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/59049
NEWS OF THE WEIRD by CHUCK SHEPPARD The royal family of Qatar, apparently striving for art-world credibility, purchased a Paul Cezanne painting ("The Card Players") last year for the equivalent of about $250 million, which is twice as much as the previous most-expensive painting sold for. (Qatar is vying with the United Arab Emirates to become the Middle East's major intellectual hub.) At the same time that Qatar's purchase was made public in February, artwork of the probable value of about $200 million became news in reports of the imminent Facebook initial public offering. Graffi ti artist ("muralist") David Choe stood to make about that amount because he took stock instead of money to paint the lewd themes on the walls of Facebook's fi rst offi ces. Even though WEEKLY HOROSCOPES BY HOLIDAY For the Week of March 25, 2012 ARIES (March 21-April 19) The good and bad news is the same: Your intelligence quotient has little to do with what you accomplish in life. Although you're extremely bright and will re- member much of what you pick up, you'll have to dig deeper to apply it in a meaningful way. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) You'll complete many ordinary tasks this week that might be categorized as "chores," but not by you. Instead, you choose to see your tasks as "im- provements" or "successful actions." GEMINI (May 21-June 21) Humans have an innate instinct to imitate the dynamic infl u- ences around them. Your knack for imitation will be uncanny this week, and you'll use it by modeling yourself after a successful person in your midst. Chuck Sheppard Choe was quoted as saying, originally, that he found the whole idea of Facebook "ridiculous and pointless," his shares today are reportedly worth up to one quarter of 1 percent of the company. [Vanity Fair, 2-2-2012] [New York Times, 2-2-2012; Washington Post, 2-4-2012] The Entrepreneurial Spirit Last year, the Cape Town, South Africa, "gentlemen's club" Mavericks began selling an Alibi line of fragrances designed for men who need excuses for coming home late. For example, as men come through the door, they could splash on "I Was Working Late" (to reek of coffee and cigarettes) or "My Car Broke Down" (evoking fuel, burned rubber and grease). [The Times (Johannesburg), 1-19-2012] Bipartisanship: White supremacist Richard Treis, 38, was arrested in February in St. Louis, along with his alleged partner, black gang member Robert "Biz" Swinney, 22, and charged with running a huge methamphetamine operation. The two, who had met at a prison halfway house, had allegedly meshed their unique talents — Treis as a meth cook and Swinney as a skilled street seller who recruited people to buy restricted pseudoephedrine products from pharmacies. Said a deputy, "They put away their differences to get the job done." [St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 2-17-2012] Fine Points of the Law The Houston Funding debt collection company in Houston, Texas, had fi red receptionist Donnicia Venters shortly after she returned from maternity leave when she announced that she intended to breastfeed her child and needed space in the offi ce to pump her breast milk. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued Houston Funding for illegal discrimination based on "pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions," but in February, federal judge Lynn Hughes (Mr. Lynn Hughes) rejected the EEOC's reasoning. The law does not, he wrote, cover "lactation" discrimination. [Houston Press, 2-8-2012] COPYRIGHT 2011 CHUCK SHEPHERD WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM CANCER (June 22-July 22) Your happiness could hinge on any number of factors, possibly including your digestion, glandular function or the weather. Better not to chase smiles and laughter, and instead focus on mining the trea- sures of your current circumstance. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Your sense of show- manship dictates that the show must go on, and on it will go. Your tenacity is special, though you may not see it as such. You keep going long after the others get tired, bored or distracted. Your focus is shrewd as you continually strive to deliver something wonderful, meaningful and unique. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Spending time with people who encourage you will give wings to your emotional life. The confi dence these hours inspire in you will be remarkable. Ar- range your schedule to include several meetings with your core support system in April, and a pet project of yours will quickly take off. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Creative choices and matters of personal preference will come into play. Your taste is different from that of your friends, family, colleagues and custom- ers; that much will be apparent. With your discerning eye and offbeat logic, you will lead, infl uence and teach others. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21) You'll con- template your freedom and act in a way you wouldn't be able to were you not liberated. You realize there's a responsibility that comes with your freedom, and this doesn't make you feel less free. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) Con- science and compassion are so ingrained in you that you don't even have to think about the "right move." You're no heartless climber who will do what you have to do to get to the next level. You're a loving caregiver who will stop and wait. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Organiz- ing your life has just as much to do with your physical possessions as it does with your schedule, intentions and goals. This will be one of your favorite kinds of weeks, as you'll get the chance to move things around, catego- rize them, clean them and arrange them. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) Under stress, it's hard to read your situation accurately. Re- member to relax. It will help you get perspective. If you can't relax, you can at least gather experi- ence so that in the future, similar situations won't cause quite as much fear and tension. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) You are reluctant to aggressively market yourself. For now, learn how to promote yourself in a way that feels comfortable. It's a matter of trial and error. But keep going, and you'll fi nd your way. By Holiday Mathis ADVICE GODDESS Bodies at Rust I'm a recently divorced 40-something woman, now dating again, and I'm wondering what the guidelines are on how long to wait to have sex. I'm not interested in casual sex, but I have a healthy libido. If I'm really attracted to a man, I'll be dealing with some powerful mixed (internal) signals regarding how long to wait. Really what I want is to have sex with a man I like as soon as reasonably possible without getting labeled by him (consciously or subconsciously) as an expendable fl oozy. — Hotblooded As explained in previous columns, men and women are biologically and psychologically different, and the sexual double standard springs out of those differences -- like how one sex gets pregnant and the other sex gets paternity uncertainty. Thqh 6vy& ! !h&) 6tr% !!88rr6qvv @vxhThr Uhy HvAhrrvyyr 9tqArvhy HrthGr Fhvxv UrrHvAhrrvyyr 9tqArvhy BhprGvqr Uu `tHvAhrrvyyr 9tqArvhy Hhqv 6yvvhChyy EvHvAhrrvyyr 9tqArvhy 8huTpuyhuvHvXvr TpuyhuvutuHruqvVvrv AU88AhrrvyyrThrVvrv 6yvphvyvr shqtqsrvhy pphyy) ' ' $$ !(!! '&"&#&% & # Some women do wait to have sex with a man they've just met — like, a whole hour — and manage to make that the fi rst hour of the rest of their lives together. Just because that's risky doesn't mean it's impossible. But, sleep with a man before you know who he is and you could fi nd yourself wearing lust goggles — convincing yourself he's good for the long haul when he's really just good in bed. The good news is, men in their 40s tend to be less "use 'em and lose 'em" than those in their 20s. "The third date rule" — the expectation that the third date is the sex date — is also more of a factor for 20-somethings. If you're, say, 45, and dating guys 50 to 60, the third date rule is probably something more like "Don't fall asleep." When dating, remind yourself that the part of you that's clamoring for sex is not the organ that does your best thinking, and plan your outings accordingly. Keep in mind that people who regret their behavior on dates tend to say stuff like "We got really drunk, and then we slept together," not "We went to the museum in broad daylight and then had one too many lattes." As for how long to wait to have sex, there's no magic number of dates. But, since casual sex isn't your thing, you should probably hold out until there seems to be an emotional attachment — on both sides. Maybe a good guideline is waiting until you and a man are kinda cuddly. Until that time, hint that your favorite sex position actually isn't arms folded/legs crossed; you just like to get to know a man before you get to know how his Miller Lite chandelier looks wearing your thong. Amy Alkon Amy Alkon all rights reserved. MARCH 21-27, 2012 UCW 27