Like you, I don't own makeup, dresses, or heals, and I don't need to wear a bra to prevent back pain. But I define femininity a little differently. Sure, some people may mistake it for physical attributes, but I think femininity is making a hearth where friends and family can congregate, caring for someone's needs the way only a woman can, excercising both gentleness and strength and having the versality to swiftly switch between each. Femininity is a beautiful blend of confidence and humility, resilience and integrity, light and love.
In November of last year, I was diagnosed with superior mesenteric artery syndrome after a magnetic resonance enterography scan showed profound gastric and duodenal dilation and narrowing of the caliber where the duodenum crosses the SMA. But my gastric emptying studies and barium continous x-ray series were largely unremarkable. Nonetheless, my physicians stuck to their original SMAS diagnosis and decided to perform surgery, despite my doubts and objections.
Personal Update
Over a year has passed since the last installment of this newsletter. I’ll briefly explain my absence. Many months of COVID long hauling beginning in early April 2020 triggered lung scarring, low blood oxygen levels, dysautonomia, kidney swelling, gastrointestinal bleeding, and worsening cystitis pain.
Shortly before Thanksgiving last year, I was diagnosed with a rare obstructive GI disorder and underwent an excruciating abdominal surgery that unfortunately only made matters worse. …
An introduction to microbial landscapes, relationships, & terminology
In honor of World Microbiome Day 2021, let’s take some time to appreciate the fascinating world of microbes and our ongoing efforts to study and characterize them. Microbes offer a vast array of utility applications, including but not limited to fermentation, agriculture, bioremediation, and maintenance of human health.
“Man himself has emerged from a line descent that began with microbial life, a line common to all plant and animal species…{he} is dependent not only on other human beings and on the physical world but also on other creatures — animals, plants, microbes — that have evolved together with him. …
To lead a life of necessity but not luxury
To have food in your belly yet reject gluttony
To wear humility on your back
And fiery passion on your sleeve
To grind and toil until your knuckles bleed
To come home everyday with torn up knees
To glide by carefree and creative
Utterly indifferent to illusion or pretension
To shrug at self doubt and plow ahead
To stand in your own and take a stand
To be ‘naive’ and believe in meaning
Facing the crowd, hands and breath trembling
To sow seeds of sorrow for a brighter tomorrow
And rest…
QUICK QUESTION / MICROBIOLOGY
Most microbes exist along a spectrum sliding from pathogen to commensal. “Pathogenicity” and “virulence” are terms that are often used interchangeably but have different meanings in regards to bacterial traits.
In 1999, Casadevall and Pirofski clarified that pathogenicity can be defined as the capacity of a microbe to cause damage in a host while virulence refers to the degree of damage caused by the microbe.
Tulane University offers the following distinction:
- Pathogenicity refers to the genetic innate ability, which commensals and opportunistic pathogens lack, of an organism to cause overt disease or harm the host.
- Virulence refers to the degree…
Glad to know I'm not the only one who thinks this way. I've never had much taste for jewelry or material possessions and tend to be more pragmatic about expenses. I prefer to invest in experiences rather than things. Like you said, tangibles do not a relationship make.
Maybe you just haven’t identified your triggers yet
What Is ASMR?
ASMR, or autonomous sensory meridian response, refers to the calming, relaxing sensation that some individuals experience in response to certain audio, visual, or tactile stimuli. Scientific American describes the ASMR experience “as a pleasantly warm and tingling sensation that starts on the scalp and moves down the neck and spine.”
ASMR can be experienced in response to different “triggers,” which can span a wide range of sounds, modalities, and intensities. Whispering, tapping, hand movements, head massages, and turning the pages of a book are a few common ones. Some individuals report having had experienced the sensation whenever the school nurse…
While I appreciate your suggestion to ease into lifestyle changes more gradually, I cannot support the idea that intermittent fasting is disordered eating. As Lorrae G. mentions, we are well equipped to handle fasting, as it has been a part of the vast majority of our species' existence. Certain metabolic switches and repair processes such as autophagy are only triggered in the fasting state, suggesting that fasting is necessary for maintenance of proper metabolic health.
Pursuing intermittent fasting solely for the purpose of weight loss is shortsighted, as IF offers numerous health benefits even in the absence of weight loss…
I think artists face considerable challenges when adressing protest through speech or song. The other day, I was watching a documentary about J Balvin called The Boy from Medellín, which portrayed José's internal struggles regarding stances on political issues and how to properly address the protests across Colombia during the colloquially-termed Latin American Spring.
Nina Simone's song "Four Women" and Richard Wright's novel Native Son were perceived as racist by the Black community for perpetuating harmful stereotypes, despite the creators' intentions to educate white audiences and highlight injustices in society.
I do think the protests during the pandemic spawned the…
