Over the course of a 57-year career, Japanese movie director Akira Kurosawa won 78 major awards for his work, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Oscars. Among the filmmakers who've named him as an inspirational influence are heavyweights like Ingmar Bergman, Werner Herzog, Bernardo Bertolucci, Robert Altman, Francis Ford Coppola, and Martin Scorsese. But Kurosawa wasn't too haughty to create lighter fare. At age 86, he departed from his epic dramas to create a 30-second commercial for a yogurt drink. Did that compromise his artistic integrity? I say no. Even a genius can't be expected to create non-stop masterpieces. Be inspired by Kurosawa, Gemini. In the coming weeks, give your best to even the most modest projects.

*

Here's a gathering of all the Long-Range, Big-Picture horoscopes I wrote for you early this year. Check to see if they are relevant to the way your life has been unfolding so far in 2016.

For one more week, you can also hear a LONG-TERM, BIG-PICTURE AUDIO PREVIEW for the REST of 2016 and beyond. Sign up and/or log in here, then click on "Long-Term Forecast for Second Half of 2016." If you'd just like a report for the short-term future, click on "This week (July 19, 2016)."

*

SACRED ADVERTISEMENT. The oracle below is from my book PRONOIA Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings.
*
When you’re an aspiring master of pronoia, you see the cracks in the facades as opportunities; inspiration erupts as you careen over bumps in the road; you love the enticing magic that flows from situations that other people regard as rough or crooked.

"That which is not slightly distorted lacks sensible appeal," wrote poet Charles Baudelaire, "from which it follows that irregularity -- that is to say, the unexpected, surprise and astonishment -- is an essential part and characteristic of beauty."