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/26212
NEWS OF THE WEIRD by CHUCK SHEPPARD The ear has a “G-spot,” explained the Santa Clara, Calif., ear-nose-and-throat surgeon, and thus the moans of ecstasy that Vietnamese “ear pickers” reportedly elicit from their clients might well be justifi ed. A San Jose Mercury News reporter, dispatched to Ho Chi Minh City in January to check it out, learned that barber shop technicians could sometimes coax “eargasms” (as they removed wax) by tickling a certain spot next to the ear drum served by multiple nerve endings and paper-thin skin. Said one female client, “Everybody is afraid the fi rst time, but after, it’s, ‘Oh my God!’” Said one Vietnamese man, returning home after a trip abroad, and who went immediately from the airport to a “hot toc” parlor for a picking, “(This) brings a lot of happiness.” [San Jose Mercury News, 1-23-2011] The Continuing Crisis Two San Francisco-area counselors recently formed Men of Tears — a male support group to encourage crying, according to a January San Francisco Chronicle reporter, who observed as nine men recounted touching events in their lives, accompanied by tears that, according to the counselors, make them emotionally stronger and less hostile. One of the counselors praised the recent public cries by Speaker of the House John Boehner and hoped that President Obama (who stopped just short of tears at the memorial service for victims of the recent Tucson, Ariz., shootings) would someday step over that line. [San Francisco Chronicle, 1-24-2011] Disabled wheelchair user Jim Starr, 36, of Dorchester, England, was recently ordered off of public roads because his “chair” is too big. Authorities told him that his custom- made, motorized chair with caterpillar treads instead of wheels, which moves like a tank, would have to be licensed like one (“Category H” vehicle, one category higher than a “road roller”). Starr said his chair was the only way he could play at the beach with his kids. [Daily Mail, 1-15-2011] Beloved Banker: In December, J.P. Morgan Chase abruptly ended a program that had allowed military personnel to defer paying on Chase- owned student loans while on active duty. (2) Three weeks later, NBC News reported that Chase’s mortgage division had long been ignoring a federal military protection law by charging 4,000 active-duty personnel higher mortgage-interest rates than permitted (and improperly foreclosing on 14 of them). (3) That same week, Chase was found to be advertising (through an agent) a foreclosed- on, 5-year-old house in Rexburg, Idaho, without adequate notice that it was infested with “thousands” of garter snakes. (In February, Chase reinstated the student-loan deferments and apologized for ignoring the federal law.) [NPR, 1-19-2011; Reuters, 1-22-2011; MSNBC, 2-7-2011] Failed to Think It Through: Kyle Eckman, 22, was charged with theft in Lancaster, Pa., in November after he was stopped leaving a Kohl’s department store, mostly still in his own clothes but also wearing the pair of Elle high-heel shoes he was allegedly trying to shoplift. [Lancaster New Era, 11-3-2010] COPYRIGHT 2010 CHUCK SHEPHERD WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM WE’RE ALL WEEKLY HOROSCOPES BY HOLIDAY ARIES (March 21-April 19) There is a good deal of creativity zinging around. Without a structure for accountability, it will be diffi cult to get people to do what they say they’ll do, and that includes you. Make a plan that relies on a deadline and on a responsible person who will verify that the task has been completed. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) You’ll avoid petty confl icts by simply using the right tone of voice. Also, when others are not speaking and behav- ing in the way you would prefer, you’ll give them the benefi t of the doubt. This will turn out to be a highly successful move. GEMINI (May 21-June 21) It’s as though an alarm sounded that tells you it’s time to check your current status against where you’d like to be. Give yourself plenty of credit for feeling good and taking care of yourself, because that’s what counts the most in your overall happiness. CANCER (June 22-July 22) When something doesn’t work the fi rst time, it’s very tempting to keep trying it the same way over and over, believing that sheer persistence will win out. Be willing to change your approach slightly, and keep going until you fi nd the one that works best. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Your greatest luck this week comes about while you are working in the service of others. You understand the wonderful secret about service: You don’t have to have it all together to help another person out. You help in any way you can with whatever resources you have. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) The voice of inspi- ration is inside everyone. Empty your thoughts onto paper, and quiet your mind. This may take 10 pages or so! Suddenly, you’ll again be in tune with your highest inspiration. ADVICE GODDESS LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) You will become more powerful. You can’t control everything, but you enjoy taking charge of what you do have control over — mainly your response to what happens. Because you take full responsi- bility for what’s going on in your life, you will mold your reality into exactly what you want it to be. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21) A relationship that used to be on shaky ground is now rock steady. That’s a testament to your ability to turn things around. You can apply your tal- ent for transformation to your own life this week, transforming a personal insecurity into a source of strength and power. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) You want to speed down the road and feel the wind in you hair. It’s like you’re caught up in the traffi c jam of life. Be patient and tenacious. Even the most monumental of accomplishments can only happen on a moment-to-moment basis. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) While you don’t want to be a slave to time, you can’t get around the fact that the world runs on agree- ments that deal in “When?” and “Where?” Create ease by giving yourself a wide margin for the unexpected delay to occur. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) You never want to make life harder for the ones you love. However, sometimes it’s appropriate to ask for help, and you’re really not putting anyone out to do so this week. In fact, you’ll be pro- viding a service. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) The way you present your ideas will be as important as the ideas themselves this week. Context will be extremely important to making the right im- pression. If you feel rushed or cramped, make a new plan that allows you to move at your own pace. By Holiday Mathis With This Ring I Thee Dump One year ago, I was engaged to a wonder- ful man I’d been with for four years. I loved him deeply, he was everything I thought I wanted, and his family was my family. Two months before our wedding, a dear male friend of mine confessed his love for me. When I realized I felt more than friendship for him, I thought I just had cold feet. After much soul-search- ing, I called my wedding off, fi guring that such a strong emotional connec- tion to another man indicated that I needed something I wasn’t getting from my fi ance. I have been Amy Alkon with my new man ever since and have never been so happy, but I’m consumed by guilt. My ex-fi ance and I spent many hours plan- ning our future. It haunts me to think how badly I’ve hurt him and his family. I wake up at night picturing him alone in his bed crying, and I imagine family holidays with his young nieces asking, “Where’s Auntie?” — Racked With Guilt EARS Questions? Comments? Story Ideas? Let us know how we're doing. Your opinion is something we always want to hear. Call or email us your feedback. 208 Rowan St. Fayetteville, NC 28301 910.484.6200 You got so swept up in the momentum of building a life with this guy that you didn’t realize what you were missing — until it came along and said, “Whoa, you’re not actually going to marry him.” The thing is, when something doesn’t feel wrong, it’s easy to believe it’s right. And sometimes, you see most clearly by comparison — and then come to the sinking realization that you’ve got to inform a very sweet guy that his bachelor party will be more of a perpetual bachelor party. Going all Da Vinci Code crazed albino monk and locking yourself in a room to self-fl agellate doesn’t do a thing for the guy you left, and it sure isn’t helping you or your current boyfriend. In fact, by focusing all this energy on your jilted ex, it’s like you’re still in a relationship with him. It’s right to feel sympathy for him, but guilt? Feeling guilt would be legitimate if there had been something you could’ve done to prevent his pain — like willing yourself to be wiser faster or going back in time to the moment he hit on you and giving him the wrong number. Your ex might be weeping into his pillow — or he might be out playing tennis or in bed with your replacement. I’m sure you’re a great girl, but life goes on. Since you left the guy so you could be happy, the least you could do is enjoy yourself. You also might give yourself some props for not doing what far too many people do: marry somebody they know is wrong for them because, well, they were already in the marriage trajectory and they paid good money to send out 300 magnetic save the dates. They forge right ahead with that Princess Bride-themed walk down the aisle — which, in a few months or years, tends to have them walking down a more Judgment at Nuremberg-themed aisle: “You may now kiss the bailiff.” (c)2010, Amy Alkon, all rights reserved. MARCH 2-8, 2011 UCW 23 www.upandcomingweekly.com