Changing my Name

I decided to change the name of my blog. I found that some people were looking askance at the whole "cold-hearted demon" thing. I guess some people didn't find it as funny as I did. Anyway, there must be some new name for me this year. I just haven't had the pleasure of being called something bizarre.

I have, however, stumbled across several student conversations that were bizarre. Actually, they weren't, but you know what it's like when you walk into a conversation and the punchline is being said. Some that I've heard so far:

"And that's when the Asian woman in me came out!" said by a senior describing a bad shopping experience. I'm still not sure what she meant by this, but it sounded really strange walking up to it.

"It's full of spit. Human spit." Mumbled by two sophomores describing the envelope sealing device they were using. It was really filled with water, but they were trying to convince another student that the best way to seal envelopes was with human spit, so the device must be sealed with it. Again, it sounded really strange.

Oh, the cat is Rings. He's the watch cat at my mom and stepdad's place. I just think he's the sweetest thing, but he hates other cats.

BBC NEWS | Health | 1918 killer flu 'came from birds'

Didn't anybody ever read Stephen King's "The Stand"? Remember how, in the story, something like 94% of the world's population died in a matter of months because of a killer flu-like virus that escaped the confines of a government research facility? Okay, maybe I'm over-reacting a bit here.

As a history teacher I have, over the years, read quite a bit about the 1918 Pandemic. I know that scientists have been alarmed by that particular strain of influenza since the beginning and have gone to great lengths to try to recover tissue samples that contain the virus (even, according to one story, transporting Alaskan tissue samples on a commercial airliner). Scientists wanted the virus so they could make sure they could stop it.They have worked for years to make this discovery and it is truly a miracle of science ( and a lot of hard work). Still though, the virus is back. Will scientists continue to manipulate the genetic structure of the bug? What could they create?