I can’t believe I’ve been in the States for more than a week and have completely ignored my blog. Well, okay, not “completely.” I do read blog comments, and I have replied to a few messages, but I just haven’t felt the urge/desire to write any posts, I have to confess. I’ve been running errands, cooking, getting and decorating the Xmas tree (after poking around in my parents’ garage, I found our family Xmas decorations, including a red glass ball with my name on it. My Mom decorated this ball when I was born, more than 50 years ago!, and it has traveled to Italy and back…Amazing that it hasn’t broken, in fact…I also found my sister’s glass ball, which is even older. They are now hanging side by side in my parents’ living room, next to the Xmas tree, which is too small to hold them).

Most of all, though, I’ve been spending time with my parents. We’ve been laughing a lot and enjoying our time together. Among other things, we’ve been watching, or rather, re-watching!, Season 2 of “Downton Abbey” while waiting for Season 3 to begin (January 6th!). I’ve already seen Season 3, but it hasn’t yet been shown over here in the States. My parents and I are huge fans of that BBC series…so beautifully done and acted…Incidentally, I just read that there is going to be a Season 4…what a relief! 🙂

And then that horrible horrible horrible massacre took place in the Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. I really can’t find any words to express the horror and shock I still feel…But horror and shock are not enough. So a couple of days ago I signed a petition urging the White House to take action on the issue of gun control. I urge you to sign it, too (link provided below). I mean, if that young man had NOT had access to his mother’s weapons, this massacre would never have taken place. Case closed.

Fact: there are way too many guns in the U.S. And even if gun-restricting legislation were introduced and approved TODAY, there would still be too many guns. But…at least…it would be a start.

Here is the link to the above-mentioned petition: http://goo.gl/0bd0x And here is an interesting interview with a Harvard professor of health policy, which gives us some food for thought: http://goo.gl/YP1c0

I would also like to post links to a few articles I’ve read recently and that might be of interest to you, too. This one tells us about a (not too surprising, truth be told!) study on sulphorophane and lymphoblastic leukemia cells:  http://goo.gl/kgWle Turmeric and curcumin are also mentioned…

A liquid form of curcumin is being tested on children undergoing chemotherapy and suffering from oral mucositis, in Israel: http://goo.gl/GmuAQ I have read about this before, and I think I’ve reported on it in a previous post, but…no matter.

Last but not least, a Phase II clinical study testing curcumin on breast cancer patients undergoing chemo and radiation is about to begin (note: the study is not yet recruiting): http://goo.gl/9jwOZ. Interesting.

Stefano sent me a few photos of our kitties. I particularly loved this one, showing Prezzemolo (6 months old) about to jump on Pinga…probably…judging from the intense look in his eyes…