This semester I am being immersed in theory. It’s overwhelming, but I appreciate the new layers it’s likely going to bring to this project. In one class I’m reading feminist theory for the first time as well as post-modernism, post-structuralism, deconstructionism – and in the other I’m drowning in the political, sociological, political, anthropological theories of community… I have so much in here *points to head* that I need to get some of it here…I... Read Full Story

I’ve got a really great post brewing to get this school year kicked off right and to get the Contagious Narrative back in motion — but for now enjoy this tiny little tidbit… Hey remember not too long ago when I posted a very short article that sort of haphazardly mentioned a few more than normal cases of rabies in Venezuela and Peru? Hey, hey! It’s the vampire bat—go figure! Short article and clip from National Geographic HERE No wonder rabies is the new infectio... Read Full Story

Okay, okay. I know. I was doing so well there for about a month. Slacker. Been a weird month, give me a break. But I guess WHO has officially declared a pandemic. So I’m curious to everyone’s thoughts on this. I haven’t really been following because…well…no one else really has either…right? I mean it’s kind of fallen out of the news… I wonder if this will cause a reboot in news and panic? Nearly 30,000 infected, but only 141 confirmed deathsR... Read Full Story

I am posting my final paper for my Violence and Metaphor class because I think it is some really good shit. Enjoy. It’s below the fold to not annoy people too much and to not take up my whole front page. (Edit: 10-8-09: It’s now split up into multiple parts -hopefully- to make it easier to read) Civilization after the End: Violent Metaphors of the Post-Apocalyptic World The importance of discovering together violence and metaphor lies in the various ways it promotes our advanced ... Read Full Story

I am posting my final paper for my Violence and Metaphor class because I think it is some really good shit. Enjoy. It’s below the fold to not annoy people too much and to not take up my whole front page. Kathryn Mitchell 18 May 2009 G65.1318.001.SP09 Civilization after the End: Violent Metaphors of the Post-Apocalyptic World The importance of discovering together violence and metaphor lies in the various ways it promotes our advanced understanding of our own nature and society, and how ... Read Full Story

Hi.  Reed here. The CDC put out a report, according to Breitbart.com, saying that “Swine Flu Parties” are a bad idea. Initial reaction:  Whaaa??? Then, I got to this part: "It’s a big mistake putting individuals and children at risk, and the CDC does not recommend that people follow that course," he said. The idea, which reportedly first surfaced on speciality Internet sites, comes from "chickenpox parties," where sick children infect healthy ones with th... Read Full Story

Hello readers. Thanks for bearing with me while I took a much needed vacation at home in Roanoke. I didn’t look at a newspaper, television, or allow myself to discuss Swine Flu at all…and it proved to be very restful indeed. But now, as I sit in the Roanoke Regional Airport…waiting for the fog to lift, it’s time to get back to work. Here is a snippet from a news article I read this morning about the WHO discussing moving to level 6, the last and highest pandemic threat... Read Full Story

As I’m sure most of you have heard by now, the U.S. has had its first Swine Flu related death. A 23 month old toddler. It’s terrifying and sad, and now we have to wait and see if it gets much worse than this. In other news, I’m giving a very brief presentation today in Art and Catastrophe about Defoe’s Journal of the Plague Year and his concern with human behavior in epidemic. Quite and interesting time to be writing this paper, let me tell you. Here are a few of the t... Read Full Story

Hi! I’m Reed. * I’ve spent the past two days looking at the Twitter Search page for swine flu and #swineflu and I’m thoroughly enjoying the ignorance of diseases displayed by the Tweeple. http://search.twitter.com/search?q=swine+flu http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23swineflu * These graphs are from Daily Kos, of all places: This is where we were on Saturday: This is where we were on Monday: So that little line moves a few pixels to the right and the world stops turnin... Read Full Story

Thanks to SophiaZoe over at A Pandemic Chronicle this morning for pointing out this schlop of a news article. Read it and feel her glibness and sarcasm dripping off the page. It’s a little sickening. Susan Dominus really doesn’t think that the Swine Flu is a big deal. She snarkily asks her readers not to panic, because the cases of Swine Flu at Queens High School were relatively mild. Oh! Oh, ok. Because Susan Dominus says it’s alright to breath easy, I guess we can. I guess... Read Full Story