Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/178176
NEWS OF THE WEIRD by CHUCK SHEPPARD Beginning in 2011, about three dozen people in Tokyo have been meeting every Sunday morning at 6 a.m. on a mission to scrub down, one by one, the city's grungiest public rest rooms. "By 7:30," according to an Associated Press reporter who witnessed an outing in August, the team had left behind a "gleaming public toilet, looking as good as the day it was installed." Explained the hygiene-intense Satoshi Oda (during the week, a computer programmer), the mission is "for our own good" — work that leader Masayuki Magome compares to the training that Buddhist monks receive to find peace. (In fact, to fulfill the group's motto, "Clean thyself by cleaning cubicles," the scouring must be done with bare hands.) A squad supporter spoke of a sad, growing apprehension that the younger generation no longer shares the Japanese cultural Chuck Sheppard conviction that rest rooms should always be clean and safe. [Associated Press via WTVY-TV (Dothan, Ala.), 8-28-2013] Medical Marvels Colleagues were stunned in May when ABC News editor Don Ennis suddenly appeared at work wearing a little black dress and a red wig and declaring that he had begun hormone therapy and wanted to be called Dawn Ennis. As co-workers accommodated his wishes (which did not seem so unusual in contemporary professional society), Ennis began to have second thoughts, and by July had blamed his conversion on "transient global amnesia," brought on by marital difficulties, and had returned to work as Don. Apparently the primary lingering effect is that he must still deal with Dawn's hormone-induced breasts. [New York Post, 8-6-2013] The Entrepreneurial Spirit Researchers at the University of Tokyo have developed a mirror that makes a person appear happy even when not. A built-in camera tracks facial features in real time, then tweaks the image to turn up the corners of the mouth and to create the beginnings of a smile in the eyes. Of what practical use would such a mirror be? Other Japanese researchers, according to a Slate.com report in August, believe that happy-face mirrors in retail stores would improve shoppers' dispositions and lead to more sales. [Slate.com, 8-7-2013] COPYRIGHT 2011 CHUCK SHEPHERD WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM BY WEEKLY HOROSCOPES 2013 HOLIDAY For the Week of September 29, ARIES (March 21-April 19) Realize that you are hard on yourself in a way that others are not and never would be. To accept that you're not always going to do the right thing is to accept your humanity. It is divine to forgive, though, even when the one you are forgiving is you. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Most people believe they smile more than they actually do. You're different, and that's why someone falls in love with your smile and then with you. Any old time is good enough for you, especially when you feel as happy as you do this week. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) If you find yourself full of doubts this week, it's a sign that you are intelligent, that you care and that you want something from the situation that you don't feel completely entitled to. Your humility and vulnerability are part of what makes you great. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21) An objective witness would say that your way is factually accurate, but that doesn't matter in the least to the others, each being invested in his or her own point of view. Getting along is more important than being right. GEMINI (May 21-June 21) You could really use a stellar idea. In order to get your good idea, you need mental space and maybe some boredom, too. How are you going to get any ideas if you don't let yourself daydream? SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) Because your mind is so curious and your love of learning so deep, you will always have more questions than answers. But that doesn't mean you're not qualified to teach what you already know. CANCER (June 22-July 22) Psychological studies suggest that women are generally better at picking up nonverbal cues than men, but this week gender won't seem to matter as much as astrological sign. To communicate well, you'll have to spell everything out. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) You'll realize there's something you haven't totally accepted and that it is indeed acceptable. On the other side of this hurdle, you'll find a sense of identity. You'll see how your parents' beliefs have imprinted on you, and you'll also understand how to exert your free will. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) In some religions, serious devotees give up their past identities to start anew in the religion. That is an easier way to change than trying to promote continuity with the past without letting it trap you in your old self. A breakthrough in your personal life will make you feel like you can finally move forward. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) The rules of right and wrong do not seem as clear-cut to you this week as they did last week. If you think of morality in terms of helping and harming, decisions might be easier for you to make. Know who might be helped and/or harmed before you make your move. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)You don't have the stomach to be "bad," because you'll always get caught (by yourself!), and it's just not worth it to you. Just know that not everyone thinks like this. This week you'll figure out whom you can and can't trust. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) That quality of attention can be more undermining to your self-esteem than outright rejection. But take heart, because in the end those who don't take you seriously will be sorry. You'll put your ideas into action and see winning results that include more money and friends. By Holiday Mathis IN THE MORNING Weekdays 5:30AM to 10:00AM ADVICE GODDESS Going Code Turkey I broke up with a boyfriend a few years ago because I wasn't getting what I wanted from him. I'd give him subtle cues, and when he didn't respond in the ways I was hoping for, I blamed him for being thickheaded. I've ended many a relationship because of this. The dudes didn't have a chance. I now see that we women can skip years of frustration by getting clear with our partners about what we need from them. Understanding this now, you'd think it would be simple for me to follow through. Yet, I'm continually surprised at how strong my "have him guess!" impulse can be. Letting a man in on my feelings actually takes a lot of courage and stretches me like nothing else. — Challenged It isn't hard for a boyfriend to make a woman happy instead of pissed off for days. He just needs the right answer to "Hey, honey, guess what it means when I put my hair in a ponytail and walk out of the room?" A guy gets to the point where he can't be sure whether he's in a relationship or a really, really Amy Alkon long game of charades. Although men and women are psychologically similar in many ways, studies by social psychologist Judith A. Hall and others find that women are more accurate in sussing out the meaning of nonverbal cues. The problem is, we humans all have a tendency to assume others' minds work just like our own. So, you conclude that a guy is withholding and mean when he seems to ignore what you think should be obvious — that your left nostril flaring is code for "Tell me you love me right this second!" To your credit, you took a hard look at yourself and admitted that you were wrong. As for why you're having difficulty putting what you now understand into practice, Yale psychology professor Alan E. Kazdin explained on my radio show, "Knowing doesn't control doing." Doing actually takes doing — in your case, repeatedly pushing yourself to express your feelings, despite how uncomfortably vulnerable it makes you feel. Repeating behavior over time actually rewires the brain and, in Kazdin's words, "locks" the new behaviors in. Eventually, healthier behavior should come more naturally to you — like recognizing, without animus, that the way to get your boyfriend to admire your sexy new haircut is by telling him you've gotten one, not by glaring out at him from under the subtly different slant of your bangs. (As every woman needs to understand, his not noticing your new do doesn't mean he's stopped loving you; it means you haven't shaved your head.) Amy Alkon all rights reserved SEPT. 25 - OCT. 1, 2013 UCW 43