Here is an update on my dad - heartfelt thanks to all of you who inquired and sent good wishes. He had a second biopsy on Monday and was allowed to go home after that. He's been diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma (kidney cancer) on his left kidney which has metastasized to his liver, but just barely. His doctor has not said anything concrete about stages, prognosis, etc. but finally outlined a treatment plan: he's going on a medication called Sutent for 3 months. Now, I'm just a wee tiny bit curious as to why that is, since Pfizer has posted all over that website that Sutent isn't effective at curing symptoms or prolonging the life span of people with renal cell carcinoma. Now, I'm not a doctor, I don't play one on TV and I DIDN'T stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, but it seems to me that our chances might improve somewhat were they to prescribe something that's, I dunno, actually effective at treating his condition. [The sarcasm. It burns.] Nancy speculated that it might be more of a legal disclaimer than a medical one, so that the family of the one person whose cancer Sutent doesn't cure won't sue Pfizer for billions, but I want to pose that question to the doctor and hear his response. My dad has an appointment on Monday and has said that I can go with him, so I can pose my questions directly to the oncologist.

On a lighter note, The Boss bestowed a large bag of Valentine M&Ms (peanut variety) today. You just can't beat chocolate as a job perk, people. We have dental, too, for when the chocolatey goodness rots my teeth.

Did you get Highlights magazine as a kid? I did and my favorite thing was the hidden object pictures. You know, where there's a scene like of a living room and in that picture you have to find a fish, an egg, a leaf, a lasso, etc. Well, I've just been playing a very fun computer game from Yahoo! that's similar, Mystery Case Files: Ravenhearst. Ravenhearst is a mansion, you click on the rooms and each room is a hidden objects scene. There's a list of objects to find in each room and once you've found enough, you unlock a simple jigsaw puzzle illustrating a diary entry. When you've done the jigsaw, you get to read the diary entry and progress the mystery narrative a little. There are also locked rooms to which you gain entry by solving a Rube Goldberg-style lock puzzle. It's pretty fun - even Alan played along with me, trying to help find objects.

Many of you know that my brother is a professional musician who plays the bass. Last night I was one hidden object away from a diary entry, and I kept looking and looking for the bass. Couldn't find it, and I scrutinized every inch, every PIXEL, of that room. Thinking I was being clever, I next scanned the room for a bass clef. Here are clefs:



(Only those first four are commonly used these days.)

Still no joy so after a snack break, I returned and once again scoured that room for a contrabass. I searched and searched for a bass, a bass viol, a bass clef, nothing.

Finally Alan found it. A fish. A freaking FISH. Rhymes with ass, not case. I blame Bo.