January 1 | Stone Soup Dear Friend and Reader: I REALIZE we are adding features to Planet Waves faster than most people lacking a Mercury-Mars conjunction can keep up. This weekend, we've added a permanent home for our extremely useful PlanetWaves.info newsfeed, and a brand new, downloadable monthly astrocalendar -- now called the Monthly Almanac. The 2005 photo gallery will soon be available in a format that works beautifully on both slow and fast connections, and 2006 will be organized this way from the start. This webspace has always been a magnet for unusual talent, and unusually generous talented people. This is maturing and developing as the times we are living in are changing and becoming more urgent -- and as the potential for positive change increases. Many people donate their gifts to Planet Waves, and the ones who receive our modest pay checks work far beyond the call of duty -- which is inspiring. And in all humility I submit that in some ways this project is the result of my working night and day for more than 10 years, since the spring of 1994, bringing what I had learned from several prior independent publishing ventures. Someone once commented that the reason they waited so long to sign up for a subscription was that, given all the services the free side of the site offers, they could not imagine getting more, or why they would want more. True, more is not always better; but I would like to assist in case anyone is having a similar challenge of imagination. Planet Waves Weekly, our premium service, is a direct email news service (also published and archived on a special webspace available to subscribers) that offers my weekly horoscopes and a weekly birthday report, neither of which are anywhere else online. The Friday essay, which may incarnate as anything from fantasy fiction to astrology to science fact (but most often solid astrological news), comes to you first, and often to subscribers exclusively. And the birthday report is more and more fun each week. Indeed, each astrological sign gets devoted to it about 4,000+ words, as far as I can tell providing as much information as any paid report. We are not the astrological lollygaggers, either. Planet Waves tracks new planetary discoveries and responds to many news events as fast as any major news portal. And the Parallel Worlds annual horoscope project is turning out to be something historic, bringing you detailed astrology, many articles, beautiful graphics and LOTS of resources that you can use all the time. But the real reason to subscribe is because that's how we support the whole project -- and the Astrology Secrets Revealed column on Cainer.com. For several of us, Planet Waves is a full-time job, and we provide a continuous, daily service to the world. We are pretty much the place you can come when you need to find information, catch up on your astrology, or chill because the world is freaking you out. I am rather stubborn about some things. Notice the complete lack of advertising on Planet Waves. Ads are just so annoying and they are almost everywhere, from mud flaps on trucks to skywriting. Any banners you see, we give away or trade with people we trust. We run on an exceptionally modest budget and many people show up with gifts offered for the common good, a concept near and dear to my Aquarius Moon. We don't turn people away who cannot afford subscriptions -- a factor that is at the heart of our mission -- and at the same time, you are invited to get involved as a subscriber, supporter or sustainer. Money helps; it's great; we don't discriminate against those who don't have it. Meanwhile, I trust that Planet Waves is providing some inspiration for the idea that you can do it -- whatever you want to do. Often when I look at our pages, I am surprised at how beautiful and generous the project is, and this inspires me to do more and come up with the next round of innovative ideas to pass along: though one of my annual New Year's resolutions is to work a little less, and to devote more of my Neptune to fiction writing rather than so-called fact. To subscribers -- thank you on behalf of everyone who comes to this site. You know you make it possible. To shoppers -- here is what our subscribers have had to say in 2005. These are just emails I get, and truly appreciate. http://planetwavesweekly.com/feedback.html And here is an outstanding little benefit of Parallel Worlds that's available to everyone, starting now...there's some cool stuff here. http://www.planetwaves.net/charts/parallel_worlds_charts/index.html Gratefully, ERIC FRANCIS