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Introducing the ultrahuman makeover.
Judith Campisi, Calvin Harley, Cynthia Kenyon, and Gregory Stock are sitting onstage in a campus theater at UC Berkeley, looking a little shell-shocked. All four are big-time researchers studying various aspects of aging: Campisi is a cell biologist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Harley is a cell biologist and chief scientific officer at Geron Corporation, Kenyon is a geneticist at UC San Francisco, and Stock directs the Program on Science, Technology, and Society at UCLA. They're not the types to brag about the implications of their work. But this event - Extro 4, the fourth confab of the Extropy Institute - is all about big-noise pronouncements, and the volume is drowning out the panel's scientific modesty.
The Extropians, of course, are techno-believers with boundless faith in science's power to amp up human potential. Extro 4 is devoted to their favorite topics: life extension, and the utopian future they believe will come about thanks to 21st-century advances in genetic engineering, biochemistry, and medical technology. A little later, the scientists will hear the Extropy Institute's founder, a chiseled, ponytailed philosophy PhD named Max More, confidently declare, "This is the fourth revolution in our history - the ultrahuman revolution." They'll also hear More's wife, an artist and bodybuilder named Natasha Vita-More, sketch out a future in which people will enjoy multiple sex organs, polymer skin that changes color like a mood ring, and virtual reality eyeball implants.
But right now the researchers are getting an earful from another Extropian, Robert Bradbury, a Harvard dropout and failed biotech entrepreneur. He provokes an awkward moment by addressing the panelists as fellow warriors in a crusade against anyone who doubts the possibility (or wisdom) of vastly increased human longevity.
"We have to deal with human naturalists," he says, "those people who think it is nonhuman to live 200 years, or the religious deathists, who have a significant amount of power by having the key to the Pearly Gates, so to speak, and the limits-to-growth camp, and, of course, the bureaucratic fearmongers like the Social Security Administration!" He looks at the scientists. "I realize most of the panel are not sociologists. Maybe Greg would like to comment."
Campisi tries to stifle a smirk. Harley's shoulders slump. Stock shifts in his chair and gets ready to say something. Here they sit, an all-star group, facing an organization founded by life-extension zealots who met at one of Timothy Leary's parties - and they've suddenly become "we." It's as if four Catholic bishops found themselves in a nude, sweaty scrum with a roomful of Larry Flynts.
• Extropy Institute www.extropy.com
• The Life Extension Foundation www.lef.org
• Human Genome Sciences www.humangenomesciences.com
• Geron www.geron.com
• National Biocomputation Center biocomp.stanford.edu
But the scientists did show up, a visible acknowledgment that Extropian rhetoric isn't nearly as wild as it sounds. For years the research establishment has treated efforts to lengthen the maximum human life span as a kind of science porn. That's changing: In recent months, it has become obvious that many scientists and research corporations are taking longevity research seriously enough to make hefty investments in it.
Life extension remains a touchy topic, though. Few legitimate scientists will publicly advocate it; government grants still don't flow to it. As enthusiastic amateurs, the Extropians can afford to be loud - but in the mainstream, reflexive condemnation is more often the rule. In his 1999 book on aging, Time of Our Lives, British gerontologist Tom Kirkwood dismisses as "contemptible" scientists who "tout their advances as heralding 200-year human life spans coming soon, or who condone journalists who hint at this."
"When people apply for funding to the National Institute on Aging, they are exceptionally careful not to bring up life-span extension," says Richard Miller, a University of Michigan gerontologist. "It is forbidden. They talk about specific diseases and preserving health and 'successful aging.' That is what's politically clever."
Uneasy though the Extro 4 panelists might be, the gap between the two sides is narrowing. The Extropians know it. The scientists know it. Gregory Stock especially seems to know it. Looking reluctant at first, he responds to Bradbury's monologue. To the Extropians' delight, he agrees with Bradbury. It's true, he says. Life extension is coming. In time the opposition will be outweighed by the sheer numbers of people willing to pay for a future of increased longevity.
And they will have something worth paying for. Because, Stock says, "we are at the point of remaking human biology."
Scientists have long regarded the human life span as relatively fixed. Currently, the maximum is 122 years, the age at which Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment, the longest-lived human for whom reliable records exist, died in 1997.
In the 20th century, doctors and researchers have focused mainly on expanding the average life expectancy, succeeding dramatically in the developed world - adding 30 years in the United States, for instance. Today, as a result of antibiotics, vaccines, public sanitation, and preventive medicine, so many centenarians are puttering around that Willard Scott would have to say happy birthday to about 200 a day just to keep up.
Until recently, it was assumed that these oldsters were simply edging closer to a set-in-stone life-span limit. But these days, a growing number of scientists agree that humans are poised for a breakthrough in longevity and what might be called "human repairability" - a new era that will not only raise the maximum age, but also deliver unimaginable new methods for preserving and even redesigning our own bodies. The scientific stigma is disappearing.
Just ask Michael Rose, a UC Irvine evolutionary biologist who has spent more than 10 years studying fruit-fly genetics, helping the flies more than double their previous life span. "I am now working on immortality," Rose says flatly. "It is an Einsteinian revolution compared with what we used to do."
Rose knows how jarring this sounds, even when he adds the caveat that immortality is generations away. "Twenty years ago the idea of postponing aging was weird and off-the-wall," he says. "Who gives a fuck what people consider flaky! If it's the truth, it's the truth, goddamn it, and I don't care if it is more than people want to hear."
Life extension is no longer shocking - researchers have achieved it regularly with lab animals, including mammals. In fact, it has occurred routinely since 1935, when rodents fed very-low-calorie diets started to outlive their chubby colleagues. Why this works remains unknown, but new research breakthroughs make it possible to consider aging seriously as a solvable problem. The solutions are not here yet, but they're close enough so a payoff is imaginable - and payoffs are what drive research. Rose argues that whoever harnesses life-extension technology first will reap the greatest economic reward in human history - not just on a Microsoft scale, but on the scale of the entire information age.
Already, a scientific land rush is under way. It focuses on three broad areas: the genetics of aging, techniques to immortalize cells and tissues, and exploitation of the basic modeling clay of our bodies - pluripotent stem cells.
The science underlying this scramble is becoming more solid every day. Life extension has been engineered in every lab animal that researchers have tinkered with: yeast, the nematode worm C. elegans, fruit flies, and mice. The techniques have varied. Michael Rose bred longer-living flies. Other researchers tweaked mice on the Weight Watchers plan, feeding them calorie-restricted diets that may have switched on still-mysterious genetic anti-aging mechanisms. (Calorie restriction is also being tried now with monkeys.) Geneticists have directly altered yeast and worms to make them live longer, and they're doing the same with mice.
The animals in all these experiments don't just live longer, they live better. Wild C. elegans look as tattered as a battle flag by the time they die. Cynthia Kenyon says the genetically altered worms she studies at UCSF look sleek and vibrant through middle age, a claim researchers using other species echo.
"My flies are superflies," Rose says of his insects. "My flies do more, for longer. They are having sex when other flies are long since dead."
Researchers don't agree on what specific mechanisms they've tapped into, or on what these may mean for humans. But what began as a tangle of possible longevity strategies is becoming a braided strand of knowledge about reproduction, energy, and stress.
Evolution plays the part of fickle lover to our bodies, or somas. It loves our somas, nurtures them, makes them strong in youth so we can pass on germ cells - our eggs and sperm - to produce another generation. Once we've accomplished this, evolution loses interest. If we live, fine. If we die, fine. The good news is that evolution doesn't require that we die, either. It doesn't care. It simply lets our bodies run down like a car with an empty tank.
Scientists are exploiting this fact from several angles. Food is one. A semistarved animal doesn't have sex on its mind: It focuses on survival. The soma may have a strategy for preserving itself through lean times so it can pass on germ cells later. Then, once sufficient food is available, the animal reproduces, passes on its germ cells, and the aging clock starts again.
This happens in the nematode C. elegans. When food is scarce, a very young worm can enter a kind of suspended animation, called dauer. It's still alive, it still can move, but it doesn't have much of a life. Once it encounters enough food, it snaps out of dauer, eats, and reproduces. In dauer, a worm can live for months. After coming out of dauer, it survives about two weeks.
But now there is a dauer bypass. Changes in just two C. elegans genes - daf-2, which Kenyon calls the "grim reaper" gene, and daf-16, the "fountain of youth" gene - doubled the lives of worms, even though they were well fed and not in dauer. That's roughly equivalent to humans living 200 years. What's so interesting about this approach is that daf-2 encodes a protein that looks very much like a receptor for human insulin and insulin growth-factor 1, both of which help control how the body metabolizes glucose, the basic form of cellular energy.
How we metabolize glucose may have a lot to do with why we grow old. When cells burn glucose, their smokestacks emit a form of pollution, rogue oxygen molecules called free radicals. These go bouncing through cells like Flubber in the china department at Harrods, crashing into cell parts and nicking chromosomes - so that when the DNA replicates, mistakes result. Over time, these rowdy molecules knock down the building. The cells age. Tissue function diminishes. The body ages. We die.
That process is called oxidative stress, and some researchers suggest it could be manipulated to increase longevity. When C. elegans worms are exposed to a variety of environmental stresses in incrementally larger doses, they live longer, possibly because the stress triggered genetically embedded protection mechanisms.
This tantalizing interconnectedness - that all the lab models share a significant number of genes with people, and that such small amounts of genetic meddling can so drastically lengthen a worm's life - has led Richard Miller, the University of Michigan gerontologist, to believe that "aging is a single, fairly tightly controlled process that has a relatively small number of genes timing it."
If Miller is right, researchers could someday develop small-molecule pharmaceuticals to manipulate human genes. Though the politics of life-extension drugs are snarled - at present, the FDA would never approve any drug developed for that purpose because proving its safety and effectiveness would be nearly impossible - some drugs may sneak in the back door.
Thomas Johnson, a University of Colorado geneticist who believes there are "no fixed upper limits to human longevity," suggests one possible scenario: "We will find some drugs that will be approved by the FDA because they prevent heart disease or Alzheimer's," he says, "and then we will discover - aha! - they also, by golly, make 80-year-olds look like 60-year-olds."
The steady drift of life-extension research toward the mainstream appears all the more likely because of the serious investment capital it's attracting. In 1997 Johnson, financed by several venture capital firms, started Genoplex, a privately held company that seeks to map quantitative trait loci, or QTLs, which he defines as groupings of genes that underlie complex traits like alcoholism, heart disease, and long life. Johnson's research, using DNA sensing and sequencing to target likely QTLs in mice in hopes of manipulating them, has drawn funding from the Ellison Medical Foundation, a nonprofit research outfit created in 1997 by Oracle CEO Larry Ellison.
Ellison also supports studies by other top longevity researchers, including Cynthia Kenyon and Judith Campisi, both of whom have predicted that dramatic life-span extension will become a reality in the 21st century. Ellison's PR manager says the foundation doesn't discuss its work, but longevity studies are obviously a high priority there. Ellison selected a big-league player, Richard Sprott, the former director of the Biology of Aging program at the National Institute on Aging, to administer up to $20 million annually ladled out to promising researchers.
Several marquee scientists are more outspoken than Ellison about how research today could lead to immortality tomorrow. Human Genome Sciences, based in Rockville, Maryland, is a $2 billion company that has partnered with pharmaceutical giant SmithKline Beecham to the tune of $125 million. It was founded by William Haseltine, a former Harvard biochemist and cancer researcher who helped decipher the structure of HIV. Haseltine claims to possess sequences for almost all human genes and to have a vast database of the products those genes make - including the chemical signals that direct stem cells. The company has three drugs in clinical trials, one of which involves injecting a gene into diseased muscle tissue to stimulate regrowth. This is the beginning of what Haseltine calls "regenerative medicine," a new era that, he says, will lead to "practical immortality - that is my concept." Haseltine doesn't mean in a few thousand years, either - more like 70 or 80. Eventually, he says, stem cells and genetics will give the human body "a transubstantiated future."
US Navy Commander Shaun Jones manages advanced biotech research programs for Darpa, which has a keen interest in technologies that can lead to new types of tissue or industrial-scale biological manufacturing of weapons.
Last spring Jones organized a meeting called NextMed 2 for SmithKline Beecham and the futurism-oriented Global Business Network. He believes seemingly diverse theories and innovations regarding aging are rapidly forming a grand, unified theory of human biology.
Whoever harnesses life-extension Technology first will reap the greatest reward in human history - wealth on the scale of the entire information age.
"Human longevity is an issue of convergence," he says. "Human genomics, C. elegans, plant genomics - you have an enormous number of these explorations without mastery. But all of it will converge." This situation, he says, created a consensus at NextMed 2. Which is? "That our generation," he says, "may be the last to have to accept death and taxes as inevitable."
As the chief scientific officer at Geron Corporation - one of the hottest biotech firms in the country - Calvin Harley is at the epicenter of this convergence. Harley has spent his entire adult life thinking about why people die. Now he occupies an office at Geron headquarters, a couple of buildings near Highway 101 in Menlo Park, California, where he continues to think about death and how to prevent it.
Harley is taking a holistic approach to the aging issue. Rather than focusing on individual aging genes or groups of genes, researchers at Geron are addressing other aging mechanisms, specifically telomeres and telomerase, the enzyme that keeps telomeres intact.
First proposed by a Russian theoretician in the 1970s, the telomere theory of cell aging postulates that these small structures of repeated DNA bases at the ends of chromosomes behave a bit like pencils in a sharpener. Each time a cell divides, the theory goes, a little more telomere data gets shaved off, until the telomeres become so short that the cell can no longer divide. Cells then become senescent - not quite dying, but not dividing either - simply idling and pouring toxic wastes into surrounding tissues. Telomeres act as an aging clock, the theory says, but telomerase can prevent them from shortening, thereby making cells immortal.
Geron's immediate commercial goal is to use telomere research in the detection and treatment of cancer. Most tumor cells, which divide indefinitely, produce telomerase. Locating telomerase-rich sites might be a way to locate developing cancers. Switching telomerase off through gene therapy might stop cancer from growing.
Harley is slight, fit, balding, intense, and reticent - a classic science guy. He works in labs stuffed to the ceiling with beakers, bottles, flasks, test tubes, chemicals, incubators, and gene sequencers. Among the sparse decorations in his office is a framed poster of Salvador Dalì's The Persistence of Memory. The artist's melting clocks, Harley explains, remind him of "the flexibility of time and possibly being able to manipulate the clock. It obviously has some significance to me and what I do in science."
Harley thinks that research is gaining on the secrets of aging, secrets he has wanted to unlock since his high school days in Ontario, Canada, when he puzzled over a paradox: How can an 80-year-old man use 80-year-old DNA in 80-year-old cells to father a baby whose cells are fresh as a daisy?
The answer, Harley thinks, lies in telomeres and telomerase. New research by Geron and others shows that telomerase can impart cell immortality - just as it does in an 80-year-old man's sperm, which produces telomerase naturally. And telomerase can do this in other cells - without, as some have feared, pushing those cells to become cancerous.
Geron's scientists believe that controlling the production of telomerase will prove useful not only in treating cancer, but also in slowing down human aging. Normal, noncancerous cells with a switched-on telomerase gene don't turn cancerous but instead divide properly. They don't go senescent, either, nor do they degrade surrounding tissue. Keep the telomerase going, and you keep your cells young, which keeps tissues young, which keeps people young.
"We are all born young," Harley says. "There is a capacity to have an immortal propagation of cells. The way we have evolved is to go from germline to germline, with our somas the dead-end carriers. But that is not inevitable."
In other words, people don't have to die.
Telomerase's ability to immortalize cells was a factor in Geron's decision last May to purchase Roslin Bio-Med - the people who brought us Dolly the sheep - thereby expanding into the other alluring branch of life-extension science: stem cells. Pluripotent stem cells may be the most promising avenue in longevity research because they can become any kind of tissue in the body. The ability to direct these cells' development and make them genetically identical to any patient's cells through cloning technology is leading to an era in which labs will custom-produce tissues and entire organs for transplantation - without fear of rejection.
The 80-year-old man in Harley's example can help create a baby not only because his sperm is kept immortal with telomerase but because a sperm cell's DNA gets reprogrammed after it joins an egg. The DNA is told to start over. The same process occurs in nuclear transfer, the technique that spawned Dolly.
In this arena, Geron faces serious competition from its departed founder, Michael West, president of a Worcester, Massachusetts, company called Advanced Cell Technology. Like Roslin Bio-Med, ACT is a cloning operation. It recently entered into a $10 million collaborative agreement with Genzyme Transgenics to use nuclear transfer to create a herd of cows that will produce human serum albumin, used to increase blood volume in surgery patients. ACT also hopes to manufacture transplantable human tissues. West thinks that with these and other emerging technologies, "depending on resources applied, there is no limit to the life span of human beings by 2099."
ACT has already repeated the early stages of the Dolly experiment on people by knitting a somatic cell from an adult human into an egg cell (in this case, a cow's) that had been emptied of its own genetic material. In that experiment, chemical signals hit the human DNA and told the cell to reset its clock. Had the resulting embryo been implanted into a woman's uterus, a human clone might have resulted.
Manufacturing pluripotent stem cells would have been that embryo's first order of business. It would have nestled the stem cells into a packet called a blastocyst. There, these cells would await chemical signals to switch genes on and off, dividing them into three branches: endoderm stems to form the gut organs; mesoderm stems to form cartilage, bone, and muscle; and ectoderm stems to form the nervous system. Other chemical signals would tell the DNA of these branched stems to produce more specific tissues - a liver, for example, rather than a pancreas. Some stem cells stop differentiating and enter a kind of on-deck circle to await further instruction. Hematopoietic stems, for instance, can respond to need by forming any of various types of blood cells.
In November 1998, a Geron team led by University of Wisconsin biologist James Thompson announced that it had derived and maintained human pluripotent stem cells in culture. In other words, it had produced the raw material for all types of human tissue.
"The real goal is to use a patient's own cells to make stem cells," says Harley. "That's the reason we acquired Roslin. They had the patents on this to create a fully competent embryo from an adult body cell. They reprogrammed it back to the embryonic state." From that state, Geron or ACT or some other firm could harvest pluripotent stem cells with a patient's own DNA from the blastocyst, grow them, and direct them to differentiate into any body tissue.
Pluripotent stem cells are immortal: They don't suffer telomere loss, and they constantly produce telomerase. But the moment stem cells begin to differentiate, they become mortal. Altering the gene for telomerase production - leaving it switched on - could make tissue cells immortal, too. Tissues that exactly matched their recipients' could be grown and transplanted, then stay young forever.
"We are close to transferring the immortal characteristics of germ cells to our bodies and essentially eliminating aging," says West. "That sounds spectacular, but I believe those are the facts."
Before that happens, someone has to decode the chemical signals that tell stem cells to differentiate into specific tissues - an outcome, William Haseltine says, that Human Genome Sciences is pursuing. Other labs across the country have already made progress. Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine have directed the stem cells of mice to make neurons. Other labs are trying to direct human stem cells to make heart cells. Heart-attack victims could soon receive tissue patches to repair damaged heart muscle, and because the patches will contain the patients' own DNA (thanks to nuclear transfer), their bodies won't reject them.
West, Haseltine, and Harley all agree that the ethically charged practice of harvesting stem cells from embryos will eventually become unnecessary. Once the proper signals have been decoded, our own cells will be reprogrammed back to stems, then programmed anew to become whatever tissue we need.
Patches are just the beginning. "I would be shocked if in 50 years we weren't able to build 3-D structures on scales useful for more complex tissues and the rudiments of organ systems," says Donald Ingber, a Harvard Medical School professor and a member of MIT's Center for Biomedical Engineering.
Ingber has started his own company, Molecular Geodesics, to model the architecture that could make such tissue and organ replacements possible. He hopes to use the basic structure of tension and flexibility underlying cells and tissues to create a kind of topiary model on which to grow new tissues. A team at the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego is already using 3-D collagen architecture to grow new pancreatic islets for diabetes patients. The first transplants should happen in three to five years.
If Ingber is right, we'll be able to check ourselves in for an overhaul late in life. Our new organs will be manufactured the way Ford makes crankshafts. They will have telomerase permanently switched on for eternal youth. In this way, says Haseltine, our bodies will perpetually renew themselves.
In fact, why can't they improve? "If you can figure out ways to enhance the architecture," Ingber argues, "you should get enhanced properties, like slowing aging or tissues with functions they never had before. We must start now to get there, and what we are doing now is leading in that direction."
If you want to meet a potential early adopter of these revolutionary changes, look no further than Natasha Vita-More. She and husband Max More are middle-aged - and they already spend long hours pumping iron and swallowing supplements to try to stop the aging process. If all else fails, they've also signed up for cryonic preservation. This may smack of self-obsession to some, but Vita-More says she and More are simply in the avant-garde, doing what they can in anticipation of the day immortality finally does arrive. She thinks it will come in time to save her, and that she'll live to see "the body as art usurping other forms of art."
"I love fashion," Vita-More says. "Our bodies will be the next fashion statement; we will design them in all sorts of interesting combinations of texture, colors, tones, and luminosity."
Design a body? It may be possible. "I can do anything," Kevin Montgomery boasts. "We are unlimited by the constraints of the real world." Montgomery is a computer engineer, and he's telling me this amid a tangle of duct-taped wires and computer guts in a Stanford University basement. This unimpressive space houses the National Biocomputation Center, a NASA-sponsored research center that may help bring on the sort of revolution in surgery - especially plastic surgery - that could someday fulfill Vita-More's dreams.
NASA created the center because it foresees a day when astronauts will journey to Mars. That's a long trip, and accommodations most likely will be too spartan and cramped to bring along a flight surgeon. Would it be possible, NASA wondered, to quantify medical procedures into a virtual reality program? And could an astronaut briefed with a few medical basics use such a program to act as doctor aboard a Mars flight?
Regardless of the Mars mission's fate, Montgomery and the National Biocomputation Center are already providing useful research fallout in the realm of plastic surgery. After fiddling with his switches and wires, Montgomery boots up a program that shows how his virtual reality simulations were used to reconstruct the face of a young boy whose features were ravaged by cancer. Montgomery's simulations, based on medical-imaging data, let surgeons picture exactly how the bone structure looks, how changes in soft tissue will fit over the bones, and how the alterations will appear after surgery. Because doctors know in advance what to expect, says Montgomery, actual surgeries are performed much faster and, more important, with better results.
With increased computing power, the center will soon be able to work on full faces, and Montgomery predicts whole-body design will arrive in about 25 years - just in time, perhaps, for a seventysomething like Natasha Vita-More to get the ultimate soma-lift.
The technology could even now allow plastic surgeons to custom-design cosmetic implants. Inside of two decades, Haseltine believes, implants will seem primitive. The same convergence of stem-cell, cellular-immortality, and genetic-engineering technologies that will enable us to remachine ourselves with youthful organs will also eliminate implants. We will grow our own augmentations in the same way we'll grow new livers. Our augmentations will be us. They will be real. And, thanks to CAD resources like Montgomery's, they will be anything we want them to be.
Breast augmentations will come from stem cells directed with chemical signals and grown in an artificial framework. No more "rock-hard-boob syndrome, but nice, soft, fleshy boobs," says William Haseltine. "All the body can be restructured. You can look like you want, have whatever color you want."
If stem cells will grow into any shape an architectural frame dictates, any number of variations will become possible - including those never seen on any creature before - realizing Vita-More's vision of the body as canvas. With virtually any body augmentation available, including the merging of biological and nonbiological forms, the very idea of beauty may morph.
"You will be able to annotate your body in a biological way that will be changeable," says Darpa's Shaun Jones. "We will use new forms of self-expression in terms of our bodies. The equivalents of tattoos and piercings in the cosmetic constellation will clearly come. Xenogenetic engineering, the manipulation of the firewalls that exist between species, may be possible"
"There is a huge future in biological body manipulations - oh, yeah," agrees UC Irvine's Michael Rose. "That's gonna happen. The future is now, with respect to that."
Vita-More has a few changes in mind. "Maybe I can look like a Renaissance painting for a while, or maybe a pointillist image, or maybe Cubist, like a Picasso," she says. "I'm a bodybuilder, so I love sculpting muscle. Muscle is gorgeous, and our future bodies will have streamlined muscles in all sorts of interesting shapes - new types of limbs, new types of carved skeletal structures."
It's conceivable that a significant number of people (though certainly not Extropians) will choose not to have these enhancements. Such people (Vita-More refers to them as "humanish - you know, like Amish") will elect to age and stick with whatever cards nature and their environment have dealt them.
Of course, it's also possible that none of these miracles will come to pass. Details are still up for grabs. Debate rages. Some longevity researchers argue forcefully that immortality remains science fiction. They refer to people like Haseltine with a wink and a nod, calling him "a 'Big Science' guy."
But Jones thinks dramatic innovations are inevitable: "We may be at the cusp of an inflection point. 'Bio' may be the prefix for the next age: bioagricultural, bioindustrial, bioinformational. You could argue that we have gone through that inflection point."
As I'm sitting in Calvin Harley's office at Geron, it occurs to me that he is one of the gatekeepers of this inflection point. So I want to press him, ask him about ultrahumans and immortality. But Harley lacks Vita-More's gift for speculation. He is an extremely serious guy. He has reports to look over and a budget to consider. He also has a board of directors and stockholders to please, and they want marketable products soon, not talk about superboobs and polymer skin - and certainly not about immortality.
But when I ask him what he really thinks about the potential of the work going on in Geron's labs and in labs worldwide, even he allows himself some amazement.
"Fifty years ago, the structure of DNA wasn't even known," Harley says. "Today we can manipulate it and use it for everything from engineering better foods to treating genetic disorders and tissue engineering. And the ability to use pluripotent stem cells is just starting. In 50 years we'll be doing things hard to even imagine today."
Then, for the first time since I've met him, Harley smiles.


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I grew up on the Rhode Island shore and spent summers on the beach. In Rhode Island (and New England), we measure storms like this weekend's hurricane/tropical storm against the grandaddy of all New England hurricanes: the Hurricane of 1938.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the shores of Narragansett Bay were dotted with resorts and beach houses. In this circa-1930s photo of Watch Hill, RI, groups of bathers and sun worshipers cluster under umbrellas in all modes of beach attire. It was a typical summer scene until Sept. 21, 1938.
Watch Hill was famous for its beaches, which stretched seven miles to the west to a lovely place known as Napatree Point. The 1938 hurricane changed the Rhode Island shoreline and washed away many of those summertime places.
On Napatree Point, 39 cottages, their owners' cars and the road all disappeared and 15 people died, swept out to sea or into Watch Hill Harbor. Today, Napatree Point is a nature conservation area.
Here's a view of part of the Watch Hill shoreline after the storm.
You can see other scenes of the 1938 damage to Rhode Island on the Rhode Island State Archives Virtual Archives. You can use the search box on the home screen to search for hurricane or place names. If you want to read about that storm, I suggest, R.A. Scotti's Sudden Sea: The Great Hurricane of 1938 (Back Bay Books, 2004).
The Rhode Island State Archives has one of my favorite picture collections, so don't stop with hurricane pictures. There is a lot more to look at in their virtual exhibits.
Solve your family photo mysteries with these books by Maureen A. Taylor:


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Foote, Julia A.J.
In June, 1850, I crossed the Alleghany mountains the second time. I was very sick on the journey and on arriving in Pittsburgh, was not able to sit up. Finding me in a raging fever, my friends called in a physician, and, as I continued to grow worse, another one. For three weeks my life was despaired of; and finally, on beginning to recover, it was many months before I felt quite well. In this severe affliction grace wonderfully sustained me. Bless the Lord!
I was advised to go down the Ohio river for the benefit of my health. Therefore, as soon as I was able to do so, I started for Cincinnati. I staid there several weeks with some friends by the name of Jones. The Lord so Strengthened me, that in a few months, I was able to resume my labors.
In October we went to Columbus. We labored there and in that vicinity for some
In April, 1851, we visited Chillicothe, and had some glorious meetings there. Great crowds attended every night, and the altar was crowded with anxious inquirers. Some of the deacons of the white people's Baptist church invited me to preach in their church, but I declined to do so, on account of the opposition of the pastor, who was very much set against women's preaching. He said so much against it, and against the members who wished me to preach, that they called a church meeting, and I heard that they finally dismissed him.
The white Methodists invited me to speak for them, but did not want the colored people to attend the meeting. I would not agree to any such arrangement, and, therefore, I did
We visited Zanesville, Ohio, laboring for white and colored people. The white methodists opened their house for the admission of colored people for the first time. Hundreds were turned away at each meeting, unable to get in; and, although the house was so crowded, perfect order prevailed. We also held meetings on the other side of the river. God the Holy Ghost was powerfully manifest in all these meetings. I was the recipient of many mercies, and passed through various exercises. In all of them I could trace the hand of God and claim divine assistance whenever I most needed it. Whatever I needed, by faith I had. Glory! glory!! While God lives, and Jesus sits on his right hand, nothing shall be impossible unto me, if I hold fast faith with a pure conscience.
On the 27th we went to Detroit, Mich. On the way, Sister Johnson had a very severe attack of ague, which lasted for several weeks. My soul had great liberty for God while laboring in this place.
One day, quite an influential man in the community, though a sinner, called on me and appeared deeply concerned about his soul's welfare. He urged me to speak from Micah iv. 13: "Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion," etc. I took his desire to the Lord, and was permitted to speak from that passage after this manner: 710 B.C. corn was threshed among the Orientals by means of oxen or horses, which were driven round an area filled with loose sheaves. By their continued tramping the corn was separated from the straw. That this might be done the more effectually, the text promised an addition to the natural horny substance on the feet of these animals, by making the horn iron and the hoof brass.
Corn is not threshed in this manner by us, but by means of flails, so that I feel I am doing no injury to the sentiment of the text by changing a few of the terms into those which are the most familiar to us now. The passage portrays the Gospel times, though in a more restricted sense it applies to the preachers of the word. Yet it has a direct reference to all God's people, who were and are commanded to arise and thresh. Glory to Jesus! now is this prophecy fulfilled--Joel ii. 28 and 29. They are also commanded to go to God, who alone is able to qualify them for their
The threshing instrument is of the former description. It is of the same quality as that which is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. "For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil," and this is one of the weapons which he employs in the hands of his people to carry his gracious designs into execution, together with the promise that they shall beat in pieces many people. Isa. xxiii. 18; lx. 6-9.
There are many instances of the successful application of the Gospel flail, by which means the devil is threshed out of sinners. With the help of God, I am resolved, O sinner, to try what effect the smart strokes of this threshing instrument will produce on thy unhumbled soul. This is called the sword of the Spirit, and is in reality the word of God.
Such a weapon may seem contemptible in the eyes of the natural man; yet, when it is powerfully wielded, the consequences are invariably potent and salutary. Bless God! the Regulator says: "They overcame by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death." The atonement is the greatest weapon. In making trial of its efficacy, little children have caused the parent to cry aloud for mercy; but, in every case, much of its heavenly charm and virtue depends upon the mode in which it is applied.
This Gospel flail should be lifted up in a kind and loving spirit. Many shrink at sight of the flail, and some of us know, by blessed experience, that when its smart strokes are applied in the power and demonstration of the Holy Spirit, it causes the very heart to feel sore and painful. Penitent soul, receive the castigation, and you will feel, after it, like saying: "Now let me be crucified, and this work of the devil, inbred sin, put to death, that Christ may live and reign in me without a rival."
To the glory of God I wish to say, that the unconverted man, who gave me the text for the above discourse, gave his heart to God, together with many others, before we left


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The anti-tax crusader pulls out of his driveway in his Porsche, hoping that the neighbors are watching. Hes proud that its the most expensive car on his block. Thats the greatness of America, he muses. Thats what we should celebrate on July 4! I spend money so much more wisely than government.
Three blocks later, Babbitt, as well call him, swerves to avoid one pothole and lands in another. Theres a sickening thud. With a sinking heart, Babbitt gets out to examine the damage.
*@#% government! he curses. They cant even fix the roads. Now Ive got a flat, and my rim is bent! Whats the point of owning a hot car when the government cant even fix the roads?
Babbitt calls a tow truck and gets to the office two hours late, missing a meeting with a client. The government is like George III, he moans. Robs us blind and doesnt do anything for us!
Voters like Babbitt will play a major role in this years elections, and politicians are often too timid to point out the blunt truth: Sometimes money is better spent by the government than by individuals.
Indeed, it seems to me that were at a point where we would be better off as a nation paying a bit more in taxes and in exchange getting better schools, safer food, less congested roads and, overall, a higher standard of living.
Americas infrastructure is now so wretched that, in some areas, the only people who drive straight are the drunks. Anyone who is sober swerves to avoid potholes.
In New Jersey, the gas tax hasnt been increased since 1992, and two-thirds of the roads are now evaluated as in poor or mediocre condition. The upshot, one study found, is that the average motorist spends $601 per year in repair costs. It sure seems as if society would be better off spending a little in taxes to improve roads and then saving on car repairs not to mention in injuries and fatalities averted.
The American Society of Civil Engineers gives America a grade of D+ for infrastructure and estimates congestion on highways costs the economy $101 billion annually in wasted time and fuel. A study of American bridges found that more than 66,000 in America are structurally deficient; laid end to end, the deficient ones would reach from Canada to Mexico.
Yet on the campaign trail, its a brave politician who acknowledges that taxes have their uses. Around July Fourth, we should be able to celebrate that some of our greatest national achievements arent tax cuts but public investments:
America was the first country to invest in mass elementary education for boys and girls, then in high schools, and then in widespread college education. As Claudia Goldin and Lawrence Katz of Harvard have argued, this may be the best explanation for Americas rise to global pre-eminence.
The United States invested in the electrical grid, with public projects like the Tennessee Valley Authority and rural electrification. These hugely raised living standards and economic output.
President Dwight Eisenhower, who had been part of an army convoy that took 62 days to cross the United States on wretched roads, invested in the 1950s in the interstate highway system. The interstates knitted together the country and created huge economic efficiencies.
These were visionary schemes that, if newly proposed today, might not get off the ground. Our schools have tumbled by global standards, we havent ensured access to the Internet the way we did to the electrical grid, and our highway trust fund is almost broke.
So, on Independence Day, lets celebrate a heritage not just of opposing taxation without representation, but also of wise public investment. In the 1790s, President George Washington and other patriots crushed the Whiskey Rebellion, a progenitor of modern anti-tax crusades. Its time for patriots again to defend reasonable taxes.
The ratio of tax to GDP has changed little in the United States in the last six decades. Other countries, as they grew richer, chose to increase taxes and services, but the United States has resisted that trend and is now near the bottom of the pack of industrialized countries in taxation levels, notes Andrea Louise Campbell, a political scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The wealthy, in particular, pay low income taxes in the United States. And loopholes mean that the corporate tax burden is lower in the United States than among our peers.
So as we celebrate July Fourth, lets get real about government. Sure, tax money is sometimes squandered, as is money in business. But what strengthens us as a nation is often investments in public goods that benefit all Americans and, after all, theres not much point in saving on taxes to buy a Porsche when the roads all have potholes.
Our schools have tumbled by global standards.


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China Overview
China, Mandarin Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo [central glorious people's united country; i.e., people's republic], officially People's Republic of China, country (2015 est. pop. 1,397,029,000), 3,691,502 sq mi (9,561,000 sq km), E Asia. The most populous country in the world, China has a 4,000-mi (6,400-km) coast that fronts on the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea, and the South China Sea. It is elsewhere bounded on the east by Russia and North Korea, on the north by Russia and Mongolia, on the west by Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, and on the south by India, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam. China's capital is Beijing; Shanghai is its largest city.
See also the entries on Chinese architecture , Chinese art , Chinese literature , and Chinese music for aspects of Chinese culture that are not treated in this article.
Sections in this article:
- Introduction
- Economy
- Government
- People
- History
- Bibliography
- Land
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Chinese and Mongolian Political Geography


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(CMT Offstage keeps a 24/7 watch on everything that's happening with country music artists behind the scenes and out of the spotlight.)
When one artist writes a hit song about another artist, it's pretty obvious there's a lot of love there. But Eric Church elaborated on his love for Bruce Springsteen — whose music was Church's muse for "Springsteen" — in the latest issue of People magazine. He opens up about growing up on Born in the U.S.A. but then getting more of an education on the Boss' music in college. "He's writing about experience and real life. Darkness on the Edge of Town spoke to me. It was gritty, real and raw," Church said. And beyond the records, he called Springsteen's live show a religious experience. "It's a gang and it's a mentality, like, 'We get it. We belong,'" he explained. Springsteen wrote Church a note after he'd heard the song named after him. And that note is now locked up in Church's house.


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This weekend we had a front and finally got some ride time in. I had the chance to demo the Apollo and here's the skinny
- Rider Weight = 155
- Conditions = Summer breeze, blowing about 15 to 17 kts
- Gear = 12m Apollo with standard lines (24m I think)
I was shocked at the power of this kite. It wants to grab onto every little bit of wind it can. It didn't pull me downwind as much as the Contra though. The Apollo is not a nimble kite. It has the turning speed of a foil kite, as you would expect. For this reason, I think it would be great for anyone doing airstyle. On a 12 meter there were times when I had to really crank the bar to redirect the kite back over the window. The boosting on it was exceptional but I've grown to appreciate something that pulls me off the water a bit faster. The kite definitely likes to go fast and I was cruising past everyone. Also, I could very easily hold down the 12 in 25 if needed but still had plenty of power at 15 kts. The bar pressure is softer than a Velocity I used to have a few years ago, but I believe Cabs have done this across their entire range. Overall, it's exactly what you would expect and I think a 14 or 16 would be a money kite for airstylers that still want an inflatable kite.


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The standard system directories are shown below. Each one contains specific types of file. The details may vary between different UNIX systems, but these directories should be common to all. Select one for more information on it.
/(root) | -------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | | | | /bin /dev /etc /home /lib /tmp /usr kernel file


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idk anymore. i'm not updating this anymore but feel...
Love Sucks28671610
- by It's that Candice chick
- Rating:
- Published: 17 Mar 2014
- Updated: 6 Mar 2015
- Status: In Progress
Jasmine was in a terrible place. She's suicidal and emo. No matter how hard anybody tried they could never help her. If anything they made it worse. But one day this new girl comes to school. Could this new girl turn her life around?
Join MovellasFind out what all the buzz is about. Join now to start sharing your creativity and passion
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Welcome to Used Car Face Off, where we find two similar or similarly priced used cars and ask you which one you would buy. Choose wisely!
One of the biggest differences between American automakers and the Europeans is the length of the product cycle. The original Mini lasted 40 years, even though British Leyland tried to kill it a few times. The first-generation Range Rover survived a quarter of a century. The Volvo XC90 is effectively an 11-year-old design you can buy today, and the Volkswagen Type 1 had a lifespan more reminiscent of a human's.
While the engineering can arguably withstand the test of time, the styling is typically the first thing to age and in some places it shows. Take the two cars we have here, a 1962 Volkswagen and a 1966 Volvo. Both cars were available when rocket themes flooded American roads and yet they look like smaller versions cars from a previous decade. Maybe they looked dated in the '60s, but you can hardly tell today. Side by side, they both look pretty good. So which one would you get?
This '62 VW 1500 Notchback is a seriously interesting thing. While Squarebacks are not completely uncommon even today, it's a little tough at first glance to realize this car is a close relative of that car. Maybe it's the three-box shape that makes it look older than it really is, or the fact it was around the same time Chevrolet was touting the more futuristic-looking Corvair. Whatever your take, I think it looks awesome.
This particular Notchback has traveled around, its seller saying it was originally a Canadian car that made its way to Illinois, then Florida and now California. As a very young Dustin Hoffman concluded, your VW dealer can show you where the engine is, but it's a 1.5 flat four related to that one in the Type 1. The 1950s American themes continue on the inside with the two-tone upholstery, but it's beautifully unrestored and it looks fantastic. Even at 9 grand, I really like this car.
I also have a really big soft spot for Volvo Amazons. It doesn't even have to be a wagon version, but these were some of the last Volvos to have curves before the late-'90s when those Swedes stopped using only a straight edge to design a new model. And of course, being an old Volvo it's built like a brick – even if it isn't shaped like one yet. Yeah, I also really like this '66 Volvo 122S.
What this Volvo really has going for it is that it's a one-owner California car, no doubt owned by a Berkeley professor for 40-something years. I'd rock that look. The green interior is pretty awesome, too. The originality here (minus a Circuit City-sourced radio) is impressive. OK, this is an autobox which I'd normally detest were it not for it sounding rarer than it probably is and the fact it's a Volvo four-door and rowing your own gears isn't going to make the driving experience much more fun – just a little quicker. It's a Volvo with a 1.8-liter four, you're not going anywhere too quickly.
At less than $8,000, the Volvo is expensive but a good deal cheaper than the VW. It's a really nice car and I'd love to own it. But the obscurity of the 1500 Notchback makes it the winner for me and I'd happily find out where the engine is.


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Dell Latitude E5550 Core i5-5300U 2.3GHz 8GB RAM 128GB HDD 15.6" Grade B
Main Specifications
- Processor - Intel Core i5-5300U 2.3GHz
- Operating system - Windows 10 Pro
- Hard Drive – 128GB
- Screen Size – 15.6"
- Optical Drive - None
- Includes AC Adapter and Battery
Perfect For
- Internet
- Game
Condition Code B - Equipment is used, tested operational, may have minor cosmetic flaws.
The Sage Promise
We've found thousands of happy homes for our new and refurbished electronics, so we're confident you'll love your purchase. We promise our customers a quality experience and great value from every product we offer. That's why every product comes backed with the Sage Promise.
We promise all products are:
Supplied with a 1 year warranty
Professionally refurbished
Securely cleared of any data
Clean and carefully packaged


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Phillip Berg
Phillip Berg is a Philadelphia attorney, former chair of the Democratic Party in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania and Hillary Clinton for President supporter. He is a former gubernatorial and senate candidate, as well as a former Deputy Attorney General.
9/11 Lawsuit
Berg first came to prominence in May, 2004, when he represented Ellen Mariani, wife of Louis Mariani, in a lawsuit against President Bush, Vice President Cheney, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and 55 others under the federal Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organizations act. Mr. Mariani was killed when United Air Lines flight 175 was flown into the South Tower of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. The lawsuit alleges that the government had foreknowledge of the terrorist attacks and provided no warning. In addition, it claims the government actively covered up evidence after the attack. For instance, Mr. Berg alleged that former Florida Governor Jeb Bush went to the offices of Hoffman Aviation School, took records, and had them flown out of the country on an Air Force plane.[1][2]
Obama Lawsuit
Berg again appeared in the news in August, 2008, when he filed suit against Senator Barack Obama, the Democratic National Committee, and the Federal Election Commission, seeking an injunction to prevent Obama from continuing his candidacy, and the DNC from nominating him based on eligibility. Berg's suit states the birth certificate provided by the candidate is a forgery, and that even if Obama's a natural-born citizen, that he forwent his citizenship when he was supposedly adopted in Indonesia.[3]


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This week's headlines from across Inside Network
A roundup of all the news Inside Network brought you between Dec. 3 and Dec. 7.
Inside Mobile Apps
Tracking the convergence of mobile apps, social platforms and virtual goods.
Monday, Dec. 3
- News Corp shuttering iPad newspaper The Daily
- Liveblogging from Inside Social Apps, New York: Platform Opportunity in 2013
- Liveblogging from Inside Social Apps, New York: The Future of Mobile App Discovery & Marketing
- Liveblogging from Inside Social Apps, New York: Monetizing Social and Mobile Games
- News at a glance with Wavii
Tuesday, Dec. 4
- ZeptoLab still sweet on puzzle solving with new IP Pudding Monsters
- PlayHaven gets granular with its new user segmentation tools
- Find a room for the night with Airbnb
- Guest Post: how Outfit7 used deep advertising integration to double performance and revenues
- Slant Six Games opens up about its move from mainstream to mobile
Wednesday, Dec. 5
- HitFox driving 10,000 mobile game installs per day for mobile game publishers, expands with offices in San Francisco and Paris
- The Inside Network Job Board: DoubleDown, Wooga, Fiksu and more
- 25 developers account for half of the revenue in U.S. Apple App Store and Google Play, says Canalys
- Flurry: Mobile app usage grows 35%
- Marvel War of Heroes, Paradise Cove, Ayakashi and more on this week's top grossing apps charts
- New hires in mobile apps: Social Point, Paltalk and more
Thursday, Dec. 6
- Tapjoy reaches the 1 billion devices milestone
- Chartboost: iPhone accounts for 61 percent of overall mobile gaming among iOS devices
- Gamenauts working to bring Asian indie mobile games to Western markets
- See the world through everyone's eyes with JustSeen
Friday, Dec. 7
- Fiksu's FreeMyApps platform launches for Android
- Pocket Gems to publish third party titles
- Clone yourself with Split Pic
- 25 people laid off from GREE's U.S. offices, consolidates existing teams
- Mobile news roundup: gumi on GREE, new games and Pocket's first publishing partner
- Stay tuned with Frequency
Inside Social Games
Covering all the latest developments at the intersection of games and social platforms.
Monday, Dec. 3
- The Top 25 Facebook Games of December 2012
- Spaceteam (iOS) review
- Liveblogging from Inside Social Apps, New York: Social and Mobile Game Product Design and Development
- Liveblogging from Inside Social Apps, New York: Platform Opportunity in 2013
- Liveblogging from Inside Social Apps, New York: Investing in Social and Mobile Games
- Adobe adds game developer tools to its Creative Cloud
Tuesday, Dec. 4
Wednesday, Dec. 5
- Facebook: SongPop is the top social game of the year
- The Inside Network Job Board: DoubleDown, Wooga, Fiksu and more
- CoasterVille is Zynga's newest "Ville" title
- ChefVille has this week's blue-ribbon recipe as the fastest-growing Facebook game by DAU
- Let's Fish review
- New hires in social games: Kixeye, Social Point and more
- Zynga files for Preliminary Finding of Suitability, one step closer to real-money gaming in Nevada
Thursday, Dec. 6
- Gamenauts working to bring Asian indie mobile games to Western markets
- Kixeye expands into Canada with new studio
- Monster Hospital (iOS) review
- CoasterVille review
- Criminal Case review
Friday, Dec. 7
- Pet Rescue Saga is this week's gainer among the Top 25 Facebook games of December 2012
- Pockie Ninja II Social review
- Yazino is this week's top emerging Facebook game
- Party Place (iOS) review
Inside Facebook
Tracking Facebook and the Facebook platform for developers and marketers.
Monday, Dec. 3
- Liveblogging from Inside Social Apps, New York: Fireside with Facebook's David Fisch
- Liveblogging Social Apps for Marketers and Brands: Maximizing Audience Engagement
- TripAdvisor, JibJab, YouTube Mobile, Keek, Pandora and more on this week's top 20 non-game Facebook apps growing by MAU
Tuesday, Dec. 4
- Facebook opens mobile Messenger app to non-users in play for ubiquity
- Facebook simplifies process for creating repeat events
- Shoutlet brings Facebook ad creation to marketing platform, partners with Kenshoo
- Facebook to add design team to NYC office
Wednesday, Dec. 5
- Facebook mobile platform gains ground with 200K apps now connected
- SongPop is Facebook's top rated social game of the year
- Facebook to change 'subscribe' to 'follow'
- Playstation, Burger King, Swatch and Clarins begin using global pages
Thursday, Dec. 6
- Facebook head of brand design calls out trends to watch in 2013
- Facebook shares stats about businesses using pages and promoted posts
- Facebook search takes users to specific sections of App Center
Friday, Dec. 7
- Facebook hires and departures: designer goes to Dropbox, 19 job listings removed
- Facebook careers: performance solutions strategists, global sales development lead, head of creative and more
- Facebook seeks to improve reference docs with auto updates from source code
- Identified, Daily Horoscope, Swaylo and more on this week's top 20 growing Facebook apps by DAU
Inside Social Commerce
Tracking the convergence of social media and commerce.


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108 Results Found
Based on survey responses from the Global Knowledge 2020 IT Skills and Salary Report, this year's highest-paying certifications reveal a strong emphasis on particular topics, such as cloud computing and cybersecurity. In fact, cloud and IT security make up the four top-paying credentials on this list.
If you're looking to fortify your cloud expertise, there are a number of certifications to consider. We have compiled 10 cloud certifications that are sure to positively affect your career.
Global Knowledge subject matter experts predict the top trends for 2020 in IT training, Microsoft, Cisco, AWS, cybersecurity and more.
Managers are in dire need of cybersecurity professionals with specific skills. If you're looking to advance your career, or transfer into the cyber field, now is the time to get certified.
Here are 18 certification options, in no particular order, that are worth your effort based on site searches, feedback from subject matter experts and data in the Global Knowledge 2019 IT Skills and Salary Report.
The value of IT certifications has grown considerably over the last decade. Examine the evolution of certification trends, see the top-paying certifications and learn how decision-makers are struggling to hire certified employees.
Looking ahead at new and emerging certifications provides insight into the areas deemed valuable in the IT industry. If you are an early adopter or in a position where you need to show that you have the bleeding-edge expertise of a technology, this list of recent and upcoming certifications is for you.
Of the 12,271 IT professionals who participated in the Global Knowledge 2019 IT Skills and Salary Survey, 1,011 respondents said they hold an AWS certification. The average salary of an AWS-certified IT professional is roughly $130,000, ranking as one of the highest-paying certification categories in North America.
Project Scope Management sets the foundation for the creation, development and successful delivery of a project. Learn about the project management process here.
For organizations with the willingness to get in shape and regain their corporate vitality, combining and aligning best practice frameworks is a sure way to achieve that goal. Admittedly, it takes work. Combining ITIL® 4 and project management should be high on your list.


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A trip to the sunny beaches throws up some unexpected scenes of a Crazy Chameleon surfing the big waves. Changing constantly, he will make your bank roll update with the frequent wins that keeps happening. A slot game from Microgaming which will entertain you with its simple game play and interface.
Crazy Chameleon symbols
Crazy Chameleons has all the characteristics of an antique with clear simple still images. If chameleons could actually surf then, expect it to be like this slot spel. A smiling Sun, sea gulls, colourful shorts, surf boards, are seen riding the waves of Crazy Chameleon. The best surfer of this slot is the Chameleon with a payout of the game's jackpot 5,000 coins. Land 5 of them on the reels for winning this prize.
Crazy Chameleons is actually counted as among the first of the Microgaming slots. Before they moved onto hi-fi graphics and animations, this slot spel ruled the popularity charts. A 5 reel, 5 payline game its uniqueness it that all wins pay left to right and vice versa. An important fact since there are only wilds to form a successful payline.
wilds: Ride the Big Wave for some big wins as it is the wild which can substitute for all symbols. Watch the surfing antics of the Crazy Chameleons as they swim on the reels. Conspicuous by their absence is the scatters. As a result the wilds form a major source of forming a winning combination.
Min / maksimum weddenskap per spin (£ / $ / €): 0,25 - 5,0
Boerpot (£ / $ / €): 5 000 munte
Sluit gedagtes
Crazy Chameleons can be the right of passage for the new players. Allowing a nominal betting range, it can be useful for them to know their dobbelary skills before graduating to the next level. Very simple rules and clear interfaces make this still an all time favourite for slot players.


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12790 SW 88th St. (SW 127th Ave.) Send to Phone
305-380-0522 | Make Restaurant Reservations | Menu
OpenLunch & Dinner daily
- Parking lot
- Dress code: Casual
- Full bar
- Kid-friendly
* Click here for rating key
: Not in the mood to drag the kiddies to Friday's? Had it with the hour-long wait at The Cheesecake Factory? Think Flanigan's, the chain that serves South Florida's regional interpretation of all-American, everyday food. This is the spot where $1.99 buys a pint of domestic draft (or, for those too young for beer, a 32-ounce plastic souvenir cup of soda, lemonade, or iced tea), and varying cocktail deals keep the place packed with partiers. Signature ribs are grilled, not barbecued, but good eating. Way TooBig sandwiches and ten-ounce burgers are paired with Flanigan's seasoned fries; and Caesar salads are supplemented with bacon. Watching your waistline? Opt for the peel 'n' eat shrimp or blackened dolphin (mahi mahi, not Flipper) dinner. Other locations.
Check GAYOT's list of
Top Thanksgiving Wines.
Wine of the Week Review by GAYOT


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Disney fans have been waiting for news regarding still-rumored title Epic Mickey 2 since news first slipped around the first of the year.
At that time, a Disney newsletter was sent out — and then immediately edited — that initially leaked information about the still-unannounced game. The newsletter claimed that Epic Mickey 2 would be availlable for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii. Further rumors indicated a fall 2012 release.
Sharp-eyed posters at NeoGAF have just added fuel to the fire of speculation, directing attention to a blurb from French site Nintendo Master. Their post, roughly translated, says:
Like many other sites, we have just received an invitation from Disney France and Warren Spector to introduce us on March 27 to a new "epic project." It's not hard to make the connection between this wording and the name of a certain gentleman's game, Epic Mickey.
Wii exclusive Epic Mickey, released in 2010, was generally considered a mixed but ambitious experience. Perhaps a second pass will bring the Disney icon the truly epic experience players crave.
Warren Spector dévoilera un projet "épique" le 27 mars [Nintendo Mater, via NeoGAF]


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My wife and I both work in publishing; she's in book sales for Random House, and I edit a "literary" magazine. Things have been kind of tough for the publishing industry for the past several years. As the big booksellers teeter (Borders, as an example), and the continuing questions about the future of reading and the medium by which people will read linger, the only certainty is uncertainty.
I think where you're seated in publishing makes a difference. I suppose my own magazine could be classified as literary publishing, in the sense that relatively few people buy it, so we are, in some respect, insulated from economic crises by the hardcore following. This week they were calling it black wednesday: layoffs at Simon & Shuster, Houghton Mifflin, Random House, (possibly at Macmillan, FSG, and St. Martins soon). Ballantine and Bantam doing major restructuring. Raise freezes at Pearson (includes Penguin group) and Harpercollins.
In my experience the top executives never suffer at all, no matter what happens. And now we find out that portions of the bailout money are to be used to maintain executive bonuses, etc? Madness.What we do most often is place more responsibility on fewer employees. There was a time when I had an assistant and people in other departments doing things that I now do alone. And the company hasn't replaced any people who've left over the last year or two.
Good luck and enjoy the time off. I'll drink one for you tonight .
I am begining to believe that this whole economic crunch could be used to our advantage. Humor me, read on, then reply. I don't know how many times I have had to conform to the whims of the company I am working for. I now work in a place where I can play music all day long, my hair is longer than it has ever been, and I don't catch hell if I am late. Flip side is that my boss knows that I will stay as long as it takes to get the job done, and that I will work on the weekends if necessary. I got to thinking this week one day on the way to work, a few lines from Thoreau's "Walden": "For more than five years, I maintained myself that soley by the labor of my hands, and found that, by working six weeks a year, I could meet all the expenses of living." "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation." "Most of the luxuries, and many of the so-called comforts of life, are not only indespensable, but positive hinderences to the elevation of mankind". (and here's my favorite part) "In large towns and cities, where civilisation prevails, the number of those who own a shelter is a very small fraction of the whole." Now, I am not suggesting that I wish to go live under an overpass, but the idea of the people actually owning anything being a ridiculous notion dates back centuries. What I am trying to get at is that if we don't really own anything, why are we stressing ourselves out to keep up the credit rating on banks that are failing themselves. My wife and I are having a continuing argument over a $26 bill. I refuse to pay it, she says "they'll ruin our credit." I respond that if we haven't done anything bad in 15 years, a $26 bil to a bunch of thieves in India isn't going to scare me. We put up with a lot of shit, and it's time to say enough is enough. I read Friday that Exxon has posted another year of record high profits, and today a story that banks are outsourcing to foreign counties. They are all out to keep the American people in a sate of fear, working our little asses off so our credit score doesn't drop below 600, while the banks themselves have scores <100. So, where am I going with this? I'm really not sure. All I know is I don't train anyone anything unless it is to my advantage. That no one knows what I really do, but they all know I get alot of work done. One old story always comes to mind. A company in Dallas was being taken over by a company in Conneticut. The major item was controlled by a computer program writen in assembly code that was writen by two men that were about to loose their jobs. They went in one night, and the program of 8500 lines of assembly code that controlled a big industrial machine, they erased all the documentation. On line 4500, they wrote "Now here's the tricky part".


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Calcutta, or Kolkata as it is now called, is seen as the land of the intellectuals. Communist in ideology and very politically aware, Kolkata was the capital of British India before Delhi assumed this position.
Kolkata developed from a fishermen village to become one of the largest cities in the world. The city symbolizes creativity and vibrance with all the modern amenities available. Kolkata has adapted to the modern trends and techniques of the world but has not shed the leisurely life style and the calm of its hey days.
Kolkata has the country's first Metro railway and some of its buildings are more than a hundred years old. While Kolkata is a city of enduring charm, it is also a city that evokes extreme emotions. So be ready to give in to it or hate it completely.
A city with strong cultural, literary and religious flavours, Kolkata acts as the gateway to the North-East.
Population : About 14 million .
Climate : Kolkata is located at a point where the river Hooghly merges into the sea. In fact, the whole region is part the great Gangetic delta. The climate of Kolkata is largely influenced by the sea. The daily tidal waves and frequent rains accompanied by high velocity winds, has now become a part of life in the city. Kolkata has a very tropical climate with the summers being hot and humid. The temperature seldom crosses the 43-degree barrier and in winter, rarely goes below 8 degrees. Monsoons are timely and heavy. Winters are the best time to visit.
Best times to visit : Between September and March.
Located at the top end of Chowringhee, it is the only planetarium in the country whose dome houses a collection of projectors and optical equipment imported from East Germany. It is the largest planetarium in South-East Asia and the second largest planetarium in the world.
Fort William is sometimes called the citadel of Kolkata. With the permission of the Nawab of Bengal, this fort was built between 1696 and 1702 by the British East India Company and named after King William III of England. In 1756, the fort was taken by the Nawab of Bengal, Siraj-ud-Daulah. In 1757, the East India Company regained power and demolished this fort and began reconstructing it. The new fort was completed in 1773.
The garden was founded in 1787 by the East India Company and was formerly known as the Royal Botanical Garden. It is famous for its huge collection of bamboos, orchids, palms and the plants of screw pine genus. The garden spreads over 270 acres and more than 1700 plant species can be found here. The Central National Herbarium of the Botanical Survey of India is here and has 2,500,000 dried plants in its collection. A botanical's dream come true for sure.
Laid in 1876, extending over an area of 16 hectares, the zoological garden has a considerably large collection of animals. White tigers, reptiles and the Royal Bengal tigers are the special exhibits. During winter, birds from all over the world migrate here and are a special attraction during this time.
Named after the sister of Alexander, the Eden Gardens used to be covered by verdant trees and gardens. A major part of the garden gave way to the construction of one of the largest and beautiful stadiums of India- the Eden Gardens Cricket Stadium. Eden Gardens has seen history made and unmade. For more than a hundred years, the magic of Eden Gardens has held its sway over cricket and cricket lovers in the country.
It's a wonderfully entertaining place for children. Named after the first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, it is located at Jawaharlal Nehru Road (formerly Chowringhee Road). The stories of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata have been depicted nicely with the help of animated dolls. Some science models are also on exhibition, a must see for the kids.
It one of three bridges on the river Hooghly and is the most famous landmark in all of West Bengal. This bridge is a marvel of British engineering. Howrah Bridge is suspended on pillars and never mind how old, it still stands as strong as ever.
One of the oldest museums in Kolkata, this is a must see for anyone who visits the city.
The oldest museum in India and one of the most comprehensive museums in Asia, the archaeology and numismatic sections contain the most valuable collections.
The largest mosque in Kolkata, which can accommodate 10,000 worshippers at a time, this wonder is built in the Indo-Saracenic style.
One of the most prominent churches in the city, it is located between Birla planetarium and Rabindra Sadan. Constructed by Bishop Willson in 1847, it is the first Episcopal Church of the East. The Indo-Gothic style of this church is really impressive.
Kali temple of Kalighat continues to attract a large volume of pilgrims, local, regional as well as from all over India. A truly impressive sight, this temple is best visited during the spirited Kali puja festivities.
It is the nearest sea-beach from Kolkata and is a six-hour bus journey. Very close to the Orissa border, Digha has been attracting a lot of tourists. The 7 kilometer long beach has every thing that a sea loving traveller could possibly need good surf and sand. Just 8 kms from Digha is the Chandaneshwar Siva Temple across the border in Orissa. Digha is 185 kms from Kolkata.
51 kms from the city is the old port of Kolkata. From here Hooghly turns south to merge into the sea and from here, one can take launches to Sagar island for the famous Ganga Sagar Fair.
Kolkata's new port is 96 kms south of the city. This place was developed as a port to avoid the silting problem in Diamond Harbour. Today the Haldia Refinery has added value to the place. There are regular bus services to both the ports from Kolkata.
Not much is left of the place, which was once the cantonment of the East India Company. 23 kms from the city, the place has acquired a historical significance. The gardens along the river bank are very nicely laid and are very charming. The Gandhi memorial attracts a large number of tourists. Barrackpore was one of the places which was transferred by the Danish settlement to the East India Company in 1845.
The French trading post was handed over to India along with Pondicherry in 1951. The French settled here in 1673 and made it their trade centre. But they lost this place to the British in a conflict. Today this place along the river Hooghly has some buildings of the French era and is now famous for the artisans who make clay figurines. Chandernagore is 39 kms from Kolkata.
43 kms from Kolkata is the site of a Portuguese church and monasteries that were built in 1599. They were destroyed in 1640 by Shah Jahan but were rebuilt.
Towards the South of Kolkata, rivers Ganga and Hooghly divide themselves into many distributaries and they form the famous Gangetic deltas. They provide the ideal environment for the Sundari trees to grow. Spread over an area of almost 10,000 sq kms, now shared between Bangladesh and India, the Sunderbans are home to many exquisite animals and birds.
One of the most important festivals here is the Durga Puja, a celebration of the victory of good over evil. During the puja lasting ten days with different rituals, the whole city is decorated like a bride. Kolkata looks like one big fair with shops lined up with everything imaginable and streets dotted with people. This is followed by the Kali puja and Diwali, the festival of lights.
In spring, the city celebrates Vasant Panchami, a festival where Saraswati, the Goddess of wisdom and learning is worshipped. Apart from these, the city celebrates the festival of colour Holi or Dol Yatra as it is called in Bengal with traditional pomp and gaiety.
This is the Bengali New Year that starts with the worship of Lord Ganesha.
Christmas and New Year celebrations are also observed with spirit as is Id-ul-Fitr.


text: Is it possible to create a custom URI scheme (like AOL instant messenger's aim://) using .NET? If so, does anyone have any good links pointing in the right direction? I tried googling a few different things and all I came up with is how to do it using Java. Thanks in advance.


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Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living
by Shauna Niequist
Learn More | Meet Shauna Niequist
Present Over Perfect:
Leaving Behind Frantic For A Simpler, More Soulful Way Of Living
Foreword by Brené Brown
A few months after I met Shauna for the first time at a speaking event, she emailed me to ask if we could get together during her upcoming trip to Houston.
Having recently finished her book, Bread & Wine, I was totally inspired to buck my normal response of "I'd love to, but I'm crazy busy right now" in favor of a hearty, "Yes! Come over and I'll cook dinner."
Shauna has a Benedictine passion about hospitality, gatherings, and feeding friends that I find contagious and inspiring. Of course, once the day arrived, my inspiration morphed into dread. My house was a disaster, I was two weeks late on a writing deadline, and I looked as tired and burnt out as I felt. What really sounded good was an evening of numbing out in front of the television with chips and queso. Alone.
In the middle of my "should I cancel or not" dance, I remembered this quote from St. Benedict: "Let all guests who arrive be received like Christ." Would I cancel on Jesus to hide out from my life with snack food and Law & Order reruns Honestly, I hope not. But there are days when I'm not so sure. And don't worry— God is totally clear about this struggle. We discuss it on a regular basis.
On this particular day, I decided to welcome Shauna in the most holy way I knew— with love and total honesty. I heated up some turkey chili and tamales, threw on some comfy pants, and opened the front door. We hugged for a minute, then she looked me straight in the eye and asked, "How are you"
I could tell she really wanted to know. I got teary eyed and said, "I'm tired. Confused. A little lonely. But holding on."
Shauna smiled as her eyes welled up. "Me too, pal. Me too. It's so hard sometimes."
Our time together that night was sacred for a simple reason: we chose to be present over pretending to be perfect.
I believe the most powerful way to share what it really means to show up and be present is through story, and that's Shauna's offering with this book. Her gift to us is a collection of stories that are real, honest, and familiar in a way that is both comforting and a little uncomfortable (like truth can be).
Present Over Perfect is an open- armed invitation to welcome the people we love, and even ourselves, back into our lives. It's not an easy call, but Shauna is at the door and she knows exactly how to make us feel at home.
God hasn't invited us into a disorderly, unkempt life but into something holy and beautiful— as beautiful on the inside as the outside.
1 Thessalonians 4:7, The Message
Wild Geese
By Mary Oliver
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
Are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting—
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.
Ship to Wreck
And, ah, my love remind me, what was it that I said
I can't help but pull the earth around me to make my bed
And, ah, my love remind me, what was it that I did
Did I drink too much Am I losing touch Did I build this ship to wreck
— Florence + the Machine
This is a love story, like all my favorite stories. It's a story about letting yourself be loved, in all your imperfect, scarred, non- spectacular glory. And it's about the single most profound life change I've yet encountered.
One Saturday, three years ago, I stared at the ceiling of a hotel room in Dallas, exhausted. I said to myself, "If anyone else wants to live this life I've created for myself, they're more than welcome to try. But I'm done. I need a new way to live."
I was thirty- six years old. Aaron and I had been married for eleven years, and we had two boys— a one- year- old and a six- year- old. I was finishing a book— a month from submitting a manuscript, longer than the previous ones I'd written, and with recipes this time, which meant that during the weekdays I was writing essays, and in the evenings I tested recipes over and over, flinging pans of burned brownies into the sink and starting again, butterflying pork tenderloin, taking notes on paper spattered with vinegar, dusted with spices. On the weekends, often I was traveling, speaking at conferences, retreats, and churches.
In many ways, I loved this life— loved my husband, adored my kids, was so thankful to be a writer. But it's like I was pulling a little red wagon, and as I pulled it along, I filled it so full that I could hardly keep pulling. That red wagon was my life, and the weight of pulling it was destroying me. I was aware that I was missing the very things I so badly longed for: connection, meaning, peace. But there was something that kept driving me forward— a set of beliefs and instincts that kept me pushing, pushing, pushing even as I was longing to rest.
My health was suffering. I was frequently sick. I slept poorly and not enough. I got migraines and then vertigo. The muscles in my neck and shoulders felt more like rock than tissue, and the circles under my eyes looked like bruises. My heart— the heart I used to offer so freely, the heart I used to wear proudly on my sleeve— had retreated deep inside my chest, wounded and seeking protection. My ability to taste and connect and feel deeply had been badly compromised. My faith was stilted— it had become over time yet another way to try and fail, rather than a respite or healing relationship.
I loved my life, but I had become someone I didn't want to be around. I had become someone I didn't want to be.
This book is an account of my winding, messy journey from exhaustion to peace, from isolation to connection, from hustling and multitasking to sacred presence. And this book is an invitation, too— a hand reaching out across the pages, inviting you into that same journey, because it has been the greatest, most challenging, most rewarding sea- change of my adult life.
Not long after that Saturday afternoon realization, a mentor of mine invited me to an event with her in San Francisco, where she lives. I wanted to go. I didn't want to go. I didn't want to be away from my kids. I couldn't decide anymore what to do and what not to do, so I left her email in my inbox for a while, and then sent back a rambling, incoherent message about how my life felt so different than I thought it would, how I couldn't tell which end was up and couldn't put the brakes on, no matter how many times I tried.
She emailed back immediately. The line that stuck out to me was this: "Stop. Right now. Remake your life from the inside out." For almost two decades, this wise woman's words have had a prophetic connection to my life— God has used her words in the right moments and seasons in such profound ways, and these latest words perhaps more than any others.
In that moment, I had no idea what it meant to remake my life from the inside out. Now, more than three years later, I'm so deeply thankful to look back and realize that's just what I've done, although in the twistiest, most circuitous possible way.
I tried all the outside ways first— I imagined the changes I needed to make were about time management, or perhaps having the cleaners come more often. I quickly found it was not about managing time or housekeeping. It was not about to- do lists or scheduling or minutes and hours. This journey has been about love, about worth, about God, about what it means to know him and be loved by him in a way that grounds and reorders everything.
I've been remaking my life from the inside out, and I want to invite you into that creative, challenging, life- altering work.
It is work, of course. It feels, I'd imagine, like adding a basement to a house that's already been standing for decades. I thought it would be more like adding new shutters, but I'm finding it to be more like lifting up a home and starting to dig, reorienting the very foundation. There is nothing superficial about this process.
Over the course of these last years, I've been to a counselor and a spiritual director and many doctors. I've prayed and fasted. I've read countless books. I've been on a silent retreat at a Jesuit retreat center, and another at a summer camp on Lake Geneva.
I've failed miserably and begun again, asked for help, asked for grace, asked for prayer. And beyond those things I've done, the more life- altering parts of the work are those things I've not done: the moments that I've allowed— or forced— myself to stop, to rest, to breathe, to connect. That's where life is, I'm finding. That's where grace is. That's where delight is.
I'm not, by any means, at the end of this journey. But I have traveled this beautiful new road far enough to know that this is how I want to live the rest of my days. I'm almost forty, feeling midlife- y like crazy, and this is how I want to live the second half of my life.
Richard Rohr says the skills that take you through the first half of your life are entirely unhelpful for the second half. To press the point a little bit: those skills I developed that supposedly served me well for the first half, as I inspect them a little more closely, didn't actually serve me at all. They made me responsible and capable and really, really tired. They made me productive and practical, and inch by inch, year by year, they moved me further and further from the warm, whimsical person I used to be . . . and I missed her.
The two sins at play here, I believe, are gluttony and pride— the desire to escape and the desire to prove, respectively. I want to taste and experience absolutely everything, and I want to be perceived as wildly competent. The opposite of gluttony is sobriety, in the widest sense, which is not my strong suit. And the opposite of pride, one might say, is vulnerability— essentially, saying this is who I am . . . not the sparkly image, not the smoke and mirrors, not the accomplishments or achievements. This is me, with all my limitations, with all my weaknesses.
It's as though God, in his graciousness and wisdom, pressed his thumbs into the twin wounds of my life, the desire to prove and the desire to escape, and in that pressing is the invitation.
What I'm learning, essentially, is to stand where I am, plain and sometimes tired. Unflashy, profoundly unspectacular. But present and connected and grounded deeply in the love of God, which is changing everything.
My prayer is that this book will be a thousand invitations, springing up from every page, calling you to leave behind the heavy weight of comparison, competition, and exhaustion, and to recraft a life marked by meaning, connection, and unconditional love.
Part 1
Sea- change
Full fathom five thy father lies,
Of his bones are coral made,
Those are pearls that were his eyes,
Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a sea- change,
into something rich and strange,
Sea- nymphs hourly ring his knell,
Ding- dong.
Hark! now I hear them, ding- dong, bell.
— Shakespeare, The Tempest
I'm coming to believe that there are a handful of passages in our lives that transform us, not unlike conversions, where the old is gone and the new is come. For me, this has taken the shape of a nearly four- year journey from exhaustion, multitasking, frantic and frayed living, into peace, connection, and rest. When I look back on my life I can see a couple other sea- change seasons: One was my senior year of college, when I left behind chaos and disconnection for a renewed connection to God, to his people, to his Word and his ways of living. Another was when I was twenty- nine and was fired from a job I held far too dearly. Also I was pregnant. And I was sitting on a book contract I was terrified to complete. That season was like off-roading, a little bit, like being plunged into new ways of living— writing, mothering, all the while grasping back to a job and identity that was no longer mine to grasp. Years ago, a wise friend told me that no one ever changes until the pain level gets high enough. That seems entirely true. The inciting incident for life change is almost always heartbreak— something becomes broken beyond repair, too heavy to carry; in the words of the recovery movement, unmanageable. In each of my three sea- changes, the life I'd created had broken to pieces in my hands. When I was twenty- one, my life was marked by drinking and dating and books, and only one of those things was helpful. When I was twenty- nine, my attachment to my job was such a white- knuckled thing, and I believe that getting fired was essentially God's grace prying my little fingers off that identity, digit by digit. And in this current sea- change, my disconnectedness from my soul and from the people I care most about has become so painful that I'm willing to remake the whole of my life.
I've always been the bearer of what my husband calls "a Catholic imagination" as opposed to a Protestant one. I don't know where that came from, except that growing up in Chicago means growing up on all sides happily surrounded by Irish and Italian and Polish Catholics. We were the odd ones out, certainly, in our church that met in a movie theater, without crosses or priests. More than that, though, I think this particularly Catholic imagination was born in me because my earliest loves— and my greatest loves to this day— were stories, meals, and water. Another way to look at it: the liturgy, communion, baptism. I'm not at all an "in my head" person. I'm a blood and guts and body person, a dirt and berries and trees person. I'm a smell and taste and feel and grasp- between- my- fingers person, and both life around the table and life on the water are ways of living that I experience through the tactile sensations of them, not the ideas that float above them.
This sea- change in me began, fittingly, at the lake. I've spent summers all my life in this little lakeshore town. My grandparents had a cottage here, and both grandfathers had sailboats in this marina. My parents' first date was a walk on this pier. This town and this stretch of Lake Michigan is in my blood, deep in my bones. For the last several years, each July, Aaron and the boys and I rent a house we love— a blue house with a wide porch and bright pink hydrangeas. We walk to the beach and the pier and the ice cream shop. We take the boat out every day, sometimes twice. We buy most of our produce at the farmer's market, and we pick blueberries and cherries to freeze and eat all year long. It's a three- hour drive to this small Michigan town from our house outside Chicago, but they feel worlds apart. I can feel myself exhale as we exit the highway and turn onto Phoenix Street, and the first glimpse of the water makes my heart leap every single time. And so as is our custom, we arrived at the lake that July, breathless from travel, sleepless from kids, wrung out from a writing project that still wasn't finished.
Looking back, it's easy to see now that I was at my worst: weepy, snapping at everyone and everything, anxiety sky- high; deep connection to myself, to God, to the people I love most at an all- time deficit. That July began the invitation to a new way of living, and each subsequent July has been a reset, a recalibration, a deeper invitation. It's July once again, and I would never tell you that I'm finished with this journey, all fixed up, nailing it. But I will tell you, with great gratitude and joy, that I am fundamentally changed, rebuilt from the inside. I have left behind some ways of living that I once believed were necessary and right that I now know were toxic and damaging— among them pushing, proving, over- working, ignoring my body and my spirit, trusting my ability to hustle more than God's ability to heal. My life is marked now by quiet, connection, simplicity. It has taken every bit of more than three years to learn these things, and like any hard, good work, I fail and try again more often than I'd prefer. But there is a peace that defines my days, a settledness, a groundedness. I've been searching for this in a million places, all outside myself, and it astounds me to realize that the groundedness is within me, and that maybe it was there all along. I've always trusted things outside myself, believing that my own voice couldn't be trusted, that my own preferences and desires would lead me astray, that it was far wiser and safer to listen to other people— other voices, the voices of the crowd. I believed it was better to measure my life by metrics out there, instead of values deeply held in my own soul and spirit. And in the same way, I've always given my best energy to things outside myself, believing that I'd be fine, that I was a workhorse, that I didn't need special treatment or babying or, heaven help me, self- care. Self- care was for the fragile, the special, the dainty. I was a linebacker, a utility player, a worker bee. I ate on the run, slept in my clothes, worshiped at the altar of my to- do list, ignored the crying out of my body and soul like they were nothing more than the buzz of pesky mosquitoes. Now I know that in the same way I've always believed God's Spirit dwells deeply in this world, it also dwells deeply in me. I've known that, cognitively, but my life spoke otherwise. Now I know that the best thing I can offer to this world is not my force or energy, but a well- tended spirit, a wise and brave soul. My regrets: how many years I bruised people with my fragmented, anxious presence. How many moments of connection I missed— too busy, too tired, too frantic and strung out on the drug of efficiency. Now I know there's another way. You don't have to damage your body and your soul and the people you love most in order to get done what you think you have to get done. You don't have to live like this.
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