Dear Becca,

Thank you for the visit and for mentioning my roommate Joel. He was in remission for a year, but the cancer came back, and is situated throughout the lymph nodes around his intestines and stomach, so there is nothing the doctors can do except give him another round of chemotherapy. He gets dosed every Thursday. He is now undergoing nausea and his hair has started to fall out. He is still a stubborn procrastinator, and he did not take my advice during the two years he had cancer and didn’t feel bad, about using his inheritance to travel or do things he’s always wanted to do. He’s one of those people who doesn’t really want to do anything except sit around and drink beer and watch TV. His computer, which he bought after he first received word he had contracted cancer, sits unused in his bedroom. One thing he did do is to buy a new car.

Has your cancer disappeared?

I was in awe of your photo of all your puters. I have four desktops, but only use the latest, purchased late in 2005. The others are actually nothing but wasted space. My first experience was in 1996 using Windows 3.1 at work. Eventually I got a CAD program for designing control panels at work, and then I got my first home machine in 1998 and created my website in 1999.

Michael F. Nyiri, poet, philosopher, fool