New Housing?

Besides finals, for a lot of my friends the end of the semester also means changes in housing.

Since my lease is up in October, I'm on a rather strange timetable compared to everyone else. The plan was that, since I'll be done with school next June and moving on to other things, it doesn't make sense to renew my lease in the city for another year. Instead, I'm supposed to move in with my mom for the remainder of senior year and spend October 2010 - June 2011 at home. It's the financially conservative decision, if not the most fun.

However, a group of my friends are looking to renew their apartment for next year and need another room mate. If I signed with them I would have a place from June-June, the time slot I need, with the added bonus that I love their place and crash there almost once a week already.

Actually, this new option makes a lot of sense, because my current room mate has a cousin who wants to take my spot and it's awkward for him to wait till October to do so. If I moved out in June (or even in August, which is possible), he would be here for fall semester, I would have a place in the city for the time I need, and everyone (except maybe my mother) would be happy.

Trouble is, there's a lot of moving pieces, not least of which is convincing my mom to fund another apartment. If we're concerned about the cousin moving in by fall semester, the financially sound decision would be to move me home in August without any talk of a different apartment. Charging "The House" to represent my living situation, I did a quick reading:

Bear + Gentleman + Flowers + House + Cavalier + Key + Tree

Bear + Gentleman = A man who's not in complete control of his life, who owes financial considerations to another person.
Bear + Gentleman + Flowers = A man caught between financial responsibilities (The Bear) and social desires (The Flowers).

I think this aptly describes my situation, since I'm really under the financial jurisdiction of my mother at the moment. Even though I realize living with her is the practical thing to do, nevertheless I want to stay in the city with friends.

House + Cavalier + Key = The Cavalier means "movement" and the Key says, "Yes!" so it seems like some sort of change is inevitable that was not part of the original"stay till October" plan.

Key + Tree = The Tree as the final card makes me think the chances of moving with my friends are unlikely. The Tree is about stability, putting down roots, and long-term considerations. This seems to go against moving anywhere else but home, since getting another temporary lease is volatile and unstable. Or does it mean I'll finally find a plan and stick to it?

There's something to be said about doing simpler, more straightforward readings in the future. In any case, I'll discuss my options with my current room mate and with my mother as well.

The Pharm School Question

Last week my friend "P" was wait-listed for the pharm school of her dreams. This is frustrating enough in itself, but especially so because she's number 30 out of, I believe, two hundred - so close and yet so far away.

I posed the question, "Will this school admit P for the coming fall semester?" and charged card 26, "The Book," to represent education.

Here are the cards I pulled from left to right:

14 - The Fox
29 - The Lady
23 - The Mice
26 - The Book
12 - The Birds
06 - The Clouds
22 - The Paths

Interpretation:

Fox + Lady:  A woman applicant, an interviewee. This is self-explanatory.
Lady + Mice: The Mice have a weakening effect on the cards around it. The woman was undermined in some way; perhaps her credentials were not as exemplary as she hoped.
Mice + Book: This resulted in her wait-listing. (Obviously.)
Book + Birds: A message or new information concerning school matters.
Birds + Clouds: "When clouds appear, trouble is near." Instead of bringing clarity, the messages will create further confusion. Ambiguous or conflicting information. Muddled thoughts in general.
Clouds + Paths: When things clear up, there will be alternatives. A crossroads, decisions.

Synthesis:

One thing I noticed about this reading is that although the cards don't actually say "no," they don't clearly say "yes" either. Given the emphasis on alternatives at the end of the reading, I would say the cards lean closer towards a negative answer.

I believe P will end up with more options to consider than she  has right now, or perhaps more than she is currently aware of. Information - both in tangible, official forms (emails, letters) as well as advice and hearsay - will complicate the mix, and she will have a lot to sort through. However, after an initial hiatus she will have plenty of ways to go, so a dead-end or stalemate is unlikely. Overall, this reading encourages open-mindedness,  considering many possibilities, and having Plan Bs. Flexibility is key.

Update  04/14: The day after this reading, my friend received an acceptance letter from another graduate school. She now was two schools ready to take her, while still on the wait-list at her preferred university.

What the Fortuneteller Said

Her husband had been a high-ranking officer in the Thai military. As a result, she possessed a title like “Lady.” Given her family connections, I heard she read for a handful of politicians, and even once for an African queen on a trip to the Kingdom.

But despite all this, the kindly old Lady before me did not have the air of a minor celebrity, or even that of a general’s wife. With her puff of white hair and gentle demeanor, she could’ve been someone’s grandmother - which is exactly what I was told to call her. And when she offered to read for me, free of charge, I couldn’t easily pass up the chance.

***

We sat on opposites sides of a small fold-out table in the garden of her suburban Bangkok home. It was a little plot, surrounded on two sides by her house and on the third by construction. Her son, a soldier like his father, was having an extension built, she explained. As I made myself comfortable, the family’s pet, a rather large dog with shaggy caramel fur, slipped under the table and into the house, apparently taking no interest in me.

There was nothing particularly striking about my surroundings or about my host. Hers seemed like an unpretentious home, and she an ordinary woman. Grandma was no mystic. When her daughter and my mother were friends in college, Grandma had been a schoolteacher. She took up fortunetelling in retirement as a pastime, learning it from a woman who had read for her in earlier times. These arts have been handed down this way for generations.

Now Grandma performed the arcane numerical calculations for my date and time of birth, and drew the appropriate charts and figures. Into a little notepad she gave me, I jotted down bits and pieces of what the fortuneteller said.

Looking at them now, my notes are pretty skewed. It looks like I only scribbled down a word here, a blurb there, and focused little on chronology. But from what I can tell, Grandmother’s forecast for the next five years is a positive once: “Your stars do not fall,” she said. At twenty-one I can expect the “support of elders” and, at twenty-two, a “plot of land” becomes available. Groovy.

But what she predicted for 23 is really interesting. Of this point Grandma was quite sure: “Your fortunes lie abroad,” she said. “Your partner will be of a different race and language. She will have money and rank and wear a uniform. And though it’s rather late, your first opportunity for marriage will come when you are between 23 and 24.”

(Note: To “wear a uniform” is an old Thai way of saying someone is a professional.)

In normal conversation, Thai people rarely say “husband” or “wife.” Instead, we use a nonspecific word like “spouse.” Also, our third person pronoun doesn’t distinguish between genders. Of course, I don’t suppose Grandma would think I’m looking for anything but a wife. Even divination is hetero-centric. Perhaps a more PC-prophecy would read, “a significant domestic partnership with the person of your choice.”

“That isn’t late, Grandma,” my mom suggested. “For kids these days, getting married by 24 is early.” I had to agree. I think that, at 24, I’ll probably be the first of my friends to tie the knot.

“Well,” was Grandma’s reply, “if he should miss his first shot, his second chance won’t come until he’s 29.” Looks like I’ve got my work cut out for me.

When our session was over, I asked the Lady how I cold repay her. “Don’t worry about it, dear,” she said, “but come visit again soon. Your mother tells me you’re a bit of a fortuneteller yourself. If you’d ever like to learn, I’d love to have student.”

I hope someday I can sit down with her, this kindly old Lady, and learn a bit of her old world wisdom. Maybe I’ll even bring my husband.

Total Eclipse...of the Heart

Everyone’s buzzing about today’s solar eclipse - apparently, the longest eclipse of the century.

In my astrological circles, people are cashing in their interpretations of the event. (See here and here.) “How’s the eclipse effecting you?” is the hot topic.

If I were to get into this discussion:

The eclipse fell within a degree of my natal Moon. They say transits to the Moon correlate with domestic issues, or matters concerning one’s mother. Today was the first time my mother and I have gone home together since she split up with my dad earlier this year, and since her and I both moved to the city. It wasn’t momentous. She grabbed a few more of her things, and I blogged. Dad wasn’t home.

She just called to relay this bit of news to me, though:

Mother: I just spoke with [a mutual friend] a bit ago, and guess what she told me? Apparently your father went to chat with her today. Said he knows I’m staying around [Town X] from checking my receipts - where I’m buying groceries, where I’m getting my nails done. He’s been snooping around again. I thought this craziness was over.

Eclipses occur at new moons, which are about new beginnings. But some of us have more trouble starting over than others…

Update:

The Moon also stirs our subconscious minds. I woke up this morning - or, half-woke - dreaming I heard my father’s voice. He doesn’t actually know where I’m living now: Mother and I figured we’d tell him after the mourning stage is complete, or else he’d be here all the time, pining away for reconcilement. Nevertheless, I lay in bed for while, trying to discern if the voice was real…

Telling Stories, Three-to-Nine

I'm an unlikely candidate for interesting and intrepid blogger.

After all, I'm just your average undergrad trying to make his way through life. I don't live under any strange circumstances - that is, if the world we live in is not "strange." I'm not famous. But I've always found people interesting, even (especially?) the ordinary ones. You don't have to be a celebrity or work a hazardous job to have that quality. Everyone has a background, a history, and a story to tell.

As for me, I'm a Thai-American. I want to preserve the old ways of my people. I'm an English major. I pause to savor beautiful language. I'm a homosexual. Guys are trouble. I'm all these things - and more. And I have stories to tell.

So, why "Three-to-Nine"?

In astrology, the language of celestial symbolism, the sky is divided into twelve parts called "houses." Lying directly across from each other, the Third and Ninth Houses form a natural pair.

The Third rules daily activities, the acquisition of information, and the process of communicating it. Here, we immerse ourselves in our immediate surroundings. We respond to its constant stream of mental stimuli.

In the Ninth, we step away from our localized settings to gain a broader perspective. Here, we look for patterns in our daily experiences. We see where they fit into the Bigger Picture. We publish our Third House writings for a wider audience.

In the Third, we record our daily experiences; in the Ninth, we give them meaning.

So here I am. Welcome.