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A procedure to remove a blockage in the heart would cost RM35000 and above in IJN (Institut Jantung Negara). At other private hospitals, it would cost even more. This is more than what some would earn in a year. Others like hole in the heart surgery would cost few hundred thousand and if done overseas- close to a million.
A treatment at private hospital for cancer cost a few hundred thousand bucks- probably the chunk or our entire retirement fund had to be spend for treatment. And if the family goes down to Singapore to seek treatment, the first question the doctor would ask them is.."the entire treatment would cost so ____ amount. Do you have the money?". If not, can forget about it. If yes, only the doctors would start treating.
Therefore, it is important that we have to learn to preserve our health. No doubt, some things we cannot forsee. For example, more and more people in their twenties are getting (and dying) from heart attacks and strokes- even if they are physically fit! This is almost unheard of 50 years ago.
Factors such as this is beyond our control. All we can do is what that is beyond our control. Often we fail to value our health when our body is still holding up. We take over the counter prescription when our body is in pain. We ignore the some signs that our body is displaying till it is too late.
The astronomical costs of health is really alarming. When it comes to our health and those of our loves ones, we sometimes cannot simply leave it on the mercy of some inexperienced chap fresh out of medical school. Previously, I had thought that some of my friends who are in the insurance field were trying to sell the medical insurance coverage policies because they wanted to make profit. But they later shared with me all the horror stories faced by their friends and relatives that had made them so passionate about their field. They were the initial ones who had emphasized to me on the rising medical costs- and why people had to seek treatment from private hospitals.
RELATED: Heart ailments is more than just physical dysfunction…are you happy on the inside?
Many skeptics would not agree with me but it still have to be said. I believe the best insurance we can take is through our own deeds towards others.
We cannot control the circumstances of life that hit us but we can control our own input and reaction to life. It is still advisable to take up insurance policies when we are healthy so that we can have some coverage just in case.
But for those who cannot afford, and those who also want additional security…. invest in your deeds towards others. Help others- and try not to expect anything in return. The funny thing is, when you need help the most, help would come to you.
It is not always about money and insurance coverage. For instance, if a person had been attacked and bleeding, all the money in the world would come to naught if no kind samaritan stops to rush him to the hospital in the nick of time.
Many people with no money get healed of serious illness and even more with money who died from it despite spending their entire fortune in treatment. That's why, I have seen it's not always about the money.
Help comes in many ways and even in ways that we cannot see it. An inexperienced doctor may cure a patient where a well known specialist failed to. We can see a long list of the rich and famous who could not make it despite affording the best specialists and treatment in the world.
RELATED: Does Talcum Powder & Anti Perspirant Causes Cancer?
On the other hand, there's poor people who lived in the villages and cannot even afford to take the bus to go to hospital in town had managed to have their cancer under remission through methods such as inexpensive herbal medicine, prayer, turning to spiritual life. I've seen this with my own eyes during my travels.
Our deeds define us- it's not all, but people who spend their life earning money through dishonest means may soon have to 'return' the money back in the form of expensive but ineffective medical treatment. Again, I am not saying that it happens to all- but I've seen cases.


text:
Struggling to make ends meet, Afghan women sacrifice university studies
Students stand along a pathway near the Kabul University after it was reopened in Kabul. AFP
Gulf Today Report
As students return to universities across Afghanistan this month, law major Waheeda Bayat will not be among them.
The 24-year-old was looking forward to resuming her course at the private Gawharshad University in Kabul, but amid an economic collapse that has dragged millions of Afghans into poverty, she cannot afford to go back.
"I'm so happy to see my university," she said, walking past her old campus on a recent sunny day.
"But I wish I could continue my studies, wish I could spend time with my classmates and teachers, and wish I could go to the library to study."
Although the hardline Taliban are allowing women back into colleges – girls and women were banned from education the last time they – Bayat must focus instead on providing food and shelter for her family of nine.
An abrupt halt to most aid to Afghanistan after the Taliban seized power in August has plunged the country into crisis.
Kabul parks have become shanty towns as people from rural areas seek aid; malnourished newborns fill hospital wards; up to 97 per cent of Afghans could be living below the poverty line by the second half of 2022, the UN's development agency has said.
The impact on women has been disproportionately large.
Afghan filmmaker Roya Sadat becomes the voice of unknown women
Prince Harry Meghan call for unity after Taliban takeover and Haiti earthquake
Photo of Afghan girl skipping on airport tarmac goes viral
Data show women have lost jobs at a higher rate than men in recent months – some were thrown out of work due to Taliban restrictions in the immediate aftermath of their conquest – and some rights won over 20 years of Western-backed governments have been reversed.
Bayat used to fund her studies from her job at a local media network, where she earned 12,000 Afghanis ($132) a month.
But after she and her mother lost their jobs, Bayat manages only 8,000 Afghanis making traditional clothes with her sisters – money that must stretch to support the whole family.
"We are worried that Waheeda can't continue her studies," her mother, Marzia, told Reuters in their three-bedroom home in the west of the capital. "She is a hard-working girl. I wish I could find some money so that (she) could continue."
The Higher Education Ministry did not respond to questions about the impact of the economic crisis on women's studies and what restrictions, if any, would be imposed on female students as they returned to class.
Women hit hard
There are no official figures to show how many Afghans – men or women – have abandoned college due to economic pressures. Among women, the rate of attrition appears to be high.
A member of Taliban speaks with female students outside the Kabul Education University in Kabul. Reuters
Reuters spoke to 15 female university students around the country including in Kabul, Herat in the west and Nangarhar and Laghman in the east, eight of whom said they were dropping out due to financial difficulties.
Three more said they faced challenges, forcing them to cut class times and to consider leaving.
"The humanitarian crisis is a women's rights crisis," said Heather Barr, associate women's rights director at Human Rights Watch. "Women and girls have been disproportionately affected by the economic crisis."
She said that both the Taliban's treatment of women and the international community's failure to address the economic crisis were to blame.
For some students, the relatives who once supported their education are no longer able to.
"I wanted to serve my people ... but now I cannot continue," said Mahtab, a psychology student in Herat, who gave only her first name out of concern for her family's safety.
Her older sister once funded her studies, she said, but she lost her job in the communications department of the ousted president's office.
When she was recognised by the Taliban as having taken part in women's protests after they stormed back to power, the sister decided to flee the country for fear of reprisals.
The United Nations and some governments have raised alarm over reprisals against women's rights activists, including the disappearance of several in recent months. The Taliban have said they are investigating the disappearances.
Some women planning to return to classes at public institutions, which reopen in Kabul on Saturday having resumed on Feb. 2 in other regions, worry that men and women will be segregated, subject choices limited and burqas made compulsory.
In some parts of the country, where universities have already reopened, such practices were already in place, reflecting the more conservative norms of the area.
In others, including relatively liberal centres like Kabul and Herat, there is still uncertainty over rules for women in class and on campus.
Students attend a class in the Badakshan University after it reopened in Badakhshan province. AFP
"If the Taliban force me to wear a burqa, I would rather stay home than go to university," said 20-year-old psychology student and Kabul resident Anahita.
Turning back time
The expansion of women's rights, particularly in urban areas, was held up as one of the main achievements of Western military and financial intervention in Afghanistan after the US-led war that toppled the last Taliban government in 2001.
Until then, in addition to the education ban, almost all jobs were off limits to women and they could only leave home when accompanied by a male relative and wearing an all-enveloping burqa.
Significant investment in girls' schools and targeted measures at universities such as reserving seats for women in law and engineering, female dormitories and child care centres saw thousands of women pursue degrees.
Female enrolment was around 24% of the total signed up at public universities in 2020, according to figures from the World Bank-funded Higher Education Development Programme, roughly 21,000 women. Many more study at private institutes.
Sanctions on some senior Taliban members, alongside concerns over human rights and the lack of inclusivity in the government, have effectively cut it off from international funding and from billions of dollars of Afghan central bank reserves held abroad.
The Taliban has described Washington's plans for the $7 billion in assets frozen on US soil as an "injustice" to the Afghan people.
The United Nation's development agency predicts that Afghanistan's annual per capita income could fall to $350 in 2022 from $508 in 2020.
Some data show the crisis hitting women hard. Afghan female employment levels slumped by an estimated 16% in the third quarter of 2021, according to an International Labour Organisation report, compared with 6% for men.
Bleak job prospects are a concern for many female university students.
Economy Ministry spokesman Abdulrahman Habib said the suspension of foreign aid to Afghanistan had hit funding for organisations supporting women, leading to job losses.
"The ministry of economy has prepared a policy that supports businesswomen," he said. "We will do our best to provide all ... they need to encourage them and support them in restarting their activities and businesses."
He added that there were women working for the Taliban government without problems.
Roma Gul, a third-year political studies student in the eastern province of Nangarhar, faces daunting odds to complete her course.
Her part-time teaching job barely covers the 3,000 Afghanis in monthly transport fees she has to pay to get between home, work and campus. It left only 1,000 Afghanis a month for books, stationery and contributions to her family's rent.
Her job finishes at 1 pm each day, meaning she has to rush to campus to get to the last two hours of class, after missing the morning session. But she is still grateful university has re-opened.
"I am determined to finish school despite the problems," she said.
Afghan women Afghan war
Parents selling children shows desperation of Afghanistan
"Today I have been heartbroken to see that the families are willing to sell their children to feed other family members," Charles said. "So it's the right time for the humanitarian community to stand up and stay with the people of Afghanistan."
UN Security Council adopts US resolution to facilitate Afghan aid
As the conflict-battered country faces an economic collapse and an acute shortage of food, the US Treasury also updated guidance to make clear that exports of goods and cash transfers are allowed as long as they do not go to individuals targeted by US sanctions.
Afghan students return to classes as universities reopen for first time since Taliban takeover
Taliban spokesman for the Higher Education Ministry Ahmad Taqqi said in a video clip. "The education will continue based on the plans and policies of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan."
Banned from education, 'idle' teen girls are married off in Afghanistan
13-year-old Zainab wedding date was fixed within hours of the would-be groom arriving with an offer of a few sheep, goats, and four sacks of rice as a bride price — a centuries-old custom for many in rural Afghanistan.
Women take driving seat of high-speed train in Saudi Arabia
Raneem Azzouz, a recent recruit, said that at the end of one trip to Madina, a woman passenger explained that she didn't believe women could do the job until she saw it with her own eyes.
Nine-month-old Pakistani baby girl successfully undergoes bone marrow transplant in Burjeel hospital
Despite her young age, Nazia was happy to help out her baby sister. "I was sad when the doctors told me my little sister was very sick. I felt happy when my parents told me I could help her get better.
How to eat sustainably on a plant-based diet
A quick win is lentils and pulses, as they are a great source of protein and fiber as well as being one of the most sustainable foods.
What is degenerative disk disease
The disk is flexible, and it fills the space between the vertebrae and provides the necessary cushion to allow the spine to bend and flex fully without pain.

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Agaricus Blazei Extract Powder
Agaricus Blazei Extract health supplement,Medicinal Agaricus blazei extract
Agaricus subrufescens (syn. Agaricus blazei, Agaricus brasiliensis or Agaricus rufotegulis) is a species of mushroom, commonly known as almond mushroom, mushroom of the sun, God's mushroom,mushroom of life, royal sun agaricus, jisongrong, or himematsutake (Chinese:, Japanese: , "princess matsutake") and by a number of other names. Agaricus subrufescens is a choice edible, with a somewhat sweet taste and fragrance of almonds. The fungus is also well known as a medicinal mushroom, for its purported medicinal properties, due to research which indicates it may stimulate the immune system.
Agaricus subrufescens was first described by the American botanist Charles Horton Peck in 1893. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it was cultivated for the table in the eastern United States. It was discovered again in Brazil during the 1970s, and misidentified as Agaricus blazei Murrill, a species originally described from Florida. It was soon marketed for its purported medicinal properties under various names, including ABM (for Agaricus blazei Murrill), cogumelo do sol (mushroom of the sun), cogumelo de Deus (mushroom of God), cogumelo de vida (mushroom of life),himematsutake, royal sun agaricus, Mandelpilz, and almond mushroom.
In 2002, Didukh and Wasser correctly rejected the name A. blazei for this species, but unfortunately called the Brazilian fungus A. brasiliensis, a name that had already been used for a different species, Agaricus brasiliensis Fr. (1830). Richard Kerrigan undertook genetic and interfertility testing on several fungal strains, and showed that samples of the Brazilian strains called A. blazei and A. brasiliensis were genetically similar to, and interfertile with, North American populations of Agaricus subrufescens. These tests also found European samples called A. rufotegulis to be of the same species. Because A. subrufescens is the oldest name, it has taxonomical priority.
Note that Agaricus blazei Murrill is a perfectly valid name, but for a completely different mushroom. Agaricus silvaticus is also a perfectly valid name for a common, north temperate, woodland mushroom. Neither is a synonym of Agaricus subrufescens.
The cap is initially hemispherical, later becoming convex, with a diameter of 5 to 18 cm (2.0 to 7.1 in). The cap surface is covered with silk-like fibers, although in maturity it develops small scales (squamulose). The color of the cap may range from white to grayish or dull reddish brown; the cap margin typically splits with age. The flesh of A. subrufescens is white, and has the taste of "green nuts", with the odor of almonds. The gills are not attached to the stalk (free), narrow, and crowded closely together. They start out whitish in color, then later pinkish and finally black-brown as the spores mature. Spores are ellipsoid, smooth, dark purplish-brown when viewed microscopically, with dimensions of 6–7.5 by 4–5 µm. The stipe is 6 to 15 cm (2.4 to 5.9 in) by 1 to 1.5 cm (0.4 to 0.6 in) thick, and bulbous at the base. Initially solid, the stipe becomes hollow with age; it is cottony (floccose) to scaly towards the base. The annulus is abundant and double-layered; it is bent downwards towards the stem, smooth and whitish on the upper side, and covered with cottony scales on the lower side.
Agaricus subrufescens forms fruitbodies singly or in clusters in leaf litter in rich soil, often in domestic habitats. Originally described from the northeastern United States and Canada, it has been found growing in California, Hawaii, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Taiwan, Philippines, Australia and Brazil.
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text:
curtiswriter	Fantasy, Historical, Horror, Short Fiction, Uncategorized	 January 24, 2019 February 20, 2019 9 Minutes
This story is just a flight of fancy I got watching an old sci fi movie one night. Some guy noticed the same face kept showing up in photos of disasters. I don't remember the rest but that part stuck. The whole plot of this story is built around how photos are all around us, but who actually pays any attention?
As a personal peeve, when reading the story, please use the Italian pronunciation of La Duchessa. It is doo-KAY-sa.
Mont Azure
"So, what's up, Sis?"
"Yeah, what's this big discovery you said you have?"
Kat's two brothers had gathered with her in the study after she told them she had big news. Although Carlo at 18 was older and Paulo at 15 was younger than her, they were like two peas in a pod. No one would mistake them for anything but brothers. They had their father's Mediterranean coloring while Kat more closely resembled their Scandinavian mother.
"I've uncovered information about the Spook," she said in a heavy whisper. 'The Spook' was the nickname they had given to Duchess Demidova. La Duchessa, as she wished to be addressed, cut a striking figure in the San Giorgian court. She was whip thin, jet black hair always pulled back in a tight bun, slightly bulging eyes in a sharp, severe scowl for the world. She always dressed in black and crept about the palace quiet as a spider. No one knew how old she was. It was said she came to the palace when their father was a boy, a minor royal displaced by Communist expansion. The three children felt she was extremely creepy. Paolo once referred to her as 'the Spook' in jest and it just stuck.
Kat had a mass of books and photos on the table.
"I found all this in some chests in the west wing. I think it's fascinating."
"You know we aren't supposed to go there. Papa said it's dangerous. A floor or roof could collapse at any moment," Carlo said. As heir he often felt he should lead them on expeditions and chide them when they did something he deemed dangerous.
"It looked pretty safe to me. I'm wondering are there other reasons they want us out of those rooms."
"You and your conspiracy theories. You're always trying to make normal things seem mysterious and just cause a stir," Carlo said.
"Yeah," Paolo echoed, as he did most things Carlo said.
Kat just rolled her eyes and began to show them what she had found.
"Here's Papa and Mum's wedding photos. He looks so dashing in his uniform and Mum's dress was just the best. Here are some of the crowd scenes from the reception." The boys looked at the color pictures from before they were born with interest. Grand Prince Giovanni's wedding to Sweden's Princess Diana was the social event of the season some twenty years ago. Some smirked or made whispered comments that the groom was more than twice the age of the bride but they had always seemed happy together. His first wife had died after giving birth to a girl, their half sister Victoria. If Giovanni did not have a male heir the entire country would revert back to a Papal State. Mum had done her duty providing an heir, a 'spare' and Kat.
"So?" Carlo said.
"Look, here in the back of the crowd. It's the Spook. Notice anything?"
"She's wearing black and looks pissed off. That's how she always looks."
"I don't know. She just looks like she always looks," Carlo said exasperatedly.
"Exactly," Kat crowed. "She hasn't changed a bit in twenty years. Here are some closeups I made. Not one bit of difference."
"Well, that's probably make up. And it's not like she actually does anything, other than haunt the palace," Carlo said. This caused Paolo to giggle.
Kat looked down her nose at him.
"And this is a picture from Papa's first wedding, thirty years ago." The color photograph
was a bit faded but the boys could see where Kat pointed was the scowling face of the Spook.
"Once again, no change."
"And this photo from Papa's coronation over forty years ago. Back here in the back of the crowd. The Spook."
"So, what are you saying? She's some kind of immortal?" Carlo wasn't sure whether to just laugh in his sister's face or go on to more interesting activities. Paulo however, was rapt.
"I've done some research. La Duchessa Natalia Michailovna Demidova. Supposedly Romanian nobility of Russian extraction. I cannot find any record of her before 1950."
"Isn't that when the Communists took over? I remember Papa talking about it. He was just a kid."
"Close, 1948. The royal family and most of the nobility fled Romania. But no word about la Duchessa."
"Yeah, well many records were lost or destroyed. What do you want? A birth certificate?"
"Actually, that would be great."
"Yeah," Paolo joined in. "Duchessa Demidova, born 1700." He and Carlo snickered.
"Okay. So this is what really got me going," Kat said, opening a large book. She turned to a marked page. "Recognize the picture?"
"Uh, not really."
"I'm not surprised. The caption says it's Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie taken moments before he was shot. It started World War I in 1914." The boys looked at the old photo of a couple in an open car. The man was portly, wearing a big hat with feathers. The lady had on a white dress and large bonnet. Kat turned the page. There were several more photos.
"Here in the car behind them were the king and queen of Romania. Who's that in the car with them?" Kat produced an enlargement of the photograph. The angle showed the backs of the king and queen and a fairly good shot of the person sitting opposite them. The boys both audibly gasped.
"I'll be damned," said Carlo. It looks like the Spook. But it's a man. Her father maybe?"
"Best I can find is he's one Count Sergei. Cousin to the king. He apparently disappeared sometime after World War I. He wasn't with the royal family when they escaped. It doesn't say if he had a wife or family," said Kat.
"You know I like history and look at old picture books a lot. I stumbled upon this one." She opened another book. Anyone who had ever seen pictures of old royalty would recognize the picture of the round huddled woman in black as Queen Victoria of Great Britain. "It says this was taken at Balmoral at Christmas in 1888. It is a group picture of them leaving for church services. And look here at the back of the group." Once again, the boys were faced with a picture of a man who was the living image of La Duchessa. "The text says some of the Romanian royal family was visiting the Queen for the holidays."
"And finally this." She took out a print of a photo showing a man in a turban with a large gem in the front and a feather sticking up. He had bulging eyes and an impressive mustache. "Here's a photoshopped image where I removed the mustache." Once again it was the image of La Duchessa.
"I have to say I'd recognize that scowl anywhere. Who is this?" asked Carlo.
"Vlad Tepes Dracul."
"Count Dracula? Are you kidding? Sis, you have lost your freaking mind."
"But it all makes sense," she argued. "And he was King of what would become Romania in 1450."
"Yeah. The Spook is a vampire? That makes a whole lot of sense. I think you've been watching too much 'X-Files'."
"You know how she is. She creeps around like a ghost at night. Suddenly appearing in a dark corner of a room. Never going out in the daylight."
"Those pictures in the car were in daylight. And you said they were going to church. Don't vampires explode or something if they enter a church?" Carlo challenged her.
"Well, I haven't figured that part out yet," she admitted.
"So you want us to believe she's like Dracula in drag?" asked Paolo.
"Yeah, Count Dragula," said Carlo, causing Paolo to laugh.
"Well, not when you say it like that."
"Like what? You mean sanely?" countered Carlo.
"I never should have told you. We could have a monster right here in our midst and you don't even care!"
"A monster? Really?" came a deep, even voice from a dark corner of the room. La Duchessa stepped into the light as Kat gave a little squeal of surprise. So did Paolo but he would forever deny it.
"Have you been spying on us?" Kat asked hotly.
"No. I just came in a moment ago to get a book. Did you not notice me?" La Duchessa said calmly. "Do you really think me some kind of monster?"
When Kat noticed the look of hurt on her face she was immediately ashamed.
"I'm just an old relic of a bygone era that no one needs anymore. We royals are becoming more and more irrelevant."
"I'm sorry if I've hurt your feelings but the pictures and you're so mysterious and all," Kat realized she was babbling. La Duchessa walked over to the table and looked at the pictures. With a wry grin she then said, "Well, I guess you've found me out. Let me tell you the real story."
"Shit! You're really a vampire?" Paolo squeaked.
"Paolo! Language! And no, I most definitely am not a vampire or any other creature your silly science fiction movies portray. But I'm also not La Duchessa Demidova. She is just a fiction your grandfather and I created."
"Count Sergei was my father, a cousin of the King of Romania. My mother was a commoner so we weren't recognized by the family. My real name is Wotilja Hunyadi. Many say I am the image of my father."
"You really are a dude?" asked Carlo, amazed.
"Yes, Carlo. When the Communists invaded Romania the royal family fled. Father had disappeared, mother was dead and I was left behind. I was not totally a babe in the woods, so to speak. I had seen the end coming and had taken certain steps that weren't necessarily inside the law. I was the last to flee just moments before the Communists broke into the palace. I escaped with only the clothes on my back and a suitcase."
"Wow," whispered Paolo.
"Of course, the suitcase contained the crown jewels and financial notes that allowed me to transfer most of the national treasury into a private Swiss account." It was obvious that Hunyadi was quite pleased with himself.
"I lit out of the country like a bat out of hell and didn't stop until I got here. Your grandfather was a friend and agreed to give me asylum. We knew the KGB would be after the money and might connect me so we decided Wotilja should disappear. La Duchessa took his place."
"But the KGB is no more," said Carlo. "You could go back to being a man."
"I have been La Duchessa for 50 years. I'm not sure what I would be without her. It would raise too many questions and draw unwanted attention. I am content as I am."
"I sleep much of the day because I have insomnia. I stay indoors mostly because the bright light hurts my eyes and ages this old skin. And what else have I to do to fill my time? There are many secret passages and short cuts in old palaces like this. Over my fifty years here I have found most of them. As to being ageless, posh child, I wish. You would scarcely believe the horror I am faced with each day at my dressing table. The makeup it takes just to make me presentable. Sometimes the Spook spooks herself."
"You aren't supposed to know about that," Kat looked mortified.
"Dear child, I know everything that goes on in this palace. I have eyes and ears everywhere. It is how a monarch survives. Prince Carlo, as the next leader of this country you should be creating such a network. I will be pleased to offer assistance."
"Uh, thank you."
"And you, Princessa. You have discovered what has eluded KGB for fifty years. Brains and beauty all in one package. Now, it would honor me if you would keep this to yourselves. I would like to spend my final few years in relative peace, as I'm sure you understand."
"Of course, Duchessa," Carlo spoke for them all. "We'll keep your secret."
"And now my children, the wolves are gathering on the hill and the children of the night are calling. It is time for this vampire to retire to her coffin." She gave them a big grin and Paolo looked closely to be sure there were no fangs. Just to be certain. Chuckling to herself, muttering "vampire my ass", La Duchessa shuffled out of the room.
The boys looked daggers at Kat. She shrugged.
"It was an honest mistake. Anyone could have made it."
Later La Duchessa knocked on the door of the Grand Prince's private study.
"Enter."
As she opened the door the Grand Prince called out heartily, "Duchessa, come on in. To what do I owe the honor of this visit?"
"They know, Vanni. The children know about me."
The Grand Prince dropped his smile. "How much?" He took on a look of concern.
"Only what they need to," La Duchessa smiled.
"Whew, Sergei. That's a relief. Don't frighten me like that." And La Duchessa added silently to himself just as you know only what you need to know.
European principality
Published January 24, 2019 February 20, 2019
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text:
\section{Introduction}
\label{sec:intro}
Two-dimensional (2D) gravity theories are interesting because they allow one to isolate some important features of the higher-dimensional gravity while being very simple. They are therefore viewed as a theoretical laboratory for quantum gravity. In recent years, motivated by the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev model~\cite{Sachdev:1992fk,K,Kitaev:2017awl} (see also Refs.~\cite{Maldacena:2016hyu,Sarosi:2017ykf,Trunin:2020vwy}), Jackiw-Teitelboim (JT) gravity~\cite{Jackiw:1984je,Teitelboim:1983ux,Almheiri:2014cka} has received a resurgence of interest, see, e.g., Refs.~\cite{Jensen:2016pah,Maldacena:2016upp,Engelsoy:2016xyb,Harlow:2018tqv,Saad:2019lba,Stanford:2019vob,Iliesiu:2020zld}. JT gravity belongs to the family of two-dimensional  dilaton gravities that can be parametrized by the following general action\footnote{In general, the $\phi$ in the first term in the square brackets can be a general function $Z(\phi)$. But for physical reasons, $Z'(\phi)$ is nonzero everywhere and we can introduce a new field to put the action into the form of Eq.~\eqref{eq:dilaton-gravities}. Moreover, here we only consider torsionless gravity. For reviews of dilaton gravity, see Refs.~\cite{Nojiri:2000ja,Strobl:1999wv,Grumiller:2002nm,Grumiller:2006rc}, and for recent studies, see Refs.~\cite{Bhattacharya:2020qil,Narayan:2020pyj}.}
\begin{align}
\label{eq:dilaton-gravities}
S=\frac{1}{2}\int\mathrm{d}^2 x\sqrt{-g}\left[\phi R-U(\phi)g^{\alpha\beta}(\partial_\alpha\phi)\partial_\beta\phi+W(\phi)\right],
\end{align}
where $g_{\alpha\beta}$ is the 2D spacetime metric. JT gravity corresponds to $U(\phi)=0$, $W(\phi)=2\Lambda\phi$. In this case, $\phi$ is an auxiliary field and can be eliminated by its algebraic equation of motion, giving $R=-2\Lambda$. Depending on the sign of $\Lambda$, JT gravity thus describes a 2D de Sitter or anti-de Sitter space. For convenience, one usually takes $|\Lambda|=1$ so that $\Lambda=\pm 1$.{\footnote{Since $\Lambda$ is a dimensionful parameter, one shall restore it in physical quantities via the dimensional analysis.}} Equation~\eqref{eq:dilaton-gravities} also contains other interesting models as its special cases. For instance, the Callan-Giddings-Harvery-Strominger model~\cite{Callan:1992rs} corresponds to $U(\phi)=-\frac{1}{\phi}$, $W(\phi)=-4\lambda^2\phi$ and the spherically reduced gravity~\cite{Berger:1972pg,Benguria:1976in,Thomi:1984na,Hajicek:1984mz} is given by
\begin{subequations}
\begin{align}
U(\phi)&=-\frac{(D-3)}{(D-2)\phi},\\ W(\phi)&=-\lambda^2(D-2)(D-3) \phi^{\frac{(D-4)}{(D-2)}},
\end{align}
\end{subequations}
where $D>2$ is an integer representing the dimension of the spacetime before the spherical reduction. In both cases $\lambda$ is a parameter of dimension one in mass.

Actually, with a Weyl transformation, the factor $U(\phi)$ in Eq.~\eqref{eq:dilaton-gravities} can always be set to zero and hence 2D dilaton gravity can be generally described by~\cite{Banks:1990mk}\footnote{Note that when $U(\phi)$ is singular the two theories before and after the transformation are not necessarily equivalent~\cite{Grumiller:2002nm}.}
\begin{align}
\label{eq:dilaton-simplified}
S=\frac{1}{2}\int\mathrm{d}^2 x\sqrt{-g}\left[\phi R+W(\phi)\right].
\end{align}
Varying the action with respect to $\phi$, one has
\begin{align}
R=-\frac{\mathrm{d} W(\phi)}{\mathrm{d}\phi}.
\end{align}
In this paper, we consider a special model with
\begin{align}
\label{eq:model}
W(\phi)={\lambda^2}{\rm sech}^2\phi,
\end{align}
{where $\lambda$ is a parameter of dimension mass. As done for JT gravity, we will also set $\lambda=1$ and one should be able to restore it in physical quantities.}
As we shall see shortly, this theory describes asymptotically flat spacetimes. We will show that it permits a very interesting solution with a free parameter in which there is an event horizon but no singularity. The structure is similar to the domain wall of a scalar field theory. Therefore we refer to this new gravitational object as a {\it gravitational domain wall} (or gravitational kink) with the ``wall'' representing the event horizon. We will then study its causal structure and thermodynamical properties. We shall see that for a particular choice of the free parameter in the solution, the gravitational domain wall can have a nonzero temperature while its energy and entropy are vanishing. Unlike JT gravity, which is related to the near-horizon region of extremal black holes in higher-dimensional spacetime through spherical reduction, it is not clear how the potential~\eqref{eq:model} arises from a higher-dimensional theory. Nonetheless, given the interesting properties mentioned above and its potential role in building holography for asymtotically flat two-dimensional spacetimes, it still deserves to be investigated.

The remainder of this article is organized as follows. In the next section we study the 2D dilaton gravity with the potential~\eqref{eq:model} and show that it has exact solutions in which the zero-zero metric component takes the kink profile when using the Schwarzschild-like ansatz. We then study the global causal structure for the obtained solutions via coordinate extension. In Sec.~\ref{sec:thermodynamic}, the thermodynamical properties for the gravitational domain wall are investigated. We conclude in Sec.~\ref{sec:conclusions}.

\section{Gravitational domain wall in two-dimensional dilaton gravity}\label{sec:domain-wall}

\subsection{Equations of motion and solutions}

A general classical solution in the theory given by Eq.~\eqref{eq:dilaton-simplified} can be put in the form~\cite{Gegenberg:1994pv,Witten:2020ert}
\begin{align}
\label{eq:Schwarzschild-ansatz}
\mathrm{d} s^2=-A(x)\mathrm{d} t^2+\frac{1}{A(x)}\mathrm{d} x^2.
\end{align}
Note that whether or not one shall interpret $t$ as time and $x$ as space depends on the sign of $A(x)$. If $A(x)>0$ then Eq.~\eqref{eq:Schwarzschild-ansatz} describes a static spacetime region while if $A(x)<0$ it describes a time-dependent spatially homogeneous region. Following Ref.~\cite{Witten:2020ert}, one can obtain one of the dynamic equations by first considering the metric
\begin{align}
\label{eq:AG}
\mathrm{d} s^2=-A(x)\mathrm{d} t^2+\frac{1}{G(x)}\mathrm{d} x^2,
\end{align}
and then substituting $G(x)=A(x)$ into the equation of motion for $G(x)$. From Eq.~\eqref{eq:AG}, one has the Ricci scalar
\begin{align}
\label{eq:R}
R=-\frac{A'G'}{2A}-\frac{GA''}{A}+\frac{GA'^2}{2A^2},
\end{align}
where a prime denotes the derivative with respect to $x$. Substituting Eq.~\eqref{eq:R} into the action~\eqref{eq:dilaton-simplified}, one obtains
\begin{align}
\label{eq:actionGA}
S=\frac{1}{2}\int\mathrm{d} t\mathrm{d} x \left(-\phi\frac{\mathrm{d}}{\mathrm{d} x}\left(\sqrt{\frac{G}{A}}\frac{\mathrm{d} A}{\mathrm{d} x}\right)+\sqrt{\frac{A}{G}}W(\phi)\right),
\end{align}
from which the algebraic equation of motion for $G(x)$ reads
\begin{align}
\frac{\phi'A'}{\sqrt{AG}}-\frac{\sqrt{A}}{G^{3/2}}W(\phi)=0.
\end{align}
Now substituting $G=A$ into the above equation, one finally arrives at
\begin{align}
\label{eq:eom1}
\phi'A'-W(\phi)=0.
\end{align}
To obtain the other equation of motion, we let $G=A$ in the action~\eqref{eq:actionGA} and get
\begin{align}
S=\frac{1}{2}\int\mathrm{d} t\mathrm{d} x \left(-\phi A''+W(\phi)\right).
\end{align}
Varying the action with respect to $A$, we have
\begin{align}
\label{eq:eom2}
\phi''=0.
\end{align}

From Eq.~\eqref{eq:eom2}, one has $\phi=ax+b$ where $a$, $b$ are constants. If $a=0$, then from Eq.~\eqref{eq:eom1} we have $W(\phi)=0$. For the model we consider [cf. Eq.~\eqref{eq:model}], $W(\phi)$ vanishes only at infinity, $\phi=\pm\infty$. And in this case, $R=-\mathrm{d} W(\phi)/\mathrm{d} \phi|_{\phi=\pm\infty}\equiv 0$. Therefore, this solution describes the trivial Minkowski spacetime, $A(x)={\rm constant}\neq 0$.

If $a\neq 0$, then one can always let
\begin{align}
\phi=x
\end{align}
after a transformation $(t,x,A)\rightarrow (t/\tilde{a}, \tilde{a}x+\tilde{b},\tilde{a}^2A)$ ($\tilde{a}\neq 0$), which leaves the metric~\eqref{eq:Schwarzschild-ansatz} invariant. In this case, Eq.~\eqref{eq:eom1} reduces to
\begin{align}
\frac{\mathrm{d} A(x)}{\mathrm{d} x}={\rm sech}^2x,
\end{align}
from which one obtains $A(x)=(\tanh x)+c$ with $c$ being a constant. Substituting $A(x)=(\tanh x)+c$ and $A(x)=G(x)$ into Eq.~\eqref{eq:R}, one confirms that $R=2({\rm sech}^2x) \tanh x=-W'(x)$, which vanishes at $|x|\rightarrow\infty$. Thus the above solutions parametrized by $c$ describe asymptotically flat spacetimes. The metric reads
\begin{align}
\label{eq:gravdomainwall}
\mathrm{d} s^2=-(c+\tanh x)\mathrm{d} t^2+\frac{1}{c+\tanh x}\mathrm{d} x^2.
\end{align}
If $c>1$ or $c<-1$, there is no solution for $A(x)=0$ and thus there is no horizon for the spacetime considered. For $c\in (-1,1)$, the horizon is located at a finite distance
\begin{align}
x_h=-{\rm artanh}\, c,
\end{align}
while for $c=-1$ or $c=1$, the horizon is located at $+\infty$ or $-\infty$, respectively. Below we shall consider the case $c\in (-1,1)$.

The coordinate singularity at $x=x_h$ is an event horizon. The region $x>x_h$ corresponds to the static region outside of the horizon while $x<x_h$ the region inside of the horizon which is, however, time dependent. Note that one shall interpret $x$ as the time for $x<x_h$. The metric has no essential singularity so that it describes a novel gravitational structure where there is an event horizon but no geometrical singularity. Because of the kink solution, $c+\tanh x$ in Eq.~\eqref{eq:gravdomainwall}, we refer to this object as gravitational domain wall---the wall is simply the event horizon. The null geodesics for $x>x_h$ are given by
\begin{subequations}
\begin{align}
&t=\frac{c x-\log(c\cosh x+\sinh x)}{-1+c^2}+s,\quad {\rm for\ outgoing\  light\ beams,}\\
&t=-\frac{c x-\log(c\cosh x+\sinh x)}{-1+c^2}+s,\quad {\rm for\ ingoing\  light\ beams},
\end{align}
\end{subequations}
where $s$ is a constant. We plot the null geodesics outside of the horizon for $c=0$ in Fig.~\ref{fig:null}. For the general case, the null geodesics look similar but with the horizon horizontally shifted from $x=0$.

\begin{figure}[H]
\centering
\includegraphics[scale=.6]{null.pdf}
\caption{The null geodesics outside of the gravitational domain wall for $c=0$.}
\label{fig:null}
\end{figure}

\subsection{Coordinate extension}

To see that the wall is indeed an {\it event horizon}, we now do the coordinate extension starting from $x>x_h$. We first introduce the tortoise coordinate for our spacetime
\begin{align}
x_*=\frac{c x-\log(c\cosh x+\sinh x)}{-1+c^2}
\end{align}
so that the metric can be written as
\begin{align}
\mathrm{d} s^2=-(c+\tanh x)\left(\mathrm{d} t^2-\mathrm{d} x_*^2\right).
\end{align}
Note that $x_*\in (-\infty,\infty)$. Further, we introduce the retarded and advanced coordinates $\{u,v\}$ as
\begin{align}
u=t-x_*,\ v=t+x_*,\ -\infty<u, v<\infty.
\end{align}
Based on them we introduce
\begin{align}
U=-\mathrm{e}^{-u/2},\ V=\mathrm{e}^{v/2}.
\end{align}
For now, $U\in(-\infty,0)$, $V\in(0,\infty)$. In terms of the coordinates $\{U,V\}$, the metric can be written as
\begin{align}
\mathrm{d} s^2=-\frac{4\mathrm{e}^{-cx}}{(1-c^2)^2\cosh x}\mathrm{d} V\mathrm{d} U.
\end{align}
Now we can extend the range for $U,V$ to $\mathbb{R}$. One can also write the above metric in a form
\begin{align}
\label{eq:kruskal}
\mathrm{d} s^2=\frac{4\mathrm{e}^{-cx}}{(1-c^2)^2\cosh x}\left(-\mathrm{d} T^2+\mathrm{d} X^2\right)
\end{align}
using the coordinates $T=\frac{1}{2}(V+U)$, $X=\frac{1}{2}(V-U)$. From the coordinate transformations, one has the relation
\begin{align}
\label{eq:relationXTx}
X^2-T^2=\mathrm{e}^{-cx}\left(c\cosh x+\sinh x\right).
\end{align}

\begin{figure}[H]
\centering
\includegraphics[scale=0.32]{Kruskal.pdf}
\caption{The spacetime extended from the $x>x_h$ region in Eq.~\eqref{eq:gravdomainwall}. The hyperbolic curves are given by constant $x$ with $x>x_h$ outside of the horizon and $x<x_h$ inside of the horizon. We identify regions I and II as, respectively, the regions $x>x_h$ and $x<x_h$ in our original spacetime~\eqref{eq:gravdomainwall}.}
\label{fig:kruskal}
\end{figure}

We show the extended spacetime in Fig.~\ref{fig:kruskal}. Region I corresponds to $x>x_h$ where the extension starts while region II represents $x<x_h$ in our original spacetime. Since in the coordinate system $\{T,X\}$ the null geodesics are always at $\pm 45^{\rm o}$ to the vertical, it is clear that no signal can escape from region II to region I. Hence, $x=x_h$ is indeed an event horizon. The spacetime~\eqref{eq:gravdomainwall} thus can be viewed as a black hole {\it without singularity}.\footnote{It seems that one  can instead identify the region $x<0$ as the ``white hole'' region (region IV in Fig.~\ref{fig:kruskal}) in the extended spacetime. We choose the other identification as it may shed new insights on black holes and Hawking radiation.} Our spacetime is certainly different from Rindler spacetime because the Ricci scalar is not trivially vanishing everywhere. In Fig.~\ref{fig:Ricci}, we plot the Ricci scalar as a function of $x$ for $c=0$. The Ricci scalar vanishes at $|x|=\pm\infty$ and the horizon.

\begin{figure}[H]
\centering
\includegraphics[scale=.7]{Ricciscalar.pdf}
\caption{The Ricci scalar for the gravitational domain wall as a function of $x$ for $c=0$. Note that only for $x>0$, $x$ can be interpreted as the spatial coordinate.}
\label{fig:Ricci}
\end{figure}

\section{Thermodynamical properties of the gravitational domain wall}
\label{sec:thermodynamic}

In this section, we will study the thermodynamical properties of the gravitational domain wall through the Euclidean method~\cite{Gibbons:1976ue,Hawking:1982dh,Witten:2020ert}. The Euclidean action is
\begin{align}
\label{eq:Eucaction}
I_b=-\frac{1}{2}\int\mathrm{d}^2 x\sqrt{g}\left[\phi R+W(\phi)\right],
\end{align}
where $x^\mu=\{\tau,x\}$ and all the quantities are Euclidean. The equations of motion remain to be the same as those in Minkowski space [Eqs.~\eqref{eq:eom1} and~\eqref{eq:eom2}]. The only difference is that in Euclidean space we now have $x\geq x_h$. [This can be seen if we perform a Wick rotation on the coordinate $T$ with $T\rightarrow -\mathrm{i}\mathcal{T}$ and we find from Eq.~\eqref{eq:relationXTx} that $x\geq x_h$.] From now on we label $x-x_h$ as $r$. Thus we have $\phi=r+x_h$, $A(r)=c+\tanh (x_h+r)$. Near the horizon,
\begin{align}
A(r)=({\rm sech}^2x_h) r+\mathcal{O}(r^2).
\end{align}
Defining $y=\sqrt{r}$, we have the metric
\begin{align}
\mathrm{d} s^2=\frac{4}{{\rm sech}^2x_h}\left(\mathrm{d} y^2+\frac{({\rm sech^4}x_h)y^2}{4}\mathrm{d}\tau^2\right).
\end{align}
Only if $\tau$ has a period $\beta=4\pi/{\rm sech}^2 x_h$, the conical singularity at $y=0$ disappears. Therefore, we find
\begin{align}
\label{eq:temp}
T_{\rm H}=\frac{1}{\beta}=\frac{{\rm sech}^2 x_h}{4\pi}=\frac{{\rm sech}^2 (-{\rm artanh}\,c)}{4\pi}.
\end{align}
The locally measured temperature is $T_{\rm loc}=T_{\rm H}/(\sqrt{c+\tanh x})$.

To derive the energy and the entropy, we use $Z=\exp(-\beta F)$ where $Z$ is the Euclidean partition function and $F\equiv E-TS$ is the free energy (here $E$ and $S$ denote the energy and the entropy, respectively). Using the semiclassical approximation for the partition function, $Z\approx \exp(-I)$ where $I$ is the total action for the classical background, one therefore arrives at
\begin{align}
\label{eq:IES}
I=\beta E-S.
\end{align}
In the action $I$, the bulk action $I_b$ should be supplemented by the Gibbons-Hawking-York boundary term~\cite{York:1972sj,Gibbons:1976ue} which reads\footnote{For the asymptotically anti-de Sitter spaces, $C=-1$.}
\begin{align}
I_{\rm GHY}=-\int_{r=r_\infty}\mathrm{d} \tau\,\sqrt{h}\phi (K+C)
\end{align}
where $h=A(r_{\infty})=c+1$ is the induced metric at the boundary and $K$ is the extrinsic curvature of the boundary. Here $C$ is a term that depends only on the induced metric $h$ on the boundary but is independent of the metric $g$. In the case of asymptotically flat metrics, it is natural to choose $C$ so that the total action for the flat-space metric $\eta$ vanishes. Then
\begin{align}
I_{\rm GHY}=-\int_{r=r_\infty}\mathrm{d} \tau\,\sqrt{h}\phi [K],
\end{align}
where $[K]$ is the difference of the extrinsic curvature of the boundary in the metric $g$ and the metric $\eta$. For the flat-space metric, $K={1/r_\infty}$, while for the gravitational domain wall, $K=A'(r_{\infty})/(2\sqrt{A(r_\infty)})$. We thus obtain $I_{\rm GHY}=\beta\left(\sqrt{1+c}\right)$. Substituting the solution $A(r)$ into the bulk action one obtains\footnote{Note that there could be ambiguities in identifying $E$ and $S$ through Eq.~\eqref{eq:IES} since $\beta$ could have been substituted for its value in the intermediate steps. To get rid of such ambiguities, one should follow the procedure where $W(\phi)$, which determines the temperature, is taken as a general function. See, e.g., Ref.~\cite{Witten:2020ert}.}
\begin{align}
I_b=-\frac{\beta}{2}\int_{x_h}^{x_\infty}\mathrm{d} x\, (-x A''(x)+{\rm sech}^2x)=-\beta(1+c)-2\pi x_h.
\end{align}
Substituting the obtained $I=I_{\rm GHY}+I_b$ into Eq.~\eqref{eq:IES} and comparing both sides, one obtains
\begin{align}
E=\sqrt{1+c}-(1+c),\quad S=2\pi x_h=2\pi\, {\rm artanh} (-c).
\end{align}
To have a non-negative entropy, we require $c\in(-1,0]$. In this physical parameter region, the energy is also non-negative. Note that when $c=0$, we have $E=S=0$ but we still have a horizon with a nonvanishing temperature.

Before ending this section, we make some comments below. The Hawking temperature has a general expression~\cite{Grumiller:2006rc,Bagchi:2014ava}
\begin{align}
T_{\rm H}=\frac{1}{2\pi}\left|\omega'(\phi)\right|_{\phi=\phi_h},
\end{align}
where
\begin{align}
\omega(\phi)=-\frac{1}{2}\int^{\phi}\mathrm{d} y\, W(y)
\end{align}
and $\phi_h$ is the value for the dilation field at the horizon.
Substituting $W(y)={\rm sech}^2y$ into the above expressions, we obtain the same result as in Eq.~\eqref{eq:temp}. One could also introduce a more general model with the potential $W(\phi)={\rm sech^2}(\phi-\phi_0)$. Then the horizon would be located at $x=\phi=\phi_0-{\rm artanh} c$.

\section{Outlook and discussions}
\label{sec:conclusions}

In this paper, we propose a new 2D dilaton gravity whose action is given by Eq.~\eqref{eq:dilaton-simplified} with $W(\phi)={\lambda^2}{\rm sech^2\phi}$. This theory contains the 2D Minkowski space as its trivial solution. We report the discovery of a new gravitational structure in which there is an event horizon but no singularity. It is observed as a nontrivial solution in the theory we consider which reads
\begin{align}
\mathrm{d} s^2=-(c+\tanh {\lambda}x)\mathrm{d} t^2+\frac{1}{c+\tanh {\lambda}x}\mathrm{d} x^2,
\end{align}
where $c$ is a parameter. To have a physical horizon, $c\in(-1,0]$.
This metric has a coordinate singularity at $x=x_h\equiv {\rm artanh}(-c)$ which can be identified as an event horizon but contains no essential singularity.
Because of the kink profile in the metric, one may therefore refer to such an object as gravitational domain wall with the wall staying at $x_h$. We have studied the causal structure of the gravitational domain wall via coordinate extension and it is confirmed that no signal can escape from the left side of the wall to the right side. Therefore the left side of the wall can be viewed as the interior of a black hole and the right side as the exterior. We have also computed the thermodynamical quantities for the gravitational domain wall. It remains to be investigated whether or not this novel gravitational structure can shed some insights on Hawking radiation and the information paradox.

{Some issues remain to be addressed. In particular, demonstrating that the theory considered here could arise from a higher-dimensional theory would largely improve the physical relevance of the gravitational domain wall. The case $c=0$ is of particular interest because it gives a horizon possessing a nonvanishing temperature but vanishing entropy and energy. It appears to be a bit strange and remains to be understood physically. Further, considering the simplicity of the model, it would be beneficial to consider the coupling to matter fields. As shown in Ref.~\cite{Grumiller:2006ja}, one can integrate out the metric and dilaton fields and obtain a nonlocal effective theory for the matter fields that can be reinterpreted in terms of the exchange of virtual black hole geometries. In view of our model having nonsingular black hole
solutions, the properties of the virtual black hole states could be particularly simple. It would be also interesting to work out the spectrum of the quasinormal modes.  We leave these issues for future work. }

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


Ear piercing is a simple procedure. Risks that may occur only allergy or infection. But be careful if an infection could trigger other diseases can even be in the form of paralysis.
Ear piercing is an ancient civilization that has made human ancestors since 5000 years ago. Children or adults who will perform ear piercing that is undergoing the same procedure until translucent cartilage piercing to the back.
Although the procedure has been well served by not a few people who have an infection due to ear piercing. This infection is a risk yan always appear even if sterile procedures were followed.
This infection can sometimes cause serious illness. As experienced Grace Etherington, ABG age of 15 years this British have suffered paralysis and unable to speak after suffering an infection in her ears are pierced.
Ear infection that has triggered the emergence of a rare disease Guillain-Barre syndrome in the nervous system so that paralyzes the body. Because this syndrome, Grace is only able to communicate through blinking.
Guillain-Barre syndrome is a rare autoimmune disorder that affects the peripheral nervous system. This is usually triggered by a severe infection and causing rapid paralysis, partial or total, starting with a loss of feeling in the feet (numbness) to affect the limbs, face and tendons.
And the worst was a few days after suffering an infection in the ear, Grace was having trouble walking so that her mother rushed her to Mariime Medway Hospital in Kent.
"I was very worried about him. She said could not hold a pencil at school and could not walk. I was really devastated and could not imagine my little girl could only blink for the rest of his life. That's worse than death.
Grace was in a coma for two days and some organs begin paralyzed. Her lungs had collapsed. But after a long treatment appears miracle because he began to realize while before the doctor was not really expecting much.
Grace began to move the fingers and mouth. He slowly began to wiggle his fingers and then try to talk. The words do not come out, but at least he was able to move his mouth. Although difficult to link pierced ears with paralysis, doctors recommend avoiding any kind of infection because the infection can lead to serious illness.
For a safe ear piercing, one must also know the health risks to herself if she suffered from diabetes, high blood pressure, inflammation of the skin which can actually worsen the condition. As reported by eHow, upper ear piercing trend is most often become infected. Piercing the upper ear is not recommended by most doctors.
If infection occurs immediately consult a doctor Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) to be given appropriate antibiotics.
If no infection occurs during the piercing process, people also should be diligent in cleaning the ear and surrounding area. Make sure the area is free of lotion, shampoo or conditioner rest, perfume or dirt in sight.
Ear piercing healing process can last 2-6 weeks then it is diligent to clean the front and back of ear with alcohol or other cleaning solutions.
10 Tanggapan untuk "Pierced Ears Can Trigger Paralysis"
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photographer: Federica Cattaruzzi
Seville Cathedral of Santa Maria della Sede with the Giralda tower, one of the largest Gothic cathedrals in the western world and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987, Seville, Spain, Europe
Seville Cathedral or Church of Santa Maria della Sede with the Giralda tower, one of the largest Gothic cathedrals in the western world and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987, Seville, Spain, Europe
photographer: Fabio Gervasoni
Woman sitting in front of the Taj Mahal, one of the seven wonders of the modern world, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India
Detail of the Taj Mahal facade, one of the seven wonders of the modern world, symbol of eternal love, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India
photographer: Stefano Coltelli
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi with two minarets lighting at twilight, Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, UAE
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi with minaret lighting at twilight, Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, UAE
Entrance of Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in the City of Abu Dhabi at twilight, Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, UAE
Detail of Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in the City of Abu Dhabi at twilight, Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, UAE
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in the City of Abu Dhabi at twilight, Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, UAE
The courtyard of Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi with minaret, Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, UAE
The courtyard of Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi with minaret, Emirate of Abu Dhabi, UAE
The courtyard of Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi with two minarets, Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, UAE
Detail of Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in the City of Abu Dhabi, Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, UAE
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in the City of Abu Dhabi, Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, UAE
photographer: Andrea Pavan
Istanbul skyline seen from the Bosphorus Strait
FVG014211 | RM
The minaret of the Koutoubia Mosque in Marrakech, Morocco
minaret : Images found 25 1
© COPYRIGHT 2018 PATRIZIA MARTIN (P.IVA:01838840930). ALL RIGHT RESERVED
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text:
Q: randomly sample a vector-ARMA model I intend to randomly sample a VARMA model but I cannot seem to see a function in statsmodels for this, I studied the example on the ARMA and can replicate this successfully for a 1 variable.
# for the ARMA
import numpy as np
from statsmodels.tsa.arima_model import ARMA
import statsmodels.api as sm

arparams=np.array([.9,-.7])
maparams=np.array([.5,.8])
ar=np.r_[1,-arparams]
ma=np.r_[1,maparams]
obs=10000
sigma=1

# for the VARMA
import numpy as np
from statsmodels.tsa.statespace.varmax import VARMAX

# generate a a 2-D correlated normal series
mean = [0,0]
cov = [[1,0.9],[0.9,1]]
data = np.random.multivariate_normal(mean,cov,100)

# fit the data into a VARMA model
model = VARMAX(data, order=(1,1)).fit()
`enter code here`
# I cant seem to find a way to randomly sample the VARMA

A: Results objects from fitting a VARMAX model have a simulate method which can be used to generate a random sample. For example:
mod = VARMAX(data, order=(1,1))
res = mod.fit()

# to generate a time series of length 100 following the VARMAX process described by `res`:
sample = res.simulate(100)

This is true of any state space model, including SARIMAX, UnobservedComponents, VARMAX, and DynamicFactor.
(Also, the model class has a simulate method. The main difference is that since model objects don't have associated parameter values, you need to pass a particular parameter vector in that case).

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


HTC, after unveiling the Desire 826 earlier this month at CES 2015, this week launched the handset in China. While the 16GB storage model of the smartphone is priced at CNY 2,299 (roughly Rs. 22,600), the 32GB storage variant costs CNY 2,499 (roughly Rs. 24,500).
The smartphone will be available to buy starting Thursday from the HTC Eshop website. The smartphone's India price and launch dates are still not yet known, though the smartphone is already listed on the company's India site.
The 4G-enabled Desire 826 smartphone will come in two variants (single-SIM and dual-SIM) depending upon the regions. The HTC Desire 826 runs Android 5.0 Lollipop with HTC Sense UI skinned on top and features a 5.5-inch full-HD (1080x1920 pixels) display.
The Desire 826 is powered by an octa-core (four cores at 1.5GHz and four cores at 1.0GHz) 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor alongside Adreno 405 GPU and 2GB of RAM. It sports a 13-megapixel (f/2.2) rear camera with 28mm lens, BSI sensor, and LED flash. The front camera is an 4-UltraPixel shooter. The 16GB/ 32GB of inbuilt storage on Desire 826 is expandable via microSD card (up to 128GB).
Connectivity options on the HTC Desire 826 smartphone include 4G (dual-4G), Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi, GPS/ A-GPS, and Micro-USB. The handset is backed by a 2600mAh battery. The thickness of the smartphone is 7.5mm and it weighs 155 grams. The Desire 826 comes in two-tone colours including White Birch, Blue Lagoon, and Purple Fire.
Meanwhile, HTC on Wednesday in India launched its lower-mid range Desire 526G+ Dual SIM. The smartphone features a 4.7-inch qHD (540x960 pixels) display; a 1.7GHz octa-core processor; 1GB RAM; an 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash; a 2-megapixel front-facing camera; 8GB/ 16GB inbuilt storage which can be expanded via microSD card (up to 32GB), and a 2000mAh battery.


I'm a new student. I enrolled on Tuesday and I will be receiving my course materials today!! I am beyond excited to start this next chapter in my life and my career.
I am a graduate from Paul Smith's College. I have a bachelors and associates degree. Since I was in high school I have wanted to be a wedding and event planner and I cannot wait to finally pursue my dream!
Good luck to everyone taking the course!


Normal topic "Fading" pressure treated fencing??
Normal topic "Straw" is overtaking the front of my property.
Normal topic "Used" cat litter on the garden. Good or bad?
Normal topic advice trimming large arborvitae "hedge"


a moment of concentration, some strong will and a hard morning coffee with the thickness of yoghurt bring me back to the Eldar, which i will write the Article for now. I hope it won't be to chaotic and i am sorry for my english and some maybe not very good photos - i'll try my best to fix it somehow... I have done some better Step by Steps in the past and will do in the future - this is just an impression on how i work, what i think, what i do and not a totally fixed Step by Step Tutorial like you find somewhere else. My main problem is that i am painting a lot from the heart, from my emotions, music and feelings bring to me so it ain't easy to describe that in complete.
Has been done with black primer, after dried, followed by white primer carefully from above to set the light overview for the following painting (i have used here both from GW).
Also i have began to make the base more rusty with pigments. I have used Sepia and Ironoxid pigments for that. Also i put some tiny places of tourquise pigments i got from pastellic chalk on it to repeat the colours of the Eldar in the end and bring base and miniature together.
Additonal to that i have startet to paint parts i want to be metallics in the end and started also the gems with chaos black. I take care to - better i try - to be patient here and try to make this step clean, instead i would have to correct later on. You see metallics have been planned but not done in the final model, haha. Weirdo!
Little white dots on the armour, don't know why the hell i did that, i work on them later on.
Intensed light on the edges with pure white with a really small tip of hawk tourquise.
Started the OSL from the weapons with the airbrush (Bilious green).
Painting all gems black, carefully to not damage the armour colour.
Using Regal blue + black for the lowest part of the gems.
Brought in a bit ice blue in that mix to lighten it up in the middle area of the gem.
Set a strong white point at the place where the light source hits the gem (above mostly).
I have soften the colour transitions in the armour by looking at it carefully where i find a place where to tones (bright and dark) are going to quick into eachother. That often makes not so nice areas. Sure my blendings are not perfect or godlike or something else a lot of great other painters around the world do, but i have taken my time here and did realize that time is needed... but time without passion is ... nah, no Hobby Talk here, haha.
I have went in the middle tone between those too hard transitions with trying to mix the tone in between, then put it there carefully without destroying the areas below. I will write an article sooner or later on how i work with colours and how i apply them for different use.
I brought the lights on the armour next to clear white by mixing in a tip of ice blue and skull white in the last mix of the armour. Always went back to get the thing done with the middle tones. As i can remember this took me most of the time on the model, puh! I have also intensed the shadow parts with a mix of regal blue and chaos black. Same procedure with the middle tones.
The blade has been made with tiny white dots from the lower part and has been glazed with orange there afterwards, while the glazing in the upper part went with purple.
The black parts which have been supposed to be real metallics in the beginning of the paintjob have been made with chaos black and a tip of ice blue, slowly highlighted with bringing in more ice blue and a small tip of white in the end.
Here you can see the final model in different angles - click!
Great tutorial man! Don't worry about your english because it's quite good and understandable.
It always amazes me, how the top painters get such rich and vibrant colours. This fact added to the great way contrasting colours are used to give depth and variation on what could be a very 'flat' mini. These techniques are really the sign of a top painter in my mind, and you have them all.
I am pleased to see though that the techniques you use to get such great results are 'simple'. There is no good painter tricks or secret processes! It seems that the secret is good colour selection and practice really.
Thanks for the hope you give to my english. Sure it is my pleasure to show here that painting never has secrets, either patience and practice... and passion is needed to do so. That's all - i am greatly thankful for your feedback to this tutorial.
Haha! Thank you very much, edgart. That compliment is awesome, can't find words to react on and that doesn't happen very often...thanks for joining!
I know it is a long time after you posted this, but I am just coming back and re-discovering all your fantastic tutorials!
Amazing work, and thankyou for all your time and effort making all these articles and step-by-steps. I think the online painting community is really in your debt!
P.s. I agree, good music is necessary for painting. Almost as important as brushes!
Hi, first let me say thanks for all your great articles and inspiration. I really like this one and wanted to do this step-by-step but...^^. There is no Eldar Autarch model like this. And none of the gw emplayees remembers one like this. So could you tell me where you got it or how the name of this model is?
Hi Roman. This site is such a fantastic resource, I really cannot thank you and the others who contribute enough for all these wonderful tips. I can safely say it has changed my outlook and increased capabilities as a painter in a most positive way.
This tutorial in particular is just full of little gems of help, the colours, the glazing, the little details such as the gem work itself. Its all extremely useful! Thank you!
I also need to add - Stop saying your English is bad! Its better than my German!
I think he looks great, I'm probally gonna use this for my youngbloods entry this year!
Just a little question, (you are probally not reading this but its worth a shot!) what did you do to get that little rust effect on the armor? I noticed it but it doesn't say it in the tutorial!
"scrotched brown + Bestial Brown" what is the mix 50/50?


text:
Entezami (Persian: انتظامی, adjective form of Persian/Arabic انتظام (intiẓām) meaning "discipline", "order") is a Persian surname and may refer to:
 Ali Akbar Entezami (1943–2015), Iranian chemist
 Ezzatolah Entezami (1924–2018), Iranian actor
 Majid Entezami (born 1948), Iranian musician, composer, conductor, and oboist

See also
 Entezam

Persian-language surnames

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


"Nederburg's #TellMyStory campaign, launched in October last year and concluding at the end of January, served as an open platform for consumers to submit their unique stories of how they're doing life their own way to stand a chance to win their share of R200 000," explains Nicola Coubrough, brand manager for Nederburg in South Africa.
As well as popular street artist, Russell Abrahams, in terms of online video clips portraying their unique stories.
"By having showcased our own brand story and those of street artist Russell and Tshepo the JeanMaker, we intended to inspire our consumers to become part of the Nederburg narrative and submit and share their own individual stories via our mobi-site, to stand a chance to win their share of R200 000.
"We also commissioned Russell to create a huge street art mural in Johannesburg's bustling Maboneng district, using 50 of the consumer stories entered into the competition as inspiration. This public piece of art is on display until the end of February.
In addition, we have featured quite a few consumer stories on our social media pages throughout the campaign period. All entrants now stand the chance to win one of ten R20 000 cash prizes towards the next chapter of their story. These winners will be announced during February," Coubrough says.
To conclude the campaign, the cash prize winners, and their chosen partners, are all being treated to a unique dinner experience hosted by the brand together with well-known South African chef, Zola Nene, in Johannesburg and Cape Town during March.
"We're doing so to celebrate our winners as well as to highlight Nederburg's sponsorship of Zola Nene's latest television series, Celeb Feasts with Zola. The 13-episode show is currently being broadcast on DStv's Mzansi Magic channel.
"We are pleased to have received hundreds of #TellMyStory entries over the three-month campaign period and look forward to rewarding our winners for their participation," Coubrough concludes.


From airport: Bear left on W Airport Drive. Continue on Ramp. Continue on W Airport Drive. Bear Right on W Sunset Hwy. Continue on I-90 East. Exit I-90 on Maple / Monroe Exit, stay in left lane on ramp. Proceed East past light on ASH to the next light on Maple. Take a left on Maple, get in far right lane, proceed North approx 2 blocks to 3rd Avenue. Take a Right on 3rd and get in far left lane. Proceed East for approx 9 blocks to Wall Street. Turn left on Wall Street. Continue North on Wall Street approx 5 blocks to Riverside. We are in the "Bank Of America Building" on the corner of Wall Street and Riverside, on the 17th Floor.


text:
What a talker!
Josiah has become quite the talker! It's so cute. I just love hearing his little phrases. All this is since December, when we saw my family at Christmas and he only had a small handful of words. Here are a few notable ones:
"Wha choo doin'?"
"Whassat?" (He asks this about EVERYTHING.)
"Wha matter?" (I came into the living room to find Analise engaged in
an intricate play set up with all her people and a little drama going
on. Right next to her, Josiah had 2 little Care Bears, playing on his
own, making one say this to another. So sweet! These parallel play
moments between the two of them have been rare, but they are becoming a
little more frequent.) Just tonight, Analise is spending the night at her grandparents, and I overheard Josiah playing with the little bears and people all lined up on the bookshelf. He said, "Wha matter, Do-a? Wha matter?" And then later, "Where's Do-a?" When I brought Dora up to the party, he said, "There you are!" Which is so comical, because he says, "There you are!" to any where question. For example, Where's Josiah? "There you are!" Maybe because we say, "There you are!" Or Where's my belly button? "There you are!"
When a movie ends, like tonight in the car as we were picking up Brian, he'll say, "Staht it!" I'm working on adding "please" to this phrase.
Tonight he came up to me with a stem from the grapes that had been on the counter. "Eh-ty!" (Empty! Who'd have thought to call it empty?0
"Yeaaah!" and "Oooooo yeaaahhh!" He's so responsive with these, too.
Like, "Josiah, do you want some cheese!" "Yeah!" and he gets all
excited, and when he gets the cheese, he'll say, "Oooooo yeahhhh".
"Oh, maaan" So funny.
And "Where going?"
Analise is doing a lot of letter recognition, so we're often spelling things, talking about letters, pointing letters out. Josiah loves to spout out his letters, "S-T-M-A-A-A" (We hear a lot of A's because that's Analise's favorite letter, of course because it's the most important in her name.) He can very nearly spell her name, too, which goes something like this: "A-S-E-L-A!"
He's also picking up counting very quickly. He prefers the even numbers, though. When I start counting something for Analise, like bites of food she's to take until she's done, I'll say, "One…" and he'll chime in, "Toooo". When we say 3, he'll say, "Fo. Five, "Si", Seven, "Eh", Nine, "Te!"
I know there are more, but I've had this blog open all day, so I'd better post it before it gets saved and forgotten 🙂 I'll have to come back with some more.
She can always make me laugh!
Analise is such a chatterbox. She's always got something to say, and sometimes I just wonder where it all comes from!
This morning, she hurt her finger playing and came crying to me. I washed it off and suggested a band-aid. The last time she had a band-aid was after 3-days of antibiotic shots for an ear infection last January. It was traumatizing. I think band-aids remind her of that, and to top it off, taking the band-aids off was painful enough that she doesn't associate band-aids with any kind of feeling better. So of course, when I suggested that a band-aid would keep her cut clean and make it feel better, she didn't believe me and cried even harder. She just preferred to hold her wound, keeping it covered with her hand.
As I put her in the car to take her to school, she told me she didn't think she could play because she needed to hold her boo-boo. I told her, "Miss Brenda is going to ask why your Mommy didn't put a band-aid on it. What are you going to tell her?"
"I'll tell her the boo-boo didn't want a band-aid."
"But wait… I just heard the boo-boo say it needed a band-aid to keep it covered."
Analise in a high squeaky voice, making her hand talk, "No, no! I don't want a band-aid! I'm fine!"
Then when we got to school, the school "principal", Miss June, opened the door to get Analise out and said, "Good morning!" Analise didn't say anything. Miss June said, "You're not going to talk to me this morning?" Analise said, "Shhh… my boo-boo is sleeping!"
Miss June got her out of the car and said, "I hope your boo-boo feels better." And as Analise sauntered in to school, I heard her say, "It'll feel better when I grow up."
What happens when Mom's had it?
You get an evening like tonight…
I had dinner all planned out. Brian was going to be gone for a weekly training ride. But as I was cleaning up the kitchen to start dinner, the drain started backing up on one side of the sink, and when I rain the disposal, it came up the other side. ARG. I tried to plunge it but splattered junk all over. Brian came rushing in bc he'd had a bike problem he needed to fix and wanted to fill his water bottle. I was looking for something in the cupboards under the bar area of the kitchen, and came up to CRACK my head really hard on the corner of the counter. OUCH. It was the final straw and I broke into tears. Analise HATES to see me cry.
I scrapped dinner plans, loaded A& J into the car for a $5 Little Caesar's Hot & Ready Pizza and breadsticks. We spread out a blanket in the driveway and had a picnic. The kids played outside for an hour and a half until it got too chilly as the sun was setting, and I cleaned out the car. Whew… am I glad the evening turned around!
The house is still a mess as we're unpacking from a whirlwind trip to Indiana for Easter with my family. It was a nice visit, but way too short with family (um, 36 hours including sleeping) and way too long in the car (24 hours!!!). Brian is amazing for driving nearly the whole trip, largely at night, and the kids were troopers to be tied into their seats for so long. We're so lucky to have such good travelers!
I've made 2 more loaves of bread! This is becoming a delicious, healthy new habit! The current recipe of choice is a yummy honey wheat oatmeal bread. Brian's eating lots of PB&J sandwiches 🙂
Ok, enough rambling. I've got to get the kitchen cleaned up so it's ready for all that tomorrow has to offer.
What's Cooking…. Outrageous Chocolate Cookies
Courtesy of Martha Stewart… these cookies live up to their name!!
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chunks
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat chopped chocolate and butter in
a microwave-safe bowl in 20-second increments, stirring in between,
until almost melted; do not overheat. In another bowl, whisk together
flour, baking powder, and salt.
In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla on high
speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; beat in melted
chocolate. Mix in flour mixture until just combined. Stir in chocolate
chunks.
Drop heaping tablespoons of dough 2 to 3 inches apart onto baking
sheets. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are shiny
and crackly yet soft in centers, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on sheets 10
minutes; with a thin metal spatula, transfer to racks to cool
completely.
***My notes: 1- I used chocolate chips to melt, and then let the melted mixture cool a bit before adding it to the batter. 2- I mixed the egg/sugar/vanilla mixture for quite a while, maybe 4 min? and it definitely got lighter, though not so "fluffy". After adding everything, the batter still seemed runny, so I added an additional 1/3 c or so of flour, and chilled the mixture for 15 min before dropping it onto the pan. They were PERFECT. Very much like little brownie cookies!
Final haircut pictures and eggs!
Humor me, as I watch my baby boy grow up 🙂 He's so cute… I love his new haircut and all the soft neck I have to snuggle when we're reading and I'm carrying him to bed.
Analise and I colored eggs this afternoon, while Josiah played with a couple bowls of water and some plastic eggs. Oh, and a granola bar. That's what he had the most fun with in the water. He dissolved it into little grain pieces, and called, "Mo water!"
We started out with a pretty swirly coloring kit, but it didn't work well. Analise was more than happy to use her watercolors and paint away. So glad she doesn't need much crafting extravagance to keep her happy! She was so serious, she spared me one tiny smile as I tried to duly document the memories… Oh, and you can see that her hair is quite a bit shorter (maybe 3 inches), but it's kind of scraggly because this was right after naptime.
J's first haircut
I feel like this was the end of my baby boy 🙁 It was so bittersweet. But I'm always one for a deal, and though I wasn't ready for his first haircut, a local salon was having a grand-opening special with $1/year of age haircuts for kids. Can't pass that up! Besides, his sweet little strawberry blond hair didn't look too bad from the front, but he had a little tail in the back. I kept hoping it would curl, but it never did. *sigh* Brian's mom didn't cut his white-blond baby soft curls until he was 3! I guess 21 months is older than most boys for a first haircut…
Ok, I didn't get the final haircut picture, but you can see his little curls
(which are only there when his hair has been wet), and his soft, clean baby neck.
Um, he's sorting through Analise's hairclips and bows to find the right one to match his Elmo pj's. 🙂
I'll post a picture tomorrow of my handsome little man. He looks like such a big boy! Very clean cut!
A Glimpse of spring
Loafing :)
I made my first loaf of bread today! Well, technically not first, since I make Tastefully Simple's Bountiful Beer Bread all the time (I sell it, by the way!!). It's delicious. But I've had this bread machine sitting in my cupboard, and it only gets used for pizza dough. I saw this great recipe online, and thought it looked easy enough, and I'm craving carbs, so I tackled it as today's adventure.
I thought bread-making was a bit of an exact science, but I guess not… I didn't have 1 full T of yeast, more like 2/3. But it rose well, and it tastes FABULOUS. Super easy! Dump it all in my bread machine, turn on the 1.5hr dough cycle, take it out, form it into a loaf, put it in a greased pan, let it rise (on top of my oven, set at the lowest heat) for 45 min or so, and bake for 32 min. Oooo man, I love me some homemade bread. This is going to be a regular happening in the Toone house!
My little chocolate covered rugrat (and tooth update!)
Josiah story for the day: On the way to preschool, Analise was munching on a
chocolate chip granola bar (Simple Harvest brand – so yummy and good
for you!). When she had to get out, she handed it to J, who finished it
on the way to the grocery store. When I went to pull him out, I found
he was smeared in melted chocolate chips. What a mess. So I cleaned him
(sidenote: just cleaned him up a little, really, bc somehow I don't
care. When did I get to be like that?
mostly I think, well, he's a boy, he's going to be a mess! Besides the fact that he hates me to clean him up.). So in the
store, he got grumpy bc we weren't heading to the bakery quick enough,
where he gets a free cookie, and I get 20 minutes of uniterrupted
shopping, until he finishes it or drops it, at which point he starts
grabbing things off the shelves… So 3/4 of the way through the store,
after he's already tried to convince me (unsuccessfully) to give him some strawberries,
we're browsing the cheese section, and he's frantic for cheese (my
sweet little Wisconsin-blooded boy!!). So I got a package of string
cheese, and gave him a piece (which I was going to get anyway, I
think). That placated him until we were in the checkout line. Where,
unbeknownst to me as I'm moving groceries to the conveyer belt, he's grabbed a Reduced Fat 3
Musketeers MINT bar, gotten it open, and started chowing down Little bugger. 75cents of my coupon savings down the drain So by the time we got to the car, he's got chocolate everywhere. My little chocolate covered rugrat.
And the story from yesterday: I made chocolate chip muffins for breakfast. We all enjoyed one. Later J comes wandering out of the kitchen munching on a muffin. I'm
thinking, hmm… he got himself a muffin… it couldn't have been that easy… Sure enough, I find the stool up to the counter, and the tops
are torn off 5 muffins, before he decided on the one he picked. Silly boy. And now they're all contaminated from his snotty hands.
is ok. Drippy sick, grumpy bc her teeth hurt to suck her thumb. But the
dentist said the x-ray looked fine, and now we just wait. The teeth
could still die or abcess, but at least we know there's no fracture in
the root. She was pretty good. We actually have a regular dentist appointment for a cleaning and checkup in April, so hopefully nothing happens between now and then.
Wiggly baby teeth!
There's always something, isn't there? Analise just stumbled and bumped
her 2 front teeth floor. Blood, tears, wiggly teeth… enough to make
this mom panic. I called her pediatric dentist, hoping he'd say it was
no biggie if they hadn't fallen out
But he offered to see her ASAP or tomorrow for an x-ray. Analise was
frantic at the thought of seeing the dentist, so we'll go tomorrow.
Hopefully the little wiggle will tighten up, though they're still
seeping blood around the top an hour later. I hope she's not following in the footsteps of her Daddy whose front 2 teeth are both capped.
I'm sure no one has noticed the lack of thumbnail pictures on the front page, but it's a sign of how hard Brian's been working. He's swamped with school, directing the Science Olympiad which happens later this month, preparing a presentation for a conference next week, and designing a new website and business he's hoping to roll out soon. He's so excited about it, and aside from working, he's spending all his extra hours programming and tweaking. Here's a glimpse…


After a widely celebrated end to 2016, the Golden Globes are a highly anticipated jump-start to not just a new year, but also the 2017 Awards Season. On the red carpet last night, the prevailing trend came in the form of gowns adorned with gold and silver sequins. Perhaps in a desire to cling to the last of the celebratory holiday season, or as a beacon of hope in an unknown new era, several stars picked glimmering gowns.
Drew Barrymore's whimsical Monique L'huillier dress had angelic off-the-shoulder wing sleeves.
Marchesa's high-neck, belted and tiered metallic gown accentuated Chrissy Teigen's figure.
Emma Stone was a contender for best dressed in this pale Valentino gown embellished with -what else?- stars!
Alexander McQueen's feather-hem gown has a stunning sequin pattern that creates the look of an ocean's wave on this gorgeous gown. The rock-star wrist embellishments add a cool edge but the puff sleeves might be best left for runway presentation.
Ruth Negga is one of my favorite new red carpet ingenues. Her custom silver Vuitton gave off elevated athleisure cool on the bodice with a crew neck and mid-arm sleeves.
Marc Jacobs designed a sparkling, open-back gown with long sleeves that matched perfectly with the Golden Globe statue that Sarah Paulson won!
My favorite, best-dressed of the night went to Thandie Newton, who took the sequin motif and turned it on it's head! Instead of an embellished bodice or choker, or allover pattern, she chose a stark white, off-the-shoulder Monse dress dripped in sparkling copper at the base. Paired with a reverse drop Harry Winston diamond necklace, she exemplified how to take the sequin trend to a bold new level.
Sequins can go beyond just the holiday season and can add a statement to any outfit. Do these looks inspire you to embolden your next night out with some sparkle?