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And my manager was like no!!!! If that happened, I would drive to find you guys in my truck and we could eat stuff from my wife's garden and I would make sure everyone I know survived!! I would carry you all on my shoulders away from the zombies!!

Yes, I was tearing through books constantly, and talking to this teacher at least weekly. Because even though I always loved reading as a kid, literature was always a very weak subject for me in terms of a teaching-to-standardized-test school setting (I just do awful on "what color were the curtains" type multiple choice questions. Those details don't stick in my memory THEY JUST DON'T). But that didn't matter for this class. I could just read my way out of any bad test score. I have always had fond memories of how I "fudged" my way through that class and "abused' the extra credit policy.

New banner for this month (and maybe forever if it sticks)

The red stripe is an Ardentiella sp. (formerly called Merulanella sp.) “scarlet”, and the orange stripe is a Porcellio laevis “orange”.

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The yellow stripe is a Cubaris sp. “blonde ducky”, and the green stripe is a paridotea ungulata!

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The blue stripe is an Armadillidium vulgare with iridovirus, a disease which is, unfortunately, fatal. The purple stripe is a Bathynomus giganteus!

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The white stripe is from a Platyarthus hoffmannseggii (there are many white isopods so I tried to go for one of my lesser-known favorites!), and the teal stripe is from a stunning Burmoniscus sp. “ice blue”.

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There are two pink pods in this flag- Androniscus dentiger and Cubaris sp. “sakura/cherry blossom”!

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The brown stripe is a Trachelipus rathkii:

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And the black stripe is two isopods again! A Porcellio scaber, and an Armadillidium vulgare, (although the close up of the stripes on the flag does sort of look like Armadillo officinalis)

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people in the comments will be like "okay but we could at least get rid of ticks and mosquitos because those spread disease."

we actually CANNOT get rid of ticks and mosquitos. not only do we plain lack the technology to lead a pointed extermination effort against them specifically without taking a score of other species down with them, but if we developed that technology and did eradicate mosquitos and ticks, it would be the catalyst of utter ecological collapse the likes of which i think people are not quite comprehending.

the problem is not the existence of bugs. the problem is that our current global systems ensure that specific Peoples in specific places are disproportionately impacted by zoonoses (illness spread between animals and humans).

those same populations also disproportionately lack access to preventative tools & PPE (down to things many of us take for granted so simply as effective bug spray), and crucially access to medical treatment.

the goal should not be an eradicating effort against bugs which would quite literally collapse entire ecosystems, but equitable access to healthcare, investment in medical research to improve preventative and acute treatment for zoonoses, and the destruction of systems which are currently rapidly increasing the threat of zoonoses worldwide (climate change!)

i am not defending the existence of bugs because i think they're cute and because i don't care about the devastating suffering zoonoses cause millions and millions of people.