the warm embrace of the reaper

I don't know about you, but I've long felt that all the hubbub about swine flu has been complete b.s., primarily manufactured by the media because they've been bored and had nothing else to do. Most of the ruckus took place in late spring/early summer, and it quickly became evident that few people actually had said flu (and I don't think too many pigs had it, either). Now, however, it's starting to look like this piggy virus may be the real deal. I was talking to my mother this afternoon, and she told me one of my nieces had it, and that my sister had been given instructions not to bring the kid back to school until she had gone at least 24 hours without a fever and 24 hours without taking medication of any kind. And then there was my team meeting yesterday, which an HR representative interrupted to say the following:

- If you're sick, DO NOT COME TO WORK.
- If your kid is sick, DO NOT COME TO WORK.
- If you have our health insurance, GO GET A FLU SHOT.
- If you don't have our health insurance, WE WILL PAY TO GET YOU A FLU SHOT.

Never at any time in my life has anyone around me made such a big deal about any kind of illness or virus. It almost makes me think I should go get a flu shot (I tend to pass out when poked with needles, so I never have before) before I travel to Asia in a couple weeks. Of course, I don't know that that would do any good. I fully expect this trip to be a virus exchange--I'll give them H1N1, and they'll give me bird flu or SARS or whatever the infectious flavor of the month is. Can't wait!

In other news, I'm in Phoenix right now. I was in the convention center this afternoon, and noticed the following "sculpture":



At first glance, it was about the creepiest piece of art I'd ever seen. Here's a close-up so you can understand why:



Look at the expression on the girl's face. Notice the half-bodies. I think the security guard standing by it had seen/heard similar reactions to said sculpture before, because as soon as I mentioned it, he walked away and looked like he was going to go into convulsions, he was laughing so hard. Anyway, I guess these people are supposed to be swimming in a lake or something like that, but still...

I think the facial expressions are the worst part. I understand that faces are very difficult, and I think my position is this: if you can't get the face right, maybe you should just stick to landscapes and not freak the rest of us out.