3 Monday, December 7,1998 Got issues? Fetch advice from Jack and Jill. Do you have a question for "Jack and Jill"? Drop it off in the "Jack and Jill" mailbox on the door of the Cap Times office at room W 341, in the Cap Times mailbox in the Student Activi ties office, or e-mail your question to us at captimes@psu.edu anytime. The staff of the Cap Times, anyone associated with Penn State or anyone in the entire universe is not re sponsible for these answers. Q: Dear Jack and Jill: I met a really cool girl at a party last week. We hit it off and I feel like she is the girl of my dreams. The next day I was talking to one of my best friends. He pointed out this girl walking down the hall. He continued to tell me how hot this girl was and how much he liked her. He wanted to hook up with this girl really bad. The problem is she's the same one I met the previous night. I don't want to tell him about it because he is really sen sitive about these issues. What should I do, I don't want to betray my friend, but 1 also don't want to stop talking to this girl. In search of advise, "Deeply concerned male" Dear “Deeply concerned male”, If this is the “girl of your dreams”, then she will feel like you’re the “guy of her dreams” if you really are. Just slow down. You just met her, and first impressions aren’t always right, but how long have you been best friends with your friend? It doesn’t have Who ever said Christmas doesn’t last year 'round? Holiday sales in full swing as local mechants opt for early start By Nicole Burkholder For the Cap Times Silver bells, mistletoe, and holly hang on storefronts. Christmas mu sic bellows from the speaker sys tem. Santa Claus and all his entou rage begin to pop up around the area. Bows and gift wrap are offered with every purchase, and Christmas sales are promising great savings. Think of mid-November. Retail stores seem to raise the curtain on the Christmas season earlier and earlier each year. Gone are the days of the Christmas sea son beginning on the day after Thanksgiving. In a capitalist frenzy, consumers rush to complete Christ mas preparation just a little earlier than last year. Malls and stores make this competition possible. Bath and Body Works began sell ing their Christmas line in mid-Sep tember. They waited to decorate the store until Oct. 14, before Hallow een. Manager of the Harrisburg East Mall store, Sherry Hess says that the customers of Bath and Body Works want this early celebration. Kathy’s Hallmark, in Colonial Commons, follows an even earlier schedule. Manager Sandy Fowler puts her Hallmark Christmas oma- to be a race to “get the girl”, if it’s right for one or none of you, time will tell; don’t ruin any friendships over it. Jack: Dear 'Deeply concerned male’, Are you a man or a mouse? You sound like a little schoolgirl. Simplify the situation. You can accomplish this by yanking your friend out of his fantasy world and back into real ity. The next time both .of you see this girl tell him to make his move on her. If your friend resists (which he probably will) go up to her and plant a kiss on her lips! Before you accuse me of being an outrageous, in sensitive, jerk (which I am) let me explain. This saves you the effort of having to explain your situation to your friend. He must learn that you can either be the player or you can be played. It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there, baby, and the competition’s fierce. Do what you can to give yourself an edge, and this isn’t accomplished by hooking your friend up before you’re hooked up. Besides, once your friend realizes you’re ‘da bomb’ he’ll strive to be like you. Remember Jack’s words of wisdom: a true friend stabs you in the front. ments up for sale in July by orders from Hallmark’s main office. That makes these ornaments available six months during the year for a holiday that lasts only one day. Due to the collectible nature of these ornaments, Hallmark stores attract a dedicated following of buyers who are eagerly awaiting the orna ments’ summer arrival, says Fowler. Santa Claus made his grand en trance at both Colonial Park Mall and Harrisburg East Mall the sec ond week in November. The East Mall began its decorating and preparation for the mail’s 150 ton sand sculpture on Oct. 25. The ac tual kickoff was scheduled to cul minate with the arrival of Santa at his 20 foot high sand sculpture house on Nov. 14. The Colonial Park Mall began the day before. According to Tina Cuthie, mar keting manager for the Harrisburg East Mall, Christmas decorations and the arrival of Santa Claus are a kickoff for Black Friday, the big gest retail day of the year, not just for Christmas itself. Black Friday is the day when people really start their Christmas shopping so this early preparation helps get them in the mood. FEATURES Hess of Bath and Body Works also says that preparation for Black Friday takes a lot of work. Starting early allows the company and em ployees a chance to prepare during downtime, rather than in the midst of the store’s peak season. Cuthie also said that the Christ mas frenzy really has not started any earlier than usual. For the past four years, the arrival of Santa Claus has always been in the sec ond week in November. With the weather being so mild this year, people may think that the season has started earlier than it really has, remarked Cuthie. The question is whether or not Cow adds natural touch to carol By Holly Ramer Of The Associated Press CONCORD, N.H. There is a new voice among the flock of French hens, turtle doves and par tridges in this version of the Twelve Days of Christmas. Kerry is no ordinary songbird, however. She’s a song cow. When violinist Steve Schuch wanted to include the song on an JILL people are buying into the excite ment. Hess says that the Bath and Body Works Christmas line began selling as soon as it hit the shelves in mid-September because “cus tomers are afraid the items won’t be there later.” Of course, Hess did add that sales really pick up after Halloween, and even more after Thanksgiving. Cuthie noted that “sales have been phenomenal. Weekend [Nov. 13-15] sales and traffic really showed that people are buying.” In addition to retail, high schools and churches have been hosting holiday craft shows as fund raisers. Again, Christmas music fills the air as people buy wooden Santas to display on their front door. Home album of Celtic music, he chose Kerry the cow over her feathered friends. She can be heard adding a “moo” or two during the “eight maids a-milking” verse. “The thought I had when I was first asked to make this album was that people have been making Christmas albums forever, and a lot of them start to sound the same,” Schuch said. “I thought, what can we do with every one of these The Capital Times owners have already begun hang ing Christmas lights around their houses, and Christmas trees have begun to appear in windows. Lower Paxton resident Elizabeth Bashore says she enjoys “preparing for Christmas so early. It is such a great time of the year and starting so early allows it to last just a little longer.” And so the season has begun. Big sales and holiday music grace ev ery inch of the area. People are en joying the season as the big day gets nearer. Bashore comments, “I am already done shopping for this year, and I am already planning for next year. You can never start too early with Christmas!” pieces to do something different?” Schuch, along with his group, The Night Heron Consort, soon realized that making the Twelve Days of Christmas interesting without words would be a challenge. “I thought, why not try an ono matopoeic version, and hey, why not try to get real turtle doves and a real cow?” Schuch said. “... at the time, the president of the record company thought I lost my mind.”
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