ArcaMax

Every year has a moment when the party winds down, the chairs get folded and somebody reaches for a clipboard. Welcome to Virgo season. It's the opening of the school year and the starting place for summer's biggest dreams. A Capricorn moon gathers everyone around the morning meeting. Assignments are handed out, calendars are opened, coffee is poured and the real work begins.

ARIES (March 21-April 19). It's not every day you get to start with the fun part. It's like eating ice cream for breakfast. When you launch into the part you're excited about, you'll steer with an enthusiasm that keeps gaining momentum into next week.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20). You resonate with the most down-to-earth aspects of the new season. You're all about the work, and people trust you because of this. You'll keep falling into fortunate circumstances involving more pay than you ask for.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21). You've many talents, but you're now becoming aware of the one that's going to get the most play this season. When you narrow your focus, you make an impact. You add to your portfolio. You build on your reputation.

CANCER (June 22-July 22). Some of the most frustrating relationships you've known have also been the source of your favorite memories. So you know that solid ties are worth working on, and in the season ahead, you'll do what it takes.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). When your solar season comes to a close, it can feel a bit like driving home from the party. Maybe you don't want it to be over, but you must admit you're relieved. And there's something fun about anticipating the next chapter.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). You're already feeling the potential. It's like you found the "easy" button of life. The others are finally picking up what you've been throwing down for months now. No more having to explain the assignment. Full cooperation is coming.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). You're favored to get what you want today. Whatever your ambition, picture the end result before you get into it. When you know "finished" looks like, you'll avoid wasting time polishing what's already perfectly lovely.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). You probably won't be able to keep your ambitions a secret anymore because it would be like keeping blueprints a secret when you're already building the house. Everyone who drives by sees what you're up to, and they'll be both impressed and envious.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). You're coming into a season of cutting back on the events, the travel, the expansion so you can make good on your recent promises. No new orders because all the fun will be in fulfilling the ones that are already on your ticket.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). To prepare for the weeks ahead, keep a "Done" list beside your "To Do" list so you can look back in awe of how much actually happened. It would seem almost unbelievable without the evidence in your own handwriting.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). Here's a habit that will hold you in good stead in the season ahead. End every week by throwing something away: an old file, a broken tool or a forgotten obligation... because your sweetest progress will have as much to do with subtraction as addition.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). Your usual brilliance will shine even brighter when you put your planning time on the schedule. The season ahead shows you permanently eliminating certain problems with nothing but a notebook, coffee and successive blocks of uninterrupted thinking time.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAY (Aug. 22). It's your Year of the Phoenix. Every reinvention comes with better costumes, brighter colors and a larger audience. By the time this birthday year is over, you'll have an entirely new understanding of the limitless nature of your gifts. Your enthusiasm proves wonderfully contagious. More highlights: Your ideal customers fall in love with your work, someone with impeccable taste adopts you into their circle, a lucky purchase multiplies in value. Libra and Pisces adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 18, 7, 29, 10 and 43.

CELEBRITY PROFILES: Among the great wits of literature, poet Dorothy Parker continues to find new audiences. This year, the acclaimed off-Broadway production "Finding Dorothy Parker" returned for an encore engagement, celebrating the razor-sharp voice that made her an American original. Born with both the sun and Mercury in entertaining Leo, and lucky Jupiter in verbose Gemini, she famously advised, "Take care of the luxuries, and the necessities will take care of themselves."

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