Ellen in PA

I'm not sure if these qualify as 'chick flicks' but they feature women very prominently: Two Women (with Sophia Loren) Indiscreet (with Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant) An Affair to Remember (with Deborah Kerr and Cary Grant) Also: La Strada (with Giulietta Masina and Tony Quinn) Autumn Sonata (with Ingrid Bergman and Liv Ullman) Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont (with Joan Plowright) Anastasia (with Ingrid Bergman and Yul Brynner) and a few thousand others... Ellen

Likewise! See you tomorrow! (Or rather 'See yiz tomorrow', as they say in Philly.) Ellen

I learned a lot from my father but the thing I think of most often was his response when I whined about having to do the dishes or whatever, "I wish I lived when everyone had a maid!" -- he would answer, "Then you probably would have been a maid." I think that laid the foundation for my political philosophy more than any other single factor. Ellen

Well, since you mention the Hospital of the Univ of Pennsylvania, I'll lead the replies by telling you that I was dx there and have been treated there in the 18+ months since. My medical onc is Dr. Tracey Evans; the radiation onc that treated me is Dr. Lilie Lin. The only treatment I've agreed to is Zometa every 6 wks (for bones) and a 14-shot radiation treatment to the spine and pelvis about 8 months ago. Plus I take two Lovenox (blood thinner) shots/day against clots. Dr. Evans has been fine with my refusing chemo, which I've learned on sites like this is not to be taken for granted -- some oncs apparently refuse to see patients who refuse chemo. Anyway, I'm very pleased with my experience at HUP. In addition, I have a fantastic cardiologist at HUP, Dr. Susan Wiegers, who basically dx my lung cancer in under a half hour after my previous cardiologist (at Lankenau) and all the geniuses hovering over me during my 3-day stay at Jefferson had no idea why I was SOB or passing out. If there's anything you'd like to talk about, feel free to ask here or PM me. Ellen

Thanks, Ann -- wonderful! My favorite was the long instructions to the wife -- if I didn't live thru that period, I'd be sure it was a joke. OTOH, some of the kitchens looked quite normal for today -- tho I guess I'm not as familiar with kitchens as I should be. Ellen

I don't recall my mother ever singing anything but my father often sang Yiddish songs to me, my favorite being a lullaby 'Oyfn pripetshik', about a rabbi/teacher teaching tiny children the alphabet. Ellen

'La Vie en Rose' written and sung by Edith Piaf influenced everything good that followed in my life: In the 6th grade I had to decide on taking French or Spanish the following year and I was going to choose Spanish because my mother had taken it and said it was easier. Then that weekend I saw 'Sabrina' with Audrey Hepburn. There's a scene where she's writing home from Paris and La Vie en Rose is playing in the background and I fell in love with the song, with Paris, with France... And so I took French in junior high. And I loved French and majored in it in college and met this guy in my French poetry course and fell in love. And so I chased him and he ignored me. Two months later I decided to give it one last try and went to a party I knew he'd be at. I got there before him and was dancing with some guy and La Vie en Rose was playing and my heartthrob arrived and walked right over and cut in ... that was Nov 2, 1962 and we're still married. Of course La Vie en Rose was our first dance at our wedding. Oh, also I came to love language in general because of French and wound up becoming a theoretical linguist and had an extraordinarily satisfying career as such. So that song wound up determining my personal life and my professional life, sort of. More than you ever wanted to know... Sorry. Ellen

I went to a huge hs in NYC (7000 students, graduating class of 1700) and they never had ANY reunions. In 1990 (30 years after graduation), some people decided to have a reunion and managed to locate a large bunch of other grads and held a reunion at a hotel at a NY airport -- and 750 people showed up! It was incredible. People came from 36 states and 14 countries. They made us name tags with our yearbook picture on them, which made recognition infinitely easier. Some people still looked the same, some looked totally different, and some looked just like their mother/father did 30 yrs before. We had another reunion in 1995 but it was much smaller and much less exciting and hardly anyone came who hadn't come to the 1990 one. Oh well. No reunions since then. Ellen

Ned, I'm sorry to hear about your mother-in-law. At least it was quick. Please convey my sympathy to your wife. Ellen

I don't have a day like that but I have a year. In 1923 my father came to America; in 1943 he and my mother got married and I was conceived; in 1963 my mother died; in 1983 my father died. I was kinda nervous all thru 2003, figuring I would die or become a widow -- but nothing happened. Ellen

What is/are your favorite..... Color 1. taupe 2. rust 3. blue or red TV Shows that are still have new episodes coming out 1. Judge Judy 2. South Park 3. Hardball with Chris Mathews TV Shows that you love to watch in reruns 1. Roseanne 2. Cosby 3. All in the Family Chain "sit-down" restaurants 1. IHOP 2. 3. Chain "fast food" restaurants 1. 2. 3. Candy Bar 1. Kit Kat 2. Mounds 3. Milky Way Candies (not in bar form) 1. Dove dark chocolates 2. Pearson's coffee candies 3. See's -- anything with coffee or mocha filling Authors 1. David Lodge 2. Andre Gide 3. Thomas Mann Movies (that you own) 1. Babe 2. Triumph of the Spirit 3. Tea and Sympathy Movies (that you would love to own, but haven't gotten yet) 1. Shoah 2. Jeux Interdits 3. Ballad of Narayama Sports team HAHAHAHA! (I don't do sports, I'm afraid.) 1. 2. 3. Hobbies 1. Puzzles 2. Computer games (perception rather than dexterity) 3. More puzzles Car/Vehicle 1. Toyota Prius 2. RAV4 (That's what I have) 3. Food (Can be specific or general...examples being Chicken pot pie (specific) or Italian (general)). 1. Sweetbreads 2. Foie gras 3. Any long skinny pasta in butter or a cream sauce Ellen

I think teachers should teach reading, writing, and arithmetic (and science and history and geography) and leave their concepts of health and morality out of it. Ellen

Fantastic! Thanks! Ellen

Actually, Japan has pretty good air quality -- but that's not relevant to their wearing masks or avoiding microbes. Ellen

I'm curious about why Westerners are so averse to wearing masks. The Japanese wear masks whenever they have a cold (nothing to do with chemo particularly) and they seem to outlive us by every measure so maybe there's something to it? (No, I don't wear masks -- but I'm not on chemo and don't have a cold and don't usually worry about contagion.) Just wondering... Ellen

Maybe I'm missing something but, if she's survived 9 years with Stage 4, she's already pretty unusual, no? Ellen

Uh, this is a toughie for me since the shows I watch don't lend themselves to wanting to be on them -- I watch Chris Mathews, Ed Schultz, and Keith Olbermann but don't know enough to be a 'pundit'; I watch Judge Judy and Dr G Medical Examiner but don't want to be in a lawsuit or undergoing an autopsy; and I adore Family Guy, South Park, the Simpsons, and King of the Hill but don't want to be an animated cartoon. Ok, I'll pick the Dog Whisperer and hope the brilliant Cesar Millan can teach my little dog to shut the h*** up when the doorbell rings! Ellen

A driver gave me a lift today.

Summer or Winter? Winter Autumn or Spring? Spring Read a book or watch a movie? Watch a movie Eat or Sleep? Eat Excercise or Relax? Relax Socks or Bare feet? Socks Money or Fame? Fame Love or Money? Love Listen to Music or Dance to Music? Listen to music Water or Milk? Water Grape juice or Apple juice? Apple juice Cappucino or Coffee? Cappucino Strawberries or Peaches? Strawberries Ellen

I like most things at a barbecue but I LOVE corn on the cob. Ellen

This may be a great site -- but people should make note of the fact that it is a .com = *commercial* (that is, profit-making) site. Caveat emptor. Ellen

ts wrote: "Did Lipitor prevent lung cancer from forming for years? I was on statin drugs right up to my finding, except for the last couple of weeks. So much for my 77% risk reduction. Yup, I'm part of that 27% who still got lc. Funny math." You and me both. I was on Zocor and then Lipitor from my heart attack in August 2001 until my lc dx in December 2007. Funny math indeed. But my husband has been on Zocor since the 1990s so maybe it's working for him. Ellen

"Tobacco use causes almost 80 percent of lung cancer deaths in women, according to the Atlanta-based U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More lung cancer cases were also diagnosed in women on hormones, though the difference wasn’t statistically significant, today’s study found." ... "Among current and former smokers studied in the research, there were 56 deaths for women treated with hormones and 34 deaths with placebo. Among non-smokers, there were 9 deaths for women on hormones and 5 deaths for patients taking a placebo." This is very funny (or outrageous, depending on your mood). Actually, if the figures mean anything (and the numbers are really ridiculously small), it's that smoking PROTECTS women on hormones from dying of lung cancer! That is, 56/90 (62%) smokers on hormones died of lc, while 9/14 (64%) non-smokers on hormones died. So why did they even MENTION smoking? For all its relevance, they could have told us what percentage of, say, right-handed women on hormones died of lc vs. what percentage of left-handed women on hormones... You get the picture. This is the sort of manipulative/bad journalism that feeds the stigma of lung cancer. Just had to vent... Ellen

Judy, I heartily support your ... doing whatever pleases you! If you like, I can change my name to 'Judy in PA' so then no one can ask you why you're 'Judy in Key West'! Of course, then they'll ask me why I'm suddenly 'Judy'. Ellen (who's too lazy to type Ellen_in_PA every time)

1. What is the worst song people play at their wedding? Because (God made you mine) 2. What is the worst TV show ( past or present) that you'll admit to being a fan of? Family (with Sada Thompson) 3. For the guys- Betty or Wilma? For the gals- Fred or Barney? Don't know them. 4. If you could have a conversation with anybody who ever lived , and could only ask one question, what question would you ask? Sarah Gorby, a dead Yiddish singer. Why did you sing in a nonstandard dialect? (Sorry, I know this is totally uninteresting to everyone but me, but I spent several years of my professional life researching this.) 5. If somebody gave you a free ticket to a Britney Spears concert, would you attend the concert? No thanks. Ellen