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В 1943 году цензуру нацистской диктатуры прорвала радиостанция «Свободная Германия». Пока в Берлине уверяли, что русские на месте убивают каждого немца, немецкие антифашисты передавали из подмосковного Красногорска весточки от солдат, попавших в плен под Сталинградом и в других частях Восточного фронта.

Живущий в России американский журналист пишет своего рода хроники из коронавирусной Москвы накануне Дня Победы. Несмотря на необходимый для западных СМИ скепсис, даже он признает, что дела здесь идут неплохо: какие бы кризисы ни сотрясали Россию, она находит силы выстоять.

Organ shortage continues to limit the lives of patients who require liver transplantation. While extending criteria for liver organs provides a needed resource, tissue damage from prolonged ischemic injury can result in early allograft dysfunction and consequent rejection. In this issue of the JCI, Nakamura et al. used a mouse transplantation model with prolonged ex vivo cold storage to explore liver graft protection. The authors found that liver grafts with absent carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule 1 (CEACAM1) exhibited increased ischemia-reperfusion injury inflammation and decreased function in wild-type recipients. The authors went on to correlate CEACAM1 levels with postreperfusion damage in human liver transplant recipients. Notably, this study identified a potential biomarker for liver transplant donor graft quality.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is clearly age-related and represents one of the deadliest cancer types worldwide. As a result of globally increasing risk factors including metabolic disorders, the incidence rates of HCC are still rising. However, the molecular hallmarks of HCC remain poorly understood. Neuropeptide Y (NPY) and NPY receptors represent a highly conserved, stress-activated system involved in diverse cancer-related hallmarks including aging and metabolic alterations, but its impact on liver cancer had been unclear. Here, we observed increased expression of NPY5 receptor (Y5R) in HCC, which correlated with tumor growth and survival. Furthermore, we found that its ligand NPY was secreted by peritumorous hepatocytes. Hepatocyte-derived NPY promoted HCC progression by Y5R activation. TGF-β1 was identified as a regulator of NPY in hepatocytes and induced Y5R in invasive cancer cells. Moreover, NPY conversion by dipeptidylpeptidase 4 (DPP4) augmented Y5R activation and function in liver cancer. The TGF-β/NPY/Y5R axis and DPP4 represent attractive therapeutic targets for controlling liver cancer progression.

BACKGROUND Neurofibroma/schwannoma hybrid nerve sheath tumors (N/S HNSTs) are neoplasms associated with larger nerves that occur sporadically and in the context of schwannomatosis or neurofibromatosis type 2 or 1. Clinical management of N/S HNSTs is challenging, especially for large tumors, and established systemic treatments are lacking.METHODS We used next-generation sequencing and array-based DNA methylation profiling to determine the clinically actionable genomic and epigenomic landscapes of N/S HNSTs.RESULTS Whole-exome sequencing within a precision oncology program identified an activating mutation (p.Asp769Tyr) in the catalytic domain of the ERBB2 receptor tyrosine kinase in a patient with schwannomatosis-associated N/S HNST, and targeted treatment with the small-molecule ERBB inhibitor lapatinib led to prolonged clinical benefit and a lasting radiographic and metabolic response. Analysis of a multicenter validation cohort revealed recurrent ERBB2 mutations (p.Leu755Ser, p.Asp769Tyr, p.Val777Leu) in N/S HNSTs occurring in patients who met diagnostic criteria for sporadic schwannomatosis (3 of 7 patients), but not in N/S HNSTs arising in the context of neurofibromatosis (6 patients) or outside a tumor syndrome (1 patient), and showed that ERBB2-mutant N/S HNSTs cluster in a distinct subgroup of peripheral nerve sheath tumors based on genome-wide DNA methylation patterns.CONCLUSION These findings uncover a key biological feature of N/S HNSTs that may have important diagnostic and therapeutic implications.FUNDING This work was supported by grant H021 from DKFZ-HIPO, the University Cancer Center Frankfurt, and the Frankfurt Research Funding Clinician Scientist Program.

Familial dysautonomia (FD) is the most prevalent form of hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathy (HSAN). In FD, a germline mutation in the Elp1 gene leads to Elp1 protein decrease that causes sympathetic neuron death and sympathetic nervous system dysfunction (dysautonomia). Elp1 is best known as a scaffolding protein within the nuclear hetero-hexameric transcriptional Elongator protein complex, but how it functions in sympathetic neuron survival is very poorly understood. Here, we identified a cytoplasmic function for Elp1 in sympathetic neurons that was essential for retrograde nerve growth factor (NGF) signaling and neuron target tissue innervation and survival. Elp1 was found to bind to internalized TrkA receptors in an NGF-dependent manner, where it was essential for maintaining TrkA receptor phosphorylation (activation) by regulating PTPN6 (Shp1) phosphatase activity within the signaling complex. In the absence of Elp1, Shp1 was hyperactivated, leading to premature TrkA receptor dephosphorylation, which resulted in retrograde signaling failure and neuron death. Inhibiting Shp1 phosphatase activity in the absence of Elp1 rescued NGF-dependent retrograde signaling, and in an animal model of FD it rescued abnormal sympathetic target tissue innervation. These results suggest that regulation of retrograde NGF signaling in sympathetic neurons by Elp1 may explain sympathetic neuron loss and physiologic dysautonomia in patients with FD.

Nerve growth factor (NGF) regulates many aspects of neuronal biology by retrogradely propagating signals along axons to the targets of those axons. How this occurs when axons contain a plethora of proteins that can silence those signals has long perplexed the neurotrophin field. In this issue of the JCI, Li et al. suggest an answer to this vexing problem, while exploring why the Elp1 gene that is mutated in familial dysautonomia (FD) causes peripheral neuropathy. They describe a distinctive function of Elp1 as a protein that is required to sustain NGF signaling by blocking the activity of its phosphatase that shuts off those signals. This finding helps explain the innervation deficits prominent in FD and reveals a unique role for Elp1 in the regulation of NGF-dependent TrkA activity.

An in-depth understanding of immune escape mechanisms in cancer is likely to lead to innovative advances in immunotherapeutic strategies. However, much remains unknown regarding these mechanisms and how they impact immunotherapy resistance. Using several preclinical tumor models as well as clinical specimens, we identified a mechanism whereby CD8+ T cell activation in response to programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) blockade induced a programmed death ligand 1/NOD-, LRR-, and pyrin domain–containing protein 3 (PD-L1/NLRP3) inflammasome signaling cascade that ultimately led to the recruitment of granulocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cells (PMN-MDSCs) into tumor tissues, thereby dampening the resulting antitumor immune response. The genetic and pharmacologic inhibition of NLRP3 suppressed PMN-MDSC tumor infiltration and significantly augmented the efficacy of anti–PD-1 antibody immunotherapy. This pathway therefore represents a tumor-intrinsic mechanism of adaptive resistance to anti–PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy and is a promising target for future translational research.

BACKGROUND Mirabegron is a β3-adrenergic receptor (β3-AR) agonist approved only for the treatment of overactive bladder. Encouraging preclinical results suggest that β3-AR agonists could also improve obesity-related metabolic disease by increasing brown adipose tissue (BAT) thermogenesis, white adipose tissue (WAT) lipolysis, and insulin sensitivity.METHODS We treated 14 healthy women of diverse ethnicities (27.5 ± 1.1 years of age, BMI of 25.4 ± 1.2 kg/m2) with 100 mg mirabegron (Myrbetriq extended-release tablet, Astellas Pharma) for 4 weeks in an open-label study. The primary endpoint was the change in BAT metabolic activity as measured by [18F]-2-fluoro-d-2-deoxy-d-glucose (18F-FDG) PET/CT. Secondary endpoints included resting energy expenditure (REE), plasma metabolites, and glucose and insulin metabolism as assessed by a frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance test.RESULTS Chronic mirabegron therapy increased BAT metabolic activity. Whole-body REE was higher, without changes in body weight or composition. Additionally, there were elevations in plasma levels of the beneficial lipoprotein biomarkers HDL and ApoA1, as well as total bile acids. Adiponectin, a WAT-derived hormone that has antidiabetic and antiinflammatory capabilities, increased with acute treatment and was 35% higher upon completion of the study. Finally, an intravenous glucose tolerance test revealed higher insulin sensitivity, glucose effectiveness, and insulin secretion.CONCLUSION These findings indicate that human BAT metabolic activity can be increased after chronic pharmacological stimulation with mirabegron and support the investigation of β3-AR agonists as a treatment for metabolic disease.TRIAL REGISTRATION Clinicaltrials.gov NCT03049462.FUNDING This work was supported by grants from the Intramural Research Program of the NIDDK, NIH (DK075112, DK075116, DK071013, and DK071014).

Cats. Cats are the best, and I can’t seem to settle down in any one place for too long, so my cats (possibly to their dismay) have had to move around with my silly butt. I don’t own a boat that can cross the Pacific Ocean, so that means taking them on a plane. BUT! While it’s no fun for anyone, it’s not really as hard as you think! Really really! My cats are my family, and if you’re here then you probably also have furry family members, and you are worried about flying with them. I’ve both taken my cats in the cabin and had to check them into the pet cargo hold (to my terror), but they not only survived, they are all flourishing wonderfully. While things do happen (and if something happens, raise a ruckus and make sure that whomever hurt your baby knows it), for the most part, flying is actually pretty safe for cats. Not that you want to take them. It’s just that sometimes you have to. So read on for my personal tips on how to make the flight go as smoothly as possible for all of you! Trust me, you’ll want it to be this way. My cats at the vet for their checkups and vaccinations. 1. Do Your Homework. This might seem obvious, but that being said, let’s put it out there anyway. Know your stuff! There are two things that you’re going to need to find out as soon as you decide to fly with your pets:      a) What paperwork does the airline require for me to bring my cat on the plane?      b) What does my arrival location require for me to bring my cat into the country/state? Usually, a) is the easiest part. It’s usually just a health certificate from your vet, issued less than a week before travel. Just book an appointment at your vet for less than a week before departure, and tell them that you’re flying to (wherever). All of my vets, even my one in Japan, either knew what they needed, or looked it up beforehand. Check your airline’s webpage (my absolute favorite for flying with pets is Alaska Air, btw. You can take two in the cabin by yourself, and it’s the only airline I know of that allows this!), and follow the instructions. I keep all of my paperwork with my passport while flying, so that I can show it to the ticketing agent or anyone else that asks (sometimes, nobody has, but at least I had it). In all of the cases where I’ve flown, my plane required a current health certificate to board, and when I left Japan, they required an inspection from the on-site team, which I just asked for when I arrived in Narita. b) can be easy, or it can be hard. In order to enter the US from Japan, I had to check the US Customs website for the country’s official regulations, and Washington State for its regulations.  The US didn’t have any regulations at the time, but Washington state required a health certificate (same as the plane), and current rabies vaccination, both of which I had done within the week before I left. Funny enough, nobody checked my paperwork after I landed, since it was the 4th of July and the Agricultural Inspections office was closed. When I went to Hawaii, it was another story. It was a long, long, long process (more than 6 months) to get all of my testing and paperwork done for Sansa to enter the state, but I did it, kept all of my paperwork in order, and was able to leave the airport in Hawaii with her in my arms without any fuss! There was a lot to do, but I just made sure that I knew what I needed, did it, and had the documentation, and things were pretty smooth sailing afterward! You should always check the official government pages to make sure that you have the correct information. In Hawaii’s case, it can be found here. All of my cats reacted differently to being examined. 2. Get your stuff in order! Once you have your list of things that you need (vaccinations, health checks, etc), then CALL the airline to make your reservations (you always need to call them in order to add pets to your tickets. They usually cost a little bit extra, and try to get them in the cabin if you can). Then, check your airline’s website to find out what kind of carrier you will need, and whether you will need anything else. When I flew to Washington the first time, and to Hawaii, I only had one cat, so I didn’t need any food (I brought some anyway, and a little bowl in my carryon just in case), and a soft-sided carrier that would fit in the dimensions they specified on their websites (it’s usually in the pet section or the carry-on section, and every airline is different). When I flew to Washington again, it was with three cats, so I needed two large hard carriers that met certain criteria for my babies flying underneath, and one soft-sided one for the baby going in the cabin. The website for the airline was very specific, but it was easy to find what I needed at Petco. Check, check, and check. I had my carriers, my paperwork, and I was ready! When your cat isn’t too happy about getting her shots. 3. Getting ready for the flight. A week or so before my flight (or days in my last case), I set all of my pet carriers out in the living room and set them up how I was going to have them for the flight — I lined the bottoms with puppy training pads (in case there was an accident in-flight), then a towel for absorbency (in the large hard carriers only), and finally, on top of that, a blanket that I had been using a lot (so that it had our scents on it, and would comfort the cats). I sprayed the interior of all of the carriers with Feliway, and left them out for the cats to get used to them. The carriers sitting out for the curious kitties to explore. They all took turns exploring the carriers, and after a few days, got comfortable with them and would lounge around inside, play with them, and rub up against the sides. This was all in order to reduce the stress of travel on them as much as possible. I continued to spray them with Feliway at least once a day until we left. There is no hard and fast rule on this, but I took away my cats’ food and water the morning of the trip, and waited until just before we left to toss out the litter boxes. There was some satisfaction in being able to stuff those nasty things in a giant garbage bag and haul them to the trash without scooping! Hey, take pleasure while you can– you’re about to undertake something pretty stressful! After I called my Uber, I rounded up the cats one by one and deposited them in their carriers. Nobody was particularly happy about this, but just be patient. Two of my babies at the airport waiting for inspection. All of them were champs! 4. The Flight Be calm, patient, and as rational as possible. I know that it’s pretty scary (terrifying, to me) to let your precious babies our of your sight, but once the porter had helped me to the ticket counters (I actually needed two the last time, and I tipped them very well), I just reminded myself that it would all be over soon, and that the calmer I was, the better the kitties would feel. In order to pass through security, you will need to remove the cats one-by-one from their carriers and hold them while the crew puts your carrier through the scanner, or manually scans by hand (two of mine were too large to fit). Sometimes, they will let you do all of this in a separate room so that the cats are calmer, but there isn’t always one available (it will say that you can do this on most websites, but I wasn’t allowed a separate room the last time and had to hold three wiggly cats in the middle of the airport). BRING A HARNESS FOR THIS. I can’t stress this enough. My cats don’t like harnesses, but I fastened one to them before I brought them out of the carrier, and removed it right after, and it brought me a lot of peace of mind. None of my cats tried to run, but I have heard that some cats do, and you don’t want to take that chance. Look for a harness like this one— thick and really hard to pull out of. Better safe than sorry. I only brought one harness for three cats, since I would only need to take out one cat at a time. By the next morning, everyone was already claiming “our” new bed as their own. And that’s it!  Once you’re on the flight, it’s mostly a waiting game. I honestly am not sure whether the cats or I were more stressed about the trip, and they were certainly shaken and scared when they arrived at our new home. However, within a few days, my cats were all behaving as if they’d never lived anywhere else. They rebound quickly as long as you shower them with love and affection. ???? Well, those are my tips for making the smoothest ride possible! It helps to have litter and litter pans, food, etc, sent to your new place before you arrive, as well, so that everything will be easy to set up for you. Make sure that your kitties are confined to one room for at least a few hours, and let them hide for as long as they need to. They’ll get curious and hungry and come out on their own. I hope this helps someone! If I did it, anyone can! Remember, I took three cats on a flight overseas BY MYSELF! Nobody to even drop my off at the airport but an UberXL driver! =^-^=

Sometime over the summer, I saw a video on Facebook about a little town in Oregon where it’s Halloween all year long. Halloween? OMG YES, I LOVE HALLOWEEN! You’re not the only one dressing up for once, so it really doesn’t feel awkward to let your geek shine! Especially now that “sexy” halloween costumes aren’t the only “cool” option. I mean, as if nerdy costumes were ever less than cool, but I digress. History has been hard to us nerds. Anyways! So, I saw a video for this Halloweentown that made it look really, really cool, and I thought, hey, I have to go!  Guess what? I did! ???? Here is my report.  First off, did you know that this isn’t a Halloween thing, as much as it is a movie set thing?? I had never even heard of the Halloweentown movie until a week before I went, much less that there was an entire series of movies that I guess kids my age grew up with! I was more of an It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and The Worst Witch kid. Side note: holy cow, why is that movie so expensive now?! Maybe because it’s awesome, but still… So, in order to get myself into the mood, I watched Halloweentown the night before. It was cute, but it’ll still never mean to me what it means to people that grew up watching it. Here’s me and Joanne (my traveling companion — she and my cousin used to be an item, but she’s too cool for him now) at the “famous” gates! We let our Ravenclaw banner fly high all weekend! So, we drove from western Washington for about two hours to get to St. Helens, where all of the festivities take place. From the video, which I had bookmarked and is no longer available(!), it looked like this place would be huge and chock-full of Halloween everywhere we looked. Yay! There were events listed including coin hunts and rides in hearses, and because we went on a weekend in October, some of the movie cast would even be there taking photos (for a price)! It sounded really neat, and we planned to stay the night in the closest drivable town, which was 40 minutes away. There were only a few hotels in town and they were all booked up, boo. So, here’s where I want to mention something… St. Helens is a small town on the bank of the Columbia River. Right across from St. Helens, on the opposite bank of the river, is a town called Kalama. You can stand on the riverbank in St. Helens and look at Kalama on the other side. But there is no bridge. Nada. Nothing! So if you want to drive to that town that you can see happening over yonder, you have to either drive all the way up to Longview,  or all the way down to Portland, and then back. So it’s an hour’s DRIVE to cross the river, and you have to go through other cities to do it. WTF. I don’t understand this at all. Who planned these cities?!?! I just had to say something because it still boggles my mind! Alright, whew! Let’s look at some cute photos to feel better. ???? There was a band performing in Town Square, the center of all activity Halloweentown. Here’s the taxi from the movie. And this big steel pumpkin. It didn’t get crowded until night, but it was still hard to get a shot without people all over the place. I didn’t feel like waiting around, so this was the best that I could do. There was one huge parking lot, and this guy was there to welcome us in… Looks like he’d been waiting for quite a while! City Hall was at the front of the Town Square, and in the movie. This woman is apparently the ideal resident. Someone had a drone, and I thought it made for a cool shot. Looking at Mt. Hood in the distance! I’d love to go hiking there in the spring! Well… to be honest, there wasnt’ actually much to do. There were a few food trucks next to town hall selling noms and running charity drives, a haunted house around the corner, a street full of consignment/used goods shops, and a hair salon selling t-shirts and mugs of the event. During the day, there was also a shuttle to take you uptown where you could do a scavenger hunt and win a commemorative coin. It took Joanne and I over an hour to figure out where the shuttle came, even though you could walk the entire downtown area in 5 minutes, because it wasnt’ on any map and none of the shopkeepers or staff that we asked knew where it came to pick up people! Organization points: 0 We did find it, though, around the corner from all of the fuss, and boarded to do the scavenger hunt. I wasn’t really expecting anything, and it basically was a piece of paper asking us to go into 10 of 15 or so listed shops on the street and find a plaque with numbers on it. If we collected ten numbers and then took them to a certain gas station on the way out of town, we’d receive our coin. Alright, well it wasn’t super imaginative, but I get what they were going for. We did get to see some cute local shops (and I saw my second pot store in a town that takes 1-2 minutes to drive through… I’m not sure I could ever live in Oregon, as I despise any kind of smoking). I also found, of all things, local vegan caramel, so I bought it fully aware that I would try not to eat the entire bag, but would probably fail (I finished them all before I went to bed). It was delicious, though! Soft and chewy and so, so buttery….. yum! Well, after the scavenger hunt, we decided to get the car and drive around a little bit because we had run out of things to do and, guess what? According to a map that we picked up in town, apparently the Twilight series was also filmed there, and all of the locations were mapped! Forget Halloweentown (sorry!), I am a sucker for Edward and Bella’s tale of fated love. I’ve visited Forks and La Push, the real towns that the books are set in, but never the actual movie filming locations. This sort of made my weekend! There were also some old cemetaries marked on the map as places to visit. Both of those things will be in my next posts! After having a bit of an adventure, we returned to the town square to check out the nightly festivities. I think, honestly, that just coming at night to St. Helens would have been enough, because when we returned to Town Square it was starting to get packed. Apparently, at night is when the real town comes alive! Although there still wasn’t a lot to do, the atmosphere was really eerie and the throngs were thick enough that we had trouble getting through. There was a pumpkin-lighting ceremony at 7:30, but it started really late, so we abandoned it to go to the adults-only haunted house. I’m on a perpetual quest to find a haunted house that is actually scary, and this one turns adults-only after 7pm, so I was hoping for something great! Here’s the coin that we got for our scavenger hunt. It was plastic, not metal as I’d been hoping for, but it had been a nice afternoon looking in shops that we otherwise would have probably passed by. Jack was hanging out. You can see how thick the crowd was after dark! These girls had on mermaid-sparkle witch hats. I approve! I wonder whether they attended Ilvermorny. I had to have one of these necklaces. Can’t wait to rock them on halloween! I wore it into the haunted house, which was… well, it was very well done. It was probably the best put-together haunted house that I’ve ever visited in America, but I wasn’t scared at all. So, in terms of usual haunted houses, it gets an A+ rating! But on the honestly-scared-o-meter, it doesn’t register at all. This is probably what most people want, so give it a go when you visit, though! I just have really, really high expectations! Oh, and we did get a photo with Marnie’s actress. She was a real sweetie! Sure, I had just watched Halloweentown for the first time the night before, but why not! So that’s our little visit to Halloweentown! Final Verdict: If you’re nearby and a fan of Halloween, it’s definitely worth a stop! It’s only a half-hour’s drive from Portland, so it’s easy to take a little nip up and check out the festivities! It’s definitely kid-appropriate, and probably actually the most fun for the little ones. If you’re a fan of the movies, this place should definitely be on your bucketlist! Don’t plan for a whole day, though. It’s mostly a nighttime thing. See you tomorrow to share my photos from Bella’s!

I’ve been to Forks and La Push, where the Twilight book series takes place, but I’ve never been to the actual filming locations from the movies! That’s because while the director wanted to film in Forks, when he came to scout the town he realized there was just not enough infrastructure to support an entire film crew– there were literally not enough places to house and feed all of the people who would be working on the movie, and there was no other large town within driving distance! (Yeah, Forks is really far out there) Enter Halloweento— I mean, St. Helens, Oregon! St. Helens stands in for most of Forks in the movies, and a few places in nearby Portland, Oregon make up most of the rest. I ended up nearby by complete accident, as it was only when I picked up a brochure at Halloweentown that I learned that Bella’s house was just on the other side of town! LUCKY!!!  So, we took a short break to drive over to the locations that were still standing, and made a special detour to Portland because how could we leave the Cullen house behind?! I WANTED TO GO INSIDE SO BADLY! It is a real house with real people that live there, and although they encouraged taking photos from outside (according both to a brochure from City Hall and a sign in front of the house), the inside was off-limits. Honestly, it’s not Bella that I particularly love. I didn’t care for her portrayal by Kristen Stewart (sorry!), or her melancholy, passive attitude in the book. Actually, I didn’t care for Edward, either. It was the idea of a love so strong that forces of  nature were pulling you together. It’s the idea of fitting together so perfectly that you can’t do anything without the other that I am a complete sucker for! I said it on my old Livejournal years ago, but Twilight is just a big Mary Sue anyway, so I like to imagine myself as Bella, with a gorgeous (female) Edward out there waiting for me. ???? Like I said, it’s the love, not the characters themselves. I’ll fight you on this (just kidding). ???? Here is where Edward rescued Bella from some catcallers, complete with the mural that the movie crew painted (!) on the building. And the theater that they drove past, that you can’t really see well in the movie but hey, it was on the map!! This is Jilly’s, which supplied all of the dresses in the shop when Bella went to pick out something with her friends for prom. Oddly enough, they had this sign outside but no actual merchandise inside. Go figure. ???? This place, which is a private house now, was the bookstore where Bella went to find out more information about the Quileute myths. And then, though we only had a little bit of time, we drove over to Portland and checked out Edward’s house. I have to say…. THIS HOUSE WAS GORGEOUS. Whew! I would LOVE to live there. LOVE LOVE LOVE! I would also have loved a tour, but it is a private residence, and therefore we kept our distance. Mmm, but it sure is gorgeous! Twilight brings back a lot of memories for me, and it’s special because I grew up (mostly) in Washington. It’s also not the only book series to claim that there are werewolves living amongst the local residents. The town that I spent most of my childhood in also has a series revolving around it! I’m planning to take a trip over there to see my old friends and photograph all of the wolfy places of interest, so I’ll post about it then! Love ya, and see ya tomorrow!

You read that right. Joanne and I visited a Masonic Cemetary. Alone. It was one of the most calming experiences of my life. We were kind of invited, by the town, and when we arrived, we were definitely welcomed by the residents. This all started when, in the brochure listing the “town attractions” that we received in St. Helens, were two cemeteries. The addresses as well as short descriptions were listed, as well as a short missive asking us to please be respectful and not make loud noises. It sounded really creepy and really interesting, so both of us jumped at the chance to drive out there right before sunset. They weren’t what I expected at all… Well, the first one was actually roped off with a “no trespassing” sign hanging from it, so we didn’t go inside. It was right alongside the highway in Oregon, across some old train tracks, visible from the road, and named and marked on a tourist map, yet they didn’t want visitors. I wonder what happened there. In any case, we headed for the other cemetery. This one was removed from the main road, and rumored to be a lot larger. It was also known to be haunted, but visitors were welcome as long as they were respectful. Off the map it was, but when we arrived, it was also gated off. A sad Joanne looks through the gate at the second destination that was cut off from us. Ah, but unlike the other cemetery, this one didn’t have a “no tresspassing” sign. There was a clear path around the sides of the gate, the ground bare of grass and obviously well-traversed. Apparently a lot of people walked around the gate. Maybe they just didn’t want us to drive. We decided to walk. There was even a sign. And a long, winding, steep road through the forest.  It was quite a hike to reach the top of the large hill where the cemetery was supposedly located, but the view was breathtaking. It took us a good ten or fifteen minutes to reach the top, and the road was quite steep. For some reason, to the immediate right of the trail, someone had been excavating land for quite some time, and there was a deep quarry. Why someone would dig a quarry next to a burial ground is beside me. I don’t doubt that the residents were unhappy about it. I wondered if maybe I would feel some spirits, but I didn’t expect what really happened to me. As soon as I stepped off of the road and onto the grass, a calm unlike anything I’ve ever felt descended upon me. It enveloped me in a warm cocoon, and Joanne and I immediately separated and wandered quietly alone between the gravestones. I know, 100%, that not only was I welcomed, but that the residents were happy to have me there. I talked a bit with some of the gravestones, but mostly wandered about, amazed at how much serenity I felt. We must have spent around a half hour wandering quietly alone, together, before we left in order to return to the festivities in town. But I’ll never forget the experience. It was something really, really special. I took some video footage too, but I’m not sure yet whether I want to use it. We’ll see! Someday, I’ll set up a tripod and get a shot of me walking like this. But for now, have Joanne instead. ???? <3

This isn’t in the photos, but it’s foggy and cold this morning in western Washington. It’s the weirdest summer I’ve ever experienced — foggy, frigid mornings, cool days, and then freezing nights! It’s not very pleasant for a desert creature like myself, but it’s quite nice to sit inside and write in my blog a least. I have to say, it sure is weird, though. It’s August and I wear a sweater or sweatshirt most of the time and then I’m still cold! ^^; There are a few sunny days here and there, though. I get out on those days, into the wilderness and bright blue beyond. Sometimes, I just drive and drive in my still-unnamed yellow bug, and other times I find something that not a lot of people know about. This is about one of them. ^^ I love to wander, to find all of the nooks and crannies of wherever I happen to be. Tourist sites? Well, they’re usually cool and I want to see them, but it’s the little, hidden things off the beaten trail that really get my soul revving. So, Johns River (no apostrophe, it was named back when apostrophes weren’t used on maps) was one of those things. I found out about it by googling and googling, thinking that someone, somewhere, must have written about something other than the two really traveled trails in Grays Harbor. I mean, this area is the gateway to the wild peninsula of Washington, where according to Stephanie Meyer and Patricia Briggs, vampires and werewolves run wild. I also loooooooove mountain meadows. Johns river is not in the mountains, so I suppose that it mostly qualifies as grassland surrounded by trees? It’s just a little concrete path, and it’s not even a mile (0.6 miles one way) long, but with the river on one side and a huge expanse of pasture to the other side, it took my breath away.   Just look at this. Elk supposedly graze around here a lot, and I didn’t see any since I went during midday, but I bet it’s really a sight at sunset. It’s not far, so I will definitely have to come back. Can’t you just imagine little river sprites lounging on the bank, cleaning themselves? And little fairies flitting through the air? I bet this is a really magical place at sunset.   The little shack in the distance is off the trail. It’s supposedly for hunters (YUCK) and photographers. It would make a wonderful place to watch the sprites from. This shack is at the very end of the trail, and the same thing. It’s boring inside. I didn’t see any geldings, but I saw a few mosquitoes and a spider. If you’re lucky enough to have a horse that loves to take you along on its adventures, you can continue. I was wearing shorts, so I didn’t go, because ticks! But I will come back. Yes, I will come back. :3 Road to nowhere. Ignore the buildings. They’re only there for magical curse removal. Here’s a panorama of wildness. I’m feeling really magical today, can’t you tell? I think it’s because I have Daniel Waples playing in the background, and it’s all foggy outside. That reminds me that I want a handpan so badly. I need to find a handpan that I can afford soooooo badly, because I think it’s a music that speaks to my inner essence. Does anyone know what these gorgeous purple flowers are? They’re not lavender. The River People watch over this creek. Be careful to please them. It’s me. Sometimes I wear bright colors, sometimes I wear pastels. I don’t think that a magical being has to stick to  neutrals. (That hand thing is a shaka, a very cool gesture that I learned during my time in Hawaii that means “hang loose.” I like to think that it also means that you should be yourself and follow your instincts.) I think that I’ll go research handpans again. I should write down how much they cost so that I can be sure to stock my Airstream with one when I get it. ???? Here’s to the future! Excelsior! (Is that a good “to infinity, and beyond!!” kind of quote? If not, what should I use instead? I feel like “banzai!” is overused) Oh, and I’ve been arting on my Tumblr lately. I’ve been writing a serial ficiton that is mysterious connected to my soon-to-come comic, Denkiki on my other tumblr. Go check them out!  I’m going to start using my mailing list soon, too, to keep people updated, so stay tuned and I’ll post the link soon! Or make it a popup, I’m not sure. But I want to offer something cool for when people sign up. ???? Chaoness!

Time for a break is here - the new Weekday Escape arrived! This week we get typical escape games only - four rooms with firmly closed door. The first comes Amajeto who locked you in their nice living room and... Tagged as: amajeto, blog, browser, escape, free, gotmail, japanese, pixelkobo, pointandclick, puzzle, rating-g, smartcode, spiceapp, weekday-escape

Hi, it's escaping time! With Amajeto's light and fresh room we move closer to spring and all the cute tiny birds support that feeling. TomoLaSiDo reached us a bit late for Valentine, but never mind it's fun - actually, it's... Tagged as: amajeto, blog, browser, escape, free, japanese, pixelkobo, pointandclick, puzzle, rating-g, rinnogogo, tomolasido, weekday-escape

Another escape Wednesday is here! Very retro Ariyoshi's game is quite short but fun, with refreshing approach to the genre. TomoLaSiDo locked you in their room on the day with special calendar date and you need to gather several outlets... Tagged as: ariyoshi, blog, browser, escape, free, japanese, nicolet, pixelkobo, pointandclick, puzzle, rating-g, tomolasido, weekday-escape

Welcome, this week it's retro time again! Vitamin Hana wants you to escape from an unusual place - from an oceanarium. Then you get locked in Yomino Kagura's prettily decorated room, and then it's time for No1game 's short adventure... Tagged as: blog, browser, escape, escapemen, free, fuwayura, japanese, no1game, pointandclick, puzzle, rating-g, vitaminhana, weekday-escape, yominokagura

Hi! The week is over and the brand new Weekday Escape here! Amajeto helps you to enjoy your stay at home and suggests some activities like looking for lost remote controller in coded drawers and finding ways how to open... Tagged as: amajeto, blog, browser, escape, free, japanese, masa, pixelkobo, pointandclick, puzzle, rating-g, rinnogogo, weekday-escape

Hi, it's time for a break, it's escaping time! Selfdefiant wants you to escape a desert temple which is, very conveniently, placed next to a stream so no worries of dehydration in case you stay here longer than expected. TomoLaSiDo... Tagged as:

Hello - the new WE is here! Wishing you beautiful spring and happy playing during this quarantine time! Amajeto is definitely back and has changed remarkably, the latest game is bigger and feels more like their older escapes. Very nice.... Tagged as: blog, browser, escape, free, gotmail, japanese, nicolet, pointandclick, puzzle, rating-g, selfdefiant, spiceapp, tomolasido, weekday-escape

Hi, it's time to have some fun from the past! This Weekday Escape is retro! Vitamin Hana wants you to escape a room - no surprise - but also to redecorate it. Yomino Kagura isn't so demanding, their escape is... Tagged as: blog, browser, esc-forest, escape, escapemen, free, japanese, no1game, pointandclick, puzzle, rating-g, vitaminhana, weekday-escape, yominokagura

It's Wednesday, it's escape time! Amajeto locked you in their room and wants you to escape, and TomoLaSiDo as well. Puzzles aren't hard so it doesn't take long to leave to enjoy the lovely weather outside. In Spiceapp's escape you... Tagged as: amajeto, blog, browser, escape, free, gotmail, japanese, masa, pointandclick, puzzle, rating-g, spiceapp, tomolasido, weekday-escape

Hi, hope your week is fine so far - now even better with new Weekday Escape! From Amajeto's room you'll escape easily with all the practice you have. Then you get locked in Akatsuki no Yado's one, a bit complicated... Tagged as: akatsukinoyado, amajeto, blog, browser, escape, free, gotmail, japanese, nicolet, pointandclick, puzzle, rating-g, spiceapp, weekday-escape

It’s release day for my new MM romance! My last release was Christmas 2018, so I’m very excited to finally have a new book for you. When I was in Australia earlier this year, I got hooked on Bondi Rescue, and this (completely fictional!) romance between a trainee and an older, very closeted lifeguard was born. […]

“Looking for a fun and sweet holiday romance with dual POV, some heat, a humorous caper, and a wonderful HEA ending? Look no further!” ~ Gay Book Reviews Fa-la-la-la-la! My new holiday romance is now available to buy or borrow in KU! You’ve got fake boyfriends, bisexual exploration, found family, a single dad in desperate need […]

My figure skating romance has a new (old) title! Misha and Dev’s story was originally two novellas published through Loose Id called Cold War and Holding the Edge. I later combined them into one volume to give you more bang for your buck. To avoid confusion, I called the book The Winning Edge. However, Cold War is frankly just a much better […]

Hello! Hope you and yours are all well and safe during these stressful times. If you need an action-packed adventure to escape with, Ends of the Earth is on sale this week only for $0.99! On a Montana camping trip, single dad Jason is surprised by his attraction to Ben, an older park ranger. But when Jason’s daughter is kidnapped, […]

iFixit hasn't yet done a full teardown of the new Magic Keyboard designed for the new iPad Pro models, but the repair site today partnered with x-ray company Creative Electron to create Magic Keyboard x-rays that give us a view of just what's inside.


The Magic Keyboard uses scissor switch keys instead of butterfly keys, which have now been effectively eliminated from Apple's product lineup. The scissor switch mechanism is clearly visible in the x-ray view, and iFixit calls it the simplest mechanism in the accessory, but the biggest improvement compared to the Smart Keyboard.

Below the keyboard, there are metal plates that iFixit believes are for reinforcing the keyboard's body against bending, and the trackpad is a new design that's different from MacBook trackpads.

There appear to be multiple buttons under the trackpad to capture presses, while the MacBook Trackpads have no buttons and simulate presses with haptic feedback.


There are at least two spring loaded hinge designs at the folding point, featuring both a small coil and a larger coil, plus there are two cables for connecting the Smart Connector to the keyboard for power and data transfer.

Lots and lots of magnets are visible in the x-ray, with the magnets used to hold the Magic Keyboard on the ‌iPad Pro‌. There's a whole ring of tiny magnets around the camera cutout, which iFixit said was a "lot of little polarized bits" to line up, space out, and configure with the ‌iPad Pro‌ components.

According to iFixit, there's more going on in the Magic Keyboard than there is in many laptops, which could explain its price point. Apple charges $299 for the 11-inch Magic Keyboard and $349 for the 12.9-inch version.

This article, "An X-Ray View of Apple's Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple has launched a new web page that brings together links and information about its online services for customers shopping from home during the global health crisis.


Titled "Everything you love about our stores is online," the new catch-all page links from the Apple.com home page and includes details about no-contact delivery options, Apple Specialist help, financing and credit options, Apple Trade In, Apple Card, order status checking, service and support.

The page also links out to "Today at Apple - At home," a series of fun how-to videos to help users get creative during the ongoing stay-at-home measures, and there's a series of category links for customers to explore products on Apple's online store.

Apple has been gradually re-opening its retail stores in countries where lockdowns have eased, although some are operating on limited hours.

Apple CEO Tim Cook last week said that Apple was going to reopen stores in Austria and Australia this week, and Apple's sole Apple Store in Vienna will be reopening on Tuesday, May 5.

We're still waiting to hear exactly when stores in North America will reopen, but Cook also said that Apple is planning to reopen a few stores in the U.S. starting in May. Store openings will be staggered, with Apple evaluating data that includes local guidelines and recommendations before reopening.
This article, "New Apple Web Page Directs Customers to Its Online Shopping Services" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Popular journaling app Day One today updated to version 4.13, adding support for trackpad navigation on iPad, a new Day View interface, and other improvements.


This release comes after the launch of iOS and iPadOS 13.4, which added support for trackpads and mice on ‌‌iPad‌‌.

After updating, Day One users on ‌iPad‌ can use various trackpad actions to interact with the app, including two-finger swipe down to dismiss, and two-finger horizontal swipe to open and close the journal drawer.

• How to Use a Bluetooth Mouse or Trackpad With Your iPad

The new Day View offers quicker access to daily entries by tapping on or clicking dates in the calendar or the timeline.

Also in this update, Daily Reminders now include additional information like the number of photos taken and locations visited on a given day, and the Settings pages now provide links to Day One feature documents.

Elsewhere, several bugs have been fixed, including one that caused video thumbnails not to display in the media timeline, and one that prevented photos in the activity feed from showing location or calendar events.

Day One is a free download for iPhone and ‌iPad‌ from the App Store with in-app purchases for premium features. [Direct Link]
This article, "Day One Journaling App Update Adds iPad Trackpad Support, New Day View, and More" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple today announced that it will begin reopening its retail stores in Germany on May 11, nearly two months after they were closed due to the global health crisis.


In a statement shared with German website Macerkopf, Apple said the stores will initially be focusing on Genius Bar service and support. Enhanced health and safety measures will be implemented, such as body temperature checks prior to entry, limits on how many customers can be in the store at once, social distancing, and reduced hours of operation.

Apple operates 15 retail stores in Germany and will be posting specific hours of operation for each location on its website.

Apple closed all of its retail stores outside of the Greater China region in mid-March. The company has since started to reopen some locations, including in South Korea, Austria, and Australia. All locations in the United States remain closed.

This article, "Apple Stores in Germany to Begin Reopening May 11 With Enhanced Health and Safety Measures" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Microsoft plans to add trackpad and mouse support to its Word, Excel, and PowerPoint apps for iPad by the fall, according to TechCrunch and The Verge.

iPadOS 13.4 introduced trackpad and mouse support on all iPad models released in the past four to five years. Keyboards with trackpads include Apple's Magic Keyboard and Brydge's Pro+ for the iPad Pro and Logitech's Combo for the 10.2-inch iPad and the 10.5-inch iPad Air.

When using a trackpad, the cursor displays as a circle on the screen, popping up only when you have a finger on the trackpad. The circle then morphs into various other shapes when hovering over app icons, text fields, or other on-screen elements.

This article, "Microsoft to Add Trackpad Support to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Apps on iPad" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Amazon is taking up to $100 off the Apple Watch Series 5 this week, with prices starting at $299.99 for the 40mm GPS models. Only the Gold Aluminum Case with Pink Sport Band is available at this price. If you order today, the Apple Watch should arrive sometime next week.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

The Apple Watch Series 5 was released in September 2019 with a new OLED screen that supports an always-on feature, which represents the biggest change to the Series 5 models. The newest Apple Watch is available in 40mm and 44mm sizes, and it has the overall same design as the Series 4 models.

$100 OFF

Apple Watch S5 (40mm, GPS) for $299.99

If you're shopping for a cellular model, there are also a few solid discounts on Amazon for these devices. You can get the Gold Aluminum Case with Pink Sport Band (40mm) for $399.00, down from $499.00. Likewise, the Silver Aluminum Case with White Sport Band (40mm) is $399.00 right now.

For the 44mm cellular models, a solid deal is the Space Gray Aluminum Case with Black Sport Band at $429.00, down from $529.00. You'll find the same price on the Silver Aluminum Case with White Sport Band and the Gold Aluminum Case with Pink Sport Band.

Across the board, these sales are either new low prices on the Apple Watch Series 5, or they're matching previous low prices seen on these models on Amazon. There are a few other deals going on for different Series 5 models as well, including numerous 44mm cellular devices that are about $50 off Apple's original prices. Be sure to head to Amazon to check out the full sale before these prices expire, or the retailer runs out of stock.

Keep up with all of this week's best discounts on Apple products and related accessories in our dedicated Apple Deals roundup.
This article, "Deals: Apple Watch Series 5 Models Discounted by Up to $100 on Amazon" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple's plan to release an updated version of AirPods later this year has been delayed due to the global health crisis, according to the Nikkei Asian Review.


This lines up with a recent report from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who said that mass production of third-generation AirPods will begin in the first half of 2021, followed by mass production of second-generation AirPods Pro between the fourth quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022. Kuo also expects Apple's rumored high-end over-ear headphones to enter mass production at some point in mid-2020.

Kuo did acknowledge rumors of new AirPods coming in the second half of 2020, but he said they are "more likely to be the new Beats model." Last month, leaker Jon Prosser claimed that Apple was planning to release so-called "AirPods X" around September or October with a BeatsX-like design for sports and running.

Apple's second-generation AirPods launched in March 2019, while the AirPods Pro were released at the end of October.

This article, "Apple's Plan to Introduce New AirPods Later This Year Reportedly Delayed" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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