Furthest west is Tiffin, OH. Furthest south is Charleston, SC. Furthest north is somewhere in Maine (I was three at the time). Furthest east is Innsbruck, Austria.
I would love to visit each continent, though. One day, when I has the monies. *plot plot, plan plan*
Toni - LOL - like I said, couldn't resist!
kashmiri - yep you're right, I'm in North Dakota where it's usually below zero by this time, been having some *weird* warm weather tho, no snow on the ground. I posted a pic of what it looks like in summertime around here on the map.
And SaD, I'm like you plotting and planning, I don't know what it is that's hitting my 9th house, but I just wicked want to go somewhere NEW and see places I've never seen and hear other languages being spoken - since I was a little girl I've wanted to go to Ireland, I remember someone here gets to go for Christmas, is it you Lupa? Hope you have a great time and that you send us pictures!
I think I'm getting ready to leave the hermit existence I've led the last 3-4 years, just itching for new people, new experiences, getting out of Dodge for a while.
Peppermint, it is me that's going to Ireland on Christmas day. We are going so that John can play some gigs for the release of his band's album. They've played together off and on for more than 20 years and have a very loyal fan base in Ireland but they've never released any recordings til now. It's all so exciting. Plus I get to visit Ireland again. I love it so much.
I'm in finance, but I'd rather not be. I'd rather be a wealthy self employed artist and philanthropist, lol!
I'm in central Mass, the Quabbin area. Out in the sticks as they say. Though it is only about an hour or so from Boston, I almost never go to the city as I wimp out over the driving.
The furthest I've been away sadly is California and Bermuda. Pretty lame for a Sag!
I have a question for Elsa but she probably won't want to answer it, which is ok, but anyway it is "Are you a Virgo?" 
a question for everyone else: Who here does art or makes things with their hands? And whether or not you do, do you believe that there is a viable market for such things? Are they still valued, as in people are willing to buy rather than just admire? Or in these days of economic fears, must everything be only practical? Is there still room for "food for the soul"?
Vajra I am a dog groomer and that gives me a bit of a creative outlet, though most of my work is pet grooming with little artistic license. I think when I'm old I will be a real artist. I've always thought that. I am artistic but I won't create a lot of real art until then.
My husband is a musician and producer and is stuck selling computers for a major retailer. I hope with all my heart that people still need/want to feed their souls. I believe they need John's creative talents more than they need someone to sell them a service plan with their Macbook pro. I am admittedly biased.
I'd rather be a wealthy self-employed artist and philanthropist too...sigh...(oddly enough I'm also in finance and want to tear my eyeballs out on a daily basis) :)
I think that art has really taken a hit because of the whole technological revolution. True craftsmanship is not as valued as it might have been say back in the days of art movements prior to modernization. In that sense, the artist may have a tough time making a living selling art, especially during tougher economic periods. For example, when money is tight in communities, the first things that people start cutting from budgets are art and music programs because they are considered extra-curricular and less valuable in education (which I think is bullshit obviously).
On the bright side, I believe there are as many people that value art and there will always be people that want to buy it. There will always be room and a need for "food for the soul". It's an evolutionary program within our human brains that is almost as instinctual as the basic desires for food and shelter...
Vajra I make art and I think there still is a viable market, at least if you are in the city. I have sold a couple of pieces and that happened very quickly after marketing myself. Of course I don't market myself at all these days but I'm fine with that. I've always felt I would need more than one thing on the go work-wise anyway so the prospect doesn't bother me too much.
For me the biggest issue is to document my work and my process and get involved with others for collaberation. Also working towards becoming a teacher, because both my grandmother and mother were painters are gave it up due to arthritis/labouring with their hands.
I'm en route to arthritis already and I labour with my hands and need to find a way out sooner rather than later becauseif I don't it's pretty much certain I won't be making art or writing anything in my middle-later years.
Lupa, I agree with you that John's real talents are needed far more than selling a service plan on a MacBook. arrg!! I hope you both don't need to "wait until you are old" to be artistic.
Alicia - I too want to poke my spreadsheet-crunchin-lil-eyeballs out daily. If you ever get a chance to get out, I say take it! I'll be going on my 21st year of it on my birthday in December, and I tell ya, for me, the more I know, the more responsibilities I get, and the worse it gets. Don't make the same mistake I did - get the hell out while you are young!
Kash, I am both envious and sad. Envious because you are in the art world and making it work and sad because of the arthritis issue making you consider getting out. Ouch! I hope that an alternative presents itself and you can be healed from it.
I guess my problem is two-fold. I don't live anywhere near even a small city, and I have no marketing at all, or time to figure it out.
Another question for you all that believe in supporting artists and craftspeople:
What was the last item you spent money on that was art, or hand-crafted, and not practical in a traditional sense. food for the soul stuff.
Me, I just put a downpayment on a handcrafted custom leather book. The bookmaker is carving the cover design from a drawing of mine. It will be filled with paper of heavy enough weight for me to paint on. It is costing a pretty penny - more than the gorgeous boots I've been coveting which would be more practical. But this craftsperson is such an artist, and has integrity, and I want to have something made by her. And I figure I will have this book forever to create art in, and it will be a work of art itself and filled with art, and it will feed my soul. My soles can wait, lol! To, me, it is worth it.
Vajra--my coworker who I've been working with for the last couple years has been at it for over 10 now and he says the same thing, "Get out while you're young!". That is most definitely my goal, just figuring out how to get out is the difficult part. My near future goal is to be an art teacher, but at heart, I want to promote change at the core of our educational system--so hopefully in the far future I will be an arts diplomat of sorts. :)
The last arty thing I spent money on were three hand-made cards for my bridesmaids to formally welcome them to my wedding party. Bringin it back old school...
Tam...thanks for the link! I love this stuff. I buy handmade jewelry all the time, and
have a couple of sculptures/glasswork/paintings made by my brother---he's way talented. He went to art school eons ago, dropped out, went back to school and is now a special ed teacher..but he still paints now, and squeezes in a couple of shows a year in my hometown, wherever he can find a place to exhibit.
Vajra, I just wanted to clarify my point about doing art when I'm old. That's what I want to do. I am a Gemini with Virgo Mars in the 10th. I love my job and I have many callings that I fill in various ways. I have this sense that when I'm older I will have had life experiences that I'll want to express artistically. It isn't that I feel burdened by what I'm doing now.
John on the other hand is an Aquarius with Neptune in the 10th. He was born to be a musician and it just breaks my heart to see him put on that stupid corporate uniform every day. I know there are many exceptional people forced to do mundane work in order to keep their lives together. We aren't unique. I love him for the sacrifices he makes so that our bills are paid and I will never waiver in my support and encouragement for him doing what he was made for.
Question for everyone - what were YOU born to do?
Lupa - I can very much relate to John's work situation. I'm Aquarius rising, moon and mars with Neptune on the MC. Corporate life is not for the likes of us, it is slow-acting poison, but we carry on if we must, to make ends meet, albeit unhappily. I am so glad he has your support and respect. And I am glad you are happy with what you do - it is very difficult indeed if both partners are struggling in that way.
What was I born to do? I don't know for sure. It has something to do with spreading deeper truths, perhaps of an occult nature, maybe through artistic means. Have not defined it yet exactly.
i can't get the map to work :( signed in and everything, lots of links, but no map...
this new firefox might be a bit buggy or something...
i'd be interested in an elsa regulars convocation of some sort... can only imagine the conversations! i'm thinking a campfire under the stars and some good drinks, but that's probably just because i want that all the time :)
I'm using Chrome lately because Firefox has been buggy as hell on my computer for months.
and thank you Alicia and Vajra! :) I am born to serve and support I think. Virgo mars plus Scorpio moon and ascendant. I'm good at getting my energy under someone or something and just lifting them up.
Ooh answering questions.
Farthest I've been - well home has always been fluid. I live in Los Angeles now, and when I was a kid I lived in the southeast of the UK for a few years. I'm going to take a big trip for my 40th birthday, and I'm trying to decide among several locations. (Hmm I should make a poll!)
For work I do software as a service development. The easiest way to think of it is - you know how gmail and yahoo are all online instead of opening up a folder or program on your computer? I make other software that works the same way, moving traditional software functions into a web based service. Basically I'm one of the in house developers/project managers for a big Telecom company. I'm still not sure if that makes sense to the non-techies. I hope so.
I was born to dance and sing and teach and learn.
Vajra....go and do your art!! There are millions of people who love art and appreciate it. I am back to painting myself now and loving it! I had quit for over 10 years because I got sidetracked on interpreting and the demand kept increasing and money got better, but I have missed the painting and the solitude and the just pure love that I have for it. The interpreting has cut down some and now I am making time for painting and am thoroughly loving it!!
I am sure all the artists on this blog (Kashmiri, Alicia.....) can attest to the fact that if it is in you to create, that is what you should be doing. Hats off to all of you whom create and put it out there for the rest of us to enjoy. I just bought a tiny little painting while I was up in Mass....Rockport a few weeks ago. My friend asked me why I was buying someone else's painting when I could paint one for myself.....that is the beauty of it....I can't help myself because I appreciate beautiful things and am in awe of other artists. Art in whatever way it is expressed, jewelry, painting, sculpting, music, etc.....
I could not get the map up, but I live now in North Carolina. Alicia....I love it up there in the Boston area...my sister went to Boston College ...a long time ago.
Beijing, China is the furthest I have been....I love to travel and explore too....Lupa, I have my compass pointing in the direction of Ireland someday....I have heard so many nice things about the country!
Vajra...I remember your artwork when we posted them up here....they were beautiful!!
Vajra, you're clearly not a Virgo... right? 
(I hope I can say that, since I am one!)
Caroline, here's a question for you... As a gemini, what is the highest and deepest expression of your gemini sun nature? I've been thinking about this a lot, since I have a gemini NN, and I want to express more gemini to balance out my chart. I know the general answers to this. But I'm wondering, for YOU, when are you most yourself as a gemini - and what do you think is a gemini's most spiritual method or path toward self-realization?
It IS you that is going to Ireland for Christmas Lupa! Here's wishing you a wonderful and safe trip, and great success for your musician! Hope we get to see your photos too! And the A to your Q: I was born to be a voice for the voiceless, and to support the female of the species.
Vajra: I've been to CA, used to live there as a child, but never Bermuda - I'd love to go someday and just soak up the sun. A to your Q: the only art I do (sporadically) is some photography, prose poems and the occasional collage. I very strongly believe in the value of art and handmade things as 'food for the soul,' and believe there will always be a market for it as we humans will always need to feed our souls.
In my culture there are many things which MUST be made by hand, like our traditional clothing: dresses, vests, capes, beaded belts, mocassins and leggings, hair ties, barrettes, earrings, and other parts of our traditional clothing which are entirely beaded, like the side-drops which are hung from the sides of a man's belt. Some of this is done by hand on a loom but most of it is done all by hand, one bead at a time. So yes I value those things very much. You might want to look into Internet sales for your wonderful art if a big city market is not nearby - or start your own site.
And the last money I spent to 'feed my soul?' Labor Day weekend I shelled out $56/gallon each on two gallons of paint to introduce some zingy color to my dull living room walls so I could get through another winter! The new wall colors make everything else in the room POP!
And all the other folks who responded to the 'farthest travelled question,' thanks and *wow* we have some well-travelled people on this Board who not only visited, but lived in other countries - I think that is so wonderful and would love to do that too someday.
@ denamaria--"can't help myself because I appreciate beautiful things"--that's a true blessing of an artist. Not only do we want to create, but we can appreciate another's creation as well.
Also ironically, my family lives in NC (Raleigh area).
No prob wyrdling, glad you got a picture finally! :)
Hi StephB -
Nope, not a Virgo, I'm a Sag with lots of Aqua - but I have 3 planets in Virgo including chart ruler & sun ruler...so some Virgo energy too for sure
Peppermint - I make beaded things too, yep, one bead at a time! Someday maybe I will have a site. Right now though I just don't have time to learn all it would take. Everything from the website building to the photography to the marketing...it is all i can do to carve out time for the art! Someday though, maybe, things will be different. BTW - what colors did you do your new walls in?
"Caroline, here's a question for you... As a gemini, what is the highest and deepest expression of your gemini sun nature? I've been thinking about this a lot, since I have a gemini NN, and I want to express more gemini to balance out my chart. I know the general answers to this. But I'm wondering, for YOU, when are you most yourself as a gemini - and what do you think is a gemini's most spiritual method or path toward self-realization?"
For me, it's completely through talking about interesting things, communicating, exchanging ideas, socializing, and psychoanalyzing people (much to all of my friends' dismay, ). I'm happiest and feel the most spiritually fulfilled when I'm intellectually stimulated especially when I'm talking about art and socializing with people who care about it and can give me ideas that I find interesting and that get the analytical gears turning. In terms of love relationships, the last relationship I was involved in was almost everything I wanted, but when push came to shove, my boyfriend (Sun in Sadge, Venus in Scorpio in the 1st house opposite Moon in Taurus in the 7th... ugh) didn't read and couldn't talk about books, and so it was silently killing me. His ideas on music and other art, spirituality, and society were also far too radical (although this may be my Taurus Mercury talking) and I expended a great deal of energy trying to keep up with him. In the end, we broke up due to commitment issues, but I don't know if it would have lasted forever minding that particular lacking trait.
It seems so strange to say that the Gemini's most spiritual method or path toward self-realization is through reading, learning, communicating, and socializing with others because it can be a very cerebral method of interacting with the world, often unconsciously devoid of emotion and completely detached, but I don't feel that is entirely the case. Personally, it has been important to attempt to understand my emotions on an actual emotional level and not the intellectual one, but on the other hand this is my natural mode of navigating myself through the world and through reality so I accept that, too...
How's that for a Geminian response? 
Vajra.. sounds like you need a webpage as a marketing tool. I'm surprised more artists don't have them.. I know my mother is the type to see something she likes and then bugs me to look up the artist. It would seem to me to be the ideal for artists that can't do their art full-time. To at least have a portal for dealers and people to order from.
This is the second time in a week i've read/encountered an artist with no business card or website to advertise themselves. Gifted artists who deserve to make some money at their love. Hmmm it really triggers my own saturn in cancer/9th house/leo in 10th and aquarius in 4th.. maybe i'll get into web design to help out people like yourself.. i'm a video editor but have been bemoaning the lack of work i've had for the past 16 months..
I predict that in 15 years time when pluto is in aquarius all kinds of art will be bought and sold via the web.
@ Vajra - 'what colors did you do your new walls in?'
West and north walls are in a buttery, buckskin-y yellow w/yummy deep-summer green for trim; east and south walls are in the green with the yellow trim.
For ahwile there I was afraid I'd created a John Deere room; my oldest son rejoiced that I had done the room in Green Pay Packers colors.
But they dried and toned down a little, then got the artwork and furniture in and it was okay.
And I'd love to see your beadwork - if it's anything like your paintings - wow! I did love your choice and use of color when we got to see some of your work. Here's hoping life slows down enough to give you a chance at developing a web business.
Caroline: "How's that for a Geminian response? "
Excellent!
Thank you. You've given me something interesting to think about...
Vajra,
I knew you weren't a Virgo when I wrote that! ...Anyway, turns out we've got similar energies - I'm a Sag rising with Aquarian moon..
Oh, and the furthest I've been is Norway. Still can't believe I did that. Not usual at all for me, and I have no real desire to leave the US or travel far.... though of course I'm sure I'd very much enjoy it if I did!
Peppermint I'm in the process of painting a room - planning to finish the deal Thanksgiving weekend.
2 walls and the entrance are a bright spring green
the rest of the walls are a soft buttery yellow
and some trim pieces a deep purple
Shannon, sounds like a bright summery room to pass the winter in! And that buttery yellow feels like having sunshine in the room, doesn't it? Sounds like a true shiny chicken room to me . . .
I love that cheerful spring green too - I just love color, period.
I'm thinking of doing my bedroom in pink and yellow with a bit of that spring green to make things pop - it's got a window in the east wall, and just the thought of waking up in a rose-hued room to start every day . . .yeah, I think I'll do that room next.
Dorothy - I agree with you about the Lost Symbol. It struck me that Dan Brown was hedging on that one, trying not to be so controversial as he was with The DaVinci Code. What with all the hype, I was disappointed with Lost Symbol.
Everybody:
Who smokes...only talking about cigarettes here. Who used to smoke? How long did you smoke for?
First cigarette was 12 y.o. then didn't smoke til I moved to Europe when I was 20. Eastern European smokes, oh how sophisticated I felt! I smoke, about 5 cigarettes a week at the very most, and they take place all at once should a party be happening. I think I've smoked about 3 this month so far.
In spite of my 12th House Neptune (which is apparently the indicator of an escapist addict) I don't want to be a slave to anything (Uranus-Sun opposition). I get super bored the second I light one. I have to finish this thing?
So...smokers? Anyone want to cop to it?
Smoked...did I ever! I remember my very first one...a rolled cigarette with my Aussie friends...I was 16 and we felt awesome...rolling tobacco in coffee shops. Wow.
I quit last August (just over a year!) thanks to Chantix. I am so so so thankful. I do not work for any drug companies, but that shit was a miracle drug for me. I can't tell you how many times I tried to quit smoking in the 12 years before that drug (I was a pack a day girl).
I loved the butts too...let me tell you, holding it, smoking it, smelling it...I know, so gross. But the allure...it's there...it's poetic. But when you face the harsh reality of how it sucks a human life from their own bones, well, that's another story.
*Raises hand* Copping. I've been smoking since I was 15, and don't even want to think about how many years that is now. I think about quitting from time to time but I just like it too much and don't think I don't realize how lame that sounds - I do. I recently went ten rounds with H1N1, sicker'n a dog, during which I left the smokes alone and thought how great it would be not to start again, but as soon as I started to feel better I just (mindlessly) reached for one and it was all over 'cept the crying.
Alicia: the Chantix - I thought about trying that, plus have somebody chain me to a wall somewhere and put a string of garlic around my neck, and just stop in daily to feed me a Chantix, I thought maybe something like that would work, probably take a couple of weeks - but then I read about the side effects of Chantix (depression) and got freaked out. How'd you do on that score?
I live in a small community where everything closes up at or before 9 p.m. and there've been lots of times I ran out of smokes, stores closed, so busted out the old spliff-rolling moves and rolled my own, nostalgically. 
i was taking wellbutrin and cut it off cold when i found out i was pregnant, which triggered some freaky suicidal side effects.
those things are useful, but dangerous (i did quit, easy)(for a couple years) and they need to be started and stopped real gradual, with caution...
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