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Now Reading: Remembering W.S. Merwin, Honorary Texan
Remembering W.S. Merwin, Honorary Texan
The Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, who died at 91 last week, liked pausing by roadsides everywhere in Texas to examine plants, pocket seeds and smell the air.
Naomi Shihab Nye Mar 22, 2019, 6:00 am CST
W.S. Merwin Matt Valentine
You might not have guessed it.
W.S. Merwin, widely beloved, cosmopolitan, world-renowned poet, translator and lifelong pacifist, who died last week at 91 in his palm garden hermitage on the island of Maui, was also a big fan of Texas.
Forget politics for a moment. Texas loved him, and he loved coming here. My husband, Michael, and I welcomed him and his wonderful wife, Paula, many times. Consider 200 people overflowing outside a Baylor University auditorium to hear poetry. His reading had to be piped into a second campus space to accommodate the listeners.
The next day he wanted to visit the Branch Davidian disaster site where he stood solemnly, contemplating life's mysteries, as his poems did eloquently for more than half a century.
He gave readings around the state — appreciating an enthusiastic day at Booker T. Washington High School in Dallas, joyous evenings at the Michener Center at the University of Texas at Austin, dining with old friends like longtime professor and poet David Wevill. He read at the Katherine Anne Porter Literary Center in Kyle and on the Texas State University campus, where students repeatedly asked him why he was obsessed with rain (because he was a palm gardener, for one thing). He loved the Poetry at Round Top Festival founded by Austinite Jack Brannon, the resonance of James Dick's sensational Festival Hall, and a piece of blueberry pie eaten with conservationists Robert and Margy Ayres in a Round Top cafe called Royers. Trinity University Press in San Antonio published his Unchopping a Tree in a gorgeous slim edition. He packed the Center for Medical Humanities & Ethics in San Antonio. He told then-15-year-old Stephanie Saldaña, who would go on to publish brilliant nonfiction memoirs such as The Bread of Angels, never to be afraid of anything.
Merwin said the Pecos River overlook on Highway 90 West was one of the greatest spots in our nation's whole geography.
But what I remember most are the odder offbeat trails he and Paula wanted to take: overnighting in a Big Bend log cabin, conversing at sunrise with a javelina that stood up on its hind legs and put its front paws on his shoulders. Paula and I urged him to back off, but he said they were just getting to know one another. He insisted we drive 20 miles across gravel in a car that wasn't made for it. I recall sleeping at the Hotel Paisano in Marfa when it was still spooky, haunting the Donald Judd outbuildings at the Chinati Foundation during a thunderstorm, scooting down to the border to visit the splendid Sabal Palm Sanctuary near Brownsville (a longtime dream of his), reveling in the green jays circling us at a birding sanctuary on the border, heading over to Gonzales to see Palmetto State Park. William liked pausing by roadsides everywhere in Texas to examine plants, pocket seeds and smell the air. He took a boat trip at the coast with my brother-in-law, Patrick Nye, to see cranes gathering. He reverently attended James Michener's funeral in Austin in 1997. Once, prowling around the abandoned still-smoking ruins of the Hot Wells Hotel and Spa on the south side of San Antonio, after yet another unfortunate torching, he spoke to reporters. "We should preserve our treasures!" he declared. "We should never let them reach such a state of decay!" Later people would ask, "Is it possible that poet W.S. Merwin was on local TV talking about Hot Wells Spa?" They thought they were hallucinating.
In a tiny George West cafe, William entered into an animated conversation with a local rancher about land and weather and time. As we were leaving, the cashier whispered, "Your friend is talking to our mayor." I whispered back, "Your mayor is talking to a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet." William enjoyed blending in. In downtown Dallas, a homeless man once tried to sell him a blanket. He was touched to be taken for another man of the streets. He visited the King Ranch store in Kingsville but didn't buy anything — so much leather. A pescetarian, he skipped the barbeque joints. He loved the lonely wailing midnight trains outside the Gage Hotel in Marathon. A fluent Spanish-speaker, he delighted in our Mexican restaurants, horizons and skies, often recalling times in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, where he had once owned an ancient home. Our legendary Texas friendliness embraced him and was always returned. He said the Pecos River overlook on Highway 90 West was one of the greatest spots in our nation's whole geography.
He wanted me to buy a house in Marfa, when I still could have afforded it, or maybe in Langtry. He scribbled down phone numbers of available shacks on the backs of envelopes. He planted a dwarf palm seed from Gonzales in our yard. The tree is now 20 feet tall.
Naomi Shihab Nye has long been the poetry editor of the Texas Observer.
Read More: Dallas, Marfa, Michener Center
'Life is a Fight': Scenes from a Migrant Tent Camp in Juárez
While waiting for a chance to seek asylum, people found ways to carry on with daily life while hoping their luck would change. by Henry Craver
We Asked You About Health Care in Rural Texas. Here are Your Stories.
Much has been written about medical deserts, but these are the experiences of people who call them home. by Sunny Sone
As Fossil Fuel Industry Invests Billions in New Texas Facilities, it Could Unleash a Huge Emissions Bomb
A new report finds that a pipeline of new and proposed oil and gas projects—many of them in Texas—could produce half a billion tons of additional greenhouse gas emissions a year. by Justin Miller


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Interview: Spacey Jane talk J Awards & returning to touring, "I'll never take live music for granted anymore"
Ben Somerford
It's a huge week approaching for Perth's indie-pop four-piece Spacey Jane who begin a new tour in Western Australia on Friday, while they've been nominated for Triple J's Australian Album of the Year, with the winner to be announced on Thursday.
Drummer Kieran Lama admits they've deliberately set their expectations low for the J Award nom, where they're up against the likes of Ball Park Music, DMA's, Lime Cordiale and Tame Impala, but you never know with Spacey Jane who have been on a wild ride for the past few years.
In fact, Spacey Jane's trajectory has generally been upward since they burst on to the scene in 2017 with single "Feeding The Family", however 2020's inescapable challenges have stalled their progress, forcing them to postpone their maiden European tour and grounding them from a bunch of dates on the East Coast.
Amid the COVID-19 chaos, Spacey Jane – who are frontman Caleb Harper, guitarist Ashton Hardman Le Cornu, bassist Peppa Lane and Lama – still managed to release their debut studio album Sunlight in June which rose to number two on the ARIA charts and was Triple J's feature album for a week too.
But restrictions have meant they've barely been able to play it live to their fans, beyond a recent WA regional tour, which warmed them up for a series of dates in Perth and Mandurah starting on Friday night at Bar 1 in Hillarys.
The AU Review spoke to Lama, who doubles up as the band's manager, ahead of their latest dates and Thursday's Triple J announcement, while he also hinted at some more new material early next year.
You guys tend to tour a lot, but there hasn't been much opportunity in 2020, so how pumped are you for six shows in Perth and Mandurah?
Honestly, it feels like we're pretty lucky to play shows at all over here in WA. Fingers crossed it stays that way with the open border.
We're super excited. Most of the year it feels like I've spent twiddling my thumbs waiting for the opportunity to get up and play. The shows we've played felt pretty special because everyone feels like they're raring to go. They've been waiting, we're all in the same boat, punters and us.
I'm a bit nervous because anything can happen with the COVID stuff. One wrong move from one person and we're back to stage four or stage three. I'll never take live music for granted anymore.
On that, with the WA Government opening the border recently are you exploring any plans to tour over east, given you had to postpone that tour when coronavirus hit in mid-March?
We're looking at the possibility of playing shows over east. It's all about the logistics of it and the restrictions in other cities. Do people stand up and watch or are they seated shows only? Financially is that viable? It's a strange new world but we're hoping to be able to navigate. That's the way the year has been so far.
I know when COVID-19 hit you'd just come back from NZ and were about to do the East Coast and had to postpone all that, so you must be itching for it?
We've got all these tickets that have already been sold and people have been hanging on to them for months now. It gets to the point where we're going to reschedule but if people want their $30 back that's understandable. We're keen to honour the tickets that we've sold.
I saw you play at the Wine Machine festival and you all bring great energy and seem to have such a fun time together live, where does that come from? Youthful exuberance?
I think so. It's something we've always had. When we were playing shows at the start, we were a really shit band for the first year, as everyone should be. It came super naturally especially for Ashton back in the day.
They're up there at the front and I'm just sitting down, so it's easy for me. Ash likes to jump around. The more people tell us "that's cool, it looks like you're having a lot of fun", the more we want to do it and the more energy we'll put into it.
It's like cardio for the guys at the front. They come off sweaty as for every show. It's energy that seeps back and forth between us and the crowd. It feels really good and positive. You know a show has gone well when we're all covered in sweat.
Usually it's the drummer who's most sweaty, they must give you a run for their money?
Honestly they really do. Ash is basically on a treadmill for the whole show!
Do you have any pre-gig rituals? Things to pump you up?
I feel like maybe the thirty minutes leading up to the show, and everyone in the band can relate to this, I'm my worst version of myself. I don't get too anxious but there's just enough. I don't really have anything that I do. I just try to stare at my phone and do something to zone out, especially if it's a high-pressure show. I try not to think about it and get up and do the job.
How's that been for you and the whole band, being unable to tour, upon the release of your debut album which flew up the charts. All the while you were supposed to be over in the UK and doing tours here, there and everywhere. Just at a time when it feels like you're ready to explode, you've been constrained by something beyond your control. Has that been hard to cop?
We've been pretty fortunate in that now we're able to play shows. For a bit we were wondering "what the f**k are we doing with our lives?". That feeling of going from doing something to doing nothing, in the first few months it was definitely a knock.
Personally my position is manager and drummer, so I was all in from the get-go, so it was weird to go from being snowed in with work, we're on the road and everything was happening at once to this weird whiplash feeling of going back to Perth and being in lockdown for a month. That whole process sucked and we all acknowledged that repeatedly.
I moved in with Ash when the lockdown was announced and we were staving off boredom the whole time. I can't imagine how it would've gone if we were in another state or if we weren't able to get together, rehearse, write and record. That's basically what we've been busying ourselves with.
It's not pleasant at all. I really feel for people who are stuck in places that are in sh**ty positions. We keep thinking about how lucky we are here and how the rest of the world is going through the worst of it. Australia is doing a great job, so we're blessed.
Ok, let's talk happy stuff. You must be stoked with your nomination for the Triple J Australian Album of the Year?
Absolutely. I feel like, personally, I always keep my expectations low when it comes to awards. When they come around I'm hopefully pleasantly surprised. This one feels like it could be a goer. I'm super, super happy with the acknowledgment. Some of my favourite albums have been up for this award, so it feels like a really, really good nod. We're all stoked.
On the topic of Triple J, I want to ask you about seeing "Good For You" come in at 80th on the Hottest 100 in 2019. How was that?
That was a crazy time. When it passed 90 on the countdown we thought 'maybe not this year'. When it was around 82-83 Caleb went off to the bottle shop and declared it wasn't happening. We were all pretty anxious.
Then I just started getting text messages 30 seconds before it was announced, people saying 'congrats'. I was like 'what's going on'. I was beyond stoked.
So where were you all?
We were having a pool party at our place in North Perth where I used to live. All our friends were there, Amelia (Spacey Jane's former bassist) could make it. I think we're going to try tee up something with her soon too.
Caleb was gone when it came up. It started playing when he was at the bottle shop with a few mates. I'd imagine there were some hugs and possibly tears, who knows. He came back pretty quickly, jumped in the pool and we all celebrated. It was really special. I wouldn't want it any other way.
Awesome and how's the reception been to the album Sunlight?
I'm really, really happy with how everyone has received the record. The places it feels like it's taking us, I so desperately wish we could play shows for people who've been listening to it in other places. I can't wait for that to happen.
I feel like we're always in this position of gratitude. From the get-go it's felt like we couldn't possibly be doing this as a band without the people who listen to us. We're very, very aware of that. It's been overwhelming gratefulness. There's no other way to explain how I'm feeling.
How's it been working with AWAL who you signed with in January?
The rollout of Sunlight was way tidier working with AWAL. It was way easier than I expected. It was an anxious time that week, the ARIA charts the following week but we were so happy with the result. There was no way we thought we'd chart or get feature album or all that crazy stuff. I like to feel pleasantly surprised. that was a huge month of constantly feeling like 'woah that's awesome'.
I should also ask about being signed by AWAL. I know it's a difficult time to plan internationally but has it opened any major doors in the COVID-vaccine future?
Internationally it was going to do us a lot of favours. We were going to tour internationally in 2020 in the UK, then test it out and see how it goes over there. Obviously that all fell apart but they're amazing to work within Australia.
We've managed to press these two 12-inch EPs to vinyl very recently which was an off-the-cuff idea for them and made so much sense. Having the ability to press music and having a really solid means of distribution is so helpful.
I find the freedom that AWAL have given us has been really awesome for this record. We don't know where things will go with the next record but the team we've assembled have been great.
Are you guys working on anything moving forward, given you've been cooped up?
We're bouncing in and out of the studio every few months and writing regularly. It feels like Caleb is always working on new stuff.
We've been getting together and rehearsing and writing together. For the first time ever we're going to go down south to spend some time together in an Airbnb for a week and just do some demos. I can't give a timeline but there's definitely new material. I'm excited about some of the new songs. I've been listening to them non-stop for the past day or so.
But we're definitely working on new stuff and hopefully we'll have something out early next year. Who knows in terms of a new single, it's all up in the air, as far as COVID goes, it'll impact it. If we get the option to tour, we'll tour first.
Ok so if everything goes well and someone comes up with a COVID-19 vaccine soon,what's the ultimate for you guys, what do you want to do next, what's top of the agenda with no restrictions?
Call me crazy and I don't know if that's just because of the US election but I really want to go to the States. I feel like maybe that's more of me wanting to be a tourist!
International touring is something we were all looking forward to. We've been to New Zealand which was amazing but it feels like it's so similar to Australia, so going somewhere far overseas is such an exciting possibility.
But we've had some incredible shows within Australia, so I really want to get over east and fulfil the tickets that have been sold and hopefully play some theatre shows.
The show we played at the Tivoli in Brisbane last year was my favourite. To be able to play big-scale shows when things are back to normal is something I'm really looking forward too. Apart from festivals, I don't think we've ever played to a crowd that big. Headline shows are something else.
Spacey Jane's debut album Sunlight is available now. Limited edition coloured vinyl pressings of earlier EPs No Way To Treat An Animal and In The Slight are out November 27th. Pre-order them HERE. The band's upcoming run of shows in the Perth Metro area have all sold out.
Fri Nov 20th | Bar 1, Hilarys
Sat Nov 21st | The Rechabite, Perth
Sun Nov 22nd | Freo.Social, Fremantle (U18 matinee)
Sun Nov 22nd | Freo.Social, Fremantle (18+)
Sat Dec 5th | Scott's Garage, Mandurah (All Ages Matinee)
Sat Dec 5th | Scott's Garage, Mandurah (18+)
Photo credit to Daniel Hilderbrand
Aussie freelance journalist, sports, music, entertainment, top 10 lists. Take beach pics too.
Live Review: Spacey Jane + Supathick - Red Hill Auditorium, Perth (09.10.21)
Live Review: Spacey Jane – Bar 1, Perth (20.11.20)
Spacey Jane win big at star-studded 2020 WAMAwards
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The Indie Book Awards continue to champion great Australian writing with…
Tags: Kieran Lama, Spacey Jane

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For Patients & Caregivers
Contact a Rep Contact a Rep Dosing Calculator Dosing Calculator Prescribing Information Prescribing Information Safety Safety
About HEMLIBRA
Why HEMLIBRA?
Hear From a Peer
HEMLIBRA Half-Life & Pharmacokinetics
Trials & Results
HEMLIBRA Clinical Trials
Patients Without FVIII Inhibitors
Patients With FVIII Inhibitors
Dosing & Administration
HEMLIBRA Dosing Options
Dosing Calculator
Preparation & Administration
Safety & Patient Management
Demonstrated Safety Profile
Laboratory Monitoring
Treating Breakthrough Bleeds
Retrospective Surgery Experience
Insurance & Financial Resources
Resources for Your Practice
Contact a Rep Dosing Calculator Prescribing Information Safety
HEMLIBRA Efficacy for Pediatric Patients
HEMLIBRA was studied in pediatric hemophilia A patients with and without factor VIII inhibitors.5,16
Children with inhibitors8
1.5 mg/kg QW, 3 mg/kg Q2W, or 6 mg/kg Q4W
"The decision to prescribe HEMLIBRA was made together with the patient's family. They were excited about a subcutaneous option and the potential for better efficacy and less bleeding."1
—Michael Callaghan, MD, Children's Hospital of Michigan
Starting early Patients with inhibitors Patients without inhibitors
Starting prophylaxis at a young age helps prevent breakthrough bleeds17
Breakthrough bleeds impact patients in several ways.17-19
Clinical bleeds and subclinical bleeds can both result in increased joint damage over time
Repeated bleeds can cause irreversible damage, leading to chronic pain and arthropathy, even in early childhood
A single serious bleed can cause new bleeds to occur in a damaging cycle
Prophylactic FVIII in young boys (≤6 years of age) with severe hemophilia A reduced the risk of joint damage by 83% vs on-demand treatment*20
Percentage of patients observed at 6 years of age with normal ankle, knee, and elbow joints
Based on a randomized trial (N=65) with a mean observation period of 49 months.
*Results from a multicenter, randomized, open-label trial of young boys (<30 months old) with severe hemophilia A without inhibitors randomized to regular prophylactic recombinant FVIII infusions or to an enhanced episodic infusion schedule. Clinical assessments of index joints were performed with plain-film x-rays or magnetic resonance imaging at age 6.20
The MASAC guidelines discuss using HEMLIBRA early on in hemophilia A patients experiencing bleeds21
MASAC recommends that prophylaxis be considered optimal therapy for individuals with severe hemophilia A and should be instituted early (prior to the onset of frequent bleeding)
MASAC further recommends that infants should be considered for prophylaxis with HEMLIBRA at any time after birth, given the increased risk of intracranial hemorrhage prior to initiation of FVIII prophylaxis
There are no data on HEMLIBRA in the context of intracranial hemorrhage
There are limited data on the use of HEMLIBRA in infants under 6 months of age, and the pharmacokinetic exposure is likely to be lower compared with older infants and children
In pediatric patients less than 6 months old, the predicted concentrations of HEMLIBRA were 19% to 33% lower than in the older patients, especially with the 3 mg/kg Q2W or 6 mg/kg Q4W maintenance doses
Patients with inhibitors
Additional HEMLIBRA data for pediatric patients with FVIII inhibitors (interim analysis)8:
90% of patients receiving HEMLIBRA Q2W (3 mg/kg) had zero treated bleeds (95% CI: 55.5; 99.7)
The primary endpoint for the Q2W and Q4W cohorts was descriptive
The median efficacy periods for the Q2W and Q4W were 21 weeks and 20 weeks, respectively
Patients in these cohorts will receive 52 weeks of treatment before the final analysis
HEMLIBRA prophylaxis showed improvement at 25 weeks from baseline in physical health score.5
The HAVEN 2 study evaluated patient-reported hemophilia-related symptoms (painful swellings and presence of joint pain) and physical functioning (pain with movement) using the Physical Health Score of the Hemophilia-specific Quality of Life Short Form (Haemo-QoL-SF) questionnaire for patients ≥8 to <12 years of age.
Intra-patient data for pediatric patients with FVIII inhibitors taking HEMLIBRA
67% of pediatric patients receiving HEMLIBRA had zero treated bleeds vs 6% on prior BPAs.8
INTRA-individual
HAVEN 2†: Individual patient ABR at a median study duration of 89 weeks in QW cohort (N=15)‡1
HAVEN 2 intra-patient comparison was not prespecified to show superiority in ABR vs prior BPAs1
†Based on HAVEN 2: Non-randomized, multicenter, open-label clinical trial in pediatric patients (age <12 years, or 12–17 years who weigh <40 kg) with hemophilia A with FVIII inhibitors. All patients received HEMLIBRA prophylaxis at 3 mg/kg QW for the first 4 weeks. Sixty-eight patients received 1.5 mg/kg QW, 10 patients received 3 mg/kg Q2W, and 10 patients received 6 mg/kg Q4W thereafter.
‡A comparison of data from HAVEN 2 vs data in the NIS prior to enrollment.
Intraindividual comparison of 15 participants who previously took BPA prophylaxis showed that emicizumab prophylaxis reduced the ABR by 99% (95% CI: 97.4; 99.4).§8
§ABR was calculated with a negative binomial regression model, accounting for different follow-up times.
Patients without inhibitors
The majority of patients on HEMLIBRA experienced zero treated bleeds16
HAVEN 2: 77% of pediatric patients with FVIII inhibitors taking HEMLIBRA QW (n=65) had zero treated bleeds
HAVEN 4: 56% of adults and adolescents with or without FVIII inhibitors taking HEMLIBRA Q4W (n=41) had zero treated bleeds5
As observed over at least 52 weeks (HAVEN 2) and at least 24 weeks (HAVEN 4‖).16
‖Based on HAVEN 4: A single-arm, multicenter, open-label trial in 41 adult and adolescent males with hemophilia A with or without FVIII inhibitors who previously received either on-demand or prophylactic treatment with FVIII or BPAs. All patients received HEMLIBRA prophylaxis at 3 mg/kg QW for the first 4 weeks followed by 6 mg/kg Q4W thereafter.5
HOHOEMI¶: A multicenter, open-label study of pediatric patients without FVIII inhibitors12
Patients were <12 years old
One patient in the Q4W cohort who was 4 months old had never been treated with FVIII
This trial had a limited sample size (N=13) and was conducted in Japan
HOHOEMI was a descriptive study with no formal hypothesis testing
In a safety analysis of the HOHOEMI study:
The most common adverse reactions were contusion (n=10), nasopharyngitis (n=5), excoriation (n=4), and falls (n=4)
Two serious adverse events were reported, which consisted of bleeding from soft tissue surrounding a right knee and pain from bruised lower leg, both of which were unrelated to HEMLIBRA
§ABR was calculated with a negative binomial regression model, accounting for the different follow-up times.
¶HOHOEMI was a non-randomized study in pediatric patients (Japanese children <12 years) with hemophilia A without FVIII inhibitors. All patients received HEMLIBRA prophylaxis at 3 mg/kg once weekly for the first 4 weeks. Six patients received 3 mg/kg Q2W and 7 patients received 6 mg/kg Q4W thereafter.12
Get your questions about HEMLIBRA answered
ABR=annualized bleed rate. ABR calculated with a negative binomial regression model, which accounts for different follow-up times15; BPA=bypassing agent; CI=confidence interval; FVIII=factor VIII; MASAC=Medical and Scientific Advisory Council; NIS=non-interventional study; QW=once weekly; Q2W=once every 2 weeks; Q4W=once every 4 weeks.
Indication & Important Safety Information
HEMLIBRA is indicated for routine prophylaxis to prevent or reduce the frequency of bleeding episodes in adult and pediatric patients ages newborn and older with hemophilia A with or without factor VIII inhibitors.
Boxed WARNING: THROMBOTIC MICROANGIOPATHY and THROMBOEMBOLISM
Cases of thrombotic microangiopathy and thrombotic events were reported when on average a cumulative amount of >100 U/kg/24 hours of activated prothrombin complex concentrate (aPCC) was administered for 24 hours or more to patients receiving HEMLIBRA prophylaxis. Monitor for the development of thrombotic microangiopathy and thrombotic events if aPCC is administered. Discontinue aPCC and suspend dosing of HEMLIBRA if symptoms occur.
Thrombotic Microangiopathy (TMA) and Thromboembolism Associated With HEMLIBRA and aPCC
In clinical trials, TMA was reported in 0.8% of patients (3/391) and thrombotic events were reported in 0.5% of patients (2/391). In patients who received at least one dose of aPCC, TMA was reported in 8.1% of patients (3/37) and thrombotic events were reported in 5.4% of patients (2/37). Patients with TMA presented with thrombocytopenia, microangiopathic hemolytic anemia, and acute kidney injury, without severe deficiencies in ADAMTS13.
Consider the benefits and risks if aPCC must be used in a patient receiving HEMLIBRA prophylaxis. Due to the long half-life of HEMLIBRA, the potential for an interaction with aPCC may persist for up to 6 months after the last dose. Monitor for the development of TMA and/or thromboembolism when administering aPCC. Immediately discontinue aPCC and interrupt HEMLIBRA prophylaxis if clinical symptoms, imaging, or laboratory findings consistent with TMA and/or thromboembolism occur, and manage as clinically indicated. Consider the benefits and risks of resuming HEMLIBRA prophylaxis following complete resolution of TMA and/or thrombotic events on a case-by-case basis.
Laboratory Coagulation Test Interference
HEMLIBRA affects intrinsic pathway clotting-based laboratory tests, including activated clotting time (ACT); activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT); and all assays based on aPTT, such as one-stage, factor VIII (FVIII) activity. Therefore, intrinsic pathway clotting-based coagulation laboratory test results in patients who have been treated with HEMLIBRA prophylaxis should not be used to monitor HEMLIBRA activity, determine dosing for factor replacement or anti-coagulation, or measure FVIII inhibitor titers.
Results affected by HEMLIBRA: aPTT; Bethesda assays (clotting-based) for FVIII inhibitor titers; one-stage, aPTT-based single-factor assays; aPTT-based Activated Protein C Resistance (APC-R); ACT.
Results unaffected by HEMLIBRA: Bethesda assays (bovine chromogenic) for FVIII inhibitor titers; thrombin time (TT); one-stage, prothrombin time (PT)-based single-factor assays; chromogenic-based single-factor assays other than FVIII (see Drug Interactions for FVIII chromogenic activity assay considerations); immuno-based assays (ie, ELISA, turbidimetric methods); genetic tests of coagulation factors (eg, Factor V Leiden, Prothrombin 20210).
Most Common Adverse Reactions
The most common adverse reactions (incidence ≥10%) are injection site reactions, headache, and arthralgia.
Characterization of aPCC Treatment in Pooled Clinical Trials
There were 130 instances of aPCC treatment in 37 patients, of which 13 instances (10%) consisted of on average a cumulative amount of >100 U/kg/24 hours of aPCC for 24 hours or more; 2 of the 13 were associated with thrombotic events and 3 of the 13 were associated with TMA. No TMA or thrombotic events were associated with the remaining instances of aPCC treatment.
Injection Site Reactions
In total, 85 patients (22%) reported injection site reactions (ISRs). All ISRs observed in HEMLIBRA clinical trials were reported as mild to moderate intensity and 93% resolved without treatment. The commonly reported ISR symptoms were injection site erythema (11%), injection site pruritus (4%), and injection site pain (4%).
Other Less Common (<1%) Reactions
Rhabdomyolysis was reported in 2 adult patients with asymptomatic elevations in serum creatine kinase without associated renal or musculoskeletal symptoms. In both instances, the event occurred following an increase in physical activity.
Clinical experience suggests that a drug interaction exists with HEMLIBRA and aPCC.
Pregnancy, Lactation, Females and Males of Reproductive Potential
Women of childbearing potential should use contraception while receiving HEMLIBRA. It is not known whether HEMLIBRA can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman or can affect reproduction capacity. HEMLIBRA should be used during pregnancy only if the potential benefit for the mother outweighs the risk to the fetus. The developmental and health benefits of breastfeeding should be considered along with the mother's clinical need for HEMLIBRA and any potential adverse effects on the breastfed child from HEMLIBRA or from the underlying maternal condition.
You may report side effects to the FDA at (800) FDA-1088 or www.fda.gov/medwatch. You may also report side effects to Genentech at (888) 835-2555.
Please see the HEMLIBRA full Prescribing Information for additional Important Safety Information, including Boxed WARNING.
Data on file. Genentech, Inc.
Our commitment to provide transparent and timely safety information about emicizumab-kxwh. Genentech, Inc. https://www.emicizumabinfo.com/content/emicizumabinfo/en_us/patient.html#. Accessed August 25, 2020.
Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, single ascending dose study and open-label multiple ascending dose study. https://www.clinicaltrials.jp/user/showCteDetailE.jsp?japicId=JapicCTI-121934. Main ID: JPRN-JapicCTI-121934. Accessed August 25, 2020.
Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Extension study of the phase 1 study of ACE910. https://www.clinicaltrials.jp/user/showCteDetailE.jsp?japicId=JapicCTI-132195. Main ID: JPRN-JapicCTI-132195. Accessed August 25, 2020.
HEMLIBRA [package insert]. South San Francisco, CA: Genentech, Inc.
National Hemophilia Foundation. MASAC update on the approval and availability of the new treatment: Emicizumab (HEMLIBRA), for persons with hemophilia A with inhibitors to factor VIII: Interim guidance on acute bleed management and use of laboratory assays. November 24, 2017; New York, NY.
Kitazawa T, Esaki K, Tachibana T, et al. Factor VIIIa-mimetic cofactor activity of a bispecific antibody to factors IX/IXa and X/Xa, emicizumab, depends on its ability to bridge the antigens. Thromb Haemost. 2017;117(7):1348-1357.
Young G, Liesner R, Chang T, et al. A multicenter, open-label phase 3 study of emicizumab prophylaxis in children with hemophilia A with inhibitors. Blood. 2019;134(24):2127-2138.
Shima M, Hanabusa H, Taki M, et al. Long-term safety and efficacy of emicizumab in a phase 1/2 study in patients with hemophilia A with or without inhibitors. Blood Adv. 2017;1(22):1891-1899.
Shima M, Nagao A, Masashi T, et al. Long-term safety and efficacy of emicizumab for up to >5 years in a phase 1/2 study in patients with severe hemophilia A. Poster presented at: International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis 2020 Virtual Congress; July 12–14, 2020.
Wang S, Zhao X, Wang X, et al. A randomized, multicenter, open-label, phase III clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and pharmacokinetics of prophylactic emicizumab versus no prophylaxis in persons with hemophilia A in the Asia-Pacific region (HAVEN 5). Poster presented at: International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis 2020 Virtual Congress; July 12–14, 2020.
Shima M, Nogami K, Nagami S, et al. A multicentre, open-label study of emicizumab given every 2 or 4 weeks in children with severe haemophilia A without inhibitors. Haemophilia. 2019;25(6):979-987.
Jiménez-Yuste V, Klamroth R, Castaman G, et al. Second interim analysis results from the STASEY trial: a single-arm, multicenter, open-label, phase III clinical trial to evaluate the safety and tolerability of emicizumab prophylaxis in people with hemophilia A (PwHA) with FVIII inhibitors. Poster presented at: International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis 2020 Virtual Congress; July 12–14, 2020.
Callaghan M, Negrier C, Paz-Priel I, et al. Emicizumab treatment is efficacious and well tolerated long term in persons with haemophilia (PwHA) with or without FVIII inhibitors: pooled data from four HAVEN studies. Slide deck presented at: International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis 2019 Congress; July 6–10, 2019; Melbourne, Australia.
Oldenburg J, Mahlangu JN, Kim B, et al. Emicizumab prophylaxis in hemophilia A with inhibitors. N Engl J Med. 2017;377(9):809-818.
Young G, Liesner R, Sidonio R Jr, et al. Emicizumab prophylaxis provides flexible and effective bleed control in children with hemophilia A with inhibitors: results from the HAVEN 2 study. Presented at: ASH 60th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology; December 1–4, 2018; San Diego, CA.
Di Minno A, Spadarella G, Nardone A, et al. Attempting to remedy sub-optimal medication adherence in haemophilia: the rationale for repeated ultrasound visualisations of the patient's joint status. Blood Rev. 2019;33:106-119.
Rocino A, Franchini M, Coppola A. Treatment and prevention of bleeds in haemophilia patients with inhibitors to factor VIII/IX. J Clin Med. 2017;6(4):46.
Schrijvers LH, Schuurmans MJ, Fischer K. Promoting self-management and adherence during prophylaxis: evidence-based recommendations for haemophilia professionals. Haemophilia. 2016;22(4):499-506.
Manco-Johnson MM, Abshire TC, Shapiro AD, et al. Prophylaxis versus episodic treatment to prevent joint disease in boys with severe hemophilia. N Engl J Med. 2007;357(6):535-544.
National Hemophilia Foundation. Recommendation on the use and management of emicizumab-kxwh (HEMLIBRA®) for hemophilia A with and without inhibitors. December 6, 2018; New York, NY.
FDA approves Genentech's HEMLIBRA (emicizumab-kxwh) for hemophilia A without factor VIII inhibitors. [press release]. South San Francisco, CA: Genentech; October 4, 2018.
Hoffmann-La Roche. A study to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and pharmacokinetics of prophylactic emicizumab versus no prophylaxis in hemophilia A participants with inhibitors (HAVEN 1). https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02622321. NLM identifier: NCT02622321. Accessed August 25, 2020.
Hoffmann-La Roche. A study of emicizumab administered subcutaneously (SC) in pediatric participants with hemophilia A and factor VIII (FVIII) inhibitors (HAVEN 2). https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02795767. NLM identifier: NCT02795767. Accessed August 25, 2020.
Hoffmann-La Roche. A clinical trial to evaluate prophylactic emicizumab versus no prophylaxis in hemophilia A participants without inhibitors (HAVEN 3). https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02847637. NLM identifier: NCT02847637. Accessed August 25, 2020.
Hoffmann-La Roche. A study to evaluate the efficacy, safety, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of emicizumab given every 4 weeks in participants with hemophilia A (HAVEN 4). https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03020160. NLM identifier: NCT03020160. Accessed August 25, 2020.
Kruse-Jarres R, Callaghan MU, Croteau SE, et al. Surgical experience in two multicenter, open-label phase 3 studies of emicizumab in persons with hemophilia A with inhibitors (HAVEN 1 and HAVEN 2) [abstract]. Presented at: 59th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology; December 9-12, 2017; Atlanta, GA.
Mahlangu J, Oldenburg J, Paz-Priel I, et al. Emicizumab prophylaxis in patients who have hemophilia A without inhibitors. N Engl J Med. 2018;379(9):811-822.
HEMLIBRA Summary of Product Characteristics. Roche Registration Limited; 2019.
Santagostino E, Oldenburg J, Chang T, et al. Surgical experience from four phase III studies (HAVEN 1–4) of emicizumab in persons with haemophilia A (PwHA) with or without FVIII inhibitors. Slide deck presented at: International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis 2019 Congress; July 6–10, 2019; Melbourne, Australia.
Sampei Z, Igawa T, Soeda T, et al. Identification and multidimensional optimization of an asymmetric bispecific IgG antibody mimicking the function of factor VIII cofactor activity. PLoS One. 2013;8(2):e57479.
Santagostino E, Parnes A, Dhalluin C, et al. Surgical procedures in persons with haemophilia A (PwHA) without inhibitors receiving emicizumab – experience from the HAVEN 3 study. Presented at: 12th Annual Congress of the European Association of Haemophilia and Allied Disorders (EAHAD); February 6–8, 2019; Prague, Czech Republic.
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preprints.org > life sciences > genetics > doi: 10.20944/preprints201807.0458.v1
Two-Step Contractions of Inverted Repeat Region and Psai Gene Duplication from the Plastome of Croton Tiglium (Euphorbiaceae)
Sangjin Jo and Ki-Joong Kim *
Version 1 : Received: 24 July 2018 / Approved: 24 July 2018 / Online: 24 July 2018 (13:34:02 CEST)
Version 2 : Received: 23 November 2018 / Approved: 23 November 2018 / Online: 23 November 2018 (14:53:27 CET)
How to cite: Jo, S.; Kim, K. Two-Step Contractions of Inverted Repeat Region and Psai Gene Duplication from the Plastome of Croton Tiglium (Euphorbiaceae). Preprints 2018, 2018070458 (doi: 10.20944/preprints201807.0458.v1). Jo, S.; Kim, K. Two-Step Contractions of Inverted Repeat Region and Psai Gene Duplication from the Plastome of Croton Tiglium (Euphorbiaceae). Preprints 2018, 2018070458 (doi: 10.20944/preprints201807.0458.v1).
Jo, S.; Kim, K. Two-Step Contractions of Inverted Repeat Region and Psai Gene Duplication from the Plastome of Croton Tiglium (Euphorbiaceae). Preprints 2018, 2018070458 (doi: 10.20944/preprints201807.0458.v1). Jo, S.; Kim, K. Two-Step Contractions of Inverted Repeat Region and Psai Gene Duplication from the Plastome of Croton Tiglium (Euphorbiaceae). Preprints 2018, 2018070458 (doi: 10.20944/preprints201807.0458.v1).
Croton L. (Euphorbiaceae) is a very specious genus and consists of about 1,250 species, mainly distributed in tropical Asia and China. The first complete plastome sequence from the genus, Croton tiglium, is reported in this study (NCBI acc. No. MH394334). The plastome is 150,021 bp in length. The lengths of LSC and SSC are 111,654 bp and 18,167 bp, respectively. However, the length of the IR region is only 10,100 bp and includes only four rrn and four trn genes, and a small part of the ycf1 gene. We propose two-step IR contractions to explain this unique IR region of the C. tiglium plastome. First, the IR contracted from rps19-rpl2 to ycf2-trnL-CAA on the LSC/IRb boundary. Second, the IR contracted from ycf2-trnL-CAA to rrn16-trnV-GAC on the LSC/IRa boundary. In addition, duplicated copies of psaI genes were discovered in the C. tiglium plastome. Both copies were located side by side between accD and ycf4 genes, but one copy was pseudogenized because of a five-basepair (TAGCT) insertion in the middle of the gene following frameshift mutation. The plastome contains 112 genes, of which 78 are protein-coding genes, 30 are tRNA genes, and four are rRNA genes. Sixteen genes contain one intron and two genes have two introns. The infA gene is lost. Twelve large repeats were detected in the plastome. All large repeats are located in the LSC region. Also, 272 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) were identified. The penta-SSRs accounted for 45% of total SSRs, followed by mono- (32%), di- (12%), tetra (6%) and tri-SSRs (5%). Most of them were distributed in the large single copy (LSC) region (85%). In addition, 76% of the SSRs were located in the intergenic spacer (IGS). Phylogenetic analysis suggested that C. tiglium is a sister group of Jatropha curcas with 100% bootstrap support. Seven Euphorbiaceae species formed one clade with 100% bootstrap support.
IR contraction; psaI gene duplication; Plastome; SSR; Croton tiglium; Euphorbiaceae
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Geneva, IL -- (SBWIRE) -- 07/10/2017 -- Spy camera retailer, SpyCrushers, announces their product offerings for Amazon Prime Day.
Ryan Anderson, President of SpyCrushers, announced during a recently held press conference that the company has planned to sale price several of their spy camera products for Amazon Prime Day on July 11th.
"We are excited about the upcoming Amazon Prime Day. As a third party seller on Amazon, it is one of our biggest revenue days on Amazon. We have several of our spy camera products that will be drastically reduced in order to gain more customers and sell more product," said Anderson.
According to Anderson the spy camera products that will be special sale priced for Amazon Prime Day are the SpyCrushers 720p Spy Pen Camera and 1080p Spy Pen Camera, the SpyCrushers Spy Camera Sunglasses, their SpyCrushers Hidden Camera Smoke Detector and Photo Frame Spy Camera. Also, their Smiley Face Spy Camera, 808 Car Keychain Camera and Clothes Hook Spy Camera will be priced below their regular cost. The one day Amazon Prime Day sale pricing will range from $19.99 up to $35 depending on which spy camera product is purchased.
Amazon shoppers can find SpyCrushers product on the online marketplace when using the search term spycrushers inside and open search bar found on any Amazon webpage.
Anderson continued by stating that every purchase includes and no hassle money back or new replacement guarantee if customers are not completely satisfied with their item. Customers only need to contact SpyCrushers through their company website or Amazon and let SpyCrushers know what issue they are having and how they would like to proceed in correcting it.
"Our spy camera products are known for superior quality, functionality and construction. We have a lot of loyal and repeat customers. The spy camera market is one we not only thrive in, but actually help grow to what it is today," Anderson continued.
SpyCrushers spy camera and hidden camera products allow its owners to secretly record video and take pictures. Products also feature a PC webcam functionality that allow users to participate in online video chat.
"Our customers use our products for all kinds of reasons. From serious surveillance work and in home video monitoring to outdoor events and fun with friends and family. We offer the perfect solution for any spy camera need."
SpyCrushers brand and line of products are owned and operated by Crushers Inc. Crushers, Inc. is a manufacturer and retailer of consumer goods and electronics.


Let's hear it for the WMC!!!
Providing an opportunity for fair health care and wellness to all is something to be admired, and the Wallace Medical Concern work hard and volunteer their time to do just that. We are lucky to have them in our community as caretakers, role models, and genuinely thoughtful individuals.
The Wallace Medical Concern (WMC) is a community-based health center providing an open door to Portland area residents facing barriers to care. WMC welcomes over 3,000 underserved individuals and families in the Portland/Gresham area each year, through the commitment of a dedicated staff and more than 250 volunteer medical professionals. Since their founding nearly thirty years ago, they have served tens of thousands of children and adults in need.
Wallace believes that everyone deserves high quality health care, regardless of their life circumstances. The multilingual staff and volunteers work to ensure their services are culturally sensitive. In addition to primary care, they offer urgent care downtown and on their Mobile Medical Clinic, specialty care and a variety of health education and wellness programs.
Besaw's is taking this month to appreciate everything this organization does. A portion of our dinner sales in June will be donated to the WMC; in addition, we would like to extend an invitation to ALL medical professionals to join us for a complimentary happy hour on Wednesday, June 26th, from 5pm -8pm on our patio! This will be a great opportunity for anyone in the medical field to kick back and let US take care of YOU for once.


Each year The Bobby Bones Show does a special Christmas gift exchange with everyone on the show. There is always a theme and a hat full of names for each person to draw who they have to give a gift to. We do this instead of everyone buying 9 gifts for each person on the show. Also for the hilarity.
For this year's Christmas gift exchange, we have chosen to do the theme of gifting "something you already own." This means each person will gift an item from their home, not going out and buying something, to the person they get.
We also decided to have a Christmas dinner at Bobby's house that will happen on Monday, December 3rd. Stay tuned for the gift exchange to happen on the show and our conversations following the dinner!


COOPERSTOWN - Kyle Willard Bronson, beloved father, son, and friend to many, died tragically Tuesday, July 18, 2017, as the result of injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident on County Highway 11 in the Town of Hartwick. He was 28.
Born January 19, 1989, at Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown, Kyle was a son of Michael J. Bronson, Sr. and Patricia Mower Bronson.
Raised in Cooperstown, he graduated from Cooperstown Central School with the Class of 2008. For the past 7 years he had been employed as a residential counselor at Springbrook, where he was very well-respected and liked by the staff and residents alike.
Throughout his life, Kyle would do whatever he could to help just about anyone, and would always drop whatever he was doing to do so. This held true especially when it came to work that needed doing on the family farm. His favorite saying was "If there's a will there's a way" and he lived this motto everyday of his brief life. He loved his dogs, had a passion for hunting, and was an adrenaline junkie--he had "a need for speed".
Most importantly, Kyle remained a dedicated family man who constantly doted on his daughter, Skyla--whom he loved dearly--and he was anxiously awaiting the birth of his second daughter, Sophia, who is due any day. Kyle will be fondly remembered as the glue that kept his entire family together--he will be greatly missed by them and his many, many friends.
Kyle is survived by his girlfriend, Lindsay Arnold and their beloved daughter, Skyla Bronson of Cooperstown; his mother, Patricia E. Bronson and step-father, Larry J. Kukenberger, Sr. of Cooperstown; his father, Michael J. Bronson, Sr. of Cooperstown; a sister, Donna Lutz and husband, Nicholas, and their children, Addilee, Dakota and Kenzie of Milford; two brothers, Mike and Amanda Bronson and their children, Hayden and Mason of Oneonta, and Keith Bronson and wife, Veronica, and their children Parker, Miranda and Sage of Cooperstown; a stepbrother, Larry J. "L.J." Kukenberger, Jr. of Richfield Springs, and many, many close friends.
He was predeceased by his favorite aunt, Margaret Orendorff, who died July 29, 2016.
A gathering for family and friends will be held on Saturday, July 29, 2017 from 1-6 pm at the family farm at 1028 County Highway 33, Cooperstown.


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Our District -
Stories from the SF Fed
Leilani Barnett
After the Thomas Fire: Building Family Financial Resiliency in Central and Southern California
"I love my job because we work on such a wide range of issues from affordable housing to workforce development to health and equity—all focused on alleviating poverty," explains Leilani Barnett, Community Development regional manager for California's Central Valley and parts of Southern California.
The SF Fed's Community Development team divides responsibilities for the vast 12th District by region. Barnett covers Sacramento to Bakersfield, as well as San Diego, Ventura, and Santa Barbara counties.
The devastating Thomas Fire began engulfing a wide swath of Ventura and Santa Barbara counties in December 2017.
Barnett's phone began to ring.
Earlier in 2017, she'd worked with government and nonprofits in Ventura County to form a family financial resiliency coalition. The goal: ensure that low- and moderate-income families could access education, housing, and childcare.
"The coalition I'd helped create contacted me, saying, 'This is impacting the community in a big way. People are displaced. Small businesses are devastated. Is there anything the Federal Reserve can do to help?'" she recalls.
The Thomas Fire destroyed more than 1,000 structures in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties by the time it was contained. Barnett knew that families and local communities would need a lot of support to recover from their losses. She immediately organized a forum that brought together banks, community development institutions, and service organizations to identify and efficiently execute solutions.
Witnessing the wildfires affected Barnett, both emotionally and professionally. It got her thinking about the profound impact of natural disasters—and climate change—on families' financial resilience and mental well-being.
"Many scientists expect for weather events, including catastrophic wildfires, to become more violent. These events disproportionately impact low-income communities. There are things we can do to help those communities be more climate resilient," Barnett says.
In Ventura, Barnett will be partnering with community members to plan for climate adaptation, focusing on strategies for preventing vulnerable families from becoming homeless if another wildfire strikes, for example.
Mental health is emerging as an important aspect of that work.
"One area we're exploring is the overlap of climate change and mental health," explains Barnett, who saw firsthand how being displaced by the Thomas Fire threw families' household finances into disarray, cranking up stress levels.
It's a trend she often sees in her work.
"So many homeless folks have mental health issues, yet we treat mental health and homelessness and housing as separate problems with separate providers. It could be more integrated," Barnett says.
Barnett recognizes that defining the boundaries of intersectional issues will take more work.
"These are new concepts that aren't mainstream yet. More research and focus are needed to propel the ideas forward," Barnett says.
The San Francisco Fed has moved toward this type of cross-sector community development approach in recent years. The team often looks at issues, such as gentrification and health equity, where they can bring the department's research and people-connecting prowess to bear.
Even in the absence of dramatic events such as wildfires, there is much work to do in the regions she covers when it comes to housing equity and displacement.
In Sacramento, for example, she works with local authorities and agencies to explore policies that combat displacement due to gentrification, something many misperceive as a "coastal problem."
"When you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, you think Sacramento is affordable. But there are so many people moving from the Bay Area inland to Sacramento that prices have skyrocketed. There's a real affordability crunch in neighborhoods where folks on fixed incomes and working-class people have been able to afford to rent," she explains.
Barnett also encourages affordable housing policies in popular locations like Bakersfield and other cities where housing has long been in short supply. Recommendations range from requiring builders to include affordable units in new developments to encouraging homeowners to build accessory dwelling units, aka in-laws.
Barnett has been passionate about equity in urban development her entire adult life. She holds a master's in city planning. Before joining the Fed, she worked to get low-income families into housing with the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency. Throughout her career, she's worked to address ever-present problems such as poverty in the midst of changing economic conditions.
"The first half of my career, there was a lot of housing construction happening. When the real estate market crashed in 2008, building came to a halt. Many families suffered dealing with foreclosures. Now the housing market has heated up again and we're dealing with things like gentrification and displacement," Barnett says.
One thing she's learned is that although economic booms and busts change her work, need never goes away. So, she persists in striving to alleviate it.
Jessica Monge Coria
Leilani Pinho Barnett
Perspectives from Idaho


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Menopause Home > Prometrium
Prometrium is used to cause a period in premenopausal women who have stopped having them, as well as to prevent an excessive buildup of the uterine lining. This drug is identical in structure to the progesterone made naturally in the body. While most women have no problems with Prometrium, side effects such as dizziness, headaches, and breast pain can occur.
Interested in a Discount on Prometrium?
What Is Prometrium?
Prometrium® (progesterone capsules) is a prescription medication approved to:
Prevent abnormal thickening of the lining of the uterus in women taking estrogen hormone replacement therapy
Cause a period in women who stopped having menstrual periods before menopause.
(Click Prometrium Uses for more information, including possible off-label uses.)
Who Makes It?
Prometrium is made by Solvay Pharmaceuticals.
How Does Prometrium Work?
Prometrium contains the hormone progesterone. It is structurally identical to the progesterone made naturally in the body. In fact, Prometrium is the only hormone replacement therapy medication with bio-identical progesterone that has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Women who still have a uterus (who have not had a hysterectomy) who take estrogen hormone replacement therapy must also take progesterone or a progestin (a synthetic progesterone-like drug) in order to prevent abnormal thickening of the lining of the uterus caused by the estrogen. This abnormal thickening can lead to cancer of the lining of the uterus. Taking progesterone or a progestin decreases this risk. Of course, this applies only to women who still have a uterus (who have not had a hysterectomy). For women without a uterus, progesterone is usually considered unnecessary.
Prometrium is also approved to cause a period in women who have stopped having periods before menopause for various reasons. Stopping the drug after taking it for a short time (usually ten days) will cause "withdrawal" bleeding (a period) within seven days of the last dose. This mimics the normal drop in progesterone levels that causes regular menstrual periods.
Prometrium Article Continues on Next Page >
Warning: 10 Hidden Sources of Lactose
Prometrium Medication Information
Food and Drug Administration, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. Electronic orange book: approved drug products with therapeutic equivalence evaluations. FDA Web site. Available at: http://www.fda.gov/cder/ob/. Accessed March 9, 2012.
National Library of Medicine (US). Drugs and Lactation Database (LactMED). NLM Web site. Available at: http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/htmlgen?LACT. Accessed June 16, 2008.
National Library of Medicine (US). Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB). NLM Web site. Available at: http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/htmlgen?HSDB. Accessed June 16, 2008.


For tax preparation in Chicago Heights IL, you can count on Salvatore C. Mazzocca, EA at S C Mazzocca & Assocciates Ltd. Salvatore C. Mazzocca, EA assists taxpayers and small businesses with taxes in Chicago Heights IL and the surrounding communities. Whether you are an individual or a local business in or around Chicago Heights IL, Salvatore C. Mazzocca, EA has years of valuable experience as an IRS registered tax preparer. Contact Salvatore C. Mazzocca, EA, tax filing specialist in Chicago Heights IL, for help with your taxes.
Salvatore C. Mazzocca, EA is a local tax preparer at S C Mazzocca & Assocciates Ltd located in Chicago Heights IL. Salvatore C. Mazzocca, EA and other tax preparers located in Chicago Heights IL will help you with tax preparation, tax planning, bookkeeping, estate and trust taxes, and so much more.
Are you Salvatore C. Mazzocca, EA, a tax preparer from Chicago Heights IL?


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Ex-UAW president pleads guilty to racketeering and embezzlement
Gary Jones, the newly-elected President of the United Auto Workers (UAW), addresses the 37th UAW Constitutional Convention June14, 2018 at Cobo Center in Detroit, Michigan.
Bill Pugliano | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Former United Auto Workers President Gary Jones pleaded guilty Wednesday to racketeering and embezzlement, marking a major milestone in a yearslong case into corruption in one of America's most prominent unions.
Jones, 63, is the highest-ranking member of the UAW to be convicted as part of the ongoing probe into the misuse of millions of dollars, embezzlement and bribery by union officials. He is the 14th person to plead guilty as part of the case, including 11 officials affiliated with the union and three executives with Fiat Chrysler.
The conviction is part of a plea deal with federal prosecutors. Jones also has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors as part of the government's ongoing investigation, Assistant U.S. Attorney David Gardey said Wednesday during Jones' plea hearing.
Jones' guilty plea and cooperation come months after federal prosecutors confirmed that a civil racketeering case against the union, including potential government oversight, remains an option.
Jones was charged in March for his involvement in embezzling more than $1 million of union funds for golf trips, expensive cigars, liquor and other merchandise and luxuries.
"I apologize to my UAW family for betrayal of their trust and pray they will forgive me," Jones said during the roughly 40-minute hearing that was conducted via a Zoom video conference due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Jones faces up to five years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines. Imprisonment guidelines under the plea deal are between 46 months and 57 months. Those guidelines may be lowered based on Jones' degree of cooperation, Gardey said.
UAW President Rory Gamble, in a statement, said his predecessor's actions were "selfish, immoral, and against everything we stand for as a union."
Court documents and Jones' cooperation suggest more union officials could be charged as federal prosecutors identified four other unnamed co-conspirators in the scheme. Jones' predecessor, Dennis Williams, has been implicated as part of the investigation but not charged with a crime.
Homes of Jones, Williams and other union officials were raided in August as part of the investigation, which was made public in July 2017.
Other high-ranking officials to be convicted as part of the investigation include UAW Vice Presidents Norwood Jewell and Joe Ashton, a former General Motors board member, and Alphons Iacobelli, an ex-vice president of Fiat Chrysler.
Jones resigned from leading the union effective Nov. 20 — the same day the UAW International Executive Board started the process of removing him from office.
FBI agents finish loading materials into a truck out of the home of United Auto Workers President Gary Jones on Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2019.
Michael Wayland / CNBC
Jones began a leave of absence from the union starting Nov. 3, days after he was implicated as being part of the ongoing probe.
When the federal investigation was made public in July 2017, it focused on a training center jointly operated by the UAW and Fiat Chrysler. But it quickly expanded to probes into similar operations with GM and Ford Motor, which both previously confirmed they were cooperating with the investigation.
The probe has widened to top union leaders unaffiliated with the training centers being involved in embezzlement of union funds, money laundering and other illegal activities.
In an unusual move, federal prosecutors last month informed GM that it is not currently a target in the investigation.


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WYYD (107.9 MHz "New Country 107-9 YYD") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Amherst, Virginia, and serving the Roanoke-Lynchburg media market. WYYD airs a country music radio format and is owned and operated by iHeartMedia.  Monday through Saturday mornings, the station carries The Bobby Bones Show, based in Nashville and syndicated by Premiere Networks, an iHeart subsidiary.  Overnight, it carries After Midnite with Granger Smith.

The studios and offices are on Old Forest Road in Lynchburg.  The transmitter is near Sweet Hollow Road (County Route 615) in Big Island, Virginia. A 2,500 watt booster station, WYYD-1, is heard in Roanoke, also on 107.9 MHz.

History

Always a Country station, the station's first call sign was WCNV, which was assigned on January 16, 1981 and officially launched on January 27 with the branding "FM 108 WCNV."  The station was co-owned with AM 1420 WAMV  WCNV was powered at only 4,100 watts, so it primarily served its own community and wasn't aimed at the larger Roanoke-Lynchburg market.  It was owned by Central Virginia Media, Inc. which sold both stations to Winfas, Inc. in 1983.

WCNV switched its call sign to WYYD at midnight on November 18, 1985 and changed its branding to "108 WYYD; Today's Best Country and Your All-Time Favorites." The power had been increased to 20,500 watts on a 1,767 foot tower, making it a regional country station for the larger Roanoke-Lynchburg market.  In 1994, the station was sold to Benchmark Communications for $9 million and the studios were moved to Lynchburg.

In 1999, the station changed hands again, this time to Capstar Broadcasting, which later became AMFM Broadcasting, a forerunner to current owner, iHeartMedia.  Just after 2000, the slogan was changed to "Virginia's Best Country."

On September 3, 2010, WYYD changed its branding to "Country 107-9 WYYD; The Widest Variety of Country Music."  It played a mix of mainstream and classic country.  On the morning on September 16, 2013, WYYD changed its branding again to "New Country 107-9 YYD."

References

External links
 New Country 107-9 YYD Online

YYD
Country radio stations in the United States
Radio stations established in 1981
IHeartMedia radio stations

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Pinterest seems to always be just two steps behind other social media giants. Well, it looks like that's about to change. The reason Pinterest has been behind for the last nine months is because they've been creating their newest search feature. This new technology allows users to focus on a single item in a post and find similar-looking items, all without a text search.
Pinterest may not be as widely used as Facebook or Twitter, but it is certainly giving its kin a run for their money! The social media platform where someone can search for visual content relating to everything from recipes to Ryan Gosling memes and from B2B infographics to home repair "how-to" instructions has taken the cyber-world by storm. Recent studies have even shown that Pinterest is the fastest growing social media platform out there! And with the rollout of Promoted Pins in May of this year, I predict Pinterest to be a frontrunner when it comes to social-media sharing sites to use for gaining brand awareness, and possibly even direct sales.
Unfortunately, Pinterest has been written off as a content sharing network just for women in their 20s to daydream about the wedding rings they'll never receive, workouts they will never try and outfits they can't afford. While those facts may be true, Pinterest has much more to offer. Pinterest is a great place to build brand awareness for any large or small business, along with providing useful information for anyone, whether they are male or female, 13 or 63.
So, let me have your attention for approximately 4 minutes to change your mind about Pinterest. Below are five, very simple tips to optimize Pinterest for business, to increase your success rate in leveraging this social platform for brand awareness and website traffic.
If you know anything about social media, engaging with your followers is key to a successful campaign. What some people might not know about Pinterest is that they are several ways to engage with followers. Included in this are commenting on others' pins, repinning pins relevant to your brand, liking pins and creating groups boards that invite others to pin items to your boards. Remember: Pinterest is a social network, not a billboard. Don't be afraid to become a part of the community.
Taking the step to become a business page is a huge, yet simple step. Follow this link to set up your business account profile. Personal accounts may also be turned into business accounts; you just have to have Pinterest verify your website address. In this case, if you have a blog domain or something similar, go ahead and use that. One of the most important features of converting your profile to a business page is the ability to access your page's analytics and measuring metrics (GOLD!). Those analytics include impressions, visits to your site, unique users and of course the number of repins.
It's all too easy just to pin a pin and neglect to change its description. Changing the description of your pin could create all the difference in the discovery of your brand by relevant audiences. Wouldn't you be more inclined to pin content that is accompanied by an engaging meesage? One study showed that pin descriptions which are about 200 characters are more re-pinned than others. Pin descriptions with relevant keywords also make it easier for pinners to find your content. The occasional hashtag doesn't hurt either!
Personally, nothing is more irritating than a brand that pins 30+ pins all at once. This "pin dumping" is a surefire to lose followers. I recommend pinning twice daily, once from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and then in the evenings between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. In fact, as a helpful hint the optimal time to get your golden pins out there is on Saturday mornings.
How do you utilize Pinterest for your brand? Have any of these tips worked for you? Let me know in the comments below!
Facebook is currently testing out its newest feature: the "buy" button. Although it is only on a preliminary basis at the moment, many believe it to be the new frontier in online retail. With a respectable sample size of 1.28 billion active users and 40+ million business pages registered, should this feature become standard it would make Facebook the largest and most data-rich retailer on the internet.
Facebook will be implementing their "buy" button for a select bunch of small-to-medium sized businesses. The way this works is that the user will store their card information on file with Facebook and by doing so, they will never have to worry about filling in all of the checkout fields again. Of course, the option to check out without storing your card information is still available for those fearful of security breaches. The simplicity of clicking the buy button, and once more to confirm the order (pending that you've stored your card information), is believed to help with higher conversion rates of purchases.
The more steps in the purchasing funnel (i.e. going off page, filling out credit card information, etc), the more likely a consumer is to change his/her mind. This is what makes the simplicity of Facebook's retail premise so enticing: it couldn't be easier and you never leave the comfort and familiarity of your own news feed. In addition, if the buy button can prove to be successful at raising conversion rates, it would make advertisements on Facebook even more valuable and prices would inflate, causing the social media site to become an all-intensive money making machine.
The buy button as it is currently used has evolved from several other sample features that Facebook has rolled out since 2012. First, was the "collect" button which worked much the way pinning does on Pinterest. By collecting items from your news feed, it created a wish list on user profiles that had a buy button directing you offsite to a point of purchase.
Next, Facebook started introducing an auto-fill feature in an attempt to increase conversion. It memorized credit card information and would auto-fill in the offsite that traffic was directed to, in order to assist in the purchasing process.
Finally, Facebook issued the "donate now" button which took pledges for various nonprofit organizations. This feature collected credit card and billing information to assist with the auto-fill, and also included a pop-up window that allowed you to remain onsite rather than being directed to a new window.
Although this buy button is merely in a testing phase for a select sample of small-to-medium sized businesses, people are not hesitating to speculate about how Facebook as a retailer will measure up to an already established online retailer like Amazon.
Amazon has an active user base (those who have made a purchase within the past 12 months) of 244 million people that contributed to $67.9 billion in sales in 2013. That's 49.6 billion more than the second largest online retailer, Apple (who sold $18.3 billion in 2013, largely due to their iTunes sales). Those numbers are staggering, but with over five times the amount of active users, a simplified checkout process and the potential for impulse purchases lurking within each one of our news feeds, Facebook may prove to be a true contender in the e-commerce market going forward.
Pinterest is one of the most popular social media sites. With 70 million users, it is third behind Facebook and LinkedIn and ahead of Twitter and Instagram. When it first came out in 2010, many people were asking themselves "why didn't I think of that?" Pinterest is a lot like a scrapbook, a dorm room pin board, an inspirational quote book or even a cook book.
We Heart It, established in 2008, is Brazil's equivalent to Pinterest. It is a place to find the most beautiful images of all the things you love, discover and save quotes, pictures that match your mood or research images for an art or fashion collage.
In 2011, the We Heart It site had 460 million page views with 7.7 million unique – far greater than Pinterest at 91 million page views and 1.5 million unique. Investor funds have allowed Pinterest to develop a huge lead over We Heart It in their user statistics. Now valued at $1.5 billion, Pinterest boasts more than two billion page views and 34.5 million monthly unique.
The explosive growth of Pinterest is directly attributed to its ability to generate investor financing. The creators of We Heart It turned down investors, choosing steady growth driven by strategic ad revenue. Roughly 80% of We Heart It's monthly users are under the age of 24. Pinterest's demographic is very much the opposite. Roughly 80% of Pinterest users are over the age of 24.
"Heart it" and "Pin it" buttons allow you to attach images or any web content you find and like to your profile.
Hearts and likes identify your favorite images and are saved.
Sets and boards classify your favorite images into subjects such as quotes, inspiration and summer looks.
"Image" and "Pin" buttons add original content.
Instead of a profile page and Pin Boards, We Heart It users have a canvas and collections.
We Heart It users can only "heart" photos, which automatically adds the photo to their canvas.
Comments are not allowed on We Heart It to ensure no bullying, negativity or spam occurs.
We Heart It users can tag photos; Pinterest users can add descriptions only.
Basically, We Heart It (now with 25 million monthly users) works and feels like a younger, artsier Pinterest. Images of beautiful celebrities and peaceful sunsets replace the wedding dresses and home cooked masterpieces synonymous with Pinterest. The owners are now considering outside investors. They've announced their first round of formal partnerships in December and currently have a half dozen partners, including publications like Teen Vogue and Lucky. These relationships are not financially-driven, but they do demonstrate that We Heart It is commanding outside interest from other brands.
Pinterest and We Heart It share another resemblance: they both recognize that at the end of the day they are a business and their survival will depend on their ability to generate revenue.
What are your thoughts on Pinterest versus We Heart It? Do you have an account on either platform? Which one do you prefer to use or do you use both of them? Let me know in the comments below or tweet me at @yuppitsdebbie. Feel free to follow me on Pinterest or We Heart It.


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Salt of this Sea + Skype Q&A
By DavidOctober 29, 2014August 21st, 2018Featured, Programme 2014
Sunday 7th December, 2014 at 5:30 pm
Watershed, 1 Canon, Bristol, BS1 5TX
Tickets available through Watershed Box Office tel: 0117 9275100 or online at watershed.co.uk: £8.00 Full / £ 6.50 Cons.
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This event is presented with support from Sidcot School: Centre for Peace and Global Studies.
Salt of this Sea
dir. Annemarie Jacir, 2008, feature, 109min, Palestine/France
Soraya, 28, born and raised in Brooklyn, decides to return to live in Palestine, the country her family was exiled from in 1948. On arriving in Ramallah, Soraya tries to recover her grandparent's money, frozen in an account in Jaffa, but is refused by the bank. She meets Emad, a young Palestinian whose ambition, contrary to hers, is to leave forever. Tired of the constraints that dictate their lives, Soraya and Emad know in order to be free, they must take things into their own hands, even it means breaking the law. In this quest for life, we follow their trail through remains of a lost Palestine.
Annemarie Jacir
Annemarie Jacir is a poet, director and activist. Her films include shorts, documentaries and features. Her most recent film When I Saw You (2012) was Palestine's 2013 entry to the Oscar's and winner of numerous awards including best asian film at Berlin International Film Festival and best Arab film at Dubai International Film Festival. Jacir grew up in Saudi Arabia until the age of sixteen when she when to the United States to undertake higher education. From 1974 to 1987 she divided her time between Saudi Arabia and Palestine before finally settling in Palestine in 1992. She has been living in Jordan since 2007, when she was denied entry to Palestine.
Her career in cinema began as an editor and camerawoman, working in Los Angeles before attending Columbia University in New York to obtain an MFA in Film Studies. Along with Hamid Dabashi she co-founded the ground-breaking Dreams of a Nation project dedicated to the promotion of Palestinian cinema, of which she acted as chief curator. In 2003 she organised the largest travelling film festival in Palestine which included the screening of several archival Palestinian films. Among her films are: Salt of this Sea, Sound of the Street, An Explanation: (and then burn the ashes), A Few Crumbs for the Birds, Until When, Like Twenty Impossibles, Palestine is Waiting, The Satellite Shooters, Two Hundred Years of American Ideology, A Revolutionary Tale, and a Post-Oslo History.
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Bristol Palestine Film Festival is committed to providing an opportunity for moviegoers in the Southwest to experience the lives of Palestinian people through film. By bringing to Bristol Palestinian film, art and culture we invite viewers to explore the multiple realities and identities of the Palestinian people. It is this focus on humanness and the expression of the everyday lives of Palestinians that is at the core the mission of this Festival.
Festival Programme Archive
AvatarBristol Palestine Film Festival@BristolPFF·
BPFF is a charity run by volunteers on a shoestring budget and we're reliant on the generosity of our viewers in order to keep the festival going. Any donation, however small, would be hugely appreciated and help secure the future of the festival. Thank you all for your support!
We'd like to say a big thank you to everyone who joined us this year in watching our online slate of shorts — without you this festival wouldn't be possible. We hope to welcome you all back in the cinema next year, with some great new Palestinian films!
It's the final day of this year's online festival! Our excellent selection of shorts will be available to stream for free until the end of the day at http://bristolpff.org.uk — fill your Sunday with some last minute short watching 🇵🇸
This insightful short covers a conversation between filmmaker Farah and her grandmother about their fate as Palestinian refugees granted Lebanese citizenship. The two women touch on topics full of emotions, memories and hope. Watch it here: https://bristolpff.org.uk/2020/11/30/the-seven-villages/ #BPFF2020
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AvatarPalestine in the UK@PalMissionUK·
The Bristol Palestine Film Festival has been running since 4 December and will end on Sunday: Your last chance to watch a selection of the best films and documentaries from #Palestine:
https://bristolpff.org.uk/
© 2021 Bristol Palestine Film Festival.


Do you remember certain things from school? I always remember having a pair of orange fiskars in each classroom during the younger years. One of my favorite things was the plastic school chairs too! Oh and backpack shopping.. do you remember those days? Today, I'm sharing with you some cool back to school inspired goods! Enjoy!
The wiener dog paper holder is too cute!


← See you at TechDays 2012 Finland!
For both the T4 session and ADM session, the material is available as described below.
UPDATE 11.3.2012: Added the presentation slides (Finnish language).
Note! The videos and downloads are CTP-level examples of what ADM can do. As we were aiming to business based ecosystem that is getting to CTP-stage as well, I didn't update the examples or videos to any mid-release-stage material.
Thanks for everyone who attended at T4 session yesterday and welcome to the ADM session today!
The presentations were great with lots of ideas that seem very useful! I especially like the way all the abstractions and transformations are text files and thus manageable in version control.
Based on the presentation and this site you seem to have plans beyond the obvious application (automatization of CRUD and service interface skeleton implementations) which I found curious. I admit the slight potential for an actual paradigm shift but have a hard time thinking of good practical examples of how this methodology can be successfully applied to the development of core functionality / business logic of a complex system. Although you correctly point out on this site that production reference implementations aren't really necessary to demonstrate the basic concept, I feel they are necessary for demonstrating how the methodology can be effectively utilized in this DSL-like fashion.
Question on more practical level: I didn't read everything on the site yet so maybe this has been answered already but how are you supposed to organize the abstractions, transformations and generated code in a large multi-solution project with single abstraction definition potentially generating 10-15 files? Even with just tens of object definitions (each resulting in the 10-15 code / definition / script / etc files) just throwing them all in a single folder becomes hard to maintain.
Happy to hear that you found the presentations useful! It was a challenge to balance between hands-on demonstrations and connecting that to potential. As you properly also point out, concrete examples on this field are needed. We are working on these, when the final ecosystem infrastructure is realizing.
To address your multiple-file-output question; it isn't answered clearly in these pages. This demonstration is bit outdated (made on last summer), but it does generate Java-classes for Android serialization. Java as a language requires every class on its own file and filesystem structured for namespace. Hence the generation must also structure its files accordingly.
The paradigm shift as I see happens "unnocited". You only automate the portions where you gain the benefit. If you overautomate something (that is, working with automation is more troublesome than its worth) you simply stop using the generation. Properly done, your generators simply replace "reference-manual-implementation".
To bind this to "multiple-Java" generation, there are several ways to achieve the connection between automated and manually written. I've personally favored an approach where the distinction is clear through separate "logic implementation" classes that the generated code calls for. It means in Java that the generator can generate code on the same filesystem structure where the manual code is written. In such a case the generated classes need to be intentified from manual and this is simple to do with naming convention. The automation generated classes can have suffix such as "AbsGen", which then of course needs to be in the filesystem names as well. Then the automation build process simply deletes all the files with that suffix before regenerating new ones (so that if any classes have been removed, they're properly gone in the automated implementation as well).
I'm happy to share the ecosystem and shared application modules details that concrete the modular reusability, in case you're interested. We're doing our best to openly promote the methodology, so any question posted on the Google group is dealt with as concrete example as possible.


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Pop Quiz at the End of the Universe
The Pop Quiz at the End of the Universe
The Pop Quiz at the End of the Universe: Marly Youmans
Thu Oct 23, 2014 5:00pm 1 comment Favorite This
Welcome back to The Pop Quiz at the End of the Universe, a recurring series here on Tor.com featuring some of our favorite science fiction and fantasy authors, artists, and others!
Today we're joined by Marly Youmans, award-winning poet, novelist and short story writer. A native of the Carolinas, Youmans now lives near the mouth of the Susquehanna with her husband and three children. Her latest novel, Glimmerglass, is a stylish, contemporary variation on the Bluebeard legend.
What is your favorite short story?
This morning it is Isaac Bashevis Singer's "Gimpel the Fool." The story is wonderfully made and packed with soul and heart. Tomorrow it might be something else.
Describe your favorite place to write.
The just-released Glimmerglass was written all over the house, indoors and out. That's the pleasant part of having a laptop (the unpleasant part came on a sad day last week when my macbook died.) I'm not fussy about a place to work—I don't have a lucky pen or need my chair in proper alignment or insist on utter silence, though I find those sorts of minor obsessions interesting in others. When my writing room is not a tornado of paper and a foot-tangling mess of books, I'm quite happy working there. It's fairly much the expected, a writing table and loaded bookshelves and stacks of manuscripts. Art by friends hangs on the walls, but I don't notice the surroundings when I'm writing. I have a window and occasionally focus on the distant landscape to avoid completely ruining my near-sighted eyes. Outside is a view of trees and Otsego Lake (the lake James Fenimore Cooper called Glimmerglass in the Leatherstocking tales), with the tiny castle of Kingfisher Tower floating on the water and Lion Mountain in the distance. The scene reminds me how weird and magical and touched by storytelling the world is.
Please relate one fact about yourself that has never appeared anywhere else in print or on the internet.
Writers are not that exciting—they're busy sitting in pokey corners, heads buzzing. And I've already admitted to my wacky features… My first step was at 17 months, though I was talking in little paragraphs before I turned one. Clearly I was doomed to be a writer who has to be dragged into exercise. But I could have been a dietician because I was the uncredited inventor of the Paleo diet—I would only eat raw foods and so became a toddler with a carotene flush to her face. Maybe I could have been a great sportsman because I caught a gigantic alligator snapping turtle at False River when I was four or five. I could have been known for overcoming handicaps, since my Yankee sixth-grade teacher thought I was mentally retarded due to my deep-South drawl. (I used that sad-and-comic detail in A Death at the White Camellia Orphanage.) I've probably mentioned all those sorts of things in interviews.
But I haven't talked about an important source of outrageous stories, so perhaps that ought to be my until-now-withheld fact. I suspect that the strangest and most hair-raising element in my life is Michael, though I don't deserve any credit for his wildness. I'm married to a man who accidentally and innocently became engaged to a doctor while volunteering in Vietnam, who made his Egyptian guide angry by winning a race on horseback to the pyramids at Giza (a few hours before riots broke out—Michael likes to keep things lively), who almost starved to death in the snowy Himalayas because his insides couldn't bear the diet of mutton fat plus sardines in tea, who slept curled in a bloody sheepskin on a ledge in the Crazy Mountains (I call that a grizzly wrap, or maybe shades of Star Wars), etcetera. And I do mean etcetera! Michael's ability to become entangled in a story on the other side of the world—to leap into the unknown with strangers and yet come home safely—beats anything made up. Life is frisky and unexpected with him.
Do you have a favorite unknown writer?
As I write and read poetry as well as fiction, I am frequently wandering territories of the less-known, and it is in the land of poetry where you find the most radical obscurity, the most unknown unknowns. I'm fond of the late poets Charles Causley and Kathleen Raine, who are known in the U.K. but aren't read much in this country. Causley loved stories and ballads and folk materials, clicked words together beautifully, and could be frolicsome and fantastical. Ted Hughes and Philip Larkin admired him. Kathleen Raine was a self-proclaimed follower of Blake and Yeats. She belongs in the company of poets who think that poetry should approach song. Thomas Disch wrote a good introduction to her work that's in The Castle of Indolence, his collection of reviews and essays about poetry.
Recently I read with poet Luisa Igloria in Norfolk, Virginia, and I recommend her—a look at her poem-a-day project can be had at Dave Bonta's Via Negativa, and she has several brand new books, Night Willow (prose poems from Phoenicia Publishing in Montreal, a small press that also published my post-apocalyptic blank verse poem, Thaliad) and Ode to the Heart Smaller than a Pencil Eraser, which won the May Sarton award.
Here's a sample from Luisa's prose poems:
Who's to say what you can believe or not? For every animal of affection that walks into your ark, its snarling twin pulls at the chains, trembles the floorboards. You feed them both, you give the same milk and the same bone wrapped in meat, hunks of bread to sop up the oil and broth. In the dark, it's hard to tell one from the other. Their eyes have the same marble sheen, obsidian or clear grey flecked with green. One will tolerate the length of the journey. The other will pace and pace, howl at the moon, the rain, the sun, its shadow. You know it could tear you to pieces if you gave it more than a chance. But you sing to both, you run your hands through their sorrowful pelt: this one thing they let you do without complaint, knowing you too must live in your skin.
And if you still want some fiction that tilts toward the fantastic, Leena Krohn's Tainaron was the first to pop into my head when I looked at the question. For an unknown-in-this-country book for younger readers, I would pick Leon Garfield's marvelous Smith. It's a good crossover book—at least, I find it interesting, and it is full of wonderfully strange descriptions. Many books are called Dickensian, but Smith actually is Dickensian (in a Garfieldian way.)
What's the best Halloween costume you've ever worn?
My favorite costume as a child may have been a homemade Mad Hatter costume. The hat came down past my knees, so no doubt I was a bumpy danger to myself and others. I read and reread the Alice books many times, so the Hatter was a natural choice. "We can't all be Mad Hatters," says Diana Wynne Jones's Howl. But sometimes we can.
My subsequent adventures in costume have been to assist three children in their shenanigans. We are guilty of having an enormous dress-up box that has dressed dozens of children at birthday parties and Halloween.
Strangest thing you've learned while researching a book?
I live in a house built by a writer (Colonel Prentiss's newspaper is still in print) in 1808. It's a straightforward federal center-hall house, and it would appear to have few secrets. But if I dig in the garden, I find a Dutch pipe or a clay marble or shards of transfer-ware. Concealment shoes (meant to kick witches out of the house) were hidden in one of the chimneys. It's the same way with peering back into time; surprise is everywhere. The main thing I've learned through historical research is that nothing is as they tell us in history books. Nothing is generalized, and everything is specific and strange and not at all simple because people are individuals and the rules for life change. When I was researching American slavery, I ended up reading about all sorts of oddities—the freedmen who owned slaves, the occasional white slave, peculiar punishments, holes in the ground for singing-into, etc. When reading Scots-Irish lore for two books set in the Carolina mountains, I was surprised by (and then used) beliefs having to do with witchmasters. Research is enticing because it steers in unexpected directions, yet also functions as a temptress who can lead a writer into the drear realm of info-dumps. But we don't have to tell everything we know…
GlimmerglassInterviewsMarly YoumansMercer University PressPop QuizPop Quiz at the End of the Universe
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Okay, this is it! Our final, FINAL group of finalists in the #PoptropicaArt contest! Soon we'll be announcing the winners, and man oh MAN, do the Poptropica Creators have a tough job ahead of them. How are we going to pick the #PoptropicaArt Champions?!
If you want to see all the finalists yourself you can go here -- and if you're on social media, let us know which ones are your favorites!
Thank you THANK YOU everyone for all the amazing #PoptropicaArt that you entered in the contest. The Creators were so thrilled to see the enthusiasm from the Poptropica community. This contest was such a success, we'll definitely do another one -- next time with categories and different types of awards!
Congrats to these Twitter entries, and best of luck! We'll announce the contest winners very soon!
Congratulations to all the #PoptropicaArt finalists!
The last Facebook #PoptropicaArt finalists!
Finally, our Virus Hunter Island walkthrough!