Star Struck Style

August 17 is Mae West’s birthday.

I did not expect to find a birth time when I looked up Mae West’s chart, and I’m reluctant to believe the accuracy of the time listed on astrotheme.com.

But if the time is correct (or even in the ballpark), Mae West’s moon is nearly in the same place as my natal moon in Cancer. We also share our natal Mars placement by just a couple of degrees in the sign of Aquarius.

I am firm believer that Cancer natives are funny for a few different reasons. I have the same belief about people who have their natal moon in Cancer. I was taught that Cancer corresponds to memory, and without a decent memory an individual cannot understand that context is a big part of humor. The funniest things we say are funny because they are contextually inappropriate in the moment that they are uttered.

I live to crack inappropriate jokes and to yank the chains of people who are too sober — especially astrologers who take themselves too seriously. I’m sure that my shtick comes across as arrogant or abrasive to some people, but those people can kiss my ass. I’m kidding, sort of . . .

Anyway, back to Mae West. The A.V. Club has this terrific article about Mae West that makes me look at the Cancer moon I share with the performer as a badge of honor. Describing West, it reads:

“By the time she first stepped in front of a camera, her act was perfected, with no room for tinkering and reshaping. As far as most of her audience — which now includes posterity — might be concerned, she was born at 39, with ungodly confidence and a dirty joke on her lips.”

I first achieved success in my vocation in my late thirties, too. Despite many attempts to change me, no one has succeeded because I believe that there is a market for my special brand of smart-assery. Yeah, I’m working as a fashion/celebrity astrologer, but only because I find those topics to be far less serious than the soul-centered astrology a lot of my contemporaries practice. I’m good at it, but more importantly, I’m funny. No one needs to tell me that because I can look at things I wrote a decade ago and they still make me laugh out loud.

Unfortunately, I haven’t really found a venue for my talent, but that doesn’t mean that I’m even going to give up. Like Mae West, I believe that I have a character that is both memorable and genuine: this is exactly who I am. Perhaps one day I’ll figure out how to make a few bucks doing what I do.