On the drive back yesterday, I listened to my backlog of podcasts. I finally caught up with Radiolab. The topic was parasites.
Seriously, couldn't stop it. Fascinating. Attaching the link to the part that got me.
http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/episodes/2009/09/25/segments/133981
It was a discussion on Toxoplasma Gondii. I learnt in parasitology class in college about how pregnant women were not supposed to clean the cat box. That is because they could be infected by this parasite that is found in cat poop. It leads to miscarriages etc. Not so great stuff.
They go into how exacty toxo works. We humans are the wrong host for it. We are not part of its life cycle. It wants to actually be in rats/rodents. Something that a cat eats. The toxo just wants to get back into the cat and multiply.
When it is in the rat, it works its way into the rats brain and rewires the rat. It makes it so that the rat begins to love the smell of cat. The rat falls in love with the cat, making it so that the rat does not run away when the cat is nearby. Next thing you know, the rat becomes lunch and the toxo gets back into the cat.
Soooo, that has made people start to think. Has toxo rewired humans? Is there a reason that we love cats so much? Are crazy cat ladies really crazy or just infected?
For me, I'm not completely sure. I'm a third generation cat lover. At Thanksgiving, we discussed how everyone in the family has at least one cat. Are we all infected or is it just genetic? Either way, I'm all good with it.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Friday, November 27, 2009
Houston
My dad is a geophysicist. That is a very very fancy and over-educated way to say my dad looks for oil. (Black gold, Texas crude). If you are an oilman, where is the logical place for you to live and raise a family. Houston.
Looking back, my childhood in Houston was not so bad, but all I ever wanted to do was get out of there. It was hot, and muggy, and had these huge churches that were super conservative and scary. The list went on and on.
But, whenever I drive back into town, I get happy. I remember things. Being in high school and hanging out on Richmond and Montrose. Red Square on a Saturday night and dancing until 2. The House of Guys (Pies) on Kirby, getting coffee and people watching. Numbers, Butera's, the Alabama Bookstop, Brasil, The Menil, Step Back Sams, the Dream Merchant.
Things have come and gone. I had dinner at the old site of the Dream Merchant at Mark's. It used to be the clothing store that was in an old church. I remember coming home in high school and telling my mom about that store. They sold Docs on what used to be the alter area. Now it's a fancy restaurant. Super fancy. The alter is now the bar. My mom seemed to have issues with them selling shoes on it, but liquor, not so much.
Really, not a bad town. Maybe I'm waxing poetically because it's November and the weather is beautiful. Lets see how much I like this place when I visit in July.
Looking back, my childhood in Houston was not so bad, but all I ever wanted to do was get out of there. It was hot, and muggy, and had these huge churches that were super conservative and scary. The list went on and on.
But, whenever I drive back into town, I get happy. I remember things. Being in high school and hanging out on Richmond and Montrose. Red Square on a Saturday night and dancing until 2. The House of Guys (Pies) on Kirby, getting coffee and people watching. Numbers, Butera's, the Alabama Bookstop, Brasil, The Menil, Step Back Sams, the Dream Merchant.
Things have come and gone. I had dinner at the old site of the Dream Merchant at Mark's. It used to be the clothing store that was in an old church. I remember coming home in high school and telling my mom about that store. They sold Docs on what used to be the alter area. Now it's a fancy restaurant. Super fancy. The alter is now the bar. My mom seemed to have issues with them selling shoes on it, but liquor, not so much.
Really, not a bad town. Maybe I'm waxing poetically because it's November and the weather is beautiful. Lets see how much I like this place when I visit in July.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Thanksgiving
I just looked, and it has been too long. I stopped blogging for a bit. It became a chore. When something you love becomes a chore, I find it best to take a step back and do other things until that something becomes something you want to do again.
So, I'm back.
The past couple of months have kind of been a mess. I think my mind has been in about 50 places. I ended up dealing with things by doing my version of hiding. I take on too much. Every day of the week I had something. If it wasn't running 6 miles, it was meeting up with friends for 3 hours etc. This finally all caught up with me in November.
My sister got sick again. Her breast cancer came back. The only reason I knew was she texted me about a picture she wanted, and at the bottom she put she was getting her implants redone the next week. I thought to myself "why is she getting them redone??" So, of course I called her.
She acted very non-chalant and explained that during her annual visit with the oncologist, after a series of tests, they just decided to give her a second mastectomy. Also, since its been a couple of years, and she is going to need a new implant, they were going to give her a new one and replace the old. Oh, and take out a bunch of lymph nodes while they were at it. Nothing big.
I kept it all in and talked along with her like it was nothing big. I got off the phone, went to bed, went to work the next day, and proceeded to have a breakdown. Thank god we have the lactation room. At least I had a place to hide out.
Anyway, she finally had the surgery, and of course I have another breakdown outside of Houston's when I hear she isn't doing well. I'm way too emotional for my own good. Unfortunately, Houston's doesn't have a lactation room. They have a 2 hour wait.
So, time moves on and Thanksgiving is coming. No one seems to have any plans. I was thinking I would just orphan it in Dallas. When you say something like that, the offers to take you in come out of the woodwork.
Originally, I had agreed to go with Julie to her families Thanksgiving in Emory. Then, my sister calls and said it was decided that everyone was going to meet in Houston. She and her husband were driving down from Little Rock, and Alex was flying in from Sweden. If he could fly in from Sweden, I could drive 4 hours home.
My poor mom had a week to figure out how to cook for 9 people.
And here I sit. 4 hours later and a Bucees t-shirt. I'm home. Let the dysfunctional fun begin.
So, I'm back.
The past couple of months have kind of been a mess. I think my mind has been in about 50 places. I ended up dealing with things by doing my version of hiding. I take on too much. Every day of the week I had something. If it wasn't running 6 miles, it was meeting up with friends for 3 hours etc. This finally all caught up with me in November.
My sister got sick again. Her breast cancer came back. The only reason I knew was she texted me about a picture she wanted, and at the bottom she put she was getting her implants redone the next week. I thought to myself "why is she getting them redone??" So, of course I called her.
She acted very non-chalant and explained that during her annual visit with the oncologist, after a series of tests, they just decided to give her a second mastectomy. Also, since its been a couple of years, and she is going to need a new implant, they were going to give her a new one and replace the old. Oh, and take out a bunch of lymph nodes while they were at it. Nothing big.
I kept it all in and talked along with her like it was nothing big. I got off the phone, went to bed, went to work the next day, and proceeded to have a breakdown. Thank god we have the lactation room. At least I had a place to hide out.
Anyway, she finally had the surgery, and of course I have another breakdown outside of Houston's when I hear she isn't doing well. I'm way too emotional for my own good. Unfortunately, Houston's doesn't have a lactation room. They have a 2 hour wait.
So, time moves on and Thanksgiving is coming. No one seems to have any plans. I was thinking I would just orphan it in Dallas. When you say something like that, the offers to take you in come out of the woodwork.
Originally, I had agreed to go with Julie to her families Thanksgiving in Emory. Then, my sister calls and said it was decided that everyone was going to meet in Houston. She and her husband were driving down from Little Rock, and Alex was flying in from Sweden. If he could fly in from Sweden, I could drive 4 hours home.
My poor mom had a week to figure out how to cook for 9 people.
And here I sit. 4 hours later and a Bucees t-shirt. I'm home. Let the dysfunctional fun begin.
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