We cook for you.
So, I paint my nails pretty regularly these days. I also work as a barista/cashier pretty regularly these days. A few weeks back, I had a customer come in, a fairly typical, sheltered, suburban soccer mom, and she ordered a latte from me. She saw my brightly colored nails and said, “Wow, you’re so brave! My son asked me about painting his nails, and if it’s okay for boys to do that. Now I’ll tell him there’s a cool guy who does it too!” It was a nice moment, very cute.
Then, last week, she came in again, and said, “Hey, I’m so glad you’re here! I want you to meet someone!” She then brings her son forward, and says, “Okay sweetie, show him what you did!” And he throws his hands up, showing off his bright, sparkling blue nails. He shows them off, and I show mine off to him. He smiles. We fist bump.
Guys, I’ve only wanted to cry once at work before, and that was when someone ordered a large dry soy cappuccino on ice.
This time, though. This was a good cry.
This brought tears to my eyes. You go, vegansanfrancishet. You’re awesome.
Before the Dawn - Silence
I destroy all in me
That might be understood
As weakness or fault
I condone and embrace
The inescapable
End of it all
There are no words in this world
To make you comprehend
Darkness beyond all senses
Under the black wings I lay myself to rest
And draw a new note of silence
I behold and observe
That in my reflection
There are no scars
I aim to be reborn
And redress my failures by
The destruction of this form
Muntjac Mitosis
These are fixed, permeabilized, and fluorescently-stained muntjac skin fibroblasts in either interphase or a phase of mitosis. The phases, going from top left to bottom right, are: interphase, prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase.
During interphase, a eukaryotic cell multiplies its inventory of organelles and replicates its DNA (pink), growing in size.1 Next, mitosis is activated and the cell enters prophase, during which its replicated DNA is supercoiled into chromosomes comprised of identical, paired sister chromatids. Eventually, the cell’s nuclear envelope disintegrates, and special microtubules (green) linking the kinetochores of chromatids to the cell’s poles develop. The cell then enters metaphase, during which the centromeres of its chromosomes become aligned in a plane at its equator. After passing a key mitotic checkpoint, the cell enters anaphase, during which the paired sister chromatids separate and are pulled to opposite poles. Finally, in telophase, nuclear envelopes and nucleoli re-form around each pole’s collection of DNA, chromatids uncoil back into chromatin, and the cell divides in two. Each daughter cell is at the start of interphase, and the cell cycle repeats.2
Alexa Fluor® 350 phalloidin labeled actin filaments (blue) throughout each cell. An anti-α-tubulin antibody prelabeled with the Zenon® Alexa Fluor® 488 Mouse IgG1 Labeling Kit marked microtubules (green), revealing their role in mitosis. The anti–Cdc6 peptide antibody prelabeled with the Zenon® Alexa Fluor® 647 Mouse IgG1 Labeling Kit stained DNA (pink) in both chromatin and chromosomes.
References: (1) Clare O’Connor, Nature; (2) D. Sadava et al., Nature.
Photos: courtesy of the Life Technologies Corporation.
BioShock Infinite Posters by syntheticph
