Timelies all!

Happy Birthday Dana!

Whew. Totally got called into a meeting where I swear I didn't know shit about the topic and I managed to contribute things no one else thought of. Blessed be.

I now have honey glazed macadamias. I suspect I hate macadamias. I am not a nut person. But the guy who gave them to me was being sweet. And it's not like you're going to bring a Jamaican Kona or anything.

It turns out my boss likes to talk shit at the end of the day, especially on Friday, especially when there was a big presentation today. I felt a little bad that I ran out in the middle, but it's that or wait another 35 minutes, and I don't think she had 35 minutes' worth of shit left to talk.... She asked me for my take on the whole thing, and I had to say it was nothing I haven't heard at EVERY SINGLE JOB I'VE EVER HAD.

Health ~ma for your dad, Matt.

I think we've talked about toxoplasmosis makes rats more likely to be eaten by cats by causing rats to lose their fear of cats. But this is cool and funny:

Once in the rat, Toxo's goal is to then be eaten by a cat so it can be fruitful and multiply, but as I mentioned, this can only take place in the cat's gut. Toxo's goal is to get the rat eaten by a cat. Toxo could get the desired effect through a whole sort of seemingly obvious ways; e.g., Make the rat hard to run so it is easier for a cat to catch it. Instead it takes a far more interesting approach: Toxo generates cysts in the brain of the rat. These cysts take over the fear center of the brain, but specifically the fear of predators. Common fear sources for rodents (e.g., bright lights, open spaces, etc.) still operate perfectly well in an infected rat, but now they are no longer afraid of cat piss. That alone would be cool enough, but Toxo takes it one step further. When Toxo is going about futzing with the fear center of the brain it also goes into the sexual excitement part of the brain. It hijacks the incoming Fear of Cat Piss™ and instead diverts the signal to the Barry White™ center of the brain.

"Somehow, this damn parasite knows how to make cat urine smell sexually arousing to rodents, and they go and check it out. Totally amazing." - Dr. Sapolsky

The rat is now sexually attracted to cat piss! (This is a fetish that gets you eaten by your predator and rats clearly do not have any safe words with cats.)

...

This is all good fun for fucking with the behavior of rat brains, but is there anything that crosses over into the human realm? This is the question that Dr. Sapolsky’s team has been working on.

...

“A small literature is coming out now reporting neuropsychological testing on men who are Toxo-infected, showing that they get a little bit impulsive. … And then the truly astonishing thing: two different groups independently have reported that people who are Toxo-infected have three to four times the likelihood of being killed in car accidents involving reckless speeding.” – Dr. Sapolsky

Guided by Parasites: Toxoplasma Modified Humans

Are any of these people any of you people??? Librarians Do Gaga

One of them is a friend of a friend.

health-ma for your Dad, Matt. I hope all is well.

I can haz pain relief? I can, I can. Yay.

and I am DONE with grading, and done with all the silly on-line courses I have to take as a new adjunct.

Relief. A week with no work obligations. YAY.

msbelle, I hope the weekend goes smoothly. Yay, Mac, for learning from his actions. Good kid. It's hard, applying logic to emotions. You are doing a good job in a touch sitch, and he is lucky to have you as a mom.

One of them is a friend of a friend.

I knew there had to be some kind of a connection.

Lots of ~ma, Matt.