Manufactured Monsters

There are many monsters we have created in fiction and urban legend. Sesame Street even turned the concept of monsters on it's head and makes them fun, fuzzy, friends of our toddlers. For Halloween this year, I want to discuss the concept of monsters and show the different ones our psyches will just not let go and new ones our media just will not let go.

Vampires

Ah, the classic monster, a creature that gets nourishment from drinking the blood of other creatures. Ever since Bram Stoker introduced Dracula into popular culture, the Vampire has been the quintessential monster. There are quite a few examples of “vampiric” animals in nature: mosquitoes, leeches, and a certain south American bat instantly come to mind. I am actually surprised there are not more vampires in nature since blood is quite healthful. Although now in popular culture, it seems that Vampires are sexy. True Blood, Eclipse, as well as numerous TV shows are showing young-looking Vampires with old souls that just want a little blood. I am not sure which is more absurd, the Sesame Street friendly monster or the sexy vampire.

Frankenstein's Monster

Thanks a lot, Mary Shelly. You have really screwed up science, ever since you wrote that book. You know the one I am talking about. Your monster, a reanimated man, has given reason for many people to loathe scientists and science. Mad science may be cool to some, but real science and scientists suffer.

The Mummy, and no I am not talking about Hockey Moms

The Mummy's Curse is based on Archeologists and grave robbers disturbing the Pharaoh’s tombs in Egypt. Many think the Pharaoh's so protected their treasures in the tombs that they were able to kill anyone who disturbed their crypts. Later evidence points to a deadly fungus which was present in the tombs as the cause of the “curse” which did kill possibly ten people. As to whether the tombs naturally had these fungi or if they were introduced by the Egyptians before the tomb was sealed is still a mystery for archeologists to answer.

Werewolves

People turning into wolves by the light of the full moon. Origins of this monster come from Europe and may have to do more with serial killers than wolves. Perhaps something evil that a person has done is so horrific that others have to explain it by saying they became an animal. There is a rare genetic condition called hypertrichosis, where the sufferer has thick hair growing all over their body may give the appearance of a man-wolf. It is sad that those people with these sorts of genetic anomalies were automatically assumed to be monsters.

Bigfoot

Mr. Bigfoot, also known as the Sasquatch or theYeti depending upon where in the world you are asking about a huge man-like ape. This is a variation on the werewolves except that many people thing these are just incredibly rare creatures or just an urban legend. They may exist, but I think there are many more hoaxes out there then real evidence for these creatures. It may be that there are hermits out there that want to be alone, and therefore scare people off.

Ghosts

I think many people want to believe in ghosts, spectral dead people who walk this planet before going to the “other side”. It explains weird things that happen, and some people must think this is how someone who dies a wrongful death can get revenge beyond the grave. I have never seen a ghost, but I do have friends who wholeheartedly believe they exist. It seems like our psyches sometimes need them to exist.

Chupacabra

This creature is a recent urban legend, the “goat sucker” is another cryptozoology mystery, like bigfoot.  A legend of the Americas, although they have been found in other parts of the world as well, and the hispanic community. Many skeptics think they are dogs or coyotes with terrible cases of mange.

Zombies

Zombies are hot this year. They are the monster of the year. A friend of mine posted on Facebook that he was going to write a biology lecture on zombies for Halloween. I joked that “zombies are so last summer”, but he quickly posted back that they are “still very hot, just look at the ratings for 'The Walking Dead'”. And he is right. For whatever reason, possibly recession induced, zombies which are people infected with a virus so virulent it makes their skin fall off their bones and turns them into cannibals, giving the famous “Brains....brains...” cry when they are hunting for fresh humans to feed upon. And if they only bite you, well then you become a zombie as well. Ick.

You know it is interesting how there are many parallels between all of these monsters. Vampires, werewolves and zombies make more of their kind by biting prey. The chupacabra is an animal form of a vampire. Werewolves and Bigfoot both are in the very least quite hairy human-like creatures. Frankenstein's Monster and zombies both have anti-science elements to them due to mad science or a rogue (possibly genetically engineered) virus that creates the zombies. All of these manufactured monsters find something in our collective psyche that scares the hell out of us. It seems these scary stories were started to keep people in the tribe, for leaving the tribe might mean a very scary fate, whether that is death by starvation, or death by a wolf. Today, it keeps our children from venturing too far from their parents, and some just seems to be entertainment so teenagers have an excuse to jump into each others arms (as if they need one). Although there are true monsters out there, and they are very human and whether propelled by greed or psychosis, we still need to be wary of them.

Have a Happy Halloween and be safe out there!

The Death of a Country By a Million Cuts

My son started Kindergarten this year. This was a big transition for him... and me. For him it was a transition to an all day school and the rigors of learning his ABC's and 123's. For me, it was learning that I was taking on a voluntary part-time job without my knowledge. It seems that no matter the school, fundraisers are an integral part of their budget. Even high class private schools have fundraisers. I have been inundated with information on how this school needs these extra funds and don't I care about my son's education? If I did, I would do all I could to raise more funds for the school. I am doing a few things, but honestly, I have other things I need to do. Unfortunately, one of those things is fundraising for my son's soccer team. If it is not one thing it is another...

I asked my mom if she remembers having to do lots of fundraising for my brother's and my education. She said there was a little, but not like it is today. It seems like these things are no longer our city's, state's, or country's priority. And that is a sad thing. A few years ago, our school district had to shut down 6 schools. It is a large school district, but I think that any time a school is shut down, it is a tragedy.

So why are we having to do so much more fund-raising now a days? Well, things everywhere have been cut back. Taxes have been cut as well, and while that may put more money in people's pockets, it also takes it away from things like education. Education is an investment. If you are investing in possible workers for your company, wouldn't you want them to be well educated? Wouldn't that make your business better in the future? But no, nobody is thinking like that now. Right now, it is all about what is wrong with education and government and we should cut it back; not thinking about who that could hurt or how far those repercussions could last.

I agree that budgets need to be balanced and cut are necessary. Unnecessary waste needs to be cut, but lets not throw out the baby with the bathwater. If we cut too much, too soon we could be heading to losing our middle class and on our way to becoming a third world country. I have a feeling that the extremely rich would not mind that at all, as long as they got to keep as much money as possible. But for the rest of us, things would get a lot harder. Our middle class that was built in the early to middle part of the last century made our country strong. Do we really want to lose that?

Having watched the Occupy Wall Street and other protests around the country, I certainly understand their point of view. Since I have children, I am not going out to protest. Sorry, but my kids come first. There is an excellent book by Tracy Chavlier called “Falling Angels”. It is the story of suffragettes in England at the turn of the century. Yes, they were doing important work, but it also showed how their children suffered because their Mother's thought that protesting was more important than raising their children. I just cannot do that, protesting is for the young and angry. Most of the rest of us are too busy to keep up with that. But it does not mean that we do not understand where they are coming from.

I am one of the 99%. It seems that more importance is being placed on material things than extremely important things like education. We have seen a crest of success in this country, but now it is over, so many children are no longer doing better than their parents. Are we witnessing the decline of the United States of America? I will try to vote in a way to slow it down and hope that my children will still do better than me. It may not be protesting, but it is the easiest way every citizen to tell our leaders what our priorities are for the future.

“Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish”

I was saddened to hear about Steve Jobs' passing earlier this week. At age 56, it seemed like such a young age to die. But, when you are battling cancer, as he was in the past, all of your time is a gift.

Now, I am not a MAC/Apple person. My father used to own a Macintosh computer, and liked the user friendliness aspects. I seem to be ambidextrous about computers, as long as I learn to use them, I can use them. Others see it differently. They HAVE to use a Mac or the HAVE to use a PC. Maybe it is because I am left-handed and have had to be more accommodating in a right-handed world that I don't have a computer preference.

I am fine with PC's, in fact I am writing on one right now. But, in college, I had an experience that made me consider the Gateway computer lines a “Gateway to Hell”. That was due to lost data. I learned later that it was a graduate student who had dumped my data (of which I had worked long hours to input) so he could load a computer game. So, it really was not the computer's fault, but I can't help but consider Gateways any other way. My husband had a considerably hard time writing his thesis on a Mac and has never liked Apple products. It might also be the fact that he likes to build computers and the Apple people really don't let you do that. Also, affording an Apple product is kind of a stretch for our family, that is just the way it is.

But, I am not trying to Apple bash, they make fine, beautiful products. How else could they be doing so well now? That is mainly due to Mr Jobs' vision. Here, I would like to honor Mr. Jobs as a visionary and discuss his speech given in 2005 to the graduating class of Stanford University.

If you have not heard or read his speech, I highly recommend it, it is quite inspiring. I heard it on NPR (yes, I listen to them quite often) when it was played for the last half an hour of “Talk of the Nation” last Thursday. Here is a link to a Guardian article with the text of the speech, and commentary (http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/oct/09/steve-jobs-stanford-commencement-address?newsfeed=true ).


Mr. Jobs gives 3 stories of his life which shaped him to the person he was at the end of his life. The lessons are a kind of opposite to the standard ones you hear in commencement speeches. He dropped out of college and considers it a good thing for life (most people would just consider him a drop-out). It is interesting that many of the Silicon Valley big-wigs did not finish college. Maybe just a few years was enough for them. The second story is about his being fired from Apple. Yes, it is true. He got brought back when his company NEXT got bought by Apple, but still, he got fired. The last story is about how he was diagnosed with cancer and had to face death. Doing so bravely, and wanting to live life to it's fullest.

The lessons are all about how to face adversity. Sure, first you are probably devastated by anything like this happening in your life. But, as Mr. Jobs points out from his life, you can take dropping-out, getting fired, and facing down death as opportunities. These things make sure you focus your life.

He was the visionary he was about technology, but he was also focused on his goals because he knew everything else was secondary. It is a lot easier to have a clear vision of what you want in life if you focus on what is important to you. What do you love? Is it your priority?

My great loves are my family and my writing. In that order. I do try to keep everything else out of my focus. My writing suffers, but my children have to come first, I just have to trust that everything will then work out.

The last thing Mr. Jobs discussed in his commencement speech was a saying from the Whole Earth Catalog that he uses as his last recommendation for everyone. I think he would want this to be his words of advice to the whole world: stay hungry, stay foolish.


Now, at first glance, you might think those are insane words of advice to anyone. But the opposite of that is stay satiated, stay sensible. Those words are what is expected, and those who do what is expected usually do not make an impact in this world. Yes, you are doing alright, but are you doing what you love? Sometimes you do have to just hope that things will work out for the best and take chances.


So, I agree with Mr. Jobs, because time is short. It certainly was for him and I do believe he lived his life to the fullest.


Therefore, stay hungry and stay foolish.



We are traveling to Texas for a week to attend a family wedding.  Being on the road makes it more difficult to blog for me, so I am taking next week off.  See you in two weeks!

Intelligent Ladies, Give A Little Gift To The Future

First – ANNOUNCEMENTS! Three joyous things to report.

1. The Chronicles of IDIOT is now available on Apple and Barnes and Noble! We are close to having it as available as we possibly can for being self-published.
2. Frank Balara has reviewed The Chronicles of IDIOT on his blog (http://frankbalara.blogspot.com/2011/10/review-of-chronicles-of-idiot-by-erin.html) which is also posted on Amazon.com and goodreads.com.
3. As you can see, the blog has some new features including two new pages (at the top) to show all the places where you can purchase a paperback or e-book version of The Chronicles of IDIOT and an easier place to preview the book's first 5 chapters.

Hello there intelligent ladies, you certainly have your career in order. Finished school, almost got it paid off and now you have a great job. Now may be the time to think of the future. Do you want a future filled with idiots? Well, if you don't have children, that very well may happen.

The movie Idiocracy by Mike Judge, makes an argument that if only the stupid people reproduce, then we will select out intelligence. Do we really want this to happen? I don't. I know that it is hard to “have everything” and therefore, you may have to give up some things for children.

As a Mother of young children I can tell you the first thing you will have to give up is cleanliness. Kids are usually not neat! The second thing you will have to give up is sleep. I still occasionally wake up at all hours because of the training my sleep schedule got from when my children were babies. The third thing you will have to give up is being able to watch/play whatever you want whenever you want in front of your children. I cannot watch certain television shows and my hubby has to curb his video game addiction unless the children are asleep. This third one is a big judgment call on your part. You may be fine with watching Saw with your kids, but don't complain to me when they try to saw off your finger.

I certainly think that despite the things you have to give up, you get so much more when you have children. And in the end, you are giving a genetic gift to the future. This is the easiest legacy there is in the world. Hopefully, the future that will be wonderful for your children. All we can do is try in our lifetime to make it better, and hope that your kids will do the same.

So, come on ladies! Being in a loving relationship helps, but if your career is in order, and bringing home the bacon, all you really need is a plan and a sperm bank.