It Ain't My Fault!

[Lucky]

Our poster friend Lookin has a signature on his posts that reads- it's a quote:

'If anyone objects to any statement I make, I am quite prepared not only to retract it, but also to deny under oath that I ever made it.' - Tom Lehrer

Now, today's Washington Post provides some scientific proof that it is indeed possible that he never did make it. It could, conceivably and under certain conditions, have been made by the bugs within- yes, by that I do mean the microbes and bacteria and viruses that live in his very body.

At the time of the post, the Lookin that existed then might have meant what he wrote. But then, the microbes and their friends may have moved on to a new host. The new Lookin may not feel the same about the subject as the old lookin- even minutes later!

What the Post article tells us that it is these very tiny little guests in our body may influence how we behave. I'm not saying that Lookin is as driven by his microbes as he is by his hormones, but the article says that the little bugs can affect our behavior.

"Those who believe in free will might be troubled to learn a few secrets about viruses, bacteria and parasites. While it may sound like science fiction, science hints at the potential for microbes to influence our minds, or at least our behavior."

If you want to learn more about this, for yourself and not for Lookin- then see the article and wonder at how nature functions unseen right under your own eyes:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/science/the-bacteria-or-virus-or-parasite-made-me-do-it/2011/05/24/AGI9ZeTH_story.html?hpid=z11

[lookin]

I was sure it's the subject or host

Or the tone of a thread at the most,

But I learn it's a thrip

Or a touch of the pip,

That determines whatever I post.

[Lucky]

Hey, I am lookin for a pip*!! If I can touch one too, well, all the better!

*wikianswers definition! I didn't realize that there were so many!

[MsGuy]

Zombiefied critters appear to be a bit more common than one would like:

snails, grasshoppers and ants

more ants

Apparently there's a family of fungi (cordyceps) that specializes in this stuff. The BBC made a program about it.

----

P.S. Did you check this definition?

pip

(1) A pain in the ass.

(2) A real character.

(3) Someone who tends to be difficult, but still likeable.

[AdamSmith]

There is also the delightful British sign-off "toodle pip."

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/toodle_pip

[Lucky]

Well, this is the definition I liked:

What does mean when someone is a pip?

Answer:

An excellent or very attractive person or thing

Overall, a compliment.

But one has to compliment Lookin on his creative response to the original post. I would never have come up with that!

[lookin]

P.S. Did you check this definition?

pip

(1) A pain in the ass.

(2) A real character.

(3) Someone who tends to be difficult, but still likeable.

Not before I posted, but just tracked down the phrase I remember. It seems to have faded from common use after all these years, as have I, so all seems fitting.

Your definitions, while not originally intended, take things to a whole new level.

"The pip" is a disease of poultry and other birds, a respiratory illness that produces large amounts of phlegm. When people developed a phlegm producing cough of unknown origin it was said thay had a touch of the pip.