what we think we know.” (Luigi Ghirri) I woke up today to a message from a Lebanese visual artist that rattled me a little, given that we’d never interacted before, and that I respect their work. It said, in response to a thing about astrology I’d thrown up in my stories: “The aqua moon explains how I can never grasp your point of view through your photography. Not … Continue reading “Aquarian Eye” →

by jad

Re-Witnessing Lebanon

I asked @ouroboros.community what the cosmic soup had cooking for me, and this is what she said: “You are closing the calendar year with a gorgeous full moon in your sixth house of day-to-day life, work, and health. Even though the world wants us to make New Year’s resolutions, the transits currently want us to reflect on the past. How far have you come regarding these areas? How much do you feel supported by your community?” x I found my old #CanonPowerShot A710IS while rummaging through boxes at my parent’s place and was pleasantly surprised to see a bunch of … Continue reading “Re-Witnessing Lebanon” →

by jad

National Camera Day: Смена-Symbol in Everett

So apparently today is #NationalCameraDay, which makes it a great day to share the (unedited) results of my very first roll using the Soviet-era (1972 to be precise) LOMO Smena Symbol. I’ll have lots to say about the camera itself in the next post, but first, a few words about the content itself; I hate feeling like I’ve wasted film, so I try to take meaningful shots whenever I can. But I also had no idea how this fully manual, viewfinder-style camera would perform, or if I’d botch the whole thing up trying to meter for the first time, so I … Continue reading “National Camera Day: Смена-Symbol in Everett” →

by jad

Art Thoughts

Being around artists and in artmaking spaces makes me think about the impulses behind my desires to make, do, and express things in general. I have language to explain it and different vocabularies to define it with, like the stars and their imprint on the soul, or God, the Creator of co-creatives, or class distinction and its many corollary affordances. But all these are just words to make sense (♒︎) of a nagging feeling I don’t actually understand (♋︎). It’s the gnawing dissatisfaction I felt while flipping through craft books as a kid, desiring to make things without knowing why; … Continue reading “Art Thoughts” →

by jad

What is it?

Brown, blue, violet sky—it’s funny how tiktok trends rehash and recycle artifacts that don’t quite feel very retro, though, they must be, alas. The world doesn’t really accelerate; we just get older a lot faster every day. And so, when that kinda thing is annoying, it’s really annoying, but when it’s not, it can be prophetic, like a planetary return, or a shift in the seasons, or a long-gone friendship reborn. I used to repeat that old lyric by that half-Lebanese crooner, who, at one point, provided folks with a global reference point, like tabbouli or hummus, to place me … Continue reading “What is it?” →

by jad

The Meaning of 888

For years, a running joke I told was that I was born on Antichristmas—June 25, the symbolic antipode of Christmas Day. And while the season’s greetings I text my friends have become a lot less sarcastic, I am beginning to see a lesson in the turning of that wheel, again & again, and the spiral path it’s made. As a species we seem to be formed by contrast. “Kikhhh,” the Lebanese mother will sound out to the child who has tried to taste something he’d picked up off the ground, establishing his boundary between clean and unclean. If this line … Continue reading “The Meaning of 888” →