FEATURES
6A
Tomorrow’s horoscope
Brother upset about bombshell
Dear Annie: My only sib-
ling has stopped speaking to
me. My brother had a son 26
years ago. He claims he knew
nothing about the child until I
told him six months ago that
he should take responsibil-
ity for his oldest son. We had
words, and he texted me not
to contact him, ever, and to
have a great life.
I did call and left a mes-
sage wishing him and his
wife a Merry Christmas, but I
never heard back. He’s hold-
ing me responsible for “keep-
ing a secret,” while I am quite
sure he knew all along that he
had a son out there. He said
some nasty things directly to
me and has told outright lies
to other people about me.
But Annie, he is my brother.
Do I just go away? Or do I
send him birthday wishes next
month? — Grieving Sister
Dear Sister: You can
send any kind of wishes you
like, but we can’t promise
he’ll respond. Are you sure
he knew about this child? If
no one had ever spoken of it
before, it’s possible he was
truly unaware and angry that
you kept the secret. Or, if you
Annie’s
Mailbox
Creators
Syndicate Inc.
Kathy Mitch-
ell and
Marcy Sugar
mentioned the son in front of
his wife, it’s possible that he
didn’t want her to know, and
reacted by claiming igno-
rance. And of course, he could
simply be ashamed that he has
not financially or emotion-
ally supported his son and,
like many guilt-ridden people,
became defensive.
You can try apologizing,
sincerely, for bringing up a
subject that he wasn’t pre-
pared to deal with, and then
ask him how you can make
things better. You also can try
going through his wife to see
if she will act as an intermedi-
ary on your behalf. The rest,
sorry to say, is up to him.
Dear Annie: Every day I
do word scrambles and “spot
the six differences” puzzles
with two great people. But
now I’m annoyed and upset.
One time — just once — I
started the puzzles before they
arrived and now they keep
calling me “cheaty pants” and
refuse to give me the news-
paper until they have already
started.
I don’t know whether I
should confront them about
it or leave it be. I think they
should be fair, not rude. I
know I shouldn’t start the
puzzles until they can be
there, but sometimes I get so
impatient with them. I think
they should be nice about it,
too. — Very Frustrated
Dear Frustrated: All of
you should be nice, which
means
name-calling
is
off-limits and no one starts
the puzzles before everyone
shows up. We recommend that
you make the first move to put
things back on track: Apol-
ogize for your original faux
pas and ask them to please
stop rubbing it in your face
so you can start fresh. But if
they keep acting like the mean
girls in high school, bring
your own newspaper and then
you can do your own puzzles
in peace.
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2016
By Holiday Mathis, Creators Syndicate Inc.
ARIES (March 21-April 19). Your dedica-
tion to a worthy purpose will be a source of
great happiness, though not right away, and
not after a week or even a month. Dedicate
yourself anyway. You’ll understand in time.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20). You are not a
chameleon borrowing your color value from
your environment. There’s something in you
that won’t change to match a hue you feel is
wrong for you. You’ll stand as you really are.
GEMINI (May 21-June 21). You’ll use
every resource you have to solve the day’s
problem. If the problem is about getting
more fun and excitement in your life, that’s
a trouble as worthy of attention as any of
them.
CANCER (June 22-July 22). Is joy really
a sustainable emotion? It’s arguable, and
yet, who will waste time in debate? Only a
fool would spend precious energy on any-
thing other than joy when joy is there for the
taking.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). In order to pre-
serve what you have you’ll need to make
a few rules regarding the use of it. This will
include at least two other people. Commu-
nicate as specifically as possible and you
should do just fine.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). When you
command yourself to do something, it can
go either way. Sometimes you rebel. Not
now. You’ll see the wisdom in what your
higher mind is laying out.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). Intelligence
has less to do with success than tenacity.
Usually you have both, though your current
concentration on an attractive proposition
could temporarily cloud your thoughts.
Don’t let that slow down your mission.
FRANK AND ERNEST
BLONDIE
THATABABY
SALLY FORTH
PHOEBE AND HER UNICORN
B.C.
LOLA
DILBERT
SIX CHIX
BIZARRO
MUTTS
NON SEQUITUR
BABY BLUES
WIZARD OF ID
ZITS
ROSE IS ROSE
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). Some of
the poets and philosophers have suggest-
ed that happiness occurs exclusively in
the memory. You can prove them wrong by
being happy in the moment and noticing it,
too.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). Don’t
think that just because you’re on some-
one’s good side you’re impervious to that
person’s bad behavior. Whatever they do to
the others, they’ll do to you, too.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). You’ve
built on the person you were when you
were younger. You may not even remember
how. That’s why those who remember what
you were like are invaluable assets in your
self-discovery process.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). It doesn’t
matter if the group operates dysfunctionally.
What matters is that it’s a group and it op-
erates. If you can accept that and have a
good attitude about it, you’ll win.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). Everyone
needs a witness. That is why even if all
you are doing is “picking up” what anoth-
er person is “putting down,” it’s a service
more valuable than you might have sus-
pected.
SATURDAY’S BIRTHDAY (Feb. 13).
You’ll enjoy the tremendous luxury of be-
ing left to your own devices in March. This
means you can finally break out on your
own. By April, the new direction will be
something worth bragging about, but don’t.
Keep working and in July you can cash in
(to some degree) and buy all the supplies
you need. Cancer and Sagittarius adore
you. Your lucky numbers are: 7, 49, 24, 39
and 35.