I WANT TO CRY!

I can't stop crying today. I woke up this morning and felt a piercing sadness. Usually crying once, I'd get over it, but I cried over 5 times, one lasting 2 hrs. What the heck is happening to me?

My very good friend called me this morning and told me that.

Although you may feel as if you are crying for "no reason," most episodes of uncontrollable emotion have some sort of underlying cause. You may be experiencing depression, anxiety, or another mental health condition such as bipolar disorder. Hormones and neurological disease are also possible culprits.

Sometimes, all you can do is cry. Holding it in won't reap any benefits.

Changes to your environment, stress level, and physical or mental health could all leave you feeling more emotional than usual. Identifying your triggers can help you be aware of situations that might prompt extra emotions. This insight can help you create a plan to manage your feelings in a healthy way.

You know when your body is insistent upon coughing, but you hold it in until you feel as if you're going to implode? Your face turns red, your chest begins to shake, you involuntarily splutter and end up drawing even more attention to yourself than you would have if you'd let yourself cough in the first place? That's no fun, and neither is suppressing your tears. If they're asking to flow, let them.

Crying is a natural release. You may feel more comfortable doing it without a bunch of people awkwardly staring or hovering over you, asking redundant questions such as “are you okay?”, so give yourself some privacy if needed. Either way, people often feel a tad less heavy after a cry. Let it out, take a breather and, if possible, continue with your day or night.

When it's hours upon hours and you feel unable to stop, you have a different situation altogether.

What's wrong with us? Well, nothing. We are human: we feel things, and sometimes those things hurt. Life is challenging, and it's natural that we'd be reduced to tears by it — hours upon hours of them.

If I find myself crying, I'll let it happen. If it persists for what I feel is too long, i.e. when it grossly interferes with my time, I will aim to do something else. I won't go into this believing that it will make me feel better, or that the crying will stop, but with the intention of changing the situation.

We can't change everything in life, but there is always a chance that we may eventually feel less terrible than we do in the present moment. The situation causing upset may be unchangeable, and we may repeatedly cry about it time and time again, but being able to at least halt hours of tears is something. Dragging ourselves further and further into a pit of misery is, well, completely miserable.

Watch something ridiculous. Cuddle your pet.

Validate yourself. It's natural that you’ll get upset about some things, and it's going to be tough pulling yourself out of a downward spiral when things feel completely hopeless. In such an all-encompassing and overwhelming state, it's a given that other things will keep setting you off. Just, whenever you can, do something else; something that won't harm you further.

What if you cry again soon after, or simply cannot stop? This too is allowed. What you're feeling at the moment is real and valid — nobody can take that away from you.

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A rare orchid survives on a few tracts of prairie, researchers want to learn its secrets

  

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The western prairie fringed orchid is seen blooming on July 3, 2024, on the Sheyenne National Grassland in North Dakota. The orchid has declined due to loss of its native prairie habitat, among other factors, and is classified as a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act. (AP)

 

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — On a remote tallgrass prairie in North Dakota, a secretive orchid pokes up from the ground. You'll only find it if you know where to look.

The striking, bright white blooms of the western prairie fringed orchid are elusive to fans who try to catch a glimpse — and as a threatened species protected by the federal Endangered Species Act, it is also a puzzle for researchers trying to learn more about the orchid's reproduction and role in its ecosystem. 

Loss of its native prairie habitat has threatened the orchid. About 60 percent of native orchids in the U.S. and Canada are rapidly disappearing due to climate change, habitat loss and pollinator declines, said Julianne McGuinness, program development coordinator for the North American Orchid Conservation Center. Those showy, flowering plants beloved for their beauty can be an early indicator of decline occurring unnoticed in its environment.
“They’re sort of like the canary in the coal mine for the rest of our ecosystems,” McGuinness said.

Graduate students from North Dakota State University in Fargo are hoping to learn more about the pollinators and reproduction of the western prairie fringed orchid. Their work includes logging the GPS coordinates of orchids at 20 various sites in Minnesota, North Dakota and Manitoba, Canada, swabbing orchids for tiny amounts of genetic material from insects, and attracting pollinating insects at night with blacklights and sheets.
Years ago, Steve Travers, an associate professor at the university's Department of Biological Sciences, was fascinated to learn about the orchid — “these big, beautiful, two-foot tall, ginormous, gorgeous things that were pollinated at night.”

“I have a hell of a hard time finding it sometimes,” he said. “And when people see it the first time, there's like almost this rapid intake of breath. I mean, it's so big and it's just spectacular.”

The orchid is a unique insight into its nearly vanished ecosystem — the tallgrass prairie — as well as for understanding connectedness with pollinators and other plants, and is a good model system for studying rarity, Travers said. 

The orchid’s only known pollinators are hawkmoths, big moths that are just the right fit and size to reach the orchid's nectar, in a long spur, while also pollinating the plant.

The western prairie fringed orchid is mostly found in reserves, such as the Sheyenne National Grassland in North Dakota and the Manitoba Tall Grass Prairie Preserve. The peak of the orchid's bloom was roughly mid-July.

Populations can be as small as one plant or as large as 500 to 1,000, Travers said. Once located, the researchers log the individual orchids' GPS coordinates to within 10 centimeters (four inches) accuracy so they can return later. Finding the orchid when it isn't flowering is like looking for a brown stick in a big, green field, Travers said.

Graduate student Josie Pickar's work is focused on what affects the orchid's reproductive success, including soil nutrients and pollinator service. She's been traveling to about 20 sites, looking at subsets of orchids, to gather soil samples and moisture content, count flowers, and record plant heights and conditions, as well as monitoring the orchids via trail cameras for what might be eating them. In September, she'll go back and count the orchids' seed capsules, which are extremely hard to find.

To find the orchids, the researchers used rough coordinates from land-management agencies. They've dealt with ticks galore, crossed a beaver dam while wearing waders and seen bear tracks in the process.

“It's been pretty wild,” Pickar said. 

She's put in days of more than 12 hours, visiting about two orchid sites per day that could be up to three hours away — her team donning gear such as long pants, long-sleeve shirts, hats and sometimes mosquito-thwarting head nets. She called the orchid “almost alienlike when you see it out on the prairie.”

Graduate student Trinity Atkins, who was out from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m., is looking at the orchid's pollination networks: the pollinators that visit the orchid and what other plants they visit, too.

She swabs the orchids at all her sites, collects moths to see where they are going and uses a molecular technique called eDNA metabarcoding to see which pollinators visited the orchid, she said. Environmental DNA is genetic material left behind from, for instance, a butterfly visiting a flower. Some studies indicate daytime pollinators might be at work, she said.

Studying the orchid's pollinators requires work at all hours of the day.

In the morning, Atkins would swab orchids for eDNA before it degrades. In the afternoon, she would survey for other nearby plants that could be attracting pollinators. And at night, she would be blacklighting at prairie sites, collecting moths and taking measurements.

Travers said the research is important in terms of biodiversity, of which rare species are an integral component for their contributions to their ecosystem.
While orchids are found all over the world, the western prairie fringed orchid is specifically adapted to the tallgrass prairie, he said.

“I kind of find that really interesting that you get all this variety in the genus and then, boom, it comes here and it turns into this huge, nocturnally pollinated thing, and I'd love to know why. Why did that happen? But that's a whole other question,” Travers said. 

Mariah Carey’s mother and sister died on the same day. The singer says her ‘heart is broken’.

BY ASSOCIATED PRESS

Aug 27, 2024 08:15 AM

  

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AT A GLANCE

• “My heart is broken that I’ve lost my mother this past weekend. Sadly, in a tragic turn of events, my sister lost her life on the same day,” the Grammy-winning singer said in a statement.

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Mariah Carey (AP) 

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mariah Carey’s mother Patricia and sister Alison both died on the same day, the singer said Monday.

“My heart is broken that I’ve lost my mother this past weekend. Sadly, in a tragic turn of events, my sister lost her life on the same day,” the Grammy-winning singer said in a statement.

“I feel blessed that I was able to spend the last week with my mom before she passed,” the statement continued. “I appreciate everyone’s love and support and respect for my privacy during this impossible time.” 

The Times Union reported Monday that Alison, who was largely estranged from Carey, died at 63 from complications with her organ function and that she had been in hospice care.

People Magazine first reported the news of their deaths and Carey’s statement.

Patricia was a Juilliard-trained opera singer who Carey credits as an inspiration to her from a young age.

“I would sing little tunes around the house, to my mother’s delight. And she always encouraged me,” she wrote in her 2020 memoir, “The Meaning of Mariah Carey.” 

Patricia was previously married to Alfred Roy Carey, the singer’s father. The parents divorced when the “Vision of Love” singer was 3. Carey grew up in Suffolk County on Long Island and lived primarily with her mother after her parents’ divorce. Her father died of cancer in 2002 at age 72.

Carey detailed her complicated relationship with her mother and her sister in her memoir, in which she wrote that she and her mother often clashed, causing her to feel “so much pain and confusion,” and accused her sister of putting her in unsafe situations as a child.

“Like many aspects of my life, my journey with my mother has been full of contradictions and competing realities. It’s never been only black-and-white — it’s been a whole rainbow of emotions,” Carey wrote in the book. “Our relationship is a prickly rope of pride, pain, shame, gratitude, jealousy, admiration and disappointment. A complicated love tethers my heart to my mother’s.”

Carey maintained contact with her mother and even recorded a duet of “O Come All Ye Faithful/Hallelujah Chorus” for the singer’s second Christmas album in 2010.

It’s National Coconut Week: Improve production, enhance nutrition

BY MANILA BULLETIN

Aug 25, 2024 00:12 AM

  

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Today, we pause to think about the value of the coconut, also referred to as the “tree of life” for its wide array of nutritional value and uses.  From its water, a high-electrolyte beverage, to its fresh meat with essential vitamins and minerals, to desiccated meat used in baking; to the popular virgin coconut oil (VCO) – the coconut is the “rock star” of local fruits for its widespread popularity.  Who does not know or recognize the coconut in the Philippines? 

The Philippines is the second largest producer of coconuts in the world, next to Indonesia. Based on 2018 data, there are over 347 million fruit-bearing coconut trees in the country, where 69 out of 82 provinces grow it, according to the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD).

August is National Coconut Month. From Aug. 24 to 30, the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) celebrates the 38th National Coconut Week “to pay tribute of honor and thanksgiving for the blessings and benefits derived from the coconut industry and to establish a continuing awareness of its lasting importance to our national life.” 

The highlight of this year’s celebration will be the National Ceremonial Planting on Aug. 28, 2024, which will be done simultaneously around the country, in line with President Marcos’ goal of planting 100 million coconut trees by 2028. The planting activity aims to address the increasing senility and loss of bearing trees which has reduced the country’s output of coconut fruits and its products.

In June, PCA administrator Dexter Buted, who had sought for a higher budget next year to improve coconut production, said the planting activity will help push the country to be the leading coconut producer worldwide. 

The activities that will be held to celebrate the 38th National Coconut Week are designed to encourage more people to be aware of the many uses of coconut as a cooking ingredient, a source of livelihood, and for nutrition.  It will also have activities that will help the farmers to live more healthy lives while boosting their production. Among these are:

A Coconut Culinary Show will present coconut-inspired recipes for nutritious and delicious food using coconut milk (gata), butter, water, nata de coco, sap syrup, sap vinegar, sugar, flour and virgin coconut oil.

There will be symposiums on the benefits of coconut products held in collaboration with the Department of Trade and Industry-Bureau of Market Development Promotion and One Town One Product. 

A health and medical program aimed at improving the well-being of coconut farmers and their families, will be launched in partnership with the Department of Health. The program will ensure that farmers and their families have access to essential medical services, leading to improved overall health and enhanced financial protection. This will be launched on Aug. 27 in line with the mandate of the Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Plan (CFIDP).

To update farmers on new technologies, an online webinar will be conducted with the theme “Transforming the lives of Filipino coconut farmers through innovative and sustainable technologies.”

Celebrate the coconut fruit in your own way because it is so much a part of our lives in this country. A beverage or food you consumed today likely had a coconut ingredient.  A piece of furniture or furnishing around you came from the coconut husk. 

From nutrition to function, these have been provided by the “tree of life” which is nurtured by the farmers. 

ABS-CBN Music reaps 31 nods from Awit Awards

BINI, Maki, Maymay, and more among this year’s nominees

BY MANILA BULLETIN ENTERTAINMENT

Aug 24, 2024 11:46 AM

  

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AT A GLANCE

• BINI’s “Pantropiko” is nominated for five categories, including Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Best Performance by a Group, Best Pop Recording, and Best Engineered Recording, while the group’s “Karera” single is part of the nominees under Best Inspirational Recording and Best Music Video categories.

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BINI

ABS-CBN Music has received a total of 31 nominations from the 37th Awit Awards, which is set to happen this year. 

BINI’s “Pantropiko” is nominated for five categories, including Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Best Performance by a Group, Best Pop Recording, and Best Engineered Recording, while the group’s “Karera” single is part of the nominees under Best Inspirational Recording and Best Music Video categories.

Maki’s viral hit “Saan?” got the prestigious Song of the Year nod as well as a shot to compete in Best Pop Recording. Rising band Nameless Kids is meanwhile nominated in the Album of the Year category for “Manila In Bloom.” 

MAKI

Maymay has a total of four nominations, including Best Global Collaboration Recording and Best Remix Recording for “Autodeadma” featuring Wooseok of Pentagon and Best Regional Recording and Best Engineered Recording for “Tsada Mahigugma.” 

Three up-and-coming Kapamilya singers have also received nods for Best Performance by a New Solo Artist: JEL REY for “hele pono,” Misha de Leon for “Damdamin,” and Lyka Estrella for “Hawak Mo.”

“It’s Showtime” kids Imogen, Kulot, and Lucas are nominated for Best Recording by a Child or for Children for their individual music releases: “Mini Miss U,” “Clap Clap Clap,” and “Learn The 1,2,3,” respectively. 

ABS-CBN’s 2023 Christmas ID theme song, “Pasko ang Pinakamagandang Kwento,” is also part of the Best Christmas Recording nominees.  

Other nominees from ABS-CBN Music are Jamie Rivera, Jed Madela, Francine Diaz, and KD Estrada for “Faith, Hope, and Love” (Best Inspirational Recording) and Troy Laureta, Sheryn Regis, and Wendy Moten for “Come In Out of the Rain” (Best Global Collaboration Recording). Troy’s “Kay Ganda ng Ating Musika” is likewise nominated for Best Musical Arrangement along with “Dirty Linen” theme song arranged by Rommel and Idonnah Villarico. 

BGYO’s Akira and JL’s “Be Mine” song for “Senior High” is nominated for Best Original Soundtrack Recording. Kim Chiu’s “Ms. Ukay” earns a nod for Best Novelty Recording while Darren’s “Bibitaw Na” is nominated for Best Engineered Recording. 

P-pop group 1621BC is nominated for “Laruan” (Best Performance by a Group) while  Yosha Honasan is hailed for “Karakaraka” (Best Jazz Recording). Ben&Ben and Belle Mariano’s “Autumn” has earned a nod for the Best Remix category.  

Regine Velasquez slams fake news on breakup with Ogie Alcasid: 'Gusto ko lang semplangin yung nagsasabi na hiwalay na kami'

BY ROBERT REQUINTINA

Aug 25, 2024 08:13 AM

  

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AT A GLANCE

• Regine shared her feelings about the report during an appearanceon the popular noontime program "It's Showtime" on Saturday.

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 Regine Velasquez-Alcasid (Facebook)

Asia's Songbird Regine Velasquez-Alcasid slammed a report saying that she and her husband, Ogie Alcasid, have separated.

Regine shared her feelings about the report during an appearance on the popular noontime program "It's Showtime" on Saturday. Her full reaction:

"Gusto ko lang semplangin yung nagsasabi na hiwalay na kami. Maghintay ka dyan ha! Maghintay ka! 

"Marriage is difficult. Marriage is difficult the way it is. Pero may mga tao na who's trying to make it more difficult for us, hindi po maganda. Parang ipinapanalangin ninyo na magkahiwalay kami.

"Hindi po kami maghihiwalay ever because we love each other. Our marriage is not perfect. Siyempre ganun talaga may mga issue, issue (sa marriage).

"Pero wala akong issue (sa kanya). Gusto ko lang sabihin na napakabait ng asawa ko. Alam n'yo kung paano ko alam na mabait siya? He is God-centered.

"Ang focus niya kay God. Marami siyang ginagawa pero ang focus niya na kay God pa rin. Hence, ako po yung nagbe-benefit doon. Dahil mahal na maha niya ang Panginoon, Mabait at mabuti siyang asawa at tatay sa aming mga anak. 

"So please! Kung may makita kayong mga write-up or anything (about hiwalayan sa amin), huwag ninyong paniwalaan. Nakikita naman ninyo kami sa social media.

"He's my best friend. I hope he's my best friend, too! Aside from Ryan Bang. Yan lang ang gusto kong sabihin. Kaya maghanda ka dyan ha! Tinitignan kita," Regine said.

After expressing her feelings, Regine kissed Ogie.

Capital1 battles Cignal in PVL knockout quarters

BY MANILA BULLETIN SPORTS

Aug 24, 2024 10:27 AM

  

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AT A GLANCE

• And Capital1 hopes to bank heavily on the team’s new-found confidence when it battles No. 2 Cignal while Farm Fresh looks to do the same against the top-seeded Akari in the Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference knockout quarterfinals Saturday, Aug. 24, at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.

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In do-or-die matches, records and rankings are cast aside. What truly counts is resolve, poise and resilience.

Capital1 is hoping to catch a big fish in the PVL quarterfinals. (PVL Images)

And Capital1 hopes to bank heavily on the team’s new-found confidence when it battles No. 2 Cignal while Farm Fresh looks to do the same against the top-seeded Akari in the Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference knockout quarterfinals Saturday, Aug. 24, at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.

Capital1 Solar Spikers coach Roger Gorayeb is convinced they can give Cignal a run for its money in their 6 p.m. showdown. 

The Akari-Farm Fresh showdown is set at 4 p.m. with the former to repeat its previous victory over the Foxies, where Oly Okaro, the league’s second-leading scorer with 183 spikes, led the Chargers with an 18-point performance.

Although the HD Spikers defeated the Solar Spikers in four sets during the eliminations, Capital1 has shown significant improvement, winning five matches compared to their single victory in the All-Filipino Conference.

Known for his tactical acumen, Gorayeb is expected to devise strategies to disrupt Cignal’s defensive and offensive patterns.

“It’s hard to stop MJ (Perez), but we’ll try to limit her production,” said Gorayeb. “We’ll have to tighten our defense not just against MJ but also against the locals.” 

Conversely, Gorayeb emphasized the need for his locals to step up and share the offensive load to prevent Tushova from getting overworked.

“Everybody must step up offensively to prevent Marina (Tushova) from getting worn out,” he added.

How to avoid the worst of jet lag and maximize your travel time

BY ASSOCIATED PRESS

Aug 24, 2024 00:13 AM

  

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LONDON (AP) — It's the bane of many travelers: jet lag. Nobody wants to lose out because they're too tired to enjoy the delights of their vacation spot.
Here are some tips on how to handle jet lag, wherever you might end up.

 

What is jet lag? 

Scientists define jet lag as the effect on the human body of traveling across different time zones. Our bodies have biological clocks programmed into almost every cell in the body, according to Sofia Axelrod, who studies circadian rhythms at Rockefeller University in New York.

“The clock is set by the 24-hour light and dark pattern,” Axelrod said. “Every morning when we wake up, specialized (light) receptor cells in our retina receive a daylight signal, which is transmitted to the brain and from there, the whole body.”

When we travel to another time zone, our eyes receive the daylight signal at a different time than usual, causing our internal clocks to reset. But that process can take awhile — and it’s during that adjustment period that we feel the effects of jet lag. 

Is jet lag preventable?
 

Yes, but that can come at a cost. Malcolm von Schantz, a professor who specializes in circadian rhythms at Northumbria University in Newcastle, said that flying in premium cabins where travelers can stretch out and properly rest, can ward off sleep deprivation, but he acknowledges that isn't an option for most people. Still, he said that timing your flights can help. For example, he suggests flying from Europe to North America during the day, so that it’s evening when passengers land and they can get a proper night’s sleep.

“If you take the evening flight instead, you’ll be woken up at midnight to be served breakfast and land an hour or two later, when both jet lag and sleep deprivation will hit you hard and simultaneously,” he said.

Von Schantz also said flying in newer models with a lighter frame, like the Airbus A350 or Boeing 787 Dreamliner, would help. That’s because those planes can maintain a more comfortable cabin atmosphere, which should help travelers feel less worn out by the end of their flights.

 

What should you do when you arrive? 

Experts say getting exposure to sunlight is critical to resetting your internal body clock. That can mean either avoiding morning sun or deliberately seeking it out, depending on where you’ve travelled from. Getting light in the morning will advance your body clock, while light exposure in the early evening will delay it. Naps are OK, but scientists warn against taking long siestas later in the day, as that might compromise your ability to sleep through the night.

 

Are there supplements or medicines that might help?
 

Melatonin, a hormone that the brain naturally produces when the body thinks it’s night, can be helpful. But it’s not available everywhere and in some countries like the U.K. and France, a prescription is required. Von Schantz of Northumbria University said that one of the advantages of melatonin is that you can start taking it before your journey, to reset your internal clock quicker.

“If you’re in a part of the world where melatonin is available over the counter, you can combine the effects of light and melatonin to achieve the advance or delay (in your body clock) that you need,” he said.

 

What can you do to deal with the effects of jet lag?
 

Business travelers might want to consider arriving a day or two ahead of any important meetings or events, said Russell Foster of Oxford University, who has authored a book on circadian rhythms.

“You should just be aware that if you’re jet-lagged, you’re more likely to make unwise decisions, be less empathetic and unable to multitask,” he said.
Tourists might not need to be as alert as business travelers, but they should still be careful, he said. He advises tourists to get caught up on their sleep before doing anything potentially risky or that requires concentration, like driving.

Foster said he tries to maximize his light exposure when he arrives at a new destination to offset jet lag. But he also has a fallback strategy: coffee.

“I’m not suggesting it’s an ideal thing to do, but caffeine will help override the sleepiness and cognitive impairment you might be feeling as a result of jet lag,” he said.