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.
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NEWS OF THE WEIRD by CHUCK SHEPPARD All U.S. states have forms of no- fault divorce, but not England, which requires that couples prove adultery or abandonment or "unreasonable behavior," which leads to sometimes- epic weirdness, according to an April New York Times dispatch from London. For instance, one woman's petition blamed her husband's insistence that she speak and dress only in Klingon. Other examples of "unreasonable behavior" (gathered by the Times of London): a husband objecting to the "malicious" preparation of his most hated dish (tuna casserole), a spouse's non- communication for the last 15 years (except by leaving Post-it Notes), a spouse's too-rapid TV channel-changing, a husband's distorting the fit of his wife's best outfits by frequently wearing them, and one's insistence that a pet tarantula reside in a glass case beside the marital bed. [The New York Times, 4-7-2012] WEEKLY HOROSCOPES BY HOLIDAY For the Week of June 17, 2012 ARIES (March 21-April 19) While it's always nice to get paid for doing what you would have done for free, it's not necessary that your work involve the thing you love most. This week your options open up. Thursday is ideal for making a choice. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Regular contact with regular people is something that shouldn't be underestimated. You may think, "Bring on the extraordinary weirdos of the world because I need some entertainment," but your thinking won't change the fact that regular contact with regular people could save your life. GEMINI (May 21-June 21) Finances between friends can be tricky under normal circum- stances, and this week's circumstances are more unusual than most. You are inclined to be gentle and lighthearted when communicating on the topic of money, which works brilliantly. Chuck Sheppard CANCER (June 22-July 22) Self-exploration will lead you to discover a fulfi lling way to make money. Knowing your strengths will be the key to seeing the opportunity in front of you. How can you do what caters to your strengths unless you know what those strengths are? LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) It's easy to get excited about an idea when you're the originator. This week it's someone else's idea that has you giddy, though, and you'll enjoy the rare honor of being a true champion of this cause. Hope- fully, the target of your enthusiasm realizes this and appreciates it. Compelling Explanations Madison County, Ind., council member David McCartney admitted to the Herald Bulletin newspaper in March that he had exchanged sexually explicit emails with a female official in another county but would not resign. In fact, he said, he had engaged in the exchanges not for hanky-panky but in order to expose corruption. He has not elaborated. Chris Windham, 27, was charged with improperly photographing a 57-year-old man in a men's room in Trinity, Texas, in March after Windham, using a stall, allegedly snapped a cellphone photo of the man standing at the adjacent urinal. Windham explained that typically he braces himself with one hand on the floor while he wipes himself, and this time the hand on the floor was holding his cellphone. [Indianapolis Star, 3-19-2012] [Houston Press, 3-20-2012] Maureen Raymond, 49, said her VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Your relationships will be better because you put some thought into resolving your issues with another person. And the best part? That person doesn't even have to know about it! Having arguments with people in your head or on paper will keep you from having them in real life. ADVICE GODDESS Motherly Shove LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) There shouldn't be pressure to do things right the fi rst time. It would be cruel to demand that of yourself. Pick a goal that seems good and a way to go about accomplishing it. If it doesn't turn out the way you wanted it to, try again. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21) Your love is a profound gift that you present in many different packages throughout the week. Some don't realize they are being given the gift of your love unless you do the equivalent of putting a big red bow on it and emphatically saying "you're welcome." SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) Who you are in the bigger view of society is not who you are actually, but it certainly will make a difference in the way you feel about yourself. It will be important for you to contribute to a larger group. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) You accept responsibility for the way things unfold in your life, for better or worse. Even when it's diffi cult to see how you could have made something happen, you know your actions had some infl uence on the way things are. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) There's a price for making your dreams come true. It usually has to do with sacrifi ce, work and commitment. You're willing to pay a certain price, and then it gets raised this week. Take your time in consid- ering the new price and whether you think it's still worthwhile to you. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) Your efforts to spruce up your living quarters will have a posi- tive effect on your attitude as well this week. Little things around the house add up. Whether or not you entertain company, your image of yourself improves with the upgrades to your environment. I am in my 20s and, for eight months, have been seeing a girl who might very well be "the one." The problem is she wants to meet my mother, who is beyond controlling. She plays a game with girls I date, which I call "the 20 questions of doom." Her questions start out normal, but by question 10, she'll ask stuff like "Have you ever seen my son in the nude, and if not, do you have plans to?" She'll also say very negative things about me. Also, I'm a dark-skinned black person, and my girlfriend is biracial, and my mother doesn't want me dating a light- skinned girl because she wants grandkids who resemble her. I want to keep this girl, but she is growing impatient with my not letting her meet my mom, and is beginning to think I'm ashamed of her. — Stuck By Holiday Mathis roadside DUI test administered in January was unfair. According to records cited by Scripps Media, she told a deputy in Port St. Lucie, Fla., that she couldn't walk a straight line "with her big boobies," which she said makes balancing difficult. The deputy reported that Raymond helpfully offered to show him the evidence but that he stopped her. [Scripps Media via WPTV (West Palm Beach), 2-3-2012] COPYRIGHT 2011 CHUCK SHEPHERD WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM NEWS, VIEWS, ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT 484-6200 www.upandcomingweekly.com NOW ONLINE! parents can fi nd it hard to understand that somebody's mother could be their relationship's worst enemy. You, on the other hand, are already dreading your mother's hospitality: "Son, shall we have coffee and dessert now and push your little friend into the woodchipper later?" Talk to your girlfriend, but not about meeting the middle-aged mean girl also known as your mother. Open up to her about the painful relationship you have with your mother and how hurtful it's been that she has tried to drive away every woman in your life. Evoking your girlfriend's sympathy is the fi rst step in shrinking her hurt feelings. (For best results, avoid mentioning that Mom'll think she's from the wrong side of the Crayola box.) You can't control your mother's behavior, but you can control who she gets to meet. This would be a good time to reconsider the defi nition of family. Maybe family means people who act like family whether they're blood relatives or not, and maybe you should bring your girlfriend around to meet those people — your dearest friends and maybe an aunt and uncle who are fond of you. Chances are, what ultimately matters to her is not meeting your mother but believing you think she's important enough to introduce. Show her (and keep showing her) that you're proud of her and that she's loved and appreciated, and she should stop sulking. In fact, she might even start joking about what it would be like, being invited over for a nice quiet dinner of sacrifi cial lamb — or, as your mother might put it to her: "Let me just show my son to his chair, dear, and then I'll show you to your spit." People who don't have saboteurs for Amy Alkon Amy Alkon all rights reserved. JUNE 13-19, 2012 UCW 27