"In physiology I learned that everyone makes anywhere from 100,000 or so to 400,000 or so cancer cells A DAY." This is a common claim on alt med sites, but I've never seen evidence to back it up. The misunderstanding seems to relate to the fact that cells in the body are constantly wearing out, developing chromosomal defects etc. and are removed by normal body physiologic mechanisms - but these are not "cancer" cells until they start to divide uncontrollably and form a tumor. Your body doesn't need help from herbs to carry out its immune functions, few if any herbs have been found to enhance immunity in human beings, and if they did we'd have to be concerned about nonspecific hyperimmunity leading to autoimmune diseases. http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/cid/documents/webcontent/003042-pdf.pdf "I have known many people who went to doctor after doctor who found nothing until they were so sick they were dying. This is not uncommon, unfortunately." What is the rate of cancer detection by alternative practitioners? What early detection systems do they have to rival (for example) mammography and colonoscopy in the diagnosis of breast and colon cancers?

1) My big black, super duper curly hair, glasses, face of freckles, big lips, flat wide-ish nose (w/ a giant freckle in the middle of course!), unfashionably archless and full brows (still neatly waxed though mind you!), green eyes and vanilla latte mocha complexion. A fitting tribute to my colorful heritage! 2) Falling into the stereotypical dramatic artist role. I see things in black and white, right or wrong and am very passionate about these things. Some might say I'm difficult (and I am to a certain point) but I've ALWAYS prided myself on thinking rationally while being in the throws of something. Totally throws the other person off. 3) I'm a closet softie. 4) Being able to communicate w/ scared or angry dogs. I loved my many yrs working at the SPCA. It thrilled me when the police or another animal rescue organization would send for me to assist in a 'dog-gone-bad' situation. I loved being able to waltz in and get a dog on a leash and walk out w/ an entirely different dog than the one I was sent for. I've seen a lot of things and lots of it was exciting. I've talked doggies off sides of bridges and have gone down stream holding onto dogs after a flood to rescue them. Hey - we all need a little understanding! 5) Math. I discovered it while taking college courses for something in my earlier 30's. Now I just like to take courses. It's such a challenge and what a wonderful feeling when you correctly figure out a problem! 6) There's something to be said for contentment. I love my lot in life, my husband, kids and house and that makes me happy.

Our appliance choices (and by "our" I mean all of us, not just mine) are so personal -- it's fascinating! Like trailrunner we spent over a year just doing research on appliances. For my husband, who does the vast majority of the cooking plus we're vegan, having a separate all-fridge and all-freezer was a must. Based on our research, talking with owners / repair centers, we easily chose the Thermador 30" freedom all-fridge and all-freezer columns. It's been 2.5 years and we're still really happy with them. There was a problem with the freezer's CPU (?) but it was taken care of quickly and fairly by Thermador. We were pleased with how they handled it. My husband also insisted on a continuous grate gas cooktop. Because I have a problem with things boiling over I needed sealed burners and separated wells (so the boiled over fluid wouldn't go everywhere). We live at high altitude (5400 ft), so we needed high BTUs, plus my husband is Japanese and does a lot of high-heat Asian-inspired cooking. For us, the Thermador 36" six-burner cooktop was the right choice. It is super easy to clean (we're messy) and we're happy with its performance. I love to bake and I'm only 5'4" -- I desperately wanted a french door or side-opening oven. This was the thorn in my side as when I started my search Gaggenau only came in either 24" (am I remembering that correctly?) wide double ovens or a single 36" oven, and holy cow is Gaggenau expensive! Jeez. But then I became obsessed and Gaggenau was going to release a 30" double oven ... so I did it: Gaggenau 30" double wall-oven, side-opening. So expensive but I'm still so so so happy with my side-opening ovens! Use them every day, every single day. Truthfully, the baking is fine. I know there are many Gagg lovers who rave about the superior baking from their Gaggs -- I think it's fine. But I will tell you this: it heats up quickly, the fan is quiet, and the controls are easy to use although not intuitive. Everyone who comes over needs serious instruction in how to turn it on. Our microwave is a Sharp R-1214 over-the-counter which is, you know, a microwave. It gets the job done. We didn't want a countertop microwave nor a built-in where we'd have to have the fancy grills, so this was it which wasn't an over-the-range (didn't want or need the vent). Our dishwasher is a Kitchen-Aid, one highly recommended by Consumer Reports. We knew we wanted hidden controls (little "helpful" hands), super-duper quiet and it had to have a grinder. Our previous dishwasher was a mid-range Bosch and it did not have a grinder. My husband refuses to wipe off anything before it goes in the dishwasher (I wipe into the garbage -- I refuse to rinse), including popcorn kernels. I think it's a dumb move on his part but by getting a dishwasher with a grinder I can at least not have to deal with a flooded dishwasher. I was furious when that happened. Anyway, so far so good! We also have GE Monogram 24" refrigerator drawers. Perfecto! For our needs (and I'm including budget here) they perfectly meet the bill. They are easy to open / close, easy to clean (all things considered), hold everything we need them to .... Our vent is a remote blower Broan. I can't remember anything else about it, but it's powerful and has the remote blower -- the remote was the issue for my husband.

lyfia, thanks, and we agree. The glass company said building codes only require us to use safety (tempered) glass for the two end panels; the center three could be annealed, if the glass started 18" off the floor. How crazy is that? We'd never want to take that risk, either. Yikes. Fortunately the bid for tempered glass was only about 15% higher than annealed glass (which really surprised me.) So we'd only consider tempered 1/4" if we use glass. Laminated glass (with the plastic skin in the middle) would be the safest, but it's super pricey. I think safety glass would be OK. Another option is 1/4" plexiglass, which I think would work as a substrate for the glass mosaic, as long as I didn't go too big with the panels. (I think big plexi panels might flex, which isn't good for a grouted mosaic...?) At some point I need to go ask the folks in the stained glass/mosaic forum here. So far the pricing for thick plexiglass seems comparable to tempered glass. There would still be small grouted glass pieces on one side of the divider (we could put it on the low traffic side) but I don't think the surface would be risky for kids, since all the sharp edges would be embedded in grout. And it would be pretty hard to break. We considered colored plexiglass panes too, but it just seems so "mod" for the informal, earthy textures in the house. Colored tempered glass and frosted tempered glass are way too expensive (pushing $1000 just for the frosted glass idea, for five 5' panels.) I considered frosted films and frosted spray paint, but I think those ideas have a limited life span (especially if the house has active kids) since the spray frostings can scratch off. And DH keeps wishing for color, and he's got me agreeing. It has to be somewhat transparent or it blocks too much light. So, now considering a fairly open wooden framework, with smallish glass mosaic panels scattered. Still playing with ideas...!