Laura San Giacomo, the charming American actress best known for her appearance in Sex, Lies, and Videotape, and Pretty Woman, and the TV sitcom series Just Shoot Me!, quickly became one of the most recognizable faces of the ’90s.
Today, at the age of 63, San Giacomo looks like she hasn’t aged a day since the times she played Julia Robert’s roommate in Pretty Woman.
At the start of her acting career, San Giacomo appeared in theatre production. Soon after, she landed a role in Sex, Lies, and Videotape, which earned her the New Generation Award and nominations for the BAFTA Award and the Golden Globe Award.
Laura San Giacomo in the thriller ‘Under Suspicion’, 1991 (Keith Hamshere/Getty Images
Asked why she decided to become an actress, Laura San Giacomo gave a refreshing answer. “I don’t know. Just telling stories. I really like it,” she said and then added jokingly that it sure beat flipping burgers at McDonald’s.
Having portrayed few unforgettable roles, San Giacomo told Ability Magazine, “I have sort of liked them all. I’ve fallen in love with all of the women (I’ve played) because there is something wonderful about them, and if you empathize with them, then you kind of love them all like…sisters or something.”
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After attracting plenty of attention with the role of Kit De Luca in Pretty Woman, San Giacomo took on a series of prominent film roles, acting alongside Alan Rickman. From Suicide Kings and Where the Day Takes You, to a standout role in The Stand, she shared the spotlight with the likes of Rob Lowe and Ed Harris.
At the height of her fame, motherhood changed everything for the acclaimed actress. She and husband Cameron Dye welcomed a son, Mason, born with cerebral palsy, who took the center stage in her life.
Laura San Giacomo became a devoted advocate for children with special needs, shifting her focus away from her career.
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“Disability is natural. It always has been. It always will be. It’s part of the world, and it’s part of life,” she told Oprah: Where Are They Now?
“He does not walk independently, sit independently or speak. He uses a talking computer. I started becoming an advocate for him when he was three years old. He was soon going to enter the school system,” Laura shared.
She did land more roles, but at her own pace.
More recently, she played the role of Dr. Moreno in Honey Boy released in 2019.
In 2021, she played in a drama movie called Violet, and that same year, she became the board secretary of Momentum Wheels for Humanity, an international wheelchair charity.
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At Disney’s The Santa Clauses red carpet event in California, the actress stunned in a floral suit teamed with a draped white blouse and chic black boots.
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James and Rachel, a couple in their early thirties, were the reason one would believe in true love again.
During my twelve years as a server at Romano’s, I’ve witnessed it all — from marriage proposals and anniversary celebrations to major business deals being sealed. But somehow, it was James and Rachel who have become my favorite customers.
My co-workers would often say, “Oh, we wish we had that kind of love in our life.”
They were regulars and visited the place every single Friday — table twelve by the window — no exceptions. James, always the charming one, would order his usual ribeye steak, medium-rare, while Rachel, a petite and soft-spoken young woman, with kind eyes and a gentle manner, would have the grilled salmon with seasonal vegetables.
They always shared a bottle of wine and a chocolate soufflé before calling it a night.
However, after some time, it felt like things started to change.
James changed his ribeye steak with some of the most expensive dishes the place offered.
What’s more, he would hand the bill to Rachel, who didn’t seem to be comfortable covering everything.
Over time, they started visiting the place with friends, and even then, Rachel was the one footing the bill.
One Friday evening, at exactly 7 p.m. James arrived at the restaurant with a group of friends. They were all in a good mood, celebrating a major business success. What was strange was that for the first time in years, Rachel wasn’t there.
But it didn’t take long before she arrived. She was breathing heavily, as though she was rushing to get at Romano’s on time.
While James and his pals ordered lavish meals, Rachel only got a salad.
It seemed like everyone was enjoying themselves — except for Rachel. Somehow, I had the feeling she didn’t feel like she belonged there.
Finally, when the check came, James tried to slide it to his wife — again.
“Rachel loves treating me,” he said jokingly, while she struggled to smile.
The total came to eight hundred and seventy-three dollars—more than many people spend on rent.
“James,” Rachel said quietly. “This is… this is a lot of money.”
“Come on, babe,” James replied, “Don’t be difficult. You know you can afford it.”
Rachel nodded and excused herself to the bathroom which was down a narrow hallway. I couldn’t help but follow her.
She was obviously very disturbed when she called her mother on the phone. “Mom, it happened again,” I could overhear her saying. “This time it’s nearly $900, that’s way more than I can afford for a restaurant check.”
At that moment, I decided to intervene. I knew Rachel long, and I believed she deserved I stepped up for her.
Once she hung up the phone, I waited for her to get out of the bathroom and said, “You know what? You don’t have to do this. When you return to the table pretend there is an emergency at work or something and let me handle the rest.”
Rachel, who was as quiet as always, just nodded.
Moments later, her phone rang and she acted as though they needed her at the office as soon as possible. And before James could ask more questions, she excused herself again and left the place.
It didn’t take long before I approached James’ table and told them there was a mix up with their reservation and that the table was double-booked.
James smiled and said it was fine as long as we offered another table. And that was the answer I was waiting for.
The moment they stood up in order to go to the other table, I said, “You would need to settle the account before we could make any changes to your seating arrangement.”
James’ face went pale as the implications sank in. “What do you mean, settle the account?”
“The bill for this evening’s celebration,” I explained gently.
As James pulled out his card, it was obvious he wasn’t happy with paying that much money, and his business associates seemed to notice that.
“Is there a problem, James?” one of them asked. But James tried to act as though everything was fine.
The following day, Rachel came to the restaurant and thanked me for what I did. It turned out that James was fuming and yelled at her for not paying the bill before leaving, and she finally found the courage to tell him that it bothered her to treat her as his personal ATM.
I am not really sure how things between them turned out. I only know that after years, this Friday, the couple I believed was the synonym of love didn’t show up at Romano’s as usual.
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Urticaria is a skin condition that affects 1 in 5 people at certain period of their life. It causes intensely itchy, raised patches on the skin known as weals (or hives) that can be round or ring shaped and may join together.
They often appear after scratching and may affect the skin on every part of the body.
It is caused when histamine and other chemical mediators are released into the bloodstream by certain body cells known as mast cells. The welts are the result of fluid leaking from the skin’s capillaries.
While the hives usually disappear within 24 hours, the condition itself may take longer to treat.
Urticaria is often accompanied with swelling under the skin known as angio-oedema. This usually affects the soft parts of the body like the lips, eyelids, or inside the mouth.
Unlike hives, these swellings take longer to disappear and are more painful than itchy.
If angio-oedema appears without weals, it could be a hereditary condition called hereditary angio-oedema. In cases like this, it is not connected to urticaria and requires different treatment and blood tests for diagnosis.
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Depending on how long it lasts, urticaria can be categorized into:
Acute Urticaria — which is the most typical type whose reason of outbreaks is usually known. This type lasts for around six weeks.
Chronic Urticaria — when breakouts last longer than six weeks and whose reason of outbreaks is typically unknown.
Physical Urticaria — caused by scratching, exposure to cold, constant pressure on the skin, sunlight exposure, or rise in body temperature.
Common causes are: allergic reactions, infections — both bacterial and viral, and emotional stress.
While most hives rashes don’t require treatment because they fade away within 24 hours, if the condition persists, your doctor can prescribe you antihistamines, steroid tablets, or menthol cream to relieve itchiness.
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The name of Monica Lewinsky has been dragged through the mud probably way too long. From a young and ambitious college student, to a hot topic throughout all these years, this woman didn’t have it easy but managed to start her life over and take control of it, and today, she’s leading a perfectly normal life, if that’s even possible for someone in her position.
Born on July 23, 1973, in San Francisco, California, to a father who worked as an oncologist and a mother who was an author, it looked like Lewinsky had it all.
However, even as a child, she was often made fun of because of her weight.
She had a hard time accepting jokes, and would become emotional instead, which made her an easy victim of bullying by her peers.
Speaking of that period of her life, Lewinsky told The Guardian, “Those memories inform a lot of who we become. They contributed to me not having a strong sense of self. Look. I could sit and cry all day about kids being afraid to go to school.”
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In 1991, Lewinsky graduated from the Pacific Hills School and went on to study at Santa Monica College where she completed two year degree before moving on to the Lewis & Clark College. In 1995, she graduated with a degree in psychology.
She was hard-working and very ambitious, but then the affair which changed her life forever took place.
Namely, Lewinsky started working as an unpaid intern at the White House in 1998 and even during the first days of her being there, she started an affair with then-president Bill Clinton.
Lewinsky was just 22 at the time. The affair went on for two years before the entire world learned of it.
As it tuned out, her phone had been tapped and her conversations were secretly recorded. When it was revealed what was going on behind closed doors at the “back office,” Lewinsky was forced to testify in front of a grand jury. The report – consisting of over 3,000 pages – was made public, with all the details of Clinton and Lewinsky’s encounters.
During her testimony, Clinton denied he had an affair with her. He called her a liar and claimed he had never had a relationship “with that woman.”
A photograph showing former White House intern Monica Lewinsky meeting President Bill Clinton at a White House function submitted as evidence in documents by the Starr investigation and released by the House Judicary committee September 21, 1998.
All Lewinsky wanted at that time was to have her old life back.
“That people could read the transcripts was horrific enough,” she revealed in a TED talk. “But a few weeks later the audio tapes [the recorded telephone calls] were aired on TV, and significant portions made available online. The public humiliation was excruciating. Life was almost unbearable.”
“I felt like every layer of my skin and my identity were ripped off of me in 1998 and 1999,” Monica Lewinsky toldThe Guardian. “It’s a skinning of sorts. You feel incredibly raw and frightened. But I also feel like the shame sticks to you like tar.”
No matter what she did afterwards wasn’t enough to overshadow her affair. Everyone knew her as Clinton’s lover.
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Eventually, she moved to New York, but she wasn’t embraced there either. What’s more, TheNew York Post referred to her as to “The Portly Pepperpot.”
Lewinsky decided to turn to studying again and attended London School of Economics.
She earned a Masters of Science degree in social psychology.
“I moved to England to study, to challenge myself, to escape scrutiny, and to reimagine my identity,” Lewinsky wrote in 2014. “My professors and fellow students at the London School of Economics were wonderful—welcoming and respectful. I had more anonymity in London, perhaps due to the fact that I spent most of my waking hours in class or buried in the library.”
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In 2014, she became a contributor for Vanity Fair and her article Shame and Survival attracted a lot of attention from the public.
In it, she explained what her life was like following the affair and all the challenges that stood on her way, including how hard it was for her to find a job. She recalled one specific job interview, and wrote, “‘So here’s the thing, Monica,’ the interviewer said. ‘You’re clearly a bright young woman and affable, but for us—and probably any other organization that relies on grants and other government funding— it’s risky. We would first need a Letter of Indemnification from the Clintons. After all, there is a 25 percent chance that Mrs. Clinton will be the next president.’ I gave a fake smile and said, ‘I understand.’”
Monica Lewinsky (Photo by Jim Spellman/WireImage)
Things got so tough that she considered changing her name at one point in her life, but she didn’t do it.
“Bill Clinton didn’t have to change his name. Nobody’s ever asked him did he think he should change his name and so I think that was an important statement,” Lewinsky explained in a 2019 interview with John Oliver.
“I’m not proud of all of the choices I’ve made in my life, but I’m proud of the person I am.
“As hard as it has been to have that last name sometimes and the pain that I have felt of what it’s meant for other people in my family who have that last name, I am glad I didn’t change it.”
Monica Lewinsky in 2021 (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
During an appearance on the Call Her Daddy podcast with host Alex Cooper, Monica dove even deeper into what life was like after becoming that intern.
“You were 22 years old, he was 49, you were an intern. He was the President of the United States,” Cooper framed.
Lewinsky responded: “I was very quickly painted as a stalker, mentally unstable, not attractive enough.”
After everything she was forced to go through, Monica Lewinsky is trying to live a normal life. According to Celebrity Net Worth, she has a net worth of $1.5 million.
When it comes to her private life, she doesn’t reveal much, but says she’s dating.
“I kinda feel if anybody has earned a right to have their romantic life private, it’s me,” she told People in 2021. “I do date. I’m not married yet,” she said. “I do not know if that will happen or not, and I’m more okay with that than I used to be.”
Looking back at the affair, she says, “There was so much collateral damage for women of my generation to watch a young woman to be pilloried on the world stage, to be torn apart for my sexuality, for my mistakes, for my everything.”
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Known as “the mineral of the moment,” his majesty magnesium delivers health benefits most of us can’t even imagine.
Magnesium is a mineral crucial for normal bone structure in the body. Most people get magnesium from a balanced diet and foods rich in it. In fact, when thinking of foods that are a good source of this mineral, just think of fiber.
According to WebMD, “dietary sources of magnesium include legumes, whole grains, vegetables (especially broccoli, squash, and green leafy vegetables), seeds, and nuts (especially almonds). Other sources include dairy products, meats, chocolate, and coffee.”
This essential mineral is involved in more than 300 enzymatic processes in the body and helps maintain a healthy and functioning immune system, muscles, and nerves.
Among the rest, magnesium helps manage diabetes, help with pain in the bones, lessens anxiety, and helps with constipation.
This mineral helps control the levels of calcium in the body and keep the bones healthy. Lack of it causes reduced bone mass and increases the risks of fractures.
How to take it for this condition:
Take glycinate or magnesium citrate for improved absorption.
A recommended daily dosage for an adult is 300–400 mg combined with Vitamin D and calcium.
Among the rest, this precious mineral helps regulate neurotransmitters like serotonin and GABA, which play key roles in mood and mental well-being. Deficiency of it increases stress and leads to clinical depression, some researches suggest.
How to take it for this condition:
Opt for magnesium threonate.
The daily dosage to help fight depression and anxiety is 200–400 mg.
Magnesium helps with constipation by bringing water into the intestines to make stools softer and easier to pass. It also relaxes the muscles in your digestive system to support smoother bowel movements.
How to take it for this condition:
For digestive issues, consider magnesium citrate or oxide.
Take 400–500 mg at night.
Don’t use magnesium laxatives for more than a few days straight unless your doctor says it’s okay.
People who experience kidney issues should avoid taking magnesium.
*Disclaimer: This information is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your physician or healthcare provider with any questions about your health or medications. Do not disregard professional advice based on this information.
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No matter how hard we try, we’ll never find a friend more loyal and loving than a dog—especially in our toughest times. The saying that dogs are man’s best friend has proven true time and time again, and the following story will only reinforce that truth.
Officer Cory Masterson was involved in a chase of perpetrators along with his dog when he was ambushed and hit in the head in the middle of the woods.
As he fell on the ground, he started losing consciousness.
It was then that his dog partner, Reno, started running towards the woods. When he arrived, one of the criminals, who was holding a knife in his hand, was about to stab Cory who lay motionlessly on the ground.
Around three months later, Cory, who was still in coma, was transferred home with a nurse who provided him with around the clock care. Reno was also there. He found a safe spot next to his human friend, and never left it.
But then, on a Thursday, something extraordinary happened. Reno could sense something about Cory was different so he rushed towards the room where the caregiver slept and started scratching the door in the middle of the night.
Aware that the dog was trying to tell her something, the nurse followed Reno.
She then noticed movement in Cory’s fingers.
Over time, he started getting better. He started speaking and learned how to walk again, although his health was still very fragile.
One night, Cory woke up and tried to get to the bathroom, and as always, Reno followed after him. But then, the dog could sense something wasn’t right.
Cory’s jaw clenched and his eyes bulged. The next moment, he fell on the floor, unable to move.
Reno scratched the caregiver’s door and barked as loudly as he could. The moment he heard movements and sounds, he knew the caregiver was awake and he rushed back to Cory whose mouth was covered in a thin layer of foam.
The caregiver checked his pulse and turned him on the side, placing a pillow under his head. She then called the emergency services and medics arrived at Cory’s home in no time.
They gave Cory CPR but it looked like they lost him. However, Reno wouldn’t accept that his friend was dead. Instead, he started barking and growling, not letting the doctors come near Cory’s body.
The police was alerted of Reno’s behavior and the doctor asked the dog to be taken out of the house.
However, after a couple of minutes, they heard coughing.
The following day, a press release from Cory’s department stated that doctors were stunned to witness the Lazarus effect in Cory — an inexplicable and extremely rare phenomenon in which a person’s heart starts beating again after CPR has been stopped
When everyone else had given up hope, Reno hadn’t. This dog refused to believe the officer was gone. Somehow, he sensed what even the doctors couldn’t—a spark of life.
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Lately, international headlines have been focused on potential armed conflicts in parts of the word, raising the question: is there truly any place left that’s safe?
According to experts, the answer is yes. But these safe places aren’t bunkers or shelters as many may assume.
Annie Jacobsen, an investigative journalist and author, argues that if things go south and nuclear war breaks out, there are two places considered safe — New Zealand and Australia.
In case you wonder why, Jacobsen explains that in case of a nuclear war, the countries in the Southern Hemisphere would remain the only places capable of supporting agricultural life.
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“Places like Iowa and Ukraine would be just snow for 10 years. So agriculture would fail and when agriculture fails, people just die,” she said an interview with Steven Bartlett for The Diary of a CEO podcast.
“On top of that, you have the radiation poisoning because the ozone layer will be so damaged and destroyed that you can’t be outside in the sunlight.
“People will be forced to live underground. So you have to imagine people living underground, fighting for food everywhere except for in New Zealand and Australia.”
Further, Jacobsen cited a research from Professor Owen Toon in Nature Food. She stated, “Professor Toon and his team[…] sort of updated [the] nuclear winter idea based around food, and the number that they have is five billion people would be dead.”
According to experts, nuclear winter refers to the prolonged cooling after nuclear explosions ignite massive fires. This would lead to serious food shortages and hunger for people and animals alike.
Bartlett asked, “The population of the planet currently is what, eight billion?” and added: “So there’d be three billion people still alive. Where shall I go to be one of the three billion? I was just in New Zealand and Australia.”
Jacobsen replied: “That’s exactly where you’d go. According to Toon, those are the only places that could actually sustain agriculture.”
Also, Australia and New Zealand are geographically distant from the world’s major nuclear powers like US and Russia.
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Despite experiencing awful symptoms for nearly a year, a woman named Hannah was “ignored” by her GP which eventually led to a diagnosis of stage 4 cancer that could have been caught early had her concerns not been dismissed for so long.
Jokingly, this young TikToker says she and her GP are “not the best of friends.”
Hannah uses her social media platform that she runs together with husband Charlie in order to raise awareness about the importance of seeking second opinion when experiencing symptoms that feel out of the ordinary.
In 2021, Hannah was told she had a 12cm tumor that was pushing on her spine.
“So I was medically gas-lit for over eight months which led to a late diagnosis of stage four cancer so no, me and my GP are not the best of friends,” she said and added that it should ‘never have got that far.’
Her symptoms started with a cough, a fully body rash, extreme fatigue, and weight loss which she taught was “a total slay at the time.”
“I was told to take antibiotics and come back if it doesn’t help – spoiler alert, it didn’t. I was refused an in-person appointment – pretty sure if there was a ‘hypochondriac button’ on their computer, they clicked it.”
As her symptoms worsened, she called her GP repeatedly but was only told to get some over the counter medicine.
During the winter, she developed pneumonia, as the tumor was ‘pushing on [her] chest.’ However, since she was ignored for so long, she just learned how to live with the pain until she ended up in the hospital with suspected heart attack.
“I was medically gaslit for 8 months… and it nearly cost me my life. I was dismissed with antibiotics, told I was dramatic, and refused scans, while a 12cm tumor was crushing my lungs and heart.
“By the time anyone listened, it was stage four cancer. Eight months of chemo later, I’m still here. But it never should have got that far,” she explained.
“This is your reminder to fight for answers. If they won’t give you a test, ask them to write it in your notes. It might save your life.”
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