I think it this picture says it all.

Kevin by P. S. Zollo

Riding my bicycle along Hollywood Boulevard today I saw him in the crowd - noticed him instantly. When we reached each other, I said hi and asked if he would mind if I took his photo.

"You want my photo?"

Yeah, I said. There's nobody like you.

"I know."

And he smiled for me-although his face was evidently destroyed by something-and his mouth reconstructed. =I asked him what happened.

"Shot, shot in the face."

He motioned a gun at close range being shot directly into his face.

Andyou survived that? I asked.

"No," he said with a smile."I'm dead."

I apologized for what was a stupid question, but it was hard to fathom - gun shot- close range - into his face. And he lived.

So what happened? I asked. Was it an accident, or did someone mean to shoot you?

"I did it myself. Tried to kill myself."

You did?

"Yeah."

Where?

"Arizona."

Phoenix?

"Tucson."

So tell me, how did it feel, after you shot yourself in the face - and you came to - and realized you were not dead?

"Agony. The worst agony ever."

Man.

"Yeah."

What kind of gun?

"30-aught-six."

I was thunderstruck. I have met and photographed many people - who are featured in this stream - humans who have overcome amazing adversity. Lydia, who wasburnt almost to death. Ray, whose eye was gone. Margaret, who weighed over 500 pounds. But this. Man. And yet he was smiling. I told him what I thought:

God gives everyone a different life - and some people get really, really hard lives.

"That's me. Doesn't get much worse."

Told me he's on the street. Homeless.

I asked him how bad it was that he wanted to die.

"Bad. Really bad. The worsekind."

Are you gonna try again?

"No. I tried once. That's enough."

Man. Sometimes our lives seem hard - unbearable even - but then we meet Kevin.Or Lydia. Or Ray. And realize again how lucky we are. How hard some humans have it. Man. And yet he smiled. He smiled for me. This man with his face blown off - by his own hand. And here he is - in the sunshine, listening to music, smiling.

Don't even know what else to say about this. Guess I've already said it.

LINK

Unwanted tattoos can be removed by cream injected into skin - without pain or scarring

Tattoos can often be a case of ink now, regret later.

Extracting the dye from the skin has usually been a painful process.

However, cosmetic surgeons are now offering what they say is a more efficient and less painful way of removing body art.

LINK

A gallery of photos that changed the world.

Truely amazing. Click on any of the photos to recieve a detailed explaination.

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Death special: How does it feel to die?

IS IT distressing to experience consciousness slipping away or something people can accept with equanimity? Are there any surprises in store as our existence draws to a close? These are questions that have plagued philosophers and scientists for centuries, and chances are you've pondered them too occasionally.

None of us can know the answers for sure until our own time comes, but the few individuals who have their brush with death interrupted by a last-minute reprieve can offer some intriguing insights. Advances in medical science, too, have led to a better understanding of what goes on as the body gives up the ghost.

Death comes in many guises, but one way or another it is usually a lack of oxygen to the brain that delivers the coup de grâce. Whether as a result of a heart attack, drowning or suffocation, for example, people ultimately die because their neurons are deprived of oxygen, leading to cessation of electrical activity in the brain - the modern definition of biological death.

If the flow of freshly oxygenated blood to the brain is stopped, through whatever mechanism, people tend to have about 10 seconds before losing consciousness. They may take many more minutes to die, though, with the exact mode of death affecting the subtleties of the final experience. If you can take the grisly details, read on for a brief guide to the many and varied ways death can suddenly strike.

LINK

Be a Modern Knight: Protecting Your Lady in the 21st Century

While men are no longer called to be warriors against physical attack, we now have the duty to protect our women from emotional harm, to keep safe the hearts and esteem of the ladies in our lives.

LINK

From The Art of Manliness:
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Poor Little Goldfish