Up & Coming Weekly

NEWS OF THE WEIRD by CHUCK SHEPPARD Blair Fowler, 16, delights her frenzied fans as a “haul queen,” inspirationally “shopping for glory” by smartly tearing through stores and then displaying and expertly describing her purchases on Internet videos. A March Times of London dispatch from Los Angeles noted Fowler’s acclaim “for her ability to deliver a high- pitched 10-minute lecture on the merits of skinny versus low-riding jeans, apparently without drawing breath.” According to The Times, at least 100,000 “haul” videos are available on YouTube, mostly from “amateurs.” Fowler’s videos, though, have been viewed 75 million times by “haul” wannabes (mostly teenage girls). [The Times, 3-28-10] Leading Economic Indicators American companies continue trying to outsource work overseas, no matter how increasingly improbable the project. The Chronicle of Higher Education in April reported on the University of Houston business school’s contract to have student papers uploaded to “teaching assistants” (mostly residing in India, Singapore and Malaysia), who read them, mark them up and offer constructive advice. UH professor Lori Whisenant, who initiated the university’s contract with the fi rm EduMetry, said she is generally pleased with the results. [Chronicle of Higher Education, 4-4-10] Recycled Components: Swiss clock maker Artya announced in March the creation of a wristwatch set in fossilized dinosaur feces (with a strap made with skin from an American cane toad). Designer Yvan Arpa told the Associated Press the watch would sell for about $12,000. [MSNBC-AP, 3-15-10] The spa Ten Thousand Waves near Santa Fe, N.M., is only the latest U.S. facility to offer as a “signature” treatment the “Japanese Nightingale Facial,” supposedly used for centuries by Japanese geisha for skin rejuvenation. Nightingale droppings are dried and sanitized, then spiced with oils and used as a face scrubber. [ScienceBlogs.com, 3-5-10] Recession-Proof Markets: Jimmy Choo stores in New York City quickly sold out recently of their new, blinking, women’s shoes with fi ve-inch heels, which light up with every step taken, at $2,495 a pair (although the unrechargeable battery dies after about 100 uses). [New York Post, 3-25-10] A Georgia Tech advertising researcher, writing in the current Hastings Center Report, found that college women seeking to donate their eggs for in vitro fertilization could expect to make on average $2,350 more than someone just like them except who had SAT scores 100 points lower. [Boston Globe, 3-26-10] Stimuli: A North Carolina research organization in March, picking the state’s 10 worst destinations for federal stimulus grants, included two ongoing projects at Wake Forest University: long-term cocaine- addiction in monkeys, and the potential benefi ts of yoga on menopausal hot fl ashes. [News & Observer (Raleigh), 3-8-10] WEEKLY HOROSCOPES BY HOLIDAY ARIES (March 21-April 19) A certain way of doing things has become standard practice. As the routine gets disrupted and overturned, be calm and observant. You’ll likely be the fi rst one to recognize an opportunity in this. Act on your impulse. Seize the moment. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) You’ll hit some traffi c on the road of life. That’s natural when you want something that many other people want, too, and you are all going for it at the same time. In a way, this makes the road safe, because every- one is moving slowly toward the goal. GEMINI (May 21-June 21) You’ll be inspired early in the week. Make a list of the bright things that cross your mind. You won’t be able to act on them all in one week. But one of these action steps — it will be obvious which one — is such a fan- tastic idea that it will propel you forward with great velocity toward the person you want to become. CANCER (June 22-July 22) You could com- plain about the way a loved one is behaving. But you prefer to blithely ignore the less than ideal circumstance and instead be a gourmand of cheerful thoughts, happy connections and big dreams. What you focus on will grow and take over the rest. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Long ago, you decided there was something you wanted to do and were willing to work for it. It may have been diffi cult for you to go through the early stages of the pro- cess, but now you’re almost at the end. An energy boost on Thursday will help you to accelerate in the fi nal stretch. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). It’s an anxious feel- ing, waiting for someone to call you back. You’ll be tempted to leave more messages and e-mails and generally pester someone until they respond. But the opposite approach will work: Focus on all the people who answer your requests in a timely manner. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Wait to make a move. Talk about the move you are considering with a variety of people. Keep throwing out ideas. Try to get a consensus of opinion. Do not go forward until you have a plan that many people think is a good one. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21) The show must go on, and you’re the one who must make sure of it. Luckily, you’ll be surrounded by entertaining characters who don’t mind being thrown into the spotlight as a lovely diversion. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) Something blocks the completion of a project. You need a ladder — or to ask a helicopter fl ying over to report on what it is and how to get around it. Ask questions. If you don’t get answers, take it as a sign that the timing isn’t right, and move on to the next endeavor. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Instead of wor- rying about where the garbage goes or the plight of children and the elderly, you’ll be focusing your energy on a job that has meaning only to a few select people. It’s as good a place as any to put your energy, and by doing so, you have a fair shot at improving all else that ails the world AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) Just when you think there isn’t room in your head for one more password, account name or bank number, someone comes along and asks you to take on a responsibility that includes handling a slew of such things. You’ll be greatly enriched by taking the whole thing on. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) Much good comes of knowing yourself well. Observe the feelings that come up as you refl ect on your life. Dig into your history, read what people wrote about you in your yearbook. Through the pro- cess of self-discovery, you become magneti- cally attractive By Holiday Mathis ADVICE GODDESS Needy Gonzales This divorced dad I’ve been seeing for a month is really sweet, but he’s pushing to go way too fast. Lately, he’s been very intense. He came over after I specifically told him I wanted a night alone. He said he thought I needed him but was “too independent” to say so. He says he loves me (I can’t say it back), and wants to change jobs and move in with me (he lives 30 miles away). I said I wasn’t ready. He keeps trying to convince me that I’m just scared and once I “let go” and let him move in, I’ll see that everything is as it should be. I’m 30, divorced, with two children; he’s 32, recently divorced (four months ago, after his wife cheated). He hasn’t met my parents, and I won’t let him meet my kids until I’m sure about him. He says what others think shouldn’t matter because “We’re in love and happy, so it’ll all come together.” —Unsettled Well, here’s a romance for the ages. “How’d you two lovebirds get together?” people will ask. “It’s so completely sweet,” you’ll say. “He was standing on my porch waving a bunch of red flags.” This guy takes the “Dear Occupant” approach to love: Instead of “It had to be you,” it had Amy Alkon to be somebody, and you’re standing right there and have yet to call the cops on him. He claims to love you, but you really have to know somebody to love them. As for his push to live with you one month in, you don’t even meet somebody’s parents at that point — not unless you’re 14 and need somebody with a license to drive you to the movies. Plus, an emotionally together dad doesn’t expect a mother to announce, “Kids, I brought a strange man home from the bar. He’s going to live with us now. I forget his name, so you can just call him Daddy II.” It’s completely creepy how he’s trying to sensitive-guy his way into your life, sounding protective of you when he’s anything but. You e-mailed me that you’ve seen the guy maybe six times, yet he’s named himself the world’s foremost expert on your “real” feelings — which align so perfectly with his needs: You really love him. You really want him to come over. In fact, you wish he’d arrived in a moving van on the first date. Love (when you actually have it) supposedly makes the world go round, but relationships run on the boring day-to-day stuff. What’s more, a guy who immediately decides he loves you will find it near impossible to see if he actually does — until it’s too late. Tempting as it is to buy into a whirlwind romance, keep in mind that the focus is always on the romance, not the whirlwind — the part that leaves your living room in little pieces in the next county under a herd of cows. COPYRIGHT 2010 CHUCK SHEPHERD WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM (c)2010, Amy Alkon, all rights reserved. MAY 12-18, 2010 UCW 23

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