Too much red meat is linked to cancer!

Too much milk can cause cancer!

There's never anything concrete - it's usually some vague link that doesn't say anything for certain. Eat too much of Food A and there may be a slightly higher chance that when you're 85 you'll develop cancer. Is that really cause and effect?

I just can't help being a little sceptical of these studies, because it seems to me that the more studies are carried out, the more basic foods end up being linked to cancer. We need these foods to live, yet they will eventually kill us. Doesn't that just suggest that cancer is an unfortunate but commonplace part of life, regardless of what we eat? Don't get me wrong, cancer is a horrible thing. It killed my uncle, leaving my four young cousins without a father. But surely, this amounts to scaremongering.

I suppose I should be grateful that there are people out there trying to understand how life works, and what we can do to enjoy healthier, disease-free existences. I am grateful. I guess I just can't help questioning.

I volunteered for some new environmental project group at work. The Managing Director sent round an email and I thought it could be interesting, with the bonus that it would probably also look good on my r�sum�. I always had extracurricular activities at school - mainly Vocal Ensemble and Interact, sort of a youth version of Rotary - both of which allowed me to be around different people from various other grades. I think I see this as an opportunity to do a similar thing in my workplace - work with people from different departments on something interesting.

The laugh will be on me when it turns out to be just a lot more boring work to squeeze into my workday.

Also, I really have to learn to stop comparing my life now with what I used to do at school. I finished school almost 10 years ago. The only part of this that isn't depressing is the fact that, other than my much shorter hair, I look pretty much the same now as I did then. Here are two interpretations of this:

Friend with whom my relationship primarily concerns flinging gentle insults at one another: I think you're supposed to be happy about that.

My husband: It's because you aged WAY too early.