First, an exciting bit of news, sorry it comes so late!, for those who live in Tuscany.

Tomorrow, October 20th, beginning at 3:30 PM, Dr. Robert Kyle will be meeting with MM, MGUS and SMM folks at the Hotel 500 in via di Tomerello, 1, Campi Bisenzio, right outside of Florence. Here is the information in Italian: 

La nostra associazione ha organizzato per il prossimo 20 ottobre un incontro con uno dei nomi più prestigiosi dell’ematologia mondiale, il Dr. Robert Kyle. Questo medico statunitense ha letteralmente dedicato la sua vita professionale alla ricerca e alla cura dei pazienti affetti da mieloma multiplo. L’incontro, che é aperto ai pazienti, familiari di pazienti e addetti ai lavori, si terrà presso l’Hotel 500 in località Campi Bisenzio dalle 15:30 in poi. Dopo una brevissima presentazione sulle terapie più aggiornate per la cura del mieloma, il Dr. Kyle sarà a disposizione dei partecipanti per rispondere alle loro domande. Per partecipare e per ulteriori informazioni vi preghiamo di scrivere a mielomahelp@gmail.com. Segue una breve biografia del Dr. Kyle. More info, in Italian: http://goo.gl/O1bfT

Of course, I’ll be there! With Stefano and a blog reader, now friend. I am SOOO incredibly excited about this meeting. You see, I spoke with Dr. Kyle by phone in 2005, when I didn’t yet know much about myeloma, but even so, I did realize that my markers were worsening, so something bad was going on (back then). Well, I remember that we spent about an hour or so on the phone, and he reassured me that I was doing OK, that I was in the “watch and wait” category and shouldn’t have any chemo, which is what my Italian hematologist (back then) was suggesting…more than suggesting, actually–he was pushing me into it (but my gut said no, and it appears that I was right!). Anyway, long story short: I’ve always been grateful to Dr. Kyle for his kindness and the time he dedicated to me, a complete stranger from Italy. Tomorrow I will finally be given the opportunity to shake his hand and thank him in person…fabbbbulous!

Yes, of course, I will tell him how I’ve been doing, about curcumin (we had a few exchanges in 2006 about that, actually) and so on. And I hope to have the time to ask him about diet specifics. As I’ve written in previous posts, and on Facebook, I think it’s really amazing that our doctors/specialists are pretty much ignoring all the scientific proof concerning the impact of diet on our immune system and so on. I’m sure there are exceptions, of course…But the recommendation to follow a generically “healthy diet” is not acceptable to me anymore. What does that mean? Nothing. It really means nothing. We need specifics. Of course, I’ve given some dietary indications here on the blog, many in fact…but I would really like our specialists to spread the word a bit and get on the diet wagon, so to speak. We don’t need to be given false hope. Diet won’t cure myeloma. No question. But it can help us in the fight against this terrible cancer. I know that. For certain. 

Speaking of diet, today’s post title also mentions “eating your medicine.” Sounds a bit odd, eh? Well, thanks to Jessica, yesterday evening I read an interesting article by Mark Hyman, MD, on “FOOD AS PHARMACOLOGY.” See: http://goo.gl/DG1Gc He speaks about food and vegetables, which is great, of course…but doesn’t mention spices. Let’s not forget that spices are super important. Prof. Aggarwal, in his book “Healing Spices,” says that spices are more important than herbs…

So yes, eat your veggies, eat your broccoli (see yesterday’s post), but also add that turmeric. Add that ginger. Add that black cumin. Add all those healthful yummy spices. Yum yum!

Finally, for those of you who are Laurel and Hardy (and Santana) fans, or not!, here’s a hilarious video…just for laughs! See: http://goo.gl/3kq6G Enjoy! 🙂

Just got back from work and found a very timely Science Daily article: http://goo.gl/EDoLA 

In a nutshell, compared to mice fed a diet filled with lovely cruciferous (=broccoli etc.) veggies, mice fed a diet without any of the healthful green stuff had much lower amounts of crucial immune cells, which led to their having lower levels of antimicrobial proteins, heightened immune activation and greater susceptibility to injury. We’re talking, 70 to 80% of the no-veggie mice’s crucial, protective immune cells simply vanished. After only two-three weeks without any broccoli-related greenies! No kidding. Even the researchers weren’t expecting such an incredible result…

Speaking of results, they offer a molecular basis for the importance of cruciferous vegetable-derived phyto-nutrients as part of a healthy diet. I’m not surprised, of course, but now for the first time, according to these researchers, we have MOLECULAR PROOF that our diet can have a huge impact on our health…on our immune system…blablabla. Ah, if only I could go back in time, I’d avoid eating all the easy-to-fix, fast food chemical rubbish that I swallowed hastily throughout my undergrad and graduate years. Back then, food wasn’t important to me, and I was so focused on my studies that I paid no attention to my health. How foolish. But, true, I didn’t know any of this stuff…back then…

Anyway, this is a super important article, easy to read, so I really urge all of you to go have a look at the details that I haven’t included here but that are fascinating…

And those who are scientifically-inclined might want to check out the abstract of this study (the full study isn’t available for free online, unfortunately): http://goo.gl/63dme Have a look in particular at the “Graphical Abstract.” A stunning image that shows the difference between a healthy small intestine “fed” with cruciferous veggies and an unhealthy one…Cool graphics, yes, but what is really important is the message: without the green veggies, we have reduced immune surveillance, and we are subject to being “inflamed” all the time…not good, eh! The abstract also addresses the issue of epithelial cells, which I wrote about in my quercetin post (October 16 2011). 

And now, something just for the fun of it…and to give a boost to our tired immune cells! A cat answers the phone: http://goo.gl/Zv2tf Enjoy! 🙂

In this video, Dr. Berenson gives the background for the creation of an international “consensus” panel on MGUS: http://goo.gl/EXk2w

The second link will take you to the written “consensus” text. It’s long, but it contains some good information, for example the bit on vitamin D and calcium supplementation: http://goo.gl/Lkh6T

Yes, all this is very interesting, BUT I really wish our MM specialists would also address the issue of DIET. Of course, I realize that it would be impossible, for obvious reasons, to recommend ONE SINGLE diet for all of us (MGUS, SMM and MM). However, I strongly believe that it wouldn’t be that difficult to compile a list of recommended and possibly beneficial foods. And hey, why not?, also a list of foods to be avoided like the plague!

The “good food” list should certainly include broccoli and all the cruciferous family veggies, celery, parsley, garlic, onions AND, very importantly!, spices of all sorts…especially turmeric, ginger, hot red pepper (=capsaicin), Nigella sativa/black cumin (I bought some organic Nigella sativa while I was in the States, and boyohboy is it yummy! It gives a delicious, slightly peppery taste to your food, too. I sprinkle the little black seeds on most everything, just as I do with turmeric) and so forth…

Another thing: from what I’ve read, we also need some protein. And that is why I occasionally have some red meat (free range Tuscan, no antibiotics, no hormones etc.), even though I hate the idea of eating part of any animal. But I also want to avoid becoming anemic (=the A in CRAB, let’s not forget that…). 

Now, how hard would it be to compile a list of foods that we shouldn’t touch even if there were nothing else on the table? For example: sodas and anything containing high fructose corn syrup (hey, did you know this corn syrup crap is inside cough medications? No kidding. I was absolutely flabbergasted when I bought some Robitussin for my cough while I was in the U.S. and found HFCS listed as an ingredient! What the…???), asparagus (yes, we apparently should avoid eating asparagus…see my GOOD OR BAD FOR MULTIPLE MYELOMA? Page on the right).

More “food” for thought: folks who have been through stem cell transplants or have low immunity should probably avoid a raw fruit and veggie diet. Because of my almost nonexistent immune system, I no longer eat or juice anything with a skin, no matter how organic it is. I prefer to be cautious, that’s all. So I peel and wash everything carefully…Too bad, but there you go…

Ah, that reminds me of something important. Recently, some of us myeloma folks have had some interesting exchanges on the issue of “to boost or not to boost” a myeloma immune system. For some unknown (to me!) reason, many of us keep repeating the refrain that, since myeloma develops inside our immune system, we shouldn’t do anything to boost it, because we’d be boosting the cancer cells, too. But wait, where is the proof to back up that statement? So far, I have seen none. Zip. 

Ok, perhaps one should not take any of those “immune boosting” supplements that you can find publicized online. But I disagree, VERY STRONGLY!!!, that we shouldn’t do healthful things to keep our immune system well and strong. After all, when our defenses are low, it’s more difficult for us to fight off infections, right? And infections are so bloody dangerous for us. They can kill us. Take Michael Gearin-Tosh (do a search of my blog if you don’t recognize his name), for instance. He refused to take antibiotics to treat a tooth infection and ended up dying of sepsis in 2005. His death could probably have been avoided. And that is why, whenever I have an infection (right now I’m at the end of a 7 week + very bad cough that I didn’t take good care of in the beginning, oh well), I take antibiotics and whatever else is available…not just conventional stuff, mind you. I also take Manuka honey and so on…

Speaking of 2005 and infections, that was the year of my painful, incredibly bothersome chronic yeast infections. I spent more time with my gynecologist than with anyone else. It was an awful period. Nothing worked (my gyn prescribed tons of antibiotics for me, and back then I took everything without asking any questions or knowing any better). Well, as we know, recurrent infections are a symptom of active myeloma…eh. 

At any rate, some time after beginning the curcumin protocol (=January 2006, but back then I was mainly keeping an eye on my MM markers, not on my general health…so I don’t remember exactly when I realized this), I noticed that the infections had stopped. Just like that. And I have NOT had one yeast infection since. At the time, I was so relieved that I didn’t connect the dots…but I’m now certain, 1000000000%, that curcumin has eliminated that problem for me once and for all. A most welcome side effect of this wondrous spice ingredient, of which there have been many, actually, including bringing down my high cholesterol, triglycerides and so on…Eh, in addition to the most important effect of all–keeping me, = at high risk of progression, stable for all these years…! 🙂

Well, I’ve sort of gone all over the place with this post, sorry about that, but that’s because I’m feeling like my old self again, energetic and feisty and perky, with words and ideas rushing through my reawakened brain, finally getting plenty of sleep, since I no longer am awakened by coughing fits at night. Oh, by the way, if we should not be doing anything to boost our immune system, then we shouldn’t ever go to sleep, either…There is a strong, reciprocal relationship between sleep and the immune system, you see… 😉  And, hey, we also should NEVER EVER laugh, since laughing also gives a boost to our immune system…

Nope, if we wish to avoid boosting our immune system, we should always stay stressed out and angry, never sleep, eat the worst possible foods chock full of chemicals, smoke, get drunk, never laugh or exercise or meditate…well, you get my point…

I mean, HELLO?, that would be absolutely ridiculous…RIDIKKULUS! Makes no sense to me!

But what do you think? I’d love to read your comments/recommendations/whatever. And please feel free to disagree with me, too! I’m all in favor of constructive debate… 🙂

P.S. I would like to state that I wrote this post with absolutely no intention of criticizing Dr. Berenson’s wonderful and much appreciated work and research. By now you know that this amazing specialist is at the top of my verrrrrry short (sorry to say) list of most admired MM specialists. 🙂 No, this is not a time to criticize. I would simply like to see our MM specialists speak out on foods and lifestyle (whatever!). The time for the generic “eat healthy and exercise” advice is gone. We now know that there are specific foods (etc.) that might help us in this battle. So let’s name them! I don’t want to be the only one doing stuff like this…basic stuff, when you think about it…

Today I read the abstract of a recent study showing a new (“new” to me, that is…or perhaps I simply couldn’t remember it!) anticancer activity of one of my staple supplements: quercetin. It turns out that, among its many other positive anticancer effects, quercetin also inhibits proteasomes, just like curcumin and bortezomib (= Velcade). See: http://goo.gl/HHIqk

I have a Page here on quercetin, but I haven’t updated it in years. Very remiss of me, especially since this is such good stuff! Sooo, what is it?

Quercetin is a flavonoid, that is, a plant chemical with significant anti-inflammatory, antiviral and antioxidant properties, and possibly antihistamine effects, which we can find in red apples, broccoli, onions, berries of all kinds, cauliflower, green tea, grapes, red wine and nuts. An average adult in the Western world probably gets 25-50 mg a day of dietary quercetin. So yes, it’s already in our diet, especially if we eat lots of the above-mentioned stuff.

Problem: I remember reading a study (no time to look now for the reference, so take this with a grain of salt) showing that very high doses of quercetin are toxic to male rats in the long run. But these were superboomamazingly high doses, and by now you must know what I think of HIGH DOSES of practically anything!!! 🙄  At any rate, that is the reason why I stick to just 1.5 grams of quercetin a day, which is not very much at all…

TWO MORE WARNINGS:

1. those who take bortezomib should NOT also take any quercetin supplements. See: http://goo.gl/rOG3q. Quercetin apparently can interfere, via a bunch of chemical reactions, with bortezomib’s anti-myeloma activity. Not good at all! However, please note that this interference diminishes, according to tests carried out in this study, when myeloma cells get preincubated with quercetin before being exposed to bortezomib, indicating a direct effect of quercetin on myeloma cells. And this interfering effect was also reversed with supplemental inorganic boric acid. Still, it’s best to be cautious. If I were on bortezomib, I probably wouldn’t take any quercetin. Just like I wouldn’t drink any green tea. Not on my Velcade days, that is. However, those of us who aren’t on bortezomib shouldn’t have any problems…

2. It also should NOT be taken with fluoroquinolones, which are heavy duty antibiotics that treat pneumonia, acute sinusitis and genitourinary infections. This is a class of antibiotics known as “chemotherapeutic bactericidal drugs,” so, hey, you can tell by those three words that we’re talking serious stuff, here. Not our usual tetracyclines, I mean…Anyway, from what I read online, these antibiotics can be incredibly toxic, to the point of damaging our mitochondrial DNA. Gulp. Not surprisingly, many of  ’em have been removed completely from clinical use, except, interestingly for animals (figures!)…If you go to Drugs.com, e.g., you will see that the info on fluoroquinolones has been “archived.” There you go. So, since we will probably never ever go within an inch of a fluoroquinolone, we have nothing to worry about…Still, I thought I should report it…you never know…

Okay, now that we have all (!) the warnings out of the way, let’s get to the reason why I’m posting about quercetin today. Well, yes, it’s because of the above-mentioned study, whose abstract provides us with enough information to go on:

1. quercetin exterminates epithelial cancer cells. Zip zap…dead…gone forever. 🙂 (Note: epithelial cells line our entire body, they are in our guts and so on, and epithelial cancer is perhaps better known as carcinoma, which accounts for 80-90% of all cancers, including breast, colon and prostate…) 
2. it blocks mTOR activity. Now, mTOR, which is (by the way) the main target of the chemo drug rapamycin, is a really nasty pathway involved with myeloma disease progression. When mTOR is activated, you see, MM cell lines resist being killed. Unmistakably, a very bad thing. And in fact, if you look at PubMed, mTOR inhibitors are being developed all over the place to treat myeloma…For example, here is a study on lenalidomide coupled with an mTOR inhibitor: http://goo.gl/k3FrX
3. autophagosome formation: for me, reading this part (= the middle part of the abstract, mostly) was like reading a treatise in ancient Hungarian, so at some point I guess I’ll have to find and read the full quercetin study to see if I can understand what’s happening. Note: I did read in other PubMed studies that mTOR regulates autophagy. But that didn’t help my non-scientific brain to process this stuff…not really…However, I have an inkling that it’s all related to proteasome inhibition, thus it should be a good thing, but hey, I’m not 100% sure…
4. last but certainly not least!, the ability of quercetin to inhibit proteasomes: proteasome inhibition by quercetin can be regarded as a major cause of quercetin-induced cancer cell death. Major cause, eh? Sounds good to me!!! 🙂

Could it really be that an apple (red apple!) a day could help keep the myeloma specialist away? 😉

Today, in between playing “Angry Birds” (= this game is bloooooody addictive, mamma mia…!!! Luckily, I have a certain degree of self-control!), I read an interesting Newsmax article that provides a few more details, of which I was unaware, about Steve Jobs’s specific type of pancreatic cancer and also discusses the potential of curcumin in the treatment of this deadly cancer. See: http://goo.gl/b3N7W 

Now, here is a VERY important point: as you read the article, you will undoubtedly notice that the author keeps confusing the spice = “turmeric” with its active ingredient = “curcumin.” This happens a lot, unfortunately, and it still drives me bonkers.

FOR THE RECORD: turmeric the spice contains at the most 9% (I’ve also read between 2 to 6%…) of its active ingredient, curcumin, so, while we can certainly use turmeric in our cooking (and I personally use tons of the orange stuff…I sprinkle it everywhere, heaping teaspoonfuls!), we cancer folks must take curcumin…Turmeric would not help us…not much, anyway…Take my parents and husband, for example. They are all healthy, and they take four grams of CURCUMIN a day to prevent a million bad things from developing, from cancer to Alzheimer’s…and lots of things in between…

So, for example, when the author writes that pancreatic cancer patients enrolled in a Phase 2 MD Anderson clinical trial took eight grams of TURMERIC every single day, she really means eight grams of CURCUMIN. She also writes that Dr. Robert Wascher takes two grams of TURMERIC a day, but I’m 1000000% positive that he must be taking CURCUMIN. And so on…sigh…

However, apart from these glaring inaccuracies!, the article is interesting and well worth reading…so go have a look! 🙂

I’ve been feeling a bit low the past couple of days. Not in spirit (never!!! Well, ok, almost never!), but physically. Yesterday, e.g., I slept most of the day. Most unusual for me. And I wasn’t tired just because I’d been coughing up a disgusting phlegm storm, day and night, in spite of the killer antibiotics that I’m on right now, sorry to say…and by the way, this is antibiotic cycle number THREE! Which reminds me, I didn’t pick up this new infection on my return flight to Italy, although I was stuck in two planes (not at the same time, eh) with a number of sick folks coughing and sneezing and sputtering all over everything…Yuck…Boy, some incredibly disgusting things go on inside planes…Evidently, the act of flying manages to banish basic hygienic practices from people’s brains…But I digress, as usual. So, anyway, no, it wasn’t the return flight. I’ve had this evil viral (with a bacterial component) beastie, with ups and downs, for the past SIX WEEKS…I just can’t seem to shake it once and for all. Stefano says it’s because I didn’t take care of myself in the beginning…He’s right, of course, but I just couldn’t postpone my trip to the States…not for a silly old cough! Ehm…

But let’s get to the more interesting point I wanted to make here (and I had no intention of blabbing on but am too lazy to edit what I just wrote, so please bear with me), my recent bit of exhaustion is due, for the most part, to jet lag. And, coincidentally, just this morning I came upon a Science Daily article on this very topic: http://goo.gl/i31wW

Aha!!!, so it’s the west-to-east travel that really gets you. And in fact, when, about three weeks ago, I flew east-to-west, = back to the States, I didn’t suffer from lag of any sort. I was even hungry at the right meal times! 🙂 But coming back to Florence was another matterZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz…zzz!

Okay, now back to THE cough. Just briefly, and no gory details, don’t worry. I spoke with my family doctor early this morning about my coughing, fatigue and whatnot. He decided not to change my antibiotics (not yet) but immediately put me on a different cortisone pill. Wowserpowser. What a difference that made, and in just a few hours. I mean, in addition to coughing less violently, I managed to stay awake (!) and actually do some work (!!!) this morning. Oh, and my post-lunch nap didn’t last ALL afternoon, as it did yesterday! And here I am, writing a post. Big improvement. 🙂 

Now, basically, before I got caught up in a bunch of boring digressions (sorry about that!), I really just wanted to say that I’m well on the way to being my old active self, and I have some studies already waiting for me on my desktop. Too many, in fact. But right now my brain isn’t up to reading anything too complicated. So I’ve been testing it (= the brain) out on a few Science Daily articles…Here’s a sampling of the stuff I’ve been reading today, off and on:

• The role of neutrophils, = a type of white blood cell, in cancer growth: http://goo.gl/OirDV Wow. I guess I’ll never look at my neutrophil count quite the same way from now on! But those of us who take curcumin have cause to celebrate…As you read through this article, in fact, keep in mind that curcumin blocks both MMP-9 (matrix metalloproteinase type 9) and IL-8, or interleukin-8. Yesssss! 🙂
• Diet has an important impact on the viral populations that live happily in our guts (hmmm, I’m not sure about you, but the thought of my gut being filled with creepy crawly bacteria and icky picky viruses has always made me feel a bit queasy…I know, I know, some of ’em are good…):  http://goo.gl/K8Gqk. I haven’t read the full study, which is not available for free online, but it might be interesting to see which diets are most effective at keeping those viruses under control…
• Being bilingual can delay the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease: http://goo.gl/5MD1E. This has nothing to do with myeloma, but it was a bit of welcome news, since I’m one of those odd 🙂 bilingual creatures…that is, I’m not simply “fluent” in two languages…I’m truly bilingual and can switch from purrfect English to purrfect Italian (bilingual folks are also so incredibly modest… 😉 ) and back again without missing a beat or mixing up accents… Hey, I may have smoldering myeloma, but at least I won’t really have to worry about getting AD, too!

At the age of 34, David Emerson was diagnosed with an aggressive form of multiple myeloma. That was back in 1994. He had chemotherapy, radiation treatments and a stem cell transplant. The whole shebang. But in 1997, after his third relapse, his doctors told him there was nothing more they could do, and that he had 6-12 months left to live. 

But David didn’t give up. After doing a lot of research, he finally came upon Dr. Burzynski’s clinic. If you do a search of my blog for “Burzynski,” you will find the link to a movie that provides a lot of background on this doctor’s controversial antineoplaston cancer therapy. Controversial, yes, but evidently it was most effective in David’s case, since, instead of dying, he has been in complete remission since 1999…For more details on David’s story, please click here: http://goo.gl/DqvGt  

Now, whatever you might think of this therapy, I urge you, very strongly!!!, to sign the antineoplastons petition on the White House’s website. Almost 3000 people have already signed, but 2000 more signatures are needed by October 27th. It’s simple. All you have to do is click on http://goo.gl/G3gn2 and create an account, if you don’t already have one. It will take only a few minutes (you have to wait for a confirmation e-mail, then click on the link provided therein and follow the instructions. Note: once I had created my account, I had to log out, then log back in, in order to sign the petition. In any case, it’s SUPER EASY and won’t take but a few minutes of your time…And it could be really important!

Let’s get those signatures going! Thank you! 🙂

This question earns my 2011 trip to the U.S. “best line award.” It was uttered by an American woman who sat next to me yesterday on the Zurich-Florence flight. I don’t know how I kept a straight face. Hehe. But I did…and, after explaining that I’d actually grown up in Florence and was married to an Italian, I gave her a few tips on where to eat well in town and whatnot.

I must say, even though I’m going to miss being with my parents every day (but now, with Skype, that part’s going to be easier!) and watching “Democracy Now!” every morning, it’s really great to be home in Tuscany…

Stefano and the kitties missed me terribly, although my comical guy won’t openly admit how much he missed me. Yesterday, when I asked him how he managed while I was gone, he’d just say things like “oh…fine, fine…I just couldn’t get to sleep at night…” Or, “uhm…well, the cats missed you a lot and were very lonely…” And that’s how I know that he was lonely…

True, my cats couldn’t have given me a warmer welcome. They surrounded me like excited little bees as soon as I stepped inside the door. All five of them. My boy Piccolo was the first to greet me. He looked up at me and told me everything that had happened during my absence, complaining that I’d been away too long, that I’d left him alone with all those cheeky, disobedient females, blablabla. True, this was my own interpretation of what basically sounded like “meowmeow raaaaauuuu meow owwww raaauuuuuu owwwwww!!!!!!” (his meowingrauuuuing went on and on…but anyway, you get the picture)…

Who says that cats don’t have emotions? Who says they don’t love us? That is such a load of CRAP, let me tell you. My cats showered me with attention and affection yesterday. Pinga, for example, slept ALL night draped on my side, stretched out from my shoulder to my waist, effectively pinning me to the bed (= an attempt perhaps to prevent me from running off for another couple of weeks? 😉 ). Every time I woke up and had to cough or turn over in bed, I first had to peel her off of me, hold her up in the air while I moved, then plant her back down on me. A bit bothersome, yes…but sooo cute…

With the exception of Peekaboo, who, I have to admit, is our most aloof kitty (though I can tell she’s glad, in her own particular way, to have me back, too…), all my kitties took turns getting into my lap yesterday evening, purring like mad and rubbing ecstatically against me/my forehead. Oh, in case you were wondering, no, this show of affection was NOT about food… 🙂

Oh boy, am I sleepy this morning!!! I didn’t sleep too well last night, and I didn’t sleep at all the night before, flying over the Atlantic…I did watch two movies, though. The first was a silly comedy with Kate Hudson called “Something borrowed.” The usual “bridegroom sleeps with bride’s best friend while bride sleeps with another guy before wedding that then gets called off” type of movie. C’mon! We can do better than that…surely! Then I watched Jim Carrey’s “Mr Popper’s penguins,” which had some very amusing scenes in it. I even laughed out loud…in the plane, yes…I have no shame…hehe. 

Ok, time to do some laundry, check Paula’s blog (and other MM blogs), go through some of my 500 new messages (!), then have a nap…Tomorrow I’m going back to work, so yeah, I need to rest today…

UPDATE: I forgot to mention earlier that I requested NOT to go through one of those full X-ray body-scanners at Logan airport in Boston. I’m too tired right now to write more on this issue, but the point is, if you have a medical condition or just don’t want to be submitted to extra “rays,” you can ask to be patted down. The woman officer who checked me out was incredibly nice and efficient. She explained what she was going to do before she did it and waited for my consent. No problem, of course. I’m all in favor of security, of course…I just don’t want the rays, if that can be avoided. And it can…

Well, my two weeks in the U.S. is up. I’m leaving for Italy tonight.

This hasn’t exactly been an enjoyable, relaxing holiday. Three weeks ago (that is, right before we left for the U.S.), my Dad came down with the same nasty cold and cough I’ve had now for the past month and a half. So the two of us have spent most of our time here in the U.S. coughing and sputtering all over the place…No fun! This bothersome bugger must be some sort of virus…I mean, nothing has gotten completely rid of it. I’ve been on three different antibiotics and even some cortisone…oh, and my phlegm test turned out negative…

Still, I cough…bah.

Well, anyway, the important thing is that Dad is feeling better. For a while there, I thought I was going to have to postpone my return trip to Italy, which would have been difficult (though not impossible) mainly because of my job…

But no, he’s feeling better, and his chest X-ray was fine. So I’ll be back in Firenze tomorrow afternoon…I’m leaving for the airport in about an hour.

Sooooo, have a lovely weekend, everyone!!! Ciaoooooo! 🙂

I went through college without owning a computer. I knew they existed, of course, and in fact I was forced to use one, a Mac as it happens, to pass my first-year computer course…one of those DO-IT-OR-ELSE courses, otherwise I most certainly wouldn’t have gotten within a mile of a computer…

Even after I’d passed that required-but-much-hated computer course, I stubbornly ignored computers and continued to use my old typewriter…as well as countless bottles of correction fluid, = a mysterious white chemical gunk called white-out, I think. My term papers were always dotted with messy white blobs. I didn’t care…

Then, when I was in my senior year at Harvard, I was offered the chance to buy a Mac at a big student discount. I went to have a look at one and thought it was kind of cute. Remember, we’re not talking fancy schmancy super computers here. No, this was one of the first Macs ever produced, one of those heavy, boxy desktop Macs with a small black&white screen. Still, I thought, “why not?” So I bought my first computer. But I didn’t even open the box until the fall after I’d graduated. 🙂 In the beginning I used it mostly to play silly games but then, later on, I also taught myself how to touch type…which turned out to be verrrry useful…

By the time I began grad school, I was a fast typist who could do a certain amount of research online (though what I knew then was NOTHING compared to what I know now 😉 )…By then I had replaced my desktop Mac with a Mac Portable, the first (?) Apple laptop…Hah. That thing was so heavy I could barely lift it, but I loved it…

Ah…memories…

I remained a Mac devotee until I met Stefano who convinced me to change over to the PC world. While I resisted the change at first, I have to admit that I now love my PC, the one I have at home in Italy…

But today, the day after Steve Jobs died, I’m glad to be using my mother’s Mac. It’s like travelling back in time…