Gone too soon...

Anne Bancroft, the legendary actress who brought Mrs. Robinson to life in The Graduate, and wife of the incredibly awesome Mel Brooks, has died at age 73 of uterine cancer.

Born Anna Maria Italiano in 1931 in New York's Bronx borough, she got her start in movies in the 1950s.

She won an Oscar for her 1962 film "The Miracle Worker," where she played Annie Sullivan, the extraordinary teacher to blind, deaf and speechless Helen Keller in the movie directed by Arthur Penn.

Over her long career, she garnered a further four Academy Award nominations for "The Pumpkin Eater" (1964), "The Graduate" (1967), "The Turning Point" (1977), and "Agnes of God" (1985).

She also won two Tony Awards for her work on the Broadway stage, including one for the stage version of "The Miracle Worker" in 1960.

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June 4, 1989:

June 5, 2004:

June 6, 1944:

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So, flying from LA to Phoenix there was a 5 year old behind me. I was in the window seat, the middle was empty and DH was on the aisle. The kid's mom was in the middle and someone else was on the aisle.

I'm thinking, it's only an hour, it won't be a problem. WRONG.

For those of you lucky enough to have never flown out of LAX, take-off is over the water. That kept the kid occupied for about 10 minutes, then....

To find out the rest, read the extended entry.... more...

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I spent much of yesterday on a plane. More on that later.....

As if I didn't need a reminder, I missed 2 very important things....

1. Deep Throat is #2.

2. Jen's Beau is now Jen's fiancee (yay!)

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Leaving for home this afternoon. See you all tomorrow

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A great big Thank You! to everyone who left such nice messages yesterday. I really appreciate it!

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It's amazing what kind of things you forget when you leave what you love for so long and don't come back often....

The clarity of the light. In LA the light is different than anywhere else. It seems so sharp and white, even through the smog.

The blue sky, not as blue as Carolina's, but somehow bigger as if the world itself was expanded.

The technicolor flowers, from the pink and orange roses to the purple jacaranda blooms that fall on green grass.

The fact that people understand how to use a left turn lane!

Gridded streets.

Real ethnic food.

Dry heat.

The way that although some things change, others will always be the same in unexpected and delightful ways.

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I'm DONE!!!!

Finished getting all of the little glitches and goofs out of the thesis, and made a pdf so I can email it to my advisor (in New York) and another of my committee members (in Europe).

Now I just to print 4 more copies of the bugger and distribute them, and then prep for my meeting next Thursday!

Yay!!!!

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This week at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting, an astonishing breakthrough in the treatment of some hematological cancers was announced.

The drug Revlimid was tested in 115 patients with MDS, or myelodysplastic syndrome, a condition in which the bone marrow can not make enough mature, healthy blood cells. MDS, while little known, is actually more common in American adults than Leukemia, and results in anemia and fatigue, and eventually death from somatic oxygen deprivation. MDS patients require frequent transfusions to keep them alive, and there are few drugs available to treat the symptoms of the disease.

According to the authors of the study, Revlimid was initially tried in order to ease the symptoms of the disease, but to their surprise, doctors found that Revlimid actually was curing the disease itself.

After about six months on the drug, 66 percent no longer needed blood transfusions, said the study's leader, Dr. Alan List of the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla. A year later, three-fourths of them still don't need transfusions.

But the big surprise was that signs of the genetic mutation fueling the disease diminished in 81 patients and vanished in 51.

"The chromosome abnormality completely disappeared, something we've never seen before" from a drug aimed just at boosting red blood cells, List said.

That's amazing. It seems to have at least temporarily CURED nearly half the patients in a reasonably sized study, and more patients than that had their main symptoms alleviated. Drugs don't usually do so well in this kind of study, especially when their mechanism of action is unknown.

Revlimid is chemically related to thalidomide, and like its notorious cousin, little in known about how Revlimid works, except that it boosts certain aspects of the immune system. So far, according to the authors, the drug has been well-tolerated with few serious side effects.

I'll be keeping an eye on this one, it may turn out to be a real boon to millions of people.

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I added the references and made some changes to one of the data sections based on new observations and now all I have to do is make corrections based on what the boss tells me I need to work on, and fix the figures and make sure the numbering is consistent. Yay!

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Bou posted this the other night about angels in her life, and I have a story I wanted to share too, although nowhere near as spooky cool as what she experienced.

You know how sometimes the answers are in front of you, but you can't see them? How sometimes you need a gentle prod in the right direction? Well, today I was feeling pretty wretched, and I got an email from a friend. Well, not really even a friend. She's the fiancee of one of my college roommates, a guy who I am pleased and proud to call a brother, though not blood. In fact, she and I didn't even know each other in college, I was acquainted with her through her sister and some mutual friends who were in my class. But I guess we're friends now, since if we weren't I wouldn't let her marry my boy

She's also a grad student in biology, and she emailed me for some advice. After answering her questions, I let her know we'll be missing the wedding because we'll be out in LA, hopefully finding a place to live. Instead of being put out that we would be missing the wedding (which is on the East Coast near her parents), she was just so happy we were finally coming back, and even told us to look into moving into their neighborhood. It just made my day.

I realized that's something I've missed. Having the people that mean the most to you nearby, so you can spend time with them without having to make a major production number out of it is something a lot of people take for granted.

I'd been pretty torn up about moving. We have friends here, and I love the small town and the trees and the animals. This is the only place we've lived together as husband and wife. But today I realized that I've been missing something that means so much to me, and it's changed me. I'm not the person I was 5 years ago, and not just because I'm not 22 anymore.

Going home is a good good thing for me and my husband and it doesn't matter whether I have a job lined up or not right now. What matters is that I'm not leaving somewhere, I'm going home, I just needed to be reminded of it. Thanks.

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The always interesting Steve of VodkaPundit has a good reason for being distracted. He and the lovely Melissa are expecting a little stranger in December.

Drop in and offer him your congratulations!

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Happy Mothers Day to my Mom and all of the rest of you who are worth so much more than you receive for all of the things you do, especially some of my favorite bloggy moms:

Deb
Bou
VW
Amanda
Anita
Marie
Michele
Michelle
Christina
Bobo
Kate
Kelley
Key
AWTM
Rose
Da Goddess
Margi
Beth
Daisy Girl
Pam
Justine
Kathleen
And anybody else I missed....Have a wonderful day!

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Must keep writing....Open thread for the rest of you.

What's up?

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I just sent the first draft of my thesis to my PI and my committee chair to look over.

The hard part is done.

Now I just wait for the comments.....

Update: she wants 5 more pages of Ch. 3 by tomorrow AM

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So I was frustrated today and I went for a walk at work this afternoon. I found the nicest little walk, from the hospital to the new student center via a new path, and then around the bell tower and the stadium and back to the hospital. Probably 1/2 to 3/4 mile, up and downhill, but nothing steep. The perfect 15 minute escape from the lab.

And I find it 3 weeks before I'm done!!!! ARRRRGH!!!!

Ok, to be fair, it didn't exist a couple of months ago, since the new building wasn't done, but, still.

BTW, I'm starting the dress diet today. The wedding I'm a bridesmaid in is July 30th, and I'm hoping to need my mom to do some 'good' alterations. The dress fits great now, but I'd like it to fit better, if you know what I mean, and the fact that it's sleeveless is an incentive to start lifting again... even if it is just 3lbs at a time. I get the feeling my fitness ball and I are going to know each other quite well in the next few weeks....

Plus I'd like to be in better shape when we move. The stronger my muscles are, the less stress I put on my joints when I lift heavy things and pack boxes. Writing forces me to sit on my can, and well, I'm pretty bored with it.

I'll keep you updated.....

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1. read blogs. Turns out the computer this baby is hooked to has enough power to acquire massive graphics and read webpages at the same time! WooHoo! No more boring 2 hour scans!

Do you need any more things to do?

Answers to the Tag meme tonight when I get stuck in thesis writing....

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Working feverishly on thesis....

Need to have last 2 chapters of a first draft mostly done by tomorrow.
Check out some of the fine folks on the blogrolls!

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My day WAS kinda crappy so far. How was yours?

Going out tonight. Maybe to a flick, maybe just to Target to buy one on DVD and then watch it at home....

Update: We went to Target and got South Park Season 5 on DVD. Excellent. I laughed hard enough that I feel much better now. Two of my favorite episodes of all time are in this set: "Osama Bin Laden Has Farty Pants" and "Cripple Fight!" (including the classic 20 minute fight from "They Live")

Also, for those of you who have been wondering, Team America will be released on DVD on May 17th....

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Yay!

Football is a big thing in our house thanks to the DH. College, NFL, he doesn't really care. He'll even watch Arena Football, but usually we'll take a pass.

So the NFL season officially kicks off with tomorrow's draft. I'm a little tired of it after a week of hype, but I'm stil gonna watch the first round. I always do.

Who do you think will go first? My money's on Aaron Rodgers of Cal to the 49ers. I know that most people think Alex Smith of Utah is the top choice, but I can't imagine that the Niners would pass up a chance to go with a Golden Bear, especially since the team has so much history with Cal. Three years ago, the Carolina Panthers made a surprise move and did the same thing, picking Julius Peppers of UNC 3rd overall. They made sure to get their hands on a great player with a strong local draw. Most Bay Area folks have at least heard of Rodgers, and he's a strong quarterback. Hell, he beat USC against a Heisman winner. But Alex Smith is strong too, and he's younger. Tough to say.

Also, I think we'll see a few last minute deals to trade up for players. there haven't been many of these deals in the last few years, with the closest thing in last year's draft being the trade of Eli Manning and Philip Rivers... which doesn't really count.

What do you think? Predictions? Surprises?

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