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/81643
NEWS OF THE WEIRD by CHUCK SHEPPARD Unclear on the Concept (and the Image): The Associated Press, reporting in August from Jerusalem, noted that the ultra-Orthodox community's "modesty patrols" were selling eyeglasses with "special blur- inducing stickers" that fuzz up distant images so that offended men will not inadvertently spot immodestly dressed women. (The stickers apparently simulate nearsightedness, in that vision is clear in the near- field.) The "modesty patrols" have long tried to shame women dressed in anything other than closed-neck, long- sleeved blouses and long skirts, but may be losing that fight. A columnist for the Tel Aviv daily Haaretz praised the eyeglasses for shifting the responsibility to men for their priggishness. [Associated Press via Salon.com, 8-8- 2012; Haaretz, 8-11-2012] The way it usually happens is Mom and Dad start a road trip with their children, but after a rest stop, they fail to notice that one of the kids is not on board, and they may be well down the road before they turn around. However, in June, the family member left behind at a Memphis, Tenn., rest stop was Dad, and for 100 miles, no one grasped that he was missing. The family was traveling in a van, and everyone presumed Dad was in the back. He was still at the gas station, calling his own phone (which was in the back of the van). Dad finally reached Mom in the van by posting to Facebook. [WBIR-TV (Knoxville, Tenn.), 6-25-2012] reports on foreigners' cuisines that most Americans find "undelectable." A June Wall Street Journal story featured a hardy, fun-loving group of New Yorkers (the "Innard Circle") who dine monthly at out-of-the-way ethnic restaurants in order to sample such dishes as camel's eyeball ("way different from a goat's eyeball," said one member) and "crispy colorectal," and had recently learned, from a non- English-speaking waitress, that they had just consumed bull's diaphragm. Another member admitted "an element of showing off" to the exercise, and acknowledged that not all rookie members return for a second meal. The one body part that no one seems to recall having tried yet: uterus. [Wall Street Journal, 6-24-2012] Recurring Themes Periodically, News of the Weird WEEKLY HOROSCOPES BY HOLIDAY For the Week of September 9, 2012 ARIES (March 21-April 19) When you feel yourself half-heartedly committing to an effort, recognize that you're probably "trying" instead of just doing. Maybe it's out of fear. Maybe you sense the futility of the effort upfront. Take a step back. Decide your fate. Don't "try." Do or don't do. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) It's always easier to be generous when the recipient of your gen- erosity happens to be appreciative. While your people are very happy, it may occur to you to keep giving, to go for sainthood, halo and all. Of course, true saints are those who give even when unappreciated because it's the right thing to do. GEMINI (May 21-June 21) There are legiti- mate reasons to turn away from material demon- strations of success this week. You'll surprise others with your atypical responses. You'll save fi nancial considerations for another time while you pause to reformulate your personal values. Chuck Sheppard CANCER (June 22-July 22) Rejection isn't real; it's only feedback to which you've attached personal meaning. So don't attach the personal meaning. Then all you have is feedback, which you can use to improve and move forward. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) You have emotions, pas- sions and needs that you don't fully understand. A person trained in matters of the mind may understand them better. Consider learning about human behavior or gathering information on the topic of your particular behavior. It's a week for tending to your inner world. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) When you launch into a story, you do it with the kind of pizzazz that gets people's attention and keeps it. It helps that you know your subject matter so well. You're going to get the chance to instruct and infl uence people with your stories. ADVICE GODDESS Cat Fight Club LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) You are happy to experience a shared reality with others for the most part, but every once in a while you get an overwhelmingly strong sense that the world is exactly what you (and only you) think it is. So imagine yourself as limitless, and believe in your power to create reality. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21) Real power is the ability to direct your awareness and attention at will. Don't let your subconscious bully you into a limited view of yourself and the world. This week you'll bust a few mental chains. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) Must you always sublimate your personal desires to put others fi rst? Consult the muses. Invite the spirit of play and creativity to weigh in on your brainstorm. There is a way to get your needs met and still take care of your responsibilities and loved ones. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Being "Stuck" has a way of focusing you, forcing you into a more profound awareness. Note that it's the small movements that allow you to wriggle free. Be adaptive. Look for new ways out. Above all, stay calm. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) It is easy for you to do what you feel like doing, what you've done all along and what you are in the habit of doing. The rest takes effort. Only the highest purposes will interest and motivate you. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) There may be confusion in your love life this week, and it's not something you should try to fi gure out all at once. Give relationships time and breath- ing room. Remember that your most attrac- tive qualities are poise, self-assurance and optimism. Good things happen when you live in those qualities. By Holiday Mathis GET READY FOR TRYOUTS & PRACTICE! School & Football Season Are Here My boyfriend of two years is best friends with his ex. During their 14- year relationship, he says they had a codependency, becoming each other's social world. They were still roommates when we started dating, and she refused to even let me into their house. He says he'd like us to become casual friends and includes us both in group events like a recent hike. On it, I tried to be friendly, but she pretty much ignored me. Afterward, I told him it was awkward spending the day with someone who has issues with me. He became angry, saying I should be more understanding, that it was much more diffi cult for her. (She seems to require a level of coddling and emotional support that I don't.) He'll also go to events and not invite me because she'll be there. I'm positive they're done romantically, but he's abnormally protective of her, always defending her feelings over mine. When I try to discuss this, he blows up. (Our relationship is otherwise good and loving.) — Excluded Helmets • Chin Straps Practice Pants • Mouth Guards Scrimmage Jerseys • Pads Cleats • Socks • Gloves Eyeblack • NoGlare Strips Two Great Businesses Under One Roof! Hours: 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. M-F COPYRIGHT 2011 CHUCK SHEPHERD WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM www.trophyhouseinc.com 3006 Bragg Blvd. 910.323.1791 ex-girlfriend with the perpetually broken wing, your boyfriend isn't just being unfair to you; he's creating what therapist B. Janet Hibbs, Ph.D., calls "a chronic climate of unfairness." Hibbs feels fairness violations are at the root of most relationship problems, noting in Try To See It My Way that you can't trust your partner if you don't expect to be fairly treated. Unfairnesses left unrepaired lead partners to "withhold care, love, affection, and fi nally, themselves." Your boyfriend being so codependently cozy with his needy ex is far less risky than going all in and being interdependent with you. So, of course he blows up when you broach the subject; evading all discussion of it allows him to keep her as his human binky. Write him a note explaining that you two need to talk in a calm way about something that's bothering you. (It's impossible to have a relationship with somebody who goes all sixth-grade science project volcano whenever there's a discussion he'd rather not have.) Tell him that you understand his friendship with his ex means a lot to him but that you fi nd it painful to always come second. If he wants to remain your boyfriend, he needs to get his loyalties in order — meaning, even in the event his ex suffers some tragedy (A hangnail! A hangover!), he'll treat you more like his girlfriend than some woman in line behind him at 7-Eleven. A relationship is generally understood to mean two people prioritizing each other over all others. In favoring the Amy Alkon all rights reserved. SEPT. 5-11, 2012 UCW 23 Amy Alkon