Horoscope, Thursday, July 19, 2012

The Leo moon makes a public service announcement: You are the star of your show, the artist of your life, the creator of your destiny. Sometimes you forget or get knocked off course by life or by choices that don’t pan out the way you wanted them to. But you can always take back your center-stage place when you’re ready to do so.

ARIES (March 21-April 19). Your attitudes about ambition and how to achieve success are very different from those of other signs, and that difference will be highlighted. You’ll like trying to understand where another person is coming from.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20). Each job you take on cultivates certain personality traits in you. So what emerges as you work is partly the job and partly what’s already inside of you. It’s too soon to decide whether or not you like the results.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21). There’s no time to waste in censoring your actions. Whatever version of you shows up for the occasion is the right one. Trust that you have your reasons, and go forward.

CANCER (June 22-July 22). The problem you face is rather boring. Didn’t you deal with this yesterday? Think of yourself as a creative person, and suddenly your imagination will be ablaze with ideas about how to solve this one.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). You’re due for a breakthrough in a special relationship. You’ll reach the part of the journey where you look at each other and aren’t quite sure how to react. It’s a sign that the bond is new again.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). An air sign friend of yours (Aquarius, Libra or Gemini) will help you glimpse your potential. Place the image of it alongside a snapshot of your current status, and keep moving forward.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). Feeling out of control is silly. All you have to do is change your mind, and you’ll sense that you’re indeed very influential in this moment. In fact, it just may be that all the power that ever was is inside of you.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). You’ll be trimming certain areas of your life in the weeks to come — for instance, slimming down or shaving your lifestyle to match your income. Right now you’ll research to decide how you want to do it.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). This day will be good. The circumstances support innovation, inviting you to be fully present in the moment and to engage all of your senses in the process.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). Your opinion of yourself will be the most important factor in a relationship, affecting all major and minor decisions and interactions. Hint: Feeling good about yourself is a decision that doesn’t cost a thing.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). On the one hand, it’s nice if you can be sincere in your dealings and honest with yourself — unless you’re telling a good story or making people laugh. There’s such a thing as poetic license.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). There’s something irresistible about your wholehearted approach to life, especially when you’re in an environment where people are trying hard to be appropriate or, worse, “cool.”

TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (July 19). You are good at many things and great at something that is rare. Use your exceptional gift often this year. Instead of spending time doing things you don’t enjoy and aren’t good at, rely on your talents. Love multiplies through August, and the social vibes keep rolling all year. November brings happy news for your family. Virgo and Gemini people adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 8, 4, 30, 33 and 18.

ASTROLOGICAL QUESTIONS: “I’ve been working on an invention for years. A friend recently taught me how to do a patent search, which apparently is one of the first steps in patenting an idea. I found another invention that was very similar to mine, if not exactly the same. I’m heartbroken, and I don’t know what to do next. All of my work was for nothing. Do you have any advice for a Leo inventor who is a complete failure?”

Yes. First, you have no business calling yourself a failure, so stop that. These things happen in the world of invention. Creative Leos are so excited by the process of making something new that they have to be reminded to do their due diligence in regard to protecting their property and their time. Now you know a little more than you did. Thank your friend, and talk to a patent attorney to find out how you might proceed on this project or future projects. As far as your broken heart goes, it may help you to read the biography of another Leo inventor: Philo Farnsworth. He also wasn’t great about protecting his ideas, but he didn’t let the obstacles along the way stop him. Think of him the next time you turn on your television!

CELEBRITY PROFILES: Lead guitarist for Queen, Brian May composed “We Will Rock You” — and rock us he did. Then this Cancer became an astrophysicist and published his doctoral thesis on zodiacal light. May was born when the sun, Mercury and Venus were in soulful Cancer. His moon, Saturn and Pluto are in entertaining Leo, and his natal Mars is in intellectual Gemini.

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