Stefano and I are going to be very busy for most of next week, so I won’t be posting at all or even checking my computer. This will be my last post until, hmmm…Friday, I think.

Today I thought I would publish what has turned out to be one of my favorite U.S. photos. I took it in Newport, Rhode Island…as you can see, it’s a sparrow or sparrow-like bird perched on the top of a fence, one of the mansion fences, and surrounded by barbed wire. 

When I saw this photo blown up on my computer, a thought popped into my head: those of us who are currently stable are in a similar position…that is, surrounded by danger (the lethal cancer cells/barbed wire) but equipped with wings (our attitude, supplements, whatever…). Silly, perhaps, but that is the first thing that came to my mind. Ah yes, I love this photo…

Let’s see, what else? By now, Stefano and I have more or less unpacked most of our stuff. I brought back the equivalent of one suitcase filled with supplements…wow. 

The “catnip” video was a big hit with Peekaboo who kept tapping on the TV screen, trying to reach all the birds and squirrels. Stefano remarked that someone should videotape the two of us lying in bed like two idiots, watching our baby watch birds and squirrels on TV. Well, all I can say is that watching Peekaboo’s little head bob back and forth (following the movements of the critters on TV) was sooo entertaining. Fun for us, too. The other cats haven’t seen the video yet.

Speaking of cats, my parents informed us that, while we were away, a mouse got inside the house…this has never happened before…in fact, we still aren’t sure how the tiny creature got in, but we think it must have run past my parents when they opened the front door. After all, we live in a green area, surrounded by the hills of Settignano and Fiesole…I am sure there are mice everywhere…At any rate, this silly critter seems to have spent several hours inside the house, “hunted down” by two of my cats, Piccolo and Peekaboo. My other two cats were apparently asleep upstairs, no comment necessary…

It took a while for my parents to realize that the two cats were chasing a live mouse. Sure, they saw Piccolo and Peekaboo get very excited and run after something, but they assumed it was a bug and weren’t that concerned. As soon as they saw it was a mouse, though, my father got a bag and managed to trap the little critter inside. My father took the terrified but otherwise unharmed mouse outside and released it in a field down the street. I hope it never comes back! 

Most of you will probably think that I have a bunch of bloody USELESS cats that can’t even hurt, let alone kill, a tiny little mouse! But, truth be told, I am secretly glad about that…

Premise: I wonder if there is an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records titled “people who land twice in Paris in the same day without meaning to.” If so, my name should be on that list.

First things first. The flight from Boston to Paris was uneventful, yes the usual bits of heavy turbulence, but nothing too scary. When we landed in Paris, I figured, “phew, the worst is over.” Hah. Re-hah.

The Paris-Florence very early morning flight was more or less on time. A few seconds after our plane began roaring down the runway, though, the pilot aborted takeoff. I cannot explain to you how I felt right then…but certainly more perplexed than scared. Our pilot got on the intercom to explain, first in French then in English, that he had heard a strange vibrating noise as soon as he had revved up the engine for takeoff; under the circumstances, the plane could not leave the ground. We taxied back to the airport.

We waited patiently inside the plane for more than two hours while Air France engineers examined the plane’s four motors. The pilot finally informed us that they had replaced a thingamajiggy in one of the motors and that everything was fine.

Takeoff number two went smoothly enough. Once we were airborne, though, I began to wonder why the flight attendants had disappeared and weren’t offering refreshments. The Paris-Florence flight normally takes about an hour and a half, so passengers usually get served something within the first half hour. This time, nada. The only other odd thing was that the motors seemed a bit noisier than usual.

Well, about 40 minutes after we had left Charles de Gaulle, the plane began turning around. The pilot’s apologetic voice informed us that the same vibrating noise had started up again, and our only choice was to go back to Paris. His announcement was greeted with silence…but not one complaint. I was, I admit, a bit puzzled as to why we wouldn’t just go on to Florence, since by then we were about halfway there…but I suppose there must have been legal reasons…

Just before landing again in Paris, I heard a screechy sort of mechanical noise. For the first time, fear struck me…for a fraction of an instant. I am a fatalist at heart, you see…and, statistically, it’s more dangerous to drive a car than be on a plane…I relaxed again.

We landed. As we taxied toward the airport, I glanced out the window and saw that we were being followed by five large fire trucks and a couple of ambulances. Holy puffins! The pilot finally enlightened us: he had had to shut off one of the motors in flight. We had landed with three motors, instead of four. That explains the fire trucks…

Well, what follows is a very looong and not very interesting story that I will spare you. We were taken off the plane, thank goodness!, and escorted back to the terminal, where we were given a sandwich and drink voucher. (I was also finally able to call my semi-hysterical mother and reassure her that we were alive, that our plane hadn’t crashed.)

We waited for hours for another flight to be put together for us. We jealously watched passengers board subsequent (fully booked) flights to Florence. We waited. And waited.

Our flight number was finally called, and we were bussed out to the plane. It took so long that we began to joke that Air France had decided to drive us to Florence. Most of us quipped: “Hey, that’s fine with me!”

Then, when the bus stopped, one of my fellow passengers dramatically announced that this was the same plane we had boarded earlier that day. She said that she clearly remembered the name…Clare Island. Panic began to spread among the other passengers, some of whom angrily declared that they would refuse to board. I piped up before matters got out of hand, correcting her mistake: the name of our original plane was actually Tory Island, not Clare Island. In order not to sound too rude, I added that I had watched enough CSI Crime Scene Investigation episodes to notice things like that. Relief replaced frustration/fear, and everyone thanked me. We boarded the plane without further incident.

And we arrived in Florence in the late afternoon. Exhausted…but alive.

Well, we are leaving the Cape tomorrow and will be back in Florence on Friday. This has really been a lovely holiday, but I am ready to go home now and hug my cats. And see how (more likely, IF) they react to a video I bought for them titled something like “Catnip,” which is filled with bird chirping sounds and whatnot…

Let’s see. We went to Newport on Sunday… Of course, we visited the Breakers, the Vanderbilt family’s summer residence, built in 1895…Afterward, we did part of the so-called Cliff Walk, a public access walk that gives great views of Newport, the mansions and the coastline. Now, normal people would publish photos of the views and the mansions…but I was too amused by a sign that I saw stuck to one of the mansion fences along the Walk…so I decided to publish that instead..

We are off on one last fun excursion later this morning, then will head home to finish packing…I will try to post a little something on Friday if I am not too jet lagged… Until then, ciaooo!

Sherlock (grazie!) sent me the link to a recent BBC report (http://tinyurl.com/opnun6) on a “farm” antibiotic called salinomycin and its killing effect on breast cancer stem cells. One of the uses of salinomycin, I read, is that it is added to chicken feed to prevent certain types of infections. A quick online search, though, turned up a bunch of serious toxicity issues in animals (sheep, horses, turkeys…and camels, yes, camels, see: http://tinyurl.com/nx22v9). By the way, if I am not mistaken, the use of such antibiotics has been banned in the European Union…

Anyway, the article states that, When given to mice with tumours, the growth of the cancer slowed. However, the researchers stressed that it was too early to know if similar successes could be achieved in human cancer patients.

Well, this was an interesting read, even though I would definitely NOT test salinomycin on myself!

Yesterday we went to Great Island in Wellfleet. Gorgeous day, not a cloud in the sky.

It was hot (by Cape Cod standards), so I decided not to join Stefano on a trek way down the beach, almost to Jeremy Point, a more than 5-mile walk under the midday sun. Not my cup of tea. While waiting for him to return, I relaxed on the beach, looked for shells and went for a couple of swims, my first in many years…ah, bliss…

Yesterday we had a glorious walk through the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary (Mass Audubon Society, see: http://tinyurl.com/dju94o). The day began with menacing clouds that, phew, soon cleared to reveal a perfect blue sky…perfection enhanced by the sanctuary wildlife’s cooperation. Animals and birds, in fact, politely posed for our cameras…well, at least…most of the time.

We had been to the sanctuary twice before, but I had never seen red squirrels there…until yesterday. We encountered two of these feisty little critters hanging out by the sanctuary birdfeeders. I suppose that at one point I got too close to one of them, because it began darting up and down a tree next to me, scolding me very loudly…piii piiiii piiiii! Trying to calm it down, I didn’t move an inch…until I realized that the frustrated little thing was thinking of jumping right onto my head. Or so it seemed. Perhaps a mother with a nest nearby. I backed off at that point, of course. I don’t want to upset creatures of any size! Needless to say, I got some great shots (the photo I chose to post, though, shows my adorable little friend posed to jump onto a…birdfeeder)…although, as usual, Stefano’s shots are much better. But more difficult for me to post.

We saw many many birds. The thing I love about this sanctuary is its variety. You can see marsh birds, forest birds and sea birds. Three habitats in the same location. More than 260 bird species can be found here. So we took photos of blue jays, cardinals, great white egrets…and a bunch of other birds that we didn’t recognize. Stefano remarked that we are such ignorant, albeit enthusiastic!, birdwatchers that we might be snapping photos of common pigeons and believe they were exotic caracaras… That is almost the case…we really should find the time to study some bird watching books…

Case in point. Yesterday, we came upon a couple of birdwatchers sitting in a bird hide. They clearly took us for experts, perhaps based on the length of Stefano’s super-duper camera lens. I casually asked if they had spotted anything of interest. One of the guys answered, “well, it hasn’t been too bad. We saw two yellow-tailed wiggiewoddles and a speckled roastmybum…” “Ah, yes,” I quickly answered, pretending to have recognized both species. This encounter made me realize that if someone ever asks me what I have spotted, I will have to be ready with a couple of totally invented but plausible species names…

We have filled up the next few days with all sorts of activities, from boat rides through Nauset marsh to another whale watching trip, a walk around Great Island in Wellfleet and so forth. Hence, I apologize for not responding to those who have contacted me via my blog’s Contact form. I will respond to all of you upon my return to Italy. Thanks!

Thanks to a myeloma patients’ list (MMA) member, I just read an interesting Science Daily article on antibiotics and cancer. See: http://tinyurl.com/nw8dxh

It appears that a certain class of antibiotics, called thiazoles, targets one of the most highly over-produced proteins in cancer cells, FoxM1, which is believed to play an important role is [sic] causing cells to become cancerous. The researchers also found that thiazole antibiotics actually stabilized other cancer-causing proteins.

This led them to hypothesize that thiazole antibiotics may act as inhibitors of the proteasome, a molecular complex that acts as a trash collector in cells, degrading old proteins that the cell has marked for destruction. Now, wait a sec. Proteasome inhibition. Does that ring a bell? Oh yes indeed! Velcade…curcumin…

Reading on, Recently, a number of proteasome inhibitors have shown promise against cancer, but no one understands why they have anti-cancer effects.

So the researchers set out to see if proteasome inhibitors inhibited FoxM1. They do. Indeed, they also caused cells to self-destruct in the same concentrations. This discovery may explain the anti-cancer activity of proteasome inhibitors. Wow. The article of course mentions only Velcade, but I will mention curcumin, another proteasome inhibitor…

As you know, I am on holiday right now and have time only for a quick post…but I will take a closer look at all of this upon my return to Italy (=next week…gee, where did the time go???!).

Eh, I couldn’t resist doing a quick online search that turned up this rather enticing description of thiazoles (Encyclopaedia Britannica): any of a class of organic compounds of the heterocyclic series characterized by a ring structure composed of three carbon atoms, one nitrogen atom, and one sulfur atom. This ring structure occurs in such important biologically active natural products as thiamine (vitamin B₁), bacitracin, and the penicillins, and in numerous synthetic drugs, dyes, and industrial chemicals. Vitamin B1? Hmmm…

As fascinating as this recent bit of news is, well, it will just have to wait. The Mass Audubon sanctuary at Wellfleet and its hummingbird and butterfly garden await us and our snapping cameras. 🙂 Ciao a tutti!

I have lived on Cape Cod for what probably adds up to a total of, well, hmmm, yes, a long time…I drove down from Cambridge to visit my family almost every weekend while I was in college many many many years ago, I cat-sat for Micia, our much-loved Italian black cat (I am tempted to tell the story of how Micia came into our lives, but that would be too much of a digression…sooo, next time!), plus I lived and worked here on and off…well, as I said, the bits of time that I have lived here do add up in the end and turn into…years!

But I had never, until yesterday, been to Sandwich, the oldest town on Cape Cod. In fact, Sandwich turns out to be one of the oldest towns in the entire U.S. Shame on me for not knowing that.

Yesterday’s  weather wasn’t great…rather dismal and cloudy, in fact (luckily for us, though, the predicted thunderstorms never materialized), but, in spite of that, we very much enjoyed our stroll around Sandwich. And when I say “around,” I really mean it. At the Sandwich Chamber of Commerce, you see, I was given a tourist map that highlighted the main attractions and shops. In the late afternoon, when it was time for us to leave, I remembered that we had parked my parents’ car in front of a bakery. I found the bakery on my little map and suggested to Stefano that we take an alternate route back to the car. He asked, “are you sure that that is the right way to go?” “Of course it is! Don’t you remember that we parked in front of this bakery? Hah.” “Okay, fine.” Off we went. Well, it turns out that there is more than one bakery in Sandwich. Need I say more? Yes indeed, we had quite a WALK. Who needs aerobics to stay fit? Just go to Sandwich MA and park in front of a bakery…

At any rate, we had lunch in an extremely cute little tea house and then went on to the Sandwich Glass Museum. So much history…I had no idea. After admiring the nearly 5,000 pieces of glass produced at the Boston & Sandwich Glass Company between 1825 and 1888, we watched an informative three-minute presentation on the history of early American lighting…from candles to light bulbs. Those interested can click here: http://tinyurl.com/nzuzjh

So, if you happen to be visiting the Cape on a rainy day, especially if you have a bunch of rambunctious kids, I can now recommend two places: the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History in Brewster and the Sandwich Glass Museum. Enjoy!

I have been on several whale watching trips off the coast of Provincetown, in the national marine sanctuary known as Stellwagen Bank, but yesterday’s trip beat them all. In the past, a typical sighting would have been the end tip of a whale tail way out in the distance. Sure, that was exciting, but…nothing compared to what we saw yesterday.

Yesterday, we had whales swimming near and under our boat (by the way, I have always chosen the Dolphin Fleet, mainly because of their commitment to responsible whale watching, information concerning the welfare of whales, collection of scientific data, having a naturalist on board, etc.).

Stefano and I chose different sides of the boat so we would have most of the water surface covered. As luck would have it, he was on the BEST side…at one point, two and sometimes three whales surfaced right next to his side of the boat to feed, so he got some super duper photos with his super duper digital camera. I got some decent shots with my not-so-super-but-certainly-adequate camera, too…so, since his photos (400 or so) would be more difficult for me to post right now, you will have to be content with mine (“only” 230).

In total, we saw 14 humpback whales, 2 minke whales and 1 right whale. Not bad, eh!

After our exciting whale watching trip, we spent a couple of hours walking around the charming, lively and picturesque town of Provincetown. Since Stefano and I are magnet collectors, we bought an Obama magnet…and also T-shirts depicting a black cat, yes, a black cat, not a black dog (those of you who have been to Martha’s Vineyard will know to what I am referring!). Anyway, another lovely lovely day. In fact, I hope we have the time to go on another whale watch before returning to Italy…(by the way, the last photo is of a T-shirt that I did not buy…but I liked the message, hehe…).

Moving on to another topic…my first order of supplements has been delivered, and I am now waiting for the second. I intend to test most of the substances that I have posted about in recent months—boswellia, ashwagandha, reishi, inositol, IP6, etc.—I am probably forgetting some, but these are the main ones. I have chosen only reliable sources, organic whenever possible…and none of my capsules contain silicone dioxide.

The upcoming year should be an interesting one…!

Yesterday we drove to Boston and spent a few hours at the Museum of Fine Arts. I hadn’t been there in years and had, er, forgotten how wonderful it is. We particularly enjoyed the Egyptian exhibits…and the room filled with Etruscan finds (as a child, I thought that I would be THE one to solve the mystery of the Etruscan language, so I have a soft spot for Etruria…), including two extraordinary volcanic stone sarcophagus lids, both portraying the loving embrace of a husband and wife.

But then we wandered into the Impressionist area…and I saw one of my favorite paintings in the world: Renoir’s “Dance at Bougival.” I’d forgotten that it was there. Super! To my amazement, photos (no flash, of course) are allowed in the museum…so I don’t think that I have broken any laws by publishing this photo. Of course, the REAL painting is…much better!

From the MFA, we drove to Cambridge, where we spent a couple of happily nostalgic (for me) hours wandering around Harvard Yard, taking photos, having hot fudge sundaes at Herrell’s…yes, a perfect day…and today we are off to Provincetown, hoping to see some whales!