Vegetarians and Pescetarians have Lower Risk of Certain Cancer

Well, we've been saying this for a long time and here we have some pretty decent evidence. One more reason you, yes *you!* eat too much meat.

*************

Cancer incidence in British vegetarians

Key, TJ, Appleby, PN, Spencer, EA, Travis, RC, Allen, NE, Thorogood, M, Mann, JI. Cancer incidence in British vegetarians. British Journal of Cancer. 101:192-197. 2009.

Abstract

Background: Few prospective studies have examined cancer incidence among vegetarians.

Methods: We studied 61 566 British men and women, comprising 32 403 meat eaters, 8562 non-meat eaters who did eat fish (‘fish eaters’) and 20 601 vegetarians. After an average follow-up of 12.2 years, there were 3350 incident cancers of which 2204 were among meat eaters, 317 among fish eaters and 829 among vegetarians. Relative risks (RRs) were estimated by Cox regression, stratified by sex and recruitment protocol and adjusted for age, smoking, alcohol, body mass index, physical activity level and, for women only, parity and oral contraceptive use.

Results: There was significant heterogeneity in cancer risk between groups for the following four cancer sites: stomach cancer, RRs (compared with meat eaters) of 0.29 (95% CI: 0.07–1.20) in fish eaters and 0.36 (0.16–0.78) in vegetarians, P for heterogeneity=0.007; ovarian cancer, RRs of 0.37 (0.18–0.77) in fish eaters and 0.69 (0.45–1.07) in vegetarians, P for heterogeneity=0.007; bladder cancer, RRs of 0.81 (0.36–1.81) in fish eaters and 0.47 (0.25–0.89) in vegetarians, P for heterogeneity=0.05; and cancers of the lymphatic and haematopoietic tissues, RRs of 0.85 (0.56–1.29) in fish eaters and 0.55 (0.39–0.78) in vegetarians, P for heterogeneity=0.002. The RRs for all malignant neoplasms were 0.82 (0.73–0.93) in fish eaters and 0.88 (0.81–0.96) in vegetarians (P for heterogeneity=0.001).

Conclusion: The incidence of some cancers may be lower in fish eaters and vegetarians than in meat eaters.

http://www.nature.com/bjc/journal/v101/n1/abs/6605098a.html


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Cancer. 2010 Sep 15;116(18):4345-53.
Meat and components of meat and the risk of bladder cancer in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study.

Ferrucci LM, Sinha R, Ward MH, Graubard BI, Hollenbeck AR, Kilfoy BA, Schatzkin A, Michaud DS, Cross AJ.

Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Rockville, Maryland, USA.
Abstract

BACKGROUND: Meat could be involved in bladder carcinogenesis via multiple potentially carcinogenic meat-related compounds related to cooking and processing, including nitrate, nitrite, heterocyclic amines (HCAs), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The authors comprehensively investigated the association between meat and meat components and bladder cancer.

METHODS: During 7 years of follow-up, 854 transitional cell bladder-cancer cases were identified among 300,933 men and women who had completed a validated food-frequency questionnaire in the large prospective NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study. The authors estimated intake of nitrate and nitrite from processed meat and HCAs and PAHs from cooked meat by using quantitative databases of measured values. Total dietary nitrate and nitrite were calculated based on literature values.

RESULTS: The hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for red meat (HR for fifth quintile compared with first quintile, 1.22; 95% CI, 0.96-1.54; P(trend) = .07) and the HCA 2-amino-1 methyl-6-phenylimidazo(4,5-b)pyridine (PhIP) (HR, 1.19; 95% CI, 0.95-1.48; P(trend) = .06) conferred a borderline statistically significant increased risk of bladder cancer. Positive associations were observed in the top quintile for total dietary nitrite (HR, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.02-1.61; P(trend) = .06) and nitrate plus nitrite intake from processed meat (HR, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.00-1.67; P(trend) = .11).

CONCLUSIONS: These findings provided modest support for an increased risk of bladder cancer with total dietary nitrite and nitrate plus nitrite from processed meat. Results also suggested a positive association between red meat and PhIP and bladder carcinogenesis.
© 2010 American Cancer Society.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20681011


*****************

Cancer Res. 2010 Mar 15;70(6):2406-14. Epub 2010 Mar 9.
A large prospective study of meat consumption and colorectal cancer risk: an investigation of potential mechanisms underlying this association.

Cross AJ, Ferrucci LM, Risch A, Graubard BI, Ward MH, Park Y, Hollenbeck AR, Schatzkin A, Sinha R.

Nutritional Epidemiology Branch, Biostatistics Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, Department of Health and Human Services, National Cancer Institute, NIH, Rockville, Maryland, USA. crossa@mail.nih.gov
Abstract

Although the relation between red and processed meat intake and colorectal cancer has been reported in several epidemiologic studies, very few investigated the potential mechanisms. This study examined multiple potential mechanisms in a large U.S. prospective cohort with a detailed questionnaire on meat type and meat cooking methods linked to databases for estimating intake of mutagens formed in meats cooked at high temperatures (heterocyclic amines, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), heme iron, nitrate, and nitrite. During 7 years of follow-up, 2,719 colorectal cancer cases were ascertained from a cohort of 300,948 men and women. The hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) comparing the fifth to the first quintile for both red (HR, 1.24; 95% CI, 1.09-1.42; P(trend) < 0.001) and processed meat (HR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.01-1.32; P(trend) = 0.017) intakes indicated an elevated risk for colorectal cancer. The potential mechanisms for this relation include heme iron (HR, 1.13; 95% CI, 0.99-1.29; P(trend) = 0.022), nitrate from processed meats (HR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.02-1.32; P(trend) = 0.001), and heterocyclic amine intake [HR, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.05-1.34; P(trend) < 0.001 for 2-amino-3,8-dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline (MeIQx) and HR, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.05-1.29; P(trend) <0.001 for 2-amino-3,4,8-trimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline (DiMeIQx)]. In general, the elevated risks were higher for rectal cancer than for colon cancer, with the exception of MeIQx and DiMeIQx, which were only associated with colon cancer. In conclusion, we found a positive association for red and processed meat intake and colorectal cancer; heme iron, nitrate/nitrite, and heterocyclic amines from meat may explain these associations.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20215514

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J Natl Cancer Inst. 2009 Jul 15;101(14):1001-11. Epub 2009 Jun 26.
Dietary fatty acids and pancreatic cancer in the NIH-AARP diet and health study.

Thiébaut AC, Jiao L, Silverman DT, Cross AJ, Thompson FE, Subar AF, Hollenbeck AR, Schatzkin A, Stolzenberg-Solomon RZ.

Nutritional Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MD, USA.

Comment in:

* J Natl Cancer Inst. 2009 Jul 15;101(14):972-3.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Previous research relating dietary fat, a modifiable risk factor, to pancreatic cancer has been inconclusive.

METHODS: We prospectively analyzed the association between intakes of fat, fat subtypes, and fat food sources and exocrine pancreatic cancer in the National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study, a US cohort of 308 736 men and 216 737 women who completed a 124-item food frequency questionnaire in 1995-1996. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using Cox proportional hazards regression models, with adjustment for energy intake, smoking history, body mass index, and diabetes. Statistical tests were two-sided.

RESULTS: Over an average follow-up of 6.3 years, 865 men and 472 women were diagnosed with exocrine pancreatic cancer (45.0 and 34.5 cases per 100 000 person-years, respectively). After multivariable adjustment and combination of data for men and women, pancreatic cancer risk was directly related to the intakes of total fat (highest vs lowest quintile, 46.8 vs 33.2 cases per 100 000 person-years, HR = 1.23, 95% CI = 1.03 to 1.46; P(trend) = .03), saturated fat (51.5 vs 33.1 cases per 100 000 person-years, HR = 1.36, 95% CI = 1.14 to 1.62; P(trend) < .001), and monounsaturated fat (46.2 vs 32.9 cases per 100 000 person-years, HR = 1.22, 95% CI = 1.02 to 1.46; P(trend) = .05) but not polyunsaturated fat. The associations were strongest for saturated fat from animal food sources (52.0 vs 32.2 cases per 100 000 person-years, HR = 1.43, 95% CI = 1.20 to 1.70; P(trend) < .001); specifically, intakes from red meat and dairy products were both statistically significantly associated with increased pancreatic cancer risk (HR = 1.27 and 1.19, respectively).

CONCLUSION: In this large prospective cohort with a wide range of intakes, dietary fat of animal origin was associated with increased pancreatic cancer risk.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19561318

A classic example of science-y spam

...why? Because I have a science-y email address. On another note, who pays $76 for a book about catching beetles?!

Anyway, see email below.

"To: Science-y email address person
From: Publisher of Obscure Science-y Books
Date: Today

METHODS FOR CATCHING BEETLES
By Carlos Aguilar Julio
English version
See on www.naturalia-editions.com
BOOK REVIEW
Many methods have been written about the collection of beetles in the world. However, only very specific papers were developed until now, for example: the traps, or about specific sampling methods of some families or genera of Coleoptera in the planet.
This book aims provide to the scientific world and for students a collection of knowledge and experience of the author and others professionals of entomology, related to methods and capture techniques, transfer and preservation of Coleoptera, encompassed in a single work.
This study tool has long been expected. There are many forums (especially in the internet) which perceived the need for instruction about this subject. Our colleagues were the first to applaud this initiative, describing it as very valuable in relation to its content.
Now the students can count throughout this material, which is complement of development in the field activities, through practice.
The methods of capture are varied and numerous, such as or more than the number of families of beetles.
Early detection of environmental damage, which can be detected through the study of beetles populations and / or endangered species (it require also knowledge for the capture of different species in selected environments) will provide help for the implementation of measures to assist the conservation and protection of the environment.
On the other hand, there is a tacit agreement among entomologists, in which the number of known species of Coleoptera is very small compared with the suspected number of existing species. This reminds us that phrase regarding the tip of the iceberg, and arouse our interest about how much we are lacking to know.
This book offers:
1) A brief summary of the physical and structural characteristics of major biomes in the world.
2) Instructions to collect beetles in every kind of environment such as savannas, forests, deserts, streams, rivers, mountains, caves, beaches, mangroves, dunes, etc.

3) Specific details about all beetles families known until now, in the long chapter "Where do they live? What do they eat? How to collect them?"
4) A variety of traps chosen according to their effectiveness, and how to make them by yourself.
Finally, we hope that this tool now available to all supporters of life on this planet, serve to understand it, preserve and improve it.
Jorge Barrett Viedma
Editor
Naturalia - Scientific Collection
www.naturalia-editions.com
info@naturalia-editions.com
METHODS FOR CATCHING BEETLES
By Carlos Aguilar Julio
English version
Limited Edition
14.8 x 21 cm
320 pages
16 color plates
160 images
Full color cover
Price: $ 76 plus shipping
Buy on line

Lookout for Penis Bandits, Ladies!

This drives me crazy. So does "Mrs." I HATE "Mrs."

People, You Need to Get Out

Get out of the house. And yes, it's ok to go outside after dark. Get out of your neighborhood. Get out of your state or your country. Get out of Applebee's and never go back. No, "methadone" is not for "methamphetamine." You don't know what a chickpea is? You never met a gay person? You never smoked a joint? Seriously? No, tacos shouldn't come in a hard shell. No, you can't catch it by talking to someone. Get out of Branson. You've never hitchhiked or cut class or eaten a gyro? (Ok, well, I've never eaten a gyro but that's different.)

I grow weary of the Midwest.

Dear foodies, chefs, etc.

Stop making up asinine names for fish that already have perfectly good names. If you call it "blue snapper" or even "Sea Kitten" and I can't find it on Seafood Watch or EDF's Seafood Selector I won't know if it's a Bluefish, Blueline snapper, Bluestripe snapper, Bluestriped snapper, Blue and Gold snapper, or some other fish by some other name, I won't want to eat at your stupid restaurant because I won't trust you.

BTW, this blog is close to dead. I just haven't yet found another outlet for my random complaints and comments.

I am in a bad mood today. Here's why:

Was up every 2 hours last night due to a screaming, teething kid. Husband is coming down with something. House is a wreck. I am just a blob of bad manuscript/grant ideas that never go anywhere. Jackasses in this state drive too slow. Someone wearing flip-flops in the office makes too much flip-flop sound. Stupid Americans are intolerant and embarrassing and venerate one religion too much and degrade/fear another too much. 1 in 5 Pakistanis is flooded, tens of millions are displaced and Americans don't seem to notice or care. I fear major polio outbreaks (and other outbreaks) as a result. There is no fresh fruit or vegetables at home since no one has gone to the grocery store. I am generally a selfish person and I find that both irritating and sad. I hate the shoes I am wearing today, they are uncomfortable. People with less intelligence and/or education than I make more money. I still basically have no friends in No-longer New City. Most people I meet are boring and inspiriting. This town has pretty lame food, especially for a vegetarian. I decided to wear purple eye shadow today to help improve my mood; now it just irritates me. I am tired of this blog. I really really want to write a novel. I watch too much t.v. lately. It's been so hot I can hardly go outside. I have a lot of busywork to do. There is oil and dispersants all over the ocean floor. I really need more sleep. I really need to publish more.

Hm. What else ticks me off? No doubt I will think of something.

What’s Irritating Me Today (or, another example of how this blog has no focus)

So many things irritate me. Today it's:

Ethnic bread products (e.g. bagels, pita bread, naan, French bread) that are essentially squishy, SAD (standard American diet) bread, just shaped differently.

I just love how I refer to French bread as an ethnic bread here.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

After having lived over an entire year here in Freezerville, I can now say I have experienced more cold than I ever cared to know. I have made use of all the freezing, dark hours by developing my own Taxonomy of Cold. I will share (all temps in Fahrenheit):

Taxonomy of Cold after 15 Months in Freezerville

Cool: Year-round except for that one week in July
Cold: 30-45 degrees
Very Cold: 25-29 degrees
Super Cold: 20-24 degrees
Extremely Cold: 15-19 degrees
Freeze your Face Off Cold: <15 degrees

There may be some of you out there that think this is pretty conservative. It is not! Trust me, if you had asked me last year, my taxonomy would have looked more like this:


Taxonomy of Cold after 3 Months in Freezerville
Very Cold: Year-round
Freeze your Face Off Cold: 31-45 degrees
Why Do I Bother To Go On Living Cold: <30 degrees

Is this progress? Discuss amongst yourselves.

21st Century Etiquette

I don't think this is one Miss Manners has covered yet. What would be a good hostess gift for a gay man hosting a baby shower?

Why Do People Eat Bad Food?

I don't mean just junk food. Because I'll admit it, I love the stuff, especially Cheetos.

But I just don't understand why--unless limited by real constraints on choice such as income or access--anyone would regularly chose to eat bland, boring, soft, squishy, meaty, crappy food. White bread. Mayonnaise. The exact same lunch every day for years?

I also simply can't believe how some people really think differently colored tomatoes are some kind of new designer food. Seriously, people? Tomatoes aren't just red! Peppers aren't just green or red! Squash comes in all kinds of shapes! Sometimes it's eeven spiky! (YUM, bittermelon.)

Most every day when I see colleagues during lunch time, they peer into my tupperware and ask, "What'd you bring for lunch today?" This makes me feel a little like a creature in a zoo, exotic and strange. Today I had leftovers, as usual. Moroccan curry--sweet potatoes, golden raisins, garbanzo beans, assorted veggies, all on couscous. "What's couscous?" In my mind, this doesn't make me unique. I just like delicious flavorful food. Shouldn't everyone?

Come on people, branch out, there's more to food than Luby's!

Sometimes Quitting Is a Good Thing

One of my most recent visitors found me by googling the words "why i quit grad achool."

Redistributing the Wealth

I recently got a super awesome t-shirt as a gift from a friend. Here's what it says:

"Pillage before plunder
What a blunder.
Plunder before pillage
Mission fulfillage!"

How awesome is that?

Or wait, was it "Plunder before pillage...?" Apparently I'm

not the only one confused about pillaging and plundering. Either way, you get the point.

Also awesome is this, a live piracy map, showing recent redistribution efforts (recent piracy attempts and attacks) around the world!

Aliens (the outer space kind) Wanted by the U.S. Postal Inspector!

Take a good, hard look at these aliens, pictured below. They are currently being hunted by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service!



Yes, a U.S. government agency is hunting aliens! And no, I don't mean this
pseudo law enforcement agency, but the far more legitimate and useful U.S. Post Office.

THIS IS FOR REAL. THIS IS NOT A HOAX.

I wouldn't have known if the following had not happened to me on last Wednesday. I received a REAL SNAIL MAIL CHAIN LETTER! It was SO COOL! Immediately I had all kinds of ideas of how to respond. I'm still not sure, I might send these folks a heartfelt letter of thanks for brightening up an otherwise booooring day. Maybe I will send them some pesos. Maybe I will write a book about it. Or maybe, in response to the letter's claim that "Not only is this not illegal, it's a great idea." I will instead send them information from the U.S. Postal Inspectors webpage as a helpful reminder that um, yeah, chain letters, are actually totally illegal, and moreover, not such a hot idea either.

If you find yourself in a similar, exciting position, and are seeking more information, see
here and here.

If however, you find yourself in a similar position of being scammed through the U.S. mail, and are seeking retribution over it, Raise a rukus!

And don't forget to hunt those aliens, too!

Random Bullets of Postdoclyness

•I just had my first dissertation article accepted. Huzzah! The reviews were the best I’ve ever had. One reviewer says, “ …I can see the paper being accepted almost as-is, and would not be surprised if that were the eventual decision.” WHOA. For the record, this is my first article in a good journal ever. It is also, not so coincidentally, my first good article. The others were mostly remnants from student projects. And it’s damn nice to know someone else thinks it’s good too.

•Can’t believe I’m already 6 months in to a 2 year postdoc.

•Do I just get the bad articles for peer review? Why do they all suck so bad?

•How is 100% soft money not some kind of violation of human rights?

•Why did I get myself volunteered to be a chair for a committee?

•Why has my article been “awaiting reviewer assignment” for 3 months? When it’s a freaking revision and has already been assigned reviewers!

•I can’t code well. I have no attention to detail. I waste a lot of time on fixing my own bad code.

•I hate my cubicle. I feel like it’s some kind of horrible hazing experiment to put the new postdoc in a cubicle with her back and computer screen facing the door.

•I really, really, really want to be a beekeeper. I think my backyard is too small for this right now though. It might upset some neighbors.

•Is it 5 yet?

•Is it normal that every other day I think about changing careers? When I haven’t even technically started this one?

•I am totally cynical. I think 99% of manuscripts in my field are b.s. Do I really want to write tons and tons of b.s?

•A small, optimistic, Pollyanna part of me really did think such existential crises would end post-PhD. The cynical remainder of me is pretty pissed (but not at all surprised) that this was not the case.

Apparently, I'm a nerd.

Thanks Maude for the heads up but I guess I'm a little disappointed. How can I be a nerd? :( I don't even speak Klingon!

Your result for The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test...

Pure Nerd

83 % Nerd, 26% Geek, 30% Dork

For The Record:



A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.


You scored better than half in Nerd, earning you the title of: Pure Nerd.



The times, they are a-changing. It used to be that being exceptionally smart led to being unpopular, which would ultimately lead to picking up all of the traits and tendences associated with the "dork." No-longer. Being smart isn't as socially crippling as it once was, and even more so as you get older: eventually being a Pure Nerd will likely be replaced with the following label: Purely Successful.








THE NERD? GEEK? OR DORK? TEST

Take The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test at HelloQuizzy

The District, My Manuscripts, and COFFEE!

Baracka is SUCH a celebrity, last night on t.v. I saw his new commercial promoting his stimulus plan, and I thought, wait, isn't the campaign over already? Now turns out he has his own reality show, The District! Awesome! Thanks Dub for the heads up.

For some reason I put together a manuscript time line (and shared it with my mentor) that has me submitting 3 papers in March. Ha! What was I thinking? Maybe I need my own reality vlog to document my own fall from grace. But the good news is.....I FINALLY SUBMITTED ONE OF MY DISSERTATION MANUSCRIPTS! To a top tier journal!

And most importantly, and quite possibly explaining the sheer freneticness of this post, is the following exciting revelation. How long have I worked here? Since October? And how many sleepy afternoons have I passed where I had no hope for a caffeinated kick in the pants other than a Diet Coke? Well, had I moved two feet to the right I might have noticed THIS (ok I wanted to put a picture link here but I'll have to take my own, apparently the internets aren't as enamored with it as I am) a little earlier. Oh yeah, a high class Wolfgang Puck "Crappy Cap" coffee vending machine(i.g. automated caffeine-pusher, which typically produces crappy cappuccinos.) This one, though, WOW, you can specify your degree of desired "STRENGTH" "LIGHTENER" and "SUGAR." (My favorite is the "lightener"--I ordered this extra strength!) And it it is gourmet--with options for vanilla, berry, chocolate, coffee, or combos of any of the above. WOW!! After just one cup: GO ME!



outtie~

I am sooooo predictable

I think I just spent more time searching for the perfect iPhone app to help me track my fitness/diet goals than I will actually spend working toward said fitness/diet goals.

Meanwhile, I perish (perish: verb, to suffer destruction or ruin resulting from a chronic inability to publish).

Free Bras

I know my posting has been sporadic at best. And that I tend toward the random and absurd. That's just how I roll.

Speaking of the random...

I have been scanning my local Freecycle a lot lately and have come across some funny stuff. Here's a great offer that raises all kinds of questions:

OFFER: Two bras size 38B wore once on a cruise

Seriously? What kind of cruise was this? Why were they just worn on the cruise? But apparently they were in hot demand, because just two days later I see the following post:

TAKEN: Two bras size 38B wore once on a cruise

...they were taken.

I love Freecycle.

Random Postdocly Updates

I recently attended my university's postdoc association holiday party. It was more fun that I thought it would be. You get a bunch of primarily lab scientists together and...well things can get boring fast.

After 2 days of endless data cleaning, my back and right wrist are starting to hurt. Ugh, RSIs.

I forgot my lunch today. Since it was in the teens today I didn't really feel motivated to leave my building. We do have a small diner/lunch spot in my building. But every time I go there I wonder just what "vegetarian beef barley soup" is really made of. Being primarily concerned with the "vegetarian" part, and less interested in the "beef" side of things, I have yet to try it out.

I am annoyed at my university for not providing enough holidays. What's up with that? We don't even get Christmas Eve off, or the day after Christmas. Sure we get a decent package of vacation days for a research-only environment, but it's not like people actually use them.

My new puppy, Fiona, is adorable.

Slow Posting, It Was the Cats

I apologize for the lack of posting but things have been a little hectic lately. Most of you know I relocated in late September but you might not know that I came alone, with just a car full of clothes and dissertation data and a sweet friend who volunteered for the 2-day drive. Over Thanksgiving weekend, the rest of my household came to join me.

This process involved:
--Cats getting microchips injected in their backs.
--Awesome friends who helped me pack and clean. I love you guys!
--Putting mad cats in containers.
--Loading tons of crap onto a big truck.
--Cat with a bleeding nose.
--14+ straight hours of me and brother in law driving in the snow/sleet/rain. --Husband driving Big Truck for 18+ hours.
--Cats on drugs.
--Cats hiding in friend's closets.
--Putting cats back into containers, again.
--Very sad cats.
--Closing on our first house.
--Going to Lowes.
--Missing cat.
--Unloading the massive truck.
--Searching for cat.
--Going to Home Depot.
--Trying to find some socks, because it's cold.
--Cat trying to commit suicide.
--Another visit to Lowes.
--Learning about the "charm" of a 105 year old house.
--Going, again, to Home Depot.
--Cats slowly recovering, but never, ever, forgiving.
--Discovering mold.
--Cat with a scabby nose.
--And by tomorrow afternoon,MY FIRST DOG, FIONA. And then, another trip to Lowes.


So, as you can see, my life is pretty wild. More on the Postdoc Experience (PE) when things settle down.