THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2015
FEATURES
5A
Siblings like to take her things Tomorrow’s horoscope
By Holiday Mathis, Creators Syndicate Inc.
Dear Annie: My twin sister and I are
57. Every time she visits me, she takes
things. Often, I don’t realize the things
are missing until I need to use them, or
when I want to wrap them as gifts, which
is what happened last Christmas.
When this has happened in the past,
I’ve confronted my sister, but she de-
nies taking anything. However, during
my last visit to her new home, I caught
her. I was hanging up my clothes in the
closet, and to my shock, the top shelf
had several of my missing things. I
called my sister in to explain, and of
course, she couldn’t lie about not steal-
ing the items I could plainly see.
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twin, but she does quite well, too. I have
always been there for her when she
needed anything. She lived with me for
several years when she had nowhere else
to go, and I helped her get out of debt.
My brother also steals from me
when he stays here. And when my sister
came last week, after she gave me her
word that she could be trusted, I discov-
ered several items missing. Is there a
reason people do this? — Kansas Twin
Dear Twin: Your twin (and your
brother) may suffer from kleptomania,
an impulse control disorder that makes
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that, for the most part, you don’t need
and won’t use. Your risk of developing
this mental health disorder is increased
Dear J.: Most people use their
hands when they speak, some more
than others. Hand gestures can under-
score what you are saying and, to some
Creators
extent, can also indicate friendliness or
Syndicate Inc.
engagement in the topic. Keeping your
hands still might be misinterpreted as
Kathy Mitchell
indifference or boredom. But large and
and
constant hand gestures can be distract-
Marcy Sugar
ing and annoying and tend to be more
common within cultures or families.
if you have a parent or sibling with
This obviously bothers you a great
kleptomania, obsessive-compulsive deal. If you are good friends with some-
disorder or a substance abuse problem. one who waves his hands around ex-
Your siblings seem to qualify. You can cessively, you can gently point it out
talk to your sister, saying that you are and ask whether he would temper the
worried about her, and suggest she ask gestures a bit.
her doctor for a referral to a mental
Dear Annie: I would like to thank
health professional. We hope she gets “Powerless” for writing in with con-
help before she steals from someone cerns about her atheist friend. I grew
who will have her arrested.
up atheist in a suburban school where,
Dear Annie: I hope my question is although I was a proselytization target,
not too far out of line. I have noticed I was fortunate not to experience that
many people are not able to talk with- kind of relentless bullying. I would like
out using their hands. And they can’t to offer a resource that might help, es-
seem to keep their hand movements to pecially if the school district is uncoop-
a reasonable limit. I recently stopped erative.
watching one of my favorite TV shows
The Secular Student Alliance
because the constant hand waving is too (www.secularstudents.org) is a group
distracting.
of students and families who help each
When a person I am close to gets out other with situations like this. Please let
of control, I lower my eyes and do not Powerless know that she and her friend
ZDWFKEXW,¿QGWKHFRQVWDQWJHVWXULQJ are not powerless. I hope both of them
very annoying. Why do they do this? remain safe and get through this situa-
— J.
tion. — W.
Annie’s
Mailbox
FRANK AND ERNEST
BLONDIE
THATABABY
SALLY FORTH
STONE SOUP
B.C.
LOLA
DILBERT
SIX CHIX
BIZARRO
MUTTS
NON SEQUITUR
BABY BLUES
WIZARD OF ID
ZITS
ROSE IS ROSE
ARIES (March 21-April 19). Optimism
might not come easily, but it will pay off.
A sunny attitude will reduce your overall
stress levels and help you stay focused on
your top priorities, like helping yourself and
your loved ones thrive.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20). You may
feel deprived of what you need, when the
reality is that you’re only deprived of what
you want. It’s not that you’re spoiled; it’s just
that you’re getting used to something you
ought not to. Get back to basics.
GEMINI (May 21-June 21). Things break
along the way, and that’s to be expected.
You’ll have time to fix everything, and all will
be working properly when you most need
it. Until then, see this as an opportunity to
research some upgrades.
CANCER (June 22-July 22). Look for
the superstars in your area of interest, and
study them. They are likely people who
have helped many others, gone the extra
mile and put the universe in their debt, just
as you are doing now.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). Ready or not,
start investing your effort in the direction of
your big goal. It’s going to take hundreds
of hours, and for many of those hours, you
will have no idea what you’re doing. You
may as well start learning now.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). The mes-
sages you send will create an echo, except
that the feedback is not instantaneous, so
it can be difficult to understand the cause-
and-effect relationship. Just know it’s there
and adjust what you put out accordingly.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). You strive to
communicate heart-to-heart and soul-to-
soul, because at the end of the day, this
is the communication that will really make
a difference. Today this mostly involves lis-
tening with your whole being.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). Everyone
wants something. You just have to figure
out what they want and give it to them.
You’ll find out because you assume noth-
ing and ask excellent questions.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). Each
dollar has the potential to grow more dol-
lars. This is why you are hesitant to spend
on unnecessary, temporal and unmemora-
ble items. You even second-guess certain
drink purchases these days.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). Your
mind is occupied with love. This is the
reason you have the energy necessary to
work on critical items and not much more.
The 80/20 rule very much applies today.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). Watching
people react to an entertaining episode
of life can be more entertaining than the
actual episode. This explains the trend of
“reaction videos” on YouTube, and it also
explains what happens with you tonight.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). There’s no
secret solution. Whatever your goal, it will
take work. You can get there if you’re willing
to trade whatever you’re doing now for the
work you need to do to get to the goal.
FRIDAY’S BIRTHDAY (Feb. 6). If you’ve
forgotten, the sun will remind you that
you’re magnificent. To ward against the
self-consciousness this may rouse, get on
with the business of promoting the people
and causes dear to you. Your care is the
magic ingredient to motivate others into
high production. Your love life is invigorated
in May. Sagittarius and Capricorn people
adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 45, 1,
11, 24 and 16.