Apparently only one other person suggested smallpox! WTF, people! Isn't that the obvious Columbus joke?

Well, either that or the funny syphillis...

Didn't syphyillis originate in the New World? Or was that a myth I read somewhere?

It's official, I'm old. I visited the Gap, Banana Republic, and Talbot's, today, and I'm firmly between BR and Talbot's. Also, I am a lifelong skinny person and the clothes in BR were so tiny they were giving me the BIDs. I think my 8 year old would fit in some of them.

Also, the kids can't take the bus to school until Oct. 24, because there is no existing stop for them and they have to "create a stop." Why this takes 2 weeks is unclear. mr. flea is calling to argue the point and suggest we could walk the kids to the nearest existing stop. I am amused that he thinks he can battle a large urban public school district transportation office using mere logic.

Didn't syphyillis originate in the New World? Or was that a myth I read somewhere?

I had no idea! But wikipedia tells me it's likely. Man, that would have made actual sense with the American veggies I listed. Smallpox was the opposite of sense.

There's still a debate about syphilis. It was not diagnosed in Europe until after Columbus' return, and writers at the time believed it came from the New World. There's clear evidence in bones that it existed in the Americas for hundreds of years before Columbus. There are some bones from one European location that may have indications of syphilis, but this is hotly debated. There are earlier descriptions of symptoms that some scholars attribute to syphilis and others to leprosy. What is indisputable is that the wave of syphilis in Europe after Columbus was much more virulent than any previous similar disease, but became less devastating after several generations. So the odds are that if Columbus did not bring the first syphilis to Europe, he at least brought a much worse strain.

(Okay, I'm a disease geek. Don't get me started on the Plague.)

images of fall. these made me smile:

[link]

Okay, I'm a disease geek.

I find this charming.

And it's nice not to be the only one.

There's a The Counter in the Miami airport. Rare burger with cranberries and plantains is delicious.

Now I need to kill time without thinking. Grrrr.

(Okay, I'm a disease geek. Don't get me started on the Plague.)

That reminds me that I really should read my copy of Gina Kolata's Flu, about the 1918 Influenza. It's shelved right next to Laurie Garrett's The Coming Plague.

Yes, I'm a disease geek, too!

I've read both.