Letters from the Editor: On the havoc of Mercury in retrograde, the NEA's latest grants, and more

Writers, Mercury is in retrograde and it's time to freak out.

Last week, I was in the middle of a meeting with my staff when I got a call informing me that the flight I booked for my upcoming Caribbean vacation had not been ticketed, which meant that I wasn't on the flight at all.

Let's break that down for a moment; the flight that I had booked as part of a package deal with the resort failed to inform JetBlue that we had in fact paid for the tickets. So JetBlue released my tickets, thereby releasing my seats, therefore taking away my ability to go on said vacation.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Mercury in retrograde.

I don't necessarily believe in astrology, but one thing I've found to be true is that Mercury in retrograde is chaotic. Whether it's actually a planetary shift that causes mayhem on Earth a few times a year, or everyone's belief that it does (aka confirmation bias), it's times like now that make me question everything. Because there's nothing like a good meltdown to throw every decision you've ever made into the fire, am I right?

In an effort to make some sense out of what ended up becoming one breakdown after another in technology, travel, or communication, I did some research on what Mercury in retrograde really meant, and if I was in fact dumb for planning a vacation smack dab in the middle of it. That last bit is still up for debate, but I did learn something worthwhile in the process.

Clue me in