“The dwarf planets(矮行星) change everything,” said the woman with the smart haircut as she made a mind blown(脑洞大开、震撼) gesture with her fingertips, temples(太阳穴) to air.
“矮行星改变了一切，”那位发型利落的女士说着，用指尖做了一个“脑洞大开”的手势，从太阳穴向外一挥。
I am at the United Astrology Conference, the largest professional gathering of astrologers in the world, in downtown Chicago. Around me, vendors(商贩、供应商) are hoping to excite the 1,500 attenders, flogging(推销、兜售) books, tracts(小册子、传单), affiliations, proprietary(专有的、专利的) apps and various software programs that have replaced the laborious(费力的、繁琐的) chart-drawing of yore(往昔、昔日).
我此刻在芝加哥市中心，参加联合占星大会——全球规模最大的占星师专业聚会。周围的商贩们正卖力地向1500名参会者推销书籍、小册子、会员资格、专属应用，以及各种取代了昔日繁琐手工绘图的软件程序。
I admit, I had come expecting a crowd flaunting(炫耀、张扬) amulets(护身符) and sweeping cloaks. But apart from the occasional streak of purple hair and wispy wizard beard, what I encountered was an even weirder normcore(极简普通风) of podiatry-sensible(足科医生认可的、实用的) footwear and Oxford button-downs(牛津纽扣衬衫). At a glance, it could almost have been a trade convention of insurance adjusters(理赔员): experts gathered to contemplate the future, assess risk, gauge the impact(衡量影响) of events beyond our control.
我承认，我原本以为会看到一群炫耀护身符、身披飘逸斗篷的人。但除了偶尔几缕紫色挑染的头发和稀疏的巫师胡须，我遇到的是一种更古怪的“normcore”风格——足科医生般实用的鞋子和牛津纽扣衬衫。乍一看，这几乎像是一场保险理赔员的行业大会：专家们聚在一起，思考未来、评估风险、衡量那些超出我们控制的事件会带来什么影响。