Get as much done as you possibly can during the day because the Mercury retrograde this evening is like a game show buzzer going off at the end of a round: "BUZZZZ! Time's up. Please turn in your results to the judges." It's not the end of the game per se, but in tomorrow's lightning round, the questions will get harder.

ARIES (March 21-April 19). Ever get the sense that your life is so interesting that outsiders would be fascinated by it if they ever could get a proper view of what's going on with you? That "sense" is the overriding feeling of the day.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20). You'll feel a bit like your beliefs are under scrutiny and on display. It takes confidence to stand costumed in a beautiful pose while people try to understand your point of view.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21). You don't hide or deny your heart. Instead, you find out what it wants and try to address those needs in the best way possible within your given circumstances. This is your way to health.

CANCER (June 22-July 22). Improving and creating can be somewhat of an obsession now, so keep in mind that not everything needs improvement. What you leave alone makes a lovely statement, too.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). You firmly hold that it's nobody else's job to make you happy. With the responsibility squarely on your shoulders, the world becomes your personal theme park.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). You've been cautioned before about standing on the sidelines instead of jumping into the game. But today you can make a case for a sideline position, and your place there is supportive, wise and appropriate.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). Have some compassion for the control freak in your life. Control issues signify insecurity and a belief that the world is not essentially supportive. Sad, really. Your steadfast love could help matters.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). If you tell someone not to get too attached to you, that person probably will get very attached to you. This and other tricks of reverse psychology will work swimmingly for you now.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). The law of attraction suggests that trying to do something leads to more trying and less doing. Instead of trying, decide that it's as good as done, and assign your body the task of making sure.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). You'll someday have the sweet reward of making someone sorry for the way they treated you long ago. Today will bring a glimpse of that delicious justice. The question of "Who's laughing now?" may come to mind.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). Even when you're alone, you are tied up in thoughts of another. Solitude isn't the same thing as having a moment to yourself. That can only come when you forget about others entirely.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). The saying goes that houseguests, like fish, begin to smell after three days. You may have a King Neptune situation on your hands, but a little patience and understanding will soon put everything back on an even keel.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAY (July 14). Your professional progress this year will be impressive to others and personally quite satisfying. Your admiration is felt and returned in August. You'll get mundane projects out of the way in September so you can take off on a fantastic journey. November brings the chance to bond with loved ones in special ways. Aries and Gemini people adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 20, 1, 24, 38 and 17.

ASTROLOGICAL QUESTIONS: "Sometimes I read my horoscope and it's dead-on accurate. I like to sample a bunch of different horoscopes to see which one was the most like my day. I was just wondering how there can be so many different horoscopes about the same day. Where is all of this information coming from?"

Like most astrologers, I get my information about the planets (and the positions of the sun and the moon) from a book of astronomical tables called an ephemeris. There are also several online ephemeris tables as well as software to help gather planetary data quickly. Using an ephemeris, you can find out the planetary positions for today or any day. To me, it feels like time travel because you can see where the planets will be in the year 2020, or you can look up historical dates to see where the planets were when that event occurred. Different astrologers interpret this data in different ways, which is why there are so many varied opinions about how the day will go. I believe that people get exactly the message they were meant to read at the perfect moment. How this message shows up isn't nearly as important as the fact that it does.

CELEBRITY PROFILES: "Glee" fans (a.k.a. "Gleeks") love to hate scheming cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester, the character who brought Jane Lynch an Emmy, as well as a spot in the hearts of a new generation of television fans. The Cancer actress with a talent for comedy was born when the moon was in feisty Aries and Uranus was in show-stopping Leo.

If you would like to write to Holiday Mathis, please go to www.creators.com and click on "Write the Author" on the Holiday Mathis page, or you may send her a postcard in the mail. To find out more about Holiday Mathis and read her past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.