Ask the Demon

[Lady Reiha]

**ignored**

Two can play at this game....

**poked**
three can play this game

 

[VandalHeart]

**poked**
three can play this game

Hey!!!

Two players only.

 

[VandalHeart]

Questions!!! Please!!!

 

[Lady Reiha]

Hey!!!

Two players only.

Okay fine.


But here's a be damned question:


"Why only two players?"

 

[VandalHeart]

Okay fine.


But here's a be damned question:


"Why only two players?"

Because, my little ReiRei, it's...um...well...well, it's simple really, because...ONLY TWO PLAYERS!!!

 

[HotFaerieMama]

Dear Demon.... i dreamed of you last night.... and yet again woke up saying your name....


oh here's my question...


why are most of my friends on my yahoo Doms ?
and
Why in the hell are you so sexy ??

 

[VandalHeart]

Dear Demon.... i dreamed of you last night.... and yet again woke up saying your name....


oh here's my question...


why are most of my friends on my yahoo Doms ?
and
Why in the hell are you so sexy ??

Because you keep attracting them and you don't talk to many subs, since you seem to have little to no interest. Try talking to people you DON'T want to play with for a change.

And that other answer is just natural talent.

 

[Lady Reiha]

Because, my little ReiRei, it's...um...well...well, it's simple really, because...ONLY TWO PLAYERS!!!

your slipping up.

Your answers aren't satisfying me lately :/

 

[gesshoku]

Dear Daemon,

As you know, I'm going to be severly out of touch for about the next week. So I figured I'd give myself something to read if I managed to get online during said week. My question is...

If you could pick any author to write a story with... who would you pick and why?

 

[VandalHeart]

your slipping up.

Your answers aren't satisfying me lately :/

Well, most of the questions seem to be pretty tame and silly. Sorry.

 

[Lady Reiha]

Well, most of the questions seem to be pretty tame and silly. Sorry.

Your forgiven.


New question:


I was in the grocery store the other day and I noticed this "prebiotic" trend has started. Prebiotic breads, yogurt..even cheese! Is live cultures in food really that much better for you than regular?

 

[VandalHeart]

Dear Daemon,

As you know, I'm going to be severly out of touch for about the next week. So I figured I'd give myself something to read if I managed to get online during said week. My question is...

If you could pick any author to write a story with... who would you pick and why?

That's a hard decision, actually. I can narrow it down to three as long as the requirements do not include a still-living author.

1 - Robert A. Heinlein.
Uncle Bob, as I like to call him, was possibly the greatest social and military science fiction author of all time. His ideas were fresh for his time, his theories were thought provoking, and his stories were awe-inspiring. His characters sometimes got to be a little formulaic, granted, but they were still wide-spread in their spectrum, if that makes any sense. I'd love to collaborate with him to put some of my ideas into full-blown production, but alas, he is no longer with us, and even if he weren't, I am a nobody.

2 - Ambrose Bierce.
Bierce has to be the most eloquent cynic I have ever encountered the works of. His command of the English language was unparalleled, and his dry humor has seldom been matched and never outdone since. What I consider his pinnacle work, The Devil's Dictionary, is a massive piece of satirical condemnation of political double-speak and insider terms. For reasons aside from the title (you likely know me all too well), this is one of my favorite works of literature in existence. His primary form of fiction was the short story, and to date I've only been able to complete short stories, so a collaboration with him would be awesome...had he not mysteriously disappeared in the Mexican wilderness, never to be seen or heard from again...in 1913. He's long since gone the way of the dodo.

3 - Chuck Palahniuk.
You saw this coming. You know you did. My favorite author not only pulls not punches, he makes you look at things in ways you never thought possible. Even though some of his stories border on the utterly fantastic, the point of each of his stories is to accomplish my favorite past time, which is yanking people's covers. Mostly because people hate it when you dissolve their illusions and I consider it a form of revenge, but also because it doubles as what I believe is an incomparable public service: education that is almost impossible to ignore. I only wish I could equal it in my own work. And the good news is, he's still alive, so I still have a chance. Now excuse me, I need to go chuckle at the possibility...pardon the pun.

 

[VandalHeart]

Your forgiven.


New question:


I was in the grocery store the other day and I noticed this "prebiotic" trend has started. Prebiotic breads, yogurt..even cheese! Is live cultures in food really that much better for you than regular?

Firstly, I'd like to thank you for introducing me to a new term. I hadn't come across this particular health craze. I appreciate the chance to learn about something new.

My research has indicated that a great many people are trying to achieve a sort of reverse-parasite effect on still-living bacteria that will stimulate the production of beneficial bodily ingredients to assist digestion and other such natural functions. Problem is, as with most things you find in the health food section that you've never seen before, the research is incomplete at present. Which means that people are buying and putting into their bodies things they do not fully understand. Now, to be fair, we still don't fully understand anything in this world, really, but we know about some things more than others, and in my not-so-humble opinion, putting a living organism into your mouth seems just as potentially disgusting as putting a dead one in it, but something just doesn't sit right with me on this one. It's not the whole living vs. dead thing, really...I think it has more to do with a guy in a lab who isn't wearing a lab coat looking at something in a microscope for about two minutes before asking me to eat it and let him watch what happens.

To answer your question, I'm not so sure. In either direction. At the very least, I would err on the side of caution for the time being. Wait until someone publishes some research notes on it before you cram Mikey Microbe down your gullet. There's no telling what kind of party he'll decide to throw once he moves in. Personally, I'm waiting for this to trigger the inevitable zombie apocalypse. Which is, as we all know, inevitable.

Oh, and thank you for the wonderful question. I'm putting this up on TIBU.

 

[Lady Reiha]

Firstly, I'd like to thank you for introducing me to a new term. I hadn't come across this particular health craze. I appreciate the chance to learn about something new.

My research has indicated that a great many people are trying to achieve a sort of reverse-parasite effect on still-living bacteria that will stimulate the production of beneficial bodily ingredients to assist digestion and other such natural functions. Problem is, as with most things you find in the health food section that you've never seen before, the research is incomplete at present. Which means that people are buying and putting into their bodies things they do not fully understand. Now, to be fair, we still don't fully understand anything in this world, really, but we know about some things more than others, and in my not-so-humble opinion, putting a living organism into your mouth seems just as potentially disgusting as putting a dead one in it, but something just doesn't sit right with me on this one. It's not the whole living vs. dead thing, really...I think it has more to do with a guy in a lab who isn't wearing a lab coat looking at something in a microscope for about two minutes before asking me to eat it and let him watch what happens.

To answer your question, I'm not so sure. In either direction. At the very least, I would err on the side of caution for the time being. Wait until someone publishes some research notes on it before you cram Mikey Microbe down your gullet. There's no telling what kind of party he'll decide to throw once he moves in. Personally, I'm waiting for this to trigger the inevitable zombie apocalypse. Which is, as we all know, inevitable.

Oh, and thank you for the wonderful question. I'm putting this up on TIBU.

Anytime Vandy ^^
It just made me wonder because there isn't much on the who "prebiotic" health food craze- it's pretty hushed hushed. The only commercial I ever seen anything that was advetised as prebiotic was from this company:

http://www.dempsters.ca/products/products_PrebioticBread.html

I am sad to say that CT and GM have bought this bread and now it remains in my home..not consumed by me but; by those two.
Does this mean they will turn into Zombies?!

here's a few images of what major companies are turning "prebiotic":

http://www.dempsters.ca/images/products/Prebiotic/breadImage.gif
( Their flavors?)

Available in two delicious varieties. Multiseed & Grain is a tasty combination of hemp, poppy seeds, millet and rye, delivering a unique texture. Or try Barley & Sunflower for a wholesome blend of smooth barley and crunchy sunflower seeds.

http://www.kraftfoods.com/NR/rdonlyres/96FBE80D-39AE-40A3-8850-79EC08F4595A/0/12_01.jpg

http://www.teagasc.ie/research/reports/dairyproduction/4527/4527fig01.jpg
GROSS!

 

[VandalHeart]

Um...wierd.

 

[Lady Reiha]

Um...wierd.

Agreed.

 

[gesshoku]

Dear Daemon,

Why is it that I freckle right before a brillant red sunburn, bright enough to light up a tent, blooms on my skin? Also, what is the best course of treatment for said red skin? I'm covering up and using lotion, but dude, I gotta say... its been a while since I've been such a pretty lobster-red color.

Thanks

kasumi

 

[VandalHeart]

Dear Daemon,

Why is it that I freckle right before a brillant red sunburn, bright enough to light up a tent, blooms on my skin? Also, what is the best course of treatment for said red skin? I'm covering up and using lotion, but dude, I gotta say... its been a while since I've been such a pretty lobster-red color.

Thanks

kasumi

The pigment in your skin is called melanin. Ultraviolet radiation forces the skin to produce more of it as a shield against the UV rads. The problem is, sometimes melanin clumps together in small collections. These are freckles. Thing is, everyone has them, but the difference is that usually, they stretch far enough to produce a complete spread. Melanin being produced in various centers around the skin, sometimes it tends to not stretch as far as it should. This is how freckles happen. In people with pale complexions like you and me, freckles tend to show up in the midst of insetting sunburns. As you know, when you hang out in the sun, first you tan, and then you begin to burn. Tanning is when the skin begins to produce that small amount of melanin as a protection response, and sunburn is when it can't keep up. It would seem that your freckles don't show up under your skin until you start to take a little sun. I thought it was just a hacker's tan, but seriously, girl, you are PALE.

As for a treatment, the Mayo Clinic's website says that four things will speed up the healing process of a sunburn: anti-inflammatory medication, such as ibuprofen, cold compresses (make sure the water on the towel is cool, not ice cold), and moisturizing creams like aloe or 1% hydrocortisone cream, and avoiding further sun exposure. It goes on to say that there are certain creams, particularly the ones that end in the affix "-caine", such as benzocaine, that claim to relieve sunburn pain, but they actually inflame the area and make it worse. Wonderful marketing tactic, because shile they do lessen the pain, they draw out the healing process, causing you to use more and more of it until the thing finally goes away. Don't start using anything until at least six hours after you've gotten out of the sun, because until that point, you won't know the full extent of the burn. Specifically, I know for a fact that mixing aloe and hydrocortisone doesn't seem to help overly much, so don't spend your money on more than one.

 

[Lady Reiha]

Dear Vandy-san.


This little kitten has gotten the flu.

What do you recommend for her? She has kleenex literally shoved up her nose, is drinking Buckley's straight out of the bottle, is eating soup, has a cold compress on her head and is in bed and has gone through watching all of Escaflowne, Speed Grapher, Moon Phase, Kenny Vs Spenny Season 3 and Initial D live action.
Is there any hope for her?


*btw- I am only on to check my PM's- apparently to some, I am a huge meanie for not being online for 2 days to update in the rp's I'm in. *

 

[VandalHeart]

Dear Vandy-san.


This little kitten has gotten the flu.

What do you recommend for her? She has kleenex literally shoved up her nose, is drinking Buckley's straight out of the bottle, is eating soup, has a cold compress on her head and is in bed and has gone through watching all of Escaflowne, Speed Grapher, Moon Phase, Kenny Vs Spenny Season 3 and Initial D live action.
Is there any hope for her?


*btw- I am only on to check my PM's- apparently to some, I am a huge meanie for not being online for 2 days to update in the rp's I'm in. *

On your BTW, I know the feeling. I have so many irons in the fire on the internet, I can hardly keep up. I need to get some actual work done sometime soon.

Anyhow, enough about me, let's talk about you. Go easy on the Buckley's. Otherwise, you're on the best regimen I can think of: cold compress, lots of soup and good tv...with the exception of Kenny vs. Spenny. Can't stand that show for some reason. Yes, you should be fine. Sorry to hear you're feeling so crappy, though. Hope you get to feeling better.

 

[gesshoku]

Dear Daemon,

Why does everyone insist on thinking that I'm special for realizing that my plans conflicted with someone elses' plans and that I backed down cause I felt the other plans were more important? I can't help but think that its kinda like thanking me for having hazel eyes! Am I really that different from everyone else?

 

[ImpishSeraph]

I'll try this

Dear Demon,

I teach high school math. My students are the ones that the other teachers pray not to get. I love them dearly though. My question to you is how can I get them to care about their education. Many of them do not have influence at home and all they want to do is get out of school to get some dead end job because it's $$ in their pocket now. They don't understand why they have to learn about things that they "will never use." I want them to be the best at whatever they have to do. I can't seem to get them to understand the importance of expanding their mind with knowledge and not just with drugs.

Sincerely,
Imp

 

[VandalHeart]

Dear Daemon,

Why does everyone insist on thinking that I'm special for realizing that my plans conflicted with someone elses' plans and that I backed down cause I felt the other plans were more important? I can't help but think that its kinda like thanking me for having hazel eyes! Am I really that different from everyone else?

Did someone actually compliment you for having hazel eyes? How about having hair? Or better yet, blood flowing through your veins? No. you were complimented for first realizing a scheduling conflict and second for doing the right thing and pointing it out when it would have been easier to simply sit on it and reap your benefit. People are inconsiderate. you chose not to be. how is this so much like being complimented for having hazel eyes? you showed a positive personality trait. What's so hard to understand? Take the compliment already.

 

[VandalHeart]

I'll try this

Dear Demon,

I teach high school math. My students are the ones that the other teachers pray not to get. I love them dearly though. My question to you is how can I get them to care about their education. Many of them do not have influence at home and all they want to do is get out of school to get some dead end job because it's $$ in their pocket now. They don't understand why they have to learn about things that they "will never use." I want them to be the best at whatever they have to do. I can't seem to get them to understand the importance of expanding their mind with knowledge and not just with drugs.

Sincerely,
Imp

Dear Imp,

First off, I commend you for undertaking the most important of the thankless jobs out there. Hell, in my opinion, the most important job there is, period. There's a reason I do this advice column, and it is to provide answers, which I see as a form of teaching. However, I would like to say that the greatest lesson anyone can ever teach is the ability to learn without being given the answers. Sometimes, that isn't enough or is impossible, though, so here I am. Which leads me to my next point.

Leaving aside for the moment my thoughts on how screwed up the American school system is, there is a basic lack of common language between teachers and students. I recently watched for what had to be the tenth time a movie called Mona Lisa Smile. In case you haven't seen it, it is a wonderful movie about an art teacher who gets a job at a prestigious girl's academy. Now, if you don't want the movie slightly ruined for you, I suggest you stop reading here, even though there's far more to it than what I'm about to say and it is definitely worth the watch. Ready? Here we go.

************************SPOILER ALERT*****************************

One of the girl's in the protagonist's class had expressed interest in becoming a lawyer. After she had been accepted to Yale, she got married, and since this was 1950's America and her new husband was moving to New York, this meant Yale was out of the picture. In a rush, the teacher found five or six schools in the New York area that she could get a law degree from, but delivered this news after the student had already wed. Essentially, Law School was out of the picture for the girl completely. The important part of the conversation goes like this:

information gathered from Wikiquote.org

Joan Brandwyn: It was my choice... not to go. He would have supported it.
Katherine Watson: But you don't have to choose.
Joan Brandwyn: No, I have to. I want a home; I want a family, that's not something I'll sacrifice.
Katherine Watson: No-one's asking you to sacrifice that, Joan, I just want you to understand you can do both.
Joan Brandwyn: Do you think I'll wake up one morning and regret not being a lawyer?
Katherine Watson: Yes, I'm afraid that you will.
Joan Brandwyn: Not as much as I regret not having a family, not being there to raise them. I know exactly what I'm doing and it doesn't make me any less smart.
[Katherine looks down]
Joan Brandwyn: This must seem terrible to you.
Katherine Watson: I didn't say that.
Joan Brandwyn: Sure you did. You always do. You stand in class and tell us to look beyond the image, but you don't. To you a housewife is someone who sold her soul for a center hall colonial. She has no depth, no intellect, no interests. You're the one who said I could do anything I wanted. This is what I want.
Katherine Watson: [hugs Joan] Congratulations. Be happy.

***************************SPOILERS END***************************

My point, whether you read the above spoiler or not, is that the world still needs ditch diggers. No, your students do not understand the importance of math. The fact that you're the "evil" teacher is something that your smarter students are going to both understand and greatly appreciate, but your less academically inclined students are going to see it as a waste of time. What you need to understand is that for those students, it really is.

Now, I'm not saying you should slack up on them. There is a reason that 95% of the jobs out there require a high school diploma or G.E.D. If they don't have the grades, they don't have the grades, pure and simple. The problem is that most students hear the words, "you're going to need this when you get out in the world," and the only thing they hear is an authority figure preaching. Even if they do consider the saying, they cannot honestly think of a situation that would support the claim. I can think of loads, myself, but that's because I have 8 years of post-high-school life under my belt. Again, sometimes, people need to be given the answers. In this case, the answer you need to give them is what situations these lessons are actually good for. Tell them that while in everyday life, they might not need to calculate a hyperbole, it's those times when it actually applies that can change their lives. A housewife may not need to know the intricacies of the lever, but she's sure as hell going to think of her science teacher sometime after her child is caught under a burning car after a traffic accident. I've known more than one computer programmer that hated their time in high school, but still thank their mothers for making them take that home economics class when they can't get married.

If nothing else, explain to your students the living hell that they will go through if they don't complete your course. I'm sure you've already done this, but I'm going to go through it just once for my readers who are still in high school. Without a high school diploma, getting a job is damned near impossible. With one, the possibilities are even more open than just a restaurant or construction job. People get internships for multi-million dollar a year jobs that require nothing more than a high school diploma. For your case in particular, I would actually suggest a certain book for your students to read. It's called Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. Now, granted, some of the language gets a bit tough, but the concepts are the important parts. The cover of the book show a green apple that has had a slice cut out of it, revealing the inside of an orange. This is because the economist in question, Stephen Levitt, raises the proverbial middle finger to the old proverb, "you can't compare apples and oranges." Every single concept in this book begins with a question that asks how we can learn about something from two seemingly utterly different kinds of person or social change. I suggest reading it before you bring it into the classroom, because one of the chapters flies in the face of certain moral beliefs, but the concept that math, or in this case specifically, economics, can explain more about how the world works, is a baseball bat to the face in terms of enlightening revelations. If that doesn't get through to them, nothing will.

The most important lesson that you can teach them is that they need to be happy with whatever they do and that they should take the free lessons while they're still being offered. They may find themselves in a job they hate later, and if they don't have the skills to find a better job, they are going to be up a certain creek without so much as a piece of driftwood to cling to. Whether or not they have influences at home that support education, you cannot try to be a parent. The more you try and do that, the faster you will burnout. You need to understand that no matter how well you teach or how hard they work after school, these kids will likely not be the best at what they do. But they can still be happy. And that is the important part. To quote another one of my favorite movies, some of the happiest people in the world go home at the end of the day stinking to high heaven. All you can do is ask them to make damn sure that they're going to be happy with the life they want and that they are prepared to get it.

Anyhow, I hope this helps, although I feel as if I've failed you. I don't want you to become cynical. That doesn't help anyone. I just want you to realize that the taco boy at the local fast food joint can still touch the life of the Nobel Prize-winning physicist. With any luck, you're teaching both of them right now.

 

[ImpishSeraph]

Dear Imp,... .

The most important lesson that you can teach them is that they need to be happy with whatever they do and that they should take the free lessons while they're still being offered. They may find themselves in a job they hate later, and if they don't have the skills to find a better job, they are going to be up a certain creek without so much as a piece of driftwood to cling to. Whether or not they have influences at home that support education, you cannot try to be a parent. The more you try and do that, the faster you will burnout. You need to understand that no matter how well you teach or how hard they work after school, these kids will likely not be the best at what they do. But they can still be happy. And that is the important part. To quote another one of my favorite movies, some of the happiest people in the world go home at the end of the day stinking to high heaven. All you can do is ask them to make damn sure that they're going to be happy with the life they want and that they are prepared to get it.

Anyhow, I hope this helps, although I feel as if I've failed you. I don't want you to become cynical. That doesn't help anyone. I just want you to realize that the taco boy at the local fast food joint can still touch the life of the Nobel Prize-winning physicist. With any luck, you're teaching both of them right now.

Wonderful!! I'm glad I did write you the note I do try and show them this, and you helped me realize that I'm not alone to believe they won't all use this when out of school. I don't lie to them about this. I tell them that if anything it will help make them better thinkers and that skill is highly appreciated no matter what they might do in their lives. I talk to my students like they are human, and I get the respect back from them for this. I don't lie to them ever. They all know about my past if they ask and know what I've over come. They take my advise and words of wisdom to heart and actually listen to me because they know I've been there. Reading your response helped me realize that I give my students much more than math and these teaching will be what they take with them.

A little story...Last year I had this student who was bad on drugs and slipping down. He used to talk to me all the time and I always told him he was worth more than he gave himself credit for. At the end of the year, I made a pack with him. I told him that I would quit smoking cigs if he would quit drugs. Now before you say anything...you must understand that I don't tell my kids "don't do drugs...you're bad if you do drugs" because this won't help them. Hell, they come from homes that the parents are into drugs. I just try and explain to them that I hope there will be a time in their life that they will feel more worthy and realize that they can be so much more. They are in charge of their own life and can do with it what THEY choose to do. Now back to this student I'm speaking of...I quit smoking the day school let out...it will be one full year May 29th. When this school year started, I looked for this student to tell him that I succeeded in quiting and wanted to see if he did (even though I know this was a long shot). I found out he had moved to Alaska and never heard from him. This last week, he came into my classroom to visit me. I had not seen him in almost a year. He looked really good. I mean he had more face piercings and tattoos and all but health wise, he looked great! He had more meat on his bones and the circles were gone from under his eyes. He came in my room and talked to me for a bit and before he left, he looked me in the eye with a serious look, and said "I want to Thank You for all you did." It warmed my heart, even though I really did nothing. I looked back at him and said "no, I owe you thanks, I was able to quit smoking because I wanted to show you that I could stick to my word and that helped me to never pick up another cigarette all summer." I had to remind him of this pack we made because he did not remember, but I could tell he appreciated that fact that I did it. He did admit to still smoking pot, but he quit everything else including cigarettes. I smiled at him and told him that he is on a Great start and to keep up the good work. He also said that he did get his GED instead of dropping out. I told him that I was proud of him.

I guess even though I am their math teacher, some of the more important lessons I will send with them might not be the subject, but little things that I do to show them I care about where they end up.

Thank you Demon