Algorithm-Shmalgorithm, Let's Bend, Let's Be
On Mistakes Then & Now, Day 3 of the Lunar Month & Lammas, July 31 - August 1, 2026
I’ve always colored outside of the lines. Literally.
Backstory: my parental units poured their earnings into their kid’s education. Ironically they were often far away from us - in offices, on airplanes & such - to do so.
All to say, I interviewed for kindergarten. True story.
We lived in LaCrosse, WI for a minute back then & traveled to Atlanta, GA, a city we planned to move back to, the city where I was born, for the interview.
I was four years old & had already done time in a Montessori school, one I walked to with one of my big brothers, often wearing a short dress, tights & Mary Jane shoes; boots & a parka in the winter.
I was chubby in those days & loved having a quarter from time to time to buy a candy bar at the dime store we passed en route to school. In my memory I am not sure if I did this many times or just once or twice, but I recall the powerful feeling of handing over the coin, especially because sugar was all but verboten in our house.
During the interview for kindergarten, we sat at a low to the ground laminate table. I was asked to write my name on a piece of paper.
The paper & the table were the exact same color. I printed my name, though I was starting to curve my letters into cursive. When I picked up my pen, I realized I’d written the “y” of my name onto the table.
My nervous system, like yours, picks up on things.
I’m fairly sure I was more shocked than the interviewer when it happened, definitely blushing. Felt permanent, like I’d done us all in. I didn’t cry, but I probably apologized more than once.
Long story short, the school admitted me, likely with an asterisk, which was good because in short order we pulled stakes & moved back to Atlanta.
So recently I made a mistake & it went to print before I realized what had happened.
(Yes, I made it here in this soulful communiqué & magical cal-e.)
Nowadays that’s an easy fix, just return to the computer open, edit & save.
But back when I wrote for my high school & college newspapers we laid everything out physically.
We cut hand drawn graphics, headlines & paragraphs out with X-Acto knives, then placed them just so on a board. These black & white linear collages would eventually become newsprint.
Back then, errors happened too. Most publications worth their salt issued corrections in the next issue. Yes, you had to wait. As it followed, mistakes were more obvious & patience was required. Also & generally in my memory, the world was more overtly physical.
Maps & gumption got our motor running on road trips. We ran to answer the phone, which was fixed in a place. If we were putting on a play, we often had to project our voices. We saw less pictures of ourselves & had to wait to see them, unless someone had a polaroid camera that ejected a photo & developed it right away.
Our books were typically made of paper, unless you went to a special library, so peering back to reread a paragraph was easy peasy.
Our followers were small packs of kids & grown ups overlapping with each other occasionally at big events. A handful of people over time received our handwritten letters & postcards. We checked the mailbox for their missives as well. Some of these letters were even typed.
I suppose & mind you, I am still thinking this through, all of the above is why I don’t jive with the algorithm. I do respect its mathematical prowess, especially because higher math eludes me.
But I also confess there’s a part of me that wishes it would all just go berserk, so we could return to a more natural rhythm, be satisfied with a healthy group of 108 friends (which is a lot, especially if you know all of their names & back then some of their phone numbers by heart.)
It would be cool if conditions were such that we could lean readily into the animal aspects of ourselves. I know my imaginings are a fool’s fancy, yet fun to reminisce about & I dare say I do gain a wee bit of satisfaction from countering the almighty algorithm.
P.S. I won’t mention brain washing, controlling forces, totalitarian rule born of all these zeroes & ones, rather I will direct us towards a little message from the universe. Aaaahhhh.
Message from the universe today is —
— don’t worry about it. Make bread, not war. Shake hands like a little kid. See, kids don’t always know how to shake hands, so when a person reaches out to shake theirs, they just hold that person’s hand for a moment. It’s pretty sweet.
Photo by Dave Hoefler on Unsplash, Door County, Wisconsin
Ah, how I love the contrasting textures, colors & mood of this image.
Magical Astro Calendar, July 31st - Aug. 1st, 2026 (just) EDT/GMT-5
A magical calendar gives us something to talk about when we run out of subjects
July 31st - Luna enters Pisces after a stretch at 8:14am & 3rd day of the lunar month, so look for Luna setting with our Sun.
August 1st - Lammas & Luna in Pisces
The Lammas tradition is to bless the first loaves of bread made from the first harvest of the season. In the northern hemisphere it sits between the summer solstice & the autumnal equinox as August begins.
Notes on some of what just happened:
Saturn retro. Outer planet trine/basket across the compass rose. The ascending/north lunar node now in Aquarius - energy we soar to, the descending/south to Leo - energy we soar from. We’ll wobble on this lunar axis for c. 18 months/’til early 2028. Next time this happens will be c. 18 years & 6 months from now ish. Jupiter cazimi. Also, July 29th featured a Full Moon in Aquarius 6° 30’ at 10:36am & it was a hidden 11 day.
Notes on some of what’s around the bend:
Lion’s Gate portal peak 8/8 (open from July 28th until August 12th,) Lammas on 8/1, Chiron retro 8/3, Perseid meteor showers peak 8/12-13, total solar eclipse 8/12 in Leo at 20° 2’, partial lunar 8/28, in Pisces at 4° 54’
All for now, friends, ‘til tomorrow & in carrying the light.
Mary-Laurence Bevington
Special thanks to: Alex, A.W., Big Rickey, Deanna, Ginger, Jude, Kelly, K.M., Lara, Laura M., Lizardski, Marni, P.J., Peggy, Fally Seagull Soster, Terry, Tina Z. & Shirlz.
Calendar inspirations based on data from Llewellyn’s 2026 Astrological Daily Ephemeris & Aspectarian