Toxoplasma gondii

ok, so this is the stuff that they tell pregnant women about when dealing with cats and kitty litter. apparently this parasite likes to hang out in rat brains, but can only complete it's life cycle in a cat. so when the rat becomes infected with it, it's behavior changes and the rat loses it's natural fear of cats, and starts hanging out in front of cats where it most likely ends up being eaten; allowing the parasite to continue it's life cycle.

here is where it gets weird and kind of scary.

scientists wanted to know....

"Given that human and rat brains have a lot of similarities (they share the same basic anatomy and use the same neurotransmitters), a question naturally arose: if Toxoplasma can alter the behavior of a rat, could it alter a human?"

and so.....

"Parasitologist Jaroslav Flegr of Charles University in Prague administered psychological questionnaires to people infected with Toxoplasma and controls. Those infected, he found, show a small, but statistically significant, tendency to be more self-reproaching and insecure. Paradoxically, infected women, on average, tend to be more outgoing and warmhearted than controls, while infected men tend to be more jealous and suspicious."

It's controversial work, disputed by many.....but.....

"E. Fuller Torrey of the Stanley Medical Research Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. Torrey and his colleagues had noticed some intriguing links between Toxoplasma and schizophrenia. Infection with the parasite has been associated with damage to a certain class of neurons (astrocytes). So has schizophrenia. Pregnant women with high levels of Toxoplasma antibodies in their blood were more likely to give birth to children who would later develop schizophrenia."

and....

"A year later, Torrey and his colleagues discovered one more fascinating link. They raised human cells in Petri dishes and infected them with Toxoplasma. Then they dosed the cells with a variety of drugs used to treat schizophrenia. Several of the drugs--most notably haloperidol--blocked the growth of the parasite."

btw, it is estimated that about 3 billion people around the world are infected with this parasite. i'm guessing the majority in developing countries.

i would like to have a little bit of this parasite, so that i could be a little more warm and fuzzy and talkative without the help of some kind of alcohol or drug.

you can find the entire article here.

this is what you do when your kid wont stay still.....

wow, i think it's time to remove some of that makeup.

ok, i've been so lazy. well, maybe not lazy, but distracted. there is a ton i have not posted about so i will do a post every day of this weekend, to catch up.

first post is about betty's.

Fuck YOU BETTY. take your fucking ugly, dumpy and rude hostess and shove her up your fucking twat. i'd rather eat rusty razor blades covered in pus than to ever eat at your fucking establishment again. trust me, your shit AIN'T THAT GOOD. whatever you serve, i'm sure someone else serves too, but with better service. i've heard so many people complain about your restaurant that i'm perplexed as to how you are still in business. your place is not that good, nor is it that cool, and you certainly do not know how to run a business that will keep people coming back.

i will let every person, friend or stranger, know what i experienced at your restaurant and i will make sure that neither i, nor anyone that i have influence over, will ever step foot in your place again. take your fucking mixed greens and avocado salads and shove them down your hostess' throat, just like the dick that she sucked throughout high school, so that she could shut the fuck up. the sound of her fucking voice made me unable to digest your mediocre food. i'd rather eat at the soup kitchen down the street with the bums and addicts than to ever see her offensive, forced sneer or hear her shrill and piercing whine.

i want my money back as well as the 2 hours of my life that it took to eat lunch in your shit hole and an apology from that inbred, hobbit looking, crusty cunt. i'd gladly give you whatever i have left of your not so special food; preferably in shit form, preferably in her huge, fucking, gaping, trap so that she could see what it feels like to be fed grade A bullshit.

fuck you betty for hiring that troll you call a hostess. fire that bitch before she puts you out of business.

i'll have pictures to post soon. over the weekend possibly

but what i really wanted to say was.....we were in madison wisconsin last weekend and it was really rainy. the storms that we are going through were just starting. we came home monday night, and today i hear that three people were killed by lightning in madison yesterday, while waiting at a bus stop. their bus stops are really cool. i took a picture of one of them and was going to post it. that is so weird, it totally could have been us.