Web Statistics An Atom of Meaning


  1. thedailywhat:

    Coming Soon of the Day: Neil Degrasse Tyson Will Host the Sequel of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos

    Though it’s been quietly in the works since 2011, Fox has officially confirmed that Carl Sagan’s monumental 1970 sci-ed miniseries Cosmos: A Personal Voyage will be getting an updated sequel next year, which will consist of 13 episodes produced by Family Guy’s Seth MacFarlane and hosted by one of the Internet’s most celebrated astrophysicists, Neil Degrasse Tyson. Fox is hoping the show will have as much as of cultural impact as Carl Sagan’s original series, which still remains one of the most watched PBS series in the world to this day.

    (Image by Richard Davies)

     

  2. l-i-p-l-o-c-k-e-d:

    burnettehairbitch:

    vib-e:

    optiimism:

    shekillswithkissesxo:

    californify:

    conveys:

    create-rainbows:

    If I was brave.. I would possibly get this tattooed on me. 

    O M G WHAT

    Finally, I see this on my dash again. Thank you. Obsessed.

    would get the third paragraph tattooed

    Same here

    I love the writer

    im a waffle then

    Favorite poem.

    (Source: praises, via historysays)

     

  3. suicideblonde:

    Angelina Jolie on why she had a double mastectomy, and how it can save lives

    My mother fought cancer for almost a decade and died at 56. She held out long enough to meet the first of her grandchildren and to hold them in her arms. But my other children will never have the chance to know her and experience how loving and gracious she was.

    We often speak of “Mommy’s mommy,” and I find myself trying to explain the illness that took her away from us. They have asked if the same could happen to me. I have always told them not to worry, but the truth is I carry a “faulty” gene, BRCA1, which sharply increases my risk of developing breast cancer and ovarian cancer.

    My doctors estimated that I had an 87 percent risk of breast cancer and a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer, although the risk is different in the case of each woman.

    Only a fraction of breast cancers result from an inherited gene mutation. Those with a defect in BRCA1 have a 65 percent risk of getting it, on average.

    Once I knew that this was my reality, I decided to be proactive and to minimize the risk as much I could. I made a decision to have a preventive double mastectomy. I started with the breasts, as my risk of breast cancer is higher than my risk of ovarian cancer, and the surgery is more complex.

    On April 27, I finished the three months of medical procedures that the mastectomies involved. During that time I have been able to keep this private and to carry on with my work.

    But I am writing about it now because I hope that other women can benefit from my experience. Cancer is still a word that strikes fear into people’s hearts, producing a deep sense of powerlessness. But today it is possible to find out through a blood test whether you are highly susceptible to breast and ovarian cancer, and then take action.

    My own process began on Feb. 2 with a procedure known as a “nipple delay,” which rules out disease in the breast ducts behind the nipple and draws extra blood flow to the area. This causes some pain and a lot of bruising, but it increases the chance of saving the nipple.

    Two weeks later I had the major surgery, where the breast tissue is removed and temporary fillers are put in place. The operation can take eight hours. You wake up with drain tubes and expanders in your breasts. It does feel like a scene out of a science-fiction film. But days after surgery you can be back to a normal life.

    Nine weeks later, the final surgery is completed with the reconstruction of the breasts with an implant. There have been many advances in this procedure in the last few years, and the results can be beautiful.

    I wanted to write this to tell other women that the decision to have a mastectomy was not easy. But it is one I am very happy that I made. My chances of developing breast cancer have dropped from 87 percent to under 5 percent. I can tell my children that they don’t need to fear they will lose me to breast cancer.

    It is reassuring that they see nothing that makes them uncomfortable. They can see my small scars and that’s it. Everything else is just Mommy, the same as she always was. And they know that I love them and will do anything to be with them as long as I can. On a personal note, I do not feel any less of a woman. I feel empowered that I made a strong choice that in no way diminishes my femininity.

    I am fortunate to have a partner, Brad Pitt, who is so loving and supportive. So to anyone who has a wife or girlfriend going through this, know that you are a very important part of the transition. Brad was at the Pink Lotus Breast Center, where I was treated, for every minute of the surgeries. We managed to find moments to laugh together. We knew this was the right thing to do for our family and that it would bring us closer. And it has.

    For any woman reading this, I hope it helps you to know you have options. I want to encourage every woman, especially if you have a family history of breast or ovarian cancer, to seek out the information and medical experts who can help you through this aspect of your life, and to make your own informed choices.

    I acknowledge that there are many wonderful holistic doctors working on alternatives to surgery. My own regimen will be posted in due course on the Web site of the Pink Lotus Breast Center. I hope that this will be helpful to other women.

    Breast cancer alone kills some 458,000 people each year, according to the World Health Organization, mainly in low- and middle-income countries. It has got to be a priority to ensure that more women can access gene testing and lifesaving preventive treatment, whatever their means and background, wherever they live. The cost of testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2, at more than $3,000 in the United States, remains an obstacle for many women.

    I choose not to keep my story private because there are many women who do not know that they might be living under the shadow of cancer. It is my hope that they, too, will be able to get gene tested, and that if they have a high risk they, too, will know that they have strong options.

    Life comes with many challenges. The ones that should not scare us are the ones we can take on and take control of.

    (via uhhleeese)

     

  4. spacecricket:

    Hyperbole and a Half posted again, and everyone needs to read it because:

    • If you are depressed, it will resonate with you like whoa.
    • If you are not depressed, it will clarify some stereotypes about depression that need to be said. An explanation like this has been needed for a LONG time.
    • If you know someone who is depressed, you’ll be better at interacting with them after reading this.

    (via lovelessramblings)

     

  5.  

  6. lickypickystickyme:

    If grandmothers around the world had a rallying cry, it would probably sound something like “You need to eat!”

    Photographer Gabriele Galimberti’s grandmother said something similar to him before one of his many globetrotting work trips. To ensure he had at least one good meal, she prepared for him a dish of ravioli before he departed on one of his adventures.  

    “In that occasion I said to my grandma ‘You know, Grandma, there are many other grandmas around the world and most of them are really good cooks,” Galimberti wrote via email. “I’m going to meet them and ask them to cook for me so I can show you that you don’t have to be worried for me and the food that I will eat!’ This is the way my project was born!”

    The project, “Delicatessen With Love”, took Galimberti to 58 countries where he photographed grandmothers with both the ingredients and finished signature dishes.

    He acted as photographer and stylist during each shoot with the grandmothers, taking a portrait of both the women and the food they made for him.

    From top to bottom: 

    Inara Runtule, 68, Kekava, Latvia. Silke €(herring with potatoes and cottage cheese).

    Grace Estibero, 82, Mumbai, India. Chicken vindaloo.

    Susann Soresen, 81, Homer, Alaska. Moose steak.

    Serette Charles, 63, Saint-Jean du Sud, Haiti. Lambi in creole sauce.

    The photographer’s grandmother Marisa Batini, 80, Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy. Swiss chard and ricotta Ravioli with meat sauce.

    Normita Sambu Arap, 65, Oltepessi (Masaai Mara), Kenya. Mboga and orgali (white corn polenta with vegetables and goat).

    Julia Enaigua, 71, La Paz, Bolivia. Queso Humacha (vegetables and fresh cheese soup).

    Fifi Makhmer, 62, Cairo, Egypt. Kuoshry (pasta, rice and legumes pie).

    Isolina Perez De Vargas, 83, Mendoza, Argentina. Asado criollo (mixed meats barbecue).

    Bisrat Melake, 60, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Enjera with curry and vegetables.

    (via greeneyes09)

     

  7. awkwardsituationist:

    “world of averages” - composite images culled from thousands of individual portraits resulting in symmetrical average faces

    (via taaylow)

     

  8. shownspencer:

    I can fix that.

    (via neutralsoymilkhotel)

     


  9. simfected:

    wearesorryfortheinconvenience:

    today i said to my friend “i haven’t had a go-gurt in a really long time” AND HE LOOKED REALLY LOST?? AND I EXPLAINED TO HIM WHAT A GO-GURT WAS AND HE SAID “OH IN CANADA WE CALL THOSE TUBES”

    TUBE S image

    BUT ITS YOGURT ON THE GO

    CANADA IM SO S ICK OF UR SHIT

    …we call them frubes in the UK

    (via laughlikea)

     


  10. sunshinegames:

    Today I helped a family new to the United States get library cards. After giving them the rundown on what a library membership means, I showed the kids the children’s area. The mother told them they could each check out two books. The smallest child, a girl of seven, picked…

     

  11. laughlikea:

    thegoddamazon:

    keepmyheaduphigh:

    pleatedjeans:

    24 Parents Who Are Doing it Right

    I want my husband to be a great father!!!

    I don’t know why, but I love seeing fathers being…well…fathers to their daughters, considering how little of my childhood I spent with mine.

    so beautiful

     

  12.  

  13. Diane Sawyer: So, have you thought, how many women is enough? How many women [on the Supreme Court] would be enough?

    Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Nine, nine. [Applause.]
    Sawyer: Oh! Oh. [Laughs.]
    Ginsburg: Well, there’ve been nine men there for a long long time, right? So why not nine women?

    (x)

    (Source: gaypocalypse, via greeneyes09)

     

  14. truthandglory:

    No matter who you are, you fucking wave at a toddler saying “bye”

    (via katemspie)

     

  15. whileieat:

    sfmoma:

    SUBMISSION:

    This is my 89-year-old landlady lip-syncing her favorite song.

    For your daily dose of videos follow While I Eat

    (via gthegentleman)