Then on the way to get your flu shot you start to feel a tickle in the back of your throat and not a good tickle.  A tickle that makes you think, “Why should I spend 30 bucks for a painful shot when I may be sick already.”  Then you think of all the times you heard “flu shots make you sick.”

Is this true?  Was this ever true?  Or… are flu shots the best placebo ever created?  Perhaps a flu shot is just a shot of chicken noodle soup.  Why does chicken noodle soup make you feel better? Because Mama told you it would. Why would Mama lie?

I think flu shots are the most powerful placebo known to man.  Some people get the shot and suddenly they have flu symptoms and this actually convinces them that the shot works.  “That is how you know it is working.”  Working? That is like buying a winter coat that initially makes you cold which indicates “it is working.”

One year, Santa Clause brought me Choose your own adventure books.  When I used to read Choose your own adventure books, people thought I was a slow reader.  I am not a slow reader. I am a slow decider.  Imagine if The Great Gatsby asked you to participate, “if you choose to kiss Daisy go to page 34.”

I just started a audio book this morning while driving to work.  The book is pretty good so far except for the part where I remembered that I forgot my lunch at home.  It is hard to pay attention to an audio book while you are wondering if your ham and cheese sandwhich is worth turning around in the morning traffic.  This is my first audio book but it is not my first time drifting off while I am listening to someone talk.

Randy Pausch, notable computer science teacher at Carnegie Mellon died today, finally succumbing to the pancreatic cancer that he knew would take his life eventually.  Pausch, perhaps more known for his inspirational Last Lecture, given on September 18th 2007 (and subsequently published), was 47 years old.

From the AP –

The talk was videotaped and subsequently criss-crossed the world via the Internet. More than 3.2 million people had viewed the “Last Lecture” on YouTube alone as of Friday, and according to Carnegie Mellon, tens of millions have watched Pausch’s inspirational talk.

“If I don’t seem as depressed or morose as I should be, sorry to disappoint you,” said Pausch, the married father of three young children, at the start of the lecture.

He focused in his talk not on his illness but on “my childhood dreams; how I believe I have been able to enable the dreams of others; and, to some degree, lessons learned… how you can use the stuff you hear today to pursue your dreams or enable the dreams of others.”

Pausch outlined his own childhood dreams, which included writing a World Book Encyclopedia entry, experiencing zero gravity and creating Disney attractions — all dreams that were fulfilled…

“If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself,” Pausch said. “The dreams will come to you.”

The talk spawned a book, called “The Last Lecture,” which was translated into 30 languages and topped best-seller lists around the world.

The book was an attempt by Pausch “to put myself in a bottle that will one day wash up on the beach for my children,” he was quoted as saying by Carnegie Mellon.

Here we have the hardcover (and large print) + audio CD.