Since it came out Friday, you may have missed it.

Researchers looking into the 1918 flu have done mouse studies to look at what made that flu so deadly.

The first comprehensive analysis of an animal’s immune response to the 1918 influenza virus provides new insights into the killer flu, report federally supported scientists in an article appearing online today in the journal Nature. Key among these insights, they found that the 1918 virus triggers a hyperactive immune response that may contribute to the lethality of the virus. Furthermore, their results suggest that it is the combination of all eight of the 1918 flu virus genes interacting synergistically that accounts for the exceptional virulence of this virus.

It seems like people tend to ignore the flu as something that’s under control. But in the United States 20,000 to 30,000+ people die every year from the flu. An understanding of what made the flu of 1918 so deadly may help as we try to prepare for the next flu pandemic.

Michelle: My cat has lost his mind.
Michael: What are you doing?
Michelle: Coloring.
(more…)

Here’s an opinion poll of sorts–your response to the following question is requested:

Regarding the layout of this portion of my website, I’ve always gone with the two column layout–text on the left, navigation, links, and other miscellany on the right. Primarily because I typically have used smaller monitors, and don’t like scrawny columns of text. But also because I want the text to come up first, so placing it on the left makes it come up first (this is an oversimplification. I know.)

However, CSS allows me to change the order in which elements appear, so I should be able to have the text appear first (should) and then smaller columns on the left and right appear afterwards. This would allow some of the items in my right column to appear higher up (like the wonderful picture of me, as well as the wonderful things people have had to say about me)

But that would–on some monitors–leave the main, center column rather narrow.

Plus, it’ll make the page look more busy.

So, the question is, does anyone actually have an opinion about this? If you do, in fact, have an opinion about web page layout, please share. :)

Michelle

Dear Moron at (317) 490-9796,

If you are calling in the middle of the night, and the person you are calling does not answer, CHECK AND MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE NUMBER CORRECT BEFORE CALLING BACK REPATEDLY.

I was THIS close to calling that number when I got out of bed at 6:15 this morning, but I managed to restrain myself, primarily because I was too tired to start a fight.

So you may have noticed that I’ve been rather distracted recently, and my posting has been rather erratic. (Well, perhaps sporadic would be a better term; I’ve always been erratic.)

There is actually a reason for this (as opposed to an excuse).

Some of you may know what I have been trying to convince my grandmother to move in with us. She’s 89, and we are simply worried about her living on her own as she becomes more fragile and frail, and as her health problems continue to increase. In February Michael, my father, and I drove to Baltimore to talk with my grandmother about her living arrangements, and our worries about her remaining on her own.

Unsurprisingly, she had a huge number of excuses: my aunt’s house had stairs, she was doing fine on her own, etc. But her prime reason always came back to the idea that she “didn’t want to be a burden” and nothing we said seemed to convince her that she was not–and would not be–a burden.

And so she remained in her home, and we continued to mention the idea of moving out to her.

In the meantime, Michael and I started to work on our house, to make it more elderly friendly–we put in an extra parking space and extended the deck so that she would have a stair free entrance. Because my house has everything on one level, and despite the fact it’s smaller than the other alternatives, has the best layout for someone using a cane (or even a walker).

She came to visit in July, and had a great time, and we mentioned again that we really wanted her to move in with us–things would be more convenient, as my house is right near the medical center and my workplace, my father’s workplace, and Michael’s workplace.

She continued to make excuses, including my favorite, “what would Michael’s family think, an old lady moving in with him?” So back home she went, but she did admit that she might be up for an extended visit–she could see then that she wouldn’t be a burden.

Then in August my grandmother went into the hospital. She was in for a week and a half, and came out very week, and unable to go home. Although she normally uses a cane when she leaves the house, she gets around fine in her house (and in our house) without anything. When she got to my Aunt’s house she was feeling so week she needed her walker just to move around inside the house.

However, at some point, she seems to have shifted in her thinking, and two weeks ago told my Aunt that she thought that maybe she simply couldn’t keep her house anymore. After picking herself up off the floor, my aunt asked her what she wanted to do, and she said she wanted to share time between my house and my Aunt’s house. (My aunt’s house has not the best layout, but still has kids in it.)

So, my grandmother is now going to sell her house, and we’re scrambling to get everything ready for her to move in. Which primarily constitutes adding a second bathroom, and finishing a room in the basement so it’s actually warm in the winter when we go to use our computers.

Surprisingly, clearing out the second bedroom is the smaller of the two issues–except for the fact that I really do own a LOT of books, and I’m not quite sure where they’re all going to go now. (We’re hoping that the remodeling in the basement will create space.) The bigger issue has been cleaning out the section of the basement where the bathroom is going to go, and figuring out everything we need to do to put in the bathroom.

But even that isn’t so bad. We’ve done a lot of work on our house, so for the most part taken separately, these are all tasks we can handle. We’ve just never tried to do them all at once.

But we can handle it.

And it really is a huge relief for everyone now that the decision has been made. Every time I talk to my grandmother she actually sounds happy and energetic (as opposed to the really damned tired she’s had going for her for the fast several years). And now that she’s made her decision, she want to sell her house NOW and get it all over with. Which is all right with us, except for the whole getting her house cleaned out thing. (Let me tell you, I am so glad she is not a pack-rat. I am also glad that my aunt has taken on the task of trying to get people to admit what furniture and keepsakes they might want. )

So, I’m busy, but happy, and a whole lot stressed. She’ll definitely be here for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I’m not sure when her stuff will get here, but that’s okay. We’ll take it as it comes.

And that’s why I’ve been distracted for the past year. And why I may continue to be distracted for some time to come.

But it’s all good.

defenestration
Pronunciation: dE-“fe-n&-‘strA-sh&n
Function: noun
Etymology: de- + Latin fenestra window
1 : a throwing of a person or thing out of a window
2 : a usually swift dismissal or expulsion (as from a political party or office)
– de·fen·es·trate dE-‘fe-n&-“strAt/ transitive verb

ADDENDUM the First
To clarify, I have only wanted to defenestrate things/people. I have yet to actually throw something out a window.

But if the computers in my life don’t get their acts together, it may well happen.

Blood on the Water (1992) P. N. Elrod

Okay. Now I’m starting to get frustrated. This is the second book with an unfinished story arc. It’s not quite as bad as the previous book, but it’s still frustrating.

Read More about Blood on the Water

I’m a Nerd.

Shocked by this, aren’t you.
(more…)

Just finished updating to the newest version of MT, plus a comment spam plugin.

Let’s see if everything still works…

Other than the fact I can’t type–and I still can’t figure out why commenter information won’t save–looks like we’re okay.

Turned down the junk filter–it was filtering my comments as junk, which is a bit excessive. Although I got hit with a LOT of comment spam earlier today, so I’m not that sorry.

If anyone has any idea as to why I can’t get cookies to work to save commenter or form data–let me know.

Yay Michael! It only took six months–but he solved the commenting problem! :)

Congratulations Erin & Sean!

Politics test. Big shocker. I’m liberal.
(more…)

Don’t go see Crank if you suffer from motion sickness.

I felt ill within a few minutes. Closing my eyes didn’t help, and ended up leaving about halfway through the movie. (The nice people at Hollywood Theaters were nice enough to give me a cup of ice to help settle my stomach.)

It was bad enough that it eventually made Michael sick as well, and he had to leave before the movie was over.

Happy Talk Like A Pirate Day!

(Sorry. I forgot t’ wear me pirate hat.)

Here be a very nice English t’ Pirate translator page

If this isn’t a mistranslation, then the I must say that the pope is a true politician.

…I am deeply sorry for the reactions in some countries to a few passages of my address at the University of Regensburg, which were considered offensive to the sensibility of Muslims.

Yes, I am quite certain that the pope is sorry that Muslims around the world reacted badly to his quotation of Emperor Manuel II Paleologos of the Byzantine Empire.

Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached

However, I’d rather read that he’s sorry for what he said. I find it difficult to believe that he didn’t consider the reaction of his words before he said them. After all, it’s not as if the Catholic church was a paragon of peace and human rights at that time. The Crusades stretched the thirteenth century, the Spanish Inquisition began in the fifteenth century.

I was initially going to ignore the remarks by the pope. After all, I don’t like him, so I know I’m likely to take things he says the wrong way. However, if he can’t even get an apology right, then I fear that my negative impressions of the head of the Catholic church may be well-founded.