Remember when you were a child and something like ice cream or watermelon made you happy?  Maybe they still do.  In any case, a scientific research study conducted by the Behavioral and Brain Lab at the Free University of Communication in Milan, Italy contends that eating a bowl of pasta makes you happier.  Said Professor Vincenzo Russo:   through this study, science has put itself at the service of emotions to certify that pasta and happiness are one . Okay, this was not a definitive research effort, as there were only 40 participants.  Further this study occurred in Italy, where 99% of the population eat pasta an average of 5 times per week.  In comparison, Google AI Overview indicates that 73% of Americans consume past pasta at least once per week, and around 33% up to three times/week. Interestingly enough, in a  ranking of obesity , the USA was #10 ( #1 is the worst, and this location is American Samoa ) vs Italy at #117.   So how d...

I've noticed that I seem to be happy.  That's my usual nature, but it occurred to me that after learning on March 8 that we tested negative for covid, insuring that we would be able to board the Seabourn Odyssey on the 9th, my mind has been very, very happy. This is not quite  euphoria, a condition I first entered in the Fall of 2018 .  What triggered this first episode was the sudden onset of a potentially life-changing incident.  You can read what that was by clicking on that link.  Then I lost this feeling a couple of months later when I went to France for what was a memorable, but yet stressful, trip. Soon after I returned, I went into  Euphoria 2 , which did not last too long because I went on another trip, to the Orient. Soon after I returned, I got the results of two medical procedures, one a colonoscopy, where I feared the worst.  But good fortune, the two polyps were benign.  Just the relief catalyzed  Euphoria 3.    So tha...