Thanks to everyone who has posted such thoughtful, intelligent, and insightful points and counterpoints to my recent posts. I’ve been so busy I haven’t been able to respond, but there has been a buffet of food for thought. It brings me so much happiness to engage in discussions like this with colleagues and fellow writers, so thank you, thank you, thank you. And please, keep commenting.

In other news, I took time out from being busy to see the new zombie flick Shaun of the Dead. While I know nearly every zombie movie is a critique of consumerism, I also can’t shake the suspicion that there’s an AIDS-related presence here. Any time a blood-borne plague runs rampant, I see shades of AIDS. And I think zombies are more so than vampires. Vampires are “undead” while zombies are “living dead.” It’s an important distinction, I think, especially in terms of how AIDS was formerly an assurred death sentence.