Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. (Microsoft Photo)

Another day, another cloud-related acquisition for Microsoft.

The tech giant has purchased Mover, an Edmonton, Canada-based cloud storage migration startup. The deal helps Microsoft bolster its Microsoft 365 file migration capabilities.

Our goal is to help customers move to the cloud with confidence, Microsoft wrote in a blog post. Today, we offer several options to support cloud file migrations, including FastTrack and offerings from trusted Microsoft partners, as well as the SharePoint Migration Tool for migrating content from on-premises SharePoint sites and file shares to Microsoft 365. Mover will enhance these offerings with proven tools, plus more self-service options over time.

Founded in 2012, Mover describes itself as one of the fastest OneDrive and SharePoint document migrators in the world, providing migration from more than a dozen cloud service providers into OneDrive and SharePoint.

Security, file fidelity, and transfer accuracy are core tenets of our company and we take pride in our reputation, Mover co-founder and CEO Eric Warnke wrote in a blog post. Moving forward, well bring our deep expertise and migration technology to serve Microsoft customers. This acquisition will ensure that customers making the move to Microsoft 365 have a seamless and cost effective experience.

Mover had raised $1.5 million to date, according to PitchBook.The company lists 70 employees on LinkedIn.

This is Microsofts12th acquisition of 2019. It made three other cloud-related acquisitions in recent months, swooping up Blue Talon in July, buying jClarity in August, and buying Movere last month.

The companys cloud services generated as much revenue as all its other businesses combined, including mainstays like traditional software licensing and hardware, for the first time last quarter.

Microsoft spent $9.1 billion on 20 acquisitions in its 2019 fiscal year, which ended June 30, buoyed by its$7.5 billion GitHub deal. GeekWire research shows that 2019 ranks as Microsofts third-biggest year for acquisitions, both in the number of deals and in spending, since 2003.

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Microsoft makes another cloud acquisition, swoops up file migration startup Mover - GeekWire

BY BLAINE HOWERTON

We are all painfully aware of the frantic pace of modern life. But have you ever come off a weekend, so jam-packed with leisure activities that you feel as if youve worked straight through from Friday night to Monday morning? It may be that you drove yourself to recreate at your usual pace of work so perhaps without even realizing it, it was as if you worked through the weekend!

In Italy in the 1980s local residents of small towns as well as large cities recognized that if something wasnt done to address current trends something precious was about to be lost their way of life over centuries in their enjoyment of a midday meal during the work day. Their concern helped launch the Slow Food Movement.

Perhaps not so well known is another trend Slow Recreation and if I am just imagining this movement, well, then lets start one!

The staff atNorth Forty Newsworks hard to find ever more comprehensive ways to advise our readers of all the great things going on in your own community as well as the communities around you. We believe this is of value in helping you learn more about our State of Colorado that you were either lucky enough to be born in or smart enough to choose as your home going forward.

But in addition to rest and renewal, we need an ever-improving ability to respond to the demanding and often lightning-fast changes we must navigate in our work life, sometimes in our communities, and on occasion, through the demands of our families. Right-paced recreation and travel can both restore and inspire us but not if we go about our leisure activities at the same frantic pace that our careers might demand.

So I am suggesting something that has appeared in various guises in self-help books such asThe Artist Wayby Julia Cameron. The Artists Date is not the exclusive domain of people who consider themselves in the arts we are all the artistic creators of our own life. If youre single you can embark on this adventure as originally intended. Choose a place youve never been, go there on your own with a notebook and just be present moment-by-moment, soaking in the sights, the sounds, the fragrances or perhaps the odor of the place. Its the newness of the occasion and your total focused attention,minus any technological intervention, that can help introduce you to aspects of yourself you didnt even know existed but were there all along you might be amazed at who you meet on an outing like this YOU!

If you are in a relationship or a parent with family, you can still benefit from this IF you make it a point to plan to see ONE place that is new to you and your family and you plan to make that excursion at a leisurely pace no drill sergeant waking the kids up way before they usually do on a Saturday.

Hold a family meeting before the weekend, propose where you will take your family to see if they approve if not, propose option number two.

Once you have a destination (and that can be a nearby place youve just never gotten around to seeing) plan a festive breakfast, either at home, or in a restaurant and especially with little kids, create excitement around the event. Plan to begin the day at a reasonably slow pace before you set out. You might limit photos to just ONE group shot so that your cellphones are tucked away and turned OFF during your excursion.

The idea is to take back the weekend and possible day trips to a more leisurely pace (it might feel like putting on the brakes as you come off your frantically busy week but youll get better at it over time).

Slow Recreation will reward you in surprising ways in addition to recharging your creative energies, you may discover positive traits of your family members that otherwise might go unnoticed in the speed of modern life. But most important of all, you will come away refreshed, relaxed, and more prepared for what lies ahead and in a world changing at an ever-increasing pace, thats a very good thing!

Help support our work on your behalf by subscribing to either or both of our publications on either of these links:

northfortynews.com/subscribe orscenenoco.com/subscribe

Or contact us to learn more about advertising with us including how your ad in our print edition will also show up in our online digital replica of our current edition along with on our website.

Blaine Howerton

Excerpt from:
SLOW FOOD, SURE! BUT SLOW RECREATION? - North Forty News

My head is in the clouds right now. I took a heavy sleeping aid about half an hour ago, and wooh, that stuff hits fast and hard.

The sleeping aid has become necessary some nights. I dont know how to sleep when my phone keeps buzzing, buzzing, buzzing. I pick the buzzing thing up, and its a mom saying her son is dying and she needs my support. Its a stranger asking for advice because all transplant centers have rejected him. Its a person stuck in the hospital, unable to sleep and feeling suicidal.

I read your column about addiction and

I follow your blog, and what you say about anxiety hits me

Youre such an inspiration. Can I ask your advice?

You up? Something bad happened

How do I sleep? Turn the phone off, sure, but then there are people out in this broken world with no one to speak with. Its all on my shoulders; Im the only one with the experiences that will help them, plus the heart willing to share those lessons.

Ah, did I forget to mention how easy it is to lie to myself in the middle of the night?

I have a messiahs complex rooted ironically in self-loathing. Lung transplantation gifts one not only with new life, but the burden of survivors guilt. When I laid awake all night during transplant recovery due to my pain, not others I strategized ways to give back to the world. Transplant gave me 3,000 life debt points and I have to pay back each and every point, and then some.

Once recovered, I launched myself into helping. I gave away vast sums of money, volunteered days to serve the homeless, mentored high schoolers, wrote self-help blogs and this column, gave car rides to all who asked no matter the circumstance or distance, spoke at events, etc. Little drips of dopamine to make me feel like a good person.

Alas, nothing has driven away the guilt of surviving when people Ive deemed far better than me pass away without their second chance at life.

Im a type 2 on the Enneagram, so I have really loved to help and thats no secret. Its always, Go ask Brad, he loves to help. I find gratitude when my bank account runs low, Ive met incredible people who are homeless, the high schoolers I mentor are my hearts joy, writing is my passion, the best talks are during car rides, and speaking isnt so scary now. But despite the joys found in caring for others, Ive neglected to care for myself and thats a big problem.

How do I help people effectively when I am exhausted? How do I help people empathetically when Ive become nearly desensitized to death and suffering by facing it daily? How do I help people lovingly when I get pangs of people-fearing anxiety each time I see a Facebook message preview? How do I help people appropriately when boundaries are so easily made murky by guilt-tripping? Its all falling apart.

I grew up admiring a CF blogger. I respected how he seemed to care for all who reached out to him. Despite his advanced lung disease, he made helping seem effortless. Years ago, though, he posted a message saying he was giving up his blog. It was all too much. He needed to focus on himself and his family. I didnt understand how someone could thrive in helping others, but then drop it all, seemingly out of the blue.

Didnt understand.

As a person with a crippled immune system, I must practice self-care for energy and health. As a person surrounded by death, I need the space to process and grieve. Right now, I dont afford myself those things. In my work with youth, do you know what lesson I teach most frequently to anxiety-stricken high schoolers? To rest and care for themselves. Ha.

I am making progress. Im distancing myself from Facebook and rarely checking messages. Ive unfollowed loads of CF and transplant accounts on Instagram (sorry) so my mind can think of matters beyond my disease. I said no to helping people four times this month so far that might seem insignificant but its not. Its not. Oddly, the world continued its rotation upon hesitantly uttering the words, Sorry, but I cant

Im realizing that while loving others is beautiful when done in healthy ways, a trick to kicking back at survivors guilt is to love myself, too. Im more than a servant. I am a person of skill and passion and love and, and, and. I am a person who did and does deserve a second chance at life. So did the other people, but I cant hold myself responsible for the Fates who acted against others.

Wow. Did I just help myself?

Man, this sleeping aid is strong. Time to sleep.

***

Note: Cystic Fibrosis News Today is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of Cystic Fibrosis News Today, or its parent company, BioNews Services, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to cystic fibrosis.

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Not Helping Is a Form of Self-care - Cystic Fibrosis News Today

The Kane County Law Library and Self Help Legal Center continues its successful "Lawyer in the Library" program through a collaboration with Gail Borden Public Library in Elgin.

On the fourth Thursday of every month, volunteering attorneys will be available for 15-minute meetings to assist Gail Borden Library goers with legal coaching, document review, referrals to other community services, e-filing court documents, and legal questions.

The free, walk-in program does not require registration. It will be 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the Grove Room at the main library, 270 N. Grove Ave., Elgin.

Since this collaboration between libraries began in March 2019, over 72 self-represented litigants have been aided by 19 local attorneys who have generously donated their time.

The next "Lawyer in the Library" will be Oct. 24 and Jan. 23.

In October, volunteering attorneys Kevin McCarty of Bolz & McCarty, LLC, Kimberly Crum Klein of the Klein Law Group, P.C. and Lawrence Lobb of Drendel & Jansons Law Group will be assisting library-goers with their legal questions.

Library-goers attending the walk-in program should bring any paperwork relating to their legal matter. A law librarian and an Illinois JusticeCorps Fellow will also be on hand to guide people through resources and to assist with e-filing court documents.

For information, visit http://www.kclawlibrary.org or http://www.facebook.com/KCLawLibrary/

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'Lawyer in the Library' returns Oct. 24 to Gail Borden Library - Chicago Daily Herald

On a Sunday night in June, the twenty-nine-year-old astrologer Aliza Kelly was preparing to broadcast an Astrology 101 live stream from her apartment, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. A glittering SpectroLED light panel made the living room feel like a tiny movie set. My manager took me to get these lights at B&H, she said.

A windowsill was lined with gifts from clientsan illustrated zodiac, a white orchid. Kelly sat cross-legged on a taupe ottoman, wearing cat eyeliner and large hoop earrings, greeting people and waving as they appeared in the online chat room. That is one of my favorite things, as a Leo and as a personbuilding community, she said. It was a little before eight-thirty, and some of the fifty-two participantswho had paid between $19.99 and $39.99 eachwere typing hellos; one woman, in Europe, had set her alarm for 2:30 A.M., to log in. Once the class started, Kelly clicked through a slide deck about ancient Babylonia; William Lilly, the English Merlin, who was consulted by both sides during the English Civil War; and the signs of the zodiac. To explain the traits of Aries, she put up a picture of Mariah Carey (She loves getting presents). For Pisces, she had Rihanna and Steve Jobs. My main favorite thing is to talk about the signs as celebrities, she said. Because these are modern-day mythological figures. In ancient Greece, if you said Athena, everyone knew, Oh, thats what Athena is like.

Kellys schedule is typical for a millennial astrologer. She writes books (on zodiac-themed cocktails); does events (at the private club Soho House); offers individual chart readings (a hundred and seventy-five dollars an hour); hosts a podcast (Stars Like Us); makes memes (for lolz); manages a virtual coven called the Constellation Club, with membership levels that cost from five dollars to two hundred; and has worked as a consultant for the astrology app Sanctuary. She also writes an advice column for Cosmopolitan, and hosts an occasional Cosmo video series in which she guesses celebrities signs based on their answers to twelve questions. According to the editor-in-chief, Jessica Pels, who has expanded the magazines print coverage of astrology to nine pages in every issue, seventy-four per cent of Cosmo readers report that they are obsessed with astrology; seventy-two per cent check their horoscope every day.

Astrology is currently enjoying a broad cultural acceptance that hasnt been seen since the nineteen-seventies. The shift began with the advent of the personal computer, accelerated with the Internet, and has reached new speeds through social media. According to a 2017 Pew Research Center poll, almost thirty per cent of Americans believe in astrology. But, as the scholar Nicholas Campion, the author of Astrology and Popular Religion in the Modern West, has argued, the number of people who know their sun sign, consult their horoscope, or read about the sign of their romantic partner is much higher. New spirituality is the new norm, the trend-forecasting company WGSN declared two years ago, when it announced a report on millennials and spirituality that tracked such trends as full-moon parties and alternative therapies. Last year, the Times, in a piece entitled How Astrology Took Over the Internet, heralded astrologys return as a compelling content business as much as a traditional spiritual practice. The Atlantic proclaimed, Astrology is a meme. As a meme, its life cycle has been unusually long. My account, it was meant to be a fun thing for me to do on the side while I was a production assistant, Courtney Perkins, who runs the Instagram account Not All Geminis, which has more than five hundred thousand followers, said. Then it blew up and now its likeI dont know. I didnt mean for this to be... life.

In its penetration into our shared lexicon, astrology is a little like psychoanalysis once was. At mid-century, you might have heard talk of id, ego, or superego at a party; now its common to hear someone explain herself by way of sun, moon, and rising signs. Its not just that you hear it. Its whos saying it: people who arent kooks or climate-change deniers, who see no contradiction between using astrology and believing in science. The change is fuelling a new generation of practitioners. Fifteen years ago, astrology conferences were the gray-streaked province of, as one astrologer told me, white ladies in muumuus decorated with stars. Kay Taylor, the education director of the Organization for Professional Astrology, said that those who came of age in the seventies were worried about the future of the profession. Now, she said, all of a sudden theres this new crop. In the past year, the membership of the Association for Young Astrologers has doubled.

The corporate world has taken note of the publics appetite. Last year, the astrologer Rebecca Gordon partnered with the lingerie brand Agent Provocateur to produce a zodiac-themed event where customers could use their Venus signs to, in Gordons words, find their personal styles. This spring, Amazon sent out shopping horoscopes to its Prime Insider subscribers. Astrology is also being used to help launch businesses. This summer, the forty-six-year-old siblings Ophira and Tali Edut, known as the AstroTwins, started Astropreneurs Summer Camp, a seven-week Web-based course. Participants analyzed their birth charts to determine whether they were Influencers, Experts, or Mavens/Messengers, and got advice on how to tailor their professional plans accordingly.

The popularity of astrology is often explained as the result of the decline of organized religion and the rise of economic precariousness, and as one aspect of a larger turn to New Age modalities. Then, theres the matter of political panic. In times of crisis, it is often said, people search for something to believe in. The first newspaper astrology column was commissioned in August, 1930, in the aftermath of the stock-market crash, for the British tabloid the Sunday Express. The occasion was Princess Margarets birth. What the Stars Foretell for the New Princess was so popularand such a terrific distractionthat the paper made it a regular feature. After the financial collapse in 2008, Gordon, who runs a popular online astrology school, received calls from Wall Street bankers. All of those structures that people had relied upon, 401(k)s and everything, started to fall apart, she said. Thats how a lot of people get into it. Theyre, like, Whats going on in my life? Nothing makes sense. Ten years later, more than retirement plans have fallen apart. I think the 2016 election changed everything, Colin Bedell, an astrologer whose online handle is Queer Cosmos, told me. People were just, like, we need to come to some spiritual school of thought. As Kelly put it, In the Obama years, people liked astrology. In the Trump years, people need it.

The idea at the heart of astrology is that the pattern of a persons lifeor character, or naturecorresponds to the planetary pattern at the moment of his birth, the historian Benson Bobrick writes in his 2005 book, The Fated Sky. Such an idea is as old as the world is oldthat all things bear the imprint of the moment they are born. Western astrology had its origins in ancient Mesopotamia, and spread throughout Egypt, Greece, the Roman Empire, and the Islamic world. Astrology helped people decide when to plant crops and go to war, and was used to predict a persons fate and interpret his character. Would he have good luck with money? Would he ascend the throne? (When the astrologer Theogenes cast Augustus chart, Bobrick writes, the astrologer reportedly gasped and threw himself at his feet.)

According to Bobrick, Theodore Roosevelt kept his birth chart on a table in his drawing room, and Charles de Gaulle and Franois Mitterrand sought advice from astrologers. (Astrology has also been used to intentionally mislead political enemies. In 1942 and 1943, the Allies distributed a fake astrology magazine called Der Zenit, which, among other things, endeavored to disguise the Allied ambush of German U-boat operations.) Ronald Reagans chief of staff said that Reagan consulted an astrologer before virtually every major move and decision, including the timing of his relection announcement, military actions in Grenada and Libya, and disarmament negotiations with Mikhail Gorbachev.

For some adherents, astrology can explain everything from earthquakes (Saturn crossing the south node) to the rise of social media (an increase in Cesarean sections has led to an increase in births between 9 A.M. and 5 P.M., and thus a rise in the number of suns in the tenth house, which governs reputation and prestige). But what attracts most people to astrology today has more to do with psychology. Psychological astrology, influenced by Carl Jung, treated the birth charta diagram that shows the individuals relation to the cosmos at birthas the representation of the psyche and used it to talk about such things as purpose, potential, and self-actualization. Its hard to understand the deep appeal of astrological practice without having or observing an individual chart reading, an experience whose closest analogue is therapy. But unlike therapy, where a client might spend months or even years uncovering the roots of a symptom, astrology promises to get to answers more quickly. Despite common misconceptions, an astrologer is not a fortune-teller. In a chart reading, she doesnt predict the future; she describes the client to herself.

Watch The Backstory:Christine Smallwood on how millennials are fuelling a resurgence of astrology.

The power of description can be great. Couching characteristics in the language of astrology seems to make it easier for many people to hear, or admit, unpleasant things about their personalitiesand to accept those traits in others. (The friend who comes over and never leaves? She cant help it. Shes a Taurus.) Most astrologers say that its important not to use your sign to excuse bad behavior. Still, as the AstroTwins have written, astrology is kind of like the peanut butter that you slip the heartworm pill in before giving it to your Golden Retriever. You can tell someone, Youre such a spotlight hog! and they kind of want to slap you. But if you say, Youre a Leo. You need to be the center of attention, theyre like, Yeah baby, thats me.

For centuries, drawing an astrological chart required some familiarity with astronomy and geometry. Today, a chart can be generated instantly, and for free, on the Internet. Astrology is ubiquitous on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and in downloadable workshops, classes, and Webinars. A new frontier has opened with mobile apps.

In July, I was ushered into a glass-enclosed conference room on the sixth floor of a building in Tribeca to meet with Banu Guler, the thirty-one-year-old co-founder and C.E.O. of the astrology app Co-Star, whose Web site promises to allow irrationality to invade our techno-rationalist ways of living. Guler is a casting directors idea of a tech executive. She is a vegan who used to design punk zines and was a bike messenger until she got into a gnarly car wreck. She has cropped hair, a septum piercing, and a tattoo of Medea on the back of one leg. Why Medea? I asked. Witchcraft, she explained. A copy of Liz Greenes Relating: An Astrological Guide to Living with Others on a Small Planet lay between us. Guler hasnt read it, but its been on her Goodreads list forever.

The market for astrology apps has changed dramatically in the past few years. In 2015, when Aliza Kelly was raising money for a short-lived astrology dating app called Align, she was mocked by prospective investors. (Literally, this one guy wrote, I usually wish people well, and in your case I dont, because youre defying science and the Enlightenment era, she told me.) Now venture capitalists, excited by a report from IBISWorld which found that Americans spend $2.2 billion annually on mystical services (including palmistry, tarot reading, etc.), are funnelling money into the area. Co-Star is backed by six million dollars. Since its launch, in 2017, it has been downloaded six million times. Eighty per cent of users are female, and their average age is twenty-four.

Co-Star has competitors. Theres the Pattern, an app whose creepily accurate psychological and compatibility analyses are generated by birth charts but are delivered free of any astrological references. (The actor Channing Tatum recently had a meltdown on social mediaHow do you know what you know about me, Pattern?after his pattern, apparently, hit too close to home.) The doyenne of popular astrology, Susan Miller, employs an assistant, four editors, and eight engineers to produce her books, calendars, Web site (it has eleven million views annually), and app, which caters to those who find the forty-thousand-word forecasts on her site insufficient. (Miller was an early Internet presence, and her style is at once maternal and optimistically pragmatic. At a recent event in Macys flagship store, in Herald Square, she told the audience, Freezing your eggs is expensive, but I want every girl here who doesnt have a baby to do it!) Sanctuary offers free daily horoscopes and, for twenty dollars a month, a fifteen-minute text exchange with an astrologer. One person I interviewed compared it to a psychic 900 hotline for the DM era. The most informative app is Vices Astro Guide, which the company imagines as a tool not just for self-care but for cosmic wellness.

Co-Stars daily horoscopes appear under categories that are only slightly incomprehensible, such as Mood Facilitating Responsibility or Identity Enhancing Emotional Stability. The app generates content by pulling and recombining phrases that have been coded to correspond to astronomical phenomena. Currently, the company employs four people to write these bits of languagetwo poets, an editor, and an astrologer. The app sometimes generates nonsenseYou will have a bit of luck relating to your natural sense of self-control, it told me recentlyand can be blunt to the point of rudeness. Users like to screenshot and post Co-Stars push notifications, activities that help explain why the company doesnt spend anything on advertising. Dont even try to make yourself understood today. Its not worth it is a typical example of the tone. Guler relishes it. Its not, like, Go sit and journal and write four sentences about the world you wish to see, she said, leaning across the table. Its, like, Go take a fucking cold shower.

On the day we met, Guler, like everyone in her office, was wearing all black. This happens, she said, not infrequently. (Whether it happens more frequently when journalists are visiting, she did not say.) Guler first realized that astrology could be a business when she went to a party for a friends newborn with a birth chart as a gift, and everyone at the party wanted one for her baby, too.

When Guler was a child, her mother used to do readings from the grounds in her thick Turkish coffee. It was, Guler said, a way to have conversations about feelings that would otherwise be difficult. The sludge, for lack of a better word, forms shapes, she said. Its, like, Theres this divot or valley herewhats going on with you? Something bad? Today, she said, anxietys up, depression is up, loneliness is up. But, with astrology, you can use this language to walk into a room and be, like, Im going through my Saturn return. Im reckoning with restrictions and limits and boundaries right now.

On the one hand, Guler said, todays problems are bound up with the rise of technology: Were really operating from this place that technology is doing something weird to our brains. On the other hand, she said, technology will be the antidote, by teaching us to speak about ourselves. Co-Star currently allows you to find friends and read their astrological profiles, and its future plans call for more social features. Co-Star, like all tech companies, dreams of bringing people togetherto spend more time, presumably, on the app itself.

In The Stars Down to Earth, Theodor Adornos 1953 critique of a newspapers sun-sign column, he argued that astrology appealed to persons who do not any longer feel that they are the self-determining subjects of their fate. The mid-century citizen had been primed to accept magical thinking by systems of fascistic opaqueness and inscrutability. Its easy to name our own opaque and inscrutable systemssurveillance capitalism, a byzantine health-insurance systembut to say that we are no longer the self-determining subjects of our fate is also to recognize the many ways that our lives are governed by circumstances outside our control. We know that our genetic codes predispose us to certain diseases, and that the income bracket we are born into can determine our future. Fate is another word for circumstance.

On a hot Tuesday night this summer, two dozen students of astrology gathered in a stuffy back room of the Open Center, in midtown Manhattan, to discuss a partial lunar eclipse and the birth chart of Jeffrey Epstein, who had recently been arrested on charges of sex trafficking. Anne Ortelee and Mark Wolz, astrologers who have been leading the class in various locations for twelve years, sat up front. Ortelee, talking fast, mixing jargon and dry jokes in a manner not unlike that of a sportscaster calling a game, pointed to the details of the chart. Epstein had his sun in Aquarius and his moon in Aries, so he was used to having his way. Venus, which rules love, money, and pleasure, and Mars, which rules action, desire, and war, were in Pisces, suggesting trouble with boundaries and addictive tendencies. She said that his Mercury-Uranus-Venus-Mars configuration represented sex with young childrenMercury is young children, Mars is sex.

Some of the students were studying to pass accreditation exams; others were simply interested in deepening their knowledge. A few had been coming to the class for years. A young man in the front row with deep-set eyes and a faint mustache noted that the arrangement of Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus could indicate a sudden and unexpected death. Ortelee, who wore a flowered dress and held a sweating cup of iced coffee, nodded. This is not a guy whos going to live long in prison, she said. A woman in a red dress raised her hand to point out the connection between the July eclipses (there were two) and the astrology of October, 2018, when Brett Kavanaugh was sworn in as a Supreme Court Justice. Kavanaugh was also an evil Aquarius, she said, to general murmurs.

Some teachers use students birth charts in classes, but because a chart is personalLooking at your chart is kind of like looking at you naked, the student with the mustache told meOrtelee prefers to use the charts of notable figures. Astrologers have been doing so for a long time. In 1552, Luca Gaurico, a court adviser to Catherine de Mdici, published a book of horoscopes about Popes, cardinals, princes, and other famous men. Similar books followed, featuring analyses of Erasmus, Albrecht Drer, and Henry VIII. More recently, Ortelees class had studied the charts of Tucker Carlson and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who lit up the Internet this spring when a staffer confirmed her birth time (one of the three pieces of data, along with date and location, that are needed to calculate a birth chart). In another class this summer at the Open Center, I listened as the students discussed the birth chart of Boris Johnson. Does anybody see why he has the hair that he has? a woman in tortoiseshell glasses asked. In September, the class turned its attention to Capitol Hill. On Instagram, Ortelee pointed out that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced an impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump only minutes before Mercury was sextiling Jupiter, promising information and news that we should all pay attention to.

Its a commonplace to say that in uncertain times people crave certainty. But what astrology offers isnt certaintyits distance. Just as a person may find it easier to accept things about herself when she decides she was born that way, astrology makes it possible to see world events from a less reactive position. It posits that history is not a linear story of upward progress but instead moves in cycles, and that historical actorsthe ones running amok all around usare archetypes. Alarming, yes; villainous, perhaps; but familiar, legible.

Ortelee later explained to me that people pop up in the news because the movements of the planets through the sky, known as transits, are activating their charts. This can work on many levels. When the Titanic happened, there was a big Neptune transit, and when the Titanic movie came out, years later, there was a huge Neptune transit, she said. You heard Celine Dion everywhere. And now theres a mini Neptune transit, so theres a Carpool Karaoke with Dion and James Corden singing the Titanic song in the fountains in the Bellagio.

Others see astrology as having the power not just to explain the political situation but also to change it. Chani Nicholas uses astrology as a tool for social justice and radical action. To be a human is to suffer, she said when we met. I dont think we should fight that. But we also cant dwell there. Nicholass work includes readings about what a new moon in Scorpio means for the #MeToo movement, and the import of Saturns position for the future of DACA. Im interested in helping people get to the core of their purpose and then to use that to be of service in the world, as quickly as possible, she said.

I met Nicholas, who is in her forties, in July, when she was visiting Brooklyn from Los Angeles. She had arranged for a private tour of the exhibition Nobody Promised You Tomorrow: Art Fifty Years After Stonewall, at the Brooklyn Museum, with her friend Tourmaline, who had short films in the show, and two of the exhibits curators. While the curators talked, footage of the transgender activist Sylvia Rivera flashed on a video screen. Nicholas pulled up Riveras chart. At the moment of Riveras birth, the sunwhich, Nicholas said, represents the essential selfwas at the same degree as Uranus, the planet of disruption, which, she said, will tear this whole thing down. But all this, Nicholas went on, was happening in the sign of Cancer, which signifies home and nurturing. How do we care for people radically? she asked, explaining how the chart was relevant.

Nicholas has a million online readers. She now rarely books private chart readings, because the demand was overwhelming. Her business is based on selling downloadable workshops, and she curates free monthly Spotify playlists for each sign. In January, she will publish her first book, You Were Born for This: Astrology for Radical Self-Acceptance. Back in 2012, Nicholas was one of the organizers of the first Queer Astrology Conference. When you queer something, you try to see it outside cultural norms, she said. She uses astrology to talk not just about sexuality and gender but also about race, class, and climate.

Nicholas believes that astrology appeals because it gives context to people and to world events. Like religion, it says that there is something beyond material existence, but it doesnt teach dogma, or prescribe action. Many astrologers I interviewed expressed concern that astrology can be misused to generate fear or to extort, but mostly, Nicholas said, its a way of framing the thing were in. As humans, she said, we need rhythm. We need ritual. We need timing.

I absolutely love astrology, Alex Dimitrov said. But its a gateway drug to the real magic, which is poetry.

On a Friday night in July, I had dinner at the Odeon, in Tribeca, with Dimitrov and Dorothea Lasky, who run the Twitter account Astro Poets, which they launched in November of 2016, just after Trumps election. Ten weeks later, they got some negative feedback because of a joke about yoga, and Lasky called Dimitrov at three in the morning and said that she wanted to delete the account. I was, like, Excuse me? Dimitrov remembered. He took a sip of ros. Dimitrov, who is dark and compact, was wearing fitted jeans and a Def Leppard shirt. That was Aries behavior, he said. The feed now has five hundred thousand followers.

Dimitrov and Lasky think of the signs formally, as poetic constraints, and imagine them interacting like characters in a novel. On their Twitter feed, in addition to the horoscopes, lists, and pop-culture references that populate all astrology social media, they quote poets they admire. The night before, someone had texted Dimitrov a line by Eileen MylesIt is summer, I love you, I am surrounded by snowand he had tweeted it. Honestly, its the Sagittarius mantra, he said. (Dimitrov, like Myles, is a Sagittarius.)

The Astro Poets horoscopes employ exquisite images, turning sharply from low to high, from humor to pain or grief. Heres the horoscope they tweeted about Pisces for the week of August 4th: A wind is a little reminder. Reminder of what, you ask. The rain. The rain! Dont ask them what it means. Lasky, resplendent in sparkling eye makeup and a crocheted necklace, said that the whole point of a poem is its supposed to be your friend, and youre supposed to commingle with it. On the first episode of the Astro Poets podcast, which dbuted in August, she explained that astrology is also a friendsomething that can witness your life and help make sense of it.

Still, those who turn to astrology for clarity will be bemused by the Astro Poets. Some of their most passionate readers long for plainer speaking, or at least for someone to put their poetry into prose. We have these translators, Lasky said. There was one translator who was an Aquarius, Mimias soon as I would write a tweet, Mimi had an alert and would translate it for people. But Mimi, after a few years, has retired, and everyone is really sad.

A few weeks later, I met the Astro Poets at Enchantments, a store in the East Village, where the poet Alice Notley used to shop. Dimitrov, Lasky, and I picked out herbs and figurines and candles. Then we went to Canal Street to have our aura photographs taken. (Laskys and Dimitrovs auras seemed to match, like two halves of a blue-and-purple rainbow.) The plan was for us to do a very positive spell on the Brooklyn Bridge. But it was more than ninety degrees, and we wandered for a long time looking for the pedestrian walkway, and eventually settled on a bench in the shade under the bridge. Lasky lit the candles, and we all silently meditated on our intentions for this article. A pigeon hopped tentatively nearer.

One way to cope with uncertainty is to demand certainty. Another is to learn to dwell in uncertainty, to find solace and even beauty in what is, and must be, unknown. Dimitrov and Laskys new book is called Your Guide to the Zodiac, but for a long time they toyed with putting the word mystery or magic in the title. Those ideas are so important to us, Dimitrov said. As Samuel Reynolds, who began researching astrology in the nineteen-eighties in order to disprove it and is now on the board of the International Society for Astrological Research, told me, To talk about the planets literally having some measure of effect on you brings up all kinds of questions that I dont think astrology is prepared to answer. Instead, Reynolds said, astrology is symbolic and spirituala literary language whose truth can neither be validated nor invalidated by empirical science.

For some people, the complex system itself is a source of pleasure: theres math involved, rules to master, vocabulary to memorize. For others, it permits a play of interpretation. As the planets transit, they move into different signs, picking up different meanings. In one context, Uranus indicates sudden death; in another, revolutionary energy. There are myriad combinations for storytelling. At the Odeon, Lasky said that when poetry transitswhen it moves from meaning to meaningit doesnt let go of what came before. She started to explain the Greek root of the word metaphor (to carry across), when Dimitrov broke in.

Its about negative capability, he said. To endure doubt is ultimately the only thing you can do in lifeto not strive for meaning or answers, and to endure the state youre in.

Originally posted here:
Astrology in the Age of Uncertainty - The New Yorker

Charlamagne Tha God was once defined as being one of the most feared hosts on the radio. He made it a point to ask tough questions, give his honest and unbiased opinion and tell it the way he saw fit despite the feelings of others. The former Wendy Williams protegee made himself an enemy of many celebrities along the way. Over the past few years, however, the host has opted for a more positive public image.

The once brash personality has aligned himself with causes related to family, mental health and wellness. Hes become a New York Times best-selling author and has made it his personal mission to spread positivity energy and messages with his platform. Charlamagne has also begun to donate more time and money to charitable efforts important to him and recently did so by donating $250,000 in the name of education.

The South Carolina native began his radio career in his home state. The high-school dropout ran into legal trouble and it was a stint in the county jail that made him think twice about the dark road he was traveling on. After being released from the county jail, he began attending night school to earn his high school diploma and eventually landed a job as a radio intern.

He went on to work under the tutelage of Wendy Williams on her Philadelphia radio show. Learning from his mentor, he developed an unorthodox and upfront questioning style of his guests, causing several on-air feuds between him and celebrities. After so many rifts due to his personality, he was laid off in 2008 and returned to his hometown. The relationship between Charlamagne and Williams fizzled due to conflict between her husband and her colleague and they eventually did not speak for over a decade. Charlamagne was unemployed for almost two years before he landed the job that would be his biggest radio gig.

In 2010, Charlamagne began hosting The Breakfast Club, alongside DJ Envy and Angela Yee, in New York City. Common topics of discussion on the daily morning show are celebrity gossip, politics, dating and celebrity interviews. The show is now broadcasted on national television on Revolt TV.

While working on The Breakfast Club, Charlamagne gained a reputation as being unapologetically rude and oftentimes sexist due to the nature of his questions during interviews. He became particularly known for harsh comments made during his Donkey of the Day segment on The Breakfast Club where he gives someone a thumbs down for something he perceives as dumb. Hes since changed the direction of his segment to go towards holding people accountable for mistakes, including himself.

With young daughters watching from home, Charlamagne made a conscious effort to change his image. He began appearing on television programs to give more thought-provoking opinions on pop culture and social issues and became a cast member on the MTV2 show, Guy Code. He also starred on the MTV2 show Charlamagne & Friends and, with fellow MTV2 personality Andrew Schulz, and co-hosted The Brilliant Idiots podcast.

Charlamagne expanded his profile further by becoming an author. In 2017, his book Black Privilege: Opportunity Comes to Those Who Create It, became a New York Times best-seller. Steven Kurutz of The New York Times gave the book a positive review, describing it as a street-smart self-help guide. His second book, Shook One: Anxiety Playing Tricks on Mewas released in October 2018.

Charlamagne has participated in various charitable efforts on his radio show along with his co-hosts. Every year, The Breakfast Club hosts its #Change4Change fundraiser during the live broadcast of the show during the holiday season. Listeners can donate via text message or online. Some of the efforts theyve supported include PROJECT 375, $200,000 to benefit an organization run by former NFL star, Brandon Marshall, whose mission is to raise awareness of mental health, ending the stigma, and raising funds for treatment. The radio host helped to successfully raise over $200,000 to support the organization in 2018.

Charlamagne is now taking his charity work to new heights. Over the weekend, he visited South Carolina State University and gifted the historically black college with a $250,000 check to start a scholarship fund named after his mother, who also attended South Carolina State.

The Ford Family Endowed Scholarship Fund was established to provide scholarships to women majoring in English, Communications or anything mental health related. All concentrations are close to the media moguls heart as his mother was an English major, he works in broadcast radio and his sister works in the field of mental health.

Way to put your money where your mouth is Charlamagne!

Continued here:
Charlamagne Tha God: From Ruthless Radio Host to $250k Donations to Charity - Showbiz Cheat Sheet

Thats a picture of me I took a couple of years back.

Do I think Im gonnabe Peoples Magazine Sexiest Man Alive? No, while I do have pretty goodeyebrows and one dimple, I know that Im not Gods gift to women.

Instead of wishing Ihad the sex appeal of Trey Songz or Denzel Washington, I have now decided tostart focusing on all the other things that make me special. Deciding to focuson all my other better qualities allows the people around me to focus onthose things as well.

I remember back inhigh school there would be these guys (and sometimes females) who werentexactly attractive, however they did have this appeal (read: confidence) tothem that made everyone want to be around them.

Some people (guys andgirls) can impress others just by the mere wonderment of their looks.Myadvice to those who arent a nine or ten on the looks scale is to stop focusingon the things you dont like about your looks, because you have so many otherqualities that make you beautiful to others.

Also, dont worry ifyou dont have much success on apps like Tinder or out at clubs whenthere are other(and better) placesto meet someone to date.An app orclub isnt the best platform for allowing people to notice the other qualities(besides looks) that make you beautiful.

How Did You Develop Confidence?

Getting to the pointwhere I could stop focusing on what I didnt like about myself started withreading articles and asking guys I consider confident the question, How didyou develop confidence?

I wanted to know whatwas behind there willingness to smile at a beautiful woman and if she smiledback what motivated them to approach her?

I am a firm believer that anyone (man or woman) can become confident, and knew that there were others like me who were self-conscious but had made the decision to overcome being shy.Last week on the Good Men Project, I wrote about tips I read for developing my confidence and how Im applying those tips to my life.

With this article, I want to build off that and provide the best of the advice I received from the guys I asked, along with links that can help you.

The best of theiradvice is as follows:

If I had to pick one that was myultimate favorite, it would be number five, having a confidence role model.

Having confident role models in my life helped me recognize the importance of removing myself from the company of negative people.

The company we keep (whether good or bad) shapes or attitude. Famous self-help author Jim Rohn once said: You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.

In other words, how we see the world, how we see ourselves, and our attitude towards confidence is influenced by who we choose to spend time around. If we invest our time into people who are bad influences, they will start to shape the person we become.

In the past I would spend too much time listening to people complain about how their dating life sucks, their lack of confidence sucks, their career sucks, and looking back now, I realize their negativity begin to rub off on me.

Cutting out bad company was one of the mostpainful and difficult things Ive ever had to do, but it was necessary. Badcompany isnt just people who tear you down verbally, abuse you, or break yourtrust; they include friends who negatively affect your mood, are a badinfluence, and people who dont want to improve in life.

Do you have any pessimistsin your life, who always view things in the most negative of possible light? Ifso, GET RID OF THEM! I did, and I can say Im a better man because of it.

I know self-improvement is something that mostof us with our busy schedules dont think we have time for.

However, not all self-improvement istime-consuming. I know one way you can build confidence in yourself every daythat is easy and quick Podcasts for Self-Improvement.

Replacing negative voices with positive onesis a great way to build confidence in yourself. And, it is through replacingnegative voices that I began to shed my own negative voice. As a result, I nowfocus on the qualities I love about myself and not the ones I dont.

Previously published on Goodmenproject.com

Visit link:
How I Developed My Confidence (Part II) - Thrive Global

Monday, Oct. 21

Kripalu Yoga:9 to 10 a.m. (gentle/moderate). MaMA, Marbletown Multi-Arts, 3588 Main St., Stone Ridge.

Settled and Serving in Place (Kingston Chapter):Meets 9:30 a.m. at the Olympic Diner, Washington Ave., Kingston. Settled and Serving in Place is a social self-help group for seniors who want to remain in their homes and community. (845) 303-9689.

Mother Goose Storytime for Babies:9:30 a.m. Hyde Park Free Library, 2 Main St., Hyde Park. (845) 229-7791.

Toddler Romp & Stomp:10 a.m. every Monday. The folks at Little Pickles have been generous enough to lend the library their playroom for this music and movement program. Little Pickles is located at 7505 North Broadway, Red Hook. Event is free and open to the public. For more information, call the Red Hook Public Library at (845) 758-3241. The library is located at 7444 South Broadway, Red Hook.

What a Way to Start Your Day:10 a.m. Arlington Reformed Church, Raymond and Haight avenues, Poughkeepsie.

Happy Apple Thrift Shop:10 a.m., 24 E. OReilly St., Kingston. To 3 p.m. (845) 338-0833.

Mahjongg:10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Will teach if necessary. All welcome. Temple Emmanuel, Albany Ave., Kingston. Call Estelle Nadler, (845) 657-8476 for more information.

Yoga:10:15 to 11:45 a.m. Mountainview Studio, 20 Mountainview Ave., Woodstock. Mixed level class. Yang Yin Yoga. Classes are $15 with the first class free. (845) 679-0901.

Toddler Romp & Stomp:10:30 a.m. and Toddler FUNdamentals at 11 a.m. Red Hook Library, 7444 South Broadway, Red Hook. Free and open to the public.

Talk:2 to 3:30 p.m. "Conscious Living: Managing Stress from the Inside out." Speaker will be Nancy Plumer, intuitive energy healer, spiritual counselor. Northern Dutchess Hospital, 6511 Springbrook Ave., Rhinebeck. (845) 876-4745.

Math Help:3 to 5 p.m. Phyllis Rosato welcomes all ages welcome. From kindergarten to calculus. Phoenicia Library, 48 Main St., Phoenicia. (845) 688-7811.

Stump Me!:3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Get help with elementary school homework. Saugerties Public Library, 91 Washington Ave. (845) 246-4317, http://saugertiespubliclibrary.org/

Movement Monday:4 to 5 p.m. This program is designed to help children find release from the normal stress and anxiety resulting from their daily lives. Pre-registration is encouraged. Call the Rosendale Youth Program at (845) 658-8982 or email rosyouth@hvc.rr.com for more information or to sign up. Walk-ins are welcome. A weekly commitment is not required.

Fitness Hour:4 to 5 p.m. Saugerties Public Library, 91 Washington Ave. (845) 246-4317, http://saugertiespubliclibrary.org/

Healthy Back Exercise Program:4 to 5:15 p.m. Exercises to strengthen back and abdominal muscles and increase flexibility and range of movement. 28 West Fitness Gym, Route 28 and Maverick Road, Glenford. Fee: $12 per class ($10 for gym members). Anne Olin, (845) 679-6250.

Cards:6 to 8 p.m. Play Pinochle. Ellenville Library, 40 Center St., Ellenville. (845) 657-5530.

Community Yoga:6:30 to 7:30 p.m. New LGBTQ + Allies. This is weekly beginners class taught by Michele Muller. $5 suggested donation. Hudson Valley LGBTQ, 300 Wall St.,Kingston.

Mens Choir:7 to 9:15 p.m. Men of all ages, who would enjoy singing in a mens choir, are welcomed to join the Catskill Glee Club. Community Life Church, 20 W. Main St., Catskill. For questions, contact CatskillGleeClub@gmail.com or call Bob at (845) 389-1503.

Gentle Yoga:7 p.m. Olive Free Library, 4033 Route 28A, West Shokan. (845) 657-2482. Fee $6 drop-in.

Celebration and Buffet Dinner:7 p.m. Simchat Torah celebration and buffet dinner. Rhinebeck Jewish Center, 102 Montgomery St., Rhinebeck. (845) 876-7666, chabaddutchess.com.

Hu chanting:7:15 to 7:45 p.m. with the New York Satsang Society, Inc. Third Monday of the month. Gardiner Library, 133 Farmers Turnpike, Gardiner. (845) 255-1255, http://www.gardinerlibray.org.

Pickleball:9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Kingston YMCA. For experienced players. Free to Y members. $10 non-member day pass.Starting at 16 years old for all play.Call (845) 338-3810 or pballkingson@gmail.com for more information.

Aquoga class:9:30 to 10:15 a.m. at Kingston YMCA. Free to YMCA members; $10 non-member day pass available. (845) 338-3810 or amy@aquoga.com.

Settled and Serving in Place (SSIP 209):9:30 a.m. meets on Tuesday mornings, 9:30 a.m. at Lydias Country Deli, Route 209, south of Stone Ridge. SSIPs are local self-help, social groups which help seniors to stay in their own homes and remain active in their communities. For more information, call ViVi at (845) 331-0155.

Settled and Serving in Place meeting:9:30 a.m.Saugerties seniors meet at The Village Diner on Main Street. Settled and Serving in Place (SSIP) is a social self-help group for seniors who want to remain in their homes and community. (845) 246-3285.

Bridge Games:10 a.m. Church of the Messiah hall, Chestnut St. Rhinebeck. $10. For more information, call Pat at (845) 331-1743.

Computer Learning Center:10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Teaching computer-related and digital photography classes, Kingston Center of SUNY Ulster, 94 Marys Ave., Kingston. (845) 339-0046.

Preschool Story Hour:10 a.m. Olive Free Library, 4033 Route 28A, West Shokan. (845) 657-2482.

Computer Learning Center:10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Teaching computer-related and digital photography classes, Room 201, Kingston Center of SUNY Ulster, 94 Marys Ave., Kingston. (845) 339-0046.

Toddler Time:10 to 11 a.m. Stone Ridge Library, Main Street, Stone Ridge. (845) 687-2044.

Happy Apple Thrift Shop:10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 24 E. OReilly St., Kingston. (845) 338-0833.

Mall Walking with OFA:10 a.m. Join a staff member from Ulster County Office for the Aging each week for a walk and talk. Every Tuesday at 10 a.m. sharp. Meet in the Food Court at 9:45 a.m. with a place for your coats. Hudson Valley Mall, 1300 Ulster Ave., town of Ulster.

Community Playspace:10 to 10:45 a.m. Gardiner Library, 133 Farmers Turnpike, Gardiner. Led by childrens librarian Amy Laber, a singer-songwriter, early childhood music.

Terrific two/three storytime:10 a.m. Gardiner Library, 133 Farmers Turnpike, Gardiner. (845) 255-1255.

Yoga:10:15 to 11:15 a.m. Energy Medicine Yoga will be taught by Maryanne. Mountain View Studio, 20 Mountainview Ave., Woodstock (845) 679-0901. Classes are $10 cash or check.mtnviewstudio.com.

Tots n Tales Story Time, For 2- and 3-Year-Olds:10:30 a.m. Hyde Park Free Library, 2 Main St., Hyde Park.

Preschool Storytime:10:30 a.m. For 3-to-5-years-old, Ellenville Public Library, 40 Center St., Ellenville. (845) 647-5530.

Story Craft and Play:10:30 to 11:30 a.m. together Tuesdays with Janice for children birth through preschool. Come to join the gang of local parents. Phoenicia Library, 48 Main St., Phoenicia. (845) 688-7811.

Toddlertime story hour and crafts:10:30 a.m. For children ages 18 months to 3 years, Kingston Library, 55 Franklin St., Kingston.

Tuesday Tales:11 a.m. For preschoolers ages 3-to-6-years-old, Saugerties Public Library, 91 Washington Ave., Saugerties. (845) 246-4317.

Classes:11 a.m. to 12 p.m. 8 Immortals internal Chinese straight sword (Jian) adapted to Tai Chi principles, Hawksbrother. (You may take both classes, or either Sword or Tai Chi Chuan). Marbletown Multi-Arts, 3588 Main St., Stone Ridge. (845) 687-6090

Free Caregiver Support Group:11:30 a.m. Community Center, 3 Veterans Drive, New Paltz. Join Miss Penny for a fun-filled storytime for the very young. Appropriate for ages 1-3.

Classes:Noon to 1 p.m. Second-generation Yang Tai Chi Chuan, with related Tai Chi Chuan chi gung, Hawksbrother. (You may take both classes, of either Sword or Tai Chi Chuan). Marbletown Multi-Arts, 3588 Main St., Stone Ridge. (845) 687-6090.

Thrift Store:12 to 4 p.m. Margaretville Hospital Auxilary Thrift Shop, 850 Main St., Margaretville.

Story Time:1 p.m. Preschool story time. Early literacy activities and stories for children ages 3-5. Ellenville Public Library & Museum, 40 Center St., Ellenville. (845) 647-5530.

Story Hours Grades 2 and 3:3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Stone Ridge Library, 3700 Main St., Stone Ridge. (845) 687-7023.

Pokemon Club:3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Saugerties Public Library, 91 Washington Ave., Saugerties. (845) 246-4317.

Scrabble:4 p.m. Saugerties Public Library, 91 Washington Ave., Saugerties. (845) 246-4317.

Aroma Yoga Flow:4 to 5:15 p.m. (moderate) with young living essential oils. MaMA, Marbletown Multi-Arts, 3588 Main St., Stone Ridge.

Terrific Tuesdays:4:15 p.m. For grades K-6, Ellenville Public Library and Museum, 40 Center St., Ellenville. (845) 647-5530.

Boxing Conditioning:4:15 to 5 p.m., children ages 7-12; 5 to 5:45 p.m., teens; 6 to 7 p.m., adults. Mountainview Studio, 20 Mountainview Ave., Woodstock. mtviewstudio@gmail.com

LGBTQ Community Acupuncture Clinic:5 to 7 p.m., 300 Wall Street, Kingston. RSVPs highly suggested, though walk-ins will be welcomed when space is available; book your appointment at lgbtqcenter.org/acupuncture or call (845) 331-5300. The LGBTQ Community Acupuncture Clinic takes place in a relaxed and low-lit group setting using points on the ears, hands and feet. Intake takes approximately 10 minutes and resting time (after the needles are inserted) will vary, based on your preference, but is typically 20-45 minutes. $5 suggested donation, no one turned away for lack of funds.

Meditative Movement:5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Meditative movement (a blend of Yin/Gentle/Restorative). MaMA, Marbletown Multi-Arts, 3588 Main St., Stone Ridge.

Scrabble:6 to 8 p.m. Serious (and fun!). Wordplay at Ellenville Public Library, 40 Center St., Ellenville. (845) 647-5530.

Meeting:6 p.m. Town of Ulster Library Board meets the fourth Tuesday of each month. 860 Ulster Ave., Kingston.

Craft Night:6:30 p.m. Highland Public Library, 30 Church St., Highland. Sara creates a new project with tweens and teens ages 8-13. (845) 691-2275 or http://www.highlandlibrary.org.

Scrabble and Other Games:6:30 p.m. Pine Hill Community Center, 287 Main St., Pine Hill.

Open Mic:7 p.m. Open Mic with Cameron & Ryder. Club Helsinki, 405 Columbia St., Hudson. (518) 828-488, info@helsinkihudson.com.

Weekly Meditation:7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Free weekly community meditation at Education Annex Of Wellness Embodied: A Center for Psychotherapy and Healing, 126 Main St., New Paltz. For optional beginner instruction, please arrive at 7:20 p.m. Donations accepted. http://www.wellnessembodiedcenter.com/community-meditation.

Read the original post:
Mid-Hudson Calendar of Events: Oct. 21 and 22, 2019 | Life and Entertainment - The Daily Freeman

In a quote from an article titled Why Straight Men Hate Astrology So Much, lesbian astrologer Randon Rosenbohm puts out a provocative claim. When asked about who she thinks the main followers of astrology are, she says, without hesitation, its for girls and gays.

And while Rosenbohms assertion may seem like a gross stereotype, theres plenty of evidence that shes onto something. A quick Google search will yield dozens of articles examining the same pattern, with titles like: Astrology is Booming, and Its Queerer Than Ever or Why Women Believe in Astrology More Than Men or Queer Astrology: Why LGBTQ People Seek Answers in the Stars.

The association between astrology and queer identity is so ubiquitous, in fact, that last year the queer magazine them published an article about how queer people who dont believe in astrology often feel ostracized by their own community. And in terms of the correlation between belief in astrology and gender identity, theres data to back that up, too. In the very same 2018 Pew Research Center poll cited in Jamie Flynns 20 Oct. 9 When the stars dont align: The failures of astrology Herald column youll notice a marked gender discrepancy. While 20 percent of American men believe in astrology, 37 percent of women do. The poll also shows that racial and ethnic minorities are more likely to believe in astrology than their white and non-Hispanic counterparts.

It is important to talk about who believes in astrology and why it might be useful, something the When the stars dont align column fails to do. So when we talk about the uninformed people who are increasingly looking to fake and meaningless tools to gain a better understanding of themselves and their world, its important that we recognize that we are talking about a group of people that is significantly more female, more queer and more diverse than the mainstream. This isnt to say that any critique of astrology is inherently misogynistic, or homophobic or racist of course its not. I, for one, share Flynns concern that its all too possible for vulnerable young people to turn to astrology in lieu of seeking professional help. But I do think that the answer to the question What value could astrology possibly have? can be found, at least partially, by looking to the identity of the people who practice it.

Why do so many people who are part of marginalized groups find themselves drawn toward astrology, then? Well, there are a couple of theories.

The first is that, at least for some queer people, astrology offers a spiritual outlet and sense of community similar to that of organized religion, without any of the bigotry and conservatism.

Talking about her sizeable queer following, Jessica Lanyadoo host of the wildly popular astrological show Ghost of a Podcast says: Too often queer people are rejected by their families and the religious institutions that they grew up in Astrology offers a totally non-denominational and non-judgmental method of connecting to the Divine. Astrology, then, carves out an important middle ground. Its a space for people who are still very spiritual but who, for some reason or another, might feel alienated by organized religion to find meaning and belonging.

Another theory, like Flynn suggested, is about coping with stress and making sense of a senseless world. In a 1982 study profiling the people who consult astrologers, psychologist Graham Tyson came to the conclusion that consulting an astrologer is a response by an individual to the stresses with which he or she is faced. It makes sense, then, that women, LGBTQ+ people and people of color all of whom have been reported to have higher levels of stress would be the ones to turn to astrology. When youre constantly handed the short end of the stick in part because of your race, your gender, your sexuality or some combination of the three, there is a certain comfort and a certain value in understanding that not everything is in your control.

For the record, I dont believe in astrology at all: Im just about as big of a skeptic and a cynic and a textbook-thumping hard-scientist as you can get. But even as someone who has only ever looked at astrology from an ironic distance, I still see how it can serve as a great tool for self-reflection. Astrology hands down labels and explanations and asks people to figure out to what extent those explanations apply to their own lives.

To have a conversation with someone about whether or not you seem like a Sagittarius, for example, isnt just a vapid, passive exchange where you trade clichs and then blindly submit to the will of the universe. In fact, its the exact opposite: its an active and engaging interrogation of the self. When youre asking people if they think you are, in fact, generous and idealistic, but also impatient, like Sagittariuses are supposed to be, what youre really asking is: Is this how you see me? and Is this how I see myself? Even if the impetus for these conversations is pseudo-scientific, it doesnt mean that the conversations themselves are unimportant. Astrology forces you to grapple with your identity by daring you to disagree with the proscribed personality trait. The real understanding doesnt come from being handed a label, but how you try to make sense of it.

As someone who has struggled with how exactly to label myself ever since I realized that I was attracted to women, I find that there is a lot in common with the way both astrology and my sexuality force me to try out different labels and explain who I am to other people.

Maybe astrology speaks to women, queer people and people of color because they are already forced to see themselves from outside themselves: forced to explain what it means to be a woman, what it means to be trans, what it means to be Latinx and so on in a society that was not built with their existence in mind. Maybe astrology serves as a fun, low-stakes way to continue to think about ones identity outside of oppressive social structures.

Or maybe it is about finding a spiritual refuge outside of religion. Or maybe it is about coping with stress. But whatever the reason, if astrology really is a part of life for a lot of marginalized people and it is then it probably does serve an important function.

And even if you think that astrology really is ruining peoples lives and has absolutely nothing of value to contribute, then it is more important than ever to think about the kind of people that astrology attracts. Are girls and gays being failed by doctors, by mental health professionals, by organized religion and by the self-help industry? Is that why they are turning to astrology? Or do they just know how to have more fun?

Allie Arnold 20 can be reached at allison_arnold@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.

Excerpt from:
Arnold '20: Who we talk about when we talk about astrology - The Brown Daily Herald

Relationships take work. Every couple fights; the most common arguments stem from money and delegation of responsibilities, but not every couple takes the time to step back to truly assess and work on their relationship. Relish is the relationship training app that gives couples a convenient and personalized way for couples to strengthen their relationship. The app provides unlimited access to a qualified relationship coach and uses machine learning to generate a customized, scientifically-backed relationship plan. Users can use Relish alone, or with their partner. It costs $99.99 a year per couple to belong to the platform, a small price to pay for a lifetime of happiness.

AlleyWatch sat down with Relish CEO and FounderLesley Eccles to learn more about the app thats fueling healthier relationships through technology. Eccles is a serial entrepreneur who cofounded FanDuel with her husband and its the experience of building a high-growth company and the close interpersonal relationships involved that inspired the idea for Relish.

Tell us about the product or service that Relish offers.

Relish is the first-ever truly customized relationship training app that makes it easy to build a happy, healthy, more connected relationship with your partner. It offers unlimited one-on-one access to a qualified relationship coach and uses machine learning to create a customized, scientifically-backed relationship plan in the form of interactive lessons. Relish teaches active mindfulness to help individuals or couples become more conscious of how they approach their relationship, discovering improved communication, deeper connection and more intimacy.

How is Relish different?

Relish stands out amongst competitors with its unlimited, one-on-one support from qualified relationship coaches and its truly customized relationship plans. Relish values human connection, so the app includes unlimited messaging with highly experienced coaches, interactive quizzes, journaling, and a supportive and thriving community.

What market does Relish target and how big is it?

Relishs ideal user is someone in a long-term relationship (1+ years) who is open to working on themselves and on their relationship. They understand the value of that and are committed to improving their communication and deepening their connection with their partner. They also understand that being more conscious of their mindset is the first step to a healthy and intimate relationship. Users can use Relish at their own pace either together or alone.

There are more than 122M married individuals in this country, and in a recent survey, only 8M of them describe their relationship as perfect. This number doesnt account for people in long-term relationships who are unmarried, so the overall market is even bigger.

What is the business model?

Relish is an annual subscription of $99.99 per year per couple.

What inspired the start of Relish?

The idea for Relish came about in the months after I left FanDuel at the end of 2017. Many of us felt pretty broken after our experience at FanDuel (you can read more about that in Albert Chens new book, Billion Dollar Fantasy) and I realized that the only thing that kept us all sane through the period was the strength of our relationships with each other in the team, with our partners, our family, and our friends. Thats whats important in life. I knew that whenever I had issues in my relationship with my husband (who I cofounded FanDuel with) I didnt really have anywhere to go for advice on what to do. I turned to self-help books. I wanted to find a way to use technology to make that process easier, better and affordable. I wanted to use technology for good to bring people together, help them build deeper connections with each other and ultimately get more affection and intimacy.

Who do you consider to be your primary competitors?

A couple of other relationship apps on the market and Google search results.

What are the milestones that you plan to achieve within six months?

We are launching internationally by the end of the year.

What is the one piece of startup advice that you never got?

Make sure you do deep due diligence on your investors. Taking investors who have some element of control of your company is like getting married. Not many people get married after a couple of dates. You will be working with your investors for a long time, through plenty of ups and downs. Like a romantic relationship, you only know the true nature of your investor when everything in the garden isnt rosy. When the baby wont sleep, when youre exhausted, when youre having issues at work thats when you know how your partner will truly support you. Its the same with investors.

If you could be put in touch with anyone in the New York community who would it be and why?

I would love to meet anyone who really understands the importance and value of relationships and is excited about helping people make the most of their lives.

I would love to meet anyone who really understands the importance and value of relationships and is excited about helping people make the most of their lives.

The definition of success should not be how much money youve made, and certainly not how many billion-dollar companies youve built its about who is there for you when it matters.

Why did you launch in New York?

I moved here three years ago from Edinburgh in Scotland. We had wanted to move here for years FanDuels HQ was here and we traveled back and forth for years. We had been too busy building FanDuel to take the time to make the move. Finally, we did it and couldnt be happier here! Im excited to see how much the tech ecosystem has changed and grown even in the past five years. I genuinely believe its the best place in the country to build a tech company.

Where is your favorite fall destination in the city?

At this time of the year, I love to escape upstate and go apple picking with our kids. We probably get more excited about it than they do though!

Excerpt from:
Relish is the Relationship Training App That Uses Machine Learning to Bring Happiness to Couples - AlleyWatch