Zombies. On a Microscopic Scale.

I know it's been a while since my last post. School and work seems to have gotten the best of me again. But I've returned, with something that just might freak you out.

I have a family member that currently live in Columbia. He's an amazing scholar and is always on top of current events you probably aren't aware of. Well, he's my source for new things. I don't even watch the evening news, because it just try's to bum you out. His interests me and actually makes me want to research related things myself.

One of his most recent posts is about a fungus that scientists have discovered in a Brazilian jungle close to the Atlantic Ocean. This fungus has adapted to make feeding easy for it's colony. And the way it does it, is actually, mind control. It's just pure amazing. The fungus attacks an ant near death and turns it into, well, a zombie. It brings it back to the colony of fungus and orders the ant to use the rest of its life span to clamp down onto a branch in order to stay in place. The fungus then feeds on the ant but avoids certain organs and muscles in order to make sure the ant's jaws stay clamped.

Now, when I read this. I didn't quite believe. So I did some digging of my own on it and there is actually thousands of strands of fungus and spores that act just like this one does. Some are on plants to act as a sort of defense system, and one strand of it is actually found in the goop that a snail leaves behind as it moves. Crazy. Straight crazy. Here is an example of what the ant looks like as it is being controlled at the last few seconds before death. (Source: National Geographic)

This is an example of what happens once the ants are infected with the spore or fungus.



So if you're interested in this as I was, just google it, you'll be amazed at how much you can find on it. There is videos on it, research sites, and other bloggers like myself talking about it. I found this extremely amazing and I hope you did too.

The Interview

The past few days have been pretty slow in my life. Not per-say dull, just slow. I've been working constantly and actually starting to get work done. It's all coming together now it feels like. I'm all set for college money and I'm all set for living arrangements. Great! Now it's just a matter of saving up as much as I can until then. It'll be an uphill battle with that.


But that isn't the main point of today's post. It's interviews. The other day in my Senior English class, we had a guest speaker. I don't remember his name, or even much of what he talked about. But I do know that he scared me about future interviews. I've done multiple leadership boards for ROTC so I can handle the pressure and all of the impromptu stuff. I just don't understand how to actually remember how to properly act, sit, talk, motion, and all of that jazz. I can sit proper, but with my personality I talk with my hands. Well I guess that doesn't fly in an interview.

Anyway, today we were all put up for mock interviews. This is going to be spanned over the next two days, but I decided it best to get over with it. It went well I thought, I got my points across, keep my composure, kept the nervous movements to a minimum and didn't say um. I thought I did good, until she showed me the sheet. It was just a bunch of marks that said, hand movements, hand movements, hand movements. Dammit....Well, I should have know it would've happened, but there's nothing I can do now.

Now I'm on a mission, to perfect this interview business. But I can't do it alone. I know you all are the working type. Even if you're not, hear me out. I need some suggestions, little tips and pointers to get me the "dream" job, or the "just for some cash" job. Which ever comes first. In the end, I'm just some kid looking for a little bit more wisdom. So hear me out.

I also had this song stuck in my head through the whole interview.