by Dr. Seuss
I’m here to ask,
As you’ll soon see…
Did you grope
Miss Lewinsky?
Did you grope her
In your house?
Did you grope
Beneath her blouse?
I did not do that
Here or there…
I did not do that
Anywhere!
I did not do that
Near or far…
I did not do that
Starr-you-are!
Did you smile?
Did you flirt?
Did you peek
Beneath her skirt?
And did you tell
The girl to lie
When called upon
To testify?
I do not like you
Starr-you-are…
I think that you
Have gone too far!
I will not answer
Any more…
Perhaps I will go
Start a war!
The public’s easy
To distract
When bombs are
Falling on Iraq!
BBC News reports on the case of Johanna Watkins who has a rare disorder (Mast Cell Activation Syndrome) that has caused her to become allergic to a whole bunch of stuff, including the scent of her husband. The allergy only developed after they got married.
At this point, they live in the same house but can no longer get close to each other. Instead they communicate via phone. Their “date night” involves watching a show together: “he will be three floors below me in a room on his laptop and I will be on mine and we’ll watch the show at the same time and then text about it as we’re watching it.”
This reminds me of the 1949 case of Joyce Holdridge, aka the “Allergic Bride,” who broke out in a rash every time she was near her husband. She was the first reported case of a wife who developed an allergy to her husband. (I wrote a fairly long article about her for about.com, but it looks like about.com has since deleted it.)
After the Holdridge case, quite a few women came forward claiming to be allergic to their husband. So allergic wives are definitely a recurring theme in weird news. For whatever reason, cases of husbands who are allergic to their wives are much rarer (although not nonexistent).
A chart that will help you finally understand your dog.
In order to really understand what your dog is trying to tell you, it’s important to observe their body language and listen to the noises they make.
You may think you know exactly what your dog is saying by wagging its tail, for example. But were you aware that this can signify a number of feelings – from excited, playful or attentive, to apprehensive and even slightly nervous?
Our visual guide offers an overview of some common dog behaviours and expressions, to help you understand what exactly your dog is trying to communicate.