thank you everyone! my back feels a lot better now! :)

i think there are two possibilities to my quick "semi-recovery":

1. the back pain was probably not due to a slipped disc but was instead a serious muscle injury (as many of you have been trying to tell me, but to no avail... ya, i know, i wouldn't be walking around if it really was a slipped disc.. :p)

2. i have been really careful with my back since then, avoiding sudden movements (which is not easy for an "animated person" like me) and (i think) practicing the "Alexander Technique" as prescribed by my dear nurse sister - a method that advocates good posture and achieving "new balance in the body by releasing unnecessary tension while sitting, lying down, standing, walking, lifting, and other daily activities..."

caught classic german movie Bremen Freedom (Bremer Freiheit) just now at the Goethe-Institut... a bleak & grainy 1972 adaptation of the real-life story of Geesche Gottfried - a determined (but somewhat short-fused woman) who systematically poisons all (mostly men) who stand in her way of asserting her right to think for herself (as a woman), to find happiness (despite questionable morality) and self-determination (to run her "harness-making" business without the help (or perhaps hindrance) of men).... she serves them cups of coffee laced with "rat butter".... Hey guys, beware of women who serve you coffee after you offend them!!! hahaha...