Hey everyone! So I’m a new student to microbiology, and also a sufferer of around 2 1/2 years ongoing of severe GI disorder symptoms. I’m currently working with a doctor on identifying the issue and beginning treatment, but she discussed with me that she met with a panel of doctors about my case and one of them was adamant that while my test did not pick it up, he was sure I have Entamoeba Hystolitica (“textbook case” was the term used, he said it’s rare that it is detected in GI maps).
I’ve tried researching pubmed and finding firsthand accounts of this infection on Reddit, but there are only a total of like 5 posts that mention it. I really can’t seem to find any solid info about it at all, let alone what a longer-term case of it might look like.
My questions are: - what do you know about Entamoeba Hystolitica personally?

• What are the usual symptoms, and is it possible to have it go somewhat dormant but still have it for 2 1/2 years?
  
• Is it difficult to get rid of, and if so, how would one get rid of it without the use of antibiotics? (I realize that’s a ridiculous question for most, but antibiotics are how my gut became this vulnerable in the first place - about 4 months before I got extremely ill, I was put on 3 rounds of antibiotics - same when I was an infant - I simply can’t afford to take them anymore and need creative solutions).
  

Extra context: I’m pretty sure what triggered my illness was food poisoning. I now have severe food intolerances to the point where I v*mit everything up that isn’t lean chicken, bone broth, and a small amount of cooked down vegetables. I have to take digestive enzymes with every meal or it all comes back up. I have IBS-C/SIBO.
Heart-attack like symptoms come on when I engage my core even the smallest amount, and within 10-15 minutes my vision blacks out, hearing goes out, loss of sensation in limbs and numbness, vertigo/dizziness, abdominal pains and back pains, extreme flue like symptoms, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, need to vmit and dfecate at the same time but can’t, cold sweats, impending sense of doom, etc. I always end up in the ER and they always tell me I’m perfectly healthy on paper.
between episodes I feel tired and bloat a lot after meals but otherwise feel somewhat normal. I still have some weight on me somehow. heightened IGG4 levels as well despite no clear autoimmune disorder. I just really don’t understand how my symptoms can be so severe and then level out for weeks or months as though I’m just mildly ill or tired. I’ve had every scan, x-ray, mri, etc and everything except my liver scan, stomach motility scan, and ovary scan came back completely normal. I have unexplained NAFLD (doctors’ words), low stomach motility, and PCOS. Obviously I know these conditions link up somehow and are likely due to the infection, but I’m not asking about that.
I just want to know more about Entamoeba Hystolitica specifically, how it shows up usually as an infection, and how it is usually cleared. Is it likely that I even have it? If not, what could I have infection-wise? I’ve covered most other bases with my doctor and addressed my other health issues, including hormone imbalances and adrenals.
Just very confused about all this and figured I should give this subreddit a shot. Thanks for reading if you do !

Dear members of lightsabers,
After careful deliberation and in response to recent developments, the moderation team has unanimously agreed to join in lockstep with many of our fellow subreddits in locking our sub as a form of protest against Reddit's new API policies and the potential threat to third party apps.
Borrowed from Android:

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By going private, we aim to draw attention to this issue and demonstrate our collective opposition to the potential consequences of these policies. We stand in solidarity with the developers, users, and moderators who rely on third-party apps to connect, share, and engage with Reddit in unique and valuable ways.
I don't use 3rd party apps, why am I being punished?
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Some videos of my game, Knight to King:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9Prgj0rBlc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ygw4XvJDsLw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPRsxIWoM2s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MF9pJEnABeU
TLDR: How should i approach the strategy component in my game, on top of the battle system?
Im doing it all by myself. And Im almost finished with the battle system, and i think that is the hardest part.
It took a lot of effort to figure out the best combination of factors that would allow the best performance to afford thousands of units.
Now since the battle system is almost finished im very unsure what else to do to make the game have some more depth. Instead of being just another rts battle game.
Games like Total War or even Age of Empires 2 provide either a campaign or a strategic map.
Though i think the campaign of AOE 2 is too static and simplistic, its not really a campaign like Total War, its just missions. But that could be much simpler to do...
Considering it should be simple, i need to come up with something that is not overcomplicated and yet gives the game a sense of replayability and strategic depth.
Since im working alone in my project, i cant be too ambitious and i must be realistic and humble when it comes to my expectations...
So the simpler the better.
Sure it would be fine to just finish my project as a battle simulator...
But if i went through so much effort to put this together.
I want to make something that adds another layer of playability.
​
So for now im considering the following options:
1- Have a risk like map, and have armies created each turn, that can be sent to conquer neighboring territories. Exactly like risk, very basic.
2- Mission based campaign, like AOE2. Seems simpler on the surface. Because its like a storyline, but each mission will need all the detail that comes with it, thats a lot of work, and can only be played once.
3- Go full total waknights of honor with grand strategy. And maybe not live to finish my project
​
Perhaps i should do a very simple campaign that is pretty much like Risk (board game).
Then have the battles. What do you think?
I gathered a list of games that have this component of Strategic + RTS battles, does it occur to you of any other examples?
​
These are the games im taking inspiration from, they all have a battle and a strategic map:
Any other comes to your mind?

1- Knights of Honor (excellent game), 2- Hegemony series (strategic map and battle at the same time, with less emphasis on battle) 3- Medieval total war 1 (risk style map, excellent game) 4- All other total war games 5- Sengoku Jidai (has a very limited risk style map campaign very interesting tactical battle) Others: Conquest of The New World (very simple yet interesting battle system) Lords of The Realm 2 Mount and Blade, Imperial Glory, Rise of Nations (has Risk style campaign) 

Any ideas or suggestions what should i do for the strategic part?

I came out as demisexual pan romantic 2020 April 6th this is when I accepted myself and told the ones closest to me not everybody knows.
In fact I purely made this Reddit account to speak about my sexuality.
I am a disabled woman you see, I was pushed my whole life to be good in school the only thing I'm really able to do by myself or so said my family. So I did my best and people thought I liked school I didn't I never did. Liking school versus my own house is liking the rec center over liking the babysitter that doesn't let you do anything it's a pretty easy choice. I was allowed to do more in school so I liked being there and I got to escape my family who annoyed the crap out of me at times. After doing my all in school and graduating in the top 10%. There was really nothing left for me I didn't want to go to college because the thought of more school made me want to shoot myself cuz I'm not gifted academically I just work my fucking ass off. But working at something you don't like even if it's the lesser of two evils it still drains you. It took me years to convince my family then what they thought I liked I did not. With not going to school and not being accepted for any job I clung to dating cuz I was now allowed to talk to people online a gift for now being a legal adult. After being emotionally beat up and used prayed upon by guys on the internet which gave me nightmares.
I had gone from thinking I'm going to meet my prince charming and he's going to take me away from here to if I act the right way a guy is going to take me away from my parents and I could finally start acting like an actual adult instead only being an adult legally.
That was when I met my last boyfriend. He made me feel like he actually saw me like I was a real person and I could tell him stuff that I was afraid to say as a black woman it helped cuz he was a black man who went through all this stuff (pansexual) I loved him so deeply dearly. I was ferociously attracted to him for the first time ever it wasn't just a way it'll happen or if I just wait he'll fall in love with me all feel safe and I'll feel it right?
Sexual attraction coupled with the fact that he was such an interesting person was a whirlwind for me and that's when I knew that this is what it feels like. Do other people feel this all the time? And it led me on research that lasted even after we broke up
There's a lot more to that relationship even after we broke up. I find myself always going into the whole spiel and I don't need to.
the point is from the moment I discovered who I really am and decided I was going to try to be as authentic as possible, after I got over the initial shock of realizing I don't know who the fuck I am because I've been wearing a mask for so long I realized I'm fucking boring as hell!
Let me explain I had always been called the g word because I never hesitated to call women pretty but I never really felt anything behind that. And the only reason why I was obsessed with sex is because I thought it was an adult thing and adult things were cool to a fresh teenager and a teenager like me. Considering I was always treated as a child. children don't talk about sex and a girl who's gay wouldn't talk about having sex with guys a lot so that's how I got my reputation of being all talk and really wanting to have sex. This masking behavior of mine lead to a backlash with my mother and grandmother which gave me trauma that's too much to get into right now.
Even with this trauma making me dial down that mask people still knew me as that perverted person and it made me feel like that was the only interesting thing about me. That as well as making interesting things with my hobby of crochet and knitting.
So just to recap and get all the contacts to what was happening in my life.
Graduated with honors because of my family. I myself hated school with a burning passion I was allowed to talk to people on the internet but because I am a woman most of my interactions were with guys who wanted to bang me. And to just add a little bit more at the end of my junior year me and my immediate family moved three states over so we knew no one so I had no friends and no familiar surroundings. Talking to people online became my only social interaction with people my own freaking age after graduation.
I had finally become burnt out with trying to date and at least find a useful guy to move in with so I could feel more like an adult. I even tried to be an SW because my family would always joke about doing it constantly so I actually tried and then my mother was ashamed and everyone was uncomfortable. But I'm not ashamed and I'd still do it if I could do it safely and actually make money.
It felt like even people were putting pressure on me for my hobbies
And this now brings me to the reason I think I'm boring as hell and why I don't have many friends.
Now I expressly don't talk about relationships because now I know I can't get anything out of them not a house not money not even an orgasm is guaranteed so I at least want to pick someone I like talking to this person comes around rarely and usually they find out I'm boring and stop talking to me. Actually I feel like they want to talk about such a niche topic that something about it just feels hollow but even still.
With relationships out there goes some of the only reasons I think my family thought I was funny or interesting. I have no more dirty jokes or funny stories to tell because not only does Demi repel most people the people it doesn't don't seem to be the right fit for me either.
On to my hobbies I don't really have things I like. I have passions meaning I'm obsessed with everything I dare take interest in. besides stuff that's human nature.
I also forgot to mention around this time I got the library app Libby and hoopla. I always had a passion for books they seemed forbidden intangible to me because of issues with my disability. I always had a hard time reading and it was always a chore to get access to books I could never do it independently. so with these two apps I soon became a person who read. I read most everything from the latest books to very old books. Half the time when I knew a TV show or movie was coming out based on a book I just read the book instead. No one of my family thought I was pretentious. they were actually quite happy because I was extremely happy and still am over my access to books but I have realized something. that a lot of people my age seem to either have a contempt for books think books are okay or be pretentious dick widgets about books. Usually I could only find people early 30s to late 50s who want to talk to me about books.
I knit and crochet I've done so since I've been 18 everyone always wanted me to make this cool stuff like outfits flowers scrunchies stuffies my mom wants ugg boots and a bikini. However to be the realest real and the most honest of honest I like making blankets and scarves and shawls and hats that's literally it stuff I can make with minimal effort but I can make it fancy if I wanted to. I freaking hate making clothes I do. I feel it's such complicated math and I hate shaping actually fitting a garment to a person as hard as fuck. I have a size trick for hats.
I don't think anyone will be excited to hear about the 30th beanie I've made or the scarf with little trees on it.
You must think I'd hate relating to people like I'm some emo hipster with what I decided to get obsessed with next quilts I am obsessed with making quilts. With my newly realized gay audacity after almost 4 months of research thanks to one tiktok video I decided I was going to make two quilts.
Yes I completely hate relating to people my own age because now not only do I get made fun of but no one thinks it's very interesting that I'll probably spend two years piecing little octagons and squares for gifts for my siblings.
You'd think I'd be finished but I'm not in addition to that to turning my hobbies into relaxing things and not just reasons to give people stuff so they say wow I have also gotten backing to Sudoku, jigsaw puzzles and mahjong solitaire all on my phone. And I'm having a blast but this doesn't exactly make me the coolest 25-year-old
Apparently the only thing that makes me cool is the same thing that made me uncool when I was 12 years old anime.
Whether it was a gift from God or a sign that God is dead and we have killed him anime is mainstream and I can't stand it.
Don't get me wrong I'm not a pretentious gatekeeping dweeb. It's just that that's all people want to talk to me about. And they don't even want to have a good conversation about it. they just say if a anime is good or not and tell me I should watch it. Yell at me for only being a dubbed watcher if they are elitist enough and ask me for recommendations it doesn't even sound like a real conversation at the time it just sounds like we're reciting our watch list and we might as well be putting a thumbs up or thumbs down for how much deep thought anyone's opinion has. I feel like I should preface this by saying I've mostly talk to dudes with the most toxic personalities about anime that is usually how the conversation goes.
I'm honestly about to say that I don't like anime just so people stop talking to me about it in this way. I remember vividly telling someone my favorite anime of all time is yu yu Hakusho and he said what you know about it baby girl visible cringe the pain oh it hurts.
All this being said I don't know really where to find friends I've tried finding friends my own age I've tried in other Skittle communities only to be hit on by jerky guys and lesbians who don't respect me or ones that do and we're just staring at each other cuz we have nothing in common.

https://www.fda.gov/media/162346/download IHUB POST 600072 : "June 3 , 2023 @ ASCO - NWBO's MOA REVEAL DAY- BOSCH DESCRIBES HOW DC VAX L WORKS - A NEW MEDICINE PLATFORM THAT WILL CHANGE HEALTHCARE . ATL:"This MOA is not just specific to the brain, but should work for every organ in the human body." BRIGHT BOY:" DCVax-L which provides the world of medicine the ability to DIRECT THE IMMUNE SYSTEM and thereby TARGET ALL DISEASES !!!!!!! In simple terms, DCVax-L is able to identify antigens, which in a perfect system, ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE THERE !!!! AND GET RID OF THEM!!!!!!!" " https://nwbio.com/ (bosch slides and video) https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=172093346 (transcript) ae kusterer Re: None Friday, June 09, 2023 10:46:24 AM Post# of 600166 Go June 3 , 2023 @ ASCO - NWBO's MOA REVEAL DAY- BOSCH DESCRIBES HOW DC VAX L WORKS - A NEW MEDICINE PLATFORM THAT WILL CHANGE HEALTHCARE . ATL:"This MOA is not just specific to the brain, but should work for every organ in the human body." BRIGHT BOY:" DCVax-L which provides the world of medicine the ability to DIRECT THE IMMUNE SYSTEM and thereby TARGET ALL DISEASES !!!!!!! In simple terms, DCVax-L is able to identify antigens, which in a perfect system, ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE THERE !!!! AND GET RID OF THEM!!!!!!!" ae kusterer https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=172095038 Re: None Friday, June 09, 2023 8:42:05 AM Post# 600033 of 600038 https://nwbio.com/ ( 6/3/23 slides and Bosch audio SALIENT INSIGHT # 1 : ATLnsider Re: dmb2 post# 599782 Thursday, June 08, 2023 12:53:38 PM Post# 599798 of 600033 dmb2, are you completely ruling out the possibility of the regulatory authorities approving DCVax-L on a tissue agnostic basis now, because of: (1) its non-toxic and excellent safety record. As of result, it will not harm cancer patients, but it probably will benefit most cancer patients; (2) it’s mechanism of action (MOA) of using the patient’s own dendritic cells, pulsed with the patient’s own tumor lysate (regardless of which organ(s) the tumor(s) is/are located), to activate T Cells to find, destroy and continue to fight the cancer tumor(s). This MOA is not just specific to the brain, but should work for every organ in the human body. Then, require NWBio to complete post-approval Phase IV, confirmatory basket trials to validate the efficacy results, and to keep the tissue-agnostic approvals? SALIENT INSIGHT # 2: Bright Boy Re: SkyLimit2022 post# 599901 Thursday, June 08, 2023 5:54:09 PM Post# 599910 of 600034 To dovetail into your post: Bright Boy Re: attilathehunt post# 599819 Thursday, June 08, 2023 2:42:24 PM Post# 599831 of 599870 So I'm going to go out on a limb here in my following comments, but I believe it's time and I believe the scientific/medical community is beginning to recognize that Northwest and it's brilliant team from Alton Boynton, Linda Powers, Dr. Bosch, Allen Turner( former NWBO employee), Dr. Linda Liau and her UCLA team, my friend that is truly a legend in the biotech world and everyone else involved in the development, discovery and understanding of the technology that drives the process that is DCVax-L , has provided the world of medicine with the ability to DIRECT THE IMMUNE SYSTEM and thereby TARGET ALL DISEASES!!!!! In simple terms, DCVax-L is able to identify antigens, which in a perfect system, ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE THERE !!!! AND GET RID OF THEM!!!!!!! AND Yes!!! You already know what this means !!! DCVax-L represents the platform technology that is a general application for all diseases !!!!! Cheers, BB https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=172093346 (transcript) https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=172088905 https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=172093346 https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=172093203 https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=172088606 https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=172088606 https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=172089806 https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=172090837 https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=172090837 Gregory Zivic, MD 4,274 Tweets See new Tweets Gregory Zivic, MD @metacollectiveG Follows you Artist/Emergency Physician/Manufacturing EngineeInvestor in NWBO Co-owner META Collective Media, Sailor, Captain SV Catsulo. Not an investment advisor. At all ArtistUnited Statesfineartamerica.com/profiles/grego…Joined December 2015 735 Following 1,546 Followers Followed by Bio99, Steven, and 139 others you follow Tweets Replies Media Likes Gregory Zivic, MD’s Tweets Gregory Zivic, MD @metacollectiveG · Jun 4 $NWBO next up; external controls. The controversy with this is hyperbole. The FDA is not going to ignore reality because those who stand to lose (be it BP or clinical researchers going down the wrong rabbit hole) are yelping. The safety is beyond compare and this is quite simple: Gregory Zivic, MD @metacollectiveG · Jun 4 $NWBO removing trials that some might believe add to bias based on patient characteristics had no effect on the analysis. Jealous researchers/BP don’t share IPD. Co. asked for IPD on all these studies. All refused. One of the Physicians lied to me directly saying he wasn’t asked. Gregory Zivic, MD @metacollectiveG · Jun 4 1/2 $NWBO Dr. Bosch’s presentation was a quiet K-Boom! In my opinion regarding T cell recruitment, activation, etc. But in particular one needs to comprehend T cell exhaustion in Cancers and in chronic viral infections (age and kill us). The clonal expansion found with DCVax Gregory Zivic, MD @metacollectiveG · Jun 4 $NWBO The “newly expanded” T cell clones I find particularly interesting. T Cell dysfunction and exhaustion cannot be overcome by PD-1 inhibition or Car-T (Car T cells themselves become exhausted and why this therapy has it’s drawbacks) Gregory Zivic, MD @metacollectiveG · Jun 4 2/2 $NWBO Also important was the finding that other Cancer antigens not previously found in GBM were found in the DCs after pulsing with Lysate. Also, viral antigens present. None of these have formally been found on GBM tumors before. Gregory Zivic, MD @metacollectiveG · Jun 4 $NWBO If anyone’s incapable of comprehending this take away one thing; what’s being shown here is the pivot toward how ALL disease will be treated and cured; all solid tumors, blood cancers, autoimmunity, viruses… incredible. Brilliance. https://nwbio.com/wp-content/uploads/NWBT_ASCO_slides_06032022_FINAL.pdfIn Reply to this message by OncoJock0 CommentsShareSavePost InsightsCheck back later to see views, shares, and more. Share your post to spread the word!Comment as jhpratt2 CommentMarkdown ModeSort By: Best

I was doing some research on Paul Arizin the other night (one of the few players to be an All-Star every year he played), and I found out about his post-NBA playing career. Basically, the Philadelphia Warriors were set to move to San Francisco, and after being born and raised in Philly, going to college at Villanova, and spending his whole career with the Warriors, Arizin decided he’d rather retire than move to the west coast.
However, he ended up playing the next three seasons for the Camden Bullets of the Eastern Professional Basketball League or Eastern Basketball Association, I’ve seen it referenced both ways. (It was later renamed the Continental Basketball Association, which was in operation until 2008.) He’d win an MVP, a title, and be named All-League each season. Stats are a little hard to find, but from what I can determine, Arizin scored 27.8 ppg with 7.8 rpg in 26 games in his MVP season. He won a title the next season with similar but slightly worse numbers.
So that got me wondering: is that the most successful post-NBA basketball career?
Some other players who played elsewhere that I can think of off the top of my head:
Cliff Hagan - final NBA season, 1966. Played 1968-70 in the ABA and was a 1x All-Star
Zelmo Beaty - played in the NBA til 1969, then in the ABA from 1971-1974 where he was a 3x All-Star, 2x All-League, 1x champion, and won the 1971 Playoffs MVP. (I’m not sure he counts though, as he did play a season with the Lakers after this so he finished his career in the NBA.)
George Gervin - spent a couple years in Italy and Spain after his NBA career, but no notable achievements.
Stephon Marbury - played in the Chinese Basketball Association from 2010-2018, where he would win three titles, an MVP, a Finals MVP, and was a 3x All-Star.
Pau Gasol - spent his final year in Spain where he won the Spanish League title and reached the final of EuroLeague.
Those are just some contenders off the top of my head. Who am I missing? And taking into account quality of play in various other leagues, who would you say gets the “best post-NBA basketball career” title?

Demographics: Rising senior, first gen, Latino male living in LA county with a below-average hs, and eligible for free-lunch
Intended Major: Aerospace Engineering
SAT: 1450 (retaking and aiming in the ballpark of 1500+... not too worried since my target/reach schools are test optional or test blind)
UW GPA and Rank: 65/611... I'll put my 2nd Sem GPA for each year since it best represents how much I was able to make of a given year:
9th - 2.8, 10th - 3.86,11 - 4.0
Hook: Without getting into the personal details, I experienced some devastating family issues when I was little that left my family super financially unstable until about 2 years ago and it resulted in me growing up without my dad and although I did well n middle school, I collapsed from academic exhaustion my freshman year. I then transferred to a different hs sophomore year where I got my bearings and set myself up for when I transferred to a new high school and started developing my passion for math. It got to the point where I finished my prerequisites for Calculus in the same summer and joined Calculus at the third high school I transferred to. I've never had much, but I'm still squeezing water from stone with every chance I get.
TLDR: comeback story where reaching for oppurtunities helped me discover improve and my interests(of which I left a lot out to keep this from paragraph from dragging on too long).
DE:
10th: College Algebra, Trig/Precalc (both in summer)
11th: Statistics (Spring), Intro to Info Sci, Geology (both in summer)
12th (planned): Multi Var Calc, Differential Eqs, and Linear Algebra
AP:
10th: CSP (5)
11th: CSA, Calc BC, Spanish Lang, Chem
I was forced to self study CSA, Spanish, and Chem since the teachers either quit or didn't care to teach the material fast enough to be ready for the AP test. Chem was the worst cuz the teacher had only made it to unit 2 of 9 by the end of the first semester TwT
12th (planned): Gov, Lit, Physics 1
Awards: I only have sports related ones like CIF (swim and cross country) and recognition for placing in the top 5 for my swim events in my league.
Extracurriculars:
Church Volunteering: 1000+ hours total between two churches. Most of it was in the church I grew up in and I started doing it in January 2020 after the last guy stepped down. To keep in accordance with COVID policies once the pandemic kicked up, I'd stay for 3 services all day every sunday before things tapered into 2 services a day and eventually into the regular 1 service. I'd also be volunteering at the Friday mini-services every week and prepping things for the main service. I was essentially the IT guy for my church, being the first responder for issues with the church's hardware (ie projector and computer) and software (the propresenter used to control the preacher's slides and lyrics during the first part of the service). I was also the "guy in the chair" responsible for actually controlling which slides/lyrics would be displayed during services. Aside from the main services, I was regularly setting up events for all sorts of events in the church like helping my mom decorate for the kids' church camps or setting up and taking down supplies for conferences taking place at my church. After I moved away from that area and to a new church, I was recommended by my original pastor to my new one and I'm performing the same role, albeit differently since I'm rotating with other people every Sunday, but I'm still responsible for training new people and I've pushed the new church to improve it's software to propresenter from their software that hasn't been updated in years and I'll also be responsible for training people in using it. I'm also going to be responsible for doing lyrics + slides control during bigger district services which include people from all over the county. This is the longest EC to explain since it's the one I've invested the most into by a light-year and what I've made the biggest impact with.
Swim: 2 seasons (JV in 10th, Varsity in 11th, Captain in 12th)
XC: 1 Season [11th] (I was only with them for ~2 weeks because of the timing of my transfer to this high school, so I was only JV, but I still qualified for CIF and would've been varsity had I been able to join earlier)
CyberPatriot: Co-Captain of the team in it's first year and made it to the states round
Robotics: Programmer and team made it to Worlds (FRC)
Mathlete: smaller club I joined to participate in local competitions
Tutor: Mostly in Trig and Algebra 2
LOR: My Calc teacher is going to be most helpful for Caltech since she herself is a Caltech alumni and she'll be able to brag about me a fair bit since I was the only junior in her BC class (everyone else was a Senior and it took some convincing to my counselor to let me skip AB, which is what every other junior was doing for Calculus). I'm also going to try getting one from my pastor at the church I grew up in since he's been like a dad to me and he's a pretty big figure in the Apostolic Assembly (the national organization my church is a part and of which my pastor's been the president and is currently the secretary).
Schools: UCLA, USC, Caltech, MIT, CSULA, CSUB, CSULB

Hi everyone, I’m applying to Unis in the UK soon and I am trying to decide on what course to take. Physics with Astrophysics (and Cosmology), Physics with Mathematics, Physics with Theoretical Physics, Physics and Philosophy.
My current predicted grades are A*AB so I can’t really apply for oxbridge or Durham, Manchester, Bath etc but there are places that offer my courses in slightly lower league table unis that I would be just as happy to go to as long as the research quality is good.
I was wondering if anyone could give some advice on what of them 4 courses to go for? At least initially anyway. I love all the topics equally and genuinely cannot decide between each one so I’m a bit lost as to where to go from here. I know that I can change once I’m in the course but of course not all Unis offer each one. Any advice at all would be greatly appreciated!

tl;dr I bought Sterling Ray35 bass and I am dissapointed with quality control compared to my other less expensive basses. What are your experiences with this brand? Should I try getting replacement and hope for better quality?
Long version: I bought my first bass from my friend for 100$ (I believe it originally was bought for around 200$), 4 string, PJ pickups, "Santander" brand (I have no idea what model it is). Nothing very special. Setup needed to be done, but besides that everything looked fine for a newbie. I still have this bass and I can see now that there is maybe a little too much space between neck and body where it connects, and bridge is not alligned perfectly with neck (G string is closer to edge of neck than E string).
About 6 years passed, I finished university, and I started working in my profession and had some money to try something new. I went to music store, played some basses I found on internet , didn't really like any of them, and then music store employee recommended me to try Yamaha BB434 (4 string, PJ pickups). I fell in love with it at first sight. It felt great to play, and looked very sexy. I bought it for 500$, and I have been very happy with it for last 6 years.
Recently I decided that I would like to buy new bass, but this time with humbucker(s), five string, and active electronics. I did some research on internet, found 3 basses that I wanted to try (Yamaha TRBX 605, Fender Meteora bass (4 string, but it does look very sexy, isn't it?), and Sterling Ray35 H VSB). I didn't like meteora at all. Yamaha was ok, but I expected it to be better I fell in love (again) with Sterling sound
Then I started wondering if maybe I should go with used Musicman Stringray 5 H. I found offer with perfect color but not so perfect price. New sterling bass was a little bit more than half the price, and was just as sexy as used musicman. I found great comparison between sound of sterling and musicman and I couldn't hear any difference, so it was logical for me to go with Sterling. The only argument for buying musicman was that I could resell it in future for probably similar price, but I don't plan to sell any of my basses, I become attached to them very quickly.
So I bought Sterling RAY35-PSK-R2 for 1400$. It arrived yesterday. I was working home office, but I couldn't wait to open it so I did, and the bass looked gorgeous, much better than on photos. But then I started to notice some little "issues".
- Neck joint is not looking like it should look. Looking from behind, neck part that should be fully covered by body (the part where the screws are) is not covered fully. It is because body has bad angle where the joint is (it should be 90 degree angle, and it is maybe 91, 92). - It looks like frets have been installed without much care, on right side of neck fret cracks(?) look bad. On left side it looks perfect, no issues there.
I checked if my other basses had some similar issues, but on my Santander those cracks look fine, and on Yamaha they look perfect.
I made a complaint with pictures attached to the music store I bought it in, I wait for their response. I would like to get replacement, but I am affraid that Sterling quality control is just not on point.
What do you guys think? I feel like bass for that price shouldn't have issues like that, but maybe I was just very lucky with my 2 previous basses.

I'm professionally diagnosed. I'm mostly neutral on self diagnosis. I feel like it can be valid if people actually spend the time to properly research and understand that autism is a very debilitating disability and not something fun or quirky. I suspected I might have a different disorder a few years before getting officially diagnosed so I know that self diagnosis can occasionally be right.
However, my friend's only reason for thinking she is autistic is... that she doesn't like velvet. That's it. I wish I was joking.
I tried to just shrug it off and mind my own business but lately she's been posting about being autistic online more.
I'm lower functioning and I don't mind calling myself that. I will likely never be able to drive, have a job, live independently, go to college, or have a partner. Theses are all things I want but my autism prevents me from having/doing.
She's able to drive, get a job, go to college, maintain multiple friendships, do all sorts of things I wish I could do. I know that level 1s can do some of these things but again, her treating autism like it's something quirky and not debilitating while I'm really struggling every day... just really bothers me and I'm not sure what to do about it.

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Lots of thanks to u/Killsode-slugcat for helping me work through this chapter with editing.
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Memory transcription subject: Tevri, Venlil Romanticist
Date [standardized human time]: August 11, 2137
With eyes still closed, I stretched my legs and arms, paws pushing up against the inside of my sleeping bag. A sigh of contentment escaped my mouth.
I let the world in—light falling down in shafts that struck my still-waking eyes. No trees were around to provide cover from the rising sun that hung low in the east. The sounds of life surrounded me, occasionally being broken up by particularly strong gusts as well as a hint of something else.
My head turned to that hint, who still slept somewhat soundly off to my side. Last night Jack had set up his own sleeping bag less than an arm’s length from my own, citing our lack of a fire as the reason to gather closer to each other.
He tossed and turned, occasionally, muttering incoherently. At least he’s found some rest. After carrying me for over half of yesterday, he had certainly earned it.
It was actually quite surprising how well he had managed it all. His slim build compared to other humans that I had seen was betrayed by a hidden strength and incredible endurance. I suppose millions of years of evolution tends to allow such a thing.
Some part of me still felt bitter about what he had done the night prior to our last, but it was clear to me that his apology was sincere. I gave a quiet snort. He probably wouldn’t have carried you on your shoulders if he wasn’t at least somewhat sorry.
The covers of my too-big bag were thrown off and I sat up, holding my knocked knees with my paws.
Rocky rolling hills with low-grown shoots of grass lightly waved towards me. The nearby mountain range looked down upon us with its well-kept snow despite the summer season. Even three days of standing beneath them didn’t eliminate their wondrously looming presence.
I reached over to my nearby pack and grabbed my pen and journal. I clung to every thought that passed its way through my mind, marking them down the old fashioned way. There was something special about writing my feelings down on something physical rather than some pad or computer. It felt real in comparison to the alternative.
It was incredible to me how one of, if not the most dangerous planet to be found within known space was simultaneously one of the most fantastically beautiful worlds I ever had the pleasure of setting foot on. What a travesty it would have been had the federation actually managed to glass the biosphere. Ironically it had been the Arxur that prevented such a disastrous outcome. Those same savages had…
“Gah!”
Jack shot upright from where he had lain. He heaved harsh breaths, chest rising and falling as though he had just sprinted up the incline of a hill. I looked on with alarm, but didn’t think to disrupt the startled man. His eyes stared down at the dirt in front of him as he hung his hands between his legs.
“You okay?” I asked. He whipped to look at me like he had forgotten I was there. Slowly, he turned back to face the dirt. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine.” He took a curt sniff and ran his hands across his face as he took a deep sigh.
He was lying.
The restless sleep, the violent rise into consciousness, the obvious distress within those wild eyes—all signs of nightmares. It had been years now since I last worried about such things, but I knew all too well how difficult they were to deal with.
A thought, as intrusive as it was unwelcome, pushed its way through the crowded thoughts of my mind, forcing my heart to skip a beat. What would be enough to scare a predator—human—to scare a human within their dreams? Instantly, I shoved it back from wherever it had come. He needs you right now, just like how you needed her.
I gently crawled over to the distraught man and set a paw on an arm while he leaned forward. At my touch, he turned his head towards me, staring with those forward-facing eyes. “Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked.
A slight snarl of a smile crossed his face, but no answer came. Jack stood up and stretched his arms outward, leaning back and forth.
“C’mon, let's pack up and head out. S’always good to start out early.” He extended a hand down to me where I sat still. How could he just brush something so terrifying off so easily? My tail flicked absently I guess they always have been a rather resilient species. Why should they be any different mentally? I relented to his proposal, grabbing his hand and allowing him to pull me upright.
Breakfast—much like last night’s meal—consisted of dry pre-prepped rations. Without surrounding trees from which drywood could be scavenged, we were left fireless. The ‘breakfast bars’ as Jack called them were a sufficient substitute for warm food. Every meal with the human increased my interest in the cuisine of his species. I hadn’t imagined it would all be so wonderfully varied and delicious.
The bar itself was chewy, made of oats, filled with dried fruits and sweetened by sugar. Each bite gave a satisfying crunch as my taste buds reveled in the impeccably delightful taste.
After hydrating and filling ourselves with calories, we set off once more on the trail.
This time, I was actually able to walk properly, though less than an hour after we departed, I was left wishing that Jack could scare me sleepless again—that way I could guilt him into carrying me.
While we continued, I walked without thinking much about the placement of my paws. I worried for my human friend. His mind was clearly plagued by something terrible, but the answer of what continued to evade me. The only lead I had were my own experiences, and in chasing that lead, my mind wandered back to the past.
As I was dragged from our home without protest, Devra lambasted our parents. Velnik cowered to the side as he watched the ordeal, helpless with widened eyes. Dad practically had to peel my sister away from mom as I was shoved into our vehicle. The echo of her shouts faded away.
It was the first time my parents admitted me for predator disease screenings.
An iron grip held my hand and led me forward through the stark featureless halls of the facility. A glance over my shoulder revealed my parents walking along. They dared not to risk a look in my direction. Tears welled at the edge of my eyes as the echoes of distant screams shocked my ears and flooded my brain with fear-chemicals.
My tail wrapped around my body and my ears bent towards the ground. Why did they want to throw me in here with the monsters? All I did was explore.
The facility worker threw me in a chair within a purely white room other than the single large black wall. From the ceiling hung a projector that faced one of the three white surfaces. After the worker left, my eyes floated through the room, narrowing at a sight that practically screamed of its existence. Dark lines were scrawled into the furthest corner of the sterile chamber.
I didn’t have the time to think about its implications when the screen clicked on and the lights dimmed, enhancing the image before me.
The metal chair fell backward with me in it, creating a resounding clang that bounded back and forth across the walls.
My hands slipped and slid across the slick floor, carrying my body backwards. This scramble led the wall to smash against my back. Without a thought, my claws joined the countless other marks of those who had come before me.
A towering, onyx-shaded visage of the malevolent beast prowled beyond the edge of my vision, obscured by tears of terror that practically blinded me. The blood-orange eyes glowed greedily and its mouth was stuck in a perpetual snarl. Viscera of a horrifically familiar color dribbled down its chin from where the meat was in the Arxur’s razor-sharp teeth.
With a click, the sanguine show moved forward to yet another horrific display. Another click. Another. One more. Click. Click. Click. Silence.
My eyes were as raw as my bloodied paws. Their scraping and scrabbling joined me with the other souls who had faced this same experience. When the lights flicked on and the worker came back to collect me, I curled up trying and failing to back away. She stood me up, patting me down before pulling me from the room. Everything was a collective white blur, compressed into a single moment of unfocused voices until I heard the vehicle’s door slam.
The ride home was silent as I leaned my head against the padded surface of my seat. Shallow breaths rose and fell from my chest while Mom and Dad stared ahead. They hadn’t looked at me once since we left the facility—or even talked to me—since we left the facility.
Among the many questions I had, one clung to the surface of my mind before being swallowed by its sea of screams. Why?
When at last we arrived at home, I barely even noticed. Only when the door to the passenger cabin flung open did I somewhat rise from my stupor. A sudden surprise wrapped around me and pulled me from the car, dragging away from my supposed guardians.
In an instant, I was rushed to my room and placed upon the familiar comfort of my bed before being coated by two layers of warmth; one was the plush cloth of a blanket and the other the fluffy warmth of my sister’s fur. “It’s ok, Tev. You’re home. You’re safe.” My empty eyes had no tears left to give, so Devra lent me hers.
You’re home. You’re safe.
“Tev? Tevri?”
My repeated name yanked me from the memory. Ugh, I’ve got to stop wandering off like that.
“You in there sheep?”
With a grumble, I responded. “I told you to stop calling me that.”
Jack uttered a mischievous chuckle. “C’mon, let's get over this next hill then break for lunch. Sure seems you could use a rest.” Despite it going unnoticed moments prior, I now felt my heart pumping hard and each breath heaved just as harshly. A short break will probably do me some good.
Together, we crested the hilltop and sat down both our packs and ourselves. I greedily lapped up water from my bottle while the man beside me calmly took several swigs from his own canteen. The food he grabbed was a pair of packaged items that he called ‘pasta salad.’
The small noodles were coated in a layer of creamy sauce and mixed with a variety of colorful vegetables that I didn’t recognize, but just like everything else cooked up by these humans, it was delicious. The sweet, creamy sauce contrasted nicely with the savory taste of the noodles and the soft texture of the pasta paired with the lovely crunch of the vegetables made for a wonderful meal.
As I munched on my food, the wind lazily played with my tail. My heart drummed onward, steadying into an agreeable rhythm before finally, my breathing leveled out.
A field of purple flowers greeted us, climbing and falling with the rolling land. Down below us was the river we had loosely followed, bordered by nondescript bunches of shrubbery. Rapid white waters splashed up and against rocks, breaking the flow and sending up spray.
When together we finished our food, we sat there, enjoying the world around us. “So, Tevri,” as Jack spoke, I met his forward eyes, “we’ve been out here for two days now and I still know next to nothing about you. Why don’t you tell me a bit more ‘bout yourself.”
The sudden question caught me by surprise, but I tried my best to answer anyway. “There isn’t much to tell. I write stories and poetry about the nature of worlds I’ve visited.”
“Well, you must be one hell of a writer to throw around money like you do.”
At the compliment, I felt a rush of warmth to my face. “I—”
Jack’s calm demeanor became one of surprise in an instant. “Is your face ‘sposed to do that?” A pair of my paws clapped to my face, trying and failing to hide the spreading orange.
“Y-yes!” I squeaked. “It’s p-perfectly fine.”
“Huh, right.” He didn’t sound convinced in the slightest. “Well, uh, what about your family? You’ve met mine already, why don’t you tell me about yours?”
Just as the orange began to fade away, a shroud of mist met my eyes and my voice sunk with my ears. “I’d rather not.” The whiplash of jumping from a sense of contentment, to embarrassment, to sad longing was jarring to say the least.
“Ah.” He held his silence for a moment, allowing the blowing breeze and the distant rush of water to fill the space between.
“I’m sorry.”
“S-sorry? Sorry for what?”
Jack gave a huff. “You know it's funny really. You Venlil, us Humans. I never really saw it before, but even just a few days around you, it’s shown me just how similar our people really are.”
Again, wind and water.
“If it means anything, I’ve felt your loss.”
What?! How does he know? How could he possibly know?
He must have picked up my confusion before he responded. “After the battle of Earth I got used to hearing that answer of yours.”
Oh.
Jack rose, swinging his pack around his shoulders. “C’mon sheep, sun’s not getting any higher. Let's get going.”
“YOU—!” The dour mood was immediately washed away by my guide’s hearty laughter. Again with the emotional whiplash.
It was amazing how easily he managed to do that. Try as I might, I couldn’t stay mad at him. As I shook my head, I followed my guide’s motions and grabbed my bag to join him.
For a while we walked quietly, but once again, Jack tried to strike up a conversation. “So, you mentioned you’ve visited other worlds. What were they like?”
I gave the human equivalent of a shrug with my tail. “Some were better than others, but for the most part, they were quite beautiful.”
“You have any favorites?”
My ears perked up. “Oh yes! The sky cities of Nishtal were incredible. Dwelling among the clouds, it was a rather uplifting experience.” Jack groaned with a smile still on his face.
“That might be one of the worst puns I’ve ever heard.” In response, I simply chuckled.
“Nishtal, huh?” The smile on his face faded. “That’s the world of feathered sacks-of-shit, right?”
“What? The Krakotl? Don’t be dense now, they aren’t all that bad.”
Jack scoffed. “That’s easy for you to say. They didn’t try to wipe the Venlil from existence.”
“If they succeeded during the battle of earth, they very well could have. Not that it matters anymore. Nishtal’s skies are clouded by the ash of their once-lush swamps and their cities have been plucked from the skies. Their world died.”
Jack gave a gruff grunt. “What goes around comes around I guess.”
I was genuinely shocked at what I heard. The anger that began to bubble within me was not the same lighthearted stuff from earlier. “How can you say something like that?”
“They brought it upon themselves,” he barked.
“That bastard Kalsim was the one who brought destruction to his people and you know it. Billions of Krakotl were killed or captured by betterment. Can you honestly tell me, or even yourself, that any species deserves such a fate?”
Silence.
“No. No I guess I can’t” Mentally, I gave a sigh of relief.
With my tail, I gave him a gentle flick. “The Krakotl are functionally endangered now, you know? They may have killed a billion humans, but for each life taken, tens of their own were paid.”
My voice began to choke. “I had—have—friends among the Krakotl. If you think that the mourning you humans experienced was harsh, I just want you to think; how would you feel if less than a percent of your people survived death or capture”
These words of mine were followed by an air of silence. I wasn’t sure what it was exactly, but something I had said clearly struck a chord with the man. Unlike me, Jack seemed to ground himself in reality, but for the first time since I met him, his distant unfocused eyes made it clear enough that his mind was elsewhere.
The remainder of the day flew by beneath this same blanket of silence.
We passed from the wide grassy knolls into a sparse forest that was more brush than tree. The trail led beneath their branches and through the tall shrubbery, rarely veering one way or the other.
When we eventually stopped to make camp for the evening, the sun was still slightly above the horizon. The campsite was similar to the one we had stopped at on our first day. An old steel fire-pit was set in the middle and a steel food container lay to the side.
Even as we set up, the cold quiet remained.
Progress was slow. Jack usually did the majority of the work, but tonight, his movements were taken with less purpose than I was used to. More than once, his hands fumbled, dropping something only for him to robotically reach down and pick it up again.
Once he did finally unpack his belongings, he left to find wood for the fire. At least this time, I found myself less frightened than when he had last done so. The deafening silence of my thoughts was more disconcerting than the idea of any hunters prowling nearby.
Whatever I had said, it didn’t just strike a chord. No, this had shaken him. Not even those nightmares of his had affected him this deeply.
In much the same way that I hadn’t wanted to talk about my own family, it was clear that whatever this was, he had no desire to elaborate further. I did find it odd however that only after mentioning the near-annihilation of the Krakotl did he seem to change. Perhaps it had to do with whoever he had lost? If this was the case, then I couldn’t fully blame him for his hatred towards the Krakotl. Grief is a powerful accelerant for the fires of rage.
On the other paw, my poor heart broke for the poor avians. So many lost. So few left. When the news had arrived back on Venlil prime, I devoted every moment possible to comforting my grieving friends; to Dualo, Oqui, Icatl and Haiula.
For some though, the grief of their new reality was too strong. Several of my dear friends had been unable to overcome that grief. My ears fell and my head bowed. If nobody else would remember them, I would ensure I never forgot them. They deserved that much.
Despite the clouds looming over my mind, my ears perked up at the sound of footfalls and I turned to see a bundle beneath Jack’s arms. Minutes later, a brilliant blaze burned before us.
It felt good to have a fire again. The protective warmth felt like a familiar embrace. From my pack, I grabbed the same blanket my guide had lent me the day before and wrapped it across my body.
While I found myself shrouded in comfort, Jack prepared our food above the pit. It was yet another warm meal of packaged food. The smell of spice wafted up to the tips of my taste buds as he stirred it about with a metal ladle.
The clink of utensils against our metal bowls rose above the crackling flames. Their sun still peeked out from behind the trees, though soon enough, it fell and with it, came the night’s chill.
Countless stars that you simply didn’t get to see on Venlil Prime appeared in the night sky. A glance told me that I wasn’t the only one impressed by their appearance. My wide field of vision managed to capture nearly the entire sky. I wonder, which of those stars is home?
A gust of wind blew by sending shivers down my spine. The effect of the Wendigo’s story hadn’t been completely lost on me, but the terror it inspired had at least died down to a manageable amount. Staying near to Jack certainly helped.
Speaking of him, I’d had enough of this silence.
“Hey Jack, how would you like to hear a campfire story?” I asked, tossing aside the quiet that had covered.
“Hmph. A promise is a promise. Didn’t really have a fire last night to tell a story ‘round did we. Guess it’s only fair to give you a chance.”
My tail gave a flick of excitement at his agreeance. “I must warn you, this is a bit less of a story and more of a poem. It’s one of the last few that I wrote before my travels across the Federation ended. It isn’t quite as long of a tale as that Wendigo story you told me, but it means a lot to me.
Jack gave a thoughtful nod. “Very well, I call this poem ‘The Wandrer’s Curse.’”
“Across the stars we wandrers go,
not caring much for threat or foes,
The skies we see are not our own,
But from them wonder’s always shown.
From Nishtal’s clear and crystal skies,
To Fahl where golden deserts lie,
And ‘cross the cradle’s fruitful lands,
Our own horizons do expand.
It is amidst these very sights,
That we the wandrers oft delight,
For friends we seek and friends we find,
Across the worlds of species kind.
Thru mountains, oceans and the woods,
Where those long past once walked and stood,
The wandrers seek to find the past;
A simpler time, no clouds o’er cast.
Despite the friends which we have made,
The clouds above us cast their shade,
Upon the surface of our minds,
And seek our hearts with chains to bind.
It is our lot to flee from pain,
Brought on by smashing, lashing rains.
Til weary broken and undone,
We fall with legs which fail to run.
But such is life—that beautiful thing,
That brings one joy and suff’ring.
So with this final cloudless verse,
Remember thee, the wandrer’s curse.”
At the end of my poem, the crackling fire picked up where my words left off. My eyes raised to the heavens once more and I realized just how wonderful this life was. There was something truly sublime about existing right here during this exact moment; under the stars, surrounded by trees the whistling, beside a warm fire that staved off the cold.
Sharing it with Jack made it that much better.
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So, it has long been said in the community that going into 3rd person speeds up your pull speed for drawing a bow. How much was up for debate, but these last 2 days I have been testing the difference with compound bows.
What I found, contrary to popular belief, is that only the animation speeds up. The range drop-off, damage, and time needed to actually shoot the arrow did not change.
Again, this was only with compound bows. If anyone has research on others I'd be willing to listen.

I'm interested in applying to nyuad and I know that the acceptance rate is 3% anyway I'm already a uni student and after contacting nyuad I found out that they're only taking in first year students and I'm totally fine with beginning again because I dislike my current field, so my question is should I bother applying if these are my accomplishments? And if there's any advice regarding increasing my chance of being accepted that you can offer, I would really appreciate that (for context I'm just about to turn 21)
73% high school GPA Current uni GPA is 68% (although they told me that they only require the high school GPA)
Published in the field I'm interested in studying with multiple appearances in international conferences with original research in that field
Gave a TED talk about topics in the same field
And soon I'm going to take the SATs IELTS and TOEFL will better grades in them help me sorta "guarantee" some sense of safety or should I go look for other universities?
Thank you for your time!

Hello everyone. I’d like to share my story to give everyone an idea on my experience.
Obviously like every other guy on the planet, I was born with a foreskin that I didn’t have removed until I was 15. I grew up with a father and still have a very healthy relationship with him and my mother at 25 currently. Due to my father not being intact he was not able to give me any advice on how to maintain or clean an intact male organ. I remember discovering masturbation at 12 and always initiated this act by pinching the foreskin and enjoying the sensitivity the skin itself had. At 14 years old I realized that being in high school, I was going to eventually have sexual interactions as this is a natural phase that EVERYONE male (intact or not) or female usually go through (obviously this isn’t the case for every single individual but more often than not, teenagers explore sexuality at the stage of 15/16, in my days people were YOUNGER pursuing these things). Being that the realization of this subject was always on my mind I used to think to myself,”what if I revolt someone? What if they smell what I smell? Can anyone else even smell this? I can’t even pull it back! How can I get all this stuff off?” All the natural questions an intact person used to have in their teenager years. So I figured perhaps if I pulled it back or forced it slowly and gradually I can do something about it. But the smell was a new and unfavorable sensation to me, the sight was fine but I had this concern of small white/pink bumps that are considered “pearly whites”/ oil glands that every penis has including circumcised ones, me not having ANY information or idea or anyone else but a doctor to go to, I ran with the anxieties and asked the doctor about my options considering that my foreskin had successfully retracted from the tip and rubbed against my underwear or clothes which made a strong tingly sensitive sensation to the head of my penis, while the rest of the penis would constrict and get tight , the doctor only recommended me creams that could help , I got impatient and told the doctor,”I want it gone.” Not a horrible mistake of my life, but definitely a mistake I wish I didn’t make. I am content and satisfied with my penis.
So considering that I can still remember the sensation and I got cut so late, the doctor didn’t cut the entire lose skin off (my bf even sees that my penis makes a mini corn dog shape as if it’s trying to fully retract with what’s left), which upon finding foregen at 19 and researching it ever since, I know I can tug and tug and tug but there’s such a length left of what I was able to tug in the amount of time I’ve been at this, what can I do to get my foreskin back? Where do I start?
I still have frenulum, and enough slack skin to use as a smaller amount of foreskin to masturbate with , but I also am worried if it grows back and I have to do it all over again or something
I know there’s people out there who have restored but I need to be coached or guided or something. I can do it independently, but I need council from someone who is experienced and has a successful testimony. I have my doubts but I also have hope. Can anyone dm me and help me?

The 3 basic parameters of hashtag #Valzubiriagenda:

1. We artists and everyone else can write and self-publish art- and artist-related books: memoirs, biographies, art books and art catalogs. Books are forever. Pamphlets and brochures are not books.
2. We announce a schedule of increasing prices of our art pieces, which includes quantities (scarcity numbers) per price point and overall (the total quantity of art pieces we might ever make). This helps art traders, art investors and art collectors speculate or even stop speculating and instead join a community of investors working together to hopefully skyrocket to the higher announced prices in a shorter span of time.
3. We can use the NFT world, because NFTs provide the tracking (who owns what) and trading.

We can also not be involved with NFTs. Stores and individuals can help sell art using online presence and our catalogs in the stores. If this trends, or once this trends, even expensive art can be sold by neighboring businesses, without exclusivity. Commission systems do not have to be standardized. Art investors can produce their own catalogs to leave at the cafés. Even the cafés can produce their own catalogs.
Valzubiriagenda NFTs
NFTs only came about a few years ago. But I had been working on this since the 1990s. I wrote a book, Valzubiriagenda, along with fellow artist Silverio Perez, and released it in 2018 (Amazon and elsewhere), tackling everything related to #1 & #2. We'll come up with #3 in a later book/ memoi marketing book.
Any artist, including tangible artists can release 10,000 NFTs if the artist chooses to do so. For tangible artists, the NFT first becomes an Art Commission Contract for sight unseen, yet-to-be made art. Once the art is made, the NFT becomes proof of ownership that the actual, tangible art is theirs.
Warehousing our tangible art
Another related idea is that the tangible art may be warehoused by the artist so that the NFT traders continue to trade. This means that even 10-ton 10-foot tall sculptures can be owned and traded by anyone without worrying about shipping, reshipping, scratches, smudges, parts breaking off, etc. The newness of the pieces remain because they are stored by the artist, source, gallery, etc. The art piece gets shipped to the art collector, the ultimate owner.
An artist who makes ceramic coffee mugs - smaller art pieces, can release 10,000 NFTs with a schedule of increasing prices so that NFT traders can trade immediately. The 10,000 coffee mugs can get damaged, so as they are made, they continue to be stored by the artist, until the time when art collectors decide to have the art pieces shipped to them.
Why only now?
I decided to write as many book-length memoirs as I can before I came out to promote this.
I'm an artist and an author. Both need time to "master." I would not even fully use "master" on myself, because there's always something new, even to my own art, my own writing and publishing.

I am now claiming that I'm the visual artist who has produced the most artist memoirs in the world. I have 5 on Amazon. I count Valzubiriagenda as both a marketing book and a memoir-of-sorts, because it has a lot of my own life lessons on writing and publishing. I would not care to contest my claim of having the most memoirs. I will release 5 more over the next 3 years.

BARTER! Get help to write, photograph art and publish your books!
Anyone can hire 11 ghostwriters for 11 memoirs. If you can make art, but you cannot write, then barter your forever art with those who can help you produce forever books.
I don't feel the pressure of writing and publishing because I feel my focus should be on art students and art experts who would study my art and my books 100 years from now. Don't expect relatives and friends to read your books.
I call myself the Dollman
For my NFTs, I am proposing to make dioramas - my original, costumed, bejeweled porcelain dolls in backdrops that will also have precious metals and gemstones. This way I can incorporate precious metals and gemstones in my work, to make sure that people perceive my art as expensive, just in case I myself don't become "famous" - there's no need to get world famous. We are artists and all we need to do is to satisfy the art niche.
Use your laptop now!
I will encourage you to start writing your book-length memoir. Write, Edit and then Self-publish it. Get help. Why wait a hundred years for someone to write about you when all you need is a laptop and a nearby coffee shop.
Don't start counting chickens before the eggs hatch. I have encountered a lot of would-be writers who immediately see themselves as bestselling. world famous assets to society. Two even wanted me to sign NDAs (Nondisclosure agreements), because they did not want me to steal their book ideas.
Here's a suggestion. I would not personally do it. From one manuscript can come 2 books: The Original Draft (unedited, with misspellings, considered to be an art piece, scanned pages(?) of your handwritten original effort), and The Final Edition (edited).
PROVENANCE!
Another way to enhance our investability, tradability and collectability is PROVENANCE - how art ownership proceeds through time. The way this can be done is also through publishing books. Everyone can write their memoirs, biographies, art books and art catalogs, including traders, investors and art collectors. In effect, we artists can continue to be included or mentioned in even more books, without any additional effort by us.
You as an investor, reseller, trader, art collector should be able to publish a catalog with 250 works by 250 different artists, but they need to agree to this right from the start - it's your money, you should require them to follow your version of the hashtag #valzubiriagenda parameters, which preferably should include permission for you to publish their art. Why would you track down 250 artists later?
No exclusive contracts
If you're a café, you can call for artists, and come up with a book with for example, 30 artists, with a chapter devoted to each artist's profile and images of the artist's art.
You can distribute your catalogs to businesses and individuals near and far and online.
The book Valzubiriagenda even cites that funeral homes and janitors closets can sell art, with or without exclusivity. Airline catalogs can include million dollar art pieces. Car manufacturers, showrooms and even car repair shops can sell art as well. Everyone should be able to do this, anywhere in the world, especially not just because of the pandemic, but right now, we are in really bad economies.
What's with the name #Valzubiriagenda
I was into conspiracy theories in 2018, and this term, "The Mandela Effect," was popular. I had read many times that an artist coined the term, but I had to research online, for her name, many times, before remembering it. I'm not good at remembering names. It took me a year and a half to finally tell you that Fiona Broome coined "The Mandela Effect."
I also thought I might have to research trademarks and copyrights just to come up with a generic name. So I decided on "Valzubiriagenda." I was not really sure at first, but I decided to use it as the title for my book (with co-authoartist Silverio Perez) so that there would be no turning back and I can move on.
Am I a FUTURIST?
Someone I recently met this May 2022 just called me a futurist.
In the 1990s, I proposed to a pension fund that they can raise billions of dollars, especially for emergencies, or as needed, or out of desperation, if the pension fund purchases a quantity of art from an artist who not only has a current, reasonable price, but an announced future price that the artist wants to reach.
That future price would obviously be higher than the current price. The art commission contract for multiple art pieces can be taken to the fund's financial lender for a loan. The higher future price can be used for financing purposes.
The pension fund's treasurer, a publicly elected official, said this idea might work, but we had to keep this a secret and discuss this some more, because other pension funds might copy and do this prematurely. This idea had to come from the two of us. The treasurer needed his votes and I needed credentials.
Added into the pot was my idea that I, as the artist, will also write one book-length artist memoir. This was and still is a strong factor, because the leadership and marketing books I had read then mentioned a strong tip. If you want to advance in your field, write a full-length book that is related to the field.
Unfortunately, the elected official, the treasurer of the pension fund, who was also a friend, passed away - he was old and had ailments. At that point in time, I cannot just approach another pension fund treasurer to share this idea with.
I realized I had to write a few memoirs. I needed to set an example for other artists, so I needed to write more than one memoir. Then I felt I should also make ready another book - the how-to of what I'm up to. I wrote Valzubiriagenda, which was a memoir of sorts. I knew how long it would take me to write a book, so I had to make sure I can also consider this book a memoir.
In 2008, I imagined that someone like Bernie Madoff, or a fund like Lehman Brothers, would be desperate enough to use this to save themselves and their companies. I was not ready. I had only written 1 manuscript for a memoir.
In 2012, I released Dollman the Musical, A Memoir of an Artist as a Dollmaker. Once again, I was not ready because writing it depressed me a little, and I knew I had to write more.
In 2014, I released 3 memoirs, and re-released Dollman the Musical. Besides releasing regular books, I released special editions of the 4 books, which had a "Special Secret Insert for Bankers," which explains my ideas of an announced schedule of exponentially increasing prices, to satisfy investors, and the publication of artist memoirs, to satisfy art collectors.
In 2014, I also issued out a press release. Google "Can Billion Dollar Artist Save Investors and World Economy Valentino Zubiri PRWeb August 19 2014" and you will see the press release.
What I did was stake a claim on my ideas. I did not promote my books and the press release. I just wanted them to stay online, like a sleeping giant or a dormant volcano. I even designed 3 of the book covers to look like indie books from the 1980s. I was planting the seeds, thinking they will eventually grow and bear fruit in the future.
In 2015, I was interviewed by Richard Syrett, about one of my memoirs, Hocus Pocus Lately. This book is my memoir with paranormal stories. I could have pursued promoting my paranormal stories, but I wanted to be known first as a visual artist and memoirist, so I allowed myself one interview related to Hocus Pocus Lately. Richard Syrett has(had?) his own syndicated radio show, The Conspiracy Show with Richard Syrett, about the paranormal. He also guest hosts on Coast to Coast AM, another internationally syndicated show about the paranormal.
In 2018, I released Valzubiriagenda (co-authored by artist Silverio Perez, a fellow artist). Finally, this book is "the how-to of what I'm to."
I'm going to end this with some strangeness. In 1986, a lady at a religious gathering went into a trance and left a good number of messages. Supposedly, anyone who got into a trance would have messages, but once the trance was over, the person would not remember what was said.
I was not part of the group, but the lady turned her head to face me. She "foretold" that whatever I would decide to do in the future, it will take time, but it will be the right thing. This is one of my stories in one of my memoirs, Hocus Pocus Lately.
The Tulipmania of 1634-37
I discovered that there was this incident of rare tulips becoming collectible during the Dutch Golden Age. There were tulips so rare and so well-desired that their prices equaled to that of a house. You can read more about this online (Wikipedia) or watch a few YouTube videos about it.
Here is the most useful idea that I gleaned from the Tulipmania. The tulip bulbs remained safe inside nurseries. The traders were carrying the deeds of ownership to the tulip bulbs.
Then NFTs came to the forefront
I started learning PHP, an HTML scripting language, and MySQL, the database that PHP can connect to in the background, in 1999, when there were only 3 books about PHP and MySQL at the bookstores.
By 2014, I was trying to figure out how to make the "ledger," or database that can be used to update ownership and who can be contacted. If we are trading art, then the art ownership should be updated.
Then NFTs came about. This can be used as our ledger. Everyone can immediately trade NFTs of future, yet-to-be made art pieces, especially because it takes time to make tangible art.
NFTs actually went a step ahead, by allowing digital art to be traded.
The only setback with NFTs, in my opinion, is that it still lacks a commission system for resellers and representatives.
For example, if a café wants to represent me, then they can promote me at their café and on their online pages. If I make one piece of art that will be exclusively represented by a gallery, then that commission will be different and more specific. As ownership is transferred, the subsequent owners should be able to reset the commission. We should also have the option of giving commissions to hundreds of representatives at one time with different percentages if need be.
The recent crypto crash
Lately, we have observed that NFTs and cryptocurrencies have been behaving like the stock market and other markets. They have been fluctuating.
I believe that it is time for a trend which discourages fluctuation of prices.
I have also seen YouTube videos where social influencers are encouraging us to be on the lookout for exponentially profitable ventures, because we have all seen this happen with the exponential increase of Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Let's see if #Valzubiriagenda trends
We can announce present and future art prices. The galleries won't do this (yet?) because they follow a more traditional approach to the business of art.
We have a choice of using incrementally or exponentially increasing prices. We still reserve the right to change things in the future, so everyone should know to follow the latest update.
If this trends, if you as an artist simply announces that you will write an artist memoir, or that you will include the future works in future art books, you might have more art traders, investors and collectors approaching you.
Get your pen, paper and calculator
Imagine yourself as an artist, where you are right now. Let's just say you still do not have a book about yourself and your art yet. Imagine now that you have a memoir out there. Don't you think it makes sense to charge more than what you are charging now? Writing and publishing books is just the beginning. I'm just standardizing this approach. The books also say to do other related projects. In my case, getting Dollman the Musical onstage is one idea. You will have other related projects, but the publication of memoirs, biographies, art books and art catalogs will help all of us.
You can also imagine that a law firm that has meeting rooms, with someone who wants to form a local #valzubiriagenda group, can have meetings. A local café can do the same. Local photographers for your art, writers, editors, book designers, proofreaders and others can join in.
I suggest have printed books to share. 15 copies of your memoir or art books will be better than an e-reader or laptop or your phone to show. These gadgets can be stolen, sabotaged, broken, have coffee spilled on them, etc. 15 printed books means simultaneously showing to 15 people. You can even give them away to potential resellers, investors, traders and collectors.
When it rains, it pours, as in the days of Noah
There's a saying, "When it rains, it pours." There is a negative interpretation and a positive interpretation.
Negative: When trouble comes, they cascade to even more.
Positive: When opportunity comes knocking, more follow suit. We can assume that if one gets our art because of #valzubiriagenda, more want to do it now, because of the rising prices, and FOMO - fear of missing out. What will they lose if they miss the boat?
As I have said earlier, if the #valzubiriagenda trends, if you announce a future memoir or art catalog, you might have an increase of investors, traders and art collectors who would want to check you out. You might encourage more sales. Just remember to write and publish that memoir and art catalog.
There's this saying, "As in the days of Noah." Imagine Noah, building his ark, with members of his own family, putting all his time and effort into it. Noah was a nice guy. I'm sure every once in a while a neighbor offered him coffee, or chai latte, or whatever refreshing drink they might have back then.
Here's the lesson to be learned. Just because they offered him some type of bubble tea drink, or coca cola, they still didn't make it to the ark. Rubbing shoulders with actors does not make you an actor. I have told my artist friends to write their memoirs. They told me that once they see me succeed, after all these many years of seeing my seemingly useless efforts, then they will write their memoirs and follow the road that I had paved for them.
Good luck to them, but if I were you, act now, get my art or make art. Support the 5-year old artist whose parent promised to release a comprehensive art catalog. If you get that 5-year old's art, and mine, I would be honored to be in the same art catalog that you will produce. I'm already successful at that point. You have gotten the mission just right.
I have already claimed to have written the most book-length artist memoirs in the world. Dethrone that claim. Barter. Use ghostwriters. Success to me means facing God one day and saying, I wrote my memoirs and left the world a legacy of books and art. I will not tell God, smiling and proudly, that I encouraged a run for my art by announcing a schedule of exponentially increasing prices that reached 9 figures. I'm sure God knows we had fun.

JOIN THIS GROUP

If you want to try out #valzubiriagenda, in any capacity, join this group. Let others know about this group as well.
If you are an artist, you can let everyone know here that you will produce your memoir, art catalogs, etc. It's okay if you don't know how to go about publishing yet, I will discuss this. Please be honorable enough to produce what you promise to produce.
If you want to meet fellow artists, investors, resellers, etc., join us here.
If you are a book writer, editor, proofreader; if you can photograph art pieces; if you are a book designer, etc., join us here. Let us know if you charge, barter for art, or both.
If you have your own tips and knowledge to share, join us here.
If you have underaged artists you are managing (parents, etc.) join us here.
Join this group if you want to sell works. Post your works. You web links. I'm sure I will.
You can announce meetings in your area. You might have meeting rooms, a café, restaurant, etc. where people can meet. In the future, you can have the regular show and tell, where books can be shown and shared.
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Thanks for reading. Please let me know if I need to edit some parts. Please share and join this group. - Valentino Zubiri, Dollman, Artist, Memoirist
Underaged artists are welcome here, so please be mindful of your language. We cannot post your adult-oriented art pieces, but you can direct us to a separate page or community. There will be limits to your posts, and there will be adult-oriented art that we cannot allow to be posted.
Thanks for reading. Please let me know if I need to edit some parts. Please share and join this group. - Valentino Zubiri, Dollman, artist & memoirist

Backstory: Hey everyone I’m new(to joining) this sub but have lurked around here in the past. I’ve done some research on astral projection before in the past and have tried to astral project on “purpose” without much success. I know lucid dreaming is different but i have similar experiences with researching/trying that as well. However i do have distinct memories of dreams as a kid where i was flying without going into too much detail about those but i think it is likely i was either lucid dreaming or astral projecting then. I am a heavy smoker(weed) so usually I dont dream much/remember my dreams anymore. When I don’t smoke i usually have really vivid, real life like dreams that feel like normal days but really weird so tbh i kinda try to avoid it. Now with that background onto what happened last night.
Last night: I fell asleep after work super early in the night at 7pm. I woke up around 2am and didnt remember dreaming or anything was just kinda annoyed i had fell asleep so early and wouldnt be able to go back to sleep. So i didnt end up going back to sleep until around 5am. This is when my weird experience happened. I fell asleep on the couch the second time. I dont remember anything from after i fell asleep until this point but at some point it was like i could feel myself laying on the couch sleeping and dreaming but my thoughts and mind were also super clear. As i realized this i noticed that as i thought about stuff its like i would get an image of it in front of me but also had this really weird feeling of just laying on the couch. I couldnt SEE myself by the image but its like i could feel it. And as i thought about different stuff the image would change. At this point i kinda started feeling a vibration and it instantly made me think of astral projection because of the times i had looked into it. I kept looking at the “image” change until there was a scene of like some nature of some sort that looked super pretty. I decided to focus on it because it was like if i focused on what i was thinking about the image would get more and more “HD”. As i focused on it and the image got clearer i felt my whole body vibrate violently. Im not sure how to describe but it was like my whole body was shaking/moving hardefaster then ive ever felt but i was completely still. While this was helping i felt my leg raise into the air and it was like i was laying on my back with 1 leg up, vibrating hard asf, but also just like stuck in the feeling. I couldnt see or tell if my leg was actually in the air or not but it felt like it was being held in place in the air and my body was like an earthquake or something lol. But this whole time it felt like everything was happening inside a dream while i was sleeping but i could feel myself sleeping on the couch and dreaming and like i was viewing my dream from within my dream. At this point i woke up and just laid on the couch til my roommate wokeup and told him.
Conclusion: I really dont know what happened last night and am hoping someone here might have anything to say. If it is really confusing I am sorry and i can try and explain better it just is really hard to describe it all because it just was so weird. I havent been able to stop thinking about it all day. It felt like a mix of lucid dreaming, astral projection, and sleep paralysis at the same time. Or just had a really weird dream. If you read this whole post thank you seriously.

It's slow going, but progress is being made on Season 2 revisions. Those will be posted, when I get the whole season done, to the updated www.aintahero.com website. It just makes it simpler and cleaner, rather than having to deal with piece meal, sporadic updates. Haven't stopped, but dedicated editing and clean-up takes serious effort when you are fighting your past self.
By the way, the website will exist despite whatever Reddit decides to do with itself. It's starting to look like Reddit is going Digg itself into a grave, so I'm laying out the backup plans. Admittedly, it's been awhile since there was a collapse of a communication platform, so I'm actually more surprised it hasn't happened sooner. Back in the earlier times of the web, it happened regularly enough.
If you all know of any other original fiction forums, feel free to comment about them. From my experiences: AO3 isn't geared for original work. RoyalRoad doesn't cater to anything I'd write. So, I might start posting anything new on SpaceBattles.com's Forums. Don't know yet. Still feeling it out. Got a side project that I'm trying find a decent place to post for feedback.
Regardless, hope all is going well for y'all.

My title is the question I want an to answer.
In the past (months ago/almost a year) there’s been something things where I felt my bf friends were inappropriate and my bf didn’t set boundaries towards his friends actions when he hung around them.
Now my bf has since moved further away from them and hasn’t seen them as much or has made the trip/time to hang out with them. He talks to them often, but not as much as he use too. However, the issue is every blue moon when he does get involved with them it seems like he forgets how to act or just remember of the things we’ve talked about. Recently, his friend had came over his place to watch the game and catch up. While this is going on I made two calls to my bf within the span of 4 hours , it’s not like him to not answer my phone call, and if he does he’ll usually call back or leave a text to Lmk when he’ll call back. When he did eventually contact me it was a text message and he apologized saying he “left his phone in the other room and was talking with his friends rn.”
it’s not like him to not not answer calls and get back to me in a timely manner, but once I found out his friends was around him my first reaction was just irritation cause it just seems like when he gets around them he acts out the normal. My response was to be short with him once he did take the time to talk to me, and tell him I didn’t want to talk atm.
He said he was sad and annoyed about how my feelings were being brought into this and how i wanted to feel a way about him not answering the phone and taking it personal. What i didn’t explain to him was how I thinking/feeling about his friends being apart the issue why I was upset, (because this is a conversation we’ve had before.) So he believes that I only got upset with him cause he didn’t answer the phone.
In what way could i have handle it differently? Pick and choose my battles and I should’ve never reacted? Really I’m just trying to figure out how to separate the way I feel about his friends from him and not have it let me treat him a way….my feelings matter just as much but I don’t want to treat him in the way of not wanting to talk to him/and being short, We nvr go a night/evening with out talking, but I did feel a way about what happened.