By far my most favorite place to work is in my local Starbucks.
There is something about the smell, the studious environment and the overall ambience that they have there.
Starbucks is set up for computer nerds, and anyone who needs to use technology.
It’s a great place to meet clients and it provides a fantastic opportunity to sit and watch the “traffic” go by or just to sit and relax in a living room type of environment.
Blogging, as much as I love it, can be a lonely job.
It’s lonely work where you generally work with the words in your head and occasionally have a conversation with others who are doing similar things in life as you.
Being able to talk to others online through Facebook, snapchat or twitter are all nice and fun but when it comes down to it, being in the presence of real humans is by far something that we all must need at a very innate level.
Humans are social animals.
It’s in our genes.
We are not meant to be isolated and content with it except for during certain times in life.
Even the most tribal of all people follow this basic principal of social animals. They seek each other for support.
At it’s most instinctual level it’s for finding help getting food and reproduction.
There is power in number in all things in life. Even as a lone blogger, I get inspired by the people I see, hear and yes even sometimes smell at Starbucks.
Our sensory experience to the world is what makes us better writers and bloggers because we can tap into that and share it with others as we write.
It makes us more real.
Trust me, I’ve tried to be completely alone and have sworn off all contact with humans because I was pissed at the world for being so negative.
What a dummy I was.
I was do the very thing that I hated about humans. I had slipped and became one…probably a creepy one.
I think we all have an innate sense of when someone is in an isolation phase.
Just like animals who find quiet places to get through pain and fear, humans do the exact same thing.
We seek isolation and quiet places when we become fearful and overwhelmed. Our bodies seek places where senses are minimal and all we deal with is what is in our heads and hopefully we recover or ailments by giving them such a drastic amount of laser focus.
It’s a place of inspiration. A place to get out and change my normal environment.
It’s a place I can be a spectator of the human animal and yet feel the connection as we all sit back and enjoy a study session on the wood grain tables with the distinct smell of warm coffee diffusing through the atmosphere.
Yeah..sure, I can set up my home to be something similar but inspiration does not come from stagnant waters and I want to make waves.
Starbucks is one of the things that helps me make more waves.
Try changing your environment every now and then, and make sure you are surrounded with something opposite of what you normally are surrounded by.
Always working in the city?
Try the woods.
Always in your kitchen?
Try a busy little coffee shop.
Open up and expand your experiences in life and you may surprised at how beneficial it will be to you on multiple levels.


Title: "The Connubial Catalyst"
Description: Sheldon and Amy wrestle with the increasing demands of modern life and family, but an opportunity comes along that may finally make their dreams come true. Meanwhile, Leonard, Howard and Raj face major life changes as well.
Fandom: The Big Bang Theory
Characters: Sheldon/Amy and everybody else
Word Count: 53,000+
Author's Note: This is a companion piece to "The Coitus Consideration" and a sequel to The Gamete Indeterminacy, and those stories are mandatory reading to understand this story. So… chop, chop.
Disclaimer: The Big Bang Theory is an American sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, and is produced by them along with Lee Aronsohn. It is a Warner Brothers production and airs on CBS. All characters, plots and creative elements derived from the source material belong exclusively to their respective owners. I, the author of the fan fiction, do not, in any way, profit monetarily from the story.
Rating: M (for later chapters)
"If I'm being completely honest," Sheldon continued, "I believe the Waldorf system of music education is the ideal method to use with young children, and it perturbs me that it hasn't been integrated more universally into our juvenile music education programs. Not that I'm particularly interested in childhood education of any sort, but I'm still right."
Amy nodded, thinking back to what his profile has said: "Likes the theoretical aspects of music, and most things, more than its real-world application."
"That was a fascinating bit of information on the pentatonic scale," she said, after taking a sip of water, "although I think it is only tangentially relates to my original inquiry."
"Which one was that?" he asked.
"What is your favorite song?"
( Keep reading... )


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I guess reminders of my dad seem to be one of the few catalysts for me to write these days…
I went to my second funeral yesterday since my dad’s, and the first of someone that I actually knew. My friend Jeremy and his mom, also my piano teacher for many years, lost his father to cancer, and though I didn’t anticipate it, I had a hard time staying composed during the beautiful service that honored him.
To see so many of the friends and family that I grew up with all grieving together wasn’t something I felt prepared to see, and it made me dread the years (hopefully many many years) to come when we see more of our beloved shu-shus and ayis leave us.
I was distraught for their loss, but it also opened a new conversation in my head that I hadn’t heard before. One considering how even if one didn’t fear death, how difficult leaving this world can be, to leave your loved ones behind. As the people who stay behind, we grieve, we suffer, and eventually we move on, but to be in the position of knowing that you are going to miss out on life with your loved ones must be a heart-wrenching experience, even on top of much of the physical suffering that those fighting terminal illnesses.
So while I was sad for Jeremy, I was also in a small way glad for him. Glad that he had the opportunity to become a wonderful grown man, that his dad was allowed to see the fruit of his efforts, to see him finish college, and med school, to become a self-sufficient adult. I was glad that he was in a place where he can actively engage in the loss of his dad, to understand what is happening, and better appreciate his dad and who he was before losing him. Then again, that’s definitely an oversimplification of the situation. I mean after all, there’s always more to see right?
As I sat in the pew waiting the start of the service and later as I watched Jeremy deliver a poignant, articulate eulogy for his father, I was reminded more than ever before just how out of it I was at my own father’s funeral. I have little to no memory of the day. All I remember are that I was physically there, and that my sister and my dad’s coworker delivered eulogies. I think Mrs. Choy (my piano teacher) may actually have played the music, but I’m not really sure. I lament the fact that I was too young and too immature to understand what was happening. That I will never be able to honor my dad like that with my own words, sharing what a wonderful man and father he was to me to those that loved him. How he molded and shaped who I am. But I was just barely an angsty teenager, only starting to figure out what it meant to navigate the meaningful relationships in my life. I suppose there’s no reason to feel guilty about it.
I’m just a few months from reaching the point where I’ll actually have lived half my life without my father, and it’s hard not to feel like I missed out… that we both missed out. Even at 28, most of the milestones in my life have already occurred without him. When I see Melissa’s dad enjoying time with his beautiful granddaughter, I can’t help but wonder how delighted my own father would be.
If he was still around, he’d probably be mulling retirement, and my mom would be most likely be retired already. They’d probably have enjoyed some vacations together and maybe would be considering moving down to Columbus upon his retirement to be closer to us. However that fantasy is a but a pipe dream, and the reality is that the newfound awareness that my dad “missed out” on all these things has instilled a fear in myself that I could do the same one day. While I cherish the days that I have now with Juliette and Melissa, I desperately want to be here too to see her grow up. I want to see her become a talented, kind, and loving woman as she enters into adulthood. I want to see her fall in love with her spouse, and later with her children, should that be the way things turn out.
The night before the funeral I had a dream that I was in a building during a tornado-like storm, clinging to furniture for dear life. After the storm passed, I suddenly realized that Melissa & Juliette were still at the condo and I panicked, wondering if they had survived, noting that Juliette at her young age could not possibly cling to a piece of furniture to avoid flying away. I found them in the end, but I will not forget the terror I felt from that dream.
If you know me, you would know that I often pride myself on being resilient. I do my best to shake off the cold, and am determined to shake off sickness when it tries to come my way. For the most part it works, but last night as I drove home through a blizzard in my mom’s minivan with barely functioning wipers, at times I felt fragile and small as semis flew by and I struggled to see the road. My hyperactive imagination planned out several times what I should do should we start spinning out. I wondered what would happen to Melissa and Jules if something happened to me, if they would be OK. Perhaps this is a growing pain that comes with fatherhood. When I did get pretty sick a few months ago, similar fears had surfaced.
Perhaps it is a healthy fear, to feel like you have something to lose. When I was younger, particularly in my darker days, I didn’t really feel that way. I know that God is in control, but I do hope that his plans are the same as mine. There are few things where I have “FOMO”, as they say… the “fear of missing out,” but I guess this is one of them.
So thank you Mr. Choy, for teaching me, even after you have left us. Thank you for your life that you blessed everyone around you with, and thank you for your wonderful family that you grew, that has been a significant part of my life. I am thankful that I got to see you one last time, even if it was later than I would’ve liked. It is good to know that you are smiling down from heaven. I can only hope that I can learn the same thing that Jeremy has learned from you. To cherish the things that God has given me and love them ever so stubbornly.


Greek Mythology Impact on GreeceGreek Mythology played a http://best-paper-writing-service477.mystrikingly.com/ huge role in the development of Ancient Greece. Not only did it surround the basic structures of their buildings, it also surrounded the structure of their everyday lives. The way they would pray, the way they would complete everyday tasks, and the way they lived all centered around the gods and goddesses of Greek Mythology.People prayed to these gods for the same reasons we pray today: for health and safety, for prosperity, for a good harvest, for safety at sea. Mostly they prayed as communities, and through offerings and sacrifice they sought to please the inscrutable deities who they believed controlled their lives (National Geographics). The Greeks looked to Hades (God of the Underworld) whenever it came to death. The places where Hades ruled (The Unseen) was described as moldering horror where heroes and ordinary people went after they died (National Geographics). The Greeks began making afterlife kind of like a personal quest rather than a joyless fate.


Metabolism and Cancer
We are working to understand the links between metabolism and cancer in an effort to add to the growing body of knowledge with respect to potential avenues or targets for therapeutics. Our work centers around a human tumor suppressor named LKB1. LKB1 is mutationally inactivated in the familial cancer disease Peutz-Jeghers Syndrome as well as in large percentage of sporadic lung adenocarcinomas. Interestingly, LKB1 encodes a threonine kinase that serves to activate a number of downstream kinases, including the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), which is a critical regulator of metabolism, and the par-1/MARK family of kinases that regulate cell polarity.
Using a combination of proteomic and bioinformatics approaches, we identified AMPK as a direct substrate of LKB1. AMPK is a highly conserved regulator of cell metabolism that is activated under conditions of energy stress. We propose that the LKB1-dependent activation of AMPK in response to these stress stimuli may act as a low energy or metabolic checkpoint in the cell. This unexpected connection between a well-known regulator of cellular metabolism and a tumor suppressor gene led to two immediate questions: Does AMPK have a role in tumor suppression and conversely, does the LKB1 tumor suppressor have a role in metabolic control in critical tissues in mammals? We have found that indeed both are true and that through the phosphorylation of specific targets by AMPK, these wide effects on physiology are regulated.
One way that LKB1 and AMPK regulate tumorigenesis is through regulation of mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin), a conserved integrator of nutrient and growth factor signaling. We found that AMPK directly phosphorylates the TSC2 tumor suppressor and the key mTOR binding partner raptor. Collectively these events inhibit mTOR and cause cell cycle arrest. This reinforces the idea that drugs which activate AMPK may serve as chemotherapeutics.
Consistent with these observations from cell culture, tumors lacking LKB1 were found to contain elevated levels of mTOR compared to surrounding epithelium. These findings culminated in the observation that three different human hamartoma syndromes, involving loss of TSC1/2, PTEN, and LKB1, all share a common biochemical underpinning: hyperactivation of mTOR signaling. Based on these findings, we suggested that these tumor types may be effectively treated with mTOR inhibitors such as rapamycin. In preclinical trials in a mouse model of Peutz-Jeghers syndrome, we have found that rapamycin very effectively suppresses tumor formation. Further study of this model revealed an mTOR- and HIF1a-dependent reprogramming of glucose metabolism in these tumors, making them now visible by FDG-PET. These results indicate that in the future Peutz-Jeghers patients may be able to be treated by mTOR inhibitors and even when surgical resection is utilized, FDG-PET can be used to guide the surgery.
We also have a major research effort underway studying the role of LKB1 in the suppression of non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), the most common form of human lung cancer, in which LKB1 is one of the most frequently mutated genes. In our genetic mouse model of non-small cell lung cancer, LKB1 inactivation dramatically increases metastasis and tumor growth, as well as altering the spectrum of tumor types observed. We are currently using these mice to further explore the use of therapeutics that target the tumor cell’s glucose metabolism or energy state as a means to kill tumor cells with specific genetic mutations. We believe that individualized medicine aimed at each tumor’s unique Achilles heel will be the mechanism for most anti-cancer therapeutics in the future.
Finally, given the connection between AMPK and diabetes, our lab devotes significant effort to studying type 2 diabetes. We previously demonstrated that inactivation of LKB1 in murine liver leads to severe diabetes-like phenotypes in these mice. Moreover, we showed that metformin (GlucophageTM), the most-widely prescribed type 2 diabetes therapeutic in the world, which over 100 million people take daily, requires LKB1 signaling in the liver in order to exert its therapeutic benefit. During a collaborative effort in 2008, we assisted the laboratory of Ron Evans here at the Salk in demonstrating that an AMPK activating compound named AICAR was sufficient by itself to promote endurance, making it a unique exercise mimetic. We are currently focused on identifying the key targets downstream of LKB1 in metabolic tissues including liver and muscle that mediate the beneficial effects of metformin and AICAR on metabolism.
Current efforts in the laboratory are aimed at further identifying the key components of this signaling pathway that suppress tumorigenesis and metabolic disease, as well as decoding the circuits linking fundamental cell biological processes to physiology. We employ a variety of biochemical, cell-biological, and genetic mouse models to dissect these biological processes. The discovery of this highly LKB1 conserved pathway has already led to fundamental insights into the mechanisms through which all eukaryotic organisms couple their growth to nutrient conditions and metabolism. A deeper understanding of the key components of this pathway will not only lead to future therapeutic targets for cancer and diabetes, but will reveal the minimal number of steps required to suppress tumorigenesis and reprogram metabolism.


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I'll be fine on my own.
I know you’re not here, I can see it in your eyes when we talk. Where ever you are, come back soon.
Iain Thomas, I Wrote This For You (via oxfay)
With the right music, you either forget everything or you remember everything.


Strength Through Surviving Together
Growing up in a small town you always think bad things won’t happen to you. You always think assaults are just big town problems, but the hard truth is they can and do happen anywhere.
The stories I am sharing with you are true and are about 3 of my very best friends from childhood. With life taking us in all different directions we still make time to get together. Our experiences together are always amazingly positive, fun and full of energy. No matter what trials we face in our lives we have and will overcome them, and through it all I always know we have each other.
When I was 23 I was sexually assaulted by an ex-boyfriend. At the time I was living in an apartment by myself in Grand Rapids.. He was not a nice man; to the point where my employer forced me to get a personal protection order on him, or I would lose my job. He would sit outside my work doing crazy erratic things, scaring my friends, coworkers, and me. We dated for 2 1/2 years on and off. Shortly after I got the PPO on him he came to my apartment. He wanted to talk to me about remaining friends. I felt very uncomfortable and of course he was not listening to the word no. He kept saying things to play on my vunerabilities like “I guess you never really cared about us, and you must have never really loved me.” Eventually he wore me down and I let him in, despite my own intuition and the PPO. Once in my apartment he quickly got angry and the assault happened.
When he left, I blamed myself. I should not have let him in, I must of said something or done something that made him hurt me. Lots of things went through my mind to rationalize not reporting it, and I never did report what happened.
Ten years later when I was happily married with children I got such anxiety about life. Specifically about how I couldn’t control things that happen to people I love. I felt afraid of everything. I finally went out and got a CPL (Concealed Pistol License). I trained and practiced with it for months. However, I soon found with having a full time job and the needs of my family I didn’t have the time to commit to training. I soon found my anxiety winning and became afraid of my weapon. My mind always came back to thinking someone could use my gun against me or worse, my children. For over a year my anxiety was so great I was taking daily medication. Some days were worse then others, causing me to take other medications as well.
I finally started praying and asking God to help me. I didn’t want to be on medication or feel like this the rest of my life. For two years I researched and studied various martial arts. None of these programs seemed quite right, and I didn’t feel they were what I was looking for. I wanted something that would give me a basic technique that any women could use at anytime. I also wanted something I could teach to the women and children in my family. I always kept coming back to the same program and website: defenduniversity.com, the Girls on Guard, and the Guarding our girls program, also presently known as Jane-Jitsu Women Empowerment program janejitsu.com. Fear of the money I would need for the cost of training and the travel expensives, soon took over. My anxiety also felt out of control just thinking about traveling alone to take this course.
Everything changed the day my aunt died. I remember driving home from work crying and asking God to just give me a sign on what to do with my life. In that moment Steve, my trainer called and said he had an opening in his Tampa Certification course. Right then and there I decided to put my complete faith and trust in God and what I knew he wanted for me, and got my certification.
God has given me a passion to help others.
I want women and children to feel empowered, strong, and to be able to protect themselves in the worst situations. I want everyone to know, that no one ever deserves to be assaulted or abused under any circumstance. It is NEVER the fault of the victim. With all the knowledge and skills I have now, I look back and know with complete certainty that what happened to me was not my fault.
Rape and abuse is a choice that the perpetrator makes, not the victim. With the knowledge and skills I have now I may have been able to escape my attacker. This is what I hope to help others learn!
Freshman year, my girlfriend was so excited to go out on a date with a boy some friends from school had set her up with. They went to a party, she drove and did not drink. He invited her back up to his room to watch movies.
They had been kissing a little and she was feeling a little uncomfortable. She refused several of his advances,
unfortunately like most predators he was not listening to the word no. Through her inexperience (she was a virgin) and her lack of knowledge she eventually let her guard down. She proceeded into his bedroom thinking that he would keep the promise he had made to not do anything she was not comfortable with. Before she knew it, it was over; he had raped her. She froze she didn’t know what to do. She some how blamed herself for going to his room and then to his bedroom. She never reported it.
“When I was 19 the unimaginable happened. I was a 2nd year college student traveling back to school from my small hometown of Ionia. Along the way I stopped to pick up some items at the store. As I was leaving the store a
stranger came out of no where, put a knife to my side and ordered me to get in the car. It happened so quickly, I didn’t know what to do but scream for help. No one heard. As I sat on the passenger side floor fearing for my life, I started praying to God to help me through this. The man stopped in a remote area and ordered me out of the car and into the back seat where he sexually assaulted me. He then told me to get out of the car and ordered me to kneel as he stood behind me with a knife to my throat. I tried to get away but it didn’t work. He proceeded to take the knife and slit my throat leaving me for dead. Even though it may not seem like it God was watching over me. I was able to get up and walk half mile to a house to get help. I was told in the hospital I was very lucky. The cut came 1/4″ from the main artery to my brain.
Eight years after my attack the police apprehended my attacker and he is now serving time in prison for kidnapping, attempted murder and rape.”
Spring of our junior year of college another girlfriend of mine was super excited to go with a guy friend of hers to a faternity formal. She had told him that they could go just as friends. At the party she was having some drinks and started to get really sick. Her supposed guy friend then had taken her back to a room to lay her down. She vividly remembers being sexually assaulted. Then next morning she was very ill and she got some flash images of what had happened to her. At this point she had figured out that the supposed guy friend had possibly drugged her and sexually assaulted her. She did report this.


My brothers and my sisters, The Lord’s presence is a viable, verifiable truth! Contrary to what the enemy will attempt to have us believe, based on the intensity of our struggle, situation, or scenario, God’s ability to see us thwarts the opportunity for Him to neglect us. There’s Still Hope! This past Sunday our topic was The God of Presence and our foundational scripture was found in Exodus 3:1-10 (NKJV).
Here, His Omnipresence positions Him to see us, hear us, and know us. These truths are corroborated in this conversation between the God of Presence and Moses. Exodus 3:7 declares: "And the Lord said: have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows." The God of Presence’s word and actions confirm that He sees us, He hears us and He knows us…
GOD SEES US – the intensity and the interval of the valley may give the appearance that He does not see us, but The Lord our God is ever watching over us. He is concerned for us, never loses sight of or forgets about us! Bruno Mars sang, “Count on me like 1-2-3”, but truth be told, folks come and go, BUT GOD in His Omnipresence is an ever-present help in the time of trouble…GOD SEES US!
GOD HEARS US – not only does God see us, but He hears the cries of His people in the midst of affliction. Nope, God does not neglect, ignore, discount, or turn a deaf ear towards us. Psalms 34:17 reports, “The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles” …GOD HEARS US!
GOD KNOWS US – not only does God see the external afflictions that come against us, but He knows and understands the internal sorrows that rise up within us. He is with us and He cares for us! With His eyes, He sees; with His ears, He hears; but with His heart, He knows. He knows what we are going through and how much we can bear. It is because of this knowledge and care for His people that every issue, problem, and difficulty we face comes with an expiration date attached to it...GOD KNOWS US!
My brothers and sisters, we are strengthened in knowing that God sees us, hears us, and knows us, but His Omnipresence opens the door for us to experience His MANIFESTED PRESENCE which reveals that God will Perform for us! While we are trying to figure it out, God already worked it out!
GOD PERFORMS FOR US – God told Moses (v.8) I will come down (I will manifest Myself), because I am about to work it out, fight for you! Dear Reader, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob allowed me the opportunity to document this truth just for you. God is about to manifest His presence in your situation and perform a miracle! Keep the Faith! There’s Still Hope!
Yes, Pastor, God is an ever-present help in the time of trouble. Lamentation 3:22-23 KJV, "It is of the Lord's Mercies that are not consumed, because His compassion fail not. They are new eve morning!
Great is thy faithfulness." I am so thankful!! What a wonderful, uplifting message, Pastor Davis!! Thank you.


SARS-CoV-2 Mutations – Cause for Concern?
The accumulation of genetic mutations is a normal part of viral evolution. Mutations change the sequence of the viral genome, creating different ‘variants.’ While some mutations might be silent, with no visible clinical effect, others might have implications for disease transmission, severity, reinfection potential, and immunity.
A recently described clinically significant mutation has been termed N501Y, which put simply means that the amino acid ‘N’ at position 501 of the spike protein has been substituted for a ‘Y’. While this may seem innocuous, it in fact causes the virus to behave differently, including how tightly the spike protein binds to the ACE2 receptor – allowing for easier viral entry into human cells and an increase in viral transmission (1-3).
This key mutation has been observed in several SARS-CoV-2 strains, with a widespread geographical presence originating in the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Brazil. While the United Kingdom variant represented the original N501Y strain, the variant observed in South Africa carries two additional clinically important mutations in the spike protein called E484K and K417N. These mutations are thought to reduce antibody recognition and assist the virus in evading the immune system (4). Another variant cluster was reported to originate from Brazil, and as with the South African variant harbours the N501Y and E484K mutations, however it differs with a new K417T mutation. Similar biologically important fitness traits including immune evasion and rapid transmission are thought to be coded by these mutations (5).
Based on several independent analyses summarized in the SAGE meeting paper, there is a realistic possibility that infection with VOC B.1.1.7 is associated with an increased risk of death compared to infection with non-VOC viruses (6).
New variants – Do they matter?
While the advent of new variants may be a natural part of viral evolution, those that provide the virus with fitness advantages including faster transmission and host immune evasion are proving concerning to the scientific community. The potential impact of these new mutations compromising the efficacy of established diagnostic assays including RT-PCR and antigen detection tests has been raised. Most rapid antigen tests detect the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein, meaning alterations in the spike protein will not affect this assay (7). Chief among these concerns are whether the new variants will weaken the effectiveness of vaccines (8). The mutations of greatest clinical concern (as described above) are concentrated in the segment of the viral genome coding for the spike protein the target to which the current vaccines build immunity to. However, due to the size of the spike protein, a large number of mutations would be needed for the virus to evade the vaccine – thus maintaining confidence that the vaccines will still work (4).
Overcoming the challenges of new variants with genomic surveillance
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has outlined various guidelines for local and national authorities to monitor emerging variants. These strategies include mass testing, contact tracing, and carrying out epidemiological and virological genomic surveillance (9). Genomic surveillance can increase the visibility of variants, and in turn identify trends to inform control methods including local lockdowns. This specialised surveillance involves analysing the sequences of SARS-CoV-2 from collected samples. The larger the sample pool, the more efficiently new variants can be identified, and transmission patterns will emerge.
To facilitate enhanced surveillance, the World Health Organisation recommend that countries maximise their sampling and sequencing where possible. They also state that this data should be made available in public databases. Tracking mutations in these databases helps researchers navigate the origins of the virus and better understand its spread. The genomic changes over time give unprecedented insights into how the virus is evolving and adapting, and how we can implement countermeasures to control its transmission on a global scale (10).
Novacyt’s world-leading surveillance platform allows us to closely monitor the emergence of new variants and analyse changes in SARS-CoV-2 to ensure our diagnostic kits can effectively detect the virus.
- ECDC (2020) Risk related to spread of new SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern in the EU/EEA. Available from: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/COVID-19-risk-related-to-spread-of-new-SARS-CoV-2-variants-EU-EEA.pdf
- American Society for Microbiology (2021) B.1.1.7: What We Know About the Novel SARS-CoV-2 Variant. Available from: https://asm.org/Articles/2021/January/B-1-1-7-What-We-Know-About-the-Novel-SARS-CoV-2-Va
- Fiorentini et al. (2021) First detection of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein N501 mutation in Italy in August, 2020. The Lancet Infectious Diseases. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(21)00007-4
- Covid-19: What new variants are emerging and how are they being investigated? BMJ 2021;372. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n158
- Faria et al. (2021) Genomic characterisation of an emergent SARS-CoV-2 lineage in Manaus: preliminary findings. Available from: https://virological.org/t/genomic-characterisation-of-an-emergent-sars-cov-2-lineage-in-manaus-preliminary-findings/586/1
- UK (2021) NERVTAG note on B.1.1.7 severity. Available from: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/955239/NERVTAG_paper_on_variant_of_concern__VOC__B.1.1.7.pdf
- UK SARS-CoV-2 lateral flow antigen tests: evaluation of VUI-202012/01 (2020) Available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sars-cov-2-lateral-flow-antigen-tests-evaluation-of-vui20201201/sars-cov-2-lateral-flow-antigen-tests-evaluation-of-vui-20201201
- Callaway (2021) Could new COVID variants undermine vaccines? Labs scramble to find out. Nature, 589:177-178
- WHO (2020) SARS-CoV-2 Variants. Available from: http://www.who.int/csr/don/31-december-2020-sars-cov2-variants/en/
- National Geographic (2020) How coronavirus mutations can track its spread—and disprove conspiracies. Available from: https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/science-and-technology/2020/03/how-coronavirus-mutations-can-track-its-spread-and-disprove


Latest Search Engine People Blog post is titled, “8 Books On Writing Every Marketer Should Read”
“So you’re trying to be the next Mark Twain or Margaret Atwood. Except a cooler, digital marketing inclined version that writes killer content for the web. Where do you start? Two of the best ways to learn are by example and research. If you’re getting a brain cramp when it comes to letting the ink flow (or keys type), here are some books you might want to flip through for inspiration or to help refine your writing.
1. The Elements Of Style
By William Strunk Jr. & E.B. White.
These days this book is often touted as being old and out of date (it was originally published in the early 18th century).
It might sound like a total snooze fest, but this book gives an extensive and still relevant history in to the English language.
Don’t believe me? Time magazine included it in their 2011 rundown of all-time 100 non-fiction books.
2. Spunk And Bite
By Arthur Plotnik.
Consider this little ditty the big older brother of Strunk and White’s (get it?) Elements of Style…”


This morning I was on my way to a church service in Kenya at 7 AM. I was running late, but as I was walking in to the building I passed by a street boy who had just woken up from sleeping on the street and he was carrying a tarp which was his blanket for the night…
At first I walked by him because I was running late for the church service. Then I was reminded of the parable of the good Samaritan in the Bible (Luke 10). In that parable, a person was left on the side of the road beaten by thugs. Two highly religious leaders walked right by with no compassion. A priest & a levite (they were probably busy & on their way to a religious service)… But then a Samaritan (non religious man) walked by and had compassion on his neighbor and helped the man… Jesus used this parable to explain what it means to love our neighbor…
I was convicted by the Holy Spirit…
I thought to myself, what am I doing! I don’t want to be so busy to get to church that I walk right by a child who God‘s heart is desperately longing to touch & encourage
So I turned around and begin to search for this street boy.
Eventually, I found the boy walking down the road and tapped him on the shoulder. (If you’ve ever been to Africa you know it’s usually the other way around). I could feel the heart of God bursting to reach this little guy…
😢 Over the years I have sat with dozens of street kids and heard their stories… most of them have been abandoned, their parents have died, their parents suddenly disappeared, etc… They are stuck on the streets in survival mode with no one to look out for them, no family, no home, no food, no protection, no encouragement, no love, all alone to fend for themselves… It absolutely breaks my heart!
Jesus was always moved by compassion for the helpless, those who are like sheep with no Shepherd. & these street kids are definitely sheep with no Shepherd
So I talked to him and I looked him in the eyes and I told him God loves him and has a plan for his life. I told him he wasn’t a bad kid and it wasn’t his fault he was on the street and that God can redeem his story.
I shared the gospel with him and told him why God became a man and suffered the way we suffer & then died for our sins.
His face lit up with a smile!
I asked him if he had received Jesus as his Savior yet and he said NO. I asked him if he wanted to and he said YES!
So right there he prayed to surrender his life to Christ. And I saw a light of hope come back into his eyes.
Then I told him I wanted to buy him some breakfast and I gave him some money for food.
And then welcomed him out to the street meeting that will be doing tonight in downtown Nairobi so he can meet some of my “Street Praise” friends… (if he shows up I might be able to arrange a way to get him off the street… Please pray for him!)
After I was done, I walked into the church and I felt the Holy Spirit say:
👉 “ I wish my church was as passionate for Orphans and widows as they are about getting rich, getting a car or a home or getting their next blessing.”
God‘s voice is always so sobering and convicting yet loving and true.
Could it be that we have missed the heart of God and have settled for a materialistic Christianity devoid of the pure mission & compassion of Jesus that we read about in the gospels?
I’m reminded by the words of Jesus that he will say to all on the final judgement day:
“Whatever you do to the least of these my brethren you have done it on to me. Whatever you have not done to the least of these my brethren you have done it to me” (Matt 25)
Yes, I was in a hurry to get to a church service this morning to seek God, but I didn’t want to grieve God’s heart & walk by “Jesus” on my way to church…. There he was, a young boy carrying his tarp blanket desperate for someone to encourage him and share the gospel with him.
I am so glad I obeyed the Holy Spirits nudge & turned around!
Church, There are millions of desperate orphans, widows & lost souls out there, there all over the world and they are waiting for the message of hope we carry.
They’re waiting for us to get over our selfishness, they’re waiting for us to get out of our buildings & comfort bubbles. They are waiting for us to let go of the “bless me club corrupted gospel” and preach the true & pure gospel that Jesus preached and reach out to the poor, widows and orphans.
Again, Could it be that we have been bewitched & distracted by chasing temporal riches & have missed eternal treasures (souls)?
“Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.”
So many are starving for the Hope that only God can give them.
Will we walk by Jesus (the least of these) on our way to our church services like I almost did today & have done too many times in the past?
Or will we take a few moments, Love them, share the good news with them & Give them the message that can change their destiny & eternity!
May God change our hearts & give us his compassion to reach this Lost and dying world. Amen!


Acceptance Is Something That Has To Be ‘Rewarded’!
“He still calls me!”
He stands in a classic pose in a corner of my room. He is my Huge Beautiful Wooden ‘Mirror’! It looks exactly like we used to imagine in some vintage fantasy books.
I was in the habit of getting obsessed with myself when I get to look in that mirror!
‘A Sense of Overconfidence’, ‘Toxic Positivity’, ‘Self-beautification’, ‘Over-Optimism’ and what not! Yes, and this was just because there was always someone at my place, who used to ignite me with those Over-motivating Booster Doses like “We admire you, bro! You Can Do Anything!”
But in reality, I couldn’t :-(
Not even any stupid common things :-/
What I did was I just Fake!
Then why do I get to see such a perfect IMAGE when I look in that mirror every fu*king day?
Later I realized, the problem was not about the Image, it was about the ‘MIRROR’!
My mirror always showed me the exact image that I was ever mad to see.
‘A Great Large Picture of Myself’!
One day last October, I left my home. Leaving my home for the first time in the last 22 years and that too for such a long time, have never introduced me to any of the MIRRORS that could have helped me survive in some Unknown, Strange, Dark, and Real Spaces. These spaces were ‘Of Course NOT’ from my head, but the ones ‘Full of The DEADS’!
No one was there ‘To Boost Me Up’, ‘Charge Me When Needed’, ‘Give Me A Sense of Hope’, ‘Not Even A Single TRUE Useful Advice’. I felt like I was in a ‘Graveyard’.
Today even, sometimes, on the calm and spooky nights, my brain keeps searching for that One Huge Wooden Vintage Mirror nearby!
I always kept searching for that ‘One Huge Perfect Mirror’ and missed the existence of the Numerous Mirrors that were there At Every Corner, Under Every Roof, and On Every Wall. Some of them were just to scare me, some to judge, some to criticize, to dominate, and sometimes to KILL too! These mirrors were not there simply for any reflections, or projections, but were there for some ‘Realisations’ and ‘Introspections’ which I never thought the need of my time was!
Somewhere around 7,000 km far away from all my comforts, whenever I used to get shrouded by ‘The Fairest Skinned People’ from the globe (The very own Germans), made me think of the ‘Darkness of my skin’!
Their Monochromatic Lifestyle, Cultural Beliefs, Stubbornness With Language, and Lonely and Scary Roads on the Unhappening Sundays always kept me in massive trauma. It was a constant discomfort that made me realize whether am I in a better place or NOT? Because it wasn’t much of a while since I had a daily habit of hearing some Over-motivating Booster Doses.
“We admire you, bro! You Can Do Anything!”
But this was not the time when I should fake! In fact, I can’t. And also, I realized, I should not have those days too…
It was the period from the last six months when I was begging for some support. And on a random day that one thing helped!
Even though at this level of discomfort, I was fortunate enough that nothing was stopping me from breathing. I can still stand firmly on two of my legs.
Maybe when I used to get obsessed with myself when I looked in that mirror, I must have recognized that, behind that over beautification of the self, somewhere there was Pure Grace, behind that overconfidence there was a Strong Self-Belief, behind that toxic positivity and optimism there was a Hope quoting that “Tomorrow, The Sun Will Be More Bright”!
I slowly and steadily acquired some guts. At least, I cross-questioned my dilemma. If this place is not better for me, then which would be?
“I think there is ‘NO’ Better Place for Survival unless ‘You Survive, and Make One Even More Better’.”
As what doesn’t kill you, ‘Makes You Stronger!
Our brain always keeps us telling a story, of course, ‘A Lie’ that helps us Feel Alive, Feel Considered, and Feel Significant. And apart from that, everything that comes as a surprise becomes a reason for ‘FEAR’!
But today, I find a strong potential in the fact that, for the stars to gaze, one must wait till it’s the darkest hour of the night. The moment only when one breaks his comfort zone, it lets your brain construct ‘Everlasting Memories’! Otherwise, the rest of your brain is nothing but just ‘Messed Up Patterns’!
An average human spends almost his entire lifespan just to realize and regret every time with the one shitty fact that “Life would have been much better if I have ACCEPTED it more before.”
And I am not talking about only the acceptance of your achievements, but the acceptance of losses that have made you ignorant with the hopes of achieving your greatest victories.
Man’s greatest enemy is not failure, but the fear of having failure!
So, today I not only encourage the one who I am but also the one who I CAN NEVER BE. Because if I ever chose to become the one I was not, I would never have been the one whom I was today!
Maybe, I am at this place for a reason. A reason that is indeed supposed to be found by ME only.
And it’s also fine if the day comes when I am not able to find the reason why am I here.
Because even at final miles, I’ll be conscious enough To Be Responsible for ‘What I Did’, ‘Why I Did So’, ‘How I Felt, Thought’, and ‘How I Behaved’.
Yeah, it is also a bitter truth that no one is going to thank me for accepting the way I am or accepting the place I stand right now. As most of them are busy figuring out the mess that occurs when you prioritize ‘How People Should Think Of Who You Are’ and you simply ignore accepting ‘The Way Really You Are’!
Ultimately, everything comes to an experience that someday drives you to achieve Better Productivity, Immense Satisfaction, Total Peace, and A Thankful and Sharing nature.
A very famous Bollywood movie has once quoted that “Life is a Race”, but I would simply add to it that, “Life is a Race, where we participate to ‘Contribute’ Not to ‘Compete’.”
So feel proud of yourselves as you’ve arrived too far from where you’ve started. Acceptance tastes like a pudding. In the same way, a pudding should not be ignored even though it comes at the end of the meal,
ACCEPTANCE is something that has to be ‘Rewarded’ to feel the flavor of satisfaction!
This article is written by a good friend of mine Neeraj Garud, currently based in Germany, who is an Engineer, Theatre Practitioner, and Experimentalist… High five and cheers buddy :-)
If you want to share anything or have any suggestions/questions, please leave them in the comments!
That’s it for today :-)
Hope each of you has a great start to your day. I’ll talk to everyone tomorrow.
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Blackberry Ridge began with a dream around 2010. Michele and I were walking around our neighborhood discussing our intention to buy several acres and build a house.
However, we were starting to realize the benefits of the relationships we had built in our current neighborhood. I remember where I was when the questions arose inside of me. What if we didn’t have to choose? What if we could have both community and nature in the same place?
by Keith Tencleve
This dream brewed inside us for several years. When we finally started telling friends, everyone repeatedly affirmed the still developing vision. Inevitably, they would ask – is it even possible? I started studying how it could feasibly work from both an engineering and financial perspective.
When we purchased this land in 2018, the land was really raw, so much so that it scared most other buyers away. Fortunately, some friends had heard the vision enough where they were willing to partner with us in an adventure which has led to what you now know as Blackberry Ridge.
So what is with the blackberries?
Blackberries naturally grow in the undergrowth. They are thorny and wild yet also nurturing. On one of the first days Hudson and I were working on the land, I was tired and feeling overwhelmed when I spotted wild blackberries. After learning they were safe to eat (yes, they are), we found them incredibly nurturing.
Life is hard sometimes. Sometimes it is even overwhelming. Within our lives which are sometimes as messy as where the blackberry plant lives, we hope Blackberry Ridge is for you a place of nourishment similar to what those blackberries were to us that day.


In Tom Coyne’s new book, A Course Called Scotland, we join him on pilgrimage to the heart of the game through the home of the game. Coyne sets before the reader a story to satisfy the golfing soul. As Coyne ambles along the Scottish coastlines in search of the secret to the game of golf, the reader’s joy is in seeing how much more than that the author finds along the way.
The pilgrim’s path is never just about the miles put underfoot or the terrain traversed. It’s never just about the sacred sites. The pilgrim is also never just about this one individual pilgrim. The pilgrim’s physical journey is a sign and catalyst for an interior one. The external and internal, though distinct, are inseparable. They challenge each other, give context to each other, enrich each other. The pilgrim’s path is a penitential one, the stripping away of all that proves to be an obstacle to authenticity, fullness, and joy. The pilgrim’s progress is not measured primarily in geographic spans, but by way of interior transformation.
The pilgrim is also a living symbol. An existential claim about the human condition. And the claim is this: we are often disoriented, adrift, strangers in a strange land. We are incomplete and so we desire, we long. We are restless. And we can either wallow in this condition, convincing ourselves it’s good enough or we can seek a remedy. Restless and lost, the pilgrim seeks the place that will still the heart’s longings. Where is the pilgrim trying to get? Further up and further in. Into the heart of things. To the source. The inn at the end of the world. (Because of its profundity, there can’t be any one image for this Thing.) It is the pilgrim that, as a condensed symbol, embodies this image of humanity’s lot.
In A Course Called Scotland Tom Coyne is this pilgrim.
I am in agreement with Coyne, I abhor “golf-is-life aphorisms,” as he puts it. The bad bounce into the bunker as metaphor for life’s tough breaks. It can come off as so forced. But that’s not what this is. Golf like all rituals—for every game is a ritual—is a focusing lens. By fashioning games, we give ourselves venues within which we test ourselves, sift through ourselves, come to know the human condition a little better. Some of these focusing lenses are more refined and rich than others. Tic-tac-toe doesn’t stir the heart. Golf, however, inspires a romance.
Nothing less could compel Coyne to undertake a walk around a course called Ireland. Nor yet, a two-month sojourn in Scotland, as he does in this book. There is a very specific goal in mind on this quest: qualify for the Open Championship. This is what every step and swing is moving toward. As the book’s subtitle suggests, though, Coyne is even more so in search of the secret to the game of golf. And where to look but the game’s home? As Coyne puts it: “This was golf’s Mesopotamia, its Jerusalem, and its Cooperstown—either I found golf’s soul here, or I was a fool for looking.”
The choice of the word “soul” is an interesting one. It’s not an uncommon one when referring to the inner essence of the game. While evocative, it is a bit ambiguous. Here I think the older, Latin word for “soul” is of help: Anima. The soul is that which animates, vivifies, gives life to a particular living being. It gives the thing its identity and is that thing’s living principle.
So what is that which breathes life into golf? What animates it? It’s an odd, perplexing, mysterious conjuration, golf is. Like all games, golf is an artefact of human creativity. And even though countless groups and individuals have conspired with nature to shape this thing we call golf, I think the reality is that the soul of golf—that which animates it—is the soul of man.
The funny thing, though, is that the game can shape, focus, and instigate us. Even though it consistently confounds us, the golfer has a sense that there’s something more to the game than putting the round thing in the other round thing in as few swipes as possible. The horizons of the course—especially those of the Scottish variety described by Coyne—beckon us beyond the everyday. The very scale of golf—so much grander than most other games—can, at times, open onto at least the possibility of the transcendent. The game itself points beyond its own contours. At times, it seems to hint at something more, though it itself can’t tell us what it is.
The secret golf whispers to us is our own. C. S. Lewis called this our “inconsolable secret.” Lewis describes this as the longing for that which is ultimate:
Even in your hobbies, has there not always been some secret attraction which the others are curiously ignorant of—something, not to be identified with, but always on the verge of breaking through, the smell of cut wood in the workshop or the clap-clap of water against the boat’s side? . . . something which you were born desiring, and which, beneath the flux of other desires and in all the momentary silences between the louder passions, night and day, year by year, from childhood to old age, you are looking for, watching for, listening for? You have never had it.
For the golfer, the game—the purely hit iron, the tee shot sent off into the seemingly limitless horizon, the late-Autumn round walked through the gold of sun and fallen leaves—seems to point to this more, though it itself is not the more. Again, Lewis:
The books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust to them; it was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through them was longing.
We try to satisfy this longing in so many ways. Success, credentials, sex, drink, busyness, you name it, we try to fill the void. Coyne’s narrative has a deep and moving channel through it recounting his allegiance to counterfeits, most especially booze and the possibilities it seems to hold within. Emerging from this, through some sort of redemption, Coyne puts forward a hopeful image of passing through onto a life marked by a greater wholeness, though not without its acute challenges.
Standing out as more satisfactory matches to the deep longings held within the human heart in Scotland are beauty and harmony. There is also a certain reverence, though the type that is immune to stuffiness. This all seems to be a hallmark of Coyne’s narrative. It’s there amidst the shorelines and newly-minted friendships. It’s there through the quaint towns and stunning coastal roads. It’s there on the beach in St. Andrews with his daughter:
Standing here in front of me was proof, four feet tall in yellow boots, that life was stuffed with the extraordinary. I thought I had to keep fighting and grinding to grab it, but it turned out that I just needed to notice.
It’s at the end of a day stuffed full of golf:
The rush of the day settled into a keen sense of presence, and I felt a full awareness of where I was and the lengths I had traversed and how astonishing life was and how large and beautiful this world could be and how I was going to golf the UK and it was going to be the experience of a lifetime. I felt so much gratitude.
It’s at Askernish. You’ll have to read that one for yourself. It’s worth the price of admission.
And for all this, A Course Called Scotland is a golf book. Coyne’s enjoyable narration of his sometimes thrice-daily rounds is read with a twinge of envy every now and then. His ability to set the scene and give the reader a taste of a breathtaking landscape and what it’s like to golf your ball through such beauty is certainly on display.
And through it all, we get to see in Coyne the travails and triumphs a player endures and enjoys so long as the golfer has given something of himself to the game. We see into the various iterations of how someone approaches the game, but by the end of the book we get the sense that Coyne has arrived at that place we all know is the point of golf, though so many of us seldom get out of our own way to get there: joy.
For as good as A Course Called Ireland was, and it certainly was good, Scotland surpasses its predecessor. By turns hilarious and heartfelt, Coyne’s book is confidently vulnerable. Read it for yourself. In doing so you’ll get closer to the secret of golf, which we all know is about so much more.


From molecules… to behavior
Dopamine (DA) projections from the midbrain (including ventral tegmental area and substantia nigra) to striatum and frontal cortex play a major role in behavioral actions controlled by reward and in the formation of habits. The dopaminergic system is also involved in drug addiction. Using a combination of behavioral analysis, in vivo and in vitro electrophysiological recordings, genetic tools and optogenetics, we analyze the modifications of DA network dynamics in the different steps leading to nicotine addiction, including genetic and environmental factors, and the consequences of these modifications on decision making.
12/08/2019 New review in Trends in Pharmacological Sciences:
Sarah Mondoloni, Romain Durand-de Cuttoli and Alexandre Mourot
Cell-Specific Neuropharmacology. 2019 DOI: 10.1016/j.tips.2019.07.007 [DOI].
Pierre Paoletti, Graham C. R. Ellis-Davies and Alexandre Mourot
Optical control of neuronal ion channels and receptors. NatRevNeuro. 2019 DOI: 10.1038/s41583-019-0197-2 [DOI].
13/02/2019 Philippe Faure and Nicolas Torquet were awarded with the La Recherche 2019 price in neuroscience for their work on individuation
Our results, published in August 2018, show that the social environment of mice was a determining factor of their behavioral traits.
Romain Durand-de Cuttoli, Sarah Mondoloni, Fabio Marti, Damien Lemoine, Claire Nguyen, Jérémie Naudé, Thibaut d’Izarny-Gargas, Stéphanie Pons,Uwe Maskos, Dirk Trauner, Richard H Kramer, Philippe Faure, Alexandre Mourot
Manipulating midbrain dopamine neurons and reward-related behaviors with light-controllable nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. elife. 2018 DOI: 10.7554/eLife.37487 [Abstract].
Torquet N., Marti F., Campart C., Tolu S., Nguyen C., Oberto V., Benallaoua M., Naudé J., Didienne S., Debray N., Jezequel S., Le Gouestre L., Hannesse B., Mariani J., Mourot A., Faure P.
Social interactions impact on the dopaminergic system and drive individuality. Nature Communications. 2018 Jul. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-05526-5. [Abstract].


Paper DeepCOVIDExplainer: Explainable COVID-19 Predictions Based on Chest X-ray Images
|Keyword(s)||COVID-19Neural networksExplainabilityBiomedical imagingGrad-CAM|
|Author(s)||Md. Rezaul KarimTill DöhmenDietrich Rebholz-SchuhmannStefan DeckerMichael CochezOya Beyan|
Amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, humanity experiences a rapid increase in infection numbers across the world. Challenge hospitals are faced with, in the fight against the virus, is the effective screening of incoming patients. One methodology is the assessment of chest radiography (CXR) images, which usually requires expert radiologists’ knowledge. In this paper, we propose an explainable deep neural networks (DNN)-based method for automatic detection of COVID-19 symptoms from CXR images, which we call DeepCOVIDExplainer. We used 16,995 CXR images across13,808 patients, covering normal, pneumonia, and COVID-19 cases. CXR images are first comprehensively preprocessed, before being augmented and classified with a neural ensemble method, followed by highlighting class-discriminating regions using gradient-guided class activation maps (Grad-CAM++) and layer-wise relevance propagation (LRP). Further, we provide human-interpretable explanations of the predictions. Evaluation results based on hold-out data show that our approach can identify COVID-19 confidently with a positive predictive value (PPV) of 89.61% and recall of 83%, improving over recent comparable approaches. We hope that our findings will be a useful contribution to the fight against COVID-19 and, in more general, towards an increasing acceptance and adoption of AI-assisted applications in the clinical practice.
|Name||Md. Rezaul Karim|
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Today I'm going to switch it up and do a book review this Wednesday. If you're a book worm like me or trying to encourage yourself to read more, this is a great option.
Now, you may have already heard of this book and be thinking, "Allison, this is a book for women, not men." Wrong! For all you men out there, this book is important for you to read too. Especially if you work in a corporate environment, this book will open your eyes to things you may not be aware of or shed light on things you have already experienced.
It's a fact that there are a far greater number of men at the top of any work sector than women.
Why? Because women systematically underestimate their abilities compared to men.
As a society we tend to put more pressure on men to succeed at work then women. We need to make it ok for men to stay at home too if they'd like.
This book ultimately encourages women to sit at the table, literally, if you're a part of a team make sure people know you're there and don't be afraid to contribute your ideas.
Second, make their partner a real partner and evenly split the work of child rearing. Many women have a job during the day and then come home to do twice as much hose work and three times as much child rearing as men.
Finally, don't not leave before you leave. In other words don't count yourself out of the workforce if you're still in it.
Some awesome advice from a women who has experienced it all. Lean in by Sheryl Sandberg is a must-read.


It’s November 1967.
Two young nurses, just off the plane from the Philippines, arrive at a rural hospital in Arborfield, Saskatchewan - population 300.
No one in town can tell them apart, including the lab tech at the hospital whose real job is playing goalie for the Arborfield Flyers. He falls in love with one of them but accidentally courts them both. It’s a comedy of errors with a great heart.
Lighthouse Festival Theatre, July 2019
Showboat Festival Theatre, August 2019
Prairie Theatre Exchange, Winnipeg, Manitoba, October 2018
Thousand Islands Playhouse, Gananoque, Ontario, August 2018
Stations Arts Centre, Rosthern, Saskatchewan, July 2018
Factory Theatre, Toronto, Ontario, April 2018
Blyth Festival, Blyth Ontario, August 2013
Published by Scirocco Drama. Available here: https://www.jgshillingford.com/shop-books/prairie-nurse/
THE MAKING OF ST. JEROME
Guilt, grief an brotherly love set against the backdrop of a Coroners's Inquest into the untimely death of a Toronto school-boy. Inspired by real-life events.
Next Stage Theatre Festival, January 2010, Directed by Nina Lee Aquino. Nominated for three Dora awards.
Published by Playwrights Canada Press. Available here: https://www.playwrightscanada.com/index.php/the-making-of-st-jerome.html
Novena is the story of a father and a daughter. A story of hypocrisy and forgiveness.
And did we mention a glow-in-the-dark statue of the Virgin Mary?
Uno Fest 2005, Victoria BC - Directed by Sue Miner
Toronto Fringe Festival 2002 - Directed by Anand Rajaram
Adapted into CBC Radio Drama - March 2004
Published by Scirocco Drama in anthology Where is Here? The Drama of Immigration Volume 2, Edited by Damiano Pietropaolo. Available here: http://www.jgshillingford.com/shop-books/where-is-here-a-cbc-radio-drama-anthology-vol-ii/
MIND OVER MATTER
In a minivan outside a casino, twins Jake and Jenny wait for their mother to return. Jenny has to pee. “Try not to think about it, Jenny. Mom will be back soon. If you whine and complain, you know what will happen…”
Kick&Push Festival, Kingston, Ontario, August 2015
Toronto Fringe Festival, Toronto, Ontario, July 2006


Our niece is in hospice care. I guess, by definition, that means she won't be with us long.
Laura's only 30 years old. She got her college degree, got married, and then a few weeks later, at age 23, she was diagnosed with stage four ovarian cancer. She's only 30 years old. I write that again because I just can't believe it. 30 years old. That's just too young to die.
I didn't have too much connection with Laura, to be honest. I married into the family when Laura was 17--her life was filled with other things (as are all 17 year olds), so we didn't spend time bonding. Whenever I saw her it was with the large-scale family, allowing for the litany of small-talk questions: How's school? How's work? and the like.
But she was always sweet. And positive. And smart. And witty. Just a lovely young lady. She read at our wedding (she's Jodi's goddaughter). She always included us in family invites later when she married. Did I mention she's just 30 years old?
Laura's Smile Mile, well, because she brings smiles to so many people, and she smiles, and laughs, so much herself, even through seven years of fighting this. Now she's 30.
When Jodi and I stopped in to see Laura at the hospice on Memorial Day, I stayed pretty much in the shadows, as I have always done, peripherally involved in stories told, nodding, sharing a smile. When it came time to go, I touched Laura's arm--I've never hugged her or anything, except probably at her wedding, and now I couldn't because she looked so frail I feared she might break--and told her I loved her, and that I would always remember her reading at Jodi's and my wedding.
Since then, word's come from Laura's mother that Laura has accepted that her time is coming soon. We stopped in yesterday to say goodbye, I guess. I sat in the periphery, as usual, but when it was time to go, Laura held out her arms for a hug, our cheeks pressed together, and she said "I love you."
She's only 30 years old.
That's just too young to die.


The Significant Person
Win yourself, before winning the world
An Alaskan Story
There were two hikers in Alaskan wilderness, got lost due to a terrible blizzard and its fifty degrees freezing. So one who was religious guy started praying God please help me. However since there was none the other option, his atheist friend also started praying “Oh God! If there is a God, please help me. I am lost in this blizzard and I’m going die if you will not help me”.
Out of nowhere couple of Eskimos came by, and showed them the way to there camp. On the way the religious guy startled, “so now you believe that the god exists”. The atheist at this point rolled his eyes and said, “Those were couple of eskimos we need to thank to. I don’t have any issues with god but he didn’t come to save us.”
The other argued, “Those eskimos were the form of god that were there to save you” but the atheist didn’t agree with his friend. This started a very aggressive argument, while they were on their way back.
Little did they notice that they were lost deep into the wilderness, before realizing that there was no way back to safety.
Reader must try to understand how important this argument must have been for these guys, until they lost their way. Yet only after they got lost, they understood, that this argument was so naïve.
We all get into such clashes and we forget our way in life, just like these friends, who lost their way in wild.
Differences always exists, difference in beliefs, difference of opinion, difference in lifestyle and life choices. Difference is inevitable, it is the proof of one’s uniqueness we all have in ourselves.
Some time we can just talk and clear these differences to be on the same side, like a political opinion or certain habits. But many time, both are right or equally beneficial in just different ways and we can just agree to disagree or ignore that part of the person. It can be very difficult to change someone’s belief or their life choices, that have originated from the most basic values of the person.
However sometimes we tend to develop an itch from this difference of beliefs/choices/opinions. We add a sense of right/wrong into it, and let our egos interfere.
At this moment nine ceases to be six for us.
The Way to a Better Human Experience
Acceptance is the solution. By accepting or ignoring our situation we are able to focus on important problems hence living a better life.
You see we all have some goal that we want to achieve in life, but when we have an itch and want to change this situation we loose the focus from our primary goal. Accepting the situation as it is, is the solution.
The most basic value of any religion is acceptance. In the Alaskan story the friends didn’t accept each other’s beliefs and forget to focus on more important things.
When we loose the urge to focus on trivial things, we focus on large problems and in the process we become The Significant Person.


This article from Eater is a really illuminating look at the ways that food culture tends to erase the credit and long history of the foods we eat and prize. We don’t want to summarize it too much, because we’d rather you go and read it. But it’s important to know that the shameful treatment of minorities in this country continues in ways both big and small, and we need to be mindful of how the stories we tell can erase their true authors.
This is a really important thing to keep in mind in parenting, both in how we talk to our kids about the world, and in how we talk to our kids about themselves and their accomplishments. Nobody gets by purely on their own initiative, and we can gain a deeper, richer understanding of the world by having a real understanding of the shoulders we had to stand on to get where we are.
Proper attribution doesn’t diminish what good we’ve put into the world. It honors others for helping make us able to do that good work. We needn’t fashion ourselves and our kids as solitary geniuses for our lives and our work to have value. Understanding our place in our society is as important as anything to raising compassionate, caring, kind children.
The news can be very scary even for us as adults, and we know that our kids hear some scary things on the radio or overhear us talking. We want to make sure that they understand what they hear and aren’t scared but can learn from what’s happening. We want to protect them, but we don’t want to shelter them.
What happened in Charlottesville over the weekend was terrible, and quite honestly terrifying for a number of reasons. The continuing existence and ascendance of white supremacy is a stain on our country, and one we can only attempt to wash away with love and acceptance and inclusion. It’s important for us to instill in our kids a sense of kindness and justice. As parents we worry about the world they’re growing up in, and we can’t help make it better by hiding it from them and them from it.
It can be hard to explain these concepts to adults, let alone to sweet little children who have never known anything but love. We’ve been reading a book recently to the kids Let’s Talk About Race by Julius Lester and Karen Barbour. We like that it talks about race in a way our children can understand. It addresses not only the meanness of racism, but how little it makes sense. Even Watson hears us explaining that some people think they’re better than other people because of the color of their skin and just shakes his head.
There’s only so much we can do, and someday our kids are going to go out in the world and make their own choices. Teaching them the value of other people of every race, religion, gender, and nationality is important to us because we hope to see them carry kindness, love, compassion, and justice with them out into the world.


Do you know that Great Gatsby party decorations are depicted from the novel of great Gatsby? Great Gatsby is the popular novel since it read by many people because the story in this novel is interesting. It is the story in 1920. It is vintage and glamour if you want to apply this great Gatsby in your party with great Gatsby theme
Great Gatsby Party Decorations to Celebrate Birthday
15 Photos Gallery of: Great Theme With Great Gatsby Party Decorations
Great Gatsby party decorations are fabulous theme to celebrate your birthday. To make it real, you write in the invitation card that the attire, people have to use the great Gatsby dress. Then, you must make great Gatsby decorations, too. to hosted the party like t5his, you can pick all the decoration by ;looking sat great Gatsby’s film which is looks glamour decorations put as he decoration and vintage style apply in the occasion.
Making Great Gatsby Party Decorations
If you want making this kind of theme in your party, and you make it at home, unfortunately, you must prepare it, which is, consume much time, but your family can help you to make the decoration. If they do not know about the great Gatsby, you can tell them what the party you like is. Maybe your parents can help you about the supplies. From invitation, table, foods, until the trays is all great Gatsby ideas.


One of our new favorite things to do as a family is to celebrate the completion of a book by throwing a correlating movie party. We started doing it while Nolan and Colby were reading the Harry Potter books. When they would finish each one we would have a Harry Potter Party, complete with movie and related treats (jelly bellies and golden snitches). This time the kids and I read the BFG by Roald Dahl, so we waited til the weekend, rented the movie, drank Frobscottle and ate human beans (cookie men dripping with blood red frosting). Morbid, but memorable!


May 27 “a whole new level of madness is coming into theaters.” Alice Through The Looking Glass is the sequel to Alice In Wonderland that came out 5 years ago in 2010. Many people who like Alice In Wonderland are excited for this movie. Alice In Wonderland has been popular for many years, and has many fans.
Alice Through The Looking Glass is a whole new adventure Alice goes through to save the Mad Hatter, but, she has to go back in time! She will most likely have problems as she did in the first one too. However, I heard Alice will have powers in this one. That may not be true, but I guess we'll find out on May 27th, won't we?
Not many people are aware of the book this movie is based on. Alice Through The Looking Glass is actually based on a book Lewis Carroll wrote after Alice In Wonderland. I have yet to read the book, so I do not know much about it. I’m hoping to read it before I see the movie. The book was originally published in 1871. Lewis Carroll has written many other books and more on the topic of Alice In Wonderland. I am very excited to find out more about this movie!
To get more information on the movie, click the link below:


I have been in the business for almost 10 years and I love learning about new sales ideas and strategies. You seem to be very well read and I enjoy your Dear Brian column very much. So what would be one book you suggest every originator read to grow their production. –Joe T. Idaho
I do love to read and invest in my marketing education. Of course I would tell you that my 48 Proven Ways To Close More Loans Production. But, today I am going to recommend a book that actually has nothing to do with mortgage banking or even marketing for that matter. It’s actually much more important than marketing.
The book is called Psycho Cybernetics and the author is Maxwell Maltz. The book is a classic and was written well over 50 years ago, but the information in it is priceless and timeless. All success actually begins with your mindset and your self -image. Have you ever watched a successful person literally implode and melt down. Of course you have since we see this everyday. We also see people least likely to succeed create hugely successful lives.
I actually give this book to my members and also to originators I train and mentor. This is a book I have personally read at least once or twice a year for the past 25 years.
I don’t want to give away the whole book because it truly is a career changer, but I will leave you with this thought. You can only succeed to the extent of your own self image. Think about that and then go out and get the book!
If you have a question you would like Brian to answer, send it to firstname.lastname@example.org with the subject Dear Brian Question.


What Is Guerrilla Marketing?
The first Guerrilla Marketing book was published by Houghton Mifflin in l984. Today there are 35 volumes in 41 languages, and more than 14 million copies have been sold worldwide. The book is required reading in many MBA programs throughout the world. The author taught the topic at the University of California, Berkeley Extension Division. He lectures on it worldwide. The concept of guerrilla marketing was invented as an unconventional system of promotions that relies on time, energy and imagination rather than a big marketing budget. Typically, guerrilla marketing campaigns are unexpected and unconventional, potentially interactive, and consumers are targeted in unexpected places. The objective of guerrilla marketing is to create a unique, engaging and thought-provoking concept to generate buzz, and consequently turn viral.
In the words of the Father of Guerrilla Marketing, Jay Conrad Levinson, this describes guerrilla marketing: "I'm referring to the soul and essence of guerrilla marketing which remain as always -- achieving conventional goals, such as profits and joy, with unconventional methods, such as investing energy instead of money."
The need for guerrilla marketing can be seen in the light of three facts:
- Because of big business downsizing, decentralization, relaxation of government regulations, affordable technology, and a revolution in consciousness, people around the world are gravitating to small business in record numbers.
- Small business failures are also establishing record numbers and one of the main reasons for the failures is a failure to understand marketing.
- Guerrilla marketing has been proven in action to work for small businesses around the world. It works because it's simple to understand, easy to implement and outrageously inexpensive.
Guerrilla marketing is needed because it gives small businesses a delightfully unfair advantage: certainty in an uncertain world, economy in a high-priced world, simplicity in a complicated world, marketing awareness in a clueless world - Jay Levinson.


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FDA approved medications.
Modafinil (Provigil) 200 mg / 100 mghttps://genuinetabs.com/i/Modafinil
Alison Hawthorne Deming is the author of three books of poetry, three nonfiction books, and two limited-edition chapbooks. Her place-based writing has earned her fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown , the Arizona Commission on the Arts, and the Tucson/Pima Arts Council; as well as many awards, including the Bayer Award in science writing from Creative Nonfiction for the essay “Poetry and Science: A View from the Divide.” Deming was born and raised in Connecticut, but currently lives near Aqua Caliente Hill in Tucson, where she serves as Professor in Creative Writing at the University of Arizona. Here, she is introduced by Stonecoast faculty member Barbara Hurd. If you have the room, Luculia doesn’t require as much water as hydrangeas, although it is a bigger plant. Phil Dillon @MedwayEyes 6 Oct 2010. Now Ms Lenting has two small salmon, and she's sliding anti-fungal pills and antibiotics into them, and dosing them with extra fluid.


I am so happy to announce that Xulon Press will be at this year’s Ministry EXPO! Xulon Press is the largest publisher of Christian books in North America and is the original on-demand book publisher for aspiring Christian authors. They have helped more than 10,000 authors publish their books!
The death of the printed page has been greatly exaggerated and writing remains an extremely important avenue for ministry. Here’s what has begun to die: the need for a big name publisher to discover you! I am convinced that the best choice for would-be author’s is to self-publish. However, there is a right way and a wrong way to do it. Xulon will help people do it right!
But wait! There’s more!! While I don’t have all the details yet, Xulon is going to give away a publishing package to someone at the EXPO!
Having Xulon here will be great for the EXPO!


Where do I start? I’ve been depressed for as long as I can remember… Mental illnesses run on both sides of my family, so it’s not a surprise that I’m depressed “with psychotic features”. My grandpa on my dad’s side is an unmedicated schizophrenic. He gets scared whenever someone mentions satellites or other high-tech things that he thinks people are watching him from. He has the typical schizophrenia “word salad” speech pattern. He’ll go from one topic to another even though they’re not related at all… I do the same thing. My grandma on my mom’s side has severe anxiety. She thinks if she doesn’t lock the doors for ten seconds that someone will come and kill her… So yeah, that’s where I get it from. My dad abused me a lot when I was younger, and his excuse was that I’m “hard to deal with because I’m a spoiled brat”… See, he doesn’t believe in mental illness, because, when he was younger, my schizophrenic grandpa was an alcoholic and beat the crap out of my dad, aunt and grandma everytime he came home. Now where my dad got the notion that mental illness doesn’t exist is beyond me… So I was depressed when I was little, and the first memory I have of life at home was when my brother first came home from the hospital. I was 4, and my parents had explained to me earlier that day that I was to keep plastic bags away from my brother since if one got caught on his head, he would die. My dad later yelled at me and hit me, so I went to my room with a plastic bag and put it over my head. Now, because I was only 4, I had assumed that it would kill me quickly. But my mom walked in and took it off my head and told me not to be stupid. Fast forward to when I was 6… My dad picked up my brother, who had just begun to try out real underwear. My brother, scared of what my dad would do, peed himself. My dad then proceeded to grab my hair and pull me to the wet spot on the ground, using my hair as a way of controlling my head so I’d look at it. My mom sat there, not quite sure of what to do. Then, fast forward to grade 2… I had forgotten my lunch box in my locker on a Tuesday night. My father proceeded to call both my mother and me stupid, very loudly. The screen door was open, and the last thing my mother wants is for the neighbours to realize my dad’s a monster. My mom told my dad to calm down because the neighbours would hear him. My dad responded by opening the door further and screaming “FUCK THE NEIGHBOURS” into our yard. He then went into the kitchen to get a glass of water, and my favourite cup fell out. He whipped the cup right at me and it broke. I spent the night crying. Fast forward to grade 6… The Q20 had just come out. Since my brother couldn’t read, I decided we would use it as a ball. We rolled it back and forth, increasing speed and velocity each time. Eventually, I went to roll it to my brother and it hit his leg and rolled into the room my dad was working in. I don’t even know if it touched my dad at all, there was a little crack in the door that the “ball” happened to roll through. My dad came storming out, Q20 in hand. He asked who rolled the “ball” into the room, and I admitted to it and apologized. He didn’t care, and threw the Q20 so hard at my knee that it hit off my knee, then the table, then into the glass window of our entertainment centre. Luckily, it didn’t have enough momentum to break anything at that point. He stormed past me, shoving me out of the way, picked up the Q20, walked outside, and threw it over our neighbours’ fence. I had a bruise on my knee for 3 weeks… My dad was 6’3” and 220 lbs at that point, and I was 10 years old. Later, after my sister was born, my brother kept insisting that my dad “wrestle” him. My dad said no, so my brother grabbed onto my dad’s leg and wouldn’t let go. My dad grabbed my brother’s arms and threw my brother clean across the room. My brother peed his pants and went into the bathroom to cry (I heard him). My sister and I witnessed all this. Half an hour later, my brother was still crying in the bathroom. My dad started to make fun of his 6-year-old son, and saying that if he wanted to wrestle, he would wrestle like a “big boy”. About a year later, my dad started having an affair with a married woman from his work. My mom had recently started working a lot more hours, so once my mom left, my dad would wait an hour and leave me (11), my brother (7), and my sister (1) alone until almost 4 am. At the time, my mom was working 7 am to 7 pm, so he got away with it. Then, 6 months later, he introduced his mistress to my mother and insisted they were just friends. My dad is still with this “lady”… (Lady is in quotes because no real lady would do that… Did I mention she took her mother-in-law’s home-made food to my dad instead of her family?) Naturally, nobody in my family knows about this whole affair, they think that my dad and her got together the moral way. My dad also had the audacity to bring his mistress to his grandfather (my great-grandfather)’s visitation. She had never met him before, and my parents were still married. There has been a lot of lying and sneaking around… Fast forward to September 2011… My dad lets my brother, his mistress’s kids, and me invite a friend on our boat to go swimming for the last time in the year. We swam, then we went back to the marina to eat. All went well, until I made a comment my dad had previously made about how he doesn’t sing unless he’s drunk. This was one of my passive-aggressive slips that happen every once in a while. Anyway, he proceeded to berate and degrade me in front of 10 other people, 9 of whom were children. My friend sat there, not sure of what to do. She texted her mom to come get us and we waited on the side of the road. My dad told me that I ruin everything for everybody, that I deserve everything he says, and that he’s not abusing me. I’ve lost almost all of my hair from the stress. I also gained 120 pounds in 2 years (from when I was 12 to 14). Food was, and still is, one of my only comforts. I started running occasionally instead of eating, and then occasionally became frequently, and now I have lost 65 lbs. I gained 15 back because I’ve been unable to exercise due to some undiagnosed condition. I told my psychiatrist about everything I just wrote, and he gave me a note that said not to see my dad. While he was writing it, he said that it was the best prescription he could ever write me. I’ve been too scared to tell my dad about the note because I never know what’s going to set him off… Those incidents I named weren’t the only ones, just the ones I find bizarre. Oh, and he tried to strangle me Boxing Day of 2010. I hung up the phone before I was supposed to… So anyway I have a note to get out of this but I can’t give it to him and now it’s been a month… If you just read this, I love you and I will promote you by yourself to all my followers… And yeah, so my life is pretty messed up. What’s your story?


What does it mean to be a Christian? Why do we preach the good news that Jesus died to save sinners? We hope the next few paragraphs will help explain the necessity for people to trust in Jesus.
God created us to enjoy a sweet relationship with Him, to know Him intimately and to worship Him. However, starting with the first man, Adam, we have all sinned against God. As a result, we’re now completely separated from God, not having the relationship He intended, with the penalty of physical and spiritual death hanging over every single one of us. That’s why life all too often feels as if something is missing, because there is!
We’ve rebelled against Him, disobeyed Him, dishonoured Him. We do this through our denial of who He is, our cursing and swearing in using His name, and through our conduct in justifying unethical, immoral acts, lying, cheating, and worse acts than these.
This sin nature in us continues to be passed down from generation to generation with no way to stop it. Ever noticed we have to teach young children how to be good, and not how to be bad?
The only solution is the one God has provided. God loves us so much He sent His only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to pay the penalty for our sin. Jesus, the perfect and sinless Son of God, died a ghastly, painful death in our place, one which we so rightly deserved, so that all (anyone and everyone) who confesses and turns from their sin, and accepts what Jesus has done for them in saving them, can be restored in their relationship with God and enjoy a new life (both now and for eternity) with Him.
He desires that YOU, the one reading this, come to Him now, realising your desperate need for a Saviour, your deep longing to have all your sins forgiven and to find a new life with purpose and peace with God.
So many miss this extraordinarily wonderful message from God, ironically, because of its simplicity. They often wonder what they have to do to earn forgiveness and the acceptance of God.
There is nothing you have to do, or can even do. No one could be good enough to rectify his / her sin problem. That’s why Jesus came. He has already done all that was needed, when He died for our sin, in our place.
Why not come to Him right now just where you are. Admit to God your sin and rebellion and acknowledge that only His Son Jesus can save you and give you forgiveness of sins, a home in heaven and a new beginning. Then thank Him for doing this for you. God will help you as you begin a new life trusting in Him.
If you’d like to speak to someone about what it means to become a Christian, call us on 0450 781 041 or email us at email@example.com
“And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”


"When everyone was shouting King in the North, King in the North, I told myself … swore to myself … that I would be a good king, as honorable as Father, strong, just, loyal to my friends and brave when I faced my enemies."
anonymous asked: robb stark or
"Joaquin Phoenix’s Commodus in Gladiator was certainly an inspiration for my characterization of Joffrey, that had a big impact, the smirk. It’s interesting sometimes when an audience can empathize with a villain. But to get completely lost in it, it’s exciting just to be intrinsically evil and not to have a speck of good or humanity in their bones."- Jack Gleeson (x)
"Hey remember when you used to wear graphic tees everyday and you - "
"Remember when you used to overedit your pictures and post them on - "
"Remember in grade 7 when you -"
So, I just noticed this… What’s with Disney and detachable heads?
Ha I never noticed this!
House Targaryen will end with me. That made her sad. “You must be my children,” she told the dragons, “my three fierce children. Arstan says dragons live longer than men, so you will go on after I am dead.”
She knows how to manipulate him


Describe your service here. What makes it great? Use short catchy text to tell people what you offer, and the benefits they will receive. A great description gets readers in the mood, and makes them more likely to go ahead and book.
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