Shower Curtain Spurs Serenity

Life is a balancing game.

Work: a balancing game called doing the minimum amount of work to efficiently accomplish all my pre-determined “objectives” so that I can do what I really want: read my fave blog, page through the mostemailed list on the NYtimes website, enrich my mind with random wikipedia pages, write silly emails, etc…

Now that I spend every evening thinking about the Zodiac (thanks to my brilliantly colored Zodiac-themed shower curtain) and some days (thanks to my horoscope-dedicated coworkers), I’ve come to realize that I am much more a Libra than I used to be.

In 6th grade when we took Latin (Fun fact: my Latin name was Zelda) and learned about the Zodiac signs as if they were an academic subject, I felt really jipped when I colored in my black and white ditto of a scale. A scale?! I wanted to be an animal, or better yet, one of those really hot Gemini twins that looked like mermaid goddesses. And yes, despite being in 6th grade (and taking LATIN), we were coloring.

And then when I came to understand the symbolic meaning of the scale: balance, serenity, being calm, etc…I realized that Libra was the least appropriate sign for someone with such extreme obsessions and hatreds as Julie Eisen. Yet now, I embrace the (concept of the) scale.

Yes, I am still a woman of extremes (When it comes to thoughts, people, ideas, I have tended to be full-on passionate or utterly apathetic).

But not as much anymore. My feelings for more things are in the grey region. I still max out on certain interests (recent overdose: the L-word, only to have come to a temporary halt b/c the Philadelphia public library system is unable to sponsor this educational experience beyond season 2). But for the most part, Julie of 2007 has mellowed significantly as compared to the Julie pre-2005. I attribute this to good friends, Oprah Winfrey (who is one of my good friends), and a host of other things.

And speaking of the library, library is libra + ry. Perhaps this is a message that books keep us balanced and whole.

Also speaking of the library, my online account tells me that I owe $1 for something I already returned (on time).

Peeved...but...calm!