Mercury rules Virgo, and as a Virgo, I’ve always been detail-oriented, analytical, and curious about how things connect. If you asked me ten years ago that my career would revolve around data and analytics, I wouldn’t have believed you. I was a pre-nursing major in college and that first year, I realized the medical field wasn’t for me. By sophomore year, I was lost trying to figure out a new major to switch to and I spent weeks trying to decide until I came across Information Management.
I know, soooooooooo interesting and cool right?!
Tbh, I don’t remember exactly how I discovered it but I remember part of my decision stemmed from taking a business class that all freshman students were required to take. It was an introductory course to using tools like Excel and PowerPoint. Out of all the classes I took my freshman year, that was the one I enjoyed the most.
It wasn’t until my senior year of my undergrad that I finally realized I was on the right path and doing something I enjoyed. Funnily enough, it wasn’t until a couple of years ago that I made the connection between my sun sign (Virgo) and the field I ended up in — ha ha ha. If you’re even a *little* into astrology, then you’d know that Virgo is ruled by Mercury.
Which leads me into the next part: my blog name.
the name: mercury musings
I’ve never been one for boring usernames or titles — I’ve lost count of all the moments in my academic career where I’d sit down to write an essay or report and I’d spend an absurd amount of time just trying to think of a title. If you’re a millennial who grew up watching SpongeBob, this is me just thinking of a title:
Any who, back to why I chose the name. I wanted something unique and creative that would play on both my personality and professional style:
Mercury = planet of communication, detail, and intellect
+
musings = casual reflections, notes, and insights.
Together, Mercury Musings reflects both my professional mindset and my personal curiosity: thoughtful, precise, and always seeking connections.
And if you’re a Sailor Moon fan, you can already guess which character speaks to me the most:
what you’ll find here.
Mercury Musings is a place where I’ll share:
Tips + Tutorials — breaking down concepts and techniques in data science and analytics.
Project Reflections — walking through real-world analyses, from dashboards to clustering models.
Insights — thoughts on decision-making, detail-oriented work, and the learning process.
My goal is to write in a way that’s approachable, useful, and a little personal — mixing the precision of analytics with the curiosity that Mercury inspires. And I probably won’t be able to help myself from throwing in a meme or two or many…
Fair Warning: You’ll probably even see me post about random non-data related things that I think are cool or stuff that I’m obsessed with like a new book, my favorite brand of yarn, my go-to purse, or my new favorite game •⩊•
looking ahead.
For now, this space is a blog — a place for me to write, reflect, and share. Over time, it will grow into a larger portfolio, with project showcases, teaching resources, and eventually research.
In other words, Mercury Musings is not just about where I am today, but where I’m headed. So —
welcome.
If you’re interested in analytics, detail-driven decision-making, or simply enjoy thoughtful yapping from a Virgo mind, I invite you to follow along.
Welcome to Mercury Musings.
Until next time,
Ardonna •ᴗ•
author’s note
Hi, I’m Ardonna Cardines — a data analyst and creator of Mercury Musings, where business meets imagination through data. I love blending analytics, design, and storytelling to make learning data modeling and visualization approachable — one creative dataset at a time.
If you’ve enjoyed this post, I’d love for you to follow along.
You can subscribe to my blog for new tips + tutorials, creative datasets, and behind-the-scenes projects — or connect with me on LinkedIn where I share updates and learning resources for analysts and data storytellers.